She tilts her head, a slight grin surfacing. “What would you call me?”
“You have a dangerous streak, don’t you?”
“More like curiosity.”
“Blue. For your eyes. They’re rather… calming.” They calmed my wolf. He hasn’t bitten me once during this exchange.
“Angelina.”
“No last name?”
“You haven’t earned that.”
This female’s not easy, and yet I like that about her. I lift a foot, one fucking foot to approach her, and she retreats behind the tree.
“Okay, Angelina with no last name, let’s try this again. I can’t just walk away and leave you here.”
“Sure you can. In fact, you’d be better off.”
“Is that a threat?”
A slight shake of her head sends those gorgeous locks to the side, revealing the side of a shapely breast. I shouldn’t stare when she’s naked but, damn…it’s hard not admiring her beauty. I force my eyes higher, given what’s at stake here.
A lone female in the middle of the woods… not good.
“I never threaten.” The corners of her mouth lift slowly. “But, I don’t beg either. Please, shifter, return to your pack. I’m here for a reason and it doesn’t concern you. Thank you for your offer to help me, but your presence is actually hindering me.”
She’s so sincere that I’m about to relent. My wolf jabs me with a single claw, which is similar to getting sucker punched. I suck in air, riding out the pain.
Angelina lifts a brow, noticing my discomfort. “Even your wolf agrees.” She’s fucking observant, this woman. “He wants you to leave. Listen to him.”
I’m not convinced that’s what he’s saying, but we haven’t exactly been in sync for some time, so it’s possible he’s agreeing with her. Wouldn’t surprise me, in fact. The asshole sides with everyone but me.
“I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want, Angelina, but don’t pretend to understand my wolf. Or me.” I don’t bother hiding the growl that follows. A growl she doesn’t deserve.
My instincts say not to leave her and I don’t fucking know why. Even my wolf knows I’ve been off. Have been for too fucking long.
Before I can tell her I’m not leaving—not until I’m convinced she can make it back to her pack safely—her eyes shoot over my shoulder. Two familiar scents reach me. Hayden and Callen. They must have caught her scent or heard us talking.
“Who are they?” She’s starting to shake, her eyes searching the woods for more shifters.
“My pack. They won’t touch you. I promise.” My assurance doesn’t calm her.
“Garrett,” Hayden calls in that cautionary voice of his.
I hold out a silencing hand behind me, telling them to maintain their position.And form. If Hayden shifts, she’ll see he’s a white wolf. The only white wolves up north are from the Novak clan and they have a well-earned reputation as brutal, unstable wolves. Even though Hayden’s one of us now, revealing his heritage will undermine what little trust I’ve gained with this female.
“She’s the bait,” Callen says.
“No, she isn’t,” I snap, even though I know he’s right the second he says it. Carter had caught the highly alluring scent of a female wolf, followed it straight into a canyon sealed off by the WSSO. Only his agility and knowledge of these woods kept him from capture. I glance upward to the canyon walls ahead. Narrow ledges carve a jagged but climbable path toward the upper plateau. Now it makes sense. He didn’t run. He climbed.
My wolf’s hackles rise at the thought that I’m walking into the same trap. I inhale a deep breath. There’s nothing here except fresh snow, decaying pine needles, skunk, frozen juniper, elk droppings, and the distant musk of deer. All nearly drowned out by Angelina’s intoxicating scent.
I push her scent out of my nostrils so I may focus on gettingher out of here and hold my hand out to her. “Come with us, Angelina. You don’t belong here.”
Blue eyes lock onto me as she shakes her head and mouthsI can’t.
“Fall back,” Hayden orders, the bite of his voice warning us of the impending trap.
