Red Run by Viola Grace Page B

about twenty feet and had shifted from wolf to human looking male in a second of rippling skin. His clothing appeared when he did which caused her mind to scramble around, trying to figure out the how.
    He leaned down, splashed water on his arms and face, then stood and returned to his companions. They were joined by another wolf and as the man stood, Sophie’s limbs locked in place.
    He wasn’t pretty, but he was riveting. A solid jaw was framed by a slithering silk of black and silver hair. It wasn’t silvered with age, it just seemed part of his colouring somehow. His shoulders were massive, waist narrow and there was enough muscle tone on him to cause her to shrug at the manner in which her people had been defeated. If all the men were like him, she didn’t wonder that the humans had just given up.
    The males laughed together and wandered off to share a meal. She crouched at the edge of the stream and very slowly made her way as far away from their little gathering as possible.
    * * * *
    “Does she honestly think we don’t see and smell her there?” one of the patrol members asked casually.
    T’bir nodded. “The humans have very little of their tracking abilities left. They depend almost entirely on their sight.”
    The head of the patrol looked to his companions and then back to T’bir . “Will you capture her, Commander?”
    “I feel I had better. She hasn’t eaten in at least a day so she will no doubt be bad tempered, but she is my target and I must make sure she stays in good health.” T’bir shifted into his wolf form and disappeared into the woods next to the stream. He cut his quarry off and when she was inching toward him, he shifted back into his other form and caught her in his arms. Her scream was ear shattering, making him wonder— with a grin—if she did everything at that decibel level.
    “Quiet. You will not be hurt. I am here to feed you, help you to your destination so you can confirm that the city is empty and then I will escort you to the ship where we will discuss your future.” T’bir was having a hard time concentrating. Her warm weight and her scent of female, his female, was driving him to distraction. The clothing she was wearing was in place due to its construction because the gilded outfit barely covered her essentials. With the flimsy fabric clinging to her every curve, he gritted his teeth at the self-control he suddenly needed. His cock jerked in his trousers as he shifted her and carried her out of the reeds to the small camp made by the patrol.
    They nodded as she was seated in their midst, facing the small fire. “That is quite the outfit you have on, Miss.”
    T’bir scowled at the younger tracker. The young woman was wearing enough to cover breasts and crotch and not a lot else. Her laced boots were the only practical thing she had on.
    Her cheeks turned a blotchy pink and her bluish lips stopped further questions. Her body started to quiver and T’bir nodded to the others. “She is cold, we need to warm her as quickly as we can.”
    Without a word, half of the men shifted into their wolf forms and wound around her, rubbing her flesh with their fur.
    T’bir laid her down on the ground and shifted so that he was in front of her, wrapping her in his bulky fur, nestling his head between her neck and shoulder. Her fingers wound in his fur and burrowed deep.
    The younger trackers covered her back and legs, radiating heat as close to her as they could.
    It seemed like hours until she started stirring on her own, trying to fight her way free of the pile of fur and fangs.
    * * * *
    Sophie was shocked when the man cornered her in the reeds and simply lifted her to the shore without a fight. She was exhausted, cold and disoriented by the shifting between man and wolf that seemed so easy to them.
    He smelled warm, there was no doubt of it, heat was radiating from him in waves. She wanted nothing more at that moment than to snuggle in and absorb every inch of his warmth. His