The Millennium Wolves novel Chapter 2

Sienna Hey, Selene

Sienna Are you awake?

Selene Ugh, barely

Selene This better be life or death

Selene It’s 2AM

Selene What’s going on? Sienna When did you first know

Selene Know what??

Sienna That you were in love with Jeremy

Selene Wait, what?

Selene Sienna…

Selene Could this really not wait till the morning?

Sienna Aiden asked me to go on a run tonight

Selene WHAT

Selene OH MY GOD

Selene Why didn’t you lead with that??

Selene I’m like hyperventilating over here

Selene Hold on, let me go to the living room

Selene

Jeremy is snoring

Selene

Sienna Um, okay take deep breaths

Sienna I’m the one going on the run

Selene SO YOU’RE GOING??

Sienna Yes, and I need your advice

Sienna

Like…now

Selene Okay, what do you need to know?

Sienna Your first run with Jeremy

Sienna What was it like? What did you wear? Was it intense or intimate?

Selene Well, it was magical

Selene And what you wear couldn’t matter less

Selene Since you’ll be shedding your clothes

Selene It’s both intimate and intense

Selene It’s really a spiritual experience more than anything

Selene Letting the wolf take over and giving in to your most primal instincts

Sienna What if our wolf forms don’t connect though?

Sienna This could ruin everything if we aren’t ready

Selene I can’t give you an answer to that

Selene But if you already said yes, I think you have your answer

Selene

Sienn UNLIMITED

Thanks, sis

Sienna Gotta go

Sienna Aiden just walked in

Sienna

I looked up at the man who I was about to go on a run with—the most intimate experience two werewolves could share—and suddenly I felt a wave of nervous anticipation.

Rumor had it that a run was what had ended Aiden and Jocelyn’s relationship. They didn’t connect at all in wolf form.

What if that happened to us too?

“Ready?” Aiden asked.

That was a goddamn loaded question. When Aiden had first asked me to go on the run, my wolf took over and I blurted out “yes” before I could even process the weight of that commitment.

His expression was so sincerely pleased by the swiftness of my answer that I didn’t have the heart to back out of it.

Now my head was screaming for me to run as far away as possible in the other direction while my wolf howled over it, drowning out my trepidation and telling me to get off my ass and go with him.

I nodded and got up as he took my hand and led me outside to the edge of the woods. We took the first step together, crossing the

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his flawless abs. He leaned back against a tree and grinned as I clutched my own shirt tighter.

“Turn around,” I said, blushing. “I don’t want you to see.

“Why?” He laughed. “I’ll see you naked one way or another. It’s only natural.”

He was right. It was another unspoken code among wolves. Nudity before and after shifting was unavoidable, so werewolves didn’t make a big deal out of it. It was the same as losing your virginity when the firs Haze hit. But the rules became different fo me after Emily

“We’ve already established that I’m not like all the other she-wolves you know,” I shot back as I fumbled with the zipper of my jeans.

“Believe me, I know,” Aiden said, suddenly looking at me with calming eyes. That look was pure Alpha, not in an intimidating way, but in a reassuring way.

Being an Alpha wasn’t all about control. Sometimes it was about keeping the Pack clear-headed. “Don’t worry, you look beautiful.”

I turned around, but I slowly slid my pants down to my ankles and pulled off my top. Standing in just my underwear, I took a deep breath. I removed my bra and panties and swung around to face Aiden.

He was already naked, letting it all hang out without an ounce of embarrassment. He was the Alpha after all. Still, as we stood completely naked, taking in each other’s bodies, it didn’t feel the way I thought it would

It wasn’t an aura of lust between us, but one of connectedness. We were one and the same.

Selene was right about this being a spiritual experience, and I was beginning to understand

“You first,” he coaxed.

I stepped forward and stood directly under the cascading moonlight

Letting my wolf consume me, I shifted, gracefully landing on all fours. I glanced at my reflection in the pond to see my reddish-brown pelt alight like a burning fire. I’d never seen it shine this way.

Aiden shifted next, and his wolf form was just as huge as I’d remembered it.

His silky jet-black fur and piercing hazel eyes were gorgeous under the night sky. Our gazes lingered on each other in recognition, and any doubts that I had about our wolves not connecting disappeared in an instant.

He turned regally and nodded to the woods, and that was my cue. I dug my paws into the earth and darted into the brush. Now I just had to make sure he didn’t catch me.

It was a game of intimacy, but it was also a challenge. I had to show him how dominant I was to prove that I could hold my own against the Alpha.

The trees blurred around me as I raced through the woods, and the wind in my fur felt exhilarating. If Aiden was going to catch me, I wasn’t going to make it easy for him. I knew the first thing I had to do was mask my scent.

I dove into a muddy puddle and rolled around before swiftly getting up and changing my direction. My best bet was to confuse him and cover my tracks as best as possible.

As I darted back and forth, a sharp howl penetrated the night’s silence. Aiden wanted me to know he was closing in. He was toying with me, but he also gave me an advantage. I knew his location now.

I dove into the river and paddled to the other side. Hopefully he was in the mood to get wet. I shook my fur dry once I was on the other bank and continued deeper into the woods.

Hours had passed since we’d begun our chase. I could only imagine the frustration he was feeling. Some might say that you should let your partner feel like he was in the lead, but fuck that, this was a game of dominance.

I found a rocky hill where I’d be sure to leave no tracks. I climbed to the top and tried to get a lock on my bearings. With all the zigzagging, even I had gotten a bit lost.

My ears shot up as, without warning, a heavy thumping started echoing from the east, and it was rapidly approaching me. Aiden lunged out of the brush, claws drawn, drool flying out of his unclenched jaws.

I had only a moment. I threw my body to the side as his teeth nipped my heels. He looked wild and untamed, dirt and debris covering his previously silky coat. I wondered how much of a mess I looked.

We began doing a sort of dance, circling each other, waiting to see who would make the first move. We snarled playfully at one another.

Finally, we‘re at the end.

A twig snapped, and I let myself get distracted for just a millisecond. It was all Aiden needed. He charged at me, hitting me square in the ribs.

We both tumbled down the hill, smashing through rocks and bramble, landing in a heap at the bottom.

He recovered first and immediately pinned me. I yelped and thrashed, trying to escape, but he had me right where he wanted me. His tail wagged in excitement as he bared his fangs.

He let out a triumphant howl and sank his teeth into my shoulder, right where my mark would’ve been in human form.

This was the final act of a run between potential mates. I’d now been marked in both human and wolf form.

I was wholly and completely his now. A lover and a potential mate. No other man would dare approach me during the Haze.

We shifted back to human form, Aiden still on top of me, fangs dug into my mark. We stared at each other without moving, without speaking, without doing anything, really.

It was the most intimate and intense moment of my entire life—just like Selene had said

—and I never would’ve thought in a million years that I’d be sharing it with Aiden Norwood.

He helped me to my feet and led me to the water. I wasn’t even aware of my nakedness anymore, just my connection to Aiden.

We waded waist deep into the lake, and he tenderly washed the blood away from my mark. It stung, but a mark wasn’t so much a physical pain as it was a mental connection. What I felt in that moment, Aiden felt too.

And what I was feeling was my heart being

We shifted back to human form, Aiden still on top of me, fangs dug into my mark. We stared at each other without moving, without speaking, without doing anything, really.

It was the most intimate and intense moment of my entire life—just like Selene had said

—and I never would’ve thought in a million years that I’d be sharing it with Aiden Norwood.

He helped me to my feet and led me to the water. I wasn’t even aware of my nakedness anymore, just my connection to Aiden.

We waded waist deep into the lake, and he tenderly washed the blood away from my mark. It stung, but a mark wasn’t so much a physical pain as it was a mental connection. What I felt in that moment, Aiden felt too.

And what I was feeling was my heart being filled with a longing for someone like it ne had before.

I’d fallen for the Alpha.