Claimed by the Mate, Volume 1 Read Online Free PDF Page A

like he owned the place.”
    â€œOh! I am so jealous. I’ve been hoping to see a wolf.” Suni was practically vibrating with excitement. “That’s the whole reason I talked these two bums into coming with me.”
    â€œI was thinking someplace a little more, uhm … upscale?” Fred rolled her eyes. “I’m not much of an outdoors girl. I grew up in Brooklyn.”
    â€œWhere the wildlife consists of pigeons and stray cats?” Darnell checked a nonexistent hangnail.
    â€œPretty much.”
    â€œWas he friendly?” Christa was leaning forward on the table. “What was he like?”
    â€œWeirdly smart. I mean almost human intelligence. I asked him if Brad sent him to get me, because Brad had threatened to do just that if I wasn’t down here in twenty minutes. The wolf showed up almost exactly twenty minutes after Brad left. Anyway, when I asked him, he yipped like he was answering me. And then when I went to change clothes, I just felt really weird with him sitting there staring at me, so I actually told him not to look.”
    â€œWell?” Steph laughed. “Did he cover his eyes?”
    â€œYes.” Cherry stared at her.
    â€œNo, he didn’t.” Steph stared at her, and her eyes went wide. “He did? You’re not kidding, are you?”
    Cherry shook her head.
    â€œHe really covered his eyes?”
    â€œWith both paws. But then he peeked.”
    â€œWhat?” Christa’s shriek had all of them laughing.
    â€œYou heard me. He peeked. I turned around to see if he still had his eyes covered, but he was watching me. The moment I turned, he covered them again. It was just weird. I was laughing but I felt really exposed, ya know? I mean, he’s a wolf, but he was obviously watching me, and he understood when I told him not to. He actually looked embarrassed that I’d caught him.”
    Christa suddenly grabbed Cherry’s hand. “Is that the same wolf? Look. Over by that big pine. Isn’t he beautiful?”
    â€œYes! I think it’s him.” Cherry walked down the steps and across the green area in front of the lodge. The wolf spotted her, trotted across the parking area, and sat at her feet.
    He just stared at her, but she could swear he was grinning. “Okay, big guy. Now don’t make me look stupid. I told them you were really smart. Will you come up on the deck and meet the girls?”
    The wolf tilted his head and then nudged her hand. Taking the hint, Cherry placed her fingers in the thick fur around his neck, and the two of them walked back up to the deck. “Yep,” she said. “Same wolf. I think he’s a voyeur.”
    The wolf hung around while the women had their dinner inside the lodge. Two men they hadn’t met had set out a beautiful buffet and the six women loaded their plates and sat at a large table inside. The service was quiet and unobtrusive, and Cherry couldn’t remember an evening she’d enjoyed more. The three women from L.A. were funny and smart, though Fred could be a bit abrasive. Brad kept the wine and drinks flowing.
    Time seemed to fly, but before long the L.A. contingent, as Darnell, Suni, and Fred were calling themselves, headed off to their cabins, following the trails lit by twinkling lights. Brad called them fairy lights, but they were really just white Christmas lights hidden in shrubs along the pathways, bright enough to make it safe for the women to find their cabins.
    It wasn’t much longer before Christa yawned and Steph joined in. Wide awake after her shower and a sense of excitement she hadn’t expected, Cherry hated to see the evening end, but she wrapped her shawl around her shoulders and followed her sister and Steph out to the deck.
    The lights twinkled and shimmered along the paths to the cabins. Christa hugged her sister and yawned again. “I hope you’re having a good time. You okay going back to your cabin