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"You're local too, aren't you? I can tell by the accent." She laughed. "Or the lack of accent. So why haven't I ever met you before? You certainly haven't been in Miller's. I'd remember."
"How about the letter? Do you remember that?"
"Vaguely." She wriggled under me and put a hand under her head, getting comfortable. "I'd rather talk about you."
I glanced over my shoulder. Clay nodded, and slipped around the corner, guarding the escape route without Zoe knowing he was there yet. He stayed far enough back that she wouldn't sense him.
I moved off her. She stayed on the ground a moment, then sighed, and almost reluctantly sat up.
"Now, what did you say your name was?" she said.
"I didn't."
"I know, I was just giving you the opportunity to correct the oversight." She smiled, teeth glistening in the dim light. "But if you don't want to, I suppose that will give us something to talk about next time."
She sprang to her feet and raced down the alley--the other way, toward an eight-foot fence, moving so fast that she was over that fence before I was on my feet.
Clay raced past me. He reached the fence and jumped, catching the edge, then swung himself up. As he went over, he looked back and saw that I was just nearing the base. He perched on top, waiting.
"No, go on!" I said. "Chasing and jumping, I can't do. Not like this."
"Then we'll track her."
I shook my head even as I grabbed his hands. "Her scent's too faint."
"Doesn't matter." He locked his fingers around my wrists and hauled me up. "I'm not leaving you alone, remember?"
He helped me over the fence. We ran to the end of the alley.
"There," Clay said.
We spotted Zoe across the road as she darted into a side street. Clay took my arm and we hurried across. After a few more streets and alleys, we reached a stretch of open land leading to the foot of a wooded hill.
Clay chuckled. "This look familiar, darling?"
I grinned. "High Park."
I used to run here when I'd been going to the University of Toronto. A long hike from the campus, but I'd been willing to make the trek--or pay the subway fare--for the chance to jog away from the city streets. When Clay and I had been dating, this had been "our place" more than any other.
I watched Zoe's white T-shirt disappear into the woods. There was one sure way I could catch her, in a form where my stomach didn't affect my balance.
I lifted my muzzle and took a deep breath, my legs trembling with excitement. High Park. Even in my later days in Toronto, I'd never run here as a wolf. Too many memories, all of them inextricably woven with the one thing I'd been trying to forget. But now we were here, just like in those early days, before the bite, before everything fell apart. Clay here, with me, and all the pieces mended, the new better than the old.
I let out a shuddering sigh and closed my eyes. I could feel the weight in my belly, heavy and warm, alive. Alive. In this form, there was no question about that--no fears. Everything was simple--my mate, my pup, both safe, all as it should be, the night and the forest laid out before us, ours to enjoy, explore, possess--
A questioning whine by my ear. Clay looked at me, his head tilted, "Still here?" in his eyes.
Oh, right. Before I could enjoy the forest, there was the small matter of a fleeing vampire to contend with.
It had been nine days since my last run, and I paid the price when I tried picking up Zoe's trail. Every other scent, every sound, every sight, even the feel of muddy ground squelching under my pads, was infinitely more enticing than a vampire's scent. The faint smell of wood-smoke said: go check it out. The patter of rabbit feet: dinner, come and get me. A glimmer of light in the trees: go see what that is. Come here, they whispered, forget the vampire...
Then I found her trail, and the other voices went silent, drowned under the single overwhelming cry of "prey." An intelligent, humanoid target, not the silly little bunnies I could have anytime. And not only was I allowed to chase her--I had to.
I ran full speed down the path with Clay at my heels. There was no need to
take cover. There wouldn't be any other predators here, and if we came upon a person, they'd only catch a flash of fur before we dove into the undergrowth.
Faint though Zoe's scent was, my wolf brain focused on it with a single-mindedness I could never have managed in human form. She was headed for the ravine. Behind me, Clay gave a low growl. I looked up. We'd hit the top of the cliff and there, below, was Zoe's white shirt bobbing along the path. She'd slowed to a brisk walk, certain she'd left the waddling pregnant chick back in the alley.
