Page 7 of The Mating Need
They’d driven here in Troy’s SUV two days ago, parking the vehicle at an access road and living off the land. But today Troy set off to buy supplies intown.
Sighing, Jenny touched the petals of a yellow daisy growing beside a tree stump. At least in Skin form, she could appreciate nature more, and little things like flowers. She tried so hard lately to find good things about being in her human form, because lately, she sensed an urgent restlessness in her friend. Troy wasn’t going to stick to this nomad roving muchlonger.
I’ll be aloneagain.
Better alone thandead.
Voices sounded in the distance. Leaves crunched under heavy footsteps, and the scent of the intruders filled hersenses.
Patches of thick mud dotted the ground from a recent rainfall. Jenny scooped up handfuls, covering herself to disguise her scent. Breath coming in hot and fast, she scrambled for cover, slid in the mud and fell, her face striking against a rock. Warm blood trickled down her cheek. She made nonoise.
Long ago she learned never to cryout.
Finally she found her footing, and dove behind a rotting tree stump to hide, her breath coming hot and fast. Fear skidded down her spine like spider legs against bareskin.
Jenny crouched down to make herself as small as possible, wishing she could shift. But she promised Troy. And shifting might mean these Skins would shoot her like they shot her family. Maybe they were hunters aswell.
Stealing a peek around the log, she bit herlip.
Two Skins with rifles slung over their shoulders.Hunting?
She sniffed. No, not Skins. The distinct scent of Lupines mingled with a faint spicy aftershave on one, and cedar and vanilla on another. Vanilla intrigued her. This male with his black beard and muscled body looked too arrogant and confident to have the pure scent of virginity clinging to him. But vanilla also meantchildhood.
Maybe he had a child, and if so, he must be a dotingfather.
The other Lupine had the stamp of female all over him, as if he’d recently indulged in sex. Lots of sex. Sex in Skin, but the earthy musk covered him like ablanket.
Jenny licked her lips, fighting her own natural urges. She focused on staying quiet and still, observing from her vantagepoint.
The two males paused, and the bearded one scanned the ground, his gaze hard. She shivered. He had the air of alpha about him, and an unhappyone.
“I can’t smell the trail anymore, Dale.You?”
The younger, beardless Lupine tilted his head back, sniffed the air. “Gone.”
She smiled. Troy was expert at covering theirtracks.
“Whoever was camping here either left or did a mighty fine job covering their tracks, Aiden. If we hadn’t seen that SUV parked on our logging road, we never would have known they werehere.”
Then again, maybe he was good at hiding tracks, but not skilled in hiding a vehicle. Unless he wanted it found. Troy wanted to visit, but check the place outfirst.
“Trespassers on our land. I don’t think they’re the ones killing the cattle in our summer pasture. The female…” The bearded Lupine squatted down, touched the ground. “I don’t care about the female. Always welcome another one into the pack. But there’s something different about thisfemale.”
“You think she was the one that lunatic in the chopper saw shifting from a human into awolf?”
Dale’s voice sent a chill down Jenny’s spine. Damn. She’d been so hopeful no one had seen her. But when she’d heard the blades roar overhead, it took her back to that horrid day and her instinct surged. Her wolf demanded to shift, and shift now, andRUN!
“Has to be. None of our people would be that stupid,” the bearded Lupinesaid.
Ow. Yeah, I deservedthat.
“Good thing Professor Chance, Beth’s teacher, warned us about Perry. I made sure to ward our land so no choppers can ever fly over here again,” Dale said, and then squatted down next to the beardedman.
“The male’s scent isn’t as strong. Not as feral. But what the hell are they doing here on our land? Lone wolves ain’t a good thing, even if they mean no harm,” Dalesaid.
The bearded one tilted his head into the air. He smelled strong, like analpha.
Suddenly the one named Aiden stiffened, his nostrils flaring. “Something really different about thisfemale…”
