Chapter 345

I rolled over in the darkness and reached for Victor, but his side of the bed was empty. Looking outside, I saw it wasn’t dawn yet.

Where was he?

I thought about the way he wanted to go directly to sleep after our conversation about wanting a calmer life, and I started to worry.

I waited a few moments in case my instincts were wrong, and he was in the bathroom. When he didn’t return to the bed, I got up and wrapped myself in my robe before going looking for him.

Victor wasn’t in the bathroom or downstairs, so I went outside and circled the cabin. I was relieved to see my truck was still parked near the front porch. He hadn’t left the lake unless he walked.

But my search of the rear of the cabin told me he hadn’t walked away either. He was running.

I folded his jeans and laid them on the back stairs before removing the robe and calling for Diana.

“We must find Victor,” I told Diana.

“I sense he and Adam are running around the lake,” Diana assured me. “He is calm but unsure about his future.”

“I need to talk to him,” I said. “I was feeling sorry for myself last night and said some things I didn’t mean.”

“We will find them,” Diana promised and dashed off around the lake.

Adam sensed Diana’s approach, and Victor ordered him to wait for us. We found the large black wolf waiting for us beneath a willow tree beside the water.

“I woke up and couldn’t find you,” I said. “I was afraid you left me.”

The giant wolf shook his head. “I’d never leave you, my love,” I heard Victor’s voice say in my mind. “But you are right to want a calmer life.”

“Then maybe someday we will have one,” I said. “We will fight for that day …together.”

“I'm glad you feel that way.” Victor’s wolf motioned with his head for Diana to walk with him. “I can’t throw away the leadership after your father entrusted me with it. It must be preserved for our son to take over one day.”

“That’s true,” I agreed. “My family has been the leader of The United Association of Alphas for hundreds of years.”

“Then, have we decided to continue to fight and make new laws that will help all of the people of our world?” he asked.

“Yes,” I agreed. “We will continue to do what's right and to fight for those new laws and each other.”

We stood together, our heads rubbing against one another.

“Run with me?” Victor asked.

“I thought you’d never ask,” I replied.

We ran around the edge of the lake until the eastern horizon began to lighten, and the birds started to chirp. It was going to be a beautiful morning. The sky was clear, and the warm air smelled fresh.

“We should start back,” Victor said. “If William and Penny wake up, they will wonder where we went.”

“They’ll find our clothes and know we went for a run,” I reasoned. “Let’s stop and …um, rest for a while.”

I shifted human and held out my arms in invitation. “You went to sleep so quickly last night that I’m feeling a bit neglected this morning.

“I can’t have that,” Victor said, and instantly, the black wolf disappeared, and my hunky fiancé stood in its place.

He took me in his strong arms, and our mouths met while he pulled me against his naked body.

His tongue teased mine, and his hands roamed over my skin. They drifted down my back and squeezed my bottom as I let my hands explore his muscular chest.

I’d never get enough of his hard body. Everywhere our skin touched, I tingled with sensual delight.

I jumped when a sharp crack sounded nearby.

“What was that?” I asked.

“It sounded like a branch breaking,” Victor said as his lips and tongue moved to my neck. “It must be a squirrel or something moving through the trees.”

“A squirrel,” I murmured as his mouth took possession of my breasts.

My fingers tangled in Victor’s soft, thick hair while his lips teased my breasts. The sensations he created were running throughout my body, making my heart race and my breathing labored.

But I still heard the second, louder crack of a branch.

“Victor, what if someone is watching us?” The thought creeped me out.

There were other cabins and houses all around the lake. We made friends with a local family the last time we were here. They had two sons who were the peeping Tom types. I’m sure there were others like them.

“Let’s move away from the water,” Victor suggested. “It may be an animal trying to get his morning drink.”

He took my hand and led me a hundred feet or so into the trees until a bank rose up in front of us.

“Look, is that a cave?” I asked, pointing toward an opening in the side of the bank that faced the lake.

“I think it is,” Victor said. “Stay here for a moment, and I’ll check it out.”

I watched Victor walk to the opening and then disappear inside.

While waiting for him to return, I thought I heard more branches breaking and soft grunts coming from my right.

The sun was painting the sky vivid shades of red and orange, yet I couldn’t make out any figures among the trees. But I couldn’t shake the feeling someone was there.

I was glad when Victor emerged and motioned for me to come to him.

“It’s a small cave,” he reported. “But it’s a private spot that’s all ours if we want to use it.”

I nodded and took his hand. “It’s probably my imagination, but I feel as though we are being watched.”

“Then let’s go inside,” Victor said and led me into the cave.

The cave was dark, but our eyes soon adjusted. It smelled of dampness and like the animals that must have used it as a hotel.

But I didn’t see anyone or anything in it now. There was nothing but Victor in my mind when we came together again, and our passion flared once again.

In a few minutes, Victor’s mouth and hands had me on the edge of paradise.

I grasped his swollen manhood in my hand and reveled in his gasp of pleasure. Dropping to my knees, I took him into my mouth.

“Oh, my love,” he groaned as he ran his fingers through my hair.

Using my tongue, I drove him wild, stopping when I sensed he was close to his climax. Then I stood and offered him my woman’s passage from behind.

It was thrilling and different from our more tame lovemaking in a bed. I shivered with excitement as his hands grasped my hips, and he drove himself inside my aching love channel.

Victor clung to me while bringing us both to the brink of ultimate pleasure. I cried out his name, and together, we rode through a storm of passion that left us breathless and fulfilled.

We stood and clung to each other while our breathing returned to normal.

I kissed his chest. “That was wonderful. I’m glad I woke up early and went looking for you.”

“So am I, my love,” he chuckled. “You have completely relieved my mind and renewed my spirit.”

“I love you, Victor,” I said. “I’m glad I’m your mate, and I’ll be proud to be your wife when we are ready to wed.”

“And I love you, Daisy,” he vowed. “More than I thought possible. The thought of losing you fills me with dread. You are more important to me than any job.”

“And you are more important to me than any cause or new laws,” I said. “But we must be who we are and not change to suit others.”

“Agreed,” Victor said and claimed my lips again in a passionate kiss.

Suddenly, there was grunting outside of the cave. The grunts grew louder and more fierce.

“What is that?” I asked.

Victor pushed me behind him. “I think it’s a bear. I should have known this cave had an occupant.”

“A bear?” I repeated. “Will it try to hurt us?”

Before Victor could answer my question, an enormous, shaggy black beast appeared at the cave's opening.

We were trapped inside its home!

The bear stood up on its hind legs and roared.

It was terrifying.

The bear shook its massive head and lowered itself onto all fours as it moved inside the cave.

“We can’t fight a bear as humans,” Victor warned me. “We must shift, Daisy. Only as wolves will we have a chance to survive.”

I called for Diana as the bear stood on its hind legs again and roared, showing us its fangs and long, sharp claws.