When Lust Rules by Virginia Cavanaugh

and the
truck began to teeter.
    “Fuck! Hold on!”
    Julie braced as the truck rolled. The seat belt dug into her
body roughly with each rotation. Glass flew through the cab, stinging her skin
as it rained upon her. The air bags deployed with a whoosh. It was all she
could do to keep her limbs tucked to her body to try to lesson her injuries.
    The movement stopped and Julie blinked as she tried to grasp
her bearings. She hung upside down, the seat belt securing her in place. Next
to her a feral growl sounded. She heard the click of a seat belt and watched as
Luken slid from his seat.
    “We have to move. Put your hands above your head so you can
catch yourself.”
    Feeling slightly dazed, she complied as he ripped through
her seat belt. Her fall wasn’t anywhere near as graceful as his. She kind of
rolled into a ball then fell awkwardly to the side. Her knee protested as she
crawled toward Luken. Pebbles of glass dug painfully into the bruised flesh.
She cleared the window and he gripped her hands, helping her to her feet. She
pushed the hair away from her face and her left hand came away sticky and warm.
    “There’s no time. I need you to trust me, Julie, and run
into those trees. Don’t stop until you see other wolves. Understand?”
    The pounding inside her head increased as she nodded. She
watched as he slipped his jeans off. “What are you doing?”
    “Go.”
    She didn’t get a chance to argue with him as a shimmer of
light covered his body and he changed. A shiver raced through her. Would she
ever get used to that? He took off around the side of the damaged truck and she
turned to race off into the foliage as he’d told her.
    Breaths sawed in and out of her lungs as her legs pumped
hard. Aches and pains burst through her body, but she ignored them, focusing on
reaching safety. Low limbs of bushes abraded the skin of her legs and the rough
earth dug at her soles. Gunfire erupted, and the cries of birds mingled with
the flapping of frantic wings. Above her the tree limbs stirred and leaves
began to drift to the earth. She sent up a silent prayer that Luken was okay.
If something happened to him she’d never be able to forgive herself. It had
been a year without any trouble. A whole year to lull her into thinking it
would be safe to venture into another relationship. The cool air hit her wet
cheeks and she shivered, only now realizing that tears had begun to track down
her face again.
    As she broke through the underbrush and into a clearing, her
heart pounded and her eyelids slammed up. A large man with hair as black as the
night stood in its center. Panicked, she started to skid to a halt. Was he one
of Ivan’s men? A scream started to bubble up inside her as her bottom hit the
ground. The muscles in her body quivered from fatigue. She hadn’t run like this
in forever. Even though her breaths were erratic and her body screamed she
scrambled backward.
    “Where’s Luken?”
    The deep baritone of his voice took a second to process
inside her brain. Luken? He asked about Luken. “He said…to run…’til…wolves.”
Her labored breaths wouldn’t allow her to string together a full sentence. And
then they appeared. Two large beasts came out of the trees in front of her. The
near full moon cast a silver glow down onto the clearing. One was a beautiful
mix of grays and whites, its pale eyes shining mysteriously. The other was
dark, near black.
    “Jasmine, stay with her while we go find Luken.”
    The light-colored wolf advanced toward her as the other wolf
and man disappeared the way she came. Julie’s body trembled as the wolf came
closer. She had touched Luken’s pelt when he’d been in her kitchen. It had been
scary as hell then. But deep down she knew him and knew he wouldn’t hurt her.
Would this wolf be the same?
    Julie locked her gaze with the wolf’s. Please be nice. As if in answer to the silent question the wolf dipped her head low then
nuzzled the right side of Julie’s face. It took a lot to