Chapter Three

Liv was surprised at how disappointed she had been to not hear back from Asta about getting her hair braided before she had to return to the forest to work, though, in all honesty, there hadn't been that much time. She had to leave the next morning. She didn't often think that much about her appearance, but something about the intricate braiding had called to her.

"Oh, well, ponytails have worked up to this point," she murmured to herself, as she finished packing her Jeep for the hour-long trip to her campsite for the next several weeks. "They'll just have to continue doing the job."

The young woman and her hulking, tattooed brother had captured her thoughts while she had packed the previous evening. She wasn't sure what it was that seemed to draw her thoughts to them so often. There was something familiar about them that niggled at her brain, yet they were the most unique looking people she had met since her move to Wyoming. Obviously, she would have remembered if she had met them before. She'd have to ask around about them when she was back in town, but for now, it was off to the woods.

Liv had managed to get her camp set up and was getting ready to boil some hot water for coffee when she first caught sight of disconcertingly light blue eyes watching her from the edge of the woods. She froze. Wolves didn't usually venture so close to a campsite, especially before dark. She hoped something wasn't wrong with it. Her air horn and shotgun were both still in her jeep. It was only a few feet away but felt like a mile. She knew she couldn't outrun the beast if it decided to attack her.

"Hey there, beautiful," she called tentatively in a singsong voice, as she slowly came up from a crouch. "You don't want to eat me, right? I'm sure I'd be all tough and stringy. And my lotion probably tastes really yucky as well."

The animal cocked its head at her and sat without any aggression in its posture. The expression was so much like Mimi, the German Shepard she had grown up with, that she was taken aback. Could this be someone's pet rather than a wild wolf? She hadn't come across any other campers on her way into the forest, but wolves could roam for miles. The eyes were so unusual on this one, too. Maybe it was a half-breed with a Husky? She'd never seen a full-blooded wolf with eyes that color. The fur was extraordinary as well, long and silver with just a hint of black at the root and over her eyes like someone had taken an eyebrow pencil and fashioned her perfect brows to accent her beautiful eyes. She was obviously female with the more delicate bone structure and silkier coat.

"You're just curious, right?" she continued to talk softly to the wolf as she slowly tried to make her way to her Jeep. "Never seen anyone out this far in the woods before?"

The wolf continued to stare at her unblinkingly with those bright eyes. Her ears were the only part of her that moved, as if she was contemplating what Liv was telling her.

Liv finally reached her Jeep but as she raised the back hatch, the female suddenly leapt up and gracefully loped away through the trees. Liv took a long, deep breath. She'd been shocked at the sight of the wolf so close and nervous about not having any way to defend herself, but, somehow, she had never truly felt in danger.

Those eyes were so familiar.

 

***

 

"Brother!" Brodi raised his head at his sister's call. He had been going over the never-ending paperwork that went along with managing their foundation and investments. He welcomed any distraction he could get.

"What's happening, baby sister?" He laced his hands behind his head and stretched as Asta came running through his study door.

"I was down near Four Corners and there's a woman camped there. The woman." Brodi raised his eyebrows in question. "The one from town, Liv Fenrir. I never dreamed she'd come so close to our property. What do you want to do?"

Brodi's posture instantly shifted. Every muscle in his body tensed at the thought of her being so close. The woman called Fenrir. Surely it couldn't be a coincidence.

"I've got to speak to Finn." Brodi tried to quench the lick of hope that flared in his chest. He kissed Asta on the top of her head as he ducked out of the room. "Thank you, sister."

Quickly finding his second, Finn and Brodi loped silently across the forest floor toward the campground. With their heightened vision in their shifted state and the full moon illuminating their way, the dark woods were almost as bright as day. The small human campground was only five miles from the pack compound. It was an easy run to check out this woman with the name of the Norse wolf born of the god Loki.

His nose to the wind, Brodi skidded to a halt when a captivating scent curled around his head and teased his nostrils. Finn stopped and trotted back to his chief. They spoke in their telepathic language, Rhuhi, that they used in their wolf forms.

"What's wrong, Alpha? We have another mile to the campground."

"Don't you smell that?" Brodi stood stock still, staring into the darkness. He sniffed again. That scent, intoxicating. It wrapped around his senses until nothing else could penetrate. His fur rippled across his body in pleasure. His eyes closed and a low growl hummed through his deep chest. Finn tilted his head in confusion but raised his long nose to give a deep sniff. "Nothing but trees, leaf mold, a deer in the distance, maybe. Nothing unusual. What do you think it is?"

"I don't know, something…magical.” Without warning, Brodi shifted to his human form and Finn quickly followed suit, alarmed.

“Alpha!” Finn whispered furiously. “What are you doing?”

Brodi didn’t answer him but continued to stand, sniffing the air as if in a trance. A slight smile played on the harsh planes of his face. Despite the cold, he felt his cock standing to attention, his arousal growing as the intoxicating fragrance danced through his body and mind.

Finn watched his alpha, concerned. Even when the curse gripped him, the man had more control than anyone he had ever known. He'd never seen him like this. And for what? He couldn’t figure it out. He didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary at all.

“Brodi, what is it, brother?” Finn continued to scan the trees furiously, desperate to find what was causing his alpha to act so out of character.

Brodi started to walk slowly along the animal track they had been following to the campground. “I’m not sure. I just know I need to find her.” Her? Where had that come from? But he knew it as sure as his own name. “Yes, that’s it - a female. That’s it. I must find her.”

He started to move more quickly, ignoring the branches lashing his human skin, and the stones and sticks bruising his feet.

“Alpha, wait!” Finn caught up in three quick strides and put a hand to Brodi’s shoulder to try to stop him. Brodi simply shook him off and continued on as if in a trance. Finn could do nothing but try to keep up with his much longer strides.

Soon, they were at the edge of the campground. Finn saw the smoldering fire in the stone lined pit and a large, family-sized tent pitched near a red Jeep Cherokee. He jumped in front of Brodi before he walked straight into the middle of it all. “Alpha!” he hissed, putting his hands firmly against Brodi’s strong chest. “Stop, before you are seen!” When Brodi continued to push against him, he said a quick prayer to Odin, and slapped his alpha hard across the face.

Brodi blinked slowly then focused on Finn’s panicked face. “Finn? Wha..” He felt a sting on his cheek. “Where are we? Did you just hit me?"

Finn huffed a relieved breath and pulled him back several steps until they were concealed in the dark shadows of the trees. “Yes. I beg your forgiveness, Alpha, but I couldn't get your attention,” Finn whispered. “You shifted, said something about you needing to find her, and took off through the woods. I couldn’t get you to stop. You were about to walk right into the human's camp." He scanned Brodi up and down. "Like that."

Brodi looked down at himself and saw the bleeding scratches covering his body and felt the pain on the bottom of his feet. He also noted he was so hard it was almost painful. Before he could ask more questions, the tantalizing scent came again. His head tipped back, and he groaned in pleasure. A shudder ran through him. “She’s here,” he said huskily.

Brodi felt Finn take a strong hold of his shoulders and give him a quick shake. Brodi would normally never be manhandled this way, but these were extenuating circumstances. “You have to shift, Alpha. Heal your injuries and hide yourself. If there is a woman here, she’s going to panic if she sees a huge, tattooed, strange man walking into her camp. Shift, man!" Brodi finally heard his friend's words. He dropped his head, sighed heavily, and with more effort than it had required in centuries, shifted. Finn quickly followed suit in relief. He nudged Brodi back into the tree line and they started to circle the camp.

The woman seemed to be alone. There was no evidence of any other presence. Brodi couldn't understand how Finn couldn't smell the honeysuckle and vanilla which was probably in the human's lotion or shampoo. He could smell that too as well as the lingering smell of coffee in the air as well as frying meat, hot dogs. But overlying all these basic scents was the one that tugged at his very soul. Something unique to this female he had never scented before. He couldn't help but follow it and quickly found himself closing in on the woman's bright orange tent. Finn rushed to his side, calling to him in Rhuhi.

"Alpha! What are you doing?"

"Can you not scent her, brother? It is the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. I don't just smell it. It has invaded all my senses and my mind. I feel...alive!" Brodi shuddered again. He tried to move closer to the tent, but Finn blocked him with his body.

"I smell nothing but camp smells and a regular human woman." Brodi heard Finn chuff in astonishment. His eyes widened as a possibility seized him. "Brother, could she be the one? The one we have traveled so far and long to find?"

Brodi's head whipped around. He had not let himself hope that the woman with the Norse Wolf name could be the one they had been seeking for all these centuries. She was just a human. How could it be possible? He met his advisor's shocked eyes.

"I don't know, Finn. I just know I've never experienced anything like this before and you're experiencing nothing unusual." He turned his head back to the tent. 'I must see her, brother."

"We should get Kelda. Let her meet the woman first. Whatever this spell that is being cast on you, she should evaluate it before you place yourself in danger! You are not in control, Alpha!"

Brodi glared at Finn. He felt an overwhelming need to see this woman, to touch her, to claim her in the marrow of his bones. He retained just enough control to understand that his feelings were not reasonable, and he fought against them. He knew Finn was right, but it was the hardest thing he had ever had to do to force himself to start to turn from her tent. Then he heard her voice and heard the teeth of a zipper parting.