Chapter 99

William and I hurried outside and scurried to the rose garden.

“Do you always shift in the rose garden?” William asked.

“Yes,” I replied. It’s close to the house, and the roses offer the privacy that I need to be comfortable while I shift, and the bushes keep my clothes off the ground.”

“The pavilion in the center of the pond would be ideal also, or are you still afraid of the water.”

“I’m not afraid of it anymore,” I informed him. “I learned to swim in that pond while you were away.”

“That’s wonderful,” William said. “I’m glad. You’ll be much safer now around water. I Will never forget the day you almost drowned in my parent’s pool.”

“Me either, although I’d rather forget it,” I sighed. The roses were now in sight.

“Have you taken many runs out here?” he asked. “It is a lovely place, and there is a lot of room to run.”

I didn’t want to mention Victor right now, so I avoided his name. “I’ve come out here several evenings for a run, and I swam in the pond once.”

“I hope you didn’t try to swim alone,” William said. I had a feeling he was trying to find out if Victor was with me.

“I wasn’t alone,” I said. “Victor and his wolf were with me and Diana. My wolf swam first before I shifted back to try it in my human form. I now swim well and enjoy it.”

“I must swim with you sometime,” William said. “I swam often when I was at the lake.”

“The lake sounds wonderful,” I said as we walked past the ballroom windows.

I would love to take you there sometime,” William said with a smile. “It’s a peaceful and pretty place. It was the perfect place to think and relax.”

“I would love to go,” I said. “Who knows what the future holds.”

We exchanged smiles as we reached the roses.

Mark and Diana woke up as we neared where we planned to shift. It was like they could sense their opportunity to run was near.

I could hear both of their excited voices as they chatted with each other. William’s amused expression told me he heard them too.

“You shift on the other side of that row, and I’ll meet you at the end toward the pond,” I said and anxiously waited for him to disappear around the corner.

I stripped out of the dress I had worn to lunch with Lana and my undergarments before calling for Diana.

Diana was thrilled to be going for a run. In the blink of an eye, I was wolf.

“Thank you,” she gushed. “How wonderful to be going for a run with Mark, but what do Adam and Victor think about it?”

“I don’t care,” I replied. “Come on, let’s run.”

Hurrying out of the roses, we met Mark and William. His wolf’s golden coat glistened in the sunlight and made his eyes bluer than the sky above us.

He was larger than me in both width and height and had solid muscle from his nose to his tail. He was all Alpha and as fit and gorgeous as his human form.

He saw me and hurried to my side. “Your wolf is beautiful, Daisy. Your green eyes are even more intense.”

Together we trotted past the pond to the open field, where we broke into a run.

My muscles responded to the challenge and kept pace with the larger male.

“Hey, Daisy,” William said. “Let’s chase something.”

He swooped close to the hedgerow and flushed out a pair of giant rabbits. They bolted across the field with us right behind them.

They were fast and frightened, but we were faster. But as much fun as it was to chase them, it felt a little mean.

I thought of the mother rabbit protecting her young the night of my first shift and felt a wave of pity.

“I don’t want to kill them,” I told William. “They weren't hurting anything, and we aren’t starving.”

“They’re safe around me. I don’t like to kill animals. I just enjoy the chase,” William confessed. “It sounds strange, but I enjoy their flesh, but I don’t like to kill. That’s why I had to eat fish at the lake.”

“So fish don’t deserve to live?” I teased, but I liked this softer side of William.

“They aren’t as bloody and icky inside as a mammal,” he quipped.

“Icky,” I giggled. “What kind of werewolf are you?”

“The kind that can outrun you,” he said and shot ahead of both the rabbits and me.

I wasn’t going to lose the race without a fight. Pushing myself to the limit, I caught up to him. I heard William’s laughter in my mind as I pulled ahead a few feet.

“Can’t you keep up, Mark,” Diana taunted. “Come on. Your legs are longer than mine.”

William and his wolf dug deep within themselves and took the lead by a few inches.

We ran flat out, racing each other around the edge of the field until we could run no more and slowed to a walk. Hot and panting, we stopped for a break near the top of the field.

“That was so much fun,” Diana said. “Racing is as much fun as chasing.”

“And we don’t have to frighten all the bunnies,” I added.

“You are fast for a female,” Mark told her.

“I’m as fast as any werewolf,” Diana argued. “Faster than most. I am a prime female Alpha.”

“Indeed you are,” Mark agreed. “I meant no disrespect. I am glad to be back in your presence, Diana. I missed you.”

“And I missed you,” Diana said. “I strongly feel the pull toward you, but we don’t know what the future will bring. So let us be friends until we know more.”

“I agree,” Mark said. “We will enjoy each other’s company as friends, but I hope the day comes when there will be more between us.”

“Thank you, Mark,” Diana said.

As I listened to our wolves speak, I was in awe of their wisdom. I liked being friends with Mark and William as much as I did with Victor and Adam. I hoped things would stay this peaceful.

It didn’t.

I heard the thunder of large paws coming closer through the field. I was upwind and couldn’t smell the wolf’s scent, but from the sound, I knew a large wolf was coming my way.

William and Mark, along with Diane and I, scanned the area for the sight of the intruder, and we sniffed the air for any scent that could tell us the identity of the wolf approaching us.

I could see them now in the distance, but they quickly came closer. It was a huge, black male wolf. I had no doubt the wolf’s eyes were turquoise blue.

It was Victor, and his body language told me he was angrier than he had been during our talk.

Was he still angry because of our talk? Or had he come out to the field to argue again because I was with William?

Then I heard Adam‘s voice in my mind. “What are you doing out here with him and his wolf? You are officially engaged to Victor.”

“Yes, I am engaged to Victor, and I answer to him, not you, Adam,” I snapped. “And Victor gave me his approval to be friends with William in front of witnesses. You have no right to scold me.”

When werewolves are shifted into their wolf selves, their wolves’ intentions could be harder to control.

So as Victor’s wolf hurried closer, I braced myself for the worst.