Page 21 of Broken Wolf Heart
Chase her. Catch her. Bite her. Make her yours.
My alpha instincts ride the edge of control, pushing me faster, harder. The mate-bond is a wildfire in my veins, and everything inside me is screaming for me to chase her down and claim her with my bite.
But I can’t forget the look in her eyes. The fear. The pain.
She’s not running from me.
She’s running from herself.
Still, I chase. Ihaveto.
I keep her in my sights as we wind through the trees, leap fallen logs, splash through a shallow ravine. She’s not heading anywhere. She’s just trying to escape the weight of what she did.
I would do anything to carry it for her.
Hell, that’s exactly what I’m trying to do by giving her the credit for Franco’s kill.
Finally, she stumbles into a small clearing at the edge of anarrow stream. The water is dark in the fading light, flowing over smooth stones and between banks covered in moss.
Lexi skids to a stop at the water’s edge, sides heaving, blood still streaked across her fur. Her ears flick back, and she turns as I slowly approach, her paws sinking into the soft moss.
She’s watching me.
Waiting.
Mate.
The word clangs through me, making it hard to take this slow. When I get close, her hackles rise, and her wolf bares its teeth, so I do the least threatening thing I can think of.
I shift, the change rippling through me with heat and fire and a burst of pain. Bones snap, flesh warps, and then I’m standing upright again, naked and breathless, chest rising with exertion.
“Lexi,” I say softly.
She growls low.
“It’s me,” I continue, cautious, calm, crouching slightly to make myself smaller, less threatening. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”
She takes a step back, her back paw dipping into the stream. A soft whine escapes her throat. I hold my breath, hoping like hell she doesn’t run again but ready to chase if she does.
“I know you’re scared. But you don’t have to be.” I take a slow step forward. “You didn’t do anything wrong. They forced your hand. You defended yourself.”
She growls low in her throat, a sound more broken than angry.
“Lexi… I need to talk to you.” I let my own desperation creep into my voice. “I need totouchyou. But I can’t do that while you’re like this.”
She lowers her head, ears pinned back. Her breath rasps in and out in short, panicked bursts.
“Can you shift back?” I ask gently.
She whines again. Tosses her head side to side.
“Hey,” I say, voice low and steady. “Just listen to me. That’s all you have to do.” I press a hand to my chest, right over my heart. “Listen to the sound of my voice. The beat of my heart. Really listen. It’s all for you, Lexi.I exist for you.And my wolf…” My throat tightens. “My wolf belongs to yours. Always. Feel the truth of that inside your wolf. She already knows I’m your mate.”
Her breath hitches.
“Find our connection. Let it ground you. Let it bring you back to me.”
The recognition that she’s my mate is nothing more than a vague, tenuous connection between us. But I wait, hoping it’s enough.
