Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
LIZZY
I pull up at the trailhead an hour before sunset, just as the forest is swathed in gold.
My new client isn’t here yet, so I grab my camera and start up the trail to find the hill she described. I figure I’ll take some shots with sweeping views and plenty more in different areas so she can choose which ones she likes most.
I get a nervous flutter in my belly and take a few calming breaths. I do my best work when I’m relaxed and having fun, so I try to remind myself that this is fun.
And yet, out here in the forest, I can’t stop my mind from wandering to Chase.
I wish I could go back in time to when he first shifted for me and temper my reaction. I wish I had trusted him rather than letting my old fears get in the way.
All he’s done is show that he wants to take care of me and keep me safe. But because of my experience with Bryce, I never gave him a chance.
The sound of footsteps on gravel rips me from my thoughts, and I turn to greet my new client. Only it isn’t Brenda, the recently engaged dance instructor, walking toward me up the trail.
It’s Bryce.
My stomach clenches with terror, and my heart starts to beat out a frantic rhythm.
What the hell is he doing here?
He can’t be tracking my phone. After his little stunt with the earbuds, I changed all my passwords and made sure that my phone wasn’t sharing my location, just in case he found some other way to stalk me.
“Lizzy,” he says once he’s within earshot.
“What are you doing here, Bryce?” I ask, surreptitiously glancing around in the hope that Brenda and her fiancé might choose this moment to make an appearance. But the trail looks utterly deserted.
I wish I’d brought some pepper spray with me. Not that it would do much good against a shifter.
“We needed to talk. And I couldn’t do that at your place. Not with your neighbor sniffing around.”
“We have nothing to talk about,” I grit out, my voice wavering despite my best efforts. “It’s over, Bryce.”
“It can’t be over, baby. I love you.”
“You hurt me, Bryce. That’s not love.”
“I told you. It was an accident. I can’t help what I do when I’m in wolf form. My natural prey drive just takes over.”
“Then you have no business being anywhere near me.”
“You don’t understand,” he says, lowering his voice as he takes a step toward me. “We wolves mark our territory, Lizzy. You’re mine now. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“I don’t belong to you,” I snarl, suddenly furious. For years Bryce tried to control me and manipulate me. And when his manipulation tactics stopped working, he used intimidation.
Well, not anymore. I’m done being afraid of him.
“The hell you don’t!” Bryce’s nostrils flare.
I’ve made him angry. His skin is flushed, and his eyes are lighter. More wolfish in appearance.
I step back, and his face takes on that predatory look that has adrenaline pulsing through my veins.
I can’t outrun him — not in his human form, and certainly not if he shifts. It’s just the two of us out here, and he’s standing between me and the way back to my car.
That’s when it hits me.
Brenda isn’t coming. She never was.
“You’re the one who emailed me,” I say quietly, my voice shaking with fury and shame that it took me this long to realize it. “That was you pretending to be a new client.”
“It was the only way to get you away from . . . from him.” Bryce wrinkles his nose. “I saw the way he looked at you. I could smell how much he wanted you.”
I blink. Bryce could smell that? It’s probably not what I should be focusing on, but it makes my heart lift with hope nonetheless.
“What was your plan, Bryce?” I ask, heartened by the thought that Chase wanted me as much as I wanted him. “If you hurt me, he will make you pay.”
It might be an exaggeration, but at this point I’m just stalling to buy myself time to come up with a plan that doesn’t involve being ripped to shreds.
Bryce sneers. “He’s not going to find you.”
That hurts more than I’d like to admit, but Bryce can’t possibly know about the way Chase and I left things.
“H-he knows where I am,” I stammer, the lie rolling off my tongue. “If I’m not back by dark, he’ll come looking for me.”
“That’s all right. We’ll be long gone by then.”
A numbing panic surges through me, making it impossible to move or even think.
Gone? Gone where?
It occurs to me that Bryce didn’t just come here to talk. His plans are much, much worse.
“Come with me, and we can talk,” he coaxes.
“No.”
Fury flashes in those eyes, but there’s no way I’m going anywhere with him. My dad always told me “no second crime scenes,” which means it’s always better to fight to the death than risk being taken somewhere else and killed later.
“Come with me, Lizzy. I don’t want to hurt you again.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
And then I see it. It’s so obvious after watching Chase transform. The slight tremor. The flash of pain. The crack of bone and the hunch of Bryce’s shoulders as he begins to shift.
My breaths are coming sharp and fast. I know I need to move, but horror keeps me rooted to the spot.
Maybe running would only make things worse. Wolves are predators, as Bryce pointed out, and I am the prey.
When he’s finished shifting, a huge black wolf stands before me. Those bright eyes are fixed on me, and his teeth are bared in a snarl.
It’s a bizarre time to have the thought, but I realize Chase never looked at me like that. Even when he was in his wolf form, Chase was calm. Grounded. Safe.
Bryce is none of those things.
Eyeing the trail behind him, I prepare to run. I’ll do whatever it takes to get back to my vehicle. And if I don’t make it —
I can’t think about that now.
I bolt for the trailhead, claws scraping gravel as Bryce gives chase. Black fur blurs in my periphery as I sprint back toward the trailhead, and I hear a feral growl as Bryce’s hot breath warms the back of my legs.
But then there’s another growl, followed by a nasty thud. Somewhere behind me, a wolf shrieks in pain, and I hear a low snarl.
I’m so distracted that I trip on a protruding rock, and my momentum sends me sprawling into the dirt. Pain sears my palms and knees as I skid over the packed gravel, and I suck in a hiss through my teeth.
Turning to look over my shoulder, I see two giant wolves locked in battle. They’re all fur and snapping jaws. The black one is Bryce, and the tawny wolf —
My heart skips a beat.
Chase.
I would recognize those steady blue eyes anywhere — even when they’re narrowed in fury.
Both wolves roll to their feet, hackles raised and teeth bared as they circle one another.
Bryce lunges, those long, sharp fangs sinking through Chase’s fur and eliciting a loud cry. The two wolves roll, fangs snapping. Chase comes out on top, thick ropes of saliva dripping from his mouth as he glares down at his opponent.
But then Bryce slithers out from under him, and Chase leaps onto his back. The black wolf lets out a yelp of pain, turning to snap at Chase’s muzzle.
The distraction is all Bryce needs to wriggle free, and my stomach clenches as a thin trickle of blood rolls down Chase’s maw.
My wolf quickly shakes it off, his huge paws digging into the earth as he sprints after Bryce. And when Chase snatches Bryce by the throat and hurls him against a tree, I know who the stronger wolf is.
Chase doesn’t give the black wolf a chance to recover. He attacks with a viciousness that should scare me, but seeing Chase defend me in his wolf form makes my heart pound for a different reason.
A second later, he has Bryce pinned, and my ex submits.
For several seconds, Chase just glowers down at the black wolf, and I wonder frantically if he’s going to let him live. But then Chase gives a low snarl and lets Bryce up.
The black wolf tears off into the trees with his tail tucked between his legs, and a huge breath of relief whooshes out of me.
The tawny wolf turns to look at me, and I see Chase behind those icy blue wolf eyes.
As I watch, Chase dips his head and crouches in what I think is a submissive posture.
He certainly didn’t seem submissive when he was snarling down at Bryce, but I realize he’s making himself smaller to appear less threatening to me.
Slowly, carefully, I take a step toward him. And maybe I’m stupid for doing it, but I reach out my hand.
Chase holds utterly still as I approach. I don’t think either of us is breathing. And then I’m skimming my fingers through the thick fur along his neck, feeling the strength of the muscles beneath.
His coat is so soft, and Chase closes his eyes with a contented chuff.
I smile.
He really is nothing like my ex.
Then I feel a quiver of muscle and quickly withdraw my hand. The wolf shivers, his whole body stiffening, and then he begins to shift.
I gape at Chase as his snout shortens and his pointed ears retract. He rises onto his hind legs, which quickly become human limbs, and all that tawny fur recedes into smooth, tanned skin.
Chase towers over me, and suddenly I can’t breathe. Scratches from Bryce’s claws cut across one cheek, but the wounds are already stitching closed. His eyes are still that icy blue, which only makes his stare more intense.
Chase is so breathtakingly beautiful, and I find I’m not afraid of him at all.
“I’m sorry,” I choke, taking another half step toward him before it hits me that he’s completely naked.
Maybe he doesn’t want to be touched, especially after that fight. Blood is still trickling from wounds along his biceps and ribs, though he doesn’t seem to notice.
A small crease appears between Chase’s brows. “What could you possibly have to be sorry for?”
“I shouldn’t have left,” I blurt, shaking my head at my own cowardice. “You were just trying to be honest with me, and I —” I swallow. “You just took me by surprise.”
A soft smile twitches at the corner of his mouth. “You were surprised to find out that I can transform into a giant wolf? You don’t say.”
I gape at him. How can he make a joke at a time like this? After I rejected him and he still came to fight off another wolf. To protect me.
“I should have trusted you,” I whisper.
“Trust is earned, Lizzy. I don’t expect it overnight.”
“I do,” I murmur. “Trust you, I mean.”
His smile broadens at my words, but it fades quickly as he looks me over. “Are you all right?”
I nod, marveling that he’s asking me that question when he’s the one who just fought off another wolf.
“Good,” he murmurs, stepping closer until there’s scarcely an inch of space between his bare chest and my breasts. “Because I never would’ve been able to live with myself if he’d hurt you.”
Strong, calloused hands come up to cup the sides of my face, and all the breath rushes out of me.
Chase is completely naked, and he’s so close I can feel the heat coming off his skin.
Emboldened, I let my gaze drop to the fine sheen of sweat gleaming on his chest, down to the defined ridges of his abs and the V-shaped indents pointing straight to his thick, hard cock.
I suck in a breath as he steps into me, which causes the tip of him to brush the inside of my thigh.
A molten need thrashes in my veins, my whole body thrumming in response to his. I want him more than I’ve ever wanted anyone, which seems like the wrong reaction to have after I just witnessed such a grisly fight. But a warm ache is pulsing between my legs, and my hands itch to touch him.
As if he’s already attuned to my needs, Chase leans in to plant a soft kiss on my lips, and I wrap my arms around his neck.
Chase’s warmth envelops me as he threads his hands through my hair. I sigh and lean into him, pressing against his hard, naked chest.
A low growl rumbles through him, and I wonder just how much his animal side is still affecting him. He kisses me more roughly than before, devouring me with tongue and teeth.
I don’t mind. I can’t get enough of his taste. His masculine cedar scent.
His tongue is hot and sweet as it tangles with mine, and he’s got a fine layer of stubble that scrapes against me in a way that has me imagining the feeling on other, more sensitive parts of my body.
Chase’s hands come down to grip my thighs, hauling my legs around his waist without breaking our kiss. The movement pins his hard length between us, pressing it to the soft heat of my aching core.
Then he starts to move, walking down the trail back toward where I parked my Blazer.
“W-where are you going?” I stammer against his lips, unwilling to disentangle myself from him for even a second.
A rough chuckle rumbles through him, the vibration causing my nipples to tighten into hard points.
“I have wanted you since the very first moment I laid eyes on you, Lizzy,” he growls. “I have dreamed of sinking my cock into your tight little pussy every night since.”
Heat floods me at his words, and I let out a soft whimper.
“I can’t do all the things I want to do to you out here.”
“No?” My voice comes out embarrassingly breathy, but I don’t care.
I want this man. Right here. Right now.
“No.” His voice is low and serious now, as if it’s taking all his willpower to carry me back to the trailhead instead of fucking me against a tree. The thought sends a fresh rush of liquid need surging through me, and I squeeze my legs around him tighter.
He lets out a strangled moan and quickens his pace, his long strides eating up the distance as darkness gathers.
When we reach the trailhead, he presses a tender kiss to my temple and murmurs, “Let’s go home.”