We took the back roads, winding through the mountains as darkness settled over the peaks.Lena sat beside me in the passenger seat, her window cracked despite the cool air.Breathing in the night, the wilderness, the freedom of being away from everything that demanded pieces of us.
The property sprawled across forty acres of old-growth forest.
I parked near the cabin and killed the engine.Silence rushed in, broken only by crickets and the distant call of an owl.
Lena stepped out of the car and turned in a slow circle, taking in the wall of trees, the sweep of stars overhead, the absolute darkness beyond the cabin’s solar lights.
“This is yours?”
“Has been for years.I come here when I need to remember what quiet sounds like.”
She walked toward the treeline, drawn by something she probably couldn’t name.I followed, watching the way the moonlight caught in her hair.The wolf watched too, alert and interested in a way that had nothing to do with hunting.
We walked without speaking.Through the meadow behind the cabin, into the woods where the canopy blocked the starlight and everything became shadows.I could see perfectly, of course.My wolf vision had no trouble with darkness.But she moved by touch and instinct, one hand occasionally brushing a tree trunk for balance.
I should have offered to guide her.Instead, I let her find her own way.Testing her.Or maybe just watching her prove herself capable of navigating my world.
After a while, she stopped in a small clearing where moonlight broke through the branches.Her breath made small clouds in the cool air, and her scent carried notes of excitement underneath.Pine needles and cold earth mingled with her familiar scent.
“Why did you bring me here?”
A question with layers.I answered the surface one.“Because you needed to get out too.I could see it on your face when you walked in.”
“And the deeper reason?”
This woman.Always pushing.Always refusing to accept easy answers.
“Because this is where I come when the walls close in.When I need space to breathe.”I stepped closer, close enough to catch the flutter of her pulse at her throat.“I wanted to share it with you.”
Her expression softened, the wariness she wore like a shield easing just slightly.
“It’s beautiful here.”She looked around the clearing, then back at me.A smile tugged at her lips.Mischievous.Dangerous.“And very private.”
“Yes.”
“No one around for miles.”
“No.”
Her smile sharpened.“What would you do if I ran?”
The words hit like a physical blow.My wolf snapped to attention, every hunting instinct screaming to life.
“What?”
“You heard me.”She was already backing toward the treeline, her eyes locked on mine.“If I ran right now, into those woods, what would you do?”
I should have said something sensible.Should have reminded her that the woods were dangerous at night, that she could trip and hurt herself, that this was a game with consequences neither of us could predict.
Instead, my lips curled back from my teeth.
“I would catch you.”
“Prove it.”
She ran.
I counted.One breath.Two.Three.Giving her a head start that wouldn’t matter.My wolf was already tracking her, cataloging every footfall, every branch that snapped under her weight, every spike of adrenaline that sharpened her scent from sweet to sharp.
