In the distance, an Alpha’s continual howl sent chills up and down Jock’s spine. Barks of opposition were returned, but the Alpha’s voice rang higher, his tone deeper and more distinct.
Carla sat beside him. “Frank called them off in time.”
“You can hear his thoughts?”
“Yes,” she replied. “And yours.”
“I suppose you would.”
She smoothed her palm across his arm, seemingly relaxed and savoring the quiet of the night. He slipped his hand in hers and enjoyed her warmth as the evening calm swept over them.
He had just turned to kiss her when her entire body went rigid.
“What is it?”
Her eyes widened as she listened to something only she could hear. “Frank says Grant is okay. He called off his pack, but Grant ran for the border. Frank is placing a line of defense near WolfDen and has advised you to let your pack members know. If they don’t join you and Frank, they will be considered enemies of this territory and treated as such.”
“That’s fair enough,” Jock said. “Maybe Grant will sober up by morning and come to his senses before he does any real harm.”
“And until then?”
“We wait.”
“What will we do with our time?” she asked, snuggling closer and wrapping her arms around his waist.
“After seeing your loft, I’m certain a man doesn’t get bored in a place like this.”
She stood and pulled him to his feet. “Not with the right woman anyway.”
* * * *
Jock and Carla waited for Frank in the loft. She lit a number of candles and lanterns before spreading out several blankets on a mound of hay.
“You act like you’ve done this a few times,” he said, watching her graceful moves.
“I have. Does that bother you?”
“It did before I claimed you. Not now.”
“Why not now?” she asked, removing rope from a burlap sack.
His penis twitched in his breeches as he watched her wind the rope around one wrist and then another. She walked to the far wall where two thick blankets hung loosely from one long board.
She gave the blankets a sharp tug. Behind the heavy material, four stakes were driven into the side of the barn.
“What the—”
“Shh,” she whispered, placing her fingertips over his lips when he approached for a closer inspection.
“What have you been doing out here with Frank?” A surge of regret washed over him.
“Frank showed me how to be a woman,” she told him with tremendous pride. “He taught me things no other woman knows.”
Jock chuckled. “Is that what he said?”
“It’s true,” she said, the seriousness in her voice suggesting she believed anything Frank had told her.
Jock wasn’t one to challenge the faith Carla had in another mate. It wasn’t his place to plant a seed of doubt in her head.