by Alisa Woods
Then he turned his gaze to her and smirked. “Take your clothes off.”
“Excuse me?” she choked.
He stepped through the tall grasses, coming back to her. “You heard me.”
“Right here?” She glanced back at the forest they had come through, imagining other hikers on the path.
“No one comes here,” he chided. “Correction: no humans come here. Trust me, I’ve spent a lot of time in these woods. This trail doesn’t get much use. Plus we’re pretty well off the trail.”
When she didn’t immediately whip off her shirt, unexpectedly shy given they’d already been naked together, he chastised her with a frown. “Do you want to learn about being a wolf or not?”
“I wasn’t planning on getting naked to do it.” Her hesitation was sounding ridiculous, even to her.
He arched an eyebrow. “Can you shift without getting tangled in your clothes? Or ripping them to shreds?”
“Um… no.”
He gestured for her to get on with it.
She sighed and kicked off her shoes. He reached down to whip his shirt off in one quick motion, but he was watching her every move.
She started to unbutton her jeans, but before she slid them down her hips, she said, “Don’t look.”
“You’re kidding, right?” He didn’t take his eyes off her.
She inched her pants down and stepped out of them, standing now in just her t-shirt and panties. “I mean it. If we’re going to be friends, you can’t be ogling my breasts.”
“I’m not ogling.”
He was definitely ogling. And also unbuttoning his pants. She swallowed and resisted checking him out, but she was pretty sure he was sans underwear.
“You’re drooling as well,” she said.
“Wolves drool. It’s what we do.” The smirk was firmly planted on his face again.
She grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt. “Don’t look. I mean it.”
He stopped removing his pants and covered his eyes, one with each hand. “Okay. Not looking.”
She pulled the t-shirt off, but by the time she had it over her head, he was watching her again. “Cheater!”
“Guilty.” He chuckled and slid his pants down, still watching her.
He was completely naked, while she still had on her bra and panties. He stepped closer, and it was suddenly hard for her to breathe. She thought he might mock her again, but the smile had gentled on his face. She was trying hard not to let her gaze drift down, to see if he was as aroused as she was quickly becoming, but even the sight of his bare chest was making heat gather between her legs. She hoped like heck the bountiful bouquet of the meadow flowers would cover the smell.
He lifted her chin with one finger, bringing her gaze up to his. “No looking.” The smirk was back.
“You know, you’re really obnoxious when—”
She cut herself off as he reached around and started unhooking her bra. It went slack, and then he slid a finger down each arm, easing the straps off her. She held her breath as he knelt down to remove her panties, using just his fingertips to glide along her skin. Her whole body was trembling with need by the time he stood up again, eyes blazing at her.
“Maybe,” she said, breath short, “we can wait on the wolfy part for a bit.”
“No waiting.” He stepped back, dark eyes still on fire for her. “I want to watch you shift.”
She was pretty sure she was blushing from head to toe, but he obviously wasn’t going to touch her like she achingly wanted him to. There was nothing to do but give him what he asked for.
She closed her eyes and focused on her inner wolf. It took a few seconds, because her beast was demanding that she open her eyes again to feast upon Lucas’s naked body. Mia forced her wolf’s attention back on doing what he wanted.
Your alpha wants you to shift.
When she put it that way, her wolf thrilled with happiness, and the shift happened with wicked speed. It was so fast, it caught her off balance, and she tipped over into the tall grasses surrounding her paws.
When she opened her eyes, she was wolf.
Her body had grown more muscular and compact. She clambered up on her four paws, her black fur glistening in the sun. It had been so long since she had shifted, and the shift was so sudden, that her bones and muscles were still settling into place. She stretched out the kinks by bowing low, forepaws straight ahead, digging into the scratchy weeded meadow ground, while her rear and tail were raised high in the air. Then she reversed it, forelegs upright and head raised, hind paws pushed back, tail lowered. A yawn overtook her, but it seemed like everything was finally in place.
I like the show.
She about jumped out of her fur, leaping into the air and landing with teeth bared. A dark brown wolf that had to be Lucas stood facing her, his tongue lolled out, his glittering black eyes trained on her.
She snarled at him, even while admiring the way his fur shone in the sun and the strength of his stance. He was every bit as magnificent as a wolf as he was as a man.
Why, thank you.
What in the…? She sat her rump down in the meadow grass, stunned. You’re reading my mind.
You’re kind of broadcasting your thoughts all over the meadow. He dipped his head and walked toward her. It’ll take some time, but you’ll learn how to keep them to yourself and only share intentionally.
This could be embarrassing, she thought.
When he reached her, he rubbed his nose along the side of her face, then gave it a single lick. It welled up such a feeling of comfort that thoughts of shyness flew away. She nudged his muzzle with hers, attempted to lick him, but missed, then ducked her head, feeling foolish again.
He tapped the top of her head with his chin. If you don’t want me to read your thoughts, I’ll try to ignore them. His voice was like a soft whisper in her mind. But it will make it harder to teach.
She lifted her head and nuzzled him again. This time she landed a lick on his face. Teach me what?
He sat back on his haunches and cocked his head to the side. How to protect yourself, mainly. If you’re ever caught in an alleyway again, I want you to be able to shift and defend. Or at least run.
She dipped her head again. Running was probably my only option.
Then let’s see you run, midnight wolf.
Her tail swished the grass, and it embarrassed her that she was wagging her tail in response to his pet name. She dragged her head up to look at him. As a wolf, his black eyes were even more beautiful, more mysterious, than in his human form.
Stop admiring my eyes and run.
Run? She glanced around the meadow wondering where she should run to, when all of a sudden, he was on her, forepaws knocking her to the ground. Before she knew what had happened, she was pinned. His paws and the weight of his body held her in the weeds, while his bared teeth rasped against the fur on her neck.
No fair! she thought. I wasn’t ready!
Don’t let anyone pin you, midnight. He nipped at her neck, which surged an odd combination of panic and pleasure through her. You can get hurt in this position.
As soon as he eased off, she got her legs under her and ran. Bounding across the weeds, she crossed half the meadow in no time. The flowers whipped her muzzle, but it was exhilarating. She thought she had left him far behind, but then something nipped at her tail. She threw a glance back, and he was right there. She cut left and increased her speed, galloping across the length of the open space. He was a dozen paces behind now, but gaining. Her chest heaved, but she seemed to have more strength, more power, as a wolf than she ever could as a human. She drew on that strength, increased her speed, and dashed toward the forest. He was still a ways behind her when she slipped the boundary of the meadow and plunged into the undergrowth that skirted the trees. Suddenly, all her focus had to be on the forest in front of her. Fallen branches hidden by ferns, rocks large and small, moldering logs she had to jump… it was an insane obstacle course that thrilled her with its challenge. She zigged a
nd zagged until even her wolfy lungs were protesting. Ducking behind a massive lichen-covered boulder, she hid from him, wondering if he would hear her panting in the stillness of the wilderness.
She waited.
Nothing. Not a stirring or a broken twig. A bird twittered high in the branches.
Lucas? she thought. But there was no answer.
She peeked out from behind the rock. The forest was still and barren of wolves. She crept out, her tired legs a little shaky from the run. Her paws made crunching sounds that echoed with each step.
Fear kept her heart racing, even though her body was already recovering from the run. She had lost him. Peering into the dim forest, she realized she had no idea where she was. Or even which direction she had come from. It all looked the same.
She was lost.
A deep and mournful sound worked its way up from her belly and erupted from her snout. Her howl was plaintive and weak. The sound surprised her: both because it happened at all and because she’d never howled before.
A short rustle behind her was the only warning before he pounced.
He knocked her flat, almost instantly pinning her again. A fern dangled over them, poking at her face. She snarled and snapped at him, but he held her fast.
That wasn’t fair, either! She struggled against him, but his teeth went to her neck, holding her in a false death grip. She was completely vulnerable to him. Her heart pounded, thrilled and angry and excited at his nearness.
Dark wolves don’t play fair.
What the hell does that mean? The anger surged up to take first place among her warring emotions, and she struggled against him again.
He released her throat, eased back, and sat on his hindquarters next to her. It means always watch your back.
She struggled to her feet, then licked at the fur on her shoulders that was mussed from his rough play. Lev was right about you.
How’s that? He cocked he head to the side.
You are kind of an asshole sometimes.
He bobbed his head and yipped. It was a wolfy kind of laugh.
She was not amused.
Mia snarled and took off again, zipping past him and heading deeper into the forest. Her annoyance sharpened her focus and fueled her speed. She was flying over rocks and under low-drooping branches. After a minute or two of all-out running, she even outran her anger—now she was flying on adrenaline and exhilaration alone.
She was wolf: a midnight shadow flitting through the shrouded forest, breathing in the scent of her home. Each paw-fall was a tiny movement that hardly disturbed the forest. She leapt and landed, crouched and leapt again. Her fur bristled to dispel the heat that was growing inside her from the hard, hard run. But still she kept going. After several minutes, she saw the glow of a clearing and tipped toward it, wondering how she had managed to circle back without noticing. Her legs were finally growing weak with exhaustion, but she pushed on, wanting to score the victory lap before Lucas realized where she was. When she broke out into the sun, she stumbled to a stop, and her weakened legs nearly folded underneath her.
This wasn’t the clearing Lucas had brought her to.
This clearing had wolves.
A dozen, big hulking brown wolves who instantly turned toward her graceless crash out of the forest. They were fifty feet away, noses and tails in the air, scenting her. She heard the whispers of their thoughts, but there must be a range to the wolfy telepathy or something, because she couldn’t make out individual words.
That is, until they all coalesced into one. Female.
As a pack, they turned and bounded toward her. She scrambled backward, tripping, falling, her legs failing her. By the time she could right herself and turn back toward the forest, they were closing fast. She ran, but she was weak and tired and slow. The first one nipped her tail, but he was hip-checked away, and it was the second one who pinned her. She went down with hardly a fight or a snarl, her muscles too quivery from her run and her mind too terrorized by the onslaught to resist.
He stood over her, holding her down, hot breath puffing across her muzzle.
Well, hello beautiful.
It sent chills through her and bristled out every last hair on her body.
Lucas hung his head, shaking it. Even in wolf form, he was an idiot. He shouldn’t have scared her off like that. She wasn’t used to that kind of playing, and he probably just freaked her out. Besides, she wasn’t his plaything anyway. He should have respected her more than that.
Damn it. What was wrong with him?
He picked up his head and scanned the forest again. He’d followed her scent for a while, but then he’d lost it to some other wolf tracks that had smashed down a good trail of their own through the forest. A pack of some kind had come through recently. It was a few hours old, so he wasn’t too concerned, but it fouled her scent well enough that had to hunt around to pick it up again. Meanwhile, she was getting farther away and spending more time thinking he was an asshole.
Not that she was wrong about that.
He swept another circle around the spot where he’d lost her scent. Then another. Then a still wider one. Finally, he detected that fresh-scrubbed-with-soap scent that was hers. He trotted a smaller circle around that until he picked up the next place she had touched down in her sprint. She must have really been pissed—the distance between her scent markers was huge. She had to have been flying through the forest. He growled and took off in that direction, nose keen to follow her trail.
It took about ten minutes before he heard the yips. And the growls.
He threw himself into a flat out run. Up ahead. A clearing. As he neared the forest edge, the growls resolved into the clear sounds of a fight. As he broke out of the trees, he could see it was only two wolves, both brown, snarling and stiff legged, dashing at each other inside a ring of a dozen others. They were sparring, either for position or mates or whatever other damn thing they had decided to have a throw down over. He dared to hope for a moment that Mia hadn’t stumbled upon whatever pack gamesmanship was going on, but then his heart seized when he saw her lying at the edge of the ring. She was on her back, legs tucked up, head turned to the side, like she couldn’t bear to look at her captor. The shaggy wolf above her only had a single paw to her chest, but Lucas knew that pose: he had already pinned her, and now he was just holding her with the threat of doing it again.
And it was possible she had already submitted to him.
A growl erupted in Lucas’s chest, along with a white hot anger. His claws dug into the meadow floor, scraping the earth and weeds. If she had already submitted to one of them, he would have almost no chance of getting her to leave with him voluntarily. He had to fight every instinct he had to keep from flying in there and attacking the wolf that held her. Only because Lucas knew he would lose, and then Mia would be lost to their pack.
As he fought through the haze of fury clouding his mind, he realized what the pack’s fight was about: her. Which meant he wasn’t too late. They were still fighting over who would claim her. Which meant they probably had held off on having her submit, waiting until they had chosen which one would be her mate.
It might still be possible to get her out.
But how?
Lucas pawed the ground, agitation almost making him shift into human form. They hadn’t noticed him yet, and he was out of telepathic range, so he had a moment to come up with a plan. But he was a lone wolf. What could he do against a whole pack already fighting to see who could claim a stray female who had wandered into their meeting? Apparently, that made her fair game. Which made Lucas sick, but he knew there were a lot more packs who gave into their dark sides than there were honorable ones like his father’s. And even his brother Llyr’s.
He couldn’t claim territory, either. The Olympic Park was free range by unspoken decree among the local packs. The city was free for marking, and even the larger wilderness in the other national forests, but this area was too frequently visited by wolves and humans alike for anyone to stake�
�and keep—it for themselves.
And none of that mattered anyway, because he was just one wolf.
His frustration boiled up, and he nearly barked out a taunt to pull their attention, bring the fight. He had to try something. But he would lose, and it wasn’t just his fur at stake. He needed to be smarter than that. He couldn’t take them on his own, and his father’s and brother’s packs were too far away. By the time he left to get them and returned, one of these dark wolves would have already claimed her.
And then she would never leave.
A bleak despair dragged him down, until he realized… this pack didn’t know he was alone.
Half a plan formed quickly in his mind. He stood tall, tail erect, and marched toward the pack. It didn’t take long for them to notice. The two sparring wolves ceased their grappling, and the entire pack came to attention… focused on him. When he came into thought range, the cacophony of thoughts were thrown at him. He ignored them, searching, one by one, until he found the alpha. He was a slightly darker russet brown wolf, older by the looks of his gray-tufted ears, and one of the larger ones, still in his prime.
What’s your business, lone wolf? the alpha asked.
Mia twisted on the ground, just finally noticing him. Lucas! Oh my god, Lucas.
He ignored her, hoping she could forgive him for that. My business is the female. There’s something you might want to know about her. This was the tricky part. Projecting a lying thought to another wolf was no small trick. And Mia was a complete open book. He hoped she wouldn’t think anything that would give him away. He blocked out her thoughts, just so he wouldn’t react to her pleas and fear. The whites of her eyes showed her panic, so he kept his gaze away from her as well and trained on the alpha.
What do I need to know about her? the alpha asked. Other than she likes to run around without her pack? The alpha’s thoughts drew a round of yips and bobbed heads. Their cruel laughter made Lucas’s stance grow stiffer.