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“You pride yourself on being a hunter? It’ll only taste sweet if you work for it.”
She’s studied me as much as I have her.
“Fifteen seconds.”
“Thirty,” she counters.
“Fifteen.”
“That’s not a negotiation.”
“Fourteen,” I count aloud. “Thirteen.”
She turns so quickly that she slips in the mud, falling on her ass.
“Twelve.” I don’t stop. “Eleven.”
“Shit,” she bites, climbing to her feet.
“Ten.”
She takes one step, but it’s mistimed, and her bare foot hits the ground at an angle that makes her stumble. She cries out in pain but tries again, only to fall back to the ground.
I’m beside her before she can attempt to move again.
“Give me permission to touch you so I can check on your ankle.”
Her face, twisted in pain, looks up at me. “What?”
Her right hand grabs her ankle, applying pressure to the injury.
“Give me the okay to touch you.”
She frowns.
“To help you.”
“Okay.”
“Okay,” I repeat, moving her hand out of the way to get a better look. “Can you move it?”
She moves it back and forth, grunting out in pain. “Yes, but it hurts.”
“Not broken.” I turn back toward her face and stop.
She’s pushed back her hood, eyes watching my thumb rub back and forth over the tender spot.
Her auburn hair hangs loosely around her shoulders, tendrils having stuck to her forehead and temples courtesy of the rain. A flourish of freckles that span the bridge of her nose, forehead, and cheekbones decorate the golden tan of her skin. Her hazel eyes sit wide on her face, throwing speckles of gold when you look too close. Her two front teeth sit slightly larger than the rest, visible through the gap of her lips, open with curiosity and wet with raindrops.
She’s more beautiful than I could have imagined.
Having noticed I’m no longer focused on her ankle, she turns her gaze to me, thankfully still covered by my hood and gaiter. But there’s limited space between us, our eyes caught and her breath close enough to taste.
“You have me at a disadvantage,il mio lupo.”
My wolf.
“You’re mistaken.” My voice is hoarser than I intended. “I’m the one at a disadvantage.”
