Read Lost (Shifter Island Book 1) for Free Online Page A

“There isn’t—I mean—where do you–”
    “In the woods,” he said with a twitch of one shoulder.
    Unsurprisingly, that didn’t seem to be the answer she’d wanted. He could put something together for her, he supposed; he had a bucket, and he could lay a couple of pieces of wood across the top so she could sit. See? he heard Luca’s voice say at the back of his mind. These humans are too spoiled by their comforts. They can’t even piss without their contraptions. But before he could make the offer, Abby jumped out of bed, pulled on her dress, and scurried outside as fast as a rabbit.
    She came back a couple of minutes later looking sheepish but relieved.
    “I could have done something–” Aaron said.
    Abby shook her head. “I went camping with my family sometimes when I was a kid. We learned how to go in the woods. And how to look out for poison ivy and whatnot. It’s all right. Awkward, but all right.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “As long as it’s not snowing.”
    She was standing in a spill of sunlight that made her look remarkably beautiful. Aaron—who had seen enough humans on the mainland to know that among her kind she was probably considered pretty but not exceptional—allowed himself to admire her fully, remembering how soft her skin was, how sweet she had tasted. The memory kindled new warmth in his belly, and he thought he might suggest that they stay in bed, at least for a while.
    “Could I–” she said.
    He tipped his head, wondering what was on her mind now.
    “I was thinking about a bath. Washing up? I smell a little rank.”
    To him, she smelled nothing of the kind. Yes, her skin was rich with the smells of their mating, and of her exertion the day before, but that wasn’t a bad scent. It meant she was young, active, fertile. No wolf would ever object to any of that. But he understood that she wanted to look (and smell) her best for him, and no wolf would object to that, either.
    Nodding, he slipped out of bed, took a shallow basin out of the cupboard, and carried it outside to fill it with water from the barrel. He brought it back indoors and set it on top of the cupboard along with the remains of his bar of soap and a small towel.
    “The best I can offer,” he told her.
    “It’s fine.”
    She didn’t seem to be saying that grudgingly, and he wondered how much hardship she’d gone through in her life. He was aware that a large number of humans lived under extreme conditions, but he hadn’t thought she was one of them. Her dress, even though it was badly wrinkled now, seemed to be nicely made, and her purse looked like an expensive one. Her nails (both fingers and toes) were manicured and polished.
    She was a puzzle, he decided. An enticing, beautiful puzzle.
    “I’ll go and find us some food,” he said, thinking he would give her some privacy in which to do her cleaning up. “Do you like fish?”
    “I do.”
    “Even for breakfast?”
    “That’s fine.”
    “It shouldn’t take very long.”
    Her stomach gurgled, something that made her blush with embarrassment, and she turned quickly toward the cupboard and the bar of soap. Smiling, Aaron took a moment to pull on his jeans and t-shirt and shoes, then left the cabin and closed the door behind him.
    As he’d hoped, spearing a couple of fish in the cove didn’t take long. Once he had them in hand, he went swiftly to the place where the best mushrooms grew and gathered enough of them for this one meal, then collected some greens and some more blueberries. He could tell by the position of the sun that he’d been gone less than an hour, a length of time that he hoped wouldn’t seem unreasonable to Abby.
    It didn’t.
    She was clean now, and smelled of soap. She’d brushed her hair and had put on fresh clothing, another dress that he supposed had come from the depths of her enormous bag, this one with a fuller skirt than the other one. It drifted and twirled around her legs when she moved, something he found very