Wild Wolf: Black Mesa Wolves #4 Read Online Free PDF Page A

dozens. They kept to themselves and didn't bother the packs. For their part, the pack alphas never broadcasted the home grounds of any wild wolf, never overtly tried to force them to join a pack, and in fact never even mentioned the names of wild wolves to their packs. All wolf shifters regardless of pack rank knew about the existence of the free zones, of course, but few knew or probably even cared about the wild wolves who lived in them. In general, free zones simply meant areas that were not claimed by any pack. Neutral territory.
    Of course, a few rules were observed by the wild wolves in turn: No joining forces with any rogue wolves. No trying to coerce any pack wolves into living as wild wolves. No sharing with any humans, ever, the existence of shifters.
    For Claire, those rules were laughably easy to keep. Rogues were crazy wolves to be avoided, pack wolves never wanted to leave their packs, and she wasn't about to compromise her very life by telling humans she could shapeshift into a wolf. Unless, of course, her suddenly nearly uncontrollable wolf tried to force a shift because she'd encountered a sexy male wolf who was apparently so fascinating she couldn't help it.
    Her wolf made a disparaging sound, batting away Claire's somewhat censorious thoughts with a careless paw. Yes. He is fascinating, was all she thought, the words and emotions connected to them so deep Claire couldn't really tell if it was her wolf or her human thinking them. Frowning a bit, she again pushed away the intriguing male wolf and tried to focus on the here and now.
    Through her wolf, as she walked she picked up on the surrounding smells more strongly than even her unusually heightened human senses. A bakery caf é across the street sent enticing aromas of newly baked bread and yummy pastries. Smoky car exhaust, pavement wet from the light rain earlier, the smell of freshly-applied paint that whooshed out an opening door of the business she was just passing by, an autumnal snap to the air, the conflicting smells of thousands of people in varying states of cleanliness, all battered at her nose. Despite her general aversion to crowds, she actually did enjoy opening herself up to the full sensory experience, at least for a little while. It fueled her writer's brain, and it offered such a contrast to her mostly solitary life that she absorbed it all with a small yet real sense of fascination. She could only handle it for a few days, but during that time, she liked to collect the nuanced memories that would spill out in her writing.
    Smells different here, her wolf thought, even more fascinated than Claire. Wolves?
    No. The Pikes Peak Alpha had told her she would not encounter any of his wolves while she was in town these few days. They were being closely monitored and restricted in movement due to some looming rogue threat. He'd gently warned her to be careful herself. Rogues may not know about her existence, but they'd likely try to get her to join their cause if they found her. “And they wouldn't hesitate to use force if necessary,” he'd added in a stony tone. “Just keep yourself alert while you're here. Call me if you need any help, Claire.”
    Instantly, she'd bristled at his paternalism, even though rationally she knew he meant well. She was certain all wolf packs would like to have all wild wolves under their control, even if they said they didn't. The Denver pack's alpha was a reasonable man, and since he was a distant cousin of her mother's she'd known him since she was little, when they'd stayed with his pack for a short time. But her mother had never wanted to join his pack, and neither did Claire. While she did shiver a bit from the depth of his concern about rogues, she mostly brushed it off. She traveled by herself often enough. Not once in her life had she encountered any rogue wolves. They couldn't pursue what they didn't know existed.
    Dodging a cute young couple pushing a baby warmly bundled into a fancy stroller, Claire