Claimed

Chapter 16: Vulnerable

Red's POV:

Shifting again was like a long-awaited stretch that just felt so damn good you almost wanted to moan and just let your body sink against the ground. I reached my front paws out long in front of me and arched my back, stretching out both the kinks from shifting and adjusting to being a wolf again after days of not shifting.

I felt eyes on me and looked over, seeing Ben standing a few feet away in his wolf form. His coloring was similar to his brown hair but a little lighter and patched with lighter tans, even a tuft of white near his tail. His hazel eyes took a darker tone in this form, the browns winning out more than the greens that were his usual dominant color.

He was as beautiful as a wolf as he was a human

He inclined his head for me to follow and started with a slow trot to cross the great big open meadow to the other side of the property. Once we reached the tree-line, he picked up his pace and I matched it, coming up alongside him as we raced through the trees.

I inhaled deeply, enjoying the feel of the wind through my fur as we ran. It felt good to shift. I felt more like myself.

Wanting to push more, I picked up my pace and Ben matched me. He gave gentle directions by coming up alongside me and leaning a certain direction but other than that, he didn't seem to have a problem with me taking the lead.

We crossed each other multiples times as we hopped over broken branches and fallen logs. There was a playfulness to him in his wolf form that was decidedly missing in the human form. He even nudged me a couple times as we moved, then because he apparently wanted to make me melt, he smiled a wolfish grin before breaking into a full sprint.

Playing. He was actually playing with me. If he thought he could outrun me, he had another thing coming. I picked up my pace, sprinting forward and gaining on him until I tackled him to the ground. We rolled over several times before I pinned him down. The playful glint was still in his eye, even when he exposed his neck to submit and yield.

My heart picked up again and I moved off him, letting him take the lead again. We ran through the forest, dodging trees and bigger boulders until the forest started thinning. Ben slowed down and I slowed with him as we passed through a break in the trees.

There was a small gazebo with vines crawling up the wooden pillars. I had a thing for gazebos so I was excited to see they had one. In front of the gazebo was an overlook. I moved past Ben, standing on the edge of the cliff and looking out over the darkened landscape. The moon was bright enough I could see miles and miles of trees, the reflection of water in the far distance. I settled down and Ben settled next to me, nuzzling me with his muzzle. I glanced over and he rolled onto his back, nodding up at the sky.

I looked up, a smile escaping as I saw we could see the stars even better out there. Was that why he brought me?

I granted myself three seconds of looking at him before I rolled on my back and stared up at the stars. We laid there a few minutes before he got up and I followed his example. He moved towards the trees but I stepped into the gazebo, glancing around. There were benches all along the inside perimeter of the gazebo that looked like they were holding something. I walked over to one and nudged it open, finding blankets inside.

That was kind of cute, another idea for my future gazebo. I always wanted one. Feeling eyes on me again, I glanced back and saw Ben sitting just inside the gazebo, watching. The only downside to being in wolf form with him was we couldn't talk, but I understood well enough when he inclined his head to leave.

I followed him back out the way we came, with a slight divergence towards the end. Instead of going straight, we veered to the right and ended up in a different part of the territory once we passed the tree-line. He picked up his pace and full on sprinted ahead of me before leaping towards what I thought was ground but it definitely wasn't because he landed with a splash.