Free Embracing the Wolf by Felicity Heaton Page A

smile. He wrapped his arm
around her and pulled her flush against his side, crushing her
slightly. She smiled at this act of possession and the silent
message it sent to her heart. Now that he had her again, he wasn’t
going to let her out of arm’s reach. She rolled into him, almost
laying on her front, and draped herself across his body.

    Resting her chin on his
chest, Kat carefully cleared all the strands of his long black hair
from his face. He stared at her, right into her eyes, right down
into her soul. His smile made her own tug at her lips. In the four
years they’d been apart, she’d never felt as happy as she did
now.

    “ We’re safe?”
she said with raised brows, wanting to make sure that he wasn’t
about to turn dangerous and she wasn’t going to follow him into the
violent darkness.

    He nodded and encircled
her with his arms. His hands skimmed up and down her back, stroking
her in a way that calmed her. She relaxed into him, contented to
the core and happy to just lie with him and stare at his face. His
smile widened.

    “ I missed you,”
he whispered with a hint of a frown and swept his fingers down her
cheek. They came to a halt at her jaw, holding it lightly. She felt
every feeling behind those words, every ounce of emotion that she
could see in his eyes.

    “ I missed you
too.” She closed her eyes briefly and leaned into his touch,
savouring it and wondering if she was dreaming.

    “ We’ll need to
leave this city,” Amon said and held her tight. A sense of safety
the strength of which she had never experienced before filled Kat.
With Amon’s arms around her, nothing could hurt her.

    “ Can we go
home?” she whispered, suddenly unsure of herself. They had both
left his pack’s home the moment she’d run away from him. It was
only fitting that now they were back together, they returned to the
place where they’d passed so many happy times.

    “ Of course
we’ll go home,” he said in a low voice, soothing to her ears and
her heart. He smiled into her eyes. His were full of the love that
she could feel in him. “The pack will be waiting to meet their
alpha female.”

    A blush touched her cheeks
when she thought about having to be the lead woman in a pack. She
hadn’t considered it when she had chosen to mate with Amon. It had
been all about him, about them. Nothing else had come into
it.

    She had accepted her wolf
side so easily when it had been her only chance to save him. It
hadn’t been as frightening as she had expected or as difficult. The
moment she had realised that she had to embrace her darker side in
order to protect the man she loved, she had changed in a heartbeat.
It still wasn’t over though. Until she changed fully into her wolf
form, she would continue to hold a sliver of fear about what it
would be like to become the beast.

    “ Will it hurt
my first time?” she said, looking into his eyes again and letting
him see her fear.

    “ Everyone’s
first time hurts,” Amon said with a rakish smile. Kat slapped his
chest and gave him an unimpressed look. He knew she wasn’t talking
about that. His words reminded her that her first time had been
with him. He was all she had ever known when it came to love. His
look turned serious and thoughtful. “I will be there with you to
guide you through the change, Kat, as a mate should.”

    She smiled at that word.
Mate. It was more than lovers, and husbands and wives. It was an
eternal declaration of their feelings for each other and a bond
that made them exclusive. It was a connection that would see them
reject the attention of the opposite sex out of a desire to have
the attention of their partner. It was forever.

    Forever sounded
good.

    She curled up against him
with her head resting on his chest. The sound of his steady
heartbeat soothed her and she sighed out her happiness. He pressed
a kiss to her hair and held her closer. She had faced her fears and
she felt as though she was alive again, had been given the