She kept glancing at him over her shoulder, smiling as though she were simply confirming that he was still there. But he could tell from the nervous sweat on her brow that she thought he might be leading her into a trap. He supposed it was only instinct. After all, compared to him, she might as well have been a spring hare on the open plains, but he found it a touch exasperating.
“Stop! No, please—don’t!”
Zane recognized the voice of the human male, and his lips flattened.
Tallow, he inwardly groaned.
The sounds galvanized the human. With a sharp gasp, she abandoned all good sense and took off running down the slick passageway. Her boots held up well enough on the ice, but he knew that one false step could mean a broken neck.
Her long legs made it somewhat of a challenge to catch up with her, but he managed, and swung an arm around her waist just in time to prevent her from dashing headlong down a bend with a blind wall. The torch clattered to the ground, conveniently finding its way into a shallow puddle and snuffing out.
She must have seen the wall at the last moment, because she mumbled an apology and a word of thanks. Zane didn’t immediately release her, as he found himself momentarily captivated by her height. With her back against his chest, he could comfortably rest his chin on her head. He did just that, and then paused to take in the scent of her soft hair.
Zane had first laid eyes on her before she’d even encountered Indigo. He’d tracked her and her companion at their campsite, when they’d been eating their breakfast around a small cook fire. It had been obvious that they were not poachers, though he hadn’t been able to ascertain their purpose at the time. He’d watched her briefly, a moderate amount of arousal tugging at him.
It was slightly more than he normally felt around human females, but he lent that to the fact that she was exceptionally attractive. While he couldn’t make out the shape of her body beneath her many layers of clothing, her face held an exotic beauty, and if he hadn’t been otherwise preoccupied, he might have tracked her for a day or two, if only to keep staring at her.
The arousal he’d felt earlier was nothing compared to what he felt now, with her body pressed against him. Hot blood rushed to his groin, and within the span of a few heartbeats his body was primed to claim her. Fur prickled just beneath his skin as his wolf brushed up against him, coaxing Zane to let him loose.
Abruptly, Zane stepped back. His throat felt tight as he said, “Take my arm. I’ll guide us.”
She made an affirmative sound, and he wished he could see her face. He couldn’t help but wonder if she had also felt aroused, and if her layers of clothing were simply masking the scent from him. He decided that either way, it was best he didn’t know.
In lieu of sight, he followed the flow of the air, until a glow of light appeared in the distance. He could hear Tallow speaking, and was already amused by the time they reached the room.
The small cavern was similar to the one that he’d held Ginnifer in, except that it was lit by two candles and slightly warmer, the latter due to the number of bodies in the room. Breeze sat near the door, hiding a smile behind her hand. She looked up as Zane entered the room, her blue eyes sparkling with mirth.
“I’ve never seen such a ticklish man in my whole life,” she said, nodding towards the pair on the far side of the room.
The human male was pinned down under Tallow, who was above him on all fours, her legs on either side of him. She wasn’t actively doing anything, though the male was still squirming and protesting beneath her, his face red and his breaths ragged.
Tallow was looking straight at Zane. “You told me I couldn’t hurt him,” she said, defensiveness belying her innocent expression.
Ginnifer shouldered past Zane, her hands fisted. “Get off him!”
Tallow sneered at her, but a pointed look from Zane reined her into compliance. She rolled off the male, but continued to lie beside him, her head propped up on one hand.
“What did you do to him?” Ginnifer demanded as she squatted down beside the male. She pulled his head into her lap. “He has asthma. Can’t you see he’s having trouble breathing?”
Zane was only vaguely familiar with the malady, as it wasn’t something that generally concerned shifters.
The male looked up at Ginnifer. “I’m fine, don’t worry. I’ll catch my breath, I just need some space.”
With a vague flick of his wrist, Zane beckoned Tallow to him. She let out a huff of air and then stood, trudging over to stand between him and Breeze. His eyes remained on Ginnifer and the male in her lap, who was, in his mind, hardly more than a juvenile.
Her scent was all over him, and his on her. He found it difficult to picture them being mates, and the thought of them being together stirred his agitated wolf. It had sniffed out the competition, and was eager to display its superior strength and skill.
It was strange to feel his wolf so active. It had been virtually silent for months, languishing in some small recess of his being. For a while, it had felt as though nothing could excite him, not even a long run or the thrill of a hunt.
“I like him,” Tallow said, folding her arms beneath her breasts.
He cast her a sidelong glance, looking for signs of a smirk. When he found none, he asked, “What is there to like?”
“He’s cute,” Breeze said, in her usual, airy manner. “He reminds me of a baby caribou, especially with those skinny legs of his.”
Now, Tallow was grinning. “I think I’ll keep him for myself.”
He stared at her flatly. “He’s a boy.”
“He’s not a boy. He’s twenty-six.”
“How do you know that?” he asked.
“Are you kidding?” Tallow asked, tossing her rope of pale gold hair over one shoulder. “Within ten minutes, I knew where he went to primary school and the maiden name of his great-grandmother.”
Zane’s lips curved, though his amusement faded as his eyes flicked back to the two humans. The male had stop wheezing, but Ginnifer still held his head in her lap, and now she was tenderly stroking his hair. He heard his wolf snort and shake its head.
“What could you possibly want with a male like that?” he asked absently.
Tallow was silent just long enough to draw his attention. A shadow of vulnerability passed over her face, but it was quickly replaced with a haughty expression.
“A male like that has never had a female like me. He’ll worship me.”
Zane’s smile returned, but he didn’t comment. “I’m going to see if Kuva is ready. Have them above ground as soon as he’s stable.”
He left the way he’d come, and by the time he was outside, his wolf was once again quiet and subdued. Still, he got the sense that something within him had become tightly wound; a metal coil drawn too taut.
CHAPTER THREE
“This isn’t your den?” Ginnifer asked, staring back at the cave they’d exited. For all its depth and sprawling passageways, its entrance was simply a narrow shaft between two rocks.
Tallow looked over her shoulder at the crevice. The female shifter was almost as tall as Ginnifer. She sported an athletic build and pale blond hair that was almost white. Her hair color clashed with her darkly tanned skin, which along with her wide cheeks and tilted eyes spoke of Inuit descent. She had a unique attractiveness to her that was only damped by her foul mouth.
“This piece of shit? Hell no. Who the fuck do you think we are, cavemen?”
The other female, who had introduced herself as Breeze, came up alongside them, offering a bright smile.
“Our den is the most beautiful one you will ever lay eyes on.”
After Boaz’s asthma attack had quelled, they’d been given a flask of cool water to share, as well as a few pieces of salted meat. Before they even had time to start chewing, Tallow was urging them up and out of the cave.
Tallow snorted. “Don’t listen to her. This is the closest thing to another den that she’s ever seen.”
“You don’t know that,” Breeze
protested.
They continued to argue, but Ginnifer’s attention had shifted ahead, to where Zane stood talking to a burly and comparably short man. A cursory glance had her noting the newcomer’s long, braided hair and bushy beard, but then her focus was pulled back to the taller male. In the light of morning, Zane appeared even more attractive than she’d realized before. The way he carried himself, with the casual authority of a person accustomed to being obeyed, fell neatly into place with her overall impression of him. He was a leader, at least of this group of wolves.
She tried to picture him as being the leader of the entire pack, but found it difficult. Despite his size and bearing, he didn’t have the grizzled look that she would expect of a male in such a position. He also looked too young; she couldn’t imagine that he was any older than his late twenties.
“Whoa, they have our stuff!” Boaz’s exclamation broke through her musings, and she saw that only a few feet in front of them, most of their camp supplies were stacked in a neat pile.
Boaz ran ahead, falling to his knees in front of his Bolex D16 camera, which Ginnifer suspected he might love more than several relatives of his.
“I thought you were lost forever,” he said, clutching the piece of equipment to his chest.
Breeze skipped over to him, and Ginnifer was vaguely aware of her telling him where they found it. Her eyes kept drifting back over to Zane, and she hadn’t realized that she’d stopped walking until Tallow elbowed her in the side. Ginnifer shot her a glare on reflex, but when she caught the woman’s knowing look, she averted her gaze.
“I was just wondering who the other man was,” she said quickly. “I only saw two other wolves last night, you and Breeze.”
“You didn’t see me,” she replied. “He was the grey wolf you saw, Breeze was the white one. I’m the one that knocked you out.”
Now, Ginnifer had a good reason to glare at her. She was still pissed about that, especially considering she’d obviously been on their side.
“Do you want to know if you’re his type?” Tallow asked, and Ginnifer’s glare fell away as her brows drew together.
“Whose type?”
“Don’t be cute. I can see the way you’re looking at him. I used to look at him like that, too, when I first came to Siluit. But eventually a girl gets tired of chasing the void, you know what I mean?”
“Not really, no.”
Tallow gave her a once over, and then her gaze turned patronizing. “I bet you don’t. A pretty human like yourself, why I bet you’ve had males falling over themselves to have you since the day you learned to bat your eyes.”
Ginnifer’s jaw locked, and she was about to put Tallow in her place—or at least attempt to—when Boaz cut in.
“Are you kidding?” he said. “There are guys pining over Ginnifer on four different continents. One time when we were in Uganda, this tribesman offered me a herd of like twenty goats in exchange for Ginnifer, which, if you know anything about African bride prices, is not only completely backwards, but astronomically generous, considering she has absolutely nothing to offer.”
Ginnifer gave a half-hearted swipe at the back of his head. Boaz easily ducked it.
“Clearly that goat herder was much more discerning than you,” she said.
Boaz grinned at her, but continued on, still speaking to Tallow. “In all seriousness though, you’re wrong. She’s not interested in anyone besides Aaron. Part of the reason we’re filming this on the tail end of winter is that we need to have it wrapped up before their wedding at the end of summer.”
At the mention of her fiancé, Ginnifer immediately sobered. She hadn’t thought of him once, not since two nights ago, when she’d woken up to Boaz’s erection nudging her in the rear. She’d laid there, amused and too lazy to get up, until an image of Aaron’s disapproving face had become stuck behind her eyelids. When she couldn’t stand it anymore, she’d gotten up and crawled over to a chilly corner of the tent.
Tallow seemed to mull over this information for a moment, and before she could say anything else, Zane was motioning them all to him. Ginnifer grabbed two of their bags and then followed after the others, hoping that he hadn’t overheard their conversation.
She wasn’t interested in him, at least, not in the way Tallow thought. He intrigued her. They all did. They were nothing like what she’d expected. She’d immersed herself in shifter literature prior to leaving for Nunavut, but with few exceptions, the books had largely focused on the differences between shifters and humans. What amazed her was how human Zane and the others seemed.
Zane was stunning, and Ginnifer wouldn’t deny that it was the reason she found him particularly fascinating. Admitting that she found another man attractive was not betraying Aaron, and she thought that went double considering Zane wasn’t exactly a man at all. He was a wolf.
A very beautiful wolf.
Zane said something to Tallow, and Ginnifer caught up to them as Tallow slapped Boaz on the ass.
“You hear that, bird legs? You’re riding me today.”
Boaz blanched. “Riding you? You mean—”
“Get on my back when I shift. Clamp your legs down tight on my sides.” She wagged a finger at his face. “And unless we’re being chased by rabid bears, don’t you dare grab my fur.”
As soon as the last word flew from her mouth, Tallow shifted. The pelt that she’d been wearing fell away, and Boaz had to stagger back to keep from getting knocked over by the limber, pale-gold wolf. She was nowhere near as large as Zane had been in his wolf form, but she looked just big enough to carry Boaz, though Ginnifer imagined it wouldn’t be comfortable for either of them.
“We can walk,” Ginnifer said, turning towards Zane. The space where he’d been was empty, and only the other male stood there, giving her a patient smile.
“You would not be able to keep pace with us,” he said. His voice was thick with an accent she didn’t recognize and he spoke slowly, carefully considering each word. He extended a meaty hand. “My name is Kuvageegai. Kuva, if it pleases you.”
Ginnifer took it, shaking his hand in earnest. “Ginnifer. Gin, if it pleases you. Just don’t call me Ginny.”
“Gin, then,” he said, giving a small bow. “You will ride with me today.”
It was only after she was climbing onto the back of the grey wolf that Ginnifer remembered that she hadn’t asked how far they were from their den. Reluctantly, she settled in, reminding herself that adventure was found in the journey, not the destination.
Unlike Tallow, who had taken off the second Boaz had climbed astride her back, Kuva waited for Ginnifer to get comfortable and make sure her belongings were secure. Riding wasn’t completely foreign to her, as she’d been a member of the equestrian club for three years in high school. Still, she’d never ridden without a saddle and she definitely wasn’t accustomed to giving over complete control to her mount.
She remained comfortably upright as Kuva began walking in an easy trot. She relaxed a little, and then scanned the area, looking for some familiar landmark to place where the wolves had brought her.
As though drawn by a magnetic wave, her eyes found Zane again. He was in his wolf form, sitting on a stony hill. Nearby, the young female from the night before sat with her knees pulled up against her chest. She had her head turned away from him and her shoulders were hunched. Ginnifer tried to get a look at her face, but there was too much distance between them. Gradually, Kuva sped up, and soon Zane and his sister had vanished beyond the hills.
They caught up sometime later, when the sun was at its highest point in the sky. Zane bounded up alongside them, his sister lying on his back with her arms wrapped loosely around his long neck. Ginnifer offered her a greeting, but Indigo’s face flushed and she looked away without responding.
The group made two stops during the daylight hours, only brief enough for Ginnifer to pee and take a few swigs of water. Boaz had the food bag, and during the afternoon he’d tossed her a protein bar that had somehow made her feel hungr
ier than before she’d eaten it.
Her digital watch read 19:00 in neon green digits when they finally began to slow again. This time, they were more deliberate about choosing a place to stop, and she sensed that they’d be down for the night.
She was relieved when she slid from Kuva’s back. Her legs wobbled a bit and her thighs ached something fierce, but Boaz was much worse for wear. He fell headfirst off Tallow’s back, his hands coming up at the last minute to spare his face from the stone ground. Ginnifer went to help him, but before she reached him, Tallow had already shifted and was hoisting him up with one arm hooked under his.
“Is this where we’re stopping?” Boaz asked, sounding both hopeful and skeptical.
They had stopped in the small basin between two steep hills. Patches of thin snow were scattered across cracked grey stone, and lichen made her steps springy. Although natural buffers flanked it, the cold wind still snaked through the area, slipping right past her faceguard to sting her cheeks.
“We’ll stop here for the night,” Breeze said, back in her human form and wrapping herself in the tawny pelt of a caribou.
It was then that Ginnifer realized something else she’d forgotten. Their tents. From the grim look on Boaz’s face, he’d come to the same realization.
“We can’t be out here in the cold like this,” he said.
“Not to worry,” Tallow said. She took the oversized pelt that she was wearing and wrapped it around the both of them. As she did so, Ginnifer caught a glimpse of her naked body, and her eyes widened.
Tallow snorted in her direction. “See something you like?”
Ginnifer ignored the quip. “Is that really all you need to keep warm? And what about your feet?”
The shifter eyed her dryly. “Just because we look human doesn’t mean our bodies work like yours do.”
“It is like our wolf bodies,” Kuva said in a much friendlier tone. “Looks same, but is different. We can run faster, hunt for longer, and go longer with no food.”
Capturing the Alpha (Shifters of Nunavut Book 1) Page 3