by Arizona Tape
I curled myself around Regan’s legs again and searched for there rest. JP was panting heavily, his hand pressed hard against his thigh. He was wounded but alive. Darren reappeared from the shrubbery without a scratch, while Aspen had an ugly gash on his forehead and Ash clothes were ripped rather inappropriately. But apart from that, we were all fine. We made it. I sighed and fell down on my belly, my legs giving out. That was one heck of a fight and it was a surprise none of us got seriously hurt.
Playful fingers curled themselves in my pelt and I happily let myself be stroked. I loved being cuddled in my wolf form and Regan always knew precisely where to scratch me. Lazily, I turned on my back to expose my soft tummy and purred when his hands ruffled through my fur. Now that was the perfect after battle treat.
I growled softly and opened my eyes, only to find myself staring in Darren’s handsome face. I immediately jumped up and glared angrily at him. Why was he just leisurely petting me? Surely, that wasn’t one’s usual reaction to seeing someone turn in a wolf?
I shifted my attention to Regan and growled at him. Why had he let someone else touch me? The traitor.
But then again... Why had he? I knew how possessive his wolf was in the beginning and how much trouble he had sharing me with JP. Even now, every once in a while, he’d threaten JP when he tried to pat me. My wolf usually didn’t let him. But here she was, happily curling under Darren’s touch. What was up with that?
Maybe I was just tired. Probably that. And I had no time to waste thinking about which my wolf could and couldn’t pet. Just because we won, didn’t mean more men couldn’t arrive at any given moment. We should grab all the healthy horses we could and get the hell out of here. Fast.
“Let’s take their horses and go,” Regan translated my wishes and everyone nodded looking rather eager to get out of here. Darren threw me a strange look, quickly brush his fingers through my fur again and jogged towards JP.
“Can I look?” he asked, peeling JP’s torn shirt away from the wound. My lover winced as Darren prodded the gash and I could tell he was in pain. “You need stitches.”
He let out a shaky breath and pointed at me. “Danny u-usually takes c-care of the medical s-stuff. But w-wolf Danny isn’t so g-good with needles.”
“I feel her wolf. She won’t shift back for a while,” Regan helpfully added, gently scratching me behind my ears. My wolf purred and lovingly caught his wrist between her teeth. She almost liked Regan in human form as much as in wolf form.
“T-That’s a r-rather vague time e-estimate,” JP muttered, his face contorted.
I let my head hang down in shame, angry that I couldn’t shift back at will. I would probably be stuck in my wolf form for at least a couple more hours until my wolf felt like she played enough with Regan.
Darren pressed his hand against JP’s stomach, making him flinch in pain. “I’ll do it.”
“Errr... I-I think I’ll w-wait for Danny to t-turn back.
“It’s a deep cut. You need it treated now. Look,” he disagreed, pulling up his own shirt and revealing a hard set of abs. Wow. He was fit. Why was he showing off his stomach again? Did I really care why?
“N-Nice abs. W-Why am I l-looking at them? S-Should it help with the p-pain?”
Darren chuckled, pulling the hem higher to reveal more rows of hard steel. Damn, that was one good-looking body.
“No, look here. I got a cut here a while back. I stitched it up myself and it healed nicely. I know what I’m doing,” Darren explained, pointing at himself. I dribbled towards him so I could inspect it closer. Not because I wanted a closer look of his abs, of course. No, for JP. I couldn’t let someone incompetent touch my man. With my snout almost pressed against him, I inspected his scar. It looked rather fresh, but it was neat and it had healed properly. That was pretty good handiwork.
I nodded, giving Darren approval to help and reassure JP.
“We need to move first,” Ash said, rejoining the group with three horses. “Only three horses left. I put the wounded ones out of their misery and the rest ran off,” she muttered, not looking very happy with that. I couldn’t blame her. During the fight, when it was your life on the line, defending yourself and attacking your enemies was almost a natural reflex. Cleaning up after the battle was horrible. There was nothing glamorous about making sure everyone was dead. Especially not when they looked at you with those begging eyes. Sometimes they wished to be spared and others wished for a quick death. I wasn’t sure which one was worse.
“Where can we go?” Aspen asked, making us all look around. Behind us was the village that we almost got ruined just by being here. Left was a large wasteland and right we’d follow the roads to the next town. Another town that would burn if we got there.
Regan pointed straight ahead. “Only one option.”
“The Woods of Erald? You sure that’s a good idea?” Ash said, glancing hesitantly at the dark tree line in front of us. I jogged towards Regan and pressed my wet snout against his leg to catch his attention. I really didn’t feel like going back to those woods, not after what happened in there.
“Got no choice, love,” he whispered, running his hand through my pelt. I looked at the other directions and reluctantly agreed. He was right. Into the forest was our only chance of throwing them off our trail.
Ash loaded our packs on the horses and with a click, pulled them along as we disappeared into the dark forest once again. I crossed my imaginary fingers, hoping we wouldn’t awaken the evil spirits in the Woods of Erald.
Chapter Thirteen - Sausages
I ran along the group, my paws hitting the dead leaves and damp earth. It was almost pleasant if it didn’t smell so strange in here. You could tell this wasn’t a regular forest.
“Let’s camp here,” Regan spoke as we found ourselves in a small clearing. The ground was relatively even and we were surrounded by walls of thick shrubbery and trees. We were definitely deep enough into the forest that someone from outside wouldn’t be able to see our fire.
The group nodded simultaneously, all looking exhausted. I couldn’t blame them. I was exhausted. It had been one fucking long day.
Ash let herself fall down on a rotten stump as Aspen unloaded the horses. Curiously, he searched the saddlebags and whooped loudly. “Look!” he cheered, conjuring a long dried sausage from the bag. “There are one, two, three more of them!”
“N-Nice,” JP muttered, hissing in pain as Darren nipped him with a small needle and thread. I jogged over to the pair and inspected our newest arrival’s handiwork. His fingers were strong but slender and his nails clean. His stitches were fast and even. Not bad. Not bad at all. Appreciatively, I nodded my head and softly licked JP’s wound. He grimaced and gave me a gentle pat between my ears. A warm feeling bubbled up from my stomach as my wolf curled her tail around his legs. Moments like this revealed how much she did care for JP, even if she pretended not to like him most of the time.
“Look! Bread!” Aspen exclaimed enthusiastically, waving two big loaves of bread in the air. The thought of sausages and bread alone made me drool. It had been a while since we ate some meat. And Aspen couldn’t mess this up.
“There, done. All stitched up,” Darren smiled, inspecting his stitches.
“T-Thanks, man.”
“No problem, dude.”
I eyed JP and Darren, not believing myself that I found them kind of cute together. How would it be to have them both... No, Danny, don’t even think it! You know JP isn’t into that kind of thing and don’t even dare think about Darren like that. You already have enough drama and adventure in your life, you do not need to add a third lover. Oops, thought it after all.
No! Bad wolf. No more men.
“Oh man, there is even more dried meat in here!” Aspen called out in glee, waving a small satchel around. The savoury smell of meat hit my nose and I licked my lips. More meat? Don’t mind if I do! Those mercenaries were living a better life than we were.
“Shall we pitch tents?” Ash proposed, pushing h
erself up from the ground as she tiredly rubbed her eyes.
“Good call. And we need firewood,” Regan nodded looking at the rest of the group. I silently groaned, annoyed that we left all the firewood behind in the barn. We had worked so hard to gather it this morning.
JP sighed and I could tell that he was thinking the same thing. Gathering firewood was always an annoying task.
“I’ll go. I don’t mind,” Darren quipped in, surprising us all. For a guy who insisted on liking to be independent and doing his own thing, he sure blended in well.
“Y-You sure?”
“Yup. I’m bad at putting up tents.”
“Good,” Regan agreed, digging through his pack for the rags we usually used for camping. Ash started marking off squares and Aspen and JP uncoiled the long ropes from his satchel. I dug into the ground with my paws, feeling annoyed and useless in my wolf form. I couldn’t exactly help with anything and it wasn’t fair that my friends had to do all the work themselves.
I glanced at Darren and before I knew it, I was skipping towards him. I gently nudge him against his legs, making him chuckle.
“Are you joining me, Danny?” he smiled, scratching the top of my head. I turned to Regan and JP, checking if they didn’t mind. Regan nodded and JP waved at us, before they both went back to pitching the tent. Looked like they didn’t mind then.
I nipped at Darren’s ankle and ran into the woods, grinning as he chased me. I liked his energy. It was fun.
I darted from one tree to the next, howling softly as I found a dryish looking branch. Of course, I couldn’t actually help him, but if someone attacked him or he got lost, at least he wasn’t alone. For some reason that I couldn’t explain, I felt like it was fate that we met. It just had to be.
I watched the young man stroll through the forest, picking up branches and sticks like he was picking flowers. He had that same boyish and carefree look as a smile played around his lips. Why was he so damn cute? Couldn’t he just stop smiling so I couldn’t see his dimples? And what was with that smirk?
I groaned. I should stop. He was far too young and I already had JP and Regan. And I really shouldn’t be pursuing the crown prince. That would only bring trouble.
I could only imagine my father’s face. He’d explode. It was almost funny thinking about his reaction if I told him that I liked two heirs. Fuck. Not two heirs. Only one. I was only in love with Regan. Not with Darren. Darren was... A new friend. My prince. Not a lover.
I glared at Darren again, secretly hating and loving his sharp jaw and mentally slapped myself on the wrist. Keep it in your pants, Danny.
But then Darren turned around and caught me staring at him. I felt my cheeks heat up as I batted my eyes down. Damn it. Even in wolf form it was clear I was checking him out. Busted.
From between my eyelashes, I looked up at him and noticed he was still staring at me. He flashed me a grin and cheekily winked at me, before returning to picking up firewood
He twirled a long stick around, his muscles rolling underneath his shirt. Fuck. The realisation hit me like a door. I was interested. After only one day, I was interested. How the fuck would I explain that to JP and Regan?
Or to my wolf? She barely accepted JP, no way would she be okay with me taking another lover. Especially not one with a wolf we weren’t mated to. That would only end in disaster. Although... She did seem to have a soft spot for this new man.
And three was always better than two, right?
I jogged towards the next tree, hoping I was coming across nonchalant and casual, but as I tripped over a stick and faceplanted, I knew that ship had sailed. I heard Darren snicker behind me and graciously, jumped back up and with my tail in the air, darted forward. Just play it off.
The next tree had an oddly looking mushroom attached to the trunk that was perfect for tinder. I howled for Darren’s attention as suddenly, a tingling sensation rushed through me.
Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no.
As if someone dumped a whole bucket of ice water over me, I shivered and rolled up in a ball behind the tree. Fuck. Stupid wolf. This was not the time to shift back to my human form. To my naked human form.
I pressed my eyes shut, as if that would stop the transformation, but I knew that nothing would stop this. Once my wolf decided she was done playing, we were done.
Luckily, shifting back was always much a lot less painful and I over the years, I had learned how to keep my mouth shut. Which was maybe not the best idea. Now I was just a naked ball of human lying behind a tree while Darren was none the wiser. Damn it, should’ve howled in pain so he knew something was up. Or not. He would’ve come looking.
I certainly didn’t want that. Honestly, I didn’t!
But now what? Do I hide behind this tree forever as I die of humiliation? Do I sneak away and run back as fast as I can to campsite? But then he’d get worried and maybe get lost looking for me. No, I couldn’t do that to him.
Maybe I should just tell him what happened and ask for his jacket or his shirt. That would surely be the best solution, right? It was still embarrassing, but at least it was better than the two other options. Yes, asking him for clothes was my best bet.
I stood up to dust myself off and bam. I ran straight into Darren’s hard chest.
“Fuck!” I screamed, almost losing my footing. Quickly, he snaked his arm around my waist to help me regain balance.
“What the hell, Danny?” he muttered, staring intensely at me, a strange glint swirling in his dark eyes. I felt my cheeks heat in. Kill me now. From all the awkward things I had experienced, getting caught naked in the middle of the forest by my latest crush was definitely in the top ten. This was not how I had imagined that happening.
“I can explain,” I hastily shouted, racking my brain for a good explanation why I was suddenly butt naked in his arms. Maybe he thought I did this deliberately. Oh no, he’d think I was some sort of cougar that lured him into the woods just so I could flash my tits at him. Or worse, he’d be embarrassed finding me because he didn’t think I was attractive. Like accidentally walking in on your naked grandma.
Oh gods, kill me now. Let lightning strike me. Right here would be good, please.
As panic started to cloud my mind, another realisation hit me. Darren hadn’t let go of me. I was still pressed hard against his chest. The coldness had perked up my nipples and I was sure he could feel them rubbing against him. His arm was still wrapped around my waist and even though his hand was politely resting on my hip, I could also feel something else against me.
Oh oh...
I was in trouble. Big trouble. But then again, did I really mind?
Author's Note
This is the end of Danny's Dance. This story will continue in the next instalment. I hope you all enjoyed this novella and that you'll continue following Danny and the rest of the gang.
Thank you so much for reading.
If you can't wait for the next book or more Danny, you can read more about them in my other serial My Winter Wolf. It highlights a different part of their journey further along the road and their quest.
I hope to see you in my other books,
Your writer,
Arizona Tape
About Arizona Tape
Arizona Tape is quite a chaotic, young adult who shares her house with a cactus plant and has sleep dates with her bed. She makes up stories in her head all the time like a crazy person and occasionally writes them down too. But only if the mood is right.
In her spare time, she enjoys discovering new places with her friends, making all kinds of food as she waltzes through her kitchen like a tornado or likes relaxing on her couch with a movie and a cosy blanket.
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Also By Arizona Tape
Enjoyed Arizona Tape's story and writing style? Want to read more of her? You can!
If you loved Danny and her men, you can follow a different part of their journey that might shed some light on the bigger picture! You can follow them in the series: My Winter Wolf
You can read it in serial form or as a novel.
Book 1: Wolf's Whisper (Novel)
https://www.books2read.com/wolfswhisper
Volume 1: Awakening (Serial)
https://www.books2read.com/winterwolf1
The Love Pill: For a sweet and lesbian romance
https://www.books2read.com/lovepill
My Own Human Series: For a Lesbian Vampire Dystopia:
https://www.books2read.com/myownhuman
Twin Souls Series: For more shifters and vampires (co-written with USA Today Bestselling Author Laura Greenwood)
Book 1: Soulswap
https://www.books2read.com/soulswap
Book 2: Soulshift
https://www.books2read.com/soulshift