The kiss was soft, tender—a brush of his lips against hers. Kelsi cocked her head slightly as Lee pulled back. It was serviceable—and enjoyable—but the lack of heat and passion was confusing. It certainly wasn't the kind of kiss she expected from an alpha.

Especially an alpha who was her destined mate.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, looking around. Had Riley suddenly appeared without her hearing the kid?

Lee coughed, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment. "I, uh, didn't want to risk a boner in front of your daughter." He jerked his chin in the direction of the pool.

Her eyes immediately flickered to the front of his worn jeans, then up to his face where the orange glow of passion was slowly fading from his irises. "That's very thoughtful," she told him, tucking a strand of hair behind one ear.

In the grand scheme of things, it was extremely thoughtful for Lee to be concerned about what Riley was exposed to. But this was the same alpha who had spent the past two days trying to convince her to marry him. Was it so hard to ask for more? Especially when she accepted everything he was offering her?

Lee tucked his hands into his pockets, studying her expression. "You want me to have a boner in front of your daughter?"

Kelsi chuckled and shook her head. "Fuck no."

He rocked back on his heels, confusion writ large across his face. It also flowed through their bond. "Then what?"

"Is there somewhere a little more private we can go to? For a few minutes?" she added quickly as his eyebrows lifted suggestively. She wanted a better kiss, not to come back to her future in-laws' party smelling like sex.

The orange glow reignited in Lee's irises. "I can think of a few places." Grinning, he turned around and shifted. Kelsi jumped, her bare back hitting the rough bark of the tree behind them. His wolf form was easily the size of a horse—a hulking mass of black fur and rippling muscle. "Follow me," he said, tongue lolling from powerful jaws.

Kelsi blinked. "Uh ..."

Lee tilted his head.

Goddess, this was embarrassing to admit. "I've never really shifted."

The alpha's brow furrowed. "Never?"

"Omegas don't exactly get many opportunities to run," she explained, brushing bits of bark off her shoulder. She had vague memories of doing it in elementary school during field days, but nothing beyond that.

A swirl of emotions flowed through the bond—anger, irritation, disbelief, sadness. Lee glanced down at the ground, then up at her. "Well, now you'll be able to run whenever you want. C'mon."

Kelsi looked around at the Bloodmoons' large yard and the open forest beyond it. She recalled the pictures Lee had shown her of Silver Ridge, the derelict hamlet the goddess Hecate had given him. You can run wherever you want ...

"I hope I remember how to," she told him.

Lee sat and waited, watching her with dark orange eyes. Stepping away from the tree, Kelsi took a deep breath and reached inside, tapping the magic that had long lain dormant. Warmth flowed over her skin like a lover's caress, stretching her bones, lengthening her face into a muzzle, transforming her nails into thick, sharp black claws, and replacing flesh and hair with a pelt of cream-colored fur.

Kelsi yawned and stretched, taking a few seconds to adjust to her new orientation and senses. It was easier than she had expected.

"Shit, you're beautiful," Lee breathed, looking her up and down.

Her nose and paw pads warmed at the compliment. "Thank you," she replied demurely.

"Follow me." He rose and took off at a run, nose pointed in the direction of the woods.

Kelsi followed, stumbling slightly, legs moving like a newborn calf's. Instinct soon took over and she lifted her head, jaws parting as the wind sang in her pointed ears. This was true freedom, she realized. A blue sky, the sun high overhead, and a wide-open field of green grass beneath her paws.

Lee ducked through the tree line, following a trail that wound deep into the forest. Kelsi was close behind, amazed at her ability to keep up with him.

They jumped over a fallen log and then took a sharp left turn. Suddenly, Lee slid to a halt, throwing up forest detritus. He shifted back into human form and leaned against a shattered tree trunk, waiting for her arrival.

Kelsi dug her claws into the forest floor, skidding a few feet before she came to a stop. She shifted and pressed a hand to her beating heart, taking big, deep breaths. "You could've warned me," she chastised once everything slowed back to normal.

Lee grinned. "Where's the fun in that?" he asked, reaching for her hand.

She took it, and he pulled her towards him. "Oh!" she exclaimed, only to have the alpha spin her around and press her against a hollow in the trunk.

Deep in the forest with no one to hear them, and no young daughter to stumble upon their encounter, Lee showed Kelsi just what an alpha was capable of. His hard body pressed against hers, the harsh fabric of his jeans rubbing against the thin cotton of her sundress. She looked up into his burning orange eyes, lips parting in surprise.

"Is this what you were looking for?" he asked with a salacious grin, leaning down to capture her mouth with his.

Heat flooded Kelsi's body and her wolf sang in her blood. Their bond flared to life, pulsing with an electricity she'd never experienced. Lee's tongue teased her lower lip, growling softly beneath his breath. Kelsi moaned, nails digging into the corded muscles of his arms as he continued to devastate her mouth with the intensity of his kisses and stoke the flames of her desire with the warmth of his frame.

Lee's right hand slid down her body, close to the hem of her dress. His fingers ghosted across the bare skin of her thigh and began to curve inward.

"Lee," she breathed against his mouth, gently biting his lip between her teeth.

"Baby," he moaned, maneuvering his hand between her legs. "I'll take you right now if you want."

Kelsi's head fell back against the tree trunk as Lee palmed her through her underwear, sucking on the skin of her neck. Is that what she wanted? To be fucked raw in the woods?

Before she could formulate an answer, Lee sighed and drew back. Kelsi blinked and pushed against the trunk, standing upright. "What's wrong?" she asked through kiss-swollen lips. Then she heard it: a faint female's voice calling out.

Lee turned and shouted over his shoulder, "We're coming!"

"I'm sure you are!" his sister shouted back, followed by a laugh that drifted through the trees.

A different kind of heat flooded Kelsi's cheeks and she hurriedly checked the hem of her dress to ensure nothing was riding up.

Lee sighed and pivoted; by his movements, Kelsi figured he was adjusting himself. "I'm sorry about that," he said, running a hand through his hair.

Kelsi reached back and finger-combed her ponytail, pulling a few loose bits of bark and lichen from her tresses. "How'd she find us so quickly?"

The alpha chuckled and freed a bit of bark from above her right ear. "Sav and Caleb had a bunch of places they'd go and fool around in when we were kids. This was one of them." He smiled wryly. "I had the honor of searching for her when it was dinnertime."

"Oh." The throb between her legs was subsiding. Hopefully, she didn't look too disheveled. That wasn't a conversation she wanted to have with Riley so soon. "Your sister and the alpha's son ... they've been together a long time?"

He nodded. "Since we were six. They're mates, just like us."

There was a longing to his tone that piqued Kelsi's curiosity. "So you grew up seeing them with this bond that no one else had."

Lee nodded again.

"And you ... wanted it for yourself."

He turned to face her, eyebrows lifting in a knowing gesture. "Always."

"And now that you have it ... how does it feel?"

Lee studied her, the orange in his irises fading so that all that remained was blue. The corner of his mouth lifted and he took her hand. "That depends on how my luna feels."

Kelsi's skin flushed as his fingers curled around hers. "It's going to take some getting used to, but I think I'm going to enjoy it."

"And that will be my life's mission," he murmured, leaning over to softly brush his lips over hers. "We better get going before Sav comes back. And believe me, she won't be so subtle next time."

"Pay-back?" Kelsi hazarded.

Lee laughed and squeezed her hand. "You have no idea."