Excerpt from Heart of a Wolf:

Gods above. That bronze hair and icy eyes, his angular jawline and pert nose. He’s beautiful and strong all at once—and he’s mine. I never thought I’d find him. I thought those who believed I was too young and inexperienced to lead my pack were right all along. I feared I had disappointed the gods and so they had cursed me to be alone forever.

“Do you know how long I’ve waited for you?” I ask, my voice soft and low, the tone one I’ve only ever reserved for prayer to my gods. “Each night, I prayed to every god I know to send you to me. And they did. At last, they did.”

His eyes are impossibly wide. “Okay. Sure. Whatever you say, man.”

Not exactly the confession of love I wanted to hear, but mayhap he’s only shy. Still, his voice is lovely. I don’t like the way he looks at me, though, like he thinks I’m going to hurt him. As if I could ever lay a hand on someone fated for me. Doesn’t he feel the same pull I feel toward him? Can’t he hear the song between our wolves, telling us our hearts are finally one? Even if he lost his furs and can’t shift, he should still be able to feel that connection. I will hunt a wolf for him, skin it, and drape the furs over his shoulders myself if that’s what he needs to understand our bond.

Clearing my throat as if to purge the doubts from my body, I say, “I brought you some meat.” My wolf rumbles in my chest, pleased we could provide. It’s not the same as hunting for him myself, but a proper courtship can wait until we’re back in the village. I set the plate at his feet. “It’s not much, I know. But I promise you when we return to the village, I will hunt the biggest, most powerful of beasts and lay it at your feet.”

Kieran looks from the plate to me, mistrust turning those blue eyes to shards of ice. “What do you want from me?”

So many things. To have him on his back beneath me, taking my cock. To hear him gasp and moan as he bares his throat to me and begs me for my bite. To taste his blood as I bite down, our bond wrapping around my heart like golden threads. I run my knuckles down his freckled cheek. “Share my furs tonight, and you will know all the ways in which I want you.”

His breath catches. Arousal spikes in his scent, and it takes everything I have not to hurl myself on him, tear his clothes from his body, and take him until we’re both spent. I can’t wait until the mating ceremony. Tradition be damned. I must have him.

Curling my fingers gently in his hair, I pull him close.

Then Kieran yanks out of my touch. “Touch me again, and I’ll bite your fucking balls off.”