“Maybe he’s afraid you’re ready to step in as Alpha Male.”

“I am. But I’m not going to fight my own father for it.”

“But based on my readings—”

“Your readings?”

“Yes. I stopped by the library yesterday during lunch and read up on wolves and their social structure.” Holtz grinned and she hoped he wasn’t laughing at her. “Don’t make fun of me.”

“I’m not. Really. I think it’s . . . adorable.”

She rolled her eyes. “You do seem to like that word. Either that or your vocabulary is quite limited.” She shook her head. “Anyway, based on how wolf culture is structured, you may have to fight your father for leadership.”

He laughed. “If this were the 1200s, I’d agree with you, doc. But the Van Holtzes are civilized. I’m not about to maul my father to prove I’m ready to take over whenever he wants to hand me the leash. The old man will just have to suck it up.”

Holtz let out a breath and his eyes focused on her lips. “Now that we’ve got that squared away . . .”

“Oh, no, you don’t. Out.” Irene pushed him—well, he let her push him, Irene guessed—to the door and out into the hallway.

“Come on, Irene.” Resting his hands on the doorframe, Holtz leaned in. “Let me stay. I promise you won’t regret it.”

“Your mother and father are six doors down and have heightened senses. There is no way I’m letting you spend the night.”

“You worried about the screaming thing you do?”

“Holtz—”

“If you ask me nice I can gag you.”

Done with the conversation, Irene slammed the door in Holtz’s face. “Go away. Do not return until breakfast is ready.”

“Tease.”

Van stared into the refrigerator and debated what he wanted to eat. True, he’d had a full meal with desserts, but he wanted more. Actually, he wanted Irene but, as usual, she’d decided to be difficult. Still, he finally had to admit, he liked being in love. He’d never thought he would. Always thought of it as another trap. But Irene wouldn’t trap anyone. She really didn’t want to be bothered. Actually, she looked as freaked out as he used to feel. He knew he’d convince her, though. Convince her that for some unknown reason, they were perfect for each other. Besides, he had to do something. He hated not having her in his bed. Only one night apart and he’d never been so lonely before in his life.

Van caught his father’s scent behind him and didn’t bother to turn around. “Hey, Dad.” He grabbed an apple to control his hunger and thought about hunting something down. But before he could move, his father’s growl had the hairs on the back of Van’s neck snappingto attention.

Slowly, Van turned and faced the Alpha Male of the Van Holtz Pack. His father. Standing on the kitchen table, already shifted, Dieter Van Holtz stared coldly at his only son. He bared his fangs.

Still holding the apple, Van raised his hands, palms out. “Dad. Please. Don’t do this.” But he knew it was already too late. Knew what his father would do. Knew that the Pack stood outside the back door waiting for the old to challenge the new.

His father’s paws slammed into him as he leaped from the table, knocking Van through the back door and out onto the porch. By the time Van hit the hard wood, he’d already shifted to wolf.

Irene sat in the big comfy chair in her room, her naked legs tucked up under her. She wore one of Van’s T-shirts as a sleep shirt. Since she hadn’t planned on spending the night, she hadn’t brought any clothes.

She turned the page on the hardback potboiler she’d found on the room’s bookshelf. This was the kind of book Irene rarely allowed herself the luxury of reading, but with nothing else to do and still too wound up to sleep, she felt no guilt for taking the time out now.

Nearly an hour before, she’d heard all sorts of snarling and growling coming from the back of the house. She’d ignored it even as she briefly worried what might be going on. They were probably taking down some poor deer and she’d rather not know about it. Kind of like how she didn’t need to know where her beef came from.

The glass doors leading to her balcony opened.

“I thought we had this discussion, Holtz—”

Irene watched the dark brown wolf limp into her room. How he’d cleared the balcony, she had no idea. A rather disturbing amount of blood followed him in but she didn’t know if that was his or another’s.

“Holtz?”

He walked up to her and rested his head in her lap. By the time she stroked his hair, he’d turned back to human. He had bite and claw marks over most of his torso, but the bleeding wasn’t as bad as she’d first thought.

His long arms wrapped around her and he held on. Carefully placing the book beside her chair, she used both hands to stroke his head and shoulders. “What happened?” she asked softly.

He let out a soul-deep sigh. “I just tore my father apart so I could be the next Alpha Male of the Van Holtz Pack. I left him bloody and lying there so I could take the Pack hunting in the woods.”

“To prove what you’d done didn’t bother you.”

“Right.” He burrowed his head deeper into her body, like he wanted to crawl inside her. “To prove that I was stronger than any of them.”

“He challenged you, didn’t he?”

“You knew this was coming.” It wasn’t a question.