The gathered lupine milled about. Some moving forward to speak with Reid, others chatting amongst themselves, and the rest heading home. None appeared curious about the unusual announcement. From what she could tell, all conversations had changed direction.
“Are you okay?” Her cousin, Miller, appeared out of nowhere and cupped her chin, his large hands squeezing to force her lips to pucker. “Oh, little sister… what will we do with you?”
She swatted him away and licked her sore lip. “I’m fine.”
“You take head over heels literally,” he mused, and patted her head as he glanced over to where Laurent was speaking with a small group.
Her cheeks burned. Miller was Laurent’s age, which was only a little older than her. They were friends, and Miller kept Maya’s crush a secret, but still teased her relentlessly over it. Miller had always looked after Maya, being the big brother she never had. Granted, nearly every older male in the pack had deemed himself Maya’s big brother, but Miller had been by her side for her entire life. A pang of guilt hit her for wanting to ditch him now.
She skirted to his side. “Shouldn’t you be focused on finding your own mate?”
He shrugged. “I’ve got time.”
She lifted her chin in Reid’s direction. “What do you think of this?”
“Think of what?”
“Most pack runners have been welcome here before,” she said.
His brow crumpled. “So?”
“Don’t you wonder what changed?”
“Not really. Reid and the elders have a reason for it. No sense reading into things.” He nudged her with one elbow. “You know if you end up with a certain runner, you’ll have to get used to being out of the loop on occasion.”
Maya glanced away, both points of his logic more than she cared to discuss. She doubted she was the only one wanting more than the usual vague “trust the alpha” response. Likely she was the only aiming to act on it, though. “On that note, I’ve got to run.”
“Where to?”
“Top secret female stuff,” Maya teased. He rolled his eyes but didn’t follow as she left the clearing and headed East.
Maya scrambled through the treetops, balancing her small frame on the sturdiest branches of the tall forest canopy to avoid any possible foot traffic below. Closing her eyes, she lifted her face and sniffed delicately at first, then inhaled and filled her lungs with the scents around her.
Like all lupine, she relied heavily on her keen sense of smell.
Unlike all lupine, her own scent was light and forgettable.
She could hide among the leaves and seem like a breeze through the branches unless seen. To her mind, this made her the ultimate hunter: The wolf figuratively blending in with the sheep. Her pack didn’t see it that way, of course. Her weak scent was interpreted as the result of either a weak connection to her wolf or simply a weak wolf. Just another reason to hover over her to ensure her safety.
Her eyes opened as she detected two lupine, and she gazed ahead. One familiar scent stood out, though it wasn’t the scent of pack. She’d met one of these runners before. The other, however, was entirely new. New and fascinating and undeniably male. Her imagination immediately painted him to be handsome, strong, and perfect. Then her lust painted him to be wildly seeking an unorthodox but ravish-able mate. She grinned to herself.
A wolf could dream.
The trees thinned, and she resorted to clinging to the tall trunks as she leapt from one to the next. She’d seen the runners of her pack do this, and even though she lacked the constitution to become a runner, they couldn’t stop her from teaching herself in private.
Wolves thrived on the ground, but real freedom came from lurking in the branches.
She first followed the familiar scent, as the two runners had apparently spread out for the time being. Reid had surely announced what pack they belonged to, but in her self-flagellation and intent on fleeing the scene of her embarrassment, she’d missed it.
A tall male with blonde hair clipped close to his scalp appeared below her. She stilled and watched as he moved around his makeshift camp. Some runners used a tent or sleeping bag. Others relied solely on their wolf forms. This runner had a hammock, and its familiar bright orange design brought a smile to her lips.
Leon, a runner with the Sandstone pack. He was polite and funny, and exactly like the rest of the males of her own pack. He treated Maya like a little sister. Keyword little
For a moment, she was tempted to drop down on him and catch up on times, but after this afternoon, the last thing she wanted was more brotherly love. Besides, Leon would likely tell her to go home. She reminded herself that she was only breaking a rule if she made contact. This was an observation only mission, purely to sate curiosity.
On that note, it was time to hunt out the other runner, the one whose alluring scent beckoned her.
She scurried further up her tree, scented the air once more, and set off in the opposite direction.
The other male had gone toward the stream, most likely to gather water. Maya had to be careful heading over, as the trees went from few to none within fifty feet of the water. Dropping down to her feet, she crouched amidst the shrubs and crawled on hands and knees, following his scent to one of the many small waterfalls that interrupted the winding water on its way to the nearby lake.
His scent grew stronger, and now she picked up more than just strange male musk. Now she could identify his unique spice. A lupine that smelled of peppery sweat, woodsy smoke, and bitter sap. It was an odd combination that she found appealing, and it further embellished her existing fantasy of him.
Loud splashes from the base of the fall alerted her at long last. She peered through a prickly bush and found the owner of the enticing scent.
He stood in water a scant few inches over his knees and held his hand in the cascading flow, directing the waterfall onto his chest. He wasn’t gathering water. He was bathing. He was naked.
Maya stepped forward without thinking, causing her foot to slip on a loose fallen branch before propelling forward. The bush kept her contained, but it was too late. The male had crouched into a defensive position, and his dark eyes met hers.
Chapter Two
“Come out,” the male growled.
The low rumble of his voice hit her and instantly warmed her cheeks. Clearly she’d been neglected if two angry words could jumpstart her libido. Her wolf wanted to tumble with his, and not only because he dared to take a threatening tone with her on her pack territory.
Though, she had been snooping, and that was her rudeness, not his.
Feeling more than a bit abashed, she crept from the bush. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
He straightened at the sight of her, but his eyes remained wary. His large hands swiped down his body, slicing the excess water from his deep brown skin. He stepped from the rushing water, and she looked him over.
She’d seen all of him already, but the quick glance wasn’t enough. She wanted more time to return to his impressive six-pack, powerful thighs, and the appendage between them. Her face burned, and she wasn’t entirely sure why. She’d seen countless nude males before today, but he wasn’t pack. Still, logic dictated that she treat him as pack. That meant being able to see him without ogling him.
“I…” She blew out a breath, unsure what to say. The silence was killing her as he seemed to move in slow motion to grab his clothing. And yet, he made no move to put them on.
“I didn’t think I’d see anyone from the pack,” he said calmly. He scrubbed a hand over his head, leaving the sheen of moisture across his tight black curls, and glanced around them. “Did I stray too close?”
She heard him, but her attention had drifted to his arms. His biceps were massive and glistening.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine,” she said after a moment. “You aren’t too close.”
“Then… should you be here?”
She stared at the pants in his grip. Pants he’d yet to pull o
nto his legs and other parts. “No, but I didn’t think I’d get caught.”
Shuffling sounds met her ears and he passed by her where she’d stood frozen just beside the bush.
“Isn’t that poison oak?” he asked.
She scrambled away and glanced back at the bush, hands immediately flying to rub her bare arms. “What? Where—wait.” Her eyes narrowed on the vine sneaking around brambles. Honeysuckles, and nothing else. No lupine could mistake its identity.
She took a breath and growled. “You’re teasing me.”
“I am.” One side of his mouth quirked.
She glared at him, finding it easier to look at him with a bit of emotion fueling her. Why his current state had any effect on her, she had no clue. She’d seen just about every member of her pack naked. Nudity was a part of life. She’d never thought twice about it until now.
He looked her over head to toe. Possibly the first time it had ever happened to her where it wasn’t a judgmental or pitying glance. No, he looked at her with… curiosity. Interest, she hoped. Something about his gaze made her feel like she was the naked one.
“Does this bother you?” he asked, gesturing down his body.
“I’m not bothered,” she said. It was only a partial lie. She wasn’t certain if “bothered” was the correct interpretation. All she knew was that something about this situation wasn’t what she was used to, and she couldn’t put her finger on it.
“The Bronze pack does big happy family doggie piles, don’t they?” he asked.
The question caught her off-guard. “Well, yes. After a wolf moon.”
“Plenty of nudity?”
“Yes…”
“Fascinating,” he rumbled.
He rolled his shoulders then wiped his shirt across his broad chest, catching a few lingering drops of water, and then shook it out while flexing his arms, each action done while he watched her with an unidentifiable dark twinkle in his eyes. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think this was more teasing. As if he wanted her to notice his physique and intentionally drew her attention.
With the pack, it was the opposite. They’d wake after a wolf run and they’d simply get on with their lives, naked. No big deal. But they didn’t walk around conversing while dripping water and accentuating their amazing muscles.
“What’s fascinating about it?” she asked, staring ahead at the trail.
He kept walking, back in the direction where Leon was camped, and she followed. With a look in her direction, he shrugged. “If I get dressed before I’m dry, I’ll have to deal with wet junk. I’m not a fan of that. Best to let it all air out.”
The mention of his privates—even though crudely called “junk”—made her inhale sharply, an involuntary catch of his scent. She looked away, but he’d caught it. Yes, he was definitely doing this on purpose. She’d never had a naked male reference his anatomy. That was common courtesy, to keep the nude situations from becoming sexual or awkward.
She bristled, suspecting that soon enough he’d stop teasing her and pat her head. Soon enough he’d realize that she was the forever-little-sister of the Bronze pack.
“Why are you following me?” he asked. “Shouldn’t you be running back to your pack? I was told not to interact. I’m sure you were told the same.”
“Yes, except, well, I don’t know why? Leon has been around before. He’s never had to distance himself. Sandstone pack runners have always been welcome to come see us.”
He paused, and she caught up to him. Now standing within arm’s reach of him, she shivered at the proximity. Something radiated from him. Not warmth, but something distinctly, unapologetically male. His current unclothed state may have added to it, yet she suspected that he always emitted this aura.
It called to her in a way that flustered her. It was confusing and comforting and luring all bundled together, and it conflicted with her on levels she could barely think to straighten out in the given moment. He shifted his clothing to one hand and peered down the barely distinguishable trail beaten into the hard dirt before him.
“I thought you were a squirrel,” he said.
Her thoughts spun around. “What?”
“Before you broke your little stealth act, I detected something, but I thought it was a squirrel.” His nostrils flared. “Do you mask your scent? Are you a spy in training?”
She laughed at the absurdity. Certain blends existed that could mask the unmistakable lupine fragrance, but such applications were a guarded secret. Honest packs and honest wolves had no use of such things. “I’m not training to be anything. My scent has always been lacking.”
“Not lacking. Interesting.” He took a few more steps then handed her the pile of his clothing. “One minute.”
She accepted the clothing without thought, cradling his pants and shoes as if they were treasured items. He pulled the shirt over his head before taking his pants back. It occurred to her that he wasn’t a boxers or briefs guy. Damn.
She looked away as he bent to put them on, and then he plucked the shoes back into his left hand. He walked beside her, his right hand swinging dangerously close to her as he walked barefoot beside her. The air his hand stirred between them was charged, alerting her. She obsessed over it.
“No one else finds it interesting,” she commented, restarting the conversation to clear her wandering thoughts. “It’s supposedly a sign of my weakness. I’m weak. My wolf is weak.”
His expression didn’t react. The entire time they’d spoken he’d had a rather hard glint to his eyes, and yet the rest of his face was neutral and if anything, pleasant. She looked down at her feet as they walked. She didn’t know how to behave with him. All this time she’d wanted a conversation like this, where she wasn’t doted on or treated like a pup, but she was uncertain of how to react.
“If your wolf was weak, you wouldn’t have been able to sneak up on me,” he said finally. “And I assume you snuck up on Leon, too?”
“He didn’t see me.”
“Good girl,” he rumbled with a low chuckle.
The words startled her. She’d heard them a million times, if she’d heard them once. Except coming from his lips, it wasn’t the same. This wasn’t the “good girl” awarded to her if she managed to recover from a wolf moon with no visible scrapes on her face from plunging into a tree in the dark. This was something else, and though she didn’t fully understand the difference, it warmed her belly.
“How long have you been a runner?” she asked.
“I’m not one.” This, said with unmasked annoyance.
“Training?”
“Hardly.”
“Then…” She let the word stretch and linger between them. He seemed ready to drag out the conversation, and she didn’t want to pester him, but she was too damned curious.
A low, disgusted sound shook his throat. “Let’s call it a lesson in discipline.”
Any number of ideas assailed her. “Well, you’re failing. You shouldn’t be talking to me.” She’d meant it as a joke, but comedy wasn’t a skill she had. “I mean—”
“We’re almost upon Leon, little squirrel. If you’re going to scamper, now’s the time.” He looked ahead, not at her.
A frown tugged at her lips. Reid was often lenient with her—of course—but she didn’t want to test this situation. The male kept walking, while she held back. They were safely surrounded by trees, and she deftly climbed the nearest pine. She saw his head tilt in search of her.
She headed back toward home, back to the safety and familiarity of her pack. Damn. She hadn’t caught his name.
Chapter Three
An obedient lupine would have stayed away, and by all accounts Maya was an exceptionally obedient lupine.
But she had to know the stranger’s name.
In all of her years as a lupine she’d never dared to cross her alpha, yet in this single instance the action came easily. The stranger was too tempting. The stirrings too strong to walk away from forever. He offered something she couldn’t honest
ly define, but suspected she needed to understand.
She’d waited a full day and a half before succumbing to her curiosity and set out as the sun drifted from the sky. Twilight settled around her, swathed in the trees, hiding and waiting. Leon dozed below. It was boring being confined to a certain area, closed off from socializing.
The loneliness was the hardest part of being a runner, and Leon wasn’t the first runner to sleep the time away. Besides, if he was rushing around the rest of his mission to meet deadlines and such, he wouldn’t have regular sleep times.
She left him for now and searched out his travelling companion.
The stranger sat with his back against a tree, entirely engulfed in shadows. She found him by scent alone, and then waited for her sight to adjust and find him. He seemed to sleep as well, his lids shut and face relaxed. He was bare-chested for whatever reason, and she wasn’t complaining.
She watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest. She’d hoped to talk but wasn’t going to wake him. Using the whisper of the breeze to mask her drop from the tree, she held her breath and approached.
“Squirrel.” His eyes opened slowly and pinned her in place.
“How did you know?”
“You aren’t supposed to be here,” he said, ignoring her question.
She reached into the pocket of her light jacket and pulled out two plastic-wrapped bundles. She’d layered them in a triple wrap to keep the scent in. “I thought you two would like something home-cooked, though it’s cold now.”
He stood and met her, taking the wrapped squares. His warm fingers brushed against hers and he seemed to flinch but recovered quickly. “What are they?”
“Mom’s meatloaf. It’s super special,” she said lamely.
“Is there a secret ingredient?”
She snorted. “Of course. She’d say it’s love, but it’s actually deer.”
He smiled, and the warmth of it spread to the rest of his face, erasing the severity of his eyes. “Thanks. Though, now Leon will know you visited.”
Falling for Shifters: A Limited Edition Autumn Shifters Collection Page 81