At least that's the effect Leidolf 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 dead wood 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.

Leidolf whipped his head around. She should have known he'd hear her. His olive-colored eyes widened when he saw her standing half hidden in the hemlocks. Stiff and motionless like a damned scared doe not moving 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 color, Leidolf's face was chiseled 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 Alex or 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 were trouble. Especially when he was naked without any weapons for defense.

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, like any self-respecting lupus garou 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 darkening, and his brows lifting and lowering quickly--signaling both amusement and further interest. As if maybe he had another chance to be with her for longer.

"No problem. Stay, enjoy the view. I'll just slip on some clothes." He wore the most devilishly sinful expression when he said the words, emphasizing that he, and not Mount Hood, was the view she was so enjoying. She feared he had another agenda. One that meant he wanted to learn more about this wolf she was most likely searching for. She figured now he worried she'd seen one of his own people.

"Thanks, but I need to be on my way." Yet despite admonishing herself for it, she wasn't in any real hurry to leave. She hadn't had such a good time in forever as she'd had with him last night. Living with real wolves certainly hadn't been the same. And quick romps with human males hadn't either.

God, Leidolf was hot, and her body was burning up with his perusal. She took another step around the branches, still backing up, her gaze holding his. He didn't make a move toward her, but the look in his intensely intrigued gaze said he wanted to. That if she made a sudden movement, that if she ran, he'd hunt her down. Like a wolf would instinctively do if something suddenly dashed away from him.

Some darkly wolfish part of her wanted him to, wished to be hungered after like he seemed to desire her, which was more than ludicrous. She had to find the female wolf, locate the she-wolf's pack, and befriend them. Frolicking with a lupus garou--alpha leader type--wouldn't pay the bills and, most importantly, wouldn't help the wolf kind.

"Are you sure? That you really want to leave?" His lips lifted a little more, smug, arrogant.

"I'm sure," she finally said, but her hesitation to say so proved she wasn't all that sure. Her werewolf nature was the problem, wanting a say in what she should do, how she should feel. Despite trying to keep it in abeyance.

"Are you looking for a spot to... camp for the night?" he asked, his voice dark and seductively entrancing, and a lot more enticing than she was willing to admit.

Before she could catch herself, her lips parted slightly, his gaze riveting to them.

"No," she said, not sounding as stern as she should have. Way too wishy-washy instead. Like she'd been about sharing his tenderloin with him and dancing also.

The gleam in his eyes said he knew he'd hooked her in part.

He still didn't make a move toward her, though. He probably thought he might scare her away. Maybe thinking like he had last night. He looked like it was killing him to stay where he was and not advance on her, his hands still clenched, the muscles in his thighs taut. As an alpha lupus garou, he'd want to shorten the distance between them, move in real close, and check her out further. Smell her, touch her if she would allow it, like an alpha wolf would inspect another he wanted to befriend or chase off.

The sensible side of her was trying to convince herself to leave, pronto, to do the job she'd come here for. But the wickedly curious part of her that he had awakened--

"Plenty of fresh water, fishing even, steelhead, salmon, though both are somewhat elusive, hiding, difficult to catch," he said.

"Thanks, but--"

He waved his arm at the lake, his hand opening palm up, inviting her to stay and fish. "Crawdads are easier to come by. And soft earth to bed down on is perfect for whatever you have in mind to do, plus... other conveniences are available."

"You?" popped out of her mouth before she could halt the word. He was so overconfident in the way he came across, although she imagined most women would have melted at his suggestion--like she was nearly doing when she knew damned well she could never tangle with a lupus garou in that manner, not unless she wanted him for a mate--so she guessed it wasn't really a case of overconfidence on his part, but just the way things were where he was concerned.

He chuckled, the darkly humorous tone rippling through her like a beacon warning of delectable danger. He tilted his head slightly to the side and toward her as if saying yes, which sent another unnerving chill down her spine. If he'd been human, he could have been giving her a subtle, very cool nod of his head, but his action was an alpha lupus garou's declaration.

She should have taken heed and left right then and there. But Leidolf intrigued her like no man had ever done. Not only that, but she really had a problem with backing down. Long ago, she had learned that taking that stance could be as treacherous as facing the trouble. She didn't have to be a genius to know Leidolf definitely was trouble.

She folded her arms and tilted her chin up a hair. "The campgrounds aren't open yet. And this one's not for overnight use even if it was open." Not that she didn't bend the rules herself when the situation warranted.

"Don't tell me you've never enjoyed nature in a more natural way," he said.

If only he knew. "I don't believe in breaking the law."

He raised his brows. "I don't either. Some things shouldn't be regulated, though." He sighed. "If you'd rather stay with me at a more private place, I own a cabin in the woods not far from here."

She shook her head.

Without any indication he was going to move, Leidolf suddenly waded toward the shore, shoving the water aside with his powerful legs as if the very waters would part for him, startling her. His leg muscles moved fluidly, exquisitely as his belly tightened and his jaw clenched, his whole demeanor determined and focused. And then? He gave her a suave and smoky kind of wink that said she was his. And that she knew it.

Yet she was frozen with indecision. How could she explain what she was doing here without him coming after her, watching what she did, when she knew in part he would be there to protect his own kind? Also, she was sure he'd keep trying to wear her down, to capitulate, and have a tryst with him. Worse, she didn't trust the way she felt when she was with him. Even throughout the day, she had chided herself for giving in to dance with him like she did. Yet it had felt so right, so good.

He left the water and stalked toward his clothes, and she knew before he dressed, it was now or never.

Then everything was decided for her.

She smelled a whiff of the female red wolf, and her work ethic kicked back in.

She whipped around in the direction she sensed the wolf, took another sniff, and analyzed the scent. It was the she-wolf Cassie had been chasing for so many hours!