I folded the black ribbon as I whipped my tears, his last words still ringing in my ears.
“God willing, I’ll be back tomorrow night.”
It was going to be two long miserable days. Because of his absence, and because I had no way to know if he was fine. I’d never seen the battles that took place in the prairie, north of the Red Woods. But helping Teah care for the surviving fugitives was enough to figure they were brutal.
I’d never doubted the might and skill of wolves, but this particular battle was tinged with the fear of what could happen to him, the only wolf of the Dale I cared about.
As usual, I decided to keep busy and distracted. I cleaned the cave down to the last corner, washed all my clothes and his, gathered water, and enough pine needles to make three pallets.
I’d found a hatchet in one of the trunks, so I grabbed it and headed to the woods. There was a fallen tree near the ledge that could provide all
It was hard for me to sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes, my head was full of images of fight and slaughter. I managed to fall asleep just before dawn. A shallow, restless sleep from which I woke up with a jolt several times.Until a hand on my shoulder made me sat up sharply. Brenan handed me a steamy cup of tea with a quick smile.“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you about all that last night,” he said.“Thank you,” I muttered, accepting the tea.“It’s hard to keep in mind he’s your mate,” he went on, coming to sit in front of me by the fire. “You know, you being human and all that.”“It doesn’t happen often, does it?”“Often?” he repeated, laughing. “I think the last time it happened was some centuries ago!”“Oh.”“I was thinking,” he said, denying me any chance to keep asking any questions. “You need a table. How about we build one? And maybe we can also build another seat.”“It would be great! Thanks!”
I shrugged and my grimace made him chuckle. As soon as I was done eating, he made me sit straddling his lap. His arm circled my waist while his other hand sneaked underneath my shirt. My breast rose to fill his palm as usual.“Do you feel it?” he asked. “My hand doesn’t quite cover it like before.”He took my shirt off and added his mouth and his nose to his exploration. I let him do, my arms around his shoulders and my head back, shivering and sighing to his whim.“And your essence is stronger,” he said. “Just like the taste of your skin.”His nose circled my nipple and I quivered from head to toes when he licked my skin before sniffing it.“Irresistible,” he muttered, seeking my lips to kiss me deep.“You’re changing, my child,” he said. “When will you turn sixteen?”“I did the day the princes came to the village,” I replied.
I complained when he left my body. But it was only for a moment, for him to kneel between my legs. His finger sank into my womb again, just as his tongue licked the folds of my skin. I let out a cry, wriggling and gasping, feeling the pleasure was so much, my breast was about to burst. I melted against his lips, struggling to just keep breathing.Then he made me roll over and lie on my belly, and his face stuck to my buttocks. I moaned and wriggled again, stunned by what he made me feel. His tongue ran between my buttocks, licking my tight flesh down to my womb.My back felt like about to break as I tried to push against his face.He grabbed one of my buttocks to kept them apart and kept licking and kissing my groin. And at the same time, his finger slid into my womb again.The friction made me cry out loud, as he moved it in and out faster. It was a hot throbbing that seemed to steal my breath away. I could only pay attention to it, oblivious to anything
*Dale is an old English name for a narrow valleyThe distant sound of galloping hooves disturbed the deep silence of the night on the prairie, where the tall grass rippled in the cold northern wind toward the trees. The forest poured down from the hills enclosing the only access to the narrow valley, ending at the high plain like a wall of darkness under the clouded moon.Two dozen shadows climbed past the last slope to the prairie, staggering as they tried to run toward the woods, their trembling voices trying to encourage each other.“The Red Woods!”“The Dale is right there!”“One last run!”“Don’t stop now!”The fugitives stumbled toward the other end of the prairie, where the shadows of the forest promised shelter. Men and women, even children, they were all dirty and barefoot, injured, eyes wide in terror. The fittest runners sprinted ahead while families tried to stay together, pulling by the hand the weaker and younger ones.Among them, the smith pressed his wife’s hand, as sh
BOOK 1 - WINTERWomen came and went about the square, smiling hi at the old weavers, who had brought their looms out, to work under the pale November sun. Past them, they ignored the compliments from the hunters, having their beer at one of the corners.No boys in sight. Good. Maybe I’d be able to go get water from the well and be back to Teah’s place without incidents. Just in case, I tugged my sleeves further down and tightened the shawl wrapped around my head, to hide my white hair and as much of my pale face and my purple eyes as possible.I breathed deep, eyes ahead on the well, and pressed on. But it didn’t matter how much I covered myself. The voices all around soon turned to hostile whispering. That was why I always tried to come to the well at sunrise, when I didn’t come across anybody. But Teah had used all her water on her tests, and she needed more, so there I was, with her two empty buckets, forced to expose my oddities to the whole village. Like I’d chosen to be as I am,
Minutes went by and nothing happened. I heard the man swimming in the pond, and them the waterfall’s sound changed. Curiosity overcame fear and I peeped through the bush.He was standing right under the waterfall, the water up to his hips, his back turned to me. It slimmed down from his broad shoulders to his slender waist, the muscles in his arms popping up as he washed his face and his dark hair.I stared at him, speechless. Not so much because he was butt naked, but because he had the healthiest, strongest, most beautiful body I’d ever seen. His skin was almost as pale as mine, and it looked as smooth as silk.Then a moonbeam touched the trees and the top of the cliff. And my dirty blood allowed my eyes to see clearer, not only around me, but as far as the man in front of me, a hundred feet away.And my heart skipped a beat when I saw the subtle tattoo covering his back, light lines like drawn with silver ink: a cross and a crescent moon.I muffled a cry, because Teah had told me a
I knew what he was seeing and smelling: the very image of his sworn enemies.Never minding my own tears, I forced my shaky hands to undo the collar of my dress. I pulled it open, closed my eyes and let my head back, offering my throat as the only sign I could think of to show him I knew my life was in his hands.The wolf kept growling for a moment longer. I didn’t move. Then, to my utter surprise, he turned around and leaped away into the woods.Going back to Teah’s place took me forever, because my leg hurt so bad I needed to stop every few steps. At least there were no boys guarding the access to the village.The shortest way took me near my father’s smith workshop, right by the house he shared with his wife and my stepsiblings. There was a big dog laying outside the workshop closed door, and it barked as soon as it smelled me.I hid in the alley across the street and peaked out. I recognize Van’s shepherd dog, and a moment later, Van himself hurried out of the workshop with my step
I didn’t have a choice, so I told Teah what had transpired in the woods. However, I was wise enough to leave out the part about watching the Alpha change and swim in the nude. I knew that if she ever found out, she wouldn’t spare my life like the wolf had done.I think the only thing that spared me any punishment was that I still was in bad shape. And I soon got worse. Looked like my leg wasn’t the only thing I’d messed up during my night adventure. The pond’s cold water, and all the hours I’d spent wearing my soaking-wet clothes, had affected me. That night I was burning in fever, and in the morning I was coughing and struggling to breathe.I lost count of the days I spent lying on the straw mattress before the hearth, shaking and choking, moaning in pain every time I tried to move, because my chest and my leg hurt and burned.Finally, Teah forced her rheumatic bones to crouch down by my side. I wasn’t fully awake, lost in that fevered tossing and turning that filled my head with hot
I complained when he left my body. But it was only for a moment, for him to kneel between my legs. His finger sank into my womb again, just as his tongue licked the folds of my skin. I let out a cry, wriggling and gasping, feeling the pleasure was so much, my breast was about to burst. I melted against his lips, struggling to just keep breathing.Then he made me roll over and lie on my belly, and his face stuck to my buttocks. I moaned and wriggled again, stunned by what he made me feel. His tongue ran between my buttocks, licking my tight flesh down to my womb.My back felt like about to break as I tried to push against his face.He grabbed one of my buttocks to kept them apart and kept licking and kissing my groin. And at the same time, his finger slid into my womb again.The friction made me cry out loud, as he moved it in and out faster. It was a hot throbbing that seemed to steal my breath away. I could only pay attention to it, oblivious to anything
I shrugged and my grimace made him chuckle. As soon as I was done eating, he made me sit straddling his lap. His arm circled my waist while his other hand sneaked underneath my shirt. My breast rose to fill his palm as usual.“Do you feel it?” he asked. “My hand doesn’t quite cover it like before.”He took my shirt off and added his mouth and his nose to his exploration. I let him do, my arms around his shoulders and my head back, shivering and sighing to his whim.“And your essence is stronger,” he said. “Just like the taste of your skin.”His nose circled my nipple and I quivered from head to toes when he licked my skin before sniffing it.“Irresistible,” he muttered, seeking my lips to kiss me deep.“You’re changing, my child,” he said. “When will you turn sixteen?”“I did the day the princes came to the village,” I replied.
It was hard for me to sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes, my head was full of images of fight and slaughter. I managed to fall asleep just before dawn. A shallow, restless sleep from which I woke up with a jolt several times.Until a hand on my shoulder made me sat up sharply. Brenan handed me a steamy cup of tea with a quick smile.“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you about all that last night,” he said.“Thank you,” I muttered, accepting the tea.“It’s hard to keep in mind he’s your mate,” he went on, coming to sit in front of me by the fire. “You know, you being human and all that.”“It doesn’t happen often, does it?”“Often?” he repeated, laughing. “I think the last time it happened was some centuries ago!”“Oh.”“I was thinking,” he said, denying me any chance to keep asking any questions. “You need a table. How about we build one? And maybe we can also build another seat.”“It would be great! Thanks!”
I folded the black ribbon as I whipped my tears, his last words still ringing in my ears.“God willing, I’ll be back tomorrow night.”It was going to be two long miserable days. Because of his absence, and because I had no way to know if he was fine. I’d never seen the battles that took place in the prairie, north of the Red Woods. But helping Teah care for the surviving fugitives was enough to figure they were brutal.I’d never doubted the might and skill of wolves, but this particular battle was tinged with the fear of what could happen to him, the only wolf of the Dale I cared about.As usual, I decided to keep busy and distracted. I cleaned the cave down to the last corner, washed all my clothes and his, gathered water, and enough pine needles to make three pallets.I’d found a hatchet in one of the trunks, so I grabbed it and headed to the woods. There was a fallen tree near the ledge that could provide all
While we had dinner, I tried to ask about the hunt the princess had mentioned. But his answers were vague, evasive. So I tried another approach.“Shouldn’t I go too? I always helped Teah with the refugees.”“Your friend can do it by herself,” he grunted.I just nodded, understanding he didn’t want to talk about it. So I asked him about the humans working at the castle, whom I would soon join.“They’re mothers whose children have already joined the pack. Once that happens, they’re given the choice of going back to the village or staying to work for us. They all chose to stay,” he replied, and there was a cold edge to his voice.“What is it, my lord?”“I wish my sister hadn’t talked to you about it,” he grunted. “Guess now you can’t wait for winter to be over.”“Why would I, my lord? To leave here?”He let out a
I recalled the Alpha’s reaction by the waterfall, and the face of the long-haired prince at the village square, when they’d seen me for the first time.“But your brothers—” I muttered.“You only have to mind one of them,” she replied. “Look at me, Joy. I know what it’s like to be different. You’re so much more than the color of your eyes, your hair, your skin. It’s your soul what determines if you’re good or bad, worthy of love, respect or rejection. But if you don’t believe it yourself, nobody will never see past the way you look.”I looked down with tears in my eyes, but she pinched my chin to make me face her. She held my eyes with a warm smile until I smiled back and nodded.“So, a few drops to wash your hair. It’ll help it grow strong, healthy and smelling good,” she said, running her fingers through her thick blond mane.“Anise,”
I was sorting our supplies when the wolf jumped from the pallet, where he was laying, to go stand past the fire and face the entrance to the cave on the alert. I paused what I was doing and heard footsteps in the snow. A moment later, a tall figure wrapped in a white fur cloak blocked the light coming in from the outside.“Look at you!”I recognized the princess’ voice. She took two steps into the cave, a hand on her hip. To my surprise, the wolf lowered his head and flattened his ears.“The whole castle is asking about you and here you are, playing the puppy with a crush! Come, let me speak to Joy alone.”The princess stepped aside and the wolf trotted out, taking the scolding. She shook her head, snorting, and smiled at me.“Hello, little one.”“My lady,” I murmured, bowing my head.“Looks like you’re making it work here,” she said.“I am, my lady.
We had dinner sitting there, together by the fire. The rabbit was delicious. We hardly said a word, too busy devouring it straight from the skewer.The wolf kept chuckling as he watched me eat the rabbit leg he gave me, tearing the meat with my teeth and gnawing at the bone. After that, we polished off the stew, and had the water as soup. When we finished, he handed me a bowl full of blueberries and took out what we’d used for dinner, including the skewer with the rabbit skeleton.“Are you leaving it all outside?” I asked, surprised.“The last thing we need is a mountain lion sneaking in for a snack while we sleep,” he replied. “You’re enough of a temptation for them. Rumor has it they like you.”I blushed up to my ears.“The Alpha told you?” I asked in a thread of voice.He crouched down before me and took the bowl from my hands.“What are you talking about, child?”His hardened voice sent a chill down my spine.“Answer
He went into the cave ahead of me, and as soon as I walked in, he came with the black ribbon in his mouth. I dropped what I was carrying, covered my eyes without a word and turned to face the wall. He took me in his arms a heartbeat later, made me turn around and kissed me deep, holding me against his naked body.“I’m sorry,” he whispered by my ears. “I wanted you to move freely the whole day, but I couldn’t wait any longer to kiss you and talk to you.”“Get dressed, my lord, please,” I murmured, breathing in the exquisite fragrance of his body. “It’s so cold.”He lifted me in his arms, chuckling, and on his way to his chest, he sat me down on the pallet. I heard him get dressed and grab firewood from the pile.“We came back just in time,” he said, fueling the fire. “Your buns almost burned and the fire almost died out.”The comforting heat of the flames caused me a chill. He sat down by my side and held me in his arms.“I’m sorry I pushed y