Shit. Did I shout or growl at her back then? Maybe, yes, maybe I did. Afterward. When she told me she didn’t really want me, and I was disgusted at myself and angry at her. What did I say?Horrible things. I can’t remember my exact words, but I wanted to hurt her, and after I swore I wouldn’t.I feel sick and wrong, the happiness I felt in her presence snuffed like a candle, replaced with gnawing guilt.What have I done?I hold her wolf in the air, so we’re eye to eye. Her little legs dangle and her tail swishes as she cocks her head, patiently waiting.“Who hurt you?” I ask.Her sweet face falls. She glances down and away.“What happened? Were you attacked?” I try to keep my voice even. I wish it wasn’t so gruff and rusty.Her wolf growls low in the back of her throat, and wriggles in my hands. She wants down. She won’t look me in the eye. My stomach sinks.I set her gently on her paws, and she promptly turns her back on me and trots off down the creek bed trail.That’s a yes. Someth
At first, my wolf fights me hard—he wants his mate—but I manage to distract him with squirrel and steal our skin back when he’s logy from the meal. His stomach has always been his greatest weakness.I take my time returning. The area is still clear of predators, and I haven’t ventured far. If I tune in to the bond, I can tell my mate has stayed where I put her.Because she’s too afraid to leave?Of course. I’ve stolen her, and she slept a long time, so we’re miles away from territory she’d recognize. She’s stuck with me.I whistle when I’m a few yards away from the hidey-hole so she knows I’m coming. She doesn’t come out to greet me. I don’t suppose she would.I can’t see her until I get close to the alcove. When I do, my heart sinks.She’s dug herself a hole between the roots and covered herself with dirt and leaves. All I can make out is her black nose and solemn, accusing brown eyes.I crouch and reach out my hand. “What have you done? Mud bath?”She narrows her eyes and yips. Or w
Thank goodness she’s squeamish. Quarry Pack males and their mates hunt and eat in their fur during full moon hunts, but I never have, since I’ve never gone on a run. The meat I eat comes wrapped in brown paper.Her stomach rumbles at the thought, the memory of the squirrel swiftly losing its ick factor as she stretches her jaw and gently locks it around Justus’s muscular upper arm. His bicep flexes, almost imperceptibly, while his breath remains slow and even. He’s pretending to be asleep.It’s a trap!I focus with all my power on dragging my wolf away, but she’s in full control, and she’s lost all sense of self-preservation. There’s meat in her mouth, and she’s not letting go. She slowly sinks her teeth down, but not enough to puncture his flesh. She’s just—playing. She knows he’s awake.My wolf doesn’t play. She never has, not even when we were very little. She stays quiet and keeps her head down.But now she’s closing her jaw on Justus’s arm, slowly shaking her head back and forth,
No. I don’t even need to ask her. She’s fascinated by him. Even now, she’s mimicking his side stretches, even though it doesn’t work at all with her sausage-shaped body. If I want to run, I have to take back our skin, and then I’ll be naked and slow. I won’t get far if he comes after me.Maybe he wouldn’t. He seems fond of my wolf, but he hates me. His contempt burned in his eyes at the river. He didn’t try to hide it. He wanted me to know how he felt. I don’t need to dig the bond out of the deep hole I buried it in to confirm it and feel his hatred in my insides.I don’t care. It’s good that he hates me. I don’t want any of this. I want my morning tea, my toast and jam, and my bathroom. I’m so dirty. My fur is stiff, and I do not want to know what’s in it.I don’t want to go to the Last Pack. Everyone says they live in dens like our ancestors, like animals, with no laws but strength and no justice except claws and fangs. At least that’s what the instructors said at Moon Lake Academy.
Inside, there’s a barrel packed tight with tools, clothes, and other supplies, including matches wrapped in oil cloth. Justus builds a fire, and my wolf naps beside it as he hunts down the plump, juicy bird he also promised. He plucks its feathers—and plucks off its head—before he returns, so my wolf is happy to snarf it down after a cursory browning over the flames. Apparently, she’s not too fussy about whether her meat is cooked through.She shows no concern that she’s leaving none for Justus, but it makes me deeply uneasy. At the lodge, we serve the males first. They cause less trouble when their mouths and hands are full.Justus doesn’t seem to mind that my wolf is saving none for him. He watches her eat, arms folded, mouth lazily curved as he sits, resting against a tree trunk.My wolf is pleased to let him watch her eat. I don’t understand that at all. I can’t eat if someone is watching me.After the meal, my wolf lets Justus carry her again, and she snoozes in the mid-day sunsh
I don’t see how it could possibly be man-made, but I also don’t see how nature could make a place so clearly designed as shelter. It’s a place out of time. Even the colors are enchanted. Every brown and green and white is bold—the brownest brown, the greenest green.As my gaze darts around the clearing, searching for threats and escape routes, I pick out at least a dozen low, sloped entranceways among the rocks. Those must be the dens. Glowing almond-shaped eyes blink from the shadows, visible from hundreds of yards away.Closer, and more terrifying, dozens of males have risen to their feet, looming beside rough-hewn stools, wooden crates, and overturned rusted buckets, glaring at me in spiky silence, poised to attack. I know that stance. I’ve seen it a hundred times in front of Killian’s dais after dinner when he calls the males to fight.Don’t move. Don’t breathe.My wolf presses closer to Justus’s side, searching for the feel of his low rumble. It soothes her. She trusts him to pro
In the illustrations, ferals are always slavering or lunging or swiping at a cowering female with their claws. These males aren’t acting like that at all, but they definitely aren’t like Quarry Pack or Moon Lake males, either. I don’t know quite how to describe it except that they don’t stand like a pack at all.Back home, when the males gather, they face the leader, usually Killian, and stand according to rank, higher in the front, lower in the back. This group is all over the place.One lanky male is eating a drumstick. Toward the back, two younger males bump into each other, riling up the others nearby, trying to egg someone into a fight. A few elders have crouched to watch the proceedings from under the shade of an elm. Periodically, they bark when the others block their view.There is a great deal of scratching among the furrier ones. A few who are fully shifted have padded to the front and plopped on their sides to watch. This pack isn’t waiting for orders; they’re waiting to be
Can the pups shift back and forth to human babies, or are they stuck as wolves until puberty? Somehow my curiosity allows me to relax enough to venture a little closer to the boundary between my wolf and me. The pups don’t seem traumatized. One lies on her side, dozing off. Her belly is pure white. It looks so soft.Another pup snuffles around the feet and legs of the males around him, yipping and nipping and head-butting at random until he gets a pat on his flank or a scratch behind his ears.The third pup—the littlest one, a mix of her mother’s black and her father’s gray—seems as captivated by me as I am by her. She keeps padding toward me. The first few times, her dam yipped at her to come back, but when she just kept approaching, her dam gave a rumble, warning her to behave, and let her come.She trots straight to me. Inside my wolf, I reach for her. It’s a reflex. I’ve done it before I realize what I’m doing, and as soon as it registers, I drop my arms to my sides.I don’t get c
The humans know about shifters, of course, but there’s no need to draw more attention to us than we already do, as strangers in such a small town. Folks already gawk as Annie leads us to the village commons even though the streets are busy. It’s market day.As soon as we reach the grassy expanse filled with tables and tents, Alroy and Diantha peel off, heading in opposite directions. Griff seems torn, but when he sees that Diantha is making a beeline for a booth with racks of female clothing, he hurries to follow Alroy.Annie leads us down the makeshift walkways, smiling when she’s greeted by name. My mate is still shy, but there’s no trace of fear in her scent. I breathe her happiness and excitement in, letting it flush my lungs clean of the oily town air.She sees her friends before I do and lets go of my hand to run toward them.My mate. My Annie. Running with a smile lighting her face.This is a good, good day.Two females rush around their table, the third making her way more slo
JUSTUSMy perfect, beautiful mate does not like surprises, so she knows exactly where we’re going as we trot through the woods that run along the human highway. At first, I was sad that I couldn’t spring this visit on her, but I love watching her wolf get more and more excited the closer we get to Chapel Bell. Her short little legs are moving so fast, I almost don’t have to slow my pace.Alroy, Griff, and Diantha don’t have my patience, so they’re several yards ahead of us. Poor Griff has to be the buffer between them, and he keeps getting caught in the crossfire when their wolves decide to break the monotony by sniping at each other.I was worried that Annie would be too nervous to venture this far from camp, but she gets more confident every day. I’m pretty sure that’s because when we were out for a walk two months ago, she saw me take out two ferals that were encroaching on our territory to the north, so even though Killian and I pretty much fought to a draw, she knows I can handle
He bares his fangs, yanks the needle from his neck, and blinks at it, bemused.“Did you stab me with a fucking knitting needle?” He holds it up. Blood oozes from the wound, dripping down his bare chest. I didn’t even hit an artery.Justus snarls, squaring his shoulders and bending his knees, readying himself to attack. Every inch of his body is covered in mud and blood, gashes and purpling bruises. White bone shows through a jagged slash on his forearm.A male coughs, clearing his throat. “Can we just take a beat?” Killian raises his hands, raw flesh where his nails should be.I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but he’s as battered as Justus, and he seems to be favoring his left leg, like his right can’t hold weight. Our males spar constantly. I’ve seen all of them beat up at some point, but I’ve never seen any of them mangled this bad. I can’t believe either he or Justus are still upright.“That bitch stabbed me.” Leith points at me with the knitting needle.Justus howls and steps
My wolf skids to a halt several feet away and then slinks forward, keeping the fire between her and the Salt Mountain wolf, letting the smoke block her scent. When she’s too close to dare creep closer, she huddles close to the ground, staring up and up at his tremendous mud-caked haunches. She’s a miniature in comparison. All the females are, and we all stare, powerless, as the wolf’s bones crack and a strapping man rises from the hulk of his beast.His blond hair shines through the dirt. I’ve seen him. Leith Munroe. The new Salt Mountain alpha.He rests his hands on his hips as if there isn’t chaos all around him as his wolves play a game of distraction, breaking after our slower, smaller, or older males and mauling them until our strong males are forced to turn back, away from us, to rescue them.Leith takes no notice of our wolves, even when they get close, or me, skulking behind the fire. Why would he? I’m no threat—skinny and small and stinking of fear.Instead, he’s intent on so
ANNIERun! Run! Run!I squat as low as I can in the wildflowers and tear off my clothes.A few yards away, Killian and Justus are murdering each other. Tye, Ivo, and the rest are just watching, and no matter how much I scream, no matter what I say, their wolves don’t listen.And the Salt Mountain wolves are up to something. They’re edging away from the fight toward the trail to camp. Quarry Pack is so intent on the fight, they either don’t notice or don’t care.I have to get to Khalil, and my wolf is faster.Run into the woods! The woods!I huddle in the tall grass and summon my wolf. For the first time in my life, she’s ahead of me, bursting through our skin before I’m ready, assuming form like she’s surfacing from water rather than tearing herself free from bone and muscle.She runs away from the woods, toward the trail. The Salt Mountain wolves have gotten ahead of her, so she hangs back, keeping low and downwind.Turn around! Now!What are they doing? They can’t think to attack La
“Lavender is light green this time of year. It doesn’t bloom until June or July.”“What are you going to do with it now then?”“Make a sachet. The scent mostly comes from the oils in its leaves.”“Make a sachet for who?”I wade through the tall grass to stand close to her and inhale her sweet rainy scent.“For the den,” she says, glancing bashfully up at me from under her thick brown lashes. She’s wearing my old sweater and another pair of my drawstring pants. Her pulse flutters at the base of her throat. She’s excited, too.Maybe we should cut this trip short and head back to the den.Or take a detour into the woods.She probably wouldn’t do that, but I think she’d agree to return to camp. I draw in another deep breath. Her arousal teases my nose.My wolf snarls.Annie startles.It takes my brain three seconds too long to catch up.Underlying the rain and slick, there is another scent. Earthy, yes, but not the right earth. It doesn’t belong. I’ve smelled it before. A long time ago.I
My grip on the pot handle tightens. Water sloshes over the sides. My jaw clenches, my guts knot, and my dry eyes burn.I can’t do this.I have to.“Justus?” Annie appears in the den entrance. She’s wrapped herself in a light pink sheet, and she’s holding a cup. “You brought water.” She smiles, padding toward me on bare feet.And then she stops. Her smile falls aways.She blinks in the sunshine, the bleariness of sleep disappearing as she takes in my grim face and desperate hold on the pot. If I had dignity, I’d find a way to smile back. Say good morning. Act like everything is fine.Her chest falls as she lets out a long, silent breath. She looks me straight in the eye. Her fear and doubt are clear as day.She’s going to ask me to take her home now.She takes a step closer to me, and then another, until we’re toe to toe. She gazes up at me, and for a second, all I can see is her beauty—her graceful neck, her delicate pointy chin, her soft, curving lips—and then I notice the expression
“Trust me,” he shushes, the hot head of his cock already notching at my entrance. He flexes his hips and sinks into me, a groan of pure relief torn from his throat. He fills me so completely that I ache where I take him, but I love it.I pant through the strain, and he gathers me close as he thrusts, cradling me to his chest, kissing my lips, my brow, my cheeks, the tip of my nose. I start to rock my hips in time.“You’re so beautiful, Annie,” he rumbles in my ear. “So perfect for me. My Annie. Mine.”I sigh and ride his bucking hips, his cock stretching me until I feel like a glove made for him.“Come for me, now,” he growls. “Now, Annie.”Hot cum floods my womb, and his knot catches and swells, tearing a raw shout from my throat. His fingers find my clit while his fangs sink into my shoulder.I scream, bucking against him, but I’m caught, so he moves with me, hushing me.I hover another second on the edge, somehow above myself, watching his strong arms tremble as they wrap around me
I let my hand fall and turn my head away.He snarls. He doesn’t like that.I drop back so I’m sitting on the pallet, lift my chin, and fold my arms. His wolf rumbles unhappily. He shouldn’t have let his man mess with my nest.He dips his head and looks up at me from his lowered eyes, a wolf playing at a lamb. “I’m sorry, Annie. Here it is.”He holds the pillow out.It’s a trap.Of course it’s a trap. I reach for it anyway. As soon as I grab the pillow, he yanks and falls to his back, dragging me with him. I tumble on top of him. He quickly nips the pillow from my grasp, tucks it behind his head, and grins up at me.I push up on his chest, struggling upright until I’m straddling his waist. He crosses his arms behind his head.I lean forward and try to pull the pillow free, but his head is too heavy.“Just ask nicely, Annie.” There’s a new note in his voice, a gravelly depth that has nothing to do with his wolf.I prop myself on his folded biceps. They’re hard and velvet and flexing und