Sunday Snippets #1

In addition this week to my Six Sentence Sunday (if you're looking for my SSS post, its the one below this one!), I'm going to contribute to a new blog hop with my friends over at Red Lipstick Journals.  You can click HERE to go to see the rest of the contributors.  This is a brief passage for my upcoming book with No Boundaries Press, Her Wolfen Destiny.  This is from Emma, our heroine's P.O.V.  This is after her first shift to her wolf form, and the trouble she manages to get into.  Enjoy!

Once Emma had managed to slip out the kitchen door an entering servant had opened, she’d scrambled through the long heather growing on the slopping hills near her home in search of something – anything, in her quest for freedom. She was vaguely aware of the merlins she sent flying as she bounded through the fragrant grass. All she cared about was the fact she was actually free of her responsibilities as the heiress to the MacDonald clan, to be something other than the mother of the prophesied saviors. If she was lucky enough to have pups with her mate, they would have a normal childhood – they wouldn’t be stifled by the prophesy. They would have time to frolic and play. They would be raised honorably but she would make sure they had a chance to enjoy their childhood without the crushing responsibility of what others expected.

Bursting free of the heather, she raced across a long stretch of the beach, savoring the feel of sun warmed sand under her paws. After spotting some nearby kestrel nests amongst the rocks at the edge of the beach, which Emma’s wolf insisted on investigating, she took delight in how the little hawks scattered before dive bombing her like mini fighter pilots. Howling at their continual attack, she scrambled away from them, sending up grains of sand everywhere. Racing back the way she came, she’d just reached the edge of heather, when she heard it. The howl of a male wolf. She stilled, her beast instinctively recognizing the sound of her mate and lowering its considerable girth to the ground. He was coming for her. Her heart leapt as she trembled with excitement. She’d wait so long for her mate to claim her – for someone who wanted her personally and not because of the role she was to play.

It seemed like hours later, but in reality it was only minutes when a large gray wolf appeared less than fifteen feet her. Even with the overwhelming smell of heather teasing her sensitive nose, the tantalizing scent of pine and nutmeg drifted over her. He smelled wonderful. She wanted to roll around in his scent forever. He was hers. Lowered on her belly in the midst of the long grass, she laid submissively at his paws when he padded over to her. He grunted before nudged her shoulder with his nose. Lifting her head, she whined at him, unable to communicate in her wolf form. Until he claimed her, the telepathic link between them would be absent. When his massive head pushed against her again, she finally stood. The male gave a soft grunt of approval before backing up.