Chapter Three
Astrid was out in the vegetable patch, harvesting some fresh vegetables. She had already roasted up a load of pumpkin and was currently flash-freezing it as cubes, which she would then bag and have on hand throughout the winter and into spring.
She knew pumpkins were meant to keep for months, but some seemed to spoil, and she liked to have a backup. Canned pumpkin was good, but she always liked the variety.
“Hey, Astrid,” Enzo said, catching her by surprise.
“Enzo, hi.” She quickly checked the time, and she still had an hour before dinner.
“It’s not time, but that Halloween party is tonight, and I was wondering if you would like to go to the dance with me.”
She had tried to avoid being alone with Enzo. Astrid didn’t know how to turn him down.
“Thank you, Enzo, I do appreciate you asking, but I just can’t.”
“You can’t? Does this have anything to do with Lord?” Enzo asked.
“No, no, it’s just that I don’t go to dances and I have a lot to do here.” She’d been setting up the driveway so kids would come trick-or-treating. Also, she had made sure to buy a lot of candy. She was not going to eat it all herself.
She had prepared little gift boxes for the ranchers who had kids, as well as their families.
She liked doing the little extra pieces.
One day, if she ever had a husband and kids, she wanted to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving along with all the festivities.
It probably sounded lame to some people, but she felt it was fun.
“Thank you,” Astrid said. She didn’t want to be mean, and she had never strung Enzo along.
Enzo nodded. “You can’t blame a guy for trying. Well, if you get bored or Lord pisses you off, give me a call.”
She doubted Enzo would be alone tonight. He was a good-looking man, clearly looking for a date, but she was not the person for him.
Finishing up her gathering of beans and herbs, she made her way into the house.
Chicken stew and dumplings were in the last stages of cooking.
She’d made a pumpkin pie for dessert, and prepared the vegetables for tomorrow.
She liked to get ahead. Spending her time in the kitchen was her favorite thing.
She always knew she loved to cook, but now it was her job, and she loved feeding people.
She cleaned the house within an hour. With just her and Lord, there was barely any mess. He had created an amazing ranch. It was really beautiful and scenic. She loved it.
Dinnertime came and went, with the ranch hands needing to get home and get their kids out to have fun.
The ranchers all promised to stop by with their kids.
They loved their Halloween package, and once the dishes were done, Astrid went to her room and changed into her witch costume.
She added some freckles to her face, along with a deep red lipstick.
She had already done her eyes, and just as she put on the finishing touches, the doorbell rang.
Rushing downstairs, she did not expect to see Lord at the door. He opened the door to the kids, and she partly expected him to start growling, but he looked a little confused.
“Here you go, kids,” Astrid said, making her way to the large pot of sweets, and lifting it down for them to take their candy.
Their eyes lit up, and she couldn’t help but laugh. This is what she loved about Halloween. A holiday that encouraged sugar rushes and rotten teeth.
“You’re serious about this?” Lord asked.
He was still in his ranch clothes, and she was shocked to see him at all. They lived together and she worked for him, but she rarely saw him.
“Of course. It’s fun, and I did carve all those pumpkins and put out all the decorations.”
She didn’t ask for any help, however, several of the ranchers did help her, and not just Enzo. They told her she was a good woman. They liked her. It was the first time in her life she was actually ... liked.
“Besides, Blake said he’d stop by with his kids, and other ranchers did as well,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind?”
Astrid did ask, and she had taken his acceptable grunts as approval. That is what she had assumed they were. Now, she wasn’t quite so sure. Had she overstepped the mark? She nibbled her lip.
“I will go and get changed,” Lord said.
She didn’t have a chance to ask him what he meant, as the doorbell rang again. There were more kids, and she just loved the costumes. There were a lot of spooky ones, some from movies, others just the usual monsters people dressed up as at Halloween.
The doorbell rang six more times before Lord joined her. He wore some kind of old garments that were torn at the cuffs and hems with fake blood on them. He literally looked like some ravaged old lord. He’d even put a hairpiece on.
“We’re taking this outside. If I hear that fucking doorbell ring again, I’m going to destroy it, and it took me hours to install.”
She did have every intention of taking this outside as she knew from past experiences how annoying the ringing bell could be.
The only reason she hadn’t done so was that it had gotten seriously cold in the past few hours.
As she stepped out, she felt the chill go right through her.
The costume she wore was not exactly made with thick material, and she felt herself starting to freeze almost instantly.
Astrid was not a complainer.
Fall and winter were her favorite times of the year. She just happened to love being cold when she was snuggled under a thick sweater. There was no time to be cold, though, as the kids came.
Lord didn’t show any sign of the cold affecting him, but after an hour, and even seeing Blake and his lovely family didn’t help.
Astrid tried to hide her shaking hands, or the fact her breath kept coming out in waves of mist.
“You’re cold,” Lord said, removing his jacket and placing it over her shoulders. Some of the kids had asked what he was, and he said, “an old person,” which they all laughed at but were freaked out about.
No one knew Lord’s age, and everyone knew wolves aged slowly. He could be a couple of hundred years old. He had thick black hair with a few streaks of grey. He was grumpy a lot of the time. It wasn’t like he talked about the good old days. In fact, for the most part, he was quiet.
The kids seemed to also love the fact he kept them guessing whether his outfit was really his from a past life, or not.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I’m hot. I don’t feel the cold.” He kept his hands on her shoulders and Astrid slid her hands inside each arm.
“Thank you.” His warmth surrounded her, along with his musky scent. She could never quite put her finger on what he smelled like. It was like the earth and home, and everything that gave her comfort. She was pretty sure there was a little pine mixed in there as well.
Lord didn’t remove his hands right away. He gripped her shoulder and she liked him holding her. Actually, she loved having his hands on her.
****
Lord had intended to steer clear of the house. The costume he wore was an old one his mother had made for him. He didn’t know why he had kept it, just that he had if there was ever a need to wear it. Even after all these years, it still fit.
He loved to see the look on the kids’ faces when he hinted at being so old.
He was not an old wolf. He was forty-five years old, and to many wolves, that was young.
Without a pack or a mate, he knew he was going to age a little faster.
It was why he had the streaks of grey in his hair.
He didn’t know how being in a pack or mated slowed down the aging process, just that it did for some packs. Lord hadn’t minded the aging.
Wolves were not infallible, although folklore pretended they were. He would live a long life, but over the last few years, that had seemed almost unbearable.
The last few months hadn’t, though.
The kids started to come fewer and fewer as it got later.
Astrid still didn’t want to go in the house.
He heard soft, spooky music playing, and he saw, even with his jacket, she was getting cold.
He needed to find a way to warm her up, fast. He didn’t want her getting cold.
He had a horrible feeling the guys would be pissed if their best cook couldn’t feed them anymore. He knew he would be.
Going to the stereo, he turned up the music, and then glanced toward her. “I don’t suppose I could have this dance?”
“I don’t know how to dance,” she said, nibbling her lip, which he found so cute.
“That’s okay, because I know how to dance for both of us. It’s all right, I don’t bite.”
Although, imagining sinking his teeth into the flesh of her ass was so damn intoxicating. He’d love to get his mouth on her body, but he didn’t say a word. Now was not the time for crazy, sexy fantasies, although that was exactly what he wanted. She was pure temptation to him.
He was used to his years of being a lone wolf with no one around. Maybe that was why he was reacting this way.
Astrid stepped toward him, put her hand in his, and he wondered if she felt the sudden hit of electricity. It was sharp and intense. The moment her hand was in his, he didn’t want to let go. This need kept pulling him, begging him to continue.
He pulled her in close and immediately put a hand at the base of her back.
Staring into her brown eyes, that pull didn’t fade, but got stronger.
Holding her as close to him as possible, he let the music flow over them, and he touched as much of her as he could, attempting to warm her up.
At first, she shook within his arms. The cold had seeped into her bones.
No more children came to visit. They were all alone, surrounded by the spooky fairy lights Astrid had put up.
He never celebrated Halloween. As a wolf, he didn’t find it funny. This year, he had enjoyed it. He liked to see the kids dressing up as wolves, or whatever ghouls they picked.
The scent of vanilla assailed his senses and he didn’t want to let her go.
She was everything he ever wanted. He felt this overwhelming sweeping urge to press his face against her neck, to breathe her in, but he ignored it.
He was not going to push too far. His natural body warmth began to flood her, and she stopped shaking.
She started to rest her head against his chest. There was something different in his wolf—a calmness he wasn’t used to.
One song ended, and a second one started, but he wasn’t ready to let her go. Astrid didn’t try to pull away. This was everything. He didn’t want it to stop.
And then, fireworks suddenly went off, filling the night sky with bright, shocking color. It startled Astrid and she pulled out of his arms.
Lord gritted his teeth.
At the sound of the horses from the barn, he had no choice but to go and check on them. “I’ll be right back,” he said.
It didn’t matter how long he took. Checking on the horses, he saw they were all fine. The sudden noise hadn’t seemed to startle them.
The moment between him and Astrid was lost. He arrived at the front of the house to find her already putting items away, carrying in the leftover candy, along with the tables.
“That was some night, huh?” she asked.
He wanted to pull her in his arms again, but he knew it was going to be pointless and inappropriate. He was the fucking boss.
“Yeah,” he said.
Astrid removed his jacket as the last of the tables were taken inside. “Thank you for keeping me warm.”
There was so much more he wanted to do, but the moment was lost. Astrid went to the door, and she turned to offer him a smile. “Are you coming in?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “I’ve got something I need to do.”
She nodded her head. “Good night.”
The desire to close the distance between them, to pull her into his arms, and to cup her face, tilting her head back, and kissing those full lips was so strong, but he ignored the urge. He might scare her.
There was no way Astrid felt this. This was wolf shit he needed to get under control and the only way to do that was to go running. He was not going to change into his wolf, but he took off into the fields, heading in the direction the fireworks had gone off and spoiled his fun.
With his impeccable hearing, he heard the sound of teenagers, and one scent, and he knew it was a bunch of little pack wolves. They were on his property, setting fireworks off and ruining his evening.
The moment he broke through the bushes, the wolves looked at him with fear. One attempted to run, another stood frozen. He counted six little pups, no more than sixteen years old. They all looked ready to piss their pants. He told them to stay as he went to fetch the one that tried to escape.
None of them moved, and as he rounded them up, he saw them shake. They would be as well, because he was not going to let them get away with ruining his night.