Page 5 of A Breath of Fresh Air

So I started running. Before work, after work, on weekends. Money was tight — as usual back then — but all I needed was a pair of shoes to run in and I was off. Five kilometres turned into ten, and ten into fifteen, and soon I was entering into my first half marathon up in Paihia and loving it.

I still love it. I haven’t stopped running since I started, and though my times have slowed a little over the years, I still feel great at the end of each session. One of the things I love the most is that I can do it anywhere — not that I travel much. I visit Motuwai Island where Ellie lives often enough to have learned the best spots for running. Five kilometres of native bush trail leads down onto a long sandy beach that meets the end of the track and I jog that regularly when I’m on the island, turning around at the end of the beach and heading back the same way.

I’m halfway through that track on a dreary autumn morning when I get the prickling sense that something is watching me.

It’s probably nothing,I tell myself, but I pick up the pace anyway. There’s no one else out this morning, and I can’t blame them — it’s been spitting for the last half-hour, and I’m drenched through, my quick-dry t-shirt clinging to me.

Most of the track is gravel over dirt, but there’s a steep set of stairs that takes the path down past a small waterfall and a viewing platform, and I’m forced to slow down lest I slip on the wet wood as I descend. I’m so focused on my feet that it’s only when I reach the last step that I look up, coming face to face with a pair of yellow eyes set in a huge mass of brown fur.

I scream as my brain tries to catch up with what I’m seeing, falling backwards against the railing, bruising my hip in the process. My hand is pressed flat against my racing heart as the giant wolf in front of me shudders violently, and in an instant the shape has morphed entirely, changing into a man.

A very naked man.

“Farkin’ hell,” Brett swears, his Aussie accent more pronounced than I remember. “Jesus fuck,sorry! I didn’t mean to scare ya. Are you alright? Here, let me help you up. I’m so sorry Amaia, he wasn’t thinking straight.”

“Pants,” I say, my heart still racing even as I take his hand. From my fallen position on the stairs, his thick, flaccid cock and heavy balls are directly at my eye level, and Ishouldstop staring but I can’t quite pull my eyes away from the magnificent sight. “You got some?”

When I look up at him there’s a grin just beginning to cut through his remorseful expression, his sharp canines seeming overly bright in the dark of the forest. “Nah,” he says softly. “Left my pants at home. Don’t need ‘em when I’m a wolf.”

I let him pull me to my feet, and I brush the leafy debris off my butt. A tui starts to sing nearby, cutting through the stillness,the sounds of nature suddenly loud in the silence between us as we stare into each other’s eyes. It’s not awkward at all — it’s quite the opposite, actually — but heisnaked, and it’s late April.

“You’re not cold?”

He shakes his head slowly, one big hand drifting down to cover his junk. It’s very muchtoo little, too late,and it makes me laugh. “I already saw everything.”

“I know… I just… I know you humans are a bit more sensitive about this kinda thing. Hey, I’m really sorry I scared you.”

“You gave me a fright,” I nod. “But I’m not… I’m not scared of your wolf, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just wasn’t paying attention and didn’t expect to seethatwhen I looked up.” He opens his mouth, but I’m already asking “What did you mean byhewasn’t thinking straight? Your wolf?”

I’ve been around Ellie and Van enough now to know that’s the right way to talk about them — the wolves — as if they’re a different entity existing in the same body. To be honest, I don’t quite understand how it all works. I think Van is still Van when he’s a wolf, and Brett here must still beBrett, but…

“I was already shifted and I caught your scent on the wind, and he took off. He’s all instincts, my wolf, and I could have stopped obviously but,” Brett shrugs one huge shoulder, his well-defined pecs moving with the gesture in a way that is way too mesmerising, “I was excited to see you again.”

Butterflies. That’s what I’m feeling. Butterflies like a teenager with a crush, joy at finding him here in the forest of all places.He remembered my scent. He wanted to see me.

I’ve thought about him for the past seven weeks since Ellie’s wedding, lamenting over what could have been a great night. I’ve wondered often if he ever thought about me and that missed opportunity.

“How is your nephew?” I ask.

“Grounded.”

“Still?!”

Brett shakes his head, chuckling. “For something different, yeah. He’s an adult now, but he doesn’t act like one. I told him if he was going to keep making decisions like a kid, I’d treat him like one. Curfew is currently 8PM. To be honest, I don’t know what I’m doing with him. I’ve got no fucking clue. I…” he hesitates, licking his lower lip, one canine snagging on it for a moment. His lips had been soft, and his kiss had tasted like beer, and I’d loved every second of that brief make out session last month. “I have a kid — a daughter, she’s ten — but it’s not the same. She’s a goody two-shoes, you never hear a peep from her. Pup, on the other hand — sorry, that’s what we call him, Pup — he’s always been a handful. That’s how he ended up here with me. It’s because he’s an alpha, I reckon. He’s already chomping at the bit, but he’s way too young to challenge the current one yet.”

I nod, trying to process all the information he’s just dumped. “You’ve got a daughter?”

“Yeah. Yeah. She’s great. She lives with her mum. On the mainland. I see her every weekend.”

My heart twists with a strange mix of relief and jealousy on behalf of Ellie, who has never had a father. “I bet she loves spending time with you.”

There’s that smile again, though it’s more shy this time. “I like to think so.”

Another stretch of silence drags on, and I try but fail to not look at his body. He’s heavily muscled like most wolves, with tree trunk thighs and a slightly softer belly.

He’s fucking gorgeous.

“So you were already shifted?” I prompt.

---