Wolf at Law by Heather Long Read Free

He’d take a ride back to his hotel and investigate. The deal had to be locked in before he went home. Someone wanted to poach Willow Bend land, and no way in hell would he allow that to happen. Scenting a hunt in the offing improved his mood. He’d take care of Margo and Heller, and satisfy both sides of his nature at the same time.
    The platform held a scattering of individuals, all waiting for the same train. Ryan checked his watch once then found a post to lean against where he could watch everyone coming or going while he protected his own back.  The population of the train station was a disparate group—a couple of businessmen, three teenagers who shouldn’t be out this late in Chicago, and an elderly man with a bottle of booze in a paper bag tucked under his arm. A faint scuffing sound echoed up the concrete steps leading to the platform—a series of sliding shoe hops.
    Curious about the noise, Ryan studied the top of the staircase. The arrival of a slender African-American woman and a young girl who couldn’t be more than four rewarded his attention.
    “Twenty-five,” the little girl announced breathlessly, and aimed her triumph up at the woman smiling down at her. “I hopped all of them.”
    “You did.” Affection and approval rang between the two words. “Well done.”
    “Thank you, Mommy.” The little girl’s delight perfumed the air, chasing away the stench of cigars and bad business. She started to skip forward, but her mother caught her arm and tugged her back.
    “You know better, Alexis. You stay with Mommy.” Even as she spoke the words, the mother scanned the occupants of the station then urged her daughter away from the raucous teenagers and businessmen. Her path took her nearer the older man, but she still circled away from him, and chose a spot about midway between Ryan and the others.
    Awareness of her surroundings and angling her body between her child and the strangers were all behaviors Ryan recognized. Human cities weren’t safe. They were never safe for women alone, much less for a woman with a small child. Her hand was in her purse and Ryan felt the corners of his mouth tug wider in approval.
    She was armed with something, which meant she wasn’t as helpless. At the same moment, she glanced at him and Ryan’s wolf stood up inside him, every hair bristling. His smile faded. The woman’s gentle expression sported the faint traces of a bruise around one eye. She’d covered it with cosmetics, but the puffiness and hint of hurt in her scent reached him all the same.
     “Mommy?” The little girl, Alexis, tugged at her mother’s arm. The woman glanced away from Ryan, and the moment snapped. “You said staring at people is bad.” The hushed whisper of warning carried to his ears and he bit back a smile. The little girl gave him a sharp look, so he erased the expression and bowed his head to her as though suitably chastened.
    Four years old and desperate to protect her mother?
    Yes. Ryan would be killing someone before he left this city.
    “You’re right, darling.” The woman gathered her daughter close and kept her gaze firmly averted from Ryan’s. “Staring is bad.”
    Alexis met his gaze again, eyebrows raised in challenge. Ryan grinned and made a point of looking away, but still kept watch from the corner of his eye. The little girl’s face scrunched up into a frown. After she stared for another minute and he didn’t look at her mother, she seemed satisfied. Alexis settled into leaning on her mom.
    With the little girl distracted, he glanced back and found her mother watching him. It took everything he had to stuff his wolf down and try to keep his posture relaxed. He wasn’t a threat.
    Never would he be a threat, not to her.
    So he tilted his head in a faint nod and she gave him an empty smile. The woman tightened her grip on her daughter and looked away, pointedly ignoring him.
    Oh, she would be fun to chase. The thought skittered through his mind and Ryan paused.