Catching My Scent

The Mating Moon was on the rise. In just a few days' time the males would be wild with the need to mate. Driven by sexual hunger to take rather than ask.

And there were perilously few females in our pack. I was more than beginning to worry.

Draven's words echoed in my mind. This year he would claim me as his.

I hadn't told a soul, not even Marta. I know what she'll say.

She'll tell me to submit to him.

But truthfully, Draven terrified me. He was utterly in control of everything. Emanating strength and dominance. And here I was...just me. I tried to help the lost in the pack and stay from view.

I didn't even know why he'd set his sights on me.

But every day he was getting more doggedly determined.

***

Tonight I had waited for dawn when I knew most of the wolves were in. Since we were mostly nocturnal, most preferred the night. Only Jaecar and the Hayden brothers who did the night watch were about during the day.

And none of them are a threat to me.

They all already had their mates picked out.

At least I believe they do.

As I neared the river, I passed Jaecar and Samantha walking back toward camp. Her artbook in his hands, as he remarked on some of the pages. But spending more time gazing at her in his peripheral then looking at the artwork.

Poor girl doesn't have a clue. But I knew that telling her would only scare her away from him. And he's a good pick.

He'll be kind to her. Or at least as kind as the Mating Moon would allow. Even I didn't fully understand what that meant but I worried for her. Hoping Jaecar wouldn't kill her in his need. He'd been courting her for a few years and I knew his sexual frustration had to be greatly heightened by now.

But she's young and spirited and determined to belong to no man. Not even her best friend.

***

The Hayden brothers, Vanquish, Hunter and Racer were back in the camp, exchanging with some of the elder she-wolves for a bit of clothes for Vanna Rae, the pack's most recent stray.

All of that meant that I had the creek to myself.

I looked around and crept to the edge. Peeling off my dirty, clinging gown and setting it on the edge of the bank so I could give it a good scrub before heading back. I slid down the bank and into the water with a slight splash. Landing on my feet, made the water reach just to the bottom of my rib cage.

I whooshed a breath as I acclimated to the cold. My arms puffed out as I panted, waiting for my flesh to warm beneath the water.

"You look pretty in the morning light."

His voice damn near made me jump from my skin.

I dropped my shoulders below the surface of the water and crossed my arms over my breasts to stretch over my collars as I ducked my head.

"Going to pretend you can't hear me, are we?"

I knew that in his way, that was an order to face him.

Digesting my fear I slowly turned to face Draven.

He was sitting against a tree. He'd clearly been watching the play of morning light on the clear water.

Before I had disrupted it.

"You're-you're usually sl-sleeping this-this time of day."

"No." He said flatly. His hands in his lap and his ankles crossed leisurely straight out in-front of him. But his usual energy wound through him, visible through the restless tilting of his crossed feet, belying the utter calm he presented. "I rarely sleep. I just go into my hut for solitude."

I nodded, feigning understanding but really I was trying to figure out how to get my dress on in the water, without drowning and without offering him more of a view then he'd already gotten and then getting past him and back to the camp.

"I've already seen all of you. I watched you take it off and walk in." He gestured impatiently. "Why are you so worried about it now? Take your bath."

But the idea of bathing in-front of him seemed horribly intimate.

My lips whitened and I shook my head adamantly.

"Fine." He stood and swept off the back of his pants.

I realized he was shirtless. He often is.

And his body was wound with lean muscle that made my eyes linger on him in a way that aggravated me.

What's he doing? I registered he was walking purposefully toward the bank.

"What are you doing!" I squawked.

"Going to help you bathe."

"The hell you are!" I shot out of the water so fast I nearly levitated. Grabbing my dress on the way by as I clutched it to me. Fleeing back to the camp desperately.

His daunting laughter chased me and I felt his eyes roving my bare buttocks as I bolted.

Like the brave soul I was.

***

Only half of us were of mating age. And I was the oldest unmarked female. That meant I had to hide.

I opted to only leave my grandmother's hut during the day when the rest were sleeping.

Our alpha had recently been shot by hunters, making Draven, his successor, our new alpha. Known for his speed and brutality he'd earned the respect of the older males.

Lately he'd caught my scent. I could tell because when I crept around the camp he'd step from the fire in the center of the village. His keen gray eyes watching me slip from tent to tent.

There seemed to be no way to avoid that alert gaze.

He's always watching me...

And I'd caught his. He'd been marking around my hut. Indicating that what was inside was his.

Me.