Bound to the Alpha: Part Two by Viola Rivard Page B

river than admit any of this to Cain.
    Some of the humor returning to his expression, Cain leaned down and picked up his t-shirt from the floor, offering it to her. “Your other clothes are gone.”
    “Even my bra?” she asked, accepting the shirt glumly.
    He nodded, and his amusement was infectious. She struggled to suppress a grin as she put on the well-worn shirt. There were several stains and tears in the fabric, but it smelled like him, and she was secretly happy to wear it.
    “I will meet you outside,” Cain said as she began clawing the tangles from her hair. He grabbed the duffle bag and headed out.
    “Be right there,” she called out to his back.
    Pausing, she watched him leave, a flurry of emotions whipping around her.
    Mine.
    Sometimes men said things during sex that they didn’t mean. But what if he had meant it? Could she really walk away from him now, or was she just deluding herself?

Chapter 2
    A lot of the snow had melted along the eastern mountainside, making the rocky path slick with ice. Sarah would never have trusted herself to navigate the perilous trail, but Cain’s movements were so effortless that she couldn’t be afraid as she rode on his back.
    For a little while she tried to look around and take in the beauty of the winter wilderness. Everything blurred together, and her efforts to try and sort everything out led to a splitting headache. She added horrible eyesight to her list of reasons why she needed to go home.
    After jumping over a narrow stream, Cain lowered his nose to the ground and began to sniff. His pace slowed a little, but his steps became more purposeful as he changed course, leaving the trail to go deeper into the forest. Sarah’s pulse quickened as she realized that they must be close to his den.
    Selfishly, she’d hoped that they would have another day together before he rejoined his pack. There was still so much to sort out between them, and his pack was still a wild card in the whole equation. Her departure aside, she wasn’t sure how his pack would respond to her, and worse, she worried that Cain would treat her differently when they arrived.
    Cain let out a powerful bark, the unexpected sound startling Sarah. She gripped his fur as the bark echoed into the woods. After a brief delay, he was answered by another bark, this one high-pitched. It was far-off, but at the sound, Cain picked up his pace, surging forward eagerly.
    Through the rows of thin spruce trees, a dark smudge appeared, rocketing towards Cain. Sarah watched as it took shape into a wolf, smaller than Cain but still larger than any canine she’d ever seen. As it neared them, its shape began to change, and Sarah had to blink several times before she realized that it was shifting. With a fluidity that could only be the result of years of practice, the wolf transformed mid-stride, rearing up onto two legs to take the shape of a tall woman.
    Cain stopped, and the woman ground to a halt just a few paces from him. Up close, Sarah could see that she wasn’t quite a woman. She was tall, but her limbs were thin and gangly. Messy brown hair fell over her shoulders, just barely obscuring her high breasts. Freckles were scattered over a face that was a little too angular to be called cute, but her bright eyes and cheeky grin made her endearing nonetheless.
    Anticipating that he would want to shift, Sarah climbed off of the giant wolf, carefully stepping onto a small patch of earth that wasn’t covered in snow. As Cain began to shift, the girl pranced over to Sarah.
    “Wow, look at you,” the girl said, her green eyes brimming with excitement. Despite her confusion, Sarah found herself smiling back.
    “Hi,” she replied, holding out her hand.
    The girl sidestepped Sarah’s hand and pulled her into a suffocating embrace, made all the more weird by the fact that she wasn’t wearing any clothes. Pulling back, she said, “I’m Clover. I’m sure my brother has told you all about me.”
    Sarah blinked at her. It