He filled her mind. There was no getting away from him. The truth was she didn’t want to. All she could see was being with him, living her life with him. Some may consider her foolish, but as far as she was concerned, she was far from it. She’d been trying to fight this from the moment they first changed. Being with him wasn’t what she wanted, and yet even as she thought about it, it did still feel completely wrong to her.

“Are you okay?” Lucas asked, coming out into the night.

The sun had nearly set, and the moon was so close.

“Yes, you?”

“Yes.”

They both faced each other. She held out her hand. “Are you ready?”

He took her hand, and together, they walked toward the edge of the trees. The pleasure from his touch rushed through her entire body. It was like a spark of electricity had awakened within her system, and now she was completely at its mercy. Not that it was a bad thing.

She released his hand and stepped away from him.

“I thought you’d cancel tonight,” Lucas said.

“I thought you would as well.” She closed her eyes, shaking her head. Her hands quivered as she peeled off her dress. It felt so good to have her body exposed to the night and the full moon. With a hand resting on her stomach, she looked toward the moon, and then, like magic, she changed, coming into her wolf.

Her paws were on the ground.

Moving from around the tree, she felt Lucas as he did the same. His wolf bonded to hers in a way they hadn’t been able to form as humans yet.

She stared at him, aware of his gaze on her, and she couldn’t look away. Didn’t want to. In the back of her mind, she knew what she had to do: run.

Sprinting forward, she took off, running through the night and enjoying the feel of true nature on her back. This was what it meant to be free, to be without problems.

Lucas was fast behind her.

Let him chase.

Heat and lust jolted through her system.

She continued to run all the while growing acutely aware of his closeness. When his wolf moved close to her and they brushed against each other, she stumbled, turned, and went off in another direction.

She didn’t know how long they continued to run, only that as he nudged her with his nose, she couldn’t take it anymore. With a final burst, she took off, ending up at the ocean’s edge as she threw herself into the water, and within seconds, she had turned into a human. Breaking the surface for air, she cried out as his hands wrapped around her, pulling her close.

“Don’t ever do that again.”