IceHuntersMate

Ice Hunter’s Mate

Marisa Chenery

Book two in the Werewolf Sentinels series.

Being shot in his dire wolf form by
his would-be mate while hunting caribou wasn’t exactly how Wachei expected to
happen upon their first meeting. Heated kisses and passionate embraces, yes,
but not flying bullets.

Eryn wasn’t pleased to see a
strange man standing next to the caribou she’d just brought down. The kill was
hers, and if he thought he could take it from her, he could think again. But
once she comes near, and sees how gorgeous he is, suddenly getting as close as
possible to the sexy stranger is job one.

As the heat between the couple
intensifies, a threat looms, that of a lone wolf the sentinels have crossed
paths with once before. Wachei knows he must bring Eryn into his world a lot
sooner than he’d planned, especially when another threat is discovered—the very
evil he and his wolf brothers were created to destroy is closer to home than
they’d thought.

Ice Hunter’s Mate

Marisa Chenery

Chapter One

In wolf form, Wachei lifted his lupine head and sniffed the
air. He caught the scent of prey, a small herd of caribou. He broke into a
loping run and left the forested area he’d traveled through out onto the
grassland that stretched before him.

It was spring, the long months of the Alaskan winter cold
banished by the warm sunlight. Ten months had passed since Cassidy, his alpha’s
mate, had found Wachei and his five wolf brothers asleep in the ice cave on the
glacier where they’d slept for ten thousand years. During their long slumber,
the great ice had receded, causing them to awaken into a world that was much
different from the one they’d known.

As the very first werewolves, turned by their shaman to be
the sentinels to guard against the evil that was to come, they’d been granted
immortality their descendants hadn’t inherited. They were to have slept until
they were needed, but Edensaw, their alpha, had awakened early when Cassidy had
set off his mating urge. Then he, in turn, had woken the rest of them with an
alpha’s howl.

Wachei ran a little faster as he spotted his prey way off in
the distance. He’d accepted his life in this new world but he missed the old
one. He hadn’t had to hide what he was as he did now. The mortals from this
time knew nothing about werewolves, or even that they existed. Their
descendants had made sure of that.

Closing the distance between him and the caribou, Wachei set
his sights on one. He sent the herd into a panicked run once they spotted him.
With a burst of speed, he shot off after his selected prey.

The wild part of Wachei took over, and he felt the same
thrilling sensation he used to experience while hunting as a mortal with his
spear and bow and arrows. The chase was on and there would be no escaping for
his quarry.

Gunshots rang out just as he was about to launch himself at
the caribou to take it down. The shots hit his prey along with him. Wachei let
out a yelp and slowed as the bullet grazed his chest. The caribou staggered and
its wounded hind leg gave out. A third shot lodged in its head to finish it
off. It crumpled to the ground.

Wachei pulled up short as the scent of a mortal female hit
him in the face as the wind changed direction. He drew it deep into his lungs,
burning it to his mind. His mating urge slammed into him, sending all his
senses into overdrive.

The need to seek out the woman it originated from and make
her his surged through him but he pushed it back. First and foremost, Wachei
couldn’t let his mate see him in wolf form, and even worse, he couldn’t let her
see the still-bleeding wound on his chest.

Knowing he wouldn’t have much time before the woman came to
claim the caribou she’d shot, Wachei took off at a fast run down a small hill.
It didn’t offer much in the way of cover, but it was the best he had in the
wide-open space around him. At the bottom, he took on his human form. Luckily
during the shift his wound had healed enough to seal. Dressed in jeans, t-shirt
and a leather jacket, she wouldn’t know it was there.

He hurried back to the kill. Wachei stood in the direction
the shots had been fired and looked around. With his keen eyesight, it didn’t
take him long to spot the female walking at a fast clip toward him. Even from a
distance he could see her as clear as day. She was beautiful, with long,
dark-brown hair that fell around her shoulders. He lowered his gaze to her
body. It was hard to tell how curvy she was because of the thick jacket she
wore, but her jeans-clad legs were long and slim. As she neared, he saw her
eyes were hazel.

Wachei stepped closer to the caribou and waited for her to
see him. It didn’t take long. Her steps faltered ever so slightly and the rifle
she carried pointed toward the ground lifted a trifle. He dragged in more of
her scent and his cock hardened. He hoped he could think up some kind of
plausible excuse for him to be standing over her kill. Being shot for
mistakenly being taken for a thief wasn’t how he wanted to introduce himself to
his mate.

Eryn spied the man standing next to the caribou she’d taken
down and wondered what the hell he thought he was doing. It was her kill, and
if he tried to take it, he’d have a fight on his hands. Raised with two older
brothers, she knew how to fight dirty to gain the advantage over someone larger
than her.

She stopped a yard away and looked him up and down, doing
her best to give him an intimidating stare. It was hard once she got a good
look at his face, though. The man was gorgeous to the extreme. She easily saw
he was a native with his long black hair and bronzed skin. His brown eyes
seemed to take her in as much as hers did him. He also was tall, which she
always found attractive in a man since she was five-foot-eight. He had to stand
around six-foot-three. With him, she wouldn’t have to worry about wearing high
heels and towering over him.

Eryn gave herself a mental shake. She couldn’t think of him
as a potential man she could date, at least not yet. First, she had to find out
what his intentions were, whether or not he planned to steal her kill out from
under her. It was hard, though. He was so good-looking, the longer she stared
the more her body seemed to melt. Her nipples had already grown taut beneath
her shirt.

She ran her gaze over him again, soaking up every inch of
his muscular body. The jeans he wore accentuated the heavy muscles in his
thighs and calves. His shoulders were wide, same with his chest, which tapered
to a narrow waist. She’d bet any money that without his shirt on she’d find his
upper body was well-defined with a six-pack abs. And the prospect of trying to
get him out of his clothes appealed very much.

Eryn wasn’t about to allow her thoughts to stray any further
in that direction. She closed some of the distance between them and motioned to
the caribou with her rifle. “Do you mind telling me what you’re doing? I hope
you don’t think you’ll claim my kill as your own because that won’t be
happening.”

He ran his gaze over her, leaving a warm path along her skin
in its wake. He gave her a crooked smile. “I wouldn’t do that. You made the
kill shot. I’ll hunt down another one.”

She eyed his leather jacket and running shoes. He wasn’t
exactly dressed to be out hunting. And it was then she noticed he carried no
firearm, not even a bow and arrows. How did he expect to hunt caribou? Did he
think he could chase one down and kill it with his bare hands?

“Good,” she said. “I’ll take my caribou and leave.”

Eryn walked to her kill and looked it over. Her third bullet
had hit it square between the eyes. She’d known her first two shots were way
off as she’d pulled the trigger. Now all she had to do was get the caribou back
to her pickup truck, which was parked not too far away. Luckily the animal was
a smallish female and Eryn shouldn’t have too hard a time carrying it. She’d
been hunting since her early teens and was used to slogging her own kills home.

She shouldered her rifle, slipping her arm through the strap
attached to it, and bent to the caribou. Before she could attempt to pick it
up, the man stopped her.

“Let me help you with that,” he said. “It’ll be too heavy
for you.”

Eryn straightened. She bristled at the last part, but reined
back the quick, angry retort she usually came up with when one of her brothers
called her weak. He wasn’t one of her siblings and only meant to be polite.

“It’s okay. I can manage.”

“I don’t mind. Really.” He came to stand at her side.

“That’s nice of you, but not necessary, I assure you.”

“I want to.”

He tried to move her out of the way, but Eryn didn’t let
him. She went on autopilot and reacted as if he were one of her brothers. She
elbowed him in the gut before she turned and gave him a hard shove while he
tried to recover. It worked like a charm, as it always did. With him not
expecting it, she managed to catch him off guard and pushed with enough force
for him to stumble back. She watched him land on his butt.

Realizing she’d used one of her “brother attacks” on a total
stranger, Eryn winced. She stepped closer and offered him a hand up. “I’m so
sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

He looked up at her. A wide smile spread across his face. It
did wicked things to her body and she gasped as a surge of lust tore through
her. God, if he smiled like that a lot, Eryn was sure women fell under his
spell at the drop of a hat. She had and she didn’t normally go crazy over any
man.

He chuckled, which Eryn couldn’t help but find sexy as well.
He accepted her hand and allowed her to help him back up on his feet. Once he
stood, he continued to hold it. “That’s all right. I guess I should have
listened when you told me no. I’m Wachei.”

“Eryn. My name is Eryn,” she said. Her voice sounded breathy
and she quickly cleared her throat. “I’m still sorry I shoved you. I don’t make
it a practice of pushing over people I don’t know. I have two older brothers
who like to bug the crap out of me and rile my temper. I reacted with my gut
instinct.”

Wachei smiled again and shifted his hand that held hers so
he could rub his thumb back and forth across the pulse point on the inside of
her wrist. That brushing contact had her heart beating at a faster rate. An
ache built deep inside Eryn’s pussy. She did her best to ignore it as she tried
to regain her wits so she wouldn’t end up sounding like a babbling idiot when
she spoke again.

“Now I understand,” Wachei said. “I’m not saying you can’t
handle your kill on your own, but I’d still like to help you. It will give me
the excuse to spend more time with you. Will you let me?”

Eryn had to bite back the urge to giggle like a silly
teenager, something she tended to do when she was nervous. And Wachei suddenly
made her feel that way in spades. He’d gone from being just some man to one who
seemed interested in her. For some reason, he had her reacting to him like she
wouldn’t with another man she found attractive. Instead of wanting to take the
time to get to know him first, she was hoping he’d ask her out right then and
there. He was one she didn’t want to let slip through her fingers.

She nodded. “Since you’re being so nice about it, I guess
you can.”

He stroked the inside of her wrist one final time before he
released her. “Great. I’ll carry the caribou and you lead the way.”

Wachei stepped closer to her kill and bent at the waist to
lift the caribou up onto his back to carry across his broad shoulders. That
wasn’t how Eryn had planned to carry it to her pickup truck. Inside her
backpack she had a tarp and some rope. She’d planned to wrap the kill up in it
and use the rope to pull it to where she was parked. The way Wachei had lifted
it he made it appear as if the caribou weighed next to nothing.

And seeing him standing there like that with some of his
long hair blowing in the breeze, Eryn could almost picture him in buckskin,
dressed in traditional native clothing.

“Are you all set?” she asked.

“I’ve got it.”

“All right. My pickup isn’t too far from here.”

“I’ll be fine. It’s isn’t too heavy.”

With a nod, she turned in the direction they needed to go
and set off. Wachei fell into step beside her. They walked in silence. Eryn had
no idea what to say to get the conversation going again. Her mind kept drawing
blanks. Usually, she had no trouble talking to men. Having grown up with
brothers it had never been an issue for her, not even as a teenager when most
girls that age became shy around the opposite sex.
This is ridiculous.
She only had to open her mouth and say something, anything.

“You said you were hunting, but I don’t see any firearms on
you.” Eryn inwardly cringed once she finished speaking. That was a terrific
conversation starter, accusing Wachei of lying to her. First, she pushed him
over onto his butt, now this. She wouldn’t be surprised if he dropped the
caribou and walked away.

But Wachei didn’t seem to take it as an insult. He chuckled.
“I don’t exactly hunt in the conventional way.”

When he didn’t elaborate, Eryn said, “Okay, whatever that
means. Do you hunt like that a lot?”

“Maybe half the time. I also use a bow and arrow.”

She nodded. “I’ve only ever hunted with a rifle, but I’ve
always wanted to try it that way. I’d have to be taught, though.”

Wachei met her gaze. “I could teach you. It’s not that
hard.”

“You’d do that?”

“Sure. Why not?”

Eryn wanted to jump at the chance to see Wachei again, but
she didn’t want to look desperate or anything. So she pretended to think it
over. While they walked, she couldn’t help noticing how he stepped without
making a sound, even with the heavy load he carried on his back. He moved like
a hunter. He also seemed to be aware of everything around them. His gaze kept
scanning the area in front of them, as if he was always on the lookout. It sort
of gave him a wild look, making him seem to be in tune with the nature around
him.

“All right,” she finally said. “I’d like you to teach me how
to use a bow and arrow to hunt. When would you be available?”

“How about tomorrow? I’m free. What about you?”

The prospect of seeing Wachei the next day appealed to Eryn
a lot. She nodded. “I can do that. I don’t have to go back to work until the
following Monday. I took this week off as part of my holidays. Where and when
would you like to meet up?”

“How about right here, and sometime in the late morning? We
can make a day of it, if you want.”

They stopped walking once they reached her pickup. Eryn
opened the tailgate and stepped aside for Wachei to put the caribou in the bed.
Same as when he’d picked it up off the ground, he made it look as if he carried
something that wasn’t heavy at all. Once he’d laid it in the center of the bed
she closed the tailgate again.