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They finished dinner, and she helped him clean up. But while he was still cleaning the grill, she was stripping off her clothes, shifting, and then she went outside to nose him on the leg to hurry him up.

He laughed. He loved her. “Someone wants to run.” He finished cleaning the grill as fast as he could, took off his clothes, and shifted into his wolf. As wolves, they greeted each other, nuzzling each other’s faces as if they were just meeting for the first time in ages. Then they took off running. They were on their property, heading past the clinic, then to the end of the acreage. But when they turned, to his surprise, she tackled him.

He loved it. She raced off before he could catch her. She was quick, but he enjoyed the challenge. He tore off after her and nipped gently at her tail. She yipped in shock and barked joyfully at him. He stopped, lifted his chin, and howled, telling her how much he treasured being with her as a wolf and letting all other wolves out there know it. Other wolveshowled in the distance on the MacQuarries’ property, showing their comradery. She stopped and turned to face him, lifted her head, and howled too. Instantly, Robert charged her, and she smiled, turned tail, and tore off!

He tried to reach her and finally tackled her. She folded onto the ground as if playing dead, but she was really eager to play with him. He nipped at her neck, and she bit at his mouth in play. They were growling and having a ball. He let her up, and scrambling to her feet, she dashed off again.

He was feeling great and was glad they hadn’t skipped running as wolves before they made love tonight. Exercise released endorphins and made them feel even more joy. It was always such a pleasure to stretch their legs as wolves and enjoy the other half of their persona.

They ended up running to the dike and onto the MacQuarrie castle properties and seeing other wolves up there. They howled and greeted them, then kept up with some of them for a while. Finally, Maisie woofed at Robert, telling him she was ready to return to the house.

He would have enjoyed a jog as a wolf much longer, but being with Maisie meant he wanted to be with her in an intimate way even more. They dashed through the dike and back down the hill, where they saw Edeen and Lachlan returning from more of a leisurely wolf lope. Robert and Maisie woofed at them, and they woofed back, then went into the manor house. Robert and Maisie reached their home and headed in through the wolf door, her going in first. It wasn’t a race until they shifted inside the house, and she gave him a quick hug and kiss and then sprinted off for the bedroom.

“I’m not in a race to put away my clothes,” she assured him.

He hadn’t thought that was the reason for her running off. He rushed after her and swept her up in his arms, making her squeal in delight. Then he carried her the rest of the way into the bedroom and set her on the bed. The nice thing about making love after being a wolf was that they were already perfectly naked!

***

The next day, Maisie took her laptop to Heather’s pie shop before it opened to ask her which of the maternity photos she wanted printed while Robert had offered to hang up her clothes in the closet in the meantime. She much appreciated it and would sort her clothes out the way she liked them later, but it helped to just remove them from boxes and put them up on hangers. Maisie opened her laptop on one of the tables. Heather’s three brothers were there also, just in case she went into labor.

“Oh, this is like what Colleen said. The photos are all so good, it’s hard to decide. Enrick is on his way to see them too,” Heather said.

Callum, Ethan, and Oran were looking over their shoulders, amusing Maisie. “Good. I can’t wait to see how he likes them.”

“I love the ones where he’s kissing my belly or behind me with his hands under my belly,” Heather said.

“I love those shots too.”

Then Enrick walked into the shop and joined them,hugging Heather. “Sorry I was running late. Oh, those look great.”

“No problem. We’re not open for another hour and a half, and my brothers would be handling things with the other ladies when they turn up while we looked over these anyway,” Heather said.

Half an hour later, they’d chosen all the pictures they wanted, and Maisie placed the order to have them printed and shipped. Then Enrick had to leave to get back to the castle, and Heather asked Maisie, “So how do you want us to decorate for the family dinner for tonight?”

“Oh, how about something that shows the MacTavishes joining the Campbells and MacQuarries?” Maisie asked.

“Sure. We can do something about that.”

“We’ll just pay for anything that anyone wants to eat in the line of pies, drinks, and desserts.” Maisie figured everyone would love the food there like it was without needing to ask Heather to create new dishes for them.

“Okay, well, this will be simple then.”

“Yeah, I think the main emphasis is just everyone meeting everyone and getting to know them, especially my parents, and making them feel comfortable. I’ll bring your photos to the open house.”

“Wow, that soon. Great!”

“I’m going to run home then”—Maisie still couldn’t get used to the idea that she wasn’t living at the inn any longer, but with Robert now at his home—“and we’ll be seeing you tonight.”

“That sounds good.” Heather hugged Maisie, and Maisie left to go home.

“Hey, Robert.” Maisie entered the house. Mittens immediately rubbed up against her legs. “You’re so cute.”

Robert walked inside the house, and she was surprised he hadn’t been at home. He gave her a hug and kiss while Mittens greeted him too. “I was stocking the clinic with supplies and heard your car pull up. How did it go with the photos with Heather and Enrick?”

“They loved them. The prints are ordered. We talked about the celebration tonight. We’re all good. Do you need me to help with anything at the clinic?”

“I’ll have more stuff coming in next week and you can help with it, if you have time.”