Page 13 of Holiday Surprise

“One, two, three.”

We both turned our heads toward the moon and howled in human form, then shifted on site. In the excitement of the moment, I forgot to remove my clothes first.Dammit, I really liked that shirt, I thought.

Once in wolf form, others began to shift too, as Thomas and I took off through the middle of the crowd running side-by-side as equals. My pack quickly caught up and stayed on my heels. Thomas and I didn’t split off into different directions until we hit the tree line, but as a white wolf fought to catch up with a stumbling dark grey wolf, more beautiful than any I had ever laid eyes on, came up behind her, I turned us back and aligned more closer to Thomas, or so it would appear. In reality, I was running beside my mate.

We ran through the golf course and out into the open fields of the ranch. Collier had a thousand acres at their disposal and the second we reached the wide-open space, every wolf began to disperse into the dark of the night, except mine.

My wolves continued to stay beside me running in formation as we did every month through Oliver’s land. This meant I couldn’t make it obvious that I was staying near Sydney and I had to refrain my wolf from brushing up against her.

Pack Mother was a coveted spot and I would not leave her vulnerable and unprepared should someone from either pack take exception to me showing her favoritism. Yet I still couldn’t bring myself to run away from her. I kept her close enough to watch over her all night. If she took off to the left, I hesitated a few strides, then turned in that direction and my entire pack followed behind me.

I started to relax a little when Sydney’s wolf started running a straight line again. I knew her increased metabolism would burn off the alcohol pretty quickly. It had taken a lot longer than I would have guessed which told me Lily had every right to be worried about her.

Around one in the morning a few in my pack ran up next to me. I knew they were asking permission to leave. I nodded and those with children turned around and called it a night. It had been a great run. By three, the remainder of my pack were done and ready to head back. This time I stopped and turned back to address them. I yipped my approval as they all turned and ran back in the direction of the country club.

I knew I should go with them, but I was so torn knowing my mate was still out here. In the end, my wolf won. We let them go with a prayer that no issues would arise and then turned back towards Sydney’s wolf. She was nowhere to be found, but I had memorized her scent and picked up her trail quickly.

When I heard an aggressive growl, I picked up my pace. She howled, that same sound that had been haunting me day and night and I knew immediately my mate was in trouble. There was a small patch of trees up ahead, I ran in without any thought or care in the world except getting to her.

My heart was pounding, my adrenalin on high and ready to strike. Two male wolves had Sydney penned up against a rock. They were Collier wolves, not Larken, or else I likely would have killed them on the spot. All I could see was red as I lowered my body to the ground ready to strike.

I didn’t even recognize the deep menacing sound that reverberated through my entire body. The males stopped and turned towards me. Their hackles were raised, until they realized who they were dealing with. Then, dropping their tails between their legs, they both quickly submitted and shifted back to human form.

I think they knew I wouldn’t harm them, but I had terrified them just the same.

“We’re sorry, Alpha,” one of them acknowledged. “We were just having a little fun.”

I snapped my jaws.

“Okay, okay,” he said, taking a few steps back, right towards Sydney.

I almost lost my composure when she lunged forward and bit the guy right on the ass. He yelped and took off running. The other followed.

“We’re sorry Syd,” they yelled behind them just before reaching the clearing and shifting back to wolf form. I had no doubt they were running straight home after that encounter.

It took me a minute to calm down as I looked around ensuring there were no further threats. Sydney’s wolf sat there quietly observing with open curiosity as I checked the area before approaching her.

I tried to reign him in but being that close to her with no one else around, had my wolf rubbing his scent all over her before I could stop him. He licked the side of her face and nuzzled into her waiting on that reciprocation of approval.

Just when I thought she wasn’t going to give it, her wolf lowered to the ground and rubbed against mine. After ensuring she was thoroughly covered in our scent, and me in hers, my wolf jumped up and yipped for her to follow. I breathed a sigh of relief as she obeyed.

We ran together into the early morning hours. Splashing through creeks, jumping over rocks, and weaving through small patches of trees. It was a perfect run. I wasn’t worried about my pack or what anyone else was doing. My wolf and I were at peace and perfectly content to just be with our mate.

Winding down our run, we started to make our way back to the country club. The timing was perfect as we reached the river and stopped to watch the sun rise. I wanted to shift to my skin and talk to her. I had so many questions and wanted to know everything there was to know about my mate, but I hesitated. Lily had warned me about her feelings towards Larken. It had been a perfect evening and I didn’t want to ruin that, so I stayed in my wolf form and just enjoyed being with her in whatever way she’d let me.

Sydney

Chapter 8

What was I doing? He was a Larken, and not just any Larken wolf, but the Alpha, Luke Larken. After the run we’d just had there was no way he didn’t know he was my true mate, but he was a Larken. It could never be.

I didn’t know at first who he was. Inside he was just one of those Larken wolves. It wasn’t until he jumped on stage with Thomas that I realized it was Luke that my wolf had been referring too. Luke Larken was my one true mate, and I didn’t even know how to process that information. It sounded like the most unnatural thing in the world to me, yet it felt anything but unnatural just being in his presence.

As we got back to the country club still in our animal forms, I saw Lily and took off at a sprint for her. Luke held back.

“Thanks for keeping her out of trouble, Luke,” Lily yelled and waved.

I turned in time to see him nod his head and walk off towards the parking lot.

---