Page 21 of Deception

She ran faster and faster, willing him to hear her call.Wait for me, my mate.

Chapter Six

Drew shifted from foot to foot and peered through the darkness. Where was she?

He kicked the ground for the tenth time and paced toward the road, then back up the trail. He’d driven miles from Hope Springs to a tiny state park that seemed as good a place as any for a clandestine meeting. But would Summer even show?

He scratched his ear and told himself not to doubt her. But hell, he had done a pretty good job keeping a poker face at the wolf pack meeting, not to mention making vague enough comments about mixing shifter species that she might have bought into his deceit. But surely Summer would know he was firmly on his cousin’s side. She wouldn’t turn her back on him, would she?

He checked the perimeter again and went back to pacing. The only sound was the crunch of his boots over the dusting of snow on the ground. He sniffed the air to make sure there was no one else around. And why would there be, way up this back road to a remote corner of the park? He’d let himself through a few poorly locked gates on the way in, parked a good mile away, hopped a fence, and hid his tracks carefully. No way was anyone going to interrupt them tonight.

Trust me,the voice in his mind whispered.You are safe here.

Well, he’d be the judge of that. He triple-checked everything until his bear was satisfied.

Safe.His bear nodded.But where is she?

He’d felt the pull to this place. Did Summer, too? There was a hum coming from the ground — almost from the center of the earth. As if Mother Nature had guided him to this special place, eager to facilitate a secret rendezvous.

He checked his watch and then the area yet again. The clearing he stood in held a couple of picnic tables with grills, and none of the ashes were new. The area was officially closed anyway, and most importantly, there was no hint of shifters here.

No, he didn’t have to worry. He was alone.

Don’t want alone,his bear sighed sadly.Want my mate.

That was the problem. There was no hint of Summer, either.

Patience, he barked at his bear, complete hypocrite that he was.

Finally, the bushes at the far side of the clearing rustled, and he spun.

“Summer.”

Her name was about all he could manage when she stepped out of the shadows. It was her. It had to be her. But Jesus, he’d never seen her in wolf form before. And that wolf — Summer — took his breath away.

She was just as beautiful as he expected. Her hair was just as fair as he was used to seeing, which made her lighter than any wolf he’d ever seen. Her eyes were that same chocolate brown, but they were even more intense than usual, and all the more striking with the slightly darker stripe of fur that marked the line of her brow. Her nose was black and shiny, and her nostrils flared, taking in his scent. She held her body exactly as she held her human form: tall and a little stiff, like someone who felt fear but refused to bow to it.

Fear. He was determined to erase that from her life. Someday. Somehow. Yes, it was risky, meeting like this. But not meeting was riskier, because he couldn’t keep his passion for her bottled up any more. This seemed like the only way — getting the need out of his system before sneaking back to the Blue Blood stronghold and caging away his desire again.

His bear rumbled, encouraging her to sniff all she wanted.You’re mine, and I’m yours.Did she feel it, too?

“Summer,” he said, letting his voice break the silence of the forest.

He held his breath, admiring every detail of the wolf. Imprinting them all onto his memory. Her long legs, the glint of starlight in her eyes. The hopeful expression on her face.

“Summer,” he whispered, coaxing her forward.

She licked her wolf lips and flicked her tail back and forth. Slowly, she took a step, and the moonlight shimmered over her coat. Another step, and Drew still hadn’t dared to exhale. He hadn’t even dared to think. He just stood there, lost in her spell.

She was all the way across the clearing, and that seemed much, much too far. But thankfully, she was coming closer, one cautious step at a time. She seemed to be getting taller, too, and at first, he thought it was a trick of the light — that the shimmer around her was her wolf’s body heat wavering in the cold air. Then he realized she was shifting, and he gaped. Shifters didn’t just change forms around anyone. Only around packmates and their most trusted friends.

“Summer,” he whispered in a voice thick with gratitude and wonder.

As she reared up on her hind legs, her human features emerged. She flexed her paws as they elongated into fingers and hands. Her beautiful wolf pelt receded, leaving her skin bare, and she wrapped her arms around herself. Against the cold or because of his stare? Both?

He gulped, unable to drag his eyes away from the sleek lines and creamy skin of Summer, the woman. So stunning, she looked like Venus rising from the ocean. So radiant, she flipped around his sense of seasons and hours. Instead of the cold of winter, he felt the warmth of July, and the space around her practically glowed, as if that was the sun shining down into that clearing instead of the nearly full moon.

Her skin was pale and smooth, her legs long and slender, her nipples tight in the cold. They pointed up slightly, peeking between her fingers, and his lips moved involuntarily. He longed for a taste. He longed to touch the swell of her breasts and the endlessly long legs that stretched to the graceful curve of her hips.

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