CHAPTER SIX

“How was work?” Ben asks as soon as I get home. I’m rushing because it’s already 5:30 and I don’t want to be late meeting James.

“Fine! Good!” I yell back at him over my shoulder as I take the stairs two at a time. I don’t know if we’re meeting in human or wolf form, so I err on the side of caution and put on the cutest outfit I can find at short notice: black tights, a black velvet dress, heavy silver boots and a leather jacket. Washing my face and reapplying my makeup takes a few minutes, and after some swipes of my hairbrush, I think I look as presentable as I’m going to get without a shower.

Checking my phone for the time, I see it’s 5:50. I need to head to the woods if I’m going to make it on time.

Ben is still engrossed in the video game he was playing when I got home, so I pat him on the head, tell him I’ll be home later and leave, thankful that he was too distracted to ask me where I’m going. I hardly ever have plans on a Saturday night so it wouldn’t be out of the question for him to question my whereabouts.

But if I have a mate, that might all change. Maybe I’ll finally getting to go on all those dates I’ve been daydreaming out. I’ll get to be like Sharon, pondering what skirt to wear with which shoes each Saturday at the end of her shift before meeting up with her boyfriend.

I walk quickly and make it to the woods with a few minutes to spare, but I spot James almost immediately. Even in the darkness of the autumnal evening he’s impossible to miss, his hair glistening in the moonlight and his eyes shining out like a beacon.

“Hi,” I say. “I’m so glad you wanted to meet. I’ve been thinking—”

I don’t get any more words out, because before my eyes James shifts, leaping toward me and landing softly on the ground, his deep brown fur looked soft enough to touch.

And suddenly I do want to touch it, so badly. Reaching out my hand, I run my fingers throw the fur along the back of his neck. James shivers, the hair on his haunches standing on end, but he doesn’t move away from me. Cautiously, I move my hand around to his muzzle, feeling the silken hairs there tickle my palm.

He growls, low and rumbling, nosing into my palm. I gasp, because even though he’s in one form and I’m in the other, it’s still the most intimate gesture I’ve ever received. I can feel every nerve in my body alight in sensation, and I don’t even consciously realize I’m shifting until I’m standing in front of him, tucking my ears back and tilting my head to look at him.

We don’t speak, but somehow he knows I’m wondering what our next move is because he throws his head behind his shoulder and then, with barely a pause, takes off.

I stick close to his heels, at first consciously. However, as we go deeper into the woods, I let my pace go and realize that we naturally meet each other stride for stride. Running as a wolf has always felt easier than as a human, but with James I feel like I’m flying over the ground, my paws barely touching the decaying leaves littering the forest paths that we zig and zag across. With him I lose any inhibition I have left, and for the first time I don’t worry about who I am or what I’m doing. I just run free.

We go on like that for hours before finally coming to a halt back near where we started, and I can hardly believe the moon has only moved slightly from its position when we left. It feels like days, even weeks have passed since I walked into the woods, terrified about what he would say. By the time we slow down, we’re running flank to flank, our fur nearly entangled. It’s the closest I’ve ever felt to anyone.

I’m so calm, comfortable in his presence so much so that I don’t even think about the risk I’m taking as I nudge my snout against his when we come to a stop.

He leans into my head, resting his atop mine for a moment and let out a long, gruff sigh that creates a small cloud of air above us.

I came to the woods wanting validation. I wanted James to claim me as his mate, to tell me he doesn’t care that I’m a rogue, that he wants me anyway. And though no words are exchanged as the miles disappear behind us, I feel in my bones that he’s accepting me.

James lifts his head off me slowly, like he doesn’t want to leave my side, and I feel the same. The second he shifts back to a human, I miss his heat, but at least I’m rewarded with the sight of him resplendent in tight jeans, a denim jacket that hugs his shoulders and hair that is so perfectly tousled my paws itch to touch it.

I shift back too, finding myself out of breath as I stand before him and take him in.

He’s so beautiful it hurts to look at him, but I do it anyway, drinking in the sight of him for long moments before finally opening my mouth to tell him how spectacular tonight was.

“James, that was—”

He nods, like he knows what I’m going to say, but then, before he can respond, we hear the sound of a twig snapping nearby. His head swivels around, his body automatically going rigid as if primed for attack.

James shifts back, and then he’s gone.

But this time, he looks back. And that makes it all worth it, because when his eyes meet mine, I know he’s seeing me as no one else ever has.