Chapter 7

Devin paced by the painting for what was probably the fiftieth time. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! What the hell is wrong with me? I went there to get rid of her and instead I fixed her tent and gave her free run of my space. He stopped and stared at the painting, the exact image of the woman he had just spoke to. Rayne? Not, rain, but the way she pronounced it, Rayne. The summer storm had brought Rayne, which was too ironic—even for him.

He stepped directly in front of the painting and leaned in until he was looking at her face. He squinted at it. How? How the hell did I paint her so precisely? It was as if he’d been holding a photo of her in the other hand. What the hell was going on? Did he want to know, probably not, but he was going to find out.

His eyes, without permission, skimmed over the image of her body. He’d gotten each curved proportion dead on, but that wasn’t what had his guts churning like a tornado. This feeling was caused by her eyes. They were so pale, so reflective, so not the color normal humans had. Am I being paranoid? Most likely. He knew ordinary humans had blue eyes, but hers weren’t the normal blue, just as his weren’t any typical hue for humans. Yet, he couldn’t help but be drawn to her eyes and wonder. His clan had pale eyes, the purebreds that was, and he’d never seen anyone not a part of his gene pool with a shade so pale. That shade. He glared at the canvas again.

Shaking his head, Devin tried to rid it of the ridiculous thoughts. He stomped over to the window and leaned on the sill, looking out trying to find peace. Perfect! He’d told her where the lake and shower were and now, as he looked out the window to stop thinking about her, there she was, walking along the shore on her way to the shower. His body hardened just seeing her. He looked down, as if it were a foreign thing. Judging by the bulge in the front of his jeans, his body really liked her. “What is going on?” He shook his head again, and looked back out the window. “Who are you and why are you messing with me, just by existing?”

Devin scowled as she went into the building. Dare I open the window, or will I smell her again? Never having been a flower man, one smelled as sweet as the next, so why did he know she smelled of gardenias and why did it get to him the way it did? Hesitantly, he opened the window and inhaled a quick snort. No gardenias. Good. Fine. That was more like it. So, if he didn’t want to smell her or see her, why was he still standing here watching for her to come out of the building? He backed away a few feet, but his traitorous eyes were looking out the pane of glass. I’m losing my bloody mind, that’s it. My mother was right and being here alone this long has affected me adversely. He drew his brows together to the point it was uncomfortable. The last thing he was going to do was admit his mother was right about anything. Doing that was the same as waving a sign and telling her to start hooking him up with every damned woman that had potential to further their line. Huffing out a loud breath, knowing, just knowing he was on the right track with that thought.

Rolling his shoulders, he tried to get the tension to drop away. He took a few relaxed steps then found himself perched against the window ledge, not to watch for her, just to lounge and think this through. “When I’m ready, I’ll find my own woman.” He crossed his arms and nodded. “If she’s not one of my own, then that’s fine.” He shrugged, “My sister’s mate was accepted and he isn’t one of us.” Devin rubbed a hand over his forehead. His mind was going in ten directions and he didn’t like it. He’d originally left because of women of his own kind. He’d gone away to gain control and a new perspective until he was ready to find a mate that he wanted—not just because his body said to. He looked back towards the shower building where the petite Rayne was still inside. “You’re undoing my resolve, Rayne. I can’t be messing with you and keep my word at the same time.” He ran a hand through his hair hoping it would help to settle his mind. She had him so messed up he wasn’t able to think straight. “You’re not my kind. I’d smell it if you were.” He looked back down at the building. “But the way you smell does something to me, and until I know why you are going to stay out of my head.” He snorted. “Devin, you’ve lost it and should go back to bed and stay there until your brain has returned.” He wasn’t in the habit of talking out loud to himself.

Just as he started to turn away from the window a scent drifted in the window. Gardenias, and it was much stronger than before. His vision zoomed to the building to see her standing and looking out at the lake. She was only wearing a towel! Why hadn’t she taken clothes? She couldn’t just wander around in a towel for god’s sake! Even as he told his head to turn away, he was taking in every inch of flesh he could see. She had legs that were perfectly shaped and just the right length. Put some heels on those and just her legs alone would be able to stop traffic and have every male mesmerized. A perfect ass wasn’t enough? She had to have legs that I’d love to lick and caress. His already hard erection pulsed at the thought.

She turned and headed back up the path and he was almost leaning out the window, just to get a closer look. Dammit! He turned and headed towards the door. He wasn’t going to go see her or get close, he was just—what? Going to spy on her? Ogle her? I have to figure out why she was getting to me, right? To do that he’d have to observe her. It was a flimsy reason, but it was the only one he could come up with as he hit the bush at a brisk jog and headed to the spot in the trees he knew she’d have to pass to get back to her car. He paused long enough to pull his shirt over his head. Hanging it quickly on a branch, he unbuckled his belt and worked to make his jeans quickly follow. He muttered a curse when his jeans hit the boots, still on his feet. As he plucked them off and tossed the jeans on top, he wished that movies were the truth and shifting with clothes on was a possibility. Unfortunately, shifting while still dressed didn’t turn out that way, the clothes did not stretch, adapt or magically dissolve. Instead they ripped, got tangled in body parts not meant to fit them or just hurt, period.

He smirked before turning to head through the thick treed area. By the time he’d gone no more than four feet, almost at a run, all four paws working with smooth precise motion to take him close enough to see her without being seen. This time he remembered and jumped in time to clear the downed tree without stumbling. As he reached the area he’d been heading to, he stopped and sniffed the air to scent where she was. He’d gotten here before her. Crouching low, he moved over to stand behind the largest trunk in the area, hiding himself in a dark spot, so she could pass without seeing him. Devin focused on his breathing and made sure he wasn’t panting loud enough that she might hear.

When he was positive he was hidden, noise moved up the path. She’d thought to wear her shoes with the towel, as the ground echoed her steps. Quickly, he moved down to the ferns covering the ground, almost lying down so he wouldn’t be visible even if she was looking around. Hopefully he’d succeeded as he wasn’t a small creature to hide. A long piece of the fern was in front of his face, so he had to swipe at it with his nose a few times before he could see under. Briefly, he thought of how ridiculous he looked, a wolf hiding under ferns to spy on an almost naked woman. He thought he should get up and go back to the house and was just about to move when the smell of gardenias filled his senses and he froze. Even in this form she got to him. This wasn’t a good thing. He was in control of his wolf, but animal instincts were hard to override, even by someone that had practised for over a decade.

Devin watched the ground and saw her feet and the cute little white running shoes on them as she stepped in his direction. He moved his eyes, keeping his chin close to the ground and leisurely took in those legs from this perfect height. They were as he’d thought and probably the most appealing, shapely legs ever. She had those cute womanly knees and sexy thighs. He looked at the bottom of the towel and swallowed, she’d stopped with her back to him and was looking at something on the other side of the path.

He swallowed again slowly and let his eyes take in the back of her thighs. If he’d thought she wouldn’t freak right out, he’d dart out of his hiding spot, grab that towel and yank it off. The thought evaporated when she bent over slightly to touch one of the... he couldn’t even remember what the damn wildflower was called right now, as he got a brief peak of that perfect ass—without a stitch on. Devin knew his jaw was open and his tongue most definitely was hanging out as he could taste fern, but he couldn’t move. He was only able to follow her movement with his eyes as she walked right by him, continuing to her little camping area.

He was still lying there when she was out of sight. This was all wrong. His reaction wasn’t normal at all. Okay, some of it was very normal, he was male, whether in animal or human form–but this dizzying rush he got just looking at her was, well, he didn’t know what, but knew he’d never felt it before.

Huffing out a breath, he finally stood back up and turned to where he’d left his clothes. He looked once in the direction he knew she would be, wanting nothing more than to follow her, just sit and watch —for the rest of the day. He shook his head. No, he was taking his furry ass back to the house and calling his father. If anyone would know what the hell was wrong with him, it would be his father. He is, after all, the alpha and ruler of not just the pack but the entire shifter world, so he would know, wouldn’t he?

It was rare that Devin spoke to his father about anything related to their kind. It had always been a sore spot between them. He’d fought being the next in line to take over the pack, but today he needed fatherly wisdom and advice—or answers—before he lost his mind completely. The fact that he was willing to swallow his pride, pride that the Addison family was notorious for, and seek guidance from someone showed he was neck deep in some kind of trouble.

After dressing, he wandered back to the house at a leisurely pace, not wanting to rush and make the call. Just by taking that first step and calling his father, Devin would be giving in to what they wanted for him, in a small way. This alone caused the procrastination. He knew his parents wanted him to step into his so called rightful place as alpha of the pack. If it were just that, Devin may have already agreed by now. By taking over the wolf pack, he was also stepping into the role as the ruler of the Shifter Alliance.

He knew the history behind the Alliance and was all for it, Devin just didn’t know if he was the one to take on the enormous responsibility. His father believed he was being wise to stop and consider all aspects. Mother’s take on it was that he was being irresponsible.

Devin’s sister had taken the easy way out. She had mated with a non-shifter, or a one-form as most shifters called them, as they only had one form. He could do that and marry a one-form too, hopefully he would love that person wholly as his sister, Raquel, did. To mate with one of his own left Devin no choice but to take the succession that was his fathers to give. He didn’t like having his options removed any more than he liked to think he would take the easy way out.

The shifter world hadn’t always been so organized and peaceful. He shook his head, peace was still something that was hard fought for with infighting constantly flaring up among the varying clans in the many species. In the time of his great-grandparents, and for most of his grandparents’ lives, each were out for their own. After too many years of bloodshed with certain species being close to extinct, it was decided that the Alliance was necessary to protect them in their human and animal forms from one-forms, hunters and at times the different clans.

It took years to establish the Alliance of the clans. Each clan had a leader and a sub-leader, both of whom were part of the council, but just one clan would rule as the monarch and be the ruler of the Alliance. He’d always found it odd that the wolves ended up being the ones elected for this honor. Odd in the way that he knew most of the larger shifters could probably tromp him into the ground when in his wolf form, well, if they could catch him and get past him biting their limbs off. Possibly that was the reason the wolves reigned, their cunning was far more advantageous than the quick temper and brute strength of the larger forms.

Devin glanced up to see his door only a few feet away and regretted that he’d reached it so soon. Yes, he was a Prince in hiding. He could not make this phone call and just allow the next in line to take his place, then he thought of his selfish, arrogant cousin, Leon, and Devin made the choice to open the door and go make the call.

With a beer in hand, Devin stared at the phone that he’d just hung up. His father had understood and been tactful enough to not rub it in his face that finally he needed dear old dad. He took another long swig of the beer and swallowed quickly. The fact that he didn’t like the answer wasn’t the problem. The problem was that he really hadn’t liked the answers, even though his gut told him that his father was right, and now he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t like it when he wasn’t in control of something and Devin was definitely not in control of this.

He slid further down on the couch and leaned his head back against it. Closing his eyes, Devin thought of the highlights of the conversation, hoping he’d missed something that would prove he had a choice. “Does she smell like pack, son?” He’d had to confess he had been afraid to get close enough to smell her, that all he could say for sure was Rayne smelled like gardenias. His father had chuckled and told him that was close enough. How the hell did smelling like gardenias come close to smelling like pack? He’d figure that part out later. Devin had asked if he could think of any other reason for her to affect him so completely, other than the reason he didn’t want to hear. His father had chuckled again, not something he’d ever done that often but he told him no, even if he’d been without sex for a decade—not happening—no ordinary woman would get to him that way. That range of emotions was the way he’d tastefully put it. That was an understatement. In a matter of a few hours I wanted to hug and hold her, shelter and protect her, follow her every movement, fuck her and adore every inch of her in a non-sexual way. Those emotions were more than enough to deal with.

Devin opened his eyes and drank what was left in the bottle in one swallow. “You’ve found your true mate from the sounds of it, Devin, and you can’t change that. Only you can decide if you want to bond with her completely or not… if she’ll have you.” That was not the answer he wanted. “But she’s not one of us.” Had been the only defense he had and it was a weak one at that. “She could be— I’m fairly certain she must be, or you, being who you are, would not react this way.” Again, not even close to what he wanted to hear his father and alpha say. “How can you be sure?” That was when his father had started laughing before he’d regained his composure and cleared his throat to continue. “You couldn’t send her away, could you?” No, had come out of Devin’s mouth, sulky in a way he’d never heard from his own voice. “I’ve never known you to have a soft spot for anyone, son, have you?”

Devin gripped the bottle tight in his hand. Well, fuck! I have a mate and she smells like gardenias. Now he sat there trying to figure out if he should go back to bed and try to wake up from this nightmare, or go roll around at her feet and hope she rubbed his belly.

He tipped the bottle back up to his mouth and then remembered it was empty. Lowering it again, he glared. “What if I don’t want a mate?” Years ago he had thought that was what he’d wanted, but that fantasy had long ago faded away. One of his best friends had found their mate and had died because of it. He’d seen too many males from the pack, and the rest of the shifter clans lose everything because of a mate that wouldn’t accept them. Why was it up to the female? He didn’t know. What if he went to her and she rejected him?

Lowering the bottle into his lap, he rolled his head to the side to look at the window. She was out there and the only question pounding inside his skull was did he want her to be? He didn’t know. Hormones aside, he honestly didn’t know if he wanted to go find out if she was his, or if she was one of his kind and knew it. What he was, Devin decided, was a mess.

The only thing he could do to prevent this disaster from destroying his world was to control it. She was not going to get to him—he was in control. It would be him who decided if mating was going on the program, and it would be him and no one else that chose when it would happen.