Bitten (Once Bitten, Twice Shy #1)(65)

Without a second thought to the consequences of it, Katherine plowed right into the alpha wolf – not really sure if she was still trying to get past him or just engaging him in a fight.

Of course, as soon as she collided with him, Bastian used his superior strength to fling her off of him and a moment later, he pounced on her. It wasn’t much of a fight. Physically, Bastian was much stronger than Katherine and after only a brief tussle, had her restrained on her back. His large form loomed over her, and he bared all his teeth in a way she was sure he meant to be threatening.

But Katherine wasn’t nearly as intimidated as she should have been. Anger still coursed through her and as futile as it was, she snapped her own teeth at him.

His answering growl had nearly the same effect that his first one did. She wasn’t afraid, per say. But the need to obey Bastian – to submit to him – quickly overtook the remnants of anger she still felt.

It was like Katherine’s body knew just what to do. She went limp and pulled her head back as far as it could go while still keeping eye contact with him. She bared her neck for him.

Just like before, Bastian’s growling immediately ceased. Then, to Katherine shock, the giant wolf licked her. Swiped his long tongue from the base of her throat to the tip of her snout. And then, he nuzzled her, pressing his face hard against hers.

Katherine yelped and tried to push the giant, black wolf off her. He didn’t freely comply, however, and she found herself fighting with him once again. This time, though, their grappling was more playful. She wasn’t actively trying to bite him and he wasn’t using his full strength against her.

It was fun.

Not much later, however, a loud howl sounded through the night air, quickly overpowering the other noises of night life in the forest – small animals scurrying about in bushes and trees, the occasional bird calling out to its flock. Bastian nudged Katherine into a standing position before answering the howl with one of his own.

A few moments later, the others of the pack – her pack – raced into the clearing. She immediately recognized the furry white wolf that bounded up to her as Sophie. The other wolf that hesitantly approached her – his fur was darker than Sophie’s, a gray color – she instinctually knew was Caleb.

The other two – Markus and Zane – held back a little. The former was nearly as large as Bastian – his brown fur not unlike Katherine’s own, if not perhaps a bit lighter in color. Zane was slightly smaller – though still bigger than Sophie or Caleb – and his coloring was similar to Bastian’s.

As soon as Sophie reached Katherine and Bastian, she began barking in an animated fashion, her tail literally wagging as she gestured with her head in the direction of the forest that the pack had emerged from.

Bastian responded to the barking with a slight nod of his head. The expression on Sophie’s face – wolf or not – could only be described as a grin. Then, prodding Caleb with her shoulder as she turned around, she began to run back into the forest. Caleb, as well as Markus and Zane, quickly followed her. Bastian started head butting her side again and for a second, Katherine didn’t know what was going on.

And then she did.

Elation filled her. Bastian was allowing her to run with the pack.

Needing no further prompting, Katherine took off after the others. Her powerful limbs sprung her forward and she flew through the forest, avoiding trees expertly. She was fast.

She easily caught up to and outpaced the others. Only Bastian attempted to stay with her and even then, he was only a black blur she’d see in her peripheral vision every once in a while.

It was positively exhilarating. Dopamine raced through her veins. It was one of the most amazing feelings she’d ever experienced.

Katherine didn’t know how long she ran, only that quite a bit of time had passed before her body finally grew tired and she stopped. She was well ahead of the others when she finally gave into the urge to rest. As she collapsed onto the dew covered ground, however, she heard a bit of rustling coming from a leafy bush not ten feet to her right. She turn to look at the bush, wondering what it was that could have made that noise, when she spotted it.

A rabbit.

Ravenous hunger nearly consumed Katherine. And she hadn’t even been aware that she was hungry!

She immediately attempted to pounce on the small animal. As soon as her paws even got close to it, however, it took off, sprinting out of her reach and quickly disappearing into the surrounding forest.

Some hunter she was.

An annoyed growl emerged from her throat, only growing more vicious when she turned to see that Bastian and the others had caught up to her and had obviously seen her failure at hunting if the amusement shining from their eyes was anything to go by.

Apparently, growling was her go-to reaction to just about everything in this form.

Before Katherine could dwell on her embarrassment, however, Bastian raced off into the forest and Sophie quickly captured her attention by rubbing up against her side and engaging her in a play fight similar to the one she’d had with Bastian in the clearing.

It was as fun as it had been earlier. Maybe even more so since there wasn’t such a huge disparity in size between the two female wolves. And Sophie didn’t attempt to lick her either, which was a plus.

It was just as entertaining watching Markus and Zane spar. Markus won nearly every time. At least until Sophie entered the brawl and joined forces with Zane. Katherine was only all too happy to watch Markus get a beat down courtesy of her fellow pack members.