Read Online Hunting Wolf: Black Mesa Wolves #3 by J.K. Harper - Free Book Online Page A

she could call in sick today and help her out instead. Naturally, Rielle could hardly say no to the Alpha's mate. But she did stay dressed up. Today, she needed armor against a world abruptly gone crazy. Clothes were armor.
    Clothes are for hiding. The thought drifted from her wolf in immediate rebuttal. Rielle stopped abruptly.
    What did that mean?
    Wolves do not hide behind clothes. This time, the thought was not only clear, it seemed a strange combination of sad yet also firm. Almost frustrated. Yes, her wolf whispered. The thought sank lower, drifting away, but it had one more whammy. Frustrated.
    Rielle felt flames in her cheeks. Her wolf was frustrated with her. Maybe even hated her. Which was ridiculous, because she was her wolf. And she didn't hate herself. Did she? She'd been pushing her wolf down for months. Staying in town. Mingling almost solely with humans. Biting the inside of her cheek, she had to admit that seemed to show dislike, if not actual hatred.
    Frustration with herself, though? That was probably spot on.
    An image of Caleb popped into her mind. Tall, built, those eyes filled with strength and passion and the confidence that he had the ability to do anything he wanted. Such as, kiss her. Which might be interesting. Not that she'd been thinking about him kissing her. Because kissing would lead to other things. Things that she might not have, um, much experience with. And beside, this was Caleb she was thinking about! Caleb the caveman. She had no interested in kissing a caveman. Right?
    “Rielle?” The voice came from directly behind her. Despite herself, Rielle squeaked and jumped, heart pounding. Spinning around, she found the soft green eyes of the Alpha's mate regarding her with some apology, but mostly a keen observation.
    “Oh, I didn't mean to frighten you.” Otsana reached out a hand to quickly soothe along Rielle's arm, in that unconscious way all wolves had of tactile reassurance. “You were so deep in thought you didn't hear me asking you a question.”
    “I—what were you asking me?” Rielle felt another blush start to wash over her face. This was Caleb's mother. Caleb, about whom she'd just been imagining what it might be like to kiss.
    Thank god wolves couldn't read thoughts.
    “Actually, I wondered what had you so preoccupied.” Otsana's gaze sharpened even more. Maybe the Alpha's mate could read minds after all. No, that was silly. Rielle had never read of such a thing.
    “Uh....” Her mind felt blank. “I, um....”
    To her utter surprise, Otsana began to chuckle. Her calm, lovely face became open and expansive as she let the chuckle burgeon into a full laugh. Clearly, she wasn't laughing at Rielle—Otsana Bardou was kind and compassionate, the one all the Pack members went to when they had problems or fears—but it still made Rielle feel uncomfortably pinned to the spot. She didn't like being the center of anyone's attention.
    “Oh, come sit with me for a minute.” Otsana gestured toward a plush leather couch under a large window, then tugged at Rielle's arm. “You've been distracted all morning. I'm sorry I asked you to give up a day of freedom from here, but it was important for more reasons than you know.”
    As they settled into the couch's soft umber cushions, Rielle awarded the savvy older wolf a speculative look. “I have a feeling there's an abundance of situations and concepts I know nothing about when it comes to the running of this Pack,” she said. “Trust me, I don't really want to know.” She gave a small shake of her head. “After everything I've ever read about our Pack history, I don't want any more information about current issues until at least a few decades after the fact. Sometimes I think I know too much as it is.”
    “There's a reason you were chosen to be the Pack's historian,” Otsana said with a balletic shrug. “You are trustworthy, loyal, highly intelligent, and genuinely interested in both history as well as how that history plays