Wild Instinct by Sarah McCarty Page B

am I carrying you?”
    “I’m not leaving my son.” She couldn’t.
    With a move so rapid her mind only cataloged it afterward, she was facedown over his broad shoulder. And with the same graceful strength he again picked up Megan, effectively mitigating her struggles with the fear of hurting her daughter.
    “I figured you for a stubborn one.”
    He didn’t sound at all put off by the idea.

Thirteen
    HAVEN wasn’t what Sarah Anne had expected. She was used to the rigid community structure of werewolves, with the houses set out by hierarchy, but Haven was actually charming. There were capes mixed in with Victorians and bungalows. Some of the houses were in a state of disrepair, but the majority of them were in the process of being rebuilt.
    “How big does Wyatt expect his pack to be?” she asked as the SUV they’d picked up three hours ago left the town behind.
    Garrett cut her a glance. “I didn’t get the impression that he thought in terms of limits.”
    She thought of all the weres who had been displaced for a variety of reasons. “He can’t expect to take them all in.”
    “Where would you suggest he draw the line?”
    Donovan’s low drawl from the front seat made her blush. The most likely place would be with half bloods. Like her and her children, who were not even that.
    “I don’t know.”
    “Yeah, neither does Wyatt.”
    “So he’s just taking in whomever?”
    The seat creaked as Donovan turned. His hard gaze raked her face, leaving her feeling like less than nothing for asking a perfectly valid question. Garrett’s arm came around her shoulder. He was always doing that. Touching her when she needed it most. Whether she wanted it or not.
    “The pack is always protected.”
    “Meaning?”
    “Meaning we investigate anyone who applies.”
    “You investigated me?”
    There were a whole lot of things she didn’t want them to know about her.
    The half smile on Donovan’s mouth raised the hairs on the back of her neck. “We left that to Garrett.”
    The sick feeling in her stomach grew. The hairs at her temple stirred. There was the softness of a “Relax” couched inside an exhale. “There was nothing unexpected in your background.”
    Then he hadn’t discovered everything. She let out her breath. His lips brushed her temple again in what almost seemed like . . . approval?
    “Of course,” Donovan continued. “In light of what we now know, those findings could be suspect.”
    Garrett cursed.
    Donovan laughed. “Relax, cub.”
    “Fu—” He glanced at Megan, who was leaning against his other side. “Screw—”
    Sarah gasped. Donovan laughed as the car pulled into a driveway that wound through the trees, and said, “You might just want to let that trail off.”
    He did, thank the Lord. The wolf in Sarah went on alert as the SUV wound down the driveway. Her nostrils flared, seeking the scent of danger. All she could smell was a hint of leather, the underlying scent of Donovan—wolf, but wrong. The fragrance of her daughter and the overwhelming perfection of Garrett’s scent. Which was slightly stronger in response to the tension.
    She bit her lip. If she was worried, how much more so must he be? Not only was his own talent putting him in jeopardy, but as he truly believed she was his mate, he had to worry for Megan. Even if he wanted to escape, she and Megan tied his hands. And who knew what Kelon and Daire were saying to Wyatt? They had a twenty-minute jump on her arrival, as Donovan had stopped for supplies. She glanced up at the flat set of Garrett’s mouth.
    He definitely knew they were in trouble. But he wasn’t running. She shouldn’t be surprised. He was a Protector and had claimed her as mate. The one thing a wolf woman never was was alone or vulnerable. Living among the humans, she’d forgotten how good that could make a woman feel. When Garrett looked down, she offered him a smile. The one he offered in return didn’t shake. It was full of the confidence with which a