by Sophie Stern
“Cat got your tongue?” He stands, and somehow, Tony seems to fill the room.
“Tony brought us some food,” my dad says with a smile. He looks proudly at Tony, at the son-in-law he should have had, and then he looks back at me. “Wasn’t that nice, dear?”
“Y-Y-Yes.”
“What’s wrong with your voice?” My father asks, looking at me with a confused look on his face. “Do you need a glass of water, sweetie?”
“Dana,” Tony says, and my panties are instantly wet. Fuck. They shouldn’t be. I shouldn’t melt when he says my name like that. I shouldn’t completely lose myself when he whispers my name. I shouldn’t fall back into who I was all those years ago, but my inner-wolf has awakened and she knows just as much as Tony knows that we’re mates.
We’re fated to be together.
We need each other.
We’re supposed to be together.
I don’t know what to do or to say. How do I apologize for running away on our wedding day? How do I apologize for not saying goodbye? How do I apologize for the fact that I didn’t even call?
Rebecca seems to know what’s running through my head because she places a hand on my shoulder and whispers, “Don’t freak out.”
Only, it’s too late for that.
Tony is looking at me.
My parents are looking at me.
Everyone is looking at me and suddenly, the room closes in on me, and there’s only one thing I know how to do in a situation like this, so I do what I did last time, and I turn, and I run.
“Dammit,” I hear Rebecca say. “Not again.”
“Not again is fucking right,” Tony’s voice follows, and I turn back in time to see him striding out of my dad’s hospital room. I’m close to the elevators now, but Tony seems unconcerned. He leans against the doorframe. “Get back here, Dana. We have some talking to do.”
Only I don’t have anything to say to Tony or to anyone and so I turn back around.
And I keep running.
Chapter 6
Tony
My dick shouldn’t get so hard at the thought of a good chase, but then, my dick was never the smartest part of my anatomy. I knew from the moment Dana saw me that she was going to run. She was surprised to see me and the scent of fear filled the room.
I knew she wouldn’t be expecting me today, but to be honest, I wasn’t expecting to see her, either. Her dad only just had his heart attack and I would have thought she would need to make arrangements before coming back to Wolfe City. She’s been gone for two years and to the best of my knowledge, she hasn’t been back.
I don’t think she’s even called her parents during that time.
Any thought that Dana might have changed during her time away flees when I see her diving for the door, and then she starts running down the hallway.
And my dick is hard.
I let her get away once. I’m not interested in letting her get away a second time. Even if Dana isn’t interesting in staying in Wolfe City, even if she isn’t going to marry me, even if she isn’t going to turn her life back around, we’re going to talk. She owes me that much. She owes me one long, very explicit, very detailed talk.
And I’m going to get her to talk to me if it’s the last thing I do.
I see her disappear into the elevator and I’m sure she thinks she’s safe.
“Oh, little girl, how wrong you are,” I say.
“Wow, does this guy always sound so scary?” Rebecca, Dana’s friend, says from behind me.
“Oh, yes, dear. He’s always like that. Tony has a very deep voice,” Belinda explains.
“Go get her, son,” Jasper says with a chuckle. “Heaven knows she needs you.”
“If you’ll excuse me,” I nod to Belinda, Jasper, and Rebecca from my position in the doorway. I step into the hall and close the door to the hospital room behind me. Belinda is already talking in excited tones and I know she’s wondering if I’m about to get back together with her daughter.
Right now, all I want are answers. The decision to mate Dana can wait. Once I’m in the hallway, I turn right instead of left. Dana has a head start because of the elevator, but I have something better. I have the stairs. I take them two at a time and when I get to the front doors, she’s just walking out of them.
Her pace is slow and her head is hanging. She looks tired and a little worn out, but I’m not going to let that stop me. Not this time.
This time, she’s mine.
“Run fast, little girl,” I say, heading out the front doors. I’m close on her heels, but she’s still ahead of me. “The big, bad wolf is coming for you.”
I’m not sure if she hears me or senses me, but suddenly, Dana stops walking and turns around. Her eyes go wide, but I keep moving toward her. I’m not slowing down this time. She had her head start. I’m not giving her any more leeway.
“What do you want?” She says. She’s standing perfectly still and I’m closing in on her.
“You,” I say. “We need to talk.”
“I don’t want to talk.”
“I don’t care.”
The words are barely out of my mouth before she turns and runs again. For a second, I think she’s going to run to her car, hop in, and drive away. That would be unfortunate because while I’m fast, there’s no way I’m as fast as a car. She doesn’t head for her car, though. Instead, Dana starts running toward the edge of the parking lot, toward the woods, and I know I’ve got her.
I let her go for a minute, and then I take off.
Dana has always been fast. One of the things I’ve always loved about her is her determination and self-motivation. In high school, she ran cross-country and she always pushed herself to be faster, stronger. Now, I’m realizing just how much I’ve missed chasing her, playing with her. I’ve missed everything about Dana, but most of all, I’ve missed just being around her.
There’s a certain comfort that comes from being with your soul mate. There’s this wonderful companionship that can’t be replaced. When she left, I tried to fill that void in my soul, but I couldn’t because no one else is Dana. No one else is her. No one else is as sweet or as kind or as wonderful.
No one else is as fun.
No one else is Dana.
Now, I’m running after her and this time, I’m going to catch her. At the very least, she’s going to answer my questions. She’s going to tell me why she left and why she ran. She’s going to tell me why she took off. She’s going to answer every question I have and she isn’t leaving until I’m satisfied.
She isn’t leaving until she’s given me what I want.
What I need.
I see her tearing her shirt off as she nears the woods and my dick gets even harder. She’s still so damn beautiful, but she’s also sneaky. She thinks she’s going to get naked and shift, and then I won’t be able to catch her. Dana is fast as a human, but in her wolf form, she’s practically uncatchable.
Lucky for me, I know a few tricks about catching little wolves who don’t want to be caught. I know Dana better than she knows herself.
I run toward the edge of the woods and by the time I reach them, she’s already vanished. I quickly strip out of my own clothes, dropping them in a messy pile beside Dana’s, and I shift instantly into my wolf form.
Being in wolf form offers many benefits, but right now, the one I want is scent. I want to be able to smell exactly where my little mate has gone because as much as Dana wants to deny it, we’re mates, and I’m going to get what I want from her.
She’s gone straight ahead, deep into the woods. I pick her trail up immediately and begin moving quickly, just as I know my mate has done. She’ll be so worried about putting distance between us that Dana won’t remember the most important thing about being hunted by a shifter: patience.
If she would be patient, she would realize she could simply calm herself and hide somewhere. If she could calm herself, she would have almost no scent at all, and if she could be patient, she could simply wait until I grew b
ored and left.
Then again, maybe Dana does know me better than I think, because I would never get bored, and I would never leave. I would wait her out until she thought she was safe. I would stay until she got hungry or thirsty or tired, and then I would pounce. Then I would get her.
I keep moving forward. My eyes roam the forest as I wonder where my mate has gone. While I find it irritating she felt the need to run and hide, I also find it fascinating that she didn’t argue with me. She didn’t put up a fuss. She just ran.
Maybe she wants to be caught.
She’s certainly not doing a very good job of hiding.
Her scent is growing stronger with every step and soon, I’m surrounded by her smell. I breathe her in, enjoying her unique scent, but then I realize that I am literally surrounded by it.
This means she’s close, and she’s played me.
She’s run in circles around this particular area. She’s been sweating here, leaving her scent all over everything. How will I find her now? I’m so surrounded by her smell that I can’t even begin to pinpoint which direction she might have gone.
I don’t have to wonder long, though, because suddenly, I see a blur of grey fur out of the corner of my eye, and then I’m knocked to the ground.
The hunter has become the hunted.
Chapter 7
Dana
I shouldn’t be wet just from his voice, just from being chased by him, but my body reacts strongly to Tony. It’s always been this way. Ever since we were young, ever since the first time we slept together, I’ve known we were mates. I’ve known it was him or no one, and for the last two years, it’s been no one.
And now all I want is him.
He chases me and I know what he’s thinking: it’s only a matter of time before he catches me. Tony has always been cocky and in the past, I’ve let him beat me plenty of times. Oh, he’s caught me on his own often enough, but there have been many times when I didn’t fight, when I just let him claim me as his own.
That’s not what today is going to be like.
Today I’m going to be the one who draws first blood.
Today I’m going to be the one who conquers.
Today I’m the hunter.
I’ve learned a lot in the time I’ve been gone. The thing I’ve learned most of all is that patience wins many battles. Simply stopping, calming down, and thinking for a minute can mean the difference between a win and a loss.
And I came here to win.
After I leave my scent all around a small clearing, I climb up onto a boulder to wait. He’ll be coming soon. When Tony decides to hunt something, he goes all out. He’s not going to take it easy on me just because I’m his mate. He’s been waiting a long time for this discussion or this fight or whatever this encounter is going to result in. He’s not going to be thinking clearly. He’s not going to give me a head start or any sort of advantage.
Nope. That’s not going to happen today.
It’s only a couple of minutes before I smell Tony. There are so many emotions attached to his scent right now: anger, excitement, disappointment, arousal. So apparently, I’m not the only one whose mate is affecting their emotions. This is good news for me. If Tony is experiencing so many different feelings all at once, he’s going to be off his game. It’s going to be hard for him to focus and that’s good because right now? Right now it’s nearly impossible for me to focus.
His wolf form comes into view.
He’s just as beautiful as I remember. We’ve run together so many times, played together so many times. I know every inch of that wolf and part of me wants nothing more than to just apologize, than just to beg him to let me have a second chance.
I shake my head.
Where are these thoughts coming from? A second chance with Tony? That’s not what I need at all. What I need is the closure I never got. What I need is to find out why Cynthia was better than me. What I need is to find out why he didn’t call off the wedding when he decided he loved someone else.
What I need is to move on.
He stops and smells the air, suddenly realizing I’ve marked so many different things in this area he’ll never be able to get a clear read on me, and that’s when I make my move.
I leap off the boulder and slam into Tony’s side. He growls when I hit him, but he’s not off-balance for long because this is a fight and we both know it. We both need it. We’re both ready for this.
We tumble for a second before Tony gets control of the situation and manages to flip me onto my back. I’m quicker than I once was, though, and I wiggle out of his claws before he can bite my neck. Before he can catch me with his teeth, I’m out from under him and back on all fours.
And oh, does this feel good.
It’s been a long time since I fought with anyone, least of all a wolf. It’s been a long time and now I wonder why I never spar with Rebecca. I bet she’s an excellent fighter. I bet she’s incredible when she gets in the zone.
Tony and I circle the area, watching each other, waiting to see who is going to make the next move. I growl, nipping at the air and baring my teeth. He does the same, but even in wolf form, he looks smug.
He looks like he knows he’s going to win this fight.
He looks like he knows he’s got this under control.
And if there’s one thing that pisses me off beyond belief, it’s that smug-ass attitude. I howl and leap forward, but he steps easily to the side and I miss him, tumbling head-over-tail for a second. I try to right myself, but it’s too late, and Tony hits me from the side, knocking me down again.
This time he does manage to pin me down and when I try to wiggle away, I can’t. He bares his teeth and gently opens his mouth over my neck.
He’s beaten me and it only took a minute.
All that fighting and it was nothing.
I was nothing.
I was bad.
I was terrible.
I lost my temper, I lost control, and it cost me everything.
I failed.
Tony is waiting for me to acknowledge his win. Oh, he’s not going to kill me or do anything crazy like that. He’s not going to actually bite me. He’s not going to do anything but wait for me to nod, to make a noise, to do something that shows him I know he’s superior to me.
And right now, I just don’t know if I can do that.
I’m not going to lose my cool in wolf form. As much as I want to freak out completely, Tony has his teeth around my neck, but instead of acknowledging his win, I shift back into my human form and then I’m just me.
I’m just Dana.
I’m just naked in the woods with my mate, and he’s still got his mouth open.
Almost instantly, Tony shifts, too. His beautiful silver-grey fur vanishes and is replaced with tan skin and a muscular body.
“You ran,” he says, looking at me. He’s holding himself over me, and he’s naked, just like I am. He’s naked and he’s my mate and he’s looking at me like he’s confused and hurt, but not mad. He’s looking at me like he wants an explanation. He’s looking at me like he still cares about me.
He’s looking at me like I’m special.
I shouldn’t do anything but explain. I shouldn’t do anything but confess that he hurt me and I didn’t know what else to do. I shouldn’t do anything but tell him our time together is over. I shouldn’t do anything.
But Tony has always been special.
And he’s always had my heart.
And he’s always had my body.
And he’s always had my soul.
So instead of offering him an explanation, I lean up and kiss him instead. I kiss my wolf. I kiss him like I’ve never kissed him before, like it’s the very first time, and my heart soars.
Chapter 8
Tony
For someone who seems to be pretty fucking mad at me, Dana kisses like a goddess. Her lips meet mine and everything else fades away. She’s soft and delicate, sweet and sensuous.
She arches up into me and her breasts
press against my chest. Oh, I’ve missed her. I’ve missed every bit of her. As Dana kisses me, memories come rolling back in full force of all the times we’ve made out in the woods, of all the times we’ve chased each other as wolves, of all the times we’ve played together.
All the memories of fun and friendship come rolling back, and my inner wolf howls. She’s mine, it whispers. Mine.
And she is.
Dana is my mate. With each kiss, that thought echoes in my head and my heart. Does she feel this, too? She has to. Chasing her was magical. It was fun and wonderful and it made me feel alive. I pour my heart and soul into my restaurant, but it doesn’t make me feel so damn alive, not the way Dana does.
It doesn’t make me feel like everything is going to be okay, like everything is going to be fucking perfect.
That’s how Dana makes me feel.
She makes me feel like it’s springtime, like all the fresh flowers in the world are blooming right in my heart. She makes me feel like I’m important and special and incredible.
She makes me feel sexy as hell.
I reach for her and roll so I’m on my back in the soft grass and she’s on top of me, covering her body with mine. She keeps kissing me, but now I can have better access to her body. Two years is too long to be away from your mate. Two years is too long to do without touching, without feeling.
I run my hands up and down her sides. Her skin is so soft and perfect. She arches against me and I know she feels my hardness pressing up against her, but Dana doesn’t seem to mind.
She’s never minded.
One thing I’ve always loved is that Dana just wants me to be me. She just wants me to be true to myself. She just wants me to be happy, content.
She just wants me to be who I am.
I cup her breasts and she groans.
“You like that, pretty girl?”
“You know I do,” she whispers, and kisses me again. I massage her breasts slowly, carefully, taking my time to play with her. Her nipples are hard and I pinch them gently, just hard enough to make her moan.