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  He shot her a wink and a smile. “For this trip, it is.”

  “Damn,” she said, keeping her voice soft. Still close enough for Deus to get slightly lost in the scent of her. “I thought I had you.”

  Unable to resist, Deus leaned closer, brushing his lips against her ear as he breathed, “Beautiful, you can have any part of me you like. For as long as you like. As many times as you like.”

  She backed away and gave him a sultry smile, her eyes flicking down to the erection pressing against his zipper. “I’ll take that under consideration. But payback is a bitch, you know.”

  He did, though he had no clue what she meant.

  At least, not until she hopped into the truck—sitting squarely in the middle of the bench seat between him and the male wolf who’d come to pick them up. Once the three of them were trapped inside the tight quarters, she pulled out her inner flirt and released it. At the other male.

  “What’s your name, handsome?”

  The guy shot Deus a cocky look before turning his hungry gaze on Beautiful. And because she’d placed herself between them, because she was the one turning her body toward the other male and paying him the attention Deus craved, he had to let her. She’d never forgive him if he pulled her away or tried to overtake the conversation. She was already pissed at him—he didn’t need to make that worse.

  There was nothing he could do but sit, listen, and try his hardest not to growl out his jealousy.

  This trip was going to be the death of him.

  8

  Charlie—the male wolf who’d picked them up from the airport and had a serious propensity for staring at Zoe’s breasts while he should have been driving—dropped them off at a cabin deep in a spruce forest along what no one in their right mind would have called a road. The little wooden building sat alone among the trees, well past rustic and heading straight for uninhabitable. But Charlie promised that it was fully outfitted for two wolves to be comfortable for up to a month.

  Zoe had a feeling his idea of comfort and hers were from two totally different worlds.

  “Watch out for the local pack. They’re not as friendly as I am,” Charlie said with a leer just before he headed back to his truck. “There’s an old Jeep in the outbuilding you can use and plenty of wildlife around. If you need anything at all, Beautiful, you come see me. I can take care of you.”

  Zoe stood and waited, watching as he drove off toward the highway. Keeping a smile pasted on her face and her back to Alaska. Making a point.

  As soon as his truck disappeared from view, though, her smile fell and she shook my head.

  “Right,” she said, drawing out the word. “As if there’s any chance of that happening.”

  “I wonder what he meant about the local pack.”

  She shrugged, too absorbed in the feeling of needing a shower after the way Charlie had assaulted her with his eyes to filter her words. “Never trust a pack wolf.”

  Alaska went silent and stiff, staring at her with a blank expression on his face. “You’re anti-pack.”

  She stared back down the road, watching Charlie’s taillights grow smaller. “Whether I am or not isn’t important. Charlie definitely was.”

  “He was also interested in you.”

  “He doesn’t know me—he just liked what he saw.”

  “It must be hard to be such a people person.”

  Zoe spun, unable not to stare. Not to notice the confidence that rolled off him, the fire burning in his eyes. The way her wolf responded to his closeness.

  “Pardon?”

  He shrugged, casually sexy with every move he made. “You’re stunning, Beautiful. Any man can see that—but it’s not the only thing we’re attracted to. You’re engaging, and when you give people your attention, it’s like the sun shining down and warming them. It’s hard to walk away from that.” He grabbed her bags and leaned in close, his breath brushing her cheek as he murmured, “If it were me in Charlie’s spot, I’d have offered too. Hell, I have offered.”

  He had. A few times. And she knew it wouldn’t be much longer before she gave in and accepted. Before she gave her body to him in pleasure. It wouldn’t be long at all. Especially if he kept speaking so sweetly about her.

  With another one of those winks that made her thighs clench and her panties wet, Alaska headed inside, carrying all their luggage. “Are you coming with me or not?”

  Coming before you, with you, after you…however I can come. She kept her dirty thoughts to herself, though. “Totally.”

  Inside, the cabin was about as small as Zoe had expected. There were no rooms, just one big open space with what looked like a bathroom in the back corner as the only separated section. A couch, a rocking chair, a two-person dinette, a single dresser, and a bed barely big enough for the two of them without sharing some serious physical contact made up the furniture. The more she took in, the longer she stared at the construction and details, the more her skin itched. Everything about the place reminded her of the cabin she’d grown up in. Every single detail. That couldn’t be a coincidence, and this wasn’t just some random cabin in the woods.

  This was the house of a pack wolf—one given to newly mated couples.

  She suddenly felt sick to her stomach.

  “Coffee?”

  She jumped, swallowing hard when she met Alaska’s concerned gaze. Fighting to hold back the sick rising in her throat. “What?”

  He raised an eyebrow and held up a mug. “I was going to make some coffee. Would you like a cup?”

  Coffee. Right. Normal. Totally normal. Damn it, she needed to pull herself together. “Yeah. Sure. That’d be great.”

  Her mate continued to watch her, his gaze practically assaulting her already anxious mind. She stood firm, though. Strong. Refusing to break in front of him. Refusing to give in to the anxiety growing inside of her at being back. Not the same place, not even the same state, but the same type of life. Of expectations and gnawing emptiness when they weren’t met. The same hell she’d escaped.

  Finally, Alaska released her gaze to turn and move through the kitchen. Making coffee on the stove. Something she’d seen her mother do a thousand times for Zoe’s father. Something that only made her pulse pound harder.

  “What’s got you on edge, Beautiful?” Alaska asked, not even looking at her. A move that definitely seemed intentional. He was trying not to crowd her. To give her enough space so she could calm herself. She appreciated that fact, even if her assumption might be wrong. He could just be really, really into his coffee.

  She went with honesty and hoped for the best. “I’m not a pack wolf.”

  He looked her way, and a flash of something—guilt? worry?—danced across his face before he nodded. “Never took you for one, to be honest.”

  “And I don’t ever want to be one.”

  This time, he cocked his head, a definite question on his face. “Then don’t be one.”

  That took her aback. “But this is a pack cabin.”

  He nodded slowly, cautiously. As if she might run away at his answer. “It is, but I’m not part of their pack.”

  She took a deep breath, trying to recenter herself. To push through her fear. “Oh. I sort of assumed.”

  “How about we stop assuming?” He turned off the stove, smiling. Two cups of coffee in his hands as he headed for the little dining table. “Tell me about yourself, Beautiful.”

  So she sat and she took the warm cup he offered and she let him in. A little bit.

  “I grew up in a cabin much like this one. It was even tucked away along a mountain range—the Rockies instead of the Brooks Range, though. It was just as small and simple.” She tried to keep the disdain out of her voice, knowing this shouldn’t bother her as much as it did. Knowing how her disgust made her sound. But it was hard. That hatred ran deep, the sense of worthlessness a ragged scar that never quite healed properly. Still, she was more than that cabin in the Rockies. Always had been, always would be. And she shouldn’t still feel the need to prove
that.

  “My parents left their pack when I was eight, though, and we traveled a lot.”

  “Always moving around.”

  “Yeah, but it never felt that way. It was more like a lifelong adventure.”

  “And where are your parents now?”

  She stared into her cup, seeing her mother’s face looking back at her. Same eyes, same cheeks, same lips—mirror images, her father had called them once. The resemblance strong enough that she couldn’t deny it. “They died just before I came into adulthood.”

  Alaska reached across the table, wrapping his hand around hers. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “Thanks. It’s fine—I mean, it’s not fine, but it’s…in the past.”

  “Still hurts, though.” He said the words as if he knew, as if he understood.

  “Definitely. So what about you? Where are you from, Alaska?”

  “A country no longer even in existence.”

  “Oh, cagey. Will you ever give me a straight answer?”

  “Maybe. Depends on the question.”

  “Figures.” She yawned, unable to hold it back. “Excuse me. It’s been a long day already.”

  “Are you tired?” Alaska frowned when she shook her head. “Don’t worry—I fully intend to sleep on the couch. Go ahead and take a nap in the bed if you’d like.”

  Zoe shook her head again, holding back a smile. Alaska was a gentleman. She didn’t run into too many of those anymore. When she’d first seen the bed, she’d assumed they’d be in it together. But he offered it to her, gave her the option of sleeping alone in it to make sure she was comfortable. He may have growled at Charlie’s blatant ogling and propositioning, but he wasn’t going to put her in an awkward position like making her share a bed with someone she barely knew.

  His sweetness only made her want to jump his bones even more.

  His intuitiveness made her wary, though.

  “You look like a woman who wants to make herself comfortable but isn’t.” He stood before she could reply, heading for the small space by the door. “I’ll tell you what. I’m going out for a run. You can either shift and join me—” his grin turned cocky as he stripped off his sweater and the white undershirt he wore “—or you can stay here and nap…or not nap. Whatever you want. I’ll be back in time to make us dinner.”

  And then he dropped his pants.

  Dropped. His. Pants.

  Naked, gorgeous, flawless, the man stood before her completely comfortable without clothes on. With good reason. Corded with muscle, his arms hung relaxed at his sides, past his solid chest and waist, his hands brushing against his thick thighs. And cock. Definitely a thick cock. By the fates, there was a joke about the size of the state of Alaska versus his personal state of Alaska brewing in her head, but the fact that her mate stood naked before her for the first time was no joking matter.

  “I have a feeling if I got naked right now to shift, there would be no running.” She could have sworn his cock twitched at her words.

  “I love the way you’re staring at my cock, Beautiful,” Alaska rumbled, though he contradicted the clear desire in his expression by taking a step away from her. Heading for the door. “Me, run. You, rest.”

  “Me, do whatever the fuck I want.”

  “Or that.” Alaska chuckled and reached for the door. “See you in a few. Try not to think about me and my cock too much.”

  Too late. She was already imagining exactly what she could do with a cock like that, how well it would fill her. How she’d lick the tip and try to swallow it down. But he and his huge cock were already gone, the only sound the door closing behind him.

  She was alone.

  “As if I’d sit here and do nothing but think about you.” Zoe rose to her feet and paced, trying hard to focus on anything other than the way her skin felt too tight, how slick she’d grown between her thighs. How needy she felt without Alaska nearby. With Alaska nearby. All the damn time, it seemed.

  She lasted all of ten minutes.

  “This won’t end well,” she told herself even as she stripped out of her clothes. And it definitely wouldn’t end well at all—her wolf would take over once she saw her mate in his animal form, and there would be no stopping them from…well, mating. Fucking. Screwing. Doing the horizontal mambo. Enjoying a little amorous congress. Locking legs and swapping gravy.

  “Stop thinking,” she told herself, but she couldn’t. The decision before her could change everything about her world. Could lead to her being joined to another shifter forever. Could be the best or worst thing that had ever happened to her. Could lead to the best sex of her life, too.

  If she stepped out that door and shifted, she’d be getting laid before the evening was over. And possibly more than that—possibly mated. She knew better than to rush into that without some heavy thought. Knew that, if he got his teeth in her or she got hers in him, they’d be linked forever. Something she wasn’t ready for.

  Something she’d always considered a trap, one she’d sworn never to allow herself to fall into. But with Alaska, nothing felt confining. Not yet, at least. Maybe not ever? How could she know? She couldn’t…and deep down inside, she knew she didn’t need to.

  Without thought or conscious decision, Zoe stepped outside, heading for the woods before the door even closed behind her. Taking a giant fucking leap of faith with every inch forward.

  Her wolf practically howled in delight, ready to hunt down their mate. Ready to give herself to him.

  And, the fates protect her, so was Zoe.

  So she shifted forms, allowing her wolf control of their combined futures. Giving her the reins and letting their instincts take over. She caught the scent trail Alaska had left behind easily enough.

  And she ran after him.

  9

  Deus paced in his wolf form not far from the cabin, guilt heavy on his shoulders. He’d lied to his mate—not directly, but by omission. For some reason, Beautiful seemed to have an absolute aversion to anything to do with pack wolves, he could sense it from her. So when she’d brought up his own situation, he’d answered her…in a roundabout fashion.

  Why he couldn’t just tell her about him, Luc, and his Dire Wolf pack, he didn’t know. Perhaps it was the fact that he didn’t trust her not to bolt just yet. Or that he was afraid she’d never want to be with him if she knew he was technically a pack wolf, no matter how untraditional his pack tended to be. He wanted her tied to him, wanted them to share everything, which meant he needed to be honest. But he needed to gain a little confidence first, to find the surety that he could keep her if he was.

  He felt like a coward.

  His wolf agreed with that assessment.

  The thump of the cabin door closing caught his attention though, and suddenly his deceit was the furthest thing from his shared mind.

  His mate was coming.

  He could feel her presence, sense the ancient magic of her shifting from one form to another. He wanted to go to her, to hunt her down like prey, but something inside of him held him back. Some long-lost knowledge—almost an instinct—that told him to wait. To let her come to him. His beautiful girl didn’t want to be chased.

  She wanted to be the one to do the chasing.

  So he ran farther into the woods.

  Trees flew by as his paws pounded into the snow, the far-off peaks of the mountains visible along the skyline. Gorgeous territory this far north, but he preferred his city with all its noise and grit. Still, to be able to run this race, to allow his wolf to be free so his mate could hunt him down, almost felt like a gift. One that felt as if they could only share it right where they were—deep in the wilderness of Alaska. There was a reason Luc had called him up here, another why Deus had chosen to reach out to Beautiful the way he did. Fate had screamed in his ear and given him the chance at a life he hadn’t thought possible anymore. No way would he stop listening to her now when he was so close to the finish line.

  When he found a small clearing with fresh snow, he slid to a stop
, unable not to take a moment and simply absorb the world around him. The trees hugged the edges of the open space, throwing shadows and making the snow turn an almost blue color. The mountains behind them rose up tall and wide as they blocked out part of the sky. Silence reigned, broken only by the harsh sounds Deus released as he stood there panting, his wolf completely focused on the trail he’d left. Waiting for his mate. Anxious to see her come through the trees. Running and chasing were fun, but Deus had a feeling being caught would be even better.

  He could hear her before he could see her, practically taste her scent on the wind as she barreled into the clearing and came to a stop.

  And then he could only stare, a low growl rumbling automatically from his chest.

  Stunning wasn’t a big enough word. Small and lean, her wolf possessed a nearly silver coat that practically glittered in the fading sunlight. Bright eyes stared back at him. She held her head high, staring him down. Letting him know she wouldn’t be weak. Her ears had jerked straight up, her tail trailing behind her. Strong, regal, amazing. She wouldn’t bow to him in any sense of the word even if she was so much smaller than him. He would go so far as to call her dainty, though not to her face.

  Beautiful crept closer, keeping her head up and her eyes locked on him. Not backing down for a single second. And though his wolf’s growl turned harsher, though the animal inside of him made sure to let her know she was pushing him too far, the man inside the beast respected her pluck. She wouldn’t allow him to tame her, so he’d have to be just as wild as she was.

  Challenge accepted.

  He stood stock-still as his mate reached him, as she sniffed all around him. Practically trembling as she slowly, cautiously rubbed her body against his. Whining softly, she nipped at the sensitive places around his neck and ears. The ones she could reach. She must have felt more comfortable as he stood so stiff because she worked her way farther back, laying her scent all over him.