Read Desert Blood (The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch Book 2) for Free Online Page B

it go for tonight. We need clear heads for tomorrow.”
    Cody shot Kyle a hard look, reminding him who beat whom in that fight they’d had shortly after Kyle joined the pack. It had been a hard-fought encounter, and even in defeat, Kyle had earned high standing in the pack.
    Right now, though, Cody had to admit Kyle was right. He should clear his head. But how? The vampires were out there. Who knew who their next victim would be? And Heather… He just couldn’t clear his mind of her. It was as if the part of his brain responsible for breathing had taken her on, too.
    The wolf leaped to attention and started pacing.
Mate! Mine!
    No, no, no. He couldn’t let himself get distracted. Not when so much was on the line.
    His wolf growled disapproval just as something beeped. Kyle leaned over the side table. “Fax from Tina for you.”
    Cody sighed; his wolf whined. Tina probably had some errand for him to run tomorrow. More likely, an entire series of errands like hauling fertilizer and tracking down hard-to-find parts. She loved torturing her little brother like that.
    When Cody read the fax though, he broke into a wide grin.
Need you to bring this to Heather,
Tina wrote.
Beth’s library orders. Does Heather want to add anything before we put the order in tomorrow morning?
Below that, she’d jotted Heather’s address.
P.S. Hope you don’t mind.
    Nope. He didn’t mind one bit.
    But showing up at Heather’s place unannounced with a sheaf of papers seemed a little lame, so Cody stopped by a store on the way. He wavered between the aisles, plagued by indecision. Wine seemed a little too forward. Beer, a little too crude. He settled on two pints of strawberries instead.
    Thoughts of the murder case flitted away, replaced by images of her. A mile away from her address, his nostrils were already twitching. When Cody took the final turn down her quiet lane, he immediately recognized that late model orange VW of hers, so out of place here in the west. The car had seen better days and the tiny rental bungalow, too. But it was quiet out here on the edge of town, and she’d done her best to spruce things up with potted plants and a bird feeder. In them, he saw the color of hope, of determination to make a new start. Which only made him more curious. What brought her to Arizona, anyway?
    Destiny
, the desert whispered.
    He sniffed. She was home, all right. Everything in him skipped and lurched, and Cody nearly laughed at himself. Other men came home sniffing for dinner; he came home sniffing for her.
    Then he caught himself. Home wasn’t here.
    She’s here
, his wolf said.
Home
.
    He locked the beast back into its cage and knocked, knuckles rapping beside a braid of garlic. Funny, most people hung strings of chili peppers on their doors. Heather was different. Different in so many fascinating ways. Cody knocked again and stepped back, prepping the words he’d been rehearsing all the way over. But the moment she opened the door, he froze. Not so much at the T-shirt and shorts she’d changed into as at her hair, finally let down. Light filtered through it, accenting every soft strand that went down nearly to her waist in long, golden waves. Gone was the teacher; before him was someone between girl and woman, innocent and sensual all at the same time. Like her scent—a light, fruity scent, as if she’d just stepped out of the shower in anticipation of his visit.
    Her scent filled him and words vanished. Everything disappeared, replaced by a roar in his ears, a twitch in his veins.
    Mine!
screamed his wolf.
Make her mine!

 
    CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    A knock on the door on a Sunday night should have set off every alarm in Heather’s body. It should have had her cowering, hoping that whoever it was, they’d please, please give up and go away.
    Part of her did cower. But the other part was drawn forward—bold and unafraid. Reckless, even. As if her dog Buddy were there, one step ahead, tail wagging in eager anticipation of a trusted