“Yes. Remember we can’t move from our spots or the sexy four might catch us as they do their rounds,” Jordan reminded them.
A burst of wind shook the trees and kissed her skin. Electricity danced in the air, turning it thick with anticipation. Something cracked behind her. She swirled so fast her earpiece fell. Slowly taking in every dark crevice between the tree limbs, she looked for the noisemaker. Nothing. But she knew there was something out there. She could feel eyes watching her. No matter how hard she searched, nothing came out from the darkness. Dammit. She should have brought her mace, or her stun gun, or hell, even her bat. Something. But in her excitement she’d left all of her precautionary ass-kicking-survival-kit in her SUV.
She crouched down, quietly cursing the darkness, looking for her ear piece. A quick move from her left grabbed her attention. One very large, very angry looking brown wolf stood there, baring his teeth at her. She shot up to her feet, her hands immediately going into fists. She knew all the Wolfe’s in their wolf shape. With a white wolf for a mother and a black one for a father, all the men had some combination of black and white on them. She knew Aric’s by heart from secretly watching him all those times in her youth while he tore from his shorts to run with his brothers and friends. This was not one of the wolves she knew.
“Now you stay right over there and nobody gets hurt,” she whispered. Her mind ran a million miles per hour. She tried to figure out how to defend herself if it came down to a fight with the big wolf. Something poked her from behind. She grasped around, until she had her hands wrapped tight on the branch behind her, tugging until she broke a limb off.
A low growl was the animal’s only response. Heartbeats pounded hard in her chest, spreading the fear she was trying to tamp. He took a menacing step toward her. She didn’t know what the animal’s plan was, but her gut said it wasn’t a good one.
“Listen to me carefully, fur ball. You’re not going to turn me into puppy chow. Now go back to the party down there,” she cocked her head to the side, “and forget I’m up here. Got it?”
The wolf’s features turned darker, as if angered by her words. Trust her to piss off an already angry wolf. Nice.
A deeper growl made her jerk her head to the right. Another wolf stood there. His gaze locked on the brown. She knew this wolf. The thick black coat with the white paws and muzzle belonged to only one man. Aric.
The standoff was making her stomach queasy, and her stupid outfit was itching like crazy. Aric’s wolf took three steps and stood in front of her. The brown growled and launched toward them.
Oh hell.
Aric shoved the wolf off. The brown whimpered from a bite, but the stupid thing didn’t stop. It went for her again. Aric snarled, digging his paws into the brown fur and biting down on the brown’s neck. She winced.
With the branch in her grasp, she watched the brown lower its head in submission. Apparently that was enough for Aric. He let go of the wolf and turned to her. The brown took Aric’s distraction to jump in her direction, but she’d been watching the wolf closely. She had a feeling he wouldn’t give up so easily. Her vision sharpened, and she focused on the animal leaping toward her. She swung the branch with all her might and heard the sound of bone cracking as it made impact with the wolf’s face. He landed on his side with a thud. Aric stood and shoved at the other wolf, growling at it and snarling a warning. The other animal left, limping and whimpering. Every few steps he’d turn and glare at her.
The burst of adrenaline rushing through her made her continue to grip the branch. She stared at the location the other wolf had left through, waiting to see if he would turn around and attack. Something brushed her leg, taking her concentration from the other animal and bringing it back to the present. Shit. Aric had found her. She glanced down at the black and white wolf, which reminded her so much of a Dalmatian.
“Er… Aric?” She whispered. Her throat went dry. This was the man she’d wanted since forever and his muzzle was level with her privates.
Aric cocked his head, sniffing her hand. She dropped the branch, opened her fist, and allowed him to sniff her palm. He licked her. He was so cute in his wolf form. Maybe if she saw him as a pet instead of the sexy man she knew he was, she’d be able to get through this without letting him know how badly she wanted the human version of him. That could have happened, really, it could have, if he hadn’t shoved his muzzle into her crotch. Her breath swooshed out of her as she stood there in shock.
He. Was. Sniffing. Her. Pussy.