He asked more questions about mine.
The conversation was easy.
Lighthearted.
Genuine, but playful.
I loved every minute of it.
When the cookies were done and our stomachs were nearly bursting after downing all of them, we slipped out onto the porch.
Nico coached me through another shift, and though the pain was still brutal, I tried to do what he said and let the wolf take over. It went a little faster than before, and the pride in his eyes made my wolf preen.
She took off into the forest while he was still in human form. His laugh followed her into the trees, and it was only moments later when his wolf caught her.
He tackled her playfully, and they tumbled in the dirt, then in the mud. Running around the forest, they spent ages just having fun together.
nine
ABBY
It wasdark when our wolves finally made it back to the house.
Rather than shifting when they reached it, they kept walking.
Their sides brushed as they went. She leaned into the contact, and he did too.
I realized they were headed toward what looked like a campfire. Smoke curled above the trees, and I could see bits of the flames flickering in the distance.
They stopped there, and Nico shifted back first. He coached both me and my wolf through the shift.
It didn’t feel any faster, but the pride in his eyes when I was in skin again told me it was.
“We missed dinner, but I think they want you to meet the pack.” Nico’s words were slightly apologetic, but he still looked proud.
Maybe even happy, too.
“I’m filthy,” I said, huffing and puffing as I tried to recover. Mud was dried in smears and patches all over my skin. Probably tangled in my hair, too. “And naked.”
“I’ll find you some clothes and help you clean up.” Nico offered me a hand.
My mind flashed back to his big hands massaging my scalp in the shower earlier.
If he was going to offer to clean me every time, maybe I should stop hating dirt.
“If you can find me something to wear, I guess it wouldn’t be the end of the world to meet your pack before I get all this mud off. It’ll give me an excuse to leave pretty quickly,” I said.
“That’s the spirit. I’ll be right back.”
My eyesight was much better than it used to be as I watched him stride a few feet to my left before stepping behind a tree. I heard something open a moment later—it sounded like metal—and he came back with a pair of men’s athletic shorts and a t-shirt.
I put the shirt on while he stepped into the shorts. It fell nearly to my knees, so I was plenty covered.
After a beat of hesitation, Nico’s arm draped over my shoulders. He pulled me close, and I slipped mine around his waist as we walked the rest of the way to the campfire.
Seven men sat in various positions around the flickering flames. The vibes were relaxed in a way I really liked.
Two of the guys sat side-by-side on the dirt with their backs leaning up against a large wooden log that looked like it was being used as a bench. One of them had an arm around theother’s back while the other rested his head against the one’s shoulder. They were respectively dark-skinned and tan. The first had shaved his hair completely, while the other’s was long, blond, curly, and tied up in a gigantic bun.
