Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild) - By Kate Douglas Page 0,98
Alex. She always has.”
She paused a moment and glanced toward the dark forest. He heard her sigh, but she kept her gaze locked on the woods. “I’m afraid, Alex, because I never had this much to lose.”
“I don’t understand. You’re certainly not going to lose me.”
She shrugged. “Tell my neurotic brain that. You, me . . . us. This is something I’ve fantasized about from the time I was little. You loving me is the most wonderful, most terrifying thing that’s ever happened to me.”
He loved her so much he ached. He wanted to howl, to thank Eve for putting this woman in his sights, but all he said was, “Run with me, Annie.”
They were at the edge of the forest near a well-beaten path. Someone had nailed hooks to a big pine where they could hang their clothing, and within minutes Alex had his jeans and shirt hanging beside Annie’s shorts and tank top.
And damn, but he was hard even before their run. He wondered how that would translate to the usual sexual rush after their shift, but decided he’d just have to wait and find out.
Annie shifted and was off like a shot, her gray fur with the black tips rippling like burnished silver in the filtered sunlight. Alex followed close behind as she quickly slipped off the main trail and headed for a smaller track winding down through the lower valley. He wondered if it was a conscious choice, to run in the opposite direction from the Xenakis property, and applauded her thinking.
That was the last thing they needed, especially when his thoughts were all caught up in Annie and not particularly attuned to the world around them.
Normally, when he ran as a wolf, he was enthralled by his wolven senses. As a human he was gregarious and outgoing, but when he shifted, Alex had always preferred the solitude of the forest, even when running with packmates. He kept his thoughts within and used the time as a wolf to connect with those parts of him the world never saw. It was something he’d not grown tired of—the increased sensitivity to scent and sound, the change in visual input and the way his muscles worked, his tendons and sinews stretching, tightening, powering this four-legged form.
He could easily take almost any shape, but the wolf would always be his favorite, this powerful predator with the strength of the pack empowering his heart and soul. But last night he’d discovered he no longer cared to run as a lone wolf.
Running with Annie McClintock beat running alone all to hell and back. He wanted her. Not just for now, but forever, and damn her father for thinking he wasn’t worthy. What man would love Annie more? Would fight harder to keep her safe? Would protect her and stand beside her for as long as they both should live?
His thoughts made him think of wedding vows, the words running over and over through his head as his big paws tore up the trail. He watched the gorgeous bitch who led him, caught in the graceful stretch of sinew and muscle as her body streaked along the narrow trail. And when she turned off the trail and cut through a thick swath of bracken ferns and low-lying shrubs, he knew exactly what she wanted.
It was the same thing he yearned for. No doubts. None.
He felt it in the determined glance she cast over her shoulder, in the ripe scent of her lust. She wanted him. Wanted him in the way of wolves, now. Today, beneath a bright summer’s sun. It wasn’t the full moon he’d envisioned for their mating, but it didn’t matter. Annie mattered. What she wanted, when she wanted. As long as she wanted him, any time was perfect.
Sooner rather than later.
He burst through the undergrowth and saw her standing at full alert with one paw raised, her ears pricked forward. A brilliant shaft of sunlight filtering through thick alder trees bathed her in light as if she stood upon a stage. The soft song of a rushing creek fed by snowmelt was her accompaniment. Ferns covering the banks, thick and lush with new growth, created a perfect setting for the beautiful female waiting for him.
The words came to him then. The vow that had filled his mind as he ran, and he said them now, placing his heart in her hands, shivering inside with fear that she might change her mind.