Claiming His Need by Ellis Leigh Page B

a shrug, I nodded.  
    Gates kept his eyes on mine for a beat longer than normal before he gave me a single head bob.  
    “Isn’t that cute.” Chinoo struggled to his feet. “Your white knight’s come to your rescue once again. I guess that’s what growing up as the adored princess of the pack will do to you—make you weak.” He smirked at Gates. “Pretty sad how helpless she is, man.”
    Gates laughed, throwing his head back. Long and loud and full, as if Chinoo had just said the funniest thing in the world. Chinoo watched him with a wary, uncomfortable expression.
    “Helpless? I watched her plant your ass halfway across this field. I would never call her helpless. Besides, I wasn’t coming over here to rescue her. I was just making sure she had a getaway ride”—his voice dropped to a growl as he stared pointedly at the younger wolf—“in case she killed you.”  
    Chinoo choked and sputtered before turning and walking away at a fast clip. The coward.
    Gates wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his hold. “Which reminds me, Sandman and I have a meeting with the Cleaners and your pack leaders. How about we head out for a little run as wolves before the meeting starts? Just you and me.”  
    He stared down at me, his eyes filled with a heat that made my heart race.  
    “That sounds perfect.”

    We ran through the woods along the trails leading to the houses of various packmates. Weaving in and out of trees, following in the footsteps my ancestors had tread for hundreds of years. The air rushed by, ruffling my fur and bringing with it the sounds and scents of nature around me. I loved the land I’d been raised on, loved the freedom the relatively remote location brought us. Even in the depths of winter, when the cold and the snow battered the peninsula and forced the humans indoors, I loved to run across the terrain as my wolf. There was nothing like the feel of fresh powder under my paws and a brisk, icy breeze teasing my nose.
    Gates ran right behind me, his black-as-night wolf following me over the hills and across the flats. When we reached a heavily wooded section not far from the coast, I turned to go around, but Gates yipped and led me to where three pine trees had grown closely together. Their bottom boughs hung heavy, creating a kind of cave under the branches. Gates led the way inside, and then shifted into his human form.
    I whined, the sight of his naked thighs making me want to follow his lead and shift, but he shook his head.
    “I want to talk to you, beautiful. And if you shift, you’ll be naked. And I’m naked. And that’s not quite where I want this conversation to go. At least not yet.”
    I huffed and spun, racing out of the den he’d found and across the grassy field. He yelled after me, but I didn’t stop. I ran all the way to the edge of the hills where my brothers and I had often played as children. Inside a hollowed out tree trunk were three cloaks. The pack kept them scattered about the land in case we needed them, though none of us was particularly uncomfortable with nudity. Clothes were more of a hindrance than a necessity most of the time, but one never knew when humans would wander onto our land.
    I pulled a cloak from the pile with my teeth and ran back the way I’d come, returning to the little pine den my mate had found.
    “Smart girl.” Gates smiled when I rushed in, tan fabric in my mouth. I dropped it in his lap and curled up next to him, his thigh brushing against my fur. He wrapped the cloak around his hips and sat back against the center tree trunk.
    “I heard what Chinoo said”—his eyes met mine—“and I saw your face. I don’t want you to think that my not coming for you yet is a sign of rejection. If it weren’t for these nomads putting you in danger, we’d be deep in the Rites of Klunzad right now. But I can’t lose my focus and put you at risk.”
    I sat up and faced him, eye to eye with the man who would be mine. His eyes