“Well, that was interesting,” Gavin remarked as he watched Calder toss Daisy over his shoulder and haul her away.

“Very. So, you care to tell me what’s going on?” Bailey craned her neck up to look directly into his eyes.

“It’s a long story.”

Surprised by the sweet smile that crossed his face, Bailey countered, “I’ve got time.”

“Fine, but let’s grab something to eat. I’m starving and the food smells delicious.”

“Lead the way.” Bailey motioned to the table with the food.

Once they had their plates and found a spot to sit, Gavin started.

“I’ve been hanging around the pack for a while now, but didn’t make my presence known.”

“What does that mean? Is that how you hid your scent from me earlier today?”

“Yeah, sorry about that. Not a lot of packs are cool with having a grizzly in their midst. Anyway, I had a spell placed on my great-grandmother’s amulet a while back,” Gavin explained.

Bailey flinched, not liking the thought of being mixed up with someone who was into witchcraft.

“It’s not like that. I paid a witch to create a spell to hide my scent. That’s all. I swear.”

“Well, that’s not so bad. I can see where it would come in handy. How long has Calder known what you are?”

“Not long,” Gavin tried to dodge the answer, but Bailey would have none of it.

“How long?” she asked again.

“He came to me today about a problem he was having with some bears. Apparently, he’d known who and what I was the moment I stepped foot on pack land.”

“So the spell doesn’t work on him?”

“Let’s just say that Calder has his own unique abilities and was able to see right through it.”

Bailey would have to file that information away for a later date. Maybe she’d ask Daisy what Gavin meant by unique abilities.

“And when you bumped into me today? What was that all about? You had to have known what I was the second you saw me.”

“I did. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe you were out walking around in broad daylight, on wolf pack territory without masking your scent. I thought you were insane! And I was worried about your safety.”

“So you decided to knock me into a puddle?” Bailey took a bite of her burger as she awaited Gavin’s answer.

“No. That was actually an accident. I got distracted and wasn’t paying attention.”

“Distracted by what?” Bailey wondered what could have possibly been on his mind.

“Um—you. And my bear. He was shouting pretty loudly in my head at the time.”

Was that an actual blush? Bailey thought she was the only one who did that. “What do you mean? Me? And what was your bear shouting at you about?”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope,” Bailey took another bite of her food and tried to give her best you-better-fucking-answer-me look.

 

***

Gavin swallowed half of his burger before looking back up at Bailey. He wanted to be honest with her. He wanted to tell her that one look at her had his cock harder than a rock and all he could think about was fucking her until she screamed his name. That and claiming her as his mate, but he didn’t want to scare her away.

The only thing he knew about her was her name and the fact that she didn’t live in the area. He had no idea how she’d react.

“Guess it’s time to find out,” his bear said.

“Wish us luck. We’re going to need it.”

Bailey stopped eating and looked at him expectantly. God, she was gorgeous. Her dark hair hung perfectly around her heart-shaped face. He wanted to kiss her plump lips until they were swollen from his kisses.

“I was chopping wood this afternoon when the most amazing scent caught my attention. I dropped everything to set off in search of the scent that teased each of my senses.” Gavin looked deep into Bailey’s eyes.

“Imagine my surprise when I saw you walking out of the convenience store, and realized the most exotic scent I’d ever breathed was coming from you. It took all of my willpower and then some to keep from shifting right there in the middle of the street and claiming you as my mate the very second your scent slammed into me.”

“I—I don’t know what to say.” Bailey pushed her plate away and took a deep breath. “That’s kind of how I felt when I scented you for the first time.”

“Would you like to go for a walk? Maybe get away from here for a little bit?” Gavin held his breath, waiting for Bailey to answer.

“I’d like that, but I need to let Gerri and Daisy know first.”