by Ellis Leigh
“How far will they go?” he yelled to Cassiel as he stared out at the dogs.
“Much farther than we need to. I used to race them for fun, and they ran twenty hours straight one time.”
“That’s a long run.”
“They loved every second. Trust me, if the dogs don’t want to run, this sled isn’t going anywhere. These babies were born and bred to do exactly what they’re doing, and they enjoy it.”
“Even in the heat?”
“Yeah, though they’ll tire more quickly because of it. Still, this sled on wheels is far better for both them and me than any vehicle with an engine I could buy.”
Luc settled against the seat a little more, allowing himself to relax and enjoy the ride. The dogs were happy, enjoying their exercise, and obviously ignoring the wolf in the sled. Smart beasts. The woman…well, he was still trying to figure her out. He couldn’t look directly at her without his wolf pushing forward, without feeling some sort of tug drawing him to her. The sensation, the need, was almost blocked by her. As was her scent, which was far weaker than he’d ever experienced. He couldn’t tell the reason for the subtlety or if the lack of her essence could be related to something else, something more personal. Something he didn’t even know how to begin to heal.
He might not have the knowledge to take care of whatever was holding her back, but he had a plan to find out how. One he’d initiated the moment he’d stepped onto the grassy landing strip two stops down from the town of Bettles. When he had paid the pilot to take him to the tiny town on the edge of some national forests where hunters and fishermen paid people to show them around. Cassiel’s town.
The sled ride to Cassiel’s plot of land took a number of hours, something that irritated Luc’s inner wolf to no end. He hated to be so still. He wanted to be running with the dogs, racing them, but that wasn’t possible. Not unless he wanted to give up his secret as not just a wolf shifter but an ancient breed of one. Dire Wolves like him—stronger, meaner, bigger than standard wolves—were supposed to be extinct. There was only his pack left that he knew of, though Phego’s brother had shown up a while back claiming more had created a pack in Australia. The man had been a bit insane, to be honest—trying to kill Phego for some slight he’d been obsessed about. Still, whether there were his seven or more, wolf shifters never expected to see one.
If Cassiel was a shifter of some sort, she could know the history of his breed. And she likely was some sort of shifter—she had to be. The idea of her being human and him still feeling such a strong bond with her didn’t sit right—Dires bonded with Omega wolves. At least, his pack certainly did. Not one Dire Wolf had found their mate in a human. He was certain about the whole mating thing with Cassiel. They had a connection that defied reason, so if she wasn’t truly a shifter, perhaps she had something about her that his wolf wanted. He had no idea what that could be, but he’d find out. The woman was a puzzle to him, and he loved puzzles.
Eventually, they pulled to a stop close to the little camp where he’d first seen the spry woman, where he’d first felt the pull to be close to her. Luc looked it over with new eyes as Cassiel slowed the dogs to a stop. The pen for the dogs, the dry fish hanging inside an open-sided but roofed structure, the cabin with the wide porch. Everything neat and tidy, unlike some of the bush homesteads he’d come across. Living off the grid the way she did lent itself to eccentricities and hoarding things one might need, so a bush plot ended up looking like slapped-together junkyards sometimes. Hers looked like a proper home. Cassiel was obviously resourceful and independent, strong enough to live in the harsh conditions this area of the state brought upon her. She impressed him immensely.
“This is your place?”
Cassiel nodded as she untied a couple of the dogs. “Yep. All mine.”
She led the released dogs to the pen on the side of the house, giving them lots of head scratches and affection. She even cooed to some as if they were children who could understand her words. The dogs, meanwhile, chattered away with her, wagging tails and jumping up for more of her touches. They absolutely adored her, and she obviously felt the same for them.
Luc couldn’t look away, fascinated by their behavior. Wolves and dogs didn’t usually mix. The lesser animals sensed the greater predator and avoided them. But Cassiel’s…they were all over her. Another strike against her being a wolf shifter.
Or maybe they were just well trained. Luc needed to figure that part out…and he could. “Can I help?”
“Sure. Grab a dog.”
He looked over the last couple, his wolf wary as their beady eyes followed him. Watched him. Every one of them seemed just as nervous as he’d expected them to be and not at all as excited as the ones Cassiel was still dealing with.
“I know how you feel,” he whispered as he approached one little beast. Black and white with long ears, the dog didn’t even reach his knee height. Thankfully, instead of biting him when Luc reached for the ropes attaching her harness to the sled, she rolled over and showed her belly. Luc…well, he petted it. Because what else could he do?
“Good girl. Come on now. Let’s get you where you belong.”
One tug, and the dog hopped to her feet, following at his side. Unlike the ones Cassiel took to the pen, this little female didn’t whine or whimper; she didn’t bark or yap. She definitely didn’t wag her tail either. She walked with her head down and her tail tucked between her legs as if terrified Luc would hurt her. That fear made things inside him loosen, made him want to do something to appear less threatening to the creature. He had no idea what that might be, though. He’d scared people for centuries, had likely given Cassiel a bit of a heart attack the first time she saw him when he had been in his wolf form—holding back on his Luc-ness simply wasn’t something he’d ever even tried.
Once he led the dog to the pen, Cassiel took over, loving her all over and letting the little beast hop around before she took off the harness that had been wrapped around the dog’s chest.
Before Cassiel could close the gate that would keep the dogs from running off into the woods, the little dog hurried back over to him. Finally calm and happy, she rubbed her side against his leg, looking up at him and wagging her tail.
Cute little thing.
“Well, thank you, miss.” He patted her head, watching in fascination as she practically melted into him, as her tail sped up and she grew brave enough to seem to want to crawl into his lap. He knelt before her just in case that was exactly what she wanted. “Not so scared of me after all, are you?”
Apparently not, because she climbed right into his lap and looked back at Cassiel. The woman shook her head and laughed.
“You are such a needy little thing.”
“So, it’s not just my charm and witty personality?” Luc patted the dog’s head and scratched her ears, grinning when she moaned and leaned into him. “Ah, I see. It’s the head scratches.”
“That and bacon in your pocket will win them over every time.”
“Noted. Okay, girl. Time to get up.”
The dog yipped and jumped up for one more face lick before running off into the pen. Cassiel closed the gate and organized the harnesses in her hands, watching over her animals. Such a normal, everyday sort of moment—a woman caring for her pets. Luc was almost envious of the simplicity of it.
And yet there was more work to be done. Places to go and things to investigate that couldn’t be done at Cassiel’s, which meant he needed to finish up helping her unhook the dogs. Reluctantly, he stood and headed for the sled once more, his confidence buoyed. His mission firmly plotted in his head. His objective clear.
And yet, he had to look back at the pen just one more time. Had to see if the little black-and-white dog stood staring back at him.
She was, and that fact warmed his cranky, old heart.
Dogs and wolves getting along…who knew?
Each taking one more dog, Luc and Cassiel moved the last two from sled to pen, patting heads and wincing as their barks grew more craz
ed, more excited.
Okay. He may have been the only one wincing.
“They’re ready for dinner,” Cassiel said, smiling broadly, her tanned skin glowing from the cold and the exertion. “A good run always ramps up their appetite.”
“It certainly seems that way. Are they your only transportation?”
“No—I have a four-wheeler and a snow machine, but I don’t use them often. Engines break and need gas. These guys are easier and serve multiple purposes.”
“Like what?”
She ticked them off on her fingers. “Transportation, companionship, they’re my friends, my hunting partners, heating blankets in a pinch, and a really good alarm system. That’s all I can come up with off the top of my head.”
But one word had been enough to make Luc cock his head as he asked, “You consider them friends?”
“Of course. I know it’s not always what’s done with sled dogs, but they’re family to me. Besides, I only have the six to pull my sleds. It’s not like I have a huge team of forty or fifty dogs to deal with.”
True—most sledders had much larger packs. “Well, whatever you’re doing seems to be working. They definitely like you.”
“They do. They’re my world out here.” She sighed and looked out toward the lake, her energy changing in the blink of an eye. Calming visibly. “The camp you need to get to is just over that ridge. It’s a good day’s hike, though. And sunset will be on us in about another hour or so.”
Luc was not good with human interactions and non-direct language—he preferred to be assertive and say what he meant. So, he did. “You want me to stay here for the night.”
She seemed positively taken aback. “No.”
Luc frowned, looking out over the lake. Trying to find firmer ground between them. “Then I should hike out now?”
“That’s a bad idea.”
Two options, both refused. Cassiel was an enigma to him. “I’m not sure what else I can propose.”
“Are you always this structured?”
“Yes.” He made the mistake of looking directly at her, and his wolf surged forward. Those eyes, that face, the aura of a forceful sort of peace around her—there was something about Cassiel that he couldn’t ignore. Something he and his wolf found desirable. And yet still, the pull to be closer had no rebound, a situation he’d ever known to happen with shifters. It wasn’t all-consuming like a mating bond at all. There was no haze of need to fight through, no impossible-to-ignore desire for touch and taste and sex. There was just him and her and her dogs standing in the middle of the Alaskan bush. But he didn’t want to leave.
Cassiel finally blinked, breaking the long stare they’d endured. Her face flushing even more than the cold had caused. “Well…I need to feed the dogs. If you absolutely must hike out there tonight, you’d better get to it.” She bit her lip, not meeting his eyes. Fidgeting with the edges of her thick coat. “But if you’d like to stay, I’ve got room in the house for a pallet on the floor. I can offer you that and some reindeer stew.” She swung that dark gaze around, stabbing him with a hard look. “That’s it, though.”
Her it sounded amazing, and though he never should have accepted her offer, he was hard-pressed to decline. “I’d appreciate the hospitality, and I promise to be on my best behavior.”
“Well then, come on. Let’s get these dogs fed and the sled put up for the night before the monsters start creeping out of the dark.”
“Monsters?”
She kept moving, casually tossing back a single word.
“Wolves.”
Luc’s lungs froze up, his gait hitching slightly before he caught himself. Wolves…like him. And definitely not like her. But she didn’t know about his inner beast, didn’t have an understanding of what he could do on two legs and four paws.
So he stayed casual and calm…and only moderately disappointed that she’d called him a monster. “You see a lot of wolves up this way?”
“Sometimes—depends on the weather and the migration patterns of the prey animals around here. There’s a lot of predators up this way, though. Wolves, black bears, lynx, even wolverines sometimes—all things you don’t want to run into alone, unarmed, and in the dark.”
Luc followed her, his brain spinning.
A woman terrified of wolves—their bond was something unknown and impossible to build on. What was he doing there?
And why did he feel as if leaving was the worst decision he could make?
6
Cassiel had absolutely no idea what she was doing other than leading her life into certain ruin. She’d invited this strange man to stay, welcomed him into her home when she knew next to nothing about him. When she had been alone for so very long and liked it. She didn’t need a man hanging around and bothering her, not even one as handsome as this Luc character. He may have drawn her eyes more than once on the ride back to her homestead, but that didn’t mean anything more than he looked good. Looks could be deceiving. Trusting in something so fleeting and disingenuous to tell you anything about the person? That was…
“Stupid.” She hissed the word as she walked toward the drying rack, hoping like hell the noises from the dogs covered her.
Luc turned toward her, though—looking up at her with those killer light-blue eyes. “What’s stupid?”
Cassiel had failed. Miserably. Might as well be honest at that point. “I’m stupid.”
“For what?”
She grabbed the cart she used to lug the dried Arctic char to the dogs and tugged it deeper into the storage building for fish flake. “For asking you to stay, of course.”
Luc’s eyes grew wide and his mouth opened, but it took him a solid few seconds to be able to find those things called words. “I can assure you, you’re safe with me. I would never harm you.”
The laugh that exploded out of Cassiel would likely have insulted a certain number of men, especially those she’d met in the bush over the last few years. The ones who thought power came from control and a woman like her shouldn’t have been out in the wild alone. Might as well make sure Blue Eyes over there wasn’t one of them. “Luc, I’ve lived alone in the wild for most of my life. I trust this heathen land to take care of me far more than I do the promises of men like you. Besides, I’m armed to the teeth. I’m not worried about you hurting me.”
“Then why are you stupid for asking me to stay?”
“Because…” She dragged a number of fish into the cart, moving swiftly through the rows and grabbing the dried meat in a pattern that was likely only in her head. Concentrating and letting the words and the truth fall by the wayside.
But Luc, while helpful as he took over controlling the cart so she could focus on fish selection, was not one to settle for silence. “Because why?”
Cassiel stopped, spinning, pursing her lips and bringing her hands to her hips. She’d had a foster parent call that her Peter Pan stance. She certainly didn’t feel like him right then. “I like my solitary life, Luc. I like my patterns and habits, like knowing what needs to be done and handling it on my schedule. I know there are people who can’t stand being alone so much, but I enjoy it. I love this little world I’ve built.” She waved her hand at him, frowning harder. “And you’ll mess it all up.”
His grin spread slowly, creeping up his face to those eyes that made her breath catch. Looking at her in a way that weakened her knees and her arguments. “I’ll mess up everything—this entire world you’ve created—in just one night?”
“It could happen.” She huffed, tossing one last fish into the cart before leading the way outside. “Fine. I’ll stop worrying about you Godzilla-ing my life here. Just don’t go thinking you can drink all my coffee.”
He followed her, pushing the cart. Sounding far too pleased with himself as he said, “I would never.”
Her doubt was high, though. As was her anxiety. No, Cassiel didn’t fear Luc would try to harm her. She trusted her gut when it came to people, and her gut told her he wasn’t the type to take advantage. Her f
ear came from her own reaction to him—she liked him. Wanted to know more about him. Wanted to crawl all over him and feel him just to find out what his touch was like.
Cassiel had never been so attracted to another human being before, and that desire threw her slightly off her usual steady course. And yet, he was only there for the night. Just one. He had his own homestead to build, it seemed, his own life to live. She was likely worrying over nothing.
Luc dragged the cart across the path to the dog pen, veering off to the side where she had chains hooked to the posts, pausing every time she reached inside the cart to pick a fish. Large buckets of rainwater sat along the path, and she ladled some liquid into the bowls with the fish at each post to help soften them up a bit and to make sure her dogs were hydrated. Soon enough, it would be too cold for the water to sit like that. Then, she’d be adding hot water she’d boiled instead to make them a soup in the morning. Maybe some kibble as well. Their dietary needs depended on how much they’d worked, and today had been a good workout for them. They would need the extra fat and protein in the fish to stay strong and healthy. Needed to drink the water with the fish in it to replenish what they’d burned off. Tomorrow, she’d feed them a little bone broth to increase their collagen and protect their joints. Anything to make their life that much better.
Her dogs might as well have been her children for how much she cared for them, how she worried about their health and safety. She loved the furry little beasts, and anything she could do to make them happy was worth the struggle. Including lugging around gallons of hot water in the winter.
“Do they stay out here?” Luc asked as the dogs ate their dinner.
“No. Most mushers do leave the dogs outside at night, but I prefer to bring them inside. It’s a small team.”