Cassie set her papers aside. The man was referring to Bella Wilder, a red werewolf, who had shifted while in captivity from her wolf form to her human form during the new moon.
Unless the werewolf was a royal with very few human roots in its bloodline, like Cassie happened to be, it could not remain as a wolf or change into one during the new moon. Cassie couldn't imagine how terrifying that change had to have been for the woman.
Axel Ash studied Cassie, his brows slightly raised, waiting to see how she would respond to the question. If only he'd known what she truly was and how she cherished the wolf kind as much as her own werewolf kind.
Alex still wore his silly smile, cheering her on.
Cassie glanced at Axel Ash.
He was used to reading people, and yet he was getting mixed feelings from her expression. Worry that she might say the wrong thing to the older teen girl, maybe?
He wasn't certain. What got to him was the way her eyes suddenly became glazed with tears.
Cassie quickly looked back at the girl and said, "Uhm, no. They're wild, and even though I grew close to the packs, even howling so they would gather around me as if I were one of the pack, I didn't... didn't sleep with them."
The hitch in her voice, the change in her tone, the tension in her posture made Axel Ash think she had slept with them. Why would she be upset about it? Why not tell the truth?
"Did you ever miss the pack when you left them?" another girl asked.
Cassie smiled, but the look was sad. She swallowed hard. "Of course."
"Any that were really special? I mean, weren't they like all the same to you?" the first girl asked.
Cassie shook her head. "No. All wolves are different. Ever have dogs?"
The girl nodded.
The other said, "Yeah, two cockatoos. You know, cocker spaniel-poodles. And they're really different from each other. One's really friendly with everyone. The other just with us."
"The same with wolves," Cassie said. "One I called Crooked Tail. He had fur that stood up every which way, no matter if he went swimming with us or..."
"You swam with the wolves?" one of the boys asked.
Her gaze flicked back to Axel Ash as if she wanted to know what he thought of the matter. Her swimming with the wolves did surprise him.
He'd expected she'd sit back with notepad and pen, journaling everything that the wolves did. He hadn't expected her to howl to gather them or swim with them.
He smiled. She didn't. She seemed uptight about having mentioned it at all. She nodded to the boy. "Yes. Anyway, no matter what he did, his fur always stuck out every which way."
"And he had a crooked tail," one of the girls said.
"Yes. And he was kind of a clown. Seemed to go along with everything else." Cassie sounded more lighthearted now.
She waited patiently for the next question, but one of the boys looked at his watch and said, "I gotta go to work. Thanks for all the cool stuff."
"You're welcome." Cassie seemed relieved when the questioning drew to a close and began gathering her notes.
The teens all headed outside, talking about school ending in a few weeks for summer break, and Millie thanked Cassie and then handed her an envelope.
"Cassie, imagine my surprise to see you here," the blond guy said, taking Millie's place as she tidied up the room.
Cassie immediately rolled her eyes at the man and slipped her lecture notes into her leather case along with the envelope from Millie. "Alex, as many times as you've found me, you'd think you'd come up with something more original to say."
"Cassie," Axel Ash said, coming to her rescue. At least, she seemed to need rescuing, and he was the one to do it. "I'll take you back to your place."
"I'll take her," the blond said. "We're old friends."
She seemed torn, and that puzzled Axel Ash. She'd been fairly obvious about not wanting to be in Alex's company, but why was she reluctant to be in Axel Ash's when all he had done was offer her assistance?
The fact Alex called himself an old friend also bothered Axel Ash, although he had no business caring one way or another concerning her relationship with the man.
"Cassie?" Axel Ash motioned to the door. He still intended to ask her about the wolf she'd seen, and the blond guy wasn't going to interfere.
"Alex, one of Mr. Axel Ash's men is taking care of a couple of flat tires for me. We'll have to have a rain check."
Mr. Axel Ash was it now?
Alex's face fell. Axel Ash almost felt some compassion for the man. Almost. He gave Cassie a smile, but she quickly looked away from his gaze and her cheeks coloured slightly.
His smile broadened. Was she embarrassed at turning down Alex, someone she was better acquainted with, to spend more time with a man she barely knew?
"I'm sure one of my men has fixed your tires by now," he assured her. He hoped Elgin would ensure that whoever repaired the tires took his time, without making anything of the request.
Axel Ash hoped they'd assume his reasoning was that the woman would talk for quite a while during her lecture and his men had no need to rush the job.
He walked Cassie out of the building and down the steps. Time to question the little lady further and hope she wasn't as evasive as before.
Alex waved at her as he got into a black truck and waited. She shook her head.
"I heard what you said back there to him. Is this Alex stalking you?" Axel Ash asked her as he got in the Humvee, trying to keep his voice light.
"No, just an admirer of my work."
"And he followed you here from...?"
"He's a wolf biologist from California also," she finally said with a huff.
Hell. Had this guy seen one of Axel Ash's people in his or her wolf coat? "So you work together?"
"No." She shook her head to emphasize the point. "He just wants to."
For whatever insane reason, Axel Ash was glad she didn't want to work with the guy, but he didn't like that Alex ignored Cassie's wishes.
When Axel Ash and Cassie arrived back at the Cranberry Top B&B, they discovered a tire jack elevating Cassie's truck on the passenger's side, and the ruined spare was gone. Cassie frowned. Axel Ash quickly hid his relief and pulled out his phone.
"I'll see how long this is going to take." He texted Elgin, mentioning that if repairing the doctor's tires was going to take a while, he'd have time to question the woman about some urgent business.
Elgin's response was immediate. "Take your time. 7 cars ahead of her. Good luck."
No way was that many vehicles waiting to be repaired ahead of hers at this time of night, and besides, his men would have gotten priority, considering how much business his pack members gave the auto-repair shop. Elgin came through for him as usual.
Axel Ash shut off his phone, let out his breath as if he regretted the news, and then turned to speak to Cassie. She was watching him, her large eyes expressive.
"I'm sorry to say seven vehicles are ahead of you," he said, with just the right apology coating his words.
Instantly, she narrowed her eyes.
He spread his hands. "My foreman will let me know as soon as the tires are fixed. Would you care for a cup of coffee?"
Cassie sat rigid against the seat again, leaning against the door as far as she could get from him.
"Hot tea? Dinner?" he suddenly asked. "I haven't had anything to eat, come to think of it. Great a little Italian place if you like kinds of pasta and such."
Her lips parted and then she clamped them shut and pursed them again. She tilted her chin up and seemed even warier than before if that were possible. "Can you drive me to the shop?"
"Pardon?"
"The shop. Where your men have taken my tires. Maybe I can get the repairmen to expedite matters. I'm on a tight schedule and need to leave..." She hesitated.
He raised his brows. "Surely you don't plan to drive out tonight. If the Cranberry Top won't accommodate you for another night because of your delay..."
On one hand, he had the sneaking suspicion she was attempting to call his bluff about the repair shop. He didn't know what gave him away. On the other hand, he assumed she had another night booked at the B&B and didn't want him checking her story out further, either.
"Dinner?" he asked.
"Fast food," she said with a cute little frown, and she folded her arms across her waist.