Taming the Hunted (5 page)

Marian heard a thump when Gabriel jumped off the balcony and
landed on the first floor. She listened and heard the bolt being slid home on
the front doors before the sound of his feet raced up the stairs. He came back
into the room and locked the door behind him.

“What did Terrance do that was bad this time?” she asked.

“Do you want the long version or the short version?”

“Short version,” she replied as her mind was still
preoccupied with more entertaining thoughts than werewolf politics.

“I banished Terrance for attacking you. He decided that he
would rather kill you than be banished and has come to finish you off.”

She opened and closed her mouth several times, all thoughts
of lust being pushed unceremoniously out of her head.

“Oh,” she said. “Well, shit.” She couldn’t think of anything
else to say.

He moved up so that he was level with her stomach and
started laying feather-light kisses on her skin, each one causing her to writhe
under him.

“When a wolf attacks a human and they live to tell the tale,
there are several options. He can be banished, he can be killed, or he can kill
the person he attacked and hope his pack mates accept him back, which we won’t
in this case.” He ended each sentence with another kiss.

“How does that make sense?” she asked in a breathy voice
that she hardly recognized as her own.

“Well, a newly-made and pissed-off wolf running around is
dangerous to us and our way of life unless they can be controlled.
Theoretically, if you’re attacked and not killed, you would turn into a
pissed-off werewolf. So killing you takes away any dangers that you may pose in
the future, thus protecting the pack. Of course, no one has ever attacked a
human and not killed them on the spot anyway.”

“I asked for the short version,” she added, her body arching
up off the bed as he moved his lips lower to continue the assault.

“That was the short version.”

A wolf howled in the darkness, making her jump. Gabriel stopped his affections to check out the window.

“What happens if he finds me before they find him?” she
asked, cursing the bad timing.

“That’s why Kennard and the others are outside. On the off
chance that he does get past the others and me, they will have an angry and
aroused werewolf to deal with.”

“But I’m not a werewolf,” she pointed out. Not denying the
aroused part. “I mean, I will be, but I don’t have a clue how to…you know, go
all morphic and hairy and grow fangs and stuff,” she said, regaining some of
her composure now that Gabriel seemed preoccupied by the hunt.

“Honey, you don’t get a say in the ‘morphing’ part when it’s
a full moon and you’re young. If you get angry enough, trust me, you will
indeed go ‘morphic’ and sprout a new hairdo.”

As another howl sounded outside, she shuddered so violently
that she knocked holes in the plaster of the wall as the bed’s headboard moved with
her.

She screamed as she turned back around to find a huge, black
wolf sitting by her feet.

Gabriel morphed back into his human form, interestingly
naked, and came over to lay a hand on her cheek.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he assured her. “By the way you
are shuddering, I have the feeling we are about to have several wolves in the
room. You’re shuddering as a response to other wolves in the area. I just want
to be prepared for when they get here,” he said, moving away again and morphing
back into the large, black wolf.

She moaned, running her tongue along her teeth, having the
urge to bite into something.

“If I start growing hair in places there should never be
hair, that Terrance is in big trouble.” She finished her rave with another
shudder and the room turned gray scale.

“If I can make a suggestion,” Kennard drawled, joining their
little freak show as he twirled the room key around his finger.

“No,” she snapped back, her breath coming in quick, panting
gasps.

“You’re about to turn into a werewolf, and although I am
sure our illustrious leader has thought this plan out, he, nevertheless, did
not anticipate the fact that Terrance was already in the house before he locked
the door.”

“What?” She wrenched her arm free of her bindings, breaking
the headboard, and knocked Kennard clear across the room. Her victory was short
lived, however, as a heavy paw landed on her, pushing her over. Gabriel proceeded to sit on her. After huffing his hair out of her mouth she squirmed and
attempted to wriggle free.

“As much fun as this has been, I have had enough.” Kennard
left the room, leaving the door open behind him.

“Good riddance,” she yelled after him, feeling too many
teeth in her small mouth.

She twisted again, but Gabriel wasn’t budging, and a
fully-grown werewolf weighed a ton. She was surprised he didn’t crush her.

She had enough time to register a creak on the stairs before
Gabriel was hit so hard that he bounced off the wall at the back of the room,
leaving a boulder-shaped hole in the plaster. Faster than she could follow, a
wolf as big as a small bear, but smaller than Gabriel, turned and started
toward her.

The sounds of growling and the soft pads on the floorboards
as the intruder walked were terrifying. But Marian was in too much of a rage to
pay much attention. The wolf in her had other ideas and wouldn’t let her run.
She wanted to fight. This man, werewolf, had turned her into a beast and
knocked out the guy…wolf, who had tried so hard to keep her safe.

Her back arched as a splitting sensation tore down her spine.
Her skin burned as hair sprouted all over her body, and she curled in on
herself. She felt strong, stronger than she had ever felt, even as a hunter.
She bared her teeth at the intruder and launched herself into the fight, her
powerful back paws pushing her off the bed without thought as to how to move in
this new body. She collided with him with a sickening crack of ribs. Her
momentum carried her away from him as he shook his great form and rose above
her.

A small, snarling figure darted in, slashing with a small
pointed knife. Nole. Marian attempted to push the girl away, but she was too
fast and Marian too slow with her new limbs. Nole slashed with her knife and moved
just fast enough to stay out of Terrance’s reach. Marian knew the girl was
trying to give her the advantage. She wouldn’t waste the help. As she had the
thought, Nole made one last swipe before jumping over to Gabriel’s seemingly lifeless
form and setting up a defensive stance over her friend.

Marian knew Terrance was faster than her in this form. As a hunter,
she knew her weapons and her body, in this form she had to be smart. Using her
assumption that he would think her a weak female, she cowered before him as he
gathered his wits and approached. Making herself as small as she could, she
willed him to come closer with her body language.

When he was just inches from striking, she was ready. She
slammed her skull up into his jaw, and he was knocked into a daze. His head
swiveled to the side as several wolves crashed through the door, filling the
room with their growls and baring their teeth which dripped with saliva in their
eagerness to vent their animal aggressions. In a split second, she saw her
chance whilst Terrance’s attention was taken by the larger wolves. Using her
speed over his size, she darted to one side then under him. Still dazed, he
couldn’t follow fast enough. Her teeth sunk into the tender flesh at his neck
and, with a flick of her powerful jaws, he was dead, his warm, sticky blood
covering her muzzle.

She was rather disappointed at how short the fight was as
she sat and looked at the dark stain of blood on her paws and wondered what the
rest of her looked like.

Gabriel sprang up from the base of the wall, ready to fight,
but winced in pain as his ribs cracked. Nole stepped aside and joined the other
pack members, calm as if nothing had happened. Gabriel’s pack mates all shifted
and began dragging the bloodied mess that was Terrance from the house with Nole
following like a guardian angel, all giving her a wide berth.

Marian had the feeling this was not the first turf war they
had seen. She was sure, however, that it was the last one she would see. She
growled at Gabriel to let him know that she was so not happy with the
situation.

The combined stench of death and fear in the room was too
much for her. She padded toward the door, adjusting to her new form. Those who
were in the way stepped to the side; they had all morphed back to their human
forms and were in varying states of undress.

She heard Jake whisper to Gabriel as he helped him up, that
she should be locked up until morning. At least he probably thought he was
whispering, but to her it was like he’d yelled in her ears. She growled at him
and bared her teeth, then turned and sprinted out the door before they had a
chance to stop her. She smashed through the front doors and ran out into the
night.

She sprinted down the rough dirt path that led to the edge
of the cliff to the beach below. Turning, she padded down to the beach where Gabriel had taken her to on their second night together.

She could hear his footfalls before he so much as left the
garden, so she wasn’t surprised when the familiar scent of his body emerged. He
moved so that she could see him. He didn’t say anything, but stood in his human
form watching her, sadness in his glowing yellow eyes. The strength seemed to
have left his body.

She wondered if her own eyes glowed too, but the thought
left as soon as it arrived. Of course they did, she was one of them now. Still
in her wolf form, she paced, her great paws sinking into the soft sand. She was
so drained that she had no feelings left at all.

“Marian,” he said. “Hear me out. I don’t expect you to
forgive me, but I do expect you to act like the woman that you were when I
first met you. Powerful and headstrong, but also willing to take a chance on
people. You have to calm down and change back.”

She hated the very thought of who she was now. There was no
way she could go back to who she was, so why not stay in this form and run away
from this life and these men?

“Marian, you have to be calm to change back. If you don’t
change before the sun rises you will be trapped like this until the next full
moon.”

The words struck her. Stuck like this? The thought made her
anger rise, not lower. She wanted to yell at him, tell him how much he had cost
her, but she couldn’t do that in this form. Using her hunter training, she
mentally slowed her heartbeat. Her breathing became slower and more controlled.
She felt the shift as the wolf slid back inside her, its rage still fresh in
her mind, if not her body.

She stood naked on the beach. Gabriel had watched her shift
and watched her now. Her alpha, her mate, her master. The cool night air did
not affect her as it had that first night with him. Her body heat soared to
much higher than a normal human being.

“I have become everything I hated. And I didn’t get a say in
it,” she told him.

Moving forward, he held out his hands in a motion for her to
hear him out. She was restless, her hands shook and her legs longed to be in
motion as the adrenalin pulsed through her body. She closed her eyes and took a
deep, calming breath.

“Fuck,” she almost shouted.

“It’s not that bad being a werewolf, you know.”

“I won’t stay in this place. I’m a hunter, and I intend to
stay a hunter no matter what you did to me. I can hide it from the rest of my
kind.” Even saying the words, she knew she couldn’t hide, but she wasn’t giving
up who she was.

“Think about what you’re saying. A hunter’s job is to kill
our kind. You are my mate in the eyes of our pack. That makes you the alpha female,
and no one can harm you unless they intend to challenge you for dominance. Do
you understand? If you kill our kind now it will be in cold blood whilst they
stand and take it.”

His words hit her hard. She became a hunter to protect those
who could not fight for their own safety. The pack would not defend themselves
from her, which made her the one they needed protection against.

“I’m not saying you can’t continue hunting, but you will
have to take a very close look at your job, who you slay.”

Marian knew he was right. As alpha, she was sworn to protect
her pack, a feeling she had already experienced back at the house when she
realized Terrance posed a danger to them all.

“Pack life is not much different from the creed of hunters.
Plus, there are perks,” he added with a smirk, lightening the mood somewhat.

“Perks?” She found her anger ebbing away like water rolling
off her shoulders. She did not want to let it go, but looking at Gabriel made her heart lift. She knew he had a good heart. He had defended and cherished her
from the first moment he laid eyes on her. He even stayed at her side when he
found out she was a hunter.

“Let me show you what you have gained, my Marian.” His arm shot around her waist and held her so hard to his chest that it was painful.
She could feel his excitement against her stomach and trembled for a whole
different reason, the heat that fuelled her not lost in the excitement.

“You have a sick mind,” she told him.

“That’s what I like about you—your fire.” He reached between
her legs to make his point.

She gasped and wanted to wrench his arm away, but it felt
too good. His fingers parted her and slid along her soft folds, sending shots
of fire up through her core.

“The heat we store in our bodies keeps us at a constant
state of arousal. You will learn to control it, but not today.”

She stood on her toes and pressed herself to him, still
beyond angry, but she channeled it to heat her desires to new levels.

His finger snaked into her and she moved with him as his
thumb circled around her clit. She moaned as his hand claimed her breast, working
her to the edge.

She pushed herself away from him, bringing him to the cliff
face with her. He didn’t resist as she guided him to her, pumping his length
with her hand before placing the slick tip at the opening of her body.

“Please, I need you,” she begged as he hesitated, rubbing
his cock head along the opening of her body.

“How bad is it being a wolf?” he growled in her ear, pulling
away.

“Not bad at all,” she breathed, squirming, trying to get
closer to him. “Please,” she moaned.

He lifted her with one hand and used his other to guide his
hard cock into her. She was more than ready. He filled her so completely; slow
at first, but faster as she urged him on.

Marian clung to his shoulders, their bodies pressed against
the rock, his weight pressing her breasts against his chest. Harder, he pounded
into her, the sound of his balls slapping against her serving to speed her
climax. Just as she thought she could take no more, his finger slid into the
puckered opening of her ass and she released with a cry as a wave rushed down
her spine. She came harder and faster than she had ever before. She pulled him
harder into her, clenching his hips with her legs. He groaned and came; it was
several seconds before he could take his weight off her and pull out.

As she caught her breath, his hand pushed against her again
and his mouth snaked down as he dropped to his knees, laying a string of slow
kisses along her pussy before his tongue entered her. She had thought she had
nothing left, but as her body shook, she pressed herself against his mouth and
her vision blacked out, stars filling her eyes, as he continued to ravish her
with his tongue.

She collapsed onto the rocky shore. He held her until she
regained her strength. She felt so complete, so hot and full, that she moaned
when he pulled her toward the path back up to the house.

“Don’t worry, little wolf. I’m not letting you go that
easy,” he growled into her ear, making her shiver in anticipation despite her
exhaustion.

They sprinted to the house, and he towed her to one of the
spare rooms. They were, of course, naked after shifting on the beach.

He tried to tie one hand to the bedpost with a pillow cover
as his body held her pressed to the bed, but she stopped him.

“It’s my turn,” she said.

She climbed onto his hips, facing away from him and giving
him a view of her ass as she lowered herself on to him. She started a slow
rhythm, her hips bouncing up and down on his slick, hard staff, giving him a
show of himself sliding easily in and out of her. When he was fully hard again,
she wrapped her hands around his balls and kneaded them in her palms. She
squeezed and pulled them, and they tightened and clenched as she worked him.
Her muscles milked his cock as he rubbed and thrust inside her. His hands
smacked her ass, each ear-piercing slap making her wetter and bringing her
closer to her peak.

“That’s it, little wolf, ride that hard dick,” he said. He
held onto her hips and thrust her hard down onto his mass so that it felt as if
it hit her womb when he slid her from the tip to the end of his shaft. He
pushed her forward, the angle making his warm length slide along her g-spot,
each movement making her clit rub against the base of his shaft.

Just as she thought she could bear no more, he slid himself from
her dripping pussy; she exclaimed in shock, she had been so close. She pushed
back, trying to impale herself again, but he held her back.

“Easy there, let’s try a different hole.”

Her body froze and a shiver ran the length of her spine.

“Yeah, you like that idea, don’t you, you dirty girl?”

He used her own wetness to work her hole until it was slick
and dripping. He worked one then two fingers inside her, and all the while she
rubbed his shaft, keeping him warm until she could have him again. He took his
full dick from her hand and rubbed the tip along the ridge of her ass to wet
it.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked, his voice choked and
husky with lust.

“Yes, do it,” she replied, her fingers flicking at her own
clit to ready herself. He pushed at her opening, the bulbous head straining
against her.

“That’s it, just relax,” he coaxed.

She stroked herself and pushed back against him. The
throbbing head slipped inside her and she gasped in pain and pleasure at the
sensation. He raked his nails along her spine as he slid agonizingly slow into
her.

“Now, do it now!” she demanded.

He placed his hands on her shoulders and thrust her down
onto him. She cried out as his length slid home. She lay forward, panting as he
moved just a little in and out of her.

“That’s it, little wolf, fuck my hard cock.”

The very words almost pushed her over as the new sensation rocked
her body. Shivers wracked her whole being as his dick rubbed inside her. He
controlled her every movement with his hands, not letting her go faster when
she thrust back on him. She groaned and he laughed, a deep laugh that made her
hot for the beast controlling her. He increased the pace until he was slamming
into her hard and fast. She felt herself build, her fingers dripping with her
wetness as they slid across her hot nub in time to his movements. His grunts
grew more urgent and primal as he worked himself into a frenzy. She couldn’t
hold back anymore, and she released with a cry, her body contracting around his
cock, milking him.