Chapter Six

Liv checked the supplies in her day pack for the third time. After last night, she wasn't sure she trusted her own judgment. She wasn't planning on going very far today, not with two large male wolves stalking her campsite. She'd almost convinced herself she had dreamed the whole thing. Surely, she hadn't been snuggling with a giant white wolf with ice blue eyes. She chalked the experience up to too much caffeine, too close to bedtime. She was probably sleepwalking and dreaming. That scenario still didn't make her feel too good, but it was better than believing she had hugged a wolf. Though she was choosing to believe it hadn't been real, she still packed her dart gun and her bear spray in her pack. She was just being smart.

By the third day of hiking through the woods, following trails and making notes without any further sightings of her imaginary wolves, she started to relax. This was just like any other assignment. She scribbled in her notebook as she stopped to sit on a rock shelf and sip some water. She had found signs of wolves in the area, real wolves, and she was hopeful she would have a sighting soon so she could start delineating the pack members.

Wolves were, by far, her favorite animals to study. Beautiful. Powerful. Smart. Deadly. She knew what she was doing, however, and was glad to be out in nature again. So far, this piece of the forest seemed relatively free of any evidence of humans. There were no hiking trails, no destructive tearing up of the forest floor by four-wheelers, nothing but pristine woods and the typical wildlife you would expect. Liv sighed at the peacefulness of it all. She'd take being alone in a forest over being surrounded by people in town, any day. She'd never met anyone that really understood her love of the wilderness. The few friends she had thought she was lonely and needed to get out more. Meet more people. Meet a guy. She'd given up trying to explain to people that alone didn't need to mean lonely. She took a deep breath of fresh air and sighed happily. This was exactly where she belonged.

 

***

 

After that indescribable meeting in her camp, Brodi's brain hadn't been able to focus on anything but the red-headed female in the woods. He had gone straight to Kelda on returning home to tell her of the experience. He could see the excitement flare in the shaman's eyes as he described scenting the female and her reaction to him in his wolf form. She agreed it was unlike any reaction they had ever seen. Kelda counseled caution, however. The female was human, after all.

Kelda couldn't find any evidence of a human being a fated mate in the many old tomes she had brought with her, but she felt strongly that he needed to meet her as a man and in as non-threatening manner as possible. It was imperative that she mated him to break the curse. He couldn't afford to scare her away. He agreed, but still couldn't manage to stay away. He followed her at a distance every day. Finn had dogged him every second the first couple of days, needing to watch that his Alpha didn't do something stupid as he seemed to have no control around the strange woman. Brodi understood what his second was doing but rankled under the supervision. By the third day, he'd had enough, and slipped his chaperone by setting off long before daylight. He was desperate to get closer to the female. His female. And if that upset his Beta, then too bad. He was the Alpha here, after all.

He had made ever-widening circles around the female's camp when he finally found her. Moon shine! She was glorious! She was sitting on a shelf of rock, writing something in a notebook. He watched transfixed as she poured water from a hot pink water bottle into her mouth. A few drops lingered on her full lips and the sight of her throat swallowing made him start to pant. Some of her fiery red locks had escaped her ponytail and were sticking to her face. He watched her push them behind her ear seemingly by rote. He wanted to pull that magnificent hair out of the offending tie and feel it cascade over his body. He tipped up his nose and breathed deeply trying to scent her more fully. There was that same amazing aroma – honeysuckle, vanilla and magic. He closed his eyes and tried to control his panting. Thanks to Finn, he'd not been this close to her since that night in her camp and the need to go to her, to feel her soft hands in his fur again, was almost unbearable. He was unable to stifle a whine before it escaped from his throat.

Liv's head popped up as she heard a sound. She thought it almost sounded like the whine of a dog. Or a wolf. Her hand slowly went to her small cannister of bear spray attached to her day pack. Her eyes scanned the area looking for movement or the shine of predatory eyes. Nothing. Nothing at all and that was weird. She realized the birds weren't even singing. There was no buzz of insects. Everything had gone still. Her eyes made another pass along the tree line. Her back was to a rock face so nothing could sneak up on her from behind. She stood up carefully, not wanting to move quickly and possibly trigger the unseen animal's predatory instincts. It might have been a bird, Liv. Don't be so jumpy! But her gut told her something was out there, watching her. She took a step toward the trees and suddenly a familiar scent drifted to her nose. Her body recognized it before her mind. She breathed in deep and took another step toward the trees. The sun's rays came out and illuminated a patch of white in the dark green of the bushes directly in front of her across the clearing. Every hair on her body stood at attention. She froze.

Brodi recognized exactly the moment when she saw him. Her whole body tensed. He hated the fear and confusion he saw in her eyes. It made him want to go to her. Protect her. Let her know she was safe. But he was the thing she was afraid of. If he only had some clothes stashed close by, he could have shifted and come across her as just a hiker out enjoying nature. Fuck! He should have listened to Kelda and Finn. Now what should he do?

He debated for several long moments, then not able to resist the pull of his mate anymore, he stepped out into the clearing. He immediately sat and tried to make himself appear as unthreatening as possible. He tried to control his panting. No teeth showing, Brodi! Her intoxicating scent was overwhelming him now. He was almost dizzy with it. He knew this was a big risk. What if she had a gun in that pack of hers? He had to try regardless. He needed to be near her.

Liv sucked in a breath when she saw the wolf slowly step from the trees. Damn! Apparently, she hadn't been dreaming. It was the same giant, white wolf with the ice blue eyes. She stood stock still watching the animal. He was simply stunning, like no other wolf she had ever seen. Pure white wolves were rare as their color made them easy to spot and they were often killed as pups. She didn't think she'd ever seen one in the wild. He wasn't albino though. He had black tips to his ears and his tail and an interesting pattern of swirls across his chest. Those intense blue eyes locked on hers as if he was trying to make up his mind about something. Instead of attacking or running away, however, he simply lay down and continued to regard her.

Liv's eyes widened in surprise. A wild wolf had just lay down in front of her! Then it happened. the intoxicating scent seemed to envelope her just like it had that night in her camp. Her hands dropped to her sides, forgetting about the bear spray or the flare gun. Suddenly, she wasn't afraid of the wolf anymore. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to be close to him again. She slowly walked toward him with one hand outstretched. When her hand felt soft fur under her fingertips, she felt a wave of calm and contentment flow through her body. She didn't know what was happening, but she didn't want it to stop.

Brodi could barely contain himself once the woman started walking in his direction. All the stories about fated mate magic must be true if this human woman was walking toward him in his full-grown wolf form here in the woods. He didn't dare move a muscle. He thought his lungs might have forgotten how to work. Suddenly, there was too little oxygen to be had. When her hand touched his fur, his eyes dropped closed and he tried to rub his head into her soft palm. Freya, bless me!

Then her arms were around him, her face buried in the fur around his neck. His lungs were able to fill again when he felt her hot breath blow against his ruff. His heartbeat slowed in his chest, and he was filled with a sense of wonder. This was the female who would save him from the curse. The woman who would save his people. His mate.