Elena.
She hit the ground twenty feet away from me, her paws skidding in the snow, and let out an explosive, reprimanding bark. She lunged straight at me, snapping her jaws near my scruff to scold me for my absolute stupidity, her body rigid with doctorly rage.
I didn’t back down. I lowered my front shoulders into a playful bow, snapped my tail back and forth, and let out a soft, inviting whine.
Elena stopped mid-snarl. Her golden eyes searched mine, her chest heaving as the freezing mountain wind whipped between us.
And then, the magic happened.
I watched the exact moment the human stress, the years of pain, the rigid professional walls, and the bitterness melted away from her eyes. The ancient, primal instinct of the mate bond—and the wild nature of the wolf—took over. Her ears rela
