Page 18 of Brock’s Mate

Don’t Change! Brock shouted into her wolf’s mind, but it was too late. She was on the ground, her bones popping and her body shimmering as she morphed.

Brock didn’t have a choice. He had to Change along with her. For one wild, panicked moment his wolf refused to give him his body back, and he forced the Change, groaning in agony.

Desi, naked and disoriented, scrabbled to get up. Blood still crusted her face and neck, although it had been washed away from the rest of her body in the pond.

This was bad. This was almost as bad as getting caught as wolves. Maybe worse.

Brock grabbed Desi under the shoulders, pulling her to her feet, and she recoiled. “What are you doing?” She shook her head as if to clear it, and then looked down at herself. “Why the hell am I naked?”

“No time now,” Brock panted. “They’re coming.”

He heard the baying of a hound, and the sound of the pack crashing through the forest. Further off, but not far behind, was the roar of the ATVs.

Hell. They were going to come out of the forest right by his car.

“Come on.” He grabbed her arm. “We’ve got to get away from the hunters.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re hunting us.”

She gave him one startled look, whipped her head towards the sounds of the hunters, and then took off. Brock managed to keep ahold of her.

“Let go of me!” she panted as they ran.

“Do you know where your car is from here?” he snapped.

“No.”

“Then shut up.”

They burst out of the trees no more than twenty seconds ahead of the dogs. Desi started for her car, but Brock yanked her back. “No time!” he said.

Still holding onto her with one hand, he punched in the keycode with the other and then shoved her into his backseat. He grabbed a blanket off the floor and said, “Wrap up in that.”

Then he piled in on top of her, just as she opened the far door to try to slip out the other side. “Are you crazy?” he demanded, yanking it shut. He turned and slammed his door closed as well, then grabbed his key fob from the front seat and locked everything.

“You’re dragging me through the woods, naked, with screaming gun-toting Bubbas behind us, and you think I’m crazy for wanting to get away? Where the hell are my clothes?”

“In your car. What’s left of them.”

“What the fuck did you do to me?”

“Saved your life.”

Desi lay on the backseat of the car, nothing but a thin blanket between her naked body and Brock’s. She had to be dreaming—this whole thing felt surreal. Except the details were so clear—the door handle digging into her skull, Brock’s musky scent, the cold air freezing the sweat on her face while the heat from his body burned through the blanket to her skin beneath.

The hunting dogs burst out of the trees and bounded at the car. It shook repeatedly as they threw themselves against it, barking and howling. Big paws scraped their nails against the paint, and slavering mouths appeared at the windows.

It was like being in a horror movie.

“Fuck,” Desi whispered, trying to get herself out from under Brock. “Get off me, you fucking dick, and drive away already!”

“Can’t,” Brock said. “The ATVs are almost here. You want them to call the cops, and stop us down the road?”

Yes. Yes she did. Until he added, “You have blood all over you.”

She did, she realized. On her face and neck. She could smell it, and feel the stickiness. It was all around her mouth—she could taste it when she licked her lips. She almost gagged. Why did she have blood on her? And… she remembered running on four legs. Like an animal. Please God, let that be a hallucination.