And those senses told me that I wasn’t alone.
And although technically I wasn’t alone, not with the cabins spread out all around me and guards patrolling the area, this felt wholly different. I felt like I wasn’t alone, because I was being watched… intently.
I stopped in the middle of the path between two cabins, about an acre of land between each one. I focused on my senses. Hearing. Smell. Sight.
I didn’t actually see anything, didn’t smell anything that wasn’t pine and fresh air, and didn’t hear anything but the small, scurrying nocturnal wildlife all around me.
But as I listened harder, sifting through the sounds all around me, it was then I picked up on what it was, on what was making me feel uneasy.
Breathing.
Even. Deep. Close.
I turned around in a slow circle, trying to see through the darkness, trying to see who was here. “If it’s one of you little shits trying to scare me, go home, or I’ll have your parents whip your asses.” There were a few adolescent wolves who thought it was hilarious to stalk—in “good fun,” as they said—others in the pack. All it accomplished was annoying the hell out of people.
Then again, I could see why they did what they did. It wasn’t like there was a lot to do here. It was either being little shits in the village, or if you were of drinking age, go into town and raise hell.
And they were too young to toss drinks back, so here they were.
When they didn’t come out from wherever they were hiding, I rolled my eyes and muttered a curse under my breath. “Little assholes.” I kept walking, ignoring the sensation of being watched. But as the minutes ticked by, that feeling grew stronger, harder, and I was starting to sense that this wasn’t some innocent game. I was beginning to think this wasn’t the young wolves having a bit of fun.
I picked up my pace, hating that I felt this weirdness, especially in town. But it was only ten minutes later when I finally saw the porch light of my cabin that I breathed a sigh of relief. I made a mental note to talk to the Alpha and pack council about this, because if it was the young wolves, they wouldn’t have stayed hidden, not after I called them out. And the sentries would have made themselves known to put my worry at ease.
I didn’t stand around, just quickened my pace once more and headed toward my front door, taking the steps of the deck two at a time, and then reaching out to grab the handle of the door. Before I pulled it open, I heard the snap of twigs behind me and looked over my shoulder.
“Mia.”
My reaction to that deep voice saying my name was instant. I felt heated. Combustible. Instantly, my nipples hardened, my skin tightening, tingling. I clenched my thighs together as a gush of wetness settled between them. I felt achy, almost full with this arousal that claimed me forcefully. I actually had to reach out and grip the frame of the front door to steady myself, but even though I felt desire, I felt a strange fear over my body’s unusual reaction. I’d never so much as felt lust, not even the twinge of sexual need.
But it was as if my nineteenth birthday had turned a light switch on inside me. It was almost as if the very thought of Tucker made my body burn alive.
I turned fully around just in time to see Tucker step through the thick darkness of the forest. He prowled forward, stalking toward me. There was no other word to describe his movements, which were slow and precise, steady and sure. His focus was trained on me, and despite the shadows that still cloaked him—the porch light from my cabin unable to fully reach him—I could practically feel the electricity between us.
And as I stared into his eyes, a shocked gasp left me, because I could nearly hear two words repeating in his head over and over again.
Mine. Mate.
He stopped a few feet from the steps to the deck, and for long seconds, I was frozen in place, just staring at him, trying to get my body under control so he wouldn’t sense anything coming from me. But I knew he could read me as clearly as if I were shouting out everything I was feeling. I knew he could see all of that just from my body language.
“Tucker?” Was that my voice, sounding so husky and sexual?
I cleared my throat and ran my hands up and down my legs, that nervous habit getting on my nerves because it gave my emotions away.
“W-What are you doing here?”
He said nothing, just watched me with this wild energy swirling around him, as if it was taking everything in him to stay in control, to not shift into his massive wolf.