The Wolf Inside Me (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (5 page)

"Yes?"

"You're crushing me."

He smiled and pulled back. When he pulled himself free, I felt an ache at his loss. I knew all at once that I could never leave him again. That what we had just shared was the seal of a union for life. I felt another frission of fear and instantly his face creased with worry.

"What is it?"

"I don't understand. You're telling me I'm a fucking wolf?"

He nodded simply, like there could be no other explanation. And though I felt the truth of his words, my mind still couldn't accept them as true.

He stood up and stretched and my jaw dropped to see him above me. He was naked and unashamed. I saw his muscles stretch and move under his skin, rippling with strength and power. His legs were like tree trunks, his arms looked like he could crush rock itself. He shimmered in front of me, his figure becoming indistinct, rippling between the naked man in front of me and the animal inside.

"Put your hand on the ground." He didn't speak the words, but I felt them in my mind.

I laid my hand on the ground, surprised at the warmth that radiated upward into me in spite of the chill in the air.

"Feel the power come up out of the earth and flow through you. Grab ahold of it and use it."

"What?"

He dropped to a crouch and I had to tear my eyes away from the huge swinging member between his legs. I was sore down there, but the sight of it made me want to welcome it inside of me all over again. "Pay attention, Selina," he grinned.

"That's not fair," I whined. "Put some clothes on if you want me to pay attention."

"You being naked is just as distracting to me," he smiled, reaching out to cup my breast.

I shivered under his touch and I felt the crawling sensation under my skin that had been quiet up until now.

He felt it too. "Good, now just...let go."

"Let go?"

"Yes, allow it to be free."

I shivered again, but this time it was internal.
Get ahold of yourself, Selina. Never lose control....
Those words had been ingrained in me as deeply as my own name.

"I...can't...."

"Try." He bent his lips to mine and I heard his ragged breath. I threaded my fingers through that shaggy mane, grabbing hold as he moved his lips down my throat.

My pulse started to sound in my ears as my body responded to him. Each little kiss sent a spark downward; awakening slow fire inside of me. I could hear his desire, his thoughts were racing ahead in anticipation of having me. I could feel his predatory instinct laying claim to me even as I didn't quite understand what was being taken. I just knew that he felt like an instinct. My hunger for him had had been burning since the moment I laid eyes on him.

As he kissed me I felt it coming. Like a series of small explosions, it rippled upward, pressing against the edges of myself.

I pulled away with a growl and held out my hand. It shimmered in front of me, expanding outward. I felt the sharpness of my claws tear outward and I screamed.

At once the shimmering was gone and I was human again.

Chapter Nine

Zev

She was almost there. Zev could sense her wolf right on the edge of her consciousness, poised to burst through and run free for the first time. If he had another moment, it could have happened.

A stiff breeze blew in from the west, ruffling and toying with her long dark hair. He let himself appreciate the moment, taking in how the goosebumps stood up from her naked skin, how her nipples puckered and stood at attention. Desire almost took him again until the danger blew towards them both.

She felt it too, he could see that. She sat up in alarm, crossing her hands over her generous bosom. "Zev?" she asked, but her lips didn't move. She was in his thoughts instinctively. He would have been proud if the scent of danger wasn't suddenly so strong.

"Selina, get up," he snarled in her mind. "Get away from here."

Her thoughts were indignant. "No, I'm not leaving you, what is it?"

Zev snarled again. She was his mate. This was his territory. His wolf howled inside of him.

"Stand back," he warned.

He stood up. With a deep breath, he released the inner shackles that held his wolf down. It roared to life, surging upwards through his skin. He felt himself stretch and grow, felt the power thunder through his muscles. It was a tornado of pain and ecstasy, and he opened his mouth to howl his triumph at being set free. He felt his nose elongate and his mouth open wider, the sharp stab of his teeth snapping through his gums. All at once he was taller, standing powerfully on four legs, seeing the world through his wolf eyes, smelling through his wolf nose and ready to fight with his wolf claws.

Selina was huddled in a ball below him, naked and terrified. He wanted to reassure her, but his wolf was in charge now, and the only thing on its mind was defending what was his from the enemy.

The other wolf burst through the underbrush and streaked across the forest floor. Zev barked out his challenge and was met with an answering snarl. Zev dropped to a crounch, then charged towards those slavering, snapping jaws. The only thought in his head was the instinct to protect Selina.

The two bodies slammed together with a sound like an earthquake. Zev rolled out of the way, letting the challenger's momentum drop him to the ground. Zev leapt onto his back and clamped his jaws down on the scruff of his neck, sinking his teeth through the thick fur and into the tough hide. His challenger whined in indignation and shook himself violently. Zev was thrown back onto his shoulder and he rolled quickly to regain his footing, but not before his challenger slammed into him again. He felt a sharp stab of pain where the claws ripped across his haunches and he lunged at the exposed throat. The challenger reared back and Zev's teeth snapped in the air. He backed away, looking for his opening. The challenger circled around him.

Zev followed his mind. It was difficult to hear his thoughts. The connection was dim, like a staticky radio. Each pack had its own unique way of communicating telepathically and this wolf was especially hard to read. He focused hard, trying to hear, trying to anticipate what it was after.

"Me!" Selina shouted in his mind. "He's after me."

Zev shuddered. "How do you know?"

"I hear him," she thought frantically. "He wants to kill you and mate with me. He's a loner looking to start his own pack and I'm the first female he's seen in months."

Zev snarled at his challenger and was met with a snap of teeth. "I don't know if you can hear me, asshole, but it's not happening. She's my mate. Get the fuck off my territory."

The challenger's thoughts didn't come in complete words. Instead he was knocked backward by a seething mass of frustration, jealousy and rage. "Zev, he's going to kill you," Selina warned.

"Like hell he is."

"No, Zev you don't understand. He doesn't care if you kill him. He's ready to fight to the death."

"Then that's what he'll get."

"Zev!" But he snapped the connection in half. Red rage was shimmering at the edge of his sight. How dare this loner challenge his alpha nature? How dare he threaten his mate? Zev rushed forward blindly, ready to tear out his throat.

The challenger ducked at the last moment and Zev stumbled. His paw slipped on a root and suddenly he couldn't breath.

"Zev!"

The world was rapidly darkening. Zev shook himself, trying to tear himself free of the challenger's jaws, but the wolf had him firmly by the throat. Each struggle only sank his teeth further into his windpipe. The challenger meant to suffocate him right here.

He could hear Selina's thoughts swirling in an indistinct panic around him. She was crying and screaming, but her words weren't making sense anymore. He felt his legs buckle, and his knees scraped the ground.

Chapter Ten

Selina

My body knew what to do.

I only had to unshackle my mind.

Get ahold of yourself, Selina
, became
LET GO.

The sight of my mate in peril broke the last tether in my mind. When I screamed I felt my vocal cords thicken and the high-pitched shriek became a howl so loud my newly sensitive ears folded back on themselves. The howl reverberated through my growing body, adding strength and power to my limbs as I dropped to all fours and charged at our attacker.

I leapt on him with my claws brandished and the force of the collision sent him reeling off of Zev. Tumbling over and over each other, we somersaulted down a small hill. The sticks and stones couldn't penetrate my thick hide, so all I needed to do was to hold on to him, gripping his flesh with my claws as I snapped and snarled at his neck. I aimed to snap his windpipe.

We landed with a splash in a small creek. The shock of the cold water was still not enough to jar me loose from my grip. He was on top of me, flailing and growling and splashing in the water. My head ducked under for just a second and I reared back upward, sputtering and angry. In that moment I felt his angry, resentful thoughts. He aimed to kill me for what he saw as a betrayal. If he couldn't have a mate, no one could.

He squirmed his paw free and smashed my head under the water.

I opened my eyes in the green murky glimmer, trying to remember not to inhale. My wolf was panicked and spastic with rage. She wanted to howl in fear, but that would have drowned us both. I tried to think like a human, but the lack of air was quickly muddying my thoughts. My wolf and I were both starting to panic.

The force of the blow from above was enough to send a shockwave of sound through the water. I reared up from the shallows, filling my lungs to the brim before I howled in anguish and fear. But there was nothing to fear anymore.

Zev had leapt on our attacker from above. I stood up on my four legs just in time to see a mighty slash of his claws tear open the belly of the strange wolf. What was left of the human in me turned away at the sight of it, but I could not miss that the creek now ran bright red.

"Selina!"

"Zev, I'm okay, I'm okay." Zev's thoughts were a tornado of fear and anger. He was shimmering like he was about to shift when suddenly his desire hit me like a bolt out of the blue. His wolf came splashing through the water, but as he neared me the wolf diminished and disappeared into the man with the green eyes. I felt myself answer his shift, taking my human form again just in time for his lips to find mine.

He snatched me up from the blood-red water and stepped up on to the creek bank. A spring flood had leveled the grass here, making a soft springing bed upon which he lay me.

"You did well," he spoke. I didn't realize how odd it was to hear his voice until he said it. It felt so natural to have him in my mind.

"You saved me," I stuttered, feeling like my tongue was too thick in my mouth. Speech felt like a clumsy way to express what I was feeling.

"You're my mate," he declared, standing over me. "You're mine and I will protect you and my pup at all costs."

My hand went to my belly. "Your pup? I'm pregnant?"

His grin was wicked. "Well, if you aren't now, I mean to make you so, very soon."

When he kissed me again, I kissed him back as hard as I could. "Yes!" I shouted with my mind. "Yes, I am your mate! Yes I will bear your pups!"

He heard me and for a second his face shimmered. Then he seemed to stop himself forcibly. "Not now," he grinned. "I need fingers and hands for what I'm about to do to you."

And with that he dove his head between my legs. I threw my head back in shock as his tongue found my soft folds again. The heat of his breath on my most sensitive flesh sent me gasping and I felt the answering surge of wetness rush out to meet him. My hips were already bucking and reeling and I moaned in relief when he slipped a finger inside of my dripping wet cunt. Swirling it around, he hooked it forward to catch the spongy flesh of my G-spot. Electricity surged through me and I lifted my hips clear off of the ground.

He caught me and slung my legs over his shoulders so that I was suspended nearly upside down. He pulled me up, working his way further and further up my legs until his face was buried in between them.

Shocked, I tried to pull away, but he held me there, wide open and vulnerable to him, my whole sex at his mercy. There was nothing I could do but grab the grass and hold on as his tongue began to fire in and out of my slit. Flicking and swirling, lapping and licking, he moved from the base of my ass all the way up to my buzzing, aching clit.

I moaned for him. I wanted to feel him inside of me again. I wanted that perfect cock to fill me up once more, but he showed me no mercy.

His quicksilver tongue wrenched me away from my thoughts and sent me headlong over the cliff. I lost control, bucking and rearing in a frenzy as I desperately ground my sex into his face. The pleasure shot through me like a lightning bolt, sending my legs out stock straight and curling my toes.

“Please!” I shouted as I came, but he kept at me, working me down to a nub.

When there was nothing left of me but a shuddering, gibbering fool, he lowered my twitching hips and moved over me. Through the haze of my delirium, I felt his mouth cover mine again.

I came alive again with his kiss. This time he was rough, full of animalistic hunger. His stubble smelled like me, his tongue tasted of my most private place.

I threw my hands across his broad back, pulling on him with all my strength, wanting to be suffocated by his mass, but he was immovable. I could only dig my nails into him, trailing them down the hills and valleys of his bulging back to cup them around his perfect ass.

He lifted himself up from the kiss and looked me full in the eyes. His gaze was dark and hungry. I opened my legs.

With a surge of raw power, he thrust himself inside of me. “Shit!” I gritted my teeth at the sudden fullness. My pussy was sore and bruised from my first time. But with the first surging thrust, it welcomed Zev’s cock home with a flood of wetness inviting him in.

Zev felt my desire and began to move quickly above me. He bent his shaggy head to meet my lips with his once again, but this time, he threaded his strong fingers through my wildly tousled hair.