Page 68 of Wolf Heart

Fuck. Me.

"It's the worst pain you can imagine," I say despite my promise to not get involved.

Juniper's attention turns to me and her eyes widen. She has to have seen others shift unless they’ve told her differently? Maybe they’ve romanticized it to her and she doesn’t realize how it feels being ripped apart, breaking every bone in your body, and shoved into a new form.

"The first time the bones and muscles of your body rearrange themselves to make room for the wolf and then the second time when you shift back to human, your bones and muscles realign themselves again. It hurts like hell."

She pales, but she needs to know the truth. Gaining her wolf will come at a price. One we've all had to pay.

Dex nods. "Hellfire it hurts."

"Why do you do it?" She rubs her hands on her thighs. "I mean, you've been shifting for years."

"For the freedom. For the thrill that comes after releasing your wolf. For the wildness that no one can tame that lives inside of us," I reply, unable to look away from her. Unable to stop the images racing through my mind of her in my arms. Of me claiming her.

“Doesn’t it get easier?” She bites her lip and I wonder what she tastes like.

"Physically, yes," Dex says. "But it doesn't matter how many years you do it or how you never get used to the pain."

I clenched my fist, focusing on the sunset instead of her lush mouth. I fight the desire to scoop her in my arms and take her in front of both Aspen and Dex to assert my dominance. I’m the pack leader. I will mark her before anyone else.

My wolf howls in triumph even though he knows we can’t. I’ll never be able to turn her over to the witches if I listen to my damn wolf. My sister is doomed without sacrificing Juniper to the witches.

Yet part of me hopes that she’s not the unshifted wolf they want.

Acid burns the back of my throat. I can’t let my emotions lure me against what I’ve sworn to do. Time is running out on the witch’s magic to keep Nambi from turning into a lost one. And if the witches are right and Juniper is the key, then this might be the answer to cure our whole pack.

I can't stop the prick of jealousy at how comfortable she is around them. How much they look at each other and the scent of her arousal clinging in the air. Making my cock so hard it hurts and I want nothing more but to sink into her.

I back away, needing to get away from the three of them. Needing space to breathe. Needing to be alone.

I need to keep my promise to my sister, my pack, but how can I when Juniper will be the death of me? I know it with every fiber of my being. How hard I've struggled not to touch her, not to kiss her.

My wolf howls at me. I can’t break my vow. My heart races and I fight the urge to turn back around and claim her here and now. But I can't cause I'm a fucking asshole.

I run as fast as I can, shifting into my wolf as I go. I need to be my wild self and feel the wind through my fur as my paws beat against the earth. The burning of my muscles as I strain to keep running, the pleasure of the pain. The freedom of the wolf.

I can't lose myself.

I run into the woods, faster and faster. And even though Juniper isn't here, I can feel her presence. I can’t run from her.

Juniper could be the hope for all of us.

Too bad she won’t be able to live long after the witches get her. I tell myself it doesn’t matter. That I shouldn’t care. That the ends justifies the means. That I don’t want her. That I don’t care about Aspen and Dex fucking her.

I can’t let her get under my skin or grab ahold of my heart. Otherwise, we’ll be damned along with her. Cause the witches won’t rest until they find her. And I have a bad feeling they already know she’s close.

Everything in me screams that Juniper might just be our salvation. Yet, a larger part warns that she’s our damnation.

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