over the sweep of her back in long, soothing strokes.
But, of course, her sharp intelligence engaged. Her edge had made his days a strange mixture of irritation and fun, new somehow because working with her interested him more than anything in years.
She struggled out of his embrace, propping herself up on one elbow with the sheets bunched in one hand over her breasts.
He lifted an eyebrow at her. "It's a little late for modesty, don't you think?"
"Is this for a little while?" She’d definitely focused, like a hound on a scent trail.
"For as long as you're here." He gave her reality, even though he wanted much more.
A complex set of expressions passed over her face, her eyes turning sad and tear bright. "I...I thought this was more than a couple of nights."
"Hey." He couldn't stand the sight of tears welling up in her eyes. It tore something in him to see them. He leaned over her to kiss them away, the salty sweetness dissolving on his tongue. "This is the time we have. We'll make it good."
"But what happens after that?" A good question.
"You go home." It about killed him to say the words. "And I go on, someplace else."
"Where?"
He shrugged, his mouth twisting in a rueful grin. "Wherever. I don't have a specific place to go to after every job. I just travel from place to place, pack to pack, wherever the next job takes me."
"Don't you ever want a place to call home?" Such warmth, so much caring in her voice. It cut into his soul, mostly because he knew it wasn't about wanting.
"You've seen the pack, Red. Any pack would be the same. Lone wolves are alone for a reason, and the packs don't usually ask why. You're pack or you're not. If you're not, there's no place for you to call home."
"There are other packs," she insisted. And she spoke the truth. The majority of the continent was broken into territories, governed by the strongest shapeshifter pack or pride in the area. He’d worked for several in the mountains, both wolf and big cat. He’d even taken on a few contracts for some of the non-predatory groups living on those territories.
But none of them welcomed outsiders. "It's not so easy, Red. You can't just walk into a pack and ask to become a part of the club."
"What can you do, then?"
Jason's temper flared. What did she want from him? "Look to the alphas of every pack or pride for those decisions. Lone wolves like me; we're a threat, an unknown danger. There's no trust because we're outside pack law. No one wants to take a chance that we might turn on them."
"I'm here." She said it quietly, and his temper only scraped raw at her words. "I want to be with you."
"You shouldn't." He told her, his words gruff as he rose up out of bed. "You shouldn't even be here. You deserve better."
"Wait." Confused, bewildered, she called after him. "Where are you going?"
But he strode naked out of the bedroom, across the sitting area and to the front door. Once he passed through, he shut the door behind him and faced the cold outside.
Shifting to wolf form, he ran into the forest and away from his own thoughts.
Frozen with shock as she stared out the bedroom at the front door, Carri couldn't believe he'd left. A heartbeat, then another, and she gathered a couple of brain cells together and fired them up, scrambling out of the bed and pulling on her clothes as quickly as she could.
She was not about to let him stomp off in a temper.
Her comm chimed as she pulled on her shoes. She touch-signaled it to audio only, connecting the call from Jenna. "Hello?"
"Carri?" Jenna's voice sounded calm and mildly curious, not a surprise considering the lack of visuals.
"Jenna, is it just me or do I spend most of my time fighting with or chasing down this hard-headed male?" Even exasperated, she worried too. Jason's concerns had justification, but the more she knew him, the more convinced she became he wasn't a lone wolf because he wanted to be.
"Well, dear, I guessed something hard might come into play, but I assumed you would have taken care of that."
Carri blushed. "Jenna!"
"Oh, we talking about his temperament, then?"
"Yes." Carri snatched up her comm as she headed for the front door. "I more than took care of any other context."
"So why do you not sound happy?" Jenna seemed unconcerned, but Carri knew better.
"Because he's