“Hush now, quit your worrying,” Costin told her as he rolled over and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back against him. “I assure you, your body is perfect for me. And I’m quite glad that your chest isn’t defined like mine. To be honest, that would be a little disappointing.”

Sally couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up at the picture he had in his mind. She slapped his arm. “You said you were going to behave.”

“I have been. You’re the one who brought up your chest. I mean, really, Sally, how is a man supposed to ignore that topic?”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t think about how it would affect you,” she told him bashfully.

“Go to sleep, beautiful. One day I will show you just how perfect you are for me.”

Sally snuggled closer against him and smiled to herself. She believed Costin. After the things she had seen and felt in his mind, she knew he would never lie to her. If he said she was beautiful, then he meant it. If he said her body was perfect for him, then she would stop worrying about it.

~

“What do you ladies want to do tonight?” Fane asked Jacque and Jen as he and Decebel led them out of the meeting room.

Jen looked at Jacque and grinned. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I’m feeling the need to get furry.” Jacque winked at Fane.

Fane and Decebel grinned.

“I’m always up for a good chase.” Decebel smiled at Jen wickedly, his canines sharpening and his eyes glowing.

Fane crossed his arms and looked at both girls. “Tell you what. We’ll give you guys a three minute head start.” He turned to Decebel. “You cool with that?”

“Oh, I’m cool. It doesn’t matter how far ahead my girl gets in front of me, I will always find her.”

Jen shivered under his intense gaze.

“Okay, you two, save it for the chase.” Jacque rolled her eyes. She leaned into Fane and kissed him deeply, drawing out a low growl. “That’s some incentive for you to not dawdle.”

“Dawdle,” Fane scoffed. “Woman, I've got plans for you. So no worries, there will be no dawdling of any sort.”

Jen and Jacque both walked backward toward the exit, to the freedom where they could be who and what they were. They each blew kisses to their mates and then turned, taking off at a sprint.

“How far do you give them?” Fane asked Decebel, still staring at the door his mate had just fled through.

“Half a mile tops. And that’s being generous,” Decebel answered. His focus was firmly on his mate, who was studiously attempting to block him. She was learning that the longer they were mated, and the more intense and intimate their relationship became, it became much harder to hide things from him. It wasn’t impossible, but it was difficult.

Jen hopped in place as she tried to pull her pants off.

“Jen, your shoes, ding bat. You aren’t going to get those pants off without taking off your shoes.”

“Oh, crap, my bad. I just want to hurry. I want to give him a run for his money, which is very hard to do.”

Both girls focused on undressing as quickly as possible and then dug deep inside themselves, calling on their wolves. Every change became easier and easier. Jen had told Jacque that she could almost feel her wolf just beneath her skin.

Once in wolf form they nuzzled each other briefly, Jacque keeping her head lower than Jen’s since she was the Alpha female of the Serbian pack. With a quick yip from Jen they took off in a flash.

The cold night air rippled through their fur as they darted into the surrounding forest. There was still snow on the ground but it was sporadic now and what was left was slushy. They attempted to avoid it so as not to leave paw prints. They were getting pretty good at dodging bushes and branches in order not to disturb the foliage around them, giving away the trail they had run. Suddenly Jacque broke away from Jen and Jen took that as her cue to go the opposite direction. They'd decided earlier to crisscross each other's trails. They started out in large sweeps, Jacque running left, then making an arch heading right, back toward Jen, who was coming in the exact same figure from the left.

Gradually their sweeps became tighter and tighter. They both faltered in their steps when they heard two loud howls go up into the clear night. Then they both doubled their efforts and, as discussed, continued their crisscrosses for the duration of the run.

“How’s it going, baby?” Jen heard Decebel’s voice in her mind.

She tried to reach out with her acute hearing to get an idea of how far ahead of him she was, but he was much quieter than she was when he ran. Which really got on her nerves.

She decided not to answer and make him sweat a little by putting up a wall between them. That was sure to make him run faster, but it would also drive him insane – which was what she lived for. She could feel him pushing against her mind, and the effort of blocking him was causing her to run more slowly. Deciding speed was more important, she let him push in.

“Not cool, Jennifer.”

“What’s not fair is that you can run faster than me, are quieter than me, and know how to use your sniffer. So suck on that lolly pop and try not to choke.” She heard his laughter and it made her smile. She loved it when Decebel laughed.

Suddenly she was bowled over by a large, furry being.

“Gotcha”

“Damn,” Jen muttered.

Decebel jumped back, letting her up, and lowered his front half down on the ground, his tail wagging. He wanted to play. Jen walked around him with her muzzle in the air, appearing to be indifferent to his actions. Decebel let out a small whine. As soon as Jen was close enough she nipped quickly at one of his four white paws and darted off into the brush.

“You do like the chase don’t you, Jennifer?” Decebel teased.

“Foreplay, baby. Foreplay.” She was repeating the words he had once spoken to her. Being in wolf form didn't deny them any pleasure.

Decebel let out a low growl and doubled his speed.

After running as fast and as hard as she could, Jacque decided to switch from defense to offense. She thought it might be fun to turn the tables on the wolf-man with a well-placed ambush. She hid in a thick grove of trees just off the path.  As the minutes ticked by and Fane got closer, her heart beat more quickly in her chest.  She crouched low, ready to pounce.

“I know you are here, little female.” She felt the caress of his words in her mind. He was trying to distract her. She didn’t respond.