How to Run with a Naked Werewolf (Naked Werewolf 3)

“Southern Alaska,” I added.

“Thank you for clarifying. And what a coincidence. I was heading that way myself.”

I deadpanned, “You don’t say.”

“I do say.” He gave me a sharp nod, as if this was exactly according to some crazy, half-naked military plan he had tucked away somewhere. “So . . . Anne, you’re staying with me.”

My mouth fell open, and I made an indelicate snorting noise. “Why on earth would I do that?”

“Look, you’re pretty, you’re fun-sized, and you’re up here on your own,” he said, ticking my offenses off on his long fingers. “It’s not safe.”

“Really? Not safe? Like I could be minding my own business and then suddenly get pulled into a gunfight and car explosions by a total stranger? I don’t think that will happen more than once. And I definitely don’t need anyone to take care of me.”

He scoffed, that mocking white grin splitting his tanned face. “No, you seem to be fine on your own. Working a shitty job in a grocery store in the middle of nowhere. That’s the sweet life, all right.”

My cheeks flushed hot. “Screw you, pal.”

“It’s Caleb.”

“Screw you, Caleb.” It was a struggle, resisting the urge to kick him in the shins. It really was.

“Do you have a better plan? Or any plan?” he demanded. “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you walk out that door? Hitchhike, right? You’ll be lucky if one or two trucks pass this way, this time of day. And you never know what sort of psycho could be behind the wheel. With me, at least you know what you’re getting into.”

“Yeah, I’m getting a condescending he-man who sniffs me.”

And attempts to bite me while sleep-snuggling.

“Well, you smell nice,” he said, shrugging as if that excused the scratch-and-sniffery. When I didn’t respond to his “charm” with the expected giggling and swooning, he sighed. “Just let me make sure you’re safe, OK? I have to do some driving for work. You might find another town you like, find someplace to stay. Until then, I can keep an eye on you, repay you for saving my life. Do you think you’re going to get a better offer from a random trucker?”

I glared up at him and didn’t answer.

“Besides, who knows what could happen to me with this nearly mortal wound I’ve suffered?” he said, gesturing dramatically to his bandage.

I leveled a disbelieving gaze at him through my eyelashes. “The mortal wound that was ‘no big deal’ just a little while ago?”

“I could lose consciousness or develop an infection, maybe even get shot again without someone watching my back. You don’t want that on your conscience, do you?” Caleb’s beatific smile was too well rehearsed to be genuine.

I pursed my lips, considering the pros and cons of this insane situation. Maybe I was being unfair to Caleb. Other than their astronomical caloric intake and their propensity for public nudity, werewolves were just regular people. They were nice, for the most part, with the exception of the psychotic, power-hungry assholes who occasionally staged coups to take over neighboring packs.

Happened more often than you might think.

Caleb didn’t strike me as a psychotic asshole. So far, he hadn’t lied to me. He hadn’t hurt me, intentionally. And even when he’d invaded my personal space, I hadn’t panicked or felt threatened, and that was saying something. I had the distinct impression that if Caleb told me he would keep me safe, I would be safe. And safety was tempting, too tempting, as I considered how long it would take me to come up with a plan to get to Anchorage with no money and no car.

“OK. But if we’re going to do this, you’re going to have to stop that,” I told him.

“What?”

“That!” I said, shrugging off his hands, which had been absently running up and down my arms. “The touching and the sniffing and the . . . nuzzling. That stops, right now.”

“But what if you want me to nuzzle you?” he asked, his voice returning to that gruff, husky tenor from the night before. And I felt my knees sag a little bit.

Damn it. “I won’t.”

He stepped a little closer. I pressed back against the door. “What if you ask me to?”

“If I say the words, ‘Caleb, please nuzzle me,’ you can do your worst.”

“All right, then.” He grinned at me again in a way that can only be described as “happy puppy” and loped away toward the bathroom. I wandered to the bed and dropped to it, dazed.