Burning Ice: 6 (Werewolf Sentinels) by Marisa Chenery

Chapter One
     
    Capac stepped off the Kaxdigoowu Heen Dei Trail in Juneau, Alaska, and headed for the Montana Creek. He’d had his shaman Ryder drop him off to do a little salmon fishing. Capac had asked Ryder if he wanted to join him, but the other man had turned him down. As of late, the werewolf sentinel shaman showed signs of strain. Capac and his wolf brothers knew it had to do with something that would bring Ryder into his full powers, but he wouldn’t give any of them the details.
    He arrived at the creek and picked out a spot on the shore to cast his fishing line. Capac wasn’t the only person hoping to catch some salmon that day. There was a woman standing in the water, wearing waders, as she did some fly-fishing.
    Capac set his pole, then watched the woman as she fished. Even though she stood in the center of the water, he could see her perfectly with his werewolf sight, as if he were directly in front of her. She was very attractive. Her long, dark-brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, which hung almost to the center of her back. Her light-green eyes watched the movement of her fishing line as she flicked it back and forth, the small fly hitting the water, then jerking back out.
    He found himself drawn to her, but she had yet to give him the time of day. Capac wasn’t even sure if she knew he was there. And as for her scent, he couldn’t smell it since she was out in the water.
    But that wasn’t going to stop him from trying to talk to her once she’d finished fishing. There was a good chance she wasn’t his mate, though Capac wouldn’t mind if she did turn out to be his.
    He continued to watch her as he cast his line and reeled it back in. She ended up having more luck than he did. She caught a good-sized salmon, and not long after that, another. Both fish ended up in the wicker basket she carried at her side. And still she acted as if she hadn’t noticed him.
    Capac didn’t know whether to be insulted or not. He usually didn’t have problems when it came to the opposite sex. In fact, before his ten-thousand-year sleep in an ice cave on a glacier, he hadn’t had to work hard at convincing a woman from his village to share his furs for the night.
    Now, after awakening almost three years ago to this new, modern world, Capac hadn’t slept with a female. Two things had held him back—the fact he was to find his mate and that the mortals of this world had no idea werewolves even existed. He hated lying to anyone, and to date a woman who wasn’t his mate, that’s what he’d have to do. Only to the one who was meant to be his could he tell the truth.
    He set his gaze on the woman standing in the creek. With her, he was willing to set aside his dislike and see if she would go out with him. That is if he could get her to acknowledge he was alive. Capac had been without female companionship long enough. Considering his five wolf brothers who had also slept in the ice cave had already found their mates, he felt a little left out.
    An hour passed before the woman reeled in her line for the last time. Capac was quick to do the same, not wanting to let her leave before he had a chance to introduce himself. He followed her with his gaze as she turned and walked toward the shore in his direction.
    She’d only taken a couple of steps when a black bear stepped out of the trees on the other side of the creek and lumbered into the water. It sniffed the air before its head turned to the woman. It didn’t take a genius to realize the animal could smell the salmon she’d caught.
    Capac threw down his fishing gear and hurried toward her. Their gazes met before she came to a standstill. As if she heard what was behind her, she turned her head and looked over her shoulder. He knew the instant she let her fear take over. She let out a piercing shriek and took off at a run. The bear charged after her.
    He stepped up his pace and met her in the middle. She didn’t stop but swerved around him and kept going. As she