Page 82 of Ice King

Not sensual. Highly erotic.

“How sexy,” Roxanne cooed.

I threw her a glare.

As I didn’t want, Samantha’s eyes lit up as soon as she snapped her head in my direction. “What? You’ve had a dream about my brother in the forest?”

“Ugh. When you say it like that, you make it sound so dirty, but yes, he was a wolf.”

Samantha pushed her coffee cup away, fanning her face and I’d be damned if I didn’t notice for the first time that she was perspiring. The coffee was scalding, but enough to make her sweat? When I realized how excited she was, my skin began to crawl. “My father was right.”

“Right about what?” My stomach filled with knots the size of bowling balls. She remained contemplating, chewing on her inner cheek. “What?”

“You really need to talk to Ford,” she said quickly, so much so I almost didn’t capture what she’d said.

“Trust me. I amthelast person he wants to see.”

“What did your father say?” At least Roxanne was trying to help me in this rather bizarre endeavor.

“Something about what was going on with Ford and why he wasn’t healing. The reason is also why he’s been prone to bouts of anger, which only happened once before and that was for a very good reason. He’s a good man. A pain in the ass, but there isn’t a bad bone in his body no matter what behavioral issueshe’s displayed recently. Please don’t be furious with him. He doesn’t process emotions very well. He’s stunted in that area.”

Roxanne and I snuck a couple of glimpses at each other since Samantha was rattling off some backend resume. “Who are you trying to convince?”

His sister groaned before looking at me. “Mostly you. Don’t be mad, but Roxanne told me you came from an abusive relationship.”

My body’s reaction was tense, but even after only being in town for a month and a half, a certain level of anxiety had abated.

Even if half the town thought I’d betrayed their hometown boy. Although my first reaction was to close my eyes, clenching the coffee cup with enough pressure hot liquid dripped across my hand.

“Don’t be angry with me,” Roxanne pleaded. “You’re a part of us now.”

Us. As if the town was a protected entity. Maybe with the number of shifters in town, I’d become a part of the pack. I released my hold, wiping the stinging drips on my jeans with more vigor than necessary. “Do you know what’s interesting? Since working here, I’ve tried to distinguish shifters from humans. Then I realized I’m merely part of the problem. There is no way to tell the difference and what does it matter? However, I can’t imagine what life must be like for shifters trying to enjoy their lives. I’m not angry with Ford. I’m just… cautious.”

Wasn’t that an easy, cheesy word?

Both women appeared to breathe a sigh of relief.

“So what is this reason? I assume it has more to do with shifter lore, if there is such a thing.”

Samantha nodded. “There is. The elders could talk your ear off with legends with no legitimate history to back it up. My father believed the reason Ford wasn’t healing as a shifter would was because he hadn’t shifted in years. So he did. From what I heard from Beck, he’s done so more than once trying to heal his ribs.”

“Was he stalking me in Wolfman form?” I didn’t know why I’d tossed that out, but thinking about my feeling that eyes were peering at me, the few times that had occurred, my skin had been electrified instead of developing creepy-crawlies.

My, didn’t Samantha have the same mischievous expression as her brother. “Entirely possible. As you’ve figured out, Ford doesn’t like to lose.”

“I’m not a prize and treating me like the enemy doesn’t endear him to me.”

“It’s entirely possible you’re more than a prize,” Samantha shot back while leaning back against the chair. Was she worried I’d lash out uncontrollably?

“Something used for target practice then?”

Both girls chuckled. I was serious. Ford should patent his brand of rage. “No,” Samantha said, managing to drawl out the single syllable while appearing as if she had ants in her pants. “You see, Ford needs to mate.”

I wasn’t certain what I’d expected to hear, but a mate wasn’t anywhere in the forefront of my vocabulary. “A mate. Are we talking like cute little wolf pups?”

“They’re the product of mating, so in a way.” My goodness. Samantha was so serious. “Wolves take mates for life.”

“You mean there’s some mandate with shifters they must get married by a certain age?” Okay, now my skin was beginning to crawl.