Shadow of the Wolf

frightened, wary, and brave. Christopher felt pride in his mate.

She followed his lead, barely sparing Cole a glance. It pleased him that she made no move to give his enemy aid.

Certain now she followed, Christopher let her hand go and stalked into the cold wet night.

* * *

I’m following a wolf through the woods in rural Pennsylvania after it attacked a man who told me he was going to kill me, and somehow my inner warning signal is okay with that. Lana pinched the fleshy part of her arm hard. “OW!”

The wolf stopped and looked back, its head tilted to the side.

“Nope, not dreaming.” Lana rubbed at her arm, hoping it wouldn’t bruise. She hadn’t meant to pinch quite that hard.

The wolf huffed and turned, heading off once more. Of the two strangers she’d met in the woods tonight, Lana considered the wolf less dangerous, at least to her. The way the big wolf had acted after she’d hit the man on the head with that branch had been surreal, but not very frightening at all. The sense of safety she’d been heading towards had centered itself on the wolf, and she’d felt compelled to follow wherever it led.

The big wolf led her through the woods, his footfalls silent and sure. The few times she lost sight of the wolf it returned, tugging on her hand to lead her forward.

I hope wherever we’re going I can take my boots off. My feet are killing me.

“Are we there yet?”

Up ahead the wolf gave a strange chuffing cough.

“And I’m sure I’d understand that if I spoke fluent woof.”

The wolf stopped, staring back at her for a moment.

“What?”

The wolf gave a shake of its head before moving forward once again.

“Yup, you’re male.”

Once again that proud head turned towards her. She could almost sense the question it wanted to ask.

“You haven’t once stopped for directions and you don’t make a lick of sense.”

Those golden eyes narrowed, almost as if… Nah. Not possible. Grammy had told her a long time ago that shapeshifters were a myth. Although he could be someone’s familiar.

That would explain how he seems to understand me. But even familiars didn’t have the level of intelligence this wolf seemed to possess, unless it was under a compulsion spell of some kind.

And anyone who put a compulsion spell on someone else wasn’t someone she wanted to meet.

She felt the magical barriers before they passed through them, early enough that she stopped before going in. “Wait.”

The wolf, on the other side of the barrier, yipped impatiently.

“No way. I have no clue what’s on the other side. For all I know you actually work for tall, blond and dorky. That could be an evil lair you’re luring me to.” Not that she actually believed that, but for some reason her instincts were telling her that crossing that border meant nothing would ever be the same again. She wasn’t certain yet if that was a good thing or a bad thing, since her insides were currently filled with butterflies doing a crazy, half- scared, half-excited mambo.

The wolf lowered his dark head, golden eyes closed. She could almost hear the pleas for patience.

Guess that answers that question. A familiar, then. At least she knew for certain now that she was dealing with someone magical. “Besides, judging from the look and feel, whoever’s on the other side is a wizard.” The wolf’s head snapped up. “Not sure I’m so eager to meet up with another one of those any time soon.” The wolf slowly shook his head. “Well, what would you do if you were in my,” she looked down at her feet

“boots?”

The wolf snorted.

“Yes, I know, Pup in Boots, doggie drag, call it what you will. The question remains.

Would you put your life into an unknown wizard’s hands?”

The image of the wolf blurred until a tall, wet, naked man stood in front of her.

“You already did.”

Lana blinked. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out, other than a whimpered

“Ugh.”

The man’s lips twitched. “Are you coming through or do you like getting rained on?”

Lana squeaked.

Hot, wet, naked male, with dark hair and golden eyes. Golden eyes.

Sorry, Grammy, looks like you were wrong.

The man’s mouth curved up into a sensuous smile. “Of course this would be a great deal more fun if you were also naked.”

“Guh.”

He held out his hand. “Come to me.”

Lana hesitated. There was something about his stance, about the way he phrased that command, that worried her. There was something irrevocable about it that had her wanting to take a quick step back.

The smile left his face. Determination hardened his features. “Come to me.”

The whispered seduction of his voice wrapped around her, teasing her senses, tugging her forward until she crossed the barrier, mambo dancing butterflies be damned.

Well, fuck. Looks like I get to dance with a wizard after all.

Chapter Two

Christopher could barely contain his excitement. His mate was standing outside his home, staring up at the lit windows cautiously, her dark eyes somber. She was shivering with the cold, soaked to the bone, and still stubbornly refusing to enter. “Come inside.”

“Said the spider to the fly.”

He would have found it amusing if her teeth weren’t chattering so hard. “You’re soaked to the skin and freezing. Would you rather stay outside and run the risk of getting sick, or would you like to come inside and get dry?” He would force the issue if she tried to remain outside, consequences be damned.

She studied him warily before nodding grudgingly. She stepped over the threshold and into the warmth of the house.

He pointed towards the floor. “Strip. Drop your clothes there. I’ll be back in a moment with blankets and towels.”

She actually growled at him before tugging off the poncho.

Satisfied that she was following his commands, he turned away, heading into the laundry room for some clean towels. He hadn’t had a chance yet to fold laundry that evening, and now he was grateful for it. He toweled himself off and tugged on a pair of jeans, hoping that covering himself would make her more comfortable in his home.

He strode back out into the kitchen and froze, every single thought driven out of his head. She stood there clad only in simple white cotton, but that cotton was drenched, clinging to her skin like the finest silk. He could see the dusky color of her nipples through the cloth, the thatch of dark hair at the apex of her thighs.

One hand went to cover the sweet triangle between her thighs, the other reaching up to cover her breasts. “Towel. Please.”

He stalked towards her, putting every ounce of seduction he knew into it, gratified to see her fingers trembling from more than the cold when she took the towel from him.