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which was capable of so many
    wondrous things.
    “Don’t leave me alone.” She wanted
    him to stay. To give her more pleasure
    with his tongue.
    He knelt down beside her and cupped
    her cheek. “You’re safe in the house,” he
    assured her, obviously misunderstanding
    her plea. “I won’t be gone long.”
    He kissed her forehead with the same
    type of affection he bestowed on his young
    niece and then stood to go to the door.
    “Nash?”
    “Stay in the house, Maralee,” he
    demanded.
    He left. Maralee sighed forlornly and
    stared at the fire unseeingly. He could
    have stayed with her and kissed her like
    before. She wouldn’t have minded.
    Instead, he’d gone to search for three
    ferocious Wolves. What exactly did he
    think he could do about them anyway? Did
    he think they were his pets? These weren’t
    docile, domesticated dogs. They were
    beasts. Vicious monsters.
    “Fool,” she whispered, “he’ll end up
    getting himself killed.” Maybe she should
    have gone with him. But what good could
    she do without her sword? He’ll regret
    taking it from me. And she would get it
    back. Soon. She wasn’t sure what it was
    about Nash that made her so complacent.

CHAPTER 6

    Nash moved to the corner of the porch and
    removed his clothing, glancing back at his
    front door to make sure Maralee wasn’t
    watching.
    Once
    naked,
    he
    shifted
    effortlessly into his other form and jumped
    from the porch. The blackness of his pelt
    blended in perfectly with the darkened
    forest. If not for the white crescent on his
    forehead, he would have been practically
    invisible. He went to the corner post and
    lifted his leg, not knowing why he had the
    sudden urge to mark his territory, but
    succumbing to the need regardless. He
    repeated the action on the other end of the
    porch and then trotted towards the stream
    where he guessed he’d find Maralee’s
    attackers.
    As expected, the three young Wolves
    were sitting beside the stream with
    several adolescent females. Apparently,
    they thought they’d displayed their
    budding masculinity by cornering the
    enemy and frightening her. Zorn, the
    largest and oldest of the three Wolves and
    the one who had scratched Maralee’s
    shoulder, was having his ears licked by
    the female beside him. Nash’s eyes
    narrowed. So, they thought they’d done
    something deserving of praise. If they
    wanted adult treatment, they’d best be
    willing to take responsibility for their
    misdeeds.
    Nash jumped from between the trees.
    He landed on one of the smaller Wolves,
    flattening him with his huge front paws.
    The young Wolf yelped, more surprised
    than hurt, and tried to scramble from
    beneath Nash’s feet. Nash barked at him
    ferociously and the Wolf laid still, in a
    pose of complete submission—head
    between his paws, ears flat against his
    head, tail limp with defeat.
    The three females trotted off to the
    sidelines to watch. This wasn’t their fight,
    but they were obviously curious to see if
    Zorn would challenge the alpha-male.
    The younger of the two remaining
    males, a buff colored Wolf, sprang
    towards Nash, growling and snarling. His
    spunk impressed Nash. It wasn’t often a
    scrawny thirty-five-year-old adolescent
    challenged a full-grown adult. Still, he
    couldn’t be allowed to succeed. Nash rose
    onto his hind legs and hit him in the chest
    with both forepaws. The young Wolf flew
    backwards and landed in the frigid stream
    with a splash.
    Nash watched to make sure he was
    able to drag himself out of the water. Nash
    hadn’t instigated this fight to cause injury,
    but rather to demonstrate dominance.
    While Nash was distracted, Zorn
    jumped on his back, teeth sinking into the
    back of his neck. Nash threw him off and
    turned to face him. Nash’s hackles rose,
    increasing his apparent size, as he
    growled a warning. Snarling, Zorn took a
    step forward, and then, seeming to realize
    he couldn’t win, backed off. To ensure his
    message was perfectly clear, Nash jumped
    on Zorn,