Got you. Slowing his speed, he prowled through the brush. Sure enough, the tiny glowing blob of light bounced over a curly blonde head. Chloe glanced behind her, as if sensing her danger, before sprinting forward.
Giving into his wolf’s desire, Kieran raced after her at full speed. He jumped onto the path, seeing Chloe whirl to face him.
Her jaw dropped in shock as he launched himself at her, transforming in mid air so that human hands hit her shoulders.
Or would have if she’d been corporeal.
He fell through Chloe to hit the ground hard. Turning, Kieran caught a hint of a smile before the apparition vanished.
“Magic,” he breathed, laughter bubbling up within him. And he’d thought Chloe would be easy prey? More the fool him.
Transforming into his wolf self, he raced backward, trying to find the spot where Chloe’s scent had split into magical bodies. He was wasting time trying to decipher this riddle, just as she must have intended. One way or another, though, the witch was not going to best him.
The lavender left from her shampoo intensified, and he came to a halt. Sniffing the ground, he discovered three trails all leading in three different directions.
Clever, clever, clever. If he chose the wrong path he wouldn’t have time to double back again before she reached the pool.
Two choices. Both seemingly identical.
Except one path made the hair on his body stand just a touch on end. The change was so slight he never would have noticed had he not been concentrating. Chloe’s magic.
Anticipation surged through him. He had her. This time, she wasn’t going to escape.
The soft bubble of a brook drifted to her ears.
Almost there. Chloe pushed her tired body faster. If she was going to continue hanging out with wolves she was going to have to start some sort of exercise regimen. Her human body put her at too much of a disadvantage.
Her breath rasped from her in pants as she jogged around a fallen log and burst into a small clearing.
There, by the end of the pond, a white flag waited.
“Success,” she whispered, starting across the clearing. Looks like she’d shown her wolf a thing or two.
At least, she thought she had, before a large, black body exploded from the trees.
Chloe jerked to a halt, eyes on the massive wolf before her. He dropped to his haunches, sitting between her and the flag. By the amusement in his dark eyes, it could only be Kieran blocking her path.
Though she wanted to win, she couldn’t help taking a minute to admire the sheer beauty of him. Never before had she seen his wolf form, and it was impressive enough to rob her of breath. Yes, he possessed the claws and teeth to do serious damage, but she didn’t feel in danger. Instead she wanted to run her fingers through the glossy black fur and see if it felt as soft as it looked. He was as majestic in this form as he was captivating as a human. It didn’t seem quite fair that something so beautiful could exist.
Though he might take her breath away, she still had no intention of losing to him.
“Don’t suppose you’d consider letting me win?” she called to the wolf.
He gave a sharp yip in response.
“That’s what I figured. Okay then, you’ve been warned.” She laced her fingers in front of her, stretching out her hands in a warm up.
She couldn’t go through a werewolf, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t go over him.
Chloe launched herself forward. She raced at the surprised wolf, who did nothing but wait for her to come to him. At the last moment she cast out her hands, releasing her magic.
Her feet left the ground as she jumped, flying over the stunned wolf below. Propelling herself through mid air, however, was not the easiest thing to control. Her landing was going to be rough but it’d be worth it if she managed to get her hands on the flag.
A body collided with her as she dropped down to earth.
“No,” she cried as she was rolled away from her goal. “Tricky wolf.”
“Devious witch,” he replied, trying to pin her to the ground.
Chloe twisted beneath him, seeing the flag an arm’s reach away. Writhing and kicking, she pushed herself free long enough to grasp madly at the flag.
Her fingers touched the smooth flagpole before Kieran grabbed her hips and yanked her back.
“Too slow, wolf!” She laughed, waving the flag in her grip. “I win!”
“I caught you before you grabbed the flag. I win,” he replied, rolling her onto her back while he rose over her.
“Nuh-uh. That’s not how the rules work.”
“How would you know? You’ve never played before.”
“I say I take this flag back to the main camp and get the wolves to vote on who triumphed here.”
“They’re my people. I’ll win for sure that way.”