In my case, I wasn't looking for danger, exactly. There was a thrill in my heart, a sense that knew my pack was behind me and looking for me. That when they found me, all would be lost. We would go to ground somewhere out of sight, out of mind, and the world wouldn't exist for the next several hours. We could hunt for prey another night. For the time being, what they needed most was me.
My paws flew across the packed snow, light as a feather and never sinking more than an inch or two. It left a visible path for them to follow, the world a twinkling wonderland beneath Her light. I wrapped my tracks around the trees, pausing to rake my claws through the thin, weak winter bark. I exposed the greenwood beneath it in a glorious rush of ripping, tearing perfection.
I was everything humanity feared. Brilliant, powerful, and capable, I lifted my head to the night and howled my heart out.
And in the distance, my pack answered.
I waited a moment, two, then rushed off through the snow again. I twisted my path, confusing them, frustrating them. It did a man good to have to work for his catch; hell, wasn't that the whole point of courting? Make them worthy, make them find you and please you before you allowed them to take what they wanted.
A rabbit flashed across in front of me and my instincts screamed to go after it. I lunged for it, kicking up snow and dirt as I dug in. The creature screamed, igniting my predatory need. My teeth snapped an inch from its tail and it bolted down a hole, disappearing into the darkness below.
Wrinkling my nose, I began to dig. I dug in the frozen dirt until I felt the pack growing closer, so close; too close. Growling at the rabbit who had outwitted me, I ran past its burrow and hoped it would delay my alphas as it had me. A brief delay, of course. I wanted them on my tail as soon as they could manage it.
I raced through the undergrowth, letting leafless, thorny branches rip at my coat. Who cared? It only left a better trail for my alphas to follow. My scent was plenty, but the discovery of a tuft of fur would goad them on, have them drooling for me by the time they found me. And that was all I could dream of.
In the distance, I saw an opening beneath a hill. My steps slowed and I entered it, my head tilting. The faintest aroma of bear clung to it, but it wasn't deep enough for hibernation. Well sheltered, comfortable, a bed of earth and dried greenery left the perfect place for me to build. I licked my lips and walked out to find what I wanted.
Though it took me some time to construct a nest of the pine boughs and soft, fluffy antler down I'd found throughout the area, I managed it before the pack found me. I paced the front of the cavern, my tail out and alert, the tip flicking this way and that. Wherever they were, they'd stopped for some reason. Perhaps they'd found that tuft of fur.
Every salacious minute that passed made me crazier. I needed my pack, wanted them to hurry up so I could find my way to that sweet nirvana that they paved the way for. I scratched the bare dirt beneath the overhang, lifted my head, and howled again. A hunt was no fun without a climax, and I was ready for more than a few of those.
Hudson peered at me from above, standing on the overhang. He inhaled, deep and sweet, and slid down the side of the hill. His ears went back but his lips went up. I curled toward the ground, forever submissive to the alpha my heart desired. I would never challenge him over a territory like this, not when I'd brought him there.
The others came down the side after him, first Gabe, then Leo, then Xavion. At the mouth of the cave, they stared at me. However they'd told him, Tommy obeyed and stayed away from the cave yet remained within range to feel his presence. It was likely that he was simply playing, unaware that his pack was about to make me officially theirs.
I slid beneath their chins again, more cat than wolf, trying to tell them I was ready, willing, dying to be part of my pack again. I'd sworn to myself never to be that fucking goat, but God, I understood her so much more now. The need was driving me crazy and I didn't know what else I could do. I whined, arching my back against Leo's chin, just as a cloud slid across the moon.
Suddenly, I was naked and human. All of us were. Leo grabbed me around the waist with one arm and dragged me back against him. His hardness ground into my thigh and my men converged on me. I was pulled to the nest I'd made, placed upon it as if I were something cherished, and then the other shoe dropped.
If they'd been passionate with me before, this was an entirely different level. Leo kissed me, but Hudson already had his tongue between my legs. I gasped into Leo's lips as Xavion crept across me to help Hudson. The pair of them lashed me, but I was already soaked. One of my legs drew up toward my chest, trying to open myself fully to them.
And that was when Gabe sank his teeth into the side of my neck, breaking the skin and me with it. I came, the first orgasm of many promised that night, and let the silent forest know it.
There was
