1950

Detangling her hair, Bella's blood warmed with desire as she observed the black-haired baby girl. She looked two years older, she was eighteen. She took off one boot by the lake, then another. This wasn't the first time she'd seen him stripping off his clothes, but it would be the first time he'd joined her. If he could taste it, wouldn't he desire it? Hunger to be like him? Wild and free?

She swallowed hard, she missed Diana rather than being a human wife, but she would never be. Raising her chin, she decided to make the man herself. She untied her ankle boots, then she took them off her feet.

The human boy's pet gray wolf rested on the shore, his ears pricked as he watched. But the boy did not see him - he was careless, like most people.

But a boy who values his wolf as himself would take care of him too, right? He had studied her before, swimming naked here, splashing lazily on the surface of the water and trying to pull her towards him. He had seen her, even though he tried to hide in the forest. And as she stepped on dry oak leaves and pine needles to get closer to see him more clearly, she heard with her sensitive hearing. In the breeze, she smelled his dazzling female scent. Then she desired him, she set her belly on fire; she would desire him now.

Lifting his nose, he inhaled his masculinity. Feminine but not as wild as its own kind - lupus garou. A person who treats a woman with kindness, that's what she wanted.

She pulled her blue dress over her head, she tried to remove her clothes as quickly as she could. He wanted to put his plan in motion before he changed his mind or someone in the flock tried to change it for him.

She was adopted by the gray pack, she wasn't even a gray wolf. So why does it matter that he leaves them and chooses the human child for himself? Gray alpha pack leader Viki wanted him, that's why. His stomach twitched at the thought that if he couldn't find a way out of the nightmare, he would have it.

The man took off his pants. A boy, still not well muscled, but on the way. A survivor living alone, that's what intrigued him so much. A loner - like a rogue wolf - is determined to endure.

In his heart, he only longed for Diana, the gray that had saved his life when he was young. Even now, he had a hard time comparing his taller physique to this boy's. He had the same black hair and eyes, which might explain why the man was attracted to him. He wanted Diana with all his heart, but getting his attention would only result in Viki killing him. It's best to leave the pack and mate with a human, cut off ties to the grays, and start your own herd.

He had watched man ride, run, hunt with his rifle, but admired him most when he swam. His gaze shifted to the dark piece of hair resting on his legs, and...

He leaped into the water. With mighty strokes he glided across the calm surface of the small, summer-warmed lake. She came out of her last petticoat, then out of her drawers. Without any stitches on it, he stood on the opposite bank, waiting for her to see him. Wouldn't he miss her like his own kind did?

He had to convince her to have sex with him. Then he would turn into a wolf and bite him. And pass on the beauty of the wolf to him in the ancient way.

She ran her fingers through her cinnamon curls, fanning them over her shoulders to her hips.

They would live together in his log cabin, forever wandering in the woods in wolf forms under the bright moon. His mother, father, and younger sister had died in the winter, and none of his kind lived within a fifteen-mile radius. He wanted it - he had to. Like a pack of wolves, most people craved companionship.

He stepped into the water.

Then she saw him.

His dark eyes widened and his mouth fell open. But it didn't swim towards him as he expected. She didn't come for him, she fascinated him as she wanted. His eyes studied every bit of her, but then turned away from her, back to the shore and her clothes. What did he have?

His mind was battling between anger and surprise. Didn't she find him attractive?

She swam towards him, trying to reach the shore before she dressed and went back to her hut. But when he reached the halfway point of the lake, he shrugged off his trousers and boots, not minding his shirt or vest, and disappeared into the woods, holding the wolf in his heel.

He looked behind him in disbelief.

"Bella!" The leader of the herd cried out in a terrifying and warlike voice.

He shook his head. His heart nearly stopped when he saw the gray leader.

Viki stood like a hunter waiting for the right moment to pursue her prey. His ebony hair was tightly tied, and his black eyes were narrowed. As a werewolf, Fit was the leader thanks to her sexy build, tall, strong jaws and wicked killer canines. But she stood like a woman now, her thoughts darker than night, her face menacing as she thought of him swimming naked in the lake.

Did the boy escape in time before Viki saw him? How could he be naive enough to think that the Wiki would let him be a girly girl?

He shoveled instead, staring at her. "What do you want, Viki?" he grumbled, whenshe could not use civilized language if she stood next to him.

"Get out now!"

He turned his head towards the forest.

Did it smell human? His heartbeat quickened. She returned to her clothes, determined to distract her attention from the boy.

Then he spied on Diana, half-hidden in the shadows of the forest, watching as if she and the pack were maneuvering to kill the leader. She felt regretful that she might have seen Diana staring at a human with lust. Despite being three years older than him, he still struggles for his place in the pack. A leather strap tied her shoulder-length brown hair, and she fought the urge to let her hair loose to soften her stern look. His equally dark brown eyes glared at her as his solid jaw contracted.

She approached, not menacingly, as if she was chasing a deer and afraid to scare away her prey. She raised one eyebrow. This time she looked like she got permission from Wiki to get closer.

"Stay away," she growled.

Coming out of the water, Viki distracted her attention from thinking about the forests or who might have been lost in them. Diana also looked at him with a lot of interest.

Disturbed by having the wrong audience, she hurried to put on her clothes. Still, the approach of Diana, standing only a few feet away from her until she dressed, while Viki remained a hundred yards away, struck a drop of fear into her.

Viki would never let girls approach her while she was naked, and normally she wouldn't allow it either. So what were they doing? She let go of her wet hair, then Viki nodded.

As soon as she signaled Diana, her heart began to beat, but she didn't react fast enough. Diana stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. At the same time, Viki charged towards the forest where the young woman had disappeared.

"Wiki!" she screamed.

He intended to kill the boy. He had just really killed her, as if he had slit his throat himself. She struggled to free herself from Diana, while trying to save her. "Let me go!"

She gripped his wrist tighter and hurriedly dragged him towards their village.

"He did nothing!"

Diana looked at him, her eyes unforgiving, blacker than she had ever seen before. Anger was burning deep inside, she. A rage She couldn't understand.

"Please," she begged, trying to soften her heart.

She tried to get away, and she pulled him to her side. "You're an idiot Bella."

"I'm not going to be Viki's wife!"

For a moment, Diana's grip on her arm waned. Then he tightened his grip again. "You have no choice. And after what he's done here, he won't wait any longer."

Was there regret in his voice? God, how she wanted him to save her from Wiki... to be his wife.

There was a howl in the distance and she fell to her knees. Viki killed the young woman and cried out to the world with great pleasure what she had done.

Diana picked him up from the ground and hurried off.

"You will never leave the pack, Duana. You will always be nothing but a follower!" She didn't want to say the hurtful words, but the anger she contained burned like molten lava beneath the surface, she. "Why can't you run with me? Why don't you take me far from here?"

She looked at him. "They're my family. They'll always be my family. It's something you don't seem to understand."

"I - I thought you had feelings for me."

Diana stopped him and grabbed him by the shoulders. "She can never be between us! Viki would have chased us both. What kind of life would that be? It would kill our generation too. Is that what you want? Maybe if I were older, stronger, but now she can't wait to have you." She shook her head. "Damn Bella, she wouldn't want you when it comes to humans! Can't you see that? If she saw you change, she'd be thrown back. If she could find a way, she'd kill you." He hugged her tightly and looked into her eyes with a mixture of anger and hunger. "You know what I want from you."

She was tough and smelled sexy.

She felt her hormones skyrocket, forcing him to ride her. Her breath came quickly when she wanted to get his attention, but she was afraid of them too. They feared what Viki would do to Diana if Viki caught her in lust with lust. She had never seen Diana so outwardly angry she, so venomous—so sexually alive she.

"You could smell his rotten fear, woman!" He pulled her against her body and kissed her hard on the mouth, without mocking or waiting for her approval - just pure lust, conquering and determined. And she loved him, every ounce of the dangerous and wild lupus garou he was.

His body melted at his touch, but the victor's musky, bloody scent drifted toward him in the breeze. Panic ripped through her. Viki would claim it now. But if Diana catches him touching her.

Viki appeared in her ebony-skinned wolf form in a few moves, her eyes narrowed in hatred. He grumbled and immediately Diana released him. He stepped back, thinking that Viki was going to kill Diana because of her actions, the thought turned her stomach.

Diana held her ground. "I tried to convince him how stupid he was for having feelings for people."

vikingI turned to Bella. He was going to show him how a female wolf gets a wife. The moisture in his throat evaporated. The sight of him trying to take her when he was much younger still fed his nightmares. A wave of tremors enveloped his body.

Viki turned her attention back to Diana. Her hair stood straight from the nape to the tip of her tail, she. She advanced aggressively, then stopped.

Torn between giving herself to Viki to protect Diana and fighting Viki herself, she knew neither would work. Diana would have hated him anyway - damn female wolf pride.

Viki growled again. Diana took off her shirt. Her bra was exposed, her golden skin gleaming with sweat in the summer sun. Another day, she loved to see every ounce of her beautiful physique—the muscular thighs, the dark curly hair between her legs, and the erection she stimulated. But not now, not when Viki is threatening to tear him apart.

As soon as Diana stood naked, she began to change, her body took the shape of a wolf, her nose became longer. His long legs and torso were covered with a thick brown fur as rich as a mink. He howled as the change took place. Viki waited patiently before making a move.

He couldn't watch her tear Diana apart. He couldn't bear to see the tyrant hurt the other wolf of the pack. But it's definitely not the Diana he played as a cub, not Diana who saved him from the wildfire that took the life of a pack of red wolves. He couldn't save her now... just maybe himself. However, when Viki made the move towards Diana, she stepped in to protect Diana. Viki pressed her teeth into his arm, having the ability to break bone with her powerful canine teeth. She cried out as a pain stabbed her arm and blood dripped from the wound. She snarled to stay away from him, even though her eyes flashed remorse and released him. So is Diana.

Maybe if she ran away, Viki would follow. Maybe that's how he could save Diana. But he would never return to the herd.

He sprang out with his legs stretched out, his heart beating fast, his breathing even, but his mind frantic—his only chance was to throw off his clothes and flee like a wolf.

Nowadays

One hundred and fifty years later—one aging for every thirty that passes by the time lupus garou reaches puberty—Bella was the equivalent of a twenty-one-year-old human. More than ever, Diana yearned for her husband to be reunited, wishing she hadn't had to hide from the herd all these years. Whenever she entered the wolf's fire, burning desire for him filled her veins. His body longed for his touch, but his mind had given up hoping to possess it. If a strong, compatible human could find a mate, she could turn him into a lupus garou and she could protect him from Viki.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the ferocious demon image, and continued packing his night bag. Any woman would be better than him - a good wife to help him start his own herd.

He turned to look at the photo of Diana on the nightstand, the last photo sent by the former, retired pack leader Argos. Taking a deep breath, she tossed another pair of jeans into her purse, determined to take her mind off Diana.

Knowing that he could no longer delay mating, he realized that one's second choice far outweighed living alone; Even the sound of a dog's howling in the night breeze triggered a gnawing longing to be with a pack.

She sneaked into his office and left an e-mail message for Argos, a routine he adopted as he insisted that he notify her whenever he went into the woods. As a loner, he would have no backup. We're going to the cabin again for the weekend, Argos. Give love to the herd, secretly. Always yours, my love, Bella

He didn't have to tell him to keep his correspondence confidential; She knew what would happen if Viki found out where he was...

Turning off her computer, she picked up her phone and called her next-door neighbor—a woman who partially alleviated Bella's loneliness after she lost her twin sister in a fire years ago. "Chrissie, I'm going back to my cabin for the weekend. Can you watch for me?"

"Sure Bella. Pick up your mail on Saturday if you want. And I'll water your greenhouse plants. Hey, I don't want to hold you back, but did you hear about the last murder?"

"Yes, the police need to catch the bastard ASAP."

That was one of the reasons she went to her cabin, to escape, to ponder the truth about the murders, to look for clues in the woods. He must have been from Portland or its environs, for he had killed all the women because it was there. And from time to time she had to take a stroll through a forest. The call of the savage was too strong within them. Where she was running, so far from the city, she didn't expect to smell the red lupus garou. He hadn't had a trace of them in three years. Not until the end of last week. Was the murderer one of them? He had to know.

Bella tossed a pink sweatshirt into the bag.

"Be careful, honey. The victims are all in their twenties with red hair. And the last one was killed not far from here."

"Don't worry, Chrissie. I have a gun to protect." Well, two: one cambetween, the other at home, but who was counting? Silver bullets too; Bella had them made for Viki. Lupus garou wasn't the way, but there was no other way to fight it. She would never be his.

"A . . . a gun? Do you know how to shoot?"

Yes, he had learned how to shoot guns since his early days in the wilderness trying to survive in the lands west of Colorado a century and a half ago.

"Yeah, don't worry. Give your kids a hug for me, okay? Tell Mary I want to see the painting she made for art class and when I get back to Jimmy I want to see the science project."

Chrissie sighed. "I'll tell them. Be careful out there alone. That is, if you're going alone."

Always in control. Chrissie was looking for husband number two and assumed she was meeting a mountain man every time Bella returned to her cabin.

"See you on Monday."

"Be careful, Bella. You never know where that maniac will end up."

"I'll be cautious. I have to go."

Bella hung up and zipped up her suitcase. Before dark, he was intent on searching the forest for more clues to the red lupus garou—not a wild dog, a mixed breed of wolf-dog, or, as some think, a pit bull that a bastard had trained to kill his victims. - it could be killing women.

Why had he caught the scent of red lupus garou in the area near his hut, when he had been free of his kind in the forest for the past three years? She imagined that a lonely woman wouldn't have a chance to stay that way. She was nauseous at the thought of giving up her hut and finding a new place to escape to. One more worry to add to the growing list of concerns.

Later that day, when Bella arrived at her cottage, the waning moon called out to her, although it was still quite bright. Standing on the porch of his cedar house in the woods, he lifted his nose into the breeze, the building now pale gray. It served as his hideout for weekends when he lived on the wild side, away from the hustle and bustle of the city of Portland. If she found him, she would be the right age to be Victor's wife. Her smile faded as a coyote howled, smiling at how clever she had been to avoid him. It wasn't about being a rogue wolf living alone without a pack. Some are naturally tuned that way. not him.

Moreover, Diana was still holding her heart hostage, damn it. She could still feel his long slender fingers gripping her shoulders possessively, smelling her wild desire to possess him, she could feel her heart pounding as she crushed him against him. Why couldn't she run away with him, she?

She nodded and she tried to get rid of her thoughts about the person who had her soul all along.

It wasn't that she didn't care about the gray wolf pack, the lupus garou family that had let her in. It was the unbelievable idea that she would become Viki's wife that hurled her soul into the depths of hell. She was stronger than the others, she wasn't smarter, or she didn't care in the slightest. Just a tyrant, as in ancient times when the strongest men ruled. Why couldn't she find a mate to treat him as an equal?

Somewhere, such a woman had to exist.

Taking a deep breath, She took off her sweater, turtleneck, jeans, and hiking boots, and set them on a patio chair. She shivered as she stood naked, then inhaled the heavenly scent of pine needles, triggering the memory of Diana kissing her once again. No woman had kissed him the way he kissed her since.

She grit her teeth and swallowed hard. She awakened in him primitive longings that were too strong to be extinguished. The desire to feel it deep inside, to fill it with her seed, to produce offspring, to produce families - to share a lifelong commitment as a forever partner - overwhelmed him. But he was not the leader of the pack. She didn't think she would be strong enough to have Diana, even if she wanted to as his wife. Still, he couldn't help but contact the former leader of the pack, Argos. Knowing that Diana is alive and well...

She growled in exasperation. For now, he had to hunt like a wolf, and in the meantime seek a different prey—the ferocious predator that pursued the red-haired women and killed them like a rabid wolf.

Yawning again, his weak body began to take the shape of a wolf. Painless transformation was always swift, filling it with a sense of urgency - hunting ran wild among the other creatures of the forest.

A thick cinnamon-red pelt covered his skin as his snout elongated and his teeth prepared for prey. He straightened his back, howled at the change, then fell on his paws. His nails turned into sharp claws, itching to dig in the pine needle cushioned earth.

Although he preferred venison to rabbit, he hunted the latter. It was a crime to kill deer in season. If anyone finds the remains of such a murder, an investigation is opened. Soon news spread that a wolf had killed a deer in the area. A wolf that can go after farmers' sheep or cattle, pets or children. extinction in these regionsA wolf thought to have landed.

Leaping off the patio, his long legs carried him with graceful strides into the wilderness. He toured several hundred acres before spying on another cottage—quiet, empty. Now that it's winter and it's no longer hunting season, he shouldn't have seen another human except for the end of the dark Canada goose season.

He thought he smelled something familiar. Hesitating, he sniffed the air and recognized the distinctive scent of lupus garou - red lupus garou.

Turning towards the source of the scent, he sprinted past the pines and firs, stooped under low branches, jumped in front of a moss-covered log…then stopped.

A piece of red fur was stuck to the bark of an oak tree. Definitely the red wolf; and since there were none here, a red lupus garou had to be.

He considered returning to human form and taking the evidence back to his shack, but he was miles from there, and no matter how cold it was, his human equivalent would probably not be able to make it.

The wind changed direction. He could feel the scent of red more strongly now. He had urinated somewhere nearby, pointing to his territory. He hesitated. If he was looking for a mate, he would be the main target; and if she were an alpha female, she wouldn't be strong enough to fight him if she decided to forcefully mate.

The leaves rustled. A branch broke under the foot a short distance away. A chill ran down his spine, down to the tip of his taut tail. An eerie feeling of being watched froze him in place.

What if he was the murderer? What if he's hunting her now? But what if he could pull it out into the open, play its game, and hand it over to any herd living in the area? Even if he was alone, the herd in the area would have condemned him to death. Killing people puts every lupus garou at risk. Keeping their secret was the only way they could survive.

Then again, there might be a lot of herd members hunting for fresh meat – just like her enjoying the freedom of change – a lone lupus garou who encounters her, violating the herd's territory. Unless, of course, their reds don't have a female shortage like Colorado grays and...

Damn, why hadn't he thought of that before?

He gazed out into the shadowy forest, where insects chirped in a muffled chorus and a breeze rippled the pine needles in whispered silence. If there was a severe shortage of female lupus garou, was the killer anciently trying to turn a human into a female? To make her his wife?

Not good.

He ran to where he had left his mark. No trace of him. But the urine was fresh. Very fresh. She was supposed to be nearby, but if she was following her, she couldn't be an alpha female. If he needed a mate, an alpha female would have already approached him and said he wanted her. She needed to smell how mature she was and know that she was ready too. Is that why he went after female humans because they were easier to get hold of than a lupus garou? Perhaps he was afraid of moving towards a more wild, more cautious, more unpredictable solitude.

He smelled someone else. Also male. Except for waving his ears back and forth and panting his tongue back, he listened and sniffed the air, but stood still.

He smelled - water.

He felt himself being swallowed by the scorch and rushed towards the sound of Wolf Creek, the bubbling waters nearby. He paused at the edge of the forest, not liking the creek banks being so exposed. For several minutes he stood and watched, listening for signs of danger - human danger.

Nothing.

The water called to him. He swallowed again, peered into the stream, then walked cautiously along the pebble shore.

He waited, unable to shake the feeling of someone watching him, like a rabbit cornered and glued in place by a wolf.

The icy water from the melting snow from the mountains dove on the round rocks. He plunged his tongue into the water and rubbed himself; The liquid cooled him and soothed his dry throat.

She couldn't help wishing she'd been back in California, running with Derek like they did when they were younger, chasing through the woods, nipping each other's asses, feeling the wind ruffling their fur. God, how he would love to mate with her.

The water was running and gurgling at his feet, birds were chirping above him, and sugary oak leaves rustled in the breeze around him. But then a flash of red fur caught his attention and he turned.

The gleam of the fading reflection of the sun from a wolf's amber eyes caught him, held him hostage, but his gaze captured him too. But just for a moment. He shook his head. Another fur glowed and another woman appeared. Then a wave of a wolf's tail as the lupus garou rushes back. He should have heeded the instinctive warning. Instead, he measured the remaining wolf's stance, turning his attention back to himself, closing his mouth, and almost smiling before chasing after his friend.

The slamming through the bushes failed to disguise the most dangerous sound wildlife has ever known – the click of a trigger on a rifle. Nothing could hide the voice of death.

Immediately his tail was erect and the hairs on his back and neck stood on end..

A shudder ran down his spine, and he raced through the stream, his heart pounding. Its ears curled back and forth, trying to determine where the predator was standing.

A crackling sound rang through the woods and open field, and a sharp pain pierced his left flank. He stumbled... then tried to jump again, his leg paralyzed.

The hunter shouted, "Still going! I've never seen such a big red wolf! Shoot him again!"

They are idiots. They couldn't kill him with normal bullets.

She ran a few yards to the edge of the forest, but the guarded relief she felt faded as the men leaped into the creek to warmly chase her. He ran north to his cabin, miles away. Going this way meant he had to cross the river. Then again, while doubting what he could do, he could pass it by.

"Hurry up!" shouted one of the men, his voice full of enthusiasm but overshadowed by a bit of worry.

He would grit his teeth in anger, but he was breathing too fast. His movements slowed. Even his brain became blurred and his vision blurred. If they got close enough, it occurred to them to slit their throats. His primitive instinct for self-preservation overruled his decision that his own kind did not kill humans; keeping their existence a secret outweighed the importance of any lupus garou's life.

"Catch him before he reaches the river! We don't want him to drown!" the same man shouted.

Another crack. Another pain. This time the right wing. He stumbled when his hind legs gave up. What did they shoot him with? He was out of breath, his heart beating fast as he tried to keep his mind.

The men slammed into him through the bushes. His boots, hitting the ground, spread outward and were in the middle of the quivering pads. He struggled to run. His pulse slowed.

"Dude, oh, man, I told you, didn't I, Thompson? It's beautiful," said a tall man wearing camouflaged clothes, his black hair cropped short, a camouflaged baseball cap shading his eyes. He approached her carefully.

She gave him a wild look that meant danger and dragged her hind legs. Work damn it! Work! But no matter how much he tried to push his legs forward, he couldn't. He sat down, panic forced him to flee, but he couldn't bear it as a strange numbness ran through his body. He could no longer sit, he turned on his side. And watched the hunters approach with murder in their eyes.

"Damn! He's the biggest red wolf I've ever seen, Joe," said Thompson as they both approached... cautiously... the smell of fear obscured them. He was dressed like the other, only his blue eyes were wide with excitement.

He raised his head, snarled, and gritted his teeth, but it cost him precious energy that he was trying to do in vain. Tired, he laid his head back on the forest floor, the bed of pine needles tickled his nose.

Joe crouched on her back, then pulled something from his hip. Darts, not bullets. to curse. His heart was beating so slowly that he thought he was going to die.

"You were absolutely right about a red wolf prowling around here. But they've been extinct for years. How did it get here? I mean, it couldn't have come all the way from Great Smoky Mountains National Park." Joe smelled of sweat, sex, and musk deodorant that couldn't stand the pressure; nor did her floral cologne hide her body odor.

Thompson, a blond-haired bearded man, smelled just as sweaty and masculine, but without artificial sweeteners to attract the female variety. He could hear his heart pounding against his ribs as he lifted his hind leg. He snarled, unable to raise his head, but the muffled sleepy voice did not have the threat he had intended.

"She's a woman. Damn. How can a female get that big?"

He snarled, boasting of being a red wolf and small. Sure, it looked big for a real wolf, but as a lupus garou...

He ran his hand over his back leg. Had he not seen her do this, she would never have realized that she was as numb as her leg. "Long legs, the most beautiful red hide I've ever seen on a wild wolf." He looked at the black haired man. "In the fire, Joe. We'll have to find him a wife."

Fantastic. If they lock him in a room with a real red wolf... oh god, couldn't they be planning to take him to the zoo?