After racing through the forest for about a mile, Leidolf came upon Cassie sitting in ferns shielded by Douglas firs, panting and staring off into the distance, her energy totally spent. As soon as she smelled him coming, she whipped her head around, her gaze riveting to his. Yeah, here's the big, bad wolf coming to take you safely home, young lady.
Cassie's face looked ragged with pain. Warily, he approached her, not wanting to chase her off and cause her any more pain, but wanting to ensure she didn't run away again, either. He saw no sign of the other female and assumed Cassie just couldn't go any further with her shoulder so injured.
She didn't make any move to leave. In fact, she lay down on her side, taking the pressure off her injured shoulder.
He drew close and nuzzled her face. She didn't growl at him, like she would have if she hadn't wanted his attention. She didn't lick him back either, though, as if she was too tired to make the effort or had given up and wasn't happy about it. Deciding she was just too worn out, he planned to carry her to his cabin by the creek where she could rest until she was able to return with him.
Leidolf nudged Cassie's nose, trying to get her to stir, but she'd closed her eyes and appeared to be sleeping or just ignoring him. He hoped they could reach the cabin without running into anyone in the woods--and soon.
Not liking what he had to do next, he shape-shifted, and in his naked, chilled form, he leaned down and lifted Cassie as gently as he could. She yelped. "I'm so sorry, Cassie."
He figured his apology would have garnered a couple of chuckles from his men, had they witnessed it. He hated hearing the pain in her yelp, and he tried to carry her as carefully as he could. At least it would be dark for several more hours, and if all went as planned, she could heal while she rested. Then again, without clothing, they would have to remain there until darkness fell again so they could return to his Humvee in their wolf suits.
As he began hiking, he worried about the other wolf. She would be in as much danger as he and Cassie were in their wolf forms if hunters located them and wanted to eliminate the wolf threat. As soon as Cassie was safe in the cabin, he'd take a look for the other wolf. In his wolf coat. Faster to travel, but he wasn't sure whether it would scare off the wolf or not.
For half an hour, Leidolf carried a sleeping Cassie tight against his chest, surprised--considering how much he cursed when he stepped on blackberry bramble thorns or stumbled over exposed tree roots he couldn't see for carrying her--that she hadn't awakened.
She'd been really still in his arms, but all of a sudden, she began to wiggle as if she didn't care for being confined.
"I'll drop you if you don't mind," Leidolf warned, tightening his hold on her and trying not to lose the squirming wolf. She tried to jerk away from him, but he squeezed tighter. "Behave yourself," he said in a hushed voice close to her ear as if he were whispering sweet sentiments to her.
Her subtle feminine fragrance stirred his senses, made him long for her, and all he could think of was how he was going to convince her she was staying with his pack--with him.
He reconsidered that maybe as a newly turned lupus garou, she wanted to change a human male for a mate so that he would be the same as her. Which made him think of the new Arctic werewolves he'd had to deal with in Maine. He wasn't going along with Cassie taking a human for a mate.
Then Cassie struggled harder, and before he could prepare himself, she was shifting again. Either she didn't have control over the shifting, which meant it was tantamount that she stay with a pack, his pack. Or she preferred his holding her tight in his hard embrace as a woman, instead of as a wolf. Carrying a woman would be easier to manage, but he didn't like that she'd be as chilled as him.
Still, when she shifted and he was holding the silky-skinned nymph in his arms, he gave her a devilish smile as she frowned up at him and he said, "Much better." He readjusted his hold on her and pressed her hot, little body closer, trying to ensure she didn't get too cold.
He had every intention of setting the rules. "So let's get some things straight between us, Cassie Roux, little wolf biologist. You're a loner, don't have a pack, and have the hots for me." He grinned at the last.
She closed her eyes and groaned. She could pretend all she wanted that she wasn't interested in him the way he desired having her. She snuggled closer to him and breathed deeply. Enjoying the way his pheromones revealed how much he craved having her? Hers were driving him insane.
"And you're not going to take some lame wolf biologist for a mate."
She let out her breath in a painful sigh, her gaze staring up at him, beautiful, eyes narrowed a little in confrontation... and he loved it. "I have no intention of mating with Alex. It's all his idea, and truthfully? He couldn't make a commitment to one woman if his life depended on it. But I have a job to do, for which I'm getting paid, and no one's stopping me."
"You're not running through the woods on your own, Cassie. Not wounded like you are and not when those murderers could still be out here searching for that woman's body."
Ignoring him, she growled, "And furthermore, quit telling everyone we're engaged."
Then she scrunched up her face in pain, shivered in his arms, and started to move again. Before he could warn her he was about to drop her again, his hold tightening on her already, she shifted once more. She had to be really newly turned. Which made him wonder if some werewolf had turned her and she'd run away before he mated her.
He ground his teeth, figuring that although he didn't want her exploring the woods further, he ought to at least ask her what job was so blamed important. The female wolf? What had she intended to do with her? "So what is the reason you had to return here?"
She appeared to be sleeping and didn't shift back to her human form or seem to have heard his question. He growled under his breath. As soon as he could, he was learning the truth.
And then a breath of relief gave him hope as he saw the log cabin nestled in between trees, about five hundred square feet in size, a full rock wall on one side, rounded logs for the other three walls, grimy unwashed windows in the three wooden walls, and a mortared stone extension on one end. All the materials but the glass looked to have been salvaged from the surrounding countryside. The roof was covered in moss; tall grass and ferns brushed the sides of the building; and a hemlock's branches poked at one wall. A human's version of a wolf's den. Perfect for Cassie's recuperation.
He shoved open the door with his hip and stared into the gloom. A couple of rough-hewn wooden chairs sat at a small table next to one wall. A fireplace was built into the rock wall, blackened with soot from years of use. A deflated velour mattress lay on the dusty wooden floor. As a wolf, Cassie wouldn't mind. Although as soon as he had the time, he'd try to inflate the mattress or make up some other kind of bed.
He laid her down next to the fireplace. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, her wolf's expression tired.
"I'll be back, Cassie. I'll get some wood and build a fire. Just stay here."
She closed her eyes, and he worried she might get sicker before she was better, as lethargic as she was.
"Cassie?" He crouched in front of her and touched her nose. It was wet and cool. He knew that a warm, dry nose didn't immediately signify illness. Lethargy, in addition to it, and loss of appetite could be more serious. "I'll... I'll be right back."