Ice Hunter’s Mate
Marisa Chenery
Book two in the Werewolf Sentinels series.
Being shot in his dire wolf form by his would-be mate while hunting caribou wasn’t exactly how Wachei expected to happen upon their first meeting. Heated kisses and passionate embraces, yes, but not flying bullets.
Eryn wasn’t pleased to see a strange man standing next to the caribou she’d just brought down. The kill was hers, and if he thought he could take it from her, he could think again. But once she comes near, and sees how gorgeous he is, suddenly getting as close as possible to the sexy stranger is job one.
As the heat between the couple intensifies, a threat looms, that of a lone wolf the sentinels have crossed paths with once before. Wachei knows he must bring Eryn into his world a lot sooner than he’d planned, especially when another threat is discovered—the very evil he and his wolf brothers were created to destroy is closer to home than they’d thought.
ICE HUNTER’S MATE
Marisa Chenery
Chapter One
In wolf form, Wachei lifted his lupine head and sniffed the air. He caught the scent of prey, a small herd of caribou. He broke into a loping run and left the forested area he’d traveled through out onto the grassland that stretched before him.
It was spring, the long months of the Alaskan winter cold banished by the warm sunlight. Ten months had passed since Cassidy, his alpha’s mate, had found Wachei and his five wolf brothers asleep in the ice cave on the glacier where they’d slept for ten thousand years. During their long slumber, the great ice had receded, causing them to awaken into a world that was much different from the one they’d known.
As the very first werewolves, turned by their shaman to be the sentinels to guard against the evil that was to come, they’d been granted immortality their descendants hadn’t inherited. They were to have slept until they were needed, but Edensaw, their alpha, had awakened early when Cassidy had set off his mating urge. Then he, in turn, had woken the rest of them with an alpha’s howl.
Wachei ran a little faster as he spotted his prey way off in the distance. He’d accepted his life in this new world but he missed the old one. He hadn’t had to hide what he was as he did now. The mortals from this time knew nothing about werewolves, or even that they existed. Their descendants had made sure of that.
Closing the distance between him and the caribou, Wachei set his sights on one. He sent the herd into a panicked run once they spotted him. With a burst of speed, he shot off after his selected prey.
The wild part of Wachei took over, and he felt the same thrilling sensation he used to experience while hunting as a mortal with his spear and bow and arrows. The chase was on and there would be no escaping for his quarry.
Gunshots rang out just as he was about to launch himself at the caribou to take it down. The shots hit his prey along with him. Wachei let out a yelp and slowed as the bullet grazed his chest. The caribou staggered and its wounded hind leg gave out. A third shot lodged in its head to finish it off. It crumpled to the ground.
Wachei pulled up short as the scent of a mortal female hit him in the face as the wind changed direction. He drew it deep into his lungs, burning it to his mind. His mating urge slammed into him, sending all his senses into overdrive.
The need to seek out the woman it originated from and make her his surged through him but he pushed it back. First and foremost, Wachei couldn’t let his mate see him in wolf form, and even worse, he couldn’t let her see the still-bleeding wound on his chest.
Knowing he wouldn’t have much time before the woman came to claim the caribou she’d shot, Wachei took off at a fast run down a small hill. It didn’t offer much in the way of cover, but it was the best he had in the wide-open space around him. At the bottom, he took on his human form. Luckily during the shift his wound had healed enough to seal. Dressed in jeans, t-shirt and a leather jacket, she wouldn’t know it was there.
He hurried back to the kill. Wachei stood in the direction the shots had been fired and looked around. With his keen eyesight, it didn’t take him long to spot the female walking at a fast clip toward him. Even from a distance he could see her as clear as day. She was beautiful, with long, dark-brown hair that fell around her shoulders. He lowered his gaze to her body. It was hard to tell how curvy she was because of the thick jacket she wore, but her jeans-clad legs were long and slim. As she neared, he saw her eyes were hazel.
Wachei stepped closer to the caribou and waited for her to see him. It didn’t take long. Her steps faltered ever so slightly and the rifle she carried pointed toward the ground lifted a trifle. He dragged in more of her scent and his cock hardened. He hoped he could think up some kind of plausible excuse for him to be standing over her kill. Being shot for mistakenly being taken for a thief wasn’t how he wanted to introduce himself to his mate.
Eryn spied the man standing next to the caribou she’d taken down and wondered what the hell he thought he was doing. It was her kill, and if he tried to take it, he’d have a fight on his hands. Raised with two older brothers, she knew how to fight dirty to gain the advantage over someone larger than her.
She stopped a yard away and looked him up and down, doing her best to give him an intimidating stare. It was hard once she got a good look at his face, though. The man was gorgeous to the extreme. She easily saw he was a native with his long black hair and bronzed skin. His brown eyes seemed to take her in as much as hers did him. He also was tall, which she always found attractive in a man since she was five-foot-eight. He had to stand around six-foot-three. With him, she wouldn’t have to worry about wearing high heels and towering over him.
Eryn gave herself a mental shake. She couldn’t think of him as a potential man she could date, at least not yet. First, she had to find out what his intentions were, whether or not he planned to steal her kill out from under her. It was hard, though. He was so good-looking, the longer she stared the more her body seemed to melt. Her nipples had already grown taut beneath her shirt.
She ran her gaze over him again, soaking up every inch of his muscular body. The jeans he wore accentuated the heavy muscles in his thighs and calves. His shoulders were wide, same with his chest, which tapered to a narrow waist. She’d bet any money that without his shirt on she’d find his upper body was well-defined with a six-pack abs. And the prospect of trying to get him out of his clothes appealed very much.
Eryn wasn’t about to allow her thoughts to stray any further in that direction. She closed some of the distance between them and motioned to the caribou with her rifle. “Do you mind telling me what you’re doing? I hope you don’t think you’ll claim my kill as your own because that won’t be happening.”
He ran his gaze over her, leaving a warm path along her skin in its wake. He gave her a crooked smile. “I wouldn’t do that. You made the kill shot. I’ll hunt down another one.”
She eyed his leather jacket and running shoes. He wasn’t exactly dressed to be out hunting. And it was then she noticed he carried no firearm, not even a bow and arrows. How did he expect to hunt caribou? Did he think he could chase one down and kill it with his bare hands?
“Good,” she said. “I’ll take my caribou and leave.”
Eryn walked to her kill and looked it over. Her third bullet had hit it square between the eyes. She’d known her first two shots were way off as she’d pulled the trigger. Now all she had to do was get the caribou back to her pickup truck, which was parked not too far away. Luckily the animal was a smallish female and Eryn shouldn’t have too hard a time carrying it. She’d been hunting since her early teens and was used to slogging her own kills home.
She shouldered her rifle, slipping her arm through the strap attached to it, and bent to the caribou. Before she
could attempt to pick it up, the man stopped her.
“Let me help you with that,” he said. “It’ll be too heavy for you.”
Eryn straightened. She bristled at the last part, but reined back the quick, angry retort she usually came up with when one of her brothers called her weak. He wasn’t one of her siblings and only meant to be polite.
“It’s okay. I can manage.”
“I don’t mind. Really.” He came to stand at her side.
“That’s nice of you, but not necessary, I assure you.”
“I want to.”
He tried to move her out of the way, but Eryn didn’t let him. She went on autopilot and reacted as if he were one of her brothers. She elbowed him in the gut before she turned and gave him a hard shove while he tried to recover. It worked like a charm, as it always did. With him not expecting it, she managed to catch him off guard and pushed with enough force for him to stumble back. She watched him land on his butt.
Realizing she’d used one of her “brother attacks” on a total stranger, Eryn winced. She stepped closer and offered him a hand up. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
He looked up at her. A wide smile spread across his face. It did wicked things to her body and she gasped as a surge of lust tore through her. God, if he smiled like that a lot, Eryn was sure women fell under his spell at the drop of a hat. She had and she didn’t normally go crazy over any man.
He chuckled, which Eryn couldn’t help but find sexy as well. He accepted her hand and allowed her to help him back up on his feet. Once he stood, he continued to hold it. “That’s all right. I guess I should have listened when you told me no. I’m Wachei.”
“Eryn. My name is Eryn,” she said. Her voice sounded breathy and she quickly cleared her throat. “I’m still sorry I shoved you. I don’t make it a practice of pushing over people I don’t know. I have two older brothers who like to bug the crap out of me and rile my temper. I reacted with my gut instinct.”
Wachei smiled again and shifted his hand that held hers so he could rub his thumb back and forth across the pulse point on the inside of her wrist. That brushing contact had her heart beating at a faster rate. An ache built deep inside Eryn’s pussy. She did her best to ignore it as she tried to regain her wits so she wouldn’t end up sounding like a babbling idiot when she spoke again.
“Now I understand,” Wachei said. “I’m not saying you can’t handle your kill on your own, but I’d still like to help you. It will give me the excuse to spend more time with you. Will you let me?”
Eryn had to bite back the urge to giggle like a silly teenager, something she tended to do when she was nervous. And Wachei suddenly made her feel that way in spades. He’d gone from being just some man to one who seemed interested in her. For some reason, he had her reacting to him like she wouldn’t with another man she found attractive. Instead of wanting to take the time to get to know him first, she was hoping he’d ask her out right then and there. He was one she didn’t want to let slip through her fingers.
She nodded. “Since you’re being so nice about it, I guess you can.”
He stroked the inside of her wrist one final time before he released her. “Great. I’ll carry the caribou and you lead the way.”
Wachei stepped closer to her kill and bent at the waist to lift the caribou up onto his back to carry across his broad shoulders. That wasn’t how Eryn had planned to carry it to her pickup truck. Inside her backpack she had a tarp and some rope. She’d planned to wrap the kill up in it and use the rope to pull it to where she was parked. The way Wachei had lifted it he made it appear as if the caribou weighed next to nothing.
And seeing him standing there like that with some of his long hair blowing in the breeze, Eryn could almost picture him in buckskin, dressed in traditional native clothing.
“Are you all set?” she asked.
“I’ve got it.”
“All right. My pickup isn’t too far from here.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s isn’t too heavy.”
With a nod, she turned in the direction they needed to go and set off. Wachei fell into step beside her. They walked in silence. Eryn had no idea what to say to get the conversation going again. Her mind kept drawing blanks. Usually, she had no trouble talking to men. Having grown up with brothers it had never been an issue for her, not even as a teenager when most girls that age became shy around the opposite sex. This is ridiculous. She only had to open her mouth and say something, anything.
“You said you were hunting, but I don’t see any firearms on you.” Eryn inwardly cringed once she finished speaking. That was a terrific conversation starter, accusing Wachei of lying to her. First, she pushed him over onto his butt, now this. She wouldn’t be surprised if he dropped the caribou and walked away.
But Wachei didn’t seem to take it as an insult. He chuckled. “I don’t exactly hunt in the conventional way.”
When he didn’t elaborate, Eryn said, “Okay, whatever that means. Do you hunt like that a lot?”
“Maybe half the time. I also use a bow and arrow.”
She nodded. “I’ve only ever hunted with a rifle, but I’ve always wanted to try it that way. I’d have to be taught, though.”
Wachei met her gaze. “I could teach you. It’s not that hard.”
“You’d do that?”
“Sure. Why not?”
Eryn wanted to jump at the chance to see Wachei again, but she didn’t want to look desperate or anything. So she pretended to think it over. While they walked, she couldn’t help noticing how he stepped without making a sound, even with the heavy load he carried on his back. He moved like a hunter. He also seemed to be aware of everything around them. His gaze kept scanning the area in front of them, as if he was always on the lookout. It sort of gave him a wild look, making him seem to be in tune with the nature around him.
“All right,” she finally said. “I’d like you to teach me how to use a bow and arrow to hunt. When would you be available?”
“How about tomorrow? I’m free. What about you?”
The prospect of seeing Wachei the next day appealed to Eryn a lot. She nodded. “I can do that. I don’t have to go back to work until the following Monday. I took this week off as part of my holidays. Where and when would you like to meet up?”
“How about right here, and sometime in the late morning? We can make a day of it, if you want.”
They stopped walking once they reached her pickup. Eryn opened the tailgate and stepped aside for Wachei to put the caribou in the bed. Same as when he’d picked it up off the ground, he made it look as if he carried something that wasn’t heavy at all. Once he’d laid it in the center of the bed she closed the tailgate again.
“Thanks for carrying my kill to my truck. And we definitely can meet here and at that time. Why don’t I give you my cell phone number in case you can’t make it. And I’ll take yours as well.” Eryn shrugged off her backpack and undid it. She fished around inside until she found her phone.
Wachei took his out of the inside pocket of his leather jacket. “Sounds good. What’s your number?”
Eryn rattled it off, then watched Wachei as he attempted to add it to his cell’s address book. He ended up cursing at it in a language she didn’t understand. At least that was what she thought he was doing, given the tone he used and how he scowled.
After what looked to be a third try, Eryn bit back a chuckle. “Ah, Wachei, would you like me to help you with that?”
He looked at her and gave her a crooked grin. “That would be great. I haven’t had this phone for very long, actually it’s my first one, and I still haven’t been able to figure out how to do much with it except make calls.”
Eryn smiled as she took his cell once he held it out to her. She looked down at it to see it was one of the top-of-the-line smartphones. “These can take a bit of getting used to, especially for a beginner. Mine is sort of similar so I should have no trouble.”
She stuck her phone in her jacket pocket,
then proceeded to add her number to Wachei’s cell. While she was at it, she found his before she took hers out and entered him in her contacts list. Finished, she handed him back his phone.
“All done,” she said. “And I now have your number as well.”
Wachei shook his head as he returned it to his jacket pocket. “You made it look easy. Maybe tomorrow while I’m showing you how to use a bow and arrow you should teach me how to use my phone.”
She chuckled. “I can do that. It will be a sort of trade-off. That way both of us will get something out of our time spent together.”
“I know I will.”
The way Wachei stared at her had Eryn’s blood pumping a little faster. Her gaze was drawn to his lips as she wondered what they would feel like on hers, or skimming along her body as he kissed her in the most intimate of places. She even found herself leaning closer, wishing he’d do everything she was thinking about.
Maybe she stared a little too long, or Wachei took the expression she must have had on her face as an invitation because he leaned in as well and closed the distance between their lips. The kiss started off nice and gentle, but once she opened her mouth and allowed him entrance, it heated up pretty fast.
Wachei’s arms came around her waist and pulled her up against his body. Eryn held on to his shoulders and couldn’t keep back a small moan when she felt the hard length of his cock pressed along her stomach. His tongue dueled with hers, ramping up the desire that already coursed through her. Eryn lost herself to the sensations that rose to take her over. All that mattered was being in Wachei’s arms as he kissed her senseless.
When he lifted his head, breaking the contact with her mouth, she shoved her fingers into his long hair and forced him back to her lips. He made a noise that bordered on an animalistic growl before he kissed her once again. Eryn rubbed against his erection, her pussy aching to have it plunging deep inside her.
Wachei pulled away for a second time after only a minute. He let her go and took a step back. Eryn saw he was breathing just as hard as she. He had his eyes closed, and from his expression, he seemed to be fighting for control.
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