The Alpha's Reluctant Mate (11 page)

The days passed relatively peacefully, as that was when my ravaged body finally allowed me some measure of rest, but the minute the moon rose high in the sky, the beast was back trying to claw its way out of me.

By the day of the full moon, I just lay in a corner of the living room whimpering as pain wracked my body. Curled into a small ball away from both Connor and Tera, unable to tolerate even a soothing touch or the softest whisper, my senses were overloaded by all the stimuli surrounding me.

My hearing was acute to the point of pain; my sight so good that my brain couldn't process images fast enough; and my body was changing to accommodate my nature, man and beast sharing one body. Food no longer interested me; all I knew was a churning nausea that would not abate.

The night before, I'd screamed myself hoarse, as it seemed the fires of hell consumed me. Connor tried to comfort me and I raked him with newly formed claws, but still he held me close as if trying to absorb some of my pain.

The instant the full moon rose, I sat up from my position on the floor and turning my head toward the window where its bright light seemed to fill the room. All of the pain began to fade as I moved toward that light, and the change started before I made it to the window. My bones began popping, my muscles stretching and lengthening as my body shifted into the form of a wolf.

Bracing my large paws on the floor, I arched my back in a luxurious stretch. All of the fear and confusion fell away as I saw things clearly for perhaps the first time in my life. As a wolf I'd shed all of the stresses and worries of humanity; life was very simple. I just needed to live it.

The night beckoned me with the rich scents of the wooded glen; the grass and earth both calling to me to come and play.

The front door swung open and then Connor was there beside me, his shaggy body bumping against mine playfully and then springing away. As we ran together, I could hear the cries of the other wolves of my pack in the distance.

I raced through the valleys and up the hills of the compound, pausing only a moment when I reached the walls of Connor's estate before leaping them easily to land on the other side.

Joy filled me as I ran, enjoying the freedom of spirit and mind as my wolf soared across the grounds of Wolf Creek.

Connor kept pace with me, content to let me lead until I prepared to jump the walls that surrounded the entire community. He growled and knocked me to the ground in mid-leap.

I sprang into a crouch, snarling back at him, angry to have my freedom curtailed in any way. He nudged me in the other direction with his nose, nipping sharply at my flank when I would have resisted.

Offended by his highhanded attitude, I raced away from him, no longer wanting to share this new exciting journey with him, ignoring his presence trailing closely behind. My attitude lasted all the way into the open meadow where I stopped to watch what seemed like a thousand fireflies chase each other in the night breeze.

They were so beautiful, I forgot to be angry and lay next to him in the field to watch the dazzling display of light. It looked like tiny faeries dancing around the meadow.

I became instantly intrigued when a new smell made itself known; licking my lips, I sat straight and pointed my nose high in the air to catch the direction in which I would find its source.

Connor could smell it too, but he let me lead the way as our hunt began. As we grew closer, we both crouched low and belly-crawled over the base of a hill.

The giant wild boar was at the bottom of the hill rooting in the trees for its dinner. I smiled as well as I could with a muzzle as I realized this was indeed part of the circle of life; he rooted for his food and in turn was ours. It felt perfectly natural.

In tandem we approached the boar, circling it from different directions to attack. In almost perfect unison we sailed through the air at the boar.

I landed on its back while Connor took his throat. It was over very quickly and we were feeding on our fresh kill. I tore into the tough hide with relish, enjoying the taste of the meat and warm blood.

After we'd eaten our fill, Connor howled low and long to call the others in to share in our labor. As I watched, wolves began coming from all different directions, all of them large but no two looked the same. Colors seemed to vary as much as their personalities and I was surprised to realize that I recognized most of them and could have called them by name if I'd still had my human voice.

Tera was a blondish red wolf, smaller than some of the others but still much larger than a real wolf would be, her build sleek and compact. She caught sight of me and jumped at me, tumbling us both to the ground like puppies.

I yipped and barked at her as we ran around tussling in the security of our pack while the older pack members watched rather indulgently.

Some ate the remainder of the boar, others had hunted on their own, but all waited with an air of quiet expectation.

Connor walked to the top of the hill and stood silhouetted in the moonlight. Every eye looked to him as he raised his muzzle to the sky and howled. As one we sprang to our feet and joined him in his cry. We were one, pack and it was only in that moment that I knew exactly what that meant.

These people were my family. Together we would live and die. Together we were pack.

 

* * *

 

Shortly after what I would forever think of as the community howl, Connor and I split from the group once again for another long run. I felt like I could run forever; we stopped at the lake that bordered the compound.

I splashed through its shallows repeatedly before stopping to drink, finding myself more than a little thirsty. Drawing my muzzle up from the water, I saw my distorted reflection in the ripples my play had made in the water. My coat was a mixture of silver and gray, rich, shiny, and full. It was a bit surprising to catch my first sight of myself as a wolf but I was not displeased by what I saw.

As I walked back toward Connor on the shore, my paws suddenly felt heavy and I wanted nothing more than to curl up for a nap. Reaching his side, I lay down at his feet to do just that. Connor shimmered a little as he turned back into his human form.

I flattened my ears at him and growled. Even as a wolf I was not comfortable with his nudity.

“Enough,” he admonished, swatting my left hindquarter before bending down to scoop me high in his arms. “You've exhausted all your resources for the evening. It will be a long while yet before you have enough energy to change back and I can't carry you home as a wolf. We all get a little carried away the first time. The first change alone depletes a lot of energy. From now on it will be a lot easier.”

I tried to listen but I was too tired, so I laid my muzzle against his shoulder, soothed by his rich baritone where it rumbled beneath my ear. I came back to awareness as he laid me in the soft grass outside my bedroom window and growled when he would have lain down next to me, still naked as the day he was born.

He smacked me lightly again on the hip before shimmering back into a wolf and curling up next to me. Pleased he'd honored my wishes, I decided to ignore the smacks to my bottom and snuggled into him with my muzzle resting across his throat.

 

* * *

 

My nose twitched as something tickled it. I opened one eye to see Connor smiling down at me. My body was curled beneath his in the grass, and we were both completely naked. I was intently aware of every place our bodies touched. Connor's smile faded as our eyes met and heat arched between us.

He slowly lowered his face to mine, gently touching my lips with his own. When I didn't resist, his lips moved over mine, his tongue gliding back and forth over the seam between my lips before nipping them lightly with his teeth.

With a groan I opened my mouth for a deep kiss that left us both breathless. My body melted with liquid heat, my nipples tightening and the wetness of my arousal leaking onto my inner thighs. Arousal I could smell, which meant he could smell how much I enjoyed the way he was devouring my mouth with his.

His kissed his way down my body, stopping at my breasts and sucking a nipple deep; I moaned and arched my back as his tongue worked my nipple against the roof of his mouth. Intense pleasure radiated from my nipple straight to my clit. I whimpered as he released my nipple with a loud pop as it sprang from between his lips. He gave the other nipple the same treatment as I writhed beneath him like a wild thing.

I could feel the wetness seeping from between my thighs.

Then he slid down my body and took my throbbing clit in his mouth. Warning bells rang in my brain as I registered that I wasn't ready for this or for the reality of Connor. He would see this as a surrender, which it was definitely not. I whimpered and started to pull away.

“It's okay. I won't take this to mean you accept me as your mate, just let me have a taste,” he whispered softly as he took me back into his mouth and slid two fingers deep inside my hungry channel.

I found I couldn't deny him or the pleasure he was giving me; my legs fell wide open as I pressed up to meet his marauding fingers and he worried my clit with his lips and tongue. I gasped when he stretched me wide with his fingers and began to tongue the opening of my body firmly, his thumb rubbing circles on my clit.

My thighs began to quiver as I built toward orgasm; he held me tight when I would have pulled away from the intensity of the pleasure and continued working his tongue in and out of me. His fingers played across my clit, then pinched it hard.

“Connor!” I came with a strangled scream, bucking my hips up and grinding into his face. He lapped lightly at my core as I came down from the orgasm, catching every last drop of my release.

Suddenly it seemed imperative to get some distance from Connor and the need he awoke inside me. I wasn't ready for this at all.

I broke away, rolling from under him and up to my feet in almost one motion. To give him credit, he didn't try to hold me, recognizing the no trespassing sign I put up for what it was.

Once on my feet, it took only a moment to register that I was standing outside my cottage as naked as a jaybird. Heat rose high in my face as I lithely jumped to the porch and hurried inside without giving Connor another glance.

 

* * *

 

Safe in my bedroom, I sat on the floor in front of the full-length mirror and practiced changing into a wolf. It was surprisingly easy.

One minute I was there and poof, a shimmer and a second later a silvery gray wolf stared into the mirror with golden eyes. The wolf blinked and then shimmered back into me.

All the pain previously associated with the change was gone; a gleeful laugh escaped me as I changed again.

I was sitting there concentrating on changing one feature at a time when Epenie walked in with Dizabell in her arms.

“E!” I jumped up to hug her, but she took a step back and reminded me that I was naked.

Laughing, I pulled on my robe. “Sorry, I was so excited to see you, I forgot.” Dizabell yipped and twisted in Epenie's arms until she sat her on the floor.

Dizzy was at my feet standing on her hind legs almost immediately, begging for a cuddle.

Scooping her up, I buried my face in her soft fur. “I know, baby, I missed you too.”

“What exactly were you doing when I came in?” Epenie asked curiously.

“I was seeing if I could just change one body part at a time. Tera said that once you develop control you can partially change as much or as little as you want. That's where the whole wolf-man thing comes from.”

Epenie nodded thoughtfully. “That's interesting, can I watch?”

“Sure!” I was eager to experiment and Epenie could learn from watching as well. As I stripped off the robe again, I told her about my idea for a werewolf manual.

“That's not a bad idea, once I'm finished compiling data I can help you write it,” she said as she walked to sit down in the big easy chair resting in the corner of my room.

“I knew you would help.” Before she could so much as blink, I transformed into my wolf and gave her a canine grin.

Epenie sat forward eagerly to see better. “That was fantastic.”

Dizzy plopped down on my front feet and rolled over on her back. I sniffed her, noticing that the other wolves had gotten their scents all over her.

While I was glad they welcomed her, she was my dog and only my scent belonged on her; it seemed perfectly natural to pin her between my paws and give her a good bath.

Dizzy submitted quite docilely to her impromptu bath, not even seeming to mind when I paid special attention to her ears. Once she was clean to my satisfaction, I rubbed my face and muzzle all over her body to coat her once again in my scent.

I let Dizzy up and decided to go and see Epenie; she held up a hand to ward me off. “You don't plan to do that to me, do you?”

That was funny; I laughed, which in wolf just came out as a sort of snuffling snort.

She grinned and reached out to pet the top of my head. “Wow, your fur is so soft; I can kind of see why wolves are so popular for their pelts.”

I flattened my ears and growled at her.

“Down, Cujo. You know good and well I wasn't suggesting we use your pelt or anyone else's for a coat. I just hadn't realized how soft wolves were.”

Satisfied with that statement, I sat still and let Epenie pet and stroke my fur to her heart's content. When she was done, Epenie gave me a firm pat and sat back in her chair.

“Now change back so we can see how good you are at that partial change thing.”

My transition back to human form was almost seamless. “Isn't this great?”

“It's fascinating. I asked Tuck to let me watch but he told me I wasn't allowed to be alone with any other wolves but him.”

“Then why didn't he change for you?”

“He said we weren't at that point in our relationship yet,” she said flatly.