Something about that woman drew him to her, and he didn’t understand why. Her scent was like some natural potion he’d made from the resources in the wild, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was that appealed to him so much. Her golden yellow eyes were mesmerizing, and he wondered if the family were shifters like the ones he’d read about on the internet the year before. But those were panthers, and their natural eyes were blue. Or were they fooling everyone?
The fact of her species didn’t matter. Aspen Ward was as human as they came, and even if she was a shifter, would it be so bad? They weren’t dangerous. If they were dangerous, they would’ve already done something to threaten him during the times they’d delivered supplies out to his land. As it was, no matter what they were, the Ward family were some of the most honest and truthful people he’d ever met.
It took another thirty minutes before he heard the plane down in the valley. His home was close to a flat, treeless area where a plane could land, and the pilot, Charlie, would use it when she arrived.
He set down his cup and picked up his rifle, slinging it over his shoulder so he’d have a weapon against any bears hiding in the woods on the walk down to the water’s edge. He wanted to keep Aspen as protected as possible when she was in his care, and a bear wasn’t going to get its hands on her.
He made it down the hill to the yellow plane after it landed with ease. There was no denying his excitement at knowing the woman was right there. He’d dreamed of this moment for the better part of the last few weeks since he’d offered.
When the door opened to the plane, her scent hit him like a wall of flowers and wildness. His cock responded, and he was thankful he’d worn the long shirt he’d pulled out for their trip. The last thing he needed was to greet the beautiful woman with a hard cock. She might run away from him before he ever got a chance to know her properly.
“Welcome, Aspen…Charlie,” he greeted. Charlie shook his hand with her gloved ones and hurried to open the back door of the plane. Aspen grabbed her backpack and rifle before turning around to hug her friend. They whispered to each other for a moment, and the next thing he knew, the plane started up, leaving them standing on the dock.
“You ready for this?” he asked, reaching out to take her pack.
“I’ve got it,” she replied, declining his help. She laughed it off, and he shouldn’t be so quick to be a gentleman with her. She was a bush woman. They were as tough as nails…maybe even tougher. Regardless, he wanted to treat her like the woman she was, but he gave up on carrying her things…for the moment. “I have to carry it through the woods, anyway. I might as well get used to it.”
“Well, I don’t know what you are missing in that pack, but you carry it lighter than it looks,” he noticed. She was stronger than he thought, too. That was a shifter trait. The information the news put out, along with a million conspiracy theories, said they were unusually strong.
“Been carrying it since I was ten years old,” she offered and jutted her chin toward the trail leading toward his place. “Lead the way.”
“Did you tell your brothers you were hunting with me?” he asked, worrying those big motherfuckers would show up unannounced and take her away.
“I told them I was moose hunting,” she answered, shrugging her shoulders. “They know I go off on my own a lot. I have a way of communicating if something goes wrong.”
“My plan is to keep you protected, anyway,” he admitted, pointing toward his cabin. “This is my place.”
“It’s beautiful,” she said in wonder.
He’d spent the entire summer when he’d first arrived building the small, two-bedroom cabin by himself. The only things he had with him were a chainsaw, a rifle, a fishing pole, and a sleeping bag. Before that first winter, he’d acquired a wood stove to heat the place, and since then, he’d turned it into a home.
“Thank you,” he replied, pushing open the door. “You can use the room on your left.”
He watched as the tall brunette dropped her pack beside the door. They weren’t planning on staying long enough to get settled. They would head out on foot soon, and after that, they’d return to his cabin for the night.
“Let me grab my things and we will get going.”
“Take your time,” she said as she looked around the tiny living room. He had a small kitchen in the back corner by his bedroom, but that was the extent of his living arrangements.
He picked up his own pack and grabbed his rifle. He couldn’t wait to get into the forest behind his home to hunt with her. He would have to remind himself to pay attention to his surroundings, because he had a feeling having Aspen around would make him more focused on her than the hunt.
Chapter 3
Hunting natural animals in their human form was one of the ways they tried to blend in to keep from being noticed by the shifters who’d marked them for death. She had a slight advantage over the humans, because she could hear and scent the animals they were targeting while they were still a mile away. Kept the freezers full, too.
Aspen watched as the moose dropped to the ground. “Kill shot.”
“Good job,” Booker said from behind her. He’d let her take the first one they’d found. A little part of her was thrilled he was being such a gentleman, but another side wanted to yell at him that
