It took another thirty minutes before he heard the plane down in the valley. His home was close to a flat, treeless area where a plane could land, and the pilot, Charlie, would use it when she arrived.
He set down his cup and picked up his rifle, slinging it over his shoulder so he’d have a weapon against any bears hiding in the woods on the walk down to the water’s edge. He wanted to keep Aspen as protected as possible when she was in his care, and a bear wasn’t going to get its hands on her.
He made it down the hill to the yellow plane after it landed with ease. There was no denying his excitement at knowing the woman was right there. He’d dreamed of this moment for the better part of the last few weeks since he’d offered.
When the door opened to the plane, her scent hit him like a wall of flowers and wildness. His cock responded, and he was thankful he’d worn the long shirt he’d pulled out for their trip. The last thing he needed was to greet the beautiful woman with a hard cock. She might run away from him before he ever got a chance to know her properly.
“Welcome, Aspen…Charlie,” he greeted. Charlie shook his hand with her gloved ones and hurried to open the back door of the plane. Aspen grabbed her backpack and rifle before turning around to hug her friend. They whispered to each other for a moment, and the next thing he knew, the plane started up, leaving them standing on the dock.
“You ready for this?” he asked, reaching out to take her pack.
“I’ve got it,” she replied, declining his help. She laughed it off, and he shouldn’t be so quick to be a gentleman with her. She was a bush woman. They were as tough as nails…maybe even tougher. Regardless, he wanted to treat her like the woman she was, but he gave up on carrying her things…for the moment. “I have to carry it through the woods, anyway. I might as well get used to it.”
“Well, I don’t know what you are missing in that pack, but you carry it lighter than it looks,” he noticed. She was stronger than he thought, too. That was a shifter trait. The information the news put out, along with a million conspiracy theories, said they were unusually strong.
“Been carrying it since I was ten years old,” she offered and jutted her chin toward the trail leading toward his place. “Lead the way.”
“Did you tell your brothers you were hunting with me?” he asked, worrying those big motherfuckers would show up unannounced and take her away.
“I told them I was moose hunting,” she answered, shrugging her shoulders. “They know I go off on my own a lot. I have a way of communicating if something goes wrong.”
“My plan is to keep you protected, anyway,” he admitted, pointing toward his cabin. “This is my place.”
“It’s beautiful,” she said in wonder.
He’d spent the entire summer when he’d first arrived building the small, two-bedroom cabin by himself. The only things he had with him were a chainsaw, a rifle, a fishing pole, and a sleeping bag. Before that first winter, he’d acquired a wood stove to heat the place, and since then, he’d turned it into a home.
“Thank you,” he replied, pushing open the door. “You can use the room on your left.”
He watched as the tall brunette dropped her pack beside the door. They weren’t planning on staying long enough to get settled. They would head out on foot soon, and after that, they’d return to his cabin for the night.
“Let me grab my things and we will get going.”
“Take your time,” she said as she looked around the tiny living room. He had a small kitchen in the back corner by his bedroom, but that was the extent of his living arrangements.
He picked up his own pack and grabbed his rifle. He couldn’t wait to get into the forest behind his home to hunt with her. He would have to remind himself to pay attention to his surroundings, because he had a feeling having Aspen around would make him more focused on her than the hunt.
Chapter 3
Hunting natural animals in their human form was one of the ways they tried to blend in to keep from being noticed by the shifters who’d marked them for death. She had a slight advantage over the humans, because she could hear and scent the animals they were targeting while they were still a mile away. Kept the freezers full, too.
Aspen watched as the moose dropped to the ground. “Kill shot.”
“Good job,” Booker said from behind her. He’d let her take the first one they’d found. A little part of her was thrilled he was being such a gentleman, but another side wanted to yell at him that she was a strong, independent woman. And the wolf inside her wanted to submit for him to mount her.
“You are one hell of a tracker, Aspen.”
“Thank you,” she replied and looked over her shoulder.
The tall, gorgeous human male was strong in the shoulders, and she’d been trying all afternoon not to watch him while they searched and called for the animal. “I need to start processing.”
“If you’re good to go, I will go back and get the sled,” he offered.
“I’ve got this,” she promised. “Go on.”
Booker hesitated a moment before turning his back and heading toward his cabin. The meat she’d collect from the animal would weigh too much to carry out by hand. He’d bring something to load it on so they could easily return to the cabin.
It saddened her they’d found one on the first day of hunting season. Booker still had his tag to fill, and they’d do that early the next morning. As it was nearing four, they still had a lot of daylight, but they also needed to eat. She was already planning on staying until late the next day before Charlie picked her up at the end of her flights.
By the time Booker returned, she was finishing up and sat back on her heels to admire her work. The moose would feed her family for a few months. With being a shifter, she and her family would consume three times the amount of meat a human would in a short amount of time.
“Let’s get your moose home,” he said, dropping the rope that pulled the sled. “Tomorrow, it’s my turn.”
They worked quickly to put the meat into bags and the pelt over the sled for transport back to his home. Once they arrived, Booker took her to a tiny building close to the water’s edge to hang the meat until she was ready to leave the following night.
“Let’s make some food,” he grunted as he lifted the last bag. “After that, it’s probably best we catch some sleep so we can get up and head northeast early.”
Heading northeast would be toward her territory, and she nodded her agreement as he closed the building’s door. She was still very aware there was a bear clan in the area, but so far, she hadn’t scented any of them on their hunt.
Nash hadn’t called out to her yet, and that was a good sign. If he wasn’t checking in, she was in the clear and nothing had happened at the pack since she’d left. Aspen didn’t care that the bears had only made themselves known. They were the enemy and always would be. She’d already dealt with the loss of her family once, and she wasn’t going to go through it again.
“Would you like a beer? Wine?” he asked as he pulled a cast iron skillet from under his tabletop stove.
“I’d love some wine,” she admitted and pulled on a flannel top. The nights were getting cooler, but his cabin was still a little warm from the small fire he’d made before she got there that morning. “Would you like for me to add some wood to your fire?”
“Are you cold?” he asked, pausing in his preparations.
“Just a little,” she admitted. “I can take care of that since you’re cooking for me. I usually do all the cooking at home. So, this is a nice treat.”
“I like cooking for you, Aspen.” His eyes darkened, but not in a bad way. No, the human male was aroused. She could scent it. But as quickly as he’d made the statement, his body changed. His scent disappeared, and he grabbed some oil from a cabinet to the left of the counter.
Her wolf sat up straighter in her mind, whining for the attention he was giving. As she fed the stove a few pieces of wood, she caught her own scent and smiled. It was relieving that her m
ate was human, because if he’d been a shifter, things might have gone too fast for her liking.
Aspen hadn’t ever been with a male. All she’d ever known was hiding and staying at the pack. Being out in a new place was thrilling, and having Booker there was starting to be her new addiction.
She used a hair tie she kept on her wrist to pull her hair back into a sloppy bun and returned to the kitchen, picking up the glass of wine he’d set there. “Oh, this is delicious.”
“I make it myself,” he admitted. “I grow grapes in my greenhouse, and I like a little wine every so often.”
“I might need your recipe and process,” she teased. “We have beer brought in sometimes, but that gets old after a while.”
“I’ll send you home with a bottle, but for the recipe, you’ll have to pay me back by coming out here next summer to learn how to do it.” He was teasing again, and she found herself smiling more and more at the dark-haired human. She really liked him.
During their hunt, he was cautious, going into protective mode even if she didn’t need it. He’d kept his distance, allowing her to take the shot on the moose she’d spotted. He was respectful, and that alone made her want to stay there for longer than two days.
“I think I can arrange that,” she blushed and took another sip of the wine.
The scent of the pork cooking overwhelmed the cabin. She couldn’t scent him, and it was driving her wolf crazy. She blinked several times when he wasn’t looking to fight off the hazy yellow of her wolf eyes.
Come on, girl. You can’t show yourself.
She scooted her chair back when he approached with the plate, frowning from her distance. “Everything okay?”
“Ah, yeah. I have an aversion to certain touch,” she hedged, cringing from her lie. She wanted to touch him, but she wouldn’t. It was too soon to explain to him everything. No matter how receptive Charlie had been to them, she wasn’t sure if Booker had heard the news down in the lower forty-eight yet.
That thought made her panic a little. Could he already know?
“Well,” he sighed and folded his arms across his chest. Aspen lost her sense of hearing when she noticed his thick arms bulge from the movement. He was bulky and strong. He’d lifted part of that moose with no effort, and she was even more turned on that the human male was as strong as a shifter male. “You know, it’s not that bad…touching me.”
“I imagine it’s quite pleasant,” she admitted.
He’d wondered if she was some sort of shifter before, but with her sudden need for space, it made sense what he’d read on the internet awhile back. She was something not human, and from the matching eyes to her brothers and cousins, Booker was certain.
“Look,” he began, forgetting his plate so he could pull out a chair from the table. “I know you are a shifter, but I don’t know what kind. And…I really don’t care.”
“You know?” she gasped and set her fork aside. Her eyes hazed over for a second before she clenched her jaw and straightened her shoulders.
“I just want you to be yourself,” he admitted, resting his forearms on the tabletop. “Out here, it doesn’t matter.”
“That’s very kind of you,” she replied after taking a relaxing breath. “But I have to tell you that we don’t want it known. That’s why we live so far away from town.”
“I would never,” he growled, feeling protective of her. He’d heard of the crazy people who tried to capture them and study them in an underground lab. It had sickened him when he’d heard about it. “Aspen, you are safe here with me. I promise.”
“I still can’t touch you,” she blurted, dropping her gaze to his hands. “It’s just not the right time.”
“I will respect that,” he replied with a nod.
“So, you’re not going to ask why I won’t allow you to touch me or what I am?”
“No need. It doesn’t matter.” He stood from his seat and left her there, gaping like a fish out of water.
She was shocked. Booker added food to his plate and returned to the table like they were having a normal conversation. He was so…calm. “How did you know?”
“I have internet access, and I saw it on the news awhile back,” he admitted and cut into his meat. She looked at his plate, and then at hers. He’d given her more than he would consume. “Plus, your eyes give you away.”
“Ugh,” she groaned. “Don’t believe everything you read.”
“So, you’re not aliens?” he chuckled.
“Seriously?” she gaped. “Are they saying that?”
“Oh, they’re saying a lot,” he said around his food before pointing his fork at her plate. “You need to eat. We can chat later.”
Aspen cut her food and took a bite, glancing at Booker from the corner of her eye. He was so laid back, and she was still a little shocked at his behavior once he admitted he already knew.
It was a hard realization that humans knew about them already. The Ward family had hidden themselves so well, they didn’t even pay attention to the outside world. Maybe they’d done it wrong all along.
“What’s wrong, Aspen?” he asked, dropping his fork.
“We’ve just learned that the humans know about shifters.” She paused to lean back in her chair. “I know we’ve tried to stay hidden because of who we are, but maybe we’ve been wrong all along. Then again, we’ve been forced to hide because of who we are.”
“I wouldn’t say you’re wrong for hiding, Aspen,” he admitted. “From what I’ve read, it’s probably for the best. The scientists captured a few shifters and tried to study them. It wasn’t in the mainstream media, but it was online. There were pictures leaked of the facilities, and it’s for the best that they were raided and shut down.”
“I can only imagine what they went through,” she whispered, feeling her gut tighten from her thoughts.
“If I were a shifter, I would not announce it to anyone I didn’t trust,” he offered.
When he placed his hand on the table top, she wanted to reach out for it, but she refused to touch him. It wouldn’t be fair to him if she did and the wolf inside her demanded she submit for him. He didn’t know how they worked.
“I shouldn’t even be telling you this,” she began…but paused. “It’s against our pack rules to even share with anyone human unless they are our mate.”
Booker’s eyebrows pinched as he took in what she had to say. It didn’t take long for him to figure out where she was going with her words. “So, I am your mate?”
“I don’t know for sure, but my…animal is telling me you are,” she admitted.
“Aspen, you can trust me,” he reminded her. She knew she could. Even though Nash had given them an order to keep their secret quiet, it didn’t apply to telling your true mate. The other reason why she could break that was because she had her own alpha genes, and she didn’t really need her brother to live. Not like the others.
If Aspen wanted, she could move away and start her own pack. As it was, she had no desire to leave her family. They’d been through too much, and she needed them in her life.
“Trust is a touchy subject for us,” she admitted.
“I imagine it is,” he agreed and stood from his seat. “It’s getting late, Aspen. Why don’t we get some sleep? Let’s not worry about shifters or secrets anymore tonight.”
“Thank you, Booker,” she sighed, rising from her own seat. “I’ll be ready to go as soon as the sun comes up.”
“See you in the morning,” he called out as she entered the small bedroom he’d set up for her.
Chapter 4
Booker didn’t sleep well the night before, because he’d been worried about Aspen. She carried a lot on her shoulders, and it was obvious she was very protective of her family. If he had a family like hers, he would be just as protective, too.
“You ready?” she asked as she zipped up her jacket. The morning air was quite brisk, and they’d need the extra layers. He was hoping to find a moose early so they’d have time to pack it out of the forest
before her flight arrived after dinnertime.
“Let’s head out,” he stated, picking up his rifle. As much as he wanted to help her with her gun and backpack, he didn’t. It was hard to let her do her own thing, but he understood her aversion to touch. “I know of a meadow not far from here that usually has some great activity.”
“I’ll follow you,” she offered with a smile.
As they walked, he couldn’t get her scent out of his mind. It was driving him mad with lust, and he had to focus on the hunt and not his hard cock.
There was already a foot path carved out through the forest from his constant trips around his land. The meadow would be about three miles in, but the land was flat. They’d be there in no time.
As they approached, he stopped to call out to the moose, mimicking their sounds. Aspen used a piece of old bone to scrape at the trees, coaxing a bull to make an appearance. They worked in tandem for almost an hour before they heard a noise across the meadow.
Booker slowly raised his gun when the massive animal came into view. In his peripheral, Aspen slowly sank low to the ground, giving him a clear shot. He took a deep breath, calming his erratic heart from the thrill of the hunt, and in return…he caught her scent again.
It was like he’d stepped into a floral shop, but even more spectacular. Holy fuck, she smelled like heaven.
“Shoot now.” Her voice was so soft he almost missed it, but it was enough to bring him out of the euphoria of it all.
He released his breath and pulled the trigger.
“Nice shot,” she cheered and stood upright. When she turned toward him, he leaned the gun against the tree and took a step toward her. All he wanted was to pin her against the tree and kiss her senseless.
“Aspen,” he growled as she backed away, bumping into a mature birch tree. His hand landed above her head, but he froze when she gasped. “I want to kiss you right now.”
Her Protective Mate (The Ward Wolf Pack Novella Series, Book 3) Page 2