Page 23 of Fated Moons
It couldn’t be.
He’d never heard of such a thing with any wolf.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a wolf thing,” he mumbled.
“You can’t say that and not explain.” She glared.
“I need to go run. I’ll be back in an hour, and we can have dinner and I’ll tell you what I meant. Do you like steak?”
“I do. But please don’t tell me you’re going to go hunt and kill?—”
He waved his hand. “I buy my food at the grocery store like everyone else.” Not that he didn’t dabble in the occasional hunt, but he generally didn’t make a habit of doing it to bring home a meal for a woman he was trying to impress.
Fuck. He’d imprinted on a royal witch. The one whose uncle had been murdered by his father. The one he was about to star in a movie with.
Imprinting couldn’t be undone. If he tried to break it, or not honor it, he would die a lonely wolf. Well, at least he hadn’t mated. That would suck, because it would break his heart and he’d die a slow and painful death.
“Can I do something to help with dinner while you’re gone?” she asked. At least she didn’t beg him not to run. Something he honestly did need to do.
“Sure. You can make a salad. I’ve got everything you need in the fridge.”
“Easy enough.”
He nodded before strolling toward the side of the house so he could shift. He didn’t bother to contain the deep, menacing growls as he shifted from one form to another. It wasn’t painful, but the call to the wild was difficult to control, and howling was part of the process. Normally, around a woman who wasn’t a wolf, he’d do his best not to frighten them with the change, but for some reason, he wanted to exert his power as a wolf around Lady Amanda.
He shook his body, ruffling out his fur as he slinked around the corner. As a man, he was taller than average, and as a wolf, he was larger than most. He turned his head, making eye contact with Amanda, who seemed to be unfazed by the fact that the top of his wolf head came to just under her breasts.
She inched forward, her arm stretched out as if she wanted to pet him.
He lowered his head, scratching his paw into the ground, puffing air through his nostrils. It wasn’t an overly aggressive move on his part, but it should have frightened her at least a little. However, she kept moving forward until she stood in front of him, fingers digging into his head, rustling his black and white fur. A tickle, much like a cat purring, vibrated in his throat.
“You’re beautiful,” she whispered.
He stared at her for a long moment, holding her kind and tender gaze. Whether she knew it or not, she’d accepted his imprinting.
And it had happened long before this moment.
He shook his head and took off running.
Just as he came to the top of the hill that overlooked his cabin, a darkness gripped his bones. The hair on his back stood straight up. The earth shook below his paws. He growled low and long, baring his sharp teeth, turning in a circle, unsure of where the threat came from until three wolves showed themselves to his right.
All three were mediocre in size, but their eyes were nothing short of unusual with their gold tint and sparks that danced like bullets exploding from the chamber of a gun. Their thick coats shined under the moon like nothing he’d ever seen before. It was unnatural to say the least.
Who are you and what do you want?he spoke to the other wolves with his mind.
They responded with a howl, digging their front paws into the ground, ready to attack.
Back off. This is my land.
But the wolves didn’t take heed. They lowered their heads, foaming at the mouth, flanking to his left and right, inching closer.
His heart tightened as if someone had reached in and curled their fingers around it, squeezing the life out of him. He blinked,trying to regain focus as his vision blurred, making him dizzy. His legs tingled with weakness. Just as he thought he was about to pass out, a surge of strength flowed through his blood.
One of the wolves whined as he paused. The other two took a step back, yelping.
The sky swirled above him as a figure hovered over him.
