The hairs at her nape tickled, her belly quivered. She narrowed her eyes, trying to see clearly. A flash of movement at the corner of her vision made her look. Maizie snapped her attention to her left. Nothing there. Another stir a little farther to the right.

She looked, but a half second too late. Again, several yards deeper, something stirred the low branches of a bush. She didn’t see what it was. And then she caught a glimpse. Fur, brown, a shade lighter than dirt.

She squinted, tried to narrow her vision on a patch of briers where she thought whatever it was had hidden. Growls rumbled along the forest floor, vibrating through her chest. The sound sent ice chilling through her veins.

Darkness was falling fast. She couldn’t see anything clearly and the shadows were growing thicker, closing in. The low rumble surrounded her, changing pitch, altering cadence until it was less like a growl and more like…a moan.

Curiosity and the fast rush of adrenaline that replaced her fear pushed her forward. A smacking noise echoed off the trees, accompanied by a stranger, wetter-sounding slosh, softer, but there. The sounds coming from just ahead of her, on the other side of a cluster of tree trunks, were too out of place to ignore.

She moved closer, careful to tread softly. Her hands on the nearest of the tree trunks, Maizie peered around and everything she’d been hearing made sense. And didn’t.

Right there in the middle of the dense forest was a man, maybe late forties, on his knees, naked, his face tense with restraint and effort. Muscles defined across his flat belly, his thick upper thighs flexing, his hands clamped on the hips of a stunning woman. The man’s hips rocked a hard, steady rhythm, his legs smacking against the ass of the woman on all fours in front of him, driving his sex deep again and again.

Maizie stood, mesmerized, watching the two lost in the sensations of their bodies. The woman’s long curling blonde hair parted at her neck, revealing the smooth line of her back. Her eyes were closed, her body rocking, driving herself harder, faster against her lover’s cock.

The woman spread her knees wider, taking more of the long hard cock into her body. Maizie caught glimpses of the man’s shaft glistening each time he drew back. His powerful muscles tensed his ass, firm and round, thrusting himself so hard his lover’s supple body jerked with the impact.

The sound of their sex thundered through Maizie’s ears, her body suddenly warm, muscles low inside her going slick, flexing with a growing need. She should look away. Give them their privacy. But the instant the decision to turn entered her mind, the man glanced over his shoulder at her.

Maizie gasped, surprised he’d known she was there, embarrassed at having been caught watching, and horrified at how strong the urge to join them gripped her. She held her breath, waiting for him to scream at her, to curse her for her rudeness. The sound of her heart was so loud in her ears she couldn’t hear the smack of their flesh.

A strange smile trembled at the corners of the man’s mouth. He licked his lips, turned his head a fraction of an inch and a flash of color on his neck caught her attention. There was something there, red and lumpy. Maizie concentrated, fighting the luring distraction of love-making.

It took a moment, but she finally realized what it was-torn flesh. Something had bitten him. Blood had dried around the wound, crusting into dark, nearly black chunks and trailing in a long messy flow down his chest. Raw meat and blood glistened in the dim moonlight, but it looked as though the wound was healing. It certainly hadn’t stopped him from indulging his carnal needs with this woman.

The man’s position shifted, drawing Maizie’s attention at the exact moment he, still staring at her, dropped his hand. She could see his cock perfectly now, wet and hard driving in and out of the woman’s slick pussy. The sounds of their sex echoed in her head.

Maizie swallowed the thick ball of lust in her throat, her face hot, her thighs moist, her sex flooding with need. A sudden cry cracked through the hazy fog of her brain. The woman’s rhythmic motions became frantic, ruthless with need.

Her ass tensed, toes curling, wrapping her ankles around her lover’s calves, locking their bodies together as she rode her orgasm. He drove a counter rhythm, working his body with hers, pushing himself over the edge of orgasm a second later.

Maizie stepped away, sensing the time to flee was quickly escaping her. Her heel caught against an exposed root and she stumbled, suddenly drawing the attention of the woman. There was no hint of a smile from her.

“What the fuck?”

Maizie ran-because she’d been caught watching a private moment, because the look in the woman’s eyes was both surprised and murderous, because too much of Maizie still wanted to find a way to join them. She ran. And they chased her.

Maizie knew the way, even in a blind panic she could find her way back to Granny’s house. But she was so far from home and the sound of footfalls behind her was growing closer. In the back of her head, she heard every step, every long stride and then the strides changed, the rhythm doubled, lightened.

She glanced over her shoulder and realized the couple wasn’t chasing her. A wolf was. Not the wolf from Granny’s house. Another wolf must’ve escaped the preserve. God, how many of them were out here?

Its long powerful body gained on her easily, chocolate-brown fur tipped with blonde rolling over its muscles. In a blur it passed her, spun and blocked her path. It’d moved so quickly, Maizie hadn’t had time to change course. She slid to a stop, staring down the long trembling muzzle of the snarling wolf.

“Easy, boy,” she said, though her voice was almost too shaky to understand. “Just let me get past. I’ll be out of your woods in a few minutes. Good, boy. Gooood, boy.”

The wolf’s snarls grew louder. This close Maizie realized it wasn’t a boy. It was female. The wolf edged closer and everything inside Maizie screamed for her to run. She didn’t. Despite there being no love lost between her and furry four-legged canines, Maizie knew enough not to run and trigger their chase instinct.

She stood her ground, fear boiling into resentment, anger. She didn’t have a weapon and couldn’t outrun it. If the beast decided it wanted her dead, there was nothing she could do about it, just like her parents.

She’d had enough. “Fine. Whatever. Kill me or leave me the fuck alone. I’m done with wolves haunting my dreams, haunting my life. Get it over with already.” It was an animal. She knew it couldn’t possibly understand, but yet it backed away.

And then she heard it. A distant howl. Another wolf’s call. After a hard snort, her pursuer turned and darted back the way it’d come.

Maizie didn’t even pause to think about it. She just turned and ran home.

His body stretched and contoured, pulling muscle and meat, reforming bones. The shift was painful as hell, but it let him know he was alive. Gray lay for several seconds staring up through the green needles of the pine tree. Above was the ink black of the night sky, the moon barely a slit of yellow, the stars few enough to count.

Old needles, brown and decaying, cushioned beneath him. He breathed deep, taking the cool air into his lungs, washing away her scent. Jeezus, he could still taste her, sweet and salty. The smell of her pussy so maddening his cock had gone from wolf to man without losing the rock-hard erection for a second.

Maizie. What was it about her that made him lose all control? Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time a woman made him so damn hot the retractable wall between the seats in his limo constituted enough privacy for him to jack off. But never had this kind of crazed need transcended forms so even the beast in him craved her scent, her taste.