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Theo felt free as he wove between the trees, catching up to his friend and tackling him. The two wolves rolled, growling and snapping playfully at each other.

Theo needed this. A break to just have some fun. Everything at home had become so … tense. Everything with his brothers was a competition now and Theo missed the days when they were younger and he could wrestle with them for fun.

But Ryder would do.

Theo had known him just as long. They’d grown up together in the pack along with a handful of other males their age. If his brothers were going to be dicks to him, Theo had plenty of replacements. Or that was how he consoled himself when he was feeling overly sentimental about the whole thing.

Ryder broke free from Theo’s grasp and sprinted away. Theo threw back his head and howled before chasing after him again. Until something in the trees caused Ryder to skid to a stop. Theo stopped beside him, his head cocked to the side.

Was that a house?

Just as quickly as the house had come into view, it blinked out again.

And then it was back. A small wooden house up in the giant oak tree.

Theo blinked and it disappeared again.

Ryder gave a disconcerted whimper beside him.

House.

No house.

House.

What the hell was going on? Did they accidentally eat those mushrooms again?

Giggles filtered down from the now-empty branches above them.

Nymphs.

In his eighteen years of life, Theo had yet to meet a nymph. Although his father had plenty of thoughts about them. The nymphs in these woods were dryads, forest spirits with their souls tied to the oak trees where they made their homes. Which frankly sounded highly inconvenient to Theo. He didn’t want his soul tied to anything.

According to his father, dryads were not to be trusted.

But his father was always saying that about everyone. It was exhausting.

The house appeared above them again, and a small, young woman peered over the side of the little porch.

“Hello!” she called down. “Are you werewolves or regular wolves?” she asked. Her head tipped curiously and a strange feeling came over Theo, warm and slow. The girl was smiling like she was telling a joke, and he so badly wanted to be in on it. He wanted to know why she smiled like that, and he wanted to join her.

He wanted to be near her, with her, up among the branches.

Never in his life had he wanted something so fiercely and so suddenly.

He was eighteen.

He’d had plenty of … feelings … around the opposite sex but this was something different. Something new.

He changed into his human form without thinking, feeling suddenly like he needed to be able to communicate with this girl.

Her cheeks flushed red and she disappeared back into her house.

Shit. Did he scare her?

He looked down at Ryder and the wolf just huffed in agitation. It was clear he didn’t want to stick around with this girl and her disappearing house, but Theo wasn’t going anywhere. Not yet. Not until he got a chance to talk to her.

“Hey!” he called. “Where did you go?”