The Bite (Book 1)

Original Edition - Chapter 14: Friends

He sniffed the air and licked his lips as he stepped forward again. We snapped towards him. Our jaws would find his skin if he stepped further, that we knew for sure.

Something tried to push in my mind but I just put up tall walls to protect myself. Liam let out a long sigh and shook his head much like Levi does when he's annoyed with me.

His skin started to ripple and his bones started to crack into place as fur turned into perfectly tanned skin. He was a fine male, a very fine naked male.

My skin let hot and my wolf and I both couldn't help but let our eyes scan over his form; he looked like he was carved out of one of these tall proud trees. All lean muscle with golden blonde hair and silver eyes.

He gave me a soft smile and held his hands up in surrender as he stepped backward towards a tree. He reached into the hole of the tree and pulled out some clothes; a pair of basketball shorts, which he pulled on quickly, and a large t-shirt, which he tossed at me.

My wolf cocked her head at him before taking the shirt in her mouth and trotting behind a large tree for us to change. I slipped the shirt over my head before looking for Elliot. He wasn't anywhere in my sight, but I could smell him. He wasn't far, but he was most definitely watching this interaction.

I brushed my hair out of my face with my fingers and pulled the long sleeved black shirt down as far as it would go. It almost reached my knees, yet when I walked out into Liam's line of sight I felt almost butt naked.

I flushed and looked down at my toes quickly when the sound of him clearing his throat cleared the air. I snapped my eyes back to his. His cheek had a massive gash that was almost healed from where I had bit the crap out of him, and his ear looked liked it was starting to heal back together. He looked pretty beat up. The sight made my wolf swell with pride, but I quickly bit back at her. We looked pretty awful too, it wasn't like we came out of that fight without a scratch.

"Um, hey," he almost mumbled out.

I couldn't help but chuckle. I made him nervous. Good.

I gave him a small wave and tried not to stare at his perfect torso. "Hi."

We both stood there awkwardly like two kids at their first middle school dance before Liam let out a hot breath. He took a cautious step towards me while scratching his head. "Listen, I think we got started off on the wrong foot."

I breathed out a sharp laugh. "Ya think?"

He gave me a small smile and nodded. "I am sorry. I wasn't at my best. I didn't expect to lose, I hate losing." He scratched at his scruff and shrugged. "I just behaved badly and didn't take losing to a girl well, especially one that has barely had her fur for a month."

"What's wrong with losing to a girl?" I scoffed.

Liam stiffened quickly and opened his mouth a few times before closing it. He sighed again before looking back at me apologetically. "Nothing, there's nothing wrong. It's just, well, my wolf didn't like loosing to you." He bit his lip a bit before letting out a shaky breath laced with a breathy laugh. "It's because of the bond. He doesn't like thinking he couldn't protect his potential future bondmate. That and he was a little embarrassed and didn't take well to that."

Typical male ego. Always trying to impress a girl and then they go and look like a damn asshole doing it.

I shook my head and tried to hide the blush on my cheeks. I shrugged a bit before looking back to him. "Sorry?"

"Don't be. You fought well. You shouldn't feel bad, you should be rubbing it in my face because that's exactly what I would do."

We both laughed, a little nervously, before the quietness settled in. Liam looked at me then back to the forest behind him. He was kind of adorable. He reminded me of how careless I used to be, free.