Page 32 of Beast

Slamming the radio down on the windowsill, I threw open the drawer and took out my binoculars. I zoomed in and she raced straight toward the water.

Fuck!

Then I spotted a huge shadow circle between the shore and the boat. My heart froze in my chest and I squinted, trying to make out what it was, and adjusted the lenses. A fin popped up from the waves. It was a shark. And a bastardly big one. From where she was, she wouldn’t be able to see it.

There was no way I could reach her in time. Not on two legs.

I threw open the door and shifted, letting my clothes rip and fall off as I dove outside. My paws hit the sand. I raced as fast as I could. My breaths pierced my sides, but I didn’t dare stop.

The ocean called, the sound of the waves taunting me. I was only a few feet away, but it felt like miles.

No! I couldn’t lose her.

The wind buffeted my fur. The smell of the salt in the air and the feel of the sand beneath me mixed together until everything was a blur of sensation. But I still pushed forward, faster, suddenly feeling time slow down as I charged into the sea with one thought ringing in my head—Natalia.

Hearing the splash behind her, she turned, facing me. For half a second, I felt like I could breathe again.

I couldn’t swim well in my wolf form, nor could I explain the danger.

There was a flash of silver under the water and I howled, hoping to scare her away from the danger.

But then she screamed and dove into the waist-high water, toward the boat and the damn shark.

It circled mere feet away and I clamped my jaw shut, forcing myself to swim faster. I launched myself between her and the shark, my rear paws striking her in the back.

She came up sputtering water.

But the shark twisted and my teeth snapped down on its tail. It whipped back and forth, making me dizzy. I spat out the half-eaten remains and sank deeper into the water, my blood pounding against my skull.

At least the shark changed its mind about a meal and swam away.

I couldn’t stop the shift as my wolf decided it had won the battle. As my head broke the surface of the water and I pulled air into my lungs, my gaze settled on Natalia.

Tears mingled with the salt water on her face. She stood in the water across from me, completely still. Her mouth was slightly open and I could hear her heart beating faster than normal. My breathing was ragged as I stared at her.

She didn’t say anything, but I caught the whiff of panic and terror in her scent. Her body jerked and she spun around, fighting the waves to get back to shore.

“Natalia,” I shouted after her, but she only swam faster.

Then another scent hit me. A spicy-sweet aroma that called to me and my wolf. The omega I had smelled back at the park. She was here? I spun in a circle in the water, but the only female within miles was Natalia.

Everything clicked into place. How we were drawn to each other despite our past together. How we couldn’t get enough of each other and how she sated me like no woman ever had.

Then she looked over her shoulder at me. Had she sensed it too?

But the look in her eyes wasn’t one of knowing or acceptance. It was full of stubbornness and danger.

She stood up, splashing through the waves that hit her shins.

“Natalia,” I yelled again.

But she didn’t even bother looking back at me. She just kept going, not slowing her steps at all, like I was a monster chasing her.

She jogged up the dune to the house.

What could she possibly think to do there? Lock me out? I chuckled.

No. The radio. Like a moron, I’d left it inside when I ran out to save her.

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