“You’re not so bad yourself,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.“The way you led the young ones in training the other day… That was good leadership, Malcolm.”
They stood there, the sounds of the forest fading into the background as the air between them grew charged with unspoken possibilities.Malcolm found his gaze drawn to a stray pine needle that had caught in Larissa’s hair, a vibrant green against the rich brown.
Without thinking, he reached out to remove it.His fingers brushed against her hair, softer than he’d imagined.
Larissa went very still, her gaze locked on his.
Malcolm’s hand lingered, cupping the side of her face almost of its own volition.Time seemed to slow, stretching out like honey.Malcolm drank in every detail—the flecks of gold in Larissa’s eyes, the slight part of her lips, the warmth of her skin beneath his palm.
He leaned in slowly, giving her every opportunity to pull away.But Larissa didn’t move, her eyes flickering to his lips before meeting his gaze again.
Malcolm’s mind was a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts and emotions.This was Larissa—his rival, his competitor.The woman who challenged him at every turn, who pushed him to be better.And yet…
And yet he wanted nothing more than to close the distance between them, to find out if her lips were as soft as they looked.
They were so close now that he could feel her breath, warm against his skin.Malcolm’s eyes began to close, his head tilting slightly as he—
A tremendous crash echoed through the forest, shattering the moment.Malcolm and Larissa sprang apart, both instinctively dropping into defensive crouches.
Conall burst through the underbrush, twigs and leaves stuck in his unruly hair.He was grinning from ear to ear, clearly riding the high of the hunt.
“There you are!”he said, either oblivious to or deliberately ignoring the tension in the clearing.“Nick’s waiting to make the official announcement.But man, what a hunt!Did you see that move I pulled by the old oak?I thought for sure I had that fox, but then—”
Malcolm tuned out Conall’s excited recounting, his gaze meeting Larissa’s over the other wolf’s shoulder.
“We should head back,” Larissa said, her voice impressively steady.“The pack will be waiting.”
Malcolm nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
As they made their way through the forest, Conall’s enthusiastic chatter filled the air between them.Beside him, the occasional brush of Larissa’s arm against Malcolm’s sent burning jolts juddering through his body, though he tried to hide his response to her touch.
As they neared the clearing, the sounds of the gathered wolf shifters reached them—excited conversations, laughter, the general bustle of pack life.
They stopped to gather their clothing, and as they dressed, a pang of something like regret twisted through Malcolm.
Once they rejoined the others, this moment—whatever it was—would be over.
Just before they broke through the tree line, Larissa’s hand on his arm stopped him.Conall, caught up in his own retelling, continued walking without noticing.
“What happened back there…,” Larissa said softly, her gaze searching his face.He waited, hardly daring to breathe.
Then she stopped, shaking her head as if in silent answer to a question he hadn’t dared ask her yet.
“No,” she murmured.“Never mind.Nothing actually happened back there.”
More than anything, Malcolm wanted to dispute her words.
But she was gone before he could think of anything to say.
CHAPTER 8
THE DAY OF THEpack knowledge challenge, the vista from atop Sunburst Mesa was breathtaking as usual, but Larissa was too busy assessing the terrain as if planning another hunt to notice it for more than an instant.
Old habits died hard, it seemed, even when facing a purely intellectual challenge.
As she turned toward the gathering crowd, Larissa’s gaze was drawn inevitably to Malcolm.He stood tall and confident, his dark hair ruffled by the wind, deep in conversation with Anders.Something in Larissa’s chest tightened at the sight of him, a reaction she immediately tried to suppress.
This is your chance to prove yourself.Don’t get distracted.
