Fire Wolf: CINAED (New Scotia Pack Book 3) Read Online Free

you.”
    Ken stepped around her, carrying the precious bag of books, and strode toward an empty wagon hitched to an ox and waiting.
    He didn’t look back, but Starfire watched, admiring the way his wide shoulders tapered to a trim waist. He pulled himself up to the wagon seat with muscular grace and clucked to get the ox moving.
    “What are you doing?” Cloud was climbing the side porch steps with an amused look on her face.
    “Nothing.” Starfire flushed.
    “Uh-huh,” said Cloud sarcastically. “The rear view of that young wolf is nice, isn’t it?”
    Starfire opened the front door. “I was looking at the ox!”
    Cloud combined a chuckle with a scoff and made it clear she wasn’t buying Star’s attempt to cover. “Oh, look. He’s taking off his clothes.”
    The speed at which Star turned her head made Cloud laugh even harder. Ken had already removed his belt and boots and thrown them into the wagon. Within seconds his shirt and pants were in a pile on the wagon bed as well.
    Shifters were not the least bit modest. Nudity was common and didn’t usually draw notice, unless there was a particular reason to be interested. And Star had a particular reason.
    Ken’s bare form was muscular, rock hard, and covered with smooth peaches-and-cream skin. Star couldn’t have looked away even if she knew it would mean years of being teased by her aunt.
    It took only seconds for his human form to reshape itself as lupine. Ken’s wolf was as pretty as any she’d ever seen. Werewolf coloring was predominantly in the black and white spectrum with countless variations on gray, but Ken’s wolf was a deep russet with black on his muzzle, ears and at the tips of his fur.
    “Would you look at that?” she mused.
    “He is a pretty one,” said Cloud. “No doubt about it.” He looked back for a second as if he’d heard that. They watched as he trotted away. “Well, come along. Work doesn’t get itself done.”
     
    Ken was relieved to be freed of responsibility for the cart because the trip would be so much easier on four legs. Shifters didn’t lose intellectual capacity in wolf form. They did lose use of opposable thumbs, of course, but sensory perception was more acute, particularly smell.
    As he meandered along creek beds, through dense patches of woods, and over ridges of grassy hills his mind wandered back to Starfire again and again.
    He chided himself for dwelling on Starfire. Ken was thinking that maybe he should have asked for a book or two on women. He’d be the first to acknowledge that he didn’t know a lot about females. He was the farthest thing from his brother, Conn, who‘d been a notorious player. Somehow Conn had managed to be a bad bad wolf and still be popular. Go figure. It was as if all females were masochists.
    Not that females hadn’t been attracted to Liulf, who had power and preeminence oozing from his pores. He could have had his pick even before he became alpha.
    Ken knew that he was attractive to females. He just didn’t feel comfortable around them. He did his share of rutting, especially when he’d had more than his share of ale, but that wasn’t the same thing as conversation. He’d never felt a connection with a female beyond red-blooded itch scratching.
    Maybe that was for the best. After all, females just seemed to complicate things. He thought he’d seen a spark of interest in her eyes, but didn’t know enough about reading such things to say for sure. He chided himself that it made no difference either way since he couldn’t pursue her, and recommitted to putting her out of his mind.
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    The next full moon gathering took place three weeks after Ken had delivered corn to New Elk Mountain. Not all the new immigrants wanted to go, but certainly all the young people did. After confirming that two of her apprentices would be attending, Luna chose to stay home with Grey and the twins.
    They wouldn’t be alone. In spite of reassurances from those who were part