“You are one hell of a tracker, Aspen.”
“Thank you,” she replied and looked over her shoulder.
The tall, gorgeous human male was strong in the shoulders, and she’d been trying all afternoon not to watch him while they searched and called for the animal. “I need to start processing.”
“If you’re good to go, I will go back and get the sled,” he offered.
“I’ve got this,” she promised. “Go on.”
Booker hesitated a moment before turning his back and heading toward his cabin. The meat she’d collect from the animal would weigh too much to carry out by hand. He’d bring something to load it on so they could easily return to the cabin.
It saddened her they’d found one on the first day of hunting season. Booker still had his tag to fill, and they’d do that early the next morning. As it was nearing four, they still had a lot of daylight, but they also needed to eat. She was already planning on staying until late the next day before Charlie picked her up at the end of her flights.
By the time Booker returned, she was finishing up and sat back on her heels to admire her work. The moose would feed her family for a few months. With being a shifter, she and her family would consume three times the amount of meat a human would in a short amount of time.
“Let’s get your moose home,” he said, dropping the rope that pulled the sled. “Tomorrow, it’s my turn.”
They worked quickly to put the meat into bags and the pelt over the sled for transport back to his home. Once they arrived, Booker took her to a tiny building close to the water’s edge to hang the meat until she was ready to leave the following night.
“Let’s make some food,” he grunted as he lifted the last bag. “After that, it’s probably best we catch some sleep so we can get up and head northeast early.”
Heading northeast would be toward her territory, and she nodded her agreement as he closed the building’s door. She was still very aware there was a bear clan in the area, but so far, she hadn’t scented any of them on their hunt.
Nash hadn’t called out to her yet, and that was a good sign. If he wasn’t checking in, she was in the clear and nothing had happened at the pack since she’d left. Aspen didn’t care that the bears had only made themselves known. They were the enemy and always would be. She’d already dealt with the loss of her family once, and she wasn’t going to go through it again.
“Would you like a beer? Wine?” he asked as he pulled a cast iron skillet from under his tabletop stove.
“I’d love some wine,” she admitted and pulled on a flannel top. The nights were getting cooler, but his cabin was still a little warm from the small fire he’d made before she got there that morning. “Would you like for me to add some wood to your fire?”
“Are you cold?” he asked, pausing in his preparations.
“Just a little,” she admitted. “I can take care of that since you’re cooking for me. I usually do all the cooking at home. So, this is a nice treat.”
“I like cooking for you, Aspen.” His eyes darkened, but not in a bad way. No, the human male was aroused. She could scent it. But as quickly as he’d made the statement, his body changed. His scent disappeared, and he grabbed some oil from a cabinet to the left of the counter.
Her wolf sat up straighter in her mind, whining for the attention he was giving. As she fed the stove a few pieces of wood, she caught her own scent and smiled. It was relieving that her mate was human, because if he’d been a shifter, things might have gone too fast for her liking.
Aspen hadn’t ever been with a male. All she’d ever known was hiding and staying at the pack. Being out in a new place was thrilling, and having Booker there was starting to be her new addiction.
She used a hair tie she kept on her wrist to pull her hair back into a sloppy bun and returned to the kitchen, picking up the glass of wine he’d set there. “Oh, this is delicious.”
“I make it myself,” he admitted. “I grow grapes in my greenhouse, and I like a little wine every so often.”
“I might need your recipe and process,” she teased. “We have beer brought in sometimes, but that gets old after a while.”
“I’ll send you home with a bottle, but for the recipe, you’ll have to pay me back by coming out here next summer to learn how to do it.” He was teasing again, and she found herself smiling more and more at the dark-haired human. She really liked him.
During their hunt, he was cautious, going into protective mode even if she didn’t need it. He’d kept his distance, allowing her to take the shot on the moose she’d spotted. He was respectful, and that alone made her want to stay there for longer than two days.
“I think I can arrange that,” she blushed and took another sip of the wine.
The scent of the pork cooking overwhelmed the cabin. She couldn’t scent him, and it was driving her wolf crazy. She blinked several times when he wasn’t looking to fight off the hazy yellow of her wolf eyes.
Come on, girl. You can’t show yourself.
She scooted her chair back when he approached with the plate, frowning from her distance. “Everything okay?”
“Ah, yeah. I have an aversion to certain touch,” she hedged, cringing from her lie. She wanted to touch him, but she wouldn’t. It was
