An involuntary shiver curled through her. He’d asked a question but all she could think about was the heat growing in her belly. After last night she should be too tired. Should be too sated. All it took was one look from him and her temperature ratcheted up about a thousand degrees. And it didn’t hurt that he’d strolled in without a shirt on. She wanted to run her hands over all that muscle.

“You two are disgusting.” Liam set his mug in the sink and stalked past Connor. The front door slammed behind him a few seconds later.

Silence descended and she hated the sudden awkwardness that threatened to take over her. “Hi.” The way she said it sounded as if she were talking to a stranger and not the man she’d just spent hours making love with. The man she’d just mated with. She knew how much he wanted her physically, but after last night their relationship had most definitely changed.

His lips curved up slightly as he crossed the room. “Hi, yourself.” Placing his hands on the counter behind her, he ran right into her personal space and leaned down to kiss her.

Not a hot, searing, claiming kiss, but a sweet, lazy, good-morning one. She ran her hands up his chest and locked her fingers behind his neck. The area between her legs dampened as his tongue flicked over hers.

When he sensed the change in her, the kiss went from sweet to scorching in an instant. He fisted the bottom of her shirt and started tugging it upward. Air rushed over her, but her nipples were already hard.

Suddenly he jerked back. “Son of a …” He shook his head.

“What?” She stared at him in a daze. Why did he stop?

He tapped the side of his head. “Liam just informed me we’ve got company. We better get dressed and check it out.”

She didn’t bother hiding her sigh. He was right, of course. They also needed to check on Teresa, and she needed to go shopping for backup cases of water. And she still needed a shower. Still, disappointment forked through her like a bolt of jagged lightning. After last night their relationship balance had shifted. She’d given up all her control to him in the bedroom, and while she knew he’d never hurt her, she felt as if she needed to gain back some of that emotional control.

When she was younger she’d been able to brush off her heartbreak as puppy love when he’d left. This was different. The foreign feelings blossoming inside her were more. She wanted him so much it frightened her. She was thankful for his presence and his support at the ranch, but she knew she could grow to depend on him so easily. Too easily. She couldn’t allow that to happen. He’d left once. What was to stop him from doing it again? The reality was sobering.

“Where’d you just go?” Connor’s voice was low, guarded.

She shook herself. “Sorry. I spaced for a second. You’re right. We need to get dressed.” She quickly sidestepped him and hurried out of the room.

Connor glanced down at Ana as they headed across the yard toward the main house. He wasn’t sure what had happened in the past few minutes to make her turn back into herself and shut him out, but he didn’t like it. After last night things had changed between them.

He was sure of it. Each time they’d made love he’d seen her emotions clearly in her eyes. Each time he’d pushed deep inside her and each time she’d called out his name—

Ana gave him a curious look. “Do I need to hose you down with a fire extinguisher?”

“I was just thinking about last night.”

“Yeah, I kinda guessed that. If you don’t want everyone else to know that, then tone it down, Alpha.” There was a trace of humor in her voice.

He’d been in control of his emotions since he was a pup, but now that he’d actually tasted her, held her, been inside her, it was hard not to think about it. Fantasize about doing it again. “It’s hard when all I can think about is what you looked like last night as you rode me. I don’t even have to close my eyes to picture the way you rose on your knees and—”

“Jeez, Connor. You weren’t very talkative last night, so let’s not talk about that now, when we can’t do anything about it.” She nudged him with her hip and grinned.

The last thing he wanted to do was talk about it because it only got him that much hotter. And she was right. He didn’t talk much in the bedroom and neither did she. It was like their bodies were already attuned to each other.

Reaching out, he grasped her hand and held it as they walked. It was a small thing, innocuous, but he’d never done it with another female before. Never wanted to.

Her eyes widened in surprise. For a brief moment she tried to pull away, but he held tight.

As they neared the main house, the front door opened and Carmen stepped out with a man Connor didn’t recognize. His long, dark hair was pulled back in a clip and he smelled familiar. The man Ana must have seen at the hospital. Connor’s inner wolf growled protectively.

Next to him, Ana dropped his hand and hurried forward. “Matt, is your mother okay?”

“She’s fine.” The dark-haired man embraced her lightly.

It was a quick hug. He didn’t hold Ana too long or inappropriately, but the beast inside Connor wanted to lunge at him for touching what was his. The violent urge shouldn’t have surprised him, but the intensity of his need to assert dominance was almost overwhelming. As Alpha he knew how to control himself, but this feeling was entirely new. He’d heard how newly mated wolves reacted if others got too close to their mates, but he’d never imagined such a burning need. He actually wanted to hurt this stranger and protect Ana. Clenching his fists at his sides, he savored the pain of his nails digging into his palms. Anything to distract from the sight in front of him.

Ana gave him a sharp look—no doubt because she scented the change in the air—as she stepped out of the man’s embrace.

“Hi, I’m Matoskah Dunlauxe. You can call me Matt.” He held out a friendly hand.

Connor paused for a moment before grasping it. He experienced the juvenile urge to squeeze with more pressure than necessary but stopped himself. He nodded once. “I’m Connor. The new Alpha.”

“He’s also my mate,” Ana said.

The man’s dark eyes widened as he turned back to Ana. “Congratulations. It’s about time you found someone.”

“I know, right? Now Noel and I can settle down,” Carmen interjected, and shot Matt a shy but flirty smile. There were no rules about the oldest having to settle down first, but obviously Carmen was interested in Matt and was not so subtly trying to let him know she was available.

Ana rolled her eyes at her sister’s statement. It soothed Connor that she’d told Matt they were mated, but it didn’t stop him from wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders.

Matt glanced back and forth between Ana and Connor. “I’d like to speak to you privately, if possible.”

Carmen cleared her throat, and it was hard to miss the disappointed look on her face as she took a step back. “I’ll be inside.”

Once the door shut behind her, Matt spoke. “What’s going on at your ranch?”

Beside him, Ana stiffened. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been having dreams lately. Dark dreams.” Matt’s expression was grim

“About what?” Ana asked.

“You.”

The word sounded ominous and it sent a foreign sensation twisting through Connor. His chest tightened painfully. “What the hell does that mean?”

“My dreams don’t always make sense, but they’re always a warning of what’s to come,” Matt said.

“I don’t understand. Are you talking about visions?” Ana asked.

He nodded. “My father was a dream walker, but he used meditation to enter the dreamworld. I … can’t control what I see as easily. These images and dreams only come to me when I’m asleep.”

Ana moved into Connor’s embrace. “What did you dream about exactly?”

“The first few dreams I wasn’t sure what to make of until I saw you at the hospital the other day. Then I realized they must be about you. Are you brown and white in your animal form?”

When Ana nodded, he continued. “I keep having visions of you running. Sometimes it’s across a field; other times it’s through the woods. Wherever you go a dark cloud follows. Up until now the dreams ended with you being swallowed by the darkness, but in my last vision you were confronted by a coyote. You need to be careful, Ana.” The warning hung in the air, a thick, heavy shroud.

Next to him Ana shuddered, and Connor wanted to kick the man’s teeth in for upsetting her. Especially now, of all times. One of their packmates was sick and this asshole wanted to cause trouble.

“That’s it? You came here because of some dreams?” Connor didn’t bother keeping the skepticism out of his voice.

“Connor,” Ana muttered his name through gritted teeth.

Matt’s dark eyes narrowed slightly, and Connor had to give him credit. The human didn’t back down. “You shift to animal form yet you scoff at my visions? Talk about arrogant.”

“What does the coyote mean?” Ana asked, trying to keep the focus on what was important.

He shrugged noncommittally. “It could mean a number of things. Sometimes what I see is literal; other times it’s symbolic. Coyotes are tricksters, troublemakers. Someone wants to hurt you and they won’t stop until they do. I sensed a powerful rage inside the coyote. It wants to see you suffer. Maybe not you personally, but your pack.”

“We’ve been experiencing some problems with Sean Taggart’s pack, so maybe that’s what you’re seeing.”

Connor wanted to cut her off. He didn’t want this stranger knowing anything about their lives.

Matt nodded, then motioned toward the house. “I saw Teresa a few minutes ago. I’m truly sorry about your cousin.”

“Thank you.”

“I remember how bad it was last time. If you need any help, call me.”

“We have it under control now. If you have any more dreams, call first.” Connor didn’t keep the deadly edge out of his voice. He wanted this guy off their property and away from his mate.