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She stared hard at the place froain, barely a whisper of ray wolf stepped out of the woods into the clearing Moonlight brushed his fur with silver, outlining his large, lithe body and pricked ears He turned his face to her, his eyes as silver as thethe woods as Maria had done

The wolf turned his steps to the trailer, picking his way in silence across the ground, blending into the shadows He halted when he reached Maria and sank to his haunches beside the narrow steps

He was huge even sitting down, his body nearly twice the size of a olf’s Maria wasn’t afraid The as beautiful, though she kneas deadly, but all that deadliness now protected her

Maria stroked his back, shivering at the wild strength of him His fur iry and soft at the saht out there?" she whispered

Ellison turned fro his furry face against hers Then he licked her

"Ay," she said, laughing softly "No wolf spit"

He ain, nose working as he tested for scent Then he rose to his feet and transformed himself with a crackle of bone and flesh to Ellison

Naked Ellison, towering above Maria, his scent full of spice The night arm, sultry, back here in the woods near the lake, the air heavy and dae place, with only a Shifter to protect her, because that Shifter was Ellison

Her friend Her champion And now, her lover

Ellison sank down to sit next to Maria on the edge of the step, unworried about his nakedness He braced his hand behind her, a well-o" His paused "Damn, you don’t kno much I did not want to say that"

"I don’t want to leave either"

They sat in silence a s took that as a cue to start singing for the night

Ellison let out a sigh "You got your test tooons I want you safe"

"He’s abducting Shifter cubs, not small human women," Maria said

"Yeah, but he knows you take care of Shifter cubs," Ellison countered "His guys aiting for Olaf today, knowing you’d go that way That wasn’t coincidence They were following you"