On the third day, Rina hunted Felix down. It wasn't that difficult. She had the feeling that Felix didn't know the meaning of the word hide, submissive or not. She found him in the same place he'd been the first time she'd met him, staring at a bunch of plants.

As she watched him from the shadows, he knelt down to touch, no caress, a budding leaf, with a gentleness of touch that had warmth spreading from her belly. His hands elegant, his fingers long, they were unexpected on a man of the earth. She imagined them to be the hands of a pianist, dancing across the keys.

Or the planes and valleys of her body.

She suppressed an aggravated growl at that unbidden thought just as he stood up and turned around to look right at her.

"Hiding, kitty?" he drawled, that slow grin tugging at the corners of those full lips.

She didn't bother to stop the growl that came from her throat this time, as she stepped into clearing, the warmth of the summer sun wrapping around her despite the dappled shade of the canopy overhead.

Something akin to fear skittered through his gaze before he averted it and Rina couldn't see into their dark depths anymore, hidden as they were under thick eyelashes. It was so unfair how some males had such beautiful eyelashes. They were completely wasted on them.

Rina smiled her own slow grin. Good. He should be scared of her. She'd hurt him in a heartbeat. "I don't hide," she replied, keeping the irritation she wanted to unleash on him for that provocative statement under tight control. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

His grin became somehow warmer, as if he knew exactly what she was doing. But that wasn't possible. She barely knew this man. "Then what were you doing lurking in the shadows?"

Instead of answering him, Rina looked at him intently. She knew she shouldn't be doing this; for all his teasing and grinning, he was a submissive, likely to bare his throat at the compulsion of his beast, no matter that she was a leopard and he was a wolf. Danger was danger, regardless of species. But she wanted to make him uncomfortable, as uncomfortable as his gift had made her.

"What the hell was that?" she spat out of nowhere.

His eyes widened in surprise. "Come again?"

"You know what."

"I do not."

She growled.

"Rina." He ducked his head again, but he didn't back away. Instead, he did something that surprised her. He raised his hands in front of him, as if placating a gaggle of angry geese, and took a step towards her.

"The plant, wolf. What the hell was the plant?" she said through gritted teeth, trying to get a grip on the unexpected burst of anger. She was better than this, a soldier. She wasn't like the Psy, who'd eschewed emotion to save them from madness, but all predatory changelings knew the value of controlling their feelings. The destruction of the Territorial Wars echoed across time, even centuries later.

"A cactus," Felix replied. He hadn't moved closer, a good three feet still separating them, but his face was softened in concern.

"I know that," she snapped. "Why was it on my kitchen table?"

Felix smiled then. "It's customary to give flowers during courtship."

The leopard growled low and deep, but Rina managed to keep the noise internal. Barely. Because neither animal nor woman liked the sound of that.

"Courtship?" she ground out.

Felix took another cautious step forward. "Yes, courtship."

"I don't remember ever agreeing to this, wolf." She made the word sound as dirty as possible. DarkRiver may have a blood bond with SnowDancer. Mercy and Riley may be mated. Inter-pack dating may even be becoming common.

But Rina Monahan was not ready for this. Especially not with this man.

"You didn't say no, either," was his cool reply. Rina narrowed her eyes. His expression was as innocent as could be, but the devil danced in those dark eyes, in that voice, taunting her.

"You never asked."

Felix actually snorted. "Rina, I may be a submissive, but I'm still male. You don't carry another man's scent, so I can give you cacti if I like."

The leopard paused, uncertain. Rina knew the rules when it came to dominant males, she knew how to fight, and if need be, how to coax. She didn't even know where to begin with this, though. It wasn't in the nature of submissives to be aggressive, but neither were they pushovers. They were part of the beating heart of the pack, part of the core that Rina had sworn to protect.

"And if I don't want to be given cacti?" Rina asked, curious to see what this male would say.

"I have other plants," he shrugged and gave her a smile that thawed even her icy heart. "I thought the cactus was a good fit, though. They practically look after themselves, and the flowers are quite beautiful. They're tough, too." He paused and for the first time today, looked her right in the eye. "Seriously underestimated."

Inexplicably, Rina's heartrate picked up. She'd never thought that a submissive would describe her this way, as if her strength and independence was something that he actually liked, made her more appealing. It made sense with the other dominants, but a submissive? She shook her head, breaking the searing eye contact. "I don't want other plants," she said, a little harsher than she intended. She was unsettled by all of this.

Felix's smile grew, warming his eyes in a way that made his already handsome face almost unbearably perfect. Not fair, Rina thought. So not fair. "I'll stick to the cacti then."

"What are you doing, wolf?" she asked, her shoulders tensing.

His expression softened. "If you want me to stop, I will," he said quietly.

Rina growled again. Why was he being so understanding? Why wasn't he arguing, yelling, fighting?

She knew why. "This isn't going to work. We're too different."

"We haven't even tried."

"Don't need to."

"Scared, kitty?"

The leopard growled as she took a menacing step forward. "Say that again, wolf. I dare you."

He looked at her again for one quick instant, before looking away, but he didn't back off either, didn't cower and whimper in fear. No, Felix was made of sterner stuff than most expected of him. "I'm not the one running before even giving this a chance."

"There's nothing there," she dismissed.

"You don't know that."

She stared at him in shock. Why wasn't he seeing this? Their different pack membership notwithstanding, the disparity between their positions in the hierarchy was a yawning chasm. She huffed her frustration and looked away, glaring at a tree to the right of her, as if it was all its fault. The light bark of the pine tree stared back at her, as unfeeling as ever.

Stupid tree.

Unexpected warmth grazed her cheek. Surprised, she turned her head back towards Felix, inadvertently increasing the amount of contact. The distance between them had decreased to a bare two feet. His fingertips were a little rough. She didn't know why that surprised her, since he was so clearly a man who felt most at home amongst his cherished plants. The work would be hard on his hands, and he hardly seemed the type to moisturise.

But his touch was gentle, as gentle as the way he was looking down at her. He was maybe half a foot taller than her, tall enough that she could imagine tucking her head under his chin as they cuddled.

Why she was imagining them cuddling, she didn't want to think too much about.

"Rina," he said just as gently as he was touching her, looking at her, and it was too much.

"I have to go," she said abruptly, taking a swift step back and breaking the skin-to-skin contact. She felt the loss far deeper than she should have.

Felix nodded, letting his hand drop back to his side.

She took another step back.

"I'd better let you get back to your… whatever you're doing today," he said, the faint smile doing nothing to dampen the hurt he wasn't even bothering to hide. What even was with this guy?

She nodded, reigning in the need of the leopard – and the woman – to hug the hurt out of this man's eyes. But maybe this way he'd stop before it was too late for the both of them. Hurting him a little now would save the hurt he'd feel later on.

"Bye," she said, and quickly turned away, almost hurtling into the dark anonymity of the forest's shadows in her rush to get away.

Felix watched Rina go, and couldn't help the sigh of disappointment that escaped his lips. His wolf rested its head on its paws, wanting to howl at his mate to come back. But man and wolf knew it would take time to coax this prickly leopardess into his arms.

Where she belonged.

Because whilst she'd been pissed at him for courting her, angry at the way he wouldn't back off, she hadn't repudiated his claim outright. Hell, she'd completely ignored his question.

Felix grinned as he turned back to his work. It would take time, but his grumpy soldier would come to him.

Because she was his as much as he was hers.