Chapter Four
By Sunday morning, Astrid had convinced herself she was going crazy. She didn’t see Lord at all on Saturday. Not even for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. She went to bed without him even returning home, or hearing him out in the field.
She knew there would be a full moon in a couple of days, and some wolves tended to disappear. She couldn’t get the memory of him out of her mind. The way he held her as they danced.
Astrid had never danced. Another reason she convinced herself not to go to prom. What was the point of going to a dance if she couldn’t do the one thing that was the point of the whole event—dance? The truth was, no one asked her, and she didn’t want to go without a date.
Being in Lord’s arms had felt like way more than just a simple dance. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but there was a moment it felt intense.
She was clearly going out of her mind. Lord never even hinted at wanting more to do with her.
Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, she finished the daily dusting and cleaning.
There was nothing out of place, nor much in the way of dust. There was no need for her to prepare any food for the ranchers today, as they never worked on Sunday.
Lord was the only one to man the field, no one else.
She went to her room, grabbed her current reading book, and made her way to the sitting room.
It was still beautiful outside. Some of the leaves were a bright orange and seemed quite stubborn, refusing to part ways with the trees they were attached to.
Every now and then, she would look up and watch the slight breeze as it rustled those very leaves.
As she watched them, she suddenly realized that within a few days, there was going to be a full moon.
Back home, a full moon meant you stayed indoors. No matter the time of year, if there was a full moon, no human was allowed to venture outside, or they did so at their own risk.
This would be the first time she was not in town during a full moon. She couldn’t help but look up at the sky. She’d spent a lot of time listening, staring out a window, wondering if she would catch sight of a wolf. She heard them all the time. The howling never scared her.
There had been a couple of times she’d been curious and had been so tempted to step outside, just to see what might happen. She never did.
Pushing those thoughts out of her mind, she closed her book, as she’d been on the same page for the last hour and she just couldn’t get into it.
Her thoughts kept drifting to Lord. There were moments she was sure she still felt his hands on her, but each time she spun around, he was nowhere to be seen.
Finally, she had had enough, and the only way to distract herself was to start baking.
She walked right into the kitchen, and even though there was no reason for it, she then spent the next two hours baking a whole load of double-chocolate cookies.
The scent filled the hours, and after the first batch baked, she sat down with a cold glass of milk and ate one.
It was then she decided she would bake lots of cookies to package for the ranchers tomorrow.
She even decided to use the last of the candy bars.
It was the best way to use them without eating them all herself.
It was during this bake-a-thon that Lord arrived. The moment she saw him, she didn’t know what to say. She had a bowl of butter and sugar in one hand, and a wooden spoon in another.
“Hi,” she said.
“What’s this?”
“I’m using up the last of the candy. I figured it would be good to give the ranchers a sweet treat tomorrow,” she said.
“Good. I don’t want candy lying around.”
He stood and she was pretty sure he kept looking at her. Astrid glanced up, just to check to see if he was, and his gaze was right on her. She didn’t want to break this moment where he’d walk off. There was nothing for her to say.
“Uh, so, the, uh, full moon is in a couple of days.”
“I’m aware.”
She pressed her lips together, trying to figure out what to say to him, and then she forced a smile. “Do you want me to go back to town, or will I be okay to stay inside the house?”
Lord’s bland, almost expressionless look changed. It was subtle, but it was all in the eyebrows. The way he suddenly seemed to be glaring at her. She had no idea what to do or say.
“Why?” he asked.
“Well, back at my parents’ house, during a full moon, we’re not allowed to go out.”
Lord smirked. “Don’t worry. My wolf has no interest in coming into the house. You’re going to be safe.”
“It’s not about being safe. It’s just about ... I don’t know what it’s about.” She tried to smile. This was awkward.
“I had fun this Halloween,” Lord said. “And I wasn’t expecting to.”
There went her heart racing again. Was it her, or did she detect a bit of a smile on his lips? She was sure he was smiling, but she didn’t want to spoil the moment, just in case he wasn’t. She nodded her head.
Astrid wanted to scream and fist bump the air, but that would just make her completely immature, and that was not what she wanted.
What made her stomach twist was the moment he reached out, took a cookie, and had a bite. That moan he expelled, she felt deep in her core, and she was pretty sure the sound he made actually aroused her. This took her by surprise.
“This is a good cookie.” And with that, he was gone.
Get a grip.
She needed to get her head on straight. He only said it was a good cookie. This was not a date or anything. It was just Lord trying a cookie. That was all.
And yet, she couldn’t deny how damn happy she was that he liked what she baked.
****
“Are you nervous?”
Lord turned toward Blake, a little confused, and he was not the kind of guy that got confused about anything.
“About what?”
“You know, the full moon tomorrow night. Being alone with Astrid.”
What was it about the full moon that seemed to have the whole human population in a state of panic?
In most situations, the wolves rarely even ventured to town.
They were not drawn to built-up areas, or at least in his experience they never were.
They much preferred to stay to the open woods, and around No Wolves Road, there was a shit ton of woods. Lots of forests, going on for miles.
There was no reason to venture into town.
If they did, he would put money on it being a new wolf who didn’t have a clue what they were doing.
As for him, he was just going to stick around the ranch, as he’d done for many years now.
Ever since he’d come to No Wolves Road, he stuck to himself.
The lonely wolf, a recluse, which suited him well.
He already had his fill of wolf pack dramas with the brats who decided to set their fireworks off on his land.
Their Alpha had been pissed, and their punishments were severe.
Going into different pack lands was not acceptable. Certainly not to cause a nuisance.
Lord hadn’t wanted the kids to get in too much trouble, which is what he told the Alpha.
He just didn’t want them to set fireworks off on his land.
If they startled the cattle or the horses, it would affect him.
In the end, he left, letting the Alpha deal with that shit, while he came home to temptation.
Astrid had always been a difficult woman to ignore, and now, living with her, it was next to impossible.
The vanilla scent was in every room, and it also seemed to be in the furniture.
Even his bedroom had the scent of her, and it was driving him crazy.
There were times when he wanted to grab something and press his face against it.
He knew it was the wolf and the full moon.
With every passing day, these feelings were getting harder to ignore.
“She’ll be in the house,” Lord said.
“And you think that is wise?”
“You’re questioning my judgment?”
“Yes. This is the first time she’s going to be close to you on a full moon. She’s not going to be in town, but in your home.”
“It doesn’t matter to me.”
“Ah, so we’re doing the whole pretending we don’t give a fuck about her, is that it?”
Lord glared at him. “You’re concerned?”
“Of course I’m concerned. You’re an asshole, and we’ve got some good food. You upset her, and we all get to suffer. Trust me, I don’t want to go back to you cooking for us, or having to get freaking takeout. Even my wife likes the leftovers I take home, and trust me, I like that she likes it.”
Lord didn’t need to guess that Blake’s wife was a very happy woman, and showed Blake her appreciation. The man loved his wife.
“I’m not going to do anything,” Lord said.
Blake looked at him, doubtful.
“I’m never close to home during a full moon, and I have no intention of going back there until after the full moon has come and gone.” That was as clear as he could get.
“You’re not. Won’t you starve?”
“I have already packed myself some food to get by.” He knew he was acting strangely, and the best way to deal with that problem was to keep a wide berth.
Astrid was the problem, as was the full moon. If he kept his distance, all would be okay.
He and Blake continued to fix the rest of the fences that had broken down.
It didn’t matter how often he did this job, it was a never-ending task.
Fences wore over time and constantly needed fixing.
It was a job he liked to do himself, and not rely on anyone else.
After they got through the fixing, he took his lunch case and let Blake take the car back to the house.
He made his way toward the forest that was far from his property, but also a nice, secluded spot that meant he never interacted with anyone else. In all the years he’d been at No Wolves Road during a full moon, he’d thankfully avoided other packs.
Lord knew he was an anomaly to most of the packs.
He knew there were always horror stories about wolves expelled by packs.
When he was first expelled, he had feared the rabid taking over.
Becoming rogue. Hurting people. Even though he wasn’t the biggest fan of humans, he didn’t want to hurt anyone.
He only hurt people in self-defense. And that was rare.
He found his spot, which was near an old-looking tree.
This is where he spent a lot of full moons.
There were occasions he would run, but he would always come to rest at the thickest trunk, and this is where he sat, opening his lunch tray and taking out one of the many burritos Astrid had prepared just that morning.
She hadn’t known he’d been watching her.
There were parts of the house where he could stand and just look at her without her knowing.
Although, she had known someone was watching her, with the way she kept looking over to where he stood.
The burrito was delicious. She had made some kind of breakfast meat, rice, beans, cheese, and wrapped it all in a tortilla. It tasted so good, and within a few bites, it was all gone.
This is why he stole a second one, and he took a nice large bite out of it, stuffing his face as he did, trying to think of someone other than Astrid.
This morning, she had worn a pair of jeans and an oversized sweater that kept riding up over her stomach every time she reached for something off the top shelf.
He couldn’t get the image out of his mind.
Not that he would ever want to. She looked amazing.
The temptation to close the distance between them and press his face against her stomach had been so strong. He didn’t know how he was able to avoid it.
Lord couldn’t deny he had gotten closer to her. There had been a moment when the temptation to pull her into his arms had been so strong, but he had avoided it and just stole the burritos, along with the cookies.
He finished the two burritos he had taken, along with the five cookies. It was in that moment, he didn’t know what he was going to do about food tomorrow. There was no way he could go back to the house.
Astrid was too much temptation. He couldn’t deny it.
Even now, as he sat leaning against his favorite tree trunk, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
The delicate curve of her neck. The sweetness of her body as it pressed against him.
He felt his cock start to thicken and his need getting stronger.
Lord wanted her desperately. But she was human.
There was no way he was going to stop her.
And he thought about that day, all those years ago, when he’d been minding his own business. She’d caught his attention for just a brief second, and he figured humans were crazy, with their heads so focused on books. He was not going to let anything happen to her.
He’d seen the danger, and it was like his wolf couldn’t stand it. He could blame his wolf, but the truth was, neither could he.
He felt compelled to protect Astrid. He had a feeling he knew why, but Astrid was a human, and he was never going to mate with a human. These feelings had to stay dead. It would never work.