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“We’ll catch you on the loop back around, Nina,” Abbott says. “Oh, shit. This is Ellis Taylor. He’s a good alpha. You’re in good hands with him.”

I’m too out of breath to say anything, and too well trained by my voice coach to try when I’m fighting to stay upright. Fuck me and social etiquette. They’re running again before I can even try, leaving me to guzzle down water.

“Do you want to sit or walk?” Ellis asks. “There’s no right answer by the way. When you’ve run as hard as you were, you want different things.”

Fuck, I’m going to need to talk.

“Walk,” I croak out, wincing.

He doesn’t judge me for how rough I sound or second guess me.

“Let’s do it,” he says.

Together, we fall into a silent walk, while I struggle to get my breathing under control. Unfortunately, it feels as if it takes forever. I can’t believe I ran for so long.

“Is this your first time running with them?” he asks, breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” I wheeze. “It sounds dumb, but I’m kind of impressed with myself. I thought I’d tap out earlier than I did. I forgot to pay attention to anything except moving one foot in front of the other.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be,” he says with a crookedsmile. His green eyes remind me of emeralds right now, and it would be easy to fall into them.

Huh. That’s not right. He’s not in any of the packs my mother chose, which makes him firmly off limits. I have no idea what Cassidy and her pack were thinking. Clearly, my body and I are having a difference of opinion as far as decorum is concerned.

Fucking hussy.

“Your voice sounds kind of rough. Is your water cold?” he asks, concerned.

For some reason, my hackles don’t rise quite so high about it, and I nod.

“Mine is warmer. It may help your voice. Try drinking this,” he says, shoving his bottle of water at me.

It feels so intimate as I place my lips where he does and tip the bottle back so the water will spill out. It’s lukewarm, and it doesn’t bother my throat as much as the cold water does. I’ll have to remember this.

“Thank you,” I say, passing the bottle back to him.

“Anytime. Let’s keep your heart rate up and walk. Cassidy will kill me if I fuck up your progress,” he winks.

My lips twitch in amusement at the possible verbal ear lashing she may give him, but it would be her fault for leaving me with him.

“So Pack Tremaine is courting you?” Ellis asks curiously.

“They are,” I reply as I tip back my head to feel the sun on my face. I don’t even feel bad about it. I put sunscreen on before I went out, I shouldn’t burn.

“They’re a really good pack,” he says. “I just moved here recently, and joined their running group in an effort to meet more people. It’s easy to feel isolated with a new move.”

I force myself to move slowly so I don’t look crazy or wrench my neck from the shock I feel.

“You don’t seem like the kind of person who has a hard time meeting new people,” I say, brow raised.

“No?” he asks, the full weight of his gaze on me. It wants tosteal the breath that I finally got back, and flushing in ways that are very inappropriate.

Shit. Backpedal!

“You just seem very confident,” I add.

“Well, that has nothing to do with meeting people if you’re inherently an introvert,” he says, shrugging. “I’d much rather spend time alone, and I can be an asshole.”

“Do assholes suggest ruining their run to walk with someone who’s slow?” I ask, rolling my eyes. “Bah, I doubt it.”