“I’m a normal person,” I answered, but Oryn lifted my knuckles to his nose, sniffing them.

“Fire. Burnt wood. Makes the hair on my arms stand on end.” Yet his fingers intertwined with mine. “How did you make my wolf retreat again?”

My attempt to focus left me fogged as my focal point remained on our joined palms, and the desire to snuggle closer, crawl into his embrace, and have him tell me again how I was his again.

Heavens, what was wrong with me? How could both Nero and Oryn drive me wild? Or did all wolves have this effect on humans? Oryn rubbed the back of my hand with a thumb, reminding me he waited for an answer.

“I’ve always been able to amplify the strength of herbs, but I don’t understand why my touch affects you. If it helps, that’s a good thing, right?”

He nodded and a lock of his black hair draped over his face. I reached over and pushed it aside, but he caught my wrist and inhaled my scent. “The sweetest flower floats behind the electric scent. It calls to my wolf, but it shouldn’t.” Oryn dropped his hold and drew away.

“Why not?” The same magnetic pull I had with Nero now lulled me to Oryn as if a cord kept us together, and the distance between us ached deep in my chest. My attraction made no sense, but I kept trailing after him.

He jerked around, stopping me in my tracks near the entrance, the lagoon in the cave rippling from the waterfall about fifteen feet away. “Because we’re from different worlds. As a human, even with magic, you’re not supposed to affect my wolf.”

An icy breeze from outside brushed against me and goose bumps coated my skin. “But you felt something, right? Just like me.” I raised my voice over the cascade. And like with Nero.

“I can’t offer you anything,” he replied.

Stiffening, I crossed my arms. “I’m not asking you for anything. Just trying to understand what’s happening to us.” I turned away, fire hitting my cheeks. Who did he think he was? Heavens, I came across as a desperate girl instead of reining in my emotions, my urges. Everything in the Den twisted me inside out and shoved aside logic. I loved order and rational thinking, but I seemed to have left those back home. And just thinking of my store and Santos had worry slithering through my stomach. Was he okay? And I’d let Bee down by not supplying her wolfsbane in time. And how would I ever make it home alive?

Sunlight glinted through the watery curtain, and for a few moments, I mistook the place for tranquility. The explosion of grunts and barks from outside killed that fantasy.

“We’re not going anywhere for a while,” Oryn said as he retreated into the cave, taking a seat next to the fire.

With a long exhale, I stood there, frustration worming through me. “I need to get home.”

“Good luck.”

His response had me tensing, and I spun to face him. “What is your problem? Is it me—because I’m a human?”

“I don’t know you,” he snapped, “but you helped me break out of my wolf form and for that I’ll get you back to my cabin.”

Chewing on a hangnail, I studied the way he never blinked while holding my stare. Was that how he dealt with everyone… intimidating them into submission? “Can you take me to the human border instead?”

“No. We won’t make it that far with my pack in attack mode.” He ran a hand through his long hair and turned away, facing the fire. “The wolves out there are my family and I don’t want to hurt them if possible, so I’ll do what it takes to avoid that.” When he spun around, his expression hardened. “Your touch. Would it work on my wolves?”

“No idea. I didn’t even know it would help you. My ability amplifies herbs and has never impacted a person before.” Except he wasn’t a normal person, but a wolf shifter. “Who knows? It might.”

“Once it quiets outside, I’ll capture a wolf and bring him to you to try. Deal?”

A sudden coldness tightened around my lungs. “Wouldn’t you be giving away our location? What if it bit me?”

“We’ll do it outdoors once most of the wolves leave. Until then, rest.”

I joined him and warmed up by the flames. The silence turned awkward despite the fact that earlier I’d been contemplating jumping into his arms like a crazed horny beast. This wasn’t me in the slightest. I didn’t kiss boys on the first date, let alone allow them to get me to hang from the ceiling while they brought me to orgasm. My cheeks burned at the memory. This might be normal for wolves—fight and have sex day in and out. Though the latter wasn’t too bad if all the shifters resembled the three I’d encountered.

With a deep inhale, I glanced around at the space at the rear of the cave. “Is this place your getaway? Your special place?”

He twisted toward me, a brow arched, and only then did I realize the double meaning behind my words. “This is my private sanctuary. You’re the first I’ve brought here.”

“Ah, nice.” I took in my surroundings. “Explains why you’ve got no decorating.”

“Only humans need objects to feel fulfilled.”

“Hey,” I said. “That’s not true. Sometimes objects carry sentimental attachments. Like the red cloak my grandma left me, but it got torn. Every time I used it, I swear I sensed her presence.”

Silence filled the void once more, and I crossed my legs, studying my fingers and the dirt wedged under my nails.

“You were close with your grandma?” he asked.

“Absolutely. She raised me after wolves killed my parents.” I paused, regretting my words, but when he didn’t make a comment, I continued. “She taught me everything from cooking apple pie to memorizing different herbs.” I brushed away a dead leaf stuck to my big toe. “A day doesn’t pass when I don’t miss her. I keep worrying that one day I’ll forget what her voice sounded like, what she looked like.”

“Some say those you love will remain in your heart, so she will always be with you.” He stared into the fire as he spoke and the first trickle of emotion flickered beneath his tone.

“Thank you. That’s real sweet. You seem close to your pack… do you consider them a family? Is that how it works in the Den?” I recalled him saying his parents were dead, but everyone needed someone to look out for them.

“I’d do anything to protect them.”

Oryn didn’t strike me as a person who got all emotional, but it was clear he loved his clan, so regardless of what his mom and dad had done to him, he’d found a new bond. And his determination to keep them safe showed him to be a caring man… the opposite of what I’d suspected when I’d first met him.

“I have that kind of connection with a few friends.”

When silence fell over us again, I racked my brain for a topic of conversation, something to fill the emptiness that reminded me of my troubles, how alone I was in the Den, and how I now wore no clothes. I drew the blanket tighter under my arms.

“Why does your cabin have no windows?”

He huffed into a chuckle, and the sound calmed me. While the broody expression gave him an air of mystery, seeing him laugh made him super sexy, and left me covered in goose bumps.

“Dagen bugs me about that all the time. He loves natural light, but the place is a resting home, a location to lie low if I need a hiding spot. Plus, windows are much easier to break in to than bolted doors.”

“Break in? Who would do that? Wolves in other packs?”

“No. Bears and even lion shifters enter our land. Scouts come here to scope out potential takeovers. And sometimes a wolf gets cornered, so I built cabins all over the territory with weapons or medical supplies if needed.”

I shifted to face him. “Wow. That is so nice of you.”

“Does it surprise you to discover we’re not savages?” His voice carried a playful tone, as if proud of proving me wrong.

Leaning back on both arms, I stretched my legs out in front of me, the blaze casting an orange hue across my shins and the blanket reaching halfway up my thighs. “What do hunters think of humans?”

He inched toward me, shadows dancing under the blushing bruise beneath his eye. “That you’re skittish of anything that moves and are warmongers.”

“That’s harsh. I’m not scared of the forest. Well, okay, wolves and bears—”

“And you’re most likely to make yourselves extinct by infighting than any other race.”

“Is everyone taking bets on that?” Hmm, I had to agree with that, considering how the priestess treated her own kind. Oryn built sheltered homes for his pack while she imprisoned us if we didn’t follow her strict rules.

“Yep.”

Geez, we were the savages. “How many members are in your pack?” I asked.

“On last count, three hundred and thirty-seven. Though we’ve had a few births, so that number’s gone up.”

“Wow. Are they safe at the moment?”

He nodded. “The young pups aren’t affected, and I sent them to Dagen’s pack until we sorted out our mess. It seems only my pack is impacted.”

“Have you narrowed down the cause?” I asked, remembering a story about a pride of lion shifters falling sick all at once. Turned out a huge kill that had fed the entire clan had eaten a poisonous plant. The pride had passed away. “Did you have a huge party recently, everyone eating the same kill? Or plants?”

Wolfsbane? That wouldn’t turn the wolves feral but would have made them ill, knocked them out as my own wolfsbane had done to Dagen. That memory had my gut twisting in on itself.

He shook his head. “Nothing like that. But I’ll find out what’s going on and make things right again,” he said.

“I love how much you care for them. It reminds me of my grandma in so many ways—putting others first.”

“There’s no other way when so many lives are under my protection.”

His response struck a chord because I’d been raised to aid a person in need; that was why I’d never turned someone away from the store. Initially, Oryn might have terrified me, but now I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between us. We’d both lost our families and would do anything for those we had left. And his habit of pushing others away made sense. He was always in guard mode… and that made me admire him but also wonder when he’d burn out.

We sat there, chatting about everything from my favorite herbs to the best game he’d hunted. Any other time and place, and we’d have made fantastic friends. He laughed, the sound warming me. Who was I kidding…? Definitely more than friends.

He marched to the cave’s opening and nightfall already cloaked the land.

“They’re still out there.”

My hopes dwindled. “Tossing my clothes so close to our location wasn’t a great idea then.”

“Wolves hunt at night, and your garments will make them focus on something other than attacking each other. We’ll leave at first light. Let’s get some sleep.” He moved through the cave and laid several blankets on the floor in the rear.

I wasn’t sure I could sleep while my thoughts rushed. “What if a wolf finds our spot while we sleep?”

“No wolf would ever enter the river or go near the waterfall while in animal form, as they’re afraid of drowning under the cascade.” Oryn tapped the bed he’d created and waved me over.

Heavens, all my worries slipped into the abyss and were replaced with the image of a naked hunk calling me to bed with him. The earlier tingles twirled in my stomach, and I approached him, then crawled across the lush blankets, soft and cushiony beneath me.

He laid on his back and stretched out an arm as if offering himself as a pillow. I curled up, facing away from him, my blanket still wrapped around me. His side leaned against me, his warmth electric.

“I’ll keep you secure,” he said, and his words had me exhaling a long breath.

Aside from having no other option of escape, part of me trusted him. He’d saved me from the wolves, brought me into this cave, kept me warm. Why would he want to harm me after that? Despite everything, I had to believe Oryn wasn’t a bad person, but someone with too much compassion who wore spiked thorns for armor. I understood his approach to life: stay in charge, protect others, never let anyone get close. That way, he wouldn’t get hurt again. I’d been there. Except he was fooling himself. His family… the pack was already in his heart, whether or not he admitted it. Just the way he spoke about them screamed “fatherly figure.” And that was a man in my eyes who would keep his promise and keep me safe.

“Oryn,” I began, my eyelids growing heavy. I closed them as the weight of the day dragged me down. “Thank you. I wish I could say if you came to Terra, someone would offer you the same protection, but I can’t. If it were me, I would risk everything to help you.”

A long pause passed and heaviness weaved through my limbs as my mind drifted toward sleep.

Oryn’s whisper glided into my thoughts. “What have you done to me?”

* * *

The beam of a light breeze tickled my legs, bringing with it a chill. I hugged a warm pillow, inhaling its musky scent, adoring the smell. It reminded me of Oryn, and a blaze pooled deep in my gut at the memory of how gorgeous he was.

When fingers brushed through my hair, I flipped open my eyes to find myself draped over him, pressed against him naked. A dim light from the fire threw shadows across his face and chest, and it remained dark outside.

“Morning,” he said in his husky voice.

“Sorry for sleeping on you.” I retreated, patting the covered floor behind me to find we both rested on my blanket.

“No problem. The fire’s almost out, and it’s cold this early.” His arm remained on my back, massaging me, easing my earlier panic.

“How long have you been awake?” I asked.

He lay there, his other arm behind his head, reflecting the perfect epitome of a fantasy man. Layers of muscles, a chest so wide I could snooze on it… which I had… and… Don’t stare down his body whatever you do.

Chewing on my lower lip, I kept his gaze. Hooray for me.

“I woke early, but I didn’t want to wake you.”

“So you held me?”

Those sexy blue eyes smiled, staring at me with all the kinds of intentions that had me picturing myself leaning over and kissing him. Those were the kinds of uncontrollable longings that had led me to have sex with Nero instead of finding a way home.

Still, my pulse skipped a beat. “I bet girls throw themselves at you all the time.”

He turned onto his side to face me. “Would you expect anything else?”

I rolled my eyes and laughed. “That’s right. You’re the alpha and have your pick of partners.”

“Something like that.” He touched my shoulder. “But you’re different.”

“Well, yeah. I am human.”

“No.” He skimmed his fingers over my shoulder and to just above my heart. “Something in there makes you unlike anyone I’ve encountered. My wolf calls to you, and he’s never claimed someone before.”

Nero had said similar words. Was it my ability somehow messing with their wolves? But then why did the urge to get closer to them intensify?

“Is that your pick-up line?” Heavens, I sounded dorky. Then again, I wasn’t sure where to look. I lay naked with a man with a dark side and was trapped in the cave. No wonder all kinds of crazy poured from my mouth.

“I always speak my mind.”

“Oh.” So he thought we were mates? Didn’t Nero hint at the same thing? Which seemed impossible considering I wasn’t a wolf, and how in the world was I supposed to be a match for them both? Nope. The strangeness just kept on swirling out of control, not to mention my libido.

“I’d tell you the truth,” he began. “Like how sexy your breasts are.” His caress dipped down between the valley of my boobs and trailed a finger around the outer edges of my areola. “So pink and perky.”

I gasped for air as he pinched a tight nipple, and I moaned as my pulse skyrocketed and the desperate urge to release crashed through me.

“I can watch you all day.”

Brushing his hand away, I said, “Are you always so forward?”

“I’m curious to discover why my wolf is whispering in my ear to take you, to eat you out, and claim you as ours.”

I rocked on the spot at his admittance, and was it bad that I loved it? A deep commanding voice inside me demanded I give myself to him, let him claim me, and for me to melt under him. The right decision was to insist we leave. But damn, curiosity burned a hole through my chest. I’d never had a man speak in such ways to me, yet in two days, I’d experienced it twice. Maybe this whole experience was an illusion. I’d hit my head and lay unconscious somewhere in the woods.

Despite my better judgment, my attraction for him stirred, craving him as if my life depended on it. Nero had mentioned that once a wolf made love with someone their wolf claimed, they were mates for life, but surely that didn’t apply here. Or did Oryn see me as an easy score after seeing Nero and me hook up?

“I never kiss strange men. But something about Nero and you is pulling me like a magnet. And I don’t get it, or how messed up it is that I want you both. Please don’t hate me for that.” I shyly looked away, burning up from the inside out. I’d never thought I’d say such things to anyone, but there they were. Geez, was I going to react this way with all wolf shifters I met?

“It’s okay.” He touched my chin and lifted my head to face him. “Hunters can have multiple partners if their wolves connect. Nero’s my wolf brother and if both our wolves desire you, I’d be honored.”

My head spun, unsure what he was saying. They would share me? Heavens, this had to be a dream if two gorgeous hunks agreed to both be with me. I’d take one, but two… No, someone had pulled a practical joke on me and I placed my bets on Bee. “I’m not a wolf. This can’t be happening. My touch affects you both.” It was the most reasonable explanation.

He placed my palm to his chest. “My wolf is the matchmaker and selects my soulmate.”

“This can’t be.” I swallowed hard, considering the possibility this was true, me with two different men who were shifters.

“Such a shame,” he said.

“What is?” I whispered.

“That you doubt our connection without knowing how well I could treat you. How well I can tease your sweet blossom until you came for me. How much you’ll love screaming my name.”

I gasped because no one had ever spoken to me with such dirty words.

He pulled me closer, our bodies joining, and his hand squeezed my ass. He growled quietly in my ear. “I can smell your arousal. I know you want me.” Without another word, he kissed me, and a shiver caught between my legs.

My pulse raced. I didn’t care to understand our attraction, not when I’d just tasted his lips and heat roared through me. So I kissed him hard, pressing myself against him, needing him, inhaling him. Everything in my head might have screamed to backpedal from this slippery road, but my body and soul demanded I take Oryn and make him mine.