The Bite (Book 1)

Original Edition - Chapter 31: The Valley

I ended up really liking Andrea. Our wolves took a real liking to each other as well. She wasn't sure why, she admitted to me later that she felt some kind of pull towards me, a need to look out for me, immediately when she saw me.

Derek liked her too, and after she learned that Derek could cook, she invited herself over for dinner indefinitely. Apparently, her father wasn't much of a cook and her mother, well her mother was only her father's potential bond mate that had eventually passed away from a bad car accident when she was very young.

She and I were very alike, but also very different. She had this aura of wisdom about her that I wanted to soak up; she was quiet, always assessing her sounding, watching others while she and her wolf mentally took notes.

"You ready?" Evan smiled as he walked over to Andrea and I.

"Well, well, well, Evan you've grown up," Andrea mused.

"Andrea," Evan blushed.

Andrea chuckled and gave me a sly smile. "I used to watch Evan and his siblings when they were just pups. Evan used to have a massive crush on me and swore to everyone that we were mates and that he was going to build me a big house to live in."

Derek and I laughed with Andrea while Even tried to shake off his flush. "It would have been a nice house too, geez."

I laughed a little louder and stood up. I dusted the leaves off my legs then helped Andrea up. Andrea pulled the long sweater down over her thighs and looked over at the group of guys waiting at the head of the group.

"Come on." I tugged her sleeve and pulled her behind some bushes.

She smiled at me and nodded. We pulled off our clothes and quickly shifted while the others did the same. Andrea's wolf was golden, and hell, in the sun her fur looked almost golden itself.

I walked towards her and let my wolf smell her as she did the same while cautiously eyeing me; but something clicked in her brain because soon she was nuzzling my cheek before she licked it a few times.

I picked our clothes up in my mouth and handed them to Derek, who tucked them safely in his backpack with my bearskin blanket; I wasn't sleeping outside without that damn thing. I wasn't sleeping at all without that thing.

Evan yipped at us, drawing a playful growl from my wolf's lips. She wanted to show the males and her new friend what her blood was really made of.

Andrea trotted next to me, playfully bumping into me, as we picked up the pace. Ryder was soon trotting with us before he tore out in a full sprint into the forest. We didn't need more incentive than that.

We were all running, with the rest of the group behind us, towards Ryder who was like a damn bullet. Andrea soon caught up to him and nipped teasingly at his feet, tripping him up and taking the lead.

My wolf let out a giddy bark at her and caught up to her new female friend. We ran over the hills that surrounded the base of the majestic mountains, we hopped and jumped over rocks as the terrain became rougher, and we relished the sweet mountain air that seemed to greet us the higher in elevation we climbed.

I would be lying if I said that running in these mountains wasn't thrilling because it was. It was like the air was feeding the energy coursing through my body; somehow numbing the restless itch inside me and taming my distressed soul.

We hunted a few small critters along the way; squirrels, rabbits, and a very unlucky group of doves that did not move fast enough. My belly was full and the sun was finally starting to set. Our paws were tired, we had been on our feet all day with the slow moving group that we had to stay with.