8 Gaining Control, Part 1

Rays of sunlight pierced the trees, streaming colorfully to the ground as I slowly opened my eyes, wondering where I was. I looked up groggily and realized I was lying on the lichen in a small clearing deep within the forest. Blue jays and robins cheerfully sang their morning tribute to the Great Spirit as little animals scurried away under the brush of the forest floor.

Suddenly, I remembered the events of the night before.

I quickly sat up as the blanket fell from my completely nude human body. Looking down, I jerked the blanket up over me again.

"Good morning," a voice came from behind me. I was afraid to turn around, for I knew it was Dakota. He could see my completely exposed nude back covered only by my long, straight hair.

I decided to bite the bullet and slowly turned around, gripping the blanket tightly to my chest.

Dakota was fully clothed, sitting on the ground. He'd probably slept beside me the whole night. His long brown hair waved past his shoulders, framing his beautiful brown eyes. He wore a white T-shirt and khaki shorts that came just above his knees. His hair glowed in the morning sunlight, creating a halo effect. "Good morning," he repeated, like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. "Are you hungry? Want some breakfast?"

Looking down again, I clutched the quilt tightly around me, leaping to my feet, trying to cover as much of my nude body as I could. "Why am I naked?" I screamed at Dakota. "And why do you have clothes on, and I don't?"

"Calm down, Jessica," Dakota tried to approach, holding his arms up in surrender.

"Keep away from me!" I screamed, backing away, looking around for an escape.

"Jessica," Dakota said calmly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"But I'm naked!" I screamed, "And you're not!" Somehow, I realized that didn't sound quite right.

Reaching for the zipper on his pants, Dakota smiled. "Well, I can change that if you want."

"No! No, no, no!" I screamed, suddenly panicked. "That's not what I meant... you saw me... naked."

"Jessica," Dakota sighed, now serious. "Nudity is part of the pack... an inconvenient part of the Pack."

"I know, but... but... you saw me naked!" I yelled again for lack of something better to say.

Dakota's lips curled into a half smile, trying not to laugh. "Well, I didn't look."

"Yeah, right." I gripped the quilt tightly to my chest with both hands. "You mean to tell me that I was nude, and you didn't look? What did you do? Close your eyes when you covered me with the blanket?"

"Okay." Dakota smiled naughtily, running a hand through his hair. "Maybe I looked a little."

I just stared at him, clutching the blanket tightly to my chest as it reached the ground, almost covering my bare feet. Suddenly, I realized how beyond ridiculous this was. I burst out laughing and so did he. "I probably look like a total idiot."

"No," Dakota said, glancing over me appreciatively. "Actually, you look pretty good."

"You...." I smiled mischievously. "You're lucky I'm not standing next to you right now."

"Yeah, yeah," Dakota countered, "You'd drop your blanket if you tried to do anything." Then he tilted his head to the side, thinking. "Actually, that might not be so a bad...."

"Go ahead," I countered. "Have your fun."

"Okay." Dakota shrugged, smiling roguishly as he moved toward me.

"Not that kind of fun!" I countered, backing away.

Dakota laughed. "I was only joking." He looked around the forest for a minute. "We have to find shelter before nightfall, and we have to eat."

"Now wait a minute," I objected, feeling helpless in nothing but a quilt. "I'm going home tonight. I'm in my human form now, so I can go home."

Dakota's eyebrows pulled together as he gazed at me. "And what will happen if you change into your wolf in your bedroom?"

I thought for a minute. I lived in a two-story house and my room was on the second floor. As I contemplated the scenario of morphing into my wolf form in my little bedroom, images of my bed splintering and walls collapsing came to mind. "Yeah," I said, nodding. "You have a point." Then another thought came to me. "But I have to go home long enough to get some clothes, at least."

"You probably won't need any more than just one change of clothes for now," Dakota replied.

"Why?" I asked, feeling sudden irrational rage well up within me. "And why am I not wearing clothes right now?"

"Here," Dakota said, smiling, picking up the clothes. "If you feel calm enough, go ahead and put them on." Dakota handed me the clothes.

"Put them on the ground over there," I said, backing away, pointing to a place on the ground.

Dakota rolled his eyes, smiling. But he did as I asked and moved away. "Jessica," he said, his voice low and sexy. "I won't hurt you."

"I know that." Inside, I knew that it was true. "I just feel weird standing totally naked in front of you like this."

"Well," Dakota looked at me teasingly again. "You're not totally naked. But, hey, if you want to be, I won't object--"

"Dakota!" I yelled, pulling the clothes to my chest.

"Hey, I'm just saying...."

"Yeah, and if my father came here--"

"Actually, Mark told him last night and he was pretty cool about it," Dakota replied, matter of fact.

"My father?" I screamed, then images of me being naked with Dakota in the clearing... alone... came to mind. If my father only knew... I cringed. "Oh, my God!"

"Calm down!" Dakota yelled, taking a step toward me as I stepped back. "It's alright. He's actually kind of cool. Mark said your dad wanted you to come home last night, but Mark told him that I was with you and your dad understood."

"He understood," I repeated, having an out-of-body experience. That did not sound like my father.

"Yes," Dakota answered. "He understood completely. He'll tell you why when you go home."

"My dad?" I repeated, now officially in shock.

Dakota sighed, looking up, thinking. Then his eyes met mine, as if wondering what he should tell me. "You need to speak to your father."

I nodded. "He would kill me! And probably you, too! If he could see me now, naked, in the clearing with you, he would kill us both!"

Dakota laughed. "He knows it's not like that." Then, he grinned playfully, shrugging casually. "Unless you want it to be." He started moving toward me again.

"Get away from me!" I yelled, pulling the blanket tightly to my chest.

Dakota laughed. "I'm teasing you. I'll behave myself now."

"You?" I asked, smiling. "Behave?"

Dakota smiled naughtily. "Hey, I'm a guy. What can I say?"

"You can say that you'll behave yourself," I said, hitching the blanket up around me. "And mean it!" But I was smiling, knowing that he was only joking.

"I already promised."

I just looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

Dakota took a deep breath. "Okay, I promise," he said, as a half-smile lit his lips. He was sexy, without even having to try. Then he raised his hands in self-defense. "Look, I didn't put clothes on you in case you transformed again." Then he shrugged. "Also, I would have had to look to change you...."

"Okay, okay," I replied. He was clearly enjoying my discomfort a bit too much. And I had to admit that I sounded completely ridiculous. "I'll go get dressed," I said, heading toward the forest. "I'll be right back."

But as I walked away, I stepped on a rock, sending irrational rage throughout my body again. Facing away from Dakota, shimmers rolled down my arms as the familiar reddish haze surrounded in black clouded my vision. My body quivered and shook, and I dropped the blanket and clothes to the ground, then my hands shook uncontrollably, morphing and changing into paws and they landed on the ground in front of me. I stretched, thrashing my giant, silver head back and forth.

"It's okay," I heard Dakota's voice within my head. I turned quickly around, and his clothes were already in a heap on the ground and a mahogany wolf stood where Dakota once was.

"Darn! I missed it," I thought before I could stop myself, trying to push images of him taking off his clothes from my mind.

"Missed what?" Dakota feigned innocence. And I knew if he were in his human form, he would be grinning mischievously. In fact, I could see it in his mind.

"Nothing, nothing at all," I replied, pushing the thought from my mind. I ran around the clearing, feeling my muscles and tendons stretch, enjoying this strange feeling of freedom.

"Come on, let's go hunting," Dakota said, then added, "Try to keep up."

That was all the challenge I needed. Together, we burst from the clearing at full speed, running faster than I would have ever thought possible. Dakota's stride was graceful, but masculine, viral, as his muscles worked together in perfect precision. I admired his gracefulness and speed as I watched him run.