Kukunniwi Woods

She jumped.

The memory of his mate diving off the dock to escape after he’d failed to herd her back toward the cabin haunted Knud. As soon as he returned to his human form the next morning, he immediately made his way back to the spot where she’d fallen in.

And there he stood, groggy and dazed, at the edge of the dark, churning water…remembering how the river took L-heart in a flash. Carrying her away from him so fast, he could barely keep up with her even in wolf form. He’d watched her small, wet head bob beneath the surface as he ran along beside her on the bank. The current was strong and he worried even a girl as well trained in survival skills as she was would not have the strength to swim to safety.

Knud had jumped into the river after her, determined to help her or drown trying.

But then he’d realized she was moving with deliberate purpose, swimming parallel with the water using a combination of freestyle and breast strokes he’d instantly recognized as the combat sidestroke favored by Navy Seals.

Knud cheered realizing his mate more than had the skills to make it across the river. But then a boat engine appeared, bobbing along on the rapids, a physical reminder of a time when vehicles still ran on gas. The engine was ancient and very solid. Knud had been surprised an object that heavy could float at all…a testament to the strength of the current.

Unfortunately for L-heart, the bulky, rusted engine made a beeline straight for her. When she came up for her next breath, it slammed into her head and instantly knocked her out before Knud could get out so much as a yelp of warning.

The only bit of luck he had afterward was that Layla also wasn’t dense enough to sink into the river. Her unconscious body popped up a few seconds later. But then the real nightmare began.

Wolves can swim. But not very fast. And no matter how hard he tried, Knud couldn’t catch up.

After knocking her into a few rocks, the rapids finally deposited her on the other side of the river. Leaving him to follow her to the shore in what felt like hours later.

He’d grabbed the back of her t-shirt in his jaws and dragged her onto the river bank. Then he performed an initial scan even though he had no AI and was still in wolf form.

She was breathing, but her breaths were shallow. He sniffed her head and smelled the blood underneath. Brain bleed. Not good. His nose also picked up the scent of several broken capillaries all over her body.

But the head injury worried him most. She need a doctor. Now. Not in 12 to 14 hours when Knud finally turned back into a human. That’s when he caught scent of the men.

The small group of hunters thought they were chasing down a large wolf that had suddenly appeared in their camp as they wound down with a few pre-dinner beers. The damn thing’d had the temerity to run off with a stick holding three freshly skinned rabbits they’d been about to roast over a campfire.

The men finally located their rabbits less than a few meters away from their campsite. Next to the body of a young woman who appeared to have washed up on the river bank…

Knud watched from afar as the situation unfolded, including when the paramedics arrived in a drone to collect her.

And now here he was, back in his human form—the shreds of the tracksuit he’d borrowed from Qim’s room long gone thanks to his time in the river.

Was she dead?

No, he insisted to himself as he began the long walk back to the cabin.

She was strong. She could survive anything.

She couldn’t be dead.

He’d know if she were. Because she was his mate.

And Knud would find her. As soon as he figured out who the hell she was.

Thankfully, the mystery of her identity was solved much sooner than he expected.

Knud found the whole gang, minus Qim and Jandro, waiting for him at the end of the gravel path near Founder’s Cabin. His brother’s face was little more than a thundercloud.

“You fucking idiot! How could you let this happen!?” Rafes demanded, storming down the porch steps toward him. “How could you let her leave the house on a full moon night?”

“Son, calm down,” Rafe Sr. advised, gripping Rafes’ shoulder. He looked just as displeased about the situation as his eldest son. But he also had years of self-calming techniques under his belt.

“Yes, Dad, you’re right. I need to calm down,” Rafes shot back, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Because now I have to go back to my office and put in a call to the president of the United States. Why? So she can put in a call to Eva Rustanov and assist me with the damage control this situation will need to avoid the long-held truce between our human and werewolf governments being declared null and void. Because my fucking moron of a brother decided to play cute little sex games with and mate a human!”

Knud shook his head in confusion. He didn’t disagree with Rafes’ assessment of his character—he was often an idiot and a moron. But for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what former two-term U.S. President Eva Rustanov had to do with any of this.

Until the shoe dropped… And he suddenly realized why he’d vaguely recognized Layla that time when she appeared younger than her years. Like a teenager.

A childhood memory unfolded. Of his mother’s eyes shining bright with tears as their entire family watched Eva Rustanov, her hand on a Bible, be sworn in as the first black female president of the United States.

But just in case Knud had any doubts about this latest revelation, Rafes shot him a nasty glare and said, “Congratulations, dickwad. You just impregnated and possibly killed America’s Favorite First Daughter.”