Wolf Slayer. Linda Thomas-Sundstrom

      Those words had become her mantra lately and seemed terribly inadequate for tonight’s level of activity.

      “Cat got your tongue?” she asked with her heart banging against her ribs.

      Cool air swirled around her as she waited. No big, hunky Lycan stepped out of the shadows. No rolling mass of darkness descended. Her only visitor could be the four-legged animal she had seen running in the valley—the real wolf she had seen loping along in the Lycan’s wake.

      “No use hiding,” she said, hoping to lure that wolf out of the shadows, though it was, she supposed, silly to think that an animal could understand human speech.

      The wolf emerged from beneath the trees as if it had understood her request, moving just far enough out of the shadows for Tess to see the brilliance of its silver-white coat in the moonlight.

      “I have no problems with wolves. Real ones,” Tess said, speaking more for herself than for that animal.

      As soon as she had spoken those words, however, Tess began to comprehend that this was no mere wolf after all. The vibes coming from it were altogether new and different. And honestly, she was getting sick of things being so far out of the norm.

      The white wolf’s muzzle lifted as it sniffed the air. Tess couldn’t see its eyes or determine the animal’s actual size. After seeing the animal’s head, she guessed this visitor was a lot larger than any other wolf she’d seen in the wild. Twice as big, maybe more.

      “This place is protected from the likes of you,” Tess said, moving toward the gate that would seal her off from immediate harm.

      Her knife dangled from her hand.

      “Try it, wolf. Take me on and see what kind of skills I have developed to ward off claws.”

      Her dare was punctuated by a rustling sound in the brush. Tess couldn’t look there. Dividing her attention could amount to suicide.

      Her heart could not have pounded harder. The fingers holding her knife were turning white due to the tightness of her grip on the hilt.

      Damn it... There was another visitor. His approach hit her hard. Coming up against this particular presence was like running into a familiar wall.

      “Tess,” the Were said, as if they were friends.

      She refused to look for the speaker, already knowing who it was. No one else said her name like that, in the tone of a caress.

      “Is that wolf with you?” she demanded with her gaze fixed on the white wolf.

      “This wasn’t planned,” the Lycan said. “I’m sorry you were disturbed.”

      Tess rallied. “This is the second time you’ve come here and gotten too close to where you aren’t welcome.”

      The white wolf growled in response to Tess’s clipped tone. Tess raised the hand holding the knife.

      “It’s all right,” the strange Were said in a placating whisper that reached Tess from a short distance. “I’ll take her home.”

      Her?

      Hell, Tess didn’t want to know what a werewolf might do with a female animal like this one. She was sorry she had believed this guy to be truthful and handsome. His looks might have been exceptional, but werewolves were still monsters in disguise. Being handsome and convincing didn’t mean he was exempt from her reaching current goals.

      “We’ll go,” he said with the adamancy of a promise. “Turn your back, Tess, and we will be gone.”

      “What sort of an idiot do you take me for?” Tess returned.

      “She won’t hurt you. I won’t let her.”

      “Do you have a leash? The beast keeps a beast for a pet?”

      The white wolf growled again, forcing more of Tess’s attention there.

      “She doesn’t like trouble,” the Lycan said.

      “Then why is she here?”

      “She sensed trouble and came to investigate.”

      “Then she knows about me?” Tess asked.

      “Yes, in theory.”

      Tess turned toward the direction his voice had hailed from. “Because you told her, and she understands English?”

      The problematic Lycan didn’t take on that question.

      Catching a hint of movement in the brush, Tess backed again toward the gate with the knife raised and ready. Her sworn enemy didn’t make an appearance, and it looked like he wasn’t going to.

      She heard him speak in soft tones to someone else. He had to be addressing the white wolf. But that wolf didn’t budge.

      “Perhaps you’ve lost some of your power of persuasion,” Tess suggested nervously.

      There was a lull before he spoke again.

      “She believes trouble is near,” he said.

      “I’ll second that,” Tess muttered.

      “Maybe you can tell her it’s okay,” he suggested.

      Unbelievable...

      “Am I to invite her in and offer tea and cookies, too?” Tess fired back.

      “I’m pretty sure that won’t be necessary. However, if you want her to go, you’ll need to let her see that there’s no cause for concern.”

      “Because there isn’t?”

      “Not from us. Not from me. Not from her. Not tonight.”

      Tess thought back to their earlier encounter. “Is this wolf part of the reason you let me go without a fight? She is one of the things you’re protecting?”

      It seemed that no replies to those questions were forthcoming, so she tried again. “Do you hold yourself up as some kind of wolf warden?”

      “No,” he replied. “Nothing like that.”

      The white muzzle shifted slightly before one silvery leg appeared. Slowly, that wolf left the shadows, and the sight of this animal robbed Tess of more breath.

      The largest real wolf Tess had ever seen moved toward her with a growl rolling in its throat.