Run With Me

Chapter Ten

Terri ran full sprint for a hill that she could see in the distance. She could hear the revving of Kirk's truck as he raced for a parking space. By the time she reached the hill he was there waiting with the sleds. And, more importantly, her tears had stopped. She grabbed one of the plastic sheets as she ran past him and didn't slow as she trudged through the snow up the hill.

The simple gesture of an alpha standing there with two sleds struck a chord within Terri that she wasn't ready to face. Later, when she got home, she had every intention of dropping to her knees in the shower and crying until she had nothing left. But right now, she was taking advantage of racing down a hill in the snow. Kirk was only halfway up the hill when she went racing passed him. The speed was exhilarating and reminded her of those joyous childhood days with her parents and brothers. As she reached the bottom of the hill, it dawned on her that she wasn't sure how to stop. Terri didn't want to use her feet to stop for fear of damaging her left leg, so she twisted to the side and rolled in the snow, allowing the slippery plastic to continue to shoot forward.

"Are you okay?" Kirk was pulling a shaking Terri onto her back, his hands check her for injury. Terri tossed her head back in the snow and laughed. Her green eyes sparkled as she looked up at him for only a second before scrambling after her sled.

"Hurry up before I pack down all the good snow!" She was halfway up the hill again before she slipped and twisted in her fall again. This time, Kirk didn't race to her, but walked slowly. Terri didn't move. She just watched him stalk forward. She was fighting against her wolf to keep him at arms reach. He wasn't for her. She wasn't for him.

"Are you... alright?" Kirk paused slightly, choosing his words carefully. Terri blinked up at him for a minute, debating on what to do.

"Could you turn around?" She asked quietly. His eyes narrowed, but he slowly turned to give Terri his back. Eyes flicked down to take in the firm ass still visible in track pants, and Terri could feel her face heat. Reaching down, she grabbed her leg from where her prosthesis had slipped and twisted it back into place. It wasn't designed to trudge through the snow like this, she would have to move slowly up the hill in the future.

"You know, if you wanted to stare at my ass, all you had to do was ask," Kirk's voice was light, but the heat in the words struck Terri in her core.

"You're good to turn around, I've fixed my... wardrobe malfunction," Terri pulled herself up to her feet again. With where she stood on the hill she could look into his eyes. What she knew to be grey were a glowing amber instead. Kirk's wolf was close to the surface and Terri wasn't sure if she could handle her own responses.

"You're not hurt?" Kirk maintained eye contact with her as she brushed the snow off her pants.

"Yup, just forgot how deep the snow can be," giving him a smile, she grabbed up her sled again and made her way back up the hill. Slowly this time.

***Kirk had to force himself not to dive after Terri when she fell the second time. He saw her leg twist at an unnatural angle and realized that her leg had become dislodged due to the snow. As he turned his back to her, his comment caused her scent to change. His grin was slow. Kirk knew he was starting to break through her shell. Terri had been talking to him more and more, but this? His wolf preened at the smile and joy on her face as she raced to the hill. When he finally turned back around, maintaining eye contact to avoid looking at her body was easy. Her eyes were almost neon with their glow. Terri's wolf was obviously enjoying this as much as Terri. Even having never shifted, Kirk could see the mutual joy emitting from Terri's body as she reached the top of the hill and sat down on her little plastic carpet. The laughter coming from her lips had Kirk fixed in place. To him, she was even more breathtaking than when he was watching her run circles around him at the park. Grinning, he sprinted up the hill to chase her down.Several runs, a few wipe outs, and a lot of laughter later, Kirk felt his stomach growl and realized he was hungry for more than just Terri.