Page 12 of Posing for the Artist Wolf

His paw prints, however, did not.

The path led away from the barn and Kai’s loft. They seemed to head toward a faint wisp of smoke curling from a chimney in the distance.

How many more of him were there?

Without a backward glance, I turned and sprinted for the tree line.

The forest swallowed me whole, branches whipping past my face as I ran. My boots crunched loudly in the freshly fallen snow, but I couldn’t outrun my thoughts.

What the hell had happened last night? Werewolves weren’t real. They couldn’t be. And yet...

I’d seen it with my own eyes. Felt Kai’s body contort. The memory of his kiss burned on my lips, warring with the fear in my gut.

A twig snapped behind me. I whirled, my heart in my throat. Nothing but shadows and trees. Still, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I was being watched. Hunted.

I slowed to a quick walk and got my bearings. The curl of smoke still rose behind me, but I angled for the handful slightly to the left of where I’d been running. No sense in getting lost in the elements all over again. Bigfoot would probably be the rescuer.

I let out a shuddering laugh. I needed to get home. I needed a solid door and several dozen locks between me and my werewolf neighbor before I lost my damn mind completely.

Werewolf. Holy fuck.

I pressed on, trying to stay calm. But it was impossible to ignore the feeling of being stalked, like prey being toyed with by a predator. A branch snapped behind me. The underbrush rustled with movement.

Closer. Louder.

My pulse roared in my ears. Just the snow. Branches creaking. Squirrels seeking their frozen stashes. Nothing to fear.

I skidded to a halt as a familiar figure stepped out from behind a massive tree. Kai. Human Kai. Dressed in too few layers for the weather, but human. His hair was disheveled, his jaw rough with stubble.

My sweater dangled from his hand, and he lifted it to his nose, inhaling deeply. Then his eyes—the same vibrant green as the wolf’s—snapped to mine.

“You left.”

His voice was low, a hint of a growl beneath the words. I swallowed hard, struggling to keep my voice steady. “Yeah, well, not every day the hot guy who rescues you from a blizzard turns into his own fur coat.”

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You think I’m hot?”

“That’s not the point!” I snapped, frustration and confusion bubbling over. I turned on my heel, determined to put as much distance between us as possible.

Kai’s footsteps crunched in the snow behind me. “Claire, wait. Please. Let me explain.”

“Explain what?” I spat over my shoulder. “That you’re some kind of... of...”

“Shifter,” he supplied. “We prefer the term shifter.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, well, excuse me. I’ll be sure to use the proper terminology next time a guy sprouts fur and fangs in the middle of foreplay.”

The low growl was my only warning, and in hindsight, giving my back to a creature of fur and fangs was not the smartest choice.

Kai closed the distance between us, his hands gripping my arms as he backed me against a nearby tree. The rough bark pressed into my back, but I barely noticed, too caught up in the intensity of his gaze.

“Next time?” he growled, his face inches from mine. “The only ‘next time’ you’ll have is with me.”

Heat flooded through me at the possessive tone of his voice. My breath hitched as his eyes bored into mine. Something wild and feral stirred in the depths of his gaze, sending a shiver of fear and excitement down my spine.

Kai’s nostrils flared, and that maddening smirk played at his lips. He leaned in closer, skimming his nose up the column of my throat. A soft gasp that escaped me, my hands instinctively gripping his shoulders.

“I was reckless,” he murmured against my skin, his breath hot against my ear. “I shouldn’t have revealed my wolf to you like that. I’m sorry for any fear I caused.”

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