I was mortified by the preening part of all this, though mostly because he was right.
Victoria approached, studying me the way she did everything else. Her gaze traveled over my frame. I was larger than most wolves, alpha-born and alpha-bred. I was sure she noted the black of my fur, the breadth of my shoulders, and the lush structure of my ruff.
I felt examined. Dissected.
I didn’t know if I minded.
The part of me I was trying very hard to ignore wondered if my wolf form impressed her. If she found me… I don’t know. Powerful. Something other than a strategic alliance partner.
My wolf snickered. That in itself was an indignity. My wolf had never snickered before. Ever.
Do now,he said.
Victoria paused at my side, one hand hovering near my ruff. “May I?”
I huffed.
She took that as permission and climbed on, settling her thighs over my shoulders. Her fingers found my ruff and gripped, tentative at first, then firmer.
Acorn launched himself from her shoulder into her lap, looking more self-important about the whole arrangement than I liked.
I side-eyed him.
He chittered something I chose not to try to interpret.
I stood slowly, feeling Victoria’s grip tighten when my muscles shifted beneath her. She made a small sound I took as recalibration and adjusted her balance.
Mate holds on,my wolf said, satisfied.Good. Mate stays.
I started walking, testing her seat. She adapted quickly, her body moving with mine instead of against it.
Then I ran, my lope turning into a full-on gallop. I wanted her to see what I was. What my territory was. There was no harm in testing her to see if she’d demand I slow down or complain about the pace.
She did neither.
The forest blurred around us, trees flying past in streaks of brown and green. I took the route that might not be the fastest, but the one that would show her the old growth section where the trees were so big their roots formed caves. I showed her the ridge that overlooked the valley with views that stretched forever, plus the falls leading to the creek that eventually split into the northern tributaries.
Her fingers tightened in my ruff. “Your fur is remarkably soft. I would’ve expected coarser texture given the climate and your size, but the individual strands have a softness I hadn’t expected. The deeper strands of your ruff are quite silky.”
She was describing my fur like a scientific observation.
My chest went molten.
I kept running.
What she think of forest?my wolf asked.Better than where came from?
I didn’t know much about Victoria’s life before this. She’d lived in a manor in a lush valley with her family, visiting her grandmother and cousins nearby. They were all witches, so there was magic everywhere. Greenhouses and gardens and everything cultivated and controlled.
This section of the realm was wild. Untamed. Like me.
I wanted her to enjoy it as much as I did.
My wolf started showing off. I told myself it was the wolf, not me. He took a longer route through a section where the canopyopened up, and sunlight poured through in golden columns. Where wildflowers carpeted the forest floor in bursts of color.
Acorn had apparently decided my fur needed grooming. His tiny paws kept patting at my ruff, smoothing down sections that had gotten mussed.
I bore this with as much dignity as I could.
