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Prologue

1850 Colorado

As soon as he stripped naked, he’d be hers

Unbraiding her hair, Bella’s blood heated with desire while she observed the dark-haired boy He looked about eighteen, two years older than she He yanked off one boot, then another, at the lake’s edge It wasn’t the first time she’d watched him peel out of his clothes, but it was the first time she’d join hier to be like her? Wild and free?

She sed hard, longing to be Devlyn’s mate — rather than so her chin, she resolved to h boots, then slipped them off her feet

The huray wolf rested at the shoreline, his ears perked up as he watched her But the boy didn’t see her — he was unobservant, as most humans were

However, a boy who cared for his wolf such as he did would care for her, too, wouldn’t he? He’d studied her when she swa lazily across the water’s surface, atteh he’d tried to conceal himself in the woods, she’d seen hi when he stepped on dried oak leaves and pine needles to draw closer, to see her more clearly She’d smelled his headyher belly afire; he’d desire her now

Tilting her nose up, she breathed in his masculinity Masculine but not as wild as her own kind — lupus garou A human who treated a woman with kindness, that’s what she desired

She tugged her pale blue dress over her head, struggling to shed her clothes as quickly as she could now Wanting to get her plan into ed her e it for her

Adopted by the gray pack, she wasn’t even a gray wolf So why should it matter if she left theray alpha pack leader, wanted her, that’s why Her stoht that the man who’d nearly raped her would have her if she couldn’t find a way out of the nightmare

The human pulled off his breeches A boy, still not wellon his own, that’s what intrigued her so ue wolf — determined to endure

Only in her heart, she desired the gray who’d saved her life when they were younger — Devlyn Even now she had difficulty not coy, taller body with this boy’s They had the same dark hair and eyes, which maybe explained why the human had attracted her She wanted Devlyn with all her heart, but craving his attention would only result in Volan killing him Best to leave the pack and rays, and start her own pack

She’d watched the human ride, run, hunt with his rifle, but she adaze dropped lower to the patch of dark hair resting above his legs and

She raised her brows A thrill of expectation of having his ooseflesh across her skin If her drawers hadn’t been crotchless, they’d have been wet in anticipation She s

He dove into the water with a splash With powerful strokes he glided across the placid surface of the small, summer-warmed lake She slipped out of her last petticoat, then her drawers Without a stitch of clothes on, she stood on the opposite shore, waiting for hiht of her Wouldn’t he yearn for her like her own kind did?

She had to entice hie into the wolf and bite him And transfer the beauty of the wolf to him in the ancient way

Running her fingers through her cinnamon curls, she fanned them over her shoulders, down to her hips

They’d live together in his log cabin, taking jaunts through the woods in their wolf states under the bright moon forever Histhe winter, and none of his kind lived within a fifteen-mile radius He’d want her — he had to Like her wolf pack, most humankind desired companionship

She stepped into the water

Then he caught sight of her

His dark eyes widened and his mouth dropped open But he didn’t swim toward her as she expected He didn’t come for her, ravish her as she wanted His eyes inspected every bit of her, but then he turned and say fro with him?

Her er and confusion Didn’t he find her appealing?

She swa to reach the shore before he dressed and headed back to his cabin But by the time she reached the lake halfway, he’d jerked on his breeches and boots, not even bothering with his shirt or vest, and vanished into the woods with his wolf at his heel

In disbelief, she stared after him

“Bella!” the leader of her pack hollered, his voice forbidding and warlike

She snapped her head around Her heart nearly stopped when she saw the gray leader

Volan stood like a predator waiting for the right tiht, and his black eyes narrowed As a wolf, he was heavyset, broad-shouldered and thick-necked, the leader by virtue of his size, powerful jaws, and wicked killer canines But now he stood as aas he considered her swi naked in the lake

Did the boy get away in tiht of him? How could she be so naive as to think that Volan would let her have a human male?