Page 12 of Kidnapped by the Wolf (Gold Creek Wolves)

CHAPTER TWELVE

CASSIE

When I awake, my body is deliciously spent, and there’s a pleasant soreness between my legs. The air is chilly, but I’m bundled in Adrian’s warm down comforter, surrounded by the scent of pine and sandalwood.

I smile as I breathe it in, reaching out an arm for him and finding the sheets cool and empty.

Opening my eyes, I squint in the bright morning light streaming through the high windows. The cabin smells like freshly brewed coffee, and my beautiful new ukulele is resting on the bedside table.

Adrian is nowhere in sight.

Sliding out from under the covers, I pull on my borrowed clothes and open his dresser to find a hoodie. A fire is crackling in the wood stove, but he must have let it go out last night, because the one-room cabin is freezing.

Padding over to the kitchen, I pour myself a cup of coffee and drink in the gorgeous views. The first golden rays of sunlight are threading through the pine trees, which are covered in a thin layer of frost.

For a moment, I allow myself to imagine what it would be like to wake up here every morning. My mind drifts to visions of Adrian adding wood to the fire and starting the coffee before climbing back into bed to make love to me again.

I imagine that this is our home — how we’d cook our meals together, eat together, shower together…

The thought sends a fresh surge of heat through my body, and wetness pools between my legs. I cross to the front of the cabin, intent on dragging my wolf back to bed, but stop just inside the door.

I can hear voices coming from outside — low male voices.

Peering out the window, I see Sebastian’s black Mercedes parked behind Adrian’s 4Runner. I grit my teeth and take a step back, determined not to eavesdrop. But then I catch a few words from the British wolf, and I just can’t help myself.

“It’s about time you did something,” Sebastian growls in annoyance. “The longer you wait, the less bargaining power you’re going to have.”

“Cassie isn’t a bargaining chip.” The second voice belongs to Adrian, and my heart leaps at those words.

“Then mate her already and get it over with.”

“You know I can’t do that.” Adrian’s voice is low and frustrated, and I lean closer to the door.

“I don’t see why not . . . Everyone else seems to be mating with humans lately.”

“It has nothing to do with her being human .”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I’m fucking alpha!” Adrian snarls. “I can’t turn my back on my wolves for some female who could go running back to her father at any moment!”

“You can’t fight the mating bond.”

“Fuck the mating bond. My duty is to my pack, and Cassie will never be pack.”

I take a step back from the door, a layer of ice forming around my heart.

Some female . That’s all I am to him?

Silly girl. Of course that’s all I am to him. One night of sex doesn’t change that.

Cassie will never be pack .

I should have known better, and dammit, I did. But somewhere over the course of the last two days, I let my guard down. I let myself believe that I could be a part of his pack here.

I let myself fall for Adrian.

Stupid, stupid girl.

He’d never choose me — some human piece of trash. My own father, my own family, didn’t choose me.

Because I’ll never be one of them.

Adrian is an alpha wolf. And alphas always put their pack first.

Hot, angry tears blur my vision, and suddenly, I can’t stand the thought of Adrian coming in here and seeing me crying and still wearing his clothes.

He must have retrieved my things from outside last night, because my ratty jeans and tank top lay folded on the dryer. I hurriedly pull them on. I grab my keys and my flannel from the pile beside the door, not even glancing at the gorgeous ukulele as I let myself out the back.

As soon as I hear the peel of gravel, I tiptoe down the steps behind Adrian’s cabin and disappear into the woods.

ADRIAN

I watch Sebastian drive away with a leaden weight in my stomach. My top cyber creep showed up here at the ass-crack of dawn to let me know that the McGregors are on the warpath.

Apparently, one of Clint’s bears spotted Cassie’s bus abandoned on the side of the road. I told Sebastian to make sure that it was never found, but the idiot didn’t bother taking it any farther than Hartsel.

As if I needed one more reason not to mark Cassie.

Last night I told myself that this was it. One night was all I’d get with the beautiful human who’d hijacked my wolf and stolen my heart. But when I awoke with her curled against me smelling like incense and rain, I knew I couldn’t let her go.

I was stupid to think I could claim Cassie without starting a goddamned war, but walking away from the best thing that’s ever come into my life isn’t an option anymore.

Somehow, I’ll figure out a way to make the McGregors behave and leave Cassie out of it.

Quietly, I let myself back inside, hoping Cassie’s still asleep. My girl was so tired after our lovemaking. I get the feeling she hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in a very long time.

But instead of returning to my mate snuggled under the covers, all I find is an empty bed.

“Cassie?”

I glance around the cabin, hoping to find her curled up by the fire strumming her new ukulele. But the A-frame is deserted.

“Cassie?” I call again, striding across the house and peeking into the bathroom.

Empty.

Concerned, I go to the back door and step out onto the deck. I catch a whiff of Cassie’s scent, but it’s gone before I can home in on a direction.

Taking the steps two at a time, I walk to the edge of the forest and lift my nose, but I’m immediately overwhelmed by the scent of pine trees and prey.

My wolf gives a nervous whine. Something doesn’t feel right.

My skin prickles with the urge to shift, but I don’t want to overreact. Maybe she felt like taking a walk.

Trying to ignore my sense of unease, I go back inside and pour myself some coffee. Cassie’s ukulele is still right where I left it, but her freshly laundered clothes are gone.

Glancing toward the front door, my heart turns over in my chest. Cassie’s flannel is also missing — along with the keys to her bus.

“Fuck!”

I slosh coffee all down my front in my haste to get back to her trail. There’s only one reason Cassie would have taken her keys: She left, and she’s not coming back.

My wolf gives a forlorn howl as I leap down the stairs, shedding my clothes as I go.

Why would she leave without saying goodbye?

I know she felt what I felt last night. The body doesn’t lie. But even if she was only into me for the sex, why not take her ukulele?

The only reason she would have left it was if she felt remorse. Or, worse, deep pain or hurt.

Racking my brain to come up with an answer, my heart drops to my knees.

She must have overheard my conversation with Sebastian.

My wolf whines at the thought, and I shift mid-step, desperate to reach my mate.

I land on four paws and shake out my fur. All my senses are sharper in wolf form, and my circular human thoughts are crowded out by one primal need: Find my mate.

I pick up Cassie’s scent the moment I enter the tree line, but then the wind begins to howl. I whine and lift my wet nose in the air, but her delicious smoky scent is faint.

I take off at a sprint, pushing my legs as hard as they will go. But the wind whips all around me, tossing the smell of four-day-old carrion into the air. It mixes with the scent of a rabbit, along with the musk of a passing buck. All the smells bombard me at once, making it hard to discern Cassie’s scent.

But then I catch a whiff of something that makes my fur stand on end: the iron tang of blood.

The blood is fresh, and it’s Cassie’s, smeared on the trunk of an aspen. I lick the spot and take off again, following the strong coppery scent.

I’m in such a frenzy that I circle back to the same damned tree before I catch another whiff near a deer trail.

The path becomes more pronounced the farther I get from my cabin. Human hikers visiting the national forest sometimes pick up this trail. I shouldn’t be running it in broad daylight, but my urgency is making me reckless.

Bounding over a fallen log, I chase the ghost of Cassie’s scent until it’s swallowed up by the stench of exhaust.

My breath forms a cloud around me, and my tongue lolls out as I pant. As I stare out at the hard-packed dirt, a mournful howl rips from my throat.

Cassie managed to find the road, which means she could be anywhere.