Charmed Wolf

voice suggested Rune hadn’t been heard, at that age and perhaps not at several others either. Still, his insinuation that I didn’t understand our pack’s youth jabbed me like an acorn cap beneath my butt.
“I’m well aware of their wishes,” I countered. “The tallest girl, for example, has chosen to live apart from the others. Our youth move into their own wing when they shift for the first time, but it isn’t a mandatory transition. Each does so at their own pace and Caitlyn still dens in her parents’ suite.”
“Because she’s shy?” Rune suggested.
Now I was the one snorting, and much less elegantly than he had. “Not likely. Caitlyn is planning ahead. I’ll give birth this year and my son or daughter will need a Beta a few decades thereafter. It’s a gamble on her part since Betas have to be the opposite sex of the Alpha. But a clever move nonetheless.”
Rune slowed at a speed bump, and despite myself I flared my nostrils in search of another hint of persimmon. Instead, the mustier undertones of his signature scent predominated.
“You’re saying you approve of Caitlyn’s choice to separate herself from her age mates.”
“Park here,” I ordered. Then, unable to leave the issue alone, I nodded. “Leaders should remain above and apart.”
“That sounds very lonely,” Rune murmured.
But I didn’t answer. Instead, I was out of the car, marching up the cobblestone walk.

Chapter 12
Despite everything, my lips curved upward as I took in the daffodils blooming on either side of the path leading to Natalie’s porch. Three months ago, when my friend left her children’s father, the outlook hadn’t been nearly so bright.
“Move in with the pack,” I’d offered. Natalie was human, but she was an honorary clan member. My wolves would have welcomed her and her kids.
But she’d shaken her head. “I have to stand on my own two feet for the sake of the children.”
Unfortunately, that was a tall order, creating a new life for herself. Natalie’s cash flow had been stuck at zero as a stay-at-home mom and her dickhead ex seemed intent upon dragging out the divorce settlement until the baby earned her Ph.D.
My offer of a financial gift was roundly rejected, but Natalie had accepted the job I created for her and turned it into a calling. When she developed the first biodegradable glitter prototype, her bonus had been earned rather than granted. Kale and I—and presumably also the baby—were duly impressed.
Soon thereafter, Natalie turned that bonus into a downpayment on a property that looked so terrible even Willa had winced during our initial visit. But my human friend had seen the good bones beneath the overgrown grass and peeling paint.
Now, three months later, the property had become a home. Fresh paint. Curtains. Daffodils poking up out of the ground.
And...I hoped...a warmth so strong it attracted an upset twelve-year-old back to his nest.
“Kale,” I called, pounding on the door with my fist. “It’s Tara. I want to talk to you. To apologize.”
Persimmon alerted me that Rune had followed me up the walkway while I was assessing home improvements. His voice was a murmur. “Is this usual behavior for the child?”
I shrugged. “Kale’s twelve. There is no usual at that age.”
There was also no answer to my pounding. Back door it was.
But...Rune was impossible to ignore as I turned away from the door that wasn’t opening. To get by, I’d either have to make a big deal of asking him to move, trample Natalie’s daffodils, or brush past....
As the fabric of our clothes made contact, my breath caught. My skin tingled just like when the Guardian’s cleansed glitter had floated onto my bare skin. Not just on my hip and shoulder where Rune and I had almost touched either. The effervescence sparked through my body from head to foot.
Focus, I chided myself for what felt like the millionth time, refusing to meet Rune’s eyes as I turned away from him. I was almost running—to something, I told myself, not away from him—by the time I reached the backyard.
There, I reached up into the hollow of the silver maple in search of the spare key. Bark beneath my fingers grounded me. This time, I was able to ignore Rune as I unlocked the back door and started my search.
It didn’t take long to scan every room. Unless Kale was hiding under a bed or in a cabinet, he wasn’t present. Rather than taking all day to tear the house apart the human way....
“I’m going to shift and smell for him,” I informed Rune, who’d continued to shadow me.
No, not shadow me. He was facing in the opposite direction. His muscles were tense. His response—“Noted”—was curt enough to give me pause.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
And this time Rune’s voice sweetened. “I’ll guard your back.” His words slid through the air like wind chimes. Curling around me, they pressed against my skin.
Ignoring the resurrected tingling, I slid out of my clothes, profoundly aware of my own nakedness. Rune didn’t appear to notice, however. When I glanced over my shoulder, he was still facing resolutely away.
Of course he was. Nakedness was a common occurrence among werewolves. And whatever my wolf tried to tell me about persimmon and seduction, Rune was merely doing his job.
Tamping down disappointment, I fell onto paws and raised my chin to scent the air around me. It appeared Rune had repeated his trick from the factory, pulling his persimmon aroma back inside his body before entering Natalie’s house. Which, while personally disappointing, was helpful since it allowed me to sniff for Kale without being distracted by Rune’s overwhelming scent.
Given that assistance, it should have been easy to seek out one human child. Would have been if Kale was present.
But he wasn’t. No aromas met my nose other than old trails of the family and my own recent footsteps. I trotted through the small space twice to be certain that none of the former were more recent than yesterday. Then I returned to my pile