He really did like her, maybe because she could relate to him since she’d lost her mom like he’d lost both his mom and dad. But more as a friend. He thought she wanted more from him than he was willing to give.

“You haven’t texted me in months, Nathan,” Sarah said.

“I’m sorry. You said your father would kill you if he knew you were seeing me. I thought…” Nathan shrugged.

He’d had enough to deal with already. He hadn’t been happy with any of the families he’d lived with so far. He hadn’t known how staying with Bjornolf and Anna would be, even if it was only short-term. Though, if they got along well enough, he hoped it might turn out more permanent. He thought living with a couple of undercover operatives would be cool.

“It was easier not to see me,” Sarah finally said, hurt in her voice, drawing him back to the shopping expedition and the problem at hand.

Yeah, it was easier not to see her. The issues of her father not wanting her to see a wolf of another pack, of Nathan’s not having a real home but being bounced from one family in the pack to another—and then just dealing with a girlfriend who was a wolf from a different pack—all complicated the issue. Especially when she learned he’d been seeing a human girl.

“I’m working now,” he said.

“You could’ve texted.”

“I’m sorry.” He didn’t know what else to say. He did like Sarah. As a friend.

They walked in silence. They’d already bought several boxes of colorful ornaments, but they still hadn’t found the angel Nathan thought Anna might like.

“I wish I had the money for the ornaments on me. Kind of hard traveling as a wolf to bring anything with me.”

“Just send it to me when you have a chance.” Sarah sighed. “So… what’s Anna like? You said she works undercover. Is she really tough looking?”

“She’s really cool,” Nathan said. “Tomb Raider kind of woman. Only she’s never had a Christmas tree before. Can you imagine? Bjornolf says she’s sad about the holidays.”

Sarah stopped him and looked up into his face, her brows pinched together. “Why did you really run here as a wolf, Nathan? You know everyone’s going to be upset about it. Your pack, mine. My dad and his new mate. My sister, even. Why didn’t you just drive up here?”

He let out a deep breath. “I don’t know. Sometimes… I just have to run. Bjornolf and Anna had gone out to investigate the tree farm. I thought of joining them, but they need to do their work without me underfoot.”

“You felt unneeded?”

“Yeah, I guess. I caught them kissing last night, and she was crying.”

Sarah frowned at Nathan.

“I think she really likes him,” he said, “and I know he likes her. But something’s upsetting her. I think it’s the holidays. She didn’t want to decorate the tree. But you know what she did? She made a popcorn garland. She worked for an hour stringing it all by herself in the living room. I would’ve helped her, only I thought she was just eating popcorn. He shook his head. “I thought… if I did something, like bring home the ornaments, maybe she’d feel better. I had to get the urge to run out of my system first. And… I wanted to see you.”

He had wanted to see her to settle things in his mind because he couldn’t get Jessica Everton, the human girl he wasn’t supposed to be falling for, out of his thoughts. He knew Anna was right when she said he couldn’t get involved with a human girl.

Yet he couldn’t help it. Maybe it had to do with the fact she was a human who smelled like a she-wolf.

***

Dressed in blue jeans and a gray sweatshirt, Bjornolf used Carver’s phone to call Hunter and let him know that the teens were fine. “We’ll be home later this afternoon. I didn’t even think about Nathan’s job, though…”

“I already called them and told them he was sick with the flu. If he wants to go to work tomorrow, that’s fine. If he needs to stay with the two of you for the next couple of days to sort out things, that’ll work also.”

“Okay. About the murder case—I haven’t had a chance to tell you what happened. Last night, Anna found some dog tags where Nathan had smelled a dead body. The name is Thomas Cremer.”

“Cremer. I’ll share this second name with Finn.”

“Did you learn anything more about the Wentworths from our last mission?” Bjornolf asked.

“Not yet. I have Rourke, our investigative reporter in the pack, looking into things. He’s got a lot of connections, and he’s good at ferreting out information. Maybe he’ll unearth some clues for us.”

Bjornolf let out his breath, wanting to mention how upset Anna had been. He wanted to see if Hunter knew what was distressing her so much, but decided it would be best not to share that bit of news. Hunter might want to take her off the case, worrying about her safety in the frame of mind she seemed to be in. Bjornolf knew that neither Nathan nor he could get through the holidays without her, and he wasn’t about to give up his pursuit of something deeper with her. He had no intention of putting it off any longer.

“Talk to you later, Hunter.”

Anna was outside in the backyard with Alice, Sarah’s twin sister. Alice was showing Anna the gardens. He smiled as he watched Anna move about in the light sprinkle of snowflakes as if she was a snow sprite, thinking how much he’d love wrapping her in his arms.

Nearby, a “thwack, thwack” rent the air. Carver was chopping wood with such vigor that Bjornolf figured he was trying to let out some of his pent-up frustration over Nathan and his daughter.

Carrying a couple of logs, Carver came inside, acknowledged Bjornolf with a nod, glanced back at the window to see what he’d been watching—Anna and Alice—then tossed one of the logs on the fire and set the other in a copper wood box. “Sarah said she and Nathan will be here in about twenty minutes. Are you and Anna mated?”

Bjornolf turned his attention from Anna as she swept her hair into a ponytail to Carver, who looked more than curious. “We only first met several months ago.”

Was he mated to her? Bjornolf was definitely thinking along those lines. They’d make one hell of an undercover team.

Aimée frowned at Carver as she set out the silverware on the table in the formal dining room. Carver’s mate was a pretty woman with red gold hair curling about her shoulders and a light smattering of freckles bridging her nose. She looked more sweet than seductive, like his Anna did.

His Anna. That’s the way Bjornolf was already feeling about her.

“You shouldn’t ask such a thing,” Aimée scolded. “That’s personal.”

Carver rubbed his chin as he looked from his mate to Bjornolf, pondering the situation. “What’s holding you back, son?”

Bjornolf couldn’t remember the last time his own father had called him that. He was amused the man was so curious.

“It’s complicated,” Bjornolf answered as he looked out the back window and saw Anna brushing the snow off the nose of a wolf statue while smiling at Alice. He wondered what Anna would be like in a backyard of their own with a teen of their own.

“That’s exactly what I said when I met Aimée. It’s complicated. I wanted her, no doubt about it. She was feeling the same about me.” Carver winked at her and Aimée blushed furiously. “I had two twin daughters and I didn’t want to mate with just any old she-wolf who might treat my girls poorly.”

“The wicked, old she-wolf stepmother syndrome,” Aimée said.

“So what’s your reasoning for holding back? You don’t already have a mate, do you?” Carver asked.

The wily wolf had to know the answer to that, just from the way Bjornolf had such a time keeping his eyes off Anna, as if he was afraid she’d vanish in the blink of an eye.

“No,” Bjornolf said with a half smile.

“Been mated and have offspring already that you’re worried about?”

Bjornolf shook his head.

“Then what? It’s sure as hell not because you don’t want her. And I can tell the woman’s as interested in you. While I was chopping wood, I overheard Alice asking Anna if she was planning to mate you, and when I cast a glance in their direction, the she-wolf was blushing to high heaven. She didn’t laugh at the suggestion or deny it. You’re as good as mated, to my way of thinking. So what are you waiting for?” Carver shook his head and washed his hands at the sink, not giving Bjornolf time to answer. “Seize the moment. You never know when another wolf might come along and snatch your woman right up. Then where will you be?”

Killing the male wolf, Bjornolf thought darkly. The back door shut with a clunk.

The doorbell rang, and from the hurried footsteps moving in that direction, he assumed Alice and Anna were headed for the front door. Bjornolf and Carver hesitated. Both were annoyed with Nathan for running off. They also knew they had to handle the teens carefully or chance having them run off again.

He and Carver went into the living room to greet Nathan and Sarah, but instead they saw Alice and Anna standing at the front door talking to a big blond-haired, bearded man wearing camouflage hunter’s gear. His blue eyes were challenging Anna as he said, “Hi, I’m Henry Thompson and I work in a special capacity with the zoo. Eyewitnesses said they saw wolves enter your backyard.”

Alice turned to her father, looking for his help. Confronting the threat, Carver immediately approached the door, his whole posture stating he was in charge.

“I’m sorry,” Carver said gruffly, not sounding sorry in the least—more like get the hell off my property. “We don’t even own a dog.”

“Are you friends with Leidolf Wildhaven?” Thompson asked, as if he knew something more about the wolves than he should.

Carver narrowed his eyes. His hesitation spoke volumes. Carver finally said, “He’s a wealthy rancher.” Like everyone in Oregon should know that.