Wyatt sat on a log on the opposite side of the lake from camp. He could see Erin still sitting by the fire. Domino had been staying with her instead of going with Wyatt ever since he’d ordered the dog to stay with her last night. Erin appeared to be crying, and Domino was trying to lick the tears from her face. Wyatt didn’t want to care, but he did. He took a deep breath and tried to tamp down his anger. She’d made a totally crazy reference to the time he’d told her that her conceit knew no bounds. What the hell did that have to do with anything?

And then he suddenly got it. He’d been wildly attracted to her and admitted that to her. And yet, when she’d left the men that afternoon, he hadn’t made his apologies in order to leave with her. Why wouldn’t a guy who was into a woman try his best to be with her whenever he could? If his and Erin’s roles had been reversed, he might have wondered the same thing. And the only answer he would have been able to come up with was that some really bad shit had gone down.

Wouldn’t he have been curious about what had happened, just as Erin had been? Was he positive that he wouldn’t have done a little research on the woman he was interested in? Oh, yeah, he liked to think he was noble, but the reality was that he’d tried to satisfy his own physical needs nearly seven years ago and ended up doing great harm to a woman he hadn’t even cared about. She’d meant nothing more to him than a means to an end.

Still staring at Erin, Wyatt saw her suddenly leap to her feet and run off into the darkness. Domino, being the loyal dog he was, ran behind her. Once he stopped to bark. Even though Wyatt couldn’t hear the animal, he knew how Dom’s front feet left the ground when he grew vocal. Then they were both swallowed up by blackness. A moment later, Erin ran back into the circular illumination cast by their campfire, and she was carrying the rifle. Wyatt sprang to his feet.

And then he felt it. He’d been so upset and lost in his musings that he hadn’t been paying attention, but now he realized that all the hair on his body was standing on end—just as it had last night when the wolves had come in close to their camp. He couldn’t hear them, but now he felt them, and he knew he was surrounded. He broke into a run to get back around the lake. It probably wasn’t the smartest move he’d ever made. Predatory animals grew excited when potential prey ran. But every fiber of his being screamed with fear for Erin’s safety. How close were the wolves to her? How many were there? He fleetingly thought of the horses and Domino, which were more likely to be the victims of hungry, wild dogs. He loved his horse and dog. He truly did. But his feelings for them were eclipsed by how deeply he’d come to love Erin De Laney. As she got closer to the fire, he could see her more clearly, and he saw her jack a cartridge into the firing chamber.