Page 8 of Lone Wolf’s Claim (The Kincaid Werewolves #1)

B rock trotted back to the cave with his kill in his mouth. He'd found a nice, fat, whatever-this-thing-was less than two miles away. It was plenty large enough to feed the both of them until dinner.

Maybe they should just hang out here for the day.

They had plenty of time to get back to "where he started".

It had taken him less than two days in human form, and he'd marked his trail well.

That gave them three days to get back. It should be easy, even if the going was a bit slower with Heather along.

Besides, that woman had some explaining to do. From what he’d overheard outside of that house, she wasn't a normal, human female. And those men weren't just men. He’d gotten the same vibe from them that he’d gotten from the prince.

That feeling of familiarity came over him again.

He racked his brain, thinking of every supernatural creature he'd ever seen, hoping something would come to him, but he couldn't think of anything that was capable of what the "prince" had done to him and Heather.

As a matter of fact, he was positive that he'd never so much as heard of anything that could do that, except a witch. So there was no way he could’ve met this man before.

He wondered for the hundredth time what, exactly, the point was of sending them to this place. This challenge, or game, or whatever it was, couldn't be this easy. Something bad was going to happen. He could feel it.

His senses were on high alert as Heather's little cave came into sight through the fog.

She was sitting in the entrance with her legs crossed in front of her and her chin in her hands.

Wisps of her soft hair trailed in waves across her face.

She swiped at it crossly. Her despondent sigh carried across the distance to him as she traced a pattern on her knee with her finger.

He noticed she had pulled a rather large rock next to her and a snuffling sound, half amusement and half approval, came from his muzzle.

He sniffed the air and looked around. He didn't see or smell anything threatening, so he trotted up to the cave, not too fast so as not to spook her, and dropped his kill in the dirt by her foot.

His caution appeared to be unnecessary. She didn't appear frightened of him at all, but her welcoming smile quickly turned into a grimace as she glanced down at his offering. "What is that? Is that a cat?" she asked in horror. She shook her head hard. "Oh, hell no. I can't eat a cat."

Tilting his head, he looked at it, trying to see it through her eyes. He supposed it did look a bit like a short-tailed cat. Kind of like a skunk/woodchuck/cat…thing. A skoochat.

He picked up his clothes in his teeth and went far enough around the tree outside of the cave that she couldn't see, or hear, him. Closing his eyes, he willed himself to change back, gritting his teeth against the pain so she wouldn’t hear.

Changing was never fun, but it was dangerous to stay in his wolf form for too long.

The animal instincts would start to take over, his mind would stop thinking like a human and more and more like a lone predator at the top of the food chain, and he would become a danger to anything and anyone around him.

Including Heather.

He pulled on his shirt and pants and padded barefoot back to where she still sat staring at the skoochat. Trying not to laugh, he watched as she tentatively poked at it with a stick. Her cute little nose wrinkled up in repugnance and she threw the stick down.

"It doesn't taste bad," he said, trying to reassure her. "Kind of like chicken." He didn't add the "raw" part.

She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, and her eyes ran over him. Looking for lingering remnants of fur he was sure, then she went back to eyeballing their breakfast. "For a big guy, you're awfully quiet when you walk."

Sitting down next to her, he pulled on his socks and his boots. "I was thinking we could hang out here for a while today. Get you fed. Strengthen you up a bit before we head back. You look exhausted."

"I told you, I'm not eating that."

He had to admit, it didn't look nearly as appetizing while in his human form. He was going to have to cook it this time.

He patted her thigh in sympathy, then he got up and started gathering some tinder and sticks that were lying inside the cave. Hopefully they were dry enough to get a fire going.

Heather stood up also. "What are you doing?"

"Collecting firewood so we can cook the skoochat."

She crossed her arms over her ample chest. "I'm not eating that."

"You need to eat, sunshine."

"I'll be fine."

"I know. Because you're going to eat. Be right back." He left her there to pout and jogged down to the stream. If he remembered correctly, he thought he'd seen some quartz rock just upstream a bit.

When he returned, Heather was sitting back down against the wall near his pile of sticks. She watched silently as he struck the rocks together until he created sparks, lighting the tinder.

He blew on it gently until a tiny fire appeared. Little by little, he fed the flame until he had a small, but strong, fire. Grabbing their breakfast, he stuck it on the end of a makeshift spit and held it over the flame.

Heather refused to watch, lowering her head onto her knees and covering her face with her arms.

But once the fur had burned off and the meat began to cook, an appetizing smell filled the little cave, making his mouth water in anticipation.

Heather's stomach growled loud enough to be heard back home and he had to bite back a smile.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her move closer to the fire little by little until she was sitting right next to him. He turned the meat a few more times just to tease her before pulling it out of the fire and blowing on it.

Taking a big bite, he closed his eyes as he chewed. "Mmm," he groaned, wiping off the grease with the back of his arm before it dripped into his beard. He took another bite, smacking his lips and watching her out of the corner of his eye.

She swallowed and licked her lips. "Aren’t you gonna offer me some of that?" she asked.

"I thought you weren't eating it."

"Maybe I changed my mind."

He thought about holding out a little longer, just to teach her a lesson, but he found that he just couldn't deny those big, hungry eyes.

He handed her the stick. "Here. You can have the rest."

"Thank you." She grabbed it from his hand and sank her teeth into the tender meat, ripping off a big chunk. Taking another bite before she'd even swallowed the first, she glanced up to find him watching her, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement.

A flush stole up her neck and onto her cheeks, and she dropped her eyes, taking a smaller bite and chewing slower this time.

He laughed. "Don't be embarrassed. It's good to see a woman eat like she means it."

"Yeah? Well, you'll love hanging around me, because as you can plainly see, I don't skip any meals." She patted her belly and grinned.

He didn't care for the implication she was making with that joke. Did she not know how attractive she was? She’d always come across to him as being so confident and sure of herself.

Speaking out loud without really meaning to, Brock told her honestly, "Don’t put yourself down like that.

I think you're one of the sexiest women I've ever seen. "

She stopped eating mid-chew and slowly raised her eyes to his. After a moment, she covered her mouth with her hand. "What?" she asked from behind her palm.

Well, it was out there now. No sense in pretending he hadn’t said it. Besides, he’d meant every single word. "You heard me."

Swallowing hard, she said, "Yes, but I think I may have misunderstood you."

He gave her a roguish grin. "You didn't misunderstand, Heather. It broke my heart when you ran away. That's why I followed you."

She cocked an eyebrow. He could see she didn't believe him in the slightest. "I think you just like to follow people. So you can practice your tracking skills or something. First, following Grace to my apartment, then me…"

He didn't want to talk about Grace. "Why did you run away?" he asked. "Why come all the way from China to Seattle to see that your best friend made it here safely, just to leave again a few hours after we arrive?"

"I think you know the answer to that."

"Because of what I am." It wasn't a question.

She looked away. Tossing the bones and the stick into the fire, she wiped her hands off on her pants. Her silence was telling.

That's what he'd been afraid of. But what he didn't understand was, why? She'd just proven that she wasn't disgusted by his shifter abilities, or frightened of him.

"Okay." He turned to face her, crossing his long legs in front of him. Picking up her hand, he tucked it between both of his.

She hid behind her hair a bit, but didn't try to pull away.

He ducked his head and watched her face as he said, just to be sure, "Well, it's not because you're frightened of me."

She shook her head no.

He scooted a little closer, until his leg was touching her hip.

This time her back straightened, and she tried to take her hand back. But he wouldn't let her.

"If you're not frightened of me," He leaned in to smell her thick hair, his voice dropping to a husky rumble. "Then why are you fighting what's between us? Why did you run? Unless you wanted me to chase you."

"I had to," she admitted breathlessly.

Brushing her hair back away from the soft skin of her face and behind her shoulder, he nuzzled the side of her neck. "Why? Who are you, sunshine?" Mmmm. She smelled delicious. He dropped a light kiss on her neck, then ran his nose along the shell of her ear, nipping her earlobe. "Tell me."

Her hand tightened around his, and he lifted his other one to cup her cheek, gently turning her face toward his. He kissed her cheek, her jaw, the corner of her sweet mouth. "Because I can't get you out of my head ever since you opened your door to me."

"Brock," she breathed.

He didn't let her finish. He couldn't wait any longer, and he’d completely forgotten whatever the hell he’d been trying to ask her anyway.

Gently, he pulled her head the rest of the way around and claimed her mouth with his.

At the first touch of her soft lips, a low moan escaped him, echoed by one of her own as he began to move his mouth with more insistence over hers.

He bit her lower lip and she gasped, giving him access to the warm, velvety inside of her mouth. Thrusting his tongue inside, he tasted her, and his wolf growled within him. It wanted more of this female.

And he agreed wholeheartedly.

She twisted her body toward him, her free hand moving up over his shirt and across his hard chest to grip the top of his shoulder. He continued to ravage her mouth, kissing her until she was leaning into him of her own accord, her moans mixing with his, feeding his lust.

With a growl, he reached around and gripped her by the hips, lifting her with ease and pulling her over on top of him.

She seated herself on his lap, one knee on either side of his hips, and his eyes nearly rolled back in his head as she sank down against his erection.

The yoga pants she was wearing may as well have been nothing.

They were no barrier at all. He could feel her heat, even through his cargo pants.

Placing her hands on his shoulders, she lifted herself up off of him. He growled with frustration, thinking she was leaving him, and gripped her full hips tighter. But then she slid down him again, rubbing herself against his hardness.

Reaching up, he slid his hands through her hair to hold her head still and pulled her mouth back to his as she rolled her hips against him.

Her breath was coming in short gasps, and he started to shake, his wolf pacing, his muscles tensing.

He fought to restrain himself, but he was losing the battle with every slide of her hips.

Holy fuck. He was about to come, and they still had their clothes on.

Desperately, he tore his mouth from hers and hugged her to him, trying to keep her still long enough for him to distract himself. Her heart pounded hard against his chest, and she moaned in disappointment.

"Sunshine," he gasped and then groaned as she wiggled against him. "Who was that man that sent us here?"

She stilled, her breasts heaving. "What?"

Pulling back to look at her, he pushed her hair out of her eyes. "That man. Who is he?"

Her expression gave nothing away as she stared at him. "Is that what this is all about?"

He frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

With a sad smile, she pushed herself up off his lap and stood up.

"Where are you going?" he asked, reaching for her.

She gave him a sarcastic smile. "I can't believe I was so stupid."

He remained on the ground, hoping she'd come back. When she didn't, he asked, "What are you talking about?"

She straightened her clothes and turned back around to face him. Her eyes were cold and hard as she said, "You don't have to play these games to seduce the information out of me. You could just ask."

Games? He couldn't believe she would think that. "I'm not playing games, Heather."

She narrowed her eyes at him and wrapped her arms around herself.

So, this was going to take some convincing.

His wolf nearly howled out loud in anticipation.

There was nothing it liked more than the hunt.

Rising to his feet, he stalked her as she retreated, trying to keep some distance between them.

He had to keep his head down so he wouldn’t hit the top of the little cave.

Her back hit the wall behind her, and her eyes widened with every step he took as she watched him come closer and closer. She put out her hands to hold him off, but he ignored her meager attempt to keep him away.

Placing one hand on either side of her shoulders, he caged her in and lowered his head until his mouth was next to her ear.

"Sunshine," he whispered. "You've got it all wrong.

" He nipped at her jaw. "I'm not distracting you with kisses to get information out of you.

" He pressed her into the wall, his body hardening again against her softness.

"Your kisses are distracting me from my questions. "

Capturing her lips with his, he kissed her hard before pulling away just long enough to tell her, "I was about to come in my pants, and was just trying to distract myself.” He kissed the soft corner of her mouth and the tip of her nose.

“I don't really give a shit if you don't tell me anything at all, just as long as you keep kissing me.”