As soon as Ginnifer was off his back, he shifted into his human form. She was already on the ground, lying on her belly as he came down beside her. Zane was pleased to see that she had good instincts for the hunt. He folded one side of his pelt under his body, and the other half he spread over the two of them. She looked up at him, her gaze questioning.
Though they were far off from the herd, Zane still spoke softly. “We will wait here for one of them to stray from the others.”
It wasn’t how he was accustomed to hunting muskoxen. Usually he went out with at least three other wolves. Two would confuse and distress the herd, while he and another would take down their targeted prey. He was fairly certain he could take a muskox down on his own, though admittedly, he’d never had to.
“You’re not going to kill one of the little ones, right?” she asked.
“Right.”
“Or their mothers? Because, that would kind of be the same thing, you know?”
Zane rubbed the top of her head. It was an affectionate gesture he often used on Tallow and Indigo, but with Ginnifer, he found himself stroking her hair as much as rubbing it. He wanted to tangle his fingers in the silky locks, but he pulled back.
“Don’t worry. I promised you a bull, didn’t I?”
Her cheeks colored. “I don’t usually care about this sort of thing. I understand it’s the circle of life and all. I’ve filmed plenty of animals dying, and I really did help catch that marsh buck. But this…it feels sort of personal. They’re all minding their own business, and now one of them is going to die just so I can get a interesting shot.”
She fingered her camera with a frown.
Zane counted thirteen muskoxen and four calves. Far off to the left of the herd was a cow and a surly old bull, chewing at the sparse vegetation. Zane pointed towards the bull, waiting for Ginnifer to follow his mark.
“That bull right there, he’ll feed the pack for two days. Three, if they aren’t picky about what they’re eating.” Which of course, was never, but that was beside the point. “We’re not just here so that you can film, or even to get you that pelt I promised. We’re hunting to feed our pack.”
As he spoke, a smile curved her lips. Zane felt a pang of longing. Our pack. But it wasn’t her pack. It never would be, unless he claimed her as his mate. He looked away from her, inwardly groaning as his cock began to swell. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone?
He had tried to. For days, he’d avoided her, but in a bizarre paradox, the more he did so, the more she seemed to be everywhere. He couldn’t inhale a breath in his den without picking up the trail of her enticing scent. Even when he was in the central chamber and there were a hundred wolves all fighting to be heard, he could always key in on her quiet voice and the chime of her laughter. He didn’t dream of her every night, but she seemed to always be the last thing on his mind before he fell asleep and the first thing he thought of when he woke, hard and wanting.
Some mornings, it was a struggle to lie in bed, waiting for the craving to subside. Every night, he had the dangerous thought that if he went to her and brought her back to his room, they could share his bed. If he had her only once, it would curb his desire for her, hold him over until Coral was properly his mate. Instinct—biology, as Indigo called it—would take over and he wouldn’t feel as though he needed Ginnifer anymore.
It was as depressing as it was necessary. As much as he wanted her out of his head, she’d become such a fixture there that he had a difficult time believing there would be no void once she was gone, that somehow Coral would fill all of the spaces left behind by this human female.
They didn’t speak as afternoon faded into early evening. With so much unsaid between them, the silence should have felt oppressive, but Zane found himself more content than he’d been in days. As the sun began to set behind them, Ginnifer leaned her head on his arm. He liked the weight of her against him, and after a few moments, he rested his chin on her head. She laughed a little, and then rested fully against him, letting her eyes flutter shut, but not falling asleep.
The bull never strayed from its spot, and several times he chased younger males away from the prime feeding area. Eventually, the others began to mill away, and Zane saw his opportunity. He put his nose to Ginnifer’s head, taking a quick drag of her scent before nudging her from his arm.
“Don’t move from this spot,” he told her, before standing with his pelt.
As he shifted, he regretted sniffing her. His erection made the change exceptionally uncomfortable. He looked back at her to see that she appeared alert, with her camera in hand and aimed at the herd. Quickly, he surveyed the area, making sure it was secure and there were no threats to be seen. When he was satisfied, he padded down the hillside, keeping his body low and staying in the shadows.
Darkness flooded the valley, but it did him little good against prey that could see in low light. Once he was down on the flat plain, he had to creep slowly so as not to reveal himself. Advancing behind the beast, Zane had to force Ginnifer out of his mind to keep from compulsively checking the cliff.
His approach was near silent, but when he was almost within striking range, the bull lifted its shaggy head. Looking directly at Zane, it let out a loud bellow, before taking off in a run. Zane could hear the others on the move, and he knew that if he didn’t strike quickly, the bull would rejoin its herd and there would be no chance of isolating another that night.
He caught up to the bull with ease, but waited briefly before springing, cautious to avoid the swing of its head. For all his predatory strength, the horns could slice through him, rendering him lifeless in seconds. As he latched onto its throat, jaws locking its airway shut, he had the wild thought that if he died, Ginnifer would be left alone on the tundra.
Would she know her way back to the den? He didn’t think so. And how long would it be before Tallow or Breeze thought to follow his scent? It could be a day before they found her, and that was if she stayed in one place.
When he finally made his way up from the spiral of dark thoughts, the bull lay dead beneath him. He unclenched his jaw and lifted his head, feeling no pride as he stared down at it. The other muskoxen were already halfway across the valley, but Zane spared them only a quick look before turning his attention to the cliff. Ginnifer was still laying where he left her, waving at him.
He made a hasty return to her, not caring that his steps were loud on the wet stone. He shifted as he arrived back on the cliff, returning to his human form in time to see her roll over and gape up at him.
Zane fell on Ginnifer, his legs coming down on to straddle her at the hips. He brought his hands down to cage her in, feeling the thrill of the hunt for the first time that evening. She looked up at him, her expression unperturbed, only a faint look of anticipation on her face.
With his eyes, Zane traced the lines of her body. The flat planes and curving swells called to him, and he knew that she could feel him hard against her abdomen. Of all the things he could have said to her, the words that came from his mouth would have been the last thing he’d have predicted.
“I always resented my father for taking a human mate.”
Her beautiful lips twisted into a mirthless smile. “I wouldn’t be your mate even if you wanted me to be.”
To Zane, it sounded like a challenge.
“Is that a fact?”
She nodded. “I do like it here, but…I could never leave my family, give up my home, and my career.”
It sounded as though she’d given it some thought, and Zane noted that she hadn’t mentioned her Aaron, which pleased his wolf.
“I could convince you,” he said, lowering his head.
She wet her lips. “How?”
Zane claimed her lips, his pelvis unconsciously flexing against her as he did so. Their mouths moved in tandem, each anticipating what the other would do and responding in all the right ways. He stroked the seam of her lips and she parted for him, allowing his tongue entrance into her depths.
The m
emory of their last kiss had taken on a life of its own, playing over and over in his head whenever a lull or idle moment came in his day. He even sometimes found himself zoning out of important matters, his mind going to that soft, warm place. He’d never obsessed so much over something, least of all a kiss, and he told himself that the memory was a fabrication, that his mind was exaggerating the intensity of that kiss, making it seem like more than it was.
But now, he could feel that her lips were more soft than he’d remembered, and as his tongue sank into her, he found her to be warm, inviting, and impossibly sweet. It made him think about other parts of her and other parts of himself, and wonder if they would fit together so perfectly.
He pulled back slowly, reluctantly, and they took a breath, sharing each other’s air. Her eyes were big and round, her lips red and full and wet from his attention.
She whispered, “Still not convinced.”
Zane gave a hard swallow, and then lowered himself to her earlobe. He took the soft pad of her ear between his blunt teeth and gently nipped it, before taking his mouth lower. His tongue ran the length of her neck, licking at her sweat-salted skin. Her scent was stronger there, and his aching cock strained, moisture pooling at the tip.
She arched into his touch, and he closed his mouth over the base of her neck, sucking and stroking her with his tongue. His fangs seemed to throb, the tension easing only marginally when he pressed them to her fragile skin. He held them there, and they both lay still, knowing that the slightest movement would cause him to mark her.
Long before his kind claimed humans, bites were exchanged between mated pairs. If he bit her, the mark would say to others that he intended to make her his mate, to keep her as his own, and to one day have pups with her.
Zane held his fangs there for a long while, as though tempting fate, but neither of them moved. When he pulled back, she was still looking at him with those same, big eyes.
She said, “It would be good between us, wouldn’t it?”
He wondered if she meant sex, or something more than that. What kind of life would they share together?
A short one, if Sedna had anything to do with it.
He rolled over onto his side, covering them both with his pelt and suppressing a groan. His cock ached in protest.
It was beginning to grow cold out, even for him, and he knew he’d have to get her back to the den soon. But he decided to wait, just a little longer. For a few more minutes, they could stay. If he could keep his urges in check, it would probably be the last time they were together like this.
Her eyes were on the night sky as she said, “I’m going to Port Trent with Marl tomorrow.”
“I know,” he said, his voice dripping with disapproval.
Zane was aware of most everything that happened in his den, and this news had reached him earlier in the week. He knew she wasn’t leaving for good, but a tension had been building within him as the day approached, and he knew that his wolf was not going to handle it well. It was bad enough that she was leaving the den, worse that she was going with Enzo, and worse yet that she was still unmarked.
“When I get there, I’m going to try to get in touch with Aaron. One way or another, I’m going to let him know that I can’t keep waiting for him. Once I’m done filming, he can either marry me or we’re going to go our separate ways.”
Zane felt his jaw clench.
“What are you hoping he says?” he asked.
“I don’t know. We’ve been engaged since I was nineteen. I don’t know what my future looks like without him, but…all of the sudden, I’m starting to wonder if maybe I want more than that, more than him.”
Ginnifer cocked her head to look at him. “I’m not saying I want you instead of him.” She laughed, but it sounded hollow. “I’m not saying I don’t, either. But I know that we couldn’t be together. Even if there wasn’t Coral and Sedna… It’s becoming clear to me that I don’t know myself as well as I thought I did. I shouldn’t be committing to anything at this point in my life.”
Zane listened, understanding her all too well. Despite being from different worlds, their situations mirrored one another’s. But while Ginnifer was conflicted, Zane’s back was against the wall, and he had no choice in the matter.
Suddenly needing to feel her, he pulled her into his arms, until she lay with her head against his chest. She was limp against him, though her finger drew lazy circles on the plane of his chest.
“Aren’t you worried about getting my scent all over you?”
“It’s already all over me,” he said, his lips twitching. “And mine on you.”
“Is it going to get you in trouble?”
He kissed the top of her head.
“I don’t care.”
“Zane?”
“Hm?”
“How are we going to get that half-ton muskox back to the den by ourselves?”
He laughed and hugged her closer. “I have no idea.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Depression hung over her in a thick cloud when Ginnifer woke the following morning. It felt as though they’d spent hours on the cliff, talking, kissing. Several times, she’d considered doing something bold, something that would entice him to the point of throwing caution into the wind. Each time, she’d thought better of it, but she’d always had the sense that they were tiptoeing on the razor’s edge.
When he’d brought her back to the den, there had been a sense of finality to it all, and she got the impression that whatever was happening between them, it needed to end there. She knew it was for the best, like she knew that if she chose to break up with Aaron, there were still plenty of men out there, men whose goals aligned with hers, men whose lives weren’t so complicated.
Even so, she lay in bed like a lovesick teenager, pining over Zane as though he were the last man on Earth. It wasn’t until Marl came in, already dressed in full outerwear, that she remembered that she was supposed to be leaving for Port Trent.
“Good Lord, what happened in here?” She glared around the room with distaste, until her eyes fell on Ginnifer, still buried under the covers. “You’re not even dressed yet? And look at this mess, this’ll take you half a day to clean, at least.”
Ginnifer lifted her head to peer around the room. It wasn’t that bad.
“I’m getting up,” Ginnifer sighed.
As she dressed, Marl hovered around, giving instructions.
“Don’t pack a bunch of crap. I have everything you’ll need. Be sure to wear some human clothes, otherwise they’ll look at you like you have two heads. But make sure you wear some furs over them—no, that one, the one with the hood, do you want to wake up and find your ears frosted off?”
Despite Marl’s insistence to pack light, Ginnifer did bring her camera equipment and cellphone. By the time she’d put her coat on she was uncomfortably hot, and she hoped they’d be outside soon, before she started to sweat. Marl stepped up to her, pulling the strings on Ginnifer’s fur coat taut to secure the hood. She gave Ginnifer a pat on the cheek, her stern demeanor giving way to a motherly smile.
“There, pretty as a picture. Now quit being so gloomy. Whatever it is, it will pass.”
Ginnifer offered a weak smile. “Okay, I’m all set.”
“You are, but your camera boy isn’t. We have to go get him now, and that’ll be a doozey.”
When she’d told Boaz about going to Port Trent, he’d volunteered himself to come along, mostly so that he could call his mother. Ginnifer was glad to have familiar company, and eager to spend time with Boaz again, given that he always seemed to be with Tallow these days.
It came as no surprise to her when Marl said they’d be picking him up from Tallow’s room, and they set out down the hallway in the direction that led deeper into the den. Ginnifer had never been so far down before, though she knew from passing tidbits of information that Zane’s room was somewhere down there as well. She thought she caught a trace of his masculine scent, but when she raised her nose to sniff the air,
it eluded her the second time.
The door to Tallow’s room was covered in a shaggy white pelt. Above the doorway, carved into the stone were the words STAY OUT in scratchy letters. Ginnifer rolled her eyes and pulled back the pelt, stepping into the room.
There were two candles lit, providing just enough light for Ginnifer to see the room, but she didn’t look around. Her jaw went slack as she stared at the bed, where Tallow was naked and on her knees, straddling an equally naked Boaz.
Before she could figure out how to react, Tallow let out a vicious snarl. She grabbed something from above the bed and hurled it in Ginnifer’s direction. Ginnifer barely had time to duck as it went whizzing by her head. It collided with something and then clattered to the ground. As it rolled in front of her, Ginnifer could see that it was a metal candlestick.
Anger flared inside her chest. She was fully prepared to lay into Tallow, not giving a damn that the other woman could probably rip her to shreds, when she heard a soft grunt from behind her. Ginnifer spun on her heel in time to see Marl slump onto the floor, a thin trickle of blood running down the side of her head.
Ginnifer fell to her knees, but not quickly enough to catch Marl, who hit her head once more on the side of the doorway. She moved to check Marl’s pulse, but Tallow shoved her away. Ginnifer’s back hit the wall hard, only her layers of clothing protecting her from serious damage.
“Marl,” Tallow cried, shaking the older woman. “Marl? Marlie, wake up!”
Ginnifer’s head was still spinning when she saw Tallow glaring fiercely at her.
“This is all your fault!”
“No,” Ginnifer said. She tried to shake her head, but it only increased her sense of vertigo.
Just when it seemed as though Tallow were going to pounce on her, Boaz stepped in between them. He had managed to put his briefs on, but nothing else, and he held his arms up, preparing to push Tallow back if need be.
Capturing the Alpha (Shifters of Nunavut Book 1) Page 12