Dylan laughed. Roxie smiled. The difference between her sister and her brothers was profound. Her brothers were overly protective; her sister praised her for her actions. Trevor and CJ took the four offenders out to the sheriff’s vehicles while Peter gathered everyone’s witness statements.

  “I should have been there to help you out. Do you want to sit on one of the lounge chairs in the lobby?” Dylan asked, not leaving her side.

  “You need to go home, Roxie,” Kayla said, and Roxie agreed with her.

  Now Roxie needed something for the pain! And she was ready to just lie down for a while.

  “I’ll take you home,” Dylan offered.

  She smiled. “Sure, let’s go.”

  Landon and Blake were smiling.

  “Do you want me to send one of the deputies to watch the house?” Peter asked.

  “We’ll be fine. Roxie’s got all the right moves,” Dylan said.

  She chuckled. “We’ll be all right. We’ll call everyone if we have any trouble at all.”

  “Okay,” Peter said.

  “But I’m walking with you,” Blake said, “and then I’ll return to the lodge.”

  Roxie knew there was no convincing her brother that they would be okay.

  Dylan went to his room to get his parka while Roxie and Blake got their parkas out of the office where they had their own storage room for ski equipment.

  “Are you sure you’re going to be all right?” Blake asked her, pulling his parka on.

  “Yeah, we’ll probably both just settle on the couch or recliners and watch a movie. Thanks for coming with us to make sure we’re okay, Blake.”

  Blake scoffed. “You don’t want me going with you, but I’ll feel better if I make sure that you get home and that no one is gunning for Dylan. Though I’m sure the hunters are long gone by now. If the two of you are feeling okay tonight, you can come over to have dinner with Nicole and me. I’ll ask Landon if he and Gabrielle want to join us and if Nate and Kayla do.”

  “Let me ask Dylan if he wants to go too. I promised him dinner at my house otherwise.”

  “Okay. Just let us know one way or another,” Blake said.

  “Of course.”

  Dylan joined them, and they headed outside. Roxie still had the ice pack, and she began to apply it to her eye again. “Blake wants to know if we would like to go to his home and have a meal with the gang or not. It’s totally up to you, Dylan, since I said I’d fix a meal for us otherwise.”

  “Yeah, I’d like to have a meal with the family, particularly since your eye is swelling already. We’ll take the night off from cooking,” Dylan said.

  She smiled. “All right. That sounds good.”

  Blake said, “Great.” He got on his phone, and Roxie knew he was texting the siblings to let them know they were having dinner at his and Nicole’s place. Once they reached Roxie’s home, he said, “It’s all confirmed. Everyone’s coming.”

  “Good.” Roxie was glad. She loved to cook, especially when she and Kayla made meals together, but the way her eye was feeling… Yeah, she liked the idea of taking off the night from meal preparation.

  When they reached her house, she unlocked the door and let Dylan in. He shook Blake’s hand and then she hugged Blake and he took off.

  “So this is my home. Would you like something to drink?” She closed and locked the door.

  “Your place is lovely, homey. I’d like some water but let me get us some.”

  “You don’t need to baby me.”

  “Yeah, I do.” He gave her a quirky smile. Then, as if he had lived here for years, he started looking through cabinets to find the glasses while she turned on the TV.

  “Sorry, they’re in the cabinet above the counter, next to the fridge. I guess Blake will take Rosco out for his walk.”

  “We can take him tonight if you want to walk him then.”

  “Yeah, sure. Maybe we can all take him for a walk tonight if you’d like.”

  “Sure.”

  She suspected Dylan wanted to go with her alone. “I was thinking we could run as wolves tonight afterward, if you’d like to. I think a lot of our people will be running as wolves tonight if they don’t find the teen before then and keep searching for him some more.”

  “And the hunters?” He brought the glasses of water into the living room, and they sat down on the sofa together to watch a movie.

  “They won’t have the advantage like we do because we can see at night. And we’ll have the sheer numbers.”

  He sighed. “I sure didn’t expect to be having this much downtime on the job.”

  “Yeah, but you need it. They have an APB out on Eddie’s SUV so if Jim and the others end up returning to Denver, someone will pick them up. Also, they’ll be watching for them to return home as persons of interest in the shooting death of their friend. I guess Peter is going to send word up to Denver about Eddie’s death and they’ll have someone notify the family, since you positively identified him.”

  “Right. I don’t envy them the task.”

  She and Dylan snuggled on the couch, and she really liked this. She had dated a lot of the guys in Silver Town, but nothing had ever clicked. She certainly had never cuddled with one of her dates on the couch to watch a movie.

  For the first time since her sister moved out, her brothers having moved in with their mates before that, she didn’t feel so alone. But this would be for such a fleeting moment. Dylan would be off on another adventure and return to his home base in Denver within days, if not sooner.

  They watched part of the movie, but they both ended up falling asleep in each other’s arms. It wasn’t until much later that she woke up and realized it was nearly time for dinner.

  “Hey, are you ready to go to dinner?” she asked, surprised she’d fallen asleep with him.

  “Yeah. Is there any dress code?”

  She chuckled. “No. It’s always come as you are. We’re family after all.”

  “Okay, well, I’m ready when you are,” Dylan said and put on his parka, then helped her into hers.

  And then they headed out into the snow to the house next door. She hoped her family wouldn’t overwhelm Dylan with questions because he was the newcomer in their midst.

  Chapter 6

  Dylan thought it was nice that they were having the whole family over for dinner and they had invited him. He wondered if they wanted to meet him in a social setting because Roxie seemed to be interested in him and he was showing interest right back.

  All bundled up, Dylan and Roxie headed over to Blake’s house next door. He thought it was great that the family lived so close to each other so they could help one another out.

  Rosco immediately greeted them and so did a tabby cat. She wound her body around Roxie’s legs, then Dylan’s, as if she knew he was part of the family already.

  “That’s Princess Buttercup,” Roxie said. “We take turns taking care of the two pets, though most nights they stay with me now.”

  Everyone welcomed Dylan, introducing him to Gabrielle, since she was the only one who hadn’t met him yet. Nicole gave Dylan a hug and told everyone about a couple of other cases she’d helped him with.

  “These two three-month-old babies are Gabrielle’s and my twins,” Landon said, “Evan and Trish.”

  “And Blake and my twins are here, and they’re the same age, named Tucker and Ann,” Nicole said.

  “That’s great. As they grow up, they’ll be best friends,” Dylan said.

  “They already like being with each other,” Gabrielle said, “so I agree.”

  “Does everyone want a drink?” Blake asked.

  “Yeah, sure,” Dylan said.

  Everyone else did too.

  Blake made vanilla-cranberry mimosas with champagne for everyone, minus the champagne for Gabrielle and Nicole, and Dylan assumed they were still breastfeeding their babies.

  Then Roxie and Nicole began serving up the pot roast, potatoes, carrots, and gravy.

  “So what have you heard about the hunters or Eddie’s SUV? Anything about the teen wolf?” Dylan finally asked.

  “The police in Denver told Peter that they checked with the hunters’ parents to see if they knew of their whereabouts, but they all said they weren’t due home for a couple of weeks,” Landon said.

  “Did the parents tell the police their sons were out hunting?” Dylan asked.

  Landon shook his head. “No. They said the guys just get together every year at this time. They had no idea what they did when they went on their trips.”

  Dylan let out his breath. “And their sons just happened to be carrying hunting rifles on their trip for no reason.”

  “Yeah, I suspect their families know more than they’re telling.” Landon showed Dylan his phone. A news reporter was talking about the dead hunter found in the woods near Silver Town.

  “So Eddie’s family knows. What about the families of the three remaining men? How did they react to the news?” Dylan asked. “I mean, if the hunters hadn’t called their parents to tell them what had happened to their friend who died while with them…”

  They all took their seats at the dining room table.

  “I’m sure there’s going to be some falling-out between the parents if they had been friends prior to this. Maybe Eddie’s parents will tell the police what was going on—reference the illegal hunting and all, not wanting to protect these men if one of them killed their son,” Roxie said.

  “But then they’d have to admit that they knew Eddie was taking part in the illegal hunting. They might not want to ruin his good name,” Dylan said.

  “True, but it will come out anyway,” Nicole said.

  Landon cut off several slices of roast so everyone could serve up what they wanted. “Exactly. So Jim or one of their cohorts might have called Eddie’s parents and told them what had happened to Eddie before the police arrived at their homes for questioning—to prep them, so they don’t say things they might not want the police to know.”

  “If the hunters haven’t gone home, where might they have gone?” Gabrielle asked.

  “Jim’s grandfather has a cabin near San Isabel National Forest,” Dylan said. “I found them illegally hunting there once before.”

  Blake smiled. “You sound like a stalker.”

  Dylan dished some slices of roast beef onto his plate. “Yeah, for those who defy hunting laws or anything else having to do with illegal wildlife activities. I’m their worst nightmare.”

  “Someone needs to be,” Roxie said.

  Everyone was dishing potatoes and carrots out of the bowls and pot roast off the serving platter. Then they began eating.

  “We wanted to run tonight as wolves,” Dylan said, pouring gravy on his roast beef and potatoes.

  “To search for the teen?” Nicole asked.

  “Yeah,” Roxie said. “But we need to walk Rosco first.”

  “I’ll walk Rosco,” Landon offered. “I’ll just put the babies in the twin carry pack.”

  “I’ll do the same,” Blake said. “Then Nicole and Gabrielle can run as wolves.”

  “Um, if we run as wolves, the babies turn into wolves,” Nicole reminded her mate. “But you can take the double puppy-carrier backpacks. They’re too little to run in this deep snow.”

  “Yes! I knew that,” Blake said.

  The ladies laughed.

  “The babies are still waking us up all night long. I’m surprised any of us can function at all,” Gabrielle said.

  “That’s for certain,” Landon said. “I thought for sure by now they’d sleep through the night.”

  “Yeah, you and me both,” Blake said.

  Dylan chuckled. Roxie smiled and wondered when Kayla and Nate would have kids too. Roxie loved sitting for the babies. Heck, everyone in the pack loved acting as nannies to the new wolves in the pack.

  “This is delicious,” Dylan said, getting seconds of everything.

  They all smiled.

  “Family meals are the best,” Landon agreed. “We try to get the whole family together for lunch or dinner at least once a week.”

  Roxie topped slices of homemade pecan pie with whipped cream for dessert for everyone and served them up. After they finished eating, those running as wolves got ready to strip, shift, and run.

  Roxie told herself she was not going to look at Dylan when he stripped out of his clothes. But she swore doing so was a wolf condition or just a wolf’s curiosity. In the wild, wolves did consider the attributes of a prospective mate—not that she was considering mating him, but they did check each other out as a matter of course. Wild wolves didn’t have two physiques to consider—just a wolf’s. But she was just as curious about how Dylan would look as a wolf as she was about seeing him as a human.

  She was rewarded with one hot, sexy male. His muscles were just exquisite, and she couldn’t help thinking how nice it would be to feel his arms wrapped around her in a wondrous hug again. He didn’t have an ounce of fat. All those muscles must have been what made him feel so heavy when she had pulled him out of the swimming pool.

  She tugged off her last sock and saw him sneak a peek at her and smile, since she had been checking him over too and both got caught at it. Then they shifted into their wolves, and he was just as beautiful in his wolf coat.

  He had the most amazing golden eyes and white fur framing them. Then a band of gray surrounded that, and lighter fur extended around his muzzle. His throat was covered with long, white fur. Black guard hairs and gray undercoat mixed together on his saddle. His belly and legs were lighter, and he really had beautiful, distinctive markings. So yeah, his wolf totally appealed to her too.

  Roxie was so ready to do this. Her eye was still swollen and bruised, and it hurt, but she wasn’t letting that stop her from helping to look for the teen. She did wonder if Dylan was going to search for the hunters at Jim’s grandfather’s cabin though.

  They took off through the wolf door, and she knew Landon and Blake would enjoy walking with Rosco while carrying the wolf pups. Everyone was going to have a good time. Nicole and Gabrielle looked for every opportunity to get some exercise in, though Gabrielle had started back to work at the vet clinic full-time and Nicole was doing some contract work looking into fraudulent claims for insurance companies again.

  As they were running as wolves, the chilly wind cooled Roxie’s injured eye. It was like putting an ice pack on it for a while, so this worked out great. She and Dylan stuck close together. Kayla and Nate were nearby and Gabrielle and Nicole were in between the two “couples” until they ran into others beginning the hunt.

  The wolves in the pack normally didn’t all go to run at night at the same time, though some moms or dads were staying home with little ones. Someone else had to man the sheriff’s department while they had the four drunks in the jail cell. Of course they always had medical staff on hand at the clinic too.

  For three hours, they searched in the dark, a full moon lighting their way, and that made Roxie wonder if Dylan was a royal wolf with few human roots and could shift at will even during the full moon or new moon. She and her brothers and sisters weren’t, so they couldn’t shift during the new moon at all. They still needed to shift when the full moon was out. She suspected he was a royal so that he could work at the FWS. At the lodge, they always had enough royal wolves to fill in when Roxie and her siblings were having issues with shifting into wolves during the full moon. Though they’d gotten a lot more control over it over the years.

  They continued to run until Dylan stopped dead in his tracks, smelled the air, and listened. Roxie stopped beside him, smelling the air and trying to learn what he’d sensed. And then she smelled it too. The teen’s scent from the tent they’d found. Gabrielle and Nicole joined them.

  Nate and Kayla had run ahead, but when they realized Dylan, Roxie, and the others had stopped, they turned around and came back for them. They did the same as them—sniffed the air and listened, their ears twisting back and forth, trying to hear anything that they could. Then to Roxie’s surprise, Dylan shifted and called out, “We’re just like you, Luke. We know about the human hunters and their dead friend. We’re looking to arrest the men, and we’re trying to find you and bring you in for your own safety. Any of the wolf shifters in Silver Town—which is all wolf-run—will take you in.”

  Then Dylan shifted back into his beautiful wolf.

  She thought she saw movement then. All of them turned to look that way. A smallish wolf came out of the woods. Dylan woofed at him. Then Nate howled to let the other wolves know they’d found the teen.

  Dylan shifted again. “Come with us. We’ll get you some clothes, a hearty meal, a hot shower, and a warm bed.” Then he shifted again, and he and Roxie turned and headed for Blake’s house.

  She figured they were going to Blake and Nicole’s house because they had leftovers from the pot roast dinner.

  She glanced over her shoulder to see if the teen was following them. He was still behind them, wary, not running to catch up to them. If he’d witnessed the murder, even though the hunters had been human and he had to suspect he was safe with her and the other wolf shifters, he had probably been traumatized. But she wondered if there was more going on with the kid. First off, why was he alone? Had he been in trouble himself? Was he a runaway?

  They finally ended up at Blake and Nicole’s house, and Nicole ran inside first. Blake and Landon were rocking the wolf pups in padded rocking chairs. They had two rocking chairs just for when Landon and Gabrielle came over with their twins and needed to rock them to sleep. Though the daddies could have put them on their wolf beds to sleep.

  Rosco belatedly came to greet them as they all entered the house. Blake and Landon’s jaws dropped to see the last wolf to enter the room. “Luke?” Blake asked, then smelled his scent and nodded.

  Everyone began shifting except for the teen, and then they were getting dressed. The wolf pups were now babies, still sleeping soundly in their daddies’ arms.

  Nicole took her son from Blake and then Blake got up from the rocking chair, cradling their daughter in his arms. “I’ll get you some clothes to wear, Luke,” Blake said quietly so as not to wake the babies, and then he and Nicole headed upstairs to their kids’ room to leave them in their cribs.