Page 31 of It's Kind of a Bunny Story
I knew he was right, but after days spent trapped in a cave and the bedroom, I was on the verge of going stir crazy. Thankfully, breakfast was quick, and we were out the door a half hour later.
I’d thoughtwe’d be taking a nice stroll to the lake, but the men had unanimously decided that I didn’t need to burn any more energy than was absolutely necessary. So instead, they were giving me a tour of the land around their home from my perch on Copeland’s broad back. I’d heard of horseback tours, but never wolfback.
Sitting astride the brown and white wolf, my fingers desperately gripped his fur as he wove between trees and leaped over fallen logs. From the corner of my eye, I caught a blur of black and white as Fletcher darted through the thick undergrowth with the athletic ease only a rabbit could manage. Linc’s chocolate brown wolf followed just behind us, a picnic basket clasped in his jaws.
The thick wall of trees parted, and we bounded into an open field. Tall grass sparkled with dew as it waved gently in the breeze. As we ran, the wolves stirred up a myriad of tiny insects and pollen around us. With the canopy of trees no longer covering the ground, the morning sun warmed my skin and caused Copeland’s wolf to sneeze with enough violence to nearly toss me from his back.
“Ah!” I shrieked, stooping low to cling tighter to him.
Tumbling off his back while he was standing still wouldn’t hurt, but at the speed he was running, it sure wasn’t going to feel great to face plant in the dirt. Copeland barked in amusement and twisted his head to lick my face where I’d tucked it against his neck.
Linc’s wolf picked up speed, running alongside us. His brown fur was dusted in enough pollen to make him look like an old man. He sneezed, sending more pollen dancing in the air, and I couldn’t help but snicker when Copeland answered with a string of three sneezes in a row. Who knew wolves could have grass allergies?
Five minutes later, his footsteps slowed, and I pushed up into a sitting position to study the landscape. Jade-colored water stretched out in front of us, and although I could see the hazy shore on the far side of the lake, it was a lot further away than I’d anticipated. It wasn’t much smaller than the lake I’d enjoyed swimming in whenever I snuck away from the burrow for some alone time.
“It’s bigger than I expected!” I breathed.
“That’s what she said.”
I turned just in time to catch Linc’s wink. He’d shifted and was pulling several pairs of shorts from the basket. He tossed a pair toward Fletcher, who strode out from the thick grass in his human form.
“That’s odd.” Fletcher rubbed his jaw, his expression serious. “That’s not what I remember her saying the first time she saw you two naked.”
I choked on a laugh. This earned me a grumpy huff from Copeland, and he abruptly planted his butt on the ground, sending me toppling from his back onto the ground, where I continued to giggle.
Tossing his shorts onto a nearby rock, Linc closed the distance between us. “You think that’s funny, little rabbit?” His voice was rough and his eyes glinted with menace, but I could see the corner of his mouth twitching as he fought a smile.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I tried my best to appear serious. “Yeah, I kinda thought wolves would be bigger.”
Fletcher howled with laughter, while Copeland hurried to shift, and Linc stormed toward me. Leaping to my feet, I took off, dumping my borrowed clothes to the pebble-covered shore as I ran for the water.
“But don’t worry! It’s not the size of the boat, but the motion of the ocean that matters!” I tossed the words over my shoulder as I dove into the lake and swam as though my life depended on it… because maybe it did.
The shock of the cool mountain water had my chest tightening and sent chills racing over my skin. Popping to the surface, I gasped and sucked in a deep breath. Glancing toward the shore, I spotted my wolf shifters plunging into the water in pursuit.
Fletcher collapsed on the shore, holding his side as he continued to cackle. “Swim, Charlee! Swim! Don’t let them get you!”
Giving him a saucy salute, I paused just long enough to pack my lungs with air before disappearing beneath the surface. I wasn’t worried. Because unless the men were professional swimmers, they would struggle to catch me.
Opening my eyes, I kicked my legs and descended. The lake was pristine, reminding me of the beautiful water I’d seen in the travel magazines I’d occasionally found buried in the recycling bin outside one of the councilman’s houses.
Rolling to my side, I looked back to see Copeland and Linc trying to follow me. They only made it about fifteen feet down before needing to resurface. Reaching the bottom of the lake about twenty-five feet down, I let myself relax. By concentrating on slowing my heartbeat, I could explore longer before needing to surface.
My mind quieted, and a sense of peace settled over me. It had been far too long since I’d been able to swim, plus my muscles were still shaky from everything over the past weeks, soI was forced to kick my way upward far sooner than I wished. I broke the surface about ten feet behind the pair of shouting wolf shifters.
“Don’t ever do that again! You could have drowned!” Copeland bellowed.
“Are you sure you’re a rabbit shifter and not a kraken?” Linc demanded, completely serious.
Treading water, I laughed and wiped the water from my eyes. “You saw my rabbit form, so you know what I am.”
“Impossible! I nearly drowned three times while trying to reach you on the bottom!” Copeland protested, swimming toward me.
“I think we should do a closer inspection and find out where she’s been hiding her gills,” Linc suggested, paddling beside Copeland.
There was a glint in his eye that told me exactly what type of inspection he was planning to carry out, but I didn’t plan to get caught. Not yet anyway…
“Fletcher!” I shouted at my mate, who lay sunbathing on the pebbled shore. “Did you know wolf shifters doggy paddle just like a puppy?” I was stirring the pot, but I was far too high on happiness to care.
