Awakened from Ice: 1 (Werewolf Sentinels) by Marisa Chenery Page B

some graphic design work done. Edensaw hadn’t been too thrilled with the idea of her not being with him, but when she explained that if she didn’t do her job there would be no extra money coming in, he’d backed down a bit. Though that hadn’t stopped him from kissing her as if it would have to last him a year instead of the mere hours they would be apart.
    Now she couldn’t wait to see him again. Cassidy pulled into Brice’s driveway and parked at the end of it. She got out of the car and walked to the front door to ring the doorbell. Lindsey answered it and waved her inside.
    “Hey, Cassidy. Come on in. They’re all in the back.”
    “Thanks.”
    Cassidy followed Lindsey through the house to the glass sliding doors that led out to the deck in the backyard. Once she stepped out onto it, she found six dire wolves and a modern-day wolf running around on the lawn. At first it looked as if they were playing, but on closer inspection, it appeared as if the dire wolves were teaching the other wolf fighting skills.
    Lindsey proved Cassidy’s theory correct when she said, “Edensaw and the others are teaching Dad some better defensive moves while fighting in wolf form. They’re a lot stronger than us. And those dire wolf teeth are a heck of a lot sharper and bigger.”
    Cassidy leaned on the deck’s railing and watched the wolves. It was easy to pick out Brice. Side by side, the differences the dire wolves had in body shape and size were evident. They were stockier and more muscular. As for telling the dire wolves apart from each other, she had to work on that. She just hadn’t seen the wolf brothers in that form enough to tell who was who.
    Lindsey nudged her. “Why don’t you go down? I’m sure they’re just about done, anyway. And Edensaw has missed you.”
    Cassidy smiled as she looked at the girl. “He did, huh? He was that obvious?”
    “Well, he did seem distracted a lot.” Lindsey shook her head. “I still can’t believe he’s in the throes of the mating urge and can be so controlled. I’ve seen other male werewolves who are in the middle of it and their mates were holding them off. They’re not themselves. All they can think about is claiming their female almost every minute of every day until it’s a done deal.”
    “I guess being the first of your kind has some perks.”
    “I’d say.”
    Cassidy left Lindsey and walked down the steps to the lawn. One dire wolf’s head jerked in her direction before he left the group and loped toward her. Right away she knew it had to be Edensaw. He met her halfway and came to a stop in front of her. She watched the wolf’s body shimmer and blur, and then the man she wanted as her mate stood before her.
    Edensaw wrapped her in his embrace and tugged her close to kiss her hungrily. Cassidy fisted her hands in the front of his t-shirt, losing herself to the passion that built inside her. Only Edensaw knew how to make her body sing with a single touch.
    “I told you he missed you,” Lindsey said from the deck, laughing.
    Cassidy ended their kiss and smiled at Edensaw. “I guess you really did miss not having me around.”
    “Of course I did.”
    “Well, if you’re going to kiss me almost senseless every time we’ve been apart, I might have to do it more often.”
    “No, you won’t,” Edensaw said with a mock growl. “Brice has told us how terrible separation anxiety can be. There is no way I want either of us to experience it.”
    “That bad, huh?”
    “Yes, but it is supposed to not be as severe after a couple of years. We’ll be able to stand to be apart for longer periods of time then.”
    “That’s good.” Cassidy looked around Edensaw and noticed they had an audience. The others had shifted to their human forms and stood around watching them. “I think fighting lessons are over.”
    Edensaw glanced over his shoulder before he turned back to smile at Cassidy. “We were almost finished shortly before you arrived.”
    “Then let’s go