Page 94 of Ravenous

“You toy with something far worse than ghouls. What do you think this sorceress will do to you? At best, her answer will necessitate that one or both of us changes radically. Are you ready for that?”

“I’ll do what I must,” he said.

A beat.

“Up to a point.”

Chapter 37Ditch

Up to a point?The hells? Her outraged tail lashed back and forth.

She’d thought she’d landed this wolf when she’d swallowed his seed under a full moon. “What exactly would you change about me then?”

He parted his lips, exhaled, then deflected. “You first. What would I need to change to have a future with you?”

“IfI wanted a future with someone, I’d demand…” She ticked items off. “A suitable breeding partner—meaning a warlock. Someone who’snotan enemy of my coven—so Lykae need not apply. Personally? I’d expect him to be less married to morals and to his people.”

“All things Icannachange.”

“Your turn.”

“Simple,” he said. “I’d make youmoremarried to morals. The rest we could work around.”

Ditch had been called a thousand names over her life, cursed to the surface of the sun and the depths of hells, and yet his quiet admission gave her pause. Morals only ever blocked her goals; she’d learned to step over them. “Couldwe work around the rest? You sound confident for a male trudging through theHelterto ask asorceresshow.”

“If she does no’ have the answer, I’ll keep searching. I’ve never known more clearly what I want. My life’s been a long run of dissatisfaction. Now I understand why.”

“Dissatisfaction—with all your nymphs? That’s a bold claim!”

He slowed, gazing down at her face. “I’ve had a glimpse of more with you. Of a soul’s longing. It will call to yours, and one day you’ll answer it.”

They shared a moment of…something—

Branches rustled too close behind them.

“Ghouls have our scent. Time to go.” He scooped her up and ran.

“Mind the tail!” She bit his shoulder.

He shifted his hold, arm locking beneath her knees. He pumped his other arm to increase his blazing speed.

When his muscles flexed against her and his skin heated, annoyance slid toward want; apparently, shehadn’tgotten enough of him last night.

His scent affected her like an intoxispell, muddling her thoughts. Her tail looped his forearm like a pleased serpent.

He veered, forded a shallow stream, then cut back again, laying false paths. In a rough tone, he admitted, “We’ve got dozens behind us, and all I can think about is last night.”

“It was adequate,” she said airily.

“Heh. You’re all but purring in my arms right now. No fear they’ll catch us?”

“Catch a Lykae in his prime who’s cloaking our trail?” The mist muddled her senses, but she believed he’d jagged enough to throw their pursuers. “I’m only surprised you didn’t leap halfway to that mountain.”

“No idea what I’d land in. Might drop into a wendigo nest. I canna take such risks with you.”

“You worry about wendigos while sprinting toward a sorceress’s lair. If you can’t recognize a greater peril, how did you live this long?”

“By avoiding the supernatural and sticking with the natural.”