Sheba would be up well before five and she’d sneak out as quietly as possible and pray her mother would still be sound asleep. The last thing she needed was being interrogated by the one person who could see right through her because she didn’t want to out and out lie about where she was going, or why.
Sheba tossed and turned, visions of the damn Lion were forever in her head. She tried, and failed, to remove them time and again. They were mere glimpses of the animal, but it was enough to halt her attempts to fall asleep for long enough until she had some severe words with her Wolf.
“If you don’t let me rest then I won’t be fit to do anything tomorrow.” She’d urged it, and finally her beast had settled down and she’d drifted off into a fitful sleep.
One that was filled with dreams littered with said Lion! Although in her dreams she caught glimpses of the beast transforming and saw the back view of a man. One who was tall, broad, muscular, and had a body that made her mouth water uncontrollably like a bitch in heat. Her core clenched with desire, her hand stretched out to touch him but he disappeared in a misty haze leaving her unsettled and filled with an aching need she’d never felt before. When she woke well before her alarm, she felt far from rested, but restless and agitated.
At least her mother was still sound asleep. She could hear her soft snores clearly as she pulled on her clothes, sending Ray a message as she did. “Couldn’t sleep, are you up?”
“Same here, and yes, I’m up and ready.”
“Good, I’ll meet you in five.”
“All right, I’ll be waiting.”
Sheba tiptoed downstairs, closing the door quietly and went to meet Ray, nervous as hell and definitely not feeling like the Alpha she normally was. This morning she felt agitated and uneasy at the thought of allowing her beast free rein. Scratch that. She was terrified.
But the time had come as Ray’s hulking shape came into view in the darkness, Sheba inhaled sharply, her steps faltering briefly before she straightened her spine, shoulders back and strode forward. “Ready?” she asked.
“I am. Are you?” he replied, his eyes spearing hers with a look that told her he knew exactly how she felt.
Of course he did. He was her Beta, but he was also her friend. One that had been by her side since she was still in diapers and probably knew her better than she knew herself. She gave him a brief nod and a small smile. “Not sure if I am but seems I don’t have much of a choice, so I guess we should get started. But I gotta say, I’m not happy about giving up my control, Ray.”
“I bet you aren’t.” Ray chuckled. “Tilly was clear on that though, so what’s that saying the youngsters are so fond of? Oh yeah . . . suck it up.”
“Suck it up? You didn’t just tell me to suck it up, did you?”
“I think I just did, and I think you’re just delaying things, Sheba, so come on, little one.”
Ray undressed, folded his clothes neatly into a pile beneath a bush, and transformed as she procrastinated, shuffling from foot to foot, putting off the moment for as long as she could. When his immense beast padded toward her, nudging her with his snout, she finally started to undress, at a snail’s pace. Too slowly for Ray’s liking, and he gave her a little nip to urge her on. “Hey, no need for that,” she grumbled, finally laying her clothes in a pile next to Ray’s, then summoned her own beast, with a plea as she did so.
“Don’t do anything stupid today, please.”
Its answer didn’t calm her uneasiness. “We find him! He needs us!”
Before she knew it, they were off and running, tearing through the forest at breakneck speed, the darkness not slowing their velocity as they raced across Pack land. To what, or who, she didn’t know.
On and on they ran, Ray on her tail, as they zoomed through, over, under, and around anything in their path. The darkness lightened into a murky grey, and then dawn broke, bringing bright sunlight to sprinkle through the trees and lighten their path. As it lit on the dewdrops, it sparkled brightly, beautiful, and if she had a moment she would stop to admire the gloriousness of it all, but her beast careened onward, never slowing, never wavering from her path.
When the sun rose higher Ray finally asked through their link, “Any idea where we’re going?”
Her Wolf replied immediately, “Start at waterfall.”
“Dion, said he saw signs of a Lion there,” Ray replied quickly. “Is it wise to go there?”
“We go!” Her beast snarled back just as quickly.
Ray remained silent for long moments before he responded, obviously taken aback at the tone of her Wolf. “All right, I hear you. I was just saying with rogues in the area, I thought it wise not to cross paths with a Lion too. We’ve got enough on our hands to fight off if it comes to that.”
“No fight Lion.” Her Wolf’s absolute pledge on that point came through in every syllable, causing a shocked rumble to erupt from Ray’s chest. To his credit though, he remained silent.
Sheba thanked him for that small mercy because she dreaded to think of her beast’s reaction if he uttered the wrong thing. She had visions of her beast turning and pinning him to the ground, her fangs at his throat if he dared to say a word against the Lion she’d been having visions of. Shit, wouldn’t that be just the damn
