Page 45 of Venice Heat (Urban Heat 2)

“Shae, come here!”

She was all of a sudden in front of the white wolf, on her knees and naked. She put her hands up over her breasts. “How did we get out here?”

“The pain is gone, isn’t it?”

She blinked at him, but he spoke the truth. She didn’t hurt, and the confusion had cleared. Still, this place, she knew now they were in her mind together. They hadn’t left the house. She felt the couch beneath her, which Eiji had laid her on.

The white wolf nudged her shoulder. She rubbed his head and scratched his ears. He whined, but when he stretched his nose to the moon the third time, she joined him. The sound that rose from her throat matched his, and the human melted away. In reality, she opened her eyes. She sat on the couch, her dress in a crumpled pile beneath her. Brown fur coated her body.

“Damn! I’m a wolf!”

“Hai.”

She looked over to realize Eiji was in his wolf form too, and he’d just spoken in her mind.

“How?”

“I can’t explain the mysteries of why we are the way we are. Do you want to run before they come?”

“They?” She remembered he’d said the pack would come and was surprised they hadn’t arrived, but a sudden urge came over her at his words. “Run.”

Eiji took off through the open door, and she bounded behind him. Outside in the dark of night, their paws ate up the ground. Shae’s heart pounded, and her muscles grew warm. She dragged in deep breaths as she moved, and all of it felt so good she never wanted to stop. Eiji darted around trees and over fallen limbs. She matched every step, luxuriating in chasing him, in just being with him.

“Eiji.”

She hadn’t meant to make him stop, but he did, on a dime, and faced her. He padded over on silent paws to where she stood. His nose touched hers, and they nuzzled their faces together, unable to express themselves as humans would. She remembered the words he’d spoken in the car just before she started the change, but hesitated to ask him to translate. What if it didn’t mean what she suspected it did? And what if it did?

“Eiji, I—”

“They’re here.”

He moved around her and fell into a jog. She had no choice but to follow. When they were close to the house, Eiji stopped running and blocked her path.

“Wait here.”

He disappeared into the house and returned as a man wearing only pants. He carried her dress, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she shifted. “Whoa, I didn’t even think of it. Or I did and just changed.” Her words echoed loud over the quiet night.

Eiji smiled. “You will get used to it.”

She dressed. “So they’re here?”

“Yes. Are you ready?”

She pulled in a deep breath, blew it out, and then nodded. “Hai.”

He smirked at her use of his language, and together they entered the house.

Chapter Twelve

Shae stepped from the trees behind Eiji and noted the cars lining the drive. The others stretched out all over the living room, lounging as if they owned the place. Then again, maybe they did. Marcus sat in an armchair like the big dog on campus, with a woman perched on either side of him. He encircled their waists, hands low on their bellies, inches from their apexes. Shae tried not to gag and turned her head.

“So you got her here on time,” Marcus said. “Good. Have you decided what you’re going to do?”

Shae glanced at Eiji. He nodded. “Thank you for the invitation to your pack.”

“In other words, you’re turning me down?”

While they spoke, Shae scanned the faces of the others. The women seemed less confrontational with her with Darryl gone, or was it because she was fully one of them? One or two of the men stared her down, unblinking. Their gazes shifted every now and then to Eiji, and she didn’t miss the back-and-forth emotion between lust and caution. One of them moved as if to stand, but Eiji made a small noise in his throat. Marcus laughed, and so did one of the other men.

---