I’m on my way.
A moment later, a large male wolf appeared at the top of the stairs, his deep-set eyes focused intently on her. They were Quentin’s eyes. His powerful shoulders and broad chest spoke of strength and endurance. His luxurious russet coat gleamed in the light from two ornate sconces on the wall behind him.
He was breathtaking. And she wanted him.
She held his gaze. Thank you for saving my life.
You returned the favor. He started down the stairs. I’d say we’re even.
She didn’t agree that they were even, but she didn’t intend to stand here arguing about it. We missed our run in Central Park.
Yeah.
Would these woods do?
Absolutely.
Then follow me. Turning, she headed for what appeared to be a solid piece of paneling. When she pressed her paw against a section of inlaid rosewood, the panel swung inward to reveal a dimly lit tunnel.
She sent a quick message back to him. Hurry. The panel closes in ten seconds.
Dashing through the opening, she loped along the cool cement floor. She’d loved playing in these tunnels as a child. She’d been fascinated by the secret doors, the dank, musty smell, and the green laser beam near the exit that controlled the outside door.
When her nose touched the beam, the door creaked open. Quentin’s paws padded softly on the cement as he came up behind her.
Race you to the trees! Nadia put on a burst of speed and ran toward the forest, her legs stretched out and her belly low to the ground.
He passed her several yards before they reached the trees. She increased her pace, but couldn’t catch him before he disappeared into the woods.
Quentin?
No answer.
She couldn’t see him, but she could smell him. Following his scent, she entered a mossy clearing and paced around the perimeter. Heart pounding from the run combined with the thrill of being alone with him in the darkness, she paused and sniffed the air. His scent was close, but she couldn’t quite . . .
Gotcha! He leaped from the shadows and tumbled her to the soft ground. Over and over they rolled, nipping playfully at each other and growling in mock ferocity.
I knew this would be great. He pinned her to the ground, his paws on her chest as she lay on her back panting. You’re beautiful, Nadia.
You’re not exactly ugly, yourself. She’d imagined how he might look as a wolf but the reality was ten times more impressive.
Then again, her opinion of his appearance could be biased. She knew the strength of his character matched the power of his body. Any female Were would be proud to call him mate. Including her.
If she could abandon her duties and her position, she would beg him to be with her forever. That wouldn’t be happening. She was now her pack’s alpha and had to forget her personal desires.
But not until the sun came up. She caught the scent of his arousal and whined low in her throat.
With a soft growl, he stepped back and allowed her to get to her feet. Her heart hammered as they circled each other in an age-old ritual.
As her body grew ready for him, she ached for what could not be. We are not pledged. Stating that beforehand was a necessary step in order to keep from being forever joined.
We are not. Tomorrow I will leave you.
She hoped she could bear that. She sent him a message straight from her heart. I don’t want you to go.
I need to.
Will you be all right?
Yes, because tonight, we have this. Mounting her, he thrust forcefully, surely.
Intense pleasure battled intense heartache. At the end, she surrendered to the pleasure, but she knew the heartache would be with her for the rest of her life.
The next morning, Nadia arranged for Quentin to fly back on the corporate jet. Their private good-byes had been said in the cool darkness of the forest the night before, so she kept their parting in the morning brisk and businesslike. Her mother and the servants passing through the hallway would never suspect that she longed to hurl herself into his arms and beg him to stay.
Once Quentin was gone, Nadia settled down to the tasks she’d mentally listed as necessary. After a long talk with her father in which she emphasized how much she’d need his advice to help run the pack, she contacted a respected Were doctor who agreed to supervise Theo’s medical needs.
She scheduled a pack meeting for the following month and knocked out a tentative agenda with the help of her father. But by the second day she’d handled the immediate concerns and felt a desperate urge to reestablish her normal routine. The spring collection she’d roughed out while she was in New York needed more work, and she was eager to finish up those drawings.
Promising to return in a few days, she headed back to her office in downtown Chicago. She would have preferred to drive herself, but it seemed to make her father happy if she accepted a ride in the company limo, so she did that. Her environmental reforms would have to be gradual.
Nadia relished the chance to dive back into the work she loved. At the end of a long and satisfying day at the office, she took the train back to her apartment. Tonight she would put the finishing touches on her designs.
She spent the next three nights working on her designs while dealing with meetings and paperwork at the Henderson Organic Clothing office during the day. She searched fruitlessly for the inspiration that had moved her to create the designs so she could refine them in a way that would do them justice and add several more. Instead she seemed to be stamping out every original concept and replacing it with dreck.
Finally, frustrated by her lack of progress and desperate for a second opinion, she asked Sherry to come by her apartment over the weekend to take a look at the designs.
Sherry breezed in wearing her weekend casual clothes of jeans and a white cowl-necked sweater, but her high-heeled boots and the rhinestones decorating her jeans added the flair Nadia was used to.
“I’ll bet what you’ve done is fabulous and you’re too close to see it.” Sherry set her denim purse on the glass-topped table in Nadia’s entryway.
“I hope you’re right.” Nadia led her through the living room toward her office. “I really should have gone back to my folks’ house this weekend to handle more details of the changing of the guard, but these designs . . . I want to get them right before I launch myself into pack business again.”
“Good. I’m glad Henderson Organic Clothing is still a priority.”
Nadia glanced at her. “You were worried about that?”
“Not me. The staff was a little worried, but I told them you were a pro and you wouldn’t let the business languish because of new responsibilities. You’re proving my point, being here working instead of at your parents’ house.”
“Or trying to work.” Nadia took a deep breath as they walked into the office. “I definitely need another set of eyes on this project. Go ahead and sit.” She gestured for Sherry to take a seat in front of the computer.
Once Sherry was settled, Nadia leaned over her and clicked on a file. “Here’s what I’ve done with the concepts so far.” Nadia felt like she’d stripped nak*d as she turned the mouse over to Sherry.
Sherry scrolled through the work, and went back and scrolled through again. “Hm.”
“I knew it.” Nadia began pacing. “Whatever I latched onto in New York is gone. The original concepts are on life support.”
“Maybe it’s not that bad.” Sherry swiveled the chair to face her. “You might need a break. A vacation to, oh, let’s say New York, so you can recapture the mood you were in when you did the first drawings.”
Nadia met her assistant’s perceptive gaze. “That’s not possible.”
“Why? Did he leave the country?”
“No, but I’ve said my good-byes. It was getting way too serious, and I’m the alpha, now. He’s an inappropriate choice for someone in my position.”
Sherry studied her for several long moments. “Let me look at those first sketches again.” Turning back to the computer, she clicked on the folder containing the original work. After scrolling through it several times, she turned back to Nadia. “You want the good news or the bad news?”
“The good news.”
“You’ve done some great work in the past, but this is the best stuff you’ve ever produced.”
Nadia swallowed. “I guess that’s good news. So what’s the bad news?”
“This is only my opinion, but if you give up the guy, I think you’re closing yourself off from a tremendous source of inspiration. I’m not in your shoes, so I probably shouldn’t say, but I think that would be a crying shame.”
Nadia groaned. “But I can’t have him! He’s not—”
“So you’re going to sacrifice the creative possibilities of being with him?” Sherry pushed back the chair and stood. “I’m not very high on the pack totem pole, but for what it’s worth, I’d rather have an alpha who’s happy and fulfilled and making piles of money with her business than one who’s martyred herself to tradition and may never achieve her potential as a result.”
Nadia felt as if she’d been hit by a stun gun. As the truth of Sherry’s statement registered, Nadia began to smile. “Are you saying that if the alpha ain’t happy, ain’t nobody gonna be happy?”
Sherry laughed. “Pretty much.”