Midsummer Heat by Mina Carter Read Free Book Online Page B

her powerful jaws. The snick of her teeth as they sliced through fur and skin, the crunch of bone and the hot, metallic-sweetness of fresh blood as it flowed down her throat.
    Each month she tried to avoid it. Each month as the moon rose she resorted to sleeping tablets to dull her senses and get her through the night. Most times it worked. Without other wolves around, and surrounded by the concrete jungle of the city, her wolf was lulled into a stupor. If it wasn’t, then she picked her nights and drove to the edge of the city to allow the creature within a few hours freedom.
    But her sleeping tablets were back at home, too far away to do her any good. She caught Max’s glittering gaze and looked away quickly, the lust and intent in his eyes too much for her as anger shifted to something altogether more dangerous. They were beyond the tablets now, beyond talking and rationalizing the situation. Once they got where they were going, up into the mountains if the road he’d turned the big truck onto was any indication, then she was going to find out just how dangerous baiting an alpha could be.
    The drive passed in silence. She watched out of the window as the scenery of her childhood sped by and then they were higher into the mountains. The trees crowded around the road like sentinels, only allowing thin slivers of moonlight through their guard. It made no difference; she could still feel its presence overhead, calling to her. Eroding her control.
    Max swung the car off the road, down a short drive to what had once been the Ellison property. She remembered old man Ellison chasing them off his garden with a stick, yelling about ‘damn fool wolf cubs’. Even though he was human, he’d lived on the outskirts of Stratton and around the pack all his life, staying on alone after his wife died and his kids abandoned the small town for careers abroad. Max must have bought the place when the old man died.
    The truck pulled to a stop in a flurry of dirt, and Max hauled the brake up. Both hands on the wheel he took a deep breath, as though centering himself. Hand on the door handle, she looked out of the window and tried to gauge the distance to the tree line.
    “Run.” His voice was low, the words a harsh plea. “Please… Run.”
    The need to chase shone in his eyes, the dark orbs glittering with a potent combination of need, lust and anger. Anger with her for daring to leave again and a hint of what looked like self-loathing.
    She glanced toward the trees again as she cracked the door slowly. She could make it. Maybe. The cool night air filtered through the gap between the door and the truck body, bringing with it the scent of the forest after the rain, of the night and of freedom. In the space between one heartbeat and the next she made her decision, schooling herself to open the door fully and slide, lady-like, from the passenger seat.
    Behind her Max sighed, the sound full of disappointment as he opened his own door. Adrenalin raced through her, senses all on high alert as she waited, holding everything within as she listened out for the sound of his pants sliding over the leather of the seat, the dull thump of his boots as they hit the dirt on the other side of the truck.
    It was now or never. He was the furthest point away from her. In the truck he could have burst through the passenger compartment and out of the door after her, but now he’d have to come around or over the car, both of which would cost him precious seconds. Seconds she could use to slip into the forest.
    Leaving her delicate shoes in the dirt by the truck, she hauled her skirt up and launched herself into motion. Her wolf sang as she raced over the grass toward the darkness of the trees, human toes digging into the thick, rich earth. Max swore, the curse ending on a low snarl as he realized what she was doing. Within seconds he was after her, the metallic thud telling her that he’d come over the hood of the truck in pursuit.
    Unable to stop the squeal