Page 8 of Wolf Forgotten

A helicopter wasn’t the place to argue, so I dropped the subject. “I'm cranky on Mondays, sorry.” I scrolled through my playlists and put on indie rock, which was more my groove.

“Are you sure you aren’t cranky all the time?” His laugh was teasing, and he turned up the music louder so I couldn’t reply.

He had a valid point; my moods were worse lately. Especially with the crummy weather we'd had and not being able to get outside as much. Shortly after moving to Arbor Falls, I experienced cabin fever for the first time.

Growing up, I'd always been outside or playing sports. Living farther north meant colder weather, and the small-town environment meant less to do.

Something deep down told me I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

Chapter Four

Cole

This woman was something else. She was feisty and gave back tenfold whatever I threw at her. She wasn’t a subordinate, that was for sure. The idea shouldn't have excited me as the alpha, but it did. But it also unnerved me because she should have known better than to challenge an alpha unless she wanted to wind up on her back.

And not on her back being fucked.

Damn. My mind went there, and now the image of her sprawled out naked, tits bouncing with every thrust, imprinted in my brain. She had nice, perky tits, a solid handful. I shifted in my seat, giving myself more wiggle room in my pants.

It was easy to steal glances her way since she had a damned helmet on and had no peripheral vision unless she turned her head. Talk about a blow to my confidence. A helmet wasn't a necessary thing during such a mundane flight. The sky was clear, the winds were calm, and we weren't dropping water on any fires.

I was already kicking myself in the balls, knowing that we were going to be landing in Silas's territory. The second we opened the doors, they would be able to smell me a mile away if they were patrolling in their wolf forms. Hopefully, we were far enough out from where any of them were.

We reached our destination, and I landed in a large open area between two expanses of pine trees. I powered down the helicopter and removed my headset. "How long will this take?"

She unhooked her seatbelt and glanced up at me. "Why? Got a hot date?" Was she flirting with me?

She took off her helmet, sending her scent in my direction. I shut my eyes and tried not to take a deep inhale. That would be creepy. I didn't want to be creepy.

What made the situation worse was she moved between the seats to the back, her ass brushing my arm. My eyes locked on target as she squatted down to unhook her bag.

Ivy was an attractive woman, and the jeans she wore hugged her body like they were a part of her. They were tucked into a pair of boots, and her green and purple flannel peeked out from under a black down vest.

I cleared my throat. “Do you need me to help with anything?” Besides flying the helicopter, Barbara said I was to assist as needed once we were on the ground.

She shook her head without looking up from what she was doing. "A lot is riding on this collection. It's the last piece of data for a report that's going straight to the Climate Change Advisory Committee."

"Sounds fancy." I needed to research Northern Alliance more, so I didn't sound like a complete fool when she talked to me. I knew they were one of several facilities across the country that recorded environmental data, but that was it.

I exited the helicopter, walking around the front of it. The tree line was about two hundred feet away in all directions. I kept my eyes to the south, which was straight out the passenger side and where Silas's pack most likely was.

I opened the back door and held out my hand as Ivy stood with a tablet and a bin of instruments. She looked at my hand and then jumped down without my help. I blinked a few times and then dropped it to my side. The disappointment she didn't want to touch me was stronger than expected.

"How long have you been doing this?" I followed her as she walked about fifty feet while staring at her tablet.

She squatted down, putting her instruments on the grass that was starting to show signs of life again after the winter. "A while."

"A while? You're so young." I looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing, and she peered up at me, shielding her eyes from the sun.

"I'm almost twenty-six." She went back to her task. "You can't be older than what, twenty-seven?"

I snorted and scanned the tree line. "I'm thirty-four."

"You look and act way younger than that." I saw her smiling in the reflection on her tablet screen.

"I'm never going to live that down, am I? I really am a responsible man." Hell, I ran an entire pack. I shouldn't have rushed off like I had, but Eli said to call him.

I didn't understand why she hadn't picked up on my scent yet. Was she not a wolf? The possibility confused me, and I sniffed the air. Her scent was even stronger than it had been only minutes ago.

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