Chapter Six
Alex
I could hear Zee’s pencil scratching on the paper, and I turned a little to see her facing me. “What are you doing?” I asked. She shooed me back to my original position and I chuckled at her bossiness.
“Just drawing, sit still, will ya?” Zee fussed at me as I moved around a bit to get more comfortable. I stayed as still as possible while she scratched away, even though a huge part of me wanted to pounce on the beautiful woman. She smelled so sweetly of the forest around us and it was easy to be with her.
I gazed out over my new territory. I had been right, the cliff allowed me to see quite a long way, and while I knew the forest well from my runs, it was nice to see it in its entirety. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at her still in deep concentration. She may not have realized the significance, but I was showing her my world. I briefly wondered if she would be able to accept me as a wolf as well as a man.
I sat long enough in one position that my elbows were aching from digging into the rocky ledge. Still, I didn’t dare move, except for my eyes to watch Zee drawing in my peripheral view. She was concentrating so hard, glancing up at me then drawing or shading on her pad. Occasionally she would shake her head and erase a little. More often than not her bottom lip was caught between her teeth and her eyes were scrunched together. It was an adorable look and I couldn’t bring myself to stop her. As the sun drifted closer to the noon hour she suddenly stretched and seemed to come out of her trance like state.
She glanced up at the sun and seemed surprised. “Wow, I’m sorry. You must be ready to get out of here,” she looked at me sheepishly, “I don’t usually draw live models. You should have said something ages ago.” I sat up and stretched my arms to try to relieve some of the kinks. I hopped to my feet and brushed off my pants before reaching for her hand to help her to her feet.
“No worries, doll,” I winked at her, “I can’t remember the last time I was objectified for such a long time without having sex.” Her cheeks turned pink with embarrassment, but she swatted at me playfully. “Do you want to come to the house for some lunch? It isn’t far from here.” I hoped she would say yes. I wasn’t ready to take her back to the bar yet.
“Yeah, that would be nice” Zee answered, “I’ll try not to zone out on you this time.” She grinned at me and started packing up her sketching supplies. I shot Wyatt a quick text that I would be bringing Zee by the house, so the pack knew not to show up in wolf form. When I looked up from my phone she was watching me expectantly.
“Ready?” I helped her start the climb down the cliff. It was quicker going down and when we reached the bottom she started immediately towards the truck. I moved to follow her when I suddenly caught an unwelcome scent. I scanned the trees as I followed a little slower behind Zee. I spotted the reddish colored wolf hidden in the trees. Her eyes were focused solely on Zee in front of me. Delaney, I thought, and a growl rumbled low in my chest that I knew only my pack mate would hear. The red wolf bared her teeth for a moment at Zee, then her eyes flashed to mine. I glared back until Delaney ducked her head and slinked away into the shadows.
I glanced at Zee and I was relieved to see that she didn’t seem to have noticed the strange scene that had just unfolded. I knew it was time to get Delaney under control. She had risked a lot to come this close to a human. I didn’t realize that her obsession with becoming my mate had gotten this bad. I’d hoped having her work with Ryker would get her to pay the receptive male a bit of attention. I seemed to be wrong.
“What’s your house like?” Zee asked as I started the truck. I considered how to answer her question as I pulled onto the narrow road. I figured she would be shocked either way, so I decided to give her an ambiguous description so I could see her reaction when we pulled up.
“It’s a two-story log cabin,” I couldn’t help but to smile happily as I described the home I had fallen in love with at first sight. “My parents gave it to me, and being very into nature, they went with something that wouldn’t disturb the surrounding beauty.” We were nearing the house and the trees thinned slightly to allow space for a narrow driveway. I glanced at Zee as I pulled through the last line of trees into the open space in front of the pack’s home. Her brown eyes were enormous as she took in the dark wood, the gabled roof, and the porch with a wooden porch swing. She didn’t speak, just sat staring, making me concerned with what she thought of my home.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed almost reverently. Her eyes were sparkling as they flicked around the exterior of the house, taking in every part of it. I watched her slide slowly from the truck and I couldn’t help thinking that she would love living here. I shook
