Page 25 of The Alpha Dire Wolf
Backing slowly off the log, I retreated to where I had seen the man, picking up the hatchet I’d dropped upon his entrance. Everything seemed darker now, robbed of a light that had shone brightly during his presence.
First his warning and then the wolf print. It all had ominous foreboding written all over it, and my instinct agreed. It was time for me to leave. Like the man had said, I should have stayed out.
I was no longer welcome in the forest.
Chapter Ten
Lincoln
Blue and gold eyes tracked her through the bushes, unblinking with determined focus, watching her every move.
I didn’t worry about being seen. It was extremely unlikely a human would detect me. It would take magic to do so. To that point, she had shown no signs of possessing the magic the elders feared.
The reverse wasn’t true. I could see every breath she took, every sway of her hips, every tiny waft of sweet delicious scent she left in the forest air. Her very presence shook my wolf to its core, forcing me to work overtime to prevent the instinctual guttural growl from coming out and revealing me. My claws dug deep as I watched her body move, every muscle fiber twitching, aching to lunge forward andtake.
I must have this woman. Iwillhave her. The elders be damned.
That presented a problem. As alpha, in theory, I could do whatever I wanted, and the pack would follow. Reality was always different. The elders commanded great respect, and my position as alpha was still relatively new. Combined with therising tensions from the forest itself, and things were rocky, to say the least.
If I told them I was going to claim her, I could be looking at full blown civil war. She wasn’t just a witch. She wasthewitch. The one who elders claimed would spell doom for us.
She found my wolf print. I watched her eyes widen and look around with fear, recognizing the warning sign I had purposefully left. It went completely against my inner desires. I hated trying to push her away, telling her to stay out of the forest. So why had I?
Perhaps it was part of my desire to protect her—not only from the darkness growing at the heart of the forest but perhaps from my pack as well. From me, and the threat that I represented.
Teeth bared as my lips pulled away, snarling against the internal struggle and the futility of it all.
A wave of her fear was carried to me on the cool breeze, replacing the lavender and cinnamon sweetness that was so sticky and cloying in my nostrils the entire time I stood across from her. A potent mixture designed to draw me in and take her. Right then, right there.
Even now, slightly removed, I wanted to rub her smell all over me. I wanted more of it. More of her.Allof her. Corded muscle strained against steel willpower as instinct fought rationale. Neither a winner. Neither a loser.
Resisting the urge to go to her was beyond frustrating. Her call was silent but intoxicating.
Almost like a spell.
A cold wave zipped through my veins, chilling them. I stood perfectly still.
Could that be what happened? Is everything she’s doing an act while her magic works on me so subtly that I cannot notice it?
Suddenly wary, I considered this new angle. It would explain the bone-deep desire I’d had since she’d been attacked by the bear and we had collided, coming into physical contact. Perhaps that was when the spell truly was cast on me, awakening my wolf to a newfound need to have her.
So what was it? Was acting naïve, pretending she didn’t know me or what I was, an attempt to lure me in? To what end? That was the part of the elder’s warning that I could never make sense of. As far as I could tell, there had never been conflict between our pack and her bloodline. So why would she be out to destroy us?
Too many questions. That’s all there was surrounding her. Questions upon questions and precisely zero answers. All that was ever said was that she would try to destroy my pack. It was the entire reason we had pulled back contact with humans as a whole, to avoid detection and problem.
Or so the elders said.
It wasn’t the first time I’d wondered if perhaps not everything had been shared with me upon my ascension as alpha.
She was on the move, and I followed, watching the way her hips moved with each step of her long legs that I wanted to have wrapped around my thighsnow.
The instant she was free of the forest and safe in her grandmother’s house, I bolted deep into the woods, turning on the jets and running as fast as I could. The trees were a blur as I ran, burning off my excess energy and seeking to calm my body, even as it yearned to turn back.
Minutes stretched into an hour and then two, yet still I ran. The den was nowhere near that far away, but I took a long, circuitous route, skirting the edges of the Dyne River and the heart of the forest beyond.
It was evening by the time I returned to the den. Immediately, I was in a better mood. This was home. My home and that of my people. Under the mighty trees was where we lived, and being among the pack was where I belonged. I took comfort in their presence, in knowing that my people were safe.
For now.
