Ruthless (Wolf Ranch 6)

Every kick of my paws drove me into a deeper frenzy. A scent became clearer. Intoxicating. Maddening. What the fuck was out there that was driving me insane?

I reached the outcropping that overlooked the waterfall into a hot spring pool in the middle of the river and skidded to a stop.

Holy fuck.

There, in the pool below, was a female.

My female. In that instant, I knew she was mine. Her scent wasn’t strong, but it was there on the slight breeze.

Her bare skin glowed pale in the moonlight as she cut through the water, swimming in a circle around the secret spot. Every wolf in the area knew about that place. Some of us were lucky enough to use it in human form on summer days because we’d been friends with Old Man Sheffield.

I froze, staring in fascination at the long, slender slope of her bare back, the pale globes of her ass flexing with her kicks. Her hair was long and dark—although it was hard to tell what color it was with just the moonlight, but I remembered it as bright red—and thick, fanning out in all directions around her shoulders, floating on the water’s surface.

She dove down and disappeared under the waterfall, and I nearly launched myself over the edge into the pool so as not to lose sight of her.

Just like the scent, I instantly recognized her.

Natalie.

The name filtered through my hormone-addled brain.

My mate was Natalie—the new owner of the Sheffield ranch. A human. The great-niece of Old Man Sheffield, who’d owned the property for sixty years and left it to her when he’d died a few years ago. I remembered her as a kid when she’d come a few summers to stay. Hell, the last time I’d seen her, she’d been… maybe ten. But she wasn’t a girl any longer. Fuck no, every inch of her was all lush woman.

I dropped to my haunches in the stream and whined, my wolf going insane because she’d disappeared.

A moment later, she resurfaced.

I heard her breathy inhale and wondered if that was how she’d sound when my cock filled her for the first time. I nearly howled and gave myself away. My quarry had been cornered. My prey, found. I’d be ruthless in making her mine.

Even though I’d suppressed the sound, her head jerked up, and I found myself staring straight into her dark eyes. The waterfall was only fifteen feet or so, but she saw me nonetheless.

Surprise registered on her face. Her lips formed a perfect “O,” and she abruptly stood up, letting water rivulets run down her—aw, fuck—perfect breasts. They were full and high, tipped with furled nipples. I wanted to lick off every fucking drop of water.

I scrambled up to my paws to stare at her. I couldn’t look away.

“Hey, wolf,” she said softly.

Her melodic voice shocked me out of my trance. She didn’t scream. She didn’t even move. She wasn’t afraid. She was talking to me. Almost like she knew I was a shifter. That I’d understand her.

Fuck. I just let my wolf be seen by a human. One who lived next door to my alpha. Even though she was mine—I felt it, smelled it, sensed it—I was in deep shit. For two fucking reasons. One, Rob was going to kick my ass. Two, I had to leave her here. I couldn’t shift and go down to her. Toss her over my shoulder and carry her from the water like I wanted. Lay her on the soft summer grass and fuck her hard and long until she screamed my name. Until she had my seed deep in her and my mark on her neck. Then she’d know what I was. Who I was. The secret would be out.

Whirling, I took off at a run, back up the mountain, away from the scent that had been driving me wild. I would never be eased now. Not while I knew what the need inside me was. Not until I made her mine.

I’d figure out this fucking mess. Until then, I fled. Away from my mate.

2

NATALIE

It was real. The wolf was real. Holy shit, everything I remembered from when I was a girl had actually happened.

I hadn’t been sure. I’d been ten years old, visiting my great uncle—the only adult who ever really cared for me—and I’d seen something as if out of a movie. Something impossible.

I’d been upstairs in my bedroom looking out the window when I heard a shout. The ranch hand, Rand, had gotten pinned under my great uncle’s tractor, the wheels losing traction in the mud before it had tipped and rolled on top of him. I’d screamed from the window, opening it and calling to my uncle to help. Before my uncle got close, I saw a wolf scrambling out from the overturned tractor instead of a human. A wolf. I caught a glimpse of blue eyes, the thick gray fur. I’d never forget it as long as I lived.