Usually, the wolves I bumped into just ran next to me while I jogged. They were friendly. Polite. They always left space between us. Wolves just liked having company.

The wolf with the strong scent finally stepped through the forest, and my gaze landed on him.

I inhaled sharply.

Holy fuck, he was huge.

Bigger than Fletcher, with a pure black coat and piercing green eyes.

He had to be part of the king trio.

All packs were led by three wolves. An Alpha, his Beta, and his Gamma. All wolves had their own rankings, too, but those were the only official pack roles. The king was a triplet, and his two brothers were the other part of his trio.

If this was the Alpha King, or one of his brothers…

Well, then I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Or if there even was anything I could do.

They had enhanced hearing. Enhanced senses of smell. Enhancedeverything.

And I’d just been sweating.

If he’d been following me for long enough, he might’ve caught my natural scent. I kept it hidden with perfume, body wash, and deodorant, but I had no idea if that was enough to conceal the way I smelled from the king or his brothers.

Even my wolf curled back, uncertain of what to do.

My heart beat faster.

Ba-dum.

Ba-dum.

Ba-dum.

It was so violent, I could hear it in my head.

The giant wolf cocked his gigantic head to the side, and the beast within me decided we needed to bolt.

I gritted my teeth, holding her back.

The last thing we needed was to make the king suspicious. The king and his brothers were the people who would use me or kill me, if they realized what I could do.

But they didn’t have to realize what I could do.

Hopefully, they didn’t have to realize what I was, either.

“I don’t mean any harm,” I repeated, lifting my arms a little higher when the wolf didn’t do anything after a solid minute.

Finally, he shifted.

I let out a shuddered breath as the most beautiful man I’d ever seen replaced the gigantic black wolf. He was massive, made of pure, thick muscle in a way very few wolves—only the strongest ones—ever were.

His skin was naturally tan. His hair was chocolate-brown and a little curly, falling over his eyes but only managing to partially conceal three thick scars that ran through one entire side of his face, over a bright green eye that was still intact despite whatever horror he’d apparently survived.

I wasn’t going to look at his abdomen, or his flaccid cock. Nope. Wasn’t going there.

…but if I did, it would’ve been proportional. Very proportional.

“Why do you smell like a wolf?” he asked, his voice low and tense.