ZOE
It was getting latewhen we finally picked up more food and drove back toward Connor’s place. Our intertwined hands rested on my thigh, and it felt intimate in a way I really, really liked.
The comfort was honestly unreal.
“Can I show you something?” Connor asked, as we pulled onto the dirt road that led to the pack’s land.
“Sure. I don’t have anywhere else to be.”
A few minutes later, he turned down a branch on the dirt road that I had never noticed. It was barely there, but Connor followed it like he’d driven down it many times.
“If this is the part where you murder me, we can just fast forward a bit,” I said playfully.
I’d seen the nice camera tucked in a protective bag in his back seat, and we’d talked about his photography hobby the night before, so I knew he had a thing for finding beautiful scenery. Itwasn’t a stretch to imagine he was taking me to one of the places he liked to shoot at.
He flashed me a grin. “If I wanted to murder you, I’ve had plenty of opportunities.”
“That’s fair.”
He squeezed my hand lightly. “Have you ever slept under the stars, Zoe?”
“I haven’t. Is that what we’re doing?”
“Only if you’re interested. I think being out here will help with the shifting situation.”
“Why?”
“If you want to learn how to give control to your wolf, it’ll help to see the world the way she does.”
I didn’t quite understand what he meant, but nodded anyway.
Why not try it?
Connor parked at the end of the barely-there dirt road, and we both got out of the truck. He pulled a stack of blankets out of his back seat while I stopped abruptly when I saw the view.
We were on the far side of the lake that the guys had built their houses on the edges of. The sun was setting over the water, and their homes were out of sight.
It was pure, undiluted nature. Greens, blues, and browns that melded together to create the most beautiful view I had ever seen.
“It’s stunning,” I admitted.
Connor opened the tailgate of his truck. There was a mattress in the back, and that made my heart warm.
He’d planned this.
He lifted me up onto the edge of the tailgate. My eyes were on the horizon as he joined me there, his legs on either side of me as he pulled me to his chest.
His body was warm, and engulfed mine in a way that made my throat swell with emotion.
Safety.
That was all I could feel, with him holding me that way.
“You forget how big the world is sometimes,” I murmured.
“How small it is, too.” Connor’s chin rested on the top of my head, his whole body cradling mine. His erection was against my ass, but he wasn’t trying to start anything.
“What would a wolf be thinking, looking at this?” I asked.
