Page 9 of The Healer (The Blood of Legends #2)

Chapter Nine

COEDWIG’S SURPRISE

C oming north meant snow and lots of it. Surrounded by forests, solitude made shifting easier, more private. Few amateur photographers or gun-toting madmen lingered in this weather. Rhys had left Cozy Cromwell’s, circled the house and marched into the nearby forest, then stripped in the shadow of the trees. His bear took the lead. The pristine snow coating the hills had urged him to leave his mark. He had zigzagged across it, rolling and pouncing until tiny flurries rose from his snow-dusted paws.

Then he’d spotted the woman, laughing and crying in the snow. Everything about her had called to him. Her heart was broken, as torn as her cheek. Yet she had begged him to come with her, vowing not to abandon him.

Please don’t ask me to.

I swore an oath.

Intriguing. Still, a blanket of sorrow had coated her despite her antics seeming innocent and amusing, at first. Stubbornness she had in spades. Was he interested because of her red hair, her hazel eyes, the pain trembling her cheeks? Or was it her elusive fragrance that teased his senses, aroused him? It had taken thoughts of George and her brothers living in squalor to dampen Rhys’s ardor. Yet the woman hadn’t once lowered her gaze to his exposed and hardening cock.

With his thoughts dazed, his bear whining to chase after her car, he had forced himself to walk away. He chuckled. Now, that would be a fool’s errant. He wasn’t a bloodhound. With her cap off, he’d caught a red curl, touched her pale chin, and ogled her curves. He sniffed the air, catching a hint of her fragrance. The wind was furious, whipping across his nose before he could take a deep inhale. Sure, he was grizzly, but he didn’t have the olfactory power of a polar.

He laughed. She hadn’t believed his snow-bathing claim. Her disbelief was made more delicious when she pursed her plump lips.

She was a beautiful woman, one he decided to search out when he returned to Coedwig. Outside Cromwell’s, as he paused onto the porch, Rhys spied the woman’s rental parked out front. Logical since there wasn’t another bed and breakfast or hotel available. She had to be staying at Harriet’s.

After yanking on the door, he bounded up the stairs, disappearing into his room for a quick shower. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, his boots on, he clambered downstairs, following his nose to the dining room. No redhead’s scent lingered.

“How was your evening run?” Harriet smiled, sliding a cocoa in front of a plate piled high with cookies.

Rhys patted his chest and sat. He chose a cookie, bit into it, and beamed when the moist, chocolate gooeyness filled his mouth. “Where’s Dane?” Putting off chatting to Coedwig’s alpha wasn’t wise. Rhys didn’t want to delay it further.

“Taking care of things.” She refilled his cocoa, then claimed a chair. “Are you staying for the Lunar Fest?”

Understanding Harriet’s curiosity, he grunted something noncommittal, but yes, he might pursue a woman if he took a liking to her. Hell, any warm body would do, if they didn’t mind him calling out ‘Callie’ in mid-orgasm. Damn, now that had been embarrassing. And pitiful. Thankfully, only his hand had witnessed his shame. He didn’t tell Harriet any of that. Or that a certain redhead-not-Callie had sparked his interest. Until he found the woman, his sex life was up in the air.

He wanted to ask about other guests, but the opening front door interrupted him.

“Hey, anything left for me?” Aiden poked his head in, then stepped through the door. He scanned the cookie plate and sighed. “Any cake?”

Harriet chuckled and hurried to pack Aiden a slice. He leaned against the door frame and eyed Rhys cradling his mug. “Thought I would walk you to the bar.”

Just the distraction Rhys needed. Draining his cocoa, he lowered the cup, then hurried to slip on his jacket.

Harriet held out a container with dark chocolate showing through the semi-transparent sides. “I’ll keep your dinner in the warming drawer.” She trailed them onto the porch, tugging her cardigan around her, then with a wave, returned to the house.

“How’s Noah and Jase?” Aiden met Rhys’s gaze briefly. “How’s Willow?”

“Will?” Rhys grinned. So, that’s the lay of the land. He hadn’t known Aiden was interested in her. “She tried to seduce me this morning.”

Color splashed across Aiden’s cheeks. He pinched his lips as if he wanted to say something but thought better of it.

“It’s why I decided to visit.” Rhys peeked at Aiden. “I’ve got to find a mate before my brother’s women try to seduce me.”

“Women?” Aiden gaped. “None, well, maybe a few, and Will isn’t…wasn’t…we didn’t—”

Rhys laughed, slapping Aiden on the shoulder. “Relax, pup.”

“Not funny, bro.” He glared.

Arching his brow, Rhys met Aiden’s matching eyes. “Yeah, well, if you like Will, then pursue her.”

“Shut up.” He stomped into the bar and disappeared through a hidden door behind the counter.

Rhys sighed, removed his jacket, and headed for a bar stool, planning on sitting for a while. His ears twitched, proving he heard the random conversations, the shot-down come-ons, and the swindling at the pool table his brother kept in the back. He didn’t listen in, preferring to sip his beer, savoring the bitter flavor coating his tongue. Bitter? That made him think of the suckbloods’ inability to taste human food. Suckbloods? He shook his head, loving how Callie’s terminology had snuck into his vocab.

Callie. Lunar help him, if only he could get over the damn woman. She wasn’t meant for him, but his bear disagreed. If only Rhys had met her first. If and maybes had plagued him for months.

Grumbling, he took a long pull from his beer.

“I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you, Rhys.” Aiden broke the silence between them as he wiped down the bar counter. “I mean, I asked you to visit but never expected you to come.”

Rhys pursed his lips, the chilled swig of beer pooling on his tongue. “Needed time away to clear my thoughts. How are folks treating you here?”

“Your call to Dane helped. He took one look at me and realized I wasn’t planning on challenging him for alpha.” Aiden pushed his pseudo-glasses up his nose. He didn’t suffer from poor eyesight, but it did make him look timid. The Whitakers had the same brown hair and blue eyes, but where Rhys was a mountain of a man, a grizzly, Aiden was more of a black bear. “So, what’s the real reason behind the visit? You know, we do hear things, what you city-folk get up to.”

“Yeah, there’s talk you formed an alliance with the de Winter hold. My gramps is rolling in his grave,” said an old cougar to the left of Rhys.

“But I hear some vamp wanted to start a war?” asked an old wolf who sipped her white wine spritzer, raising it at the old cougar in greeting.

“We’re always at war,” the cougar grumbled. “But you’ve done well, son. Alrik was a mean bastard.”

“That he was.” Rhys couldn’t agree more. The fight for supremacy had been easier than he had expected. He only wished he had challenged for alpha sooner.

“Is this about a woman?” Aiden asked, still intent on finding out the reason behind Rhys’s visit.

So much for an evening in company. He grunted and pushed his empty beer bottle aside. Before he spilled his failure, he rose, tossed a few bills on the table, then saluted Aiden. Rhys wasn’t running. It was a strategic retreat until he could gather his thoughts and intentions.

Tugging on his jacket, he savored the chilled wind as it slashed across his cheeks. He squared his shoulders and strolled to Cromwell’s. As he meandered up the road while the late sun set behind the towering pine peaks, his stomach growled. The possibility of one of Harriet’s roast beef dinners fueled his stride.