“Well, then, pretty boy. You better eat up. You’re going to need all the fuel you can get to keep up with me.”
“We’ll see.” One thing Esmerelda would do well to keep in mind is that there are two situations where I will never let her get the jump on me: one is on a run, and the other is in a scenario we definitely wouldn’t be exploring.
It takes us another hour to get to the beach after breakfast. Esmerelda may get up early for her runs, but it takes her ages to leave.
We start off in human form until we get a couple of miles down the beach.
“Ready to race?’ I ask.
“Why?”
“Because, my wife, I need to see you put your money where your mouth is.”
She raises her chin. “Fine.”
Nodding, I start jogging in place, loosening up as I roll my neck from side to side, the satisfying sound of the crack competing with the sound of seagulls.
She mimics me. “All right. On your mark. Get set...”
Before she saysgo, Esmerelda takes off at a sprint. I should’ve known better than to trust her, but her throaty laugh drifting on the wind makes it all worth it. I leave her to run ahead. I might think she’s a spoiled brat that I wouldn’t fuck even if paid an exorbitant amount of money, but I’m still a full-blooded male, and seeing her pert ass in front of me is the best view I’ve run to in ages.
“I’m shifting,” she says over her shoulder, already moving as her body blurs into her wolf form. This time, I’m faster. Fool me once.
I shift, magic sliding over my skin like cool water. Clothes ripple and vanish with me, reappearing whole on the other side of the change. My wolf growls in relief as my paws hit the ground. Immediately, I can taste the brine of the water as waves crash against the shore and kick up the spray. Conversations hum faintly inside beach houses as people get their days going. I tune it out. My enhanced hearing is one of the things I dislike about my wolf senses. I don’t like the idea of invading people’s privacy—even if it’s not intentional.
I bullet past Esmerelda, paws kicking up sand in my wake. The frustrated growl hot on my heels makes me laugh. She’sathletic and fast, and since I already know how good she is at sports, I hang back just to mess with her a little.
She shoots ahead, and I swear I see a smile. The gray stripes down the sides of her black fur gleam in the sunlight. Her wolf is smaller than I expected, but the fire in her luminous green eyes shows me size doesn’t matter.
Right, playtime’s over. I surge just ahead of her. She sticks out a paw, clipping my hind leg, and before I know it, I’m tumbling tail over head and kissing the hot sand.
Magic shimmers over her fur, and she’s standing on two legs again, clothes intact, looking infuriatingly perfect while I’m still face-first in the grit. She doubles over laughing, and the sound hits me right in the chest. My wolf growls low, half embarrassed, half possessive, but there’s nothing for anyone to see.
I scramble up, shake sand out of my fur and shift back, brushing grit off my shorts before turning to face her. Her hair is a wild halo from the wind, eyes bright with victory.
“Quite competitive, aren’t you? You kicked my ass out there,” I say.
“Didn’t I tell you I would?”
“Yeah, but you cheated.”
She shrugs, the motion casual but there’s a flicker of something behind it. Her mouth curves at one corner. Not quite a smile.
“Who do you usually run with?” I ask, keeping my tone light.
Her expression falters for a heartbeat. Just a flicker, but I catch it. Then, her mask snaps back into place. All calm and composed.
“My brothers,” she says.
A sharp, unwelcome pang hits me square in the chest. I get it. Even with everything going on in my own mess of a family, I miss home, too. Maybe it won’t be a bad idea to convince Esmerelda to return home sooner…
I’ll bring it up later.
I study her a beat longer. “Are you close with your family?”
She nods. “I am.” Then, as if brushing it all aside, she adds, “And I’m starving. Let’s go get lunch.”
I’m not surprised by the abrupt change of subject. I’m the last person she wants to talk to about her family.
