“See if you can catch me,” Nate said, sprinting into the woods.
A laugh burst from my lips before I could stop it. The trees and branches flew past me as I chased him. He led me deeper into the woods, farther from prying eyes. Eventually, he called back to me.
“If you wanted to check out my ass, all you had to do was ask. You didn’t need to run so slow. I’d have gladly shown it to you.”
“You think I want to see that boney thing?” I called out. “You’ve got a high opinion of yourself.”
He ducked behind a tree, and I lost sight of him. I slowed to a stop, glancing around, searching for him. A moment later, I felt a tap on my shoulder and spun to find him behind me.
“Too slow.” He bolted again, back the way we’d come.
“Get back here, jackass,” I hissed as I sprinted toward him.
This time, I didn’t hold back, instead trying to see how fast I couldreallygo. It was pretty freaking fast. I could have probably given an Olympic sprinter a run for their money.
I managed to catch him as he tried to round a corner back to the jogging path. I cut through a thick stand of trees, leaping over a huge tangle of shrubs, and slapped a hand on his shoulder.
“Gotcha,” I said with a grin.
“Damn,” Nate grunted as I slammed into him.
We fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs, laughing like mad. Sweat coated our bodies.
“That was awesome,” I panted.
“You sort of get used to it,” Nate said and glanced at me, that mischievous look in his eye again. “But it’s always awesome. Likeotherthings.”
As we stared into each other’s eyes, the dirty thoughts I’d had about Nate flooded into my mind. I pushed them aside. The sexual tension was so thick, I was sure I would suffocate on it.
“Anyway,” I said, shifting the conversation away from the flirty, sexy path it was trying to go down. “How much longer will it be before I can, you know, change?”
“Shift. It’s called shifting. It’ll be soon,” Nate said. “I can smell it on you. The smell wasn’t there yesterday, but this morning, it’s potent. Unmistakable.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Uh, what do I smell like? Is it like B.O?”
“Not really,” Nate said. “It’s more a musk, I guess. You smell like a shifter. Neither pleasant nor unpleasant. Hard to explain. Your senses will increase once you actually shift. That will be in the next few days, if I had to guess.” He rose up, resting on his elbow. “Your symptoms will get worse until it finally happens.”
“I don’t have any symptoms right now. I feel great,” I said, then glanced away, embarrassed. “I do whenever I’m around you,” I added more quietly.
“Really?” He looked pleased with himself. “Well, usually, whatever your wolf likes, you’ll like. And vice versa—to a certain extent. You and the wolf within you are symbiotic. If it doesn’t like something, it’ll let you know.Realfast. And one thing wolves like is being around others of their kind. They are pack animals. Creatures that thrive in a group. Shifters work the same way.”
“How big are the packs?” I asked.
“Depends,” Nate considered. “Some are kinda small, maybe five or six families. That’s fairly rare, though. The Toronto-Ottawa pack is probably the biggest in Canada. They’ve got several hundred members.”
“Is that your pack?” It was all so fascinating. Secret societies of magical shapeshifters? I’d fallen into a fantasy movie.
Nate’s face changed. The flirty smile vanished, and he glanced away.
“I’m an anomaly.”
“In what way?”
He sat all the way up and plucked a leaf from the ground, slowly peeling pieces away from the center vein.
“I’m a lone wolf. I don’t have a pack,” he said, and I saw a hint of defiance in his eyes as he spoke.
“I thought you said shifters like being around others?”
