Masked SheWolf (MSW book 1)

Chapter 21 - Michael

Pain rips through my tail and spreads up my body as he bites down on it. A yelp escapes from my snout and I double over involuntarily. This is exactly the opening he needs to tackle me. I fight back, and for a moment I succeed in turning him over, but it's only a fraction of a second before he has the upper hand again and pins me to the ground.

I'm lying on my side staring up at him as he growls and snaps his teeth menacingly. There's nowhere to go anymore; I'm stuck. If I had any idea what he's about to do, I would have stayed there complacently and waited until he left thinking I learned my lesson. But for some reason, Sadie's face pops in my mind and it haunts me.

Even if he does leave me alone now, there's no mending that rift in their relationship. I trust her; I know she'd never tell him. But I also love her, and I know she loves him. I would hate myself if I were what ruined their relationship after they had been together so long. More importantly, Cade's the pack beta; Logan may be on my side now, but once word gets out that his right-hand man caught me with his mate in the forest, and I was in wolf form, there'd be no more mercy for me.

Against all my instincts and my better judgment, I take a deep breath and close my eyes. A couple of seconds later, I've changed back into human form, and I lie still beneath him, completely and utterly exposed. I swallow down my embarrassment and keep my eyes screwed shut as I hear Cade's growl cut off into a shocked yelp. Milliseconds later, he jumps off of me abruptly and I hear him back away several steps.

Tentatively, I open my eyes and sit up, automatically bringing my legs up with me to cover my chest. Cade is standing three feet away from me, still in wolf form. His breathing is heavier than mine but he's frozen just as I was before this whole chase game even began. We take a moment to catch our breaths, never taking our eyes off of each other.

"I don't want to push you or anything," I say in my normal voice when I'm calm enough to talk, "but I'm kind of naked here, and this isn't the most ideal position to be in. So are you going to kill me or what?"

He blinks and sits back on his hind legs, his front paws holding him up. A moment later, he starts morphing back to human form.

"Whoa there!" I yell in surprise and cover my eyes. "I didn't mean do that!"

"How else am I supposed to answer you?" his voice asks, and I'm relieved to hear that it holds no trace of the animosity he always has for me. I don't know whether it's safe to remove my hand or not, so I don't, until he tells me, "You can look now."

Hesitantly, I do as he says. He's sitting in a similar position only his legs aren't covering his torso as much as mine are which leaves his chest exposed. He's more buff than I originally thought. But now's not the time to notice that, and it's not as if I like what I'm seeing anyway. Frankly, I've seen more in my brothers. I wait for him to say something, at the very least to answer my question, but he just sits there looking at me. After a while, I can't take it anymore.

"Are you going to just stare at me all day?" I wonder.

"I need a moment to process," he tells me.

"Well, can you not take too long?" I request. "Because, supposedly, the next group going for training will be here any minute, and I don't really feel like being outedin front of the whole world in just one day."

Cade takes a deep breath and holds it in for a moment before letting it out. "I don't understand how this is possible," he finally says nervously.

"What? That I'm female? What does it matter? At least now you know I'm not trying to steal your girlfriend," I attempt to joke.

Regret flashes in his eyes and he frowns uncertainly, though his expression is still clouded by his confusion over this whole thing. "Uh, yeah, sorry about, you know, that. I know I'm a little overprotective, but it's because I care about her."