Read Untamed Wolf for Free Online Page B

“Thomas is flirting with Joanie to get a rise out of her mate.”
    Considering he’d done the same exact thing, he could only nod. “Of course.”
    “I have been wanting to talk to you. Do you mind walking me to our car, and I’ll get it started?” Damn. Emma baited the hook and he’d bitten right down like a pup discovering meat for the first time.
    “Of course.” Holding out his arm, he waited for her to slip her hand onto the crook of his elbow before walking her across the plowed lot toward her vehicle. Emma cared for so many, caring for her was an honor. “What can I do for you?”
    Though she’d never approved of his pursuit of Gillian, she’d never discouraged him either. He’d always known where the wind blew between Gillian and Owen. At the time, the Senior Hunter had his head so far up his own ass about deserving the journeyman healer, Dylan hadn’t been able to resist tweaking him.
    At her vehicle, she paused the conversation to open the door and get the engine started. Once done, she leaned against the vehicle and studied him. “You’re aware of the meetings we held with the other healers, yes?”
    “Aware? Yes. Know the content? No, ma’am.” He’d been assigned to dealing with the Yukon Alpha. Or big, bad wolf of pain in the ass, as Dylan dubbed him. Old, cantankerous, and difficult were the kindest descriptors. Escorting the Yukon pack out was the best part of the whole trip.
    “I thought as much. We’re not making it common knowledge yet, but you Hunters will definitely need to be more vigilant.” The practical nature of her tone and the assertion of need erased his earlier distractions.
    He nodded once. “Tell me what you need.”
    “We’re seeing a trend in wolves on the fringes of pack life becoming more and more disenfranchised. They are being forgotten, these wandering wolves who are not so much Lone as alone. Do you understand?”
    “I think so.” Every pack counted among its members a wide variety of personality types and temperaments. While most craved close contact, others simply did not. Hunters were among those who fell in both camps. Dylan could spend weeks without contact with his packmates, but it made the time he did spend with them sweeter. “My parents, for example, who forget as often as not, that they are still a part of a pack.”
    “But they have you kids—though I know your brother is going to school somewhere down south.”
    “Yes, in Austin.” The unclaimed territory wasn’t always the best place for pack wolves to spend long periods of time, but for school and employment assignments, concessions were made. Margo kept an eye on him when it was her territory. Chances were, another Enforcer continued the task—if any were free. He hadn’t talked to Braden in a while. “Another year or so, till he graduates.”
    “And your sisters?” Emma must have a point or she wouldn’t have requested the conversation.
    “Both mated in the last couple of years. Phyllis has a baby on the way, but then you know that.” Beyond his sisters, his only other family in the area returned recently. His second cousin, Claire, mated to a Buckley. His mother had been her father’s cousin, and their parents were all deceased.
    “I did. With their matings, they don’t go out to your parents’ place as much.” Since it was located on the other side of the lake and deep in the woods, Dylan wasn’t surprised. “We don’t want your parents to slip away from us. You know Gillian and Owen were doing rotations that let them visit all the outliers.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Though they are closer to town proper than our others, your parents still fall into the small section of ‘alones…’”
    “Please excuse the interruption,” he said, pressing a hand to his chest. At her nod, he continued, “My parents are mated. They can be flighty and forgetful, and I know how Mom and Dad get. They might forget to eat for days. They might forget to put gas in the car or that they