Wolf Signs Read online

  She dropped back on the sauna bench and tried to relax. She was still holding her knife, and twisting the handle in her palm, she rubbed the carvings with her fingertips like a worry stone. The familiar sensation calmed her to the point that she could begin to see the humour in the situation.

  I bet they never expected to get flashed, she thought as she poured some of the now-hot water over her skin, cleaning off the sweat and rinsing down her hair. She wondered if the men would want the sauna once she was done. She wouldn’t stock the stove, but leave a bed of coals.

  Because she had to go back inside. It would be monumentally silly to spend the night in here just because she’d had a bit of a shock.

  Besides, now they knew she had a big knife.

  She toweled off in the sauna then dressed in the annex. A piece of white against the window caught her eye, and she lifted a candle up to examine it.

  We apologize for frightening you. We are Keil and TJ from Haines, Alaska, and operate the wilderness excursion company Maximum Exposure. We are members of the Granite Lake pack. If you are afraid to come to the cabin, please put two candles in the window, and we will bring your sleeping gear and food/water to the door and you can retrieve it when you feel safe. But we promise you are safe to return. If you want, approach in wolf.

  Robyn read the note with some puzzlement. Well, the first part was nice but what were they talking about “approach in wolf”? It must be some kind of backcountry code she hadn’t picked up yet. They were from Haines, maybe it was an American slang. Sometimes the small differences between American and Canadian vocabularies caused weird things to happen.

  Hanging her wet towel in the sauna, Robyn wrapped her hair in a dry one and faced the door. Squaring her shoulders she drew a deep breath. She could do this.

  Walking toward the cabin she peered in the window, checking it out before approaching the door. One of the men sat on the edge of the sleeping platform, his face out of sight as he spoke, his hands wild as they swung in big circles.

  Great, a waver. All that energy saying nothing.

  The other leaned back against the table, his arms supporting him, his gaze roaming around the room. Suddenly his eyes stopped and looked straight at her out the window. Even though she should be invisible to him, a person in the dark while he was in the light, he’d seen her. He stood a little straighter and lifting up his arms, he crossed them over his heart and dipped his head.

  Robyn stopped in shock.

  That was the ASL sign for “love”.

  Robyn’s last straw broke and she stomped the rest of the way up to the cabin and threw open the door. Dropping her things on the bench, she kicked off her boots and marched up to him and started the deaf equivalent of shouting with her hands and body in his personal space.

  “You do not insult me like that. Asshole. I accept your apology for the mistake before, but you go too far. You are rude. What does…?” She pulled the paper she’d retrieved from the window and pointed to the line “approach in wolf”. “What does this mean?” She stepped back and crossed her arms while she waited for his response.

  The look on his face was priceless.

  Confusion, complete and utter confusion.

  Robyn spun toward the waver as he stood and she caught the last thing he said. “…using sign language?” She nodded, bicycling her hands in front of her while mouthing “sign language”.

  The larger of the two men made sure she was watching him before he spoke. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand sign language. I think I’ve upset you and I didn’t mean to. Is there a way we can talk?”

  All the bluster drained out of Robyn like sand through a sieve. Typical. She came to get away from the drain of communicating with people and instead she was going to have to use extra energy.

  Oh well, maybe they’d eat a few pieces of her cheesecake and save her the calories.

  She held up a hand with a lifted finger, a signal she’d seen many hearing people use to ask for a minute. Going back to the door, she cleaned up her boots and went to her backpack, tucking away her gear and tidying up her hair. She turned to get a drink and found the man she’d yelled at standing with a glass in his hand.

  “Would you like some water?” He offered it to her and she touched her fingers to her mouth then opened the hand toward him before accepting the glass. She drained it in one shot. Robyn grinned at the funny expression on his face as she returned the glass. It had been hot in the sauna, and she wasn’t going to be ladylike and sip when she was thirsty.

  He smiled back at her. Dark brown eyes, so dark they were almost black, twinkled at her.

  “Would you like some more?”

  She nodded and made a circle motion over her chest with her hand.

  “Was that ‘please’?” he asked.

  Robyn gave him a reluctant smile. She nodded and sat at the table. There was something fascinating about the man, and she watched as he went to get her some more water. She’d placed snow-filled buckets here in the main cabin before her sauna, and the men knew the routine. They had one of the buckets on the side cupboard for cool water, and the other simmering on the stove to melt snow and keep the air moist.

  She let her eyes wander over him as he added more snow to the hot bucket. He was big. One of the biggest men she’d ever seen, and perhaps rushing into the cabin and shouting at him hadn’t been the smartest thing to do.

  His dark brown hair hung in a braid almost to his hips. Broad shoulders covered with a dark T-shirt, he had a tribal tattoo that wrapped around his left arm at the biceps. She was tempted to move closer and examine it, but he returned with her full glass and she tried to hide the fact she’d been staring at him with a quick shift to face the table. She spotted the notepad and pencil she’d left out earlier. She tapped it and motioned for him to sit beside her.

  You talk and I’ll write. You need to make sure I see your face.

  “I’m Keil and that’s my brother, TJ.”

  Robyn Maxwell from Whitehorse.

  “I’m sorry we frightened—”

  Robyn interrupted him by waving a hand in the air and starting to write. It was an accident. I couldn’t hear you and I wasn’t paying attention. Tell TJ I’m sorry I pulled my knife on him.

  Keil rotated around to face his brother. Robyn watched as TJ drew up a chair opposite her and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Robyn,” he said drawing out his words in an exaggerated manner.

  Oh goodie. TJ was an idiot. Robyn glared at him and shook his hand hard enough to make him pull back in surprise. She grabbed the pad.

  I’m deaf, not stupid. Don’t talk weird for my sake. She flipped the pad around to let him read it while she took another drink.

  This was the hard way to get to know people. It was much easier when Tad was along, because she could talk to him and he’d pass on messages and it would end up feeling natural and not this ridiculous slow process. She sighed and grabbed the pad back. Keil laid a soft hand on her arm to get her attention and a curious sensation raced through her body.

  Heat slid from his hand to her arm, tickling, tingling. What was that all about? She looked down at his hand and felt the warmth still radiating, small bursts of electricity racing up her arm and making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. He gave a slight squeeze to get her attention and she glanced up at his face.

  “What pack?”

  She pulled back in confusion and shrugged.

  “Robyn, you said you live in Whitehorse. Are you Takini or Miles Canyon pack?”

  Here it was again. What was he talking about? It was too bad he seemed to be slightly crazy because he was the hottest thing on two legs she’d ever seen.

  She hoped he was fun crazy and not kill-people-in-the-middle-of-the-night crazy. Writing a short note she tossed the pad toward him as she got up from the table. Putting on her coat, she took a final quick glance his direction before heading outside for a breath of air.

  Yup, he was hot. Out of his mind, but very easy on the eyes. Sme
lt yummy too. She ignored the strange throbbing sensation in her limbs and forced herself to walk outside.

  As the door closed behind her, Keil pulled the pad nearer and read it out loud to TJ.

  “Takini is a hot spring. Miles Canyon is where I canoe. A pack is what I carry my gear in. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m getting ready for bed. The sauna has coals if you want it. I will talk to you tomorrow. Good night.”

  “You think she really doesn’t know she’s a werewolf?” TJ asked.

  “Why would she have any reason to pretend? I don’t understand. She’s full-blood wolf from what I smell.”

  “Me too.”

  Keil drummed his fingers on the table. She not only smelt like wolf, but another scent flowed from her that tickled the back of his brain and went straight to his cock.

  The scent of his mate. The chemical trail that called his wolf to hers and would make them mates for life. He was pretty sure she was it, but until he got a taste of her skin when she was aroused he couldn’t be positive.

  Of course at the rate they were going, it would be summer before he’d get close enough to actually find out.

  Grabbing clean clothes, the brothers made their way to the sauna. Thirty seconds after closing the door, Keil realized the sauna was a bad idea. Robyn’s scent hung heavy in the closed space, sweet and spicy, filling his head with thoughts that were better not imagined while sitting naked in a small space with his brother.

  “You know, she smells good.”

  Keil growled at TJ. “Shut it, pup.”

  “Well, she does. But, Keil, she smells good like ‘Hey, Robyn, can you help me with this?’ and not ‘Hey, baby, can you help me? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.’ Know what I mean?”

  “Please, spare me the Monty Python imitations.”

  TJ flicked some snow at his brother. “I’m trying to tell you something serious and you accuse me of imitating MP? I’m cut to the quick. For serious discussion I imitate political personalities. You know that.”

  Keil lay back on the bench and tried to ignore his younger brother. TJ was the most irritating, the most annoying…and the most observant person he knew. Leaning up on one elbow, he opened his eyes and cursed.

  “Fine. Explain it. What are you trying to tell me and use small words. It’s late and it’s been a hell of a day.”

  TJ dropped to the lower bench and grabbed the cedar edging in front of him. “She smells good like I want to trust her and take care of her and I know she’ll take care of me. She obviously affects you differently.”

  “Oh. How is that?”

  TJ snorted as he pointed. “You’ve got wood from the smell of her left in a sauna, bro. You’ve got it bad and I bet she is your mate because you haven’t even given her a proper sniff yet. I knew you were ready to be Alpha!”

  Keil let his head flop back on the hard bench. TJ’s leaps of logic were over the top. How he got from the fact Keil had a hard-on that could pound nails to making him Alpha was incredible.

  “TJ, enough. Can we let this drop for tonight? The problem will still be there in the morning.”

  TJ’s laugh was long and loud, and finally Keil joined in.

  “Okay, bad choice of words. Don’t point it out.” Another howl went up from TJ and Keil gave up. He picked up the bucket of cool water and poured it over himself. He raised the other bucket.

  “Want a rinse?”

  When TJ nodded, Keil gave an evil grin and poured the contents of the half-snow-filled bucket over his brother’s head. The icy-cold water streamed down and TJ’s scream echoed in the small space.

  Now Keil was ready for bed.

  Chapter Three

  Keil rolled over for the millionth time.

  This was impossible.

  He’d slept in a cave surrounded by soaking wet, stinking pack members when they’d gotten caught in a storm. He’d slept in a single hotel room with seven buddies on a road trip, all of them snoring loud enough to shake the walls. Both times he’d gotten more sleep than tonight.

  All because of the small female body at the end of the platform.

  He gave up pretending and sat up to admire her better. The moonlight pouring in the window showed parts of her and his night vision filled in the rest of the details. She was curled into a half-circle, one leg pulled up, her head resting on a pillow made from her extra clothes. She wasn’t in the sleeping bag but under it, her body lying on a small soft blanket.

  It was warm enough in the cabin that she’d shrugged off most of her coverings and his gaze slipped over her. He wished he could touch her with his hands. Her skin tone was lighter than his, her light brown hair escaping from the ponytail she’d made before crawling into bed. Keil stared, memorizing the curve of her cheek, the dimple just visible at the edge of her mouth. Her eyes closed in peace had the longest lashes he’d ever seen.

  He licked his lips. Looking at her made his mouth water. He was tempted to slide over and take her in his arms, nestle her against his body and—

  Shit. He was hard again.

  How could she not know about belonging to a pack? As a full-blood wolf, she would have had the ability to shift from human form to wolf starting around adolescence. While the werewolf genes were dormant in most half-breeds, full-blood wolves almost always had their genes triggered while still babies.

  Robyn being deaf was unusual, but not a huge issue to him. He could learn to sign, if that’s what it took. When she was in wolf form, they’d have no problem communicating since wolf was ninety percent sign language. As mates, they should be able to speak into each other’s minds anyway.

  And if he was going to challenge for Alpha, there was an even greater chance he’d be able to hear her thoughts. One of the perks of heading a pack was a strong mental link to every member of the pack. Add that to the mate bond and they’d be fine.

  His mind slipped to pack problems even as his gaze continued to caress her body. The current Alpha and Beta were getting too old to be proper leaders. The Granite pack was large and more transient than most with the constant influx of newcomers from the Lower 48.

  Every time a wolf got the itch to connect with their inner self, they seemed to make their way north, thinking that the wilds of Alaska would help them find themselves. All they found was that life required hard work, no matter were you lived. There was no easy ride anywhere, and perhaps even less here Up North.

  Keil had begun to worry as more of their traditions fell away. It wasn’t that he didn’t like progress, but some things were tradition because it was good for the pack. Newcomers brought baggage with them, and a lot of what they were demanding the pack do to keep them comfortable went against everything the Granite pack stood for.

  It was time for change. When the old leaders announced they would step aside and let someone younger take over, Keil knew it was his chance. He would have to slow down on his guiding business but having a strong pack would be worth it.

  But he wasn’t the only wolf with the potential to win the challenge. Another of the newcomers was Keil’s equal in strength, but Jack’s vision for the future of the pack traveled even further down the road to hell than the one they were on.

  Keil groaned and rolled on his back. Finding his mate right now was going to make things difficult, to say the least. But was he sad he’d found her? Hell, no. Some wolves went their whole lives without discovering their mate. So he had a few issues to resolve.

  Before next weekend. No rush.

  A soft noise made him turn. Robyn was awake, pushed up on one elbow rubbing her hand over the side of her face and ear as if in pain. He scrambled closer, cautious not to frighten her, trying to be sure she saw him approach.

  He mouthed the words to avoid waking TJ. “Are you okay?”

  Tears were welling up in her eyes as she shook her head. She tried to sit and with little effort he lifted her, pulling her into his arms. He ended up rubbing his hand over the side of her head while he rocked her gently back and forth. She was tense at first but
slowly she relaxed, and his heart leapt. Keil wasn’t sure what was going on, but she felt too marvelous pressed up against him to think it through. His fingers continued to smooth over her hair and cheek, the feel of her against him wonderful and right. Her skin was soft under his fingers, the warmth of her torso wrapping around him like a blanket.

  And when Robyn turned her head in his hand and caressed it, he thought his heart would burst. He couldn’t resist. Still cupping her face, he lowered his lips toward hers, brushing gently with a closed mouth, just to feel the friction of them coming together.

  It was like a shock of electricity raced through her. She’d woken to the painful buzzing in her ear that was a sporadic occurrence over the years. It only seemed to happen when she camped with strangers, and she’d learned to deal with it by rubbing, hard, on the soft spot below her ear. But today at Keil’s gentle touch, the pain receded, and a wonderful warmth built throughout her body like she’d never before experienced. As his lips touched hers something clicked within her and all she could think about was feeling him everywhere.

  Oh, lordy, she wanted to be naked with him.

  That was really, really not her.

  She’d reached twenty-six years old with limited sexual experience. Whether it was because Tad was overprotective or because her deafness made her too unattractive to warrant more exploration, she’d never worried about it too much. She had read erotic stories over the years, and she knew how to climax, but she’d never had any desire to try much of anything with anyone.

  Tad said she was saving herself for the “right man”.

  Her parents had told her that when it was time, she’d know.

  After all these years she’d figured that the Timex took a licking somewhere along the line and busted, because no one had really turned her crank.

  Until now.

  This stranger made her mouth water, and she hadn’t had a real taste of him yet. She opened her lips a crack, to see what he’d do and his eager tongue slipped past to trace the edge of her teeth.