Running from Vampires

Chapter Six

Branches whipped past my head while leaves crunched under my feet. My white fur rustled as the wind blew over me. I reached the river a mile behind the pack house and dove in, cooling off from the run. There was another splash next to me as I surfaced. I looked over to see my mate's black wolf paddling towards me.

I scrambled up the river bank and shook out my wet fur, then laid down on my side. Camdyn's wolf stood above me, dripping water onto my snout. I opened one eye to look at him, then rolled over as he shook himself dry. He laid down behind me, his head resting on my shoulder while we caught our breath.

Weeks had passed and I was good as new. I'd gotten bored being holed up in the house all the time, so I'd begged Camdyn to run with me. Now we were resting from our race around the territory and I relaxed in the safety of my mate's presence.

I beat you. I sang the words gleefully through the mind link we shared.

I let you win.

Riiiight. You're just upset that I beat you.

There's no need to gloat Legna.

You can't catch me-

Really?

-Cause I'm the gingerbread man! I mean, woman!

Oh how mature.

Don't be such a party pooper!

I rolled to my feet and stood above him, grinning and my tongue lolling out of the side of my mouth. Jumping forward, I nipped at his ear playfully and then danced away from him. He got to his feet and stalked towards me, then lunged and pinned me down beneath him. In a show of power, he bit lightly down on my neck and growled.

Don't forget who the Alpha is. You might be my mate, but until we complete the mating process, you will rank under me.

I whimpered and he got off me. As I remained on the ground, I watched him grin evilly and then he took off into the woods. Oh no he didn't. I howled, then chased after, sniffing to follow his scent since I didn't know my way around the woods yet. I emerged from the tree line around the pack house to see Camdyn leaning against a tree and holding out my clothes for me. Glaring at him, I took the clothes between my teeth and hid behind a tree to phase back and get dressed.

"You're a cheater."

"Oh, and tackling me to the ground near the stream to get there first isn't cheating?"

"No, it's thinking outside the box." I walked out from my hiding place and towards the house. He wrapped his arms around my waist and tucked his face against the side of my neck, kissing it softly.

"You have an interesting view of things."

I tried to wiggle out of his hold, stopping only when he bit down on my shoulder, pinning me in place. My head fell back against his chest and I frowned, watching as a cloud shaped like a banana talking on the phone crawled across the sky. Camdyn released his hold of me only to swing me onto his back and take off sprinting for the pack house.

"Where's the herd of bulls?"

"What?"

"Never mind." I clung onto him, fearing that I'd fall off and be trampled to death. Wait... stupid brain. There isn't really a horde of bulls chasing us. Right? I looked over my shoulder and saw nothing.

Doors banged shut behind us as he ran us into his room, then tossed me down onto the bed. I raised an eyebrow at him as he started pacing, looking torn. Walking up to him, I pulled him to a stop and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my chin on his chest so that I could look up at his face.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"Liar."

"Legna-"

"Please, Camdyn, just tell me. I need to know things about the pack if I'm going to be Luna one day."

"This isn't about the pack."

"So then it's about you." I frowned when he pushed me back and stood by the window. "I want to know about you- I am your mate after all. Tell me what's got your panties in a twist."

"I do not wear panties."

I suddenly found myself pressed up against a wall, pinned by his body, while he scowled darkly down at me. His normally gold eyes were black and I gasped, my own eyes widening in suprise. My hands cautiously moved up his body to cradle his face and his eyes slid closed, his hands dropping to my waist.

"I'm sorry. That shouldn't have happened. I have better control than that." He hugged me tightly against his chest and buried his face in my hair.

"What's bothering you? I'll help you as best as I can."

He laughed darkly and his grip tightened. "Oh, little one, what's bothering me is the fact that you're in heat and your scent is calling to me."

"What? I'm in heat?" I looked at him in suprise.

If this was true, then no wonder he's struggling to remain focused and in control. When an unmated female wolf starts her heat, the scent she gives off compels her mate to take her; to mark her. There hasn't been a case in history that an unmated couple will make it past the first heat without mating completely. And lucky me, my mate is an Alpha and I have Alpha blood, giving me a longer heat cycle. Not to mention the fact that the heat is the only time that a female can get pregnant.

Camdyn let go of me and darted to the other side of the room when the first wave hit me. I felt my body get really hot and a throbbing pain started in my stomach. Damn, this isn't good- at least not for him. Over the past weeks that I've gotten to know him, I've come to realize that I'd fallen in love, head over heels. However, I was aware that he wanted to give me time, make sure that I truly wanted him, and he doesn't want our first time, our bonding, to happen over some wild heat-driven sex.

"I'm sorry."

His head whipped in my direction when he heard me. "Sorry? Why do you feel like you have to apologize?"

"I know that you didn't want it to be like this." I looked away from him and started walking towards the bathroom. "I'm just going to, uh... take a cold shower. Yeah, that sounds nice right now."

Before he could move, I was in the bathroom and had locked the door. Turning on the shower, I stripped and hopped under the icy spray. My body instantly cooled and I sighed, rubbing my hands down my face. This is gonna be a long couple of weeks.