“Not fit to be what?” He tipped her chin up when she looked away.
“I’m … I’m sorry, I can’t … can we just talk about something else?”
He let out a long sigh. “If that’s what you want. But, may I say something?”
“Of course.”
Cupping her face in his hands, he looked her straight in the eyes. “Adrianna, how could you still have doubt in yourself? After everything you’ve been through this week? When you handled that crisis with grace and poise? “
“That’s different,” she said. “I’m the president of Muccino International. It’s my job to respond to disasters like that.”
“How is it different from being Alpha?” he asked. “You preside over your employees as you do with your clan, guide them and help them do the right things. You put your employees first, above everything, like you should do with the people who look up to you as Alpha. You showed those workers you care and gave them hope when there was only grief and sadness. If this is not being an Alpha, then I don’t know what is.”
He had never experienced such a thing, not with Anatoli or even his Grandfather, but deep in his heart, he knew this was what a leader should be.
She was looking at him, her face in shock. “Darius ….”
He didn’t want to hear her protests anymore, so he silenced her with a kiss. She relaxed against him, opening her mouth to him. He deepened the kiss and rubbed his hands down her back in a soothing manner. “I know what will make you feel like yourself,” he said.
She wiggled on his lap. “Oh, you do, do you?”
He let out a laugh, then picked her up and set her on her feet. “We should go for a run.”
“A run?”
Grabbing the belt of her robe, he gave it a tug. “I want to see my lupoaică,” he said. “To run with her and be free.”
She shrugged her robe off. “Let’s go then.”
The weather had warmed up overnight and the snow that had fallen in the past days had begun to melt, leaving patches of ice here and there. It still wasn’t an ideal time to be out, but their bodies would adjust to the weather.
He let her get ahead of him, discarding his clothing along the way, enjoying the sight of her delicious, naked body as she ran from him. Go and run, lupoaică. He would catch her eventually and the thought made him lick his lips with anticipation. When she began to shift, he called on his own wolf, feeling his body elongate and his bones snap into place as silvery fur grew all over his body.
He had let her run, thinking she could get away from him. Her wolf was gorgeous, he had always thought so, since the first time he saw her shift, with its thick brown and white fur, pointy ears, and those mismatched eyes. He would know them anywhere. It was fun, this hunt, and he enjoyed watching her roam and be free. But he was ready to claim her again.
His wolf circled around, listening for the pounding of her paws on the ground, anticipating where she would be headed. He pushed his wolf’s body to its limits, leaping over logs and bushes to get ahead of her. There was a movement in the thicket to his right, and when her wolf leapt out, he was ready.
The she-wolf was startled to see him and tried to stop, but it was too late. Its body hurtled into him, and they rolled on the ground. He started shifting back to his human form, forcing her to do the same lest she crush him. When they were both fully human, he landed on his back with her above him.
“You’re mine,” she said with a grin. “I caught you.”
He didn’t point out that technically, he had been waiting for her and she collided into him. “You’re right, Alpha,” he growled. “So, take what you want.”
She lifted herself on her knees, grabbing his already hard cock and pointing it to her slick entrance, then impaled herself on him.
His she-wolf was wild and wanton as she sought her pleasure. He watched her, his pleasure building up as she bounced on top of him, her full breasts on display. He reached up to cup them, feeling the weight in his hands.
She was magnificent. Her skin glowed and her hair shone like polished black marble. She even smelled different, like something in her had changed. Her body shuddered as she clamped around him.
“Adrianna!” he grunted, unable to stop himself as he felt his pleasure coming on. Normally, he would have wanted to have her come at least three times before him, but just this once, he would let himself go.
She fell on top of him, her breath ragged. He kissed the side of her neck, slick with a sheen of sweat. Her scent was strongest there at the pulse, and he nuzzled it, bathing and soaking in it. There was definitely something different about her. But what?
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I really needed this.” She got to her feet and then helped him up. “Darius?”
“Yes?”
“I …” She blushed, then wrung her hands together. “I need to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“I … well …” A hand went down to cover her belly. “I can’t do it when we’re naked like this.”
Was she nervous? What did she want to tell him? “Whatever you wish. Let’s go back into the house and we can talk there.”
They had gone farther than he thought, and by the time they neared the house, the sun had already gone down. He found his pants somewhere
