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I stopped at the top of the path, claws digging into the dirt, feeling the ground below me, soft but dry. Good. Sliding down the incline muzzle-first wasn't quite the entrance I had in mind.
I glanced at Clay. His mouth hung open, tongue lolling, blue eyes dancing with "go for it." Hindquarters twitching, I tested my grip for takeoff. A flick of my tail and I barreled down the cliff, picking up speed with every stride.
I was less than ten feet behind Zoe when she finally heard me. She turned. And I got my reward, in that split-second look of "Oh, my God" surprise and, yes, terror. Catch them off guard, and apparently you can even spook a vampire. Nice.
Zoe did what anyone seeing a 140-pound wolf barreling straight at them would do--tried to run. But before she could move, I sprang and caught her in the shoulder. She went down, managing to roll as she fell.
I could have snagged her arm. Could have...but chose not to because it had all been too easy. Normally, I don't chase humans. Somewhere along the way, my adrenaline-stoked brain could slide from play mode into hunt, and I couldn't take that chance. But Zoe Takano couldn't be killed, not accidentally and certainly not easily.
My bite couldn't even turn her into a werewolf--Clay and I had discovered that while helping Aaron catch a rogue. So I could toy with her, safely. Even Jeremy would see the value in it, giving her a taste of my strength as a bargaining tool for negotiations.
I let Zoe dive out of the way. Then snarling and snapping, I grabbed for her arm, only grazing her bare skin with my fangs, but making a good show of it. A little reminder that she wasn't completely immune to injury--a good snap of powerful jaws around her wrist or forearm and that was it. Vampires could heal, but if they lost something, it didn't grow back.
When I charged her again, she feinted to the side and then, hallelujah, she started to run.
Frustration
I GAVE ZOE A TEN-SECOND HEAD START WHILE I CHECKED for Clay, then tore after her. I was an above-average runner, as wolf and human, and I started to close the gap right away. She zagged off the path into the bush, dodging trees and ducking under branches with a gymnast's grace.
Clay stayed on the path, out of sight, racing ahead to cut Zoe off if she got away from me. I wove through the forest, getting close enough to be spattered with clods of dirt thrown up by her boots.
She didn't trip or falter once. In the woods, I fell behind. My belly made sharp turns and twists near-impossible.
A car horn blared, and my ears shot forward. The rumble of tires, the stench of exhaust, the faint glow of streetlights. Damn! Another hundred feet and we'd be out of the park. I skidded to a halt, threw back my head and howled. Before the last note left my throat, Clay's answering cry came from southwest...and Zoe was heading due south. He'd never cut her off in time.
I roared back into pursuit, scanning the darkness as I ran. Zoe's T-shirt bobbed to my left, but I already knew she was there. What I wanted was--There, just southeast of us, an open patch.
I flew forward on a southwest angle, coming up to the right of her. Like anything fleeing a predator, she instinctively turned away from me and headed southeast. When she hit the edge of the clearing, I hunkered down, running as fast as I could, counting off the paces between us and then...airborne.
I hit Zoe between the shoulder blades. She tripped, and as she fell, she twisted so we ended face-to-face, me atop her.
Zoe looked up and met my eyes. Hers widened, surprised and...delighted. A throaty laugh.
"It is you, isn't it?" She stroked the ruff on my neck. I growled, but she only smiled. "That hair is unmistakable. I don't know which is more beautiful--the woman or the wolf." Her eyes glinted. "Equally deadly either way, I'll bet."
She buried her fingers in my fur. I snapped. She laughed.
"Tetchy. You prefer the chase to the catch, don't you?" A wicked grin. "We can have another go. You've won this round, so I'll give you your forfeit--tell you what I know about the letter. But if you'd rather play some more before we get down to business, I'm game."
I lifted my head to look for Clay. Zoe brushed her fingertips along the fur at my throat. I snapped again.
"Come now, I'm only curious. I've never touched a werewolf. The only two I've met weren't the sort I cared to talk to, much less touch."
She leaned back for a better look. "A female werewolf. There can't be many of you around. Shame really. Women make the better predators, I've always said. Or certainly the more interesting ones."
She continued to talk. Being unable to speak gave me a good excuse for not participating in the conversation. Zoe didn't seem to mind, just lay there on her back, pinned by a wolf, chatting as calmly as if we were back in Miller's, having a beer.
About ten minutes after my takedown, the bushes rustled. Clay stepped through, Changed into human form and dressed in sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt. Clothesline pickings.
"Got you some clothes, darling," he said. "Should fit, but probably not well."
He laid them just outside a thicket where I could Change. At the sound of his voice, Zoe had started. Then she looked over at him, and her eyes narrowed. Turning back to me, she said, "I think we can keep this between ourselves, don't you?"
Clay put his foot on Zoe's sternum. I backed off her and loped to the thicket to Change.
"Thank God," Zoe said when I returned. "He hasn't stopped talking since you left."
She glared up at Clay, who stood exactly as I'd left him, his mouth shut, as it likely had been the whole time I'd been gone.
