“Could be you too. Just hang around and get to know some of the guys. They’ve been so warm and welcoming. You’d love it here too.”

  “They have been, but I’ve got to get back to work.” Natalie realized that’s all she’d been doing the last couple of years. Even when Angie had wanted her to go skiing with her, Natalie hadn’t felt she could leave her parents to run the garden center by themselves. For Angie’s wedding, sure, but not just to have fun.

  “You know what they say about all work…”

  “They say you get to eat and pay the bills.”

  Angie smiled. “Right. But just think, you might have learned to ski under the tutelage of a hunky male wolf.”

  Natalie could just imagine how badly her parents would have felt if both she and Angie had left them.

  Then Bella took charge and had all the bridesmaids line up. Bella was in the lead, and the best man and groomsmen came to escort the matron of honor and bridesmaids to their places. Natalie thought Brock looked right dapper in his western wear as he escorted her to the front, her bouquet of roses and wildflowers in her hands.

  Argos led Angie up the aisle next, and she truly was beautiful. The elderly man looked as pleased as could be to give the bride away.

  It was lovely here, so special, and perfect for her friend who loved horses. Natalie got to thinking that when she got married, she wanted to have a garden wedding. And a honeymoon in the tropics.

  * * *

  Brock was glad the wedding had gone off without a hitch. Now everyone was ready for the afternoon feast and then dancing. He couldn’t help seeking out Natalie once the ceremony ended. He saw her talking with some of the ladies, and he didn’t want to intrude. But he was watching his bachelor cousins and some of the other males in the pack, ready to intrude if they made a move toward her.

  Vaughn joined him before they all took a seat for the feast. “Taking your duty to heart?”

  Brock should have known his brother would be watching him observe Natalie.

  “Yep. Can’t call myself a bodyguard if I’m not guarding my client’s body.”

  Vaughn smiled. “She’s safe here. Well, mostly. You just have to watch out for our bachelor cousins. If she falls for one of them, you’ll have to see her all the time and know you didn’t get the girl because you were still riled over the old flame.”

  “She wasn’t a ‘flame.’”

  “Not like this one could be, I betcha.”

  “If I asked Natalie to be my mate, you would be shocked.”

  Vaughn smiled at Natalie.

  “You would.”

  “Yep. I told you that you were thinking of her in that way.”

  Aaron joined them as one of the pack members took pictures of the bride with her bridesmaids. “Thinking of who in what way?”

  “Nothing.” Brock gave Vaughn a look that told him to quit talking about it.

  Vaughn looked at Natalie but didn’t say a word.

  “Ahh, I should have known. The ladies always fall for the SEAL wolves,” Aaron said. “I was damn lucky Angie hadn’t met you.”

  “Not this time. She was much more interested in a rancher type,” Vaughn said.

  Aaron laughed. “Looks like the weather is going to be perfect. We won’t have to move to the barn for the feast and dancing.”

  Aaron had converted a large, red barn into a place the pack could use for social gatherings. In anticipation of good weather, the tables were set outside for the feast. Blue flax, wild rose, western wallflower, and columbines in the surrounding field provided a spectacular mass of color for the festivities, with the mountains nearby snowcapped, the sky blue, and the sun bright. A gentle breeze was blowing as the barbecued pork ribs and chicken, steaks, corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw, rice, and baked beans were being served. The large wooden stage was ready now for dancing, and band equipment was already set up.

  Natalie was smiling pretty for pictures with Angie, giving her a big hug for one of the shots and turning to see Brock watching her. She smiled at him, and that made his day. As much as he hated to admit it, his brother was right. If Natalie hooked up with one of his cousins, or any of the other bachelor males in the pack, he wouldn’t like it. She wasn’t anything like Lettie. She had no hidden agenda. She was here just to celebrate her friend’s wedding. Natalie wasn’t trying to snag a male wolf’s attention either. And that intrigued him all the more. How could he win over the she-wolf who could only think about getting back to her parents and helping them out at the garden center?

  Family meant the world to him, and he appreciated that she felt the same way about hers.

  He winked at her, and she blushed.

  * * *

  Natalie had been afraid she wouldn’t fit in, that Angie and her mate would be too busy to spend a lot of time with her. They were, but Brock was always there for her instead. And she really appreciated that. He was cute when it came to serving as her bodyguard, yet she thought there was more to it than that. The cad winking at her made her blush to high heaven, and she noticed that Bella’s sister had snapped a picture of her and Brock. She sighed. Nothing could ever come to anything between them with them living so far apart. Still, she loved how he had made her visit here even more special.

  As soon as she headed to get in line at the buffet, Brock joined her. They filled their plates with all kinds of great food. She glanced at all the starch on his plate: corn, biscuits, rice, and potato salad. Plus, a steak, pork ribs, and chicken. She smiled. Typical male wolf.

  They took their seats at a long table with glass jars filled with wildflowers and bright-green linen napkins on plates decorated with wallflowers, which Natalie would love for her own wedding if she ever got to that point in her life.

  “Don’t tell me I eat too many starches.” Brock cut up his steak.

  Natalie glanced at him and laughed. “My mom always tells my dad that when he cooks. ‘You can’t fix corn and rice when you have mashed potatoes,’ she’d say.”

  “I know that look. My mom always said that to me when we ate at buffets.”

  “Well, if it’s any consolation, I wasn’t going to say a word.” What Brock ate was his business. Besides, he looked good enough to eat, so whatever he was chowing down on appeared to be good for him.

  “Good, because I’ll burn it off anyway. You do realize that gram for gram, starches contain fewer than half the calories of fat of many other foods, and they provide energy, fiber, et cetera.”

  “I didn’t realize that. My mom always said all that starchy food would make you fat.”

  Brock shook his head. “Not true. Speaking of exercising, you’re ready for some dancing after we finish eating, aren’t you?”

  “I haven’t danced since I was a little girl.” Natalie had thought some of the other single males would finally approach her and ask her to dance, though she hadn’t for eons, and she’d probably be kind of awkward.

  “No problem. You’ll get the swing of it.”

  “Don’t bet on it, but I’ll give it a try.” She would always try things once, or twice. She didn’t want to look as if she wasn’t enjoying the celebration.

  After everyone was seated and champagne was served, toasts were made.

  Both pack leaders made a speech, saying how fortunate Aaron was to have found a wolf mate who was as crazy about horses as he was and welcoming Angie to the pack. All of his cousins ribbed Aaron about being the one they figured would take the longest to find a mate, but he had beat several of them, to their chagrin.

  Even Natalie got up to speak, hoping she wouldn’t tear up, but she knew she would. “To my best friend and her mate, I wish you many, many years of good cheer, lots of little wolf pups, and all the love you deserve. I’ll miss you so much, but I’ll be back!”

  Everyone clapped. Brock smiled at her, thinking she’d made the nicest speech of all while he, his brother, and his cousins were giving Aaron a rough time.

  “Enjoy the meal,” Bella said, and everyone began to eat.

  Natalie was thinking how neat it was to be with a pack like this. Her dad had been so mistrustful of them that she hadn’t known what to expect. He’d warned her she could have trouble if a bunch of males were interested in her when she went to Angie’s wedding, that there could be fights even, but that hadn’t happened. Oh sure, the bachelor males all smiled and were polite, looking highly interested, watching her a lot, but she swore they were staying clear of her because Brock was around her so much. Which she appreciated. Not that Brock was even thinking of being her mate. She thought the other men were being ultra-considerate not to overwhelm her.

  She loved how the wolves in the pack could go for wolf runs together, how they had a big party place for everyone in the pack. How wonderful to be able to have other friends who were here to enjoy their company. Even when Angie had her own kids, she could be part of a wolf community, not doing things on her own. With a mate, of course, but he wouldn’t know anything about raising babies either. Not like another she-wolf would who had already given birth. It wasn’t the same as having strictly human friends who didn’t know anything about their wolf half. How could a she-wolf mother talk about the issues of when their babies were running in their wolf coats with their mom, unless she was with a pack? Natalie could see the benefits of knowing others were close by to help out.

  Even here, the other wolves were watching the kids of varying ages. Not just mothers caring for their own kids, but older kids assisting the younger kids, and some of the moms with babies were sitting together chatting it up. Some of the men were doing babysitting duty too. Just as wolves would.

  “Angie said she had invited your parents, but they said they couldn’t come. She said you all have been like family to her, so I was surprised about that,” Brock said, catching Natalie’s attention.

  She cut off another couple pieces of steak. “My parents don’t care for pack politics. At least when they were living with the last three. After the last one, they really swore off them. As to Angie’s wedding, mostly, my parents haven’t had any luck hiring anyone competent enough to run their business so they can leave. They’d do it if I were there. Angie and Aaron are staying with them when they come back from their honeymoon to celebrate their wedding there instead.”

  “That will be great. From what Aaron’s said, she is really close to your parents too. I understand all about pack politics though. We had Volan, a beast of a wolf, in charge of our pack after Argos. Everyone wanted to get rid of him. A few died trying. No one was strong enough to best him. Not until Devlyn was old enough. Bella and Devlyn loved each other from the time they were young and growing up in the pack together. Devlyn had saved her from the wildfire where most of her family perished. Anyway, Volan planned to make her his mate, but Devlyn fought him for the right to rule the pack and offered his love to Bella.”

  “How romantic.” To find a mate at a young age would really be something special.

  “I agree. More recently, we discovered her twin sister had survived. When Serena came home, she mated one of our cousins. Everyone was thrilled to have her join the pack.”

  “Oh, how wonderful. I noticed they are both red wolves. It’s amazing how similar, yet dissimilar the two sisters are. I bet Bella and her sister were thrilled to find each other again. I always wished we had a bigger family. It’s just my parents and me. Mom’s sister died young due to a cougar attack when she was little. Dad’s brother was struck by lightning when he was a teen. Just weird tragedies that befell their families when they were growing up. I had a twin, but she didn’t survive the birth. Because of that, it’s just the three of us. I can’t imagine having all the cousins you do.”

  “We’ve enjoyed a strong friendship over the years. My brother and I left the pack to join the navy and became SEALs, just to do something patriotic. Shawn and a couple of his brothers were in the army. We had been gone a long time. We only recently came back and started our PI business, and then Vaughn went to work for the USF. It’s a great organization, but I was ready to settle down with the pack permanently and run the PI partnership with him here. Not that my job doesn’t allow me to visit other places, but I like going home after I finish a mission. He’s asked me to join up with them repeatedly, but I like where I’m at.” Brock drank some of his champagne and leaned back to study her.

  “I don’t blame you.”

  “What happened with the three packs your parents had belonged with?”

  Natalie scoffed. “The first pack didn’t want Mom and Dad to mate each other. You know how it is when wolves find their mate. It’s more than a human interest in another human. Dad was a newcomer, and he and Mom just fell in love. Everyone believed Mom should have mated one of the pack members once she joined them. Her own pack had been lost in a flood. With the shortage of females, they weren’t happy about Dad capturing her heart.

  “Mom and Dad left the pack and mated. They finally found another pack, believing it was safer to stay with one rather than be on their own. There was so much infighting that it was like a civil war between the wolves, with two alpha males posturing to fight each other for the role of leader. Both factions wanted Mom and Dad to side with them. My parents didn’t know who should be in charge since they were so new to the pack. They finally left, figuring the pack would have to sort it out for themselves.”

  “That would do it for me. What about the last one?” Brock finished his steak.

  “My parents finally found a new pack, which was important because my mother was pregnant at the time. We stayed with them until I was seven. Then the pack leader announced I would mate his son when we were both the right age. Can you imagine anyone being so unreasonable?”

  Brock smiled. “If I had been the son, I would have wanted the same thing.”

  “I doubt it. It’s ludicrous since we mate for life.”

  “You must not have been impressed with his son.”

  “I wasn’t. He thought, just because his father was the pack leader, he was some kind of prince of the pack. He didn’t have the alpha personality or leadership qualities to lead the pack. Last I heard, someone else had taken over from his father, and the son got mad and left the pack. If I’d mated him to keep peace with the pack, I’d be stuck with him in God knows where. After that, my parents just decided that they didn’t need to be with a pack.”

  “No princes here. We have a great pack. I think even your dad would approve.”

  Was the wolf who wasn’t interested in a she-wolf changing his mind about her?

  For more Terry Spear

  check out the SEAL Wolf series

  SEAL Wolf Surrender

  On sale May 2019

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks so much to Donna Fournier, who is there for me from beginning to end, cheering my word count on, eager to read the book, make suggestions, and reread it all over again. And on short notice! Even with Easter looming. Thanks to Deb Werksman for always believing in my books and acquiring them so readers have more and more to read! Thanks to all the various people at Sourcebooks who make this happen—from publicists to cover artists and everyone in between.

  About the Author

  Bestselling and award-winning author Terry Spear has written more than sixty paranormal romance novels and eight medieval Highland historical romances. Her first werewolf romance, Heart of the Wolf, was named a 2008 Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, and her subsequent titles have garnered high praise and hit the USA Today bestseller list. A retired officer of the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry lives in Spring, Texas, where she is working on her next werewolf romance, continuing with her Highland medieval romances, and having fun with her young adult novels. When she’s not writing, she’s photographing everything that catches her eye, making teddy bears, and playing with her Havanese puppies and her grandbaby. For more information, please visit terryspear.com, or follow her on Twitter @TerrySpear. She is also on Facebook at facebook.com/terry.spear.

  Also by Terry Spear

  Heart of the Wolf

  Heart of the Wolf

  To Tempt the Wolf

  Legend of the White Wolf

  Seduced by the Wolf

  Silver Town Wolf

  Destiny of the Wolf

  Wolf Fever

  Dreaming of the Wolf

  Silence of the Wolf

  A Silver Wolf Christmas

  Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply

  Between a Wolf and a Hard Place

  All’s Fair in Love and Wolf

  Highland Wolf

  Heart of the Highland Wolf

  A Howl for a Highlander

  A Highland Werewolf Wedding

  Hero of a Highland Wolf

  A Highland Wolf Christmas

  SEAL Wolf

  A SEAL in Wolf’s Clothing

  A SEAL Wolf Christmas

  SEAL Wolf Hunting

  SEAL Wolf In Too Deep

  SEAL Wolf Undercover

  Heart of the Jaguar

  Savage Hunger

  Jaguar Fever

  Jaguar Hunt

  Jaguar Pride

  A Very Jaguar Christmas

  Billionaire Wolf

  Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing

  A Billionaire Wolf for Christmas

  White Wolf

  Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas

  Flight of the White Wolf

  The Last Wolf

  First in an extraordinary new series from Maria Vale: The Legend of All Wolves

  Silver Nilsdottir is at the bottom of her Pack’s social order, with little chance for a decent mate. Until the day a wounded stranger stumbles into their territory, and Silver decides to risk everything on Tiberius Leveraux. But Tiberius isn’t all that he seems, and in the fragile balance of Pack and Wild, he may tip the destiny of all wolves…