“Sparring practice,” Bjornolf told Hunter.

Nathan grinned and continued hanging more lights.

“Sparring practice,” Hunter said. He didn’t say anything more for a moment.

Bjornolf stepped forward to hand Nathan a new strand of lights. “Yeah.”

“Who won this time?” Hunter finally asked.

“Depends on who’s telling the story.”

Hunter laughed. “I can believe that. How’s Nathan doing?”

“Nathan’s great. He made us coffee. Didn’t drink rum in his eggnog, and he’s hanging Christmas lights on the house. Couldn’t ask for a better kid.”

Nathan’s ears tinged red, but he smiled, and Bjornolf was glad that Nathan heard him praise him. Especially after what had occurred yesterday over the running-to-Portland situation.

“What about the two of you? Can you handle it?”

“He might have to stay at your house at night if he wants to get some sleep,” Bjornolf said.

Nathan quickly shook his head, frowning.

“Forget it. He says no. We’ll get him some earplugs.”

Hunter laughed. Then he got serious again. “Finn discovered that both of the dead men had been working with the DEA. I’m wondering if these agents were investigating someone at the tree farm. What if they learned that the guy was dealing, but before they could report it, the agents were murdered?”

“Or,” Bjornolf said, not liking a different scenario, “what if they couldn’t report it?”

“Meaning the drug dealers were wolves?”

“Yeah. Only they didn’t know you had a pack here and could have helped them out.”

“Sounds like a possibility. It’s not like there’s a map of where lupus garou settlements exist in the States and beyond.”

“What about the Wentworths? Any lead on them?”

“They’ve returned home. Rourke’s headed to their one-and-a-half-million-dollar estate located next to Forest Park in Portland to do an interview on their harrowing adventure. We’re hoping he might learn something.”

“Wentworth?” Nathan asked, climbing down the ladder to move it again.

Bjornolf looked up at him as he climbed back up the ladder. “You know a Wentworth?”

“Everton, the guy who owns the tree farm, has a half brother named William Wentworth.”

“He wouldn’t happen to be ‘the Third,’ would he?” Bjornolf asked.

“Uh, yeah. Everton says it in a sarcastic way as if the dude thinks he’s really cool cuz he’s the Third. I don’t think he likes his half brother at all. Not that I’m really surprised. When Everton was off delivering some trees to customers a couple of days ago, William dropped by to see Jessica’s mom, Dottie. He acted really friendly. Gave her a big hug and kissed her.

“They didn’t realize I was in the back of the shop hanging some fresh Christmas wreaths. When he saw me, he quickly moved away from her and gave me a look that could kill. I just figured the guy was being nice to her because they were related—by marriage. But after the look he gave me, I wondered if something more was going on.”

Bjornolf relayed the message to Hunter.

“We’ll check into it,” Hunter said. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, one other thing struck me as odd. When Anna and I were out investigating the tree farm the night before last, a man named Everton caught us and asked for our ID. I just thought it strange that anyone would be on guard duty watching over a tree farm late at night.”

“Everton?” Nathan asked, pausing to hook up the next section of lights.

Bjornolf was getting a bad feeling about this as he studied Nathan’s frown.

Nathan said, “He never guards the place. At night, he’s always watching sports on TV in the basement. I know because I’ve sneaked in to see Jessica and her dad never knew it.”

Chapter 15

What was Everton doing wandering around the tree farm at night if he didn’t normally do so?

“So what happened at the tree farm, exactly?” Nathan asked, sounding alarmed.

Bjornolf told him about the man who had caught Anna trespassing and how she’d used Nathan and his faux watch as an alibi.

“Where were you when Jessica’s father was hassling Anna?” Nathan sounded like he was about to take Bjornolf on for not protecting her.

Bjornolf fought smiling. The kid was cute. “I was there.” Not that Bjornolf had to explain himself to Nathan, but he wanted to. “He asked for an ID and Anna said she wasn’t changing her name to mine.”

Nathan’s eyes widened. “Will she now?”

Bjornolf snorted. “We don’t actually get married on paper.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Nathan hung up another section of lights, then climbed down the ladder to move it again. He climbed back up and then turned to Bjornolf. “When was the first time you had sex with a human girl?”

Hell. Bjornolf stopped unraveling strands of lights and looked up at Nathan. “This isn’t about that Jessica Everton girl, is it?”

Nathan frowned, turned, and continued to hang lights off the house.

Not good. “How old is she?” Bjornolf asked. He hadn’t expected to have these kinds of talks with the kid.

“She’s seventeen. Like me. But we can do it with human girls because as wolves we can’t get them pregnant.”

Bjornolf frowned at him. “Most of the time, no.”

Nathan’s jaw dropped.

“It happens occasionally. Haven’t you ever heard Tessa’s story?”

“She was mated to Hunter before she got pregnant.”

“Her mother was the byproduct of her human grandmother and her werewolf grandfather’s union.”

Nathan stared at Bjornolf for a moment. “Oh.” Then he began hanging the lights again.

“It’s rare, but still risky.”

Nathan turned. “But Tessa wasn’t one of us. Hunter had to bite her.”

“Yes, but that’s not the point, is it? Her mother’s mother became pregnant. That’s the point. Further, we usually have multiple births so all of a sudden you wouldn’t have one child but possibly several.”

Nathan was quiet for a long time. Then he said meekly, as if he was afraid that Bjornolf would tell him that his thoughts on that subject were also urban legend, “We can’t get STDs from humans.”

“You’re right. Still, Jessica’s underage and jailbait.”

Nathan sighed. “You’re not going to tell me about the first time you had sex with a human?”

“You know how long we live, Nathan.” Bjornolf was sure Nathan’s father hadn’t talked to him about his own sex life before he mated Nathan’s mother. He wasn’t sure what the protocol was here. Bjornolf’s father certainly never talked to him about the birds and the bees.

“Yeah, I know once you reach puberty, you age only one in thirty years.”

“So it’s been a very long time.”

Nathan’s eyes widened. “You don’t remember?”

Bjornolf frowned at him. “Of course I remember.”

“Well?”

“She was sixteen.”

“Sixteen? That’s worse than me.”

“You’ve already done it with Jessica?” Bjornolf shouldn’t have sounded so astounded, but he had guessed the kid was trying to sound him out, to see if Bjornolf thought it was acceptable. Before he did it.

Nathan turned and hung another strand of the lights. “I shouldn’t have. I guess. Do you think Anna knows?”

Bjornolf was surprised Nathan would worry about what Anna thought. Then he recalled how she’d lectured him about not getting involved with a human girl. Which made him wonder when Anna had been involved with a human boy for the first time. That thought made his gut clench. It shouldn’t matter what she’d done so long ago, now that she was his.

Bjornolf shook his head. “I don’t know if Anna guessed or not.”

“She didn’t like it that I was seeing Jessica,” Nathan said morosely.

“If we have sex with a wolf-shifter, it’s for life,” Bjornolf warned, thinking that’s maybe why Nathan tore off to see Sarah. “So for years we seek… companionship with humans until we find a worthwhile mate. Don’t go having sex with Sarah unless she’s truly the one you want to be with forever, or you’ll both be stuck with each other for a very long time. No divorce for mated wolves.”

“Which means it’s okay to be with Jessica for now.”

“No,” Anna said, shoving the door open with her hip. She walked across the snow-covered grass, carrying a tray of hot, buttery crescent rolls and mugs of cocoa topped with mounds of whipped cream.

Nathan turned a little red as he eyed her.

“I brought you some breakfast. Not much, just something quick to snack on while you work.”

“You cook?” Nathan said, sounding surprised and at the same time glad as he climbed down the ladder to snatch a roll and a mug of cocoa.

“Don’t ever let Hunter and the SEAL team know. They think a woman should do all the cooking on missions. They tease me about it, but it’s not all bantering. I let them know otherwise.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.” Nathan scarfed down two more rolls.

“Thanks, Anna.” Bjornolf grabbed a couple before Nathan ate them all and helped himself to the other mug of cocoa. He’d fixed cocoa and rolls tons of times for himself before, but something about Anna preparing them made the food and drink taste even better.

“Yeah, thanks,” Nathan managed to say before he took another bite of his roll, concentrating on devouring them.

“Don’t worry,” she said to Nathan in a teasing tone. “I’ll feed you again.” She glanced up at the house, and her expression softened as she spied the lights hanging near the roof. “The lights are nearly done. They look great. I can’t wait to see them tonight when it’s dark.”