Marking Territory: An Awakened Novel (The Rising Storm Book 1)

by N. L. Paradox

  Sure enough, when Westlake looked down at the deliciously naked form of Mallory Thompson, her eyes were closed and her breathing deep and heavy. “What can I do for you?” Westlake asked, lifting his gaze to address the phantom eyes and lips in the mirror as though it was just another business associate.

  You seem to be doing rather well with your task, the now distinctly feminine voice complimented.

  “Things are progressing well,” he agreed, nudging the sleeping woman off him and standing to grab the robe from its hook and pulling it on. “I’m still somewhat surprised a being such as yourself is so familiar with technology and neuroscience.”

  Only because it suits my needs, said the woman, as there was no longer any mistaking that this voice belonged to the most sensual, seductive, and outrageously beautiful and sexual woman the world could ever know. I trust that I can expect to see a rather significant return on my investment soon.

  “My people tell me that the device should be ready for initial testing by the end of the week. If all goes well, and it will,” he added in a tone that indicated failure on the part of his people would be dealt with harshly, “we can begin construction and implementation within a week.”

  That’s quite a long time, the voice pouted as more of the woman’s form began to slowly materialize in the mirror. Now, Westlake was able to see the ghostly shape sported a long, supple mane of inky black hair that fell to what by all accounts was a perfectly shaped ass sheathed in what appeared to be a skin tight red dress. Though the form was still indistinct, there was no mistaking the shape of the large breasts that laughed at the very concept of gravity while also seeming to be beckoning Westlake’s mouth to feast upon them.

  “If… we want things to proceed without error,” he said, stumbling for a breath of a moment before regaining his composure, “then the time needs to be taken. We don’t want a colossal fuck up like last time.”

  Yes, the woman agreed as her face came into view, showcasing features that were both achingly gorgeous and nightmarishly terrifying all at once. That was rather foolish of you to allow something like that to happen.

  “I failed to give the project the proper attention and security it warranted; I admit that. Fortunately, not only did the experience guide me in updating our security procedures, but it also revealed the flaw Blake had been seeking to overcome regarding range and autonomy.”

  I thought you had lost all of your data from the project, the woman purred, reaching out without breaching the barrier of the mirror and seeming to caress the air.

  Westlake’s breath caught in his throat as he felt the light, yet scorching touch of an invisible feminine hand stroke his cheek. Though it was a simple touch, his body reacted instantly by hardening almost painfully. “I… I had a highly secured cloud backup in place that c-constantly saved any data entered into the t-t-terminals,” he stammered, clenching his teeth in an effort to maintain even a small measure of self control. As it was, Westlake could feel himself balancing upon the very edge of a precipice that would allow him to fall into the ultimate carnal bliss. The only thing preventing him from doing so was that ghost-like, feathery touch that seemed to cause his loins to sear in desperate need.

  Ooooo, the woman cooed, reaching out with her other hand, you are a clever one Harold. Such a good boy.

  The gasp that tried to leave Westlake’s mouth twisted into an almost painful groan as he felt that hardened flesh gently stroked and caressed, bringing him almost up onto his toes. “Th-thank you, m-m-my goddess,” he managed to get out in a shaking, desperate whisper.

  I look forward to your results. Do not disappoint me Harold. Now, be a dear and feed me, won’t you?

  Though there was no offering of a farewell, the disappearance of not only the intensely sexual creature in the mirror but the sensations of her touches were a clear indication that the presence had departed.

  Lowering to the flats of his feet, Westlake gasped for his stolen breath for several moments before his wits returned to him, along with an intense anger at the weakness he’d just experienced. It wasn’t the first time, but each and every time, he was forced to acknowledge that all of his wealth and power were nothing compared to more… well, whatever she was. Thankfully, he had a rather convenient outlet for his overwhelming sexual and emotional frustrations.

  Turning back towards the slumbering figure in his grand bed, Westlake considered the numerous ways in which to relieve his urges by way of the succulent and completely obedient slave.

  Tearmann Institute, Newfoundland, the woods

  “What the hell are we doing here,” Eddie griped as he carefully picked his way through the woods, “and where is Mr. Earnest?”

  “Probably doing paperwork,” I replied without bothering to either look back or slow my pace. He, as well as Vinnie and Kate, should have considered themselves lucky I was walking instead of flat out sprinting through these woods like I wanted to.

  “Shouldn’t he be here?” Kate asked nervously. “I mean, he is in charge of the class after all.”

  Truth be told, I had been even more surprised than my fellow classmates to have been told by Mr. Earnest about ten minutes before class began that we would be doing this lesson without him. I found it pretty hard to believe that he had so much confidence in me that he figured I could handle this by myself. Still, if he did actually think I was capable of giving these guys an introduction to the wild side of themselves, the least I could do was try to live up to his expectations. My grade depended on it after all.

  “You worried I’ll give him a bad report about you?” I asked, grinning over my shoulder at the girl.

  “Maybe,” she fired back angrily.

  Easing back on my natural habit to snipe at people that weren’t part of my pack, I stopped and turned to face my classmates. “Look,” I said, getting serious, “from what Mr. Earnest told me before we came out here, today isn’t about how good you are with your shifting. It’s about getting in touch with the animal that comes with your shifting that you guys have unconsciously muzzled so tightly you don’t even realize they even exist.”

  “Well how do you know they exist,” Eddie challenged with a know-it-all grin. I guess he forgot just what that grin and attitude got him last time.

  Pointedly ignoring the subtle challenge, since we’d pretty much already established I could tear him apart in seconds if I really wanted to, I turned and folded my arms with a grin of my own. “Because I can smell them you jackass. When you shifted into your bear form, there was actually bear scent underneath that nasty human scent.”

  “Hey,” Eddie protested, “you’re human too.”

  “Not in wolf form,” I pointed out while not even bothering to hide my grin of superiority. “When I shift, I’m about ninety-nine percent wolf in body and mind. I’m still there,” I clarified, “but I’m mostly wolf. You guys,” I chuckled, “you smell like you’re wearing your forms like elaborate costumes instead of actually embracing the animal you change into.”

  “Well how do we ‘embrace’ our animals?” Kate asked carefully.

  “That’s what we’re going to figure out,” I told her. “It’s probably gonna be a bit of trial and error since my shifting’s different from yours, but there’s probably some kind of middle ground we can work with. First,” I told them as I sat down on a fallen tree, “you need to get used to your senses. Ummmm, Vinnie,” I decided at random, “you’re going to change into your dog form. When you do just take a few good sniffs of the air and then change back and tell me what you smelled.”

  Looking at his fellow classmates, who shared his rather confused expression, he shrugged and almost instantly he disappeared and was replaced by a large German Shepard. I had to admit; he made for a really good-looking Shepard and possessed fur markings that my wolf actually approved of. He lifted his head and commenced a rapid sniffing of the air before his nose dove down to the ground and began sniffing all around where he stood. A moment later, Vinnie stood where there had been a dog only a mo
ment before.

  “Smells like trees and dirt,” he said with a shrug, “I can just smell them a lot better. Oh, and you guys too,” he added.

  “And that’s the difference between wearing your forms as a suit and actually becoming the form you change into,” I told all of them. “A dog doesn’t simply smell everything a lot better than a human does. It can actually smell each and every aspect of its surroundings individually as well as the whole. Okay,” I said with a sigh when I got a bunch of confused looks, “what do you smell when you smell a really good apple pie?”

  “Ummmm, apple pie,” Eddie said dumbly.

  “That’s your human senses talking,” I told him. “A dog, or wolf in my case, can smell each individual ingredient that was used to make the apple pie as well as the pie itself. It can smell the apples, the pie crust, the different components that make the pie crust like the butter, lemon juice, and eggs, and even the cinnamon sprinkled on the top of the whole thing.”

  “You can smell all that?” Kate asked in shocked disbelief.

  “You guys could too,” I replied pointedly, “if you just let your animals out when you shift. That’s what I’m supposed to try and help you do in your dog forms.”

  “Why just as dogs?” Vinnie asked.

  “Because each animal has its own intricacies,” I told him as I looked up and pointed at a crow perched up in the trees above us. “If I were to shift into wolf form, I wouldn’t be able to communicate with that crow other than to let it know I was dangerous. We don’t speak the same ‘language’,” I air-quoted. “For wolves and dogs, we communicate through a combination of sound, body language, and scent. If I flicked my tail, a dog would have a good idea of what I was trying to say while any other animal would just see it as a tail flick.”

  When they all still looked confused, I sighed in frustration and swept my hand through my hair. “Okay, let’s try this. Do any of you guys speak… Zulu?” As expected, I got a bunch of dumbfounded expressions, probably because they didn’t even know what the hell Zulu was. “Thought so,” I mumbled. “So, what would you think if some guy that only spoke in Zulu started yelling at you?”

  “That he was pissed?” Vinnie guessed.

  “Maybe,” I allowed with a nod, “but beyond that would you know what he was saying?”

  It took about three seconds for all of them to finally get the analogy and let out a collective ‘aaaaaaah’ of understanding. “Exactly,” I said with a smile. “For all you guys know, he might have been excited to see you or maybe trying to warn you of danger. Whatever it might have been, you wouldn’t understand any of it and just hear him yelling gibberish. That’s what it would be like for me to try and communicate with a bird in wolf form.”

  “But what about those stories you hear?” Kate pointed out. “You know, the ones where a dog and a deer become friends or a bear pals around with a parakeet or something? How would that be possible if they don’t speak the same language?”

  While her question sounded genuinely curious, I caught the smug look of superiority on Eddie’s face as he puffed out his chest and waited for me to stumble. Keep waiting asshole, I silently snarled at him. “Maybe it’s because they weren’t actually ‘talking’,” I suggested. “Because animals don’t talk as a primary form of communication, their other senses come into play. For more than a few, scent is a major part of the way they see the world. An animal with a keen sense of smell can tell a lot based upon the particular tang of a scent at any given moment. For example,” I said, sliding my eyes sideways and locking onto Eddie. “You’re obviously waiting for me to fall on my ass, metaphorically, based on that smug-assed look on your face. But your scent,” I continued with a slow grin, “tells me you’re actually scared that I really do know what I’m talking about and that I’m about to show you up again.”

  Instantly, that look of superiority on his face was wiped away and replaced by one of shocked disbelief. Okay, so I didn’t actually know all of that based upon the scent he was putting out. What I did pick up was the distinct flavor of nervousness coming off him. It didn’t take a lot to figure out exactly why he might be feeling that way, so I just took an educated guess based upon his scent and what I knew about him. Obviously, I’d hit the nail right on the head when Eddie didn’t say anything and instead, deliberately looked around like the forest was suddenly very interesting.

  “While it’s not exact,” I went on, focusing my attention on my two classmates that seemed genuinely interested in learning about this, “there is a fairly universal flavor for broad emotions that any animal possessing a keen sense of smell can detect. When you combine that with, maybe, a strong maternal or paternal instinct, you can get some pretty odd pairings like the ones you just said.”

  “It’s not an exact science,” I explained when it seemed clear my answer wasn’t what Kate wanted to hear. “The best way for you to learn what I’m trying to explain is to simply experience it. The English language simply doesn’t have the words to really describe it.”

  “And how are you so sure we have these ‘inner animals’?” Eddie challenged.

  “I don’t.”

  Clearly, that wasn’t the response he was expecting, because the jackass blinked in surprise at my completely honest answer. “Well then, why are you allowed to even try to teach us anything?” he demanded. “This is a waste of time. Mr. Earnest could be showing us how to shift into new forms while you go around hugging trees.”

  I could feel my wolf stir inside of me, the equivalent of her ears twitching and one eye opening to glare at this idiot who clearly had no clue what it meant to truly embrace your animal. She didn’t do more than that, but I knew if I didn’t shut Eddie down fast she would definitely make her presence known fairly soon.

  “Then get out of here,” I snapped at him mildly. He obviously wasn’t expecting me to say that because he just stared at me in confusion and disbelief. “I don’t have the time or the patience to deal with you acting like a self-entitled asshole all day long when Vinnie and Kate genuinely want to try and get in touch with their animals. If you don’t plan on getting with the program, then get the fuck out of here,” I told him, allowing a hint of my wolf to creep into my voice, turning it into a snarl. “Unless you need me to teach you another lesson about what it means to actually be an apex predator.”

  Clearly, the memory of how easy it would have been for me to… well, basically eat him… was enough to quell his ego for the time being and he looked down at his shoes. “Now,” I said, pointedly ignoring him and addressing Vinnie and Kate, “I’m guessing you guys understand English perfectly well in your animal forms, right?”

  “Yeah,” Kate confirmed with a nod. “Obviously, we can’t talk back, but we can understand it just like when we’re human.”

  “That’ll make things easy to start with then. Go ahead and shift into your dog forms.”

  Nodding, Vinnie and Kate immediately activated their ability, and suddenly, I was looking at a German Shepard and a Border Collie. I couldn’t help but smile at Kate’s dog form, as it seemed to confirm what I’d already suspected. When it came to shifting into an animal, it seemed that they took on the species that most closely represented their true nature as humans. Vinnie had shown that he was tough, but loyal in the few times I’d met him while Kate had been scrappy yet friendly while being smart as a whip. It made me curious to see just what Eddie would…

  I had look away and bite my lip so hard it almost started to bleed to keep from just bursting out laughing. I had my suspicions about what form Eddie might take, but I’d never expected this. It was pretty obvious that he was more than willing to pick a fight just to try and establish dominance, and wasn’t shy about trying to make himself seem bigger than he actually was.

  Still, seeing the small Terrier breed dog staring up at me, almost as though he was daring me to say something, had me really struggling not to just start petting him and telling him what a good boy he was in baby talk.

  “Okay,” I said aft
er clearing my throat to make sure I wouldn’t laugh, “we need to work on your sense of smell. That’s pretty much what defines a dog in the animal world and hopefully will go pretty far in getting in touch with that side of you. I want all of you to just go ahead and sniff around for a few minutes. It doesn’t matter what you’re sniffing,” I told them as I shifted on the log to get more comfortable, “but I want you to really try and pull every scrap of scent out of whatever you choose to sniff.”

  While the three went around sniffing up a storm at the ground, the trees, the fallen leaves, and whatever else they could get their noses close to, I took note of where they really focused on so I would know just what I was looking for in their individual descriptions. After five minutes, I let out a sharp whistle to get their attention and beckoned them back over. “Okay, shift into human form,” I directed them as I popped up from the log. “Vinnie,” I started once they’d achieved human form once more, “tell me what you smelled.”

  “Well,” he said hesitantly as his eyes shifted to look over at the base of the tree he’d focused on, “I could smell the dirt and the bark. I’m pretty sure some other dog’s been around here because I think I smelled piss. I also smelled something else I can’t really describe,” he said with a helpless shrug.

  “Try,” I ordered him gently.

  “I don’t know,” he continued hesitantly, “it was almost like it wasn’t one, specific thing, but more like a whole bunch of tiny things all moving together that smelled very faintly like… I don’t know, meat. There was also… something else.”

  Smiling, I crooked my finger in a ‘come here’ gesture to the three as I walked over to the tree and crouched down at its base. “First,” I said as they all crouched beside me, “that piss smell was from me. I was marking my territory the other day,” I informed them without even a hint of embarrassment. Hey, I was a wolf, and wolves marked their territory. “That’s something you’ll learn down the line, how to ‘read’ another dog’s scent from where they’ve left their mark. It’s actually a big part of communication between dogs when they aren’t around one another,” I explained when they all scrunched up their noses. “You’re still identifying scents with the human part of your brain, which is why it seems so gross. Once you get in touch with the animal part of you, it’ll be no different than reading a post-it note on a bulletin board. Anyway,” I continued, pointing down at the dirt at the base of the tree, “that was the last thing you were smelling.”