The past few weeks had been as stressful as any she had known. Trying to balance her relationship with Mark, learning how to focus and hone her skills with the Polar Push, renovating the estate and leading the vixens of their skulk was sometimes more than she could handle.

Sensing her restlessness, Mark had rolled out of bed.

“Go away and let me go back to sleep or come fuck me and let me go back to sleep.”

Mark laughed. “The constant in that statement being let you go back to sleep. I wish that I could, but several of Jax’s clan want a demonstration of the Polar Push.”

She groaned. “Can I use it to roll them away from us?”

“Probably not the best idea, although it might be very convincing. Let’s shift and go for a brief run before we head up to the main house.”

Nova propped herself up on her elbows. “You going away or coming back to bed to make love to me isn’t on the table, are they?”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”

They shifted in unison, letting each of their swirling mists brush along each other so that the cacophony of noise, color, and electricity were amplified. Once they were fox and vixen, they headed out the fox door to the deck, down the few steps to the snow-covered lawn and up and over the stone fence.

They ran together, footfall matching footfall in an easy rhythm that seemed to exist between them. They ran toward the edge of the property bounded by Mystic River which had a long drop of a waterfall. The water, especially this time of year, didn’t flow very fast, but there was about a ten-foot drop into a deep, sunken pool below.

The sun was just cresting the horizon, when Nova shifted back. The air was frigid, and her body had an immediate response—skin goose-pimpling and nipples stiffening. Mark shifted, looking at her quizzically.

“Why did you shift? Are you all right?”

“I am. Cold, but fine. Tell me, when was the last time you had fun? Fucking me doesn’t count.”

“I have fun all the time.”

“No, my mate, you do not. You work, worry, and fight all the time, and while you may not mind doing so, other than sex with me, you do nothing that’s a little bit crazy and a whole lot of fun.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask, but what did you have in mind?”

“Ever done a polar bear dip?”

“A what?”

“A polar bear plunge—when humans strip naked and then dive into an icy body of water.”

“That is insane. Not only would my balls go hide up inside my body cavity, they might never come back.”

“Never happen. I have the utmost faith in your balls.”

She reached out, grabbing both his hands in hers  and started walking backwards towards the river’s edge.

“You are certifiably nuts. We are not going in the river.”

She dropped his hands, looking dejected until she brought her head up. “Maybe not the ‘we’ that includes you, but this part of ‘we’ is most definitely going to give it a try,” she said with a wicked grin before sprinting towards the river. The water’s edge where they were was a shallow sloping entry into the water. “Catch me if you can,” she called over her shoulder.

“Nova, don’t you dare,” he growled.

Her laughter filled the air as she replied. “Never, ever dare me, my mate.”

She ran into the water, which was bracing—actually, that wasn’t it. It was cold, damn cold. Had she been in her fox form, she could have easily withstood the frigid water, but as a human? She wondered how they withstood many of the extreme temperatures in which they lived.

The water felt like stabbing knives wherever it hit her and when she ran deeper into the water and it covered her heated sex, she squealed.

“Nova,” he growled, pacing along the water’s edge. “Get out of there.”

She used a bit of the Polar Push to send a small wall of water in his direction. “Make me,” she taunted.

“Damn it, Nova.”

He shook his head, and she could feel his annoyance rolling down the bonding link. She thought he might turn his back and head toward the lodge, but instead, he sprinted upstream where the water was deeper and dove in—his strong, muscular frame cutting through the surface like a hot knife through warm butter.

She lost sight of him until he surfaced not far from her, shaking his head so that the droplets of water turned to ice before returning to the water. Nova squealed again and turned toward the waterfall. She could hear him splashing through the water as he tried to catch up with her.

Diving from the waterfall had been a favorite activity with young members of the skulk as far back as anyone could remember. She reached the edge before he did and dove into the icy depths below.

Nova heard him break the surface going in just as she reached it and took a breath. His hand wrapped around her ankle as he surfaced and began swimming toward the riverbank. He stalked up onto the land, dragging her out of the water. He leaned over and scooped her up, cradling her to his chest.

“Put me down,” she said struggling with him.

Nova had no intention of allowing him to carry her back to the lodge where the guards who were posted front and back could see them. She slapped at his chest. He ignored her the first two times, but the third time he stopped and set her on her feet.

“That’s better,” she said, rather satisfied with herself.

“Not really,” he chuckled before putting his shoulder into her middle and hoisting her up and over his shoulder.

Nova hit him in the small of his back and his hand connected with her still-wet backside, the water amplifying the heat and sting.

“Hit me again, and I’ll spank you to get you warmed up.”

“And if I don’t?”

“I have a much more pleasurable plan in mind.”

Mark carried her the rest of the way to the lodge with Nova laughing her fool head off.

The guard at the back of the lodge moved to open the gate. “You seem to have your hands full, Alpha. Let me get the gate for you.”