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A grey wolf with swaths of darker fir across his spine and paws stood at the bottom of the ramp, when I turned back around. This wolf I knew. I’d be a fool if I didn’t.
Glaring at Adrian, I walked down, and slipped into the crowd of wolves gathered behind him. My tail brushed against the black wolf as I passed, and I found Maria sitting near one of the pillars to the south of the fire.
She bumped her head against my shoulder, and we settled in for Adrian to give his speech. The Alpha always gave a speech, but as he spoke, I tuned him out. Adrian had hated Annie. Anything he had to say would be nothing more than heavy handed platitudes. So, instead, I let my eyes stray to the fire, and I spent the time picturing what Annie would’ve thought about his words.
The order was given to disburse, to hunt, and I felt that same tug that had led me to follow the black wolf through the woods. I felt it tugging me back up to the fissure in the wall, and before I could spare Maria a goodbye, I took off after that feeling. I wanted to understand it, to know the source of it.
Leaping back up into the tree line after him I ran and ran until he appeared at my side, and we ran together. He was fast, but I was faster. Every time I gained on him, he surged forward, and the night became a blur of ecstasy.
An ecstasy that didn’t fade even as the sun warmed my naked body rising high over Cape Luna. Lying in the dirt and leaves, I was warm, wrapped in something soft but solid. Snuggling backward, I inhaled a deep breath without opening my eyes.
“Mmmm, good morning,” the man behind me purred. He pressed his hips against me, and I felt a hard imposing length against my lower back.
A delirious urge went through my mind, and I shifted brushing more purposefully against his erection. The man groaned, stilling me with a hand on my hip. “Easy, Snowball.”
I froze, my eyes popped open, and after a moment of stunned silence. I shoved his hand away and scrambled across the ground, desperately trying to cover my body.
“Jamie, what the hell are you doing here?” I hissed, tilting my legs away from him, and crossing my arms over my chest.
“We were running, and then I saw you slow down and revert. You looked cold, so I stayed with you,” he said. “I must’ve fallen asleep. I’m sorry.”
I blinked at him. “It was you? You’re the black wolf? Since when? When we were younger your fur was—”
“People change,” he shrugged, sitting up.
To my surprise, his back was covered in scars. Claw marks, bites. It made something in my chest ache, and I found my hand reaching out to trace their lines. I stopped with less than an inch between us and then leapt back to the safety of the brush.
“What happened to you?” I asked out of blind curiosity.
His eyes lifted, still heavy with sleep, and his lips curled up in a crooked smile. “A lot.”
My cheeks burned. With his knee bent, I couldn’t see anything below his waist, but I knew for a fact I was right about the V-shape lining the bottom of his abs. It drew the eyes down, and—I snapped my eyes back up to his face and cleared my throat. “Don’t look at me. I’ve gotta run and get my clothes.”
“A shy werewolf, now that’s new.” He chuckled, turning away. “Go on, run. Get your clothes. I’ll keep my eyes firmly turned away. Not to worry.”
My gut screamed two separate things at the same time. Don’t trust him and trust him. I knew one part came from our shared history but the other…that came from my instincts. Letting them rule, I let my arms fall from my chest, and took off back in the direction of the bar.
What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I stop looking at him like that? Jamie Hart was the last man I should be thinking of in any sort of way.
Behind me, I heard movement through the trees. Jamie was up and running. I had to be quick if I wanted to get there before he did. Luckily one thing that hadn’t changed since I left was that I was still the fastest wolf in the pack. Sprinting full speed, I made it to the grass line behind the bar first. I scanned the ground. Most people had already come and gone with their clothes. Even Maria’s were gone.
I spun in a circle. My clothes were supposed to be next to hers, but they weren’t, they were gone too. Someone had taken them. My muscles tensed, and my heart raced.
My car keys were in my jeans. Which meant, I’d either have to sneak around to the front parking lot, and break into my own car, hoping and praying that no kids were around trying to get into the arcade, or I’d have to stride through the bar itself and steal one of the spare sets of clothes Ronnie kept stashed in the back room. Neither option seemed viable.
“Okay, I gave you time to get your stuff and go, I can’t exactly help seeing you naked if you’re still standing here,” Jamie said, stepping out from behind a tree. Thankfully, he had a hand clamped over his eyes.
“M-my clothes are gone,” I said through my teeth. “Did you do this?”
“I’m not thirteen. It was probably the twins,” he said, striding around the tree to the far side of the clearing.
There was no hiding from him this time, but he kept his back to me as he crouched down picking through his own clothes. He slipped on a pair of black boxer briefs and then picked up a ball of fabric. He covered his eyes again and turned around.
“What are you doing?” I asked in confusion.
He dangled his shirt from his finger. “I’m assuming you have clothes in your car or something? I can go get them, but until then you can cover up with this.”
