The Pretend Marriage: A Werewolf Romance (7 page)

“Six. Five. Four.”

He glances at the rest. They have all shifted to their wolf forms. Jeff has become a very dark lupine – almost black. Jake’s own color is a golden red. Mariko is a beautiful grey and white wolf.

“Three.”

Jeff paws at the ground and growls.

“Two.
One.”

And they are off.

Jeff’s powerful muscles bunch and he is off on a tangent, clearly getting a head start on the rest of them.
The others race after him. They either believe he’s on to a lead, or they have caught whiff of life from the same direction.

Jake
doesn’t believe in being a follower. If the hare is in that direction – and he has absolutely no clue that it will be – Jeff would have gotten there first. But if it isn’t . . .

Jake dives into the forest
in a different direction from the rest. The path he takes is not trodden as yet. But he is driven by his instincts. He senses life in the undergrowth, but none of which he is seeking. His now superior instincts allow him to register simultaneous movements – the darting of a squirrel up the bark of a tree, the flutter of a crow’s wings.

His paws scrape the leaf-strewn ground
as his muzzle rises to catch scents and odors flung by the wind.

The hare could be anywhere. Anywhere at all.

Where would Peter hide it?

Jake’s sharp ears can pick out the thundering of paws
in the near distance as the wolves fan off in different paths.

If he were Peter, he wouldn’t
make it obvious at all.

No way.

His premonition tells him to go east, where the scent of fresh water assails his flared nostrils.

10

Finding a hare in a cage in this forest is like trying to find a needle in a
particularly messy haystack.

Jake has been on the prowl for about
half an hour now. His ears are pricked for the sound of Martha’s shotgun, but it hasn’t sounded yet. Little furry animals prowl the undergrowth – woodchucks and rabbits and other rodents.

The scent of fresh water still guides him.
He doesn’t quite know why he is so drawn to it. If there is an unlikely place for a hare in a gilded cage . . .

But that is just it, isn’t it? It is an unlikely place. Everyone else would think of searching
the trees or roots or behind boulders, if there are any. But near water?

The trees grow sparse, until they finally terminate at the banks of a
pond.

Jake stops short.

The pond is fairly large and extremely tranquil. Its surface mirrors the trees and sky, and so the water is green and azure and dappled by only the occasional ripples from a frog’s movements. Dragonflies buzz above it, creating a tapestry of gentle noise. The air is redolent with water scents.

Jake does not smell
any mammal nearby but he sees the boat drifting in the middle of the pond, anchored to remain where it is. And in that boat is the top of what looks to be a golden cage – almost fairytale-like in its presentation.

The hare is almost certain to be in it.

But no one can unmistakably scent it because it is masked by water. Jake marvels at the craftiness of the setup.

He hears rather than smells the approach of the other wolf before it appears. On the other side of the banks, Jeff’
s black wolf crashes through the tangle of growth and perches at the edge of the pond. He sees both the boat and Jake simultaneously.

Jake doesn’t
hesitate. He plunges into the water, as does Jeff.

Jake can swim fairly well in his wolf form, but he has to make a decision now. A human’s body possesses longer legs and a more
buoyant body for swimming. His mind registers this fact and his body makes the subconscious shift into his human form again. His bone structure stretches and his skull compresses, the bones shifting and sliding in a way that scientists have long failed to truly comprehend and replicate in shifter labs.

It is his human form which reaches the boat first, and his human hands which grab the side of the boat.
The boat lurches and lists, and the cage slides towards Jake. Great. He grasps it by its slim bars. The wriggling hare casts frightened red eyes at him. It is an albino.

From the other side of the boat, the black wolf leaps out of the water in a silvery
trail of drops. The hare shrieks. But the wolf springs right for Jake’s throat instead. In that split second, he understands what Jeff is about to do. The shift comes to him as naturally as breathing. It is his wolf form that meets Jeff’s attacking wolf head on.

Jeff’
s teeth gnash at his throat, and Jake fights back. With snapping jaws and flailing limbs, they both crash into the water.

You’ve got to be kidding me,
Jake thinks. Jeff is carrying this a bit too far. But he has to fight for his very survival because he doesn’t know how far Jeff in his wolf form will go. Some shifters tend to be extremely feral in their animal forms. It comes with the natural glandular secretions which course through a lupine’s body. Jake has always gotten a good handle on his wolf alter, but he can’t be sure about others – especially a former alpha challenger like Jeff.

It is all he can do to hold Jeff back, but he has to. Jeff seems to be on a mission to draw blood. The water splashes around them,
creating quite a disturbance, and they both keep plunging below the surface as they wrestle with each other. Water fills Jake’s muzzle. Limbs claw and teeth gnash.

Jake feels a rip on his side and he reciprocates by
nipping Jeff on the leg. He is gratified to hear the other werewolf howl.

A splash on his left alerts him.
The boat has overturned and the cage with the hare has fallen into the water.

Oh shit!

Jake immediately tears himself away from his opponent and dives for the cage. The hare will drown if he doesn’t do something. His wolf form isn’t exactly the best for grabbing cages, and so he shifts back to his human form, a feat which comes to him as easily as breathing air now. He grabs the sinking cage and the struggling hare within it.

Teeth sink into his right leg, but he kicks the muzzle that comes with them away.

Jake’s human fingers claw at the cage. The trap springs free and the poor drowning hare swims out. Jake makes a grab for it despite another assault on his leg by Jeff, and catches the hare by its ears. With powerful strokes, he surfaces, gasping and holding up the hare.

He sees yet another wolf on the banks. Ethel.
She has arrived. Now he would have to contend with two wolves.

There is only one thing he can do. Make a run for it.

Using his superior human aquatic form to swim to the other bank while keeping the hare’s head out of the water is no easy feat, but he has always been a good swimmer. He is able to kick more powerfully than Jeff, who is still in his wolf form, and so he reaches ground before the latter does.

The hare is not helping either. It kicks and struggles and generally makes a fine nuisance of itself – not that Jake wouldn’t if he is in the hare’s situation. But when Jake touches ground, his hand
relaxes a tad on the hare’s ears, and the animal shoots free.

“Damn it!” Jake curses.

Ethel in her wolf form immediately races after the bounding hare.

Jake fleetingly changes into his wolf form again and gives chase.
Behind him, he can hear the thundering of paws. Jeff has reached ground.

All three of them shoot after the poor, frightened hare.
Jake decides that the hare is not going to live long if he doesn’t get to it first. Jeff’s aggression is unexpected and frightening. There is a throb in Jake’s right leg which comes from having been bitten, but he ignores it. In his wolf form, pain is less of an issue than in his human form. His wolf hormones alone are enough to ride anything through.

Ethel has gotten a head start, but Jake – being faster and larger – soon catches up with her
.

But the hare is even faster.
Jake is sure Peter would have known this. Hares are always notoriously faster than rabbits, which used to be his prey of choice. There has to be some sort of catch to this whole contest.

He signals to Ethel, “We have to head the hare off.”

“Huh?” She is surprised he is even speaking to her. In their shifter forms, they communicate via grunts, barks and yelps, but the message is clear.

“We have to work together as a team. You stay on course. I’ll circle and see if I can catch him
from the other side.”

“Got it.”

He is glad she understands so well. And then there’s Jeff nipping at their heels.

Jake veers to the left as Ethel
continues her pursuit. Instinctively, they are working as a pair in a wolf pack on the hunt. His senses are completely centered on where the hare is heading – the scurry of little legs on the grass, the snapping of tiny twigs. He puts more speed into his limbs, relishing in his own tireless power and the pumping of oxygen in his lungs. Then he veers back again just as Ethel comes bounding up, the terrified hare in front of her.

The hare screeches in fright as Jake’s specter
cuts him off. Jake pounces and snatches the hare by its neck. He has to be very careful not to snap the animal’s tiny cervical bones, but it is a trick he learned from observing hunting dogs. Hunting dogs like golden retrievers have a very soft mouth in general because they have to retrieve fallen ducks and game intact.

So Jake is very, very careful
not to sink his teeth into the hare’s soft flesh. The animal is so stunned that it has practically stopped moving.

“Come with me,” he tells Ethel, “this is our
prize together.”

She yelps
her appreciation as they run together.

Just then, Jeff comes up.

“You go ahead,” Ethel says, “I’ll delay him.”

“
I’ll wait for you at the finish line.”

Ethel turns and launches herself at Jeff.
As Jake speeds off, he can hear the growls and snarls and shrieks as the two werewolves clash in a flurry of flying fur and limbs. Jake hopes Ethel will be all right, but Jeff wouldn’t dare tangle with the daughter of his possible future employer, would he now?

Still, Ethel gives
him a head start. Jake is well towards the finish line with the hare still intact when Mariko’s grey and white wolf suddenly appears and lunges at him.

Oh shit.

Mariko collides with his flank. Jake recovers his balance and manages not to let go of his prey, miraculously. He swerves and catches sight of Peter and Martha and the rest of the spouses waiting anxiously for them to return.

Mariko
gives chase, but Jake manages to tumble out of the trees and crash land ungracefully in front of Peter with the unblemished but immobile hare in his mouth. He lays it gently at Peter’s feet. He hopes it isn’t injured in any way, because it still isn’t moving.

Peter picks the hare up as Jake transforms into his human self.

“Still alive,” Peter pronounces, cradling the trembling hare. Jake wonders how the poor animal must feel in the company of so many shifters.

The
gathered throng breaks into genuine applause.

Terry gives a cry. “Jake, you are hurt!”

She runs to him.

Naked, Jake glances down at his right leg. Sure enough, a deep gash
on his calf mars his otherwise perfect skin.

“It’s OK,” he says, standing up.

“Who did this to you?” Terry says, outraged.

Both Jeff and Ethel appear.

“Wait,” Jake tells Terry. He turns to Peter. “The honors of first prize belong both to Ethel and myself because we worked as a team back there. I couldn’t have done it without her.”

Both Jeff and Ethel shift. J
eff is red-faced and glowering, but he doesn’t say anything. Ethel is triumphant.

“Did he do this to you?” Terry demands, pointing at Jeff.

Everyone tenses. The rules of the game did not prohibit fighting and the use of nefarious methods to cut the other contestants off.

Peter says in a mild tone, “Jake . . . do you have anything you want to say?”

Jake pauses significantly as he stares at the baleful Jeff, and then shakes his head. “No. I scratched my leg against some brambles when I was chasing the hare. It’s nothing, just a flesh wound.”

Ethel glances at her father, but doesn’t
say anything. Then she glances at Jake, and a look of mutual understanding passes between them.

Peter says, “In that case, I pronounce both Jake and Ethel the winners!
Congratulations, both.” The expression on his face suggests that he knows what’s really going on, but he will play along to save his guests embarrassment.

Everyone claps again, genuinely glad for the dissipation of tension. Martha points the shotgun into the air and pu
lls the trigger. The bullet whizzes into the sky with an explosion of sound that echoes deep into the woods.

“I feel like we’re in ‘The Hunger Games’,” Jake murmurs.

Terry kneels by his leg. “You’re bleeding,” she says. Her pretty face is creased into a worried frown. “You need this seen to.”

“It’s OK. I’m a shifter. I’m tougher than I look.”

“No, you’re not, Jake Savage.” She stands up resolutely and grabs hold of his arm. “I’m going to march you into the house and tend to this. You might get an infection and the whole leg might have to come off. Who’s going to employ a one-legged wolf then?”

“Better than a one-eyed wolf,” he replies. At least she isn’t blushing anymore when she gazes upon his crotch.

“Oh dear, you poor thing. I have a first aid kit back at the house,” Martha says in that concerned way of hers that he has come to admire and respect. Gawd, she makes him miss his mother! “Come along, we’ll make sure you get that seen to.”

She heads towards the house, turning around now and again to make sure they are following her.

“You guys OK?” she calls. “Should I call for an ambulance?”

“No, certainly not,” Jake says. “You go ahead. We’ll come along.”

From the fringes of his sight, he can see and feel the hate radiating from Jeff, who is putting on his clothes with the help of his wife. Mariko has returned as well, and is eyeing him with caution.

Screw both of them.

“Lean on me,” Terry demands, putting her arm around his waist.

He doesn’t really need any assistance
, but it is so nice to feel her warm body against his naked one that he doesn’t protest. His exertions have zapped most of his energy, and he suddenly feels the adrenaline depleting from him in waves. Good thing too or he will get a full-on chubby again. He is also very pleased that she seems to be so worried about him.