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The celebration at the pack leaders ranch turned out beautifully. A feast of trout, hot dogs, grilled burgers, fresh fruits, potato salad, and corn on the cob was laid out on tables. Music was playing in the background. The kids in the pack were playing ribbon tag, ring toss, and just plain chase.

Everyone was welcoming to Charlene and Noah to the pack, and congratulations were given in abundance for Ethan and Charlene s mating.

Do you think Kroner will come here? Charlene asked.

None of us saw any sign of anyone following us to the ranch, Brad told Ethan and Charlene.

Janice squeezed Brad s hand. My mate has to be at the heart of the excitement whenever he can be. He was thrilled to help you all out. That s his Navy SEAL training coming to play.

We were glad he was there for me, Charlene said.

Maverick said, We were all watching for any sign of anyone following us all the way to the ranch, but we figured if Kroner was watching the house, he would have waited until Ethan and Charlene were alone.

Maverick s mate, Gina, snuggled up to him. I m just glad you all were okay. When Maverick told me he was assisting you with this case, I was relieved he was helping to take care of Charlene.

Josh s mate, Brooke, said, At least Maverick stayed with Charlene and didn t run off with Noah and Ethan to try and take down a bunch of the wanted men.

Right, then Maverick was taking down one of Ethan s fellow agents, Gina said, shaking her head.

Sierra reached over the table and patted Charlene s arm. I m thankful you were safe. When Adam told me he and Tori were serving in protection mode, I was sweating it out. I know they re good at their jobs, but they were going after quite a lot of bad guys.

Tori said, You know I always watch out for Adam.

Adam laughed. Yeah, she does.

I m glad for it, Sierra said.

Leidolf and Cassie joined them at the table.

We have men watching the gate to the acreage and security videos out there.

Usually, whoever is on guard duty won t let anyone on the property without checking them out and making sure they re wolves, but in this case, they ll let Kroner onto the property and warn us he s on his way.

That way we have him for trespassing and you can arrest him for all the myriad of crimes he has committed.

Charlene glanced at the children who were playing and hoped they didn t get into any trouble if Kroner came in shooting.

Though she couldn t imagine him doing that in front of tons of witnesses.

Trying to follow them home would probably be a better bet, but they were staying here overnight with Leidolf and Cassie.

Unless, of course, Kroner waited for them at their home. But her security cameras were working, and she and Ethan were both monitoring them from time to time to make sure no one entered the house.

What if Kroner did come onto the property and we were removing our clothes and shifting into wolves to go running? Charlene asked.

We ll change at Leidolf and Cassie s ranch house, Ethan said.

Yes, exactly, Cassie said. We ll run out the wolf door and head to the woods. We ll have fun.

Charlene couldn t wait. Well, if everyone s done eating, I would love to run as a wolf.

Yeah, I m ready, Cassie said.

Charlene couldn t believe she would be running with not only her mate, but also a large wolf pack.

After losing her family, she hadn t expected to have a mate and a whole pack of wolves who treated her like family.

Coming here to reconnect with her fond memories of her vacations here with her grandfather had opened up a whole new world for her.

She realized Noah hadn t sat with them at their table while they were eating. She smiled when she saw he was busy talking to three different she-wolves.

Ethan followed her gaze and smiled. Looks like Noah s glad to be part of the pack.

Yeah, and he s getting a nice welcome.

Then Ethan took her hand and everyone who wanted to run headed into the homes on the ranch to remove their clothes and shift, then raced out wolf doors and began running, spreading out, barking, while a few stopped to howl.

Charlene had to stop and howl then, to let everyone in the pack know her by her howl.

Ethan howled, showing he was with her, and she licked and kissed him, loving him.

Then Noah howled, and she wanted to laugh.

He was running with the three she-wolves, each of them stopping to howl.

Charlene wondered about Noah s interest in Tori.

Maybe she was a little too hot for him to handle.

They crossed a creek, splashing water everywhere, snapping at it, seeing the fish swimming there, which made her want to fish.

One leapt out of the water in front of her and she jumped at it, catching it midair, but released it before she injured it.

Tonight was all about the run, not about fishing.

This was so much more fun than running in Florida.

Not that the park there hadn t been beautiful to explore, but running with a whole pack of wolves?

And Ethan, of course. This was the life.

They had run for about a half hour, some with younger wolves, when they began to head back to the ranch.

Ethan and Charlene nuzzled each other and slowly walked back, taking in the beautiful sun setting in the night sky.

She was thinking how lovely it had been here and how much fun it would be to participate in other pack celebrations too.

The wolves began to howl, and Ethan and Charlene joined in on the chorus.

When they finally reached the pack leaders home, they enjoyed strawberry daiquiris with Cassie and Leidolf, and then Charlene and Ethan retired to the guest room on the other side of the ranch house where they would have privacy.

Charlene couldn t wait to make love to her mate.

***

Ethan and Charlene took a shower together and then joined each other in bed, kissing and ready to make love after all that had gone on, when Ethan got a call from Grainger. He sighed and put the call on speakerphone. Yes, sir?

Clara Snyder was released on bail. She has never done anything wrong that we could learn of, though the IRS is looking into the gifts she has received and not reported them or paid taxes on them.

We re still trying to learn if she is who she says she is, and if not, who she is.

So it s going to take a bit of digging. But everyone else has been moved from the jail near the coast and brought here to Portland, Grainger said.

Good. Though if Clara is this mixed up in their financial business, I wish we could have kept her in jail. Otherwise, she could be a flight risk.

She s wearing an ankle monitor, just in case.

Oh, good.

Are you ready to retire after catching the majority of the ones involved in the gang? Grainger asked.

Only after Kroner is caught. Unless it takes years. Then he s all yours.

Grainger laughed. Hopefully, he is still hanging around. Just so you know, both Renault and Noah are your backup. Renault is moving into the safe house in Oyster Bay in the morning.

Ethan frowned. Okay.

All right. Talk to you later.

Thanks, sir. Good night.

I felt bad that Renault couldn t have been here with us tonight to celebrate, she said.

Yeah, he deserved to be here, except for the not-being-a-wolf part. But… Ethan shook his head.

What?

Grainger is having Renault stay with Noah at the safe house, and he s going to work with me to catch Kroner. I–I don t know.

You still wonder if he s telling the truth.

Yeah. Though no one we caught acted like they knew Renault was working for Kroner. Which seems strange if Renault is one of Kroner s henchmen.

We ll figure it out.

We will. Ethan was ready to make love to his mate, with no more thoughts about Renault or anyone else on the case.

He began to slide his hands up Charlene s shirt, cupping her breasts, squeezing, feeling her aroused nipples push back against the palms of his hands. Scrumptious.

Likewise, she jerked his shirt tails out of his pants and slid her hands up his chest. Charlene traced her finger around Ethan s nipples and kissed them.

Her touches pumped up his libido instantly and a raging ache in his loins ensued.

She licked his nipples, making them pebble and crave her erotic caresses.

His needs raged to the forefront when they kissed and touched each other.

Ethan s body was so attuned to Charlene s touch, her smell, her pheromones bumping up their interest in each other. He kissed her luscious mouth that was begging him to take his fill. She kissed him with the same enthusiasm, breathing him in like he was breathing her in, fanning the flames of need.

He deepened his kiss, their tongues dancing until she sucked on his tongue, nearly sending him over the edge. He moved against her soft body, tantalizing, his hands covering her luscious curves, his body molding against hers.

Their hearts were racing as he enjoyed her sculpted, feminine beauty. She was running her hands over his body, feeling his muscles, appearing to enjoy the planes of his body just as much.

You are mouthwatering, she said.

He smiled and rubbed his body against hers before he separated enough from her so that he could run his hand over her flat tummy and then he was moving lower, stroking her between her legs, feeling her tense with pleasure.

***

Oh, so good, Charlene whispered and kissed Ethan s lips again.

He pleasured her mouth with just as much enthusiasm and she loved the way he always treated her like she was a treasure to him, just like he was her treasure—the best thing that had ever happened in her life.

But now, he was stroking her, then inserting a finger between the folds and practically sending her to the moon.

She surrendered to him completely, seduced by the wolf.