Dark Wolf (Shadow Pack Book 1) by Katt Grimm

as they stood together, an opening salvo in the mating of wolves. He probably had very little control over his instinctual actions in this form and neither did Katie, who leaned her body into his larger one. His shoulder wound was already scabbed over. Katie was taking so much undiscovered joy out of this Change, she had forgotten about his wound, but she was glad to see it was healing. With a yelp, she bounced into the snow, going downhill toward their goal, feeling her own power for the first time in years. She looked back in his direction, almost daring him to chase her. David was a magnificent specimen as a man, but as a wolf, she realized, looking up at the breadth of his chest and the magnificent pelt, he was godlike. She fancied she could see a grin on his muzzle before he launched himself into the snow beside her and playfully nipped at her ears. Together they rolled a good twenty feet in the snow before righting themselves and running onward.
    She heard the falls before she saw them, one set of many magnificent waterfalls in this part of the mountains, a startling thunder of crashing crystal water breaking the white silence. She could taste the sharp metallic tang of fresh water in the air. Ahead, the ebony form of David had stopped underneath a natural shelter formed by a cluster of evergreens, thick enough that there wasn’t any snow under them. As she joined him, she saw it had a view of the falls but was still well hidden from any passersby. He indicated the spot for her with a nod and spoke into the stillness of her mind for the first time.
    “Stay here and wait. I am going to go back and check on Frank and our ‘friends.’” His voice was strong and sure in her head, amazing in its clarity.
    Katie started. No one had spoken into her mind since her mother had died. It was a very intimate intrusion. Because Uncle Frank was of a different species, she could not communicate that way with the were-bear. She shook, her fears and phobias crashing back down on her. Trying to be braver than she felt, she decided this protective crap had gone on long enough.
    “You’re still hurt, damn it. I am not going to wait demurely for you while you go off to defend my honor… Besides, I need some clothes or cover. I should be the one to go back.” The fear of her stepfather hunting her for sport, added to the terror over what she had gotten Frank into, suddenly rose up in her throat, and she choked back a pained howl. She managed, however, to think sarcastically at David, and she growled out loud. Just a bit.
    David wasn’t pack leader for nothing. He growled at her in return. Much louder. It shook her down to the roots of her tail. “You will stay here and wait. As a wolf . You haven’t run in your spirit form for years, that much is evident, and your inexperience could get us all killed a lot easier than my little wound.” He walked over to her, and in a gesture that was the equivalent of a wolf hug, he placed his larger neck over hers, hanging his head down to taste her fur. His thoughts turned pleading. “If you get nervous, you might not be able to hold your shape. Please wait here for me. I promise I will be back as soon as I can. I need you…safe.”
    Katie remained stiff against him, though her heart was troubled. His hesitation before his last word emphasized one true thing. He needed her. She still fumed, however, and refused to meet his eyes as he turned to go.
    Hurt and still aching for David’s touch, Katie stood defiantly in her “nest,” watching him leap over the snow and back up the mountainside. She then turned, circled, and lay down on the thick carpet of pine needles, sadly watching the cascading falls, which were at least thirty feet high and again as wide, icicles and snow tucked into and hanging from crevices and rocks. Eyes alert, she began her watch, anxiously waiting for her uncle and soul mate to return. The creeping cold terror that always possessed her when she made the Change began to