Page 24 of Mating Season

“Now everyone is going to follow you.” She leaned back with a smug smile.

“Follow me where?” I groaned.

“Wherever you decide to take us this season.”

Sarah and the rest of the women nodded eagerly. They were nuts. Maybe it was a sign I needed to get them off the mountain before the season started. They could follow me to a therapist. We all were going to need one after this show anyway. I closed my eyes, leaning into my wolf and trying to get her advice.

But she was oddly quiet and content, listening and waiting and hardly paying any attention to the conversation.

What’s wrong with you?

There was a rustle in the foothills. The sound of paws pounding against the earth. The space in my chest felt fuller as my heart beat faster. Everything else in the world faded away as the golden hour of the setting sun cast the woods in a dull glow.

He’s here.

12

Ranger

The smell of campfire drifted down the mountain and smoke curled around the branches of the treetops. Even with the harsh scent, my beast could still pick out notes of poppies and sage where her tracks passed through the woods.

The other Alphas dispersed around us, shrinking our traveling party to that of me and Beau loaded down with the traveling packs, John, and Trenton who was trailing us at a distance. I sent Jones and Foster over the mountain ridge now that we knew where the girls were with orders to secure transportation away from here.

This wasn’t a traditional run even though some of the males felt it was the start of one. The females hadn’t been involved or aware. Despite what the show had intended, we weren’t completely driven by an early rut. Leaving when we did must have thwarted their plans and I was grateful for it. I hoped this meant we had enough time to sit down in the morning to discuss our options like rational beings.

All I wanted was one calm night with Aspen before I figured out what we were going to do. After the hard days of running with these beasts, I realized fate put me here for a reason. I couldn’t walk awaywithout knowing all the females here–my sister included–would be taken care of.

My wolf registered the lingering smell of Fallon and though there was relief, it wasn’t what was driving us further.

His nose stayed to the ground, tracking those poppies until we came to an area where her scent grew stronger.

Then he froze.

With his paw in the air, inches away from the slight tinge of metal, he sensed before scenting the manmade device. The slight gleam of the setting sun reflected on a piece of wire.

Traps?

We both started growling. A rage unlike anything I’d ever known filled my soul. This was the last straw. How dare those producers put females alone out on a mountain with scarce game and rigged with traps. I wanted to wrap my hands around the producers’ necks. Use piano wire to show them what a snare would feel like as their eyes bulged.

Shift,I commanded, intending to yank the wire from the earth.

John’s wolf nosed the area where I was standing and backed up, running the long way around.

“What is it?”Beau’s wolf pressed his body against the side of my human legs.

I reached down, brushing away the leaves and trying to find the trip wire. “Some idiot put–”

“Don’t you dare touch my traps.”

I turned, feeling a rush of endorphins unlike any I’d ever known that doused my internal rage. Aspen leaned against a tree with her arms folded over her chest.

“Your traps?” I arched a brow.

She shrugged with one shoulder. Like it was no big deal that my sweet little mate had rigged up the snares laid at my feet.

“Sure took you long enough to get here.” The aloof and teasing tone of her voice was betrayed by the quickening of her pulse. Was that fear? Desire?

Mine.My beast rode me hard as I closed the distance between us and breathed in more of her intoxicating scent.