Taking a deep breath of the cool air, she didn't catch the scent of anyone or anything else. Either she was imagining things, or whatever-it-was knew to keep downwind of her.
She hoped it wasn't Axel Ash, trying to track her down again. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she swore she'd never convince him she strictly worked alone.
And then she thought of Axel Ash and those of his pack. She stood very still, listening, not hearing anything further. That's all she needed. Axel Ash or one of his people tracking her.
She brushed aside the soft needle-covered branches of hemlock blocking her view of the source of water and... gasped.
Not at the spectacular sight of the dark blue lake, still closed for visitor day use until May, but at the naked man standing mid-thigh in the cold water, his back to her as he stared out across the region.
She didn't see anything to garner his attention but the beauty and serenity of the vista. Picturesque Mount Hood, the snow-covered volcanic mountain in the distance, the focal point of the whole landscape, so prominent that it could be seen from a hundred miles away.
Well, it would have been the prominent feature if a naked man hadn't been standing in the lake in front of the view, taking centre stage instead.
Chestnut hair curled about the nape of his neck, shorter than she thought a reclusive mountain man would wear it.
His backside was a pure delight to look at, from his broad and muscled back down to his narrow waist and a toned butt a girl could die for. Muscular legs disappeared into water that rippled in the slight breeze.
She sniffed the air but couldn't catch his scent. Being a lupus group, she could smell the mood of an individual like any wolf could--whether he was fearful, aggressive, cowed, or sexually aroused.
The way the man was standing so peacefully, she assumed his scent would be a mixture of woods, water, musky male, and blissful serenity.
Before she could back up and leave, he dove into the lake with a splash and, with powerful momentum, began swimming freestyle. Fascinated, she watched his compelling over-arm strokes and legs slicing the water, wondering how he could stomach the cold.
Unexpectedly, he plunged beneath the surface. Forever, it seemed, she watched the dark blue waters, the building clouds making it appear blacker.
And no sign of the man. He remained under so long that she finally took a step forward in rescue mode when he suddenly rose up like Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, took a deep breath, and dove under again.
She half-expected him to be wielding a trident while porpoises swam alongside him.
Frozen in place, she continued to watch where he'd disappeared, when he abruptly shot up again. Only this time, he headed for the beach. She frowned.
Axel Ash? She couldn't be sure with the way he dove in and out of the water so quickly and the distance between her and the beach, not too much she was so closed. Waiting for him to dive again, she didn't move.
This time, he remained on the surface and kicked vigorously with his legs, his arms plying the water, his head mostly submerged underwater as he swam toward the shore and a pile of clothes she hadn't noticed before.
To her relief, his focus remained on the beach whenever he turned his head to take a breath of air. She was afraid that if she backed into the woods, he would notice her movement and, God forbid, realize she'd been a voyeur spying on him.
Not that spying on him bothered her overly much. If he was going to run around naked at a closed park, it was his fault that she caught him at it. She still didn't want him catching her spying on him.
Especially, if the man was Axel.
So the plan was that as soon as he concentrated on dressing, she'd slip away.
Upon reaching the shallows, he stood, and she swallowed hard. He looked different naked, his hair dripping wet. It was Axel.
His strong legs ploughing through the water, he waded toward the shore. The lake rippled at his navel, water droplets raised like translucent pearls all over his golden skin, his nipples crisply pebbled. Beautiful, powerful, tantalizing.
Poseidon in the flesh, just as masculine and intriguing to women as the god who had exerted his power over them, just like his brother, Zeus.
At least that's the effect Axel had on her. And she wasn't easily swayed by men's appearances. In or out of their clothes.
While he was looking in the direction of his clothes, she took a step back into the shadows of the hemlocks, the soft needles brushing her arms.
Without watching where she was going, she stepped on a branch, snapping the deadwood in two. Big mistake.
With her sensitive hearing, she thought it sounded like the noise echoed across the lake, reaching faraway Mount Hood and even Portland two hours away. Heart racing, she didn't move, afraid to make any further noise, hoping he hadn't heard her.
Axel whipped his head around. She should have known he'd hear her. His olive-coloured eyes widened when he saw her standing half-hidden in the hemlocks.
Stiff and motionless like a damned scared do not move an inch, she waited to see what happened next. Yet she was every bit the predator as much as her wolf kind were.
Except for a slight smattering of stubble, lightly reddish in colour, Axel's face was chiselled perfection that matched the rest of his physique from his sculpted abs and muscular arms down his torso to a trim waist.
A red thatch of hair framed his staff already stirring with her perusal. Water droplets slid provocatively down every inch of his skin, caressing like a silky delicate touch.
She swallowed hard and looked up. He was male excellence. At least in the physical department. And to think she'd had that body next to hers at the club half the night, dancing nice and slow.
At first, his expression revealed his surprise to see her standing there, but then he quickly switched his attention from her to the surrounding woods as if he was looking for her hiking companions.
Maybe thinking she was with someone else. His relaxed stance turning rigid, he coiled his fingers into fists and tightened his jaw. The way he hastily reacted indicated he was searching for danger, ensuring she was alone.
Probably any man would have done the same thing in the event she had companions with her who was trouble. Especially when he was naked without any weapons for defence.
Apparently reassured no one of a threatening nature was in the immediate vicinity, he shifted his heated gaze back to her and took in her whole appearance.
"Are you lost, Cassie?" he asked, his expression still serious, as he lifted his chin slightly and inhaled a deep breath as any self-respecting lupus group would do.
In answer to his question, she shook her head, but the adrenaline already flooding her bloodstream kicked her heart into a more frantic pace.
She hadn't smelled him on her trek through the woods, but then she probably hadn't come across his trail, and the way the breeze was blowing, she hadn't gotten a whiff of him that way, either.
Plus, if he had never been through this area as a wolf, he wouldn't have left scent markings. With the hunter spray she was wearing so she could catch up to the she-wolf without detection, he still couldn't smell her, either.
"I thought you had returned to California." He sounded a little bit perturbed, yet he schooled his expression. "Just hiking then?" He didn't sound as though he thought she was just hiking.
He had to have figured she was looking for the wolf she'd seen--that he knew she'd seen.
She didn't answer his question, not wanting to get into a full-blown conversation with him and certainly not to explain her business here. She figured it wouldn't hurt to offer an apology. "I didn't mean to disturb your solitude."
She took another step back and bumped into a branch, nearly giving her a heart attack, until she came to grips with her fear that it was only a branch and not another man behind her, this one blocking her escape path.
As much as she wanted to turn and leave, she couldn't, wouldn't back down, tuck tail, and race off.
His stern expression shifted from a look like he was somewhat irritated that she had intruded on his privacy when he'd thought she'd left town and wouldn't see him further to a slight upward curve of his lips.
His eyes darkened, and his brows lifted and lowered quickly--signalling both amusement and further interest.
As if maybe he had another chance to be with her for longer.