Chapter 21: A Field Trip! With Wolves!

I'd just finished hugging the last wolf pup goodbye when Cane entered. I sensed it even before I saw him. His presence made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my nerve endings come alive. When I turned, our eyes clashed, his the strange golden when his wolf was too close to the surface. My breath caught as the silence stretched between us.

His commanding presence wasn't diminished by the jeans and Henley shirt he wore. If anything, it gave him a rugged countenance that screamed to anyone looking at him that he was a leader. A dangerous one.

"Hi." My voice came out embarrassingly breathy.

"Aspen."

His voice rumbled when he spoke my name. I dropped my gaze so he wouldn't see how it affected me.

"Did you need something?"

"I'm here to take you into town. It's been a while, and I thought there might be things you need. Or maybe you'd like to get out of the compound, at least for an afternoon."

He wasn't wrong. I felt like a caged bird these days, scared and alone.