She backed towards the door.
“Jessa.” Her name was a warning, a rumble that seemed to come from everywhere at once. “Don’t run.”
“Why not?”
She could see his surprise in the brief flicker of his glowing eyes. He tilted his head, a gesture more animal than human, scenting the air.
“You’re not afraid.”
“No.” She reached behind her, fingers finding the door latch. “I’m not.”
“Then why are you running?”
She smiled, a slow, deliberate challenge she knew he couldn’t resist. “Because I want you to chase me.”
His eyes blazed emerald fire. A sound emerged from his throat that was nothing like language—pure want, pure need, pure beast.
“Give me a head start.” She lifted the latch and the door swung open behind her. Cool evening air rushed in, carrying the scent of pine and loam and the promise of the wild. “That’s only fair, isn’t it?”
“Fair?” Another step towards her. “There’s nothing fair about what I’m going to do when I catch you.”
Heat pooled low in her belly. “I’m counting on it.”
Then she turned and ran.
The evening air was crisp against her flushed skin as she bolted from the den, her flat slippers finding easy purchase on the familiar path. She didn’t look back. She didn’t need to. She could feel him watching her, those glowing eyes tracking every movement as she plunged into the tree line.
Five seconds,she told herself.I told him to give me a head start.
The forest swallowed her in shadows, light filtering through the canopy overhead. She knew these woods now, but everything felt different in the gathering dusk. More alive. More dangerous.
More exciting.
Scarlett, the weaver from Seren’s pack, had confessed this to her two weeks ago, over cups of herbal tea while their mates hunted together. The red-haired woman had leaned close, her eyessparkling with mischief, and whispered secrets that had made Jessa’s face burn and her curiosity ignite.
“They love to chase,” she’d said. “The hunt is instinct for them. And when they finally catch you…” She’d trailed off with a wicked grin. “Well. Let’s just say you’ll never look at the forest the same way again.”
Her heart pounded as she wove between ancient trees, ducking under low-hanging branches and leaping over gnarled roots. She could hear nothing behind her, but she felt him. A presence in the darkness, circling, waiting, savoring the game as much as she was.
Her breath came faster, her blood singing with a wild joy she’d never experienced before. This was nothing like the cold, paralyzing terror of her uncle’s threats or the desperate flight through the storm with Dani heavy in her arms. This fear was hot and thrilling, laced through with desire so sharp it made her gasp.
He’s playing with me,she realized as she burst through a clearing and found herself on the banks of the stream. The water gleamed silver in the fading light, rippling softly over smooth stones.Drawing it out. Making me want it.
She spun in a slow circle, searching the shadows.
Nothing.
No glowing eyes. No dark shape between the trees. And yet she was sure he was there.
For a moment, she wondered if she’d imagined it, but then a voice came from directly behind her, so close she felt the warmth of his breath against her ear.
“Found you.”
She gasped and tried to bolt, but his arms were already around her, iron bands of muscle lifting her clear off the ground. She laughed, the sound bubbling up from somewhere deep in her chest, and twisted in his grip, trying to see his face.
What she saw made her breath catch.
His features had sharpened, all hard planes and predatory angles. His eyes blazed like twin emeralds held before a flame. And his expression—gods, his expression. Hunger and triumph, but something softer as well. “You let me catch you,” he accused, his voice still more growl than words.
