Chapter 14

As Devin cleaned his paintbrushes, he looked around the landscape. Coming out and painting in the fresh air had been a good idea. It had been a long time since he’d painted anywhere except in the studio. His mind wasn’t co-operating completely by thinking only of painting. It was bouncing from past to present with a constant annoying pace.

Devin’s past was one of trials, heartache, and things he didn’t want to relive. Before coming here to work, he refused to believe he was hiding, he had come dangerously close to giving away the only part of himself he held sacred. His heritage. Devin may not be ready to step to the head of the line, but he was in no way ashamed of his family or his kind. He had been one breath from telling Leeann who and what he was when he’d found her with another man—after that he lost his temper and control of his wolf, leaving no need to tell her. She had been repulsed and scared at the same time.

Stopping, he looked down at his hands. A normal pair of man’s hands holding a paintbrush. At least there was no shaking when he thought about Leeann, that was progress.

Without warning his mind skipped right back to thinking about Rayne. He could still taste her, and as hard as he tried not to think about kissing her, it was as if she was now burning inside of him. What am I going to do about the appealing woman that invades my every thought? What if my father is right and she is my mate? Devin rolled his eyes at his own denial. He knew she was his mate. He wasn’t sure how exactly, he just felt it. What if I do get too close to her and I lose control of my wolf again? With all the if’s he was feeling, he knew one thing for sure, he wasn’t ready to find out what would happen.

Inhaling deeply, Devin froze and began to look around. He could smell citronella and knew there was nothing on his land with that particular scent. At least he’d had nothing on his land that didn’t have two sexy legs with that scent. Rayne was nearby. What is she doing this far from the camp? Was she trying to get lost or hurt? Slowly turning, he inhaled trying to pinpoint where she was. Stopping, he looked down the far trail at the bottom of the hill. She’d been in the densest part of the bush. He tensed every muscle in his body, forcing himself to stand there and not go rushing to find her. Surely, she had some sense of direction. He scanned the trees, trying to find her.

Devin took one step forward, then paused when he spotted her wandering along without even looking where she was walking. He thought for a moment, trying to recall if there were any ditches along that area. His heart thudded when she tumbled right from his sight. He gave her to the count of ten to reappear before he took off to find her. He heard her laughing. The sound of it tickled along his skin and he had no choice but to shake his head while he smiled. She popped back up again, walking out of the long grass and brushing off her jeans. She fiddled with her camera for a few seconds. It must have been all right because she lifted it to her face again and aimed it up towards where he stood. She stopped moving and lowered it slowly, still looking in his direction. Devin fought to stay where he was and not go down to her. Just seeing her standing there pulled at him in ways he couldn’t identify. His heart sped up as he clenched his jaw to focus and control his body from taking that first step towards her. She took two steps in his direction and then stopped and lowered her head for a few seconds. When she lifted it once again and looked squarely at him, he was sure she was going to come to him. Instead, she turned and moved quickly into the long grass she had come from.

Frowning, Devin watched where she had gone for a few heartbeats. It was good she hadn’t come over, that saved him from trying to decide what to do if she had, yet it bothered him that she’d just walked away. He looked back to where she had last stood for several moments before he went back over to where he’d been painting. Studying the canvas, he sighed, any notion of painting now was completely gone.