Grey Mountain Pack Series: The Prophesied Luna

Curiosity Killed the Buck

Man, he had not been awestruck by a female in a long time, since he was at least fifteen and still in the throngs of pubescent adolescence. Tyler was sure she had seen the way he had adjusted his jeans when he seen her standing in the doorway with her hair in the towel and her loose-fitting pajamas. If she had stood there any longer he may not have been able to control himself and that was why he had motioned for her to sit down; well that and the fact that he didn't want her to get cold either. Tyler had been single for about three years now and had mainly been keeping to himself. There were no hook ups or call girls at any time during those three years; so, there were definitely some pent-up male urges.

He knew how to control those urges and never let them get out of hand. It is just that knowing Savannah was his mate was going to make it a lot harder. Her mere presence had all the longings and backed up desire wanting to break free. There was just one thing though; he couldn’t let Savannah know about his secret just yet. He needed to make sure that he was sure she wasn’t going to run away screaming, and needed to introduce her to his world slowly. Tyler could not let all his control he had worked so hard to maintain go over just because she was his mate. No, he would just have to work harder to keep the desire at bay while she was here. Tyler had made a promise to his mother three years ago that he would settle down once he found his mate; and he intended to keep that promise no matter what. However, he could not rush into things with Savannah, especially not knowing how she would react.

Savannah sat quietly on the couch watching the flames in the fireplace leap and dance in its own intricate form. She had always been mesmerized by the way the flames did a dance of their own accord. Fire had always been the one thing that had always frightened and excited her. For as long as she could remember she had been entranced by the power that fire held and terrified by the damage and decimation left in its wake. She was so completely entranced with the flames that she did not notice that Tyler had taken a seat in the recliner off to the left side of her. It was only after he made a whistling noise did she even remember that he was still in the living room.

"Savannah is everything ok? You seemed to be so far away while just staring into the fire." Tyler did not hesitate in asking after he caught her attention. "Hmmm? Oh, I was not anywhere; I was merely sidetracked by the flames. Fire has always been the one thing that both terrifies and intrigues me. I've always been captivated by the power that a flame can hold." Savannah told him only in a half-conscious state of mind. Her voice was that of a person in a dream like trance. Tyler then realized what time it was. She must be exhausted, he thought; it was nearly midnight.

"Savannah I'm so sorry I should have been a better host. It is getting late and here I am trying to carry on a conversation with you. We should probably head to bed and get some sleep. You look as if you could topple over on the couch at any minute from being so sleepy. You've had a long and tiring day; let me help you to your room." Savannah only halfway understood what he was saying. She was indeed very tired and the shower she had taken only reinforced that fact that her muscles had been so cramped after being in the car for so long. She needed to stretch out in bed and rest. The only discernible words her brain had been able to catch were couch, bed and me. Savannah nearly leapt over the back of the sofa when Tyler reached for her hand to help her stand. She was not entirely sure what he had planned to do, but in her state of mind she was quite sure she could come up with a few things.

Tyler could not help but laugh at her groggy attempt to jump away from his help. "Whoa, Savannah I'm only trying to help you get to your room. I'm afraid that if I let you walk on your own, you'll fall over." She was able to comprehend everything he said that time and held out her hand for him to take it and help her up. She knew he was right that she might just very well fall over if she tried to walk by herself. Once Tyler had her on her feet and was sure she was not going to fall over he led her to her room. Savannah unsuccessfully fumbled with the doorknob trying to get the door to open. Finally, Tyler just took the knob and turned it leading her to the warm queen-sized bed in the guest room. He balanced her beside him while he turned down the emerald green coverlet and the cream-colored sheets. Savannah wavered in his left hand but he kept her steady before placing her gently onto the bed. Tyler swept her feet up into the bed and underneath the covers in one swoop of his left hand and covered Savannah up. As he exited the room, he turned off the light and he heard her mumble, "Goodnight Tyler."

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As morning made its appearance the sun crept in through the thin curtains and made its way across the room, up on the bed and directly into Savannah's eyes. Almost immediately she jerked into a sitting position and frantically looked around her. She half expected Tyler to be laying in the bed next to her. After all, hadn't he been in here with her last night? Savannah thought back for a moment and remembered that he had only helped her into bed. After he had tucked her in, he left the room and shut off the lights. Sighing with relief that they had not slept together she moved the covers to get out of bed. She went over to the dresser and got out some socks and under garments then headed for the closet to get jeans and a long sleeve shirt.

Once Savannah had dressed, she went in search of Tyler; she needed to use his satellite phone so she could call her brothers and let them know she was ok. She had not spoken to them since she had gone through Tennessee and she had promised that once she decided where she was going to set up shop, so to speak, that she would call them. Though she was not very sure if she wanted to stay here in Polson, Montana indefinitely or not. The town was small, and it was not like she could just disappear here like she really wanted. Searching through the house for Tyler and coming up empty; she decided that her search should be resumed outside. She really wanted to see the landscape here anyway so what would it hurt? Grabbing her coat and walking out the door Savannah noticed that there was a fresh layer of snow blanketing the ground. This should be easy to see where Tyler went, I can follow his footprints, she thought. There was only one problem; there were not any footprints other than hers in the snow.

Savannah began to walk around searching for Tyler's tracks in the snow. She would find him; her daddy had taught her well when it came to tracking what she was looking for. It did not matter if it was animal scat, prints left in the ground or a blood trail from the prey she had just shot. Taking a moment to familiarize her surroundings she saw that there were prints leading away from the shed. Savannah walked over and examined the boot prints and looked to see which directions they had gone. The first thing she noticed was that the prints dented the snow deeper on the right side than the left. That meant Tyler was carrying something in his right hand that weighed a significant amount.

Her first thought was that he may be carrying a gun. Her next thought was if he did have a gun, he was probably out in the woods in a deer stand hunting. Savannah turned back to the house to go get something out of her room. She was going to need her orange vest if she was going into the woods looking for Tyler. Moments later Savannah had donned her orange hunting vest over her black turtleneck sweater and beige jacket and headed into the woods. She did not bother getting her 9mm pistol from her suitcase, she was not going to need it. Following Tyler’s tracks was easy since they could not have been more than two hours old and no more snow had fallen since he had made them.

The tracks went on for about three-hundred yards straight in then turned to the left and went for another one-hundred and fifty yards before coming to an abrupt stop at the base of a big pine tree. Savannah looked up and there sat Tyler eighteen feet off the ground in his deer stand. He had seen her approach the tree and started to climb down. Once he reached the ground, she could see that he had a smile on his face remarkably similar to the Cheshire cat from Alice In Wonderland. "Well, what do we have here?" he asked. "Did you sleep well?" He could not help but look her over. Where did she get that orange vest? It was not one of his, he would have known if it were. His vests would have been way too big for her even with her jacket on. His thoughts were wandering with every inch of her he took in. Her scent was overpowering anything else he might have been trying to locate. He was so lost in her smell that he barely heard her reply to his questions.

"Yes, I slept wonderfully though I didn't mean to sleep so late. Also, if you had told me you were planning on hunting this morning, I wouldn't have had to come searching for you." She paused briefly before continuing when she heard something off to the right of them crack a low hanging limb. They both stood stock still and did not say a word. Moments later the thing they had heard emerged a hundred yards or so from the thick brush and walked to a bush that still had winter berries on it. Right in front of them was the biggest ten pointer Savannah had ever seen. Oh, how she would have loved to pull the trigger on this beast.

Tyler brought up his .270 and pinned the sights on the deer's shoulder that was facing them. The massive buck had not spotted them and was oblivious to his impending death. Tyler winked at Savannah, who slowly brought her hands up to cover her ears. The .270 would deafen her if she had not. As soon as her ears were covered Tyler pulled the trigger. The buck did not even have a chance to run, the shot got him right in the heart; he dropped where he had been standing. Savannah was so excited over the sheer size of the buck and the fact that Tyler had just bagged him, she threw her arms around his shoulders and planted a kiss right on his lips. Before she even realized what she was doing Tyler had pulled her closer and kissed her back just as deeply as she had kissed him.

As soon as his tongue touched her lips, she put her hands on his chest and pushed him back. "We can't do this," she whispered, panting to catch her breath. "You're right, we shouldn't do this. We barely know each other," he agreed. "It was just the sudden rush of adrenaline," she conveyed as she stepped back. "Yeah, it was," Tyler sighed; but to him it was more than adrenaline, it felt right and made his wolf howl with untethered joy. She fit in his arms like a missing puzzle piece. Having her pressed against his body made him and his wolf feel complete and damn if that orange vest did not make her look scrumptious like he could just take her right here in the snow. After tearing himself out of his lustful thoughts he managed to say. "By the way, where did you get that orange hunting vest?" "This is my orange hunting vest," she proclaimed, smiling almost as big as he had when he had descended the tree. "Oh, I knew it wasn't one of mine, because it would have almost swallowed you up." He giggled at the idea of her in one of his vests.

By this time, they had reached the buck laying in the snow. His blood staining the fresh white powder as it seeped from the bullet hole entrance and exit points. Instinctively Savannah approached the animal as if it may jump up and try to escape; something else her daddy had taught her. Tyler watched her with a hunger in his eyes that he fought hard not to act upon, but there was also a general curiosity about the woman who had landed in his life. He had never seen a woman approach a deer the way she did. It was almost as if she were a cat stalking its prey. She was careful and took precise steps. Ensuring that should she need to she could jump back and run.