He is Ghost

Strike One

Neira spent the next day alone on her deck, lounging in the sun like a lizard. She'd slept till noon and then stretched out on the already warm planks. Landon had stopped by for a while later, sunning himself, too. His blonde hair looked almost white in the sun, but his skin was nearly glowing. Summer had done him well.

He had brought her clothes, a few pairs of shorts and some T-shirts. Neira had thanked him. He probably thought her current set of clothes smelled rank. Well, Neira thought they did.

As the sun considered setting, another pair of boots stood on her porch. His scent of earth and mist stuffed itself up her nose. Next to her lay her shirt. At least she was lying on her stomach, soaking up the last of the day's sun on her spine and hadn't flipped, chest up, like a rotisserie chicken.

"Judd," she said flatly, "you are blocking my sun."

He toed her ribs with his boot. "Are you part reptile? You have been out here all day."

She turned her head to the other side, eyeing him staring down at her. Truthfully, Neira hadn't spent much time in her human skin. It felt glorious to have the sun on her bare flesh. "You would only know that if you had been watching me all day." He grinned and looked out at the forest. "What do you want?"

His eyes fell from the treetops to the tattoo on her spine. "What does that mean?"

Sometimes, she forgot the ink on her back, stretching from the base of her neck and down along her spine to the middle of her back. It wasn't in a language he would know. No one could remember the old tongue anymore or what it looked like. Neira only knew it because of her mother and her unwavering fascination with their histories.

"It's a secret," she said with a small smile.

He rolled his eyes. "Well, would you like to go for a run with me? Sada and Aja are up shit creek together, and the boys left about an hour ago to get supplies."

She studied his face. His facial hair had grown out, a shadow making his already strong jaw look sharper. He wanted to run with her... Alone? Was this an olive branch? Neira stood, causing him to glance away before returning his gaze to her face. Judd set his jaw; his teeth clenched hard enough that Neira saw a vein pop on his neck. She took her shorts off, staring him in the eyes as she did so. Then she dove off the deck a wolf and ran into the woods. Judd watched her, hesitating, before finally undressing and chasing after her.

As a wolf, Neira was covered in reddish-brown fur. There was a patch on her spine in a cream colour where her tattoo was inked. Other old wounds left marks on her pelt, too. It was her father's colouring, the rich red colour. The icy blue eyes, however, were her mother's.

The grey and copper wolf stuck close but not too close. Just enough for her to feel his presence but not enough to feel threatened by it. She ran far, taking a corner at a creek running through his land. The water was refreshing as she stopped for a drink.

Something moved in the woods on the other side of the bank, or she thought that's what she saw. A chill lanced her spine as if someone had taken a whip to it. There was nothing there. Nothing but the wolf creeping up behind her. He had watched her for a long while, her pelt shining in the sunlight. Neira froze, still like a lamb, as he stalked up to her, still watching that spot in the trees. She didn't see movement again.

His nose hit her hindquarters first, and she growled a warning. Judd ignored her warning. He ran his nose through her pelt along her side, taking in long inhalations of her scent. She snarled again.

This time, he growled back, telling her to shut it.

His nose dipped low, heading towards the supple skin of her underbelly. She jumped, spinning to put her jowls on his throat. Her target was missed; the only thing she got was a bit of fur just above his copper eye. Without missing a beat, she lunged again but didn't get a chance to open her jaws. He had clamped his teeth around her ear, blood already running from the wound. Neira barked in pain and spun as soon as his teeth released her ear. Of course, he'd been expecting that. Neira was flattened into the ground in the next moment, the larger male wolf holding her down with his teeth in the scruff of her neck.