Reed (Nano Wolves #4) - Donna McDonald Page 0,12

agreed with an eye roll, “but calling you a ‘sloth of bears’ doesn’t make any sense at all. If you don’t like ‘pack’ as a term, I’d rather say ‘group’ when I talk about your people. If you were real bears, your wife would have run you off by now so she could raise your children all by herself without your input. I’m guessing it works differently for bear shifters because she’s giggling at my comment.”

“It does indeed work differently, which makes me a fortunate man to get to keep my family. How did you get to be so smart, Stewart?” Jon asked.

“Mom told me Grandpa Sheldon put special vitamins in my milk when I was a toddler. I don’t really remember it,” Stewart explained.

Jon nodded his head as he stood. He looked at Reed and sighed. “Let’s take a walk, Reed of the Black Wolf pack. I’ll show you around our humble compound. We’re living completely off-the-grid out here and proud of what we’ve created. Most of our energy is solar now.”

Reed looked down at Katarina and grinned a little. “I’m leaving. Don’t get into trouble while I’m gone, shorty.”

Katarina waved away his insinuation about her height. She could take teasing as well as give it—most of the time. “Go talk man stuff with Jon until the two of you trust each other. Maybe talking will make you more like Russian werewolf who is not frightened of bears.”

Reed chuckled at Katarina’s insults. She loved bossing people around, especially him. “The only thing that frightens me at the moment is you being out of my sight. What happens if you jump in front of someone’s tranquilizer gun while I’m gone? Your bravery will get you in deep trouble one day.”

Katarina snorted as she crossed her arms. “Or it will bring me great honor. Do not forget that I saved you, Temptation. I am still waiting for thank you.”

“You did not save me. You interfered in a fight meant for me,” Reed said.

“Da,” Katarina answered. “And my actions kept you in fight. Otherwise you would have slept through it.”

Reed lifted a hand. “Whatever happened… the bad guys still got away.”

She lifted a shoulder. “The bad guys had weapons. You and your people did not.” Katarina glared. No man was worth this headache. “Fine. Next time, I not interfere. Instead, I let tranquilizer dart find you. When bad guys abduct you, maybe I will ask if they need help.”

Reed laughed at her statement and at the fire in gaze. “Fine. You win. Thank you for taking a tranquilizer dart for me, Katarina Volkov.”

“Your words are too much like Yana’s. One minute this thought. Another minute that feeling. I don’t know why I care about what you think,” Katarina said.

Snickering, Reed reached out and used a knuckle to lift Katarina’s chin. “Guess finding out is yet another thing we have to put off until later.”

Katarina stared in Reed’s eyes. “Yes. Later. Always later.”

Laughing, Reed dropped his hand and stepped away to put some distance between them before he did something stupid—like kissing her senseless the way he kept wanting to.

Stewart watched Reed for signs of aggression as he quietly moved to Katarina’s side. “Don’t worry, Alpha Prime. Mom and I will look out for Katarina while you’re gone.”

Reed laughed at the human boy who so badly longed to be a wolf. All of Brandi’s adopted children were enigmas, as were the unusual beasts growing inside them. “Guarding Katarina is quite the job. Only someone with the heart of a wolf would offer.”

“Thank you,” Stewart said, hoping the man was right.

When Reed and Jon were out of sight, Stewart slowly turned to the woman he’d promised to protect. Katarina was smiling oddly as she watched Reed walk away. Maybe it was a Russian thing. “I don’t know what it means, but Reed’s entire body gets stiff when he talks to you, Katarina.”

Katarina chuckled at Brandi’s soft swearing as she patted a confused Stewart’s shoulder. “Da, I know what it means. That’s why I call him Temptation.”

Jon asked them to stay overnight so they could meet everyone. While Brandi, Gareth, and Reed were talking to Jon about the logistics of temporarily moving his people to Alaska. Katarina roamed the camp with a nervous Stewart dogging her heels.

“Why are you following an old she-wolf around? You should be talking to those here your age. You are not wolf. You are a hybrid human with wolf tendencies. I think you are closer to them as people.”

“It’s too