Eden

Inside the station, Y/N put the pup into a crate and gave it water before locking up and putting her rifle away safely. She took a few deep breaths to center herself as she was still a bit shaken up. She needed to regain her sense of control and so she decided to busy herself to get her mind off things.

Pulling out everything she’d need to examine him, she realized the little guy also appeared to be done for the day, but she took advantage of its even drowsier than normal state, since it was already such a calm animal in general, and took it out of the crate in order to further inspect it.

Placing it on the disinfected metal table they used for inspecting animals, Y/N’s heart still pounded loudly in her chest - she was a bit shaken up after that encounter. What had just happened? That man had really gotten under her skin. The way he was looking at her, dissecting her appearance, almost reading her thoughts. It left an unsettling feeling inside her chest. But there was something so unusual about him as well. Dangerous even. She didn’t buy his story but she didn’t want to deal with bringing him to the station and further questioning him. Though she had a rifle, the man was far larger and clearly stronger than she was. Even in his heeled, velour chelsea boots, and jeweled fingers he could certainly take her. No question. She didn’t want to push it to find out.

She laughed to herself when the pup kept slipping and sliding on the table and eventually let it just lie there like a deflated pancake while she conducted her thorough examination. She inspected it closely and found nothing to suggest foul play, the animal appeared to be well nourished, its fur was shiny, if a bit unruly for a cub its age, its eyes were bright, if sleepy, and its teeth and gums were also healthy. Since it still had its baby teeth, she couldn’t tell whether it was a wolf or a dog, but there were some indicators of the former. And perhaps the most obvious one was the way it had howled in response to the wolf they’d heard just when they were getting back to the station. Its eyes were also indicative of the species, the golden hue quite apparent. And finally, the man had gotten something right at least - it was a male. He never did mention the name, though. 

Which led her to another idea. If this animal really was the man’s pet, then surely it’d been microchipped. She took out the scanner and starting from the head, she ran it down its body side to side until she reached its tail, but it read nothing. She repeated the process again, but still, the scanner wasn’t picking up anything.

“Sorry, boy. Couldn’t find out your name. Nor your owner’s, for that matter.” She rubbed her palm gently down its back and lightly scratched. The eyes were the most interesting part. They looked almost human. This little guy was by far the most interesting-looking creature she’d ever encountered. The paws were more jointed than that of a canine too. Like it had digits. The curve of the spine and neck were odd as well.

She tried to determine the age. It didn’t seem like a newborn. It didn’t react in the way a newly born pup would. The muscles were well-formed and it had a keen sense of awareness. Perhaps she could say it was a year old based on these characteristics but the size was a touch too small to be aged at a year. Most wolves at one year were almost fully grown. This thing was the size of a typical wolf pup.

The cub closed its eyes and looked to be on the verge of falling asleep, and that’s when Y/N decided she should just microchip it now that it was naturally drowsy, since it had to be done anyway. Legal owner or not, the man had the obligation to microchip his pet. And if it really was a wolf that belonged in the forest, then she’d just log it into their inventory later on. She’d wait for the man to bring proof of ownership the following day, and if he could prove it was his, she’d just log in his info along with the pup’s name.

But Y/N was fairly certain she was looking at a wolf, not a dog. She’d have to run it by the vet the following day to be certain, of course.

The procedure was straightforward enough, and she’d seen the vet do it many times. The wolf cub barely budged when she grabbed the loose skin between its shoulder blades and inserted the needle, effectively microchipping it. She then scanned it and took a mental note to finish logging it into the system the following day, when she’d hopefully have all the remaining necessary info. 

She still had hours left on her shift. The pup wouldn’t eat what she tried to give him, so she gave up. Not only was he at what appeared to be a healthy weight, but it was also probably stressed so she wasn’t going to force it to eat. She noted that it was looking directly into her eyes when she was checking it over and mumbling to herself. It was odd. Unusual. Only domesticated dogs would be likely to make that kind of eye contact. Dogs that were used to humans. Maybe this was just a pet. She’d see soon enough if the man returned to prove ownership in the morning. But she doubted every word he spoke.

She then took the little guy into her arms and watched it snuggle into her chest and she allowed herself this tender moment. It wasn’t every day that you could snuggle up with a wolf pup. Granted, this one was a peculiar one, because, as Nick had mentioned, even the young could prove to be quite feral. Their claws made up for what they lacked in the fangs department if anything. But this little guy was as docile as a rabbit, even more so. It was endearing. She placed it back into the crate and gave it a fluffy towel to snuggle up against, then secured it, pulling a blanket over the crate to make it feel as if it were in a den, and turned off the lights to the medical room. 

Being a forest ranger came with certain perks but most of the perks were combined with some annoying aspects. Such as an old Jeep that smelled peculiar and creaked over bumpy roads. Or hot days with sunscreen melting down into her eyes. And bugs. Lots of bugs. But there was nothing like being in nature. Silver Wolf Preserve National Forest was gorgeous and expansive. She’d never tire of the views and the feeling of being outdoors under the canopy of the tall trees. But tonight? Tonight was not something she ever expected of her job. That man had her hackles raised and her head on a swivel. She kept hearing strange sounds coming from outside of the station.

Normally these sounds wouldn’t bother her so much but they did tonight. The radio wasn’t working at all. None of the stations would come in clearly still. She tried to enjoy the book she’d brought along but her mind kept wandering. To the wolf cub and how unusual it was. To that man. Tall and lean, dressed like he was going to a house party or a semi-fancy restaurant ready for a date. She tried not to let her mind wander too far about his appearance. Because sure, anyone could see that he was well-built and very handsome. But he was weird. Wasn’t he? And intimidating. His nonchalant attitude was also frustrating. She sort of hoped he’d come back to claim the cub in the morning so she could give him a piece of her mind. Tell him she wasn’t scared and that she wasn’t dumb. That she was onto him. She’d put him in his place if he came back around while she was there.

And his hands too. God his hands were so big and his fingers were long with an array of rings on them… She couldn’t go there. That is quite enough Y/N. Stop.

She watched out the window and sighed as she looked up into the sky. The moon was already hidden behind the trees so she couldn’t see it anymore but she knew it was still a full moon. And her night had been so strange but she was feeling absolutely exhausted. She figured it would be wise to sleep a bit.

Changing out of her work clothes, she slipped into her oversized t-shirt that she’d brought for this purpose, and got into the small one-person bed the station provided for watch duty. She had to be able to pull her pants back on rapidly in case she would be needed throughout the night. The bed was awful, the mattress was a joke, and she really doubted she’d get any sleep in.

But when she flinched awake in the middle of the night, checking the digital clock that read half past 3, she realized she’d been more tired than she’d initially thought. She couldn’t figure out what had woken her up, but then she heard the pup whimpering and she relaxed. It was probably frightened, having woken up in a strange place, locked up in the crate, with a blanket obscuring its view. Y/N decided to go check on it, and maybe leave a light on for it this time around.

She only slipped her boots on, forgoing tying up the shoelaces, and made her way to the medical room. She could’ve sworn that she’d shut the door before going to sleep, and the blanket was lifted from the cage but the wolf cub was still inside. Though he was standing and looking at her, very awake, and looked like it wanted to play.

“Poor fellow. You probably miss your siblings in your litter, don’t you? Way too young to be separated from your family. Wonder was that man thinking parting you from them…”

She took the pup out of the crate and slipped the lead back around its neck, deciding to step out the back and hopefully get it to relieve itself outside. She was happy to see it do just that the moment she placed it on the ground, and after letting it sniff around for a bit more, she took it back inside and placed it back into the crate, giving it a chew toy to keep itself occupied until it fell back asleep.

“Good boy. Don’t wake me up again, though, else you won’t be getting any treats come morning,” she warned and, careful to leave a lamp on in the medical room, she closed the door behind her and made her way back to the spare room where she was sleeping. 

A very pleasurable whiff of something hit her as she crossed the hallway and she made a mental note to ask the cleaning lady whether she knew what type of air freshener they had in there. It smelled amazing!

She kicked off her Doc Martens and climbed under the cover, happy to resume her sleep, and glad that she was able to sleep at all.

Seemingly 5 minutes had passed since she’d gone back to bed, but her alarm proved otherwise, the clock read 7am. She begrudgingly got out of bed, stretched her sore limbs (that mattress really needed to go), and dressed herself back into her ranger uniform. 

She was meant to wait for the cleaning lady, usually, the first person to turn in, before she could leave for her day off so that the station would not remain unoccupied in between shifts. 

She debated making a cup of coffee and waiting for the vet to come in before she left for the day, though. She wanted to run the whole thing by her, regarding the microchip and why she’d installed it when she did (as to not unnecessarily have to anesthetize the pup), and also inform her about this strange man that was due to come in and provide proof of ownership over the cub.

She was gonna leave out how she’d happened upon them since that wasn’t standard procedure and she could get in trouble for having not called in reinforcement when she suspected poachers. She figured telling the vet was the easiest way to dodge having to explain to a fellow ranger what had gone down.

After all, she couldn’t afford to risk getting into trouble only 2 months into this job.

But when she opened up the door to the medical room only to find the crate wide open and the cub missing she froze in place for a long moment.

“Fuck!” She groaned loudly and in a panic began to look all around the station to see if it had gotten loose from the cage but it dawned on her what had happened as she slowly woke up from the fog of sleep. 

The pup had been taken. By the man she couldn’t get out of her head.

She put her hands into her hair and closed her eyes, “Fuck, fuck, fuck…” she couldn’t believe she let this happen on her watch.

She paced from the break room with the bed to the tiny medical room and back in thought. How had it happened?

Then she remembered waking up to check on the wolf pup and how the blanket had been moved, and the unfamiliar scent lingering in the air. Retracing her steps she could see a little better with the daylight falling through the windows and illuminating the space.

The medical room was tiny. She pushed the door wide open and investigated. There was no room for anyone to hide under anything. She popped her head into the hallway and then back into said room.

This time she closed the door behind her and realized then there was a perfect spot for a large man to stand right behind the door as it swung inward into the room. He had been standing there the whole time, smelling delicious and waiting for her to leave so he could finish what he’d started. 

The fucker. It was him. He was there, only feet from her and she had no clue the whole time.

After stuffing her pack with things she’d need for her search and unlocking her rifle from where she’d safely stored it (she still had her handgun with her this whole time - thankfully, as it was quite apparent now that this man was a lot more dangerous than she’d originally assessed), she grabbed the GPS scanner they used to track the wildlife they could successfully tag and ran the microchip data through it in hopes of getting a read. She was hoping they were still on forest premises since the GPS could only cover so much ground, and when she got a ping she wasted no time and hopped straight into one of the jeeps. She was determined to get to the bottom of this, even if it meant sacrificing part of her day off.

She parked at the trail on the southeast entrance of the forest. The one the man said he’d parked at. She didn’t know if it was true that he came in from that end but not only was it far enough away from the station that it was very unlikely she’d cross paths with anyone she worked with, the GPS was showing her that she’d have a good chance of finding the pup if she began on that side.

She began the search on foot. She was able to follow the trail into the forest for about a mile until the location led her outside of the boundaries of the safe path. But she was prepared. At first.

Soon the path became difficult to navigate. There were down trees and slopes to climb. She passed through a stream, needing to remove her boots and put on her water socks to safely cross. But the ascent became sharper the further into the woods she got. She was glad she had a GPS device because it would have been easy for even someone as skilled as herself to get lost.

Y/N needed to sit for a bit and drink her water. She was out of breath. She was in good shape because her job required it but the elevation was getting to her. She figured she must have climbed a thousand feet. But she was headed in the direction on the map.

She prayed she could solve this unscathed, not only for her safety’s sake, but for her job’s sake. She was sure to get in big, big trouble if anyone were to find out about this. It was bad enough that she’d left with the station’s jeep, a rifle in her possession when she was supposed to be off-duty. But this? Wandering off into uncharted, off-limits territory, not having told anyone where she was going at the very least, not to mention without a partner - it was all in violation of all of their safety codes. She would lose her badge for sure.

It had already been a couple of hours since she began her trek. She kept track in her mind of how long it would take her to return to her car. She still had hours upon hours of daylight. But she’d need to be careful to turn back after hiking for another four hours. 6 hours in and 6 hours out. That would give her the right amount of daylight and be able to return before the sun was down.

After another hour of hiking, she found more level ground and the temperature was considerably cooler. There were more openings in the trees allowing more sun to shine on her. The GPS had her very close to the supposed spot the pup was in but there was no sign of anyone or anything that could indicate human or canine. She continued into the geo-location and even past the spot identified on the map, thinking perhaps she could make a large circle about twenty yards around the perimeter of the marked area.

Having to hold up her rifle was definitely slowing her down as well. There was plenty of wildlife roaming freely along these parts, she couldn’t risk a single step without it aiming to shoot in case it came down to it. She was hoping this was not gonna be the day she’d see more of those bears she was complaining about lack of to Nick the other day.

That, paired with continuously having to check her GPS to make sure she was staying on track, made her feel as though she was advancing with the speed of a slug, but after a few jumpscares that proved to be just a couple of deer, she stumbled upon something even more surprising than the scene she’d happened upon the day before.

Directly in her line of view was nothing less than a… cabin.

Certainly unaccounted for, she’d never heard of its existence, and she was certain no one at the station had any inkling as to it being there- she blinked her eyes a few times, as though she couldn’t believe her eyes.

How was it even possible? It was so deep into the forest, making it so wildly dangerous to live in, not to mention it had no way of generating electricity or running water…

Why would anyone want a cabin there? She couldn’t think of a single reason. It was literally insane.

It wasn’t just a shack, either. It was a proper cabin, far nicer than the ones the administration provided for visitors that were going to camp out during the nights and needed shelter from the elements should the weather turn bad, or in the eventuality of straying off course and not being able to make it out in time before nightfall- which, if they logged in at the station, the rangers would know to organize a search party to find them in order to avoid having to even use these so-called cabins anyway. She’d even sent the man to go spend the night in one of those amenities, not wanting to take him into the station all by herself.

This was getting weirder and weirder. But the cabin matched the ping on the GPS. The pup was definitely inside. The whole time she’d tracked it, it had stayed put, so it would account for the animal not moving.

She hadn’t really gone over how she’d handle it in her head. She’d just have to confront the man and find out what was happening. Of course, now that she was just about to come face to face with him, she was doubting any of this had been a good idea. None of what she’d done was safe or wise and she was probably going to get her ass fired. 

If she even made it out alive, that is.

She circled the cabin, inspecting it from every angle. 

She expected to hear the man inside, or the pup, or both, but the coast was eerily clear.

“Hello, the house!” she shouted, making her presence known in customary fashion around those areas. This wasn’t legally anyone’s property since it was government land, but she didn’t know who was living in it and what delusional ideas they had about it. Probably pretty far-fetched ones since they thought it wise to build a cabin in the middle of the wilderness.

Never lowering her rifle, she began advancing towards the entrance, having not gotten any response to her greeting. Very carefully, she inspected the windows up close, and since whoever lived there had goddamn lace sheer curtains and she couldn’t see a thing inside, she made her way towards the door. 

Opening it just as carefully, she took in the open space whilst making her presence known again “Hello? I mean no harm. Please come out so we can talk.”

But again, there was no answer. She listened very carefully but she couldn’t hear anything. Finally, a noise caught her attention, a sound she’d grown familiar with.

It was a whimper. 

Looking to her right, she saw the little guy sitting right next at the doorway to another room. 

It was wagging its tail and seemed happy to see her and not at all afraid. 

Y/N whistled, beckoning it over “Come here, boy!”

The pup obeyed her, which led her to believe its owner truly wasn’t there, since it wouldn’t budge from next to him the previous night. But then again, maybe now she’d earned its trust.

“There’s a good boy. Is your daddy home?”

The cub tilted its head which earned a chuckle from Y/N. She could use a break after all that amount of adrenaline. 

She walked around the cabin, inspecting every room, not that there were many. Actually as far as she could tell there were just the two. There was no bathroom, but that was to be expected since there was no sewage system and running water. Plenty of candles scattered around in a safe manner, no kitchen either. Just the bigger, open space area in which you stepped in going inside, and the other room the pup had come out of to greet her, with a bed. 

Little furniture, but still it was incredibly surprising there was any. How in the hell did he get it there? Just imagining the distance he’d have to carry it from the nearest point to which you could drive up. A couch and a coffee table. A bookshelf that actually had books in it. Quite an extensive collection of spirits. The place had lots of animal furs as carpets too. A huge bear skin rug, complete with the head, that was preserved eerily well.

And then in the bedroom, a surprisingly large bed, with lots of pillows and expensive-looking blankets. Lots of rabbit skin furs. There was also an armoire in there, and opening it up she found a collection of very expensive-looking shirts and, surprise surprise, even more heeled chelsea boots. Not that there was any doubt in her mind anymore regarding who was the owner of this cabin, but this just confirmed it. She couldn’t help being nosey, and on a closer inspection, she saw the items were designer labels. Mainly Yves Saint Laurent, but others too.

How the hell did that make any sense? This guy obviously had money and a lot of it at that. Yet here he was, living in a cabin in the deepest, most secluded part of the woods, with no access to facilities to live a half-decent life.

That only meant he didn’t live there at all, of course. He probably only used it in passing. But why would he need it? What use could he possibly have of it, so far away from, well, civilization? It’d taken her hours to get there. And she still needed to get back before sundown, or at least back to a more forgiving trail that she could navigate easily.  

Something was definitely off about all of this. 

She needed to get to the bottom of it, but maybe she needed to think it over more carefully and make an actual plan. She’d lucked out this time around, seeing as he wasn’t there, but this could’ve gone terribly wrong. And it still could, if she wasn’t careful. 

She had to make her way back.

She crouched next to the cub and petted it. She noticed lots of plush toys scattered around the cabin, a food bowl that was now empty, and a water bowl that she refrained from topping off. She didn’t need him knowing she’d been there.

She was careful to leave everything intact and looked around for mud tracks, but thankfully, she’d been wise enough to wipe the soles of her boots on a patch of greenery just before entering.

There was no way he could tell she’d been there, and she intended to keep it that way and play it to her advantage.

At least the little guy was safe, it was very clearly used to being there, it wasn’t afraid, and didn’t even try to leave out the door when she stepped out of its way. He was apparently content to be there. That put her at ease tremendously, happy she didn’t happen upon the horrific scenarios she was imagining, where the strange man had performed blood sacrifices on it in the middle of the woods and left it for dead (the only other explanation as to why the GPS wasn’t monitoring any movement).

Whatever this man was, she at least knew he wasn’t cruel toward animals. He obviously cared about the well-being of the wolf pup and for some reason, it mattered a great deal to him.

She petted the cub again, scratching behind its ear, and took her leave just as carefully as she’d approached the cabin, then began her trek back to where she’d left her jeep, mindful of how dark it’d already gotten.

*

Days had gone by sans incident. Y/N felt like she’d been lucky to make it out of that dangerous situation unscathed. She had time to ponder every little aspect of everything she’d learned about this man ever since their encounter that full moon, and it all pointed to him being a very dangerous, if mysterious man.

It made no sense for him to have that cabin so remote, so deep into the forest. Everything indicated to him not staying there long (there was no bathroom, no electricity, no running water), but the trek there was so long and hazardous that it just didn’t make any sense to go all the way up there just to stay for a day or two at most.

Why did he need that cabin there, then? It just wasn’t adding up regardless of how she looked at it.

Being a ranger also meant she was a sworn officer of the law, so wasn’t it then her duty to shed light on this whole thing? The man had built a cabin there. Illegally. She’d checked all their logs at the station, there was no entry on any cabin in that area. He’d deliberately picked an area that not even rangers patrolled. He had clearly chosen such a hard-to-reach area to ensure it would be highly unlikely to ever be found.

Why was that? What was he hiding? 

Was he a fugitive? Was he a wanted criminal?

But then, how would that work? He clearly didn’t use the cabin to live in, he just kept it as shelter from the elements mostly, in passing. Also, what kind of criminal owns designer clothes?

Actually - scratch that. Lots do.

But clearly, he had money, so this wasn’t a question of him having nowhere to go and hide from the law.

She was well aware this was way over her head and she needed to tell her colleagues about it. This was something illegal this man was doing, and the longer she knew about it and did nothing about it, she was becoming an accomplice to it by keeping her silence.

But, she didn’t know how to go about it. She knew what she’d done was in no way compatible with her keeping her job at the station. And she loved this job. She really didn’t want to give it up. But if it came to choosing her freedom over her job…

Maybe if she found out what he was up to, she could have a better idea of what the right move would be. If it turned out that the man was indeed an outlaw (aside from his little cabin in the middle of government forest), she’d have to turn him in and say goodbye to her job there.

But if this proved to be just a silly man with a silly cabin… which made absolutely no sense… then why would she risk her job over it?

She was contemplating all this in her little oasis of peace and quiet. She’d found this spot pretty soon after securing the job there, it was off-trail and so she didn’t have to worry about hikers walking in on her. Well. She would hope so, at least, but she was fairly certain nobody would venture off track since it wasn’t an easy trek there. However, it was worth it to her, because she knew what awaited her once she’d made the journey.

It was a small, but deep freshwater lake at the center of the wetlands of the mountain. The water was crystal clear, filtered as it ran through the crags and rocks. Beautiful old pines, hemlock, and cedar lined the shore and rose upward as the mountain sloped higher for a breathtaking backdrop. A literal lake in the mountains. A true refuge.

There were a few bodies of water in the preservation, including a waterfall, but none were quite as lovely and secluded as this spot. She considered it her little hiding place. She knew she could come here and be all alone with her thoughts, and the sounds of the forest and the occasional wild animal (none that would present any harm though, since those tended to inhabit the deeper parts of the forest).

She went there when she had her days off, or when things were particularly slow and she could take a longer break. She especially loved going there towards the end of the day, so she could enjoy her unobscured view of the majestic sunset.

And since she was alone and she knew none of her colleagues would be patrolling that area, and no hikers would walk in on her, she would skinny dip.

Walking into the water she slowly got deeper and sucked in a sharp breath when the water reached her waist. Holding her breath she bent her knees and ducked herself under the water to cover her head and then rose from the water quickly and laughed loudly. She loved the feeling of the cold water covering her limbs and shocking her system.

She waded deeper and began to swim, kicking her legs and propelling her arms as she glided in the water, already feeling her stress melt away.

She loved swimming, having grown up doing this as a pastime in her hometown, and ever since she moved to the big city she’d missed it.

She floated peacefully after doing her usual rounds, taking note of how the sky was beginning to change to her favorite hues of purple and orange as it was approaching sunset. She loved this part of the day the most but especially loved watching it all unfold while she was floating blissfully in the lake. 

She was done for the day and was off-duty, so since she was heading back home after this, she could afford to get her hair wet and deal with it later. Whenever she would come there for short breaks in her schedule, she’d make sure not to get it wet though. She didn’t want her colleagues to find out about her little secret and accuse her of slacking on the job. 

It was getting a bit chilly though, so she decided to get out of the water and watch the sun go down from ashore. 

Turning in the water, she began to swim back in the direction she came from but paused with a jolt and gasped when she saw the man. 

It was him.

He was right there, in front of her, his head barely visible atop the waterline, with only his eyes and nose breaking surface. 

How long had he been standing there in the water? Watching her. Preying on her.

Did he know? That she’d been to his cabin. Did he know she was onto his secret? Was that why he was there? Was he going to harm her?

She couldn’t believe she hadn’t heard him get into the water. Or seen him, even. He must’ve done it while she was doing her laps. 

Suddenly, she was reminded of her nakedness and she felt her whole body flush furiously in embarrassment, despite how chilly it was getting by the minute.

They kept staring at each other until she realized he was slowly making his way toward her in the water. It was barely noticeable that he was moving at all. This guy really gave her the creeps, but for some reason, she couldn’t look away. She could barely see half of his face but his eyes were mesmerizing, they had a strange hold on her. She just couldn’t look away.

She should’ve made a run for it while she still had the advantage, being close to the spot she’d dropped her belongings. She wasn’t armed, since she was off duty for the evening, but she did have her swiss knife and it was definitely better than her bare hands. 

Her bare everything. 

That was what was keeping her from doing just that - her state of undress. She knew he’d likely seen every bit of her, especially with the way she’d floated toward the end, but she couldn’t get herself to snap out of it. She was risking her life for the sake of her modesty, and even that was a thing of the past.

He eventually got within an arm’s length of her and began circling around her ever so slowly. He reminded her of crocodiles, with their eyes poking out of the water and the eerie, slow way in which they move before suddenly launching at their prey. She was expecting him to pounce on her in a similar fashion, drowning her maybe. 

But she wasn’t gonna go down without a fight. She was going to stand her ground and use every tactic in the book she’d learned in military school to try and turn this around in her favor.

She wasn’t gonna show him how scared she was. She wasn’t gonna let him see how he intimidated her. She needed the upper hand. So she broke the silence as she watched him circle around her, making sure her voice didn’t waver.

“Why did you steal the pup back?”

She saw a glint of mischief in his eyes just before he pushed himself out of the water to his shoulders. Her eyes landed on that big, luscious mouth of his again, and sure enough, she saw the hint of a smirk there before his deep voice wiped it off his lips, “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, officer.”

“I warned you that if you didn’t come to provide proof of ownership it’s considered a criminal offense. Not only did you not follow through, but you broke into the station and stole the pup back.”

“Am I under arrest then, officer?” He batted his eyelashes at her innocently and she fought the urge to roll her eyes. He was infuriating. Did he think this was funny? 

“I have every right to arrest you. You’re breaking more laws than I can count, sir.”

“I’m sure you’re smarter than you give yourself credit.”

She squinted her eyes at him for that little jab, “I’m warning you.”

“Or else, what?” He came impossibly close, rising slightly above her in the water. She could now see he was inked. Quite heavily so. She couldn’t stop her eyes from roaming over his torso, water droplets chasing down his tattoos. Her eyes took a quick inventory of two swallows, one atop each of his pecs, small ones that she couldn’t decipher, and further down, the top of what she could only assume were butterfly wings. “Go ahead. Take me in.” He teased, his voice low.

The innuendo wasn’t lost on her, even in her state of panic. She willed her eyes off his body, but looking straight into his eyes wasn’t any easier. A strand of his slicked-back, long, wet hair was falling over his face, his eyes were piercing right through hers and his heavy panting was accentuating his masculine nose. Just everything about him made her feral. She couldn’t deny her body’s response to him, and it infuriated her to no end to know she was allowing herself to feel this way when her life was in literal danger.

“I know about the cabin.”

It was just a split second, but she didn’t miss the look of surprise on his face. He didn’t know, then, that she’d been there. He didn’t know about the microchip she’d planted into the pup. He couldn’t have known, she’d made sure not to leave any tracks, but then why was he here, stalking her like this, if he didn’t know? 

He searched her eyes, probably in an effort to figure out somehow just how much she knew about his dirty little secret, but her shivering seemed to snap him out of his train of thought.

“The temperature is dropping fast; go put your clothes on. You’ll freeze to death.”

She stared at him, taken aback. She hadn’t expected that.

“I’ll do no such thing!”

“Nothing I haven’t already seen,” he raised an eyebrow at her and she furrowed hers.

“You get out first, and turn away.”

“Oh? So you can shoot me when I’m not looking? Not very heroic, is it, officer?”

“Don’t play dumb. I know you know I’m unarmed. Who knows how long you’ve been stalking me.”

He lowered his gaze in between them “Can’t promise the same for myself.” And with that, he proceeded to make his way out of the water. Stark naked, of course. She expected nothing less.

And when he made it to the shore and turned towards her, on full display, she bit her tongue. She definitely had expected less, as it turns out; nothing could’ve prepared her for that. 

Whatever happened to cold water shrinkage?

“It’s not polite to stare.” 

“Then put some bloody clothes on!” Her voice came off way higher than she’d intended it to.

The man shrugged and, to her dismay, he walked over to her pile of clothes and picked up her ranger hat, placing it on his head.

She couldn’t help but to let out an incredulous laugh.

“I meant, cover up!!”

Harry looked down at his crotch, seemingly completely unaffected by his state of undress. It was as if it was perfectly normal for him to just roam around naked like that in front of a literal stranger. He then grabbed the hat from atop his head and placed it over his groin, holding it there for a beat before letting it fall to the ground.

Y/N’s mouth fell agape, and then the man just shrugged again “Come out, and I’ll make it stay on this time. I promise you.”

Y/N was blushing profusely, so she turned around, more in an effort to keep him from seeing just how much he was affecting her than to give him privacy. “Sir!… Please!”

She heard him chuckle and waited a considerable amount of time for him to get dressed. When she thought it was safe to turn back around, she froze. 

The man was gone.

She hadn’t heard him make his way through the greenery at all.

She looked around, but the coast was clear. If she couldn’t see him, it was very unlikely he could see her.

And just as he’d reminded her, it was nothing he hadn’t seen before.

She finally emerged from the lake and rushed to her clothes. Her swiss army knife was still there, nothing was missing.

Except for the mysterious man, who was now aware she knew about his secret. And that sent shivers down her spine, and not from how cold it was getting.

Chapter 3

A/N: (@fkinavocado and @gurugirl here) ladies and gentlemen... wolfrry 🥵

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