The unknown shifter  who had been creeping around his  territory for weeks was  back again. Bristling instinctively at the scent that lingered in the air, Aiden changed course to follow it. Every time that he'd come across a recent trail left by the intruder, he had somehow managed to slip away. The fact that the male kept coming back, time after time, rubbed him the wrong way. Wolves were territorial, especially Alphas, and the fact that the intruder kept flaunting the rules to run all over his claimed territory made the beast inside itch for a fight.

This time, the scent was an hour or two old. Like usual, the unknown male had managed to miss Aiden completely. He already knew, before he even set out to search, that the other wolf would be gone. Whoever he was, he had a real talent for avoiding capture, Aiden would give him that much. The magic that flowed through their veins came with some side effects, other than the ability to become an animal, and if he had to guess he'd say that this shifter was blessed with a preternatural ability to obviate.

This fact was a real problem for Aiden. If he couldn't demonstrate to the Council that he could take care of his own business, they would never grant him permission to set up his pack permanently in this little town. And Aiden really, really, wanted to do just that. The alternative was crawling back to his father's pack with his literal and metaphorical tail between his legs, and begging to be let back in. Hell would freeze over before he willingly did that.

He really needed to find the intruder.

Six months ago, he'd petitioned the Council to be able to claim his own territory. They'd sent him here, one of the few remaining places in the world that didn't already have a resident wolf pack. It was both an honor and a privilege to even be considered for the task. And it came with heavy responsibilities. If the humans ever found out that almost all of the creatures that they considered the stuff of legend were real, and living among them, he could only imagine that things would get real bad real fast. For the humans.

He had another six months to convince the Council that they had picked the right male for the job. There was still a lot of things that he needed to get done. He didn't have time to waste chasing after a wolf-gone-rogue who seemed determined to mess up his plans.

Frustrated by his inability to catch the intruder and demonstrate to him just what happens when you enter a claimed territory without observing protocol, he bit back a growl and sent out a mental call to Rune. Rune was his second in command and the other wolf was equally as insulted by this whole situation as he was.  "Rune, he was here again. I'm following his trail right through the center of town."

"Want us to come to you?" The response was immediate, more of an impression of the words than an actual sound.

"No. Not necessary. The trail is old enough that I'm sure he's gone. I'm going to follow it and see where he went this time. I'll let you know if I need you."

Sometimes the strange male wandered around all of the brightly lit sections of town. This time had not been one of them. Aiden followed the faint trail as it turned down a back alley. A scruffy looking cat was sniffing around a puddle of something that was leaking from the corner of a dumpster. Both the puddle of congealing goop, and the dirty cat , smelled pretty foul. He wrinkled up his nose in distaste. He had no idea why anyone, let alone another shifter with a heightened sense of smell, would volunteer to go back there. The confined space blocked any fresh air that could have combatted the stink. The pavement was stained with all sorts of nasty things that he did not want to contemplate too hard. It was gross.

Within a few yards stench had completely killed the trail he was following. His nose burned from the  rotten garbage. He tried breathing through his mouth to get a small semblance of relief, but then he swore he could taste the foul air. Deciding to hold his breath, Aiden hurried along the alley, trying to get to the other end before he had to inhale again. There weren't many options for where the other shifter could have gone once he entered the confined space, and he was betting that he'd be able to pick up the trail again on the other side.

He was at the halfway point of the alley when the door to his right suddenly flew open. Maybe if he hadn't been so focused on reaching the fresh air that was so near, and yet so far, he would have reacted in time to avoid the collision. As it was, he didn't get out of the way and a slight body barreled into him.

A feminine gasp came from the woman as she knocked the wind out of herself on him. Reacting on instinct, Aiden grabbed her shoulders to keep her from hitting the pavement. Long brunette hair shone in the scant light of the alley and covered most of her face. She was average height for a human female, which meant that her head stopped below his shoulders. She weighed next to nothing, and he easily was able to keep her upright.

His lungs were screaming. Shifters were able to do a lot of things that humans couldn't do, but they still had to breath. Groaning internally, he gave in to the need for oxygen. Aiden inhaled deeply.

The most unexpected sensations hit him as the air whooshed into his lungs.

Shocked, he sniffed the air again. The woman smelled really good. Good enough that he almost didn't mind breathing the rotten air around them so long as it meant he got to smell her scent. His nose hovered above her hair and he had to restrain himself from sniffing at her.

The shoulders under his hands tensed and she pulled back abruptly. Aiden let her go, but he didn't want to.

"I am so sorry! I swear, I'm really not this clumsy, I don't know what's wrong with me." She stepped back another step and brushed the hair out of her eyes.

He got his first look at her face as she raised hazel eyes to his. He stopped breathing again. A man would have to be dead not to notice just how attractive she was, and he was most definitely not dead. Slender almost to the point of waifishness, her eyes looked too big for her face. Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, something that he could clearly make out thanks to his heightened senses. Standing there, just feet away from her, made his body come to attention.

She had apologized for running in to him. He was really glad that she had.

Baby, you can touch me any time.

Aiden kept that thought to himself. He doubted the woman would be comforted to know he was already wondering what she would look like naked. Instead he said, "Don't worry about it. Really. I'm just glad you're alright."

Those hazel eyes dropped from his face to scan his chest and arms, before she snapped her gaze back up. Her cheeks flared even hotter. She snapped her mouth closed and the sudden silence was deafening as she locked her eyes on his. He got the impression that she was pointedly not looking anywhere but at his face. She liked what she saw, and she was adorably uncomfortable with that.

Aiden bit back a smile. Maybe his night was about to get a whole lot better.

"I'm Aiden," he held out a hand to her.

Apparently that was the wrong thing to do. He could practically see her draw back into herself. She eyed his offered hand suspiciously before darting a look around herself. That was the moment that it occurred to him exactly how vulnerable of a position the woman actually was in. One am in a small town was a quiet time. There was no one around but the two of them. Not to mention the fact that his being in a dark alley at one am in a small town would probably look all sorts of suspicious to anyone who didn't know why he was there.

He let his hand drop. Scaring her was the last thing he wanted to do. The thought of it actually sent a stab of discomfort through him.

"Yeah, well," she was backing away from him now. "Sorry again about bumping into you. I'll be more careful in the future."

That was when it occurred to him that she was probably alone in the alley at one in the morning all of the time. She was wearing a familiar uniform and had charged through the back door of the grocery store. A name tag glinted in the moonlight as she moved away. At least he finally had a name for her. Elizabeth.

His excitement over learning her name was squashed by the thought that she could have run into anyone in that dark alley. And he did mean anyone. Just because his pack were the first wolves to take up permanent residence in Blue Ridge Summit did not make them the first supernatural beings there. There were things that prowled the night that made his hackles raise to even think of coming across Elizabeth alone in the dark.

He wanted to stay close enough to her to be sure that nothing bad would ever get to her. Aiden had to fight himself to stay where he stood as she got farther away. Like an invisible string had been tied between them, the tension rose with every step she took, threatening to snap.

It was physically uncomfortable to just stand there and let her go.

"Stay safe," he called after her as she reached the end of the alley and turned to hurry toward the lone car still parked in the lot. He was pleased to see that she had at least parked directly under a light. She wasn't completely oblivious to the dangers of the night. Not that a few street lights would be enough to stop most predators on the hunt. Aiden stayed in the shadows of the alley and watched her climb into her car, and then drive away.

The urge to follow her was strong. When her taillights disappeared into the night he almost whined. Whined, for god's sake. What was wrong with him tonight? If he didn't know better, he'd think that she was his mate.

That thought stopped him cold.

Was she his mate? It would explain the need to go to her that was so strong it was making his skin itch and crawl. She was human, he was sure of it. He always knew another supernatural creature when he saw one, the magic inside them gave them away. Human mates were uncommon , but they did sometimes happen. There were a few in his father's pack. Why the Fates sometimes chose to pair a shifter and a human together was a mystery that no one had been able to solve. But he had seen first hand that it could work out, so long as the human was able to accept their world.

Aiden rubbed at his arms, trying to soothe the burn that was now starting there. There was no denying it, every part of his being was urging him to go to Elizabeth, to keep her safe. He really didn't have much of a choice. He was going to have to follow her, or suffer the consequences.

Deciding that he would follow just long enough to satisfy himself that she was safe, he willed himself to his animal form. He didn't have his vehicle with him, and he'd be able to run faster as a wolf than as a man. Shaking out his grey fur, he looked around to be sure no one had witnessed what he had just done, and trotted out into the moonlight.

He was able to pick up her scent from where her car had been parked. Not that he probably needed the help to find her. When he padded his way out of the parking lot and to the road, he knew that she was to the right. That invisible thread between them tugged at him, urging him to hurry. Aiden broke into a run.

She had left the town limits. Following the roads she had taken took him away from town and into the surrounding wilderness. One of the reasons he had like this place so much when they first arrived was the huge amount of forest that surrounded it on all sides. Now he found himself running along with trees on one side of him and fields on the other. It was a perfect example of why Blue Ridge was an ideal town to set up a new pack. They needed room to let their animal side out, and that was hard in a city.

He wasn't sure if he should be happy that she lived outside of town, or curse, because it was taking too long to find her again. Being in wolf form only heightened the burning need to be near to her again.

This far out, the moon and stars were the only lights. The few homes that he passed were dark, the inhabitants long since in bed. So when a house appeared in the distance that was lit up like a Christmas tree, it stood out. Every light on the property was on, inside and out. There was even a large light that left a bright circle around the door of a barn. He knew before he got to the end of the gravel driveway that this was where Elizabeth had gone.

Getting anywhere near the house without potentially being seen was not going to happen. Aiden wasn't willing to show himself, so he was relegated to slinking around at the edges of the light. It was close enough, though. Her car was parked in the driveway and her scent was strong. She was here. The nearly unbearable need to go to her eased it's grip on him, just a little. She was safely back inside her home.

Finally able to relax a degree, he took the opportunity to sniff around at the edges of her property. He tried to tell himself that he was just making sure she was safe, but even he knew that was a lie. He was checking for any sign of other people that might live with her. What if she lived with a man? What if she was married already? That thought lacerated through him. His mate or not, she might already be with someone. It wasn't like humans typically had things like mates to help them choose a partner. They had to stumble through that mine field all on their own. Any woman as attractive as she was was likely to have suitors following her day and night.

He didn't smell a strong scent from anyone but her. Faint, older scents from several different humans were there, but it didn't smell like they had been there for a while. There was only one car in the driveway, and he chose to believe all of that was a good sign.

A little disgusted with his own invasion of her privacy, he stopped his search. He was acting like a crazy fool. Just because he could turn into an animal didn't mean he had to act like one. Flashing back to human form, he shook his head at himself and conjured himself new clothes. He'd learned a lot about how she lived, and he was feeling guilty, like he had spied on her, which he guessed he had.  There hadn't been any human besides Elizabeth on the property for a while. She lived alone. He could smell the strong, but not unpleasant smell of a horse coming from the barn. And a dog had crossed every inch of the property, many times over.

Aiden kept to the shadows as he made his way back toward the road. The tension began to rise again as he moved away. That was going to be a problem. He couldn't just force his way into her life. He rolled his shoulders and did his best to ignore the feeling. Maybe she was his mate, but she was also human, and would have no idea about this urge to be near her at all times that bordered on insanity.

He wasn't even sure that she was his mate. No one knew for sure until the marks appeared, but he couldn't imagine any other reason for his sudden intense bond with her. He was lost to that thought, not paying attention to where he was going, when a familiar scent assaulted him.

It was a smell that he had tried in vain to track for weeks. The male wolf who didn't belong in his town had crossed the corner of the field that he was walking in.

Aiden froze, suddenly alert. How had he completely forgotten why he'd been in that alley in the first place? The answer to that was easy enough. It had silky looking long hair and big hazel eyes. She had been enough to make him forget everything else. But he was remembering now with a startling clarity. The rogue shifter had been here.

Confused, Aiden smelled the air around him. The scent was fading, but the wolf had been there earlier that day. His concern only grew when he realized that the scent was layered, many trips had imbedded the wolf's scent into the small corner of the field. Whoever he was, whatever he wanted, he came to this corner of Elizabeth's property almost nightly.