Page 22 of Forced Mate Bride
“What now?” she asked.
“We’re going somewhere.”
Her brow knitted together. “Walking?”
He grinned. “Not exactly.”
One moment, he was in his human form. The next, his body transformed, and a great wolf stood in his place. He dug his claws into the ground, relishing the feel. It had been too long since he’d last shifted. It felt like stretching a muscle after a long break. He shook, reacquainting himself with his current form.His senses, already enhanced as a human, grew even stronger, the smells and sounds of the world flooding into him.
Nikki sucked in a breath. The first time she had seen him in his wolf form, she’d been injured and it had been dark. It had been nearly impossible to see all the details, to truly understand the size of a shifter’s wolf.
He padded over to her slowly, keeping his head low, trying to be unthreatening. Tentatively, she stretched out her hand. He let her run her fingers through his fur. Normally, he hated anyone touching his coat. But Nikki’s touch was light and gentle and delicate, and something about the way the tips of her nails ran along his flank that sent shivers rippling through him. It was all he could do not to lean into that touch.
They stood like that for some time. Nikki’s scent wrapped around him, clinging to his fur. They could have stayed like that for hours for all he cared.
He crouched, bending so she could clamber onto his back. When he rose to his full height, she gasped. Her fingers gripped tufts of fur between his shoulder blades, but not too tightly. When he was certain she was situated, he took off.
It had been too long since he had last shifted to run through the woods. He had missed the feel of the wind in his fur, the way it felt to stretch his legs and thunder down the road.
He sped along the road. He could feel Nikki grasping onto him with dear life, her thighs gripping his sides. She wobbled, then managed to get the hang of how to sit. She squealed, not in fright but in delight, and a moment later, she let out a wild whoop. Her butt lifted from his back, and he knew without looking that she was sitting up to get a better view. She let out another wild laugh, and he broke into an inner grin of his own.It felt as though they had been doing this for years, some ritual between them where they could communicate without speaking.
He sprinted through the woods, ascending one of the mountains at breakneck speed, carefully avoiding low-hanging branches and anything else that might strike her. But he realized at some point that he didn’t need to. Nikki’s weight shifted periodically with every move, and she dodged any obstacles without any help from him, as if she had been doing this since she was a kid. He could hear her excited gasps and breathy laughs. She leaned forward, bringing her torso almost parallel with his back, and he could smell her perfume.
He could have kept running like that for hours. There was something about it that felt like an adrenaline rush. He loved running through the woods. He loved that Nikki was with him, taking to the ride like a shifter who had been doing it her whole life. He loved the perfect weather and the trees and everything else about it. He doubted he had enjoyed a run this much before. Something about it felt right.
Eventually, though, it had to end. They came to a clearing with a rocky overhang at one end. The leaves there were still mostly on the trees, with some red and yellow now dotting the ground. The wind swished through the trees, bringing more leaves tumbling to the earth. He slowed to a stop, sides heaving from the exertion. He crouched down to let her dismount.
She slid off his back, her cheeks pink, eyes filled with exhilaration and delight. She gave a breathless laugh. Her hand lingered on his side, resting in his fur for another moment before sliding away.
Jasper shifted back to human form.
“You all right?” he asked, eyes sweeping over her, checking for any scratches she might have gotten on the ride, orsome sort of panic in her eyes. There was nothing wrong with her, and her eyes shone with exhilaration and wild delight.
“Better than all right. That was amazing,” she said.
Jasper grinned. “Glad you liked it.”
She didn’t answer at first. Instead, she took in their surroundings. She craned her neck to stare up at the autumnal canopy, quiet, taking in the birdsong and the whoosh of the wind.
“I don’t think I’ve been in this area before,” she admitted.
“What do you think?” he asked.
She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she stared out past the rocky overhang and gasped. Below them sprawled countless trees, still full of leaves painted in fall hues. They seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Off in one corner down below, seeming so small and insignificant from this height, was the pack, a cluster of buildings in the sea of foliage.
“It’s beautiful,” she muttered. She turned to look back at him. “But I don’t know what we’re doing here.”
“You’re smarter than that,” he teased.
She folded her arms, glaring up at him, and he laughed. He held up a finger, telling her to wait, then disappeared into the woods. A moment later, he reappeared, holding a basket.
“I thought we could have some lunch,” he said, gesturing to it.
“You made us a picnic?” she asked. She sounded almost in disbelief, as if he were the last person she had expected to do something like that.
“You don’t have to sound so surprised.” He placed the basket on the ground and extracted a blanket.
Her eyes sparkled, and she gave a half-smirk. “I’m allowed to be a little surprised.”
