Pride's Run (16 page)

As I watch the gash on his face close, his
warm crimson flesh mending beneath his black fur, chaos erupts
inside me. I swallow, hard, because Logan doesn’t deserve what I
did to him. If not for his quick reactions, I could have lost a
leg, or worse…

The pewter in his eyes bleeds into his inky
black pupils and when he looks deep into my eyes, I get the sense
that he can see past the fur, the eyes, the girl and see into my
soul, and can see how damaged I really am. Feeling vulnerable and
exposed my body trembles like a leaf in a wind-storm.

“
Hey,”
he says, shifting his body over
mine to offer his warmth.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.”
As
he stares down at me I work to think, to breathe. “
Pride,”
he begins, his hurt apparent in his expression. “
I told you I’m
not going to harm you. When are you going to start believing
me?”

Rattled, and feeling like I’ve betrayed him
somehow, I give a savage shake of my head and instead of answering
I blurt out,
“I shouldn’t have missed that.”

“
Then why did you?”

“
Because you…”

“
Because I what?”

We exchanged a look and then I try to back
pedal. “
Never mind.”
I push at him.
“Get off me.
”

He doesn’t get off, instead his body moves on
top of mine and there is something about the weight of him pressing
down on me that causes my senses to stir in the most primal
way.

His muzzle is close to mine and I can feel
his warm breath on my face, ruffling my fur. His paw goes to his
cheek and his mood shifts. His tone is light and teasing when he
says, “
For a small wolf, you’re pretty badass.”

“
Don’t forget it,”
I say, wanting to
sound more confident than I feel.

Tortured eyes meet mine and he gives a slow
shake of his head when he says, “
Oh no, I’d never forget
it.”

Something that resembles need flashes in
those rich pewter orbs of his, but I know I must be mistaken. I’m a
runt, no match for an alpha like him. I push at him again, hating
the direction my thoughts are taking me because no alpha wolf in
his right mind would give a girl like me a second look.

I try to work my feet under his belly to
shove him off, desperately needing to disentangle myself from him,
but my efforts prove futile.

As he gives me a look I can’t decipher, heat
surges inside my body and there is nothing I can do to tamp down my
sudden fever. My brain stalls. Good God, no one has ever looked at
me like that before.

His eyes sweep over my features, slowly,
leisurely, taking his time to drink me in, and I become very aware
of the way my body is responding.

He gives a slow shake of his head and says,
“
You really are one of a kind.”

Feeling completely flustered by his
closeness, I force myself to breathe naturally as I push at him,
not at all sure what is happening between us.

My heart thumps as he inches to the side to
remove most of his weight but he still doesn’t clear his body of
mine. Our hind legs entangle and one heavy paw remains draped over
me, holding me down.

A shooting star scuttles across the sky and
just then the near full moon slips behind a cloud, dousing the
woods in darkness. As his pewter eyes penetrate the dark night,
Logan’s eyes settle on my muzzle and he makes a noise as he trails
a gentle paw over my stomach. I shiver, not because he’s touching
me, but because of the way he’s touching me—softly, gently.

Intimately.

As the forest closes in on us and the air
ripples with his scent I feel like I’m being pulled under, the prey
of some magical alpha spell. Suddenly, time seems suspended and no
one appears to exist out here in the wild except me, this alpha and
this moment. My pulse pounds in my neck and as Logan zeroes in on
it I realize he knows what his closeness is doing to me.

I search for my voice, even though I’m not
sure what I’m about to say.
“Logan-”
I begin, suddenly
needing this moment to end as much as I need it to continue.

“
Tell me more about Stone,”
he
says.

His question helps breaks the strange spell
he seems to have over me and catches me by surprise.

“
What do you want to know?”

“
Would he hurt you if he found you?”
Logan’s paw goes from my stomach to the small scar at my
collarbone. He tracks it lightly, carefully.

“
He could try
,” I say. With my
breathing hampered, I work to keep the quiver from my voice as his
intimate touch pushes me past my comfort zone.

That brings a smile to his face, but it’s
short lived.
“Has he ever—you know—touched you?”

I shake my head.
“I don’t like to be
touched.”

“
But he’s an alpha, and alphas can
be…”
he pauses and he seems to be searching for the right
word.

“
Do you mean forceful?”

His teeth clench and anger clouds his pewter
eyes.
“Yeah.”

“
No.”

“
So you were going to be put in his cell
during the full moon.”

I nod.

“
What would you have done?”

My nostrils flare as a burst of anger moves
through me.
“I would have fought him.”

“
Would you have won?”

“
No.”
I turn my head away.

“
It’s okay, Pride.”
He nudges me until
I turn to face him. “
I’m not going to let anyone take you back.
I promise.”

My body tightens and the genuine concern in
his eyes becomes my undoing. I bite my tongue and my defenses
crumble like the dry leaves beneath me as everything about this boy
generates a need deep inside me.

A long moment passes between us, both lost in
our thoughts, then in the softest voice he asks, “
If you were
free, and if it wasn’t with Stone, would you think about having a
family?”

“
I don’t know. I’ve never been free so
I’ve never given it any thought.”
I pause and remind myself
that I wouldn’t want to breed a genetic defect into any family.
“If I had to answer I’d say no.”

In a move so fast that it takes me by
surprise Logan slides off me and climbs to all fours. His thick
muscles shift as he gives a quick hard shake of his head and
focuses on the forest. His face is dark and troubled and I’m not
sure what I said to cause his sudden mood shift.

He stays quiet for a long moment as he stares
past my shoulder. I see tension in his posture as his eyes search
the dark, but I have no idea what he’s searching for. Then he
releases a heavy sigh and looks to the sky.

“
The moon is getting higher and we need
supplies. Let’s get moving.”

And just like that, I’m left staring at his
back, unable to figure out what happened between us.

A
fter returning to
our human forms we pull on our dirty clothes and Logan insists I
wear the boots as we go searching for supplies. Silence encompasses
us and we listen to the night sounds and quietly make our way
through the forest.

Strides determined, we climb down the
mountain and when we approach the valley floor we hear voices,
music and laughter. Flames from a bonfire shoot to the sky and
create a soft glow around us. The smell of smoke and something
sweet reaches my nostrils. My stomach growls.

Logan turns to me. “Why don’t you wait here
and I’ll go check it out.”

“Are you sure I shouldn’t come? I might be
able to get in and out quicker than you.”

He frowns. “No, I’d rather you stay here so
you can keep an eye and ear out for hunters, okay?”

Before he goes I untie the boots. He makes a
move to pull off his socks but I stop him.

“No, you take both. I need to air out my
blisters, anyway.”

He agrees without argument and as he slips
into the boots, I find a rock to sit on and fold my arms around
myself to fight off a shiver. Although I believe the shiver has
more to do with Logan and what he’s doing to me rather than the
situation we’ve found ourselves in.

Moments pass as I listen to the distant
laughter, and a tight ache begins in my core. As I breathe in the
sweet sugary scents wafting through the air, I can’t deny there is
a side of me that craves that kind of normalcy.

What would it be like to go to real school,
to hang out with friends after class, and only take to the forest
with my kind on run night? I think about my mother and how much she
must have missed that life and how much she longed for me to have
that kind of freedom.

As I sit there and wait, I scan the forest,
but when I spot a movement in the near distance my senses go on
high alert. I listen and watch for a long time, until the sound of
feet shuffling across the fallen leaves reaches my ears.

When timber crunches loudly, and a boy’s
voice reaches out to me, I know the intruder is human. He’s humming
a song, and hardly trying to be quiet, which leads me to believe
he’s not a hunter—no hunter in his right mind would go thrashing
through the woods the way this guy is. I scent the air and as I
breathe deep I listen to his blood rush through his body.

I jump from my seated position and prepare,
my wolf waiting to be unleashed. A moment later a boy who looks
around the same age as Logan walks from the woods. He has a bundle
of wood in his arms and a flashlight tucked into his armpit.

When he sees me he jumps back and both his
timber and flashlight topple to the ground.

“Christ,” he curses, and clutches his chest
like the scare has taken ten years off his life. He quickly gathers
up his light and sweeps it over me. As his glance darts around,
confusion flares in his eyes.

“What are you doing out here?” he asks.

I look him over. In comparison to Logan he’s
a bit shorter, and not quite as muscular. His brown hair is
cropped, tapered around his ears, and his green eyes might look
confused but they also look kind. My wolf doesn’t sense danger, so
she settles.

“What are
you
doing out here?” I ask
in return.

He nods toward his group. “Gathering wood for
our fire.” Then his brow furrows, suspicion trickles along the deep
grooves. “Are you alone?”

I open my mouth to answer, but don’t get the
chance. Logan steps up beside me and in a possessive move puts his
arm around me and pulls me close. “No. She’s with me.”

I glance at him, startled by his sudden
protective movement. I can feel his heart crashing hard against his
chest and the muscles along his side ripple as he anchors me to
him. As I absorb the warm strength of his body a shiver trickles
down my spine. His closeness overwhelms me but in front of company
I resist the urge to pull away.

The two boys take a minute to size each other
up. Then the hiker’s light turns back to me. He fans it over the
ground and that’s when he notices my bare feet.

He curses under his breath. “Don’t tell me
they ripped you off, too?”

“Yeah, they took everything,” Logan says
without missing a beat. I look at him and admire his ability to
think so quickly on his feet.

“Everything?” The hiker’s green eyes widen
and he looks almost frantic when he asks, “You’re out here in the
cold and you don’t have any supplies?”

Logan unties the boots and hands them to me.
“We’ve been sharing as we make our way out,” he says.

“Unbelievable. We ran into another group who
had a few things jacked, too.” He shakes his head. “Man, you both
need to do something before you get frostbite and lose a limb.”

“We’ve been looking for a park ranger, but
can’t seem to find any.”

The hiker lets loose a heavy sigh and looks
around the dark forest. “There is nothing you can do tonight so you
should probably come back to our camp. We have plenty of food and
spare clothes. Come morning we’ll help you both get out of here.”
He bends to gather his wood and I exchange an uneasy look with
Logan before he drops to the ground to help him.

“The name’s Taylor,” he tosses over his
shoulder as he grabs his light and shines it on the path.

“I’m Logan and my girlfriend here is
Pride.”

I start at that false statement and shoot a
glance at Logan, but he keeps his eyes trained on Taylor and
ignores me.

With his arms loaded with timber, Taylor
steps ahead. “Follow me,” he says and resumes his whistling as he
tromps through the woods.

Logan grabs my arm to keep me a few steps
back. We walk slowly and once we have enough distance between us,
he turns concerned eyes on me.

“Pride,” he whispers. I look at him and note
his furrowed brow as well as the tiny specks of pewter dancing in a
stormy sea of blue, an indication that his wolf is concerned.

My hackles rise. “Should we run?”

“No.” His voice is firm, to showcase the
seriousness of the situation, I suppose. “Right now with everyone
hunting us, we’re probably better off with a group of people. Our
scents will mingle and dilute. Besides, no one expects us to
socialize out here.”

I nod, but I can tell there is something else
bothering him. “What is it?”

“We can’t act like enemies. It would seem
suspicious.”

“Okay,” I agree.

“We’re going to have to pretend we’re
boyfriend and girlfriend. It’s only logical.”

Since I’ve had no experience in that area I
say, “I don’t know how to do that.” For a brief second I let my
mind drift and think about Logan with other girls. But when I do I
get a strange tightness in my chest so I quickly push that image
out of my mind.

“Just follow my lead.”

“Okay.”

“I’m going to have to touch you.”

We exchange a long look and I know what he’s
getting at.