Wolf Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire 4) by T. S. Joyce Page A

she shook her head over and over. “You’re wrong, you know?”
    “About what?” he asked, leaning against the cold metal beside her.
    “Buck was Yupik, and I was born here in Galena. I’m part Alaska Native. I might not know the value of those gifts yet, but I’ll figure it out. Does it hurt?”
    “Does what hurt?”
    “Being what you are?”
    “Say it.”
    She swallowed down the acidic vitriol of the word monster she’d thought him to be. That wasn’t right at all. Link hadn’t hurt her, and he hadn’t hurt her dad. “Does it hurt being a werewolf?”
    He gritted his teeth so hard, a muscle jumped in his jaw. He blinked slowly and dragged his ice-colored gaze to hers. “Yes,” he murmured.
    “How?”
    “It hurts to Change. It hurts to hide. It hurts to lose my mind to an animal.” He shifted his weight and dropped his eyes to the ground. “I’ve never told anyone that before.”
    Before she could change her mind, she grabbed his hand and squeezed, wishing it was warmer out here so she wouldn’t have to wear her gloves, so she could touch his skin and feel the warmth there. “I’m sorry your brother died.”
    “You don’t have to say that. Cole deserved what he got. Wanted it even. He didn’t want to hurt people. You should know what I’ll become, though.” Link stared out over the falling snow with a faraway, troubled look. “I’ll be like him someday. I’ll go crazy, too. I’m already on my way.”
    Nicole itched away the tear that had frozen on her cheek and pulled the tailgate of the truck down. Scrambling up onto it, she patted the empty space beside her and waited for Link to sit next to her. “I think you should tell me everything.”
    “Everything?” he asked.
    “Yeah. I know what you are now, and I’ll keep your secret safe. I understand why you don’t advertise it. I mean, for fuck’s sake, Mr. Nibbles, you’re a friggin’ werewolf.”
    A long growl rattled his chest as he scooted closer to her, offering his body warmth. “Wolf doesn’t like that name.”
    “So he’s separate from you?”
    “Too separate. It’s part of the curse.”
    And as the snow fell down around them, Link told her everything. He told her of the McCall curse and how he’d betrayed his pack and gone rogue. He admitted to hunting a woman he was now friends with, but changed his mind and protected her from his murderous family instead. He told her of how the McCalls considered him a traitor and how he was slowly losing his mind. Link hugged her close to his side when he talked about the Silver brothers and their mates and how much he cared about them. Kill orders, claiming marks, shame, losing his brothers, hating and loving them, madness polluting his family tree, fox and bear shifters, little girl babies who couldn’t survive their wolves, a cure that didn’t work on him. Entwined in his heart-wrenching story was such a sense of acute loneliness, it nearly doubled her over.
    Nicole understood feeling alone. She had always been an outsider, too. Through his admissions, she could really see him. The man and the animal, and even though her head was worried about his snarly side, her heart didn’t care. He made her feel beautiful, excited, fluttery, and even taken care of. Yeah, she was an independent woman, but Link was a caregiver and she loved that he cared for her in his own, wolfish way. He was a man embroiled in a battle for his sanity, but he was still upright, and still taking the time to hunt for her. The dead bunnies and fish that had seemed so unsavory before felt like an incredible gift now. Here he was, bucking his lineage in an effort to go out a decent man, and she admired him indescribably much for that.
    “You’re very strong, Link.”
    “I’m not.”
    “You haven’t given up yet, have you?”
    He didn’t answer, only wiped snow off her thick snow pants, then leaned back on his locked elbows. “I want to show you my den, and then I want to feed you.”
    She giggled and