Carla stood before him as a naked and confident woman.
Shifters often saw one another without clothing, but Carla was human. The only reason she didn’t have her clothes was because of where and when the grizzly found her. Still, Heck had often accompanied her to the river when she’d gone for a bath, but out of respect for Frank and Jock, he’d never gawked. Now, for whatever reason, he could not look away.
Natural brown locks of her silken hair l
ay loose around the peaks of her small, rounded breasts. Her cheeks turned pink as he perused her body at will, but he didn’t stop looking. This moment, for whatever reason, was cooling that ache, soothing that burn.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware of the quiet. His fellow pack members had somehow managed to concentrate on the calm, yet with considerable dangers beyond her front door, he realized there was something more to the silence, a significant reason they weren’t transmitting messages between them or thinking about the battle to come.
They were undoubtedly waiting to see what Heck would do. They were aware of his lust for his Alphas’ mate. They were holding their breaths and wondering. Would Heck act on his desires or would he have the strength to walk away?
“Heck.” Carla closed those honey brown eyes. Tears pooled in the corners and slipped down her cheeks. “It isn’t right.”
“Shh,” he whispered, needing to touch her, longing to hold her. He raked the pads of his thumbs over her lids, following the stream of moisture streaking her flushed cheeks. Then, remembering everything about his pack’s laws, but more importantly, his pack master’s trust, he reluctantly stepped away from his greatest temptation.
Before he hit the front stoop, he phased and reclaimed his wolf form. With his fellow pack members at his back howling in a nearly practiced song, he ran for the hills.
Heck was now entrusting others with Carla’s care. He would trust them as Frank and Jock had once placed their confidence in him.
He couldn’t risk being near Carla after he’d saved her. More than anything else, he couldn’t trust himself alone with her after they’d shared such an intimate connection.
Heck had been Carla’s hero. He’d saved her life by guarding her with his.
Now, he had to run off that indescribable yearning and put aside that raging desire once and for all. He needed to be alone so he could figure out what went wrong.
How could he have fallen in love with his pack master’s woman, his pack’s Alpha female? How could he have such strong feelings for a woman who was not his to have, to hold, or to cherish as his very own?
Chapter Seven
Frank came through the door like a raging bull. His eyes were wide. Unmistakable determination lived in his gaze. “Where is he?”
“Who?” Carla set a bowl of beans on the table.
“Heck, damn it. Where is he?” Frank’s brooding anger was clear, evident.
“Frank, please let this go.” Carla grabbed hold of his muscular arm. As soon as she touched him, she knew with certainty. Frank had felt her connection with another. He’d known the longing, the lust she’d felt for Heck.
Their eyes met. “I won’t have the beta at my flank ignore our laws.” His face was red. His neck was corded. Rage now had a face and Frank owned it like the emotion belonged to him and him alone.
“Please don’t do this, Frank. We didn’t do anything wrong.” Carla watched as he paced the floor. “You don’t know what it was like out there.”
“Then why don’t you tell me?” He tossed his cowboy hat to the coat rack and stood next to the small window next to the entrance.
“Why should I tell you what you already know? Heck carried me home while the rest of the pack chased the bears away.”
With his back still to her, he asked, “Did he touch you?”
“He saved me.”
“Did he touch you?” he screamed.
“Not in the way you think!”
Frank turned on her like a rebounding prairie storm. He stalked her like prey and grabbed hold of her arms. Catching himself before he shook her, he stared at her as if he were frightened. Perhaps he was. Perhaps in that moment, he realized there was a piece of himself he couldn’t control or harness when it came to Carla.
He thinned his lips. His nostrils flared. He took several deep breaths. “You’re my mate. You belong only to me and Jock. Do you understand?”
For a split second, she thought about agreeing with him, and maybe a wiser woman would’ve nodded her head or said the kind of things to reassure her lover, but the wiser woman wouldn’t have demonstrated her strength by telling the truth.