He was sitting on the bank of the pond and watching her reaction to seeing the waterfall. She closed her gaping mouth and smiled, showing off all her wicked wolf teeth. She woofed at him, telling him she was glad he brought her here. He howled.
She would have laughed but instead bounded into the cold pond, sending water flying everywhere, and headed straight for the waterfall. She didn’t hear Adam joining her, and when she reached the waterfall, she looked back at him.
He was still sitting there on the rocky bank, watching her as if he took delight in seeing her explore the pond and waterfall first.
A fish jumped into the water next to her, and she pounced on it—a natural reaction to do so while wearing her wolf coat. She immediately released it when she realized what she’d done, not wanting to take a fish home between her teeth. Glancing at Adam, she smiled to see him still watching her, looking amused in his wolf way.
She suspected if the roles were reversed, he would have done the same thing. As soon as she moved closer to the waterfall, a fine spray cloaked her in mist, and she dashed through the waterfall to the other side of it. When she turned, she saw Adam swimming in the deeper part of the pond to reach her. She woofed, thrilled he was joining her.
He swam into the shallower part and dove through the waterfall to reach her, then shook off the excess water on his fur all over her. He quickly looked at her as if he knew he’d made a mistake after he had already done it. She wanted to laugh. She nipped his ear instead. He licked her face and nuzzled her cheek with his.
Yeah, she was staying with him for now and the foreseeable future. If he was agreeable.
Her brother howled, interrupting the intimate wolf moment, but she knew he must have been alarmed when he didn’t see them at the waterfall and thought he’d lost them.
She howled to let him know where they were.
He howled back to tell them he understood and he was glad they were safe.
She nuzzled Adam and thought it would be fun to sit on the shore of the pond and watch the sunset reflect in the pool. Then she dashed back through the waterfall and swam through the deeper section of the pool. She climbed out onto the bank, shook off the water from her outer coat, and turned to watch Adam paddling back to shore to join her.
But then he moved in a different direction and she wondered what he was up to. He got out of the water, shook off, smiled at her, then trotted over to join her. She smiled. Good. He had learned. Yeah, they shook off the water from their coats, a natural reaction, and they might not think about who was within reach of the shower of water, but—as wolves dating—it was a nice thing to think of. Now, if the wolves were mated and had been together for a while? Old instincts were hard to break.
She lay down to watch the sun setting and he lay next to her, their bodies pressed together in a way that said they were more than just on a jaunt to see the waterfall.
This was so nice after a long, hard day. And being with Adam made it so much more special. Shoot. What about all the guys out guarding them? They would surely want the time to be home with their families or doing something fun or productive instead of having to serve on guard duty. She lifted her head to look at the sun. It was going down, but she didn’t think she had ever seen it sink below the treetops so slowly. A watched kettle came to mind.
She sat up.
Adam shifted. “What’s wrong? I didn’t hear anything that could pose trouble, did you?”
She shook her head, sighed, shifted. “I wanted to see the sunset on the pool of water, but it means everyone guarding us can’t be home with their friends and family.”
“They’re watching the sun set too.”
Okay, so she would buy that. Relaxing again, she shifted and lay back down and he did the same, snuggling up close to her, keeping her warm in the chilly night air. Now this was nice.
The sun was really beginning to set now, the oranges and pinks and yellows reflecting off the pond and the waterfall—and she wished she could have taken a picture.
And then it was gone, the blue hour upon them when there was still light, the sky not totally black. She and Adam licked each other’s mouths, then Adam howled to say they were headed back to the ranch, and of course she had to howl too.
A chorus of howls sounded off—their guards in wolf coats. And then she heard the howls from farther away, at the ranch house and other homes. She smiled at Adam, loving the camaraderie of the pack.
Sierra raced off toward the ranch homes and Adam dove after her. She had planned to run straight back to the ranch and not take any deviations to make the fastest time possible so everyone could enjoy their families, but Adam had other plans. He was chasing her!
And that made her happily nervous—just an instinctual behavior of trying to keep out of the aggressor’s path, even though she knew they were just playing. She darted off to her left and then to the right, but he was quick and matched her move for move.
He was so close to nipping at her tail that she thought of turning on him. But she was certain if she did, she wouldn’t manage to do it fast enough to get out of his path and he would run right into her broadside. This wasn’t working for her, so she turned right, then quickly turned left and rounded on him. He broadsided her. Knocked her down. She knew he would. She wanted to laugh.
He paused for a second, waiting to see her response—be mad at him, ready for retaliation, or amused. She had a brother, and she was used to going on the offensive in a second. She got to her feet and attacked Adam in good fun.
They were biting each other’s mouths, front paws hooked over each other’s shoulders, standing on their hind legs, having a ball. They nipped and bit and mouthed each other, growling and barking. And then they sat down in the grass and woofed at each other.
She sighed, got up, licked his face, and dashed off. And he was in hot pursuit again.
Chapter 18
Adam was having a blast with Sierra. He loved going to the waterfall with her, seeing the sunset, and now playing with her on the way back to the ranch house.
He was still chasing her, not wanting to give up the fun and excitement. He nipped at her tail once, and she turned her head and woofed at him, but she didn’t turn to play-fight him again. They needed to get in and let everyone else return home to their own business. He wished they didn’t need to have guard support, so they could play longer.
Then they were at the ranch house, and she ran in through Brad and Janice’s wolf door. Adam followed right behind her.
She shifted and dressed in the bedroom, and when she came out, Brad came through the wolf door and Adam went into the guest room to shift. Brad woofed at his sister.
“Thanks for being there for us. That was a lot of fun,” she told her brother while Adam hurried to dress.
Her brother woofed again, and Adam left the bedroom.