The hum of voices quieted as Opal appeared on the back patio, followed closely by Amber. She led the way through the crowd, and they all followed her, their eagerness palpable.
An unpaved winding path led into the forest. Autumn’s fallen leaves provided a colorful carpet beneath their feet. The evening breeze fell off here, muted by the shield of the ancient trees. This was as sacred and holy a place as Jade had ever been.
In the deepest part of their land, they passed the large maple tree that marked the edge of the preserve. Here, the family fanned out. Each, whether individually or as a small group, had their favorite spot they liked to go to shed and store their human clothing before initiating the change into wolf.
Ever since she’d first shifted, Jade had claimed a little glade rimmed by sumac and pine trees that had been mere saplings all those years ago.
Slipping into her own private leafy enclosure, Jade quickly undressed, placing everything into a weatherproof plastic box she kept chained to a rock. And then, with the scent of the damp earth surrounding her, she dropped to the ground and began the change.
Some shifters rushed this, anxious for the change to wolf to be over. There were a few who claimed they found it excruciatingly painful, but the vast majority took pleasure in the act. Jade liked to take her time, enjoying the feeling of her bones lengthening and changing, her body going from human woman to female wolf. Each time, she treated this act with reverence, like the miracle she considered it to be.
Finally, she blinked to clear away the sparkling pricks of light that always accompanied the shape-shifting. Wolf now, she used her nose before her eyes, sniffing the air and recognizing the individual scents of her family.
Bounding from her clearing, she greeted them with play bows. And they were off. Running, tumbling, stretching out their lupine forms until they were more used to being in this shape.
This—wild and free—was when Jade felt happiest. The damp leaves under her paws, catching the tantalizing scents of rabbit and fox, the feel of her powerful muscles under her fur as she ran.
Often, the Burnett clan would stay out all night, only changing back to human as dawn neared. Sometimes the elders, tiring easy, would leave early, but often they, too, reveled in the freedom from human aches and pains.
This night, Jade took the opportunity to make sure when she returned home as human she’d be exhausted. She hunted, but killed nothing, enjoying the sport. She played and rolled, teased and ran. And finally, as the sky began to lighten, she returned to her little grotto and began the change back to human.
Then, aroused as she always was, the way all shifters were when they changed back to human she found herself longing for a certain man. Rance. Glad her fatigue kept her from thinking too much, she dressed and began the long trek home. Ahead, she saw a few others doing the same thing.
Once she reached the house, she headed upstairs to her room and slid into bed. Closing her eyes, she fell into what she hoped would be a deep, dreamless sleep.
Of course, the next morning she slept in. Bright yellow sunlight streamed in through her bedroom window. Immediately, she knew she’d dreamed of him again. Rance. Sensual dreams, the kind she’d never had until recently. Rance. The man she’d craved when she’d returned to her human form. From the instant she first opened her eyes, she could see his face. They wanted her to distract him, but she needed to be careful. Nervous with anticipation, she put extra care into her appearance, styling her long silver hair into a mass of curls and applying eyeliner and mascara as well as powder and blush. And gloss. As she smoothed that over her mouth, she couldn’t help but imagine Rance tasting her lips, lingering over the slightly sweet flavor.
The instant the thought occurred to her, she blushed. All over. Glad no one else was around to notice, she reminded herself she needed to distract him, nothing more.
Pearl and Sapph came running into her room, both talking excitedly at the same time. “He’s here. Or not here yet, but walking up the street toward the house. He’s got a camera with a huge lens and he’s taking pictures of everything. I saw him...”
“No,” Sapph interrupted, grinning. “I saw him first. So I get dibs.”
Dibs?
“No one gets anything,” Jade reminded them, keeping her voice stern while she hid a smile. “He’s too old for you both, anyway.”
“Staking a claim?” Amber lounged in the doorway, her gaze sharp, her expression interested.
“I’m the distraction, remember?” Jade summoned up a sweet smile. “Unless you want to do it?”
Amber laughed, the sound deep and throaty. “Don’t tempt me. That man is easy on the eyes.”
This made Jade snort.
“Ewww.” Pearl said, grimacing. “Mommmm. Don’t be a cougar. That’s disgusting.”
Inspecting herself in the mirror, Jade decided she looked presentable enough in her faded jeans and light green T-shirt.”
“You’re wearing that?” Amber asked, perfectly shaped brows raised. “How are you going to be a distraction dressed like that?”
Jade eyed her mother patiently. “Don’t you think he’d find it a little strange if I met him on the front porch wearing a miniskirt and six-inch heels?”
Both Pearl and Sapph snickered.
“You could put a little effort into it,” her mother began. “At least wear a dress. Even a nice blouse.”
Jade stared at her. A blouse. She wasn’t even sure she owned such a thing. “No,” she finally answered. “Now if you ladies will excuse me, I’ve got some distracting to do.”
With that, she swept out of the room, her head high.
In the hallway, her steps slowed. Unlike her heartbeat. So much for bravado. She’d been racking her brain trying to figure out exactly how to distract Rance.
She wasn’t sure how far her family expected her to go, but she had no intention of getting even the slightest bit intimate with the man.
Her body’s reaction to the idea of seeing him again called her a liar.
“Good morning.” Pasting a bright smile on her face, she strode forward, hand outstretched. Tall and broad shouldered, his gray eyes blazed as he looked at her. He took her hand, but instead of shaking it as she expected, he lifted it to his lips and kissed the back, his mouth lingering.
Damn. She thought she might melt into a puddle right then and there. Somehow, she remembered to breathe.
Then, while her knees still shook and she couldn’t find her voice to save her life, he released her and flashed that same charming smile. “Hold on, darlin’,” he said, lifting the camera that hung around his neck and snapping a few shots of the house, the front porch and her.
When he’d finished, he was still smiling. “How about you and I go visit Forestwood Lake?”
Together? And then she remembered she needed to distract him.
“Okay,” she managed. Because she knew he wouldn’t see anything unusual there at all. Not once in all the time her family had been taking care of Libby had Libby let an out-of-towner see her.
* * *
How Jade Burnett could manage to look so damn good in blue jeans and a T-shirt, Rance didn’t know. But when he turned and saw her sauntering toward him, her long silver hair tumbling in a luxurious fall over her shoulders, his breath caught in his throat. And his entire body went on red alert. At least he’d gotten a few shots with his camera.