Marilu Mann - Changing Focus

Book 3 in the Lusting Wild series, 2009

Micah tightened his grip on the steering wheel as the truck fishtailed on the icy road. Easing his foot off the accelerator, he cursed under his breath. Should have replaced those damn tires a hundred miles ago. This blowing snow isn’t helping me stay on the road, either.

And the sex-charged dream from last night wasn’t helping him focus either. His cock twitched as he remembered the gorgeous she-wolf he’d run with and eventually caught in his night fantasy. Tante Kay could be right. It might be time for him to look for a mate. Micah lifted and lowered his hips, hoping to gain a bit more room in his jeans.

A particularly vicious gust of wind caught the edge of the tarp in the truck bed and Micah watched in the rearview mirror as it sailed off into the woods. No matter, he could always come get it in the morning. The tires slipped again and this time he couldn’t stop the truck from sliding.

He sucked in a breath, his heart racing as he fought not to tighten his grip on the steering wheel. He turned the wheel into the slide and swore violently. Taking his foot completely off the accelerator and tapping the brake were all in vain. With a shudder and a crunching of glass that caused him to wince, the truck came to a sliding halt in the ditch.

“Son of a…” He filled his lungs with air then let it out.

Micah took another deep breath then let his head fall forward onto the steering wheel in defeat, not pain. He snarled, knowing he faced a damn cold walk to the lodge. Pulling the collar of his wool coat up, he watched the snow swirling all around him. Micah shook his head. He hadn’t been home in nearly six months and now he’d been caught in what the weather forecasters predicted might be one of the worst storms all season.

Turning the truck off, he stuffed the keys in his jeans pocket and shoved the door open. Putting his head down against the icy wind, he squinted against the blowing snow biting into his skin.

Stepping out of the truck, he cursed again when the snow went right over the top of his boots. Slamming the truck door made him feel marginally better until the sound of what was left of his headlight falling onto the bumper reached him.

Three large steps brought him to the main road where he huddled into his jacket, gauging the distance to the lodge. I wish I’d remembered to leave my hat and gloves in the cab instead of in my luggage. He’d passed the turnoff to the reservation almost four miles ago, so his property line was about two more miles.

He calculated which was closer. The distance between the nearest house and his own warm bed was about equal. I’ve come this far, might as well keep heading toward home.

No moon shone, but he didn’t really need her light. In spite of the blowing snow, he could see the shadow of the trees on either side of the road well enough to know that he needed to keep between them. Debating on whether or not to take his animal form, Micah decided against shifting.

For one thing, he’d have to leave his clothes in the truck and someone who knew his truck might think he’d been a victim of foul play. For another, he didn’t know whether there were guests in the lodge or not, and it wouldn’t do for him to show up naked on the front step if humans were about.

With his mind firmly on something warm to drink and the fire he’d build in the stone fireplace in his bedroom, Micah started down the road. He hadn’t gone more than a hundred yards from the truck when he caught a scent that didn’t belong. The trees, the carrion smell off to his right, even his own wool jacket, those things he expected.

This new smell, however, brought him to a halt. Staring into the woods on his right, he sniffed the night air and waited. Now the stinging snow didn’t bother him, in fact he hardly noticed it at all.

She stepped out from between the trees, her gray fur blending with the shadows between them. He saw her nostrils flare and knew she was catching his scent just as he’d caught hers. As focused as he’d been on getting home, if he hadn’t smelled her, he wouldn’t have noticed her presence, an indication of how tired he truly felt.

The unfamiliar scent marked her as “not from around here”. It carried that trace of something extra that marked her as one of his kind-a shifter. His animal self reacted immediately with his cock jerking slightly. Micah clamped down on that reaction. No way did he need a hard-on this far from the lodge. The she-wolf dropped her head slightly. With her silver-tipped light fur, she was even more beautiful than his dream lover from the night before.

The female made no aggressive moves toward him, no submissive ones, either. She simply watched him as closely as he watched her. Micah lifted his head to test the air for sign of any other shifters. He froze when she flinched.

His cheeks tightened as the wind picked up. But the wind blew no additional information his way. Either she ran alone or had come so far from her Pack that hers was the only scent he could catch. The dropping temperature and increasing wind caused her to lift her head to scent the night air as well.

Micah clenched his fists against the cold. At his miniscule motion, she bolted. Turning quickly away from him, she ran back into the shadow of the trees, her tail flashing at him through the snow her paws kicked up. It took all his willpower not to strip, take his animal form and follow her. The similarity to his dream caused him to seriously consider stripping and following wherever she led. And yet, he was tired, cold, and more than ready to sleep in his own bed again.

If she was staying around here, he’d find her again. Her scent lingered in his nostrils. He could find her in a crowd now. He acted as unofficial Alpha in the area so she’d have to come talk to him-get his permission to run in his territory. For the first time, Micah smiled at being home.

Instead of continuing to walk toward the lodge, he broke into an easy jog. The blowing wind kept the recently plowed road relatively clear. He definitely had something to look forward to. As Micah moved down the snowy lane, he tried to remember the last time he’d been interested in a female.

Micah was far from celibate, but his relationships had always been with females who wanted mutually brief liaisons. He firmly believed in taking only one mate and, as yet, he hadn’t met her. He knew he couldn’t take a human to mate. Micah had to mate with another shifter to ensure the continuance of his unique gifts. Only one shifter in each generation of his family had his particular gift, and more than likely he’d be the one to transfer that gene, not any of his numerous siblings.

Shrugging, he turned his attention back to his journey. No need to worry about that now. He’d never found the right mate and even though the wisest old woman he knew and his grandfather kept after him, he didn’t think he would soon. No matter that they both had predicted he’d find his mate soon.

His lungs burned from the cold air, but he could smell wood smoke. Micah increased his pace. The female had to be staying close. Either on the reservation or… He took a deep breath. She might be staying in the lodge.

If so, then she could be waiting for him to arrive. That thought caused his heartbeat to increase even more than the jogging. Something about that she-wolf had his blood burning.

By the time he reached the turnoff to the lodge he pumped his legs at a full-out run. He noted that Gareth had kept the paths cleared as much as possible. His boots crunched over the ground as locks of hair loosened from his habitual braid swirled about his face. The sled dogs stirred but he sent a mental acknowledgement so that they knew it was him. A few of the new ones whined but none raised the alarm as Micah ran up the steps to the wide porch encircling the lodge.