Lacee's Run

Lacee was covered in blood, dirt, and sweat. Every muscle in her body was aching and her stomach was growling from hunger. It had been a long day of training. They had been training since the sun came up, and now the sun was disappearing, and the moon was beginning to take over the sky. All she wanted to do was go take a shower and crawl into bed, but she was too comfortable laying in the grass next to the lake at the moment to even get up and walk.

The training had started off easier than she'd thought, running through trails up the mountain, but it went downhill from there. Sure, she'd impressed them with her run, but running was just the start. They continued hiking for what seemed like hours, farther into the mountains so that Lacee's natural instincts may kick in while among her own in their beloved habitat, but it seemed like a failure because all she felt was hunger and boredom.

As the day went on and they reached some zin-like spot for wolves, they did a rigorous workout, which included push-ups and lifting that Lacee struggled to keep up with and burpees and lunges that made her cuss the others out for. Lacee thought it would end there and they would head back to the packhouse, but then Rinc announced that they were going to see how where fighting skills were. Victoria was more than happy to help.

Lacee had been in pretty many fights during her school days. She had been a troubled kid with a chip on her shoulder. So, she thought maybe she wouldn't do so bad training to fight, she was sadly mistaken. Victoria was so much better than her. The girl could swing faster, hit harder, kick higher. And when she would lunge at Lacee and tackle, it was like being taken down by a bear.

"It'll get easier," Rinc said as he sat down beside her. "You'll get stronger and faster. And you'll heal quicker too."

"If it works." She reminded him.

"When it works." He corrected her. "I know this is all a lot for you to take in and adapt to, but it's working already, I can feel it. You just have to keep training physically and mentally."

"I got my ass kicked today." Lace sighed.

"You surprised us all with your running."

"Big deal. I can run. But I want to fight like Victoria. I didn't stand a chance against her today in training, and she wasn't even trying as hard as she could." Lacee shook her head in disappointment.

"It's your first day, stop being so hard on yourself."

"This is my life, Rinc. You said it yourself if I can't complete my wolf then I'm as good as dead."

"I won't let that happen." He reached over and ran his fingers down her cheek. His touch was warm against her damp skin. "Come on, let's go for a swim."

Rinc jumped up and then pulled Lacee up to her feet. Every bone in her sore body was begging to lay back down, but Rinc didn't give her a chance to refuse a swim before he picked her up and threw her into the lake. The cold water was surprisingly refreshing. Lacee pushed herself out further into the water until it was so deep that her feet barely touched the slippery bottom. Floating there, she watched Rinc up on the shore as he began to strip naked.

"What are you doing?" She called out to him.

"Joining you." Rinc dropped his pants and even though Lacee wanted to look away, she couldn't.

His body was magnificent, and his size did not disappoint. It was so impressive that she stared in awe, unable to force her eyes away from him. The only thing that broke her awkward gaze was when Rinc stepped back and then ran and jumped into the water. He swam to the surface right in front of her.

"You're naked," Lacee said as she felt her body's excitement at the fact.

"Yeah, so what?" Rinc teased as he grabbed her arms under the water. "To us, being naked is natural and part of life. Are you uncomfortable?"

"I..." She fought for words as she tied to decipher what exactly she was feeling and how exactly she should answer.

"Fine. I'll go." Rinc turned to swim back to the lakeshore, but Lacee stopped him.

"No, wait." She caught his hand under the water and tugged him towards her. "Don't go."

Rinc pulled her closer to him so that they were only inches away from one another. Lacee knew she should tread lightly with this guy and everything going on around her, but her body had a mind of its own and was begging to feel him inside of her. She gave in to her urges, and pulled herself up against Rinc, wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He smiled and a sexy growl came from him.

Lacee wanted him so bad that she didn't care where they were or who could see. Her body was throbbing for him, and she would do anything to have him all to herself. It was so unlike her, but she needed Rinc inside of her, like a wild beast in heat.

"I want you," Lacee whispered in his ear.

Even as the words left her lips, she wondered why she was saying them so boldly. She'd never been so forward with a man, but then again, she'd never met anyone as sexy as Rinc Blackrock. Rinc was quiet, but he was growing hard against her, so she knew he wanted her as well.

"I want you, right now." She repeated.

"You have me." He pulled her neck to his mouth and began kissing and licking her skin. "You've had me since the first moment we met."

Lacee grabbed his face and pulled his lips to hers. His tongue was hot against her own as she kissed him hard. She was ready to take him inside her right there in the water, but suddenly Rinc jerked and pulled her away.

"What's wrong?" Lacee asked.

"Shh." Rinc put his wet fingers over her mouth.

Behind her, she could hear some rustling in the woods near the lake. There was someone there. A loud growl came from Rinc and he pushed her behind him in the water. Now, she could see the are that had been behind her and the three sets of glowing eyes in the woods. The eyes were low to the ground and Lacee realized they werewolves stalking them like prey.

"She's mine!" Rinc screamed out at the wolves. "Mine!"

Deep growls were coming from the woods now, and Lacee wondered if wolves could swim and if they would jump in after her in that form. But before she could find out, five wolves came running from the packhouse and were suddenly growling back at the intruders.

"Stay here," Rinc told her. "I have to take care of this."

"Wait, what's going on?" She tried to stop him, but he pushed past her in the water.

"They are challenging me. A few of my pack members." Rinc told her.

"Because of me? It's because of me, isn't it?"

"It doesn't matter why."

"Rinc!" She called out to him, but he ignored her and continued out of the water.

As soon as Rinc stepped out of the water, he turned into his beautiful dark wolf. Lacee watched anxiously as he joined the five wolves beside the lake, and they followed the other wolves up into the mountains.

Damn it. She punched the water as she cursed herself for all the trouble she seemed to be causing. Ever since she'd come into Rinc's life, he's been fighting for her. It didn't seem fair to him. Her heart sank at the idea of him dying battling wolves over her. He would be better off without her, no matter what he said about the risk and danger she may face.

Lacee dragged herself out of the water and headed to the packhouse.

"Where did everyone go?" Leena came walking out outside. "They all just jumped up and ran out here like something was wrong."

"All of them?" Lacee asked her sister.

"Well, Laran's in the shower, and a lot of the others went out for the night, but everyone else that was in here bolted."

"Come on, we're leaving." Lacee hurried into the kitchen and started fumbling around looking for keys. She found a set on the table that was clearly to Beta Daron's Jeep.

"But…" Leena hesitated, but Lacee grabbed her arm and silenced her.

"We are leaving now, go!" She demanded her sister.

Leena sighed but listened and headed out the front door to the parked Jeep.

"Going somewhere?" Gideon was standing there, his fangs poking out from his gums as he seemed to be ready for the kill. Another man came from the other side of the jeep, an evil grin stretched across his stubbly face.

"Get back inside, Leena," Lacee ordered her little sister.

"I'm not going to leave you," Leena said.

"It's fine." She told her. "I'm just going to talk to them, right guys?"

"Sure." Gideon nodded. "We're going to have a nice talk."

"Lacee," Leena whispered.

"Now!" Lacee pushed her sister back at the door.

She was relieved to hear her sister slam the door closed and lock it behind her.

"What do you want?" Lacee asked them as her heart pounded faster and faster in her chest.

"You smell like lust." The other guys told her. "Probably from trying to screw our Alpha."

"What do you care?" She spat at him.

"Because you and your half-breed sister are nothing but whores. You're just trying to use him, and it's going to split up our pack." The guy claimed.

"You know how embarrassing it would be to have our pack's Alpha mated to a woman like you? You won't be able to complete the wolf in time, he knows it, you know it, everyone knows it. But you got him wrapped around your finger and he won't give you up. Our pack will look weak and pathetic. We'll be attacked." Gideon said with disgust. "That's why you and Rinc have to die."

As soon as the words lift his mouth, Gideon lunged at her. Lacee fell to the ground and screamed out in pain and his teeth sank into her shoulder.

"You taste delicious," Gideon said, as her blood covered his teeth and lips.

"Stop toying with the bitch and kill her already." The other guys told him.

"No, I want to have some fun with her." Gideon grabbed her by her hair. "Go find her mutt sister and take care of her."

The male began kicking in the packhouse door.

"No!" Lacee screamed at him as he tried to get inside to his sister.

"Shut up, whore!" Gideon slapped her across the face.

Lacee was in excruciating pain, but she knew she had to fight. Her foot jerked up and hit him right between the legs, hard and accurately. Man, or wolf, a kick like that is effective and he fell off her to the side. She quickly squeezed out from under him, but now the other male was coming at her. Just as he lunged at her, a male tackled him away from her and the two of them went wrestling in circles like a bloody tumbleweed through the yard. She realized it was Laran fighting the male.

"You're going to pay for that!" Gideon threatened her as he stood up and regained some composure.

Lacee only had a split second to make a move, but she knew her best strength was running, and it would be smart to lead Gideon away from her sister, so she took off in a sprint. Gideon followed, chasing her as she ran away from the house, into the cornfields across from the property. She ran fast and far, but he stayed running behind her, like a determined predator with his eye on one prey only.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but then she was suddenly stuck in a corm maze herself, not knowing where to run next. There seemed to be sounds coming from every direction, and she wasn't sure where to go. Not knowing what to do next, she dropped to the ground and hid behind some cornstalks, hoping he may give up or get lost.

Suddenly, she could see him close by, walking slowly through the field. She tried not to even breathe; afraid he'd hear her breath. Every second seemed like an eternity as his feet stomped aggressively all around her. Finally, after a terrifying moment, the sound of him turning and stalking the other way gave relief. Lacee exhaled a breath of relief as she stood to her feet.

"Boo!" Gideon grabbed her from behind as he put his hand over her mouth and laughed in her ear. "Your Alpha can't save you now. You're all mine now."