His Lost Mate (The Ward Wolf Pack Novella Series, Book 1)

by Theresa Hissong

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2021 Theresa Hissong

  Disclaimer:

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The names of people, places, things, songs, and bands are all created from the author's mind and are only used for entertainment. Any mention of a song or band, in the book has been given proper credit for use.

  This book is for adults, 18 and older only, due to content.

  Cover Design:

  Michelle Sewell

  RLS Image Graphics & Design

  Editing by:

  Heidi Ryan

  Amour the Line Editing

  Formatting:

  Imagine Ink Designs

  Dedication:

  For those of you who are looking for an adventure.

  Chapter 1

  The wind was turning colder as Nash and his brother, Mason, put away their tools and headed for the terminal. Winter was coming, and soon. It was fall, but the snow and cold started earlier in Alaska than the other states in the lower forty-eight.

  The pack was grateful the fall equinox had come and gone, and the days were getting shorter and shorter. They could feel it coming.

  Nash liked the winter months. The constant darkness helped them hide better. As far as he knew, they were the only shifters in the area, but that didn’t mean anything when you had a stigma hanging over your head.

  Nash had done everything in his power to protect the small pack of wolves he had cared for since taking over the role of alpha. They were wanted…hunted at every turn. Ancient myths had placed them in the worst category, but his pack was different. They were good, and they had nothing to do with the evil of his shifterkind.

  It was no secret to supernatural creatures that wolves were bad, but most didn’t know white wolves existed. White wolves weren’t evil like the others. Wolves were rapists, murderers, and thieves. But those wolves weren’t purebloods like him or his family. As far as he knew, the Ward pack was an anomaly…rare…and possibly the only white wolves left in existence. He didn’t know about the rest of the world, because he had chosen to isolate them. He didn’t know of any other way to do it, and thankfully, his small pack had agreed.

  “We have a shuttle to the north end of the trail tomorrow,” Mason announced as he thumbed through the schedule. “She booked a flight to the trailhead and a vehicle pick up on Friday.”

  The pack of wolf shifters owned and operated the only shuttle service in the area, flying hikers to and from the trailheads in a remote part of Alaska and delivering supplies to the residents who lived deep in the forest and off the grid.

  Nash never questioned the hikers who preferred to start at the north end and finish closer to the airstrip, opting for a van to pick them up at the south end, which was only ten miles from their pack. Mason and Nash had been flying their customers into the bush since they’d learned how to fly early in their twenties, and Aspen had been running the van as long as she had been legally able to drive.

  Now, seven years later, they had been voted the best in the area, and other bush pilots recommended them to hikers who were looking for information on getting to the pass for a three to four-day getaway.

  “Yeah,” Nash mumbled. He grabbed a box to begin stocking the shelves of their camp store, and he was too much in his own head to pay much attention. His mind was on other things. A female hiking alone wasn’t new, but his younger brother always worried for them whenever the females booked a flight. The hike over and through the pass wasn’t for the faint of heart. It was hard, and the land was full of predators…animal ones. He made sure the pack kept an eye out for anything paranormal.

  “Four days alone? She’ll be covering a lot of land. Did you make sure she was ready for that challenge?” Mason’s brow furrowed as he leaned against the desk.

  “Actually, I talked to her,” Aspen, his baby sister and receptionist at Ward Air and Transportation, said while rolling her eyes. Nash scratched his beard and laughed under his breath. He didn’t doubt her. “She is a seasoned hiker from Anchorage. This is her first time up here, but she’s done several single hikes in the state. I think she’s going to be just fine.”

  “Hmm,” Mason hummed as his brows pinched in concern. “But it’s a female passenger, and she’s going solo. Does she have a weapon?”

  Nash raised his head. “We’ve had plenty of hikers come through the area, Mason. We have to take their word for it if they say they are experienced.”

  “It worries me,” he grunted and signed off on the paperwork.

  “And I said she’s going to be fine.” Aspen rolled her eyes. “You are so overprotective.”

  “We have every right to be, and you best remember that,” Mason interjected, frowning.

  “Leave your brother alone.” Nash narrowed his eyes at his brother and sister, sending out an order through his alpha magic. Both of them relaxed after a moment, but he could still sense Mason’s concern over their wellbeing.

  It was still a touchy subject around the pack. Ten years ago, their lives had changed when a clan of bears came in and killed all but five of them. If it hadn’t been for Nash’s alpha genes, they would’ve eventually died without the presence of an alpha. Alphas were needed to keep the pack alive, and the bears had left them with that knowledge in mind, allowing nature to rid them of the children because they’d been too big of cowards to slice their throats like they had their parents.

  Isabell marked off the checklist of items she would need for the late fall hike through the pass. She had four days to soak in the wilderness and trek thirty-seven miles across different terrains to get the images she needed for the article her editor wanted for Alaska Hiking Magazine.

  There was enough trail mix to last her a week. Anything else would have to be caught on her collapsible fishing pole or killed by gun or traps. It didn’t matter to her. She’d be fine. It wasn’t like this was going to be her first hike, anyway. She’d been trained by the best.

  A bit of emotion choked her up when she thought of her grandfather. He’d taught her everything she needed to know about survival and the wilderness of Alaska. God, she missed him.

  She didn’t have any other family nor did she have any friends. It was lonely, but she kept herself busy. The only one to call and check on her was her editor, but he usually only connected with her when he wanted to know when her next article would be finished and submitted.

  It had been a given that she’d follow in her grandfather’s footsteps and work for the magazine he’d been an editor for before retiring. That man hiked, fished, hunted, and camped probably every inch of the state in his seventy-eight years of life.

  “Okay, quit or you’ll end up crying,” she mumbled to herself as she straightened her spine. “All right, Ms. Palmer, go make Pops proud.”

  She lifted the backpack onto her shoulder and locked the door to her tiny cabin just outside of Anchorage. It had been gifted to her by her grandparents when she turned twenty-one, and she loved it. Three acres and off-grid living at its finest. She’d never wanted a big home or riches. Just being in nature was all she had ever needed.

  Her trusty, blue 4Runner carried everything she needed for her trips, and the old thing was perfect for the snow. The engine fired up and she was of
f, driving the one hundred and thirty-seven miles to the hangar for Ward Air and Transportation. They’d be flying her to the top of the trail, dropping her off on a small landing strip on high ground between two mountains.

  She’d never used them before, but her boss, Mitch, promised they were a top-notch company. When she’d made the reservation, the sweet girl who booked her flight had given her the usual speech about safety and hazards of hiking through the pass. Isabell had assured her, and after a few more questions, the woman had taken her payment.

  Thankfully, they hadn’t predicted any snow in Anchorage for the next five days, but since she was heading north, that could always change. It was fall, after all, and the weather in Alaska was unpredictable. There was a chance of a few flurries on the pass, but that wasn’t abnormal for the elevation she would be reaching.

  She pulled off the highway when her GPS directed her. The dark-gray, almost black gravel of the entrance crunched under her tires as she made her way down a winding road just past a sign indicating the transportation company that operated at the south end of the trail. Several Sitka spruces lined the drive, but eventually, it opened up to a small compound of sorts. A large gravel area for parking held a few vehicles. Two of them were parked right up against a building with a sign that read “Ward Air and Transportation Check In.”

  The entry road went through the lot and two roads broke off from the parking area. Up a hill to the right, four small cabins were tucked into more spruce trees. She figured the owners lived on the property. It wasn’t an uncommon thing to see in Alaska.

  While she unloaded her backpack and gun, and took a second to go over her list one last time, she glanced beyond the main building when she heard a bush plane fire up. It was easy to spot a small runway beyond the building. The last week had been spent studying an overhead view of the map on her phone, and she was confident in her journey. The small landing strip was large enough for the plane, and the one at the north end of the trail was flat and able to support their landing. After her drop off, she would be alone.

  As the bell over the door dinged, Isabell was greeted by a beautiful woman maybe a few years younger than herself. She had to catch herself because the girl was too stunning to be a receptionist to a plane service in nowhere Alaska. And her eyes were unbelievable; a golden honey. She’d never seen anything like it before in her life.

  “Hi, Isabell?” the young girl asked, holding out her hand. “My name is Aspen Ward. We spoke on the phone.”

  “Ah, yes,” Isabell remembered. “How does our flight look for tomorrow?” She would be staying the night and flying out first thing the next morning. It was part of their service. She knew there was a small, two-room hotel inside the main building from her internet search. They offered it to guests who wanted to fly to the head of the trail early in the morning hours.

  “The weather will be nice,” Aspen informed her, but frowned when she looked at her sheet. “They are calling for a little snow on Saturday along the pass, but it’s not much.”

  “I’ve hiked during the middle of winter with only a few hours of daylight. A little snow won’t hurt,” she promised. She set her pack down, careful of her rifle. She had never needed it to protect herself against a predator, but she did know how to use it.

  “Okay, let me get you checked in,” Aspen said as she calmed. “I’ll give you the key to your room and a copy of your itinerary for tomorrow. Breakfast will be at six, and I am making chili for dinner. Someone will let you know when it’s ready.”

  Isabell leaned against the tall counter and glanced around the room at the beautiful pictures of the Alaska landscape. She started to ask Aspen who’d shot the photos when a cool blast of wind caught her attention. When she turned around, a tall, bearded man in tight denim jeans and a heavy, red plaid jacket entered the building. In his hands, he held a pair of gloves covered with little slivers of wood. When their eyes met, the man looked down at his feet even though her heart thundered in her chest at the sight of him. Was he a pilot?

  She didn’t know why she felt a bit rejected. Hell, Isabell didn’t even know who he was, but for some reason, between the scent of the wood and something more appealing, she wanted him to look up again.

  “Okay, here is your key,” Aspen interrupted. When Isabell turned around, she noticed the young woman’s eyes were on the man. “This is my brother, Nash, and he or my other brother, Mason, will be flying you tomorrow.”

  She could’ve sworn she heard a soft growl coming from the man, but it had to have been from a dog she didn’t see. The man looked up, nodded, and continued to walk, passing her without stopping to shake her hand. He kept his dark head down, paying more attention to the papers in his hand than anything else.

  Odd.

  “Your room is the first one on the left,” Aspen continued after introducing her brother. Isabell figured if the young receptionist didn’t put up a fuss about the man’s lack of politeness, maybe Nash was just the quiet type. Which wasn’t strange for a person living out in the wild. He was larger than most men she’d seen, but he fit the norm for the mountain men that lived so deep in the bush that they just didn’t have the social skills most people had who lived in the populated towns.

  “Thank you,” she replied and took her key and envelope. The man was busying himself with something at the desk when she turned to leave, but Isabell wanted to at least get him to say something. “It’s nice to meet you, Nash. I look forward to our flight tomorrow.”

  When he just grunted, Isabell hiked her pack higher up on her shoulder before heading to her room. She really hoped the other brother wasn’t such an asshole.

  Chapter 2

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Nash’s sister complained the moment the customer had closed herself in the room she’d be using for the night.

  The scent of the female had filled the office, and as soon as he’d walked in the door, his wolf howled inside his head so loud, he thought the world was crashing around him. He didn’t know why she was so appealing to his beast, but there was something about her scent that triggered the wolf. And that was bad…very bad.

  They had to stay hidden and couldn’t let anyone know their secret. Nash had to hide his eyes, because he knew his wolf had shifted just enough to make them glow a hazy yellow. Not that their eyes weren’t different from humans to begin with. It was hard to explain to them that their regular golden color was natural; claiming it was from their ancestors in a tiny village in Scotland. The lie had become so easy to tell, no one ever slipped up.

  “Nothing,” he grunted, refusing to take a breath, because the human’s scent was everywhere. “Leave it alone, Aspen.”

  “She’s a customer, Nash,” she reminded him. When he didn’t answer her, she huffed and pushed her chair back. “I’m going to start prepping for dinner. Her name is Isabell Palmer, by the way. You should try and be nice to her at dinner.”

  “I’ll be nice,” he sighed and filed the form for the couple Mason had just picked up at the north end, flying them back to the airfield. The couple had taken a full four days to make the hike. It was their anniversary, and they had asked for a little extra time on the pass.

  This pass, in particular, gave them everything the state had to offer; marshes, mountains, flat areas, and steep climbs. It was no wonder they had a few honeymooners come through during the year.

  Nash had lived his entire life on that pass, and his family had made sure they were knowledgeable about it from an early age. His own father had taken him and Mason out when they were barely ten years old to run the pass in their wolf forms. Aspen had her time out there with their father as well, a few years after the males had gone.

  It was his fault he kept his family within the confines of the pass they serviced, and he knew that, but it was necessary. Most natural wolves had a range of two to three times what they’d limited themselves to since he had become alpha. He’d made that decision after the pack was almost wiped out, and it was one he was adamant about enforcin
g.

  “I’m making chili for dinner,” Aspen announced from the kitchen just off the main waiting area of the building. “You can let our guest know it’ll be ready in an hour.”

  “I have to stack some wood,” he advised, keeping his eyes averted from the human’s room. “I’ll be back in half an hour to let her know.”

  “Fine,” Aspen glared. His baby sister was alpha material in her own right. Maybe, one day, she would find a male and make her own pack. She’d inherited the alpha gene from their father, too. Alpha genes were given during inception, and not every offspring of an alpha would have it. It wasn’t the case for Mason. He would always be a pack member; never rising through the ranks.

  Before Aspen could remind him to be nice to the female again, he headed across the parking lot to their small community of homes. Each one of them had their own place, and the other mated couple took care of their personal space while the Wards worked with the adventurous hikers.

  Harper and Fury had mated before the bears had attacked, and she was their only remaining blood family. Their fathers were brothers and died together while trying to protect the pack. They spent their days helping care for the pack by growing and putting up food for the winter months while Nash and his brother flew the planes. For a small pack, they worked well together, but in the harsh conditions of Alaska, that was what had to be done to ensure survival.

  “Hey, cousin,” she called out as he approached. Her nose crinkled and her eyes widened, but she righted her features and continued to pack the vegetables they’d grown over the summer into wooden crates to store in the root cellar for the upcoming winter.

  “I have three cords of wood already cut for you,” Nash announced as he leaned against the side of their cabin. “I’ll need Fury’s help to stack it. Where is he?”

  “Ran down to the river to stretch his legs,” she explained. Harper’s eyes focused over his head as she looked toward the direction her mate had run. There was a bit of worry on her face. She and Aspen looked so much alike, they could’ve been sisters. Both females were small, but they were strong and hard workers. “He needed to run.”