Feint of Heart Read online

  "Squatting, eh?" Despite my best intentions to maintain the advantage of wolf reflexes, I shifted upwards at the mild insult. It wasn't that he'd gotten my goat—human taunts rolled off my back like the current December drizzle was shed by my thick fur. But I was starting to wonder whether the young alpha had really intended to challenge me, or whether I'd simply read him wrong from the get-go.

  Usually, I could smell out subtleties best in lupine form, but Alexis's rich persimmon odor clogged my nostrils. So I figured I might as well peruse Gavin's human facial expressions with two-legger eyes. After all, I didn't want to attack if the kid wasn't looking for a fight. And it wasn't a big deal anyway—I could take him down just as easily on two legs as on four.

  I wiped one hand across my forehead, flicking away water droplets. And in the moment that my eyes were covered, the forest exploded into action.

  "Now!" Gavin ordered.

  I whipped my head around, gaze landing on the one clothed shifter who must have spent the entire evening two-legged. The lackey was already settling back into immobility, but Gavin lunged in his direction as a wicked-looking blade spun end over end through the air between the two shifters.

  Starlight reflected off the weapon that promised to even the odds between Gavin and myself. Once it finished plummeting through the night sky, that is. The blade's presence needn't change the course of the battle, though. My superior reflexes meant that I could have easily grabbed the knife out of the air before it reached its intended recipient.

  But in that critical moment of action, the pack princess behind me whined and I spun to ensure she wasn't being harmed.

  Thunk. I could hear the knife's hilt settling into Gavin's hand, but it was all I could do to force myself to turn away from Alexis's intoxicating gaze. As a result, the other alpha had closed the distance between us before I managed to face him again.

  I threw up both hands to grab his right wrist, trying to force the weapon out of his grasp. Unfortunately, what Gavin lacked in muscles, he made up in agility. Now he twisted like a fish on a line, forcing my fingers to slip away from his arm. And in that instant of separation, my opponent brought the blade down to cut a long red stripe across my ribs.

  I flared my nostrils, smelling my own blood. My heart was racing too quickly for me to feel pain, but I knew the ache would set in soon. Time to take off the kid gloves before our battle got out of hand.

  Using Gavin's own momentum against him, I knocked his right arm away and forced his elbow to bend in the wrong direction until he grunted with pain. Then, kicking up with my knee, I sent the knife plummeting into the night.

  Gavin was face down in the dirt, my foot on his neck, before his companions could take another step forward.

  "I wouldn't," I warned with a growl.

  Chapter 4

  In the end, I let the kid go unharmed. He was just doing what shifters did best—lobbying for power in the only way he knew how. And he'd given me an intriguing tidbit of information in the process. Crazy Wilder planned to back my territorial bid if I won the Winter Hunt.

  Good thing our crew had Alexis as a lucky charm to speed us on our way.

  So I watched until the other team had trotted out of sight, then I got down to business. "We should scout out the surrounding countryside, see if we can catch the old coot's trail," I murmured, more to myself than to my companions.

  Wade and Fen had shifted to human form as soon as our opponents faded back into the darkness and they now nodded agreeably. But rather than continuing to hash out plans, I found my gaze settling on Alexis.

  The pack princess was still fully wolf, and she seemed even more agitated now than she had been during the preceding fight. She whined at my feet until I crouched down to her level, giving her access to the wound oozing blood down my hip and thigh.

  As soon as I was close enough, her whimpering abruptly ceased. Instead, the female reached out with her sandpaper tongue, licking my cut clean.

  Her touch was painful but erotic. And in response, my dick stirred to instant life. The intimacy of Alexis's nursing had dragged forth a physical response I didn't particularly care to share with my pack mates.

  Time for a little diversion.

  "Wade, why don't you and Fen go out and see if you can pick up Crazy Wilder's scent while I wipe off this blood." My sentence was more command than question, and Wade immediately moved to obey. But Fen instead strode forward, pushing Alexis out of my lap and getting into my personal space.

  "Wolfie..." she began. The girl ran a frustrated hand through her short hair, and I waited for her to make another complaint. She was clearly jealous of the bond I shared with our new companion, and I forced myself to soften the words that had initially come to mind before they reached my lips.

  "Fen, I'm counting on you to keep your eye on the prize," I admonished her. "You know we'll be like sitting ducks if I bleed all over the forest. So I need you to be my eyes and ears out there. You heard what's at stake."

  Before me, Fen seemed to swell to double her usual girth at my show of faith. "I know," she answered quietly. Once again, she opened her mouth, then pursed her lips back together without taking me to task as I knew she wanted to. Finally, she concluded, "Just be careful, okay?"

  "Of course," I mollified her.

  Seconds later, I could hear my pack mates shifting and loping away. But I didn't look. Instead, my eyes were riveted on the glorious female human who had materialized out of the wolf by my side.

  ***

  Young male shifters tell tales around the campfire of pack princesses so magnificent they take your breath away. In the past, I'd always rolled my eyes at their hyperbole. But now I realized that the storied reaction was literally true.

  I could barely make out Alexis's curves in the near darkness, but what I could see was so perfectly proportioned that I had to push fingertips into my wound to remind myself to breathe. In fact, I almost wished the moon would rise, even though the appearance of that glowing crescent would mean I'd failed in the Hunt and in my bid for territorial affirmation. Because if Alexis was stunning now in near pitch darkness, what would she look like under the cool luminosity of the waning moon?

  "This should soak up the blood," the young woman murmured as she walked back toward me from where she'd been scraping Gavin's lost knife against the cliff face. I could barely smell the collected moss around the fruity aroma that encircled me, and the female's words trilled through my bones like a wood thrush's song. I realized I was panting—bad form when two-legged—and closed my mouth with an audible snap.

  "May I?" she asked, reaching toward my stomach with her laden hand. I was barely able to nod, but Alexis didn't really need my approval. She gently pressed the damp plant matter against my open wound, and what should have sent shock waves of pain through my system instead made my legs go weak with pleasure. I collapsed at her feet.

  Her laughter sounded like water tinkling merrily over stones. "Hey, careful there, big guy." She slipped down onto the leaves beside me so she could continue to put pressure on my laceration.

  We were nearly eye to eye, the female's pupils dilating until their usual molten chocolate coloration was completely invisible. Touching a pack princess was forbidden, but I couldn't help myself. I reached forward and grabbed the long tresses that fell in silky waves from the back of her head, then I pulled her into a kiss.

  "Mmm." She hummed her approval against my lips and swung one leg across my lap so she was straddling my erection. I hadn't meant to move so fast, but I slid into her wet folds as if we were two magnets clicking together against our will.

  She wasn't a virgin. And she was willing. Which meant I wasn't breaking any taboos.

  Right?

  Then I couldn't even piece words together in my mind because Alexis was raising herself off my rigid length, cold air doing nothing to dull the heat growing between us. When we came together again, she pushed me deeper into her warmth and I came without thought for her pleasure.

  Alexis's e
yes enfolded my consciousness just as her body enfolded my skin. "There. Perfect," she murmured. "You'll follow wherever I lead now, won't you?"

  Of course.

  I didn't even need to say the words aloud. Alexis and I both knew that I'd follow her anywhere.

  Chapter 5

  "We don't have to wait for them. They'll catch up."

  The plan made perfect sense. The night was awastin' and we had Crazy Wilder to hunt down. So I fell into wolf form alongside the beguiling bitch and took off at a trot.

  My wound should have jolted me alert every time my foreleg rubbed against the exposed flesh. But instead I seemed to float on a sea of sweet persimmon pulp. Every thin layer of humanity that I'd built atop my wolf over the years fled, and I sniffed then licked at the sex juices dripping from the female's vulva.

  In response, Alexis turned her face around and nipped at my ruff teasingly. Then she was disappearing into a thicket and I pushed more speed into my paws to draw closer once again.

  The rain had stopped, and stars were beginning to push their way through the clouds when I caught the first scent of Chief Wilder's trail. It was hard to tell around the all-consuming passion induced by Alexis's proximity, but I gave a quick yip and angled in that direction anyway. Moon rise wasn't far off, so it was imperative to follow every lead.

  The female seemed less enthused by my decision, though. She pushed against my shoulder, trying to force me back onto the path. When I resisted, she shook her head repeatedly in a very human sign of negation.

  No, wrong way. I squinted my eyes as the words drifted across my brain. Surely it wouldn't hurt to follow this scent trail. After all, wasn't that what we were out here to do?

  But Alexis was retreating in the opposite direction, and I could almost feel her vagina clenching around my dick once more. Did it really matter if we found Crazy Wilder tonight? There would be other Winter Hunts, other opportunities to claim our territory. Alexis and I had only these few short hours to be together.

  Her white fur reappeared before me, and I sprinted forward until I bumped against her shoulder. We raced flat out for several minutes, then I slowed my steps to make sure I didn't pull ahead. Because winning the competition wouldn't really be winning if I left her behind.

  Finally, we collapsed to the earth in exhaustion. Which is when Fen and Wade made their reappearance.

  ***

  I looked at the pair quizzically, unable to parse their forms at first. Both were two-legged and fully clothed, Fen using a smart phone as a flashlight to illuminate her steps. Behind her, the male was blindfolded with what looked like my shirt, but he walked willingly in her wake.

  What the fuck? Had my pack mates really thought it was a good idea to leave the Hunt long enough to go back to camp and clean up, then answer a few emails before tracking me down?

  Alexis must have felt the same way, because she got to her feet and growled, the menacing posture incongruous with her slender form. As she stepped between me and my pack mates, I lolled my tongue out at the humor of the occasion. It was sweet and totally unwarranted for the pack princess to try to protect me.

  "Stop right there, bitch," Fen ground out. And now it was my turn to snarl. I knew the teenager, and she didn't use the B word to refer to female wolves. No, she was insulting this glorious creature who had given me the best night of my life. Spunk was one thing, but I was going to have to finally show this kid who was leader of our pack.

  Before I could do so, however, Wade was walking forward, homing in on me by sound alone since his eyes were still covered. And why doesn't he remove the blindfold? I wondered. It wasn't as if the teenager's hands were tied behind his back. Instead, they appeared to be sporting yet another piece of fabric. I squinted my eyes, trying to make out more details in the darkness.

  Then I had no more time to wonder because my own pack mate was tackling me, pushing me to the ground until my nose was mashed painfully into the dirt. I could easily have clawed my way free, but I trusted Wade, despite his apparent insanity. So I instead shifted to two legs and growled at him. "What's wrong with you?"

  "It's what's wrong with you, boss," Wade said, his voice calm despite the incendiary words. He was tying the sweatshirt around my face now, blocking both eyes and nose.

  The absence of Alexis's fruity aroma hit me like a punch in the gut and a howl of rejection came out of my throat without conscious volition. I ripped at the blindfold while Wade struggled to regain purchase on my arms, and it wasn't until I smelled the latter's blood that I stopped moving. I'd promised never to allow anyone to hurt my pack mate, and the fact that I'd just punched Wade full in the nose pulled me up short.

  "Hold that thought." Fen's words were suddenly closer, whispering into my ear. A hard object slipped into my hand—the cell phone. Then my best friend Chase's voice was rising from the speaker.

  "...dog...oxytocin...."

  I wasn't able to fully understand what I was hearing at first. But then I focused with horrified fascination as my milk brother explained how dogs and humans had coevolved to share a hormonal response based on eye contact. In other words, while shifters and wolves challenged each other with our gazes, looking into a dog's eyes caused humans to fall in love.

  And perhaps gazing into Alexis's eyes did the same to every nearby male werewolf?

  Being blocked off from the pack princess's sight and scent was already clearing the brain cloud that I'd been drifting beneath all night, and I could now put my own actions into perspective. I'd ignored Fen's intuition, had run off in the wrong direction with no plan, and had fucked a pack princess without foreplay on the wet December leaves.

  In short, I'd acted like an animal.

  My head fell into my hands as I slumped down in defeat. Yep, this time I'd royally screwed up.

  Chapter 6

  "You're not really going to let this pup's imaginative storytelling throw you off your stride, are you?"

  Alexis's words weren't nearly as sweet now that I didn't have the misdirection of her gaze to contend with. Instead, they sounded shrill, grating against my ears.

  In fact, the first impulse garnered from my newfound clarity was to simply walk away, to get my pack mates to safety as quickly as possible. But, despite Alexis's misdirection, I was still the one who'd acted like a cad an hour earlier. So I figured I owed the pack princess an argument if she really wanted to get into it here and now.

  She couldn't have picked a worse venue, I thought, shivering. The clouds had cleared and the forest was now chilling by the minute. Plus, we were losing hunting time as we stood around and I could feel Chase's concern through the now silent phone dropped by my feet.

  But I kept my voice level when I spoke. "Was Chief Wilder really so threatened by two teenagers and a bloodling that he had to send a parasite to take us down?"

  "Take you down?" Now Alexis laughed, but the sound was nowhere near musical. "As I recall, there wasn't any going down at all. That was the saddest excuse for a girlfriend experience I've ever seen."

  Beside me, Wade's body jerked in distress. Don't you realize there are kids present? I almost said, biting my tongue at the last moment. Not only would both Wade and Fen be mortified if I referred to them as children, but the cat was already out of the bag. Might as well move on to damage control.

  Before I could find my tongue, though, Fen broke the ice. "Don't worry. I already smelled it," the girl said coldly, but she slipped a reassuring hand onto my shoulder at the same time. Chances were good she hadn't smelled the rich, sexual aroma wafting through the air since she was a halfie hosting the world's weakest wolf. But the youngster was an accomplished actress, and she was also far more loyal than I deserved.

  My pack mate's spunk gave me the boost I needed to strike back at the pack princess with words. "You do realize you just called yourself a prostitute, right? Is that really what you want to do with your life?"

  "Look me in the eye and call me that again," the female challenged. "I dare you."

  ***
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br />   My hand was on the blindfold before Fen could stop me. And Alexis's fruity aroma pushed its way back into my nostrils and brain when I'd barely touched the fabric.

  But I knew the deluge was coming this time, so I was able to fight against the nearly overwhelming impulses her mere presence created. Persimmons are bitter, puckery fruit when they're not ripe, I reminded myself. And Alexis is far from ripe.

  The human words helped me master the scent, so I slipped the blindfold the rest of the way off and moved on to sight. The moon hadn't yet risen, but I could tell it was pushing against the horizon now because the sky had very subtly lightened in the few minutes I'd been out of action. In the gloaming, I stood and took two steps forward until I formed a barrier between the parasite and my pack mates. Then I reached out and tilted Alexis's chin upwards until our eyes locked.

  Even with my brain unclouded, I could see that she was gorgeous. Her eyes were as wide as those of a manga heroine, her nose the tiniest pert protrusion between rosy cheeks. She bit her lips and the organs in question blossomed into arousal before my very eyes.

  On the other hand, her irises, once so warm, looked cold and dark. The parasite was doing her best to lure me back in, but the effect was like a magic-eye puzzle—once you picked out the hidden image for the first time, it was impossible to go back to your previous state of ignorance.

  "Kiss me," she demanded, not realizing her rabbit had slipped the snare. So I obliged, bending my neck down and pushing her lips apart with my own.

  Her tongue teased me, slipping in and out of my mouth. But my body remained passionless. There was nothing less enticing than a pack princess reveling in her own power.