It’s time for Snippet Saturday! Each week has a theme or is author’s choice. This week the theme is author’s choice.

This week’s snippet comes from Hunter’s Moon, which is the ninth book in the Vampires Realm romance series, and is a vampire / werewolf romance. It’s a bit of a long one today as I just couldn’t decide on one part of the opening chapter… so I thought I would post it all!

Crisp air rushed through Nicolae’s black fur in a constant stream, shifting with him as he wove through the dark forest, keeping pace with the bulk of the local timber wolf pack. The group ahead of him, led by the grey alpha, snarled and played, riding up on each other’s shoulders as they ran. Nicolae bounded after them, his paws pounding the uneven ground and his footing sure. He ducked under a low branch and then leapt over a fallen tree, landing softly in the fresh leaf litter on the other side. Mountains stretched into the distance before him through the woods, their craggy peaks highlighted by glowing white snow. The fat moon flickered between the bare branches above him and called to his blood.

Nicolae obeyed.

He raced with the pack down the slope towards the hidden glade in the forest. Leafless trees gave way to tall pines that towered above him, blocking the light, and his eyes adjusted, the dark world around him sharpening and his senses following suit. Cool fingers of wind caressed his ears as he headed in amongst the pack and joined in their play, enjoying the clear wintry air and the bright night with them. Several younger wolves in the pack snarled and nudged him, and he playfully responded, gently shouldering them as they ran and fighting for dominance. He let them win even though they were far smaller than he was.

Nicolae wasn’t interested in gaining rank within the pack. He was here to enjoy the moment and the company. Running with the timber wolves under a full moon excited him, took him away from the complications of the human world and set him free. There was nothing in the world as exhilarating as surrendering to his true nature.

Animal sounds filled his ears, undetectable to the humans who lived in the rugged mountainous region of Canada. The deer down in the valley ahead were moving, heading for a safe place to spend the night. He could picture them now as they waited nervously in the shadows of the trees around the glade, alert and aware of the wolves that ran in the dark forest. They would move and make it out onto the narrow strip of grazing land between the banks of woods at the valley bottom before the wolves reached them.

Tomorrow, there would be reports of a wolf attack on the deer, and how the Casey’s horses had panicked, and Nicolae would have to pretend that it startled him to hear such a thing.

That he hadn’t participated in the hunt and the kill of deer.

That he wasn’t a wolf.

A burst of wings broke the silence, owls fluttering from their roosts and heading high into the sky. Hungry wolf eyes instantly tracked them for a heartbeat of time and then the pack moved on, their focus returning to playing and hunting the deer. The day birds settled down in their nests, safe from predators for another night, unbothered by the wolves running below.

The pack began to streak ahead and Nicolae returned his attention to them. His blood rushed and his heart thundered. He felt wild. Alive. The leaders were dark blurs in the distance, almost blending in with the night, silent predators built for this terrain. Younger wolves jostled for position nearer to him. He raced to catch up, the cold air burning in his lungs and a sense of freedom flowing through him.

A howl cut the night and the wolves shifted as one, turning right towards the mountain, away from the glade and the grazing land beyond. Something had caught their attention. The howl came again and Nicolae listened this time, deciphering it. Wolf-speak was old and varied from pack to pack, but he had studied this one closely, and long enough that they had accepted his presence on the mountain. They no longer feared him. It had taken him a century of working with each generation, but he had gained their trust and their friendship, and had learned how to communicate with them.

He pounded up to the peak of a bare hillock, threw his head back, and howled at the moon through the barren trees.

The answering call told him why the wolves were now running with intent.

There were men on the mountain.

Men who didn’t belong there.
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