Page 22 of Claimed By the King's Gamma

So for now I will allow her that sense of privacy.Besides, I have seen her change plenty of times in her room when she doesn’t know I’m watching her.

“I’ll close my eyes,” I chuckle, and she nods.I lick her cheek, lifting her onto the bank.When I don’t hear her shift, my ears prick.

“Abbie?”I ask because I can hear her heart beating and her breathing.

“Don’t look.I am having trouble.Just give me a second.”Minutes pass, and still, I do not hear the crack of her bones, and I can hear her frustrated breathing as she tries.

“You haven’t shifted much, have you?”I ask her.

“I have, but this is only the second time I have gone for a run,” she admits, and I sigh.

“Abbie, I am going to have to open my eyes,” I tell her, and her heart rate quickens.

“No, I can do it, just give me a second,” she panics.

“Abbie, you should have told me you didn’t go for runs often.I wouldn’t have worn your wolf out,” I tell her.

“Huh?”she asks.

“Your wolf side needs stamina.Had I realized, I wouldn’t have taken you so far from the castle.In my bag is a shirt you can put on,” I tell her.I hear movement and her rummaging around in the bag.

“Are you covered?”

“Ah, kind of,” she murmurs, and I open my eyes to see her trying to tug my shirt down her legs.As I climb out, I notice her normally wavy red hair is straight as a pencil from being wet.She steps back as I approach her.

“I have no pants on,” she squeaks.

“I know,” I laugh, holding my hand out to her.She looks at it before sighing and taking it as I scoop up the bag, tossing it over my shoulder.

We start the long trek back to the castle, but the longer we walk, the slower she becomes as mosquitoes attack her flesh.Her hands swat at her naked legs as she tries to stop them from biting her.We are at least another thirty minutes from the castle at this pace.Stopping, I adjust the bag on my shoulder.Grabbing her under the arms, she squeals as I pick her up.

“What are you…”

“Wrap your legs around my waist,” I tell her, but she doesn’t, and I growl when she remains stiff as a plank in my hands.Hugging her closer, I crush her against my chest before lifting her legs around my hips and placing my arm under her butt.She squeaks, shoving off my chest and thrashing.

“Are you done; stop hitting me,” I tell her, nipping at her neck and she freezes though I am curious about her strange reaction to me pulling her closer.I lick her cheek.Her heart hammers against my chest, her skin is ice cold, and she is shaking.

“It’s quicker, I can run with you.”I pull my face back to look at her.

“Just run?”she gasps, looking at me.I stare at her, wondering what she thought I was going to do.

“What else?”I ask her.She looks away, and I growl when I feel her dig her knees into my ribs as she moves up higher.I hoist her up before realizing where her pelvis was resting before.Surely she didn’t think—not only was that impossible while I was in this form, I would never force her but did she think I would?Shaking that thought away, I start walking.

“Wrap your arms around my neck,” I tell her.Abbie does, glancing over her shoulder at the trees when she turns back.Her nose bumps into mine, and she giggles.

“Sorry,” she mutters, her cheeks reddening, and she glances around before peering down.“Gosh, you’re tall,” she stammers as if she has only just noticed that as I duck under a tree branch.

“And fast, so you may want to tuck your face into my neck,” I tell her, pushing her face into my shoulder with one hand.I feel her breath move through my fur, and her arms squeeze tighter around my neck.

“Ready?”I ask her, and I feel her nod.I take off running through the woods.

Her squeal turns to laughter and makes me run faster as we zip through the trees heading home.The warmth of her body is comforting, and for once, I feel warm inside instead of the cold feeling that usually churns within me.She is like fresh air after so many years of having the oxygen stolen from my lungs.As much as whatever trauma taints her, she did not wilt and wither away as I did.It has not turned her cold and uncaring; she still has life within her, and I find I crave seeing that on her face.Seeing the way she lights up with excitement, the way she comes out of her shell when she thinks no one is watching.

When the castle lights come into view through the gaps in the trees, I slow.Some part of me expects her to try to make me put her down, but instead, she remains in my arms.A place I suddenly never want her to leave.Yet as we got closer, I know I have to set her down and leave her side.A place I want to remain but can’t because she is not mine and I am not hers, but for a second, I can pretend.Pretend she is the mate I was destined for.

“What are you doing tomorrow?”I ask her, and she purses her lips, lips that I desperately want to taste.

“Going into town with Clarice,” she answers as I brush a fern away so I can step through the gap in the trees.I hoist her up higher, making her bounce in my arms as she scrambles to grip on to me, so she doesn’t fall backward.

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