The Wolf's Mate Book 1: Jason & Cadence (31 page)

He snorted at his own pipe dream and decided
to go for a run. If there was a woman like that out there for him,
she certainly wasn’t anywhere he’d looked. He stripped at the
sliding back door and tried not to let too much snow in when he
opened it, crossed onto the deck, and shut it, shifting as fast as
possible.

He shook the snow off his dark gray coat and
was glad he wasn’t prone to getting chilled in his wolf form. It
was easy enough to let his mind go to his beast, like turning the
faucet from cold to hot. He took in the scent of the fresh snow,
the cold air and the smell of the woods outside his back door, and
leapt over the snow draped stairs from the deck and landed with a
fluff of snow before darting off into the woods.

He just ran. Darting between trees, leaping
easily over fallen logs and low brush. The woods at night in the
snow. Was there anything better to a wolf?

He lazily chased a small herd of deer, just
for fun. He had no intention of taking one down, although he could
easily, but in the leanest winter month they were on the thin side
and their meat would not be as succulently tender as it would be in
another two or three months, as they fattened themselves up in the
spring. He’d rather wait, thanks.

On and on he ran, changing directions for no
reason, not really running anywhere in particular, and then two
distinct scents caught his nose and he skidded to a stop to scent
them better. One was canine, not wolf, and one was human. It was
far too cold for a human to be out in this weather. Worry and
curiosity hit him at the same time and he took off for the scents,
running at top speed.

He crested a small clearing and found what
looked like a snow covered body laying near the bank of a frozen
creek. He was a few miles from his home. He nuzzled the form and
found it to be a woman, alive, and a dog, dead.

She didn’t rouse when he nudged her harder,
so he shifted to his human form, prayed she didn’t wake up freaked
out that he was nude, and jerked her stiff body into his arms and
took off for home. He’d never run so fast in his human form in his
life, and his heart pounded in his ears as he closed the distance
to his home as quickly as possible. There was something about her
that he couldn’t put his finger on, but he desperately wanted her
to live.

* * * * *

…
..Coming Soon.