“I clenched my teeth and tried desperately to get air to my starved brain. If this annoying red head didn’t go away I was about to go all wolf up in here and it wasn’t going to be pretty. My wolf was screaming at me to defend my territory. Caeden was mine and she just wouldn’t get the message!”

“My she-wolf,” Caeden came up to me and kissed my cheek.“Didn’t I tell you never to call me that?” I smiled.“I seem to remember that conversation but I chose not to listen to you.”“Ah, of course,” I laughed. “Is this what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life? You not listening to me?”“Yeah, pretty much,” Caeden nodded.”

“Writing about the futility of trying to force a wolf into a vehicle, Martino describes the final stage of the conflict. The italics are hers:"But if I continue, perhaps muttering 'Get up you lazy old dusty thing,' The wolf grabs my arm in his teeth, snarling, as if to say, Look, move me where I don't want to go, and we're going to have problems. Your problems will be bigger than mine. He then looks at me with a frank arresting stare, the strength of the mountain rumbling in his eyes.”

“Here i go, scream my lungs out trying to get to you, you are my only one. I let go, because there's no one who gets me like you do. You are my only, my only one!”

“Wake up, Sophie,” Caeden said against my ear.“Go away,” I mumbled. “Rise and shine,” he said and shook me slightly.“I’m going to stab you in the eye,” I mumbled into the pillow.“Ah, you wouldn’t do that, you like my pretty blue eyes too much.”

“I excused myself from the conversation, walked away, and stuck my hands in my jacket pockets. I had no drink. I didn’t fidget. I kept my head down and headed for the door. It wasn’t that far. I just had to get by some people who wouldn’t suspect a thing, because I didn’t know any of them. I didn’t have to grab my coat because it was still on my shoulders. If Shawn saw me, I would say I was just going for air or a smoke or something. I had been trying to quit, and he knew this, so maybe going out for air was a better excuse. Sure, it was probably eleven below, but it was crowded and he’d buy it because I’d made him believe that I’m shy. I could be out in the midnight winter chill and home within an hour. It would have been safe, and I would have been warm, and no Chinook would have hit me.”