I stumbled, and Jaxson shot me a devilish grin and stepped back. “Focus, Savannah. I think your mind’s on other things.”
Oh, God, kill me now. What’s wrong with me? Blood rushed to my face, and I died a little inside as we began circling each other again.
He taunted me a few times, which was good, as it helped me focus on punching that arrogant grin off his face. He attacked, and I met his strike with my forearm, then stepped to the side and brought my fist to his jaw. Before it made contact, he turned and caught my fist. I lost my footing on the loose rocks, but he steadied me before I could fall.
“You’re a fast learner,” he purred.
I probably wasn’t much more than a toy in his hands. I steadied myself and pushed him away as my frustration bloomed. “What’s next, Laurent?”
The air between us sparked with electricity, and Jaxson’s eyes turned an even richer honey-gold.
He stepped forward slowly, like a predator stalking its prey, and leaned close. So close I could almost hear the rhythmic pulse o
f his heart. His breath caressed my skin. “I won’t hurt you…but you better run.”
Mid-sentence, his voice turned husky and almost bestial. My heart stalled for a couple beats.
What the fuck?
I bolted.
I knew Jaxson wouldn’t hurt me, but I wasn’t sure about the thing within him. The creature that I’d seen break a man in half.
Trees flew past. A root caught my foot, but I recovered.
Not too fast. Slow and steady wins the race.
Actually, I doubted that very much.
My feet thundered over the ground in a steady rhythm. I concentrated on each footstep, rebounding off solid logs and carefully dodging obstructions, trying not to faceplant into a tree.
A growl sounded behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder.
Jaxson was closing, fast.
He’d said he wouldn’t hurt me, but my heart hammered in my chest all the same. I turned onto a game trail and ratcheted up to high speed.
A howl echoed through the forest, sending quakes of fear through my body.
That bastard. I’d told him I wasn’t ready to meet his wolf, the monster I’d seen last night. Was Jaxson even in control?
Sam’s words replayed in my mind: When we’re in wolf form, our wolves are in the driver’s seat, so to speak, and can be unpredictable.
I jumped at movement on my right. A blur flashed by, and my heartbeat thundered in my skull as another growl came from bushes on my other flank.
I was being hunted.
A ravine appeared ahead. I jumped over the edge and slid down the embankment, then booked it in the opposite direction, toward the beach. The euphoria of freedom and power flashed through me.
How do you like me now, alpha wolf?
A crash rang out above me, and I screamed as a blur moved down the embankment. Stumbling, I caught myself before colliding with a boulder. I cast a quick glance sideways and saw Jaxson—not in wolf form—with a wide grin on his damn face.
Cocky bastard.
I raced toward the shore, running as fast as my boots would take me. There weren’t any trees in the ravine, so I only had to focus on the boulders and broken logs.
My adrenaline surged as the lake appeared a couple hundred feet ahead—the finish line.