Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity #3) - Nalini Singh Page 0,28

Lara knew that as alpha he could never trust a stranger who hadn’t proven herself, but he wasn’t incapable of gentleness. If the E was no threat, he’d treat her as he would a hurt submissive. “She’s been with Alexei overnight,” he reminded his healer. “If she’s survived him, we’re on the right track.”

Lara groaned. “I adore him to pieces, but he’s half growl these days even when he smiles.”

Neither one of them spoke about the reason behind the shift in Alexei’s personality. It was better to simply accept the change, accept Alexei as he was now—because some losses scarred a man forever, and you either lived with it or let it break you. Alexei had found a way to live with it. “Is he still avoiding skin privileges?”

“Never to a dangerous point,” Lara murmured. “He’s compulsive about ensuring he has enough skin-to-skin contact with a packmate to ward off any instability.” A glance up at Hawke. “Only, I don’t think Alexei allows himself to enjoy any of it. He accepts it like a pill he has to take.”

Hawke shoved a hand through his hair. Wolves, like most changelings, were tactile creatures. Deprived of touch for too long, the dominants in particular tended to become aggressive—and Alexei had always been incredibly tactile. Not just in intimate situations. He might appear remote to outsiders, but he was a wolf who always had open arms for packmates who needed to be held. “He have any problems finding partners?”

“No. He sticks to friends who know him, and who’re willing to give him the contact he needs without recriminations or demands. That’s part of the problem.”

Hawke knew what Lara didn’t—that Alexei didn’t want to find a woman who meant more to him than a friend. And his reasons weren’t anything logic could overcome. Hawke’s youngest lieutenant had a terrible, painful motive for chasing aloneness.

“Hawke.” Judd exited the den’s tech center not far in front of them. “I was just coming to find you.”

“You got something on Alexei’s foundling?”

Judd’s gold-flecked dark eyes gave nothing away, but his words were ominous. “You need to see this.”

Chapter 12

Alexei Harte: SnowDancer wolf, 6.2, blond, gray-eyed, and panty-melting gorgeous. Word is, he’s won more dominance challenges than any other wolf in the pack. The wild women in SnowDancer tell us it’s because outsiders see his pretty face and think he’ll be an easy takedown. Most of those outsiders are still healing from various broken bones and internal injuries.

—From the “Scary but Sexy” column in the January 2083 issue of Wild Woman magazine: “Skin Privileges, Style & Primal Sophistication”

MEMORY WOKE TO gritty eyes, a body that ached, and a visceral awareness of not being alone. Her pulse spiked, her skin chilling as her mouth went dry. She hated it when Renault found her asleep and vulnerable.

Slitting her eyes open just enough to see, she—

Her eyelids flew all the way up.

A big male body, all golden skin and muscle, was stretched out on the floor not far from her bed. Why, she thought, coming fully awake, was Alexei half-naked on the floor? Her eyes snagged on what appeared to be a small tattoo on the back of his left shoulder, but she couldn’t make out the pattern from this distance.

Then he pushed up on his arms, the line of his body a thing of precision and beauty, and his arm muscles rigid. He held the position for what felt like an excruciating eternity to her, then went back down.

Not making a sound, loath to interrupt him, she watched the fluid movements in breathless fascination. He was only wearing a pair of sweats that hung low on his hips, so she had an uninterrupted view of his upper body.

Her stomach felt funny, her toes curling.

An amber gaze met hers when he rose to his feet after ten more repetitions of the smooth, powerful movement. Wild energy hummed in the air, a prowling kind of patience. “Pack got in touch,” he said in a voice she couldn’t read. “According to allies we asked to do a surveillance check, Erasmus David Renault never came home last night, and there’s no sign of him at his place of business.”

Memory wasn’t surprised; Renault hadn’t escaped detection this long by being unprepared. “He’s rich, has a lot of property.”

“Techs managed to turn one of our satellites in the direction of the bunker,” Alexei added. “No movement around it, no sign of an incursion.”

Memory didn’t flinch. She sat up instead. “He’d have teleported in to confirm my escape.”