Call of the Wolf

By

Madelaine Montague

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 2

© copyright by Madelaine Montague, September 2008

Cover art by Eliza Black, September 2008

ISBN 978-1-60394-

New Concepts Publishing

Lake Park, GA 31636

www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s
imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or
events is merely coincidence.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 3

Chapter One

“Abby. Abby!”
Abigail Winthrope jerked her gaze from the countryside and stared blankly at the
man who’d spoken to her.
His lips tightened. She could see impatience in his hard gray eyes. Dragging in a
deep breath, he released it slowly, as if mentally counting to ten. “You’re going to have
to get used to responding to that name or you’ll be in serious trouble, Ms. Winthrope.”
Abby felt her face heat and then, as rapidly as her face had flushed with
embarrassment, the blood drained away and she went cold all over. “I’m sorry. I had
something on my mind,” she muttered.
She could tell from the look he gave her that he didn’t believe it for a minute.
Anger replaced the fear after a moment. She’d just had her entire life turned upside
down—ceased to exist—as the person she’d been since birth become someone else. She
was trying to adjust. She knew just as well as he did that her life depended on it. She
was no idiot! “What were you saying?”
“Maybe we should go over your background one more time?”
Abby chewed her bottom lip to keep from screaming at him. They’d done
nothing since the trial but go over it—weeks of going over and over it until she felt as if
they were trying to brainwash her, shatter her hold on her identity, rather than coach her
into remembering the new one. “Sure.”
He began firing questions at her like a machine gun. Where were you born?
What’s your mother’s name? Where did you go to school? When were you born?
Mother’s maiden name? Ex-husband’s name?
Abby managed to answer each question with barely a blink, and the agent relaxed
fractionally. “We’re coming up on Ajax.”
Abby nodded nonchalantly, but her heart leapt at the announcement and began to
beat a little faster tattoo against her chest wall.
It was her new home, her new life and, like her name, she’d had nothing to do
with the choices made for her. It wasn’t excitement making her heart hammer painfully
in her chest. It was dread … every bit as much fear as she’d faced in the courtroom when
she’d testified.
Where was the justice, she thought bitterly, for a witness condemned to life on the
run, or death? when the criminal they’d helped put behind bars carried on inside jail as if
nothing had happened and would probably go home again before she reached middle
age? Granted, it hadn’t been that grand a life, but it was hers. She’d put it together.
She’d guided her own feet down the path she wanted to take. She’d made her own
choices.
She hadn’t even chosen to be a federal witness. They’d bullied and threatened
her in to it, making promises they knew damned well they couldn’t keep, and now she
was going to be a school teacher in Bum-Fuck Nowhere, U.S.A., surrounded by
strangers. And she couldn’t even contact the pathetic number of friends and family she’d
had before her life had gone down the toilet.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 4

She’d never felt so completely alone in her life.
It was odd that she could feel that way when she’d actually had so little contact
with family members and friends in the past several years, been too caught up in her own
life to spare a lot of time or thought for it. And yet, she’d known she could. She’d
known they were there in the fringes of her life, going about their own lives, and she
could reach out any time she wanted to.
Now she couldn’t.
Agent Milner slowed the car, dragging her from her unpleasant thoughts, and she
glanced around in time to catch a glimpse of a tall, white sign with fancy lettering and
decorative curlicues proclaiming the town. Beneath the town’s name was the
announcement that it was incorporated—whoohoo!—and the population—which she
didn’t catch. She didn’t need to. Any town that posted their population didn’t have
much of a population to boast about.
Rounding a bend on the narrow highway they’d been following, Abby saw a
smattering of houses and businesses and then a wide banner above the highway, which
had become the main street.
Oddly enough, it was named Main Street!
The legend on the banner was an announcement of the town’s Harvest Moon
Festival.
Now there was something to get worked up about, Abby thought sarcastically.
Milner slowed the car even more. Abby wondered if it was to allow her to get a
really good look at her new ‘home’ until she noticed the speed limit sign of twenty-five
mph. Good god!
Struggling with her negative thoughts, Abby focused on studying the ‘commercial
district’ as they crept along Main Street, following a couple of other cars that seemed to
think twenty mph was fast enough. It was Saturday, and cars lined the street on both
sides. They had to stop a half a dozen times in the three blocks they traversed for cars
backing out of parking spaces—no, they didn’t have parallel parking!
Milner stopped at what appeared to be the only traffic light the town boasted,
glancing around with interest. “Looks like a nice little town.”
“You’re only saying that because you won’t be living here,” Abby said dryly.
He sent her a frowning glance. “Attitude can make the difference in whether you
enjoy your new life or not,” he said like the prick he was.
“Bite me,” Abby muttered.
His lips tightened. “You’ll want to watch the language. You’re an elementary
school teacher now.”
Abby sent him a fulminating glare. “And whose bright fucking idea was that?”
“The position was open.”
“And I’ll bet it was the only position open here.”
“It was. She died.”
Abby sent him a sharp look. “Joy, joy! They have a hell of a retirement plan …
or did the little darlings give the poor thing a heart attack?”
“Look, Ben … Ms. Winthrope, you’re alive and you have an entire life all set up
for you here … on the government tab. A new job, a house … everything you’ll need to
start over.”
Abby narrowed her eyes at him. “I liked the life I had,” she said tightly, “so don’t

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 5

take this ‘we did you a favor’ attitude with me!”
“Chances are you’d be dead now if we hadn’t. Maybe you should consider being
more careful about the boyfriends you pick in the future?”
Abby clenched and unclenched her fists a few times, wrestling with her temper.
It was a waste of time to strike out at Milner, even though she suspected he was the
bastard behind her being pulled in as a witness to start with. Of course, it might have
made her feel better to knock his head off—if she’d been capable of it—but it wouldn’t
change anything. “I hadn’t had but three dates with Mikhail,” she pointed out tightly. “If
y’all hadn’t bullied me into wearing that damned wire, my life wouldn’t have been in
danger to start with!”
The bastard didn’t even have the grace to look guilty about fucking up her entire
life. He shrugged, turning the corner as the light finally changed. “If it makes you feel
better to blame everybody else ...”
Exactly how the hell he figured it was her fault escaped her. How many women
ran criminal background checks on the men they dated, she’d like to know! It wasn’t as
if Mikhail either looked like, or behaved like, a thug, damn it! He’d behaved and dressed
like a well-to-do gentleman. He’d been young, handsome—sexy with his thick accent.
Half the women in the office had been panting after him!
She was supposed to be able to just look at him and tell he was the crime boss of
some huge Russian mob that dabbled in everything from gun running, to drugs, to
prostitution?
If he’d seemed extremely wealthy, maybe she would’ve been suspicious … and
maybe she would’ve just been even more dazzled.
Truthfully, she’d begun to feel just a little uneasy about Mikhail—some things
had just seemed a little off—but she’d only been out with him a couple of times and he
was a suave son-of-a-bitch. How was she supposed to have guessed he was grooming
her to use her connections?
She shook off her unpleasant thoughts as Milner pulled to the curb in front of a
tidy little one-story Victorian house with enough faux gingerbread to look like something
out of a fairytale. The neat yard was surrounded by a white picket fence in the front and
she could see a taller privacy fence surrounding the back yard beyond the private
driveway that curved past the right side of the house.
Shutting the car off, Milner unfastened his seatbelt, glanced up and down the
street and opened the door. Taking that as her cue, Abby unfastened her own belt and got
out, scanning the neighborhood. Everything was neat and tidy from one end of the street
to the other, as far as she could see. Not one house looked to be less than a hundred years
old and they were probably older than that given the fact that all of them had the deep
porches, enormous roofs, and the elevations of houses built more than a century earlier.
Several of them looked as if they dated back to the Civil War or earlier.
She caught a glimpse of a few people up and down the street, mowing or working
on flowerbeds, and a handful of children. Realizing most of them had stopped what they
were doing to stare at the strangers in their midst, she nodded a little uncomfortably and
turned as Milner joined her, following the paved walkway up to her front door.
A sign at the edge of the lawn of the house to her right caught her eye as she
scanned the yard of her own house. Shady Rest Bed-and-Breakfast.
Glancing at the house, she discovered it was a rambling two-story Victorian.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 6

Rockers were placed strategically around the wide porch that seemed to wrap halfway
around the house. One was occupied by an elderly woman who had a large bowl in her
lap. A man was standing not far from her, one shoulder propped against one of the porch
pillars, a second one was seated on the steps, his knees cocked in a negligent sprawl.
Nodding politely, she looked away, trying to ignore the uncomfortable flutter of
her heart in her chest.
Neighbors, she wondered? Or guests?
She’d gotten the impression that they were young men—but men, not boys—a
little old to still be living at home with ‘ma’ but young to consider visiting such a dirt-
water town, or staying at a Bed-and-Breakfast. She sent Milner a questioning glance.
Instead of acknowledging it, he moved ahead of her, scaling the steps to the high porch at
a jog and pulling the screen door open.
Abby grasped the edge of the screen door and held it wide while Milner unlocked
the front door and pushed it open. The interior of the house was cool and dark. Abby
paused in the wide hall that bisected the house while Milner looked around and finally
found a light switch, flicking it on and staring up at the cheap, single bulb fixture in the
ceiling about twelve feet above them. An oversized door led off to the parlor on the
right. Opposite that was another door, which opened into a bedroom.
After glancing at both, Abby followed the hallway back and found a second
bedroom directly behind the front bedroom, a formal dining room behind the parlor, and
a kitchen and bath at the back of the house. The house had been furnished—so
thoughtful of the bastards who’d obviously disposed of her furniture!—but boxes were
stacked in every room.
“Your personal belongings.”
Abby glanced at Milner, feeling the tension inside of her lessen a fraction. “Y’all
packed up my apartment and brought my things?”
He shrugged. “Pretty much everything, I imagine … unless it was considered
dangerous.”
Abby blinked at him. “Dangerous?” she echoed.
Again, he shrugged. “Anything that might tie you to your past.” He moved past
her and set his briefcase on the small kitchen table. Opening it, he pulled out a folder and
flipped it open, removing a driver’s license, a credit card, birth certificate, diploma,
teaching certificate ….
Abby moved close enough to stare down at her ‘life,’ the one they’d invented for
her. The credit card surprised her.
“The limit’s twenty-five hundred. You also have a bank account in your name at
the Citizens Bank on Main Street with another twenty-five hundred. That should be
enough to hold you until your paychecks.”
Their generosity was overwhelming! He must have read her opinion in her
expression. “Everything’s paid for. Utility deposits—you have a late model car out
back, no mortgage, and the kitchen is fully stocked—and a job waiting for you.” He
pulled out a card, scribbled something on the back, and dropped in on the table. “I’m
your contact. The number on the back is your case number. If you have any reason to
suspect that you’re in danger, call me.”
As little as she liked the man—any of the men she’d had to deal with—it was
terrifying to realize he was about to walk out of her life and she had nothing to cling to

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 7

but a damned business card, nothing between her and the Russian mob but a phone
number. She swallowed with effort. “I thought the whole idea of placing me in this dirt-
water town was to ensure that any strangers would be noticed by everybody. And now I
discover I’ve been parked on the doorstep of a Bed-and-Breakfast?”
He frowned, but since he seemed to wear a perpetual frown, it was hard to say
whether he found that news as disquieting as she did or not. “We checked it out. The
woman that owns it, Mrs. Parker, has lived here her entire life. She has four full time
boarders—all of them have been thoroughly checked out—and she hasn’t had more than
a dozen guests in the past year and a half.”
He glanced around at the kitchen. “This was used as a safe house several times in
the past and there weren’t any problems. Any questions before I leave?”
Abby wrestled with the sudden urge to beg him to take her someplace else,
anywhere else … or just to stay. “I start work Monday, right?”
He nodded. “Don’t lose my card.”
Heaving a shaky breath, she nodded a little jerkily in response, and then followed
him back through the house and out on to the porch. He startled her by grasping her
shoulders and dragging her up against him. Kissing her on the cheek, he set her away.
“Take care, sis!” he said as he turned and jogged down the steps. He paused and turned
back when he’d reached the walkway. “You’re comin’ to Irene’s for Christmas, right?”
Abby blinked at him but managed a nod.
He turned back to wave when he reached the car. Abby waved back. “Be
careful!” she called out for the benefit of their audience although she hoped the bastard
croaked.
Without glancing toward the neighboring house, she ducked back inside the
moment his car drove off. Leaning weakly on the door she’d closed behind her, she
waited until her heart had resumed a more normal rhythm and finally pushed away from
the door. After wandering from room to room for a while, listening to the hollow echo of
her heels against the hardwood floor, she finally stopped in the rear bedroom. She
studied the colorful quilt on the wide bed for a moment, and then crossed the room and
crawled into bed fully clothed, pulling the quilt over her head.
When every effort to summon tears and fall apart failed because she was just too
numb to feel any emotion deeply, Abby got out of the bed again, moved to the boxes
stacked near one window, and set about emptying and sorting. By the time she’d gone
through every container in both bedrooms, she’d lost the ability to distance herself from
her emotions.

Her personal effects consisted of approximately half of what had been packed.

The designer business suits she’d accumulated to ‘dress for success’ by scrimping on
everything else had disappeared. The wardrobe furnished by Uncle Sam for her new role
as school teacher was the dowdiest bunch of rags she’d ever laid eyes on and she was
absolutely furious.

Curbing the urge to shred them, or throw them in the floor and stomp them and

pitch a royal tantrum, she dumped them on the bed and stalked out the back door of the
house, searching for some means of venting the rage boiling inside of her and threatening
to spill out. A cheap grill caught her eye as soon as she’d stepped onto the porch, the sort
that was more of an aluminum dish on legs than a real grill and no doubt purchased at
some bargain store like every fucking else they’d ‘provided.’ Narrowing her eyes at it

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 8

speculatively for a moment, she finally stalked over and picked it up, pushed the screen
door of the porch open with her hip and stalked down the steps and into the back yard.
After planting the grill a goodly distance from anything that looked likely to go up in
flames, she strode back up the steps and grabbed the small bag of charcoal bricks.

She removed the grill top when she’d reached the grill again, tossed it aside, and

formed a mound of charcoal in the center of the pan. All she needed was something to
light it.

Stalking to the trash can near the back steps, she shoved the empty bag into it and

went back on the porch to look for something to start a fire. A can of lighter fluid, she
discovered, had been left thoughtfully beside the grill and charcoal bricks, but she didn’t
see any sign of a match or lighter. A search of the kitchen drawers turned up a box of
oversized kitchen matches—no doubt to light the damned antiquated stove!—and she
returned triumphantly to the yard armed with matches and lighter fluid.

Tucking the box of matches under one arm, she opened the can of lighter fluid

and hosed down the charcoal bricks with the fluid until she’d emptied the can and was
satisfied she’d put more than enough fuel on the bricks to produce a minor bonfire.
Grasping the box of matches, she backed off a few paces and pulled a match out.

“You plannin’ on roastin’ an ox?”
The deep male voice startled Abby so badly she dropped the match she’d been on

the point of striking. Whirling around, she spied a man propped negligently against the
side of her porch, his arms folded over his chest.

Her gaze slid down the jacket clad upper torso that seemed impossibly broad—

perhaps because of his folded arms and the jacket—following the stripe down the leg of
his trousers to his serviceable black shoes.

Not a man, she mentally amended.
A cop!
Abby gaped at him, her mind scrambling madly for information it hadn’t

registered—most importantly just how long he might’ve been standing at the end of her
porch observing her and why he might have been watching her. She hadn’t noticed him.
She sure as hell hadn’t heard him creeping up on her.

It was hard seeing past the brown-and-tan uniform. As he reached up, however,

tipping the brimmed hat back on his head that he’d had pulled low across his brow, her
gaze followed the movement and landed on his face. His thick, black, almost straight
brows were tented upward above the bridge of his long, straight and surprisingly
patrician nose. His eyes were narrowed, either against the brightness or in anger, she
wasn’t certain which, and, in any case, he was, fortunately, too far away for her to
discern the color of his eyes, but not too far to notice the thick fringe of black lashes.

There wasn’t a hint of a smile on his hard mouth.
“I beg your pardon?” Abby managed finally.
He gestured with his squared, cleft chin toward the grill. “That’s an awful lot of

charcoal and lighter fluid for a hamburger—or a steak.”

Abby glanced toward the grill, trying to think. When no plausible excuse

occurred to her, she returned her attention to the sheriff, who’d stood away from the
porch and was sauntering toward her.

Big, she thought.
Brawny? Or fat?

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 9

A quick glance down his length didn’t discern a sign of a gut. “Uh … were you

looking for somebody?”

He stopped when he was still a good yard away, tilting his head curiously. “You

Abigail Winthrope?”

Abby stared at him blankly. “What?” she asked, stalling for time while she

struggled to remember her name.

The straight, black brows lifted upward, tilting his hat forward again. “Sheriff

Banner. Seth.”

Abby blinked at him. “Who?”
His hard mouth abruptly curled. A faint chuckle escaped him. “Guess I startled

you.”

Startled didn’t begin to cover what he’d done to her. Dragging her gaze from

him, she stared at the box of matches in her hand, then the grill full of charcoal she’d
soaked down to start a bonfire for the clothes the Feds had so thoughtfully picked out for
her to replace the designer suits she’d worked her ass off to pay for. She looked at the
cop again. It wasn’t easy ignoring the fact that the man was damned easy on the eyes,
but the uniform made it far less difficult than it might’ve been otherwise. “I’m sorry …
Who did you say you were looking for?”

Something flickered in his eyes. “Abigail Winthrope. You are the new school

teacher?”

Abby studied him, feeling decidedly unfriendly. She didn’t care if that smile

ordinarily melted the hearts of women six to sixty, the heart palpitations the bastard had
given her had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was a definite twelve on a
scale of one to ten. “And why are you in my backyard?”

He looked a little taken aback.
Strike that. He looked a little pissed off. The smile flat-lined. His eyes narrowed

again. “Mrs. Parker sent me to welcome you to town and invite you to dinner,” he said
coolly.

Abby pasted a tight smile on her lips, searching her mind for the name until it

finally surfaced—the neighbor with the Bed-and-Breakfast. “How very … neighborly of
her! Do be sure to tell her how much I appreciate the invitation but, as you can see, I
was just about to throw something on the grill.”

The sheriff studied her skeptically. “You’ll have the fire department down here

inside of five minutes if you light that thing.”

Abby’s smile became more brittle. “Y’all have a fire department?”
His complexion darkened.
On one level, Abby was well aware that she was being a bitch and that it was

damned stupid to set up the back of the local law. On another, she’d had about all she
could take of the ‘law’ of the land and she was pissed off besides that he’d sneaked up on
her. It was her backyard, damn it! If she wanted to build a fucking bonfire in her grill,
she ought to be able to!

“We do. We have all sorts of things … just like they do in the big cities,” he

responded with determined cordialness.

Abby fought the urge to ask him if that included electricity, running water, and

sewage and managed to tamp it. She returned her gaze to the grill. As frustrated and
angry as she was, as dead set as she was against even pretending to be friendly to a cop

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 10

after all she’d been through, she realized she couldn’t really afford to deliberately set
everyone against her when she had no where else to go. “Too much charcoal, huh?”

“About three times too much … unless you are plannin’ on grillin’ an entire

steer,” he said dryly.

“I guess it wouldn’t be a very good idea to put them back in the bag,” she said a

little doubtfully, wondering what to do with the shit now that she couldn’t vent her anger
the way she’d planned.

“Not with a can of lighter fluid on them, no.”
Abby ground her teeth together. Obviously, he’d been observing her a lot longer

than she’d realized. She tucked the box of matches under her arm again. “In that case, I
guess I’ll just forget about grilling and fix a sandwich.”

“Or you could take Mrs. Parker up on her invitation and join us for dinner.”
Us?
Abby discovered she couldn’t really maintain her anger in the face of his

determined politeness. “That’s sweet of her, but I’m really tired. And I haven’t even
started unpacking my things.”

He studied her speculatively. “All the more reason to take her up on her offer.

She’s a good cook.”

Abby looked down at the old jeans and t-shirt she’d put on to work in because

they were comfortable and familiar—and she needed comfort and familiarity. She didn’t
feel up to dealing with meeting strangers and trying to maintain the role the Feds had
manufactured for her.

She didn’t think she would ever really be ready for it, though.
And she was hungry.
And she didn’t feel like cooking.
“I should probably change.”
She discovered when she met his gaze that he was surveying her with patent

interest.

“Not on my account. You might want to put on a bra, though.”
Abby felt her face heating. She couldn’t resist the impulse to look down at

herself, despite the fact that she more than half suspected he was only guessing. The t-
shirt was old, but it certainly wasn’t thread bare.

It had a few holes in it, though, very small holes.
And her nipple had found one of them!
She jerked her head up and met his gaze. A faint tremor moved along his well

chiseled lips, but he managed to keep from grinning at her.

“I’ll tell Mrs. Parker you’ll be along,” he murmured in a shaky voice, turning and

striding away.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 11

Chapter Two

His thoughts in riot, Seth strode briskly along the driveway and crossed the
boundary between the two properties by simply stepping over the low picket fence that
surrounded Abigail’s front yard. He wasn’t certain what he’d expected when he’d agreed
to deliver Beth’s invitation to the new teacher, but it sure as hell wasn’t what he’d
encountered.
He was pretty sure the turmoil churning inside of him was the fact that Abigail
Winthrope didn’t look anything like the image in his mind of a tall, skinny, mousy,
middle-aged spinster whose face might crack if she smiled. He couldn’t say that she
looked too young to be a teacher—he was pretty sure she must be in her late twenties—
but she looked entirely too hot to be a school teacher.
They damned sure hadn’t had any teachers like that when he’d been in school. If
there had been he would probably have spent most of his time in detention for trying to
seduce her. He sure as hell wouldn’t have had his mind on books—at all.
Not that he had anyway. Like probably the majority of young males, he’d had
almost a perpetual hard-on from puberty until his hormones had finally settled down and
there hadn’t been a hell of a lot on his mind besides finding someplace to stick it.
He couldn’t decide what to make of the hostility he’d sensed in her even before
she’d cut into him with the sharp edge of her tongue. Obviously, he’d caught at her at a
very bad time. She’d been fuming when she’d sailed past him the first time. He hadn’t
really registered it because he’d been pretty completely focused on the thong and the tops
of her buttocks that he’d had a fine view of above the waist of her jeans when she’d bent
over to set the grill down.
And the bounce and sway of her breasts as she stalked back in his direction as
she’d headed onto the porch again. It wasn’t until she’d slammed back into the house
that he’d finally emerged enough from his stupor to realize that the scent that had been
tantalizing him was laced liberally with rage … and fear.
He didn’t understand the fear any more than he understood the rage. She hadn’t
spotted him, hadn’t realized he was standing at the corner of her porch watching her
jerky, angry movements until he’d spoken to her.
It wasn’t because he was a cop, although he hadn’t missed the fact that that hadn’t
gone over well.
And it certainly wasn’t because she had any clue of what he was.
He shook the thoughts off as he reached the steps of the boarding house and
trotted up them.
“Well?” Cameron drawled as he reached the porch again. “Any luck enticin’ the
little mam’zelle over for dinner?”
Seth narrowed his eyes at the visitor from ‘Nawlin’s’ but merely shrugged. “She
didn’t seem to be much in the mood for socializing. You didn’t mention she wasn’t one
of us.”
Cameron’s dark blond brows rose. Seth was almost positive the expression of

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 12

surprise wasn’t feigned. “Now that’s a fuckin’ shame,” he murmured. “I done had my
heart set on that little filly, too.”
Seth’s lips tightened. “You know pack law, Fontaine,” he said coldly.
Cameron’s expression hardened. “I know pack law, mon ami,” he responded just
as coldly. “Question is, do you mean to abide by it yourself? Or are you just aimin’ to
make sure the rest of us do an’ leave the field to you?”
Seth felt his hackles rise and tamped the aggression with an effort. “Is that a
challenge, Fontaine?”
Cameron glanced up and down the street and curled his lips. “Not over this
territory—the woman—maybe.”
“She won’t be taking part in the mating festivities,” Seth said coldly. “She’s
human.”
“Now hold on!” Adrian Paulson snapped, entering the discussion abruptly. “Pack
law says she can’t be inducted without her full knowledge and consent. It don’t say
nothin’ about persuasion.”
“That depends upon what sort of ‘persuasion’ you have in mind,” Seth said
tightly. “The gathering for the run is less than a week away. How much persuading do
you think you can manage in that length of time?”
Cameron grinned at him abruptly. “Struck out, did you?”
“Bite me!” Seth growled, striding abruptly to the door and inside. Beth Parker
was in the kitchen ladling food into serving bowls.
She glanced at him as he stopped in the doorway. “She didn’t succumb to your
charms,” she murmured wryly.
Seth folded his lips irritably. “Fuck! What? Is it written on my forehead or
something?”
Beth gave him a disapproving glance for his language but chuckled. “It’s written
all over your face. If I had a camera, I’d take a picture. This is a moment to remember!
Last time you was trounced by a female you was about eight, I’m thinking. What was
her name?”
Seth glared at her. “I don’t remember,” he said sulkily. “Set another place. She
might show just for the hell of it.”

* * * *

Abby wasn’t exactly mortified at the discovery that one of her nipples had been
‘eyeing’ the sheriff—probably the entire fucking time she’d been standing there seething
with resentment—but it certainly didn’t make her comfortable. Once she’d beat a retreat
back into the house, she paced her room for a few minutes, though, trying to decide
whether she was in any shape to deal with her disguise and finally decided it would be
worse if she didn’t.
Assuming the sheriff was to be one of the guests, and she thought she could safely
assume that.
She was pretty sure he had no idea who she was or why she was there. The Feds
tended to look down their noses at other law enforcement agencies and, in any case, the
federal witness protection program was even more close-mouthed. The fewer who knew,
the less chance there was that she’d be found.
She didn’t make the mistake of thinking they actually gave a shit about her, but
their case was a different matter. They were keeping her on ice just in case they needed

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 13

her again.
Sheriff Seth Banner wouldn’t know about her, she decided, and since she didn’t
particularly want to arouse his suspicions and have him nosing around, it seemed to her
she needed to do some serious back pedaling to cover their hostile first meeting—or at
least the hostility she’d aimed at him.
He’d seemed a little inclined to flirt, which might or might not mean he’d found
her interesting. She hadn’t been so angry that she hadn’t noticed he was a damned fine
specimen of male pulchritude—both face and form had been movie star grade—and since
he hadn’t struck her as an idiot, she was pretty sure he was well aware of it. So it could
just be a habit to try to nail anything with tits and no particular interest, or it could be that
he was one of those guys who thought it was his due and only got more determined if a
woman didn’t fall on her back and spread her legs immediately?
The question was, would it be quicker and less painful to let him make his mark
and move on? Or would it be safe to snub him?
Pretty or not, she not only wasn’t in any emotional state to have any desire to
date, at all, because of her ex, but she’d developed a healthy dislike of anything wearing
a badge. Maybe she was being a bigot, but she didn’t particularly give a fuck. He could
be the nicest guy in the world, but her instincts were telling her he wouldn’t be wearing
that damned badge if he wasn’t a hell of a lot like the men, and women, who’d wrecked
her life.
She’d just have to try to walk the line between polite and cold, she decided, if the
sheriff was there. Ideally, he’d let it go at that. There had to be plenty of women on his
beat that let him have anything he wanted anytime he wanted it—probably pestered him
to fuck them. He’d survive without one more mare in his stable.
With that in mind, she moved to the stack of hideous dresses the Feds had decided
was appropriate for her role as teacher, dragged her t-shirt and jeans off and pulled it on.
She didn’t bother with a bra. She rarely wore underclothes of any description unless she
wasn’t wearing panty hose, in which case she wore thongs. She didn’t see any point in
ditching her thongs for pantyhose, though, not when the damned dress hit her mid-calf.
Oh, yeah, she thought examining her reflection, definitely school marmish!
Raking a brush ruthlessly through her hair, she tamed the dark auburn curls and trapped
them with a stretch band in a pony tail at the base of her skull and then slipped her feet
into a pair of sandals. Heels probably would’ve kept her from looking quite so dumpy,
but she wasn’t trolling and there was no making this sort of get-up stylish or elegant—not
when the damned thing only emphasized the fact that she was shy of average height by
several inches.
Pausing at her front door to gird herself for the ordeal, she took a few calming
breaths and finally went out. The sun had set since she’d left the backyard she
discovered and, although it still looked like there was at least an hour before full dark,
she decided to go back in and turn on a few lights. When she’d locked every door and
window and checked it twice, she grabbed the keychain agent Milner had given her that
contained her car and house keys and stepped onto the porch again once she’d flipped on
the porch light. After locking the door, she crossed the porch and descended the steps,
glancing toward her neighbor’s house.
The front porch seemed fuller than it had before and her stomach tightened.
There was no way to pretend she hadn’t been headed that way, though, and she merely

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 14

tightened her hand around the keys until they were cutting into her palm and crossed the
yard with as much aplomb as she could manage.
It was annoying and unnerving to have to take the walk to the gate and then down
the sidewalk before she could turn up the walkway to the Bed-and-Breakfast, but even
though the picket fence that surrounded her yard was short, she was pretty sure trying to
step over it would be both painful and embarrassing. The older woman she’d spied
earlier came out the door before she could reach the porch, her gaze instantly zeroing in
on Abby. “Ms. Winthrope! I’m so glad you decided to join us! Seth seemed to think
you might not.”
Abby flicked a glance over the men ranged around the porch and finally spotted
Seth sprawled in the swing at the far end near the corner where the porch turned and went
down the side of the house. She smiled at the woman with an effort. “It isn’t that I
didn’t appreciate the invitation. It was just a tiring trip and I have so much to do before
Monday, so I’m pretty wound up.”
“No doubt you’re anxious to meet your students,” Ms. Parker said. “I’m sure it
must be exciting getting a fresh start in a brand new place but unsettling, too. Let me
introduce you to my guests. They’re in town for the Harvest Festival. This handsome
rogue here,” she added, patting the blond god in the rocking chair next to her, “is
Cameron Fontaine. He’s from New Orleans.”
He stood abruptly, towering over her. Abby looked up at him, feeling her jaw
drop with the effort. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Abigail,” he drawled, his blue eyes
gleaming with a mixture of amusement and something else she couldn’t entirely identify.
She found herself smiling back at him a little vacuously. “Abby,” she murmured
absently.
His dark blond brows rose. She noticed he flicked a glance in Seth’s direction.
“This is what your close friends call you, chère?”
Abby reddened. “Uh … I just hate the name Abigail.”
Her response startled a chuckle out of him. “Ouch. You don’t pull any punches,
chère.”
Abby couldn’t help but smile, albeit wryly. “I imagine you’ll recover,” she
murmured dryly, turning away from him as Ms. Parker claimed her attention and
introduced her to another of her guests, Adrian Paulson, who was as dark as Seth and as
handsome.
What had she stumbled in to, she wondered? A male model convention?
“Seth, you’ve met,” the woman said, waving a hand in his direction. “He boards
here and the big lug that nearly tripped you up coming up the steps there is Jerico
Collins.” She glanced around the porch. “Food’s on the table, boys. Don’t run poor
little Abby down on your way in!”
‘Poor little Abby’ tried not to look at any of the ‘boys’ since she was fairly certain
the woman had managed to offend all of them. She didn’t know if it was the woman’s
admonition not to run her down on the way to the table or their own good manners, but
they merely followed her and Ms. Parker inside in an orderly manner.
“You can call me Beth. Everybody does … ‘cause I’m not too fond of Elizabeth
and never was and my middle name’s even worse.”
Amused by the woman, liking her, Abby see-sawed toward comfort but there was
no maintaining her composer. She discovered when they got to the dining room, there

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 15

were two more men and one young woman who looked to be around her age, and who
were also joining them for supper. She wasn’t quite certain how the woman managed it,
but she, Beth, and Julie were each seated between two of the men.
She would almost rather have been anywhere but where she was—sandwiched
between Seth Banner and Cameron Fontaine. There was a relaxed, almost family
gathering feel to the meal, and yet Abby had never been in the presence of so much male
splendor in her life, which was enough in itself to throw any red-blooded female into a
tailspin. When, added to that, she had to worry about every word she spoke, tension
rolled through her in peaks and dips that made her feel vaguely ill in spite of the fact that
the food was exceptionally good.
Julie Markam didn’t seem to care for her. She projected a polite, cautiously
friendly manner, and yet Abby felt almost a sense of hostility radiating from the woman
any time she looked her way.
She couldn’t quite figure out why. She was a visitor and, from what Abby could
tell, she’d arrived alone, so it seemed unlikely the hostility had anything to do with any of
the men present. It certainly wasn’t work-related aggressiveness. Julie managed a
boutique in Houston.
“You’re on vacation?” Abby asked a little curiously, wondering if, maybe, the
woman had relatives in town.
Julie’s expression rebuffed her, but she responded politely enough. “I came for
the Festival.”
Surprise jolted through Abby. The Hicksville Harvest Moon Festival? She’d
come all the way from Texas to attend a fall festival in backwater USA? “Oh,” Abby
said a little blankly. “I’ve never heard of it. It must be really special?”
The undercurrents that ran through everyone at the table confused her even more.
Beth smiled without looking at her. “It is … very special. Starting Thursday afternoon,
the booths will be open and there’ll be craftsmen from all over the country there
displaying their crafts. Friday we’ll have the barbeque and barn dance and then Saturday,
of course, is the Harvest Moon ritual.
“I expect Ms. Markam’s here for the crafts. There’s bound to be all sorts of
things available that she’ll be interested in for the boutique.”
“Julie, please,” Ms. Markam said, smiling at the older woman. “I feel like my
mother when you call me Ms. Markam … and, yes, I’m hoping to find some real
treasures for the boutique at the craft show, but I’m looking forward to enjoying the
entire Festival this year.”
She flicked a flirtatious glance around the table at the men as she made the last
comment.
Actually, it was a little more than just flirtatious. It looked downright openly
sexual as it paused on Seth significantly for several moments and then switched to
Cameron before she finally settled her gaze speculatively on Abby. “What brings you
here if you didn’t come for the festival?”
Aside from the fact that the woman’s tone set her back up, Abby wasn’t
particularly thrilled to be in Ajax at all. She smiled with an effort. “A job. I’ll be
teaching K-5 at Ajax Elementary.”
Julie’s blond brows rose almost to her hairline. “You’re a teacher?” She paused.
“I don’t suppose there’s much teaching involved with pre-schoolers, though, is there?”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 16

Abby would’ve been willing to agree with her right up until that moment. “It’s
certainly a challenge trying to teach young children, but then that’s what I’ve always
loved about teaching—helping to mold young minds,” she lied, smiling through her teeth.
“You must find your own career so much more rewarding. Convincing women to part
with their hard earned money for over-priced clothes and unnecessary accessories can’t
be easy.” She batted her eyelashes at the woman.
Julie flushed but maintained her smile. “It is rewarding—particularly when I
have someone like you to work with. For instance—don’t take offense—but neither the
color nor the lines of that … dress are particularly flattering. You’re too short to carry
something like that off. It just makes you look dumpier … uh … shorter.”
It was hard to think of a retort to that, particularly when she completely agreed.
“Oh, well style and teaching don’t really go together. Parents like to feel that the
teacher’s focused on teaching, not the fathers of their students. I did notice your
ensemble was very flattering to your figure, though. I’d always heard that it was best to
stick to solid colors unless you have a particularly nice feature you want to draw attention
to and, of course, the flowing lines can hide a multitude of defects in the figure. The
wide belt is a nice touch. It actually makes your waist look small … uh …er,” Abby
replied, smiling sweetly at the other woman.
“I see you’re a woman who enjoys living dangerously, chère,” Cameron said in
an audible whisper near her ear, his voice shaking with suppressed laughter. “You doan,
by chance, have a partner for the dance Friday? ‘Cause if you doan, I might be
available.”
Abby couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re an outrageous flirt. You know that, of
course?”
He tried to look wounded but amusement danced in his eyes.
“She only arrived this afternoon,” Seth said in a sardonic drawl. “I doubt she’s
had time to field many invitations, but I’d intended to offer to escort her myself.”
Abby sent him a quick look of surprise, feeling her face heat uncomfortably.
Dragging her gaze from him after a moment, she glanced around at the other diners,
trying to decide how to respond. Everyone at the table, it appeared, sensed the hostility
wafting between the two men on either side of her—for everyone had tensed.
“Actually,” Adrian drawled. “I thought I’d ask her myself.”
When had she become the belle of the ball, Abby wondered uneasily?
“Actually,” she managed to say finally, “as much as she appreciates the invitations, she
didn’t know anything about the dance and she probably won’t be going at all.”
“Good thinking,” Beth said approvingly. “Don’t let them corner you into
choosing now. You can do that at the dance.”
The comment, thankfully, earned the older woman several unfriendly glances—to
which she seemed completely oblivious—but it effectively drew the men’s attention
away from her. She considered reaffirming her decision not to go to the dance at all, but
she didn’t particularly want to draw the men’s attention back to her. “The food was
wonderful!” she said instead. “I can’t thank you enough for inviting me. Can I help you
with clean up?”
Beth waved a hand at her. “Don’t be silly. You’re a guest. Besides, you’re
going to have your hands full setting your place to rights. I’d be happy to give you a
hand if you like … maybe tomorrow after church?”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 17

Abby smiled thinly. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m sure I can manage.” She got
up despite Beth’s dismissal and helped her collect the dishes from the table, following the
older woman into the kitchen with a profound sense of relief at having escaped the dining
room.
Beth directed her to a chair to sit and chat while she finished up, flatly refusing to
allow Abby to do more than help her collect the dishes and wipe down the dining table.
“You’re not serious about skipping the dance?”
“Oh, I don’t really think I’ll be up to it,” Abby replied uncomfortably. “My first
week here and all ….”
Beth sent her a speculative look that made Abby squirm.
“And I don’t know anybody, you know?”
“You’re not going to get to know folks around here if you don’t get out and
mingle while you have the chance,” Beth retorted.
The problem was she didn’t want to get to know anyone, but she certainly
couldn’t say that without also explaining why … or leaving that tantalizing tidbit out
there for speculation, which could be worse. There was no telling what inventive minds
might make of it.
Besides, neither Cameron Fontaine, Jerico Collins, nor Adrian Paulson were
locals. They were only in town for the festival. What would be the point of going out
with them when it couldn’t go anywhere? It wasn’t likely they would consider moving to
Ajax and she certainly couldn’t go … anywhere. And they were from big cities, which,
according to the Feds, was the worst idea of a place to go.
She might as well paint a bulls eye on her forehead.
As for Seth … she would’ve been lying if she said she had no interest at all. She
wasn’t dead—yet. She thought it would be more accurate to say she had no interest in
getting more interested. Beyond the fact that he was a cop and she’d had her fill of being
around cops for a lifetime, next to a reporter, she couldn’t think of anybody more likely,
or more determined, to ferret out her story. In time, maybe, she’d grow accustomed
enough to her new identity that she wouldn’t be worried about stumbling at the wrong
time, saying something she shouldn’t, but she didn’t feel nearly secure enough yet to test
it.
“You’re right,” she answered Beth finally, smiling with an effort. “And maybe I
will go, but it’s not something I’m putting a high priority on at the moment. And I
certainly don’t feel like being … cornered. Is it just me, or did it seem to you that they
were coming on a little strong?”
Beth grunted, but it was hard to say whether she wrestled with the comment or the
effort of scrubbing the iron skillet. “Alphas ...” She broke off and slid a glance at Abby
over her shoulder.
Abby couldn’t prevent a faint shiver. Right up until she’d gotten to know
Mikhail, she’d thought she was as drawn to Alpha males as any other female. Nodding
in agreement, she rose. “I should get back … if you’re sure you don’t want me to help
out a little?”
“I can handle it … do it three times a day.”
“That’s just depressing!” Abby said sympathetically. “You should consider
getting a dishwasher.”
“Got one comes week days, but I give her the weekends off.”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 18

Abby chuckled. “I meant a machine. You only have to pay for it once and it
doesn’t complain or ask for a raise.”
Beth turned to stare at her for a long moment and then looked around her kitchen.
“I don’t know where I’d put it,” she said finally.
“I think I’d think of a place,” Abby replied with a grin. “Thanks again. I haven’t
had home cooking, except for mine, in … a while.”
Seth was leaning against the porch post nearest the steps when she let herself out.
She had the sense that he was lying in wait for her. He turned and surveyed her as she
crossed the porch.
“It was nice meeting you,” Abby said politely. “And you were right. She’s a
great cook.”
Seth smiled faintly. “She’s the best cook in these parts. That’s why I finally just
took a room here. I figured if I was going to be eating here most every night anyway, it’d
just be more convenient.”
“I can see your point, although I don’t think it would be safe for me to eat here
very often. I might hurt myself,” she said wryly.
He chuckled. “I noticed you managed to turn down desert.”
“Only because I wasn’t able to indulge. Next time, maybe I’ll ask for desert
first.”
He shook his head, grinning. “House rules. Nobody gets desert until they’ve
eaten their veggies.”
“Ah! She did strike me as a tyrant. Well … goodnight.”
He started down the steps when she did. “I’ll walk you to your door.”
Abby slid a glance at him. “You can watch me from here if you think I’m in any
danger.”
He shrugged. “But you won’t be in any danger if I’m standing on this porch.”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 19

Chapter Three

Don’t flirt with the sheriff! He’s a C—O—P, Kylee Marie Bennett!
And there’s proof positive the man’s bad for you, Abigail—dumbass—Wintrope!
One suggestive line and she’d completely forgotten her ‘name’!
“No comment?”
“I’m thinking.”
He chuckled. “At least I’m making progress.”
Abby slid a doubtful glance at him, but she couldn’t help smiling. “How do you
figure that?”
“You didn’t run.”
She chuckled. “It doesn’t take much to encourage you,” she retorted wryly.
“Nope.”
She shook her head at him, but, in spite of all she could do, she couldn’t summon
the dislike she wanted to hold on to. His sublime self-confidence should’ve annoyed her.
Instead, it intrigued her as much as he did, because she couldn’t help but wonder what a
man like Seth Banner was doing in a town like Ajax. It was like mounting a diamond in
a wooden tiara.
For that matter, she couldn’t figure out why he didn’t have a woman following
him around with a club in her hand to beat other women off him.
There must be some flaw she hadn’t discovered yet.
She wasn’t going to discover it either, she told herself irritably as she climbed the
steps of her own porch … still completely unscathed despite his threat/promise. She was
going to keep her wits about her and steer clear of dangerous men—which included any
male of the species, in particular the devastatingly attractive ones.
He settled one large hand on her waist as she turned to bid him goodnight at her
door and one above her head on the front wall of the house, crowding her until she
bumped into the wall behind her. Her heart began to thump madly in her chest as he
leaned down until they were almost nose to nose. A wave of dizziness went through her.
The warmth of his body, the power he seemed to exude, made her feel as if she’d stepped
into a static zone. Her skin prickled all over.
“Abby,” he murmured, his lips so near hers she could almost feel them, could feel
her own lips tingle with anticipation.
“Mmm?” she asked a little breathlessly.
“Be sure to lock your door. There are a lot of strangers in town.”
Abby blinked at him when he straightened, breaking the spell he’d woven around
her in two seconds flat.
“’Night,” he called as he jogged down the steps.
Irritation replaced her shocked surprise as she watched him saunter away. It took
a strenuous effort to tamp it, but she managed to call after him gaily, “Goodnight, Sheriff.
Thanks for walking me to the door!”
It took her three tries to find the right key and unlock the door, but she managed

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 20

to get it open and close it behind her without slamming it before he reached the gate and
had the chance to look back. She ignored the temptation to see if he would, locking the
door behind her and stalking down the hallway to the bathroom.
“Bastard!” she muttered under her breath as she slammed the bathroom door.
Snatching her hideous dress off, she threw it in the floor and kicked it. “Arrogant
asshole!”
Twisting the hot water handle wide open, she grabbed one of the boxes stacked
beside the pedestal sink and began digging through it for her bath products.
She’d discovered his fatal flaw without even having to look hard, she thought
angrily, wondering if that little ploy on the porch had been about payback for her earlier
behavior toward him or if he just hadn’t been able to resist discovering how strong her
resistance to his charms was.
Nil!
She was so distracted she’d already stepped into the shower and lined up soap,
shampoo, and cream rinse on the shelf at the rear of the shower before she remembered
she’d only turned on the hot water. Shoving her hand cautiously under the spray to test
it, she discovered it not only wasn’t hot, it was freezing cold. Sucking in a sharp breath
as the water pelted her, she leapt out of the shower again, nearly busting her ass as her
wet feet hit the slick linoleum floor covering.
Shivering, she stared at the shower in disbelief for several moments and finally
reached in to shut the water off. Twisting the other knob, she waited, testing the water
every few minutes.
No hot water. She couldn’t believe there was no hot water!
Grabbing the thongs she’d discarded, she shimmied into them again, snatched the
towel she’d unearthed from the bar and stalked out of the bathroom. There was no sign
of a hot water heater in the kitchen. Stymied, she stood in the middle of the room, trying
to think if she’d noticed a closet where the damned thing might have been stashed.
She’d searched the entire house before she remembered she’d seen the damned
water heater on the back porch. Tucking the towel around herself, she checked the
switches on the wall by the back porch until she found the one that lit the porch and
stalked outside to examine the thing.
It wasn’t warm to the touch—which was no great surprise. After examining it,
she stomped back into the kitchen and found the electrical panel. All of the switches
were in the ‘on’ position and, in any case, they were all clearly marked and not one said
‘water heater’. What the hell? It had to have something running to it, right?
Stalking back to the water heater she examined it more closely and discovered
instructions on the front for lighting the pilot light.
Gas!
How hard could it be?
Surely people lit them all the time without blowing themselves up?
Getting down on her hands and knees, she peered into the dark hole where the
pilot light was supposed to be, but the porch light shed little illumination on the project.
She got up again, thinking of her flashlight, but it could take a month to discover what
box it was in, she realized in disgust. Shaking it off, she looked around for the matches
she’d found earlier. She would need a match to light it, anyway.
When she’d finally found them on the kitchen counter, she headed back to the

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 21

water heater, got down on her knees and struck a match, leaning down to peer in the hole
again. She still wasn’t exactly sure she’d identified the pilot light, but she figured gas
would come out of it. If she got the match in the right spot, it was bound to light.
Shaking that match out, she pulled out another, struck in and shoved it in the hole.
“Problems, chère?”
Abby let out a shriek of pure terror at the abrupt intrusion of a deep male voice
and scrambled to her feet, tearing her towel off and throwing matches in every direction
in the process. Cameron, she discovered, was standing on the top steps, peering at her
through the screen door. She screamed again before recognition dawned.
A look of alarm flickered across his features, although he seemed far too
mesmerized by her to really register the shriek she’d let out. “You scared the pure fuck
out of me!” she snarled furiously, grabbing up the now empty match box and hurling it at
the screen door.
It was the sound of running feet that finally penetrated her shock and anger
enough for her to recall she’d left her towel on the floor when she leapt up. Snatching it
from the floor, she wrestled frantically with the thing, trying to get it around her.
Discovering it was hopelessly twisted, she clutched it to her breasts, anyway, just as Seth,
Adrian, and Jerico arrived on her doorstep.
“What happened?” Seth demanded.
Abby stared at the men lined up on her back porch steps. Discovering they were
all looking her over with patent interest, she tugged at her towel, trying ineffectually to
cover herself, though she knew just from the breeze she could feel that she didn’t have
much covered besides her breasts and not even them very well. “Nothing,” she said
stiffly, turning and stalking toward the door with as much dignity as she could muster.
She wasn’t about to stand on the back porch more than half naked and try to
explain.
“You screamed—twice!” Seth said tightly.
“Because he … startled me!” Abby snapped once she’d managed to get inside and
hide behind the door. “I was trying to light my water heater!”
“What the hell were you doing over here, Fontaine?”
Cameron narrowed his eyes at him. “I heard her strike a match. I came to offer
to help out,” he ground out.
“Is that true?” Seth asked her sharply.
Abby closed her eyes, counted to ten. “Yes! He asked if I had a problem! Thank
you for coming to check—everybody! But I’m fine. Goodnight!” Slamming the door
closed, she locked it and headed into her bedroom. She halted with a jolt when she
caught her reflection in the mirror over her dresser.
Well, no fucking wonder they were all staring at her! Everything was hanging
out! She hadn’t managed to do anything but ball the towel up under her breasts! A fat
lot of good it had done to grab the damned towel!
Slinging the towel off angrily, she went to the box that contained her clothes and
dug around in it until she found one of the oversized t-shirts she liked to sleep in. There
would be no shower tonight!
Heaving an irritated breath when she’d covered herself, she headed back into the
kitchen to make herself a hot drink to chase away the chill from the cold shower she’d
almost gotten and the thorough airing she had gotten. She heard the voices of the men on

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 22

the back porch as she reached the kitchen. After a brief debate, she moved to the door
and pushed aside the curtain that covered the window in the top half of the door.
Adrian was down on his knees, his ass in the air while he tried to shove a match
in the hole to light her water heater. Jerico was crouched beside him, holding the button
to release the gas and Seth and Cameron were apparently supervising. Both of them with
their arms folded, leaning back against the posts on either side of the screen door.
Cameron had gotten a hell a view, she realized irritably, studying Adrian’s butt
and realizing he was in the same position she’d been in when Cameron had arrived.
When she glanced at Seth and Cameron again, she discovered they were watching
her rather than the two men trying to light her water heater. Discomfort wafted through
her, but the truth was that she’d been too distressed when the ‘incident’ had occurred to
feel any of the embarrassment she no doubt would have otherwise, and it wasn’t actually
clear enough in her mind to give rise to much embarrassment now.
At least Seth hadn’t arrested Cameron, not that she wasn’t still irritated that he’d
scared her, but she didn’t think he’d done it deliberately or that he’d intended her any
harm. She hadn’t realized how jumpy she was, but she supposed, as hard as it was to
deal with and as potentially embarrassing, it was better than not being wary at all.
It disturbed her that both Cameron and Seth had walked right up on her and she
hadn’t heard a thing, hadn’t had any inkling they were there until they’d spoken. Of
course, both times she’d been deeply preoccupied but it still seemed to her that she
should’ve heard them.
Maybe she had, but she hadn’t been alerted because she didn’t feel threatened
here.
She discarded that. If she felt perfectly safe, she wouldn’t have reacted as
violently as she had when she’d discovered their presence.
She had to accept that she’d been too preoccupied to hear them and use the two
uncomfortable incidents as a reminder of just how vulnerable she was when she wasn’t
paying attention to her surroundings. The Feds believed they’d covered her tracks
thoroughly. They believed she was as safe here in Ajax as she could possibly be, but
even they had warned her that she should be vigilant at all times. Mikhail wasn’t going
to forgive or forget. She almost certainly had a price on her head and hit men combing
the country for her to collect on it.
A shiver skated through her. For just a moment, she saw her life lying before her
and realized that was a fact that was never going to change. She might get used to her
new identity and her surroundings. She might even reach a point where she was
relatively content with the life she had, but she was never going to be able to count on it
or count on being safe. Anyone who entered her life could be her killer.
Thrusting those thoughts away when she saw the men had gotten her water heater
lit, she unlocked the door and opened it to thank them. “I was just about to fix myself
something hot to warm me. Could I offer y’all something?”
The four of them glanced at each other and nodded, heading toward the door.
She stepped back. “Just have a seat. I’ll be right back,” she added, dashing from
the kitchen to grab a pair of jeans.
She could hear the kitchen cabinet doors opening and closing so she wasn’t
surprised when she got back to discover that there was a pot of water already simmering
on the stove and five cups lined up on the counter. Adrian was standing at her sink,

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 23

washing his hands. Jerico and Cameron had dragged chairs out from the kitchen table
and settled in them and Seth was leaning against the counter near the stove, his arms
folded.
“Hot chocolate or coffee?” he asked when she came in.
“Hot chocolate,” she responded, hiding her surprise to discover she had any,
deciding she was jittery enough without adding caffeine to the equation. Instead of
taking a seat at the table, she moved to the cabinets and opened them one by one,
studying the contents, in search of something she could offer her guests to go with their
drink. When the cabinet search turned up nothing, she moved to the refrigerator. She
found a coffeecake in the freezer and took it out to read the heating instructions.
Seth studied her speculatively, realizing grimly that there were just too many
things about Abigail Winthrope that weren’t adding up. He’d been willing to dismiss
their first encounter and just put it down to having startled her even though he hadn’t
been completely satisfied any of the time.
She’d been furious and he knew her senses weren’t nearly as acute as theirs even
at the best of times. He supposed that was reason enough for her not to have noticed his
approach or seen him standing at the end of her porch even though it was still broad
daylight.
What had bothered him at the time was the fact that she was so furious when there
didn’t seem to be any obvious explanation for it and also the fact that she hadn’t just been
startled when he’d spoken. For just a split second he’d seen sheer terror in her eyes, and
then loathing when she’d recognized his uniform.
He wasn’t sure what all that added up to, but it added up to something, and he had
a bad feeling it wasn’t something he was going to like.
Beth had said her brother had brought her and said nothing to indicate that she’d
been angry when he left, in fact just the opposite. She’d mentioned that they seemed
close and that Abby had appeared ‘lost’ when he’d left. Since she’d been in the house
alone since then, he couldn’t figure out how she’d gone from being ‘lost’ to furious.
He also couldn’t figure out why finding him in her backyard had terrified her so
badly. Startled, he could get. Unnerved, lashing out in anger because she’d been
frightened, he understood. Stark terror seemed as excessive a reaction as the fury that
had gone before.
The loathing for the uniform—well, plenty of people didn’t especially care for
men in that particular uniform, but again, her reaction wasn’t just a general dislike and
distrust. It was pointed enough to indicate someone who’d had an unpleasant association
with law enforcement.
He’d still struggled to dismiss all of that because, not to put too fine a fucking
point on it, he was far more interested in probing her with his cock than probing her
background.
From everything he could tell, though, the incident on the porch had happened
just as both of them had described and Abby’s reaction had gone well beyond ‘a little
excessive.’ Even Cameron had admitted that Abby’s reaction had completely taken him
off guard, that it was as if she’d instantly concluded she had a murderer on her doorstep.
Nothing he’d heard about Abigail Winthrope before her arrival had led him to
believe that she was fleeing the city because she’d been the victim of a crime, though,
which would certainly explain her behavior if she had.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 24

Beyond that, she’d only arrived that afternoon and her cabinets were not only
stocked, they looked as if someone had stocked them for a siege. They were filled almost
to overflowing and Abby, he’d be willing to bet money on, hadn’t had a clue of what was
in those cabinets.
She hadn’t filled them.
She hadn’t gone shopping as soon as she’d arrived and she certainly hadn’t
lugged in enough groceries to stock the cabinets and refrigerator. There hadn’t been
anyone in the house, at all, except the movers who’d arrived the day before she did.
As far as he knew, movers didn’t commonly handle grocery shopping or shelf
stocking. Everything had been in boxes except the groceries.
He could dismiss the fact that she looked nothing in the world like he’d
envisioned. It wasn’t even reasonable that he’d imagined her as looking like a younger
version of her predecessor—tall, straight as a stick, skinny as a rail, and horse-faced—
based solely on her name, but nothing about her appearance added up either. She wasn’t
a small town girl looking for placement in another small town because there wasn’t an
opening in her own. Her accent was definitely southern and not artificial, but it just as
certainly wasn’t a Louisianan accent. The well-worn Ts and jeans—well, nine out of ten
Americans probably had a drawer full, whatever their walk of life—but hers hadn’t come
off the wracks of a low end department store, and, from what he could tell about that
shapeless thing she’d worn to dinner, it had. Beyond that, it didn’t click that the same
woman that ran around braless and wearing thongs would choose anything that damned
unflattering to wear in public.
Unless she was a closet nympho, goth chic, or something equally wild—which
was possible, but he didn’t believe likely—he was getting two damned conflicting
messages from her behavior and her clothes. The shapeless, ultra conservative dress said
she was a prim and proper old fashioned girl—not the sort of woman who would even
acknowledge the word ‘fuck’ let alone use it as part of her vocabulary. The thong, no
bra, designer jeans—her attitude toward the world in general and men in particular—
screamed independent modern woman who considered herself the equal of any man she
didn’t feel superior to.
He didn’t know what was going on, but he damned well meant to find out because
nothing about Abigail Winthrope was adding up the way it should.

* * * *

Abby had been leery about inviting four strange men into her house at night, even
though it wasn’t actually late at night. In point of fact, she really hadn’t intended to
invite them all in, only Jerico and Adrian who’d actually lit her water heater.
Regardless of the potential gossip factor, though, she discovered she was glad
they had all accepted the invitation. Even though she hadn’t intended it that way, she
realized it worked very nicely as check and balance to have the four of them in her
kitchen. She didn’t really believe any of the four was a hit man, but she didn’t like to
think of even a remote possibility that one might be and, if one was, then he wasn’t likely
to try anything with three other bouncer-sized males in the room.
That was a little unnerving. She worked around plenty of men—or had—but
even the handful she’d been even passingly familiar with who regularly worked out
and/or jogged to keep in shape, weren’t built like these guys. All of them, including Seth
who’d obviously bathed and changed since he’d walked her to her door, were wearing

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 25

comfortably worn jeans that fit them well enough to give her heart palpitations. Cameron
and Adrian were both wearing the sort of semi-dressy shirts men might wear out to a bar,
their sleeves rolled up to reveal some pretty impressive forearms. Jerico was wearing a
typical short-sleeved T with a V-neck and Seth—be still my heart!—was wearing a ‘wife
beater’ tank T that not only molded to kegel-clap-worthy abs and bulging pecs like
Jerico’s T did, but also exposed a set of broad, muscular shoulders and upper arm
muscles nearly as big around as her thighs—relaxed. Flexed, she was pretty sure they
would equal the measurement of her thighs.
All four of them, including the sheriff, whom she’d pegged as one the sort of
conservative pricks she’d encountered in the bureau, were sporting tattoos. In fact, all
four of them had the same tattoo on their forearms.
The very fact that they had tattoos at all had set off alarms. Everybody and his
brother seemed to be getting them these days, but she still associated them with the
criminal element, mostly, she supposed, because gang members in the cities were so fond
of them. The tattoos they shared in common made her even more uneasy because she’d
thought they were complete strangers to one another and that indicated some kind of
connection.
For a while, she wrestled with whether or not it would be wise to point out that
she’d noticed by asking about them, but discovered she was just too uneasy to ignore it.
“What do the tattoos y’all all have on your forearms represent?”
The four men exchanged glances, but she couldn’t read anything in any of their
expressions. Seth finally shrugged. “We all belong to the same biker club.”
Abby felt the blood leave her face—club meaning gang. “Really?” she responded
in a strangled voice, trying to sound intrigued and pleasantly surprised when she really
felt faint.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 26

Chapter Four

None of the four, Abby realized a little sickly, were really what she would’ve
considered ‘clean cut.’ Even Seth’s hair, although it was shorter than the others, was
longer than men generally wore their hair these days. She hadn’t given it any thought
beyond noticing it was a bit ‘shaggy’ as if he’d missed a few barber appointments.
Adrian’s was long enough, though, that he wore it slicked back and tied in a pony
tail at the base of his skull and both Cameron’s and Jerico’s hair was down to their
shoulders.
The tattoos were just icing on the cake.
Mikhail, she’d discovered the one and only time they’d ended up in bed together,
was tattooed all over. His ‘men’ had been, too—a lot of them, she discovered later,
prison tattoos.
It wasn’t bad enough she’d landed on the doorstep of a cop, when they’d
destroyed her life. Insured that she was going to be a moving target as long as she lived.
She was also surrounded by thugs who might or might not be of the same ilk as Mikhail’s
gang.
Of course, she supposed it could be something innocent—just a club made up of
men who owned and drove motorcycles because they had a passion for them—but she
wasn’t willing to bet her life on it.
Emerging from her unpleasant thoughts after a moment, she discovered that all
four men were studying her. She cleared her throat. “So … what’s the name of your
gang … uh … club?”
Seth slid a glance at Cameron who was sitting on her other side. “Hellhounds,”
he said finally.
Abby blinked at him rapidly for a moment, trying to digest that and finally
glanced at the others. “Wow! That’s … uh … that’s a … uh … cool name. I guess …
actually, I couldn’t really tell what sort of animal …?”

“Wolfen.”
“Wolfen?” she echoed. Scooting her chair back abruptly, she got up and began

gathering up cups and saucers. She’d already dumped them in the sink hard enough to
chip half of them before it dawned on her that she’d completely forgotten her manners.
“Did anybody want more?”
She didn’t know whether to be relieved or unnerved to see that they’d pushed
their own chairs back and gotten up.
Cameron shook his head. “Adrian and I was headed down to the local waterin’
hole when I came over to check on you, chère,” he said with a wry grimace. “Thanks for
the hot chocolate, but I think I can use somethin’ a little stronger for a nightcap.”
“If you’ll hold on while I go grab another shirt,” Seth said, “I think I’ll join you.”
Since Jerico expressed a similar interest, both Seth and Jerico were the first to
leave. Adrian and Cameron followed more slowly.
After a brief internal debate, Abby stopped Cameron at the door. “I’m sorry

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 27

about the way I acted earlier,” she mumbled uncomfortably. “I’ve … just been a little …
jittery lately. Guess it’s the move.”
His gaze flickered over her face assessingly. “You sure ‘bout that, chère?” he
asked finally. “’Cause I got the feelin’ you was just plain scared. Trouble is, I doan
know why. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m thinkin’ it ain’t me you’re scared of, chère. Who
was you expectin’ to be standin’ on the other side of that door?”
Abby felt a wash of hot and then cold in rapid succession. She smiled at him with
an effort and shook her head. “Guess I thought the boogey man had me.”
His eyes narrowed. “But what’s the boogey man’s name, chère?” he asked
gently.
To Abby’s surprise and dismay, a knot of emotion rose to wedge itself in her
throat. It took a couple of attempts to swallow around it. She shook her head again.
“Really, it was nothing. I was just being … silly. The move’s just been more stressful
and unsettling than I’d anticipated. I appreciate your concern, though,” she said
dismissively.
To her relief, he took it as a dismissal and left. When she’d locked the door
again, she turned off the back porch light and the kitchen light. Moving into the bedroom
she’d staked out as hers, she plopped down on the bed with a box, emptying it on the
spread and sorting it halfheartedly. She hadn’t realized she’d been listening for sounds of
their departure until she heard a motorcycle engine roar to life next door and then another
and then a third and fourth.
Getting up when she heard the sounds growing louder, she moved to the window
that faced her neighbor’s house and peered through the blinds. The headlights
momentarily blinded her, but as they moved slowly around the house and down the drive,
the street light illuminated the foursome. Dressed in leather now, they perfectly fit the
image of them that she’d had earlier in her kitchen when she’d discovered all four men
were a part of a gang.
When they’d disappeared, she settled weakly on the bed again, trying to think.
They’d all seemed pointedly interested in her at the dinner. She hadn’t found it
particularly flattering even though she supposed she should’ve, might have under other
circumstances. The thing was, she’d been too surprised, unsettled, and disbelieving even
then that their interest was genuine to feel good about it. There’d been palpable tension
in the group. She didn’t know what had caused it, but she hadn’t felt any of the time that
it had anything to do with her.
Whatever it was, it was between them.
And maybe the snotty blond.
Maybe because of her.
She hadn’t been so caught up in the little verbal battle they’d had over the dinner
table not to notice appreciation in the eyes of the men any time they looked at the
woman, despite the fact that they’d openly challenged one another over who would take
her to the dance.
Maybe they thought that would thrill her, but all it had really done was make her
feel more uncomfortable and self-conscious in her hideous dress, particularly when she
didn’t dare take any of them up on the offer.
Maybe they’d focused on flirting with her to pique Julie’s interest? Or maybe
because they thought they didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell with her and figured

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 28

she would be easier?
The question was, had that flirtation had more ominous undertones?
Try though she might, she just couldn’t picture any of them as hit men, but if they
were that damned easy to spot, they wouldn’t be good at their jobs.
Russian mobsters were Russians, though, and they all had very distinctive
accents—all of them that she’d met. She was almost completely convinced that none of
the men at the table tonight had an ounce of Russian blood in them.
Could she accept, then, that none of them were a real threat to her unless she
somehow gave herself away and they talked about it within the hearing of the mob
network?
Lame, she decided. She was scaring herself for nothing. She couldn’t imagine
crossing their minds once they left Hicksville, let alone being of enough interest for them
to talk about her.
Milner said they’d checked out everybody before they’d decided to settle her
here. Regardless of his gang affiliation, the sheriff hadn’t sent up any red flags. She also
thought she could depend on the Feds to keep an eye on the visitors who’d come to enjoy
the festival.
She was conjuring bogeymen out of the air, she decided. Very likely the only
interest these guys had was in getting laid—and she’d certainly given them enough of a
show to wet their appetites! She supposed she should’ve known better than to be
rambling around outside in nothing but a towel and thongs but—honest to god!—what
was the fucking point of having a privacy fence if it didn’t ensure privacy?
It dawned on her abruptly that Cameron had said he’d heard her striking a match,
that that was why he’d come to investigate.
Maybe she’d heard him wrong? Surely if that was what he’d said Seth, at least,
would’ve called him on it?
Truthfully, she couldn’t recall anything very clearly—thankfully!—about the
incident. She must be mistaken, she decided. Undoubtedly, whatever he’d said, it was
the activity he’d heard that had made him curious enough to check. She’d gone in and
out of the door. Maybe it was just that she’d switched the porch light on?
Not that it mattered now, she supposed, but she’d be damned careful nothing like
that happened again. Once might be considered a fortuitous accident in their minds. She
thought even she would have to pardon them for thinking it a come-on if she did it again.
Ok, so she’d already flashed the damned sheriff twice, but she certainly hadn’t
been expecting him to show up so he couldn’t possibly think she’d done it to deliberately
entice him!
He was liable to decide to arrest her for indecent exposure if she made a habit of
it, and that would look really good on her resume! She’d get canned before she could
collect her first paycheck and then where the hell would she be?
So far, she was leaning a lot more toward hating her situation than either
accepting or liking it, but she doubted anything else the Feds would come up with would
be any better.
At least she had some beautiful eye candy to entertain her, if only briefly, even
though she didn’t dare sample any of the candy.

* * * *

Abby worked industriously toward bringing order to her new home the following

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 29

morning. By lunchtime, though, she was not only tired, hungry, and cranky, she was
depressed. Contrary to what she’d thought when she started, it didn’t make her feel more
homey to sprinkle her personal belongings around the house. The house was probably
twice the size of the apartment she’d had, but it didn’t feel decadent and luxurious. It
made her feel ‘exposed.’ . She’d slept fitfully the night before, not only because she was
in such an ‘alien’ place, but also because the damned house had way too many shadowy
nooks and crannies. It creaked and groaned almost constantly and the wind whistling
around it sounded like moaning ghouls.
She’d finally locked herself into her bedroom and barricaded the door, but even
that hadn’t really made her feel safe. The huge windows in her bedroom were as tall as
fucking doors and made her feel as if she was sleeping in a department store show
window even with the blinds tightly closed.
After nibbling her way through half a sandwich, half an apple, and half of a
container of yogurt, she finally decided she just couldn’t find what she needed to appease
the gnawing in her stomach—because it wasn’t actually hunger. Grabbing up the folder
that outlined her job, she debated briefly whether to try one of the rockers on the front
porch or head out back. She finally decided sitting on the front porch might look like an
invitation and headed out back.
The ‘late model’ car agent Milner had told her about looked like an unmarked
police car—and probably had been. Ignoring it, she headed toward the grouping of lawn
furniture she’d spied in the very back of the yard. The air was a little crisper than she
really liked, particularly since tall trees still shaded the yard, but the tall privacy fence
prevented anything more than a light stirring of air. Deciding she’d just go back inside if
she was too uncomfortable in her shirt sleeves, she brushed the sprinkling of colorful
leaves out of the chair she’d chosen and curled up in it. Pulling the information she’d
been given out of the folder, she settled to reading it to refresh her memory for the
following day’s trial by fire.
She already had a headache forming when she heard the grumbling growl of
motorcycle engines. Settling the stack of papers in her lap, she lifted her head to listen,
wondering if they were just returning from somewhere or just leaving. They’d gone out
the night before, she remembered. Maybe they’d ‘scored’ and were just wandering back
in?
It actually seemed probable. As good looking as that bunch was, the local female
population had probably thought they’d died and gone to heaven when they sauntered in
to the bar in all that sexy leather—with ‘bad boys’ written all over them, almost literally.
The engines were shut off, which seemed to confirm her suspicion and then she
heard male voices. Struggling to dismiss them from her mind, she picked up her reports
again and tried to find where she’d left off.
“Getting ready for your first day?”
“Shit!” Abby exclaimed, bouncing in her seat and throwing papers in every
direction. Flicking a quick survey around the yard and then at the fence, she finally spied
Seth staring at her frowningly above the top edge of the fence.
“I was,” she muttered irritably. Scrambling out of her seat, she got down to
gather the bulk of the papers, shoved them into the folder, and then began to chase the
others that the wind had managed to strew around the yard.
Seth, she discovered, had joined her. She didn’t feel any real dismay, though,

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 30

until she noticed him glancing curiously at the pages he had chased down. Striding
across the yard, she snatched them from his hand. “Thanks!”
The look he sent her was filled with speculation, but she didn’t think he could
possibly have read much before she’d reclaimed her ‘report.’ Glancing away from him to
scan the yard to be certain she’d rounded all of the pages up, she discovered Cameron
had joined them. Leaning down, he snatched a wayward page from the ground.
She rushed to him and grabbed one corner. Unfortunately, he didn’t let go and
she only succeeded in tearing one corner off. Glaring at him, she caught the edge of the
paper and tugged at it until he let go.
She didn’t like the way he looked at her when she’d retrieved it.
Turning away, she discovered that Seth had sauntered to her chair and picked up
the folder while she was occupied with wrestling Cameron for the page he’d found. “I’ll
take that … in!” she said, racing back across the yard.
He held it out of her reach, frowning as he flipped through the pages. “What is
this?”
Abby managed to grab one corner of the folder. “Mine!” she said tightly. “And
if you don’t mind, I’d like to have it back!”
His face hardened, but he handed it back to her. “Now you can explain to me
what it is and why you have it.”
Abby felt the blood leave her face as it settled inside of her with inescapable
clarity that he’d seen enough to totally blow her cover story. Biting her lip, she focused
on carefully smoothing and arranging the papers, trying frantically to think of a
believable lie to tell him.
One look at his face, however, was enough to dissuade her that she could possibly
come up with anything he was likely to swallow. Glancing around uneasily, she
discovered that not only was Cameron waiting for an explanation, but that Adrian and
Jerico were striding around the side of the house.
“Excuse me,” she said abruptly, whirling on her heel and heading toward the
house at a brisk trot.
For all the good it did! Seth and Cameron fell into step on either side of her.
Adrian and Jerico altered course and headed straight toward her, cutting off any
possibility of retreat. Clutching her folder to her chest, she looked up at them fearfully as
they surrounded her.
Adrian and Jerico frowned, glancing from her white face to Cameron and Seth’s
grim ones. “What’s going on here?” Adrian demanded.
“We’re waiting for Abby to explain that,” Seth growled. “Although … I have to
wonder if that’s even your name.”
Some of the sheer terror dissipated—not the panic, not enough to think straight,
but enough that her heart ceased to feel as if it was going to burst from the frantic
pounding. He’d seen something that had aroused his suspicions—evidently Cameron
had, too, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember what had been on the pages she’d
confiscated from them. Swallowing with an effort, she licked her dried lips. “What do
you think’s going on?” she asked a little hoarsely, hoping he’d give her some clue.
He gave her a look. After glancing around, however, he took her arm and
escorted her into the house. “We’ll talk inside.”
Oh! Let’s don’t!

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 31

Abby balked, but she discovered fairly quickly that it wasn’t going to do her any
good to try to put on brakes. She wasn’t certain he even noticed. It sure as hell didn’t
slow him down. He didn’t stop until he’d dragged her into her living room.
“Sit down,” he barked.
“I’d rather stand!” Abby said stiffly, although her knees were knocking together.
His lips tightened. He leaned low, until he was almost nose to nose with her. “Sit
… down!”
Jumping, Abby wobbled over to the couch and collapsed on it.
“Give me the folder.”
Abby clutched it tighter. “No!”
“God damn it, Abby! Give me the damned folder!”
Abby glared at him, too panic stricken to focus on much besides hanging on to the
‘evidence’. “I will not! It’s mine … you don’t have a warrant!” she exclaimed on
sudden inspiration. “I want a lawyer!”
His eyes narrowed. “Why do you need a lawyer?”
Abby blinked at him several times, glanced at the other men ranged around her
and finally returned her attention to Seth. “Because … because … well, I’m just not
going to talk to you until I talk to one!”
Cameron leaned down while she was distracted and pried the folder away from
her, nearly dragging her off the couch in her desperation to cling to it. Stalking across
the room with it, he dropped into a chair and opened it. Seth, Adrian, and Jerico
followed him, leaning down to grab several sheets each.
For many moments, all Abby could do was stare at them. Abruptly realizing they
were distracted, she leapt to her feet and bounded down the hallway to her room,
slamming and locking the door behind her. Hearing thundering pursuit, she grabbed
everything she’d used the night before to barricade the door and piled it in front of the
door.
“Open the door, Abby!”
The demand only boosted Abby’s panic. It didn’t inspire any inclination to open
the door. Instead, her frantic mental search for help finally clicked on a possibility and
she raced to her phone on the bedside table, grabbed up Milner’s card and started
punching in the numbers with shaking hands. “I think I’m in trouble,” she babbled the
moment she heard the line picked up.
“Case number?”
“Oh for god’s sake!” She dropped the damned card when she tried to flip it over
and leapt off the bed to retrieve it. “Milner! I have to talk to Milner—anybody! Case #
931AM021,” she said shakily. “I’m in trouble, damn it!”
“I’ll connect you to his alternate. Agent Milner isn’t available.”
“Fuck!” Abby exclaimed while she waited for the transfer. They were pounding
on the door now—it sounded like all of them. She was shaking so badly if she hadn’t had
a death grip on the phone she thought she might’ve dropped it.
“Open the damned door, Abby, or I’m going to break it down!”
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Shit! Oh Shit!”
A man answered at the other end.
“Help!”
“Who is this?”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 32

“God damn it! I gave the fucking woman the fucking number! How many times
do I have to repeat it?”
“I need the number to verify and also to locate you!”
She repeated the number shakily.
“Was that M as in Michael? Or N as in Nancy?”
“It’s T as in trouble, god damn it! And D as in dead, you fucking moron!
They’re beating down the door!” Abby screamed at the man. The hysteria finally
seemed to penetrate his cool professionalism.
“Run! Get out of there!”
“Great advice! The problem is … never fucking mind!”
Leaping to her feet, Abby bounced across the bed and tried to push the nearest
window open.
“She’s trying to go out the window.”
“I’ll go around.”
Hearing the discussion through the door, Abby frantically renewed her efforts to
get the window open. When it wouldn’t budge, she discovered it was locked. By the
time she’d managed to move the lock, though, she could see Adrian rounding the corner
of the house. Slamming the lock back in place, she leapt away from the window with a
squawk of fright just as the pounding on the door became deafening. The next blow
shattered the door. Abby screamed.
“They’re coming in! Big, really big—tall—six foot to six four—tattoos—they’ve
all got tattoos,” she babbled mindlessly, clutching at the one thought that made any sort
of connection in her brain—the need to identify her attackers.
Screaming again when Cameron, Seth, and Jerico plowed through the remnants of
her door and leapt over the barricade she’d built in front of it, she bounded from one side
of the bed to the other as they surrounded the bed, trying to dodge them. “Two of them
have black hair. One guy’s blond, the other one has brownish sort of blondish ... no
scars, but the tattoos ...”
Seth tackled her abruptly, knocking the breath from her in an inelegant grunt.
Slamming her into the mattress so hard they both bounced, he wrested the phone from
her. “Who is this?” he snarled into the phone.
Dimly, Abby heard the agent’s response.
“This is Sheriff Seth Banner speaking,” Seth growled. “I know who I am. Who
the hell am I talking to?”
She couldn’t hear the other man’s response, but then her ears were ringing.
“So run a check. If this is who I think it is, you’ve already run one.”
Seth closed her cell phone and tossed it over his shoulder, levering himself off of
her far enough he could pin her with a hard look. Finally, he heaved an exasperated
breath and rolled off of her.
Abby tensed, staring at him wide eyed, trying to cudgel her panicked mind for
some sort of fight or flight plan.
“What I’d like to know is why I wasn’t informed,” he growled at her. Climbing
off the bed, he studied her assessingly for several moments. “You’re not a Fed, so why
don’t tell me who you are and what the hell you’re doing here posing as a school
teacher?”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 33

Chapter Five

Abby huddled a little deeper into the corner of the couch, eyeing the men ranged
around her warily. Adrian and Jerico had returned to leafing through her folder.
Cameron had decided to prop against the doorframe between the living room and the
hallway and Seth was prowling the rug on the floor in front the couch.
Abby’s terror had reached it’s zenith and plummeted, but she wasn’t certain if
that was because, instinctively and intellectually, she knew she wasn’t in danger, or if her
mind had simply reached maximum overload. She was still trying to decide whether to
answer Seth’s questions or not, and if so, how much it would be safe to tell him, when
she heard her cell phone ring.
Seth glanced at Cameron and jerked his head in the direction of her room.
Straightening away from the doorframe, Cameron strode down the hallway. He was back
in a few minutes with the cell phone at his ear. “Hold on.”
Approaching the couch, he extended the phone.
Abby eyed him resentfully for a moment and finally took it. “Hello?”
“Are you alright?”
Abby thought it over. “Yes.”
“Can you talk?”
She shrugged. “Yes.”
“Are you with Sheriff Banner?”
Abby considered that. “He said that was who he was,” she replied finally.
“Describe him to me.”
Abby shifted uncomfortably and finally cupped her hand around the phone.
“He’s about six-foot-four, built like a fucking gorilla, and he has black hair,” she
muttered in a low voice.
There was a rather prolonged silence. “Six-foot-two sound about right?”
Abby surveyed Seth, who’d come to a halt in front of her. “Maybe,” she said a
little doubtfully. “From where I’m sitting it looks more like six-four, though.”

Another long silence followed that. “Can he hear you?”

Abby looked up at Seth uneasily. There was grim amusement in his eyes. He
nodded.
“I think so.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?” Milner demanded in exasperation.
“Because you didn’t ask me that!” Abby snapped, and she was still too frightened
to think to straight.
“Give him the phone and let me speak to him.”
Abby held the phone out to Seth. Without a word, he took it and held it to his ear.
“Sheriff Banner here.”
Abby studied his face, pricking her ears to try to hear the conversation on the
other end of the line. All she could hear, though, was a garbled rumble of sound.
“She’s fine. No. There may have been a little misunderstanding. Yes. I’ll keep

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 34

an eye on her until you get here.”
Closing the phone, he tossed it to Cameron. “That was Agent Milner. He’s tied
up right now, but I assured him I’d keep an eye on you until he could get here. He said
he’d be here Friday—earlier if he can manage it.”
Cameron studied him a moment and turned to look at Abby.
“She’s a federal witness,” Seth responded to the question in Cameron’s eyes and
then turned his head and fixed Abby with a piercing stare. “Her name isn’t Winthrope—
it’s Bennett—and she’s no school teacher.”
Abby gaped at him. “He told you that?”
His lips tightened when she confirmed his suspicions. “Why don’t you fill in the
blanks? Who’s after you? Who has the kind of connections that would require them to
stash you away here in Ajax and give you an entire new identity?”
Doubt pricked at Abby, but there didn’t seem any way Seth could’ve figured out
so much if he hadn’t been told. It didn’t follow that they’d be willing to tell him any
more, as far as that went.
He’d said Milner was coming Friday—just to check on her? Or to remove her to
another place?
She hadn’t wanted to stay in Ajax—still didn’t want to, and yet the prospect of
going through what she’d already gone through—months of preparing her for another
identity—was daunting. She couldn’t face that. She didn’t want to have to face it. “Is
he … are they going to move me to another place?”
“Is that what you want?” Seth asked after a long moment.
Abby stared at him, feeling her throat close. Tears stung her nose and eyes. She
looked away. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I don’t have a choice. I don’t have any
choices anymore.”
Seth moved closer and crouched in front of her. When she refused to look at him,
he lifted a hand to her face, applying pressure along her jaw with his fingertips until she
met his gaze. “Tell me, Abby. I can’t protect you if I don’t know what’s going on.”
Abby swallowed against the hard knot in her throat and finally dragged her gaze
from his, glancing at the others. “They told me not to trust anybody,” she said hoarsely,
“not to tell anybody anything except what they’d coached me on.”
He studied her face for a long moment and finally turned and glanced at the
others. She could see they weren’t pleased about the question in his eyes. Their faces
tightened angrily, but after a tense moment, Adrian and Jerico strode from the room.
Cameron lingered for a long moment after they had gone but finally stepped away from
the door. “We’ll be out back.”
“You don’t know them,” Abby said uneasily when they’d left.
Seth seemed to consider it for a moment. He shrugged. “I know them in the
sense that I know what they are … and what they aren’t. Whoever it is you’re running
from, they would have no connection with them.”
Abby rubbed shaking hands over her face, but she didn’t think it really mattered
what she told Seth. Despite the fact that they’d scared her witless earlier—maybe
because they had—she realized that it was her own behavior that had prompted it. It
seemed indisputable that if they’d meant her any harm they would’ve already done the
worst. If she’d hadn’t behaved so … suspiciously, she didn’t think any of it would’ve
happened.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 35

She’d panicked, plain and simple. If she’d kept her wits about her and tried to
brazen her way through their suspicions she might have had a chance of smoothing things
over without it going as far as it had.
It wasn’t paranoia, although she supposed it must look like that to them. It was
perfect awareness that her life could just be erased any second of any day merely by
turning the wrong corner or speaking to the wrong person.
Dragging in a shaky breath, she dropped her hands, studying them in her lap
instead of meeting Seth’s gaze. “My name’s Kylee Bennett. I suppose you thought I was
involved in some kind of scam and that’s why you came after me, but I thought you—
y’all—must be somebody he’d hired. But this was actually set up for me by the witness
protection program. I testified against a Russian mob boss by the name of Mikhail
Zodorf, who’s currently serving time but appealing his conviction and who also, the Feds
are almost certain, has a contract out on me to make sure I’m not available if they have to
call upon me to testify again.”
“What was your involvement with Zodorf?” he asked tightly when she’d finished.
She sent him a resentful glare. “I dated him. I’d gone out with him on three
whole dates and then the Feds descended on me and threatened to charge me with
conspiracy and everything else they could think of to charge me with unless I wore a wire
on the next date and managed to get him to talk ‘business’ with me. They suspected that
he’d targeted me for my business connections so they prepped me on it and told me to
angle for a percentage for myself.
“I thought he was going to kill me right then, but when he’d calmed down a little,
he decided it was better that I work with him as a partner, instead of what he’d intended.
Which was to manipulate me and slip his transactions through without my knowledge.”
He rose after a moment and began to pace the room again, obviously thinking.
Finally, he dropped into the chair Adrian had vacated a little earlier. Leaning forward, he
propped his elbows on his splayed knees. “You’ll be safe here. When Agent Milner
comes, we’ll have to convince him.”
Abby studied him a little doubtfully. “You really think I’ll be safe?”
His eyes gleamed as he met her gaze. “I guarantee it.”

* * * *

“I’ve got good new, bad news, and worse news,” Seth muttered when he joined
the others in Abby’s backyard.
Cameron eyed him with disfavor. “What I’d like to know,” he growled, “is why
she trusted you enough to tell you and not the rest of us. She’s known you—what?—five
minutes longer than the rest of us?”
Seth hated to admit it, but he did. “She don’t trust me anymore than she does the
rest of you. She trusts the uniform—at least in the sense that she believes it represents
law and order.
“So what’s the good news?” Adrian asked impatiently.
“The good news is that she doesn’t have a fucking clue of what we are. I have to
admit it occurred to me she might suspect and that that accounted for the fact that she
nearly has a heart attack any time one of us comes upon her unexpectedly.”
Cameron sent him a look of disgust. “I’m damned if I can see where that’s good
news. I’m good, but I ain’t that damned good, mon ami! Cain’t none of us figure on
takin’ her as a mate if she doan know we’re wolfen. We gotta break the news, gentle her

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 36

to the notion, and convince her to take the mark in less than a fuckin’ week?”
“That’s the really bad news,” Seth retorted shortly.
“I thought you said you had good news, bad news, and worse news?” Adrian
snapped. “Now we got really bad, too?”
Seth slid a glance at him. “The other good news is she’s no con woman, but
that’s also part of the bad news. She’s in the witness protection plan because some
fucking psycho wants her dead. And, I’m guessing here, that’s probably why she nearly
has heart failure anytime she’s startled,” he added grimly. “I’m guessing she’s been
living for a while with the expectation that somebody’s going to walk up to her one day
and put a bullet in her head.”
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Cameron snarled. “Why didn’t you tell us that start with? Poor
baby! Who is the bastard? I’ll go take care of the son-of-a-bitch.”
“It might take more than one to do the job,” Seth said. “According to her, he’s
currently serving time.”
“And that’s the bad news?” Jerico put in. “Well, shit! That ain’t no big thing.
They ain’t got walls high enough to keep us out.”
“No, the bad news is that the agent in charge will be arriving this week and I’m
guessing he’s going to want to pull her out.”
Adrian shrugged. “So? We take him out.”
Seth sent him a look of disgust. “The council wouldn’t go for that. You know
damned well they wouldn’t. The thug is a different ball of wax. They wouldn’t be happy
about us interfering in anything within the human realm, but as long as we were tidy,
they’d look the other way. Aside from the fact that we have to assume the Fed is one of
the good guys, the Feds aren’t just going to ignore it if one of their agents goes missing,
which leads us to the worse news.
“Since we didn’t manage to get to Abby before she could place that damned call,
we’ve got at least one Federal agent descending on us as we speak—and quite possibly a
whole slew of them—and we’ve got Wolfen gathered here from all over for the
intercontinental mating rites and more coming. What we don’t need right now is any
kind of snooping by Federal agents.”
That announcement produced a prolonged silence. “Ok, so that’s really fucking
bad news,” Jerico muttered.
“Fuck!” Cameron growled. “Christ what a fucking mess! When’s the council
due to arrive?”
Seth uttered a disgusted breath. “Saturday.”
“Maybe we should give them a call and tell them to haul their asses down here a
little sooner?” Jerico mused.
Seth, Cameron, and Adrian turned to glare at him.
“Think, numb nuts!” Cameron growled. “I realize you’ve got your mind in your
dick right now, but just how do you suppose they’ll decide to resolve the problem?
They’ll pack Abby off with the Feds so fast her head will still be spinnin’ when she gets
to where she’s goin’!”
Adrian stepped in and planted his palm in the center of Jerico’s chest before he
could lunge at Cameron. “Chill, Jerico!” he snapped. “This ain’t the time … and it sure
as hell ain’t the place. You want to scare Abby to death?”
Jerico subsided, but he sent Cameron a challenging glare. “We could always

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 37

follow her,” he put in after a few moments.
“We can’t count on that when none of us have marked her,” Seth growled with
determined patience. “Aside from that, we can’t leave the gathering.”
“And, aside from that, the chances of the council givin’ any of us an ok to take
her as a mate at any other time or place are virtually nil,” Cameron added irritably. “The
entire focus of the international meet is to freshen the gene pool. They won’t like it
anyway, but they can’t very well argue against it under the circumstances, particularly
when the Weres will be allowed to participate and they are part human.”
Jerico glanced around at the others. “I thought you said the council would accept
as long as it was a consenting human!” he growled. “Now you’re saying even if she does
consent and we fight for her, the council might not let any of us claim her?”
Seth, Cameron, and Adrian exchanged a look.

“We’re Alphas,” Seth answered for all of them. “If the four of us present

ourselves at the rites and lay claim to her, they’ll have to allow the challenge whether
they like it or not. The problem with the gene pool is, and always was, a shortage of
females. She can’t make the change. You know yourself there isn’t one in ten that can
survive it and that’s why they made the laws to begin with—a human female has to enter
the clan as a human. If she accepts us as we are and accepts one of us as mate, then it’ll
have to be allowed … especially now that Prince Balin has taken a human, or at least,
mostly human, female as mate.”

“Right!” Jerico snapped. “If. What are we supposed to do? Just walk in there

and say—By the way, Baby, I’m Wolfen and I’m real keen on the idea of you having my
pup. So … what do you think?”

Cameron glared at him. “We woo her, mon ami,” he growled. “Just like we

would if she was Wolfen … or a Were.”

“Well, the problem is she ain’t!” Jerico snarled. “Setting aside the fact that we all

just scared the pure hell out of her—and that wasn’t nothing compared to the jolt she’s
gonna get when she learns what we are—we’re gonna be fucking tripping over each other
trying to woo in a damned week! And that’s only with the four of us! What if some of
the others look her over and decide they want her? This place is going to be crawling
with Wolfen and Weres by the end of the week!”

“Well hell!” Seth growled. “Ok, so that’s another fucking problem we’re going to

have to work out.”

There was no getting around the fact that the situation was a total fucking mess,

unfortunately, Seth thought irritably. It flickered through his mind, briefly, to wonder if
such a Herculean task was even doable … or desirable. His gut answered the latter
question.

Abby had thrown him completely for a loop the moment he set eyes on her.

Granted, he was ripe for mating and on the hunt for one. He knew that and he also knew
his instincts made him highly susceptible to any female that met his criteria for physical
attraction at the moment. Everyone taking part in the festival was geared up and revving
to find ‘the one’ that had eluded them in previous hunts—or to find ‘the one’ because
they’d finally reached the point where they couldn’t deny the urge to settle on a mate
anymore.

He hadn’t consciously acknowledged it before—that that group included him—

even after he’d found out the council was calling for an international meet to freshen the

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 38

gene pool because it had been a decade since the last one and clansmen had begun to
grumble over the dearth of available females. He’d felt stirrings of interest, but he’d
been more concerned about keeping order from the time he’d discovered the scope of the
festival than whether or not he might meet up with the one female that felt ‘just right.’

He certainly hadn’t had any expectations when Beth had sent him to invite Abby

to join them for supper, despite her broad hints that he was going to find Ms. Winthrope a
‘surprise.’ From the time he’d learned that they’d found a replacement for poor old Ms.
Mortimer, and heard the name Abigail Winthrope, he’d pictured her as a younger version
of Ms. Mortimer, and it wasn’t an image that held any appeal for him. He had wondered
if she was Wolfen, or even Were, mostly because he was concerned about the likelihood
that she wasn’t and the problems that could arise out of that when the vast majority of
Ajax’s residents were one or the other.

It wasn’t a problem ordinarily. The humans among them knew about the Wolfen

community and the two managed to muddle along together reasonably well, but it
became a problem whenever someone new moved into the area that was human.
Everybody had to step warily until they’d had time to get to know the newcomer and
determine whether or not they could be trusted with the knowledge that most of their
neighbors were either Wolfen or Were. Once they reached that point, they either came to
an understanding, or the newcomer moved on.

He’d known, long before he reached the corner and set eyes on her that Abby was

human. He’d smelled the emotional upheaval—threads of anger and fear. He’d even
known that her scent was teasing his libido in a wholly unexpected and unwelcome way.
What his senses hadn’t told him was what to expect when he’d rounded the corner just in
time to see her bend over and plant the grill in the yard. The low riding jeans had slipped
lower still and given him a glimpse of a three quarter moon rising above Venus and he’d
known instantly that those luscious globes didn’t belong to any lanky, middle-aged
female even before she turned and stalked back onto the porch. The mesmerizing bounce
and sway of her high, full breasts had completed his descent into catatonia. He didn’t
think he’d even breathed until she flounced up the steps and briefly disappeared from his
view.

He supposed, wryly, that that was why she hadn’t noticed him. Aside from her

preoccupation, he’d been standing as stock-still as if he’d been turned into a pillar of salt.

Actually, he amended, although he hadn’t realized it at the time, his wolf had

gone into full alert, frozen to absolute stillness as his instincts took over, assessing his
quarry by expanding his senses to optimum awareness. The tantalizing scent that had
first teased him filled his nostrils and lungs like an opiate, trailing fire and drunkenness.
His ears pricked, picking up the soft sigh of her breath—rapid now with anger but easily
imagined as breathless with passion. And when she’d bounced down the steps again, his
keen eyesight, sharpened with hunger, hadn’t missed the opportunity for a thorough
examination of the prize that had his mouth watering with anticipation.

From the bouncing, glossy locks of dark auburn hair around her shoulders to her

dainty feet, everything he saw made the want pounding in his skull surge a little harder.
His instincts had every muscle in his body taut, gathering to pounce, when the nearly
overpowering smell of fuel knocked him to his senses. Completely baffled by his
scrambled wits, he’d merely stared at her while she emptied the can of lighter fluid on the
coals, not really registering the grim determination of her set features until she pulled out

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 39

a box of matches. He wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to fully gather his wits, then, if
his instincts hadn’t suddenly shifted from the need to stake his claim on her to the need to
protect her. Charcoal, plus a full can of lighter fluid, and a lit match had abruptly equaled
explosive combustion, however.

He shook his head at the memory. The woman had a temper. He still wasn’t

completely certain what had brought on her tantrum, but he’d begun to suspect it was
pure out rebellion. The Feds had pushed her into a corner, given her no outlet, no chance
to fight back, and she’d snapped.

Truthfully, between what he’d first seen as unreasoning anger and her jumpiness,

he’d worried his little goddess might be flawed in a completely unacceptable way. Now
that he had at least a piece of the puzzle, he realized it was more of a testament to the sort
of strength and resilience that was as important to him as beauty and desirability in a
mate. She’d been tested in a way few were and she’d held herself together. She hadn’t
broken even when she’d jumped to the conclusion that they were a threat to her. She’d
panicked, but she’d still held it together enough to flee to the nearest defensible position
and call for help. She hadn’t merely sat like a stone on the couch like he’d ordered her
to, quivering in terror and waiting for the ax to fall.

It hadn’t done her any good, but then she’d been surrounded by Wolfen. Nothing

she could’ve thought to do would’ve helped any more, and he couldn’t fault her instincts.

Barring the fact that she was human, not Wolfen, he didn’t think he could’ve

stumbled upon a female more to his taste or more perfect for him.

The problem was, he was already looking at some fairly stiff competition that had

the same idea.

He was reasonably confident, though, that if he could just overcome her aversion

to cops—which might be harder than overcoming her shock of discovering he was
Wolfen—that he could beat the odds—as they stood. He couldn’t do anything about late
contenders once he dragged her into the hunt—if he managed it—but he thought he could
convince her to lay low between now and then and, if he could, then it wasn’t as likely
that the ranks of contenders for her would get completely out of hand.

If that sack she’d worn to supper was any indication of her wardrobe, that was

bound to help at least some—if he could keep her from running around half naked. One
look at the shape under that shapeless sack, though, and he was in big trouble.

* * * *

Making a conscious effort to appear far more relaxed than he actually was,

Cameron studied the competition assessingly, trying to decide if any of the three might
have more appeal to a human female than he did or, more importantly, Abby. As far as
physique went, he didn’t think there was enough difference between the four of them to
get too worked up. They were all Wolfen, which meant, largely because of their super
metabolism, they were predisposed to be lean and muscular anyway, and they were all
fully mature, which meant they’d broadened from the rangy youths they’d once been to
the ‘gorilla’ build Abby had described. He didn’t think she’d hold that against them,
though, and, even if she did it was what they had to work with—all of them.

Of course they couldn’t do anything about their faces either, he thought wryly.

They either appealed or didn’t. He just wanted to figure out, if he could, how hard he
was going to have to work to charm her. If he was bucking the odds because she found
one or more of the others more to her taste than him he was going to have to focus on

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 40

edging him, or them, out as much as possible—not that he wouldn’t have to anyway,
given the time restraints, but he’d always found it paid to assess the competition with as
much impartiality as possible.

Not an easy task given their history.
The four of them went way back, which was the main reason he, Adrian, and

Jerico had shown up early for the main event—to give them time to catch up. Even
though they’d barely been in contact with each other in the past five years, they’d served
together in the special forces, had considered themselves a pack at one time. They’d
been part of the same squad, watched each other’s backs through countless missions,
brawled together and with each other. And they’d been a force to be reckoned with when
they hit port and managed to wrangle a pass, nailing anything with tits and ass.

And Seth had been squad leader.
Seth would’ve been some stiff competition, he thought, with pretty much anybody

but Abby, but he’d noticed Abby was more than a little put off by his occupation. Even
if she had seemed to trust him more—and he hadn’t liked that worth a fuck—the irony
was that the thing that had instilled more trust in him, his badge, was the same thing that
repelled her on a personal level.

Good thing, too. The bastard had a face like Adonis and the dark appeal that had

always drawn women to him like a magnet. Julie had set her sights on him the minute
she set eyes on him—which explained why Abby had brought out the bitch in her without
any effort on her part—and she wasn’t the only one. Half the females in the fucking
county—human, Wolfen, and Were—began to behave like witless bimbos the minute he
smiled at them.

Not that he didn’t have his own appeal. As downright fucking annoying as he’d

always found it that women took one look at his face, his blond hair, and blue eyes and
instantly thought ‘angel’—the completely opposite reaction they had to Seth’s ‘devilish’
good looks—it sure as fuck didn’t make him one, and it had the distinct advantage of
making women complete unwary of him. He’d managed to charm the pants off of plenty
of women—as many, he’d be willing to bet, as Seth had nailed in his time.

It annoyed the shit out of him that his past track record didn’t bolster his ego like

it should have. Ordinarily it never occurred to him even to wonder how he stacked up
next to any other man—but he realized that it was because this time was the only time it
had really mattered. This time was for keeps. This time, for the first time in his life, he
hadn’t looked at a woman and thought—good fuck.

Well, actually he had.
It was just that that hadn’t been his only thought or even the dominate thought

running through his mind.

Actually, now that he thought back on it, there hadn’t been a hell of a lot of

thoughts running through his mind at all. He’d pretty well drawn a blank as soon as she
got out of the car and started up the walk. He’d zeroed his wolf senses in on her, drank
her in like a smooth, intoxicating liquor, and got an instant hard-on. From that point
onward, nothing was too fucking clear in his mind—beyond a fierce sense of
possessiveness the instant he noticed that Jerico and Adrian looked like they’d been pole-
axed.

He was sure, though, that fucking wasn’t the only thing he’d had on his mind.

Aside from the images that had danced in his head of her belly swollen with his pup, the

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 41

magnitude of the possessiveness that went through him was enough of an indication that
his instincts were screaming ‘mate’ not just ‘good fuck.’ Not that he didn’t feel a certain
amount of possessiveness any time he saw a female that strongly appealed to him, but
this was Adrian and Jerico. In the old days, they hadn’t had any serious problems with
their natural aggressiveness. They’d shared plenty of females in their time and still
managed to maintain the strong bond they’d formed as a pack in their youth.

He hated like hell that it had come down to this, but it fell however it fell.

Everything inside of him was telling him Abby was the one. Instincts couldn’t be argued
with or reasoned with—and since it appeared they’d all had a similar reaction there was
going to be hell to pay. Regardless of whether anyone else set their sights on her or not,
the four of them had found themselves in direct competition for the first time in their
lives.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 42

Chapter Six

“Anybody else as hungry as I am?” Adrian asked after a while, breaking the
silence that had held the foursome for nearly an hour.
Jerico, Seth, and Cameron turned to look at him blankly for several moments,
obviously considering it. “Actually,” Cameron responded slowly, “it’s a little early to be
thinking about supper, but I’m starving.”
“It’s the scent of the charcoal,” Jerico said. “Beer and steaks sounds good to me.”
“It’s Sunday,” Seth pointed out dryly.
Adrian shrugged and grinned. “Exactly. That’s why I grabbed a couple cases last
night before midnight.”
Seth sent him an assessing look, but finally dismissed the objections that rose to
mind. He’d been waiting for them to drift off and look for something to occupy their
time, but obviously they had no intention of going anywhere. They were just as
determined as he was to stand guard over Abby.
Since there didn’t seem any tactful, or even any tactless, way to get rid of them,
he figured they might as well make the best of it. “Who’s going for steaks?”
Everyone looked at everybody else.
“Aw, come on!” he growled irritably. “If one goes and three stay, it isn’t like
anybody’s going to get the chance to make any moves!”
Cameron and Adrian exchanged a look and shrugged. Jerico had already gotten
up and headed over to the grill to check it out.
Shaking his head, Seth got up and stretched. “Fine. I’ll fly.” He glanced at
Jerico. “Watch it when you light that! Abby emptied a can of starter on it.”
Jerico sniffed at it. “It’s evaporated. Better get charcoal and starter fluid while
you’re at it.”
Seth nodded, flicking a gaze at Abby’s back door speculatively. A slow grin
curled his lips as a sudden thought occurred to him. “I think I’ll ask Abby if she wants to
run to the store with me,” he said, striding briskly across the yard and up the back steps
before anybody had the chance to object.
“Fucking asshole!” Adrian snapped.
Cameron narrowed his eyes at Seth as he tapped on the back door and then
stepped inside without waiting for an invitation. “Just because he asks doan mean she’ll
go, mon ami,” he said pointedly.
“Right!” Adrian muttered in disgust. “Why didn’t I think of that? He’s such an
ugly son-of-a-bitch women are always turning him down.”

* * * *

As certain as she was that she needed to, Abby was too numb after all of the
‘excitement’ to think things through. Instead, as the tension slowly eased from her and
she shifted to a little more comfortable position on the couch, she dozed off. A tickle on
her nose roused her. Swatting at it, she’d already begun to drift off again when she felt
another tickle. Certain it was a fly annoying her, she wiggled her nose. Since that

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 43

elicited a husky chuckle instead of the cessation of torment as she’d expected, she lifted
her brows high enough to open her eyelids a slit and peered at the grinning face above
hers.
Recognition was slow in coming, but she finally realized that it was Seth. “Go
away you annoying man,” she muttered. “I’m sleeping.”
He grinned. “I’ve been called a lot of things, but I’m pretty sure nobody ever
called me annoying.”
Abby felt her lips curl and her belly perform a slow shimmy in response to that
grin in spite of all she could do. “What do they call you?”
He chuckled. “If you’re around long enough, I’m sure you’ll hear it yourself.
Are you going to get up, or am I going to have to resort to serious tickling?”
Abby groaned. “Why do I have to get up? I hardly slept last night.”
“We’re grilling. You and I are going down to the store for that steer that got
away from you last night.”
The reminder of the incident with the grill was enough to burst her bubble of
amusement. “Smartass!”
“That’s one of them,” he agreed cheerfully, grasping her hand and dragging her
upright.
“I bet they call you bully, too,” she muttered, getting off the couch with an effort.
She swayed, bumping against him, and he lifted a hand to either shoulder to brace her
upright.
“You haven’t been drinking have you?” he murmured, amusement threading his
voice.
“No, but I have the hangover,” she said, allowing her head to drop forward until
her forehead butted against his chest. His scent invaded her when she dragged in a deep
breath and yawned. It didn’t really help to wake her up, but it sent tingling warmth all
through her. She lifted her head after a moment, placing her hands on his waist to steady
herself and push away from him at the same time.
The body beneath his shirt felt as hard as it had looked, intriguing enough to
tempt her to explore a little further. She tamped the urge, stepping away from him when
he released his hold on her shoulders and turning toward the door to the hallway. “I’m
going to go wash my face and see if I can get my eyes open. If not, you’ll have to go
without me.”
The cold water splash helped, but Abby still felt almost intoxicated when she
came out. She wasn’t certain if it was from being awakened from a deep sleep, or
because she hadn’t really slept well in a very long time—not since her life had turned
into a nightmare—but she couldn’t seem to completely shake the sluggishness from her
mind.
Seth, she noticed, looked at her several times a little worriedly as he walked her
from the house. Instead of taking the walkway to her gate, he settled a big hand in the
middle of her back and walked her directly across her yard, stepped over the picket fence
and then caught her around the waist and swung her over it. That was almost more of an
eye-opener than the cold water.
She hadn’t been picked up since she was child. She wasn’t certain that she’d ever
even dated a man capable of lifting her, let alone at such an awkward angle and with no
apparent effort. Obviously, he wasn’t just pumped up. He was strong. She was no

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 44

lightweight.
Escorting her to a small SUV type of patrol car, he helped her into the front seat
and then went around to the driver’s side. Mindful of the fact that she was riding with a
cop, she grabbed her seatbelt and fastened it before he could point it out.
He slid her a speculative look anyway when he’d started the vehicle, but instead
of commenting, executed a three point turn in the small backyard cum parking lot behind
the Bed-and-Breakfast and headed out. Abby frowned as he turned into the street.
“Now, what are we doing?”
“I suspected you were still half asleep. How long since you had a decent night’s
sleep?”
Abby dragged in a deep sigh, settling more comfortably in the seat once she
decided his driving wasn’t unnerving. “I don’t know. A long time, I guess.”
He frowned. “No wonder you were so wired.”
She shrugged. “I’ve forgotten what it was like not to be a nervous wreck to tell
you the truth. I always thought my old job was stressful, but I suppose it’s all in the
perspective.”
“What did you do before?”
Abby swallowed with an effort, turning her head to stare out of the window. “I’d
really rather not talk about it. All of that happened to somebody else. I just want to
forget.”
He was silent for some time. “You think that’s the healthiest way to handle it?”
he asked finally.
Abby glanced at him. “I think it might work for me.”
He pulled up in front of a surprisingly large grocery store a few minutes later,
parked the car and moved around to open her door, frowning when he discovered she was
already halfway out. She smiled faintly as he settled a hand along the center of her back
again. “You’re an old fashioned southern gentleman at heart, huh?”
His lips curled faintly as he slid a glance at her. “I’m just a country boy, ma’am.”
“I didn’t realize they bred them so big in the country—must be the air.”
A faint flush climbed his cheeks, but he chuckled. “I’m not real sure the air’s got
anything to do with it—least ways that’s not what they taught in animal husbandry.”
Abby stared at his profile in shock for a moment before it finally filtered through
that he’d meant exactly what she’d thought he meant. Before she could think of a
suitable retort, or even decide if she wanted to make one, a woman stopped Seth to
‘speak’ to him. She seemed a lot more interested in peeling his clothes off and having
her way with him to Abby’s thinking, though. After eyeing him up and down as if she
was thinking about licking him, she flicked a look at Abby.
“This is Ms. Winthrope,” Seth introduced her. “The new teacher. Abby, Debbie
Wendt. She owns the Repeat Boutique down on Main Street.”
“Oh! You’re the one replacing poor old Mary Jane Mortimer! Well, how do you
like our little town so far?”
Abby smiled politely. “I only arrived yesterday. I haven’t actually had the
chance to settle in.”
Debbie’s brows rose. She slid a glance at Seth that was plainly questioning. Seth
didn’t enlighten her. “I’ll be sure to have somebody take a cruise down the alley behind
the store every night until we catch whoever it is that’s been tinkering with the lock,

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 45

Debbie.”
Abby was not only pretty sure that nobody had been tinkering with the woman’s
lock but that she’d been fishing for a little ‘tinkering’ from the sheriff, but she kept her
thoughts to herself as they moved on and finally made it inside the store after two more
brief pauses where she was introduced to two more of Ajax’s female citizens. She’d
begun to feel like they were running the gauntlet. She wasn’t sure who’d been checked
out more thoroughly, her or Seth.
Seth grabbed a buggy once they were inside and headed directly for the meat
department in the back. Abby followed him, trying to shake the ‘strangeness’ of the
situation, but the truth was she’d never been to a grocery store with a man in her life. It
just made her feel weird.
She wasn’t even certain of why he’d wanted her to go with him. He stopped and
examined the steaks critically and finally grabbed four up and tossed them into the
buggy. “What cut do you like best?”
Abby blinked at him. “Uh ...” Leaning over, she studied the packages and finally
picked up a small rib-eye. “We’re cooking out?”
He turned to look at her, a half smile playing along his lips. “I thought we’d
already established that.”
“Yes, but …” Four? “How many people are coming?” she asked cautiously.
He lifted his dark brows at her. “It was Adrian’s idea—him, me, Jerico,
Cameron, and you—unless you want to invite Julie?”
Apparently her reception to that idea flickered across her face faster than the will
to control it.
“I didn’t think so,” he murmured. “Potatoes? Salad fixings?”
Abby frowned, following him as he grasped the buggy firmly in both hands and
strode away again. “I don’t think I have a microwave … do I?”
He glanced at her, then frowned. “Nope. Guess we’ll have to do them on the
grill, or throw them in the oven.”
Abby thought that over. “They take a long time to cook in the oven—at least an
hour, I think.”
He looked disconcerted. “Really?”
“I think so.”
“I don’t think anybody is going to want to wait that long.”
“I could cut them up and boil them,” Abby offered a little reluctantly. “That
won’t take as long—except the cutting and peeling.”
He didn’t seem to notice that she wasn’t particularly thrilled about the idea of
potato peeling. He grabbed a bag full and headed to the ‘salad fixings.’ “Do you have
dressing?”
“I don’t know.”
Abby began to feel like she was running a race. Seth charged through the store,
zipping up and down the aisles and grabbing things and tossing them into the buggy. She
couldn’t decide if it was because he was hungry and wanted to hurry, or if he just didn’t
want to spend any more time in the store than necessary, or if he thought walking fast
enough might prevent someone else from accosting him.
If it was the last, it didn’t do him that much good. He did manage to elude
captivity at least half the time, but he had some pretty determined fans and several of the

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 46

women he encountered simply turned their buggies around and followed him, chatting as
happily as if he wasn’t doing his damnedest to outrun them.
Abby was just relieved when they finally made it back to his car. She couldn’t
decide whether she was more irritated or more amused. “Is there one woman in this town
that doesn’t have a crush on you?” she asked with a mixture of annoyance and
amusement once he’d shoved the key in the ignition.
His face reddened. “They’re just friendly. Ajax is a friendly place,” he muttered
uncomfortably.
“Yes, I noticed,” Abby said dryly, ditching the suspicion that he’d dragged her
along just to witness his desirability to the opposite sex. As if she’d needed to see him in
action!
He cleared his throat. “What did you think of the store?”
“I don’t know. I’m still dizzy and winded from racing all over it.”
He seemed to take that as a compliment. “It is big. Plenty of variety.”
Abby slid a curious glance at him, but it dawned on her even as she did that she’d
mistaken his objective in taking her to the store. At least, she thought she had. “It did
seem to,” she said finally, then added a little tentatively, “It must be new.”
He seemed to relax fractionally. “It just opened late last year. It’s a nice town,
small, but still … and, of course, we’re only about an hour’s drive from the city, but most
people just cruise the net days if they can’t find what they’re looking for locally.”
Abby digested that for several moments. “Is this your home town?”
He glanced at her in surprise, but shook his head. “It isn’t even my home state. I
took the job here after I got out of the military … well, not directly after. I rambled for a
few years, but I moved here about five years ago.”
That actually didn’t help her pinpoint his age, which was what she’d angling at.
“How long were you in the military?”
“I did two tours, but I finally decided I’d been dodging bullets long enough.”
Still no clue of his age, she thought wryly, but smiled faintly. “You got tired of
dodging bullets and decided to become a cop?”
He glanced at her, studied her a moment, and finally grinned. “There’s not a lot
of crime in a place like Ajax—petty theft, the occasional domestic dispute.”
“Still … there’s always the possibility,” Abby pointed out.
“There’s always the possibility of catching a bullet anytime, anyplace, but what
I’m doing now is a sight more peaceful than what I did in the military.”
She glanced at him, waiting for him to elaborate, but he slowed the SUV then and
she discovered they’d reached her house. He turned into her drive instead of the Bed-
and-Breakfast, pulling around to the back.
She discovered when they rounded the corner of the house that Cameron and the
others had dragged the chairs from the end of the yard to surround the grill. They’d
located two more chairs that she hadn’t seen before and suspected must have been
borrowed from her neighbor. They got up and met her and Seth at the car, grabbing bags
and trooping inside with them.
Jerico located the charcoal and lighter fluid Seth had picked up and headed out
with them to start the fire. Cameron unloaded the steaks and looked them over critically
while Seth plundered through her cabinets in search of a pan and finally unearthed a
cookie sheet she hadn’t had when she’d left home.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 47

Abby eyed the cookie sheet with some irritation, thinking the assholes were really
full of themselves if they thought she was going to suddenly become Suzy Homermaker,
but merely shook her head when Seth glanced at her questioningly. Adrian and Cameron
examined the vegetables Seth had got to make salads, searched until they found a cutting
board and knife and split the cutting and washing between them while Seth laid out the
steaks and began another search for seasonings.
Surprise flickered through her. They not only seemed perfectly at home in the
kitchen, they worked together with a bare minimum of discussion … as if preparing for a
cookout was something they’d done a thousand times before. Wondering if she was only
imagining it, Abby looked for a pot and paring knife and finally settled at the table to
peel the potatoes. She was working on the third one when Seth, after a brief search for
another knife, found a peeler, grabbed a potato and skinned it in about five seconds.
Tossing it to Cameron, he grabbed another. Cameron dropped the potato he’d caught
onto the cutting board and reduced it to half inch circles with the knife so fast the knife
was little more than a blur. Abby paused in the act of putting down the potato she’d just
finished peeling, her jaw sliding to half mast in it surprise.
Cameron flicked a glance at her, waggled his eyebrows up and down, and grabbed
another potato.
Abby bit her lip to keep from smiling and picked up another potato.
“Don’t get so busy showing off you whack your finger instead of the potato,
Fontaine,” Adrian drawled. “I expect finding a piece of you in her potatoes won’t set too
well with Abby.”
“Bite me,” Cameron growled good naturedly. “Boy, I was doin’ this when you
was still suckin’ your mama’s tit!”
Jerico, who’d just returned, laughed. “Yeah, but he was still suckin’ tit when he
was grown!”
Adrian grinned, sliding a glance at Abby. “Actually, I ain’t seen no reason to
quit. I’m pretty fond of tit.”
“Your ma ain’t beat you off, yet, mon ami?” Cameron murmured provokingly.
“Knock it off,” Seth growled, but his eyes were gleaming with amusement.
Adrian shot Cameron a bird.
Cameron grinned at him. “No romance, mon ami! I ain’t ‘in’ to puffin’ cigars.”
Adrian cupped his genitals in a crude gesture and mouthed ‘bite me.’
Abby pretended she didn’t catch that, struggling with a mixture of shock and
amusement to keep from laughing at their ribald ribbing. Seth rescued her by taking the
potato and knife she held and finishing it. “We can finish up here. Why don’t you go on
out and relax?”
Abby didn’t especially want to. As bawdy as their humor was, despite the fact
that she found it a little too shocking to be completely comfortable, she still found it
amusing. She also found the camaraderie between them intriguing and she didn’t
particularly want to be left out. In any case, she was the hostess, wasn’t she?
She got up from her seat, but shook her head. Grabbing the pot now filled almost
to the rim with cut potatoes, she moved to the sink to wash them and fill the pot with
water.
Cameron, having examined the steaks, apparently decided he wasn’t satisfied
with the seasoning.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 48

“Hey, man, don’t get any of that shit on mine, you Creole bastard!” Adrian
growled in a low voice. “The last time you seasoned the fucking steaks, I shit fire for a
week ….”
He broke off when Abby shut the water off.
Pretending she hadn’t heard that either, she moved to the stove with the pot. It
clicked when she turned the knob but didn’t light. Adrian moved up beside her with the
box of matches while she was looking around for them. Nudging her aside, he set the pot
off the stove, grabbed the burners and removed them, and then opened the top of the
stove. She held it up while he struck a match and lit the pilots.
“Sorry,” he murmured.
Abby sent him a questioning glance.
He shrugged. “I forget to watch my language.”
Abby scanned his face. Objectively speaking, she supposed he wasn’t as
classically beautiful as Seth, but he was a damned good looking man for all that, and
attractive beyond his dark good looks. “Actually,” she said, “I think I like that y’all are
comfortable around me.”
She realized as soon as she said it that she honestly did. They behaved almost
like … brothers—a family—throwing barbs at one another, but taking it good naturedly.
And even though she hadn’t felt comfortable enough to join them, they’d still made her
feel like a part of it, not an outsider.
He grinned, displaying a dimple in his cheek that multiplied his sex appeal several
times over and abruptly made her extremely conscious of the fact that she was
surrounded by four men that each had more raw, animal magnetism in their little finger
than any man she’d ever met before in her life.
Four of them.
What were the odds, she thought, bemused?
Or was it just her?
Setting the fire on high, she turned away from the stove and assisted in clean up.
When the salad had been mixed and shoved into the refrigerator to chill, the potato
peelings and vegetable discards disposed of, and the table wiped down, Abby adjusted
the fire under the potatoes and followed the men as they trooped outside. She studied
them surreptitiously as they settled companionably in the chairs ranged around the grill,
content just to listen to them talking among themselves while she examined the earlier
thought.
It had been damned near two years, she realized with a touch of surprise, since
she’d enjoyed any kind of intimacy at all and she’d done her utmost to put her last
relationship from her mind. If she discounted that, at least two years.
In all honesty, though, she didn’t think she could put the attraction down to the
drought. Seth was pure eye candy.
She shrugged that off. There was a lot more to him than that—a lot—but still,
eye candy, like she wasn’t used to seeing, sheer male beauty personified. Cameron, his
complete opposite in coloring, was just as classically handsome—they both were—
classically handsome, possessed of almost what she wanted to call aristocratic features,
but the appeal they exuded went way beyond skin deep, well beyond features so perfectly
formed they almost didn’t seem natural. She had the feeling that they would’ve been just
as attractive to the female of the species if they hadn’t been half as handsome as they

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 49

were. It wasn’t anything she could put her finger on, but she felt it so strongly that it had
pierced the cocoon of self-absorption and terror that had insulated her from everything
and everyone for so long that she hardly knew how to interact with people any more.
Adrian and Jerico had it, too—the animal magnetism that kept her buzzing
whenever she was near them even though she was hardly aware of it, or at least hadn’t
been at first. They were more ‘boy next door’ good looking. Actually, she supposed
with wry amusement, more like ‘boy from the wrong side of the tracks’ good looking.
Even though Jerico was almost as fair as Cameron, he still managed to exude the dark
and dangerous appeal women tended to feel when they were with the ‘love and leave
‘em’ type they absolutely couldn’t resist trying to capture, even knowing the chances
were that the man was just going to make them miserable.
She shouldn’t have felt the least bit comfortable around them. Truthfully, on
many levels, she actually wasn’t. On a purely primal, chemical level, just being around
them was enough to keep her body on slow simmer, the sort readiness that left her wide
open for any seduction they might take it into their heads to try. One kiss, she suspected,
and she would be putty in their hands.
Hell, Seth hadn’t even kissed her and she’d been putty in his hands!
Intellectually, she also wasn’t comfortable. For all she knew the four of them
were as bad, or worse, than Mikhail. She didn’t think they were, but she was savvy
enough to realize that she just didn’t want to, that she’d already been seduced by their
potent sexuality into wanting to ignore any warnings her reasoning mind threw out.
Seth being a cop didn’t preclude that assessment, unfortunately. There were just
as many, or maybe more, corrupt men that used the law to their advantage as there were
honest ones.
And even if he was true blue, the fanatical cops were almost as bad as the
criminals, willing to use any low down trick to ‘get their man.’
It bothered her that they seemed to know each other so well. In all fairness, she
realized she’d jumped to the conclusion that they didn’t when she’d discovered Cameron,
Adrian, and Jerico were only visiting, but they certainly hadn’t made any attempt to
disabuse her of the notion.
She didn’t know that they knew each other, for that matter, but it seemed to her
that their behavior suggested a longstanding connection.
Maybe that even explained the seemingly impossible circumstance of happening
upon four such dangerously attractive men, together, at the same time, when she might go
years without meeting even one that held a candle to any of them. Birds of a feather?

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 50

Chapter Seven

Abby fell asleep on the couch. She struggled against the lure as long as she
could. They’d had a pleasant meal together—more than pleasant—fun, something she
hadn’t had in forever. The steaks were perfect—everything was.
It had made her uneasy when she discovered Adrian had produced a couple of
cases of beer, but it didn’t seem like any of the four drank enough to manage more than a
slight buzz. After sitting around the table for a while, they’d finally gotten up to move to
the living room. They’d flipped for kitchen duty and Cameron had ended up with clean
up.
Seth, Jerico, and Adrian had sauntered into the living room. She’d stayed long
enough to rake out the plates and stack them, gather up the empty beer bottles, and wipe
the table down. By the time she’d finished, Cameron had washed the dishes and stacked
them in the dish drainer.
She was a little disconcerted to discover her guests were in no hurry to leave, but
despite her reservations about the men, their company was far more appealing than
spending the evening by herself. Plopping down on the couch, she’d listened to them
discussing the upcoming festival and previous festivals they’d attended, feeling
comfortable, well fed, and lazy.
And then she’d nodded off.
An arm settled around her shoulders. “We bore you to sleep, chère?” Cameron
murmured near her ear.
Abby struggled to open her eyes for a moment and finally gave up, snuggling a
little more comfortably against the hard shoulder he’d settled her against. “No,” she
sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just so tired. I thought I’d rest my eyes.”
“We should go.”
She recognized Seth’s voice.
“Don’t! I’m listening.”
Cameron chuckled and she felt her lips curling in response to the pleasant sound.
He shifted her around until he could get an arm under her and stood up. Dimly impressed
by the fact that he’d managed such a feat, Abby struggled again with the conflicting
desires to doze off once more and to wake up and prevent them leaving. “I won’t be able
to sleep by myself,” she muttered.
“Is that invitation, chère?”
Was it? Warmth tingled through her at the suggestion even though it had been far
from her mind. He plopped her down on her bed when she didn’t answer. Grabbing an
ankle, he pulled off her tennis shoe and sock, dropped that leg to the bed and repeated the
process with the other foot. He leaned over her, propping on his hands on either side of
her and then bending his elbows until he just brushed against her. “You want help with
the jeans?”
Abby frowned at him without opening her eyes more than a slit. “I don’t think
so,” she murmured, rolling onto her side.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 51

He leaned closer, until his lips were just above one ear. “Baby, I didn’t miss
nothin’ last night.”
She shivered as his heated breath caressed her sensitive ear, felt her belly tighten.
“Pretend you did.”
“Je ne pense pas ainsi, amour. Already, it’s one of my fondest memories.”
Straightening, he popped her butt lightly. “Sleep, chère. No one’s gonna bother you.
You’re safe.”
Doubt flickered through her mind but vanished almost as quickly. She felt safe,
she realized, but before she analyze it, a curtain of nothingness fell over her.

* * * *

“What are we doing here, mon ami?”
Seth glanced at Cameron and then looked up at the moon in the sky. “Watchin’

over Abby,” he said finally.

“You know that isn’t what I meant.”
Allowing the curtains to fall back across the window, Seth glanced at him again.

“I don’t know. Waitin’.”

“For the moon to fall? We gonna tell her when we get her to the gatherin’?”
Seth’s lips tightened. “You think we’ll get her to the gatherin’ if we tell her now?

She’s just begun to feel safe with us.”

“Exactly. We build her trust, and then break it? You think this is gonna make

things work out? She’s human, Seth. The mark of the wolf … it only works on our kind.
You know this.”

“The matin’ works on them, as well. The child would be a bond.”
“Maybe.”
Seth looked at him angrily. “What do you want me to say? There’s no other way.

It works … or it doesn’t and we all lose.”

“Three of us is gonna lose anyway, mon ami. You, me, Adrian, and Jerico …

we’re not a pack anymore. We have packs of our own.”

Seth frowned at him. “And you’re tellin’ me this, because …?”
Cameron snorted. “Because you’ve called the pack in, Seth. You know it. I

know it. We all know it. We all feel it. We just pretend we’re only here to protect Abby
and watch our own interests—to guard her from the others.”

Seth lifted a hand to rub his neck tiredly. “She could be in danger, Cam.”
Cameron nodded. “I agree. But you didn’t call your lieutenants in to help guard

her. You called us.”

“You called upon yourselves,” Seth growled. “My men are out there.”
“But not here. Any other time an Alpha had staked out a female, he’d have his

lieutenants helping him guard her … because they’d have as much at stake, the Alpha
female being the pack breeder.”

“You think I need lessons in pack protocol?” Seth snapped irritably. “We may be

a little backwards here in the boonies, but we aren’t that god’s damned backwards!”

Cameron shook his head. “Prickly. It’s Abby that ain’t used to this sort of life,

brother, though I’ve never understood why humans are so fond of the big cities. I’ve got
no quarrel with your territory. It’s a sight more fittin’ for Wolfen than the cities. Here
you can run free. You don’t have to hunt a park, or dodge cars,” he muttered with a wry
chuckle. “You worried she won’t stay even if you win the challenge?”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 52

Seth grunted instead of answering.
“Me … I’m thinkin’ Abby ain’t the kind of woman that’s gonna take a shackle

easy. She’s thirty two an’ ain’t been pinned down by no man yet. She’s used to doin’
things her way an’ havin’ her way.”

Seth sent him an assessing look. “There’s still time to look around for another

potential mate. At least you can be sure they are lookin’.”

Cameron grinned at him. “Nice try, mon ami! Did you choose?”
Seth stared at him a long moment and looked away.
“It’s in the blood. I doan no why or how she got under my skin either. I just

knew … like I always heard it was. The one comes along that’s supposed to be, you
know.”

Seth frowned. “That’s supposed to be if she’s one of ours. I’ve never heard it

said about a human woman. Not that I haven’t met plenty of human women I wanted to
fuck. But the matin’—that’s supposed to be the call of the wolf.”

Cameron uttered an amused snort. “That’s what they say, mon ami.”

* * * *

“This feels like old times, huh?” Jerico said, pulling his gaze from the distant
landscape he’d been scanning for any sign of activity that might be a threat.
“This?” Adrian asked with a snort of amusement.
“Yeah—watching the perimeter.”
Adrian shook his head and then tipped it back to stare up at the moon. “I suppose
it looks the same where ever you happen to be in the world—I get the vibes—but this
isn’t like anything we ever did before.”
Jerico shrugged. “Us working together on a mission.”
Adrian grinned at him wolfishly. “You miss the old days?”
“You don’t?”
Adrian considered it and finally shrugged. “I guess … sometimes.”
Jerico sent him a troubled look. “You don’t ever think that, maybe, we shouldn’t
have broken up the pack and gone our separate ways?”
“What are you getting at, Jerico?” Adrian asked testily.
Jerico thought it over and finally shook his head. “I don’t know. I hadn’t really
thought about it until I got here and we all got back together.”
Adrian studied him assessingly. “And we hadn’t more than gotten through the
greetings when we spied Abby. That should tell you we did the right thing. In the old
days we never would’ve been at odds over a woman.”
“We’re all here guarding her, though, aren’t we?”
“Because we all want her and we all need to protect her.”
“And, if we were still a pack like we were in the old days, we’d be doing the same
thing,” Jerico said pointedly. “Because she’d belong to the pack Alpha and his Betas.”
“I’m not Seth’s Beta anymore. I’m pack Alpha,” Adrian growled.
“I’m pack Alpha, too,” Jerico snapped, “but that doesn’t change the fucking fact
that I’m about as fucking low in the hierarchy as I can go! This is second time the
gathering’s been called here. Have you seen the size of Seth’s pack?”
“Seth wasn’t pack Alpha the last time the gathering was called here,” Adrian
retorted.
“Exactly—he replaced the old Alpha. This is prime territory, which puts Seth

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 53

about the same fucking distance from the top of the chain as I am from the fucking
bottom. I’m just thinking I might prefer to be his lieutenant and enjoy being closer to the
top of the hierarchy—especially if he’s going to end up with Abby.”
“You don’t think you’ve got a shot at winning the challenge?”
Jerico shrugged. “I never beat Seth before. There’s always a possibility, but I
fight better with him than against him.”
Adrian frowned irritably. “Just what are you getting at, Jerico?” he growled.
Jerico’s lips tightened. “I want Abby. I’d do just about anything to get her. I’m
saying maybe we ought to consider the possibility that there’ll be others that feel the
same way and we might have a better chance if we’re standing with Seth.”

* * * *

The alarm that woke her the following morning was so jarring Abby shot
upwards, prying her sleep blurred eyes open to look around until she finally realized it
was the alarm. Squinting her eyes, she peered at the clock, trying to figure out why it
was blaring. When she couldn’t jar enlightenment into her sluggish brain, she dragged
herself from the bed and shut it off. After looking around in confusion for several
moments for a door leading to the bathroom, she headed toward the only door she could
see and wrenched it open.
Memory started to return, recognition of her surroundings, and she made her way
to the bathroom to take a shower. The shower raised her alertness somewhat, enough for
it to dawn on her that she had to get ready for work—something she’d fallen out of the
habit of. Drying her hair with a towel, she headed into the kitchen to put water on to heat
for coffee.
Seth was leaning back against the sink, his arms folded over his chest. Abby
came to an abrupt halt, staring at him blankly.
He surveyed her from head to toe with a slow, thorough appraisal that precluded
any pretense of doing anything else. His eyes were gleaming when he met her gaze
again. “Mornin’, beautiful.”
Uttering a belated squawk as it slammed into her abruptly that she was stark
naked, Abby whirled and dashed toward her room. Completely and totally awake once
she’d slammed the door behind her, Abby discovered her thoughts were still chaotic.
What the hell was he doing in her kitchen, she wondered a mixture of
embarrassment and indignation?
She didn’t remember much about the night before, but she was certain that it had
been Cameron who’d carried her to bed. He’d offered to stay, but she hadn’t taken that
seriously.
And that still didn’t explain Seth being in her kitchen!
Thrusting it aside after a moment, she searched for clothing, finally settling for
the least offensive of the dresses the Feds had furnished her with. When she’d combed
her hair, she left it loose to dry and headed into the kitchen again.
She hadn’t imagined it. Seth was in her kitchen—now seated at her table sipping
a cup of coffee. There was a second cup across from him.
Amusement and something else gleamed in his eyes when he met her gaze. “I’m
not sure I needed the coffee after that, but I figured I might as well have some since I’d
already made it. I didn’t know you slept in the buff or I would’ve been sittin’ down.”
Abby felt her face heat. “I don’t bathe with clothes on!” she said irritably, pulling

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 54

out the chair and plopping down on the seat since her knees still felt weak.
The amusement had left Seth’s face when she finished doctoring her coffee with
cream and sugar and looked up at him again.
“As much as I enjoyed the view, I’d just as soon none of the others saw you like
that,” he said, a tautness in his voice that hadn’t been there before.
Abby stared at him in disbelief and dawning outrage. “This is my damned
kitchen! My damned house! What I do inside my house is my business and
nobody else’s. If I’d known you were here, you wouldn’t have gotten a view!” she
snapped.
Some of the tightness eased from his expression. “It wasn’t just an accident,
though, was it? You make a habit of strollin’ around your house naked … or next door to
it.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. As a matter of fact, she did, and she still didn’t see
where he got off chastising her about it. “And your point is?”
He narrowed his eyes at her and leaned forward. “I’m not keen on sharin’,” he
growled.
Abby felt her jaw slide to half mast in stunned surprise.
Seth studied her a moment and flicked a glance at his watch. “We’re runnin’ late.
I figured, since you don’t know the way to the school, I’d drive you today.”
He got up, tossed the last of his coffee into the sink and rinsed the cup, all while
Abby stared at him, stupefied. Finally, she got up and headed to collect her purse and the
folder—the infamous folder that had blown her cover. Catching her elbow, Seth walked
her out and helped her into the front seat of his patrol car.
Abby still hadn’t thought of a response when he pulled into a parking spot at the
school and shut off the engine. She glanced at him frowningly. “Did I miss something?”
she asked finally.
Shifting around in the seat to face her, he draped an arm across the steering
wheel, tilting his head at her questioningly.
Abby frowned, trying to sort her confusing thoughts into some sort of order. The
uncomfortable suspicion still plagued her, though, that she’d somehow gotten confused,
misheard him—something. “Did you …? Did you …? What did you say to me?”
Something flickered in his eyes that looked suspiciously like wariness. “What did
you think I said?” he hedged.
She thought—after knowing her five minutes—he’d informed her that he’d staked
a claim on her and she needn’t be considering sharing her honey pot with anybody else.
She stared at him uncomfortably for a moment and finally shook her head. She had to be
losing her mind. “Never mind. I think I’m going to have to think about it.”
Seth didn’t look terribly pleased about the comment. Instead of responding,
though, he got out, walked around to her door and opened it. Cupping her elbow, he
guided her into the school and to the principle’s office, introducing her. “If I don’t get
tied up, I’ll come by at lunch,” he said when he’d finished the introductions and turned to
leave.
Abby merely gaped at him and, after a moment, he left.
The principal was halfway through her ‘welcome—orientation’ speech before she
managed to snag enough of Abby’s attention to actually listen. She was still in a state of
disorder when the woman escorted her to her classroom and abandoned her to the twenty

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 55

demons from hell that were perched in their seats, as wide eyed with innocence as if they
actually were the little angels they’d portrayed themselves to be—obviously for the
principal’s benefit.
Abby stared back at them uneasily and finally pasted a bright smile on her face.
“Well!” she managed to say brightly. “I’m Ms. Winthrope, as your principal told you,
and I’ll be your new teacher. What I’d like everyone to do first is to draw me a picture
showing me how you spent your summer vacation or anything special that happened.”
The scrape of chairs and the stampede to her desk to collect art supplies were her
first clues that her strategy to give herself a few minutes to collect wits wasn’t going to
work quite the way she’d anticipated. They’d asked her so many questions in their
munchkin voices that by lunch time she had a splitting headache—and most the questions
were personal.
Seth could learn interrogation techniques from them!
He didn’t show for lunch, but she didn’t even think about it until the bell rang
summoning the children to the buses.

* * * *

“Fuck!” Seth muttered in disgust when he’d climbed into his cruiser again. He
didn’t know what the hell had gotten in to him to try such a highhanded stunt with
Abby—of all the women he might have thought to pull such a thing with!—but it had to
rank among the stupidest things he’d ever done!
Actually, he did know what had come over him.
Possessiveness!
And stupidity!
Not that he thought anyone could blame him, all things considered. He was lucky
he’d managed to string two words together when she’d bounced into the kitchen stark
naked, still damp and tousled from her bath, and heavy eyed with sleep.
She was damned lucky she hadn’t found herself flat of her back with her heels
behind her head! A man could only take so much without going off the deep end!
The minute it had popped into his head that the others were liable to see her like
that, he’d come unglued.
He didn’t know if he was more pissed off with himself for playing his hand like
that or Abby for dismissing it.

* * * *

Abby was sitting at her desk trying to work out what to do to keep her class
occupied the following day when Adrian sauntered into the room.

“Ready to go?”
Abby lifted her head and stared at him blankly. “Where are we going?” she

asked, thoroughly mystified and wondering if she’d agreed to go somewhere with him
and forgotten it.

He favored her with a slow grin that displayed his dimple to full advantage.

“Anywhere you want, Baby.”

Abby struggled with the warmth invading her and further clouding her judgment.

“I meant—uh—did we have plans?”

He chuckled. “Don’t tempt me, Abby. I’m a man on the edge,” he teased. “Seth

brought you. I didn’t figure you’d want to walk back.”

“Oh!” Abby exclaimed, reddening, then asked a little doubtfully, “He sent you?”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 56

“Let’s just say I won the toss.”
Abby got up and gathered her things before it occurred to her that he had a

motorcycle. “I’m not getting on the back of a motorcycle,” she said flatly.

He surveyed the dress she was wearing. “Nope. Not dressed for it, that’s for

sure. I drove your car.”

“Oh,” she replied, disconcerted, wondering how he’d managed that when she had

her key ring with her.

“There was a spare key under the front wheel well,” he responded as if he’d read

her mind. “You want me to drive? Or you think you know the way?”

Abby had been on the point of insisting she drive until the reminder that she

didn’t know her way around. She thought she could remember how to get home, but she
hadn’t been paying as much attention on the ride out as she should have. “You’d better
drive.”

He opened the door and leaned on it until she’d gotten in. “So—how was the first

day?” he asked when he’d slid into the driver’s seat.

Abby groaned. “Interesting,” she muttered. “The children had a grand time.”
He slid an arm across the seat back, pinching the tense muscles along the back of

her neck. Abby knew she shouldn’t have let him be so familiar, but it felt damned good.

“Just as I thought. Tense. You got a headache?”
“From hell,” she murmured, closing her eyes.
He shifted around in his seat. “Come here.”
Abby opened her eyes and looked at him a little doubtfully. He lifted one dark

brow in a questioning arch—or maybe challenging? She felt her skin prickle. Her
nipples stiffened against the fabric covering them. She hoped the sports bra she’d elected
to wear was enough to keep them from poking out noticeably, but it was doubt that that
was the case that was the deciding factor. She shifted in the seat to present him with her
back, grasping her hair, confined at the base of her skull, and pulling it over one shoulder.

She hadn’t counted on the fact that the neck of her dress was wide enough to

leave so much of her shoulders bare to his touch.
The rough skin of his palms as he settled his hands in the crook between
shoulders and neck made a fresh wave of goosebumps rise, made her nipples harden even
more. A shiver went through her when he started kneading the muscles, working her
shoulders briefly before he inched back toward her neck. She felt the flesh of her scalp
pebble as he worked his way up slowly from her shoulders along the column of her neck.
By the time he’d threaded his fingers through her hair and begun massaging her scalp,
her head had ceased to throb but she discovered the tension had only moved lower. Her
breasts had begun to fill full and tight and her belly had tensed. The warm readiness she
felt just from being near him had increased to an awareness that wasn’t the least
impersonal.
Discomfort moved through her when she realized she was aroused. “That’s
good,” she said a little breathlessly. “Thanks.”
He withdrew his hands readily enough, but slowly enough she sensed his
reluctance. Clearing her throat, she moved back into her own seat and focused on
fastening her seatbelt. She sensed the speculative glance he slid at her as he started the
car, but she didn’t dare meet his gaze, afraid he’d see how she felt.
“You should grab a shower, down a couple of painkillers, and rest for a little bit

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 57

when you get home,” he murmured after a few moments, his voice husky. “It would
knock the rest of that headache out.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Abby agreed, smiling faintly. “I guess civilizing five-year-
olds may take getting used to.”
“You just have to let them know who’s boss. They’ll run over you if you let
them—it’s the nature of the beast.”
Abby couldn’t help but smile. “I doubt their parents would appreciate likening
them to little beasts.”
“That’s what they are until they’ve been civilized—cute—but still little beasts.
That’s where tact comes in.”
Abby slid a speculative glance at him. “You know a lot about five year olds?”
He grinned. “If you’re asking me if I have any little rug rats—no, but I’ve been
around a few—more than you, I’d be willing to bet.”
“If you’ve been around any, you’ve been around more than I have,” Abby retorted
wryly, trying to subdue the flush that mounted her cheeks that he’d so easily seen through
her attempt to pump him for personal information.
“Not married, never have been,” he added, grinning again, although he didn’t
look at her.
“Did I ask?” she asked a little irritably.
“Just FYI. I haven’t actually been looking. I figured when the right one came
along, I’d know it.”
That was a little more information than she was really comfortable with,
particularly when he casually draped one arm across the back of the seat and began
massaging the back of her neck again—actually, it was more like a caress. The warmth
that had barely settled churned to life again. Abby tensed, but she was torn. She liked
him. His touch was a little more intimate than she was completely comfortable with
since she knew allowing it would only encourage him to be bolder, and yet she didn’t
want to discourage him either.
In any case, although she supposed it should have felt like encroachment, it
didn’t.
She was almost sorry, in fact, when they turned on the road where she lived and
she saw that they were nearing her drive. He didn’t remove his hand until he’d pulled the
car up behind the house. Shifting it into park, he unfastened his seatbelt.
Abby was unfastening her own when she felt his hand settle along the base her
skull again. She looked up to discover he’d leaned closer.
It didn’t take a great deal of thought to realize his intent. Doubts flickered
through her mind, but her heart leapt, as well, the warm tingling feeling from before
burgeoning. The temptation was just too much to resist. She lifted her lips to meet him
halfway, releasing the breath that had caught in her throat in a sigh as she felt the
pressure of his hard mouth on the tender flesh of her own.
Between one heart beat and the next, her entire world seemed to have narrowed
only to Adrian, the feel of his lips as they danced lightly along hers in a teasing caress,
the warmth of him. She lost awareness even of the weight of his hand on the back of her
head. Dizziness swirled through her as she dragged a deep breath of him inside of her
where it warmed her blood more. Her heart began to surge against her breast bone with
excitement, speeding the blood through her in a dizzying rush that made her feel as if she

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 58

was floating.
He dipped his head to a sharper angle after a moment, fitting his lips more snugly
against her mouth, sucking lightly at her lips before he stroked the tip his tongue along
the seam of her lips and plunged inside. Instantly, every sense sharpened, every
wonderful sensation intensified.
Abby lifted a hand to clutch and Adrian’s shirt, striving to get closer still, to
absorb more of the heady sensations. She’d expected to enjoy Adrian’s touch. She
hadn’t anticipated losing herself so completely that nothing existed to her but his caress,
the taste and texture and smell of him. She hadn’t thought her need would edge rational
thought away. She never imagined a kiss could bring her so close to heaven.
She could barely lift her eyelids when he withdrew his touch, eased away from
her to study her face. The tautness of his own features, the gleam in his hooded eyes, the
unsteadiness of his breath made her nearly as weak.
His gaze flickered over her face and returned to her swollen lips. For a moment,
she thought he would pull her close for another kiss, but he seemed to abruptly come to
an awareness of where they were even as it began to filter into her own mind.
He slipped his hand from the back of her head to cup her cheek, stroking his
thumb lightly along her lips, and finally dragged in a shuddering breath. “Baby, you
keep looking at me like that and your neighbors are liable to get a real shock.”
The comment didn’t exactly break the spell—she still felt almost feverish with the
heat and rapid beat of her pulse—but her awareness of her surroundings spiked. She
glanced around uncomfortably and her eyes widened.
Seth was standing on the top step of her back porch, looking like a thunder cloud.
Just behind him was Cameron, who looked as pissed off as Seth did.
Abby sat up abruptly, sending Adrian a worried look.
He’d noticed their ‘company,’ as well, she saw.
He turned to look at her just as she glanced at him. Their gazes clashed for a split
second and she saw something in his eyes she couldn’t quite interpret—satisfaction?
She wasn’t certain—not of anything beyond the fact that she didn’t want an
unpleasant encounter and she saw no way to avoid it even as she bailed out of the car.
Stalling for time, trying to gather her scattered wits, she grabbed up her purse and folder
before slamming the door.

Adrian got out, as well. Shutting the driver’s door, he leaned back against it,

folding his arms over his chest. Even from where she stood, it seemed to her that he sent
Cameron and Seth a challenging look. Whether he did or not, however, the two men
came the down the steps and headed straight toward him.

Girding herself, Abby clutched her belongings a little tighter, rounded the end of

the car and headed for the house. To her relief neither Seth nor Cameron said anything to
her as she hurried past them and headed into the house. She paused when she reached the
kitchen door, glancing uneasily at the three men.

All three of them, she discovered, were eyeing her.
Looking away, she went inside and slammed the door.
It hammered at the back of her mind as she strode quickly through the kitchen and

hallway and into her bedroom that the hostility between the three men had been almost
palpable. Wondering if an argument, or worse, was about to erupt in her backyard, she
dropped her burdens on her bed and plopped down on the edge, straining to listen for any

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 59

sounds that might indicate she’d been right.

After a few minutes, when she didn’t hear anything, she relaxed fractionally. It

began to seep slowly in to her as her tension eased that she’d found herself in a really
bizarre situation, though, and she couldn’t figure out how it had even come about.

She’d still been reeling with the discovery that she’d been abandoned to her own

devices by the very people who’d put her life in jeopardy—furious, truthfully, that she
had been abandoned—when she’d met Seth. His interest in her right from the start had
made her far more uneasy than thrilled and she hadn’t been any happier when he’d
manipulated her into going to Ms. Parker’s.

He was ‘drool’ worthy. There was no getting around that. Even in the state she’d

been in, she hadn’t been completely immune to his powerful sex appeal. She’d still had
enough sense, though, to be wary. Granted, if he hadn’t been wearing that uniform, she
might’ve been completely witless, but that had certainly set off enough alarms to make
her distrustful and, she thought, cautious.

Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico had thrown her even more off kilter, though,

exuding enough interest in her, and enough high testosterone sex appeal that if it hadn’t
been for the snide remarks Julie had kept lobbing at her from the other side of the table,
she was pretty sure she would’ve just gone catatonic.

Regardless, she’d still thought she handled the supper pretty well, behaved fairly

rationally, managed not to succumb completely to her libido and made a complete fool
out of herself. It had, after all, been a relatively pleasant dinner, even though she’d been
plunged so swiftly into her new role that she’d felt like a junky in need of a fix by the
time she’d made it back to the safety of her house.

If it had ended there, if she’d had a little time to herself to recover her

equilibrium, she thought she would’ve been alright. The water heater incident had pretty
well wrecked what little composure she’d still had, though, and then, after next to no
sleep in the creepy new house the Feds had dumped her in, she’d crowned her disastrous
beginning by letting the guys get their hands on the damning file notes.

It hadn’t exactly been a turning point, though, she realized. All four of them had

practically been … stalking her from the moment she’d met them. It seemed silly and
archaic to even think it, but they really seemed damned forward, regardless. Men in
general, in her experience, seemed to be pretty simple and straightforward, and they
preferred behaving accordingly but even so, especially these days, they generally weren’t
quite so blatant about what they wanted, certainly not under this sort of circumstances.
Maybe it was just the ‘type’ of men they were?

In all honesty, she couldn’t believe any of the four had ever had a lot of

experience with rejection. Maybe it was just completely justifiable self-confidence that
made them seem so … aggressive in their pursuit? Clearly, however, even though she’d
been inclined to dismiss their seemingly pointed interest, they not only were interested in
her, they were pretty damned confident ‘bagging’ her wasn’t going to present them with
much of an effort.

It probably wouldn’t have, if it came to that, if all four of them hadn’t decided to

make a play for her. That was just confusing and damned unnerving!

She still couldn’t quite figure out, though, how their discovery of her situation

had them practically camping out at her place. Maybe they thought they were protecting
her?

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 60

If that was the case, though, why was it that all of them were behaving as if

they’d staked a claim on her?

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 61

Chapter Eight

Maybe, Abby thought uneasily, she was just such an emotional wreck after all
she’d been through before and since she’d arrived in Ajax—and maybe she was
imagining things?
Struggling to shake the thought, she got up. Deciding to take Adrian’s advice
once she recalled it, she grabbed a robe and headed into the bathroom to take a long, hot
shower. While she waited for the water to heat, she dug through the boxes until she
found extra strength pain reliever, took a dose, and then got into the shower. The hot
water didn’t exactly tame her raging hormones, but it did relax her muscles and the
discovery that Seth and Cameron had been an audience to Adrian’s kiss had already gone
a long way toward cooling her ardor.
When she’d dried off and wrapped in her robe, she opened the door cautiously,
peered down the hall and darted across it and into her room. Discarding the robe at the
door, she headed to the bed and climbed in. Sprawling face down with a pillow clutched
to her, she resolutely closed her mind to all the worries still swarming around in her mind
like a stirred beehive and finally dozed.
The smell of cooking food emanating from the kitchen roused her before the
voices did. Still half asleep, she tensed, listening more keenly to try to identify the
voices. Relieved when she finally did recognize them and it banished the brief,
unpleasant, belief that she was back in one of the many ‘safe’ houses she’d stayed in over
the past year, she sat up and looked at the clock. That confused her, too. Between the
dimness in the room and the time displayed she couldn’t decide whether it was morning
and she’d slept through the afternoon and night, or if she’d only slept a couple of hours.
The smell of the food wasn’t much of a clue. Her stomach rumbled in
appreciation, but that still didn’t tell her if she was smelling breakfast or supper.
Eventually, she decided to get up and investigate. Unearthing a pair of thongs, a
comfortable pair of jeans and a knit top, she struggled into them. She’d already headed
toward the door when she recalled that she’d just gotten out of bed and her hair was
probably standing on end.
The steam from the hot shower had produced a riot of wispy curls around her
face, she saw. Grabbing up her brush, she pulled the band out of her hair, raked the
snarls out then tossed both the brush and the hair tie on the dresser, leaving her hair
loose.
She wasn’t exactly surprised to discover all four men in her kitchen, but she was a
little disconcerted.
“Feeling better?”
Glancing at Adrian when he spoke, Abby felt her face warm with discomfort.
“Yes, thanks. Between the shower, the pain killer, and the nap I think I just might live to
battle dragons another day,” she said with an attempt to lighten the atmosphere.
Adrian didn’t look to be sporting any bruises, but there was no getting around the
fact that the moment she’d entered the room the tension had mounted.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 62

Under the circumstances, she decided not to voice her sentiments regarding the
fact that the four of them seemed to have made themselves at home or ask them if they
had some particular reason for camping out at her place. Truthfully, although she found
it mildly annoying, there was no getting around the fact that she felt safer, and far more
relaxed, with them in her house than she’d felt in a very long time.
She supposed she should’ve felt the same way with the agents that had ‘babysat’
her, but they’d been so alert to possible threat that it had kept her on edge, not made her
feel protected.
She wondered if Seth had deputized them to help him keep watch over her until
Milner came to collect her, or if they’d just volunteered.
Or maybe they were just bored?
“Rough first day?” Seth asked gruffly.
She discovered she hated to admit that she’d had such a hard time keeping order
in her class that the principal had popped in twice to make the children settle down. “Oh,
it was fun!” she said wryly. “Please tell me there’s enough of whatever it is you’re
cooking for me, too! I’m starving.”
His gaze flickered over her face. “There’s plenty. What did you have for lunch?”
Abby looked at him blankly and then frowned. “You know … I’m not sure.” She
wasn’t certain she’d had anything at all. She distinctly remembered the trip to the
lunchroom—how could she forget!—but she’d been so busy monitoring her class she
didn’t remember if she’d actually managed to eat anything or not.
Apparently, Seth decided she hadn’t eaten. He served from the stove, passing out
plates and settled one in front of her that looked like it had enough on it to feed three
people. She stared at it with more than a little dismay despite her assertion that she was
starving. Shrugging mentally when she saw the plates he’d fixed for the others had even
more on them, she dug in with everybody else.
The topic of conversation was ‘how to handle rug rats.’ As instructive as it no
doubt was, she found it mildly annoying, too, mostly, she thought, because all of them
seemed a lot more knowledgeable than she was about children. As she had with Adrian,
she couldn’t help but wonder about their experience. She decided not to ask, though. It
had been disconcerting enough that Adrian had instantly known it wasn’t just idle
curiosity when she’d asked him.
In any case, she didn’t have to ask. With far more subtly than she’d managed,
they made it clear the experience had been gathered through friends and relatives. They
all seemed to hail from fairly extended families—not really surprising considering they
were all southern born, evidently, and southerners tended to be clannish. Her own family
hadn’t really followed tradition, or at least she hadn’t, in maintaining distant family
connections. Her grandmother, however, had not only been able to recite first, second,
and third cousins, and cousins once and twice removed, but the family lineage back four
or five generations from her own.
She began to feel a little freakish that she barely even knew her first cousins on
both sides of her family. Fortunately, due to her circumstances, they didn’t pump her for
that sort of information and she didn’t volunteer it.
When they’d finished eating and kitchen clean up, they all moved to the living
room to sprawl in front of the TV and talk instead of either watching or listening to the
‘background ambience.’ She finally got the opportunity to ask them a few of the

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questions that had been nagging at her, most particularly how it was that they all seemed
to know each other so well. She supposed she shouldn’t have been really surprised to
discover they’d served together in the military, but she was. She’d known they had to
have some sort of connection, besides the biker affiliation. They worked too well
together for people who didn’t know each other really well.
The shock was the growing suspicion that they were younger than she’d guessed
them to be. Not that they didn’t look really young to her, but she knew men tended to,
particularly the under thirty crowd. They seemed mature and since most of the men she’d
known that were under twenty-five behaved like kids, she thought that it was the way
they behaved that had given her the impression that they just looked really young and
weren’t. She didn’t ask. She didn’t want to be put in the position of either having to
answer similar prying questions about her own history or being rude by refusing.
It wasn’t as if it mattered in the scheme of things. Even if any of them were
interested in pursuing any kind of relationship, she couldn’t. Regardless of what had
been said on the subject, she thought the Feds would decide to move her. It might take
time to make other arrangements, but she wasn’t likely to be around long, and since none
of the four lived in Ajax but Seth, they weren’t even going to be around as long as she
was.
Under other circumstances, she might at least have considered a ‘fly by’ with any
of the four. She had needs that went beyond survival. Those needs hadn’t actually
crossed her mind in forever, not until she’d been set down in the middle of ‘hunk
wonderland’, but it had certainly crossed her mind several times since—no red blooded
woman could help but think about it with guys like them around. Getting laid might not
satisfy her on every level, but it beat the hell out of nothing at all.
Unfortunately, shy of simply brazenly offering, it didn’t look like the opportunity
was going to arise. She thought any of them would be perfectly willing to accommodate
her, but she hadn’t been around one long enough to attempt a seduction, and she a bad
feeling that was going to continue to be the case.
If Seth and Cameron hadn’t been standing between her and the bedroom when
she’d gotten home, she thought—no, she was sure—she would’ve dragged Adrian into
her bedroom and had her way with him. That kiss had had her primed—still made her
feel warm and weak all over every time she thought about it. He was so damned good at
it she couldn’t help but fantasize about what else he was good at—everything, she
suspected.
She wanted to know, damn it!
Seth informed her when it finally grew so late that she had to call it a night that
Cameron and Adrian would be keeping inside watch during the night—the first that he’d
said outright that they were guarding her.
Even though she’d suspected it, being informed irritated her. “Inside?” she
echoed questioningly.
He nodded. “Jerico and I will watch the outer perimeter tonight.”
Alright, so that explained why she’d run into Seth in the kitchen that morning.
He and Jerico must have spent the night watching the ‘inner perimeter.’ She was more
dismayed to discover that Adrian and Cameron had, evidently, spent the night outside
watching her house—and that Seth and Jerico planned to do so that night. “Do you really
think that’s necessary? I mean, you guys know about me, but I can’t think of a single

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 64

reason why anyone else would. The Feds were very careful about checking everything
out before they brought me.”
“Not careful enough,” Seth said grimly, “or they would’ve waited until after the
festival. I’m not worried about the people who have a legitimate reason for coming, but
we have a lot of strangers in town right now. If any of the people after you managed to
discover your whereabouts, it would be way too easy for them to slip into town
unnoticed.”
Fear instantly replaced her concern for their comfort, selfish thing that she was.
“But … isn’t it dangerous for y’all? I mean—I know you were all in the military, but this
is different and … they’re not even armed.”
To her surprise, he lifted a hand to brush his knuckles caressingly along her
cheek. “Who says they aren’t?” he asked with a faint smile. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve
got complete confidence in them.”
Undoubtedly, she did, too. She spent maybe twenty minutes lying awake
worrying about them and then was out like a light. She dreamed, though, erotic dreams
that warmed her enough to arouse her almost to complete wakefulness several times.
What disturbed her when she woke the next morning was that the dream began with
Adrian kissing her and making love to her, and then progressed through Seth, Cameron,
and even Jerico. It wasn’t that she dreamed of each—four individual dreams. The man
she was with kept changing. When it began, she was sure it was Adrian, but when she
looked at him, it was Seth, and then Cameron or Jerico.
If dreams were wishes, she obviously couldn’t make up her mind. Or maybe she
had, she thought wryly. She wanted all of them. As different as they all were in both
looks and personality, not one of them fell below a ten on the ‘made her wet’ scale. It
really sucked that she wasn’t likely to actually experience what it was like being intimate
with any of them.
As groggy with sleep as she was when the alarm rolled her out of bed, she
recalled that Seth had told her Cameron and Adrian would be staying in the house all
night. It occurred to her that they might already have gotten up and left, but she decided
not to take any chances on another nude encounter, grabbing her robe and pulling it on
before she headed to the bathroom.
Not that she wasn’t tempted in spite of Seth’s arrogant command that she not
flash any of the others. Contrary to what he obviously thought, though, both incidents
had been accidental and wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t been camping on her
doorstep. She hadn’t been expecting to run into anybody or she would’ve dressed.
In spite of the temptation to ‘troll’ for a little piece of tail, though, she couldn’t
bring herself to be that brazen.
Cameron was standing in the shower, dripping water, when she opened the
bathroom door. It took her a full minute to register the fact that she’d just walked in on
him and he was naked. Mumbling an apology, she whirled and dashed back into her
bedroom. She was wide awake, though. Ten cups of caffeine couldn’t have set her heart
to galloping half as fast.
There was a tap on her door. Abby answered it cautiously. It was Cameron, she
discovered. He’d pulled on a pair of worn jeans, but he hadn’t fastened them and they
rode low on his narrow hips. The bare upper torso was enough by itself to give her a jolt.
Neither his tattoos or his pierced nipples detracted one iota from the beautifully sculpted

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 65

muscles of his chest, arms, and belly. In fact, they seemed to enhance nature by adding
contrast between perfection and art. His long, blond hair, darkened from the water and
still dripping an occasional rivulet, hung across his shoulders and brushed the tops of his
male breasts.
With a will of their own, her eyes skimmed downward, following the gleaming
trail of a droplet of water over hard, bulging pecs, the washboard of his abdomen, and
over the flat belly exposed by his open jeans until it disappeared in the thatch of hair she
could just glimpse above his cock. She was almost certain, in fact, that she could see the
root, although that might have been wishful thinking.
He shifted to prop one shoulder against the doorframe, breaking her hypnosis.
“Sorry. I figured I could get in and out before you woke up.”
Abby looked up at him automatically when he spoke, but it took several moments
for his comment to sink in.
A slow, knowing grin curled his lips as if to say she could look as long as she
liked. She thought she could very happily have studied him for the rest of the day, at
least, but she wasn’t terribly comfortable about doing it when he was completely aware
that she was. She felt her face heat. “No problem,” she said a little hoarsely. “If you’re
done …?”
He nodded, stepping out of the way. Clutching her robe a little frantically, she
moved past him and into the bathroom.
My god! The man was beautiful! She’d thought he was before she saw that
body, but … my god!
A shiver skated through her. It was dismaying to discover she was aroused
enough that she noticed her own hands touching her as she bathed. She was almost
tempted to masturbate—almost. She discarded the idea when she realized that there was
a possibility that Cameron, or Jerico, might hear her. Aside from that, masturbation
didn’t have a huge appeal at any time. It held even less appeal with the caliber of men
she had in the house.
She supposed it said an awful lot for the state of her libido that it had even
occurred to her. It had been a hell of a lot longer since she’d thought about pleasuring
herself than it had been since she’d considered she needed a man. God! It was like
starving in the middle of a five-star restaurant!
Apparently having decided even if she did know her way to the school and back
that it wasn’t safe for her to travel alone, Seth took her to work as he had the day before.
She was mildly irritated, but she’d mostly gotten used to being on a chain—not
something she’d grown accustomed to easily. She was just relieved it was Seth who took
her. Cameron and Adrian had gotten her so worked up she thought she would’ve been a
nervous wreck by the time they’d reached the school.
Not that Seth hadn’t! But as weak kneed as she’d been after that almost kiss, it
hadn’t been enough to throw her completely for a loop. It made her uneasy that he’d had
such a powerful affect on her when he obviously hadn’t even meant to kiss her, but since
he hadn’t and didn’t appear eager to, or for anything else, it was a lot easier to behave
like a normal human being around him instead of a nymphomaniac.
He surprised her when he got out and walked her in. She glanced at him
curiously, but she didn’t comment, deciding he must have business in the school. It
didn’t even occur to her when he walked her to her class that he had something else in

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 66

mind entirely.

The children looked as if they’d spied Santa Claus when he entered the room with

her, except that they didn’t display any of the shyness she’d noticed children were prone
to when faced with the great toy god. They leapt out of their seats and swarmed him, all
of them trying to talk at once. It didn’t seem to surprise or disturb him. He smiled at the
children easily, patting first one and then another, ruffling their hair affectionately.

Stunned, Abby retreated to a short distance to observe.

When they’d finished with their greetings and began to pelt him with questions as
to why he’d come to visit, he sobered, fixing them with a stern look. “Ms. Winthrope
tells me you’ve all been behaving badly.”
Their eyes instantly rounded with trepidation. They glanced at Abby and then
looked at Seth again uneasily, but she noticed not one of them denied the charge.
“We wuz just ‘cited to have a new teacher,” one the children, a boy named
Michael, finally piped up.
“Yeah! She’s pretty!” Sean agreed.
“And nice!” Pamela added.
“You like Ms. Winthrope?” Seth asked.
There was a murmur of agreement from the children all trying to talk at once.

“She’s much nicer than Ms. Mortimer,” Suzy put in. “Ms. Mortimer was an old

grouch.”
“Why would you want to get her in trouble, then?”
They went back to staring at him with round eyes and slack jaws.
“I heard the principal had to come in twice yesterday because you were all
misbehaving.”
“Four times,” the class informant volunteered.
Seth sent Abby a look. “I guess Ms. Winthrope was trying to cover for you so I
wouldn’t know just how badly you all behaved.”
Abby grimaced and shrugged.
He returned his attention to the children, scanning them with a stern look. “I’m
not going to have to come down here and talk to you again about behaving for Ms.
Wintrope, am I?”
“No, sir,” the children all murmured in a chorus.
The class informant, Stephanie, shuffled a little closer and whispered in a
completely audible voice. “Is she your mate, Pater?”
“Is she gonna be, Pater?” Billie asked when Seth merely frowned at the first
child.
“’O course not!” Sean said. “She’s not a …”
Whatever he’d been about to say, Seth’s look cut him off mid-sentence. Lifting
his head, Seth sent her a look that stirred warmth in her belly and made her heart rate leap
upward. “I don’t know. I haven’t convinced her yet.”
Straightening abruptly, he sent the children scurrying back to their seats and
strode purposefully toward her. Abby’s eyes widened at the look of intent on his face,
but she couldn’t have fled it the thought had even occurred to her. She went weak all
over the minute he pinned her with his gaze. Reaching her, he grasped her shoulders and
dragged her upward on her tiptoes, planting his mouth solidly over hers and sending a
shockwave through her. The kiss fell somewhere between chaste and carnal. There was

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 67

a little too much tongue action to consider it completely chaste. It was too brief to cause
total annihilation, but r-rated enough to turn her insides to jelly. She was pretty sure
when he set her away from him that her eyeballs were rolling around in her head
independently. Fortunately, she was near the desk and managed to plant her butt on the
edge before she could fall on her ass.
“What do you think, Ms. Wintrope? Any chance of it?” he murmured huskily.
Any chance of what, Abby wondered, thoroughly rattled? She became aware,
though, that the kiss had stirred the class up. Most of them were giggling. Her face
heated.
“I think that might’ve been a little risqué for my class,” she murmured
uncomfortably.
Seth studied her a moment, his lips twitching faintly with amusement, his green
eyes warm with promise. He stepped closer, leaning down to speak near her ear. “If you
think that was risqué, Baby, I’m thinkin’ the odds are in my favor.”
She gaped at him like one of the five year olds when he straightened away from
her. He tapped her chin upward with a thick index finger and turned to look at the class,
planting his hands on his hips.
“What do we do when we want to speak?”
“Raise our hands!” the class chorused angelically.
“And …?”
“Wait until Ms. Winthrope says we can talk.”
“Good! And when are we in our seats?”
“All the time unless Ms. Winthrope says we can get up!”
“And when Ms. Winthrope tells us to get in line?”
“We get in line—no runnin’ or shovin’!”
“Or?”
“Talking!”
He surveyed them with a look of satisfaction. Turning, he winked at Abby and
then strode from the room.
Abby stared at the door after he’d left, too bemused for several moments to recall
where she was. When it finally dawned her that the class was quiet, she turned to look at
them. Most of them grinned at her, still red faced and giggly from the grown up scene
they’d witnessed, but they sat quietly. Gathering her wits, Abby moved around the desk
and opened the work book.
Contrary to what she’d expected, the children continued to behave well. Her
class was the most orderly at lunch, earning her a prim nod of approval from the
principal, Mrs. Alice Caruthers. She settled across from Abby with her own tray at the
teachers’ table. “I’m glad to see you’re settling in with your class.”
Abby reddened, squirmed a little uncomfortably, but she wasn’t about to admit
that Seth had brought her class to heel. “I think they were just excited to get a new
teacher,” she muttered.
“Oh! There’s no doubt about that!”
Abby smiled at the woman and focused on her food.
“The county school system will have several booths at the Festival—we always
do. It’s a way to raise a little extra money for the schools. I wonder if I could count on
you to help man one of the booths?”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 68

Inwardly, Abby groaned, but she forced a smile. “Sure! No problem. I’d be
happy to!”
Mrs. Caruthers nodded approvingly. “Wonderful! You can join Ms. Summers at
Booth #47 Thursday afternoon. The two of you will man the booth from four to six and
then Ms. Yancy and Ms. Caudle will take over from seven to nine.”
Abby was relieved to discover it was only two hours. She could handle that! She
was a little confused, though, that it seemed the booth was to be left unmanned for an
hour. “Who’ll be watching the booth between six and seven?”
A couple of the other teachers chuckled, drawing Abby’s attention.
“Oh we don’t worry about that!” Mrs. Caruthers said airily. “There’ll be a little
clock. All you have to do is move the hands to seven and everyone will know it’s closed
for super.”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 69

Chapter Eight

Cameron picked Abby up that afternoon. She was beginning to think they drew
straws or something.
She couldn’t help but wonder what the other teachers thought about the fact that
she had someone different picking up her every afternoon—and Seth in the mornings.
Actually, she had a pretty good idea what they thought about it.
The other teachers looked Seth over as if he was a choice piece of steak when he
strolled in with her in the mornings. Despite her headache the day before, she noticed
Adrian had garnered just about as much attention as Seth had, and Cameron ….
Apparently it was the first time any of them had gotten a look at him. The teacher
across the hall from her nearly walked into her door.
Cameron seemed oblivious.
Abby struggled and managed to overcome the urge to burst out laughing.
“Better day to today, eh, chère?”
“Much!” Abby agreed readily, relieved to have an excuse to smile in case the
other teacher saw her grinning. “Seth had a talk with them this morning and they
behaved like perfect little angels the rest of the day. I could hardly believe it. I kept
expecting it to wear off.”
Cameron grunted instead of replying, nodding as if he wasn’t the least surprised.
Abby frowned. “There was a curious thing, though.”
Cameron pushed the exit door open and waited for her to precede him. “What
was that?”
Abby turned it over in her mind as she had several times throughout the day.
“Several of the children called him … well, it sounded like pater.”
Cameron lifted his brows, but he didn’t comment.
“Don’t you think that’s the least bit curious?” Abby persisted when they reached
the car and he opened the door for her.
Cameron grinned at her lazily, propping one arm on the top of the door and the
other on the roof of the car. “Me, I’m curious ‘bout a lot of things, chère, but they ain’t
got nothin’ to do with Seth.”
Abby felt warmth flowing through her as she stared up at his face. Rattled by the
look in his eyes, she got in the car. He chuckled, a low husky sound that made
goosebumps rise along her spine. Closing the door, he walked around to the driver’s side
and got in.
Abby frowned at him a little irritably, realizing he hadn’t even asked her if she
wanted to drive. “It’s my car and I haven’t even driven it yet,” she muttered in
complaint.
Cameron held the keys up, dangling them like a lure. “You wanna drive, chère?
I can think of a lot of other things I’d rather be doin’ with my hands.”
Abby could think of a lot of things she wished he’d do with his hands, too. She
rather thought, though, if he tried it while she was driving they’d wind up against a tree.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 70

“Fine! You drive.”
He settled more comfortably in the seat, shoved the keys in the ignition, and
turned the car on. “If you can think of anything you want to do with your hands,
Chère ... ,” he murmured when he’d started the car, settling one arm on the seat back
behind her head, “I am completely at your mercy, as you see, eh?”
Abby couldn’t decide whether to laugh or rebuke him. She did both, chuckling
and shaking her head at him. “I wouldn’t want to take the chance of distracting you at a
critical moment.”
“But we’re not movin’ yet, petit,” he pointed out.
“Tempting,” Abby murmured wryly, “but we are in the school parking lot.”
He chuckled. “The next time I invite you, I’ll make certain there are no
distractions.”
Abby shook her head at him. “I’m betting that’s why you invited me now—
because you knew I wouldn’t take you up on it.”
“Au contraire, mon amour, I made the invitation because I hoped you would,”
Cameron murmured, backing the car out finally and heading out of the parking lot.
She didn’t believe it. His tone was teasing. She thought he was just a born flirt.
They were halfway home before it dawned on her that he’d completely distracted
her from the question she’d asked him, or rather the comment she’d made. She hadn’t
really expected him to appease her curiosity. As soon as she realized he’d distracted her,
though, she began to wonder if the flirtation was nothing but a smoke screen designed for
just that purpose.
It seemed farfetched. As odd as she’d found it that the children had called Seth
pater, which she’d discovered was Latin for father, it hadn’t really seemed significant.
After all, there were a number of people in the county, she imagined, that spoke French
Creole, given the area.
Given the fact that Cameron had flirted with her so outrageously, though, she
began to wonder if there was more significance to it than she’d believed. It wasn’t as if
he hadn’t flirted before, but he hadn’t been quite that pointed before.
On the other hand, she had walked in on him in the shower that morning, and she
had gone catatonic. She supposed, wryly, that he might have gotten the idea that she
desperately wanted to touch him all over and it had emboldened him.
Unfortunately, the episode hadn’t emboldened her. It wasn’t that she never had
been bold enough to initiate, or to flirt outrageously on occasion, but that was generally
when she was familiar enough with a man to be comfortable with the idea and/or had had
a few drinks of liquid courage. In some ways, she felt very comfortable around
Cameron—actually all of the men who’d decided to designate themselves as the home
guard. She supposed that was, at least in part, because they seemed completely at ease
around her.
In other ways—well, they were just too damned sexy for a woman to be
completely comfortable around them. Even when she felt totally relaxed, she wasn’t and
she knew wasn’t. All any one of them had to do was give her a certain look and she was
on slow simmer. There was nothing ‘instant’ about it. She’d been in a perpetual state of
readiness since they’d descended on her.
Talk about feeling like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs!
Vaguely disappointed when they reached her house and she saw that Seth hadn’t

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 71

come in from work yet, she tamped it and headed inside to check out possibilities for
supper. She hadn’t cooked in a while, not a real meal, but she felt up to the challenge.
Cameron followed her, sprawling in one of the kitchen chairs and watching her
like a cat watching a mouse. “Need help?”
Abby dragged her attention from the freezer and glanced at him. “I was just
trying to decide what to fix.”
“I doubt you’ll find anything in there to feed the pack. High metabolism. We
tend to eat … like wolves,” he murmured, grinning at her wickedly.
She sent him a curious look. “I imagine it’s all that muscle.”
“All that somethin’, certainement,” he drawled.
She studied him indecisively. “How do you stay so fit?” she finally asked
curiously.
He grabbed her, dragging her down on his lap. “I think I could show you much
better than I could explain, chère,” he murmured thoughtfully.
Abby couldn’t help but chuckle. “Men! Somehow I doubt that’s how you stay
fit!”
He grinned at her lazily. “You doubt that, eh? You need proof?”
She would have loved proof. Unfortunately, she thought it might be a little
distracting to try anything with one ear cocked for the arrival of the others, and she
wasn’t sure she wanted to know what their reaction would be if they came in and she was
‘occupied’ with Cameron in her bedroom.
Seth unnerved her when he was displeased, to put it very mildly.
Smiling, she shook her head at him. “I’ll take your word for it.”
His eyes gleamed with a mixture of promise and amusement. “Coward,” he
murmured, slipping his hands up her back and dragging her closer.
She braced her palms against his chest but more for balance than from any
resistance, yielding to the pressure of his hands without any attempt to resist. For a
moment, they merely stared at one another. Slipping an arm around her, he twisted until
she was cradled in against the side of his chest. He lifted his free hand then, tugging the
band from her hair to free it. Pulling her closer, he nuzzled his face into her hair and
dragged in a deep breath. “Your scent drives me wild, chère,” he murmured huskily.
“You know this, yes?”
Actually, she thought it was a damned strange thing for him to say, but that
wasn’t to say it didn’t make everything inside of her turn to molten desire.
He sucked a patch of skin along her neck, just beneath her ear, lifting a flock of
prickling goosebumps. “If it were not déshonneur, I would dine on you tonight, mark
you for myself so no others could …”
“What?” Abby gasped dizzily, far more interested in hearing the husky timber of
his accented voice than anything else—except further enticement.
His eyes gleamed as he lifted his head. “Claim you, mon amour,” he murmured
against her lips.
The scrape of a shod foot against the floor jolted through Abby. She sprang
guiltily to her feet. Lightheaded from the sensations swirling through her, her head spun
as she glanced quickly around.
Jerico and Adrian were propped in the doorway between the kitchen and the
hallway, their arms folded over their chests, their faces taut, eyes narrowed. They

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 72

weren’t looking at her, fortunately.
Cameron casually reached down to adjust his erection in his jeans, but he never
took his eyes off of the two men in the doorway.

After staring at one another for several taut moments, Adrian broke the deadlock

by glancing at her. “The full moon is Saturday,” Adrian said tautly. “There’ll be no
challenges before that … and no claiming.”

Cameron shrugged, but anger glittered in his eyes. “This, I know, mon ami.

There is something wrong with your hearing?”

“We heard you alright,” Jerico snarled. “We’re just wondering if you can be

trusted.”

Cameron’s expression hardened. “I believe we must settle this dispute now,” he

growled, coming to his feet.

Seth stepped inside from the back porch at just that moment, drawing the

attention of the other three. He eyed them all assessingly before his gaze settled on
Cameron. “You know better than that,” he snarled, as if he’d heard the entire
conversation. “Back off … all of you.”

Adrian, Jerico, and Cameron all stared at him hard for several moments. To

Abby’s relief, though, some of the tension seemed to ease from them. More accurately,
they seemed to force themselves to relax fractionally.

“We could take a little ride,” Jerico said after a prolonged moment.
“Save it!” Seth snapped, flicking a glance at Abby. “Saturday will be soon

enough. The … others will be expecting it then. They’ll be safely behind doors.”

Cameron’s expression was still tight with suppressed fury. “I’m to swallow the

insult?” he growled. “This doesn’t set well with me.”

Seth’s lips tightened. He flicked a hard glance at Jerico. “Hot blood, hot heads,”

he said with a touch disgust. “He doesn’t believe that, whatever he said … and you know
it, Cam.”

Jerico shifted uncomfortably. “God’s damn it, Seth! He said …”
“I know what he said. If it wasn’t a dishonor. Like it or not, you don’t have the

field to yourself—none of us do. We play by the rules.”

“What are the rules?” Abby demanded, abruptly finding her tongue. “What’s

going on? What’s happening Saturday?”

Seth and Cameron both turned to give Adrian and Jerico looks of disgust. Adrian

threw his hands up. “Hey! Don’t look at me! Jerico’s the jackass that got all this
started!”

Jerico glared at him indignantly. “You were the one that said we needed to break

it up before Cameron lost his head and forgot …” Breaking off, he glanced at Abby
uncomfortably. “Well fuck! That’s right! Blame it all on me! Why the fuck not? Y’all
always have.”

“Aw come on, Jerico! Don’t start that shit about Taiwan again!” Adrian snapped

irritably. “It was your god’s damned fault!”

“And just how the hell do you figure I could’ve know she was married, god’s

damn it?”

Turning away from the kitchen, the two of them took their argument to the living

room. Abby watched them suspiciously until they’d disappeared, wondering if the entire
dispute was their way of avoiding answering any of her questions.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 73

Cameron and Seth, she discovered when she finally returned her attention to the

two men still with her, were both staring at the empty doorway with expressions of
disgust.

As if he felt her gaze, Seth turned to look at her speculatively.
Abby plunked her hands on her hips. “You aren’t going to tell me, are you?”
His lips twitched, but he managed to tamp the urge to smile. “It’s a need-to-know

situation …”

“And I don’t need to know?”
He moved toward her, looping his arms around her waist and pulling her into a

light embrace. “That depends.”

“On what?” Abby asked, struggling to ignore the distracting warmth that filled

her.

His gaze flickered over her face. “On whether you intend to stick around long

enough to find out.”

The comment cooled her right down to complete sobriety.
She felt a little sick at the reminder, actually, realizing she’d managed to, mostly,

put it out of her mind. “Do you think they care what I want?”

“I care ….” He flicked a glance at Cameron. “We care. Tell me what you want,

Baby, and I’ll make it happen.”

Abby studied his face for any sign that he didn’t really mean it, but he seemed

deadly serious. It only made it worse, deepened the sense of despair that welled inside
her. She wanted a life. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to have one, to have
ordinary goals and expectations for each day. She didn’t think she would ever have
chosen a place like Ajax to live, but it had begun to have a lot of appeal for her … even
beyond it’s sheriff and his military buddies. “You can’t stop them,” she said finally.
“There’s no point in even thinking about what I want.”

“You would be amazed at the things we can do, chère,” Cameron murmured.

* * * *

Leaving Adrian in possession of the living room, Jerico stalked angrily outside to

try to cool off. After standing on Abby’s front porch for a few minutes, glaring at
nothing in particularly, thinking of nothing in particular, instead struggling with the
violent urges churning through him, he finally trotted down the front steps and rounded
the house toward the back. Barring the possibility of a solitary run through the woods,
the cooling shade of her backyard beckoned.

He paced for a while, absorbing the relative peacefulness of his surroundings,

tuning out the scents and sounds of a city around him. A run through the woods in wolf
form would’ve been far more soothing, the possibility of a hunt and a kill would’ve gone
even further toward calming his beast.

But Seth had strictly forbidden it and as much as that rankled when he’d gotten

out of the habit of taking orders from anyone else, he still felt the attachment from his
early years. He’d barely been eighteen when he’d landed in Seth’s squad, but as full of
piss and vinegar as he’d been, he’d instantly recognized Seth as Alpha. Whatever the
others said, despite the fact that Seth wasn’t much older than him and no higher in
military rank, they had, too.

It was easier to fall back into the habit than it was to resist the instinct.
He wasn’t particularly angry with Seth anyway. Despite his fury, he’d known

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 74

Seth was right. Now wasn’t the time, and challenging Cameron in front of Abby had
been downright stupid.

It was probably pretty stupid to challenge him at all. He didn’t miss much of

being as strong as Seth, or as determined. He would probably have gotten his ass kicked
if Cameron had taken him up on it.

It still made his blood boil that Cameron had considered breaking ranks and

taking. He knew it was instinctive. Hell, they all felt it—the need burning in them to be
done with dancing around it and mark her. It had been driving him crazy.

Her scent had intrigued before he’d ever set eyes on her, teasing his nostrils,

curling lazily through him, and tying his balls in a knot. It was worse now, because he
could also smell her desire.

Which was why he hadn’t dared approach her. He wasn’t sure he could stop. He

was afraid he’d screw things up for everybody, not just himself.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 75

Chapter Nine

“You were out of line,” Seth growled as soon as he and Cameron had checked the
perimeter and settled to watch, “and you fucking know it.”
Cameron bristled instantly. “You heard. You know god’s damned well I
wasn’t.”
“Because you heard me when I arrived,” Seth said tightly. “If I hadn’t, you
would’ve marked her. Don’t spin me any bullshit about just thinkin’ about it.”
Cameron glared at Seth furiously for several moments and finally looked away.
“I didn’t, mon ami, whatever I thought about doin’.”
“It’s what you were considerin’ that’s the fuckin’ issue,” Seth snarled.
“I need an outlet,” Cameron growled after a prolonged moment of silence. “We
all do.”
“You’ll wait until the gatherin’ just like everybody else. You think you’re the
only one havin’ a problem? The moon’s nearly full and the parish is overrun with Weres
and Wolfen who’ve gathered specifically to find a mate. There’s too many humans that
also call this parish home for there not to be a problem if everyone doesn’t control
themselves. We run with the pack when the pack runs and not before. And when we
meet for the choosin’, we’ll settle the issue of who claims her.”
Cameron shook his head. “We don’t even know that the council will recognize
our challenge as a legitimate one. If they refuse to consider her, they won’t.”
“We’re not without influence,” Seth said grimly. “The four of us represent four
different territories … and we won’t be the only challengers.”
Cameron sent him a sharp look. “There are others?”
“You didn’t think our interest would go unnoticed,” Seth said with disgust.
“Yeah, there’ll be others. I’ve already had two other Wolfen and three Weres approach
me and demand to know why we were keepin’ her under wraps if we’re considerin’ her
as a possible mate. The council’s heard. I got a call today from one of the members
askin’ me if the rumors were true.”
“Julie,” Cameron said with disgust.
Seth shrugged. “Probably. They would’ve had to find out sooner or later, but I’d
counted on later—at the meet, where we could force the decision on them. I don’t think
Beth Parker has a problem with it,” he added dryly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think the
woman had a mean streak a mile wide. You can bet your ass she didn’t miss a thing
when you and Adrian and Jerico went in to high alert as soon as you saw her. That’s why
she sent me over to ask her to supper. She wanted to check her out and see if Abby had
as potent effect on the others.”
“Well, fuck!” Cameron growled. “As if we didn’t have a big enough mess as it
is! We have to tell her, Seth. We can’t spring it on Abby at the last minute. You can
bet it’ll be a hell of a lot bigger jolt to her than it would’ve been to the council.”
Seth shook his head. “We can’t afford to tell her until we’re more certain that she
would accept us. You and I both know that humans outside the community don’t believe

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 76

we exist and wouldn’t believe it if Abby tried to spread it around, but the council doesn’t
see it that way and it’s expressly forbidden—for good reason. If it got around, we’d have
a war on our hands and nobody wants it to come down to that—we’d all be losers
because we all have friends in the human community.”
“I smell her desire every time I’m near her,” Cameron said. “Hell, I don’t even
have to get close. I can smell it on her when any of you get near her. It’s drivin’ me
crazy. She’ll accept us.”
Seth glared at him in disgust. “You know the effect Wolfen and Weres have on
human women—when they don’t know. She can’t help it when we’re givin’ off such
strong pheromones, but that doesn’t mean she really wants me, or you, or any of the
others. This isn’t about fuckin’, Cam. It might break her trust when she finds out we
didn’t tell her what we are, but it’ll sure as fuck break it if we take her first and then tell
her.”
“So we just wait?” Cameron growled.
“We wait,” Seth said grimly. “And we all toe the line, includin’ you, until I’m
sure enough that she’s open to acceptance.”
“And figure out a way to tell her,” Cameron said dryly.
Seth uttered a disgusted breath. “Yeah, and until I figure out how to tell her.”
“She’s going to freak, mon ami!” Cameron said. “They always do.”
“As long as she doesn’t freak and run, I can handle it.”

* * * *

“I told Mrs. Caruthers I’d help man one of the school booths when the Festival
starts tomorrow,” Abby said, staring out the window at the passing scenery instead of
looking at Seth. It was odd that she hadn’t particularly wanted anything to do with the
festival when the principal had asked her, and yet, as soon as she was reminded that the
Feds were probably going to move her, she felt like she was missing out. In retrospect,
she realized it was the beginning of something, not just a chore, but budding acceptance,
the possibility of becoming part of a community, that appealed to her.
Granted, she’d felt pretty contemptuous of the little community when she’d
arrived. Maybe she still would’ve felt that way if not for Seth and the others. Maybe she
still would when the dust settled if she stayed, but she wanted a chance at ‘normal.’ The
Feds didn’t want to plant her in any city of any size, which meant she’d be looking at yet
another Ajax if she was moved. That being the case, Ajax at least had something going
for it that no other place would have.
No other place would have Seth.
Not that she thought she could count on having Seth, regardless of the seductive
comments he’d made to the contrary. She supposed that could be his brand of seduction.
He didn’t strike her as the kind of man who made a practice of throwing out promises
they didn’t mean just to get in a girl’s pants, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t. It wasn’t as
if she really knew him very well, regardless of the fact that they’d been thrown together
by circumstances that had made her feel as if she’d known him a lot longer.
It was sort of like speed dating, she thought wryly. She’d probably spent more
time with Seth—with all of them—in the past several days than she’d spent with any guy
she’d ever dated. She supposed it wasn’t any wonder she felt like she’d known them a
long time.
The really irritating thing about it was that she hadn’t been intimate with any of

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 77

the four. Ordinarily, she knew by the end of a first date whether she was interested in
‘getting to know them better’ usually a lot sooner than that, but certainly by the end of
their first outing together—in which case there was no second or third date. When it was
iffy, a second date was called for to make up her mind, but if she went on a third …
She’d known inside of five minutes, with all of them that she was wide open to
taking it to the next level, and still nothing had happened beyond them teasing her until
she felt like she was on some super sex drug.
Glumly, she supposed it was for the best given that she probably wasn’t going to
be around long enough to pursue anything to its natural course. It was almost worse,
though, to think she was going to be looking back with deep regret that she hadn’t at least
pursued what she could, while she could, as it would be to be haunted by what might
have been.
“Do you want to?” Seth asked, breaking into her thoughts.
Momentarily confused by the correlation between his question and her thoughts,
she turned her head to stare at him blankly.
“Take part in the festival?” he prompted.
“I don’t mind,” she said.
“That’s not what I asked.”
She looked away again. “It almost seems pointless, really … under the
circumstances. I was actually kind of looking forward to it,” she said a little wistfully.
He reached across the space that separated them, grasped her hand and squeezed
it lightly. “Then don’t let your doubts spoil it. Enjoy it.”
Abby smiled wanly. “I didn’t used to be such a pessimist,” she said wryly. “I
didn’t used to be scared of my own shadow, as far as that goes.”
“He took a lot of things away from you, Abby,” Seth said gently, “but he didn’t
take away who you are.”
Abby grimaced. She wasn’t so sure of that. She hardly knew the person she’d
become. Maybe she’d always been who she was now and she just hadn’t known it
because she’d been sheltered? She’d felt like she could deal with anything before, handle
any situation. Now she felt lost and vulnerable and useless.
Actually, not so much as she had, she realized. She knew she had Seth to thank
for gaining control of her classroom, but since she had, she’d begun to feel more like her
old self, like she knew what she was doing and she could do it well. “Whatever happens
next … thank you.”
Seth lifted a dark brow, taking his eyes from the road long enough to flick a
questioning glance at her.
“For everything, really, but especially for helping me out with the kids. I felt so
overwhelmed that first day, so completely out of my depth. Now I feel like I can handle
it. It’s weird, because I certainly never thought about teaching, but I think I could get to
like it … if I got the chance.”
“You’ll have the chance,” Seth said implacably.

* * * *

It took Abby a few minutes to actually identify the feeling that thrummed through
her as she entered the parish fair grounds and looked around at the people milling around
and the festooned booths filled with everything imaginable. The sights, the smells of all
sorts of tempting food cooking, the happy chatter of people greeting people and excited

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 78

squeals of children took her back to her own childhood visits to the fair. A warming tide
of happiness and excitement flooded her as she looked around expectantly.
She hadn’t been around so many people at one time in forever and she hadn’t
been around so many people bent on enjoying themselves in a good bit longer than that.
She glanced at Jerico, who’d picked her up from the school and driven her over.
He blushed when she smiled at him, looked torn between doubt and pleasure—as if he
wasn’t entirely sure if the smile was meant for him. His bashfulness brought out the urge
to tease him, to flirt outrageously just to see him blush again—because he was so cute
when he blushed. “I’m supposed to work at booth forty-seven. Any idea where that is?”
A look surprise flitted across his features and then amusement gleamed in his eyes
briefly before some thought wiped it from his mind. “Does Seth know?”
Abby blinked at him, mystified for a moment, but feeling the beginnings of
resentment as it occurred to her that he was asking if she’d cleared it with Seth. It was
almost annoying to realize she actually had. “Where the booth is, you mean?” she asked,
irritated enough to pretend she’d misunderstood. “I don’t know, but since he isn’t here I
don’t suppose it would be much help if he did. I’m sure I can find it.”
Jerico caught up to her as she stalked away from him, settling one hand lightly but
almost possessively along her hip. “He’s here—patrolling with his men. Pretty much
everybody is. The booth’s this way,” he finished, guiding her in a tight turn toward the
row of booths on the outer edge.
Abby couldn’t decide for a few moments whether she was mollified or not, but
she discovered she couldn’t hold on to her anger in the face of the anticipation throbbing
through her as they threaded their way through the throngs of people, and she caught
glimpses of booths displaying their wares.
Glancing at her watch, she saw she didn’t really have time to explore, but Mrs.
Caruthers had said she only needed to stay until six and that Ms. Yancy and Ms. Caudle
would take over until nine. She’d have hours to explore after she finished—days,
actually, if she saw enough of interest to come back.
The antique furniture booth was a definite, she decided when she caught a
glimpse of a tall, elaborately carved headboard that looked to be made of cherry or
mahogany. Next to it, or maybe a part of the same proprietor’s wares, was a booth filled
with antique house wares that looked to have everything from fine china to porcelain
chamber pots, silver soup tureens to brass spittoons.
The booth Jerico led her to was about a quarter of the way down.
Seth, Cameron, and Adrian, she saw, stood next to it, talking to her booth mate,
Ms. Summers, who’d already arrived.
Abby jolted to a halt as she dragged her gaze from the group and looked at the
huge banner that backed the booth. Decorated with bright red cutouts shaped like hearts
in various sizes and cupids with bows and arrows, the lettering proclaimed it as the
kissing booth, one dollar per smooch. After staring at the banner in disbelief for several
moments, Abby finally glanced toward the men standing at one end again. All three of
them had noticed her and were looking at her with a mixture of amusement and
something else that made the blood sing in her veins. She glanced up at Jerico and saw a
similar expression on his face.
So much for thinking it was an elaborate joke with her as the victim!
A kissing booth! Good god! She’d heard about them from her grandmother, but

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 79

...
“Looks like you already have a few customers,” Jerico said straight-faced, though
laughter danced in his eyes.
Feeling her face heat with uncomfortable warmth, struggling to pretend she’d
known all along, Abby pulled away from him and headed toward the booth. Elaine
Summers lifted a folding section of the counter that formed the outer edge of the booth
for her to enter. “There’s cold water in the cooler there,” Elaine informed her as Abby
stepped through and she closed the counter behind her. “Looks you might need it to wet
the old whistle. You can put your things in the chair there. I don’t think we’re going to
get much of a chance to sit down.”
Abby felt her blush deepen despite every effort to act unconcerned as she situated
her purse and the stack of papers she’d brought with her to look over—she thought—
while she wasn’t busy. When she straightened and turned around, she saw that Seth was
standing at the counter. His lips curled in a slow grin.
Trying to hide just how self-conscious she was, Abby moved to the counter.
“Can I help you, sir?”
His grin broadened as he reached up and pulled a bill from his shirt pocket and
laid it on the counter. Abby followed the movement, her eyes widening until they were
nearly popping from her head as she saw what he’d laid on the counter—a hundred dollar
bill. She sent a quick look up at him.
“I’ll take five now,” he murmured, “and leave the rest on account.”
Abby looked down at the bill again a little dazedly. “On a account?” she asked
hoarsely.
“On account of I’d rather collect the rest in a less public place.”
Picking the bill up, she glanced at Elaine but discovered she was already occupied
with her first customer. There was a large pickle jar on the counter, though, that already
had one bill dropped into it. Dropping the bill into the jar, Abby turned to discover Seth
had planted his hands on the counter and leaned toward her. Glancing down, she
discovered his big hands all but obliterated any view of the hand prints that had been
drawn on the countertop.
Heated excitement washed through her, but her stomach was jumping with
nerves, too, as she leaned toward him, uncertain of what to expect or what she was
expected to do. Surely, she thought, regardless of the sign, nothing more was expected
than a platonic peck?
It was so very public!
She discovered when she’d leaned close enough to press her lips lightly to Seth’s,
though, that the moment she drew near enough to feel the aura of his essence enveloping
her the rest of the world faded away. She held her lips pressed to his for a handful of
thundering heartbeats and eased slightly away, opening her eyes to meet his gaze. His
eyes had darkened, sending heat spiraling through her.
“One,” he murmured huskily.
Abby swallowed, the sound loud in her ears. Closing the faint distance between
them again, she offered her lips on a breath of a sigh. He melded his lips more firmly
against hers that time, sucking lightly at them. Her head swam with the sensations racing
through her. Instinctively, she reached out to brace herself and found her fingers closing
around the hard muscles of his upper arms.

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Her eyelids felt heavy and unresponsive as she eased away from him the second
time and sucked in a reviving breath to try to chase the dizziness away. There was no
longer a hint of amusement in his expression, she saw through the veil of her lashes. His
face was taut with the need gleaming in his eyes. The look sent a rush of fire through her
that demolished the little benefit she’d gained from sucking in a breath of air. She felt
her nipples harden to tight little points, pressing against the knit bra she wore until it felt
as if the blood rushing to them was backing up in her entire breasts. They felt heavy with
the flush of blood.
Dragging in a shaky breath, Abby moved closer again. He leaned closer, as well,
covering her mouth, sucking lightly at her and then stroking his tongue along her lower
lip. She parted her lips at Seth’s questing touch, clinging to his arms more tightly as he
thrust his tongue into her mouth and the headiness became more pronounced with the
onslaught to her senses of his taste and the faintly rough texture of his tongue against her
own. Thoroughly enthralled, she lingered, relishing the stroke of his tongue along hers,
the excitement that washed through her as his taste and scent invaded her fully.
“I lost count,” she whispered dizzily when she finally eased away from him.
A wolfish grin abruptly curled his lips. “That was one.”
Abby felt her lips curling in response as she leaned in to kiss him again. “Cheat,”
she murmured without heat, nipping at his lips this time to soften the blow of her insult.
He captured her nibbling lips beneath his own, his mouth abruptly demanding as
it moved over hers and he plunged his tongue into her mouth, raking it possessively along
her own, sucking at her tongue hungrily. Abby lost all the starch in her knees, lost the
tone in her muscles, lost her equilibrium, and any awareness of her surroundings. He
caught her abruptly as she swayed, breaking the kiss.
Fire blazed in his eyes as he studied her face, his breath puffing against her face
in ragged pants. “I think I’m going to have to stop now,” he muttered.
Abby managed to get her eyes open with an effort. “Was that five?” she asked a
little dazedly.
“Baby, I can’t take five,” Seth growled in a voice that rumbled with a mixture of
amusement and barely checked desire.
Abby smiled at him a little drunkenly, struggling to regain control of her own
senses. Luckily, he held her up until she’d managed to lock her knees and regain a little
of her equilibrium. Reluctance wafted through her as she finally straightened away from
him, resisting the urge to fan herself with an effort as he straightened and stepped away.
Still smiling at him a little foolishly, she finally dragged her gaze from him.
Her eyes widened when she discovered Cameron standing where Seth had stood
only moments before. Behind him, stood Adrian, and behind him, Jerico. “Just a
moment,” she said hoarsely, turning around to look for the water. Grabbing a bottle from
the cooler with a shaky hand, she struggled with the twist top for a moment and finally
managed to get it open.
“Good thing they brought water, huh?” Elaine said with amusement as she
grabbed a bottle for herself. “My, it is a hot day!”
Abby nearly snorted the gulp of water she’d taken. Coughing up the water she’d
inhaled, she took another long draught and glanced around surreptitiously. “Oh my
fucking god!” she whispered when she saw the men lined up at the booth, and then shot a
guilty glance at Elaine.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 81

Elaine nearly snorted her own water. “Don’t do that when I’m drinking!” she
said, trying to cough and laugh at the same time.
Girding herself, Abby moved back to the front of the booth. Cameron eyed her
with amusement. “You might want to hold on to that bottle of water, chère,” he
murmured, pulling a hundred dollar bill from his pocket and laying in on the counter.
“I’m thinkin’ I’ll take five now and leave the rest on account, as well.”
Abby’s eyes bulged as she stared at the bill. “Oh … my … goodness!” she
managed, taking the bill and turning to throw it in the jar.
Elaine met her gaze as she dropped another bill in herself. “I think the school’s
going to be pleased with our fund raiser,” she murmured, winking at Abby.
She managed to minimize Cameron’s impact on her by placing two light kisses on
each corner of his mouth and a third dead center. He caught her dead on with the fourth,
rattling her as thoroughly as Seth had and then compounding it with annihilation on the
fifth.
“I think I might have to sit down for just a minute. The heat …,” she muttered
faintly, fanning herself when he finally straightened away from her. “I’m feeling a little
lightheaded.”
“Only a little, chère?” Cameron asked in a low, gruff voice. “I’m crushed. I’ll
have to try harder when I come back to collect the rest.”
“Water!” she said dizzily when she’d stared blankly at the hundred dollar bill
Adrian planted on the counter top for several moments. Turning away, she wobbled a
little unsteadily toward the cooler. She lingered over the cooler, sipping the water
instead of gulping it, trying to cool down. It occurred to her that it might be more
effective if she poured it over her head, but she didn’t want to make it that obvious that
she was nearing melt down.
Either she’d forgotten just how good Adrian was, or the discovery directly
afterwards that Seth and Cameron had seen the whole thing had upstaged that first kiss in
her memory, or he was in fine form. By the time he got to five, he was having to hold her
up and both of them were shaking so badly she might have been embarrassed if she’d
been in any condition to notice the audience they had.
“Short break!” she gasped unsteadily when she looked up and Jerico smiled at her
a little crookedly.
Grabbing a bottle of water, she examined the banner and finally untied the corner
and slipped behind it. Elaine joined her after a moment, looking as flushed and dizzy as
she felt. “We should’ve put the chairs back here,” Elaine muttered, pouring water in her
palm and patting it against her cheeks.
“My god! Is it always this hot here this time of year?” Abby whispered, splashing
water over her face and neck without regard for dampening her dress.
Elaine snickered. “Only during the festival.”
A little cooler from the water, slightly more composed, Abby headed back out to
the front of the booth after a few moments, feeling a good bit relieved that it was Jerico
waiting on her. Him, she was sure she could handle without passing out.
She discovered she’d completely underestimated Jerico. The man had
unsuspected talents. With his first kiss, he knocked her completely for a loop. By the
time he’d gotten to the third, she was contemplating climbing over the counter. By the
fifth—actually, she thought she came. She was inclined to discount it once she’d

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managed to figure out where she was again—she’d never come just from a kiss—but
there was no getting around the fact that she hardly knew where she was and she was so
weak she had to sit down and fan herself for a few moments before she could face the
next man who stepped up to her side of the booth.
She recognized him when her vision cleared enough for her to actually look at
him. She wasn’t certain where she recognized him from, but she thought he must be one
of her neighbor’s guests.
She’d lost track of the time of day, the day of the month—the year, before she’d
worked her way through the next three men.
“It’s almost six,” Elaine announced loudly enough to penetrate the heated fog of
Abby’s mind. “The booth closes at six. It’ll reopen at seven.”
She pulled away from the man who’d been tongue fucking her mouth and stared
at Elaine with a glazed expression, discovering Elaine wasn’t looking at her at all, but at
the two lines formed up in front of their booth.
She was smiling at the men in line with promise. “You’ll have come back
tomorrow to buy kisses from me or Abby, though. We’re off for the day.”
Smiling apologetically at the man behind the one she’d been kissing, Abby leaned
toward her customer one last time for one last kiss and then, with a tremendous sense of
relief, headed to the back of the booth to collect her things and another bottle of water.
She and Elaine ducked out the back instead of exiting by way of the hinged segment of
counter. Plopping down on the ground as soon as she’d secured the banner ties, Abby
glanced at Elaine, who was counting their haul.
“How’d we do?” she asked a little dazedly.
Elaine grinned at her. “Seth’s something else! After he’d started things rolling
with a hundred, nobody wanted to look cheap next to his generosity. Aside from a
couple hundred in fifties, the rest are hundreds—guess we’ll be getting some new
computers for the school!”
“No wonder my jaw’s tired,” Abby muttered, to say nothing of the numbness of
her lips and tongue.
“You ok?”
“I think I’ll just rest here in the shade for a few minutes and cool down,” Abby
responded, smiling with an effort.
“If you think you’ll be alright by yourself, I think I’ll go find Mrs. Caruthers. I
don’t like carrying so much cash around.”
Abby waved her away. The line of booths faced the woods and there was no one
in sight, but then she wasn’t more than a few feet away from plenty of people if she
should happen to find herself in trouble—which she didn’t really expect—and she needed
a few minutes to collect herself. After two hours of kissing some of the most gorgeous
men she’d ever set eyes on, she was so jittery with unrequited desire she felt like clawing
something. She definitely wasn’t up to facing people at the moment.
Closing her eyes when Elaine left, she rolled the chilled bottle of water over her
feverish forehead and cheeks. A deeper shadow fell over her while she was debating
whether to drink the cold water or splash it on her face and breasts. Startled since she
hadn’t heard anyone approach, had thought all of the footsteps she could hear were on the
opposite side of the booth from her, she popped her eyes open and looked up sharply.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 83

Chapter Ten

Seth dropped to a crouch in front of her, his head tilted a little questioningly.
“Just thought I’d cool down a little,” Abby muttered in answer to his unasked
question, feeling a blush flush her cheeks with heat again when she’d just managed to
take some of the fire out of her face.
He lifted a hand, stroking her cheek lightly, and a shiver went through her. She
swallowed with an effort. “I don’t think I’m up to any more kisses right now,” she said a
little plaintively, although she’d intended to say it teasingly. “I need … a few minutes, if
you don’t mind.”
His gaze flicked over her face almost caressingly, but his expression went taut. “I
know what you need, Baby,” he murmured huskily, grasping her arms and hauling her to
her feet as he stood up.
Abby glanced back a little uneasily at her purse and her folder, abandoned on the
ground by where she’d been sitting, as he dragged her into the cooler shade of the woods,
but she didn’t protest. Truthfully, she was too surprised and confused even to think of
objecting.
When Seth led her several yards into the woods, he pushed her back against the
rough surface of a thick oak tree and pressed against her. “I think I’ll collect that kiss
right now,” he murmured, dipping his head and covering her mouth almost before he’d
uttered the last word.
His hard mouth sent a fiery jolt through Abby as it melded with hers.
Unconsciously, she whimpered at the pressure of his chest against her aching beasts, but
she had no will to deny his kiss. She felt as insubstantial as vapor as desire clouded her
mind—heavy, weak, and weightless all at the same time as he filled her senses with the
scent and taste of himself. She moved restlessly against him, so hot, she wondered for a
handful of seconds if she would pass out, thirsty, desperately needy.
Without breaking the kiss, he shifted his hold to her buttocks after a moment,
lifting her slightly and pushing his knee between her thighs. The pressure of his hard
knee against her achingly full nether lips sent twin shafts of both pleasure and pain
through her, but she welcomed the throbbing pain/pleasure, moving against him. He
groaned into her mouth, dragging her further up his leg until she felt his erection digging
into her belly.
Instantly diverted, oblivious to everything except the desperate need that had been
scouring her since he’d first kissed her, she lifted her legs and coiled them tightly around
his waist. A hard shudder when through him as she arched against him, rubbing her
aching clit against his erection. He broke the kiss. His arms tightened around her as he
scattered a burning trail of kisses along her neck, holding her lower body tightly against
his own as he countered her rhythmic thrusts.
It was almost as frustrating to feel his thick flesh so close, and yet to be prevented
from feeling his hot, slick flesh by their clothing, as it was gratifying. She moaned at the
jolts of electrifying pleasure traveling through her clit and into her womb with each

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thrust, moaning his name hoarsely. “Please, Seth,” she whispered desperately. “I need
… I need.”
He silenced her with a brief kiss and then transferred his attention lower, hoisting
her a little higher and nuzzling her breasts until he found the hard button of one nipple
poking against the fabric that confined it. A minor climax rippled through her when he
caught it beneath his mouth, teasing the painfully sensitive bud with his tongue.
She shuddered as it fluttered through her, feeling more desperate, not less, when
her sex only quaked briefly and stopped. The groan she uttered when he switched breasts
was more of frustration than pleasure. “Seth, please! I need you inside me,” she gasped
more frantically.
He lifted his head, matching his forehead to hers for a moment. “Not here,” he
murmured, titling his head and sucking at her lips, his voice hoarse, his words punctuated
by brief kisses that punched the breath from her lungs. “I can’t … not yet. Let it go,
Baby. Come for me.”
She groaned into his mouth despairingly as he shifted one hand beneath her,
burrowed his fingers under her thong and thrust inside of her. As badly as she wanted to
hold on to her control, though, her vaginal walls began to quake with release almost the
moment he thrust inside of her.
He swallowed her cries of release, thrusting into her with his finger and grinding
against her clit until she ceased to shudder and slumped weakly against him. For many
minutes afterward, he merely held her, waiting until she stirred before he allowed her to
slip slowly to the ground, steadying her in his embrace until she pushed away from him.
Beyond a vague sense of satisfaction at having come, Abby wasn’t certain how
she felt—not happy, a little embarrassed. Actually, more than a little embarrassed.
She’d just climbed all over the man, begged him to fuck her, and masturbated on him.
Horrified might more nearly describe how she felt at that moment.
“Don’t!” he said harshly, cupping her cheek and forcing her to look at him. “It’s
not what you think, Baby.”
Abby swallowed with an effort. “How do you know what I think?” she said
uncomfortably, refusing to meet his gaze even when he’d tilted her face up.
“Look at me, Abby,” he ground out.
When she still refused, he grasped her hand and curled her fingers around his
swollen cock. She flicked a startled look up at him. “I want you,” he growled. “But we
have to talk.”
Confusion wafted through her, but some of her embarrassment dissipated. “I
don’t understand.”
“I know you don’t, Baby. But I need for you to understand before anything else
happens between us ….”
It seemed as if he’d intended to say more, but he broke off abruptly and turned
away from her in a sharp movement, shoving her behind him. It happened so quickly,
Abby could barely assess it, but the sudden tension in him set her heart to racing. A few
moments later, she heard the crackle of leaves.
“If this is your idea of keeping an eye on her, I’m not sure my faith was well
placed,” Milner said dryly.
Hearing the agent’s voice, Abby peered from behind Seth.
“And you are?” Seth growled.

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“Agent Milner,” he responded, jolting to a halt in the act of pulling out his
identification when he discovered Seth had his revolver pointed at his chest. Abby
hadn’t even seen him draw it. Evidently, Agent Milner hadn’t either. “Whoa! I’m just
getting my identification out.”
Having studied the agent’s ID, Seth relaxed fractionally, shoving his pistol back
into its holster and fastening the leather flap over it. “I expected you several days ago,”
Seth said tightly.
Milner shrugged, glancing around the woods. “I was tied up with something else.
This was the soonest I could get loose, but since you’d assured me you could handle
security and your credentials seemed to suggest you could … I can’t say that I think
dragging her into the woods is the best of ideas, though.”
“She’s under surveillance—she has been since we spoke.”
“I guess they do things a little differently here, but you seemed a little too
preoccupied with her to be paying much attention to possible threats. I could’ve shot you
and you would never have known what hit you,” Milner said tightly.
“I don’t think so,” Seth growled. “If you’d pulled that gun in your shoulder
holster, you would’ve been dead before you got it out. That’s Cameron Fontaine right
behind you. The man standing about three yards to your left is Adrian Paulson, the one
four yards to your left is Jerico Collins. We served together in special forces—
Shadow Company. The three men that followed you from the fair grounds are locals, but
I’m guessing they’re pretty good since you obviously didn’t notice them.”
Milner sent a startled look left, then right, and then turned to look behind him.
Equally startled, Abby glanced around when Seth pointed out the men herself. Feeling
acute embarrassment flood her the moment she realized they must have been there all
along, she hid her face against Seth’s back, wishing she had a deep, dark hole to crawl in
to.
Seth’s eyes were gleaming with amusement when he turned to look at her, but his
expression was both sympathetic and apologetic, as well. He shook his head faintly.
“It’s alright, Baby,” he murmured. “Trust me.”
Still feeling more than a little self-conscious, Abby stared up at him in dismay for
a moment, but she felt much of her discomfort evaporate. She did trust him, she realized
in surprise, completely, utterly.
Swallowing around the sudden tightness she felt in her throat, she nodded. “I
do.”
He brushed his knuckles lightly along her cheek and turned back to look at
Milner. “We should go back to Abby’s place to talk.”

* * * *

As reluctant as Abby was to allow the men to exclude her from the conversation,
she was still shaken enough from everything that had happened, and uncomfortable
enough—though far less than she’d been at first—that she didn’t argue when Seth
suggested she grab a shower and change while they talked. The truth was, she wasn’t
comfortable at all. She felt sticky both from the heat and humidity, and from the little
interlude in the woods, and she felt like she smelled like sex, whether she did or not.
Beyond that, she realized that she was a lot more discomfited by the fact that Milner
seemed to have been watching her and Seth than she was that the others might have seen
them together.

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She didn’t know why that was, why she felt almost as aroused by the possibility
that Cameron and Adrian and Jerico might have watched as she was repulsed that Milner
might have, but she couldn’t deny it.
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she liked the hunger she saw in
their gazes and the look in Milner’s eyes made her feel unclean?
She’d never liked the bastard, though, and it really revolted her to think of him
crouched in the bushes watching her and Seth together.
The shower refreshed her. Although she generally discarded her bra as soon as
she got home, she put one on beneath her knit shirt and made certain she put on a pair of
her newer jeans sans comfortable wear holes or tears before the joined the men in her
living room again.

* * * *

Seth tamped his hostility with an effort as he settled across from Agent Milner on
Abby’s couch and eyed the man assessingly. He had to hand it to the man. He had a hell
of a poker face. Not by the flicker of an eyelid did he let on that he was the least bit
unnerved by the men surrounding him. Unfortunately for him, Seth could smell it on
him.
It bothered him in an indefinable way. He was willing to admit they must seem
like an intimidating bunch, even if Milner didn’t know exactly what they were, but there
was something about Milner’s uneasiness that seemed ‘off.’
Maybe it was nothing more than the fact that they’d gotten the drop on him down
by the fairgrounds, but he wasn’t as convinced as he would’ve liked to be.
“Now, what were saying about why it took you so long to come check on Abby?”
he murmured coolly when Abby had left the room.
Milner gave him an assessing look. “Actually, I don’t think I said—bureau
business.”
Seth met the man’s gaze with a hard one of his own. For a handful of moments,
the agent held his gaze, but he broke contact first. “Partly, I was assessing the situation
and checking into possible relocation,” he said finally, glancing around Abby’s living
room and finally getting to his feet and pacing to the window. “As you might imagine, a
set up like this takes quite a while to manage and it’s expensive.”
Seth grunted. “Yeah, I see you spared no expense on Abby’s account. This
house was bought by the government for five hundred dollars thirty years ago when the
owner died without issue and it went on up for sale on back taxes. It was renovated
fifteen years ago, which included bringing the wiring and plumbing up to code, replacing
rotten wood, coating the roof instead of replacing it, and a new paint job—exterior.
Everything else is the same as it was when the house was first built.”
Milner turned away from the window. “The title’s in Ms. Winthrope’s name,” he
said coolly. “Also the car.”
“Another government issue, three years old—that’s when they usually replace
them with the new models, right?”
Milner returned to his seat, eyeing Seth with disfavor. “And your point is?”
Seth smiled at him lazily. “You didn’t ‘give’ Abby a fuckin’ thing. You sold her
condo, her car, and her designer clothes, I would imagine, for a good bit more than I’m
seein’ here.”
Milner’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve been doing some research.”

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“I have,” Seth said pleasantly.
Milner eyed him speculatively for a moment and finally shrugged. “She’s a felon.
She got immunity and a new identity. She got more than she deserved. Her condo—
everything she owned—was seized since it couldn’t be proven it wasn’t bought with her
lover’s money. It became government property.”
Fury surged through Seth at the lie. It took all he could do to prevent it from
showing. “That’s not the way I heard it.”
Milner smiled. “She give you the old ‘I didn’t do anything. They took advantage
of me’ routine? You didn’t expect her to admit it? She never did—even after we
offered her immunity for her testimony. I think your … interest in Ms. Winthrope may
have skewed your perspective.”
He glanced away from Seth when he heard the door close to Abby’s room. Seth
took the opportunity to flick a warning glance at the others since he could sense their
rage. They tamped their anger as he had but reluctantly. He could see they wanted to
beat the bastard to death as badly as he did.
Abby glanced around the living room a little uncomfortably when she reached the
door. He got up and met her, guiding her to the couch. When she’d settled, he sat down
beside her, laying one arm along the back of the couch and settling his hand in her hair.
She glanced at him a little uncertainly. He smiled at her reassuringly. “I was telling
Agent Milner that we wanted you to stay, that we’d take good care of you.”
Milner narrowed a glance at him. “Unfortunately, that isn’t her decision, or yours
… or even mine. I came down to assess the situation and report back. They’re not going
to be happy that there are so many people here aware of her situation. Her safety
depends on as few a number of people being aware of her true identity as possible. The
more who know, the more potential for disaster. The mob has eyes and ears
everywhere.”
Abby eyed the man with dislike. “No one knows except the guys and that’s
because they were here when Seth found out. I’m safe here. I trust him and I trust them.
I want to stay. I don’t want to be moved again when I’m just starting to settle in and I
don’t see any reason why I should be.”
Milner pursed his lips. “You’re in no position to make a rational decision.
You’re emotionally involved with Banner.”
Abby couldn’t help but feel a flicker of discomfort, but she didn’t deny it. “You
said you’d checked him out thoroughly before you brought me. If I doubt him, then that
brings your judgment into question, doesn’t it?”
He shook his head and rose abruptly. “I’ll put in my report,” he said tightly. “I
can’t guarantee it’ll make any difference, but I’ll be sure to pass your preferences along.”
Abby was frowning when she’d seen the agent out and returned to the living
room. She glanced at the men as she entered, feeling a fleeting sense of discomfort about
the incident at the fairgrounds, but dismissed it determinedly. She didn’t know that
they’d seen anything at all, or heard anything. Seth had saved her from the worst sort of
embarrassment anyway, as upset as she’d been about that at the time. As embarrassed as
she’d been that they might have seen them, they hadn’t been naked or even half naked.
They hadn’t actually had sex.
She had actually come twice, but she wasn’t even sure Seth knew that.
Of course, they’d all looked at her like she was a tasty morsel, but then she’d been

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kissing them earlier, and they’d had the same look on their faces when they’d left the
booth.
In any case, there was something about Milner’s attitude that was bothering her,
that made it easier to focus on that than her earlier embarrassment. She couldn’t quite
put her finger on it … until Seth hit the nail right on the head.
“Took him long enough to get anxious,” he muttered when she’d settled on the
couch again.
She glanced at him at that but then frowned thoughtfully again, wondering if
Milner’s behavior was from something else entirely since it seemed unlikely, as Seth
pointed out, that he was actually concerned about her in any sense. He had to be ticked
off, after all, that Seth had made a fool out of him when he was supposed to be such a
hotshot trained agent. Maybe that was why he’d behaved like he had? “I don’t know,”
she murmured finally. “When he didn’t show up before, I figured it was because he
knew I’d be safe with y’all. You don’t think it was just that he was pissed off because he
was embarrassed?”
Seth considered it. “Possibly. You know him better than I. Is that what you
think?”
She grimaced. “I don’t actually know him. He was assigned to me after they’d
made the arrangements here. He coached me to prepare me, but it isn’t as if we were
friends or even friendly acquaintances. He’s very … reticent, not a warm person at all.
And anyway, I despised them. I didn’t want to get to know any of them on friendly
terms. But he always struck me as a pompous ass. I could easily see where it would
annoy him no end to have been bested by a small town sheriff and his men when he has
such an inflated opinion of himself.”
Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico, who’d ranged themselves around the room from the
time they’d arrived at the house, moved to the couch and chairs and joined them. “You
believe him when he said it wasn’t his decision? Isn’t he supposed to be in charge of
your case?”
Abby looked at him in surprise since she hadn’t considered that. “So he said …
at least, he was my contact if I ran into trouble and I assumed that was the case. I don’t
know if he ever claimed it, but as I said, he’s an arrogant prick. I can’t picture him
admitting it wasn’t his call unless he was telling the truth. Actually, from what I did
know of him, I would’ve thought that he wouldn’t admit it, that he would just have
passed the issue off as something he had to consider before he made the decision.”
Seth shook it off. “I’ll make some calls tomorrow and see if I can track down
who really is in charge.”
They decided, since it was still fairly early, to head back to the fairgrounds to eat
and look at some of the booths. Abby was a little surprised that they all intended to go,
but then again, she realized, that was their main reason for coming to Ajax to start with.
Reminded that Julie had said she was there to look for unique items to sell in her
boutique, she couldn’t help but wonder what had drawn them.
Cameron, she had discovered, ran a nightclub/gambling casino. Adrian was in
commercial construction, and Jerico ran a security consulting business. She couldn’t
imagine that the festival was the sort of place where they’d find anything of any interest
business-wise and finally decided that, maybe, they’d primarily come for the excuse of a
reunion.

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They had barbequed ribs. She was pretty sure she had barbeque sauce all the way
up to her eyebrows before she was done, but she discovered she felt comfortable enough
around the gang that she wasn’t self conscious about eating with her face. Anyway, they
were the best ribs she’d ever had, and she was starving. It was worth the mess. She
doubted they would’ve been half as good if it hadn’t been sloppy eating. When she’d
ducked into the washroom—which thankfully was a real bathroom located inside the
pavilion—she came out again to discover their party had doubled … and then some.
Apparently, the men who’d lined up to kiss her at the booth were friends of theirs,
although she couldn’t figure out whether they were Seth’s friends, or a mixture that was
partly his acquaintances and partly the other guys’. She felt just a lit-tle awkward being
introduced to them after they’d had their tongues down her throat, but she supposed, with
wry amusement, that that was better than not actually being introduced at all.
They were attractive bunch, but she decided she was either getting used to being
around a gang of hunky males, or she just found ‘her’ guys more attractive.
It did feel a little strange walking with such a gang of men, but she noticed their
group wasn’t unique. There seemed to be far more men at the festival than there were
women and the few women who were there were inundated with men. They passed Julie,
who was surrounded by nearly a dozen men herself, but still took the opportunity to give
her the evil eye as the two groups passed. Elaine, who’d shared the booth with her and
had obviously gone home to change as she had, also passed them with six or eight men in
tow, though she waved and smiled instead of snubbing Abby as Julie had.
It lifted Abby’s spirits instantly to see a friendly face.
Right or wrong, it made her feel more strongly that she’d made the right decision
when she’d told Milner that she wanted to stay. She knew it was mostly because of Seth,
because, as the bastard Milner had pointed out, she was emotionally involved. She also
knew that it might not last—probably wouldn’t—and it had worried her to think that she
might be basing her entire decision on something that was tentative at best.
It was also true, as she’d told Seth, though, that she was already beginning to
think she was going to enjoy being a teacher. It wasn’t the career she had chosen for
herself. It wasn’t a career she thought she would ever have chosen, but now that the
decision had been made for her she thought it had the potential of being far more
rewarding and challenging than the career she’d had to give up.
It hadn’t been an impulsive decision, she decided, and she didn’t think she would
regret it. Even if nothing came of her relationship with Seth, if it turned out that he was
merely doing his job and thought he might as well enjoy the perks, it was a friendly town.
She thought she could settle comfortably here, and she thought she would be safe.
Nothing, she’d come to realize, was more important to happiness than a sense of security.
Leaving the men to entertain themselves whenever the mood struck her, she
explored whatever booths drew her attention. She hadn’t even realized there were still
people that practiced handicrafts, let alone so many, and such skilled artisans. It was just
as well she couldn’t really afford to spend wildly. She coveted at least half of the things
she stopped to look at.
Finally, deciding it was just plain rude not to purchase a few things when the
entire objective of the festival, obviously, was to boost the local economy, she began a
more serious search for something that wasn’t too frivolous. Before she’d managed to
make up her mind, though, they began to close down the booths.

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As disappointed as she was, she decided it was probably for the best. She could
sleep on it and return the following day to buy something practical.
She hadn’t realized any of the men were actually paying her that much attention
until she told Jerico, who’d asked her why she hadn’t bought anything, what her intention
was. Cole, one of the men who’d joined their party after supper, reminded her that the
barbeque and dance was scheduled for the following night.
“Oh but … won’t the dance be after the booths close for the evening?” she asked,
abruptly torn by the desire to shop, and felt dismay at the thought of missing the dance
when it would give her the chance of a slow dance with Seth—and maybe Cameron,
Adrian, and Jerico.
The question not only prompted a general discussion, but so many offers of escort
that she was more dismayed. They were all nice. How was she supposed to choose?
Especially when Seth, Cameron, Adrian and Jerico also asked her, damn their hides, and
she couldn’t just say she’d already accepted an invitation.
“If everyone’s going,” she said finally, trying to keep the irritation out of her
voice, “then we’ll meet up there and we can all visit like we did tonight and dance.”
She couldn’t help but notice that ‘her’ guys looked mightily displeased about it—
or that the others sent surprisingly satisfied looks at them—but she was too annoyed with
them to worry about whether they liked it or not!
“What the hell was that about?” Seth growled as soon as they’d reached her house
again, having made the trip back with everyone sitting in stony silence.
Abby turned to glare at him, poking him in the chest with her index finger.
“That’s what I’d like to know!” she snapped. “You couldn’t have said you’d already
asked me to keep from putting me on the spot?”
He looked taken aback. “I did ask you!” he said finally.
Abby frowned, searching her mind. “No, you didn’t! You told Cameron that
you’d been thinking about asking me!”
“Same thing!” he said after an uncomfortable moment.
She gave him a look.
“I asked you!” Cameron growled.
Abby had actually been hoping he wouldn’t remember that since she hadn’t until
she’d brought up the night she’d first met them. “Don’t even go there!” she snapped. “I
hadn’t known you five minutes and you were all much more interested in arguing with
each other than you were me. How was I know it was a serious invitation? Especially
when you haven’t said anything about it since!
“You needn’t be mad at me! Y’all should’ve told them that I’d be going with
y’all! That was all you had to say—she’s going with us—and then I wouldn’t have been
put on the spot like that!”
“When the fuck did this get to be ‘y’all’ god’s damn it?” Seth growled. “I was
talking about you and me!”
Abby stared at him blankly. “We always go together. Aren’t they going to be
there, too? Why wouldn’t I say y’all?”
Seth scowled at her. “I’m the Alph … uh ….”
“Well, you aren’t the Al …!” Cameron snarled and then broke off as Seth had.
Abby glanced from one man to the other and finally turned away with a flounce.
“I’m going to bed. I have to work tomorrow! Obviously, y’all would rather settle the

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argument between yourselves and I don’t need to be here!”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 92

Chapter Eleven

Abby was a little surprised to discover that the guys were still angry about the
damned dance the following morning. At least, Seth and Adrian seemed to be. She
didn’t see Cameron or Jerico and figured they must have spent the night outside watching
since it seemed they rotated nightly. Ordinarily, none of them seemed to hold their anger
for any length of time over much of anything, and it was more incomprehensible to her
given the reason behind their anger with her.
It was just a dance! It wasn’t the prom! Beyond that, she hadn’t actually said she
was going to be with anyone. She’d assumed even when she’d answered the others that
she would still be going with Seth and Cameron and that it would turn out to be a casual
sort of thing as it had at the fair itself—maybe some of the others would show up and ask
for a dance and maybe not.
If they did, she didn’t see any reason why she shouldn’t dance with whoever
asked.
It wasn’t a date.
Maybe, she thought, flicking a surreptitious glance at Seth’s stony profile, he’d
intended for it to be?
He hadn’t said anything to indicate that, though, damn it! Cameron hadn’t! And
neither had Adrian or Jerico! If any of the four had done so, she would’ve been very
happy to have it that way. How was she supposed to guess that they were interested in
pursuing something a little more personally significant?
She supposed, even if any of them besides Seth had been interested, it wouldn’t
have been a good idea to take them up on it. Saturday was the final day of the Festival.
Everyone would be leaving on Sunday and returning home. She didn’t think it was likely
a long range relationship would work out when she hadn’t done so well with any of her
prior attempts and they hadn’t had that going against them.
She thought, maybe, she wouldn’t go to the damned dance after all. She’d been
feeling depressed and defensive about it ever since she’d discovered everyone was angry
with her about it. It wasn’t likely she would enjoy herself even if she did go.
She didn’t even know why she’d wanted to go to start with. Granted, she hadn’t
done anything at all that even approached ‘fun’ in forever, but a country dance? A barn
dance, they’d called it, and she had a strong feeling that was exactly what it would turn
out to be. It wasn’t as if there was any place in or around Ajax that would be big enough
to accommodate such a huge gathering even if everyone didn’t go.
Aside from the fact that she wasn’t really ‘in’ to country music and never had
been, she also wasn’t ‘in’ to country dances, only had a vague memory of the square
dances and polkas she’d learned when she was a little girl. Those dances had been fun
then, but she’d been a lot less sophisticated then, too. She was a little old to be bouncing
and skipping and swinging, especially around a barn floor. One vigorous dance in this
kind of heat and humidity, and she’d probably be laying out in the pasture heaving like a
winded horse, sweating like one, too!

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Seth didn’t walk her in like he usually did. Instead, he pulled his cruiser up near
the door and sat hunched over his steering wheel, glaring at the hood ornament on his car,
obviously waiting for her to get out. Abby hesitated, but since she couldn’t think of
anything to say that might smooth things over, she finally gathered her things and
climbed out.
He didn’t gun the engine and tear out of the parking lot when she’d shut the door.
Instead, he turned and fixed her with a look she couldn’t entirely interpret. After staring
back at him for a long moment, trying again to summon something to say, she finally
gave up and went inside. She heard the SUV pull off just as she reached the door and
pulled it open. Glancing back as she stepped inside, she watched the tail end of the
vehicle as it reached the exit, paused briefly, and then turned onto the road heading back
toward town.
Maybe he had other things on his mind?
But she didn’t believe that, although it did seem to her that Seth had begun to
display a bit more tension than she’d noticed in the beginning. She would’ve liked to put
that down to sexual tension, as it was with her. And she would’ve liked to think that they
were all drawn to her and that, for whatever reason, their determination to keep things
impersonal was beginning to wear thin.
Unfortunately, although she did think they were attracted to her, she thought it
was probably a lot more likely that it was the lack of sleep that was starting to wear on
them. With Seth, it was probably also the heavier weight of responsibility with so many
strangers in town. There was bound to be a lot more going on than usual that required his
attention. She didn’t know how many men he had helping him in keeping the peace, but
the increase in traffic alone was noticeable and, that by itself, was probably a headache.
With only one actual traffic light in the middle of town, she’d noticed there were now
men stationed at nearly every corner in the heart of town, helping to direct traffic.
Two of her students were already in the classroom when she reached it—no huge
surprise since she’d been running a little late due to the traffic congestion. Michael and
Sean were usually the first to arrive, though. Both boys immediately got up from their
desks and rushed to greet her, throwing their arms around her and nuzzling their faces
against her. She’d been disconcerted the first time any of her students had greeted her so
affectionately, not even certain she liked it. As certain as she had been that she shouldn’t
encourage it, though, she’d discovered that she wasn’t very successful in discouraging it
and that it hadn’t seemed to have an adverse impact on discipline.
Besides, it was hard not to like it. They seemed genuinely affectionate and even
if it wasn’t something she was used to, she’d discovered it not only wasn’t hard to get
used to it, she was beginning to look forward to it. Warmed by their hugs, she smiled
down at them, hugging each of them in return and ruffling their hair before she shooed
them back to the their desks. The other students, undoubtedly from the buses, began to
stream in even as the boys returned to their seats. She got sleepy eyed smiles from most
of them and a few more quick hugs, but in a few minutes they were all seated at their
desks, looking at her with bright eyed expectation.
She thought, beyond the affection they were so generous with, their enthusiasm
for learning was what had sucked her into the job she’d been certain she was going to
hate. They were like thirsty little sponges, eager for life, for every new experience, so
thrilled when they mastered something new that she couldn’t help but be thrilled, too, as

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if it was her own accomplishment.
Taking out supplies, she walked up and down the rows of desks and chairs,
passing out a clean sheet of paper and a pencil to each of them and instructing them to
begin with writing the letters they’d already learned. Moving back to the front of the
room, she used her marker to draw a large capitol E and a lowercase e on the board and
then when to her supply cabinet to pull out a large poster featuring the letter and an
elephant.
There were two men dressed in dark business suits standing at her door when she
turned from the cabinet. Abby’s heart skipped a couple of beats as she spied them.
Every child in the room instantly lifted their head, stared straight at her, and then turned
to study the men as one of them opened her door and the pair stepped inside the room.
“Can I help you gentlemen?” Abby asked, hearing a faint quaver in her voice.
She didn’t recognize either man, but the suits might almost have been a uniform. Both of
them were wearing dark glasses, which they hadn’t bothered to take off. The man who’d
opened the door reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a folded wallet, briefly
flashing the identification card at her. The second man fumbled and managed to drag his
own out as the first folded his and shoved it back into the inner pocket.
“I’m Agent Bill Thomas. We need you to come with us, Ms. Winthrope,” the
first man said coldly.
Abby’s heart sank. She’d been afraid ever since Milner had left the night before
that Seth’s confidence was completely misplaced. She’d hoped, though. His certainty
that he could convince the Feds to leave her alone and let her keep the life she’d just
begun to settle in to had infected her.
“I’m in the middle of class,” she objected finally. “Whatever it is you need to
speak to me about can wait until the end of the day, surely?”
“I’m afraid not,” Thomas responded, impatience clearly evident in his voice.
The realization that they meant to take her immediately sent her into chaos. She
certainly hadn’t expected that! “But … I can’t just leave the children! I have to make
some kind of arrangements … speak to Mrs. Caruthers and give her a little time to get
someone in the class ….”
The man’s lips tightened. He strode toward her. “We don’t have time to argue
with you,” he said in a low voice. “This operation has been compromised.”
Fear leapt to the forefront of her mind at that. She whipped her head around in a
quick scan of her students, registering the worry on their little faces and realizing that she
could be putting them in danger by lingering. Smiling with an effort to reassure them,
she nodded at the man. “Just keep working on your letters, children. I’m going to step
outside with these gentlemen.”
Thomas caught her wrist as she turned away and started to her desk to get her
purse. She glanced at him blankly. “I have to get my things.”
“Leave them!” he said tightly.
Abby gaped at him, too stunned by the implications to consider arguing with him
as he planted a hand in the center of her back and practically shoved her toward the other
man. “I’ve got to let Ms. Sheffield know my class is unattended,” she said a little
desperately as they reached the door and snatched it open, shoving her into the hall hard
enough she tripped and nearly sprawled out.
The noise echoed down the silent corridor. Several doors opened nearby before

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the echo had died and the teachers poked their heads into the hallway. Agent Thomas’
grip tightened. “There’s nothing here to concern yourselves with,” he growled at the
teachers without focusing on anyone in particular.
“I need someone to keep an eye on my class,” Abby said when she caught sight of
Ms. Sheffield.
Carrie nodded, but stared at the men through narrowed eyes. “Is everything
alright, Abby?” she asked sharply.
“Everything’s fine!” Thomas answered for her, urging her to move.
Abby was in too much turmoil to gather her wits, but the one thought pounding
through her was that they seemed intent on taking her away immediately. She wasn’t
even going to get the chance to tell Seth goodbye! “It’s fine,” she responded shakily.
“Tell Seth …”
She broke off when she felt something painfully hard dig into her ribs. Glancing
down, she stared at the barrel of the gun blankly for a moment before she jerked her head
up to look at the man holding it. “Unless you want their brains splattered all over this
school,” he murmured, “move!”
Terror instantly replaced the sense of awful, debilitating loss that had been
swarming through her. She nodded jerkily, throwing a vague smile in Carrie Sheffield’s
direction. “Tell Seth I’ll see him later.”
She didn’t know how she’d managed to summon the words from the chaos of her
mind but, swirling beneath her sheer terror for herself was fear for the children and fear
for Seth and the instinct to try to protect them. Without consciously acknowledging it,
she knew the two men must be hit men, hired by Mikhail, and ruthless killers that
wouldn’t balk at shooting down anybody that happened to get in their way. She tried to
conquer the incapacitating fear gnawing at her reason as they ushered her swiftly toward
the exit, tried to formulate some avenue of escape that wouldn’t involve endangering the
teachers and children in the school.
She couldn’t run back inside, she realized in dismay, even if she could somehow
break free of them. It would only draw them back inside and very likely instigate mass
slaughter. She hadn’t paid enough attention to the school grounds, though, to instantly
pull up any kind of possibilities. The school sat near the edge of town and there weren’t
but a handful of residences nearby—which might or might not represent any kind of
shelter. The woods came up to the parking lot, though, on this side of the school, she
remembered as they reached the doors and she glanced outside.
If she could just make it to the woods ….
The thug that hadn’t identified himself shoved the doors open as they reached
them and ‘Agent Thomas’ shoved her through. The moment he did, the two men closed
ranks on her, hemming her in tightly on both sides. She was actually surprised they
didn’t just shove her down and shoot her right then and there, but the moment the thought
occurred to her and iciness slithered through her, she realized that the two men were far
more intent on trying to maintain their cover story and get her away from any possible
witnesses.
There were children peering from the windows of the classrooms that faced the
parking lot, their teachers standing at the windows with them. Mrs. Caruthers had
stepped through the doors of the wing near the front of the school and was staring at them
hard.

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What were they thinking, Abby wondered in horror? Did they have no inkling of
what was going on? No idea that they were risking the children’s lives by allowing them
to rush to the windows and stare out? She wanted to scream at them to run inside and
lock the doors. She didn’t dare.
Trying to push her anxiety about them from her mind, she scanned the parking lot
as they hustled her across it. Spying a sedan that looked like the sort of cars favored by
cops everywhere as ‘unmarked,’ realizing they seemed to be taking her toward it, she
scanned the lot behind it, trying to decide how far it was from the edge of the woods.
Too far for her to make in one dash without taking a bullet in the back, she
realized, but there were cars between theirs and the woods. If she dodged behind them
…
Focusing on her senses, she tried to decide if she had a chance in hell of breaking
their grip on her. The men weren’t just boxing her in now. Each one of them had a
bruising hold on her arms.
They’d have to let go, though, to push her into the car—at least one would.
They’d be distracted, at least a little.
Horror washed over her in a cold tide as she saw Seth’s cruiser pull up less that a
car length from the sedan. The doors opened and both Seth and Adrian got out. Abby
didn’t know whether to feel hopeful or more fearful. They didn’t know and she couldn’t
warn them without precipitating what she’d hoped she could avoid—a shoot-out in the
school parking lot.
Seth’s face was grim as he moved around the car and headed toward her and the
two men. She met his gaze, trying to warm him with hers, shook her head fractionally.
He didn’t seem to notice even though he’d met her gaze briefly before transferring his
attention to the two men.
She couldn’t let him just walk right up on the bastards!
Ignoring the gun barrel in her ribs, she jerked on their holds abruptly. “Look out,
Seth!” she screamed.
Time slowed. Fully expecting to feel a bullet slam into her, Abby was more
dismayed when she felt the pressure disappear, turned her head in time to see that the
man who’d held it there had whipped the barrel of the gun in Seth’s direction. She
screamed again, more terror in her voice than before, jerking wildly at the men to try to
spoil his aim. “No! Seth!”
In horror, she watched as the bullet slammed into the center of Seth’s chest and
sent him reeling back. A second bullet drove Adrian back against the cruiser. She
screamed and clawed at the men, kicking at them, trying to bite them when she couldn’t
get her hands free. Something hard slammed against the side of her head, rattling her
brain in her skull, and then semi-darkness swarmed around her, time sped up as she felt
herself pitch forward through the now open door of the sedan. The man who’d shoved
her in, dove on top of her, knocking the breath from her.
She fought frantically to shove him off of her and get up, her entire focus on Seth
and Adrian, her fear for own life completely forgotten as she fought the man. She had to
see them! She had to know that her eyes had deceived her. They couldn’t be dead!
They couldn’t be!
The jerking motion of the sedan as it squealed backwards out of the parking space
in a tight swerve that still slammed the vehicle into the cars behind them, threw her

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against the man she was fighting and then into the floor board. She managed to sink her
teeth into the hand holding the gun. It went off so close to her head, she thought at first
that she’d been hit. The heat seared her cheek. The explosion of sound deafened her.
She screamed, driving her forehead into the man’s face, bucking and shoving at
him. The lurching path of the car was both help and hindrance to her and her assailant.
As the car reeled on two wheels onto the road beyond the parking lot, though, rubber
screaming, Thomas managed to lever himself onto the backseat. Grabbing her, he hauled
her from the floor, slammed her against the seatback and backhanded her across the face.
Luckily, Abby was already in the act of trying to whip her head around for a
glimpse of Seth and Adrian. The blow was glancing, knocking her into the window, but
not hard enough to completely stun her.
“Holy fucking shit!” the driver roared abruptly, nearly standing up on the brake
and making the car stand on its nose in the process.
Thomas, who’d been in the process of trying to find his gun on the floor, jerked
his head up, gaped at whatever it was the other man had seen in front of them and
whipped his head around to look back. “Put it in reverse … fuck!” he finished as he
caught sight of what Abby just had.
There was a mob of people—men—converging on them from seemingly every
direction. Even as Abby gaped at them, however, they began to … change before her
bulging, unbelieving eyes as the driver gunned the engine, jerked the wheel, and plowed
through the men in front of them.
Abby screamed as the car bucked and bodies began slamming into the front of the
car. “Stop!” she cried, lurching to her feet and grabbing two fistfuls of the driver’s hair,
trying to wrench him lose from the steering wheel. The windows burst abruptly—every
window in the car seemingly at once.
Abby screamed again, that time in terror as the most horrific looking creatures
she’d ever seen that side of a nightmare poured through the gaping openings.
The men screamed.
The driver released his grip on the steering wheel and yanked a gun from his
jacket. It was torn from his hand before he could level it.
Actually, his hand was torn from his arm before he could level it. Abby stared at
the hand blankly as it flew across the seat, the pistol still gripped tightly by the fingers,
and then darkness began to envelop her. The screams of the men, of pain and terror, the
growls and snarls of the beasts, of absolute fury, faded into the distance. Her body,
suddenly too heavy for her to hold herself up, began to slide down into the seat.
The door she was leaning against was abruptly wrenched open. She caught a
brief glimpse of Seth’s torn and bloodied uniform as she tumbled out, lifted her head to
stare at the nightmarish face now protruding from the neck of the shirt, and closed her
eyes, reaching for the blanket of darkness and trying to wrap it around her.
She was only partly successful. Complete unawareness eluded her. She felt the
arms that caught her and lifted her, felt the hard chest she was cradled against. Seth’s
scent enveloped her as he held her close, and yet it wasn’t Seth. More confusion joined
the chaos in her mind.
“Seth?”
“It’s alright, Baby,” he uttered in a rumbling growl of a voice that was a strange
mixture of the man she knew and something she’d never knew existed.

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It was the fear, she told herself, squeezing her eyes more tightly. “You’re hurt!”
“I’m alright.”
She tightened her grip on him, burrowing her face closer to his hairy neck.
Hairy?
“You were wearing a vest?”
He didn’t answer. Instead he crouched, settling her carefully on the ground. She
knew it was the ground. She could feel the prickle of grass and other debris through her
clothes. When she opened her eyes cautiously, hoping against hope that the image she
thought she’d seen would’ve vanished, her heart leapt into her throat. The creature that
was bending over her, examining her for injury, only bore a faint resemblance to the man
she’d thought she knew. As she pulled her gaze away, she discovered she was
surrounded by them—others just like him, not man, not completely beast. They looked
like horrific caricatures of themselves, but she recognized them—Cameron, Adrian, and
Jerico.
“Is she alright?” Cameron growled.
“Were you shot, Abby? I can’t find a wound.”
Abby glanced at Seth when he asked the question, struggling with her memory.
“The gun went off when I bit his hand,” she said, finally remembering.
He stroked a misshapen finger tipped with a two-inch claw along her cheek. She
tried not shudder, but his eyes sharpened on her face. He studied her a moment and
looked away. “I’ll feel better if we take her to clinic anyway,” he responded to
Cameron’s question.
She tried to get up, but he scooped her up again before she could. She tried to
resist settling against him, unnerved by the change in him, but discovered she was too
dizzy to manage it. “Seth?”
“Later,” he growled.
Seth handed her off to Cameron when they’d reached his cruiser. “I’m not hurt,
really,” Abby objected when she’d been settled in Seth’s backseat with her head in
Cameron’s lap.
“Be still, chère,” Cameron growled, but she was relieved to see when she glanced
sharply at him that he looked as he always had … except for the fact that his clothes were
tattered and bloody. “You aren’t one of us. If the doctor says your ok, then we’ll figure
you’re ok … and not before.”
Abby swallowed with an effort, having fixated on only part of the comments.
“One of y’all?”
Something flickered in his eyes. “Wolfen, chère. We are Wolfen—Seth, me,
Adrian … Jerico.”
And at least half the town, she added mentally, remembering how many men had
surrounded the car.
“What happened …?”
He shook his head. Almost as if he couldn’t resist, he touched the bruises on her
face. She stiffened but didn’t try to pull away. It didn’t seem to matter. He seemed to
sense her withdrawal. His lips tightened. “Let’s just say you doan have to worry ‘bout
those two anymore,” he muttered, grinning wolfishly.
Abby did shudder then. Fragmented images flickered through her mind. The
only things she remembered, thankfully, with any clarity, though, was the hand flying

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across the car and a glimpse of the two men as they disappeared beneath a wave of the
half-man, half-beast creatures who’d dragged them from the car.
Despite the fact that she sensed Cameron’s withdrawal from her, she shifted
closer, burrowing her face against his belly and wrapping her arms around his waist,
trying to block the images from her mind. His hand settled in her hair after a moment,
almost tentatively. “You are safe, mon amour,” he murmured. “Did we not promise,
sweety, that no harm would come to you?”
“The bastards hit her!” Adrian growled from the front seat where he sat with Seth.
“That’s more harm than she should’ve come to! She had to fight them off herself, god’s
damn it! They could’ve killed her!”
Abby shuddered at the reminder, clutching Cameron more tightly.
“Shut up, Adrian!” Cameron snapped. “She’s upset enough.”
She was upset, but she couldn’t seem to focus her mind on anything. Nightmarish
images chased each other through her mind, alternating between the horror of seeing Seth
and Adrian shot right in front of her, her fear of the men, and the nightmare of finding
herself surrounded by creatures that were neither all man nor all beast but something
frighteningly both.
How could they do that? How could they have … changed? She couldn’t accept
that they had. She kept searching her mind for some explanation for what she’d thought
she’d seen.
By the time they’d reached the clinic, though, she realized by far, most of her
wrecked emotions were tied directly to the belief, however short lived, that she’d
watched Adrian and Seth die. That one terrible scene kept replaying itself over and over
in her mind until it was all she could do to maintain even a semblance of control.
It wasn’t until Seth reclaimed her and carried her into the clinic that it even
dawned on her to worry about what the doctor and the staff might make of the condition
of the men. All four of them looked at least as bad as she did, maybe worse. She
couldn’t tell that any of them seemed hurt, even Seth and Adrian—which boggled her
mind—but their clothes were shredded and bloodied.
No one seemed especially alarmed, she discovered. The doctor hurried forward
almost as soon as they’d entered his reception. “Bring her into the examining room,” he
ordered them, hardly even glancing at the condition of the men.
She was on the point of telling the doctor that both Seth and Adrian had been
shot, that they had to be hurt worse than she was, but something stopped her, an unnamed
fear that it was something best kept to herself.
None of the men left and, too her surprise, the doctor didn’t suggest that they
leave. He merely informed them to get back and stay out of his way. “She’s in shock,”
he muttered when he’d checked her pulse and respiration. “No huge surprise.” He
flicked a glance at Seth that was almost accusing.
Seth’s lips tightened. “Two thugs grabbed her at the school.”
The doctor’s brows rose, something flickered in his eyes, as if he was rapidly
formulating what had transpired, and then he turned his attention to her again. “What
happened?”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 100

Chapter Twelve

Abby clutched the blanket the nurse had given her, trying to draw warmth from it.
“They said they had to remove me,” she said through chattering teeth. “I was worried the
children would get hurt … or some of the teachers. Not at first. I didn’t realize they
weren’t Federal agents until I was in the hall with them—but I couldn’t try to fight them
there. I was afraid they’d just start shooting. I thought I’d try to get away after we were
outside and away from the others.”
The doctor flicked a glance at Seth again and patted her sympathetically. “What
did they do to you?”
Abby frowned at him in incomprehension for a moment before she realized he
was trying to find out where she might be hurt. “Oh.” She thought it over. “I think the
one that called himself Agent Thomas hit me with his fist when I was fighting them at the
car. I can’t really remember. Everything … it seemed to happen so fast.”
The doctor examined her lips and then told her open her mouth.
She stared at him blankly but complied.
“I don’t see any loose or broken teeth or cuts,” he said.
Abby felt her cheeks heat. She swallowed a little sickly. “I bit him.”
Surprise and then amusement flickered in his eyes. “Not your blood then?” he
murmured.
She hadn’t realized her mouth was bloody. “Maybe some of it. He backhanded
me when he finally got me into the seat. I think I might’ve bit my tongue.”
The doctor examined her forehead. “Is that when you got the knot on your
forehead?”
Abby squirmed a little uncomfortably, lifting a hand to examine the knot with her
fingers. “I think I got that when I hit him with my head.”
The doctor actually grinned at her. Sobering immediately, he held his hand up.
“How many fingers?”
“Two?”
“You know what day it is?”
“Friday.”
“Anything particular starting to hurt now that you’ve had a few minutes to calm
down?” he asked her, examining her arms and hands, lightly pressing his fingers along
her chest, her ribs, and then her abdomen before moving down to check her feet and legs.
Abby dutifully performed an internal examination, but she couldn’t find any area
that stood out. “I hurt all over,” she said finally, “but I think I’m just a little bruised and
battered.”
He patted her arm. “I think so, too. Just lie still for a bit.”
He nodded at the nurse as he turned and left. With obvious reluctance, Seth and
the others followed him. The nurse took her blood pressure again when they’d filed out,
patted her arm and moved away to rifle through the cabinets. She returned a few minutes
later and took blood and then left the room.

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Abby lay staring at the ceiling, struggling against the drowsiness that began to
take hold of her as soon as she began to feel a little warmer. The nurse breezed back in
just about the time she started to nod off. “Don’t go to sleep, sweety!”
Abby jerked. “I don’t think I hit my head hard enough to get a concussion. It
doesn’t really hurt.”
“You’re probably right, but you need to stay awake. This’ll help,” she muttered,
taking a syringe and filling it.
“What’s that?”
The nurse smirked. “Ordinarily, we’d be giving this to the guy you bit,” she
murmured, “but … antibiotics, just in case.”
The sting of the needle did rouse her. The nurse took her blood pressure again,
scribbled on the chart, and vanished once more. She drowsed despite the order to stay
awake, losing awareness for a handful of minutes as the nurse and doctor took turns—
mostly the nurse—flopping the door as they went out or came back in. She didn’t have
much concept of the passing time until her stomach grumbled. She realized then that it
must be somewhere around lunch. It didn’t seem possible in some ways. In others, it
seemed as if eternity had passed.
Her entire world as she knew it had been turned upside down. As carefully as she
tried to avoid thinking about everything that had happened earlier, it hovered like a dark
cloud at the back of her mind, threatening to burst through the wall she was frantically
trying to build to keep it back.
The doctor finally returned when Abby was contemplating getting off the
examination table. “Ready to go?”
“I can leave?”
He nodded. “I told Seth and your other men that they needed to keep a close
watch on you, but I think you’ll be fine. I’m going to give you a little something to
soothe your nerves. It shouldn’t knock you out, but it’ll probably relax you enough to
make you want to sleep. If you still aren’t experiencing any symptoms of concussion—
nausea or vomiting—it’ll be safe enough to take a little nap when you get home.”
Seth and her other men, Abby thought blankly?
She merely nodded, though, flinched when he gave her yet another shot, and sat
up when he grasped her wrists and tugged her upright.

“Dizzy?”
Abby dropped her hand from her head. “A little,” she admitted reluctantly.
The doctor studied her alertly for a moment. “Now?”
She shook her head. “It passed.”
He helped her down from the table and walked her out. She was more than a little

surprised to discover that all four men were still waiting, Seth in the waiting room, and
Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico pacing outside.

The silence in the car on the ride to her house was far more uncomfortable than it

had been the night before. Abby had to suppose that whatever the doctor had injected her
with to ‘calm her nerves’ was some seriously potent shit. She didn’t feel the least bit
threatened or frightened climbing into the car with a bunch of—whatever they were—
Wolfen, Cameron had said.

“What’s a Wolfen?” she asked Seth curiously as soon as they’d entered her

kitchen.

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His expression hardened. “I’m Wolfen,” he growled, moving away from her and

jerking the door of the refrigerator open.

She stared at his broad back for a moment and then glanced around at Cameron

and Adrian as they followed her in. “And Cameron and Adrian are Wolfen?”

Jerico reached the backdoor. “And I’m Wolfen.”
Abby blinked at him and then turned to look at Cameron questioningly. “But

what is a Wolfen? I don’t understand that. I really don’t. I don’t understand anything
that happened!” She thought it over. “Ok, so I do understand those guys wanted to blow
my head off—the rest I don’t understand. How did you do that? Just … change? Why
aren’t you hurt?” she asked Adrian. “I saw him shoot you. I know I did.”

Her face crumbled abruptly. She turned to look at Seth miserably. “I thought you

were dead! I saw him shoot you!”

He released a sound of irritation, slammed the door of the refrigerator, and surged

toward her. Abby fell into his arms, hugging him tightly. “I was so … scared, Seth!” she
mumbled brokenly, feeling hot tears ooze between her lashes.

Seth squeezed his eyes tightly shut, struggling against the emotions churning

inside him, fighting to tame the beast he held barely in check. He’d known he didn’t dare
touch her, not when his blood was still surging through him, scalding him, when the
images in his mind were still tormenting him. They’d died too fast, he thought grimly.
He hadn’t vented the rage he’d needed to and it was still boiling inside of him like acid.

In the back of his mind, he knew it was a mistake even when he went to her, but

he couldn’t ignore her confusion and hurt, the fear he still sensed in her, even knowing a
lot of it was him—because of what he was. He couldn’t ignore his own need to hold her,
to feel her reassuring warmth and the beat of her heart, to feel that he hadn’t lost her. He
felt his control slip as she clung to him, tightened his arms around her crushingly.

She was his, he thought savagely. His! And they’d tried to take her from him,

would’ve killed her if she hadn’t been a fighter. His fear for her had made him witless
and helpless in the face of the threat. They should never have managed to get so far with
her, shouldn’t have managed to get her in that fucking car. Her danger had magnified ten
times over because he’d been so afraid he’d hurt her himself if he attacked the bastards
that he’d been frozen in indecision … too long.

“Not nearly as scared as I was,” he said hoarsely, releasing his bruising grip

around her abruptly and capturing her face between his palms. He dipped, brushing his
lips lightly over her face, nuzzling her neck, absorbing her scent to assuage the need
burning in him. It was like throwing gasoline on fire, though, sent his control skittering
out of reach. Tilting his head, he fitted his mouth to hers, sucked hungrily at her lips and
then thrust his tongue into her mouth in a simulation of mating with her, tasting her,
absorbing her soul deep where he ached for her.

And for a handful of seconds, that was enough, but no more. A red haze clouded

his mind, pushed rational thoughts far to the background of his mind. Mine, he thought,
suddenly too desperate to claim her to heed the doubts still clamoring in the back of his
mind.

In his heart and soul, he knew he was hers and that she belonged to him just as

surely.

An avalanche of sensations crashed over Abby, the need for reassurance she

hadn’t even realized she was seeking giving way instantly to a lava flow of heat that

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 103

seared her all the way to her core. She kissed him back feverishly, sucking at his tongue
frantically as he thrust it into her mouth, wanting to absorb him into herself.

Her head spun with dizziness when he caught her and turned with her, setting her

on the counter and shoving her dress up her thighs.

“Seth!”
Seth whipped his head around to look at Cameron when he spoke, narrowing his

eyes at his rival. “Stay back!” he snarled, pinning Cameron with his gaze before turning
back to Abby and nuzzling his face against her neck, yielding to the urge, the desperate
need to mark her in the face of Cameron’s challenge. He felt her flinch as he nicked her
with the edge of his teeth and sucked at the sting to sooth it. She moaned, dug her fingers
into his hair, clutching him tightly as he lifted his head and nipped at her lips. It sent a
surge of triumph through him, darkened his mind.

“Mine!” he muttered in a low, warning growl as he caught the scent of rage and

lust in the others. He covered her mouth again, drinking her, soaking up her essence.

Still dimly aware of the others, Abby found she didn’t care. All that mattered was

the feel of Seth’s arms around her, the caress of his fingers, the shaking eagerness she felt
in him as he caught the edge of her thong and snapped the harrow band at her waist. He
stroked a hand upward beneath her dress to squeeze one breast and then down again to
brush her cleft, his hands seemingly everywhere at once.

Her heart leapt in her chest as she felt the thick stroke of his cock replace his

fingers, nudging her cleft. Eager, she opened her legs wider for him, lifted them,
wrapping them around his narrow waist, shifting closer when she felt his flesh connect
with her body where she needed him most. He looped one arm around her hips, lifting
and pulling her to him, thrusting into her without further preliminary, as if he couldn’t
wait any longer.

She curled her arms around his shoulders a little frantically when he began

jabbing at her channel with his cock, jogging her up and down in counter to his short
forays to embed his flesh fully inside of her. She gasped as his hard, thick member
battled her channel for supremacy and finally won, sinking so deeply into her she felt her
body quake in delight. Awareness narrowed to the deep connection between them. She
felt his desperation, felt her own skyrocket. It took no more than a dozen deep, frantic
thrusts for either of them before ecstasy exploded around them, rocking them.

Abby groaned as she felt her body convulse, felt shockwaves of the purest

pleasure burst outward from her core and ripple through her entire body. Uttering a
harsh, grating sound, Seth stiffened. A shudder traveled through him and then Abby felt
his cock jerk inside of her, felt the heat as he came, bathing her channel with his semen.

Shivering in the aftermath, feeling a warming sense of gratification and

satisfaction that she’d given him pleasure, she clung tightly to him, trying to gather her
wits. Even as she loosened her grip on him, began to lean away from him, though, he
was wrenched from her so abruptly she nearly fell off the counter.

Blinking in stunned surprise, she stared at Cameron as he grabbed Seth’s

shoulder, jerking him around and punching him the face in almost the same movement,
so hard that Seth flew backwards across the kitchen, scattering the kitchen table and
chairs in every direction.

Cameron grabbed her, dragged her off the counter and strode from the kitchen

with her.

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Thoroughly bemused, she gaped at Seth as he bounded up from the splintered

dining table, his features contorted in a mask of fury.

The door of her room as it slammed cut off the view of Seth charging toward

them. Before she could even grasp his intent, Cameron threw her to the bed, following
her down so quickly that she merely bounced up to meet him. He sank his teeth into the
crook between her neck and shoulder as Seth had, sucking at the sting almost before it
had fully registered.

The door of her room flew open just as Cameron thrust into her, aided despite the

length and thickness of his cock, by the moisture that still bathed her channel from
moments before. Seth halted as if he’d hit a wall when he saw Cameron plow deeply into
her, arching his back, his face a mask of tortured pleasure. Cameron whipped his head
around at the intrusion, however. “Mine!” he snarled through gritted teeth at Seth.

Too bemused to assess anything that was happening beyond the burning rise of

desire inside of her again, Abby stared up at Cameron through glazed eyes as he instantly
returned his focus to her, withdrawing and then thrusting into her, setting a jarring
rhythm laced with the desperation of his need. She hadn’t even had time to touch down
completely from the first climax. Cameron’s ruthless thrusts sent her body spiraling
completely out of control again. She arched against him as her body seized, crying out as
she was swept away by a second climax, jerking with the force of it.

Groaning as he spilled seed into her, Cameron drove deeply and held himself

perfectly still as his body convulsed with ecstasy. Almost as soon as his body had
finished expelling his seed, however, he withdrew from her and pushed himself from the
bed, landing on the floor beside it in a half crouch. Uttering a snarl of rage, Seth charged
him, slamming into Cameron and carrying him backwards into her dresser. The wooden
feet of the chest screamed against the hardwood flooring. The back of the dresser
slammed into the wall and the mirror fell forward, crashing into both men and shattering.

Releasing a startled gasp, Abby bolted upright. Before she could do more than

gape at the two men, however, Adrian climbed on the bed with her, grasped her shoulders
and bore her backwards, covering her body with his own. Caught completely off guard,
Abby tensed, gripping his arms, although even she wasn’t certain what her intent had
been. From the moment he captured her wrists, manacling them on either side of her
head, and fitted his mouth over hers in a feverish kiss, she felt herself falling under his
spell, felt heat rise for him as it had for Seth and Cameron.

She moaned into his mouth, a sound that was almost equal parts despair and

desire. Dismay and confusion flickered through her as to how and why she seemed to
have touched off a firestorm in the men who’d shown such restraint before, but she
hadn’t desired Adrian any less. His hungry kisses thrilled her as much, and when he
drove inside of her, gliding along her slick channel in a desperate cadence, she felt
welcome heat and tension fill her.

“Abby,” he murmured, ducking his head to nuzzle the side of her neck, sucking a

patch of skin into his mouth and nicking her with the edge of his teeth. The bite seemed
to push her over the edge. She came, hard, gasping and shuddering and arching against
him. Jerico shoved him off of her before Adrian had even stopped jerking in release.

“Mine!” Adrian snarled, rolling toward the two of them.
Jerico slugged him in the jaw, grabbed Abby and pulled her upright, dragging her

onto his lap and spearing into her in almost the same motion. Dizzy and weak, Abby

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 105

hardly had time even to assess the situation before she felt the heat rise again, felt her
body begin to convulse when it had barely stopped shuddering from the last climax.

She wilted limply against Jerico when the spasms finally quieted. “Baby,” he

murmured, nuzzling her neck. Abby tensed, expecting to feel the sting of his bite, and
was still surprised when it happened. He caught her face in the crook of his hand, kissing
her in a way that seemed as much of apology as praise for the pleasure he’d taken.

She managed to lift her eyelids enough to peer at him as he released her. The

moment he leaned away from her, however, Adrian clocked him on the chin with his fist,
sending him toppling backwards off of her and then bounded over the bed, landing on the
other side. Uttering a snarling challenge, Jerico leapt to his feet, launching himself at
Adrian.

Stunned, Abby pushed herself upright and stared at the two men pounding away

at each other beside the bed. Dimly aware that Seth and Cameron had disappeared into
the hallway--because she could still hear meaty thuds and breaking glass emanating from
the vicinity of the kitchen, Abby rolled to the other side of the bed and got to her feet.
“What happened?” she muttered dazedly. “What’s going on?”

Jerico and Adrian paused, whipping their heads in her direction and staring at her

blankly for a moment. Slowly, they straightened, turning to look each other. Adrian
snarled. “Mine! God’s damn it I marked her!”

Jerico grabbed him by the throat. “I know you did, you son-of-a-bitch! I marked

her, too, you bastard!”

Abby had enough presence of mind, despite the drug pumping through her and

the after affects of four of the wildest couplings she’d ever experienced, to dash from the
room the moment they began slamming their fists into each other again. Seth and
Cameron, she discovered, had made their way down the hall to the front door.

Turning, she stumbled into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind

her. She felt drunk. She didn’t know if it was from the ‘sedative’ the doctor had given
her or the chemical sedative of four climaxes in a row, but she was woozy enough she
decided to sit down on the edge of the tub. After listening absently to the crashes around
her house for a few minutes, she got up and removed what was left of her clothing, turned
the shower on, and climbed in.

There was a knock on the bathroom door just as she shut the water off.
“Abby?”
Recognizing Seth’s voice, Abby abruptly felt anger surge through her. “What?”

she asked resentfully.

“Are you alright?” he growled.
“If the four of you hadn’t been acting like crazy men, you’d know!” she snapped.

“You wouldn’t have to ask!”

“God’s damn it!” Seth roared. “Are you hurt or not!”
Abby felt her chin wobble. “I don’t know!” she wailed.
Something heavy slammed into the door. The wood around the lock splintered,

and the door flew inward. Seth caught it with his hand, eyeing her with a mixture of
wariness and anxiety. “Tell me which one of them hurt you!” he growled. “I’ll kill
him.”

Abby burst into tears. “Nobody!” she wailed. “All of you!”
Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico, she saw, were crowded around the door, looking

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 106

sheepish and triumphant and worried all at the same time.

Seth turned and glared at them as if she hadn’t accused him along with the others.

“Clean up the fucking mess!” he snapped, moving toward Abby and scooping her up into
his arms.

“I’m wet!” she sobbed.
He turned, allowing her to grab her towel off the towel bar and then stalking from

the bathroom with her. She covered her face with the towel instead of trying to dry off,
muffling her sobs. He sat on the edge of her bed, settling her in his lap and cuddling her
and stroking his hand soothingly along her back until she finally managed to regain
control. “You’re certain we didn’t hurt you?” he asked a little uncomfortably when she’d
quieted.

She nodded instead of answering.
He was silent for several moments. “Why were you crying, then?”
Abby thought it over, but there seemed so many reasons it was hard to pin it down

to one. “I’ve been so horny! And … and then I hardly even got the chance to … to enjoy
it!” she wailed a little tearfully.

She was horrified the moment the words left her mouth. Uncovering her eyes to

see how Seth had taken it, she saw his lips were twitching with suppressed laughter.
“I’m sorry as hell, Baby. I got … a little carried away.” He paused. “We can try again.”

Dropping the towel to her lap, she glared at him. “I’m not in the mood!” she

snapped. “I just had four climaxes!”

He bit his lower lip, obviously torn between the urge to laugh and irritation that

she’d pointed out she’d come with the others, too. Finally, he turned and set her on the
bed. “Why don’t you rest? We’ll clean up the mess.”

She gave him a reproachful look. They had wrecked the house! They ought to

clean up the mess! “I’m hungry,” she said somewhat sullenly. “I don’t want to rest.”

He shook his head at her. Instead of commenting on the ‘busy’ day she’d had,

though, he got up. “I’ll see what there is to cook … with—as soon we can put the
kitchen back together,” he said when he reached the door.

Adrian was down on the floor trying to put the chairs back together when he got

to the kitchen. The table, he saw, was listing noticeably to one side, but Adrian had
managed to, more or less, hammer the legs back on. Lifting his head, Seth glared at
Cameron, who was crouched on the floor with the dust pan in one hand and the broom in
the other, trying to rake up a mound of broken dishes and glasses.

“You broke Abby’s fucking table!”
Cameron glared at him. “You broke the fucking table when you landed on it!”
“I wouldn’t have landed on it if you hadn’t punched me in the face, god’s damn

it!”

“You wouldn’t have landed on it if you’d kept your fucking dick in your pants!”

Cameron snarled, coming to his feet.

“You’ve got a hell of a lot of fucking room to talk!” Seth growled. “What’d you

do? Trip and stick your fucking dick in her?”

Cameron narrowed his eyes at him. “You marked her! You had no god’s damn

right to when you’d been fucking challenged by every dick swinging son-of-a-bitch in
this house and half the fucking Wolfen in town!”

Seth glared at him furiously for several moments, clenching and unclenching his

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 107

hands into fists and finally forced himself to relax. “I lost my head,” he muttered after a
moment. “You know god’s damned well it doesn’t matter whether I marked her or not—
not to her—and not the council, because they know it doesn’t mean anything to humans.”

“It mattered to me, god’s damn it!” Cameron snarled.
Seth glared at him for a long moment and finally swung a glance toward Adrian

and Jerico. “So now we’ve all marked her,” he muttered in disgust. “You feel better?
Did you all have to be stupid because I was so crazed I didn’t have any sense? She
doesn’t know a fucking thing about Wolfen—except now she knows we are. And the
four of us just piled on her like crazed beasts when she nearly got killed just a few hours
ago.”

Cameron scowled at him and then looked away. Adrian and Jerico exchanged

angry, accusing looks, but they didn’t look at Seth.

Jerico cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Is she alright?”
Seth ground his teeth. “How the fuck would I know?” he growled, rubbing the

back of his neck tiredly. “Maybe. The doc gave her something to calm her nerves. Just
because she seems calm right now don’t mean a hell of a lot. Christ! What a fucking
mess!”

“We didn’t break that much!” Adrian said a little defensively. “You and

Cameron did most of the damage.”

Seth rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t talking about the house, although … Now that

you mention it, it might be best if we clean everything up before she actually sees the
damages.”

Jerico shrugged. “We piled everything that couldn’t be put back together in the

back of your cruiser. We didn’t figure it would be a good idea if any of the others saw
what we’d been up to. It wouldn’t take much imagination to put together the fight with
… well, you know.”

“Good thinking,” Seth said dryly. “They’ll smell us on her and even if they don’t,

they’ll see the marks. They’ll know we tried to break council law and claim her before
the rites.”

“Well pardon moi!” Cameron growled. “But I can’t say I give a fuck!”
Seth’s lips tightened. “You will if the council rules to disqualify us from entering

the challenge. Not that I think that’s going to make a hell of a lot of difference anyway
the way things went down.”

Cameron sent him an irritated look. “Just how did you plan on telling her, mon

ami? She would not have believed if you had only said, oh, by the way, I’m not human.
I’m Wolfen.”

“Not like what did happen!” Seth snapped. “Worse case scenario—I figured I’d

shift if I had to … but not into something to scare her out of her wits. She didn’t have an
inkling until we shifted. Maybe it would’ve been a shock anyway, but not nearly as
much if she’d been prepared for it. She wouldn’t have looked at me as if I was a
monster.”

Cameron flicked a glance from Seth to others and back again. “They always look

at you as if they’ve seen a monster—and never the same way again as before—because,
to their eyes, you are.”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 108

Chapter Thirteen

Seth felt his gut clench. A wave of nausea followed it. He looked away, focusing
on searching the refrigerator for food to give himself something to do. “I’m the same
man I was before she knew. She responded to me,” he muttered. “I might not have a
clear idea about all of it, but I remember that part.”
“If you believed that, mon ami, you not be worried. For my part, I was never
keen on telling her at all.”
Finding he wasn’t up to anything too challenging, Seth finally dragged the carton
of eggs out and started searching for cheese and other possibilities to make omelets.
“You know we couldn’t take her to the gatherin’ if she didn’t know, which means no
council approval as a mate,” he retorted. “What did you have in mind? Just hopin’ she
wouldn’t find out at all?”
Cameron shrugged. “I had not thought beyond bindin’ her. A way could be
found if she were bound to one of us.”
Seth glanced at him, frowning. “I want her to be accepted as a member of the
community,” he said tightly. “A whiff of anything clandestine about the matin’, and
there would be a stigma—both for her and any issue of the match.”
Cameron shrugged. “Not within any territory run by any of us.”
Seth pursed his lips. “You can’t control opinion or protect her from subtle slights.
And there would plenty of that goin’ on any time there was a gatherin’.”
“Her situation wouldn’t allow a good deal of socializin’.”
“Her situation won’t always be what it is now. I sure as fuck hadn’t planned on
ignorin’ the threat to my mate. I’ll take care of the bastard as soon as there’s an
opportunity for it. Council approval would make that a hell of a lot easier.”
“You think she won’t go for it now?” Adrian asked.
Seth shrugged. “I think we would’ve stood a better chance if we’d had more
time, if she hadn’t been caught up in the battle earlier and discovered we, and most of the
town, are Wolfen or Weres—and if we hadn’t lost it and fought a battle over claimin’ her
here, in her house. I’m sure that didn’t impress her very favorably,” he said dryly.
Adrian frowned, glancing at Jerico and then Cameron. “She enjoyed it! She
came when I made love to her, anyway.”
Seth grunted. “Maybe on one level. I’m not sure she saw bein’ gang banged by a
pack of Wolfen as bein’ made love to,” he said sardonically. “In fact, I’m pretty fuckin’
sure she didn’t.”
“How many fucking levels are there?” Adrian demanded indignantly.
“Fuckin’ and makin’ love!” Cameron snapped.
Adrian glared at him. “But … we marked her. There’s the difference!”
“But, she isn’t Wolfen! An’ she doan know about the mark of the wolf!”
“She will when we explain it.”
Cameron sent Seth a look and rolled his eyes.
Adrian glowered at him. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, you arrogant Creole son-of-

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 109

a-bitch! I’ll knock your fucking head off! I don’t see the god’s damn problem. We were
going to explain everything anyway.”
Cameron made a ‘bring it on’ gesture at Adrian. “You can try, mon ami,” he
growled.
“Save it for the gatherin’!” Seth snapped. “Abby’s not goin’ to be happy if you
two start up all over again when we’ve just got the fuckin’ house cleaned up!”
“I like that ‘we’ shit! We cleaned up while you were making points with Abby!”
Jerico snapped.
“I’ve still got to haul the god’s damned wreckage off and get rid of it, now don’t
I?” Seth shot back at him. “And the point Cameron was tryin’ to make is that it don’t
fuckin’ work to explain after the fact! It don’t change the way she felt at the time! She
cried, god’s damn it!”
Adrian and Jerico both looked like they wanted to argue the point but since they
heard Abby move to her door, they let the subject drop. Everyone focused on their
personal project of the moment—cooking, cleaning and putting the house back
together—eyeing Abby warily as she entered the kitchen.
It didn’t make Abby any less self-conscious that all conversation stopped the
minute she started out of her room. She’d heard the drone of their voices the entire time
she was getting dressed, known there was a heated discussion going on, and suspected
she was at the heart of it. It seemed confirmation to her when they dropped the subject
abruptly.
After staring around at them uncomfortably for several moments, studying what
was left of her kitchen table and chairs with dismay, she excused herself and went to the
bathroom to examine her face in the mirror since Seth and Cameron had shattered her
dresser mirror. She was a little reassured by her reflection. Her eyes and nose were red
from her hysterics—she didn’t think she could comfort herself by merely considering it
‘tears.’ Her lips were a little puffy, but she wasn’t certain if that was from her fight or
the wild sex after the fight. The knots on her forehead from using her head as a bludgeon
weren’t nearly as big or as unsightly as they felt, even if they were noticeable.

There was a pink streak along her cheek from the near miss with the thug’s bullet.
A shudder went through her at the thought, but she firmly pushed it to the back of

her mind.

All in all, she didn’t look like she’d been in a brawl, she decided—certainly she

didn’t look her best, but under the circumstances, she didn’t look too bad.

Adrian had finished putting the chairs back together when she reached the kitchen

again. They looked almost bad as the table and she wasn’t at all sure she wanted to test
one. Adrian didn’t look like he did either, but when he’d pulled one out from beneath the
leaning table, he very gingerly planted his ass on it, slowly easing his weight down until
he was settled.

Biting her lip when he sent her a look of triumph that the chair didn’t instantly

collapse beneath him, she pulled a chair out for herself and eased into it just as carefully.
She discovered all four men were watching her, looked as if they were holding her
breath.

That inspired confidence!
Seth set plates filled with fluffy omelets on the table all around—with care,

instead of plunking them down as he generally did when he did the cooking. The omelets

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looked perfect and smelled wonderful. She sent him a tentative smile of appreciation.
He seemed to relax fractionally.

Everyone watched him while he carefully settled in the chair left for him. It

wobbled and they sucked in a collective breath, but it held.

Abby dug in to her food with enthusiasm borne of starvation. “You said you were

going to explain to me about the Wolfen,” she said to Seth when she’d taken the edge off
of her hunger.

Seth glanced at her sharply.
She smiled wanly. “I wasn’t nearly as out of it as you think.” She paused.

“You’re … like … werewolves?”

Seth’s lips tightened. He focused on his food for a moment as if gathering his

thoughts. “Were’s are a ….” He shrugged. She was bound to learn how Wolfen felt
about the Weres if she became a part of the community. “Wolfen consider them a
corruption. Weres are humans … or at least they were born human. The bite of a Wolfen
in half-shift can infect them and the effect is that they then have some of the traits of both
the Wolfen and humans.”

“Can? It doesn’t always?” Abby asked uneasily, thinking about the four bites

she’d found along her neck when she’d studied herself in the bathroom mirror.

Seth shifted uncomfortably and nearly crashed from his precarious perch. He

glared at Adrian. “The objective of a Wolfen in half shift isn’t to infect. It’s to kill.”

Abby rubbed her neck unconsciously.
Seth studied the movement, frowned, and transferred his attention to his plate.

“We weren’t in half-shift,” he said gruffly.

Abby reddened. “And the only time that could happen, the infection, that would

be when you’re in half shift?” She frowned. “What’s whole shift?”

“Human. We’re Wolfen.”
Abby looked at Cameron when he spoke, frowning, but curiously. “You don’t

turn into wolves?”

“We are wolves,” Adrian muttered. “We can turn into humans.”
Abby sent him a startled look. She was on the point of demanding to know if he

was serious when it occurred to her that no one at the table looked the least bit in the
mood to joke. Tamping the urge, she tried to digest the information. “But … I’ve never
seen you as anything but human … until today.”

“We live among humans. We can only do that in human form. In beast form,

we’re animals. In half shift, we’re monsters. The only way to live in harmony with
humans is to look like them. Otherwise—it’s kill or be killed.”

Abby looked at Seth when he spoke, trying to summon the image she’d seen

earlier. She discovered she couldn’t. The other image was too hazy in her mind.
Whether from the shock of the time, or willfulness, she couldn’t reconcile the two in her
mind.

“The Festival,” she said finally. “That’s what it’s really about? Some sort of

gathering … like a clan?”

“We are a clan. The festival coincides with the full of the moon because that’s

the time we feel the strongest pull of the beast and also because, with many of the Weres,
it’s the only time they can manage a full shift into the form of a wolf. The primary
objective of this festival, though, is to find a suitable mate. Each pack has its own

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territory, and some of the packs are big, but there’s still the problem of inbreedin’ with so
small a group. Some Wolfen, and Weres, of course, move from pack to pack, but there
isn’t enough new blood. Each year the clan gathers—rotatin’ from year to year—
regional, then national, then international. The Harvest Moon Festival is the international
gatherin’.”

It boggled the mind to think there was so many of them! “And everyone gets

together?”

“Everyone lookin’ for a mate.”
Abby felt her face heat. She couldn’t decide if the fluttering of her belly was

from nerves or something else entirely. They still hadn’t told her why they’d bitten her.
As uncomfortable as she was about bluntly asking, she didn’t see any other way to find
out. “Why did y’all bite me?”

“Instinct,” Seth growled, getting up so abruptly his chair wobbled and then

collapsed in a heap.

Abby blinked at him in confusion as he moved to sink.
“A Wolfen male marks his mate, chère,” Cameron said. “It’s instinct, but more

than that. With Wolfen—even with most Weres—the mark of a mate is a minglin’ of
chemicals that binds them together. Traditionally, there are three. The first is intent.
The Wolfen male has marked her as his own and other males will know this and
challenge his right to claim her if they have similar desires for the female as a mate. The
second mark is the female’s surrender—if she accepts a second. The third is the
bindin’.”

The warm jittery feeling was a little more identifiable with the second flash

through her. It was a mixture of sheer terror and unmistakable desire—completely
conflicting, but she couldn’t dismiss either one, couldn’t deny the fact that she was as
drawn to the idea as she was afraid because it appealed to her so strongly.

They’d marked her … instinctively, Seth said. Did that mean they’d just gotten

carried away and marked her? Or did it mean they wanted her? And what connotations
did ‘mate’ have in relation to human practices? Was it strictly procreation? Was it
something like marriage?

She discovered, as badly as she wanted to know, she just wasn’t comfortable

enough to ask those questions point blank.

She swallowed a little uncomfortably. “What does it mean when four males mark

a female?”

“They will fight at the gatherin’ to see who she chooses. It’s part of the matin’

rites. The Alpha female will choose the Alpha male she feels most likely to give her
strong, healthy off-spring and trust his judgment that his Betas are worthy of her when
their time comes to breed her.”

Too much information, she thought, feeling her face turn bright red! “So …,” she

said in a strangled voice, “it’s about breeding? It’s got nothing to do with … uh … she
breeds with the pack?”

Cameron looked torn between amusement and discomfort. “Not the pack, the

Alpha and his Betas—that’s his lieutenants—next to the Alpha, the strongest pack
members. This is another reason why the gatherin’s are important for the infusion of new
blood.”

Abby gaped at him, trying to wrap her mind around it. It certainly wasn’t

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anything like marriage! “What about the others? They don’t breed?”

Cameron shrugged. “They breed … indiscriminately. Their lineage is not of as

much importance since they aren’t leaders. Rarely will they produce offspring that is
either Alpha or Beta, regardless of the mate they choose, whereas a Beta male and an
Alpha female can and often do produce Alphas. And, of course, an Alpha male can be
almost certain that, by choosing an Alpha female, any offspring they have together will
also be Alpha.”

Breeding. It was all about breeding. She supposed it was contrary of her to find

it rather insulting when she didn’t actually have anything against recreational sex, but it
was almost … sterile. She thought she would’ve preferred to think that they were driven
merely by lust. At least that was something, even if it wasn’t the affection she realized
she wanted.

“But … I’m not Wolfen or Were.”
“No,” Seth agreed.
She glanced at him in irritation when she saw he’d turned at the sink and leaned

back against the counter, his arms folded over his broad chest. “Well, if any of you were
thinking about converting me …!”

“We weren’t.”
As indignant—and, yes, frightened—as she’d been at the thought of them trying

to ‘infect’ her so that she’d be a Were, his calm denial stung. “Why not?”

“Because human females rarely survive the transformation. That’s not

acceptable.”

She studied him for a long moment, waiting for him to say more, hoping he

would. When he didn’t it seemed to confirm her suspicion that they hadn’t had any
designs on her at all—no intentions. That hurt worse than thinking they just lusted after
her. A lump rose in her throat. She didn’t think she could say more if she tried, and she
discovered she didn’t really want clarification. Nodding, she got up abruptly and left,
slamming her bedroom door behind her.

As good as the omelet had been, as hungry as she’d been when she started, it sat

like a rock in the pit of her stomach now. She felt vaguely nauseated. The temptation
arose to stalk to her door and lock it for good measure, but she resisted the impulse. It
would only emphasize her state of mind, and it was useless, she knew, in keeping them
out if they wanted to come in. The damned thing had never been quite the same from the
last time they’d knocked it down.

In any case, the depression that descended on her in conjunction with everything

else, was just too wearing. Discarding her clothes, she climbed into her bed, cuddled her
pillow under cheek and resolutely closed her eyes. For a while, a mixture of disturbing
images and thoughts rattled around in her brain, but eventually she found the peaceful
nothingness she’d sought.

* * * *

Cameron turned to glare at Seth angrily. “You did not think it worth the effort to

try to explain? Or do you think we will find more time to do so?”

Seth scowled at him. “Did she look receptive to you? Because she sure as hell

didn’t look receptive to the idea to me, god’s damn it! It’s too much, too fast!”

“Well, it ain’t as if we’ve got time to fucking break it to her gently!” Jerico

snapped. “She’ll be expected at the dance tonight like all the others! And if she ain’t

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there, it’s going to be damned uncomfortable, to say the least!”

Seth threw up his hands. “Feel free! Go tell her that we dragged her into this and

now she’s goin’ to have to take part in the fuckin’ hunt tomorrow night!”

Jerico glared at him, turned to look across the hall at Abby’s door, and subsided

into a sulk.

“You didn’t think this through very well, did you, mon ami?” Cameron

commented sardonically.

Seth narrowed his eyes at him, but his complexion darkened with discomfort.

“No, I didn’t fuckin’ think it through!” he said testily. “Because I haven’t been able to
fuckin’ think straight since I met her!”

“An’ you haven’t had your mind on anything but seein’ how fast you could get

her in your bed!”

“And you haven’t had your mind on that at all?”
Cameron uttered a snort of wry amusement. “I never denied it. You chose to

spearhead the campaign, however. You laid the ground rules. We’ve only been
followin’ your lead.”

“Blame it on me if it makes you feel any damn better,” Seth growled. “You’ve

got hindsight, now. Why don’t you tell me what we could’ve done differently?”

Cameron shrugged. “Nothing occurs to me … except that we might all have

enjoyed this better if we had gotten her into our beds sooner, and, mayhap, we could’ve
thought more clearly if we had. At the very least, we might have enjoyed tryin’ to
convince her a bit more. Now we will have nothin’ to show for our efforts at all beyond
that ‘not completely satisfactory’ claimin’ we fought over a bit ago.”

“I don’t think she found it particularly satisfactory either,” Seth muttered.
“She said that?” Adrian asked uncomfortably.
“She came four times!” Jerico said a little indignantly. “We must have done

something right!”

“Don’t start that again!” Seth snarled. “We’ll be a hell of a lot better off to focus

on what we can do now to turn the situation to our advantage than to dwell on what we
already fucked up!”

“At least now she knows,” Jerico said philosophically. “We’re over that hurtle.”
Adrian, Seth, and Cameron turned to stare him with varying degrees of disgust.
“What?”
Seth shook his head, turning to survey the table and chairs. “I think we’re goin’

to have to replace that. We need to start a list and get rid of the stuff that’s hopeless.”

“You and Cameron smashed her mirror, too,” Jerico said helpfully.
Cameron glared at him, but then thought it over. “Anything else in there?”
“Not that I can recall. You should go look.”
“I doan think so, mon ami!” Cameron retorted. “She slammed the door. That’s

woman speak for ‘I’ll cut your heart out if you open it’.”

Seth nodded. “I don’t like the idea of leavin’ her in there broodin’, though.

There’s no tellin’ what kind of mood she’ll be in when she comes out again.”

“She’ll be in a better mood if we’ve gotten everything back together,” Adrian said

decisively, grabbing a chair and heading for the back door.

“She liked the looks of those antiques at the fair,” Jerico said. “I think I’ll pick up

a few pieces to replace what we broke.”

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“Better not!” Cameron said warningly. “They like to pick out things themselves.”
“I got the impression that was one of the things that had her so pissed off when

she first got here—the Feds had ‘decorated’ for her,” Seth agreed. “We’ll take her, let
her point out what she likes, and then ‘surprise’ her. That always works best.”

Grabbing another chair, Cameron followed the others out as they picked up the

pieces. “Doan it strike you as strange that Fed was down here one day and the gang the
next?”

“Damned strange!” Seth agreed grimly. “Either the bastard wasn’t careful

enough and led them right to her, or he took a bribe and set her up. Either way, he’s a
dead mother fucker when I get my hands on him.”

Cameron and Adrian both sent him a look of respect. “You’ve mellowed,”

Adrian commented. “Time was you would’ve already taken the bastard out.”

Seth’s expression tightened. “I can’t leave now or I would’ve. The hit men

won’t be reportin’ in. Even if they aren’t independents—which is a good possibility—
and the gang knew they were supposed to make the hit today, I figure we’ve got a little
time—enough to take care of pack business first.”

Cameron frowned. “You know, mon ami, once we eliminate the threat, there

won’t be no reason for her to stay.”

“I know.”
“You not plannin’ on tellin’ her?”
Seth met his gaze. “I’m plannin’ on tellin’ her.”
Cameron held his gaze for a long moment and finally looked away. “Either

you’ve got a lot more confidence she’ll choose to stay with us than I have, or it doan
matter.”

“It matters,” Seth said grimly.

* * * *

Abby wasn’t so sure the nap had been the best idea she’d ever had. She felt better

in some respects—not as emotionally fragile as she had before—but she was so stiff and
sore it took an effort to crawl out of the bed. After trying to stretch some of the kinks
out, she finally decided a hot shower was her only hope. Too lazy to dress, she grabbed
her robe and slipped into it, although it occurred to her that there didn’t seem much
reason to worry about running around naked.

She thought they could probably contain themselves.
Pushing the depressing thought to the back of her mind, she headed to the

bathroom, but then decided a hot soak in the tub seemed more in order than a shower.
After rifling through the boxes in the bathroom, she finally found the bubble bath and
sprinkled it generously under the tap.

She didn’t particularly want to ponder everything that had happened but, despite

the soothing aspects of the bath, she discovered it was impossible to avoid her thoughts.
She had napped. It was all the respite she was likely to get.

Her run in with the hit men, though … she relegated that to the far back of her

mind where she’d sunk as many of the unpleasant experiences as she could. She could
only deal with so much and she was safe for now, from them, at least.

The wolfen?
She realized she believed she was safe with them—from them. It wasn’t just that

she’d lived and worked among them. It was the fact that they’d come when she’d needed

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 115

them and rescued her from the men who would’ve killed her—might’ve killed them for
trying to help her.

She was still having trouble coming to terms with what she’d seen them do,

accepting that they weren’t what they’d always appeared to her to be. As frightening as
they’d looked in half shift, as Seth had called it, and despite what they were capable of,
though, she realized she didn’t think of them as monsters—because they weren’t, not in
any sense of the word.

She thought she was more of a threat to them than they were to her.

The men who’d come after her were professionals.
How likely was it, she wondered, that it was an isolated event? Was it possible
that they’d merely ‘lucked out’ and tracked her down on their own? Or was it far more
likely that the vast network of the Russian mob itself had tracked her down and sent
someone to clean up?
She shivered at the thought, growing aware that her bathwater had cooled while
she’d contemplated the situation. Sitting up, she opened the drain and got out to dry off.
The hit men clinched the matter, she thought glumly. Nothing else really
mattered—not how she felt, not whether Seth or any of the others had more than a
passing interest in her, or how reluctant she was to have to start over. She might have
had an option before—though she wasn’t sure Agent Milner would agree with that. Now
she didn’t. She had to go and the sooner the better.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 116

Chapter Fourteen

The house was surprisingly quiet when Abby left the bathroom. As preoccupied

as she was with her unpleasant thoughts, she paused to listen, wondering if she had the
house to herself, and finally decided she must.

Oddly enough the realization didn’t alarm her. She wondered if she was still just

too dull with the tranquilizer the doctor had given her to feel the things she should’ve,
and probably would’ve, or if she’d been lulled to a sense of security by the elimination of
the threat earlier.

If it was the latter, it was certainly a false sense of security even though she

supposed it eliminated the likelihood that she was in imminent danger. She couldn’t
imagine anyone would’ve seen the necessity of sending more than two hit men to take
care of her. It would be a while before they realized things hadn’t gone as planned and
sent someone else.

She had a reprieve to get her affairs in order and flee.
When she’d dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans and a T, she called the

principal at the school to make certain arrangements had been made to take care of her
class. She hesitated over whether to tell the woman she should be looking around for a
permanent replacement and finally decided to err on the side of caution. Instead, she
simply agreed with Mrs. Caruthers that she needed a few days off before she returned.
She hated leaving without giving them any more warning than that, but she didn’t think
she could afford to do anything else.

She was both relieved and a little puzzled that Mrs. Caruthers didn’t pressure her

for any details about the incident. Maybe Seth had thought up some story to tell her?

When she’d hung up, she sat down on the edge of her bed, staring at nothing in

particular, allowing her mind to wander at will for a while. It wove a path back and forth
between the attack and the wild sex orgy she’d been treated to.

A faint smile curled her lips at the thought. It had been a treat, she

acknowledged. She thought she could safely say it had been just what she’d needed—an
outlet for the explosive emotions bottled inside of her and reaffirmation of life.

It had been as reassuring, she realized with a touch of surprise, as it had been a

release. She couldn’t honestly say what had inspired them to do it, or what might have
been going through their minds, but the message they’d conveyed in the very desperation
of their couplings had said to her that they needed reassurance that she was alive and
well.

She doubted it had meant anything of the kind—to them—but that was what she’d

felt from the moment Seth had grabbed her up in a nearly crushing embrace—fear of loss.

Her throat tightened with emotion. She cared about them. Maybe it was the

direness of her situation, and maybe not. She wasn’t certain she’d ever really know, or
be able to sort it out, or that it would make any difference if she could sort it in her mind.
Emotionally, she was firmly attached to them.

Maybe, to them, it was nothing more than ‘the job’ of watching out for her and a

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 117

purely male interest in collecting a sexual reward for their trouble, but they’d become the
only safe harbor she’d known—maybe ever—certainly in years. It was going to be hell
giving that up, going back to being afraid every moment of every day. She was going to
miss them, miss everything about them, not just the sense of security they gave her.

She had enjoyed their flirting. She relished the way they made her feel as a

woman—beautiful, desirable. She’d taken pleasure in looking at them and listening to
them in a purely aesthetic sense because they were such fine specimens—handsome, well
built, their deep, male voices and accents pleasing to her ears whatever they said. She
thought she enjoyed listening to the banter between them most of all. Even if she was
just an outsider looking in, being with them had given her the chance to experience, at
least second hand, what being part of such a tight knit group was like.

She hadn’t even felt that when she’d still been relatively close to other members

of her family. Maybe that was why she’d allowed herself to drift away from them to start
with?

Heaving a despondent sigh, she pushed herself upright and resolutely thrust her

thoughts to the back of her mind. She really couldn’t afford to dwell on maudlin
thoughts. It would get her killed—maybe other people, too.

She needed to call the bureau and tell them what had happened. She supposed

Seth had probably already reported what had happened, though. Maybe she should just
wait and ask him what arrangements were being made?

She wasn’t that anxious to face it, she realized, or it wouldn’t even have occurred

to her to delegate that task.

There wasn’t really much point in both of them calling, though, was there?
She was going to have to be careful, next time, not to get involved with anybody.

Of course, it seemed doubtful that she would have to worry about running into anyone
like Seth, who was instantly suspicious and exposed her in about ten seconds flat, she
thought wryly. Still, it was a hard lesson. She couldn’t afford to make another mistake
like the one she’d made here. She was going to have to keep to herself as much as
possible until she’d gotten the hang of the role she was trying to play.

After staring around her room vacantly for a few minutes, she finally decided that

she would sort through her belongings. Chances were, after this fiasco, the Feds
wouldn’t pack everything up for her again and move it. In any case, she knew they didn’t
know or care what things held the most personal significance for her. She wanted to keep
what few mementoes she still had.

She’d emptied one of the boxes on her coverlet and was sorting through it when

she heard a faint sound and looked up to discover that Cameron was standing in the
doorway to her room. A jolt of surprise went through her. “I thought everyone was
gone.”

Something flickered in his eyes. “You should’ve known better, chère. No way

would we leave you alone after what happened this mornin’.”

Abby felt uneasiness waft through her. “You don’t think they’d try anything else

… so soon?”

A frown flickered across his features. “No, we doan, chère, but that doan mean

we’re willin’ to take the chance.”

Abby nodded, relieved that the others seemed to agree with her own assessment

of the situation. That didn’t mean they were right, of course, but it still made her feel

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 118

better.

“What are you looking for?”
Abby shrugged. “They … the Feds don’t let me pack,” she said wryly. “I figured

I’d sort through everything while I had the chance and collect a few personal things so I
could take them with me.”

Cameron pushed away from the door and crossed the room. Curling his fingers

around one arm, he tugged her around and pulled her against him. “You plannin’ on
runnin’ out on us, mon amour?” he asked in a husky voice that seemed almost teasing.

Sighing, Abby leaned against him, looping her arms around his waist. The

warmth and solidness of his form instantly flooded her with a sense of comfort. She
closed her eyes, savoring it. Images from the attack flitted through her mind, too, but she
discovered, as horrific as they were, they didn’t dispel the sense of security his touch and
his scent gave her. Maybe they should have—and maybe they didn’t because she hadn’t
felt threatened by him, or any of the others, any of the time. “I’ve learned not to make
plans,” she responded wryly. She didn’t really want to address the inevitability of the
situation, but there didn’t seem to be any point in trying to avoid it. “They’re not going
to let me stay—not after what happened.”

He stroked a hand lightly over her head and down along her spine. “It’s not their

decision,” he said, his voice harder now. “It’s yours.”

Abby pulled away and looked up at him. “The mob knows where I am now. It’s

not safe for me, or anybody else, for me to stay here.”

He released her when she pulled away.
She shook her head. “It’s just a miracle nobody was hurt,” she said almost

angrily. “I don’t know what those fools were thinking to put me in a school. The
children ….” She broke off, unable to voice the thought aloud. She’d been trying really
hard not to think about it, but she thought the possibilities of what might have happened
bothered her as much, maybe more, than what actually had. She’d been afraid during
those moments when she’d realized her life was in danger, frightened when she was
fighting for her life, but she hadn’t just been afraid for herself, and there’d been as much
savage thirst to avenge what they’d done to Seth and Adrian in her battle with the hit man
as desperation to save her life. “I’m going to have nightmares …. I keep seeing Seth and
Adrian when they shot them, over and over in my head. Everything keeps replaying in
my mind, over and over—the things that did happen, the things that might have
happened.”

She shuddered. Turning away from him, she wrapped her arms around herself,

rubbing at the goose bumps that rose along her arms.

Cameron moved up behind her. Gathering her against his warmth again, he held

her snugly, propping his chin on top of her head for a moment before he bent is head to
nestle the side of his face against hers, placing a kiss on her shoulder that gave rise to a
fresh rash of pebbling skin of an entirely different nature. “Try to push these images
from your mind, chère. There is no sense in torturin’ yourself with things that did not
happen.”

Abby agreed to a degree. “Maybe, but it could have. It might still if I stayed.”
“It will not,” Cameron said, his voice harsh, filled with conviction.
She tried to turn to look at him, but he tightened his hold, perhaps because he

thought she just meant to withdraw from him.

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“Do you believe, even for a moment, that I—any of us—would ever allow harm

to come to you?”

Anger threaded his voice.
Abby released a pent up breath of frustration. “If I’d had any doubts before—

which I really didn’t—I certainly don’t now, not after what happened. I don’t want
anybody to get hurt because of me, though, Cameron! I don’t even want to take the
chance that they might! I wouldn’t stay and take that chance even if they’d allow it.
And they aren’t going to, not when their job is to keep me alive. I don’t know how the
mob managed to trace me here, but they must have—and that means they’ll just send
somebody else. I can’t take the chance, anyway, that those two were just hit men without
a connection to the mob.”

He loosened his hold on her but only so that he could turn her to face him. “This

has nothin’ to do with us?”

Surprise flickered through her. His meaning dawned on her fairly quickly,

though. She shook her head slightly, feeling a mixture of guilt and anger at the
suggestion. She hadn’t come to grips with that discovery. She hadn’t had time to and it
was unfair of him to expect it of her. “I almost got killed today, Cameron. It could be
the same thing tomorrow, or next week, or next month if I stayed here. Seth and Adrian
could’ve died … because of me. Those sweet children I teach could be laying in the
morgue now! Don’t make this in to something it’s not!”

His lips tightened. “Just tell me … if none of that had happened, and you’d

learned what we are, would you run?”

“That’s not fair! Not at all! How can I know that?”
“You do know, chère.”
She scanned his face, trying to picture Cameron as she’d seen him and the others

before. It was odd, but she couldn’t really summon it, couldn’t think of him as one of the
‘monsters’ she’d seen. She still didn’t know, though, if that was from the shock of the
attack or if she would’ve felt differently otherwise. “I don’t feel any differently about
you … or any of the others, now, than I did before,” she said as carefully and honestly as
she could.

She realized as soon as she said it that that wasn’t strictly true.
She felt more than she’d felt before—humility and gratitude that they’d risked so

much for her, admiration that went beyond an appreciation of their charm and good
looks.

They’d saved her life. If they hadn’t come, if they hadn’t brought all of their

friends, she’d be dead now.

He must have seen some of her thoughts in her expression. She saw doubts

reflected in his, a touch of anger, frustration. There was nothing tentative about his touch
when Cameron dragged her against him and lowered his mouth to hers, though. It was
almost as if he wanted to frighten her with his aggressiveness, wanted to push her away,
wanted to show her the beast was still there, inside.

It didn’t work. Doubt flickered in her own mind of the wisdom of allowing it

when she knew she had to leave, and yet she thought that only fueled the fire, the
realization that it might be the last time she felt Cameron’s touch.

Or maybe not. Her thoughts were chaotic, churned to mush by the heat that

instantly swarmed through her the moment Cameron pulled her to him and she registered

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his intent. She lifted her mouth for his kiss, skimmed her palms up his chest to grasp his
neck and pull him to her even as he drew her close. The heat of his mouth seared the
tender skin of her lips the moment their mouths melded. The first draft of his essence
intoxicated her, filled her with heady delight as it brought every corner of her psyche to
vibrant life.

He tightened his arms around her as stroked his tongue rhythmically along hers,

slipping a hand down her back to cup her buttocks and press her pelvis against his. She
strained to get closer still, curling her hips to match his movements, welcoming the achy
pleasure that clenched in her belly in time to his tempo.

He was breathing raggedly when he broke the kiss, his eyes glowing, tumultuous

with barely checked passion. Holding her gaze, he grasped the bottom edge of her shirt
and dragged it upwards. She lifted her arms, allowing him to pull it over her head.
Tossing it over his shoulder, he transferred his gaze to her breasts, cupping one in each
hand, lifting and squeezing them lightly, using his thumbs to stroke the turgid peaks
teasingly.

Releasing her again, he dragged his own shirt off and tossed it away and then

grabbed her waist and lifted her onto the bed. She felt back, throwing her arms out in a
gesture of surrender. Heat glittered in his eyes, a faint smile twitching one corner of his
mouth, but he divested her of her shoes and jeans and pushed his own shoes from his feet
before joined her.

She arched against his hip as he settled over her, pressing one knee between her

thighs, and sought her mouth again. He countered by curling his own hips to press his
erection against her, riding her thigh as she rode his with rhythmic thrusts of their hips
that only drove the sweet ache inside higher.

He was a delight to her senses, the brush of his bare chest against her breasts

creating a maddeningly elusive pleasure, teasing her with little bursts of sensation
followed the absence of the stimulation she craved as he moved restlessly against her.
She arched her back, rubbing her breasts and belly against his as he broke from her lips
and explored her face with his lips and then her throat.

Lifting her hands from his shoulders, she coasted her palms over him to absorb

more of him. His hair was finer than she’d expected, silken to the touch. His shoulders
were broader than she’d realized, a hard ridge of ropy muscle extending from the ball of
his shoulders to the column of his neck. The skin stretched tautly over his muscled form
like satin, delightfully smooth against her palms and fingertips.

He moved lower in his own exploration as she finished familiarizing herself with

his shoulders and skated her palms along his shoulder blades, nuzzling his face between
her breasts before he traced a path up the slope to one peak and took it into his mouth.
The heated tug instantly redirected all of her focus on that one point, tingles of acute
sensation traveling with the speed of light from her nipple to her womb, making it
contract almost painfully. She clutched fistfuls of his hair, sucking in a sharp gasp,
squeezing her eyes tightly closed. The sensations instantly magnified.

He ignored the tug against his scalp, toying with the achingly sensitive bud until

she was panting for breath, writhing beneath him mindlessly with the build up of heat
inside of her and then he transferred his attentions to her other nipple. Uncoiling her
fingers with an effort, she stroked Cameron’s head, and then his shoulders and back,
arching a little frantically against him in invitation.

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He ceased to massage the breast he’d cupped in one hand and slipped his hand

along her belly to her abdomen, cupping his hand over her mound and lightly stroking the
lips of her sex through her panties. They were damp with the moisture overflowing her
channel.

Releasing the nipple he’d been tormenting, he lifted his head, studying her face

through narrowed eyes as he slipped his hand beneath her panties and stroked her sex,
parting the lips with his finger and caressing her cleft from the mouth of her sex to her
clitoris. She tensed when he touched the engorged bud, sucking in a sharp gasp at the
hard jolts of pleasure that traveled through her, making her channel quake.

“Cameron!” she groaned.
He shifted upwards, silencing her with the heat of his mouth and the play of his

tongue along hers. He withdrew his hand, though, tugging her panties down to her knees.
As she wiggled out of them, he reached for his jeans, unfastening them and shoving them
down his hips.

A mixture of relief and high anticipation filled her as she felt the heaviness of his

engorged member slap against her thigh. She worked the leg trapped beneath him free,
coiling it around his hips and trying to pull him to her while he was still struggling to rid
himself of his shorts and jeans. He broke the kiss, aligning his body with hers for
penetration. She caught her breath, holding herself perfectly still as she felt the glide of
his cock head along her channel as he guided himself to her opening, surging toward him
the moment she felt the connection she ached for.

He caught her hip, holding her still while he sawed slowly, shallowly, collecting

the moisture her body wept for him to ease his path, allowing her to adjust to his girth
before he began to thrust deeper, claiming her channel by agonizing degrees. She curled
her hips, a vibration of pleasure issuing from her as she felt his shaft stroke her g-spot,
setting off tremors inside of her.

He paused, releasing a ragged, pent up breath, gathered her into his arms and

drove deeply, grinding his pubic bone against her clit when he could go no deeper. She
stilled as he did, sensing his struggle for control in the tremors rippling through him. The
feel of his flesh nestled so snugly inside of her, though, was so divine she couldn’t
prevent the muscles along her channel from clenching around him.

“Baby,” he murmured thickly, curling his hips to withdraw and then plunging

deeply again.

She dug her fingers into his sides, for several moments lying passively beneath

him and simply enjoying the caress of his flesh, but the tension wouldn’t be denied. It
grew, summoned her instincts. Dropping her feet to the bed to give her leverage, she
began to counter his strokes, urging him to pick up the pace as she felt the rising tide
toward completion inside of her.

It teased her. She found herself hovering on the brink, struggling to reach the

peak and pitch herself over it. Reaching down, she grasped his taut buttocks
demandingly. A shudder went through him, but he began to move faster, driving into her
in the short, deep strokes she needed. A sob of breath escaped her as her body abruptly
seized, shattered with convulsions of rapture. “Oh god! Oh Cameron!” she cried out.

He answered with a deep, rumbling growl, going perfectly still.
It wasn’t until her body ceased to convulse and she opened her eyes to look up at

him with a mixture of reproach and confusion that she realized it wasn’t Cameron who’d

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 122

growled. Twisting her head when she saw his attention was focused on the doorway, she
stared at the three wolves just inside her door blankly. A huge black wolf stood at the
front, nearest the foot of her bed. Behind him was another wolf, nearly as big, with a
dark pelt, though patches of dark brown fur interspersed the black, and a large white wolf
with streaks of tan.

All three were bristling, their lips curled back over wicked looking, sharp teeth.
Cameron withdrew from her abruptly, came up on his knees. By the time Abby

had managed to drag her gaze from the three wolves at her door, she discovered a huge
white wolf standing over her where Cameron had been moments before.

She gaped at him, but he was focused completely on the others. Even as she

stared at him, he launched himself toward them, clashing with the great black wolf in the
forefront at the foot of her bed. Sucking in a sharp breath that bordered a scream, Abby
scrambled toward the headboard, staring wide eyed at the snarling, whirling mass of
wolves at the end of her bed.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 123

Chapter Fifteen

How long Abby stared at the fighting wolves in wide-eyed, stunned shock, she

had no idea, but her mind finally made the connection it had been struggling to make
since she’d looked up and discovered Cameron was no longer a man but a wolf.

It was the wolfen!
She still couldn’t gather her wits to think what to do, but the moment it began to

sink into her that it was Cameron—Seth, Adrian, and Jerico—the fear subsided and anger
began to take its place. Grabbing the pillows from her bed, she came up on her knees and
started pitching the pillows at the snarling, fighting wolves. “Stop it! Stop it now!”

She wasn’t certain if it was her screamed command or the barrage of pillows she

launched at them, but she got their attention. The four of them broke off their battle and
turned to stare at her.

Swallowing uneasily when she found herself staring at a pack of wolves, Abby

settled slowly onto her heels and finally grabbed the comforter and snatched it up to
cover herself. After staring back at her for several long moments, the wolves exchanged
looks. The great black, which she was certain must be Seth, turned abruptly and left the
room. When he did, the white and tan wolf, the second black, and the white she knew
positively to be Cameron, followed him out.

Shaken, Abby relaxed fractionally, listening until she could no longer hear the

click of their paws along the floor. Anger slowly seeped into her as the fear waned.
After a few minutes, she got up and looked around for her clothes, still listening for any
sound that might indicate they’d left as she pulled her clothes on jerkily.

She found them in the living room—in man form. Cameron was stark naked but

seemed singularly unperturbed about it. The other three had drawn on their jeans,
although they’d made no attempt to fasten them.

All four turned to look at her when she entered the living room.
She stared back them, meeting the gaze of each man before she folded her arms

over her chest. “What was that about?” she asked tightly.

Seth, Adrian, and Jerico all turned to glare at Cameron.
Seth met her gaze again. “Pack hierarchy,” he growled.
His response startled her. She gaped at him. “What?”
“You seem to forget, mon ami, we are no longer a pack,” Cameron said tightly.
Abby glanced at Cameron when he spoke, but he might as well have been

speaking Swahili. She didn’t have any more idea what he was talking about than she had
understood Seth. “This … has to do with the Wolfen?” she finally asked doubtfully.

Some of the tautness eased from Seth’s features. He flicked a narrow eyed glare

at Cameron.

Frustration filled Abby. “I don’t understand.”
“We have laws,” Adrian said after a moment, “pack laws.”
Abby blinked at him, trying to wrap her mind around the implications. She

discovered she couldn’t. The only thing that came to mind was that they had some sort

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 124

of ‘pack law’ against having sex with humans, but that didn’t make sense either when
she’d had sex with all of them only a few hours earlier. “So … you’re saying it was
alright while ago when all of you had sex with me, but it isn’t alright if Cameron has sex
with me?”

“Shit!” Seth snarled.
“It’s the mating,” Jerico said evenly. “None of us should have … not before the

gathering.”

Abby had been on the point of stalking out until Jerico had qualified his assertion

that none of them should have had sex with her. That gave her pause, but it only
confused her more. She stared at him curiously. “Y’all have sex at the gathering?”

A hint of amusement entered Jerico’s eyes. He flicked a look at Seth but returned

his attention to her. “The purpose of the gathering is to find a mate.”

Reminded of their earlier discussion, Abby looked away, struggling with the

unhappiness that welled up to clog her throat. They’d been pretty clear that the gathering
was for Wolfen and Werewolves—not that they’d needed to. It stood to reason. In any
case, it wasn’t as if she was in any position to mate with anybody if they’d wanted to and
could have included her. She had a hard enough time staying ahead of the mob without
adding a baby to the equation.

It shouldn’t have hurt that they were seeking a mate—surely she hadn’t known

them long enough for it to hurt that much?—but there was no denying it did or that it
stung that they were supposed to ‘save’ themselves for the mate they were seeking. As
much as she loathed the idea, she could even see their point in the careful breeding, but
the implication that it would be alright to go back to screwing her afterward ….

“Oh,” she managed to say finally. “Well … I don’t know the rules—or laws. I

didn’t even know there was such a thing as Wolfen, or Weres, until today.” She glanced
at Cameron uncomfortably, realizing abruptly that he hadn’t even gotten his climax.
Poor man! That made her feel worse.

And now he was in trouble.
“It was my idea. I initiated. He just went along with it.”
She could tell from the looks on their faces that they didn’t really believe her, but

that was just too bad! It was close enough to the truth. She hadn’t tried to discourage
him in any way and she could see where he could have interpreted her behavior as
interest.

“Abby,” Cameron said, both irritation and amusement threading his voice.
She sent him a warning glare. “I don’t see any sense in you being in trouble

about it when it was my idea. I’m not Wolfen—or Were—so I’m not bound by the pack
laws.” She glanced at the others challengingly and finally focused on Seth. “Anyway, I
don’t guess I’ll be here for the gathering. What did Agent Milner say when you told him
what happened?” she asked, changing the subject abruptly.

Something flickered in his eyes, but she couldn’t quite decipher it.
“I didn’t tell him.”
Abby stared at him. “You didn’t call him?” she asked in stunned disbelief.
His lips tightened. She could see he was wrestling with something now—

reluctance, she thought. He scrubbed a hand over his face, glanced around and finally
settled on the couch. Leaning forward, he propped his elbows on his splayed knees.
“Milner was here yesterday—the hit men showed up this mornin’. I don’t like the

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coincidence. It stinks to high heaven.”

A wave of cold swept through Abby. “You’re saying … you’re suggesting …”
His expression tightened. “I’m sayin’ I don’t trust the son-of-a-bitch, and I’m not

takin’ any chances that he might have been involved somehow.”

Abby thought for several horrifying moments that she might faint. She looked

around a little desperately for a place to perch before her knees gave out. Fortunately,
Adrian, who was closest to her, grabbed her and guided her to a seat in one of the chairs.
“When were planning on telling me?” she asked numbly when she’d gathered her wits a
little.

Seth looked torn between discomfort and anger.
“I didn’t see any point in alarmin’ you until I’d had a chance to check it out. I

don’t want you to call him, though, until I have.”

Feeling hysteria clawing at the back of her mind, Abby stared at him, swallowing

convulsively several times before she could find her voice. “But … what am I going to
do? I have to get out of here before they send someone else!”

Seth surged up with a sound of impatience. Dropping to a crouch in front of her,

he took her hands in his. “You’re safe here, Abby. I know we nearly failed you this
mornin’—we were caught off guard—but we’ll be more vigilant. We’ll make god’s
damned sure nobody gets that close to you again.”

Abby’s face crumpled but she managed to curb the urge to burst into tears.

“Don’t think that, Seth! I don’t think that! Nobody could’ve foreseen what happened.
It’s as much my fault they got me in that car—more—than anybody else’s. I … I lost my
head when they shot you and Adrian. But, I can’t expect y’all to put your lives on the
line for me! I need to leave before I put everyone in more danger! You must see that!”

His expression tightened. “There is no place you’d be safer than here—among

the Wolfen nation.”

Abby blinked at him, surprised. The moment he said it, though, the image

popped into her mind of the Wolfen, shifted into huge man-beasts, converging on the car.
There was no doubt in her mind that an army of Wolfen—or even a handful—were more
than a match for anything the mob could come up with. As suddenly as the images
appeared in her mind, the certainty formed that she would be safe with them. “But …
I’m not one of you. Why would they even consider risking their lives to protect me when
I’m not?”

Something flickered in his eyes. He flicked a glance at the others. He seemed to

wrestle with his thoughts for a moment. “You don’t have to be,” he responded. “I’m
offerin’ the protection of my pack … but you could be.”

Abby frowned. As much appeal as it had to find a safe haven, to think she might

have found a way to be safe and stop running, she didn’t see how that was possible.
“You mean … make me a Were?” she asked a little doubtfully, wrestling with the
reluctance/hope that was instantly at war within her.

“No!” he said harshly. “I wouldn’t risk that.”
Abby was a little taken aback by his vehemence—a little hurt, too, if the truth be

told. “But … I’d be one of you then … sort of, wouldn’t I?”

He shook his head. “It’s too dangerous, Love.”
Abby felt her heart stutter at the endearment. Unfortunately, it seemed to directly

conflict with his feelings on the subject of making her one of them. She chewed her lip.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 126

“Then I don’t understand.”

“The gatherin’. You could chose a mate among us and you would be accepted as

a pack member.”

Abby felt her face heat. Her mind raced at the implications. “They’d let me do

that?” she asked doubtfully. “When I’m human?”

He hesitated.
“We would demand it, chère,” Cameron interrupted before Seth could continue.

“In the past … no. It would not have been allowed. Strictly speakin’, it’s against pack
law to take a human as mate even now—any Wolfen who does so would be considered a
rogue. Unofficially, it has been accepted, on rare occasions, in the past, though always
kept hush-hush. The Wolfen, or Were, who did so wasn’t prosecuted but neither was his
mate officially recognized as a pack member. Times change, however. There have never
been enough females of our tribe and that is more true now than ever. The purpose of
this gatherin’ is to bring in new blood. Beyond that, Prince Balin has taken a human as
mate. When the council agreed to recognize his mate it opened the doors for others.”

Abby tried not to feel offended, but there was no denying she did when it was

clear she’d still be unwanted, officially accepted—maybe—but not really. Still, there
wasn’t a lot of room for pride when it came down to survival. If she was one of them,
however reluctantly she was accepted, then she would be protected. She still didn’t like
the idea of putting other people in danger, but she did that where ever she went. The
Wolfen seemed far more capable of dealing with the danger than humans.

She shifted a little uncomfortably, wondering if they were volunteering to mate

with her. She could see a little problem with that—actually several. It wasn’t that she
was against children. She’d always figured she would have one someday, but a mixed
breed? She wondered for a split second if it was even possible, but obviously it was or
they wouldn’t be considering it.

She didn’t imagine a half-breed would be a lot more welcome than she would be,

though, and the thought gave her a pang. What would she be condemning any child she
had to?

She discovered when she looked up that all of the men had moved closer and

cleared her throat uncomfortably. “The … uh … mating takes place at the gathering?”

Seth nodded.
Abby reddened. “But … uh … I don’t think it’s really my time, you know? What

if it doesn’t … uh … take?”

She discovered all four of them were looking highly amused. It annoyed the hell

out of her.

“Your chosen would then have to work very hard,” Seth said, his voice shaky

with suppressed laughter.

Abby glared at him indignantly. “It isn’t funny! You know I don’t know

anything about your laws!”

He sobered. “You are only required to accept your mate before the pack,” he said

gently. “You are not expected to become impregnated at the gatherin’—though that isn’t
uncommon—the influence of the full moon is powerful among us.”

In other words, she’d be expected to produce, she thought, though she didn’t think

it was a good idea to voice those thoughts allowed. She didn’t really think she was
against the idea—it actually sent a strange little thrill through her to imagine herself with

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 127

a baby—one of theirs—but she still didn’t like the idea that it might be shunned. She
could only protect a baby from so much. “It would be a half-breed,” she said finally.
“Would it be accepted? I mean, really accepted?”

The four men exchanged a look she couldn’t decipher.
“A pack member must find their place within the pack,” Adrian said finally.

“That is the way of the Wolfen.”

It sounded rough to her. Her belly clenched uncomfortably. She wasn’t certain

she liked the idea of her baby fighting for a pack position. Actually, she was certain she
didn’t like the idea at all! “Even the girls?” she asked a little doubtfully.

The question seemed to throw them all for a loop.
“That wouldn’t be an issue,” Seth said emphatically.
Abby blinked at him. “Why wouldn’t it?”
His lips tightened. “We do not have females.”
Abby resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “You must have some!”
“Too rarely for it to be a concern,” Cameron said flatly.
“But … if I did?”
“There would be no question of her place. An Alpha female has choice of place.”
Abby frowned at that. “What if she isn’t an Alpha female?”
That question seemed to stun them more than the first. They didn’t seem to have

an answer for it—mostly, she thought with a touch of amusement, because they couldn’t
seem to grasp the possibility that they might produce a female at all or, having done so,
that she might be anything but an Alpha.

She supposed, though, that that wasn’t something she needed to worry too much

about. She didn’t even know that she could conceive at all. She didn’t see any reason
why she wouldn’t be able to. She’d never had any indication that she might not, but she
never had and one just never knew.

She allowed the subject to drop. “If I agreed to do this, what would I be expected

to do? I mean … I don’t have any idea what goes on.”

“The pack gathers as the full moon rises—tomorrow night. We will run together

as a pack and then meet again at the clearin’. The males who’ve marked the female of
their choice will compete for her favor—so that she can judge for herself which male is
strongest and most desirable to sire her off-spring. And then she will choose.”

Abby studied him in dawning horror. “They’ll fight?” she asked a little hoarsely,

trying to imagine the battle she’d seen earlier multiplied by god only knew how many
wolves. “I’d be expected to watch? Oh! I don’t know if I can do that!”

Shooting to her feet, she scurried toward the door.
Seth intercepted her, catching her arm. “You would be in no danger, Abby,” he

said gently.

She stared up at his face a little forlornly. “But … I’d have to watch! And … and

I can’t run with the pack, Seth!”

“We know that. It wouldn’t be expected. You’d wait at the gatherin’ place, in

the clearin’.”

“And … I’d be expected to choose whoever won?”
He studied her a long moment and finally shrugged. “In the end, the female

chooses. Generally, she picks the winner, but she isn’t required to.”

That wasn’t much consolation in her book. It seemed to her that he was saying

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any male that liked her looks could compete. What if nobody did? What if … all the
guys that had joined them at the fair the night before decided to have a try for her? She
might have consoled herself with the idea that it was just for show except she’d seen the
way Seth and Cameron and Adrian and Jerico fought with one another—and they were
friends! “I … don’t think I can do this, Seth,” she said shakily instead of informing him
that she didn’t want to.

And she was pretty sure she didn’t want to!
He lifted a hand to stroke her cheek lightly. “You can, Love. You’re a strong

woman—much braver than you give yourself credit for. You’ll breed fine pups that any
Wolfen would be proud of.”

Abby thought for several moments that she’d burst into tears. She swallowed

convulsively several times until she’d mastered the urge. It was almost easier to imagine
facing hit men. “I need to think about this,” she said a little beseechingly.

Anger flickered in his eyes, but he merely nodded. “We’ll be expected at the

dance tonight.”

That wasn’t welcome news, not the way she felt at the moment. She stared at him

unhappily. “Even after what happened …?”

His lips tightened. “Especially after what happened. I know it won’t be easy for

you, but it’s important that everyone know that you can be trusted with our secret.”

Abby felt the color leave her face at that, wondering if there was a threat in it. It

wasn’t enough that she had the mob after her? Now she had to worry that the Wolfen
might want to knock her off for knowing about them?

“Don’t look at me like that, Abby,” Seth growled. “We aren’t monsters, whatever

you may think now.”

She nodded a little jerkily. Pulling away from him, she headed to her bedroom

where she had a little privacy, time to think, where she could try to come to terms with
the situation she’d found herself in.

* * * *

Cameron wasn’t terribly pleased when he discovered Abby had hung his clothes

on the doorknob, but he supposed it wasn’t as bad as finding them pitched on the hall
floor. He studied the closed door thoughtfully for several moments and finally dismissed
the urge to try to press his point. He wasn’t displeased with the way things had gone—
except for the fucking pack interrupting him. She’d responded to him readily, eagerly.

Not that she’d had a clue that he’d taken it as a sign that she fully accepted him.
The others had obviously realized he intended to give her the second mark,

though. He was pretty sure they wouldn’t have shown themselves otherwise—certainly
so soon after the incident that morning.

Guilt coiled in his belly. They were pushing Abby too hard, too fast. He knew it,

but, like Seth, he was damned if he could see a way around it.

They were waiting in the living room when he returned, tense, distrustful.
As well they might be. He would cut them out in a heartbeat if there was a

chance of it. Ignoring their glares, he sauntered toward the only empty seat and sprawled
in it. “That could’ve gone better,” he drawled.

Seth and Adrian both sent him a hard look.
“It could’ve gone worse,” Jerico said pointedly.
Seth sent him a sour glance. “Exactly how the fuck do you think it could’ve gone

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worse?”

Jerico shrugged. “She wasn’t completely against the idea … not until you

explained the gathering, anyway. That’s something … and actually more than I expected
all things considered.”

Seth frowned. He supposed he could see Jerico’s point, but he still couldn’t agree

that the discussion could’ve ended much worse. Clearly, she was debating which was
worse—joining them or dodging bullets. It sure as fuck wasn’t flattering and it didn’t say
a lot for their efforts to win her over. He’d known it would be a hell of a shock to her,
and not a pleasant one. It would’ve even if they’d had more time, but he thought, given
more time with her she would’ve been more open to the discovery, maybe a lot more
inclined to accept.

Not that there was any point in dwelling on that. They had what they had to work

with. If it weren’t for the circumstances, she would never have come to Ajax at all.

Of course, if she had, and it hadn’t coincided with the gathering of the clan, he

would’ve pretty much had her all to himself. He could’ve wooed her until he’d felt like
she was ready to know.

Not that that mattered either since it hadn’t happened that way.
“We’ll never know, now, even if she decides to join the gathering, if she accepted

because she wanted to, or if she accepted because she needs to,” he muttered.

He was actually surprised that no one challenged his assessment—not terribly

happy they didn’t, for that matter.

“The important thing, mes ami,” Cameron said after an uncomfortable silence, “is

that she will be safe.”

Seth flicked a resentful glance at him. It was the most important thing to him, if it

came to that, to know that she was safe, but it sure as hell wasn’t unimportant that she
truly accept him—assuming, of course, he triumphed at the gathering, which he had
every intention of doing.

“No one said it wasn’t,” Adrian said tightly. “But she isn’t Wolfen. Even if she

chooses one of us we won’t know that it means a damned thing to her—that we do! If
she doesn’t … care for her mate, how can her mate be certain that she will love his pup?
I don’t like to think my mate might despise my pup for being a half-breed.”

Seth sent him a sharp look. “She didn’t mean it that way,” he growled. “She’s

worried it won’t be accepted. It’s a legitimate concern … especially since she doesn’t
know anything about us … and she does know humans aren’t generally accepted as
mates.”

“Maybe,” Adrian countered. “But we don’t know that for certain, do we? I don’t

think she’s even had time to fully grasp what she discovered, let alone decide how she
feels about it.”

They fell silent, considering it for a while. “There is one way we could be sure,”

Seth said finally, “but I’m pretty fuckin’ sure it isn’t going to appeal to any of us. It
doesn’t especially appeal to me.”

He saw when he glanced around at the others that they looked suspicious but

interested.

“So, mon ami, tell us this plan you have that we are not goin’ to like,” Cameron

said dryly.

Seth surged to his feet to pace. “Like you said, the most important thing is to

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make sure she’s safe. Are we at least all agreed on that?”

They readily agreed, which didn’t surprise him.
“Then we make god’s damned sure she is,” he said grimly. “We join together at

the gatherin’ and claim her—against all other contenders. That way we insure that she’ll
have pack protection. Then, we go after that fuckin’ asshole—cut the head off the
dragon, there won’t be a threat.”

“And no reason for her to stay with us—even assumin’ we agreed to this, mon

ami,” Cameron growled.

Seth studied him in tight lipped silence. “Exactly.”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 131

Chapter Sixteen

Cameron studied him with a mixture of anger and sardonic amusement. “L'amour
has scrambled your brains,” he muttered. “This goes against pack protocol, mon ami, and
you know it.”
Seth felt his face heat with a mixture of discomfort and anger.
“I’m in,” Jerico said.
The other three men turned to look at him.
He shrugged. “Like you said—the important thing is to be sure she’s safe.
Anything else can be settled afterwards.”
Adrian studied the others before he fixed Seth with a hard look. “I don’t know.
Exactly what is it you’ve got in mind?”
“We fight the other challengers rather than each other. When it’s down to the
four of us, we can challenge one another. That way we’re certain it’ll be one of us that
wins—one of us she chooses. And we agree to settle the matter between us later—after
we take care of Mikhail.”
“You doan think the council will notice?” Cameron asked dryly.
“Why should they?”
Cameron shrugged. “Maybe because they’ll be watchin’ us? The others are
already pissed that we’ve been hoggin’ her time. Doan think word of it won’t make it to
the council.”
Seth’s lips tightened. “Fuck it! I’m sure as fuck not keen on givin’ her the
chance of choosin’ one of the others!” he growled.
“There is that,” Adrian agreed, “but she don’t have to choose any of us even if we
do win. You know that and I’m pretty damned sure we told her that.”
“She’ll choose one of us,” Seth said with more conviction than he felt.
Jerico and Adrian looked at him a little doubtfully.

* * * *

Abby wasn’t sure she was up to facing a huge social gathering—particularly the
one on the agenda—but she realized that, like everything else she’d had to deal with in
the past two years, she didn’t actually have a lot of choice in the matter. It had to be
done. She was just going to have to try to put the best face on it that she could.
Her wardrobe didn’t help her feelings. She had the choice of casual, most of it
extremely casual and not really fit for company, or the school marm duds the Feds had
picked out for her. She was inclined to go with the jeans. At least then she’d be
comfortable and it was a barn dance and barbeque after all. Surely everybody would be
dressed causally?
The guys surprised her when she asked their opinion.
Seth, Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico surveyed her jeans and the halter top she’d
picked out, and then exchanged a speaking glance.
“One of your dresses,” Seth said grimly, “would be better.”
Abby gaped at him. “But … you’re wearing jeans. Don’t you think everybody

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will dress casually?”
Cameron got up decisively. “I’ll pick one for you,” he said, striding from the
living room before she could take exception to his highhanded tactics.
Adrian, Jerico, and Seth followed him. She stared at their backs in outraged
disbelief for several moments and finally followed them back to her room. All four of
them were rifling through her closet, taking out first one and then another and looking
them over critically. They finally settled on a green dress—which might actually have
gone well with the color of her hair if it hadn’t been such an ungodly shade of green. She
stared at it in dismay when Seth shoved it at her.
“That one?” she asked doubtfully.
He held it up in front her, studying it critically.
The other three studied the effect, as well.
“Yep.”
“That’s it.”
“Perfect,” Cameron agreed with the others.
Seth handed it to her and patted her on the cheek. “We’ll be waiting outside.”
She glared at him as he strode out followed by the others.
“In other words,” she muttered, “don’t keep us waiting!”
She held the dress out and studied it when they’d left, trying to figure out what
they could possibly like about it. In her opinion it was perfectly hideous if it was
perfectly anything.
They had awful taste, was all she could say.
Then again, she supposed they might’ve thought it would look better since the
high neckline and long sleeves of the dress would cover up most of her bruises.
Shrugging, she tossed it on the bed, shucked her jeans and halter top, and went to
find a bra. She wasn’t going to put on hose, she decided irritably when she’d put it on—
or heels. The dress would be uncomfortable enough for what was bound to be a long
evening.
Seth looked her over disapprovingly when she reached the SUV. “You didn’t
want to put your hair up?”
Abby stared at him. “You don’t like it loose?”
He frowned.
“We’ll be eating barbeque—outside,” Jerico said helpfully.
Uttering an irritated huff, Abby stalked back inside and grabbed a hair band,
securing her hair at the nape of her neck.
“Happy?” she asked sulkily when she got back.
Seth grinned at her. Settling a hand in the small of her back, he ushered her to his
car and helped her get in. “You look great.”
She doubted it, but since she hadn’t had a mirror to check her appearance she
supposed she could try to pretend she didn’t look hideous.
She felt like a green bean—a short, fat one.
The worst part of it was that people were bound to think she’d picked the damned
dress out herself and that it was a reflection of her bad taste!
No doubt, if she ran into Julie Markam, and she probably would, the bitch would
give her another lecture on style!
She forgot her misgivings when they reached the fairgrounds and she discovered

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they were early enough that the booths were still open. Remembering her determination
to buy something, she headed for the nearest booth, searching for the items she’d
earmarked before. Unfortunately, she discovered that most of the things she’d really set
her heart on were already gone. She was disappointed, but finally decided it was
probably just as well. Her future was still way too uncertain to waste money on buying
things for a house she might not live in and might not even get to take with her if she had
to go.
“You’re not buyin’ anything?” Seth asked after they’d wandered through a half a
dozen stalls.
Abby glanced at him. “I guess there really isn’t much point in looking. It’s not
as if I actually need any of it and … well, I still don’t know if I’ll be staying.”
“Don’t know or haven’t decided?” Seth asked neutrally.
She looked up at him in surprise before she remembered she hadn’t actually told
Seth she wanted to stay. In fact, she’d told him she wasn’t certain she could face the
mating ritual of the Wolfen. She still wasn’t certain she could face it with dignity intact,
without embarrassing them, but she knew she had to try. An anxious frown drew her
brows together. “Do you think they’ll accept me?”
Some of the tension eased from him. “We already have.”
Surprise flitted through her, but she frowned again when she realized he was
talking about him and his friends—his pack. “I mean … besides your pack. The
council? It isn’t official, is it, unless they accept?”
A jolt of surprise went through Seth when he realized she meant Cameron,
Adrian, and Jerico—who certainly weren’t a part of his pack—not anymore. He wasn’t
certain that he liked that, particularly when he recalled that they’d told her the Alpha
female was pack breeder and that she was undoubtedly under the impression that it was a
package deal—the four of them.
It irritated the hell out of him to realize that they had given her that impression.
He was pretty sure they couldn’t have made a bigger fucking mess of the situation if
they’d set out to. “They’ll accept you,” he said finally. “Attendin’ the gatherin’ is a
statement of your knowledge of and consent to bein’ inducted into the pack. Our
willingness to fight for the right to take you as a mate will have to be acknowledged …
since we’re all Alphas.”
She looked confused, briefly, but the broad hint seemed to go right over her head.
She merely nodded and returned her attention to the wares displayed in the booth.
His annoyance deepened. He was still trying to decide whether it was a good idea
to start lecturing her on pack etiquette when she chose a set of embroidered pillow cases
and paid for them, sending him a smile that made his heart skip a beat. Both the tension
and the anger seeped from him despite his reservations and he found himself smiling
back at her like an imbecile.
He didn’t know what it was about Abby that made him feel—and act, he
reminded himself wryly—like a blissful idiot, but there was no denying the woman had
him bagged and tagged—or that he felt any reservations about that. He didn’t know if it
was l'amour, as Cameron had put it that made him crazy or not, but something had sure
as hell thrown him for a loop.
They picked up a ‘following’ before they’d made the circuit of the booths, which
didn’t particularly surprise him but did thoroughly piss him off. By his count, there were

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at least a round dozen—besides him and his ‘pack’—that had earmarked Abby as a mate.
He wasn’t overly concerned about the Weres among them—roughly half. It was the
other Wolfen that were a serious threat.
Obviously, he thought with a touch of disgust, the god awful green thing they’d
picked out for Abby to wear hadn’t worked as well as they’d hoped in discouraging
interest. He was inclined to think, though, there would’ve been even more to worry
about if she’d worn the getup she’d originally picked out.
It had given him an instant hard-on.

* * * *

Abby hadn’t really thought she would have much of an appetite, but the little
shopping spree at the craft booths had been surprisingly therapeutic. She couldn’t say
that she felt like her old self—she thought she’d pretty much forgotten what her old self
felt like—and, in any case, she still felt ‘fragile,’ but she was more relaxed. She even felt
a tentative sense of goodness that she finally identified as happiness and a touch of
anticipation for the dance.
Or maybe it was Seth’s reassurance that accounted for it?
Or the good spirits of everyone around them?
Whatever the case, her appetite smote her as soon as she came within smelling
distance of the barbeque. Seth and Cameron went off to grab plates. Adrian and Jerico
guided her toward the vender selling sweet tea and, once they’d grabbed cups for the five
of them, they looked around until they’d found a long trestle table that was empty and
settled at one end. The table began to fill up almost as soon as they’d settled. Abby
glanced worried at the rapidly filling table and then at Adrian and Jerico, who’d settled
on either side of her. Almost as if they’d read her mind, they spread out, pointed taking
up two spaces each on either side of her and ignoring the glares of the other men who
came up to the table.
To Abby’s relief, Seth and Cameron returned before anyone actually called them
on their tactics. Squeezing in between her and Adrian and Jerico, they each set two
heaping plates on the table. Abby was just wondering if she was supposed to get up and
get her own when Seth produced an empty plate from beneath his. Setting it in front of
her, he and Cameron slid their own plates over for her to help herself. Smiling inwardly,
wondering if they’d worked their plan out before hand, Abby grabbed a cob of corn and a
couple of ribs from each plate.
Cameron and Seth both sent her a vaguely disapproving look. “I can always
make another trip to the pit,” Seth commented.
“You may have to if you didn’t think to get napkins,” Abby retorted with wry
amusement, examining her fingers. Shrugging inwardly, she used her mouth to clean
them. She was sucking on her third when Cameron plunked a wad of napkins down in
front of her. Startled, she glanced up and discovered she had the undivided attention of
every man at the table that had a view of her.
The heat that welled inside of her wasn’t entirely embarrassment. In fact, she
wasn’t convinced any of it was. The looks she’d garnered were blatantly sensual. There
was heat smoldering in both Seth’s and Cameron’s eyes, as well, but also annoyance.
Giving them an apologetic look, she focused on her food the best she could. It
wasn’t easy when she discovered she still held the attention of every man at the table.
“You’re looking well considering your … misadventure this morning,” the man

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across from her commented after a while, claiming her attention.
Abby looked at him with a touch surprise. He looked familiar—most of the men
at the table did—and she was certain they’d been introduced, that he was one of the
‘friends’ that had joined them the first time Seth and the others had escorted her through
the craft exhibits. She’d actually been hoping he wouldn’t say anything since she
couldn’t recall his name. Thankfully, it popped into her mind when she looked up at him.
“Thank you, Frank,” she murmured, smiling faintly. “I think.”
He grinned a little uncomfortably. “That didn’t come out quite the way I meant
it,” he said wryly. “I guess I should’ve just asked how you were feeling.”
“Better than I should, I expect. A little sore.”
He flicked a gaze over the dress she was wearing and sent the men on either side
of her a wry look. “Well enough to consider dancing?”
She blushed faintly, feeling a flicker of discomfort since she had no idea what the
Wolfen etiquette was in such a situation.
And she was pretty sure he was one.
“I don’t know if I feel up to much dancing, but I’m going to the dance.”
He favored her with a slow grin. “Save a dance for me. If you don’t feel up to
dancing, we’ll sit it out.”
“The four of us have already claimed all the slow dances,” Seth growled, baring
his teeth at the man in a semblance of a smile that looked a lot more challenging to Abby
than agreeable.
Anger glittered in Frank’s eyes for a moment, and then amusement and triumph.
“In that case,” he drawled, returning his attention to Abby, “we’ll definitely sit one out.
I’m not much of a hand at the reels.”
Seth and Cameron, she realized, feeling a touch of dismay, had tensed. She didn’t
know whether to be relieved or more uncomfortable when the other men at the table
joined the discussion, requesting a dance and effectively dividing their attention. She
decided, though, that it must be alright to accept, at least as far as their customs went.
Otherwise she was sure they wouldn’t have asked.
She still didn’t want to be pinned down and she didn’t want to make Cameron or
Seth any angrier than they already seemed to be—particularly not if it was jealousy that
inspired it. She was a bit more inclined to think it was merely territorialism, which made
her a little more inclined to accept the offers. She finally compromised by telling them
that as much as she appreciated the offers and would be happy to take them up if she felt
up to it, she wasn’t certain that she was up to that much dancing.
If she hadn’t been stiff and sore from her fight earlier in the day she wasn’t sure
she would’ve been up to dancing with a dozen men, particularly not anything extremely
vigorous.
She discovered when they reached the location of the barn dance that she was
probably going to find out just how physically fit she was. The barn was enormous. It
had been cleared of everything except hay bales, which had been strategically arranged
all around the perimeter as seats. A layer had also been strewn on the floor, part of which
was concrete and part packed dirt, although she wasn’t certain that had been completely
intentional or if it was merely a matter of a few broken bales that had been trampled and
strewn by the guests. The musicians were already warmed up and the dancing in full
swing when they arrived.

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Unconsciously, Abby gripped Seth’s arm and sidled a little closer to him when
she saw how many people were there. He pulled his arm from her grip and settled it
around her shoulders. She wasn’t certain whether the gesture was protective or
possessive, but it comforted her. “Are they all … uh … is everyone …?”
He lifted his head and scanned the barn through narrowed eyes. “Most of them.”
He smiled faintly when he looked down at her again. “A lot of townspeople, too.”
Abby relaxed fractionally. She supposed it was ridiculous when she couldn’t tell
the difference, but it still made her feel better to know she wasn’t a minority of one.
The lights dimmed almost the moment they entered and the musicians began to
play a slow love song. Seth took her purse, handed it off to Cameron, who gave him an
annoyed look, and guided her onto the floor.
A warm, fluttery feeling arose inside Abby the moment Seth pulled her close and
began to guide her around the floor in the slow dance. She supposed she shouldn’t have
been surprised to discover he was a very good dancer, but she was—and gratified.
Sighing blissfully, she closed her eyes and rested her cheek against his chest, relishing
the feeling of simply being held close. “I’m so glad you weren’t hurt,” she murmured
after a few moments.
His arms tightened around her. Amusement treaded his voice when he responded.
“I never said it didn’t hurt—it hurt like a son-of-a-bitch.”
Abby chuckled, pulling far enough away to look up at him. “I didn’t mean it like
that. I’m just glad you and Adrian were wearing vests.”
The faint smile on his lips flattened. He seemed to debate with himself for a
moment. “We weren’t wearing vests, Abby,” he said almost gently. “We’re Wolfen.”
She stared at him uncomprehendingly for several moments and finally settled her
cheek against his chest again.
“The bullets passed through. The wounds closed. The same … traits that allow
us to shift from one form to another also make it possible for us to heal very rapidly …
even from wounds that would kill a human.”
Abby digested that in silence for a while—at least she tried to. It was as hard to
accept as the fact that she’d seen this man, the man holding her in his arms, as a beast-
man and a beautiful wolf. Why, she wondered, would such a remarkable being want such
an unremarkable creature as herself?
She looked up at him when the dance ended, searching his gaze, and finally went
up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Then I’m very, very glad you are what you are, Seth
Banner.
He didn’t allow her to escape with no more than an affectionate peck. Before she
could pull away, he settled his mouth over hers and kissed her deeply enough to take the
starch out of her knees. Bemused, more than a little giddy from the experience, she
didn’t actually register the attention they’d drawn until Seth guided her toward the ‘seats’
Adrian and Jerico had appropriated.
“Where’s Cameron?” she asked curiously when she’d glanced around.
Adrian grinned at her. “He wasn’t too happy about standing around holding your
purse. He went to stow it in the car and promised to bring back a round of beer.”
Abby was torn between amusement at the image Adrian had summoned and
irritation about her purse. “You think it’ll be alright in the SUV? There isn’t much
money in it, but my IDs …”

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Seth grinned at her. “You think anybody would be stupid enough to steal it out of
my car?”
He had a point. Dismissing it, she focused on watching the dancers. Frank
sauntered up and settled beside her to talk after a few moments. Seth, Adrian, and Jerico
all bristled, but aside from giving him unwelcoming looks, which he cheerfully ignored,
they kept their displeasure to themselves. A couple of the other men who’d shared their
table at the dinner wandered up after a minutes.
She yielded to persuasion after a while and joined Frank, who despite his
disclaimer was a very good dancer, in a lively country dance, but then had to sit several
out to catch her breath. Cameron dragged her out onto the dance floor when the next
slow dance started up.
“I’m sorry about what happened earlier,” she said tentatively.
He uttered a humorless laugh. “I’m sorrier about what didn’t.”
Abby bit her lip to keep from smiling. “That, too.”
He grinned down at her then. “You can make it up to me, chère.”
She laughed. “I can?” she asked teasingly.
He narrowed his eyes at her seductively. “Maybe I should say, you will.”
Warmth blossomed inside of her both at the look in his eyes and the reminder.
She felt more than a touch of uneasiness, though. “It’s … I don’t really know what’s
acceptable and what isn’t,” she said uncomfortably instead of asking him if that was
allowed as she’d intended. “I’d feel a lot better if I knew the customs.”
He settled his lips near her ear. “Anything that feels good, chère,” he murmured
huskily, “is entirely acceptable to me … and you felt very, very good.”
Goosebumps rose along her neck as his heated breath caressed her, making her
shiver. “I was talking about pack etiquette,” she said reprovingly if a little breathlessly.
He sucked at a small patch of skin just beneath her ear. “You are free to choose
your lovers … until you choose a mate … and afterwards if you’re inclined, once the
Alpha has bred upon you.”
She frowned at him curiously when he lifted his head. “Didn’t … someone say
that the Alpha’s female was the pack breeder?”
He shrugged. “This is true. The Alpha male and female breed first, however.
The Alpha has first rights to off-spring and the duty to insure his line. Once the Alpha is
certain he has bred on his woman, however, he generally allows relations between his
female and his lieutenants, his Betas, to keep peace within the pack … relative peace,” he
added wryly. “We are territorial by nature.”
“That doesn’t make you any different from human males,” Abby retorted.
He gave her a strange look. “We have many things in common with human
males,” he said, “beyond the ability to look as they do.”
“I’m not sure that’s completely true,” Abby said with amusement. “You’re much
more handsome than any human male I’ve seen.”
He reddened faintly at the compliment, which thoroughly charmed her, grinning a
little uncomfortably. “You think so?” he murmured.
“Absolutely.”
He seemed to debate with himself for a moment. “And my lovemaking? Was
that up to par?”
Abby laughed, feeling her own face heat. “Cameron!”

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He eyed her with a mixture of amusement and interest. “I’m serious. Was it …
the same?”
“Not hardly!” she said wryly, then added when he looked disconcerted.
“Indescribably better!”
He grinned at her wolfishly. “Indescribable, huh?”
“Wickedly wonderful!” she teased.
He pulled her close again. “Watch it, woman. I may have to drag you off in the
dark and see if I can wring more praise from you … and this sure as hell isn’t a good
place for it.”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 139

Chapter Seventeen

As bone-weary and footsore as she was when they finally made it home that
night, Abby was almost too ‘wired’ to sleep. She’d never enjoyed so much appreciative
attention from so many men in her life, let alone men as charming and handsome as those
who’d swarmed around her all night.
She almost felt as if she’d been transformed into a beautiful swan.
She knew better, of course, and it certainly didn’t go to her head when she could
see the men outnumbered the women so badly, but it was impossible not to feel good
about it.
It was also nearly impossible to reconcile the fact that the men she’d danced and
flirted with were the same man-beasts that had seemed so nightmarish to her when they’d
surrounded her kidnappers.
And killed them.
She’d tried hard not to allow that thought to take hold in her mind. The Wolfen
had saved her. The circumstances had precluded any solution other than what they’d
done. She wasn’t going to think about the fact that the men who’d kidnapped her had
died or how they’d died.
They would’ve shot her in the head, or maybe worse—strangled her—and left her
in a ditch if they’d had their way. She didn’t feel any guilt about what had happened to
them. She was distressed that her protectors had been put in the position of having to kill
them to save her. She was unnerved by the savagery the Wolfen were capable of, but it
was almost more comforting to realize that, like beasts, they only killed when necessary.
At least they weren’t like humans—willing to kill for money.
As much as she’d dreaded going, as badly as she’d wanted to just hide in her
room and wallow in her emotional wreckage, the evening had been good for her, she
realized, almost completely diverting her mind from her awful experience earlier.
Actually, it had diverted her completely for a time. It hadn’t erased it, but it had helped
her begin to put it behind her like she needed to.
She still wanted to cling to them, she realized as she lay staring at the darkened
ceiling of her room. Sex would’ve diverted her mind a little longer so that she could
push the attack a little further from her thoughts. Cuddling in the aftermath would’ve
given her a security boost she still needed very badly. She’d hoped Seth would initiate
… or maybe Cameron. By far, they made her feel most protected and secure when they
held her. She would’ve welcomed Adrian or Jerico, for that matter, even though she
didn’t think either of them would’ve made her feel quite as comforted.
They’d been moody when they’d returned from the dance, though. She wasn’t
entirely certain why. It seemed to her that none of them at been pleased with the fact that
she’d danced with so many of the others and yet she’d gotten the distinct impression that
it was expected of her. She would’ve made excuses otherwise—not that they’d seemed a
lot happier about it when she’d just talked to the other men and she certainly wouldn’t
have snubbed them. That would’ve been just plain rude.

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She’d tried to model her behavior after everyone else’s since she knew so little
about their customs and hadn’t wanted to do the wrong thing. As far as she could see, all
of the women who’d been there had danced with multiple partners—with pretty much
anyone who’d asked.
Maybe it wasn’t that, though? Maybe she was trying too hard to fit them into the
mold she knew? The behavior she was most familiar with?
Not that she’d done anything wrong, as far as she could see, anyway. It hadn’t
been a date. They’d gone together like a group of friends and if she’d found herself in a
similar situation with her crowd they would’ve done exactly as she’d done—socialized
with everyone else who’d joined the group.
She must have misunderstood something, she decided—not surprising since she
knew next to nothing about them.
Surely they’d make allowances for that, though?
Of course, even if they did, it didn’t follow that it wouldn’t make them angry.
Realizing after a while that the thoughts tumbling around in her mind were too
worrisome to allow her to relax enough to sleep, she decided to try a hot shower to see if
that would help. It did seem to relax her muscles, but she discovered it didn’t help much
in calming her troubled thoughts.
Struggling with the temptation to take one of the pills the doctor had given her
earlier, she pulled her robe on when she’d dried off and headed into the kitchen to look
for comfort food. Ordinarily, she fought the urge to indulge for no other reason. If she
hadn’t, and hadn’t been fairly successful in it, she thought wryly, she supposed she’d be
shaped more like a barrel by now than anything recognizable as ‘womanly.’ She needed
something, though.
She discovered when she got into the kitchen that her kitchen table and chairs had
vanished.
Mildly irritated, she stared at the spot for several moments and finally dismissed
it. Despite Adrian’s efforts to put them back together after the brawl, the table and the
chairs had been accidents waiting to happen.
In the scheme of things, the state of her household was low on her priorities. If
the Wolfen council accepted her and she was allowed to stay, then she could worry about
it. Otherwise, it hardly mattered.
She realized while she stood staring inside of the refrigerator that it was the barely
acknowledged anxiety that they wouldn’t accept her that was at the root of her
restlessness. She was tired of running. As unnerving as everything about the Wolfen
was, Seth had convinced her with very little effort that they were her best hope for
survival. She didn’t know if it was because Seth was so persuasive. If it was because
she’d seen what they were capable of. Or if it was just because she wanted to believe it,
but she’d latched onto the hope he’d given her as if it was life-line—because it was—and
it was too tenuous not to give rise to the fear that it would be snatched away.
She wasn’t certain that she would have if she hadn’t already become so attached
to Seth and Cameron and Adrian and Jerico that she couldn’t bare the thought that she
would never see them again. As crazy as it was, though, it was them she thought of as
her life line, them she was so desperate to cling to.
Seth hadn’t said that they meant to claim her, she realized, but he’d implied it.
Maybe that was part of what was worrying her? The uncertainty that they meant

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to, or would? From what he’d said, she understood that participating meant she was
willing to accept whoever won—even if it wasn’t them.
They’d said she could choose, though. She didn’t have to take whoever won just
because they had.
Would the guys be upset if she chose them? Were they hoping to settle ‘the
problem’ on someone else?
She discovered when she finally gave up on finding anything she wanted in the
refrigerator that Seth had come to stand in the doorway of the kitchen. She tensed,
sucking in a sharp breath when she spied his shadowy figure.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
She pressed a hand to her chest above her madly pounding heart. “Too much on
my mind, I guess,” she responded finally.
He tilted his head, studying her. “Still anxious about joining the gathering?”
She nodded, heaving a gusty breath of irritation. “A little,” she said wryly.
He moved toward her, settling his arms around her when he reached her and
drawing her close. Closing her eyes, Abby leaned against his solid form gratefully.
Now if she could just get him into the bedroom, she thought with wry amusement.
Almost as if he’d read her thoughts, he shifted away from her and bent to scoop
her in his arms. A little startled by the move, she gasped, throwing her arms around his
neck.
They met up with Cameron in the hallway.
Seth halted. “Get out of the way, Fontaine,” he growled.
“This issue has not been settled, mon ami,” Cameron said tightly. “Put her
down.”
Abby glanced from one man to the other unhappily. “Don’t … fight. Please?”
Cameron stared at her hard for a long moment and finally, reluctantly, stepped
back. Turning the doorknob, he shoved her bedroom door open and stepped to one side
to allow Seth to enter her room with her.
Unfortunately, she discovered he’d followed them in.
Frustration welled inside her. “I just … don’t want to be alone,” she muttered
plaintively as Seth leaned over to settle her in her bed.
He hesitated, flicked a glance at Cameron and then lay down beside her, pulling
her against his length.
Wondering if Cameron would stalk across the room and drag him from the bed,
Abby lay tensely against him for several moments, listening. Finally, she heard the light
pad of Cameron’s bare feet across the floor.
Then the bed dipped.
Startled when he slid into the bed behind her, she turned her head to look back at
him. She discovered that Seth and Cameron were eyeing one another challengingly over
her head.
Well, fuck!
After considering the situation a little frantically for several moments, she finally
reached for Cameron’s hand and dragged his arm across her waist, then looped her arm
across Seth’s waist. “Now I feel safe,” she muttered with determined aplomb, resolutely
closing her eyes.
The tension she felt in both of them wasn’t particularly conducive to relaxation,

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but she’d been physically exhausted when she’d climbed into bed the first time. The
warmth of their bodies and the comfort of their nearness lulled her despite the hostility
radiating from them and she found herself drifting toward sleep in a few minutes.

* * * *

A flicker of amusement fractured the rage that had been building inside of Seth as
he lay staring at Cameron above Abby’s head in the darkness. It eased some of the
sexual tension, as well, and he relaxed fractionally as he felt Abby drifting toward sleep,
listened to her breathing even out.
He would’ve liked to have thought that he was high-minded enough that he’d
sensed her need to be comforted, understood her hunger for reassurance after all she’d
been through earlier. In point of fact, he had and he did.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t claim that that had been uppermost in his mind.

Her needs had translated in his mind to a desire to make love to her.
Not that it took a hell of a lot to push him in that direction, especially now, when
the moon had reached its greatest pull on his beast and the gathering was so near.

Cameron had correctly assessed the situation.

Most likely, he thought with a fresh surge of anger, because the bastard had had
the same goal in mind.
He supposed it was just as well that Cameron had balked him. Otherwise, he
wouldn’t have succeeded in doing anything but convincing Abby that he was an
insensitive asshole, he thought wryly.
As if what had happened earlier hadn’t been bad enough.
Beyond the pull of their instincts, they’d all been running on adrenaline, though.
Fortunately, they hadn’t been so mindless they’d hurt her, and Abby seemed to have
weathered it well enough. She hadn’t seemed to be afraid of them afterwards or repulsed
by their animalistic tendencies.
He still should’ve had enough sense to leave well enough alone, he thought with
disgust. Aside from the possibility that pushing Abby too fast might just succeed in
pushing her away instead of binding her to him, it would’ve outraged the entire clan and
infuriated the council, which none of them could afford to do.
He wasn’t entirely sure why he couldn’t seem to keep his head together. It was
never easy controlling his beast at such times as this, and he was well aware that the beast
side of himself was more at the mercy of instinct than reason and he still, in general,
managed to retain control.
The difference now was Abby—just being Abby, he supposed. He’d never been
caught in the grips of his instincts to mate before—desire, yes, but not to procreate.
As he lay wrestling with it, however, still struggling with his urges because he
found it nearly impossible to master them lying so close to her, feeling her warmth and
softness against him, her scent curling tantalizingly through him, he abruptly became
aware of something he hadn’t noticed before. Or, at least hadn’t realized he’d noticed.
She was in heat. He shook that thought off. She wasn’t Wolfen—or Were. She
was human and human women, he did know, didn’t go into heat. She was ripe, though.
As faint as the scent was that threaded her natural scent, he realized that honeyed, almost
undetectable fragrance underlying it was the chemical reaction of her body releasing the
seed of her womb.
His throat closed. Heat washed through him dizzyingly.

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Abruptly, he realized why he’d felt the uncontrollable urge to take her when his
rational mind had been trying to reason with him. She was ripe for him.
Ripe to be bred, in any case.
The instant that thought solidified inside of him, his urges surged to the forefront,
shattering reason. She was his—his woman. He wasn’t going to fucking let anybody
else plant their seed in her—not until he’d insured she was carrying his pup.
His eyes narrowed on Cameron.
Cameron, either because he’d abruptly become aware of the situation the same as
he had or because he sensed the sudden tension in him, pushed slowly up on one elbow.
“Don’t even think about it, mon ami,” he growled.
“Fuck you, Fontaine!” Seth snarled back at him, tightening his grip on Abby.
“She’s mine, god’s damn it—my woman.”
Roused from a deep sleep, Abby listened to the exchange, completely baffled as
to what had set it off when it had seemed to her that they’d settled to sleep.
“If you’re just going to fight, go away,” she muttered.
Seth transferred his attention from Cameron to Abby, wrestling with his inner
beast. He lost. The absolute determination to plant his seed inside of her and claim her
brought the dark side of his aggressiveness to the forefront. Dragging her thigh across
his hips, he shoved his jeans out of the way, grasped his cock and curled his hips to press
inside of her.
She wasn’t aroused. He realized that in a dim corner of his mind when he
discovered there wasn’t enough moisture to help him sheathe his erection inside of her,
but he wasn’t about to accept defeat. Dipping his head, he covered her mouth the
moment she gasped, thrusting his tongue into the warm, wet cavern. She tensed, but
instead of trying to pull away from him, she nestled closer.
It was all the encouragement he needed.
Actually, he hadn’t needed any. He was pretty sure, later, that short of knocking
him unconscious she couldn’t have beat him off. Cameron’s arm, still around her waist
and pinned between the two of them, tightened. Seth rolled with her when Cameron
pulled her onto her back, using the shift in position to burrow his cock a little deeper into
her channel.
Cameron uttered a warning growl.
He ignored it, pumping his hips the moment he felt her channel growing moist for
him until he managed, by dent of sheer determination, to drive himself completely inside
of her.
Cameron yanked his arm free and grabbed a fistful of his hair, dragging back on it
until he broke the kiss and pried Seth upwards, arching his back.
He ignored that, too, reluctant to let go of Abby long enough to beat the bastard
senseless. She was ready and she was his, by gods! That little egg had his name written
all over it! He pumped into her in deep, rapid thrusts until he’d pumped his seed into her
and kept thrusting, slowly, until he felt his cock growing hard inside of her again.
Cameron rolled off the bed with a frustrated growl of defeat the moment he
realized Seth had spilled his seed.
As badly as he wanted to drag the son-of-a-bitch off her and kill him, as near
mindless with his own maddening urge to claim her seedling for his own as he was, he
was still cognizant of the fact that doing what he wanted to do would put Abby at risk of

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injury.
He couldn’t do that.
Seth, the son-of-a-bitch, knew it, too!
He stood indecisively beside the bed for several moments, still wrestling with the
urge to drag Seth off of her and beat him to a bloody pulp. Leaving didn’t occur to him,
though. Instead, he watched Seth through narrowed eyes … waiting for him to give out.
He would, no matter how determined he was—eventually.
The chances were Seth’s seed would’ve already claimed precedence by that time,
but by-fucking-god he meant to challenge him!

* * * *

It was a rude awakening—to say the least! Abby discovered Seth had thoroughly
distracted her before she could summon any anger, however. The only thought, in point
of fact, that occurred to her when she felt his thick flesh plowing into her was that his
timing sucked. She’d been willing and interested before she’d fallen asleep. She hadn’t
felt any great need for sexual release, but she’d wanted it.
Sort of like her earlier search for comfort food.
His kiss convinced her with very little effort. Warmth was already stirring inside
of her, bringing moisture to her nether regions to ease his way, when he broke the kiss.
Which was when she discovered that Cameron was not only still with them but
furious. The discovery caused a sharp dip in her enjoyment, which experienced another
setback when Seth came before she’d more than warmed up good.
She was, in fact, tempted to clobber him herself for stirring her up and then
leaving her hanging. She realized fairly quickly, though, that he didn’t have any
intention of doing so. Just about the time she expected him to pull out, she discovered he
was growing hard inside of her again.
It disconcerted her, but the discomfort from being unprepared the first time
around had vanished. The readiness that had filled her leveled out in its downward
spiral, hesitated for a moment, and began to rise again. As if he sensed the rise in her
toward completion, he dropped closer to her, shoving his hands beneath her hips to
change her position. A low groan escaped her when he did. She felt each stroke in just
the right spot. Her breath quickened to match his ragged breaths. It almost seemed as if
the slower awakening built the pleasurable tension higher, wound everything inside of
her tightly together for a cataclysmic storm. When it broke over her, her entire body
seized as if she’d had electric current shot through her, every muscle going taut so that
she hovered in breathless suspension for many moments before the rapturous waves
began to jolt through her.
The pleasurable tremors rattling her seemed to travel through Seth, as well. He
uttered a choked sound, lost his cadence for a handful of seconds, and then began to
thrust into her in short, deep strokes as he joined her.
Reeling with the magnitude of her own climax, Abby held Seth tightly to her as
his tremors reached a crescendo and began to taper off, stroking his broad back with
light, appreciative caresses that drew more shivers from him. He made no attempt to
withdraw from her, either because he was enjoying the post coital closeness as much as
she was or, more likely she thought wryly, because he was just too weak in the aftermath
of two climaxes to escape her clutches. She didn’t care at the moment, either. It was
enough to have the illusion of deep affection that she’d needed far more than she’d

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needed release and well worth having been awakened to experience it.
As welcome as his weight was on top of her, though, he grew heavier and heavier
as he lay sprawled limply on top of her until she began to think he was going to crush
her. With obvious effort, he finally stirred himself to drag his hands from beneath her to
support some of his weight on his elbows. He hesitated again when he’d managed it and
she wondered if he was reluctant to roll off of her or merely trying to summon the
strength to do so.
He pushed backwards after a moment instead of rolling away, nuzzling his face
against hers in appreciation. Finally, with obvious reluctance, he shifted his weight to the
mattress beside her.
Before she could even discover whether he intended to pull her close and cuddle
her, Cameron snaked a hand around her quick as a flash and yanked her across the bed,
rolling on top of her.

* * * *

As near to blacking out as Seth was, he was well aware that Cameron was just
waiting for an opening to grab Abby for himself. His reluctance to give the bastard the
opening warred with the realization that he’d so thoroughly expended himself that he was
not only crushing Abby with his weight, but that the best will in the world wasn’t going
to get his dick up again inside of an hour—if that soon.
He was still far too weak from the shooting. His rapid cell regeneration had
closed the wound quickly and the rage and fear had shot enough adrenaline through him
to get him on his feet and charging after the men who’d taken her, but the bullet had done
extensive tissue damage. He’d lost a lot of blood, and not even a Wolfen could recover
from that serious a wound so quickly and completely.
It still rankled to accept defeat, infuriated him to know he was too weak to defend
his prize from the other Wolfen, but he finally realized he had no choice but to move off
of Abby before he crushed her to death with his weight.
The moment he did, before he could even gather enough of his wit and strength to
attempt to preserve his claim, Cameron snatched her away from him. He shoved himself
upward with a tremendous effort to challenge the bastard, but Cameron was expecting it.
He slammed his balled fist into his jaw so hard the threatening darkness enveloped him
for a handful of seconds—more than long enough for Cameron to stake his own claim.

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Chapter Eighteen

Abby’s nerves were wound so tightly by the time they reached the rendezvous
point that the tension she’d sensed in the men had been completely overshadowed. She
thought the strain she sensed in them was contagious and a good bit of her own was
purely reaction to them, but she was unnerved at the prospect of the unknown.
And most of it still fell in that realm even though she’d sat down with Seth,
Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico before they’d left her house and they’d given her a sort of
overview of what the gathering was like. Experiencing, she felt sure, wouldn’t begin to
compare to the mental image their explanations had produced. Beyond that, their world
was so familiar to them she knew there must be a great deal that they’d left out simply
because it wouldn’t occur to them that she would be ignorant of them.
They’d driven to the pasture that had been used as a parking lot the night before
for the barn dance. By the time they arrived, the place was nearly as packed with
vehicles as it had been the night before.
Seth had told her that most of the ‘people’ present were Wolfen. She hadn’t
realized, then, that he’d meant it. She supposed that was because she was still having
trouble wrapping her mind around the fact that they existed at all, let alone in such
numbers. Obviously, they were very good, and very careful, about maintaining the
secrecy of their existence. It seemed almost as hard to grasp that more ‘humans’ like
herself didn’t know about them when there were so many as it was to assimilate their
existence at all.
She didn’t think she would’ve believed if she hadn’t seen with her own eyes. In
fact, she knew she wouldn’t have. It was almost embarrassing to realize she’d been so
wrapped up in her own affairs that she hadn’t even had a clue that there was anything the
least bit unusual about the festival. Maybe they were just that good, though?
Bypassing the barn, they took a trail beyond it that led into the woods. Despite
the full moon overhead, the trees blocked so much of the light that Abby began to strain
to see almost as soon as they stepped beneath them. None of the men seemed to have a
problem.
It confused her. She could understand how, in wolf form, they would have night
vision far superior to hers, but they were still in human form and their eyes looked the
same as hers. How much, she wondered for the first time, of their unique abilities carried
over into whatever form they took?
Surely not everything?
She discovered when she met Adrian’s gaze, though, that his eyes glowed in the
darkness like … a wolf.
A shiver skated through her.
It seemed to her that all of them were angry with her. She thought she could
understand Adrian’s and Jerico’s resentment a little better. Seth and Cameron had both
been coiled around her when she’d woken that morning and it was obvious Adrian and
Jerico realized immediately that she, Seth, and Cameron had spent much of the night

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having sex instead of sleeping. Aside from the fact that the room wreaked of sex, both of
them had still been in her bed when Adrian and Jerico had come in.
She wasn’t sure she understood the animosity she sensed in Cameron and Seth.
True, she didn’t know much more about the Wolfen than she had before she’d discovered
their existence, but they’d indicated that they formed packs, family groups, much like
ordinary wolves—which she also didn’t know a lot about. She distinctly recalled,
though, that they’d suggested that, although the Alpha female in essence belonged to the
Alpha male of the pack, she also bred the ‘pups’ of the other upper echelon pack
members.
It occurred to her that the way things had happened might not fit the customs, but
if not, then why had both Seth and Cameron gotten into her bed to start with? Why had
they, despite the obvious animosity, shared her?
She didn’t get that.
She’d realized as soon as she’d begun to consider the idea of seeking a place for
herself among the Wolfen that she would be expected to conform to their customs and
she’d accepted that. She couldn’t say that she had a lot of reservations about it. As novel
as the idea was that she would ‘belong’ to all four of the men, she’d grown very fond of
all of them since they’d begun taking care of her, and she found them all very attractive.
She certainly didn’t see it as a hardship or a reason to refuse the offer Seth had made for
her to join them.
She found it distressing, though, that they seemed angry about her having sex
with them. If this was the way it was going to be every time she had sex with a different
pack member, it sure as hell didn’t look like things were going to ever be peaceful living
with them!
She supposed she shouldn’t cavil over it. Being with them meant she had a
chance for something at least approaching a ‘normal’ life and happiness. It meant she
wouldn’t have to spend every waking moment expecting someone to pop out of nowhere
and blow her head off. She would feel safe enough to sleep at night—free of nightmares.
They’d given her that already, just by staying with her and watching over her.
Despite the attack the day before, she’d felt safer and less stressed since she’d been with
them than she could remember being in years. If she hadn’t liked them at all. If she
hadn’t felt the powerful physical attraction she did to them, she thought she still
would’ve been willing to trade off constant fear for the security they represented.
The fact that she did like them so much and was so strongly attracted to them
physically had eliminated any real debate in her mind.
The gathering was the only part that actually worried her. She wished they could
just skip it and Seth and the others could just go ahead and do whatever it was they had to
do to claim her. She was used to the guys, enough so that the discovery of what they
were hadn’t created much conflict inside of her—it had scared her, thrown her into
shock—but it hadn’t changed the way she felt about them. As soon as she’d realized that
they were what they always had been, accepting what she’d learned about them had been
a foregone conclusion. She cared too much about them for anything to change that.
By the same token, though, the discovery that the strangers surrounding her,
who’d already made her uneasy, were Wolfen, or Weres, just made them that much more
unnerving. She knew her discovery didn’t make them any more of a threat to her than
they had been. The fact that they’d come to her rescue without question when she’d

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needed help made her feel uncomfortable that she felt any reservations about them at all,
but she couldn’t make herself not feel that way.
Then, too, the doubts Seth and the others had put in her mind didn’t help. She
couldn’t see how her being present at the gathering was going to help the others accept
her as one of their own. She couldn’t become a Wolfen and the men had made it clear
that becoming a Were wasn’t an option they were willing to entertain. To her, it seemed
that that meant that she couldn’t expect anything more than an ‘honorary’ position in the
clan—and she might not even get that.
She hadn’t allowed herself to consider what it might mean to her if the others
didn’t accept her, but it was still circling the back of her mind as they trudged along the
path through the woods.
The clearing they came upon after walking for nearly thirty minutes was already
crowded. Abby instantly felt her tension increase. They looked like ordinary people, but
the moment she arrived it seemed to create a stir.
She hoped that was just her imagination.
Catching her elbow, Seth guided her through the people gathered until he found a
position that seemed to appeal to him on the fringes. The clearing had allowed the bright
light of the full moon to spill over the assembled group, which helped her vision even
though most everyone was still shadowy enough it made recognition difficult even if
she’d known all of them, and she discovered when Seth stopped that she couldn’t
actually see over the crowd in front of her. She didn’t know whether she was glad or
sorry that she couldn’t really see that much. It was frustrating in a way, and yet she was
still too anxious about what might happen to be certain she wanted to see everything.
They weren’t the last to arrive, but they didn’t miss it by much. Abby could tell
from the shifting of the crowd when others arrived. Finally, though, the crowd began to
shuffle to rearrange itself and she discovered that they’d formed a large circle. A half
dozen men claimed the center.
To her surprise, the man who spoke did so in a language she dimly recognized as
French. She had no idea what he was saying but the crowd began to shift and look
around. She wasn’t terribly happy to discover she was the reason for it.
Seth, looking grim faced, gripped her arm and began to lead her toward the center
of the group.

“What’s happening?” Abby whispered uneasily.
“The council has acknowledged your petition to become a clan member,” Seth

responded in a carefully neutral voice. “They want you to come forward to be introduced
to the clan.”

Since she hadn’t ‘petitioned,’ she could only conclude that Seth had done so for

her. It unnerved her that she had to present herself to be examined, but she could tell
from Seth’s reaction that he hadn’t expected it himself. The council members closed
around her and Seth once they reached the center of the circle, studying her, she thought,
though she wasn’t certain. After several unnerving minutes passed, they lifted their
gazes from her and fixed Seth with hard looks. The one who’d addressed the crowd
spoke to her finally. “Banner has told us that you know about the clan of the wolf and
that you willingly and freely and without reservation accept the laws of the clan as your
own.”

Like Cameron, his voice carried a heavy French accent.

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Swallowing around the knot of nerves in her throat, Abby nodded. “I do.”
“You understand our customs and our laws?” he asked sharply.
Abby shifted uncomfortably. “Not … not really,” she finally answered honestly.

“But I’m willing to learn … and abide by them.”

Some of the tension seemed to leave Seth, which relieved her tremendously since

she’d feared an honest answer might not be the best under the circumstances.

The council nodded … and apparently dismissed her.
To her relief, Seth led her back to the others.
She had the distinct feeling that the Wolfen and Weres she passed were sniffing

her. She wasn’t certain if it was her imagination or not, but something seemed to stir
them. The tension she realized that had been radiating from all of them almost from the
moment they’d begun gathering increased until it was almost palpable.

The head of the council began speaking again before she and Seth reached

Cameron and the others—again in French, which she recognized but didn’t understand.

She was still puzzling over the circumstance when she realized everyone around

her was undressing. Stunned, she glanced at Seth in surprise. “Shifting with clothes on
can be a little … awkward,” he murmured in response to the question in her eyes.

It made sense, she realized.
What didn’t really make sense was the way they had reacted to her being naked.
She didn’t dwell on the thought. The discovery that she was in the midst of a

group—primarily male—that was stripping naked completely absorbed her focus.
“Should I …? Am I supposed to?”

Seth’s lips tightened. “Since you can’t shift … no.”
Abby glanced at him in dismay and then looked at Adrian and Jerico a little

uncomfortably, feeling chastened whether Seth had meant it that way or not, feeling more
of an outsider. It wasn’t as if she’d actually wanted to get naked, but it certainly made
her stand out as not being one of them.

Trying to dismiss her dismay, she glanced at Cameron. “Why did he speak

French?”

Cameron lifted his brows. “The origin of the clan goes back to France.”
Surprise flickered through her. She hadn’t actually considered where they

might’ve originated from—or that they’d know. “So … French is sort of the official
language?” she asked hesitantly, wondering if she was going to have to master it.

He smiled lazily. “Sort of. Doan worry, amour. I will teach you.”
He flicked a challenging look at Seth when he said it.
Seth ignored the remark. “You’ll wait here for us.”
It wasn’t a question, but Abby nodded.
When she glanced around again, she discovered that Adrian, Jerico, and Cameron

were no longer standing around her as they had been. Instead, she saw wolves—
everywhere she looked. As unnerving as it had been to be surrounded by so many people
that she knew were of the wolf clan, it was more unnerving to see them in what they had
told was their ‘true form’.
Fear wasn’t all she felt, though, or even the prominent emotion that gripped her.
She thought that was awe. As handsome as the men she’d begun to think of as ‘hers’
were in human form, they were beautiful as Wolfen. She stared at the huge black wolf
she knew must be Seth and lifted a hand tentatively. Pleasure wafted through her when

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he moved closer, nuzzling her hand and then bumping and rubbing against her.
Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico moved closer, as well, nuzzling her, rubbing all over her.
She stroked them, enjoying the silky feel of their fur, thoroughly enchanted by the
affection their touch conveyed.
A lone wolf bayed abruptly. The sound jolted through all of them. They left off
rubbing against her, lifting their heads, and then Seth uttered a response. Within
moments, the wolves around her were baying at the moon—or simply communicating
with one another, Abby thought in bemusement, wincing at the volume of the chorus. As
suddenly as the cry had been taken up by the Wolfen, they charged away.
Abby turned as they did, discovering that the wolves that had filled the clearing
were rapidly pouring into the surrounding woods and vanishing.
It dawned on her abruptly why Seth had led her to the fringes of the group. She’d
thought it was because she was an outsider. She supposed, in a way, it was, but it
couldn’t be avoided that her inability to shift forms as they did would’ve put her in
danger when the pack charged off.
For a few minutes, she stood listening after the last of them had disappeared.
Growing fainter and fainter were the occasional howls as different wolves called out in
the night, to each other or from the sheer exuberance of running. She’d felt that, sensed
the excitement in them at throwing off the trappings of civilization and running.
She discovered she envied them that. It must be wonderful to escape, to throw off
the worries of the world, even for a little while. Her heart beat a dull tattoo of yearning
in her chest as the thought entered her mind, and she felt her spirits plummet. Seth had
said she could never be what they were. She couldn’t even become a Were.
She would always be an outsider, even if they accepted her, even if she managed
to have their babies, she wouldn’t be one of them.
Why did they want her when she was so ordinary beside them?
She didn’t even think she was an extraordinary human.
Was she special to them, she wondered? Had they come to care about her and
considered her special because they did? Or was it at all possible that they’d felt the
same instant attraction that she had?
She would’ve loved to have thought so.
Unfortunately, the only thing that she’d really gotten a strong impression of was
that they’d gathered to mate and decided she’d do—not very flattering or comforting.
She’d gotten the impression, though, that human men tended to be that way, that,
as often as not, their decision to settle didn’t have a hell of a lot to do with the woman
they were with. It was more a matter of a woman being in the right place at the right
time. Men simply reached a frame of mind where they were open and looking and they
settled on the most desirable female they ran across.
Also not flattering and she couldn’t be certain it was a ‘rule of thumb,’ but she’d
definitely gotten that impression.
Shivering slightly, she looked around at the darkened woods surrounding her as it
slowly filtered through her thoughts that she was completely alone in the middle of the
woods in the middle of the night—something she not only wasn’t used to but had never
done at all.
She hadn’t considered what it was going to be like to be left standing in the dark
by herself. The moment her focus shifted, though, she began to feel a prickling of the

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fine hairs along the back of her neck. She lifted her head, listening intently for any sound
that might indicate a threat or a sound that might comfort her—an indication that the
wolves were circling around and heading back. She heard the breeze sawing through the
trees, an occasional crackle in the underbrush that made chill bumps leap out on her skin,
and, far in the distance now, the occasional baying of the wolf pack.
Unable to decide whether she felt more unnerved standing in the open or if it
would be equally creepy to move to the shadows of the forest, she remained indecisively
where she was, scrubbing at the chill bumps that raced up and down her arms.
As she stood listening, she thought she heard the sound of a car engine.
A late arrival?
Someone leaving?
Or just someone passing by on the road?
She realized she couldn’t really tell the direction the sound had originated from.
It seemed unlikely any of the clan would arrive so late. Most of them seemed to
have gathered before her party had even gotten there.
The temptation arose in her to go back to the car. She’d agreed to wait for Seth
and the others at the gathering place, though. After a few moments, she decided to sit
down. She was tired of standing for one thing. For another, she realized she wouldn’t be
as exposed if she was sitting down.
She’d barely settled when she heard a thrashing sound in the woods. The hair on
her neck prickled again. She whipped her head around, trying to decide which direction
the sound had come from and how close it was.
It didn’t relieve her that it hadn’t sounded very close because it occurred to her
that it might not have because whatever, or whoever, was making the noise was probably
trying to move quietly. The brush that covered the clearing, barely calf high when she’d
been standing, was nearly breast high when she sat. She hunkered a little lower,
struggling to keep the fear gnawing at the back of her mind from escalating.
It sounded like someone creeping through the woods, pausing from time to time,
too heavy to be some woodland creature.
Just about the time she’d managed to thoroughly scare the shit out of herself, her
searching gaze was snagged by a pair of glowing eyes near the edge of the clearing. A
shockwave of sheer terror rolled through her, which was probably the only thing that kept
her from leaping to her feet and screaming her head off. As if the owner of the eyes
realized she’d spotted him, he leapt from the concealment of the trees and into the
clearing.
It was a wolf, and too dark for her to see if it was Seth or Adrian. Its coat was
dark, however, eliminating the possibility that it was either Cameron or Jerico. He
trotted directly toward her, though. Before she could regain enough mastery of her
muscles to surge to her feet, she discovered wolves were bounding, or racing, into the
clearing from every direction.
At least a dozen were headed directly toward her. Too weak still with fright to
get to her feet, Abby stared at them wide eyed as the wolves circled her, sniffing at her.
From seemingly no where, four wolves bounded over those surrounding her. She
recognized Cameron and Seth a split second before they tied up and became a snarling,
growling tangled mass of fighting wolves.
The fight brought her upright before she even considered whether she could make

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her wobbly knees lock. In horror, she stared at the wolves fighting all around her. Even
as she looked around frantically for a place to escape, though, she discovered the entire
clearing was alive with similar battles. In every case, a lone wolf stood at the center of a
churning mass of fighters and after a few moments, despite her fear, it dawned on Abby
that this was the ‘challenge’ she’d heard them talk about.
They were fighting for the mates they’d chosen!
Stunned, Abby returned her attention to the battle surrounding her. Despite
everything, a thrill went through her when she saw that Seth, Cameron, Adrian, and
Jerico were among those ‘vying’ for her. She’d thought that they meant that they would
try to claim her as a mate, but in the back of her mind she’d feared they only meant that
the clan members would if she agreed to take part in the gathering.
The fighting didn’t unnerve her any less. She still had to fight the urge to run and
the fear that they wouldn’t win. The wolves the four had first taken on, however, began
to disperse with yelps of pain one by one. Around her, she heard the volume and number
of furious snarls and growls of the other fighters begin to taper off.
She’d seen no real order to the battles, but there seemed to be an order of sorts.
Two wolves would pair off and fight until one yielded and then the victor would turn
upon another wolf.
Suddenly, Seth broke off his fight, lifted his head and then whirled and looked
straight at her. Abby’s heart leapt into her throat as he abruptly launched himself straight
at her. Almost simultaneously, she heard a crack of thunder.
Time seemed to slow. The sound froze all of the wolves—except Seth, who
sprang at her as if he fully intended to attack her.
The breath left her as he slammed into her and then she felt herself falling
backwards, felt darkness envelop her.
Seth grunted as the bullet slammed into him like a sledge hammer, knocking the
breath from him. He felt the burn as it tore through him, and then horror as he felt the
bullet exit through his chest and slam into Abby. He knew, even before he rolled off of
her that he’d failed to protect her. Blood covered her upper torso—both his and hers.
Rage filled, blinded him, scattered his wits as he stared down at her in disbelief.
Chaos erupted around them as the others realized what had happened.
Torn between the urge to protect and the burning desire for revenge, Seth
wavered a moment, but as soon as he saw Cameron and the others race off toward the
trees, he turned his attention to Abby, sniffing at her.
Relief flooded him when he realized she was still breathing—unconscious, barely
breathing, her heart pumping sluggishly—but she was still alive. Grasping her blouse in
his teeth, he shredded it, lapping at the wound he found until the blood ceased to well.
The bullet had missed any major arteries, he saw with relief, but she’d lost too much,
regardless. He felt the heat leaving her as she went into shock.
Gritting his teeth, he struggled to shift despite the danger of trying it when he was
wounded himself. It was the most agonizing transformation he’d ever experienced, and
he nearly blacked out with the pain, but he managed a half-shift. Grabbing the remains
of her shirt, he pressed it to the wound and held it, trying to gather the strength to pick
her up and carry her back to his SUV.
Cameron, in his human again and bloody all over, dropped to his knees on the
other side of Abby. “How bad is it?”

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 153

“About as fucking bad as it can get,” Seth growled. “Did you get the son-of-a-
bitch?”
“We got him,” Cameron said grimly, leaning over to scoop Abby gently into his
arms.
Seth glared at him, resenting Cameron for taking her. At same time, he knew he
was still too weak to get her back to the truck without risking the possibility of passing
out and dropping her. Shoving to his feet, he wavered slightly but doggedly followed
Cameron as he hurried across the clearing toward the path.
Adrian and Jerico joined them after a few minutes. After glancing at him a
couple of times, Jerico moved closer, dragged one of Seth’s arms across his shoulders,
and pushed his shoulder beneath Seth’s arm to help hold him up. Seth leaned on him
gratefully, mostly because Cameron was rapidly outstripping him and he was determined
not to be left behind … or to slow Cameron up.
“The god’s damned bullet went right through me,” he growled angrily.
“You tried,” Jerico said. “At least you realized the gunman was targeting her. I
thought it was a hunter.”
“That isn’t going to make me feel a hell of a fuckin’ lot better if she doesn’t make
it.”
Adrian joined the two of them, bolstering Seth on the other side since he didn’t
look to be regaining any strength. “It was that fucking Fed,” he snarled.
“Milner?” Seth growled in outrage.
“Guess you were right … at least partly. Except he was obviously deeper in this
than you thought.”
They managed to reach the SUV just as Cameron was trying to settle Abby along
the backseat. Ignoring the glare Cameron sent him, he climbed into the back with her
and gathered her into his arms.

“You’ll reopen her wound!” Cameron snarled.
“She’s in shock, god’s damn it!” Seth growled back at him. “We need to keep her

warm! There’s a spare set of keys under the dash.”

Abby came around with a groan when Cameron backed the SUV in a sharp turn

and gunned the engine so that the truck was bouncing over the ruts created by so many
vehicles. As relieved as he was that she’d regained consciousness, Seth roared at
Cameron to take it easy until they’d cleared the field.

The jouncing was making his own wound hurt like hell and he knew it had

already begun to close and heal. He could only imagine how much pain the bouncing
was causing Abby.

“C—cold,” she whispered.
“I know, Baby,” Seth murmured soothingly. “Adrian, see if you can find

something to wrap her in in the back!”

Turning in the seat, Adrian looked in the back and found a lightweight jacket Seth

had discarded. Taking it, Seth wrapped it around her and then gathered her tightly
against his chest again. He nuzzled her face, trying to beat back the fear that was
threatening to take over his mind and turn him to a blubbering maniac. “You’re going to
be alright, Baby. Not much longer now. Hang in there for me.”

“Hurts, Seth.”
Seth swallowed the golf ball in his throat. “I know, Baby. I’m so sorry. I tried,

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Baby. I tried to stop it.”

“We should’ve gone after that fucking asshole right away,” Adrian growled

angrily.

“It isn’t doing Abby any good to think that now,” Cameron said tightly.
“The sooner we take care of that fucker behind this,” Jerico snarled, “the better.”
“At least we can agree on that,” Adrian muttered. “Christ! Can’t you move any

faster, Cam?”

“Not without wrecking the god’s damned truck!” Cameron snapped.
The urgency in their voices distressed Abby. She snuggled closer to Seth,

seeking his warmth to chase the chill that was making her hurt worse—or seemed to—
drifting in a twilight world between full consciousness and darkness.

Relief flooded her when the movements of the vehicle finally stopped, not

because she had any idea of where they were or what it might mean but because the
bounce and sway of the vehicle made her hurt worse. The pain eased slightly but
intensified again when the someone—Cameron she realized—took from Seth and pulled
her out of the truck. Blackness threatened to completely engulf her for a little while, but
the realization sank in that she was in a medical facility.

The bright lights, the pulling at her as her clothing was removed, the poking and

prodding and the hum of many voices around her kept her drifting in and out, but finally
Abby felt herself slipping over the edge into a peaceful nothingness.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 155

Chapter Nineteen

The waiting room, Seth discovered, wasn’t big enough for four Wolfen to pace.
Resisting the urge to throttle Adrian after bumping into him for the third time, he finally
stalked to a seat and sprawled in it, glaring down in revulsion at the ‘scrubs’ the hospital
had thoughtfully furnished him and the others with when they’d arrived sans a stitch of
clothing.
“Do you think anybody thought to dispose of the body?” Jerico asked, breaking
the tense silence that had held them all for the past several hours.
Cameron shrugged. “There wasn’t much to bother with.”
“I was thinking more about the identification.”
Seth glanced at him impatiently. “I can guarantee you they won’t come looking
for the son-of-a-bitch here. Whatever story he concocted, he wouldn’t have wanted them
to have any idea he was coming here. He wouldn’t want them to connect the dots when
his witness turned up dead.”
“You think they hired him for the hit?” Adrian growled.
Seth scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to collect his thoughts.
“More likely the greedy bastard just got greedier, figured when he didn’t hear
from the hit men he could do the job himself and collect,” Cameron muttered.
Seth lifted his head and stared at the other man for several moments. “I don’t
suppose he said anything?”
Cameron sent him a look. “He screamed a few times, mon ami. I didn’t catch it
if he was tryin’ to tell us anything. You hear him say anything, Adrian?”
Adrian shrugged. “I wasn’t real interested in anything that fucking bastard might
think to say.” He ceased pacing and dropped into the chair next to Seth. “When are we
going after the son-of-a-bitch that sent him?”
Seth shook his head. “I’m not goin’ anywhere until I know Abby’s alright. Then
I’ve got to make arrangements.” Spearing his fingers in his hair, he sat forward in the
chair, staring down the floor.
“It never once crossed my mind when I thought about taking Abby as my mate
that I’d have to face anything like this … even knowing she was human,” Jerico
muttered.
“Neither Wolfen nor Weres are invincible, mon ami,” Cameron pointed out
tightly.
Jerico glanced at him miserably. “I know … but she’s so … fragile.”
Seth swallowed a little sickly. “I may have infected her.” He saw when he
looked up that all of them were staring at him in disbelief, horror and dawning rage. “I
was half out of my mind. All I could think about was trying to stop the bleeding.” He
shook his head. “The bullet passed through me and into her. Even if I hadn’t licked the
wound …”
For several moments they glared at him furiously. Finally, Cameron shook his
head. “If you had, they wouldn’t still be in surgery with her.”

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Seth felt a flicker of hope at that—not that there was much to feel hopeful about
as far as he could see. If he’d infected her, it might help her survive the gunshot but the
chances were slim she’d survive the first transition. He got up after a few minutes and
began pacing again, trying to outrun his thoughts.
Nearly another hour passed and it was nearing dawn when the surgeon finally
came out to talk to them. Studying his face, Seth tried to brace himself for the worst.
“It’s going to be touch and go for a while,” the surgeon said finally. “She’s in
recovery now. I think we patched up her pretty good, but she lost a lot of blood.”
It wasn’t the news he’d hoped for, but it beat the hell out of the news he’d more
than half expected. Too restless to sit still anymore, or pace the waiting room, he left the
hospital when the doctor informed them that she’d be in recovery for at least an hour
before they could see her.
The others joined him when he reached his truck and the four of them drove out
to the site of the shooting. When they reached it, they discovered that the body had
already been removed and the site cleaned. The agent’s car was gone, as well.
“Efficient,” Seth muttered, irritated for no particular reason beyond the fact that
he felt the need to do something.
“As bad as I hate to point it out,” Adrian commented when they’d climbed into
the SUV again, “I’m not going to make it much longer if I don’t eat.”
Realizing he was about to drop himself, Seth merely nodded and headed back to
Mrs. Parker’s. He wasn’t particularly in the mood for a large gathering, and there were
bound to be a number of guests at the table, but he didn’t think he could face Abby’s
empty house and choke down any food and he wasn’t just weak from his rapid
metabolism. His own wound, and trying to shift before it had closed, had left him weaker
than he liked.
Fortunately, since most of her guests had spent most of the night battling, and
what was left of it—the fortunate ones—thoroughly acquainting themselves with their
new mate, only a couple of her guests showed for breakfast. Beth immediately hit them
up for news about Abby, which sent his spirits plummeting since he didn’t have anything
more heartening to tell than the fact that she’d survived the surgery and was in recovery.
He focused on positive thinking, however, arranging with Beth Parker to keep
Abby once she was able to leave the hospital and take care of her since he wasn’t certain
he would be back by the time she was released.
He called his office and arranged to have his deputy fill for him until further
notice and summoned his lieutenants to meet him at the hospital. He felt a little better
when he’d arranged to have men posted both inside and outside of the hospital while
Abby was there and at Mrs. Parker’s once she left the hospital. Until he took care of
Mikhail and made sure there wasn’t a price on Abby’s head anymore, he wasn’t taking
any more chances with her.
He discovered when they reached the hospital again that she’d been removed
from recovery and sent to intensive care. He felt like blubbering like a baby when he saw
her, but he stayed until the nurse ran him out so that the others could go in to see her.
He spent most of the day either pacing the waiting room or pacing the hospital
grounds, stubbornly refusing to leave until she woke up, refusing to accept the possibility
that she might not. His diligence was finally rewarded toward evening. When he was
allowed in for another brief visit, she opened her eyes and looked straight at him.

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Relief flooded him that was so profound he thought for several unnerving
moments that he’d pass out. He squeezed her hand, trying to think of something to say,
wondering if he could say anything at all past the constriction in his throat.
“What happened?”
Seth swallowed convulsively a couple of times. “You were shot.”
She frowned, obviously searching her memory. “You knocked me down.”
Seth stared at her in dismay, wondering if it was an accusation, wondering if that
was all she remembered and she thought he was the one that had hurt her. “I heard a gun
cocked.”
She stared at him. “Heard?”
He nodded. “Wolfen hearing.”
She studied him a moment and finally smiled a little wryly. “Good thing.”
Seth closed his eyes. “I wasn’t fast enough. You got hit anyway.”
She squeezed his hand lightly and he opened his eyes to stare at her. “I’m ok. Go
home and rest. You look tired.”
He studied her for a long moment and felt his lips curling in a faint smile. “Bossy
woman,” he murmured. “You tryin’ to tell me I look like hell?”
She smiled back at him. “You look beautiful.”
He felt himself blushing, but he couldn’t prevent a chuckle. Leaning down, he
kissed her lightly on the cheek, resting his cheek against hers for a moment. “You’re the
one that’s beautiful, Baby,” he said huskily.
“I’m the one that looks like hell … feel like hell, too.”
“You’re beautiful to me, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Rest, Baby. I’ll
be back to see you in the mornin’.”
As badly as he hated leaving her, he knew he’d have to fight the hospital staff to
spend the night in her room and he was dead on his feet. He was more than half asleep at
the wheel before Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico finally trooped out of the hospital and
joined him. He headed straight to Abby’s house, climbed into her bed, snuggled his face
against her pillow so that he could breathe her scent and passed out. He grunted irritably
when Cameron shoved him over and took the other side of the bed.
Adrian and Jerico, after glaring at the two of them furiously for several moments,
finally turned and looked at each other. Shrugging, Jerico looked around until he spied
her robe. Snatching it up, he strode from the room, headed for the spare bedroom.
Adrian followed him, wrestled with him for the robe for a few minutes and finally left to
hunt down something else with her scent. Jerico was sprawled in the middle of the bed
when he returned with the panties he’d collected from the bathroom floor. Giving him a
shove to make him move over, he dropped onto the other side of the bed with his own
prize.
Catching the delectable scent wafting from Adrian’s prize, Jerico roused up
enough to glare at him resentfully, studied the panties speculatively for several moments
and finally decided he was just too fucking tired to fight him for them. Cuddling the
robe, he rolled over and went to sleep.

* * * *

For his part, the guard thought it was a strange time of night to be moving Zodorf,

but he supposed it had to do with the bastard’s background—well, that and the rumor that
had been picked up that someone planned to off the son-of-a-bitch. Him being one of the

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 158

‘gems,’ a real feather in their caps as far as the Feds were concerned, he could understand
their dismay at the possibility that Zodorf’s sentence might be cut short. They weren’t
keen on having to let go of their criminals.

He didn’t believe it himself. Zodorf was king shit among the inmates, but

stranger things had happened.

Shrugging it off since he really didn’t give shit one way or the other, he escorted

the prisoner to the waiting bus, walked him into the cage and secured his restraints.
“Behave yourself, Zodorf,” he admonished as he stepped away.

Zodorf sneered at him. “Eat me.”
The guard snorted. “You ain’t my type, but maybe you’ll find a new boyfriend

when you get where you’re going, huh?”

Zodorf glared at him, looked as if he was considering spitting on him and then,

apparently thought better of it when he met the gaze of the bus driver in the mirror.
“What are you looking at?” he snarled, transferring his attention to the driver.

“Looks kinda like a piece of shit wrapped in orange sherbet,” the driver retorted.
The guard who’d escorted him uttered a snorting laugh as he stepped outside and

secured the cage door. “Better watch your back,” he murmured in a low voice as he
passed the driver, jerking a thumb in the direction of the prisoner. “He’s got connections
… outside, and they’re some mean bastards.”

“Who is he?” the driver asked.
“Mikhail Zodorf—used to be a big crime boss, didn’t you, Zodorf?” the guard

shot the question at the prisoner.

“You keep thinking that, Shithead.”
The guard shrugged. “Look’s like the way of it to me. Drive safely,” he said to

the driver, heading down the steps of the bus. “Wouldn’t want to bruise the little Rusky
prince back there. He might tell his family.”

Stepping back when he’d exited the bus, the guard watched as the bus pulled out,

stopping for inspection at the gate. Shrugging, relieved to see the last of Zodorf, he
headed back inside, wondering if he could squeeze in a quick smoking break before he
reported back.

Zodorf glared daggers at the back of the driver’s head for a while but when nearly

thirty minutes passed without the driver once glancing back at him, he finally turned his
attention to the darkness beyond the window, wondering why he hadn’t heard anything
about the hit. Granted, news traveled fucking slowly these days and this particular piece
of news wasn’t something he was willing to chance the Feds getting their hands on, but
still … it had been weeks since he’d gotten word that a snitch had come forward with the
information he’d been looking for. His lawyer was just about ready to file an appeal. He
wanted to be damned sure the Feds’ prize witness wasn’t going to be in any condition to
testify before his appeal came up.

He wasn’t sure what to make of the transfer—particularly not considering the

time they’d picked to do it. The suggestion that somebody had planned a hit on him was
pure bullshit, of course. He had plenty of enemies, but they were busy trying to take over
his enterprises while he was locked up. None of them had any reason—that they knew
of—to try a hit in Federal lock-up.

He was sure it was some bullshit the Feds had come up with to try to put a wrench

in his appeal plans. He just wasn’t sure what they had in mind or how they thought the

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 159

transfer would make any difference.

Unless …
He shook that thought off before it fully formed. They wouldn’t move him to a

prison where he was likely to run in to one of his enemies just to see if they could get him
bumped off.

He discovered when he emerged from his thoughts that the bus was taking a

damned peculiar route. Ordinarily, they stuck to the major highways just like everybody
else. There damned sure wasn’t any reason that he could think of to explain what the
fuck they were doing on a back road in the middle of nowhere. Not only did he not see a
sign of a light indicating any houses, but he didn’t recall passing another vehicle in a
while, not since directly after they’d turned out of the prison.

Of course, it was pretty late. Traffic on the back roads tended to thin out a lot

earlier than it did on the highway.

He still felt a prickling of uneasiness.
Flicking a glance at the guard sitting just outside the cage, he discovered the man

was staring at him—realized he had been almost from the time he’d been ‘buckled’ in,
although he hadn’t said anything.

His uneasiness intensified. He tried to shrug it off. The guard was young—

damned young. He didn’t look to be much more than twenty-three, maybe twenty-four.

He looked a bit shaggy for a guard for that matter.
Since when had they started allowing guards to wear their hair that long?
“You got something you want to say?” he growled at the boy.
Something flickered in the young man’s eyes, but it wasn’t fear as Mikhail had

expected. It irritated him since he’d decided the reason the guy was staring at him so
hard was because he was some green-behind-the-ears recruit, probably scared shitless
about escorting his first prisoner.

When the guard didn’t say anything, he finally returned his attention to the view

from the window. His gaze was snagged almost immediately by headlights in the road
up ahead—headlights from a vehicle that seemed to be sitting still—in the middle of the
road.

Even as he felt his belly clench in sudden apprehension, the lights on top of the

vehicle flashed.

What the fuck? Some country bumpkin cop had decided to pull over the prison

bus?

Feeling the bus decelerate just about the time he lost his view from his window,

Zodorf transferred his attention to the front of the bus. He couldn’t see anything then,
though, but the flashing blue lights. The bus continued to slow and finally pulled to a
stop. The driver grabbed the handle of the door opener and flung the bus doors open.

Vaguely relieved when he saw that the man coming up the bus steps was wearing

a cop uniform—looked like a cop, Zodorf relaxed fractionally.

“Any problems?” the cop asked the driver.
“Nope. Went smooth.”
Zodorf felt tension seize him as the conviction abruptly assailed him that he’d

been set up. “What the fuck is going on?”

The cop that had entered the bus lifted his head and looked straight at him. “This

is Mikhail Zodorf?” he asked the driver—or maybe the guard. His gaze was focused on

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him, however.

“Who wants to know?” he growled.
The cop, followed Zodorf saw, by another man not in uniform, advanced toward

the cage. He stared through the security fencing for a few moments, his expression hard,
dangerous. Glancing down at the lock, he reached for it, closed his hand around it—and
wrenched it clean off the door.

Zodorf gaped at the man, trying to assimilate what he’d watched the man do.
Looping his fingers in the wiring, he wrenched the door off its hinges with no

apparent effort and set it aside.

Then he smiled.
It wasn’t a pleasant smile and Zodorf, for the first time in his life, felt real fear.
“Abby sends her greetings,” the man said in a deep, rumbling growl of a voice.

* * * *

Beth wasn’t at all happy when Abby insisted she was well enough to move back

into her own house, but she’d seen for herself that Abby was getting around almost
normally. She still got a little breathless when she climbed the stairs to the room where
she’d been convalescing. She was still, obviously, a little stiff, but she didn’t need
nursing and Beth knew it.

“The guys’ll expect to find you here when they get back,” she said instead of

trying to argue that Abby wasn’t well enough to take care of herself yet.

Abby gave her a look. “I think they can probably find their way over to my place

from here,” she said wryly.

Beth pursed her lips. “You know that isn’t what I meant. Seth said I was to

watch you and take care of you.”

The comment stirred a mixture of emotions inside of Abby. As much as she

appreciated Seth’s concern for her, though, she had no intention of allowing him to think
she was just going to follow orders all the time—assuming he meant to stick around
when he got back.

She still had the uneasy feeling that that was a big ‘if’, though, despite what Beth

had told her.

Well—partly because of the things Beth had told her.
Apparently, she’d been shot before the battle was settled between the ‘contenders’

for her. She didn’t see that that mattered when she was the one who ultimately decided.

Anyway, it was sort of a moot point now.
She was pregnant. She still hadn’t fully accepted it despite the fact that the

doctors had found the evidence in her blood work.

The big problem was that she didn’t know which one of the guys was the father—

which one of the men she’d begun to think of as hers was the father.

It had been dismaying, to say the very least, to discover that, contrary to what

she’d thought, Seth, Cameron, Adrian, and Jerico didn’t belong to the same pack. Unlike
them—where getting any kind of information about them in particular and the Wolfen in
general was like pulling teeth—Beth had spent her entire convalescence filling her in on
everything she’d never known about Wolfen—and about the guys, although she didn’t
know Cameron, Adrian, or Jerico nearly as well as did Seth.

Beth, as it turned out, was what was considered a ‘friend’ of the Wolfen—a

human friend. She wasn’t actually a Mrs., either. Well, not at all. She’d been the late

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Mr. Parker’s lover, and he’d been a Were. She would gladly have been his mate except
that she’d never been able to bear a child for him.

It made Abby all the more grateful to realize she was pregnant and, at the same

time, made her feel guilty for feeling that way.

At least, since she was pregnant, she was mated—with one of them.
She didn’t really want to think about that, but it was impossible not to. She was

excited, regardless of which of them had fathered the baby, and unhappy at the same
time, because she didn’t know which one—and because, from what Beth had told her, all
of them were Alpha males and had their own packs. When they returned, when they
learned about the situation, she didn’t know what would happen.

The one thing she’d wanted, though, wasn’t likely to happen. She didn’t belong

to ‘her’ guys and they didn’t belong to her. She belonged to whichever one of them had
fathered the baby and his pack.

Of course, she could still refuse, but she’d given her word that she would abide by

the pack laws and the pack laws were pretty clear on that subject. She was mated. The
father would expect to have paternal rights, would demand them, and she certainly
wasn’t against that. She wanted to be with the father, wanted her baby to have two
parents.

But it meant giving up Seth, or Cameron, or Adrian, or Jerico and it made her

miserable to think about it in those terms.

Those thoughts detracted from the excitement she would otherwise have felt

about the baby. She loved them—all of them. No matter which one she was mated with,
she was going to be heartbroken to leave the others, or have them leave her. She didn’t
think she could pretend any differently, even to spare the feelings of her mate, and that
seemed guaranteed to ruin any chance of a relationship with any of them.

All in all, the situation was just one big mess and she had no idea how she was

going to resolve it.

CALL OF THE WOLF Madelaine Montague 162

Chapter Twenty

Abby was napping on her couch, trying to recover from her first day back at
school when she heard a knock on her front door. Wondering if it was one of the men
Seth had left to watch her, she sat up and got off the couch, weaving a slightly drunken
path toward the front door. For several moments after she’d opened the door, she simply
stared at the men standing on her front porch blankly. Abruptly, like a dam breaking, joy
filled her, breaking across her face in a smile so broad it made her cheeks ache.
“You’re back!” she exclaimed breathlessly, launching herself at the Seth, who
stood in the forefront.
She had a split second to register the fact that their expressions were sober, to feel
a doubt sink in, and then she felt Seth’s arms surrounding her. His hold was firm,
engulfing her in his warmth, but she felt a tension in him, as well, realized he wasn’t
squeezing her as enthusiastically as she had him.
Refusing to acknowledge it, she pulled away after a moment, stepping back and
holding the door wide to welcome them inside. The moment Jerico, trailing up the rear,
had cleared the door, she shoved it closed and threw her arms around his waist, hugging
him tightly. “Oh! I missed y’all so much!” she exclaimed, pulling away from Jerico
after a moment only far enough to catch his face between her hands and pull him down
for a kiss.
She felt his uncertainty in his hesitation, but he yielded to her determination after
on the briefest of pauses, kissing her with enthusiasm. When she pulled away from him,
she smiled up at him. “I love the new bedroom suit you bought me!”
He blushed faintly and grinned. “It was the one you liked best?”
She chuckled. “You know it was!” Pulling away from him after a moment, she
hugged and kissed Adrian, thanking him for his gift and then Cameron. Seth was looking
more than a little piqued with her by the time she got back to him, but she ignored that,
too, and kissed him.
She’d decided she wasn’t going to play favorites. She loved them and she was
going to make that clear before they got around to trying to sort things out.
“Did y’all just get back?” she asked with determined cheerfulness when she’d
made the rounds.
“A few minutes ago,” Seth said neutrally. “I thought you’d be with Beth Parker.”
A flicker of irritation went through her. “I’m fine now,” she responded
dismissively, urging them toward the living room by grabbing one of Seth’s arms and one
of Cameron’s. “I started back to work today. Are y’all hungry? Thirsty? Did
everything go alright? Beth said y’all had some business to take care of, but I didn’t
think y’all would be gone so long!”
They’d managed to make it to the living room in that time. Abby waited long
enough to make sure they intended to sit down before she claimed a corner of the couch
herself.
She discovered when she’d settled that all of them still looked tense and

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uncomfortable despite the fact that they’d sprawled with the appearance of ease on the
couch and chairs around the room. Butterflies of uneasiness began to flutter in her belly
when none of them spoke.
She kept her smile firmly in place with an effort. “I should take something out for
supper. I didn’t know when to expect y’all to get back, but I got steaks to celebrate. It
won’t take long to thaw them.”
Seth and Cameron, who’d settled on either side of her both caught at her as she
attempted to rise.
“It can wait, chère,” Cameron murmured gently. “How are you really doin’, eh?”
Abby felt her face heat beneath his piercing gaze, wondering if it was obvious to
all of them how hard she’d been working to try to sound gay and unconcerned. “I’m fine
now, really. Not quite a hundred percent, but better every day.”
“Beth took good care of you?” Seth asked.
Abby turned to look at him. “You know she did … fussed over me like a mother
hen, bless her heart! What did she tell you?”
Seth shrugged. “Just that you’d insisted on moving back over here.”
She studied his face, but she couldn’t see any indication that Beth had told them
her news. Unless she was mistaken, that ruled that information out as the source of their
seriousness. A flutter of anxiety went through her. She desperately wanted to tell them,
and yet she was keenly aware that it wasn’t going to be exactly joyful news to them
under the circumstances. “Why don’t I go grab everybody something to drink? I bought
beer!” she added enticingly.

Of course Beth had told her that beer, due to their rapid metabolism, barely had

any effect on them at all—which was why she’d made sure she had two cases chilling in
the refrigerator. Surely that was enough to mellow all of them? The trick was going to
be getting them to drink it and keeping them distracted long enough for it to have any
effect.
She figured the longer she could avoid a confrontation, though, the better.
“Beth din’ say nothin’ ‘bout why we gone, chère?”
Abby turned to look at Cameron uneasily. “No. I assumed she didn’t know.”
Seth took her hand, drawing her attention to him. He studied her face. She
couldn’t quite interpret his expression.
“We couldn’t take any more chances with you,” he said finally.
Abby frowned at him in confusion. It was so far from what she’d been expecting
that it took a few moments to readjust her mind set. Even when she realized he was
talking about the attacks on her, she found her thoughts scattering from one possibility to
another. Uppermost in her mind was the fear that he was trying to say that they’d made
arrangements with the Feds to move her somewhere else. She swallowed a little
convulsively. “You said … you said I could stay here … with y’all.” She scanned his
face a little anxiously. “I guess … nothing was really settled at the gathering? Is that
why y’all left? To talk with the council?”
Seth studied her anxious face uncomfortably. “We did speak with the council, but
that isn’t why we left.”
Suddenly certain she didn’t want to hear whatever it was Seth was trying to tell
her so gently, she tried to pull her hand free. He tightened his hold. “We … eliminated
the threat to you, Abby.”

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Abby stared at him blankly. “I don’t understand,” she said finally. “Eliminated?
How?”
“We took the head off the serpent,” Cameron growled. “Literally.”
Adrian made a sound of irritation. “Christ, Cam!”
Abby looked from one to the other in confusion. “The serpent?” Even as she
echoed Cameron, however, it hit her like a ton of bricks. She’d seen the newspaper
article about Mikhail’s unexplained death. He’d been found deep in the woods miles
from the prison after he’d escaped from the bus transporting him.
His death had been attributed to wild animals.
She felt the color leave her face. “Mikhail?” she asked a little faintly.
Adrian’s expression closed. When she looked around at the men, she saw their
expressions were either closed as Adrian’s had become, or taut. She licked her dry lips.
“They don’t know it was y’all, do they?” she asked, fear lacing her voice.
Surprise flickered in Seth’s eyes. “No. They don’t.”
Abby swallowed with an effort, tightening her hold on his hand. “You’re sure?”
she asked anxiously, struggling with the sudden urge to burst into tears.
“We had all the paperwork in order when we took him from the prison. They’re
damned unhappy he managed to ‘escape,’ but there’s no reason for them to suspect we
had anything to do with his death.”
Giving up the effort at control, Abby surged toward him, wrapping her arms
around him and sobbing against his chest. “Promise?”
Seth stared down at her a moment and finally wrapped his arms around her.
“They aren’t going to trace it back to us,” he said firmly. Or any of the others, for that
matter. Fortunately, Mikhail had decided to threaten them with retribution by naming off
his cohorts most likely to track them down and avenge his death, not that they were
worried about that, but it gave them a list of potential threats to Abby. It had taken a
while to track them all down—and the hit men who’d been contacted directly with the
contracts, but they were comfortably certain there wasn’t anyone they needed to worry
about coming after Abby anymore. “You’re safe.”
Abby sniffed, collecting herself at that. “I know that,” she said irritably. “I was
safe before y’all went off to … take the head off the serpent! You told me you’d keep me
safe. I’m worried about you! All of you! You’re sure? Absolutely sure?”
Seth studied her with a mixture of bemusement and annoyance. She could see he
didn’t particularly like her misgivings. No doubt, she thought wryly, he saw it as a lack
of confidence in his abilities instead of the concern it was.
Men and their egos!
Cupping her face in his palms, he dragged her upward for a kiss that began as a
gentle caress to sooth and escalated to something far warmer. She thought it might have
progressed even further but, almost as if some thought had abruptly struck him, he ended
the kiss. He didn’t release her. He held her face, his gaze piercing, questioning. “You
can have your life back, Abby,” he said, almost harshly.
Still more than a little woozy from the kiss, Abby merely stared back at him in
confusion. Slowly, she realized what he was saying.
It was strange that the suggestion filled her with far more dismay than happiness.
She pulled away from him, studying his face for any clue that he didn’t want her to go
and finally turned to look at the others.

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She discovered it was as impossible to read their thoughts as it had been Seth’s.
She didn’t know what to say. Did they want her to stay or not? If she whined and
reminded them that they’d promised she could stay with them would they feel like she
didn’t appreciate the danger they’d put themselves in, the terrible risks they’d taken, to
make sure she was safe from Mikhail?
She swallowed a little convulsively. “Is that why y’all did it?” she asked finally.
“So I could go back?”
“Yes,” Seth said harshly.
She glanced at him sharply, wondering if the anger sharpening his voice was
because she’d questioned it or if there was even a little bit of reluctance for her to leave.
Hurt filled her and then anger. She got off the couch, and paced toward the door to put
some distance between them and herself before she turned to face them. The urge to tell
them she was pregnant assailed her again, but she beat it back. If she told them, no doubt
they’d insist she stay, but what would that tell her? Nothing except what she already
knew. They were in what Beth had called ‘mating mode’—primed to procreate. It
wasn’t going to tell her whether they cared anything about her beyond her breeding
capabilities, though.
She was still tempted. It would seal the deal. She wouldn’t have to ask them to
let her stay.
She met their gazes one by one, trying to think what to say. Tell them she loved
them? Or prove it, she wondered? Doubts still swarmed in her mind. On the one hand,
she felt that showing them the proof of her feelings for them would be the equivalent of
trying to convince them by telling them about the baby. On the other—she didn’t want to
give up without a fight. Maybe, if they realized she loved them, they would understand
that she wanted to stay and work something out.
Maybe part of the reason they weren’t sure they wanted her anymore was
because, as a human, she was such a pathetically weak creature that she wasn’t anything
but a burden? Maybe they thought, even though they’d risked their lives and their
freedom to eliminate the threat to her life that she was still always going to be a burden?
“There’s something I need to show you,” she said finally.
All four looked surprised and then both puzzled and angry.
“What?” Cameron asked after a prolonged moment.
She shook her head. “Not here. We need to take a drive.” Turning, she headed
down the hallway toward the back door without waiting to see if they would follow her.
Seth’s vehicle, she saw, was parked in Beth’s rear parking lot. Climbing into her
own car without waiting to see if they’d follow her, she started it and headed down the
driveway.
She’d reached the corner before the pack, now on their motorcycles, caught up
with her. Seth signaled for her to stop. Ignoring him, pretending she hadn’t seen him
park his bike and get off, she whipped around the corner and headed toward the
fairgrounds.
She’d pissed them off. She could see that in the expressions on their faces when
she glanced at them in the rearview mirror.
Well, that was just too bad! She was angry herself. She knew it wasn’t their fault
that she’d fallen for all of them. They’d been trying to win her over for themselves—and
their packs—but it didn’t really matter in the end. She’d still fallen for all of them. It

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had still put her in a hell of a quandary.
And she still didn’t know the father of her baby.
She was almost certain, now, that it was Seth’s. It was still too early for her to be
absolutely sure even though her own senses had sharpened dramatically in the last
several weeks. Undoubtedly, it wasn’t just her failing, though. She hadn’t seen any
indication that any of the four had even sensed that she was pregnant, let alone detected
the baby’s connection.
Of course, she’d only kissed them.
She’d kissed them because she’d wanted to, but she’d more than half hoped that
they’d know when she did, that she’d see the certainty in someone’s eyes.
She was glad in a way that they hadn’t. As long as they weren’t certain, then they
were all going to hang around—at least until they figured it out.
And that would give her at least a little more time with all of them.
Evidently, they figured out where she was headed. They zoomed around her
before she was halfway to the fair grounds. When she pulled in, they’d already parked
their bikes and gotten off.
As soon as she parked the car, they dismounted from their bikes and started
toward the car—which she’d driven down nearer the woods.
Getting out, she tossed her keys into the seat and began to pull her clothes off,
watching them. The moment she pulled her shirt off, all four of them halted as abruptly
as if they’d hit a brick wall. Smiling faintly, she nudged her shoes off with her toes and
shucked the jeans and panties.
When she straightened, she saw they’d come out of shock and were striding
toward her again. She closed her eyes, focusing as Beth had told her—hoping, praying
that she could do it again. She’d only tried the once before.
She felt the change coming over her almost immediately, though. It hurt. She
gritted her teeth, focusing on calling the wolf. It took longer than she’d expected.
They’d nearly reached her when she felt the pain easing off and looked down at the
reddish brown fur that covered her forelegs.
She looked up at them expectantly, feeling a thrill run through her when she saw
that they’d stopped again, were staring at her in stunned amazement. A smile curled
through her. She yipped at them. She couldn’t speak—not human—in this form, but the
sounds that emerged from her throat, she knew instinctively, were the call of the wolf to
her mate.
Abruptly, they four of them began to tear at their own clothes. She waited,
watching until all of them were naked and then whirled, racing down the path that led to
the gathering place. Within a few moments, she heard them behind her, heard their
baying. Her heart thundered in her chest with a thrill of excitement. She poured on more
speed, determined to give them a run for their money.
She was only a few lopes ahead of them by the time she reached the clearing.
Skidding to a halt, she whirled to face them, admiring their strength, their beauty as they
rushed toward her. They skidded a halt as they reached her, milling around her, sniffing
her, nuzzling her.
In a few moments, though, they began the battle. She nipped at Seth when he
tried to mount her, letting him know she expected him to prove himself to her. He
uttered a snarl, whirling away from her and attacking Cameron. Adrian, obviously

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hoping to use their battle as a distraction, leapt at her, trying to mount her. She snarled at
him, leaping out from under him before he could get a good grip on her. Jerico dove at
him even as she ‘discouraged’ his advances, however. The two of them tangled and
began whirling in the dirt, snapping and biting at each other.
Satisfied, she put a little distance between them, watching them, uttering an
occasional yip of encouragement.
They were magnificent! No wonder she’d had such a hard time trying to decide
who she loved best! They were all wonderful! Any woman would have a hard time
choosing between them.
The match between Cameron and Seth was a viscous one. The battle between
Adrian and Jerico wasn’t much less ferocious. It unnerved her, but she firmly tamped her
uneasiness. They had to satisfy their need to dominate.
In the end, she realized, it didn’t really matter beyond satisfying them. Her senses
were far sharper in her wolf form than they had been in her human form. She was
carrying Seth’s baby. If he hadn’t already sensed it, he would when he came for her.
The two pairs fought until Cameron and Jerico finally yielded, limping a little
distance away. Seth turned instantly and attacked Adrian. That battle didn’t last nearly
as long. Both of them were tired and hurt, but Adrian was in worse shape than Seth when
he started. He yielded with a yelp of pain when Seth caught his throat in his jaws.
Satisfied, Seth lifted his head and howled his victory, then trotted over to where
she waited for him. Excitement flooded her. She tucked her tail, crouching slightly to
show him she accepted his dominance. He nuzzled her face, licking her, and then
covered her.
She hadn’t given a lot of thought to what it would feel like to mate in her wolf
form. She discovered, however, from the moment he drove into her and began pounding
thrusts that it was as wild as the form she’d taken. Pleasure flooded her. Her body
exploded with it.
The only complaint she had was that it was far too short.
Then again, she reflected wryly, it had been weeks!
He gripped her tightly, nuzzling his face along her neck until the swelling went
down in his cock and finally dismounted, staring at her with eyes bright with pleasure,
satisfaction—love. Nudging at her until she collapsed on the ground, he dropped to the
ground beside her, nipping at her lightly and rubbing all over her. She nuzzled him in
return until he seemed satisfied and finally lifted his head and glanced around at the
others.
Abby looked at them, too, waiting … hoping.
Cameron trotted toward them. Dropping his head in submission to Seth, he
waited a moment and finally moved to nuzzle Abby. Seth uttered a warning growl, just
to let him know he’d claimed her, and then got up and trotted off. They mounted her one
by one—not symbolically—they fucked her brains out, but she wasn’t the least unhappy
about it.
In point of fact, she was overjoyed.
She lay resting among them for a little while, enjoying the closeness of belonging
to a pack but, unlike them, she had to struggle to retain the form of a wolf. Maybe, when
she’d had more practice, she thought, it wouldn’t be so hard?
Yielding finally to the weariness pulling at her, she braced herself for the shift

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back to her true form. They studied her for several moments and then, one by one,
changed into their human forms.
There was a question in their eyes. “It’s called the passion of the wolf, Beth
says.” She swallowed with an effort.
Seth studied her a little doubtfully. That was only a myth. More likely it was
because she’d been infected … by him, although, if she had been, she should’ve
recovered much faster than she had … and he’d never heard of any Were going through
first transition before the first full moon after exposure. The important thing, though, was
that she was alright … and she believed it was because of her love. “Maybe it’s because
you’re carrying my pup? When were going to tell me?”
She grimaced. “I couldn’t. I didn’t know myself until I shifted—not that it was
yours.” She glanced around at the others. “It could’ve belonged to any of you.”
“When did you discover you could shift?” Cameron asked after a long moment.
Abby shrugged. “Beth said that she had the passion of the wolf. She’d loved her
man so much that she’d changed—for him.” She looked down at the grass, plucking at it.
“I knew she couldn’t possibly have loved him any more than I do all of you. So, I looked
to see if it was there and I found it—my own beast.”
She looked up at them. “So you see—I can’t leave. My heart’s here—with the
four of you.” She shook her head. “I don’t want you to stay with me just because of the
way things happened. Don’t feel like you have to, that you owe me anything. You’ve all
taken care of me, protected me, given me a life again when I’d thought I would never
have the chance to have a real life again. I’m grateful for it. I wish you’d asked me
before you took the risks you did. I would’ve told you it wasn’t something I wanted, that
it wasn’t worth it to me to take the chance that anything might happen to any of you.
“But … I’m staying here, regardless of what the four of you decide. I like
teaching. I like the new life I have.”
Seth gathered her into his embrace, holding her tightly. “We went because we
needed to know that your decision to stay had nothing to do with the need for
protection,” he murmured against her throat. “I love you. Stay with me. It’s want I
want.”
Releasing a sigh of relief, Abby burrowed more tightly against him, content just
to be held.
“I doan suppose Beth bothered to tell you we aren’t a pack, chère?” Cameron
muttered irritably.
Abby disentangled herself from Seth and looked at him a little uncomfortably but
decided not to lie. “She did.” She chewed her lip. “That doesn’t change the way I feel
about all of you or the fact that I believed … that I think of you as my pack.”
Cameron and Seth exchanged a look. After a few moments, Seth released her and
turned to look at Adrian and Jerico questioningly. Jerico shrugged, but grinned abruptly.
“I’m your man. Whose ass do I have to kick to get my old pack ranking back?”
Uttering a thankful chuckle, Abby launched herself at him, kissing him with
enthusiasm when he caught her in a tight embrace. His kiss warmed her more than a
little and when she finally pulled away from him she beamed at him a little drunkenly.
“You got one of those for me?” Adrian asked gruffly.
Abby grinned at him. “One just for you!”
She smiled at him dreamily when he finally lifted his head. He stroked her cheek.

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“I don’t know if I’m crazy about you or just plain crazy,” he murmured wryly.
Abby leaned close enough to nip at his earlobe with her teeth. “You’re crazy
about me because I’m crazy about you.”
He grinned at her lazily when she leaned away to look at him. “That might be it.”
She turned from him after a moment, looking at Cameron questioningly,
unhappily aware that he hadn’t said anything.
He met her gaze for an endless moment and finally flicked a scowl at Seth. “I’m
more inclined to demand a rematch, mon ami—but you already won the prize.” He
looked at Abby again. “Seein’ as how I can’t leave my woman here with you, I guess I
need to find out whose ass I’ve got to kick to be your second.”
Relieved beyond measure, Abby hurried into his embrace gratefully, clutching at
him a little frantically. “I thought you were going to leave me,” she murmured when
he’d kissed her thoroughly.
His eyes gleamed. “How could I do that, amour? You’re here … in my heart.”
He smiled faintly and then lifted his head to give the others a challenging look. “Besides,
the next pup to nestle there’s gonna be mine,” he said, cupping his hand over her belly.

The End