Page 122 of Tainted Romance

Why hadn't I picked up on it before?

Then I heard the cracking of twigs. I glanced to my right, and just out of the corner of my eye I spotted him.

The big black wolf.

Should I pretend to be afraid?

I slowly stood up, keeping my eyes locked on his. He took a step out of the shadows, and if I didn't know it was him and that he wouldn't hurt me, I would be running. I'd be running for my life.

He came closer.

I took a step closer to him, putting my hand out.

If someone were watching this, they would be thinking I was putting my hand out to get eaten.

Finally, he was out of the shadows and in the clearing, barely a meter away from me. Knowing he wouldn't hurt me, I closed the gap and put my hand into his thick dark fur.

He wasn't afraid of my touch, and he didn't pull away. Instead, he just let me pat him.

Without thinking, I started talking. "God, you're huge. What kind of wolf gets this big?" And I meant it because normally wolves are smaller, but Zane was soon to be Alpha, so it made sense why he was so big and strong.

"No-one would believe me that I've seen you." I sighed. "If only you knew the whole truth."

Just before I said too much, there was a low growl. My head snapped around and standing there were three wolves. They weren't pack wolves. They were free wolves, like me.

Before I moved anything, Zane knocked me back behind him. Ok, we were in trouble. These wolves wanted blood. They killed for sport, and an Alpha would be a prize. Zane lowered himself to the ground ready to fight.

He knocked me back again and growled as if saying stay behind me. God, Zane, I wasn't stupid, but sitting on the hard ground wasn’t exactly comfortable.

There must have been something in my expression because he dipped his headand licked the side of my face. Yuck, but sweet as well. I scrambled back behind a tree just in time as a red wolf jumped for Zane. Zane fought him off, but the other two came at him at the same time.

They rolled around in the dirt, Zane biting and snapping at them, but they had him pinned and then it hit me - hard.

They could kill him.

One bite to the neck and that was it, and they were trying hard for the death shot. He needed help. Again, the red wolf snapped at Zane's neck. The other two wolves were pinning him down, and every time he threw one of them off, it would come back for more.

It was now that I realized the most obvious. It wasn't gravity holding me to the earth, it was Zane.

If something were to happen to him, I would lose my gravity.

I'd lose him before we even got our start.

I ran towards them, and, without knowing what I was doing, I flew into the air, changing. It was painful and all-consuming. When I landed on all fours, I ran to Zane, taking the red one by the neck and hauling him off Zane's neck.

The two brown ones backed off slightly, and then once Zane was on his feet, he charged them. Flinging them from side to side. Throwing one into a tree. It didn't take long for them to retreat. I thought Zane was going to charge after them, but he didn't. He froze and slowly turned around, his teeth showing and growling - at me.

Oh my God, he doesn't know it's me. Come on, Zane, remember what I looked like. I didn't know how to change back, and I had no link with him to tell him it was me.

He was angrier at me then at the wolves that charged him. Then it hit me. He thinks that I attacked me. He thinks I've killed Allie. If I didn't change back, he was going to kill me. I could run, but he would catch me and kill me so I dropped to the ground and lowered my head. I wasn't a threat.

He snarled.

Come on, Allie, change back. Focus on it. If you don't, he will kill you. I closed my eyes and calmed my breathing and then the next thing I knew I was staring at my hands. Scooting back, I hid behind a tree.

"Zane, it's me, will you calm down and stop snarling at me!"

Great, now I was naked and in the forest with Zane. Today couldn't get any better.

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