Wolf on the Hunt by N. J. Walters Page A

mouth shut usually had a short life.
    Jean Paul saw the world in shades of gray and did what needed doing for survival. Robert couldn’t share what he didn’t know. Jean Paul had been keeping things from his brother since they were kids. It was second nature.
    Robert hurried ahead of him. Their truck was parked a mile down the road. He thought about contacting Pierre, but he’d already given him his report for the day. The entire pack was still on their land and they’d built another home. That had been a tidbit of news that Pierre hadn’t known.
    Better to wait until he knew something for sure. The last thing he wanted to do was piss off his alpha. Jean Paul planned to live a long life, and Pierre had a very short temper.
    He followed Robert back to the truck all the while wondering if Louis was dead or hurt and if he was indeed in that house. And if he was there, it led to all kinds of questions. Did he know the people who lived there? And if they were unaware of who and what he was, why had they taken a wounded wolf into their home?

Chapter Seven
    Gray knew wolves were pack animals. Still, it was a shock to hear him so casually mention others. Somehow she’d pictured Louis as a lone wolf.
    “We’re a small group—five males and four females.”
    So there were more werewolves walking around in the area. It was hard for her to wrap her head around everything. Now that Louis had eaten and was looking much better, it was time to ask her questions.
    “So are you a separate species? No one had to bite you so you’d become a werewolf?” It felt crazy to be asking such questions, like she’d fallen into another reality. But she knew what she’d seen with her own eyes, and unless Louis was a master of hypnotism or hallucination, she’d watched him turn from a wolf into a man.
    He studied her for a long moment before shaking his head. “ Non . Most are born this way. It is possible to change a human with a bite, but it is extremely rare and almost always lethal for the human.”
    “But not always?”
    “Not always,” he conceded. “But it is an extremely painful process.” He turned the questions back on her. “You know nothing of your father?”
    Gray toyed with the handle of her mug. It hurt her to think of her father. “No. My mother never mentioned him, and my grandmother didn’t know anything about him at all.” She’d been thinking about something Louis had mentioned earlier. “I think maybe she did know he wasn’t quite human.”
    Louis’s eyes narrowed and his entire being grew more intent. “Why do you say that?”
    “We were always moving.” Gray had hated being woken in the middle of the night and strapped into their dilapidated car. “She was nervous a lot. I remember that. Always looking over her shoulder.”
    Louis drained his coffee mug, pushed back his chair and went to the pot for a refill. “It’s likely that she was afraid he or his pack would come after her if they knew about you.” He paused by her long enough to top up her coffee before going back to his seat.
    She breathed a sigh of relief when he was no longer right next to her. The towel he was wearing didn’t offer much coverage. It would only take one small tug and it would be gone. As it was, it wasn’t easy to converse with Louis with all that tanned and muscled chest on display.
    She scrubbed a hand over her face. “So it’s likely my father was trying to kill me?” That was a far cry from the make-believe story she’d indulged in as a child. She’d imagined her father didn’t know about her but would someday discover she existed and come to get her. Yeah, that was nothing more than a child’s fantasy.
    Louis shrugged. “Maybe.”
    Her mouth fell open. “Maybe? That’s all you have to say? You don’t find it appalling that a father would want to kill his child?” What kind of man was he?
    Louis released a tired sigh. “ Chère , my father has been trying to kill me for years.”
    “But you’re not a