feet and he’d be close enough to strike.
Maizie was smart, evolution affording her centuries of knowledge, the instinct that enabled the weaker sex to survive the demands of the stronger. And Maizie was functioning on almost pure instinct.
She barked-sharp, angry-her feet dancing her backward, her tail swished once, quick. She started a low growl.
Gray didn’t buy it. She was so frightened he practically choked on the scent of it. Her feet fidgeted, her muscles rolling tight under her fur. She was ready to bolt, to run at his slightest distraction. He wouldn’t be distracted.
In a straight-on foot race, Gray knew he could smoke Maizie’s smaller stride, but through the twists and turns of a forest run, her smaller size would turn to an advantage. He had to get closer before she took off or he might never catch her.
He called her bluff, throwing up one of his own. Gray rose, not to his full height but enough that he met her eye to eye. He bared his teeth, his growl deeper, louder, more visceral than hers.
Jeezus, she was beautiful. To his wolf-half she was as alluring a female as she was a woman to his human- half. Fear sparked in the jewel green of her eyes, but underneath they still managed to captivate him with their curiosity and intelligence-with her sheer defiance.
She was brave, strong, fast and smart. She was everything a male could want in a mate, in the mother of his offspring. Despite her fear and her angry warnings, she wanted his dominance. He could smell it. She wanted him to take her. He was alpha, bravest, strongest, fastest and smartest, everything a female could want in a mate, in the sire of her brood.
Maizie froze to the spot at his show of dominance, her scent thickening the air. She cowered slightly, despite her arousal, believing his threat even as her heat reached across the cool night and enveloped him.
Her musky aroma, more tangy than normal, tickled his nose, stirred his primal body. It wasn’t the scent of the natural estrus that preceded ovulation, but Maizie’s human-half allowed her sexual excitement without the biological inducement. Combined with everything else she offered, Gray’s tight leash on his animal instincts pulled hard on his muscles. A mental shake knocked thoughts of mounting her to the darker recesses of his brain.
Gray held his tall crouch and crept closer, his gaze locked with hers, willing her not to move. He got within feet of her. One more step and he’d be near enough to lunge, to pin her, assert his authority as alpha and earn her compliance. It was the only way to protect her in her wild state.
Maizie was having none of it. She waited, dancing on her feet, a split second of Gray’s overconfidence, and she spun, ran. She’d waited too long though, and Gray was able to give chase only seconds behind. In minutes her size, her swift maneuverability, increased the distance between them. Gray thundered on, trusting experience and human strategy would level the field.
The forest was black, the moon and stars no match for the thick canopy of leaves. The air streaked through his fur, the sound of his heart, his steady breaths and the rhythmic beat of his paws echoed around him. Maizie darted toward a barricade of low hanging branches, slipping beneath with ease. Gray’s taller body scraped through, the stubborn branches digging into his thick fur, a few breaking through, scratching his skin.
Up ahead she scrambled beneath a fallen tree, making it to the other side in seconds. The trunk was too low for Gray to follow her path and the branches were too thick to jump. Without breaking his stride he swerved, running toward the enormous clump of earth and roots. It ate up precious seconds, but Gray drove harder, faster, made it around and caught the swish of blonde fur dashing between the trees in the darkness. He closed the distance.
She was running wild and panicked. Gray kept his head, his human unfevered mind becoming his only advantage. He ran wide to the right, scaring her to turn left. Then a few minutes later he turned and ran close along her left to frighten her to the right. He herded her toward the quarry lake while she was too crazed to realize.
A thick brier patch lay off to the right. Maizie turned and headed straight for it before Gray could cut her off. She barreled through, head low, her smaller body slicing between the prickly branches and thorns to the other side. Too wide to go around, too tall to jump, Gray had no choice.
He kept her in his sight, focused, determined, driving headlong into the scratchy wall of brush. He didn’t fit. The tiny thorns couldn’t penetrate his thick fur, but his face was vulnerable. He closed his eyes to slits and kept his head as low as he dared without losing sight of Maizie. It wasn’t enough.
The sharp pricks cut along his muzzle, tore at the corners of his eyes. He didn’t care. For the first time in forty-three years both halves of his soul united, human and wolf, wanting the same thing-Maizie Hood. He wouldn’t let her get away and when he broke through on the other side, a heady wash of relief rippled through him.
Gray knew this forest like he knew his backyard. They were almost there, on the high side of the lake where the ground dropped five stories to the water below. His only fear was that Maizie might skirt along the edge before he could come around to stop her and his chance at cornering her would be lost.
He had to drive her straight to the edge and trust her instincts would stop her before she plunged over the bluff, but not warn her before it was too late to change course. Maizie glanced over her shoulder at him. Her fine- tuned muscles pounded her paws into the ground, propelling her faster.
Her eyes widened for a moment, a cloud of panic wafting up from her fur to tell him her thoughts.
She wasn’t thinking. She was just running. This would work. The quarry ledge came up on her fast. Gray watched, several strides behind.
She yipped, her weight shifting to her hindquarters, her feet scraping backward as her momentum skidded her to the edge. Paws clawed the dirt, turning her so her ass swung around and slipped over. Back claws dug at the cliff wall, front paws spread her toes wide, desperate to hold on. But she was slipping.
Gray lunged, caught the scruff of her neck. He managed to stop her fall. To pull her up he had to get his feet under him and use brute strength.
He saved her…again. It earned him nothing.
The instant Maizie was back on solid footing she snapped at him, catching him under the jaw, drawing blood. Gray snarled, pain stinging through his mind, trying his already haggard patience. He rammed her, his broad chest colliding into her shoulder, driving her back. She stumbled, a tiny yip squeezing out with her breath.
Lightning fast he jumped at her, his big jaws clamping under her neck, catching her jugular between his teeth. He dropped on her, his heavy body crushing her beneath him, her underbelly exposed. Utterly at his mercy, she stilled.
He held her there, catching his breath, reeling back instinct, reining in his control. Her life coursed between his jaws and he growled low, the sound rumbling through his chest, communicating his conditions for his mercy.
Maizie squirmed suddenly, her tail thrashing the ground.
Gray pressed down on her, squeezed his jaw. His tooth broke her skin. A small trickle of blood wet his tongue and sent a zing of primal thoughts storming through his brain:
His growl vibrated off her again, echoing back through his own body.
Maizie whimpered, her tail tucking toward her upturned legs.
Minutes ticked by as Gray held her beneath him, forcing her continued submission. She was warm against him, her body gripped by the fever. Still, he liked the feel of her there, chest to chest, her heart pounding so hard the rhythm thumped through his body.
Maizie whimpered, relaxing despite her vulnerable position. She wagged her tail, her long pink tongue lapping out, trying to placate him with kisses. She couldn’t reach his face with his mouth on her neck, but the gesture was more than enough.
Gray released his hold, but kept her pinned and Maizie was quick to thank him with long licks to his muzzle, cleaning the wound she’d made under his jaw. Her hot tongue warmed through the short hairs of his face, her body radiating heat. He should lead her back to the mansion where she could rest but he liked the feel of her
