Except for one of the men. He was blonder than the rest of the people and skulking on the outskirts. He appeared sullen and unhappy to be here. The two men standing on either side of him looked like twin brothers and appeared to be guarding him.

Newly turned... Sarge? The Dark Angel? Had to be him the way no one else stood near him. He steadily observed her, and she didn't like the calculating look in his expression.

Leidolf stole her attention again, the way he watched her, his gaze finally taking in her appearance, the short cropped top, the low-slung pants, and his belt.

He offered a small smile and motioned to the table. "Cassie."

Everyone waited for her to do something, anything. She was the honored guest. She sighed. This might be the last good meal she had in a while. Might as well make the most of it before she took off.

When she reached for a plate, Laney hurried to get her one. "Rest your shoulder, dear. I'll carry it to where you decide to sit afterward."

"Thank you, but I really can manage."

"The honor is all mine," Laney said, smiling.

They were treating her like a long-lost princess of the realm--which again stirred her longing to belong to a pack. Well, not any pack. If she'd been a different woman, someone who needed a man, Leidolf and his pack might have done nicely.

Cassie filled her plate with slices of ham and roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, and spinach salad and tomatoes, topped with blue-cheese dressing. All of it looked scrumptious and smelled heavenly. Her stomach grumbled, and she was sure the whole group heard it.

Leidolf raised his brows a little. Yeah, he had heard. She couldn't seem to keep much secret from him.

Then a couple of men passed out glasses of wine while the pack members began filling their plates full of food. Everyone drifted to chairs and couches, finding a spot to perch while they ate and conversed. Leidolf extended his hand and pressed it against the small of her back, guiding Cassie to a conspicuously empty velour couch. His hand on her skin stirred all over again the craving for something more than the life she had. She tried to ignore what his touch did to her until his hand shifted around her hip, pulling her close as he moved her around a couple of his men. His action was loving and gentle and possessive. Some part of her liked that possessiveness, as if she belonged with him and with this pack.

Even so, her whole body heated several degrees while everyone watched their progression, and she didn't remember a time when she had felt this exposed. When they reached the couch, Leidolf motioned with his free hand for her to sit, still possessively embracing her hip. As soon as she sat, she missed the warmth of his touch, which was plain crazy.

Laney handed Cassie's plate to her, and raising a glass, Leidolf said, "I propose a toast for our pack members returning safely."

She drank some of her wine, delighted in the rich bouquet, and felt a buzz right away, probably because she hadn't had anything alcoholic to drink since the previous Christmas when she had joined some fellow researchers in a little holiday cheer. And got blitzed. Luckily, she had managed to slip away before she did anything really stupid.

Leidolf sat down beside her, way too close, way too possessively, when the couch had ample room for them to spread out. On the one hand, the way his leg touched hers annoyed her. He was in her space, and she fought moving away from him. Again the issue of running away made her stand her ground. On the other hand, some part of her wanted more of his touch. Craved it, as if she were a wolf in heat. Which technically, damn it, she was. And he was making all the right moves on her, which she was having a damn hard time ignoring.

Until now, her wolf urges had never troubled her. Damn, if his pheromones weren't triggering hers again.

If she could just have her way with him, would that resolve the craving she had for him? Then she'd be mated with him for life, and she didn't want anything permanent with a guy. Any guy. Not when she knew just where it would lead. No more running off to study wolves. Not without her mate's permission. And she assumed a pack leader wouldn't give it. Not when he wanted her with him to run a pack. And not when he would worry about her being alone in the wilderness facing who knew what. Maybe another naked man in a lake somewhere. Or maybe another hunter.

He reached across her leg to grab a saltshaker off the coffee table, his arm brushing the borrowed silky, floral pants against her skin, heating her to the core all over again. When she shot him a look to cool it, his eyes sparkled with mischief. Even if she at first thought he had touched her innocently, his expression said otherwise. She figured Leidolf was the kind of man who was always in control of his actions. Planning, making every move count for something, leaving nothing to chance.

As he returned the salt to the very same spot on the table, instead of just leaving it on his side, his arm rested unnecessarily against her thigh. She shoved his arm off her leg and smiled when he raised his brows at her, while he wore a devilish smile of his own. She had every intention of proving the point she wasn't his. Which was what this was all about. The mating game. Werewolf style.

The great room grew completely silent, and she looked up and found every eye on them.

One of the men, tall like Leidolf, broke the silence. "My girls say you weren't the one roaming through Forest Park."

Responding before Cassie could, Leidolf shook his head and lifted his glass of wine. "No, Carver. The wolf had a different scent. Not the same one at all."

Cassie figured Carver had to know that, since his daughters said he'd been searching for the other wolf. So what was this really all about?

Several of the men stood a little taller, interest reflected in their intrigued expressions. If the wolf Carver and Leidolf had smelled was the mother with the pups, the bachelors were sure to be disappointed. Cassie wasn't about to mention the she-wolf had pups. She probably had made a big mistake mentioning to Laney that she intended to return to the forest at all.

"Is she related to you?" Carver asked, his voice serious, as if he were already letting the other men know his interest in the woman, but a hint of hopefulness made her sympathize with him.

"No," Cassie said, hating to disappoint him, but she wouldn't expound on the wolf any further than that. Not that she knew any more about the wolf in Forest Park than what she suspected.

Carver didn't look dissuaded. He stuck fairly close to the couch and her while he sipped a glass of wine and watched her. Did he think that if the wolf was related to Cassie, she would put in a good word with her? She would, if it meant the twin girls would have a mother.

She glanced over at Alice and... she and her sister, Sarah, weren't together as she expected. Cassie surveyed the room full of people and saw Alice inching her way over to a boy around her age, tall with sparkling amber eyes and lifted lips as he watched the girl slip closer to him. He had the devil in his expression, every bit as enticing as Leidolf himself. No wonder Carver didn't want his daughters near the boy. It had to be Evan, the boy they had described as a real alpha. She sighed. The girls needed a mother to ensure boys like him didn't get the best of them and that a father like Carver didn't kill the boy in the interim if he went a little too far.

While she attempted to ignore everyone around her, Cassie enthusiastically forked up some more gravy and mashed potatoes but flinched when a twinge of pain spiraled through her shoulder. She breathed through the pain and then ate the bite of potatoes. She hadn't had a home-cooked meal like this in ages, and it sure was good. Although the dinner she shared with Leidolf at the Forest Club sure had been delicious. Eating freeze-dried stuff on the trail got really tiresome after a while. And she had every intention of getting another plateful of the home cooking as soon as she was done with this one.

Conversations renewed in hushed voices, too many of them were speaking for her to catch any one topic in particular, although she heard snippets of conversation--She's perfect... right for him... have to keep her... won't be easy.

She tried to ignore them and enjoy the food instead. Leidolf stuck close to her, his leg pressed against hers, showing her just how much he wanted her, which was triggering her own cravings. No man had ever turned her on with such a gentle, unimposing touch. She still wondered what it would be like to experience his kisses.

Her gaze wandered to his lips as he spoke to Elgin. Leidolf had manly lips that she imagined would be darned pleasurable pressed against her own. Elgin glanced at her, which triggered Leidolf to look also. Her face heated, and she looked back at her food, the remainder almost gone.

She clenched her hands, trying to stop the tingling in her nipples. "You could give me a little more room," she said to Leidolf. She spoke in her normal voice, which shouldn't have garnered any notice.

It did. Every conversation in the room instantly died.

Some out and out watched for Leidolf's reaction. Others just smiled and were less obvious about it.

"I could," Leidolf said, smoothly. He didn't move. His steady gaze challenged her to do something about it.

She let out a heavy breath in exasperation. Choose your battles wisely, her father had always warned her when she was a kid and wouldn't take any guff from others in the nearby town.

Was it worth it to take the alpha leader down a notch or two?

She wouldn't have hesitated if they'd been alone. Every pack member watched to see how she would react to the leader's challenge. Fine. She drew close to Leidolf, pressing her breasts against his shoulder, tilting her chin up to speak with him privately. He leaned over so she could whisper into his ear.

"Give me some breathing space, or you can wear the rest of my glass of wine." She tilted the glass a little from side to side, warning him, her expression deadly serious.

He tsked and leaned down to whisper in her ear, which felt way too sensuous. "What a waste that would be." His warm breath and silky words did a number on her already heightened senses.

She leaned away from him, waiting for him to comply, armed and ready if he didn't.

His eyes focused on hers, Leidolf smiled broadly and then slapped his thighs. "Cassie's getting a little too hot."