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I lower my head for just a moment so I can grit my teeth and bear this last bit of excruciating pain.
Somewhere nearby, a twig snaps. I jerk my head up just in time to see a fat squirrel darting between the trees.It’s a squirrel, idiot.
I’m not an idiot.Turns out my wolf is a little sassy.
I shake out my fur, doing the best I can to ignore the pinprick sensation of the fur growing over my skin. It takes time to fill out, coming in piece by piece, so I shake it all out again for good measure. Light gray. It’s surreal seeing my own fur for the first time.
Now isn’t the time for vanity. Someone is here.
This time when a twig snaps, I know before I turn that it’s no squirrel.
I swing my left shoulder and freeze when I see a black wolf twice my size staring back at me. I know instantly that he’s no wolf of ours. No one in North Summit is that big, not even our Alpha. I can feel my heart pounding heavy in my chest, but a strange calm settles in my mind.
Ask me if I would choose fight or flight, and I would have assumed the answer was clear, but in the moment, the fur on the back of my neck stands at attention and my freshly shifted limbs tense.
We don’t run, Tess. Not anymore.
Great. I spend eighteen years of my life as a quiet wallflower, and my wolf is a fighter. Go freaking figure.
I shift my weight from one side to the other, testing my own size. Of course the one thing that’s consistent is my size. I’m tiny, especially compared to the oversized brute in front of me. There’s no way I can take him on physically, but maybe I can stand a chance mentally. I eye the span of trees around us, trying to memorize the paths.
My full attention is on the other wolf when he moves, circling me. I keep my eyes on him, turning my own circle to keep us facing each other.
What are the odds that we rarely get rogues on pack land, and now I’ve managed to run into two in the span of as many days? The man at school and now this wolf. If there’s a pack of rogues on pack land, surely our Alpha would know it—something doesn’t seem right here.
My wolf tugs at me, trying to tell me something, but my mind is moving too fast, overriding her. I plant my paws as the other wolf stops circling and takes a few solid steps in my direction. I’ve barely gotten my paws under me, the last thing I need is to go on the defensive when I don’t even know what this other wolf wants, so I simply hold my ground.
He pauses, and I wait for him to make the next move. The momentary stillness is enough for my wolf’s voice to break through my concentration.
Mate, she whines.
My whole body fills with warmth from my snout to my tail. The urge to close the distance between us is overbearing. I prance closer but freeze when he lets out a sharp growl and hunches down as if preparing to fight.
My wolf is confused. She made a mistake, it must be.
Mate, she repeats more emphatically.Mate. Mate. Mate.
Of all the predictions I’ve made over the years of who my mate might be… I never once considered this. A random rogue that happened to pass through the same day I shift for the first time? The whole thing is eerily suspicious.
In my mind, my wolf rolls over, tongue lolling out of her mouth. Her whole body wiggles with an excitement that the human part of my brain doesn’t share. I manage to keep my form upright, despite my wolf’s attempt to take over fully.
The wolf points his nose down at me and offers me a command that I shouldn’t hear.
Shift.
My wolf lets out a soft growl. If I’m linking with someone outside my pack, the only explanation is that this isn’t a mistake. The dark wolf with the snarling mouth is my mate.
I hesitate before shifting. I’ve barely shifted for the first time and now I’m shifting in front of a stranger, left with no clothes since they’re several feet away, and I don’t dare move toward them. The pain is lessened, but I still ache as I shift back into human form. Usually, we’re told to stay in wolf form long enough for the pain to subside, but I’m not sure what the hell the protocol is for a situation like this.
The wolf waits until I’m mostly back to human form before he begins shifting himself. I avert my eyes, trying to avoid getting an eyeful.
Are wolves used to seeing each other naked? Sure, within a pack, but this is a stranger.
There’s a quiet shuffle and then nothing, and only then do I look back in his direction. When I do, my bottom lip quivers with surprise.
I blink at the familiar dark eyes that greet me. Recognizable now in human form, so much so that I’m surprised I didn’t recognize them even in wolf form. There’s something haunting about his eyes, something I’ve never seen in any other man or wolf before. Something distinctly him.
“You?” It comes out as a question.
