2 Seminar

Like many of the homes in the area, the place had been turned into a bed-and-breakfast inn because it was situated on a creek perfect for fishing and picturesque Mount Hood could be seen way off in the distance. Great for a Portland getaway.

When Axel Ash arrived at the inn, he saw the vehicle in question, a green pickup with California plates that was tilting to one side. Women. Probably didn't know how to change a tire or call for someone to come and fix a flat.

He'd barely opened the door to his Humvee when a woman hurried out, red hair in curls down to her shoulders and bouncing with her every step, eyes sea green and wide and hopeful, brow furrowed as she clutched a leather satchel tightly against her chest and headed straight for him.

Dr. Roux? At least he presumed that's who she was, only he'd expected someone a lot less leggy and less stunning to look at.

What he'd figured he'd see was a grey-haired older woman, her hair swept back in a bun, with oval gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose.

Instead, this woman looked to be in her mid-twenties and in terrific form, with shapely legs and a body to match.

He envisioned her hiking through woods on wilderness treks to observe wolves, dispelling the notion that she was strictly a classroom lecturer.

"Dr. Roux?" he asked, feeling more like a knight in shining armour now.

She didn't smile but looked worried as hell as she chewed a glossy lip and then gave a stiff nod. "Did Millie send you for me?" She didn't wait for him to answer and motioned to the truck. "I changed the tire already."

He frowned and glanced back at the flat tire.

"Someone was nice enough to ruin the spare also when I ran inside to clean up," she added, her tone peeved. "It was too late to have the spare fixed before the meeting."

Irritated that any of the townspeople would treat her that way, he bit back a curse. Yet he couldn't help being surprised for a second time. First, by her appearance. Now, by how capable the little woman was.

He motioned to his Humvee. "I'm Axel Ash, rancher south of town. I'll take you to the meeting and have one of my men fix the tires while you're lecturing."

"A rancher," she said softly, her voice slightly condemning.

He cast her a smidgeon of a smile. "Yeah, but cougars are the only animals that bother me of late. Wolves? They're my kind of animal. Protective, loyal--you know, like a dog, man's best friend."

"They're wild, Mr.--"

"I'd prefer you call me Axel Ash."

She gave him a tight smile, but the attempt at a friendly response didn't reach her eyes. She hurried inside, her heels clicking on the wooden floor, and the conversation died to absolute silence.

Axel Ash took a seat in the back where he could observe everyone. As attractive as the woman was, he'd have preferred watching her, the way she slid her hands gently over her notes.

The way her full, glossy lips parted as she spoke, the sweet tone of her voice, even when she was worried about being late or annoyed that someone had ruined her tires.

He forced his gaze from her and glanced at several kids, who appeared to be high-school students, seated to one side of the room with pens and notepads in hand.

Probably would receive some kind of special credit for coming here tonight. Even a couple of twin girls from his pack were in the audience, although pack members homeschooled their own.

Their father must have made them come. Alice and Sarah glanced back at Axel Ash and smiled. He bowed his head in acknowledgement.

On the other side of the hall, he recognized most of the men, ranchers all of them. One man raised pygmy goats; six others, cattle-like him; and the sheepherder.

The man who really caught his attention was a blond who also garnered Cassie's. Her eyes widened, and she fussed over her notes, but she looked back at him as he grinned broadly.

Someone she definitely knew but apparently wasn't overly happy to see. She didn't seem to be from the area. In fact, her bio said she was from California, and Axel Ash didn't remember seeing either of them here before. So had the man followed her here?

Axel Ash studied the man again. Tall, thin, wearing hiking boots, jeans, and a camouflage jacket. He looked like a hunter. Axel Ash already didn't like him.

Pulling his cell phone out, Axel Ash texted his second-in-command, Elgin, telling him which vehicle to have repaired, what needed to be accomplished, and to take his time in getting it done? And then Axel Ash sat back to listen to the little lady's speech.

After she finished her talk, he meant to speak to her again and learn the truth. What kind of wolf had she seen, and where?

* * *

Cassie couldn't believe all of her rotten, bad luck. First, the idiot or idiots had to ruin not one, but two of her tires. Then the absolute hunk who comes to rescue her was one of her kind.

How could she get so lucky? And to top all that off? Fellow wolf biologist Alex Wellington had to track her down again. What was his problem? What part of I work alone did he not get?

Not that he wasn't cute or good at his job, but sometimes she liked to shift while she was working, and she sure as hell didn't want him studying her as one of his wolf projects.

Avoiding looking at Axel Ash, his handsome features rugged, his eyes penetrating and insightful, she knew he could be even worse trouble for her.

She'd been so upset about the tires and being late to the lecture that when he gave his name, it hadn't registered at first. Axel Ash was Norse for wolf descendant! And the last name, Axel Ash, was typical of a red lupus group name.

The fact he said he was a rancher had also thrown her off. No way would she have thought a werewolf would be in the ranching business. Once she'd gotten a whiff of his lupus group scent, she'd known the truth.

She fought a smile. His comment about wolves, like dogs, being man's best friend, made sense. From a werewolf's standpoint, anyway.

She had barely begun to talk about wolves--their history and their future--when one of the men seated near the front said, "Sure, we used to kill 'em for money. The only good wolf is a dead wolf."

Wondering if the scruffy-looking, bearded man was the one who had taken care of her tires, she bit her tongue and clenched her teeth. Her gaze riveted on Axel Ash.

He was giving the man a look as he'd better watch what he said, and all of a sudden she realized something more about the werewolf in her midst.

He said he'd have one of his men see to her tires. She blinked. He couldn't be the pack leader here, could he? Or maybe he was a sub-leader.

Not that it would make much difference, since he would report back to the head honcho that he had located a female red in their territory.

She groaned inwardly at her rotten luck.

"Mr. Hollis," Millie said, her voice pleading, breaking into Cassie's distressing ruminations. "Dr. Roux will take questions at the end of her lecture. For now, we'll just let her present her case." She smiled a little nervously and motioned for Cassie to begin again.

Cassie gave her a tight smile. She'd never had this many problems lecturing before and certainly had never expected to find a red wolf in the area.

Once she had learned of the wolf, she felt it her duty to make the people aware that wolves were not a threat for the most part and that it was illegal to shoot them.

Alex nodded as if approving her every word.

Axel Ash was busy texting someone. Thankfully, he hadn't seemed to smell her scent. The hunter's spray had appeared to hide what she was from him.

She still had worried that if he'd gotten too close, he might have detected she was a red werewolf-like himself.

She continued with her speech, wanting to get this over with, while she normally loved pleading the wolves' case. She usually wasn't in a werewolf's territory, either.

And that could mean trouble. Especially because she was an unmated red, and packs were always looking for unmated females.

She'd barely made it to page two of her notes when Mr. Hollis interrupted her again, his voice reproachful. "Last year a woman broke into the zoo and set a wolf free.

Or at least that was the story the newspapers gave. Naked woman in zoo frees red wolf. So do you advocate freeing wolves from the zoo, too?"