Her eyes glittered with excitement, fear, and all the wonder one would expect to see in a new wolf.
Austin stood up and stripped away his shirt. If you were careful shifting, it wouldn’t become tangled around your head, but he didn’t feel like worrying about things like clothes right now. He smirked when Lexi’s wolf turned away and howled a haunting note that stilled every living creature within earshot.
The alpha power pumped through his veins, and a heat ignited his senses and made him hunger for life. Lexi was going to see his wolf for the first time, and now that he’d gained the upper hand, he was confident the two of them would mix well.
In the short time they’d spent together, it had been a struggle to suppress a primal urge to claim her in the Shifter way. It was a territorial feeling an alpha possessed in the presence of a worthy female. Feeling her body curled up beside his in Jericho’s bed had awakened those instincts because he was protecting one of his own as a Packmaster should. But it also ignited other unexpected feelings, sending his blood in new directions.
Coupling with Lexi wouldn’t be right, and maybe some of those old feelings were getting all mixed up. It would take something pivotal to force him to make that kind of decision. Only then would he know if she was someone he wanted to pursue as his mate. They’d both changed over the years, and he felt an obligation to watch over Lexi and her family. Messing it up with alpha lust wasn’t the plan.
One of the most important lessons a Packmaster learned was control. He’d seen far too many packs led by the wrong wolf, one who used the old ways of mating by taking the female while they were both in wolf form in front of the pack to not only make her submissive, but to demonstrate to the men who she belonged to. He knew at some point women would come into his pack through his brothers, but he’d never considered how he’d feel about it if one joined their pack unmated.
Her wolf ensnared him. Austin shifted and they ran through the night.
Together.
Chapter 16
I released a long, embarrassing moan as I stretched out my aching legs. I blinked my eyes open and felt my body tucked inside a warm sleeping bag. The sun hadn’t risen yet and darkness swelled inside the tent. Albeit summer, sleeping outside in the deep woods was not always a warm experience. I think I shivered more with my voice than my body.
A zipper cut through the silence and someone stepped inside the tent, a chilly breeze floating in behind him. “I hear someone’s awake. You feeling okay?” Austin asked in a tired voice.
“I don’t remember what happened,” I grumbled. “And I’m naked again.”
“It’s normal.”
“Did you sleep outside?” I asked.
“I didn’t sleep.”
“Is that normal?”
He chuckled and I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “I feel good though. Rested. My feet kind of hurt.”
“You ran hard. Why don’t you get dressed and we’ll head out.”
I fell on my back and disappeared inside the sleeping bag, shivering. “It’s too cold. Wait until the sun comes up.”
Austin crawled down to my feet and then I felt his hands on either side of me. I wrapped my arms around my naked body and froze when the zipper was slowly pulled down.
“What are you doing?”
“I can’t see a thing, Lexi. I want you to trust me.”
I believed him whenever he said “trust me.” I’d never had a reason not to trust Austin. So I lay there, fully exposed, and Austin Cole lifted my legs and placed my cold feet against his warm stomach.
He hissed and then quickly covered my toes with his large hands.
“Oh my God, that’s heaven,” I moaned with a sigh of relief.
“I run on hot,” he said in a thick voice.
My nipples immediately hardened, and while I knew it was from the draft, I began to have serious doubts about how true that was. I could only imagine what we looked like—me lying nude in front of him with my feet on his…
“Austin? Are you naked?”
His stomach rocked and his whole body began to shake. A low laugh built up until he opened his mouth and puffed out my fire with his laughter. I smiled and wiggled my toes against his firm abs.
“I put on pants an hour ago,” he said. “Today we’re going to see Ivan of the Kizer pack.”
“What’s your pack’s name? Cole Pack?” I snorted. “Sounds like a compress.”
He squeezed my ankles and I moved my feet around to a warmer spot, mostly so I could hear him hiss again from the chill of my icy toes.
“It would usually go that way, but if the name is already in use, we have to choose another. Cole is an active pack in Houston, so I could either come up with a new name, or have one assigned. The Council was going to give us Skinner,” he grumbled. “I didn’t like that.”
“Is it a big deal or something?”