I watched as Regan disappeared around the corner. Relief rushed through me. For a moment there, I had been afraid she would insist on following me.
I hurried in the opposite direction and ducked into the forest. True to my word, I ran for the first few miles. The sounds of construction died away. Soon it was just me and the crunch of my feet against the ground. Branches crackled around me. I heard the occasional patter of tiny feet as a rabbit darted past.
The quieter things became, the more I relaxed. Tension I hadn’t realized I was carrying eased. My pace picked up. This was where I belonged. Not with all those people—those strangers—who expected me to lead them. I wanted to be with the trees, and the musk of small furred animals, and the towering craggy rock faces that watched me pass.
When I began to notice the difference in terrain, I slowed to a walk and caught my breath. I had a feeling I was in Owen’s territory now and I wanted to be on guard. It seemed a little warmer and less hostile than it had two days ago, but maybe it was just that I was getting more used to it. The breeze made the trees sway and cast sparkling patterns of light on the ground, illuminating my path into the deeper, darker parts of the forest.
After another few steps, every sound vanished—even the natural ones. The trees grew closer and closer until the sun disappeared. There hadn’t been a cloud in the sky, but suddenly, no light reached the earth. A chilled breeze still managed to slip through, but it only made me shiver. It didn’t seem to touch the bushes.
Owen’s smell was easy to pick up. It was a blend of sweet and stale and definitely inhuman. I followed it to a long but narrow clearing between a wall of trees and the slope of boulders so steep that only a few weeds grew on their surface. I was farther in than I had been before, and still, I hadn’t spotted him.
I paused where the ferns stopped growing. From here, empty ground stretched in front of me like a natural road in the forest. It was so dark it could have been early morning.
I hesitated, glancing back the way I had come. Any sign of my passage vanished, like the forest closed up in my wake to keep me from turning back. Low-hanging branches dangled toward me, like skeletal fingers reaching for my hair.
Something tickled the nape of my neck. I slapped at it and turned around. Nothing there.
“Hello? Owen?” I whispered. I meant to call it out, but it felt too vulnerable to be loud.
I just about jumped out of my skin when someone responded.
“What took you so long?” he asked from behind me. I turned again, and there he was, right where I had been looking a moment before. He must have dropped out of the trees. How had I missed him when I came through?
My pulse thrilled in my veins at the sight of him. Hair waving over his ears, perfect skin, sculpted jawline. And those eyes. Their piercing intensity always affected me more than their unsettling crimson center. Even my wolf was distracted by his combination of ferocious sexiness.
Swallowing hard, I made myself smile to hide the trembling. “I have responsibilities, you know. Mostly a responsibility to not get caught sneaking out to meet a vampire.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
The way he said “bad” sounded like an invitation. When I shivered again, it wasn’t from the chill. My gaze wandered from his face. Owen was dressed casually this morning—or at least, what I thought must be casual for him. He wore a black V-neck shirt that hugged his chest and shoulders in all the right places and black jeans to match. He was even wearing high-top sneakers. Like, actual Converse. The idea of vampire royalty in Converse would have been unbelievable if I hadn’t seen it myself. He managed to pull it off, though.
Even in casual clothes, he made me feel frumpy, out of place in my running shorts and razorback tank. But I did my best not to show it. “Are you going to pick on me or teach me?” I asked.
He scanned me up and down with eyes that seemed to leave a heat signature behind. A smile played on his lips. I probably shouldn’t stare at his lips … shapely and blood-red as they were. Even if he might be my future husband.
“Can’t I do both?” he asked.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” I said, tapping my toe.
Was that disappointment I saw flash across his face? “Okay. All business, then. Come on, darling.”
He took my hand in his cool fingers and tugged me through the trees. He had no problems navigating the darkness. He took me down into a valley where the trees weren’t so low and we had plenty of room to maneuver. When we stood in the center, he let go of my hand and turned to face me.
“Are you ready to begin?” he asked.
“Hang on,” I said.
Owen watched with amusement as I limbered up, stretching my arms over my head and touching my toes.
“What?” I asked, straightening as my cheeks heated.
“Nothing. I can’t say what I’m thinking if teasing is off the menu.”
I rolled my eyes. “Right,” I said, and then added in a more serious tone, “I appreciate this, by the way. Helping me train.”
“It’s my pleasure.” He kept his lips shut as I finished up, but he didn’t look away from me for even a second. Whatever. He could pick on me in his head if he wanted to, as long as he was quiet about it.
When I faced him all stretched and warm, he gave a little cough to clear his throat. “There are some things you need to know before you could ever hope to beat me.”
“Oh yeah? Don’t think I could take you?” I asked.
He failed to hide his grin. “Not at the moment.”
“I didn’t do too bad the other day,” I said, feeling defensive. I mean, it had been my very first fight. I couldn’t expect to win the first time.
“You’ll do even better as soon as you know this simple fact: you can’t win a fight against a vampire by tracking it with your eyes, your ears, or your sense of smell. Your senses are too slow—yes, even a werewolf’s senses.”
“So what, then? Am I supposed to use my magical psychic powers?”
His eyes sparkled. “Something like that.”
“That’s stupid. Come on, let’s just fight. I can take you. I’m more ready this time.”
“You don’t believe me, do you? That you might have some greater, as-yet-untapped power than your five known senses?”
“Come on,” I said again, more insistently. I fell into a crouch, my muscles twitching in anticipation.
Owen didn’t have to be asked a third time.
One second he was standing in front of me; the next second, he was gone. All I felt was a rush of air as he blurred around and came in to attack from behind.
His hand smacked into the back of my head. I spun and swung a fist, but he had already moved again.
Owen came around, ducked low, and pinched my thigh. Hard. “Ow!” I tried to slap his hand away, but it somehow came around and pinched me on the butt.
Okay. Now that was just insulting.
He darted back, laughing. “Are you ready to listen to me now?”
Instead of responding, I let my human form fall away and became the wolf, dropping to all fours on the fallen leaves. My wolf was practically gleeful with the opportunity to finally sink its teeth into the vampire. The change only left me vulnerable for a few seconds, but those few seconds were too much, because by the time I was done he was gone again. The clearing was empty. I hadn’t even seen him move.
He was right. Even as a wolf, my eyes and ears were way too slow.
Something clamped down on my tail and yanked hard.
I twisted and snapped. My teeth missed—unfortunately—but I actually managed to see him step out of the way. I lunged into his legs and knocked him over.
When I tried to jump him, he snaked an arm around my neck and hauled me to the ground, pinning me with an incredible amount of strength. I wriggled and thrashed. It was like fighting against iron bars.
I huffed out a hot breath. Like before, the only way out of his grasp was to shift. I closed my eyes and pushed the wolf away. It was harder than usual. The animal in me wanted to stay and fight. I focused on my human form and felt arms and legs slide into place. Owen’s grip eased as my shape changed. I slid away, half smiling at my clever escape.
I felt him behind me and began to turn, but it was too late.
His hand pressed against the small of my back. He bowed me backward so far that I would have fallen if he wasn’t holding onto me.
Owen’s breath whispered across my throat like a cool breeze. “Bang,” he said. The tickle of his lips sent shivers racing through my body. “You’re dead.”
I didn’t move for a long, aching moment. How could I? He lifted his head to gaze at me with that piercing red stare, and I couldn’t remember how to breathe or think or move. Then he dipped his lips again, and I felt the brush of hard points against my throat.
Fangs.
My instincts immediately kicked into high gear. Unable to move forward, I instead threw myself backward and dropped to the ground. My insides quivered. The wolf in me pushed to be released, to attack, but I squared my shoulders and remained human even as my hip hit the hard ground.
With my weight suddenly out from under him, Owen unbalanced. His eyes went wide. His arms pinwheeled comically, and he collapsed beside me.
I took the chance to sit on his stomach and pin him down.
“Who’s dead now?” I taunted. “Grr.” I pretended to slice at his throat with the claws I no longer had, and he caught my wrist gently.
I expected him to laugh at me. I mean, it was a joke, after all. But he had gone serious, and those burning red eyes were gazing so deep into mine that I shivered. His hold on my wrists tightened and I was instantly aware of all of the places our bodies were touching. In that moment, with Owen staring up at me like I was the most interesting specimen ever created, I forgot everything the other werewolves thought about vampires.
My heartbeat skipped as my adrenaline dropped. I was suddenly very, very aware of the rise and fall of his chest beneath me.
Now what?