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Maybe she was dreaming. In all of the years she’d heard her name on the wind, she’d never heard anything but that.
Come to me now, and I will spare the rest.
Gina glanced over her shoulder, but no one was there. Did she want them to be? No. Because if anyone appeared, they’d talk her out of going. And she had to. If there was any chance to save the rest she would take it. But could she trust that thing?
No.
Did it matter?
Gina sighed. No.
Last chance.
The wolf rose to his feet, then disappeared into the scrub. The brush shivered as he moved inexorably onward. If
she didn’t hurry, the beast would soon be gone.
She couldn’t; she shouldn’t.
Gina crossed to the front door and did.
* * *
She brought the gun. The voice hadn’t said she couldn’t.
Which only meant the gun would be useless against the thing. But they’d already figured that out.
Bullets couldn’t penetrate smoke.
Except the wolf in front of her wasn’t smoke. From the way his body cut through the bushes and grass, he was as solid as she was.
So maybe this wolf was just the tour guide wolf. The Nahual was …
Gina glanced at the lighter blue sky where the clouds resembled smoke. Was he up there following them? She’d heard no more whispers. Then again, she was doing what he wanted. No reason to say anything else at all.
They moved through an unfamiliar area of the ranch. Several large rock formations were surrounded by low cacti, making it difficult for horses and people to navigate. Gina was tired and hot and scared. When her boot slipped on a rock and she nearly fell, Gina snapped, “Why me?”
The question had been rhetorical. A whiny thing people said. But the wolf whirled, lip lifted in a snarl as he started toward her. Startled, Gina brought up the gun and fired.
She was certain she’d hit the thing; she’d been too close not to. However instead of flames, howls, and death, the wolf snorted and rolled all-too-familiar eyes.
“Oh no,” Gina whispered. “No.”
The sun burst over the horizon, and the beast changed.
Bones crackled; joints popped; the fur seemed to be sucked within. The snout withdrew, separating into mouth and nose; the fangs became teeth, the claws nails. Several minutes later, Jase McCord rose from four legs to two. The bullet Gina had put into his chest tumbled to the ground.
“Why you?” he repeated. “Because all I’ve ever wanted is you.”
He was naked, and she wasn’t even freaked. Of course, watching someone you love turn from wolf to man makes dangling private parts the least of your worries.
“But you … it … he—” Gina took a breath. “What the hell, Jase? When were you bitten?”
“I wasn’t.”
“That’s impossible.”
Jase stretched, the muscles beneath the perfect, bronze skin rippling. They seemed bigger than before, not that she’d spent much time measuring his muscles. She’d never been interested.
