Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild) - By Kate Douglas Page 0,45
with most of the other young Chanku women of his generation at one time or another, but never with Annie. She’d been so shy and quiet, he’d pretty much ignored her when they were kids, and everyone held her father in such total awe, that it hadn’t been worth the risk of making Tinker mad.
Alex was sorry, now, that he’d been such a coward, because, well, damn. Who’d have thought little Annie McClintock would grow up to look like this? To smell like this. To have a killer smile and perfect breasts and a body he wanted to taste. All over.
But damn it all, he’d have to tell Lily, and she was going to give him hell. He’d totally forgotten what she’d said years ago, that Annie was his perfect match. All he’d seen was the bratty little kid with the flat chest and frizzy hair who always had her nose stuck in a book.
Goddess, how he hated it when Lily was right. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just most of the time.
It was all of the time.
He grinned. For some reason, this time he actually looked forward to telling her she’d won another one.
8
Counting her blessings and thankful she’d managed to duck her father’s inevitable interrogation, Lily walked quickly through her parents’ huge kitchen, down the stairs into the pantry, and from there through the narrow tunnel to the massive cavern beneath the house.
She really owed her mom on this one. Keisha had managed to interrupt Anton before he really had a chance to get started, and the moment Lily realized she’d had an escape handed to her, she’d taken it. Damn. What she wouldn’t give for a mate like her mom—one who understood the way she worked and loved her enough to put up with all her idiosyncrasies.
The way her mother managed her father’s. Laughter spilled out as she stepped into the cavern and paused. Moist, warm air washed over her. This had always been one of her favorite places, this massive cave that had provided sanctuary to the entire pack during the terrible fire so many years ago. All of them had remained safe down here while the entire house above them burned to the ground.
It had been a favorite place to play when she was a kid. Where she’d experienced her first sexual exploration with Alex when they were little more than children. Where she’d realized he wasn’t meant to be her mate, but someone just as important.
He was her friend. He would always be the man she could count on for complete honesty, the one to let her know when she was wrong, to encourage her when she was right.
Now, if only there were a man with all of Alex’s attributes—and more. A man who would love her in spite of herself, who would always be at her side. One with the strength of character to be alpha male to her alpha bitch.
Sebastian could be that man. She’d felt it from the beginning, but she had to know more about him. Had to know if he was as good as she wanted to believe, or if he were somehow tainted by his father’s darkness.
There was only one way to find out. Eve should have the answers she needed. Eve always had the answers.
Taking a deep breath, Lily cut to the left and walked around the large pool that filled part of the cavern floor. Low lights powered by solar panels high on the surface of the mountain illuminated the walls, the water, and the various tunnels leading away from this centrally located cave. The caverns were an important safety feature known only to members of the pack, with the extensive system of caves and tunnels spreading for miles beneath the rugged mountains. Solar panels provided power, the many artesian springs meant drinking water was always available, and her father maintained a huge stash of emergency supplies that could keep the entire pack fed for as long as might be needed.
Over the years they’d explored much of the system, but even more of the network remained untouched. However, it wasn’t the miles of tunnels and caverns that called to Lily on most of her trips home. No, it was the series of hieroglyphics carved into the wall beyond the pool—specifically a pair of handprints that were this cavern’s most intriguing feature—the key to a portal leading directly to the astral plane.
She still remembered the first time she’d discovered the doorway and scared the crap out of her parents.