Page 19

“But it doesn’t have to be that way. Puppy dog, come on, don’t you get it?” I grip his shoulders. “You can find a new pack, a new home. Here.” I could be his new pack, but I’m too nervous to say that out loud.

Anders scoffs, but he doesn’t pull away. “How could I ever fit in here?”

“Easy!” I slap his shoulder. “You start small. We could buy you more clothes. Change your hairstyle to be more contemporary if you want. You work in a bookshop, so I could teach you how to read.”

Those green eyes widen. “I… I couldn’t.” He takes a step back, withdrawing from me.

“Sure you can.”

He shakes his head wildly. “No! It’s impossible.

” His hands ball into fists. “I used to think there was nothing I could not accomplish. But now, here, in this place, I—” With a frustrated sigh, Anders paces away from me.

“I’m not good at anything. All my skills are meaningless.

” Sighing, he hangs his head. This giant of a man suddenly seems so small in all his self-doubt.

“There’s no place in this world for me.”

The bitter defeat in his voice makes my heart ache. “That’s not true.” Going to him, I turn him around to face me. “Go easy on yourself. Be patient. And if that’s too hard, hey, I’ve got plenty of patience for the both of us. Just give reading a chance. I’ll help you. You won’t do this alone.”

A sigh escapes Anders, his breath caressing my lips. “I will try it, pet, but I make no promises that I’ll be any good. However, if you’d like to learn the ways of the wolf, I’d be more than happy to teach you. That I can do easily.”

My spirits soar. “Yes! Okay! Let’s get started. Teach me all the wolfy things.”

Anders pulls up his hood. The gaping wolf maw falls over his face, and fur erupts all over his body. Within seconds, he stands before me in his breathtaking wolf form. I’ll never get used to seeing such a big, beautiful wolf up close.

On my knees, I ruffle his fluffy cheeks. “You are so beautiful.”

He huffs, tongue lolling. He looks goofy and adorable. I know in this form he’s a fearsome predator, but to me, he’s just my sweet, grumpy, oversized puppy.

“Strange to hear you say that.” His Nordic voice fills my mind.

“Why?” I stroke the tip of his big ear.

He flicks his ear, then growls. “You were raised as a human. I’m amazed you weren’t taught to hate and fear wolves. Every human I have known has only ever treated me like a savage beast.”

I sink my fingers into his thick, coarse fur, then lean in, bumping his cold nose against my forehead. “You’re not a savage, Anders. You’re just a big ol’ puppy dog to me.”

Growling, he nips my fingers, but our bond glows with relief. “Shift. I smell a rabbit on the wind. We can hunt it together.”

I’m not sure I like the idea of hunting something cute and fluffy, but I still want to shift.

Pulling up my furs, I let the shift roll over me, consuming me in dense fur.

I stretch out on all fours with a wolfish grunt, muscles popping.

Shifting to my wolf feels amazing. An animal’s headspace is much simpler than a human’s.

All I want to do is hunt and run with my mate.

Anders rubs his body up against mine, panting. My heart sings to have him so near. He takes off into the woods, and I gallop at his heels. The musky odor of a rabbit’s fur hits my nose. My mouth floods with saliva, but the human in me grimaces at the thought of eating live prey.

“Quiet,” Anders instructs telepathically. “The prey is just ahead, but we’re downwind of it.” Beside me, Anders crouches so his belly is just brushing the grass. “Get low.”

I have to fight the urge to crack a Lil Jon joke about windows, walls, and balls. It kills me, but he wouldn’t get it anyway. Lowering myself to his level, I keep close as we prowl toward our prey.

“Be mindful of your footing.” Anders brushes aside some twigs with his large paw and presses ahead. My mate moves with grace, shuffling around any twigs or piles of dead leaves.

Me? I walk right over the damn things and make a racket that startles the rabbit. The bunny bolts for the hills. The overwhelming urge to give chase possesses me, and I sprint after the rabbit with Anders close behind me.

Leaves spray behind us as we run, and the wind whips through my fur.

It feels amazing. I’m so fast! I doubt anything could catch me.

Pure power courses through my muscles as I run.

Anders lurches ahead of me and cuts off the rabbit’s path, forcing it to change direction and run straight at me.

I open my jaws and snatch up the little bunny by the scruff of the neck.

It squeaks and wriggles, but I’m careful not to bite down too hard and hurt it.

Yes! I caught my first prey! I am the king of the forest, I am unstoppable, I am—crashing headlong into a tree.

Ouch. Whining, I paw at my throbbing head.

Anders skids to a stop, tongue lolling out as his ribs heave. “Are you hurt? You should have watched where you were going!”

I thump my tail at him. “I’m fine.” Oh shit.

The bunny! I dropped the poor little guy.

He’s huddled a few feet away, pressed flat against the trunk of a tree and shaking violently.

Oh no, I scared him. Whining pitifully, I crawl on my belly toward the rabbit.

The poor little creature’s heart is racing so fast I can see it pumping in its rib cage.

Growling, Anders licks between my ears where the throbbing is most painful. “You’re bleeding. Hold still. It should heal in seconds.”

I boop the bunny with the tip of my snout. “Poor little thing. I scared him.”

Anders huffs. “Poor little thing? It’s food, pet. Put it out of its misery.”

I gasp. Well, if a wolf could gasp, that would be the sound I make. “No!” I flop dramatically onto my side and thrash around. “I can’t do it. He’s too cute. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It’s not about right or wrong. It’s about survival.”

I whimper. “But we have food at home. We don’t need to hunt to survive. Can’t we just let him go?”

“Let it—” Anders shifts back to his human form and plops down on his butt in the leaves. “You want to let it go?”

I shift back and reach out to pet the rabbit’s soft fur. He stays still, too scared to move, and lets me gently stroke him. “I caught him. That was the goal, right?”

Sighing, Anders combs his fingers through his hair. “If my pack could see me now… I’d never hear the end of this. Fine. Let him go.”

I smile, relieved. “Thanks, puppy dog. Go on, little guy. Sorry for scaring you.” I stand up and give the rabbit space. Anders follows me, and once my back is turned, I hear the rabbit scamper off into the woods. I take Anders’s hand and squeeze it. “Pretty unconventional for a wolf, huh?”

“Aye. Very. I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

The admiration in his voice erases any doubts. Hand in hand, we walk back to the car.

Anders falls asleep in the passenger seat during the ride back into the city, clearly exhausted from last night. I don’t have the heart to wake him. In sleep, all his defenses come down, and he’s vulnerable and sweet. “Hey. Wakey, wakey. We’re home.”

Home. I wonder if he’ll ever come to see my apartment as his home or if he’ll always feel drawn to return to his time. I shove that thought away, not liking the way my insides twist at the idea of being abandoned.

Anders yawns, cracking his jaw. “Already? These cars of yours are faster than any horse.”

We walk upstairs together.

“Want to shower?” I ask. I don’t necessarily mean it in a flirty way, but when his eyes darken, my own desire wakes up within me.

“Oh, aye. I would indeed. Seeing you run and hunt was quite the spectacle.”

With his hand in mine, he drags me to the bathroom. Once we’re in the shower with the water cascading over us, he shoves me against the wall and claims my lips with eagerness that wakes me up, body and soul.

“I’m proud of you,” he rumbles against my lips, his big hands running up and down my ribs before his fingers toy with my nipple rings. My cock twitches and fills, and all I want is more. “You make a fine wolf. Tell me what you need, and it will be done.”

My mouth runs dry. I’ve never felt good about asking for what I need. I give and give until I have nothing left, and I’ve learned to live with going unsatisfied. I’m starting to suspect that’s why so many of my relationships have ended badly.

“Jamie?”

I clear my throat, trying to find my voice. I don’t want my relationship with Anders to meet that same fate. “I… I don’t want you to hold back. Be rough with me.”

A grin curls his lips. “How rough?”

“I don’t know. Spank me. Pull my hair. Throw me around. Bite me. I don’t care. I wanna see that animal in you come out.”

Anders looks uncertain. “But what if I hurt you without meaning to?”

“Okay. If it’s too much and I need you to stop without saying stop or no, I’ll say matcha. Or if my mouth is full,” I add, winking, “I’ll pinch your thigh.”

“Ah. I understand. You say matcha or pinch me, and I’ll stop,” he promises. “But until then?”

I grind against his hardening cock in invitation. “Don’t hold back. No more puppy dog Anders. I wanna see bad dog Anders.”

“Not a puppy,” he growls before crushing his mouth to mine and devouring me.

My lips tingle as he nips at them, and I moan into his mouth when he shoves his tongue inside mine.

The taste of liquor and something uniquely Anders makes me whine with need.

My whole body aches for my mate, for his cock, for his touch and attention.

With a low, hungry groan, Anders thrusts against me.

Our cocks grind together, stiff and aching, slick with water.