Page 64 of Feral

“I went to the Shefield place to tell you. Hell, to throw you over my shoulder and bring you back to the house. My wolf followed your scent and, well… we got a little sidetracked.”

My heart filled and overflowed. He’d chosen me just as I chose him.

“I wonder if my wolf would have ever come out if I hadn’t been shot,” I wondered.

He growled and his jaw clenched at the statement, but he shrugged and ran a finger down the center of my body.

“I told the pack elders off. I chose you, Willow. Human, wolf… giraffe. I’ll take you any way I can get you.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his body down on top of mine. “You did?” I smiled against his lips.

He licked into mine, kissed me thoroughly. “I did, angel. I’d pick you over the pack any day.”

I kissed him back. “I would never make you choose.” I stared up at his wonderful face. “I’m sorry I lied to you, Rob. I didn’t want to, you have to believe that. I couldn’t risk you or the case. My hands were tied.”

He shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. I was an asshole. You were here on a job, and you couldn’t tell me the truth. I get it. You’re an incredible agent.” He kissed me again. “But please tell me you’ll quit. I couldn’t fucking stand knowing you might have a gun pointed at your head again.”

“I gave notice to Vaughn when I was finishing my reports,” I said, and I’d had zero hesitation. “I realized it wasn’t my life. Coming here brought me full circle somehow. This is where I belong. Like you said, I was good at my job, but it was just that. A job. I had no life. I do now, with you. With the Wolf pack.”

It was true. I think I’d known it from the moment I’d arrived in Cooper Valley, I just hadn’t understood it until now.

I was a shifter. I belonged with a pack. And Rob was my alpha.

My pack.

My everything.

30

WILLOW

“You ready?”Rob asked. We stood side by side, naked on the porch of the lodge. No one was around for miles.

My pulse raced with excitement. I was going to shift.Into a wolf!

Finally.

But right now, I was going to test out my paws. “Ready. Okay, so what do I do?” I asked for the fifteenth time, turning my head to look up at him.

He smiled at me.Smiled.Soft, gentle, for once he looked at ease. As if the weight of the world was off his shoulders. As if here, now, with mewashis world.

“You don’t do anything. You just let it happen. Remember how it felt to be a wolf. Bring your awareness to that energy and let go.”

I closed my eyes and drew a breath and tried. All I remembered, though, was my panic. Not understanding what had happened. What I was.

Not until Rob had commanded me to be still.

I opened my eyes. “I remember you did something. To help me shift. You made me do it.”

He nodded. “I helped you. An alpha’s command is that strong. But you can do it on your own. You don’t need my help. You never have. Just be the wolf.”

Be the wolf. Right.

I tried again.

Still nothing.

I turned to Rob, sliding my palms over his hairy chest, pressing my breasts up against his ribs. “Please? Make me do it?”