You guys.
Your reaction to this story surpasses everything I ever hoped. Thank you so much! I hope I keep up with your expectations.
Once again, oodles of merci to Doctime for reading, editing, encouraging, questioning and all around doing a great job of helping me become a better writer. I changed quite a few things after he sent the chapter back to me. I anxiously read it until I couldn't see it anymore, but I might have let slip a few things.
Enjoy!
*****
The air was fresh and cool, a typical May night. I ran, feeling the cool air through my fur. All sorts of scents assaulted my sense of smell: the freshness of newly grown leaves and the dry, slightly bitter tang of fir sap; the earthy smell of the ground beneath my feet and the sudden scent of a startled doe I crossed in my hurry. I tried to ignore all these wonderful new scents. I needed to focus my attention on running, but also on the distinctive spicy scent of nutmeg and cinnamon that would warn me of Gabriel's presence.
I climbed all the way up the steep mountain that towered over the Lake compound. It wasn't very high up, but the trees were becoming sparser at the top of the nearly bald mountain. I reached the stony summit panting with relief, and turned around to look down at the compound far below.
I could see the entire lake. It was a rather small, narrow lake, at least five times as long as it was wide. My Alpha had been right across the lake from me when he answered my challenge. It would take him quite a long time to run the whole way around, so I had a good head start.
Unless he swims across
, my wolf let out smugly.
Oh he wouldn't. Would he?
I eyed the calm, dark surface of the lake. I didn't
think
he would swim across; he probably could, but it was still quite a way to go, in the dark and in pretty cold water. I wasn't sure what to put above Gabriel's wolf, though. While our human forms preferred a smart, charismatic Alpha to an overly muscled one, our wolves still relied on strength and usually acted by sheer stubbornness. I sat down and sniffed the air. I couldn't smell him yet, but his earthy smell was so similar to that of the forest around me that I wasn't sure if I really would be able to pick it up until he was too close.
But wasn't the whole point of this chase in getting caught?
He has to work for it
, my wolf explained as I turned to pad down the hill, still heading east.
He needs to know he deserves you. And you need to be strong, to deserve HIM.
I snorted softly as I started running again. I wasn't going to try and understand males and their ego tonight.
A sudden howl broke through my concentration and I slowly stopped, surprised, to look back up the hill behind me. He sounded much closer than I had expected him to be. He had found my tracks. My heart raced with excitement, and I turned to run faster.
I nearly tumbled down the rest of the hill, and stumbled loudly, in a crash of broken branches and crushed leaves, into a clearing. I startled a small group of Weres in their human forms who had been sitting and chatting there, in front of a small cabin by the water. I froze as they stared at me.
One of the men suddenly gave me a bright smile and stood up before he turned towards the forest and cupped his hands around his mouth. "She's here!" he shouted loudly towards the mountain. I hesitated only a second, torn between the urge to tackle the young Were into the water and the more visceral need to run. Sadly, I didn't have enough time for the first idea, so I went with the latter and dashed right through them and towards the trees on the other side of the clearing. I heard the women's encouragements and the group's amused laughter, and cursed myself mentally for letting myself be seen; they would obviously point the Alpha in the right direction if he stumbled upon them as well, which would happen if he was following my tracks. I wasn't aware of how long I had been running, but my wolf was getting tired and restless, and the Alpha's patience was probably waning.
But... where was he?
Appearing out of nowhere without a sound, a large, dark shape suddenly leaped at me and tackled me from the side. Together, we rolled between the trees and further down the hill in a snarling tangle of dark fur and limbs. We landed hard on the gravelled bank and he rolled on top of me, growling and pinning me down on my back, lunging for my throat. I snarled and struggled, but froze when his teeth lightly closed on my throat, his chest rumbling with a warning growl. A single word broke through my thoughts, pushed upon my conscience in a tone of command.
"SUBMIT."
And I suddenly really wanted to submit. With all my rapidly beating heart.
I felt myself go limp as I responded to the order for a few moments, but instantly rebelled against it.
You said you wouldn't command me, Gabriel,
I thought furiously, and struggled against him again. I folded my hind legs and pushed my paws as hard as I could against his stomach, throwing him off of me. The big black wolf backed up in surprise, obviously taken off guard. I got to my feet to face him, and barely had enough time to notice how large - how much larger than
me -
he really was before he growled at me, his hackles rising in warning.
Oops.
I'd gotten him upset, but God, he was a beautiful beast, a huge wolf and yet a graceful one as he stood his ground, his glowing amber eyes bright and piercing as he glared at me. And all of a sudden, I saw him brace himself to jump.
I took a single step back towards the water just before he lunged at me. He tackled me again, but we were too close to the lake and we both rolled straight into it with a loud splash.
I shifted back to human form by reflex from the sheer shock of the cold water and surfaced with a loud gasp. Shivering, I quickly stumbled out of the water and collapsed onto the grass above the bank. I heard a booming laugh behind me and turned around, outraged, to find Gabriel standing in the shallow water, stark naked. "G-glad to s-see
