Brushing a few auburn locks from my face, I decided once more that I had to keep going. No, I wouldn’t survive out here alone, but I’d never have a chance of surviving at all if I turned back. I was already too deep into the woods for that.
I sighed, cursing myself again and took another step… and then another placing each foot in front of the other. I wasn’t sure how long or far I’d walked when I saw the bright lights from a cabin ahead. I narrowed my eyes at the building feeling a bit stunned that someone had built a cabin in the middle of nowhere. But my legs ached, and my feet hurt since I was wearing nothing more than sandals, so I told myself to shut up and instead, I peered out from behind a tree eyeing the small, but cozy cabin. Did someone live here? Was it a seasonal cabin? Questions ran rampant in my head. Doubt festered in my mind, so I almost turned around and started walking back toward the car.
Then the rational part of my brain kicked in and I knew this was my only chance at making it through the night. I walked cautiously to the front door and exhaled a breath before knocking softly against the hard wood. The cabin looked well taken care of, so I was sure someone had to be here. When the seconds passed and no one came to the door I decided I’d had no choice but to invite myself in.
“It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay…” I murmured to myself, grabbing the doorknob and then twisting it. When it twisted enough for the door to open a smidge, I sucked in a deep breath and pushed it the rest of the way open. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I saw the contents of the cabin. There was no way no one was living here and yet the place seemed deserted.
The place had a rustic feel to it but with a modern design. It was a huge open space with a high ceiling. Something I never would’ve expected while looking at it from the outside. I shucked my sandals and headed for the kitchen.
I knew I was breaking and entering but who cared. It wasn’t as if there was anyone here anyway. Plus, by the time they’d discovered I was here, I’d be long gone…hopefully.
I made myself at home and gave myself the grand tour. There were lots of wolf decorations and photos along the fireplace mantle. I tried not to stare at them since I was in someone else’s home without permission.
I made my way up the winding staircase and to the loft area, which was expansive. A huge wooden king size bed sat in the middle of the room with a bathroom off to the right and what appeared to be a closet on the left. It didn’t look as if a single thing had been touched in here for a long while either that or the person who lived her was extremely clean and organized.
I ran my fingers along the white t-shirts that hung in the closet, my nose finding its way into the fabric without me evening thinking about it. The scent I caught was woodsy, mixed with an all spice scent that made me shiver. Whoever wore this shirt was a man my vagina wanted to meet.
My actual self…yeah, not so much. I don’t think he’d take kindly to me breaking and entering. Shoving the thoughts way down, I grabbed one of the t-shirts and headed into the bathroom. My eyes went wide when I caught a glimpse of the shower and jetted tub.
Seriously, who owned this place?
Hell, it didn’t matter I intended to take a bath in that thing and soak off the ache in my legs and feet.
“You’ve just found paradise,” I whispered to myself as I started running the water for the bath.
CHAPTER TWO
RYAN
I smelt her before I saw her. She was in my cabin—and she was—I pulled back my teeth to growl but nothing came…it was as if my wolf was partial to the human who’d broken into our home.
Keep out of this. I spoke internally to myself walking cautiously to the front door. I peered in through the small window and the moment my eyes landed on her, I felt it. A tug on my wolf, a change in the air, a need, primal and deep to take and keep taking until there was nothing left.
MINE! The word vibrated off my skull making it hard for me to think of anything other than the gorgeous woman on the other side of that door.
Down boy, relax. I talked my wolf off the cliff of doom, knowing the human would never agree to be mine if we attacked her and took her savagely. Women, human ones specifically were fragile and needed to be cared for differently than say, another wolf. My heart pounded in my chest and my hands itched to hold her in my arms. I didn’t even know her name and still… I knew she was it for me. The woman who would someday, carry my pups and bear my marking.