Trust by Viola Rivard Page A

noises that had kept her on edge the night before were gone, leaving the forest eerily quiet. The sound of every twig and branch that crunched under their feet echoed in the vacuum of silence.
    Tired, hungry, and in pain, Taylor forced herself to push forward. She kept the image of the mountain valley and the lake at the forefront of her mind, reminding herself that in a few hours she’d be sleeping under a roof again, preferably with Alder by her side.
    Scratch that—definitely with Alder by her side. Naked . She wasn’t sure what stars had aligned to bring him into her life, but she planned on enjoying every minute with him. At least, up until he inevitably realized how screwed up and completely unworthy of him she was.
    A wolf howled in the distance, causing every muscle in Taylor’s body to lock up. Fortunately Alder stopped as well. In the dim light, she could see his brow furrow in concentration as he listened to the far-off cry.
    “It’s all right,” he said, tugging her along.
    She followed, but she could tell that there was something off about Alder. He always seemed so sure about everything, but this time there was an uncertainty to his tone that made her nervous.
    The trail they’d been following the past couple of days didn’t extend down the mountain. While going down was quicker, the terrain was still rough and Taylor was having a hard time pretending her ankle wasn’t messed up. She was barely managing a brisk walk and couldn’t imagine having to run for her life.
    Somewhere in the darkness, an animal snarled. Her heart began a furious hammering against the cage of her chest. Alder didn’t like the sound either, and his hand moved to the small of her back, urging her to move faster.
    Nervous, she asked, “Do you think they know we’re here?”
    “Yes,” he replied, sounding none too pleased.
    Her eyes widened in alarm. “What are—”
    Alder stopped abruptly, silencing her with a finger to her lips. There was another howl, this one much closer than before. They were on the edge of a small clearing, and Alder stared at the far side of the moonlit patch of land, his lips pressed into a grim slash.
    Pulling his hand from her mouth, she whispered, “What are we doing?”
    “Waiting for them,” he said, as if that didn’t sound like the worst idea ever.
    Her eyes darted around the empty clearing. “Shouldn’t we be running?”
    “Running implies weakness,” he said. “If we act like prey, we die like prey.”
    Holy shit , she thought, or maybe she said it aloud. She wasn’t sure of anything, because a second later, the first wolf appeared.
    She saw its silhouette slinking through the forest. A dark shadow of fur and teeth, the werewolf looked like a normal wolf on steroids. It emerged into the clearing, bigger than a St. Bernard and scarier than a Rottweiler. Its large head was bent and its white teeth were bared as it slowly approached. The only thing that kept Taylor from completely losing it was that Alder seemed perfectly calm. She could only hope he was packing a gun as well, one with silver bullets.
    As the wolf neared the center of the clearing, it began to change. It all happened in the span of a few seconds. It reared up on its hind legs, its body elongating, bones and muscles popping and rearranging themselves. Taylor’s mouth fell open as its human form took shape.
    It was a woman, a very large, Amazonian woman. She had muscular limbs and long black hair that fell over high, taut breasts. Her face was harsh and angular and her yellow eyes were narrowed on Alder and Taylor.
    The werewolf came to a stop in the center of the clearing, loudly cracking her neck. Alder squeezed Taylor’s hand.
    “Trust me,” he said, just loud enough for her to hear.
    Taylor nodded because nodding seemed like the appropriate thing to do, but she had her doubts. While Alder was a big guy, if that thing decided to go furry again she wasn’t sure he could take it alone. She began looking around the