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She didn't hesitate for a single second. The moment my hands slipped from her skin, Rosalind turned and took off at a full sprint, disappearing into the pitch-black shadows of the dense woods.

I stood grounded on the path, watching the space where she'd vanished. I lifted my forearm to my mouth, slowly licking the warm smear of my blood off my skin, letting the taste of the hunt settle on my tongue. I gave her a three-second head start—counting each frantic thump of her heart fading into the dark—and then I bent low, letting my claws dig into the dirt, and took off into the trees after her.

I stalked into the dark after her, dropping into the rhythm of a predator tracking its target. A few yards ahead, my boot brushed against soft fabric. I looked down to find her clothes strewn across the moss and dirt, shredded and discarded.

A slow grin pulled at my lips. I didn't shift—not yet. Instead, I stood tall, tipped my chin up, and inhaled deeply through my nose, taking in her intoxicating sweet scent as it hung rich in the night air.

"I can hear your heart, Rosalind," my voice wove through the trees. "It's beating for me because you know I will catch you. No matter how far you run, I will hunt you down. And I will find you."

Silence settled over the woods—until a rustle of leaves exploded behind me. A flash of gray fur lunged out from the brush. Rosalind’s wolf snapped its jaws, sinking its sharp teeth right into my shoulder. A glorious sting of pain made me roar out. Before I could catch her, she released me, landed heavily on her paws, and took off back into the dark trees.

I tumbled back, hitting the forest floor and rolling onto my back. I lay there in the leaves, laughing out loud, my chest heaving as the sound echoed off the trunks. She'd bruised me twice now. My balls were tight with need.

The pain dissolved into pure, raw adrenaline. The laughter faded as my inner beast tore through my restraint. Instinct overrode my human mind. I needed my wife. I needed to hunt her down and then pin her down. I needed to thrust inside her tiny sheath and fill it with my huge dick and then knot her so she couldn't get away.

The shift ripped through me in a heartbeat. Bones cracked and reshaped. Thick fur burst across my skin. Four heavy paws slammed into the earth.

I bared my fangs, gave a low, chest-rattling growl, and bolted after her.

With four legs and the full strength of my wolf driving me forward, the distance between us vanished. I caught her scent, saw the white-tipped tail of her wolf form darting between two massive oaks, and surged. I closed the gap, leaped into the air, and pounced.

We crashed into the soft bed of pine needles in a tangled heap. I pinned her down with my full weight. My front paws planted firmly on either side of her chest, hovering over her, claiming my prey. Her wolf let out a breathless, panting huff. Her bright eyes locked onto mine, completely surrendered, completely mine.

I forced myself back into human skin. My bones cracked and snapped, my heavy fur receding until I was gasping, stark naked, over the sleek gray wolf beneath me.

Rosalind’s wolf stayed pinned under my weight, her chest heaving against mine, her bright wolf-eyes wild with the thrill of the hunt. Her tongue lolled out in a heavy pant, but she made no move to shift back.

"Shift," I commanded, my voice gravelly and raw from the chase, my large hands gripping her front legs tight against the forest floor.

She let out a defiant growl directly into my face, flashing her gleaming white fangs. She wasn't ready to give up the wildness yet.

I shifted my weight, bringing one hand up to clamp around the front of her throat, pinning her neck into the soft earth. I leaned down until my bare chest was crushed flat against her fur, letting her feel every ounce of the aggressive alpha power I usually had to lock away from the world.

"Shift back," I demanded again, deeper, my thumb pressing into her pulse. "Now, Rosalind."

Instead of obeying, her wolf snapped viciously near my wrist, letting out a sharp, feral growl—a sound that shuddered through her chest and shifted mid-tone, melting from a wolf's roar into a distinctly human snarl as her body answered my command. Her fur dissolved into warm skin. Her muzzle shrank back into her soft, fierce face. Finally, I was holding down my naked human wife.

I didn't wait. I slammed my mouth down onto hers in a bruising kiss. Instead of taking it like the good girl that she was not, Rosalind fought back, sinking her teeth hard into my lower lip. The metallic tang of blood burst onto my tongue.

I licked the hot smear of blood from my lip. Then dragged my tongue roughly across her mouth, smearing the crimson across her lips before sealing our mouths together again in a bloody, filthy kiss. A heavy, helpless moan vibrated against my throat.

The sound only fed my beast. Rosalind bucked her hips upward, trying to throw my weight off her. I used my broad frame to trap her, pinning her hands beside her head. Rosalind moaned again, a sweet, breathy sound that turned devious as she drove her knee up toward my groin.

I anticipated the strike. Catching her thigh with my forearm, I shoved it aside. I used my knees to spread her legs wide, planting myself firmly between her thighs. Grabbing her hips with a rough grip, I angled my hips and pressed the flared head of my cock directly against her wet, needy entrance.

"Fight me as hard as you want. I will never let you go. I will always come for you. You are mine."

And with that, I slid home.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

ROSALIND

More than anything in the world, I had wanted Gunnar to catch me. He’d hunted me through the dark, overpowered my wildness, and now he was pinning me to the dirt, forcing my body to submit through uncompromising power. When he sank his thick cock all the way into me in one relentless thrust, a ragged cry tore from my throat.

It wasn't pain. It was an absolute, glorious surrender.

Gunnar was bigger than me. He was stronger than me. He might even be almost as smart as me. Not intellectually, but strategically. My hubby was a mastermind in his own right. And he had caught me on so many levels.