The biggest wolf I have ever seen walks out from behind a tree.
The biggest, most beautiful midnight black wolf I have ever seen.
Moonlight slides over his massive frame like liquid silver, catching on the dense fur along his shoulders and spine. He looks carved from shadow and night, power radiating off him in waves so thick I can almost taste it. The forest itself seems to quiet around him, as if even the trees know better than to challenge whatever he is.
Emma is completely at attention.
Not tense.
Not defensive.
Focused.
The wolf stalks around me in a complete circle just once. Then walks straight towards me. Oh Goddess he's going to kill me. He's huge! Of course he's going to kill me! He comes up to my chest! Gods! This is insane! He's going to kill me!
My pulse roars in my ears, drowning out everything else. I can feel the vibration of his steps through the ground, through my bones, each one deliberate, unhurried—like he knows I can't go anywhere.
'No, he's not,' Emma whispers softly.
What?
Confusion crashes into me hard, disorienting and sharp. A horse of a wolf is walking straight at me and the one time I need my badass wolf to do something she just sits there.
FUCKING—LITERLLY—LICKING HER GODDESS-FORSAKEN PAWS!
My hands are trembling and my heart is playing NASCAR. What am I going to do, girl think!
'Relax,' Emma murmurs lazily, stretching inside my mind. 'If he wanted us dead, we'd already be bleeding.'
That is not comforting.
Once the wolf catches up to me I accept defeat, close my eyes and just wince waiting for something to happen. The blow to arrive. My muscles lock, breath caught painfully in my chest.
But nothing happens.
I open my eyes and he walks behind me and grabs something from behind a bush.
Clothes.
He grabbed clothes.
Oh—he isn't going to kill me. Thank the Goddess.
What is he doing—
Oh.
He shifted.
A very tall, very muscular male. Naked.
He stands before me completely in his birthday suit, moonlight painting every hard plane and scar into something almost unreal. Heat slams into my face so fast I actually stagger.
Holy hell.
I turn around quickly and I hear him chuckle?
Did he just chuckle?
Shifters are not new to nudity. I get that. But dude—I just met you. And damn was he hot, I couldn't help a peek. And Goddess the man wasn't even erected and it was huge. Imagine the possi– shit not the fucking time.
'PUURRRR.'
I pause, eyes wide in shock.
WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THAT!
Did Emma just purr… like a cat?
Oh no. No, no, no. This cannot be happening.
I'm being punked, because what the actual hell.
I'm losing my mind. I think I sniffed too much antiseptic at work. Touched too many purple wipes. It literally says use gloves—carcinogenic. But I'm a shifter! I should be immune!
Apparently not—because I am absolutely in crazy town right now.
Especially when the most earth-watering scent floods the air.
Gods. I basically moan as I inhale.
It smells like lavender and honey—with something warm underneath. Something darker. I inhale despite myself.
Biscuits?
Why does he smell like home and temptation had a baby?
Emma practically melts.
'Ohhh,' she hums, slow and sinful. 'We should keep him.'
'No,' I hiss internally. 'Absolutely not.'
'I wasn't asking.'
"Um… hello?" the male asks, his voice low, deep husky, amused, grounding me just enough to remember where I am.
He's fully dressed now.
I slowly turn around.
Holy hell.
Is this man a god?
If Clark Kent and Christian Grey had a baby, this man is it. Tall—easily six foot three—broad shoulders, narrow waist, light brown eyes that seem to glow faintly under the moon. His midnight black hair is ruffled like he just dragged his hands through it.
I absolutely want to drag my fingers through it.
No.
Stranger danger, Samantha.
He does have the body of a Greek god—from what I glimpsed—and oh Goddess—
Girl.
CALM.
DOWN.
What is wrong with me?
I wipe my hands down my face like that might reboot my brain.
He's wearing a black suit and tie now. Crisp. Elegant. Powerful.
Oh great. He's here for the ball.
"Mmmhh," he growls.
He actually fucking growled.
My body reacts like a nuclear reactor reaching meltdown.
Every nerve lights up. Heat coils low in my belly so fast I almost gasp.
Emma rolls onto her back inside my head, legs sprawled, absolutely shameless.
She sees the hottest man I've ever encountered and turns into the biggest whore alive.
Of course.
'Oh yes,' she purrs. 'We like him. We very much like him.'
'Emma,' I warn, mortified. 'Stop.'
'Quick, present for him,' she says very excitedly.
'What! Are you in sane!'
'Oh if you don't know how to, turn around on you kne–'
'Don't you dare finish that sentence', I hiss at her. 'Now stop.'
She ignores me.
The male walks toward me, adjusting his cufflinks, and if that isn't the hottest thing I've seen tonight I'm filing a complaint with the universe.
And that scent—it's stronger now.
Lavender. Honey. Power.
I should ask what shampoo he uses.
"What's your name, little wolf?" he asks, voice deep, smooth, rasping like velvet over gravel.
I might actually become undone.
A monastery. I need to go live in a monastery.
'I like where we are now,' Emma purrs, helpfully supplying extremely inappropriate mental images.
I slam the connection shut before she can scandalize me further.
I glance around, calculating escape routes. The river's close. If I run now, I can grab the bag and dive in. Let the current take me.
Emma shoves against the walls again.
'Why would you run from this?' she challenges. 'He smells delicious.'
"Little wolf?" he prompts again.
"Oh—uh—Samantha. But my friends call me Sam."
Why did I add that?
He is not my friend.
Why is he so close?
We're at arm's length now. That's not safe.
Push him back. Run. Do something.
My body refuses.
Weird.
I'm not afraid.
Intrigued? Yes.
Aroused? Definitely.
Terrified?
Not at all.
Why?
He reaches out and touches my arm.
I gasp.
Bolts of electricity race up and down my skin like lightning. I jerk back, staring at him in pure shock.
What just happened?
Emma goes feral, slamming against the mental barriers, scratching, snarling.
'Touch him back,' she demands. 'Now.'
'No!'
In an instant, the male grabs me by the waist and pulls me toward him.
Every point of contact ignites me.
His hand on my hip. His warmth. His scent.
He cups my face and—
Without warning—
He kisses me.
The world tilts.
Not rough.
Not aggressive.
Soft. Gentle. Reverent.
And yet the surge of electricity and bliss detonates through me so violently my knees nearly buckle. I melt into him before I can stop myself, something inside my chest cracking open—wide and aching.
What am I doing kissing a stranger in the woods?
But it feels like destiny just slammed into me without permission. Like something ancient woke up and stretched.
He pulls away.
That's when Emma breaks through.
His kiss is soft. Gentle. Polite even. But it's the explosion of electricity and bliss that surprises me at the contact and I can't help but melt into him. But it's as if worlds collided and my eyesight has been sharpened. Something in my chest soars to life, something I didn't know I desperately needed. I don't know what it is, but this man has opened a chasm of uncertainty and I want to explore it in depth.
She takes over for just one heartbeat, voice layered over mine as I stare into his glowing brown eyes—
Eyes that look like they've been waiting for me my entire life.
"Mate."