Vivian Arend - Wolf Games

“I love you.” He kissed her eyelids and the tip of her nose, and she laughed out loud.

“You talk too much.”

He laughed, stroking her back, enjoying the way she nestled against him, warm and satisfied.

“Erik? I love you too.”

How could feeling so wonderful make his heart ache?

His anger at what she’d experienced continued to simmer. It would be a long time before he’d be able to forget how broken she’d been by the attack. Her power as a wolf slipped up a notch and she twisted in his arms. She stared at him, determination written all over her face.

He sent her acceptance for who she was, what she was, not only to him but the pack as well. “You don’t have to do this yet.”

She raised a brow. “Scared she’s going to outrun you?”

He felt it. As she reached down deep and called up her wolf, joy overflowed her heart. Aching loneliness from being forced down for so many years washed away. Maggie backed from him, her bright eyes watching closely.

“I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad we’re together for this.” As she reached her hands to the sky, a beam of midnight sun broke through the trees to set her skin glowing. She shifted, shimmered, and Erik knelt forward to rejoice as she paced over to him in wolf, her silvery coat gleaming with health. She leaned forward, her tail wagging with delight and he laughed out loud.

“Shall we run, my mate?” Maggie bumped him with her head, wrapping herself around his torso.

He shifted, his wolf eager to meet his counterpart. They stood nose to nose for moment, sharing their hearts in wolf form. Erik took off at a run, letting Maggie follow him until they reached the far side of the hill. He stepped aside and she took the lead, her joy in her wolf trailing behind her like a bright rainbow.

He threw back his head and howled, letting the whole world know. He had his mate, they were together. Life couldn’t get much better than this.

“I can’t believe it. You hadn’t shifted for seven years? Damn. Someone needs their butts whooped.” Jared glared into the distance and TJ growled in agreement.

Maggie held up a hand. “Guys. Put your testosterone back in your pants. I didn’t tell you about my issue to get you riled up.” She leaned back on Erik’s sturdy frame as she faced TJ and Jared. Both the young men’s wolves hovered just under the surface, furious for her sake. She tested her fear at the proximity of more wolves, but there was nothing there. Just calm reassurance emanating from Erik like a lifeline. Craning her head back, she blew him a kiss. “Thank you for letting me do this my way.”

“Sure, but you’d better finish before they shift without meaning to. Jared especially is really pissed off. You’ve got an admirer I need to worry about?”

She nudged him in the gut. “I thought you boys needed to know. Last night I shifted, and it was glorious. There will be no troubles in the challenge with me running, but I still don’t know how I’ll feel when faced with a bunch of strange wolves. I don’t want you to get upset if I freak out. With the mate connection between me and Erik, I think I have the strength, but you’re my pack now too, and I’m trusting you to help me.”

TJ grinned at Jared. “I told you so.”

“Yeah, yeah. Mr. Sniffy and his Magic Nose have spoken. Hey, congrats on the mate thing.” Jared winked at her before breaking into a huge yawn.

She laughed. “I take it you had a good time last night with Miss Norway?”

Jared glared at TJ who shuffled off a few feet. “Well one of us had a good time.”

Laughter rumbled against her back. “TJ? You stole Jared’s woman? Again?”

Maggie choked. “TJ?”

He managed to look guilty. He shrugged. “Can I help it if the girls all love the underdog?”

A loud bell rang in the distance.

Erik squeezed her for a second before letting go. “There’s the call. Leave everything in the room. They said they’d shuttle us back here when the event is done.”

They were all gathered at the starting line. Maggie kept Erik between her and the rest of the crowd without even thinking about it. After so many years of avoidance, she wasn’t going to be able to change habits overnight. She took a deliberate step forward and caught Erik grinning down at her.

“Well done, love.”

She lifted her chin a little higher and turned to listen to the Games Marshal.

“We’re starting the event here instead of in town for the sake of the humans. We’d like to thank all of you for the restraint you showed last night while in Dawson. There were only a few comments this morning at the local coffee shops about unusual wolf sightings, so you seem to have managed to keep yourselves under control while in range of cell phones and other recording devices.”

Jared nudged TJ and the two of them snickered.

“What do you think that’s about?” Maggie asked.

“I really don’t think I want to know.”

“Today’s challenge is a foot race. Cross country toward the Dempster Highway. We’ve got a loop through the Tombstone Mountains, finishing at the Tombstone campground. All the campers are ours, and we’ve closed the area to hunting for safety’s sake. It’s an all-out sprint for your wolves. No bonus points available. At the end of this event, we’ll calculate the scores and announce the current standings. Final event will be held in two days’ time.”

All around them teams were stripping and shifting. Maggie watched in morbid fascination, wondering when the sense of utter horror would creep up her spine and throttle her.

It never came. They were only wolves.

She walked boldly toward the nearest team, shaking off Erik’s hand. “I need to do this.”

Her opponents watched her warily as she stepped into their midst and stood there.

Nothing. They were only…wolves.

She threw back her head and laughed, joy springing up again.

“You want to come and join us, love? I think you’re freaking out our opponents and that’s not very sportsmanlike.”

Oh shit. She bowed politely to the captain of the team, backing away with deference before leaping into Erik’s arms. “I can do this. I really and truly can do this.”

He patted her cheek. “I knew you could. Now get naked, little wolf, and let’s go for a run.”

Stripping off her clothes was freeing. Seeing the admiration in her mate’s eyes brought even more pleasure. But the sensation of shifting itself was almost orgasmic. Last night she’d been too worried she wouldn’t be able to shift, she’d missed the awesome physical rush. Today she experienced it fully, moaning with delight.

“Are you going to do that every time you shift? Because, holy shit, that was hot…” Erik nudged her flank and her wolf took control, teasing and rubbing against her mate. “Whoa, sweetheart. We’re in the middle of a contest. Remember? As much as I enjoy sex with you, now is not the time. Rein her in.”

Maggie dropped her haunches to sit on the grass. TJ and Jared sniffed her before rolling and offering their throats in submission. If there had been time, she would have howled with delight.

The gun went off and they were away, racing shoulder by shoulder through the Yukon scrub. Brush that was thigh high on a human was level with her head, and she trusted Erik and the others as taller wolves to choose the most direct path through the maze of tough tangle.

Suddenly they broke out into the clear, the sky overhead bright blue, not a cloud to be seen. They ran. Side by side, paws and legs flying, heads and torsos almost touching they were so close together.

There was something wonderful in the freedom of running with a pack again. While last night with Erik had been amazing, today was an answer to another part of the puzzle she’d been missing forever. Belonging. Connecting. A part of a greater whole. Maggie’s heart pounded in time with their paws on the ground, eating up the miles. Ahead she scented the trail they followed. The more time passed, the clearer it became, almost as if the years of being trapped fell away and musty cobwebs brushed from the corners of her wolf’s mind.