Page 20 of Hayes

Hayes laughed. “Well, your voice works.” He remained squatted in the same spot, not wanting to move and startle her. He held out a hand, and she came to him to nuzzle his fingers. He reached up to pet behind her ear, enjoying the way she playfully growled.

After a minute, she turned toward the back door, trotted that direction, and nosed at the handle.

Hayes stood slowly. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go outside right now, Little one. It’s late, and we don’t know how your power might be affected in your wolf form. Let’s go out tomorrow in the daylight.”

She shook her snout back and forth, tipped her head down, and narrowed her gaze at him. It was about as fierce as she was capable of, and he wanted to laugh, but he needed to be stern with her. Neither her wolf nor her human would be permitted to challenge him. Not because he was an ogre who intended to boss her around with no rhyme or reason but because he wanted her to be safe.

He joined her by the door, reached under her snout, and tipped her head back. “Listen to Daddy, Little one. You do not make the rules. I do. Are we clear?”

She lowered her gaze submissively.

“Good girl. Now, I assume you realize it would be reckless of you to bound off into the night, right?”

She nodded vigorously.

“Are you curious about what you can scent?”

Another nod.

“Okay. You may step out onto the deck for a few minutes. That’s it. If you set even one paw off that deck, I will spank your bottom so hard you’ll never wish to disobey me again. Are we clear?”

Another quick nod.

Hayes hoped to heaven he wasn’t making a mistake in this decision. He didn’t think his mate would blatantly disobey him. It wasn’t in her nature. If he suspected she might, he wouldn’t let her outside. She’d given him no reason to doubt her word, though. Or her nodding as the case may be.

As soon as he opened the door, Rylee took a step backward. If her wolf could gasp, she did. She stared at the deck for several seconds before taking tentative steps outside.

Tipping her head back so her snout was in the air, she inhaled deeply, her nostrils flaring.

Hayes tensed. She looked as though she was scenting danger, but he suspected in this case, she was simply stunned by her abilities.

Suddenly, she jerked her head to the right and growled as if a predator were standing on the deck with them.

Hayes knew no one was there. Several Alpha Protectors were in the area, guarding the house. Nothing would get by them. Nevertheless, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He worried she knew something no one else could know. It was possible. After all, she wouldn’t be the first mate in recent history to have abilities that baffled the Alphas.

The urge to shift next to her so he could attempt to sense whatever had her upset was strong, but he wouldn’t do so. It was best to go back inside.

Hayes set his palm on her head, but just as he was about to tell her to return to the house, she jerked her gaze the other direction and growled again.

“All right, Little one. That’s enough. Inside. Now.” He released her head and pointed toward the door.

She switched her attention from the darkness around them to him, seeming to snap out of a trance before turning and trotting into the kitchen.

Hayes was relieved as he shut and locked the door. Fuck, that had been unnerving. When he turned around, he was shocked to find his mate already in her human form, and she jumped into his arms, nearly catching him off-guard.

He caught her, tucking a hand under her bottom while supporting her back with his other palm. “I’ve got you, Little one.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight as he walked them into the living room. As soon as he sat on the sofa, she leaned back, met his gaze, and shuddered. “That was so weird.”

He lifted his brows. Weird didn’t begin to cover it. “What did you smell, Baby girl?”

“Everything.” She shuddered. “I couldn’t judge how far away anything was. It spooked me.”

“That’s why you jerked your gaze from side to side.”

“Yes. I could scent other animals. It was kind of like how I thought your brother’s steak was much closer than a mile, only now that’s even more intense. I can tell you what everyone ate for dinner for miles around us. I’m pretty sure I could even scent things that weren’t grilled. There was a strong scent of tomato sauce. Someone had eggs.” She curled up her nose. Apparently eggs weren’t on her list of foods she enjoyed. “And the steaks Isaac made were very nice—if you like that sort of thing.”

Hayes chuckled. “Well, one thing I can do is send out a group text and find out who had spaghetti and who had breakfast for dinner. Then we’ll know how far away those scents were.”