Page 21 of Claimed By the King's Gamma

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Her tiny wolf tries to keep up, but she easily looses track of me, so I decide to double back, coming up from behind her.When I find her, Abbie’s wolf is sniffing the ground, trying to pick up my scent.She is by the river’s edge, and her head swivels from side to side, glancing among the trees as she tries to locate where I went.However, doubling back and the added breeze is confusing her as she follows her nose before giving up and dropping her rump to the ground as she sits staring at the river.

Still, I don’t step out of my hiding spot.Instead, I watch her like some damn creep for a while.Curiosity gets the better of me, and I want to see if she will try to escape being this close to the border.I don’t know why I want to see if she is tempted to; maybe because my fascination with the girl is quickly turning into an obsession, and I don’t want her to leave.

After a while, she wanders closer to the water’s edge, dipping her head, trying to drink from it.It is pretty shallow there, so I’m not sure why she won’t just wade in.Maybe she doesn’t want to get wet?

As she attempts to get closer, her front paws slip slightly, and Abbie rears back, scooting further away from the bank.Her heart rate is easily discernible as it thumps erratically.She nervously glances around as if she is trying to figure her way back before she huffs and yawns, then lies down.Stepping out from the treeline, and the tree I was watching her from, her ears perk.She instantly gets to her feet.Spotting me, she rushes over and zips between my legs, rubbing herself on my legs.

Shewolves are amazing in their wolf form, unrestricted for the most part.They have no control, and that is when they were predominantly closest to my species, baser instinct kicking in, just not as strong as a Lycans urges.Leaning down, I brush my fingers through her soft, thick fur, my claws bumping over the ridges of her spine.She is skinny—too skinny—for a werewolf.I briefly wonder how many times she has shifted because her wolf side should have the bulk of hard muscle, yet even through her fur, I can feel nothing but skin and bone.

My touch, however, seems to make her snap back to herself, and she drops to the ground as if commanded, the rational part of her brain retaking control of her actions.A whimper escapes her as if she thinks she shouldn’t have behaved in such a way.

The she-wolves I know are always submissive to those of stronger potency, so it is not surprising she thinks she would be in trouble for her actions.She reminds me of Ivy in this sense.Both girls are unusually submissive, as if over the years, any sense of themselves was slowly beaten out of them until they were nothing but compliant to others’ whims.I am not surprised Abbie would fight her own instincts even in this form.Crouching beside her, she instinctively turns languid, flopping on her side and showing me her belly.

I chuckle, knowing Abbie must be internally cringing at her wolf side’s actions.Yet if Abbie is anything like Ivy, she won’t understand her own instincts or werewolf and Lycan heritage for that matter.I’ve seen the way Kyson struggles the same with Ivy and her timidness.

Abbie whines as I rub her belly and chest before I scoop her up, making her yelp loudly.My heart lurches in my chest, thinking I have hurt her as I drag her into my lap.

“Did I hurt you?”I ask worriedly.That wasn’t my intention, but sometimes I forget my strength.Yet she shakes her wolfy head from side to side and I know I startled her, as I cross my legs beneath her.She rests her head on my knee, but she pants as if thirsty.I look at the river, wishing she could answer me back in that form.Lycans can speak in either form whereas werewolves can’t, though they do have pack mindlinks.But she is a rogue, so wouldn’t even have that.

“You can drink from the river.Clarice won’t care if you get wet,” I tell her, rubbing her ears softly.She looks over at it and lets out a huff.I furrow my brows.I know the water here is fresh because I have drank from it.When I move, she crawls off my lap, and I move to the river edge where the water is deepest and dive in.When I breach the surface, I find her wolf has moved closer and is sitting on the edge of the bank.She stares down at her reflection in the water then she tilts her head from side to side, sniffing the air.Swimming over to her, she lifts her head and watches me.

I splash her, but she doesn’t react.“Come in.You won’t get in trouble,” I tell her, but she shakes her head.Her bright green eyes watching me curiously.

“Are you thirsty?”I ask her, and she nods.I furrow my brows as I swim closer to her, cupping my furry palms in the water and lifting them so she can drink from them.Her tongue laps at my hands thirstily, and I cup them again so she can drink more.

Once she has her fill, she bumps my hand with her wet nose and backs away from the edge a little more.It’s not as if I am naked, not that I would shift in front of her.I don’t want her to get the wrong idea, and I know she would have questions if she saw me naked.I don’t exactly have war scars gracing my body.You could tell they are self-inflicted.

Glancing up at the darkening sky, it isn’t cold, so that can’t be it.Realization hits me, her potent fear.She can’t swim.

“You can’t swim?”I ask, wanting to be sure.She nods her head once, looking back at me.

“Shift; I will try to teach you,” I tell her, not that I have ever taught someone to swim before.My own father taught me by throwing me in deep water and saying kick or drown.I learned quickly because I knew the bastard wasn’t coming in after me.Yet somehow, I know she will drown if I try that with her.

“I won’t look, I promise,” I tell her, turning around yet moving closer to the bank where she can reach me.The water is shallow here, or maybe it is because currently, I stand over seven feet tall in this form.However, I am surprised when I hear her shifting behind me.I honestly didn’t think she would.

Yet I don’t hear her get in the water.Turning slightly, I hold my hand out to her, making sure not to turn my head.Her fear is strong in the air as if she is unsure of the water or maybe me.

I can’t be sure, but I have to hold in my gasp when I feel her tiny hand slide into mine.I grab her hand, my claws sliding over her wrist, when I hear a splash before both of her hands suddenly grip my outstretched arm, and she coughs.Her fingers pull the fur out along my arms, and I turn quickly, using my other arm to wrap around her waist while her legs latch around my hips in a grip that would be crushing if I were human.

She continues to cough and sputter for a second before rubbing her eyes with one hand and then opening them.

“Are you sure we won’t get in trouble?”she asks, her hands moving to my chest, where she grips my fur tightly like she is afraid I will let her drown.I move further out to where not even I can stand.

“You’re with me.Why would you get in trouble?”I ask.Abbie says nothing, and I try to unwrap her legs.Her grip on my fur tightens, her nails digging into my skin.

“What are you doing?”she shrieks.

“I won’t let you drown, Abbie,” I tell her, gripping one of her wrists and prying her grip off me.I set her hand on my shoulder, and her other hand moves to grip the other.

“Use your legs, and kick them under the water,” I tell her, and after some prompting, she eventually unlatches them from my waist.I swim backward as she moves, her legs treading water.

We lose track of time after a few hours.It is pitch black, yet she seems to be having fun until I notice her teeth chattering.Although, I am confident enough that if she falls into a body of water, she will be able to get herself out, I still wouldn’t trust her to go swimming alone, especially if there is a current.

Abbie grips my shoulders as I swim back to the bank.I try not to laugh at her white legs and ass.She doesn’t need to know I can see her completely because I can see beneath the water.I move to lift her back onto the bank when she whispers.

“Gannon, I’m naked,” she says when I grab her waist to hoist her up.I don’t have the heart to tell her I could see her the entire time.The water is far from murky, though I know to her eyes it would have looked like it.For me, I can see every part of her.

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