The Thrill of the Chase
Akakios and Liz
Monstrous
Akakios’s mate was up to something.
He liked how sneaky she was trying to be. Liz wasn’t the most outgoing of werewolves, so the joy he saw in her when she thought he didn’t notice her trying to keep something from him was well worth him playing along.
He pretended not to notice when his favorite loincloth went missing.
Or when she and Ari had their heads together in an intense conversation one afternoon.
Or how the large mug he favored for drinking mysteriously kept relocating to different parts of the house.
Most importantly, he pretended not to notice how Liz always had a slightly guilty look when he walked in on her and Ari together.
His mate was up to something and he had a good idea what it was.
After all, Ari had pointed out recently how everybody was going to get a special day of celebration—a friend-day instead of a birthday—because it was only right.
Akakios didn’t particularly see the point in celebrating something on a randomly chosen day for no apparent reason, but he loved his mate enough to go along with it. If she was excited, he would be excited.
Plus, Ari was so ridiculously not sneaky in her part of the planning he couldn’t help but be amused.
“Hey, big guy,” the nymph chirped one day out of the blue, “what’s that wine you like? I’m not asking for any reason or anything, just curious.”
Akakios had looked at her for long enough without speaking she’d started to squirm before he’d told her. Not that it took much to make Ari squirm. Especially when she was trying to hide something.
The exuberant nymph was not good at keeping secrets.
That had been the start of the planning. The next morning, he’d noticed his loincloth was missing. Liz had looked at him with a bland expression on her face when he asked her if she’d seen it.
Her scent hadn’t been bland, though. It had been spiked with excitement and a touch of guilt.
The guilt didn’t work for Akakios. If Liz wanted to plan a friend-day celebration for him with Ari, he was going to make sure she enjoyed herself.
So he’d huffed out a put upon sigh and muttered that maybe he’d misplaced it the evening before when they’d been engaged in some sweetly carnal activities.
Liz’s smile had been quick and bright and she’d nodded so enthusiastically Akakios had feared she’d injure herself.
He’d pretended ignorance when the other things started showing up in odd places, but he’d kept an eye on his sweet mate to make sure she was enjoying herself.
Keeping his little werewolf happy was his single greatest joy in life.
For an ancient minotaur who hadn’t seen any of his own kind in a long, long time, finding and keeping his joy was important to him.
Liz was important.
Ari and her mate and the others she’d collected in her harem of friends were important.
He could do without the celebration, but that was more because he didn’t much think he deserved it. After all, he’d kept himself voluntarily trapped in the maze below the college before Ari came to prod him out.
What sort of monster did that? A tired, lonely one, that’s who.
If anything, they should be planning a friend-day for Ari. She was the one who made everything he now had in his life possible.
She’d lured him out of the maze. She’d offered her friendship in unstinting abundance. She’d found a place for him to live and then opened her home to him when she thought he needed it.
But most importantly, she’d brought Liz into his life.
Liz, whose shy smile made his heart beat faster.
Liz, who had given him a reason to try harder to connect with this modern world.
Liz, who, right now, was trotting down one of the tunnels connecting the house to the old cave system Liam used to live in.
The desire to see her had him getting up and moving to the hidden door that allowed them access to the newly constructed tunnels. He toyed with the idea of waiting until she got topside, but the thought of stalking her through the earthen tunnels was too much to resist.
With a rumbling laugh, Akakios made his way underground.
The tunnels were a lot like the old maze he’d hidden in beneath the college. Smaller, yes, but they smelled earthy and ancient and roused his blood in ways that had him thinking of sweat and heaving bodies.
“Where’s my little wolf?” he rumbled into the darkness.
He heard Liz’s steps falter and slow. “Akakios?” she whispered.
“There she is.”
With his sharp supernatural senses, Akakios could hear the sudden thundering of Liz’s heart. She swallowed and he could tell she edged back a step by the scrape of her shoe on dirt.
Liz liked the chase as much as he did. Unlike most she-wolves, she preferred to be the one chased, which was fortunate for him.
Because he liked to be the one doing the chasing.
“Run, little wolf,” he snarled.
Liz gave a whimpering whine and then he heard her spin and take off.
Instincts triggered, Akakios followed.
She’d been far enough up the tunnel when she took off he couldn’t see her, but the sounds of her retreat were like a thundering drum in his ears.
Besides which, there was only one place this tunnel went. The old cave. If he didn’t catch her in the tunnel, he’d catch her there.
Either way, he was bound to get the sweetest of prizes for his efforts.
A warm, bundle of wolf who made the most delicious sounds when he did his job right.
He could smell her excitement as he closed the distance between them. She loved when he chased her. It soothed her wolf like little else could.
He would soothe her wolf, too, once he got his hands on her.
He’d soothe her and rile her up all at once.
With that prize dangled before him, Akakios picked up speed so he could get his hands on his beautiful mate and do all the wonderful things he was imagining.
After all, if a man couldn’t indulge himself with his mate, what was the point of living?
The End
Want to see how Akakios and Liz started their relationship? Monstrous Matchmaker: The Complete Series gives us their story. (Or grab Operation Minotaur if you prefer to read it as a serial.)
Missed any of the other shorts? Check out the Series Shorts page and get caught up.
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