Page 47 of Mating Season

I could feel it. Like how the warm desert winds preceded a coming storm, an electric current in the air set my hair on end.

The hunt had started.

*

By the time I caught up with anyone else, it was only Fallon still in the creek. I’d long passed the scent of Amber’s and Danielle’s tracks where they’d left the bank together. My wolf was panting and soaked to the bone, but we were still ahead of the males.

It’s just us then.My beast nudged Fallon’s black wolf.

Fallon’s wolf let out a shuddering sigh and continued to trudge forward. She was tired. I could sense it. But she didn’t want to stop. There was a pride in making this hunt harder. And a sort of defeat she wasn’t ready to meet just yet.

We didn’t need words to share in this moment. I understood the unspoken language deep in my soul. As much as I wished I could help her through this, there was only so much pack could shoulder. At the end of the day, there were some paths you had to walk alone.

But she’s still pack.My wolf pressed her body against Fallon’s wolf, offering comfort and warmth even though we didn’t share a traditional connection. It was a promise to run alongside her for as long as she needed.

Fallon’s wolf scoffed, but she leaned against my wolf and made no motion to break away. They continued up the creek in silence. Our breaths fogged around us as our hearts slowed, breathing in sync.

The howls grew louder behind us and we could make out the first splashes of water in the distance. Still, we didn’t break our stride.

It wasn’t until the creek widened again and the clouds broke away from the moon, letting her silver rays shine on the babbling creek under our paws, that Fallon finally stopped.

The human in her eyes was determined. The wolf seemed to smile at me. She raised her snout to the moon and let out a feminine growl that sounded a lot like “Screw it,” before turning to bolt up the sandy bank.

Satisfaction filled both me and my beast.

We’d done it. Our job as acting Luna was complete and we’d successfully led the females in our care to their own fate.

The deep, primal howl snapped us from our daze as the sounds of the chase grew louder in the forest. We’d have to celebrate later.

First, there was an Alpha we had to outrun.

20

Ranger

The night breeze rippled my wolf’s fur as we stood on a boulder overlooking the short waterfall in the creek. John’s wolf took off in his own direction. He was the last of the wolves to leave. They’d all caught the various female scents along the riverbed, making our run slow and drawn out.

Aspen was a smart woman.

I enjoyed this game and the rules she’d set.

Now that the males were on the hunt, my ceremonial role had been played. If I was at home and this was my pack, I’d stay out in the territory this season making wellness checks. But I’d catalogued each of these Alpha’s scents before we’d run and they knew it. Sometimes just the threat would be enough. A reminder that there was something bigger and badder in these woods would keep even the dumbest of them in line during the season.

I took one last look over my shoulder, assuring myself that I’d done all I could. It was time for nature to take her course.

Then my wolf leapt off the boulder and crashed into the creek.

We had our own female to chase.

*

I’ve got it.My wolf howled his triumph as he caught her scent off the side of the creek. Her intoxicatingly feminine musk mixed with the adrenaline of the rut was a potent cocktail making his muscles clench with need.

Pride filled us. She’d stayed the course until the very end. There were no other female scents this far upstream. Aspen made a worthy challenge.

Nose to the ground, my wolf followed Aspen’s paw tracks through the sandy bank and rich earth beyond where she’d run to the safety of the woods and… stopped?

My wolf slid to a halt and circled the ground, sniffing frantically.Where’d she go?