How could she have done it? Didn’t she feel the same irresistible pull that he felt? The pull to grab her and kiss her and make her his. At the thought of what came next, he started to shake.
Damn! He had to get out of here or he’d turn around and go right back and claim her for his own right in the middle of a store full of moms with strollers and kids with drippy ice cream cones. He snorted. Now, wouldn’t Officer Ben love that! He forced himself to fold the collapsible easel up and stow it in the bag, then walk the last few feet to the bike, and get on and start it. The ride home was slow, not because he didn’t want to burn out his tires on every curve, but because he didn’t trust himself not to push it too far and wipe out. And he couldn’t do that. Not now. Not until he’d seen her again.
If he could get to her. He’d seen the sweet little redhead shifter she’d had with her—Trish Hunter. Her big brother owned one of the most expensive mountain lodges in the area. Ethan didn’t dare show his nose there, they’d take one sniff and chase his ass the hell out of there. No, he needed to think of something else.
As he pulled in behind one of the guy’s bikes and parked, he stared at the rusty metal sides of the trailer and let his mind wander. He’d drawn her in charcoal because that was what had been in his hand, but he itched to get out his Prismacolor pencils and choose just the right shade of rich whiskey brown for her eyes, and a darker seal brown for her hair. He turned off the bike and grabbed his stuff. He wasn’t ready to go inside and deal with the others, instead he headed into the woods.
An hour later his ass was numb from sitting on a fallen log in the woods and he had pages of her—black and white, color—but it wasn’t enough. God, he needed to see her naked, needed to see what shape her nipples were, the exact length of her legs, the width of her thighs, the curve of her belly. He’d had to guess everything in the few seconds he’d been able to take her in. He stared at one sketch he’d drawn of her that wasn’t in manga style, but more old-fashioned American comic book, with a gold and red and blue costume. He’d love to have her pose. In costume, out of costume…
He was still staring at the drawing when he smelled cigarette smoke. Under the acrid scent he picked up the distinct odor of Eddy and Frank walking along the trail. He froze, grateful he’d chosen a spot deeper in the trees.
As they drew closer, he heard them talking.
“Where’d Sven go?” Eddy’s voice was pitched high, kind of whiney.
In contrast, Frank’s voice was rough and gravelly from too much hard living and too much smoke. “You know that trail that overlooks the lodge? They took the ATV up to do that job he’s been planning.”
“I wish they’d asked me to come. I’d love to sink my teeth into some rich pussy.” Eddy laughed. “Besides, it sounds like easy money.”
“I don’t know. We’ve been flying under the radar, just picking off cars. If we do this and get caught, the local pack will be on our ass.”
“Wuss.” Now that was the pot calling the kettle black. Eddy was a whiner and totally undependable. Why Sven kept him around, Ethan wasn’t sure.
“That Lincoln Hunter is big,” Frank said. “And he’s got lots of wolves on his side. I wouldn’t be caught dead going after any of the women from their pack.”
“That’s why I bet Sven planned it this way. They get the girls when they’re out of the lodge, no one will be around. Just the pussy.”
“But it’s still on lodge property.” Frank’s voice was full of doubt.
“Fuck it! Those two women deserve everything they get, hanging out with humans.” Eddy’s growl vibrated through the trees. “Uppity pack bitches, thinking they can do whatever the hell they want. Well, they’ve pissed off the wrong wolf, that’s for sure.”
“I thought those fuckers with packs kept close track of their women?”
“They do. But this Howler bitch is resisting all that mating ritual shit.” He could hear the satisfaction in Eddy’s voice. “They’ll teach her a lesson. Sven and Bart are going to work her over so hard, she’ll be running back whimpering to the pack.”
The men’s voices receded as they walked further away into the woods. Ethan strained to hear the rest of the conversation.
“How do they even know where the girls will be?”
“Inside job, man. Inside job.”
Ethan’s heart pounded so hard he was afraid the other two shifters would hear it through the thin winter brush. Lincoln Hunter. Girls. And two humans. Fuck!
He hadn’t been paying much attention after he’d smelled Addison, but before he’d caught her scent he’d been admiring the way all four women crossed the street. The petite redheaded Hunter girl, Addison, and two humans. After all the crap that had happened to him in his life, he didn’t believe in coincidence.
Addison might not be totally on board with him as her destined mate, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that she was his mate, and she was in trouble.
Picking up his stuff and stowing it as quietly as he could with the adrenaline racing through his system, Ethan eased to his feet. He had to get to the lodge. Even if Lincoln Hunter and the rest of his kind decided to kill him for trespassing.
Chapter Six
Addison scooped up a handful of snow and molded it into a ball, and tossed it at Trish. “He’s not my mate.”
They were on their way on a snowy hike. The day was gorgeous, the trail wide as it twined in and out along the edge of the valley, rising at a not too difficult rate. The snow had already been tamped down by more intrepid hikers and was pretty easy going, but it had been at least an hour now and Addison was sweating under her brand new jacket and wishing she’d dressed lighter. The only thing to mar the perfect afternoon was the sound of an ATV far in the distance.
Trish ducked, letting the snowball fly by as she laughed. “Sure. I smelled the two of you. And I also smelled something else, that boy is a rogue. George is going to freak if you mate with a rogue shifter. The whole pack will.”
“I know.” The heavy weight in her chest since she’d left Snowflake was more than anxiety about whether or not she should mate at all, but the sure knowledge that under the spicy sexy smell of Ethan, she’d caught the downright dangerous smell of a rogue wolf. How could fate be so cruel? She’d been to so many official pack scentings and never met the right guy, but one whiff of Ethan and her body wanted him. Even now the thought of being with him, a guy who she’d talked to for less than five minutes, had her considering leaving her own pack and going rogue.
Gabby shook her head. “You know, it kind of freaks me out that you two can know so much about someone, just by the way they smell. I mean, I like the way a guy smells, but total lifetime commitment? Freaky.”
“It’s not like you have to mate with someone who smells right.” Trish continued leading the way up the trail. “But it’s hard to ignore that sexual pull, and the knowledge that it will be the best sex you’ve ever had in your life, for the rest of your life.”
From the back of the group, Eve laughed. “Sounds like you know firsthand.” Her voice sounded breathy.
Addison cast a look behind her to make sure her friend was doing okay. Living up here, Trish was pretty active. She herself did yoga and stuff, and Gabby, despite her full-figure, worked out at the gym all the time. But Eve was not, and probably never would be, a lover of physical activity and her face was red with exertion.
Trish ducked her head so none of the girls could see her face. “It’s not like it’s a secret,” she said. “Shifters talk about this all the time. It’s a big part of how we live.”
But Addison wondered. When they talked about mates Trish’s scent had gotten stronger. Come to think of it, she’d been so distracted this afternoon by her brush with Ethan, had she missed something going on with her best friend? She was about to ask when Trish stiffened and lifted her head, scenting the breeze.
“Addison, do you smell that?”
Addison stopped and sniffed. “No. I don’t think so.” She made her way past Eve
and Gabby and approached where Trish was poised on the trail. Then she caught it. Oil, exhaust, the sour scent of cigarettes. And underneath it all. Wolf.
Trish’s scent changed as her wolf rose to the surface. “Rogues. On Lodge land. Linc will be furious.” She glanced back at Addison and her eyes flashed a wolfy-green. “We have to head back and tell him. We have to move fast, girls.”
“Why don’t we call?” Eve’s voice was nervous and on her scent Addison smelled fear.
“Remember how I told you to turn off your phones so they wouldn’t keep searching for a cell tower and run out of power?” Trish’s normally bubbly voice was strained with suppressed tension. “There’s nothing out here. No towers, no reception. Nothing.”
The roar of the ATV was coming closer. It separated into the sound of two motors.
“Trish, I think we’d better get moving.” Addison turned back down the trail. In front of her, Eve and Gabby did the same.
“Double time, ladies.” Trish waved her hands, motioning them all to move faster, and took the lead.
“Arg! When you said a gentle hike, I didn’t think we’d be running.” Gabby moaned. “I’m not a runner.”
“Just think of how many more glasses of wine we can drink when we get back. And I hear the dessert buffet that Linc has on Saturday nights is to die for. More dessert for all of us.” The roar of the engines drew closer. “Now run!” Addison said.
Her breath was coming hard and fast and she had a Charlie horse in her calf. All of them were dedicated to shopping marathons, not the real thing. They weren’t going to make it back to the lodge before they gave out.
But Eve was moving slowly. Addison glanced back at her in concern. Her friend was trying, but she was at least ten feet behind Gabby. Once again she’d fallen to the rear of the group. Eve wasn’t going to make it much more than down this first hill, and they had at least two miles to go after that.
Addison increased her speed and jogged up next to Trish. She lowered her voice. “They’re getting closer.” She nodded towards Eve and Gabby moving down the slope at a slower and slower pace behind them. “They won’t be able to protect themselves. We have to strip now, before those rogues get here, and get ready to shift. If we’re in wolf form, we may have a shot.”
“No time.” Just as Trish said that the first ATV popped over the hill, followed by a second.
The smell of predator wolves was in the air. Fur pushed at Addison’s skin as her wolf smelled danger.
Trish stripped off the backpack she carried and dug inside. “I came prepared.” She pulled out a large buck knife and took it out of its sheathe. “Run girls. Addison and I will do our best.”
“Fuck that.” Gabby stripped off her own backpack. “We’re not leaving you. There are two of them and four of us.” She stepped off of the trail into the snow and came back with a large thick stick. “We’ve got this.”
“Yeah.” Eve came up with some rocks. “We’ve got your back.”
An ATV pulled over the top of the next hill in front of them on the trail, blocking the way back to the lodge. Even from here the odor of alcohol and cigarettes coming from the man had Addison’s nose wrinkling.
“Lookee what we’ve got here, Sven.” The heavyset balding man grinned. “Pussy for the taking.”
The other ATV parked behind them, sandwiching them on the trail between the rogues. “My, my, my, don’t they look fine, Bart. But so tired.” Sven grinned showing a gap where his front tooth should have been. “Which one do you want first? I think I’m taking the brunette with that sassy looking high ponytail.” He spit a stream of tobacco onto some fresh snow. “I’d like to grab me some hair.” His beady eyes roamed over Addison’s brand new fitted ski-coat that she’d felt so good in earlier, and her skin crawled.
She snarled, and reached for her zipper. Her wolf wanted out, and she couldn’t wait to sink her teeth in these assholes. But before she could do anything Sven reached into his coat and pulled out a gun.
He aimed it right at her face. “Stop right there, little missy. You’d better control your wolf, or you’ll not only be dead, your pretty little human friends will be too.” He swung his leg over the ATV and dismounted. “We only have orders to scare you, rough you up a bit, maybe have a little fun. But our employer won’t care if we kill you.” His eyes were flat. Killer’s eyes.
Addison shivered and the girls drew closer, tightening up into a circle.
“You won’t take us. Not all of us.” Trish’s voice was low and growly and Addison could smell the wolf on her.
Bart got off of his vehicle. “Maybe not, but we’ll have a hell of a lot of fun trying.” He pulled out his own weapon and aimed it at the women.
Addison’s wolf pushed harder to get out. She held it back. It understood danger, but here and now it would be better to keep the human upper hand. At least until she couldn’t hold it back any longer. Next to her, Trish unzipped her coat. She wanted to tell Trish to hold off, but her own wolf would be rising soon under the pressure of the threat, gun or no gun. And what the hell would they do then? She and Trish would get shot, and Gabby and Eve would be at the mercy of the rogues.
From a distance came the roar of another motor echoing off of the snow. As it drew closer the rough sound smoothed out, and she realized it wasn’t one of the loud ATV’s but something else.
“Who the hell is that?” Bart whipped around, pointing his gun at the trail behind them as the motor stopped, just out of sight in the trees. He turned back to Sven. “You said no one would be here. You said he’d make sure we were left alone.”
All the shifters lifted their faces to the breeze, sniffing, but the wind was coming from the top of the hill where the ATV’s had been and not from the trail. A howl rose up from the trees.
The sound of the howl was unfamiliar, but the message was clear. Someone was coming to help them. There was something about that howl that had her heartbeat speeding up, and not from the danger.
“Fuck this.” Bart stuffed his gun back into his pocket. “I’m not going to get caught here screwing around with these bitches. We’re on fucking Linc Hunter’s lands.” He remounted his ATV.
“Relax.” Sven grinned. “It’s only one guy.”
“You can’t be sure of that.” Bart started the motor and turned the nose, aiming back up the hill. “Fuck this. It’s not enough money to risk the pack hunting us down. Not nearly enough.” He gunned it and drove up the slope in a flurry of snow, cresting the rise and disappearing over the hill.
“Damn you, Bart!” Sven got back on his own machine. He glared, waving the point of his weapon over the four women. “If any of you say a word of this to the pack, or to Hunter, we’ll come back at night and slit your throats while you sleep.” He spit on the snow again, this time skimming near Addison’s boots, before tucking the gun away and turning the ATV up the hill.
From down the trail, out of the trees, a jet-black wolf appeared. Running hell for leather for the group he skimmed past them. Silently he changed angles, racing off the trail and, chasing Sven’s ATV. Just as the other man crested the top, the wolf leapt, flying through the air, and tackled Sven. There was a shout of surprise and without a rider, the ATV twisted and tumbled over the other side of the hill.
On the crisp cold air, a warm scent floated to her and she grinned. She knew that scent, it was Ethan. He was here. He’d come for her.
A thrill went through her, followed fast by a flash of fear.
On the hill snow flew as the wolf snarled and attacked Sven. The man backed up. “Fuck you, Ethan.” He took his gun out. The black wolf’s fangs flashed white and he lunged for his arm, sinking in deep. They fell together, rolling out of sight over the hill.
Addison howled. Her mate was on the hunt. She wanted to strip off her clothes and shift and join him. They’d be two wolves, hers dark brown, his black—sleek dark shadows against the white of the snow as they took down the rogues.
Everything in her urged her to find him and be with him, in
wolf form, human form, it didn’t matter. Wolf to wolf. Mate to mate. And he hadn’t even marked her. This was insane. What would it be like when they were together—their two bodies slick with sweat—and his teeth sank into her skin to mark her?
Thinking about it had her panties drenched with wetness. She closed her eyes and swayed.
“Was that who I think it was?” Trish asked.
“Yep.” Addison opened her eyes and took a deep breath. “That was him.”
Trish turned to her, her eyes still bright green with her wolf. “Holy cow, he’s fast.”
She strained to see what was going on. Ethan’s black wolf trotted over the hill and their eyes met. Addison grinned. She might not be sure she wanted a mate, but she was stupidly proud of the man her wolf had chosen.
A loud gunshot echoed over the mountain. Ethan yelped, and crumpled to the ground.
She didn’t even stop to think, she just ran up the hill. By the time she pushed her aching thighs to the limit and topped the rise, it was over. Sven was gone. In the distance the two ATV’s roared, clouds of snow blowing behind them. The black wolf struggled to get to his feet, the wound in his shoulder dripping a bright red stain on the snow, and then collapsed. She ran to him and wrapped her arms tight around his neck, burrowing her face in his rough fur.
The smell of Ethan’s wolf rushed over her. Warm caramel mixed with fur and blood, and the strange scent of the other rogues a bitter reminder of the fact that despite her need for this man, he was still a total unknown.
Could she take on someone like this? Someone who made his life, his home, with men who would come onto pack lands and assault innocent women? Yes, he’d come for her. Yes, he’d rescued her. But who was he really? She’d finally decided to win her freedom from her stepfather, was she ready to take on a mate?
She held on tight to Ethan as the other women came rushing over the top of the hill and stopped, staring at the two of them. Addison suppressed the growl that rose in her throat. She might be confused about this man, but her wolf wasn’t. She wanted to protect her mate. No matter who the enemy.
Sassy Ever After: Sassy Wolf and the Rogue (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 4