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“Probably,” she murmurs her answer distractedly. “You probably would have been off, pillaging somewhere.”
I give a barking laugh, and one of the wolves howls in response.
“Probably,” I echo her. “But let’s be honest. This is a lot more peaceful.”
We both burst into laughter before Amara jumps up and starts to run again. I cannot help but follow her.
I cannot help myself around her.
21
AMARA
Kian and I roll down the hill, arms holding each other tight. The whole forest seems to spin and spin until the sky is a blue tunnel ringed with green walls.
As we reach the bottom, I let go of him and use the momentum to enter a shoulder roll. I land back on my hands and knees, facing Kian and ready to pounce again as soon as he makes it to his feet.
“That’s a pretty good move,” he says, sitting up carefully. He obviously hasn’t practiced dealing with dizziness the way I and the pups have. He has to let the world slow down and settle back into its regular pattern before he can even think about getting up.
“It was the one that really convinced them to accept me into the pack,” I tell him. “None of them thought that a human could do that. Not until they saw me pull it off.”
“I guess it’s a pretty important skill if you’re going to be jumping on your enemies a lot.”
I giggle. “Hey, you can make anything sound silly when you describe it like that. Don’t underestimate the power of a good pounce.”
He looks slightly uncomfortable. “Well, it’s certainly a powerful move when you’re hunting. I don’t know if it would be of much use in a war.”
I jump over to him and nip his shoulder playfully.
“Ow!” he cries. “I’m gonna get you for that.”
“You can try,” I say. “But how are you going to catch me if you don’t know how to pounce?”
I make a few bouncing jumps to the sides, showing off my nimbleness. He looks impressed, and also something else.
Aroused, I realize suddenly, remembering the way he looked at me when I was naked on the bed.He’s aroused.
That’s when I realize that Alfa and the other pups have run off, leaving the two of us alone. Did they just get bored and go off to find something more fun than us? Or could they tell that the two of us needed time to be alone? Could they smell the same scents I’m picking up from Kian right now?
“You think a lump of muscles and fists like me could learn how to do a good pounce?” he asks.
“Oh, I’m sure you could if you tried,” I reply. “But that’s the problem. You don’t really believe in pouncing. You think it’s just some forest trick.”
“That’s not true,” he says, his face suddenly serious. “I’ve seen you fight. I know just how good you are.”
I step closer, still staying with my hands on the ground, ready to bound away in any direction at the slightest movement from him.
“Maybe you do,” I tease. “But I bet you think I couldn’t really knock you over. Not if you knew I was coming. And you were really trying to stay on your two feet.”
His eyebrows raise. “I take your pounces seriously, but I’m not easy to move once I’m in my fighting position.”
“Let’s see it,” I challenge. “Unless you think you’re not well enough yet?”
He smiles, but I can tell he’s also taking the challenge seriously. He takes any challenge seriously. That’s just who he is.
“Oh, I’m well enough.” He stands up, puts about a shoulder’s width between his feet, and bends his knees. He’s not kidding about not being easy to move. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better two-footed fighting posture. Good balance, the center of gravity low to the ground, taking advantage of all his bulk. It certainly won’t be easy to knock him over, not for real.
But it won’t be impossible, either.
