Mila tossed her head back and let loose a howl of pure joy. As she ran, her paws squelched on the damp earth of the forest as its fecund aroma filled her nostrils. A light breeze, chilled by the waters of the Strait, caressed her fur, blowing with just enough force to make her eyes water as she charged ahead with reckless speed.

The woods were thick with undergrowth and towering trees, but the light of the full moon provided ample illumination for her wolfish eyes to navigate.

She could taste salt in the air as she neared the edge of the island. The waters of Haro Strait lapped against the shores of D’Arcy Island in a rhythmic motion that mimicked the beating of her heart. Standing there, she could forget all about the reasons she had fled her house and raced into the darkness, heady with the influence of the full moon and drunk on the sensation of being free, if only for one night.

She howled again, a throaty sound voicing her pleasure in the night. Not far away an answering howl rose, longer than hers, with a rough edge that spoke to her on an instinctive level. Her belly quaked at the male’s call, and her loins throbbed. The human side of her brain tried to lodge a feeble protest to seeking out the male, knowing it would only complicate matters, but she let the animal side reign.

Her body thrummed with sensual energy as she ran in the direction of the wolf howling for her. An answering bay rose in her throat, speaking of eagerness and longing.

She didn’t care who the howl belonged to. She wanted him.

Frenzied need allowed no room for logic or reason. Instinct guided her to him, and she followed it willingly, having repressed the wolf side of her nature far too long.

He howled again, this time directly in front of her.

Mila stopped mid-step, her green eyes watchful as the brush moved when he passed through it before emerging into the small clearing where she stood.

He was an impressive specimen as far as wolves go, standing three feet tall at the shoulders with a powerful build. His fur was silver in the moonlight, and she wondered what shade of blond it was when he was in human form. His brown eyes devoured her with equal intensity, expressing his interest, as his nostrils flared to better take in her scent.

They moved forward at the same time, meeting in the middle of the clearing. The night wind ruffled Mila’s fur as she stretched her neck to sniff his muzzle. He endured the greeting with in stoic silence, but the hunger in his eyes was unmistakeable.

Mila stepped back and lifted her muzzle to the sky, breathing in the intoxicating scent of his musk on the breeze as closed her eyes and willed herself to shift back to human form.

She rose to stand before the male wolf, her bare breasts shimmering with perspiration, her breath heavy with want. She stared into his amber eyes, silently pleading for the man inside the wolf to join her, and without breaking her gaze, dipped her fingertips between her thighs and began to stroke herself.

Dark clouds drew like thick curtains across the moon, blanketing the night sky in an eerie blackness. Without the night vision her wolf form afforded her, Mila could no longer see the clearing or make out the form of the mysterious male wolf. But for the briefest instant, she sensed him moving to shift behind her, felt the heat of his arousal pressed against the small of her back battling the warmth of the change flooding through their veins.

And then his hands were on her.

He gripped her hips and pulled her tight against the length of his body, his need for her pulsing against the curves of her ass. He breathed her in as he placed his strong hands over hers, and interlaced her fingers with his.

In one fluid movement, he spun her around to face him, catching her wrists above her head with one hand and yanking her toward him with the other.

He lifted her up, bracing her against the trunk of an old arbutus. With her wrists still trapped overhead, the tree trunk gave her just enough leverage to wrap her legs around his waist and draw him even closer. The trunk was cool and smooth against her back, a stark contrast to the calloused hands roaming her breasts and the heat rising deep within her.

Mila lifted her eyes toward his, aching to see his face, desperate to know who had stirred such undeniable need inside her body.

Damn the darkness.

Mila couldn’t see him, but she could sure as hell feel him.

His breath, moist and hot over her face. His chest, muscular and taut, brushing against her nipples as it rose and fell in unison with the rhythm of her own heartbeat.

And his cock— oh, his magnificent cock— long, thick and rock hard, pressing against her core, searing hot and throbbing with animalistic want.

He dipped his chin toward her shoulder, nipping at the soft spot at the base of her neck before sinking his teeth into her flesh in a possessive bite.

A full-body shiver shocked Mila into stillness.

He bit her.

Mila froze. This wasn’t merely some casual romp in the forest for him.

He wanted to claim her.

And there in the pitch dark clearing, swept up in the unstoppable rush of reckless abandon, she was inclined to let him do it.

She arched her spine and rocked her hips towards his, begging for him to enter her, to take her. To claim her.

The stranger spoke, his deep voice ragged with lust.

“Who are you?”

“No names,” she answered. Any wolf shifter with half a brain knew Mila was bad news. If she revealed her true identity, the sexy stranger would be gone in the blink of an eye. And this? This night of reckless abandon Mila so desperately needed? It would be over in a heartbeat.

“Tell me your name,” he growled. He caught her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. She narrowed her eyes, struggling see his face.

Damn all the rules, damn behaving like a respectable young woman. She needed this. Needed him.

Without a word, Mila reached down, wrapping her hand around his rock-hard shaft.

He gasped, dropping his hand to brace himself against the tree trunk. His other hand grabbed her wrist, but he didn’t pull her hand away.

She could feel the blood pumping through his cock beneath her fingertips, his very life force driving him to conquer her. She traced the pads of her fingers along the ridge from the base of his cock to the head, moving her hand in slow, deep strokes.

She heard him swallow hard, felt him tremor beneath her touch. She grew warmer, wetter, with anticipation.

“I need to know your name,” he growled again, this time through gritted teeth. As he spoke, he clamped his hand down around her wrist, guiding her to move faster.

Mila gathered her courage and leaned forward, her lips resting against his ear. “If you’re still worried about my name, maybe I should give you something else to think about.”

In one fluid motion, Mila lifted her hips, pulled the head of his throbbing cock toward her, and dropped down, crying out as she buried the full length of his cock inside her. She was already so wet for him, so desperate with need to be at his mercy, that foreplay seemed like a waste of time.

Despite his massive size, he plunged into her lust-slickened sheath with ease. He stilled, and for a moment Mila was afraid he might pull away. She wrapped her arm back around his neck and drew his face down, crushing her lips to his. She moaned into his mouth, parting her lips to dip her tongue inside, and began to gyrate her hips, grinding his cock deeper into her center.

Any resistance he felt before seemed to fall away as he trapped Mila against the tree, surrendering to her offered kisses and demanding even more of her. He thrust his tongue deep into her mouth, growling as he began to move inside her. He drew back, sucking her tongue between his lips as he worked his cock deeper and deeper with every stroke, his full weight pressing her into the tree behind her as he took her, owned her, made her his.

She pumped her hips in rhythm with his, relishing the feel of him pounding into her, stretching her, filling her so completely. She angled her hips so his cock slid against her swollen clit with every thrust, causing her to whimper with pleasure.

“More,” she murmured. “Harder.” She tore her mouth away from his just long enough to make her demands. He answered her command, driving his long, thick cock in and out of her in a primal frenzy.

“Mine,” he growled. “You’re fucking mine.”

“Yes,” she moaned. “Harder.” Her voice was thick with desperation as her nipples chafed against the taut muscles of his chest.

He gripped her hips in his hands, slamming her up and down on his cock, impaling her with every syllable he spoke. “Say it,” he ordered. “Tell me you’re mine.”

“Yes!” she cried. The tingling spreading through her core gave way to an explosion of heat. Her orgasm arced through her body like lightning, shocking the very core of her being. “I’m — fucking — yours.”

Mila surrendered to him, baring her body in the most intimate of ways as she affirmed his possession of her. Her orgasm kept coming, coming, coming in waves. She felt him surge inside her, his cock consummating his claim as he sunk his teeth deep into the top of her shoulder, drawing her blood into his mouth as he came with a violent shudder.

As he released himself into her body, the final wave of her own orgasm flooded through her, dripping around his cock and down her legs. Breathless, she grabbed his face with both hands, and he locked his lips onto her mouth, demanding one final kiss to seal his claim.

He drew back and howled with triumph, his deep voice reverberating through the trees. Mila let her head fall back against the tree and glanced up at the sky as her knees buckled beneath her. She felt his strong arm wrap around her waist, and she melted against him as he scooped her up in his embrace. The tumescent moon was the last sight she saw before she passed out.