Maisie perked up.
Right, like she’d do anything. Maisie certainly wouldn’t use her mysterious powers to drive the transformational process or explain why fate had left Brenna a null instead of a real werewolf like everyone else in her pack.
The wolf pack surrounding them yipped and withdrew into the trees. They didn’t stick around or try to test boundaries. Not when confronted with a full-grown male werewolf. The pack might take him down, eventually, but they’d suffer too many injuries and losses. Wolves were smart. They’d already assessed the cost of this meal too high.
And just like that, the threat on her life was gone…and replaced with a new one.
Her knees threatened to buckle under the alpha’s yellow gaze. He leaned in and sniffed at her covered face. He stilled, remaining motionless as if frozen, except the little puffs of condensed air escaping his snout.
She pulled down her face covering, the icy air sliced her cheeks like shards of glass. “I’m Brenna Jones from the Diamond Pack. Thank you for saving me from the wolves.”
The werewolf shook himself from his daze and stepped past her. He leaned down and picked her pack up from the snow before turning back.
“My family has a cabin.” She raised her arm and pointed in the direction of her parents’ place. Surely this wolf would wonder why she stayed in human form. “I’m a null.”
The wolf nodded slowly and stood beside her.
She shrugged and started to walk toward the cabin again. Every muscle in her body screamed.
The wolf growled.
She froze, fear kicking up a notch and threatening to paralyze her. Did she know this wolf? Did he save her from the others just to hurt her himself?
The wolf stepped up beside her again and waited.
“You want me to ride you?” The tension eased away from her shoulders.
Another slow nod.
She hadn’t ridden a werewolf since she was a child and her father finally relented after her constant begging. It wasn’t a comfortable act for a wolf, their bodies not designed for bearing weight on their backs. But stronger werewolves, like this one, could transport a person or two if they deemed it necessary.
Brenna studied the angry gray skies and the dark clouds moving in. Guess it was necessary. She sheathed her hunting knife, grabbed the pack from the wolf’s mouth and stared at his back. With a deep breath, she reached up over the wolf’s tall shoulders, clutched handfuls of dense fur and swung up on to the wolf’s back.
This day couldn’t get any weirder.
Chapter 4
Eric charged over the snowbank, urged onward by Brenna’s tight grip on his fur. Brenna. She was here, and she was touching him. Voluntarily.
Mate, Brutus growled
The wind howled, and the nasty looking, gray clouds darkened, blotting out the sun and casting them in dark shadows. Eric needed to get her warm, but he also wanted to enjoy this. The moment she found out his identity, she’d recoil with disgust.
Casting them in darkness, the storm intensified instead of letting up. His heart lodged in his throat as each stride sunk his cold paws into deeper and deeper snow. Brenna’s warm presence against his back spurred him on. He had to get her to safety.
In the bleary dark, snowbanks and snow-laden trees looked the same. All the same.Fuck!His vision strained, but muscle memory and smell directed him through the forest. Eric kept his snout tucked and continued to race through the trenches and over valleys and snow drifts. The other wolves no longer howled. Not anymore. Nothing would be out hunting. Only the sounds of groaning trees and the screaming wind filled Eric’s wolf ears. The trip should’ve taken fifteen minutes.
The wind sliced through his fur and chafed at his hide. His eyes felt as though they blistered. A dark cabin looming in the field of white. Finally. The Jones’ cabin.
He charged up the steps to the front entrance, finally stopping where the overhang protected the patio from the snow.
Brenna swung her leg over his shoulders and dismounted. Sort of. More like she fell off. She winced and sucked back air. He leaned forward, trying to offer her help, but she scooted out of his reach.
“I’m fine,” she hissed.
Obviously.
In the protected area of the main entrance, Brenna pulled down her face guard again and pursed her lips. Darkness shrouded her fine features, but a trail of dried blood from her forehead and mouth indicated she’d hit her head. He hadn’t paused to assess her injuries before taking her to the cabin. His heart beat heavy in his chest. If that twit hadn’t lost her gloves…If he hadn’t gone for a run…
