Sworn to the Wolf (21 page)

Rain leaned past Devon and said, “It’s okay.” Relief rushed over Perri’s face and a genuine smile replaced the hesitant one she’d worn moments before.

“That’s a nice view,” Skye said, raising an eyebrow, and Rain saw that the front of her robe gaped open.

Laurent growled. “Watch it, Skye. Your time will come and I personally can’t wait. It seems that our Mates are the female equivalents of the pains in the butt that the males are.” He glanced at Andreas who tried to look scandalized but failed. “Your mate will be a doozy.”

“Amen!” Sean laughed.

They ate and drank champagne and finally the time to go into the clearing approached. Andreas stood with Kari and walked out, followed by Sean and Emma, and Laurent led Rain, holding her hand tightly. They walked out into the night, which should have felt cold but Rain was surprised to feel that it didn’t at all.

Once in the clearing Laurent took off his clothes and hung them up before turning to help Rain out of her robe and panties, placing them beside his own. For a moment she thought how nice that was, to see their things like that. Normal even in the midst of so much that was totally outside her imagining.

He squeezed her hands. “You’re all right?” It was a question and a statement at the same time. Delivered in that way he had. French, though his English was flawless. Perfect yes, but his cadence was more often French than American.

It charmed her wildly. Her emotions seemed to roar through her veins as the night draped around her skin.

She was more than all right. “I’m perfect.”

He smiled before kissing her. A quick brush of lips.

She took a deep breath as he led her into the large circle of bodies the Clan had made in a meadow not too far from the lodge. Rain was surprised but she didn’t feel awkward about her own nakedness or anyone else’s, it just seemed normal.

“This place is the heart of our Pack. Our magic is strongest here so here is where our Pack will receive a new member,” Andreas said from his place in the center as they joined him and Kari.

Rain’s skin felt so very thin she had to fight back her panic. Every one of her senses seemed turned up outrageously high. But as she stood there, the grass so cool under her feet, she began to calm. Her breath deepened and slowed. Laurent smiled as he stood back to address her.

“
J’honore ma partenaire.
I honor my Mate.” Rain looked at him and repeated the words back. And as she did, the air seemed to shimmer around the two of them. Intent and promises made had their own kind of magic.

Andreas turned in a circle and spoke, the deep bass of his voice seemed to echo through the ground. “
Nous souhaitons la bienvenue au loup.
Nous celebrons le lien.
Nous honorons notre soeur.
We welcome the wolf. We celebrate the bond. We honor our sister
.
”

Laurent looked into her eyes as the urge to...
something
hit her like a fist. “Let it come, Rain. Come and kneel and let the wolf come.”

She trembled and got on her hands and knees and closed her eyes. There was a burst of pain as her bones reknit into something else, as her
being
reknit into something else. She felt her humanity slip, it sank like a stone and her wolf rose and burst through her skin. When she opened her eyes the world was black and gray. She shook herself out and got used to her new form. She was a wolf. Blinking in shock, she turned her head and saw a giant wolf next to her. He nuzzled her head and nipped at her flank.
Laurent.
She felt joy and a burst of an image.
Run.
And she did.

She tore out of the clearing hot on his tail. She got bumped on her side and looked, she was sure the black wolf with the flash of white was Skye. Another smaller wolf jumped across her path, Kari. She felt strong, exhilarated, full of life and pleasure. She ran and ran and Laurent’s giant form ran next to her, sheltering her in the shadow of his body.

The world felt alive to her in a way it never had before. She could smell
everything
. She heard birds and mice, small creatures rustling in the leaves. Finally, a long time later, they stopped at the shore of a small spring-fed lake. She drank from its waters and felt refueled.

Suddenly she felt Laurent at her side and he moved her with gentle bumps of his head. The burst of lust she received from him nearly knocked her over. His for her. Of the way his wolf felt about hers, how the flecks of white on her front paws drove him crazy, made him desire her above all others. She knew the soft, silky feel of her fur against his muzzle made him tremble to be inside her. How she knew this she didn’t know. She just did. It was a little like being in his head.

But her wolf was solidly in charge. Her human self was far, far under the waves and the predator, the wild animal in her, saw Laurent as the master of his surroundings he was. He was a strong protector and an able provider, the offspring he would give her would be healthy and robust. She desired that and presented to him. He howled and the fur on her back stood on end. He mounted her, his large body against her back, and he thrust inside her, his sharp teeth biting her neck and holding her still.

Her cells sang out. He was joy, he gave her everything and she sent that back to him. He growled softly as he completed, licking her face as he got off. She got to her belly and crawled that way to his feet. He nudged her, pushing her up to her feet, licking her muzzle before moving her into his side. Where she belonged.

The Pack howled as one and the frenzy of celebration and sex hung in the air like a palpable thing. All around them, wolves rolled, play fighting and mounting each other. She sat back, leaning against Laurent’s chest, his body curved around hers protectively, and watched it all.

She noticed that a female had come near and presented in their direction. Paloma. Laurent licked her ear and yawned as if he were bored by the mere sight of the other female.

The hackles on Rain’s body rose as she growled low in throat. She laced the sound with menace and violence and she felt Laurent’s body harden in response. Paloma yipped as if to call attention to herself and Rain sprang forward, snarling and biting. Paloma yelped and ran off, head and tail lowered in submission.

Rain turned and padded back to Laurent who mounted her again, fast and furious, driven over the edge by her display of dominance. Afterward he nudged her back toward the path that led to the lodge and they ran back to the clearing.

They got back to the clearing where their clothes hung and Laurent changed back. He knelt next to her, pressing his face into her fur, stroking her and speaking softly. Her human wanted him, wanted his touch, and her wolf let go and fell away as her human self rose and surfaced. As she opened her eyes her world was in color again and Laurent stood there holding her robe for her to step into.

“Welcome, Mate,” he said into her hair.

She turned and kissed him softly. “Welcome, Mate. Now let’s go back to our cabin for a while, I’d like you inside me and I don’t think I can wait any longer.”

“You don’t have to,” he said as he picked her up and slid into her pussy with a roll of his hips.

Surprised, but not in a bad way, she wrapped her legs around him as she moaned.

He moved swiftly but only made it to the lodge. He propped her against the wall at the far side of the house. “I can’t wait any longer. I’ve got to have you.” He groaned and began to thrust.

Her breath caught in her throat as her hands sought the softness of his hair. “Then don’t. You make me feel complete, whole, totally safe and loved.” She sighed his name and held on as he fucked into her body single-mindedly.

“Love you,” he whispered as his release approached. Touched beyond reason by her profession of love and safety, he wanted to crawl into her and never leave. Seeing her as a wolf had only heightened his need for her. The magic of the binding, of the transformation, clung to them both, he could taste it at the back of his throat. Her essence rolled through him so that he was drunk with her and what she was to him.

He reached down and found her clit, slick and swollen for his touch, and flicked it with his thumb. And just that quick, her climax began and he leaned in to grab a nipple between his teeth, swiping his tongue over it as his teeth held it, pushing her all the way just as her climax, grasping and pulsing around him, pulled him down with her.

“What you do to me.” He kissed her, hard, as he helped her stand and they walked back to their cabin.

Champagne in an ice bucket was at their bedside, together with a set of glasses. “A toast to you,
mon coeur
.” He poured them both a glass and sipped.

“Mmm. This is so good,” she said, drinking the sweet bubbly. Laurent lay down beside her, head on her chest.

“So what did you think of your first night as a werewolf?”

“Incredible. Being a wolf is like nothing I could have even imagined. Magic is real. Wow.”

“Rain, I used to think Kari was the most beautiful wolf I’d ever seen but you... Tonight, when you defended your territory with Paloma and she yielded I...I don’t have words to explain how much strength, violence and sex are so primal and fortifying to our wolves. The white spots on your front paws, the way you run, your eyes, your fur, my god, I am such a lucky man, a lucky wolf.”

She smiled at him, reaching out to grab her rings and slide them back on. She’d taken them off earlier so she wouldn’t lose them during the run. “I was so alone before I met you. Half a person. Afraid to love anything but my art. You changed that. I feel like a whole person, complete. I love you so much,” she said and proceeded to show him, twice.

Chapter Nine

Laurent sat up slowly, trying to get his breath back. “We should get up to the lodge. If we don’t everyone else will start coming down here.” He stood and handed her a pair of red silk panties. “I bought these too.” He raised his eyebrows at her.

“Really? I get the feeling you bought quite a bit of sexy underwear for me to wear.”

“Oh I did. I can’t wait to see you in each and every thing I bought. In fact, there’s a red silk camisole that goes with the panties.”

“Oh really? Get it and I’ll wear it under the robe. At least my breasts won’t hang out.”

“The looks you get make me want you in a potato sack up at the lodge.” He laughed. Which was only partially true, the other half of him loved how beautiful she was and people’s reactions to it. It was a primal thing, a sort of showing off. In truth it turned him on that the other males wanted her.

She walked back and he instantly hardened at the sight. The red silk against the black fur and the white of the robe was stunning, the contrast of textures and colors, skin, hair, silk and fur—she was stunning.

And he wasn’t the only one who thought so. When they came back into the lodge most of the Clan had come back and the house overflowed with people. Weaving through the crowd, Laurent led Rain to a couch and sat her down before going to grab some food and drinks for them.

Skye came to sit on one side of her and Ryan on the other. Skye sighed. “Snow White, you look fine tonight. Damn that Laurent for having all the luck.” He grinned.

“Are you always so full of shit?” she teased.

“What? I tell it like it is. You’re a very welcome addition to this Clan. It’s not just that you are
fine
, it’s that you’re just nice to have around.”

“Thank you. It’s strange, I feel totally comfortable, like I was meant to be here all along. Everyone is so nice to me. Well, almost everyone,” she added with a snort.

Ryan gave her an appraising look that made her all tingly. All the sexual attention from the males was a heady thing.

Alex came to the couch and sat behind her. Laurent stalked over, putting a plate of food and two beers down before shooing Skye and taking his seat.

He pulled Rain to his body possessively and her sexy growl shot straight to his cock. “What are you mutts doing?” he asked the males gathered around his woman like bees to honey.

Rain laughed and Ryan’s eyes deepened in color. “Man, I need to get a Mate.”

“She won’t be as sexy as my Rain but I hope you find her too, Ryan.”

Alex laughed then and threaded Rain’s hair through his fingers. “Laurent, you’re not planning on sharing the wealth?”

“She is beautiful, isn’t she? Sexy and stunning. It’s up to Rain if I ever share her. I admit the thought of watching her being pleasured is one that appeals to me. In the meantime it’s lucky I don’t have any brothers and that everyone above me doesn’t share.”

“Technically I’m your brother,” Devon said from his perch on the arm of Perri’s chair across the room.

Laurent laughed and kissed the nape of Rain’s neck, their shared desire sparked and spilled out like a warm tide. Skye’s nostrils flared.

Rain was stunned, caught in what Laurent had just said. They’d teased and used the idea of her being with another man on some sexual level as titillation but Laurent sounded serious. She didn’t know what’d happened to her over the last weeks of her life but damn the idea titillated her, made her pussy ache as her clit throbbed in time with her nipples.

His lips on her neck only heightened her need as her head fell back against Alex’s thigh where he sat behind her on the couch back. Her hand snaked up Laurent’s neck and into his hair, holding him there.

“You two need to quit that,” Alex said, sounding annoyed and amused all at once.

“It’s unusual, the level of sexual combustion these two put out. When I was younger I remember the Pack had a couple that was like this. It’s all about those chemicals and how they bounce off each other,” Andreas said as he and Kari sat on the couch across from them. “Frankly I like it. It’s nice to see you two so obviously in love.” He kissed Kari’s hand and she rubbed her face along his jaw.

“Hell, even you and Kari don’t spill out this much and you’re all over each other all the time,” Phillip said and Andreas laughed.

“Kari and I do appreciate someone else coming and removing the focus from our sex life,” he said, raising his cigar in a toast to them.

Laurent stroked long fingers along the line of Rain’s throat and her collarbone. Just touching her like that calmed him at the same time as it made him ache with wanting her. It seemed right to touch her flesh with his own. “She’s so beautiful I can’t stop.” He wanted to kneel right there and widen her thighs and lick her pussy until she came. Wanted every male in that room to see a glimpse of the beauty he sipped every day.

“Yes, the red of the silk she’s wearing under the robe is quite striking,” Phillip said.

“I liked it without anything underneath,” Ryan commented.

“Her skin is like cream,” Skye agreed.

Rain sighed and ran her fingers up and down his muscular thigh. “Hello? I’m sitting right here. No need to talk about me like I am just a piece of furniture.”

“Baby, a beautiful woman. Never furniture,” Laurent said and kissed her and she snorted.

Kari laughed. “Don’t take it personally, they all do it. It’s part of their dominance display thing. The sexier the mate, the more beautiful, the stronger the male is perceived to be.”

“Oh goodie! So I’m like a beaded handbag,” she said and Kari and Perri burst out laughing.

“Something like that. Let’s go grab a drink and leave these boys to their bragging,” Kari said, getting up, and Rain had to step over bodies to get out of the room.

“They’re like a werewolf frat sometimes,” Emma said dryly as they all walked into the study and sat in the chairs and on the couches. Many of the mated females filed into the room as well.

“Where are the other women?” Rain asked Kari.

“Meg is with Alek, Lissa is with Carey and Paloma left early. She owes you an apology. If she hasn’t delivered one in a week you have every right to demand punishment. Although of course Laurent is Lieutenant and god only knows, perhaps she’d like being punished by Laurent.”

Perri said, “But let’s get to the good stuff shall we?” She leaned toward Rain. “So what was all that about wanting to see you pleasured by another wolf?”

Rain blushed and Kari laughed. “Rain, if it makes you feel any better Andreas and I have had Phillip in our bed a few times. He’s never fucked me, Andreas is very set on that point. But it’s very nice when it happens. If I weren’t a wolf I don’t know if I’d be all right with it. But it’s hot. And it’s...” Kari shrugged, “...I don’t know how to explain it. It feels comfortable as well as sexy. Not that I would be down with Andreas being with another female but the sharing thing as far as I’ve seen with the guys in this Inner Circle has only been with other males.”

“Like a bit of bragging. Only way more fun for the female,” Emma said. “What?” she asked when everyone looked at her, surprised. “Yes. Sean and I had an, um, interlude with Alex last year after a run. It was hot. But ever since it’s been totally normal with Alex too. I worried at first, wondering if things would change, but they didn’t.”

“I can’t believe you never told me!” Kari said.

“You never told me about Phillip,” Emma retorted with a laugh.

“Well, everyone knows about me and Devon. We haven’t in a long time and he’s been with other women too. I’ve never felt threatened or unsure from it, thank goodness.”

“Who would you choose?” Alyssa asked. “And before you all get nosy, yes. With Alex. He gets around.” She winked at Emma. “But he’s got some skills, I’ll give him that.”

Everyone laughed and Rain, despite her embarrassment, joined them. “I don’t know. I mean, Laurent takes up my every waking prurient thought. They’re all sexy and handsome.” She shrugged. “Right now it’s all just talk.”

“So when are you going to start trying to have kids with Laurent?” Emma asked and Rain was grateful for the change of subject.

“Oh I don’t know. I’m on the Pill right now, which is a good thing since we’ve been rutting like monkeys and haven’t used condoms since we were first together.”

“Rain, have you had unprotected sex since your transformation?” Emma asked.

“Well duh! Like dozens of times over the last two days. Has it not been the chief topic of discussion that Laurent and I can’t keep our hands off each other?” She laughed.

“Well, here’s the thing, regular birth control doesn’t work on us. We’ve developed birth control that suppresses ovulation but regular human birth control pills are like sugar pills to us.”

“No! You’re kidding? Are you telling me I could be pregnant now?”

“Yeah.” Emma leaned in and smelled Rain. “You don’t smell fertile but you may have been yesterday. You’ll know in a few days.”

“Days?”

“Oh let me do this one!” Kari said, laughing. “See, werewolf pregnancies progress at an accelerated rate. You’ll begin to feel the nausea at about two days after conception. We’re only pregnant for four months.”

“Oh my god. I can’t believe Laurent didn’t say anything,” Rain groaned.

“He probably doesn’t know. I mean you were busy and we’ve all felt the chemical overload with our mates,” Emma said. She reached behind the couch and pulled out a medical bag. “Well, we can solve the question of pregnancy right now. I have test strips in my bag. Do you want to know?”

“Yeah.” She sighed and, laughing, Emma stuck Rain’s thumb and pressed it to the test strip.

It turned blue and Emma looked at her. “So what are you hoping?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I guess I’m hoping it’s positive. The idea of bearing Laurent’s children is really appealing. It’s faster than I’d planned on but still something I want to do with him.”

“Well that’s good because, Rain, you’re pregnant,” Emma said and Rain squealed with delight, joined by all the women in the room.

“I thought werewolves had a hard time getting knocked up?”

“This particular Clan is really fertile in this generation. It happens every hundred years or so if the numbers get low. Clans that don’t have population explosions at least once a century die out,” Kari explained. “And the pregnancies have been from new blood into the Pack as well. Which is also, I suppose, part of nature’s plan when certain wolves can crossbreed with humans who come over.”

Rain nodded, taking it all in, and suddenly looked panicked. “Oh my god, I’ll be having babies, right? Not puppies?”

Kari burst out laughing.

“I think all human women who’ve been bitten ask that,” Emma said, chuckling. “Yes, you’ll have babies. They’ll be children until puberty, when they achieve their first change.”

“I need to tell Laurent,” Rain said, standing and going to the door.

Kari jumped up, hugging her tightly, and all the other women did the same thing. “New life for the Cherchez Clan. It’s so wonderful! Laurent will be so pleased.”

“I hope so,” Rain murmured as she walked into the great room where Laurent still lounged on the couch talking with Andreas and the others.

She went to him and touched his arm. His handsome face lit up with a smile when he turned to her. “Yes, baby? Is everything all right?”

“I need to talk to you for a moment. Privately,” she added.

He stood up and walked to her, putting his arm around her shoulder. “Of course, let’s go on the deck.” He kissed her neck and they walked out and down to the far end of the deck away from the doors. “Tell me,” he said without preamble.

“I’m pregnant,” she blurted out. He looked at her, openmouthed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that the Pill doesn’t work on werewolf females and you know, we’ve been hitting the sheets pretty frequently in the last two days and well, Emma just gave me a test and did you know that werewolf pregnancies mmfph...”

Laurent had covered her lips with his own as he hugged her fiercely. He kissed her silly and pulled back to look down into her face. “Baby, you’re having our child. Why on earth are you sorry? You’re happy, right? You said you wanted to have children.”

“No, I do! I am happy, it’s just a surprise and I didn’t know if you wanted to do it so fast.”

He picked her up and kissed her again. “I’m thrilled. You know, I’ve wanted children of my own since Helene and Tomas were born and I saw how wonderful parenting was. I hope it’s a little girl who looks just like you.” He didn’t put her down, instead he trotted back into the house, still holding her.

“Laurent, put me down,” she said.

“No, you need to rest,” he whispered.

“I’m pregnant, not disabled. Now put me down. I’m guessing by the look on your face that you want to tell everyone? Well actually, a lot of the females know as they were in the room when Emma did the test. I wanted you to know first but well, I had no idea that this was even an opmmtopf!” Laurent put two fingers over her lips and he put her down once they got back to the great room where everyone still hung out.

One armed, he held her to his side while he whistled to get everyone’s attention. “Rain is pregnant!” he bellowed and all of the males jumped up, cheering and clapping Laurent on the back before kissing Rain’s cheek.

“We’ve got quite the fertile Inner Circle.” Sean waggled his brows at Laurent.

Rain got swept up by Kari and the other women so he turned back to Andreas.

“You’ll need to deal with her father now for sure,” Andreas told him quietly.

“I’ll call him in the morning. Right now I need to get Rain home to rest. Andreas, I’m going to be a father,” he said, watching Rain with Skye, who teased her, judging by the smile she wore.

“Congratulations.” Andreas clasped forearms with him. “You’re going to be a great dad,” he said because he knew Laurent would be worrying about that exact thing.

He nodded his thanks before he held a hand out in Rain’s direction. “Come on, baby, let’s get you back home to bed.”

From her spot, leaning against the arm of a nearby couch, she sent him a raised brow and smiled. “Okay, but you do know that’s how I got this way to begin with.”