Howl About It

by Donna McDonald

  “You have your wolf now, Moona, and from what I saw she is going to be fine at taking care of herself. I want to make you my mate. From here on between us, it’s every wolf for his or herself. If you want something from me, convince me to give it to you. The last thing I want is for either of us to concede anything. We’ve waited far too long to be together.”

  A growl in response to his challenge rose inside her and rumbled out her throat as her canines lengthened in her mouth. The idea of owning Jared more than appealed to her. It was the only other thing in life she’d ever wanted for herself.

  “Those are dangerous words for a female in potential heat to hear from a male she wants as badly as I want you.”

  “I’m not afraid of you or your wolf,” Jared whispered.

  He stroked her neck with the tips of his lengthened canines, which aroused them both. He hid the size of them from her sight instinctively. He didn’t want Moona dreading what he now fully intended to do. She was his. He wanted the world to know it, especially the world where wolves like Moona made deals with dragons.

  He sighed at her lovely, lovely taste. “But I will tell you one thing I am afraid of—I’m afraid of losing you—of losing this with you. I’ll fight to the death now to keep what we’ve found tonight, Moona. You are my mate, my pack, the reason I live. Do you want me for your mate?”

  “Yes.” Her knees shifted under her which dropped Jared into place just where she wanted him most. Jared’s hands slipped under her and pulled her hips back against his.

  Throbbing with need for the female beneath him, Jared slid into her heat and rocked hard into her to prove the rightness of their joining. When Moona pushed up and rose to offer him her neck, there was no refusing her.

  Her long hair hung between their bodies. He gathered and wrapped the long strands of silk around one wrist and tugged to test his control.

  Then giving no warning to her, he leaned over her and sunk his teeth into her shoulder. He went rigid inside her, swelling to fill her every need. With teeth and body, he held Moona impaled while she screamed out in both shock and violent release.

  His eyes rolled in pleasure when her reaction morphed into mate acceptance in the sweetest way possible. She growled low and shook in little pleasure shocks still. He managed to hang on to her shoulder until Moona finally fell limp in his arms and leaned back against him for support.

  Satisfied that he’d sufficiently marked his perfect mate, Jared withdrew his teeth, licked the wound left behind, and began to move slow and hard, holding her body back against his as he staked his claim. “You are my mate, Moona. Mine to pleasure. Mine to enjoy,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Yours in every way,” Moona agreed, calling out his name as Jared sent her flying toward the pinnacle again.

  Later, Moona rode him and marked him as she did so. Jared screamed out in surprise at the pain of her claiming and at the sheer joy of having a mate who held nothing back.

  He’d known all their lives that she was the only one he wanted forever. The only regret he had was their timing. Today and tomorrow couldn’t be all they had. He wouldn’t let it be.

  “You are my mate, Jared. Mine to enjoy. Mine to love,” Moona whispered as she withdrew her teeth. She laved her tongue to heal the wound of her claiming as strange words ran through her head to heal the spot. There was power in those strange terms—a new power in her that she had yet to understand.

  She had a lot to think about—a lot.

  “I am yours forever,” Jared agreed. “I love you, Moona. No matter our destiny, I love you.”

  When the sun started to rise, Jared rose with it. The animals around them watched with curious eyes as he carried his still sleeping wolf mate back to her home.

  They had one more day without the world interfering and he intended to enjoy every moment.

  10

  “Sha? Are you here? I need to see you about something.”

  Moona waited for a yowl or a growl or that awful whining noise she hated from the bobcat, but there was nothing.

  Sighing, she walked to a boulder and plopped down on it to wait. She closed her eyes and tried to get a sense of whether or not the bobcat was even nearby. Moona had no idea how she was going to run Sha off, but she had to try. It was for the bobcat’s own good.

  Don’t strain your wolf senses so hard. I am here, Moona. I was just finishing off my breakfast. You can’t let a fresh kill lay around too long unattended.

  Moona’s eyes popped open at the conversation. On the ground in front of her Sha sat looking up expectantly. Had the bobcat actually spoken to her?

  “Hi,” she said cautiously. “Did you talk to me just now?”

  No. I speak in your thoughts when your mind is clear enough to make a connection. With you, that hasn’t been often. It took me months just to get you to say my name even though I wear it on my collar. Willa had to confirm it before you would speak it.

  Moona made a face. “Sorry. I’ve been accused of being stubborn. Guess if I wasn’t a witch of some sort, you wouldn’t be here, right?”

  That is a truth.

  “And you’re my… what? Why are you here? What are you to me?”

  I’m your bobcat.

  Chuckling at the not-very-informative answer, Moona rolled her eyes. “I own no creature. Well, maybe Jared. But he’s cool with being owned by me. We mated last night. Feels pretty good actually.”

  Wolves are naturally possessive. The wolf in you is very strong.

  “I only shifted once.”

  Everyone has a first time. The next will be more magnificent.

  Moona shrugged and laughed. “Can’t debate that kind of optimism. Look… there’s a reason I was looking for you. This thought thing makes it easier to explain. You see, tomorrow is going to be a really bad day. You know, like the kind of bad day that a person sometimes doesn’t come back from. I just wanted to make sure you knew that I don’t expect you to hang around and die for me. The Jezibaba told me your story. I think you’ve suffered enough.”

  You speak of the challenge issued to your mate. You worry about the outcome.

  “You got it,” Moona said.

  I can’t fight for you, but I can fight with you. I do not fear death—not any longer. For me, bobcat death will just mean finding a different job with whatever form I get next. My preference is to stay with you regardless of tomorrow’s outcome. The witch in you is not very strong. She needs me.

  “Yeah, about that witch stuff… I’m still not sure about it.”

  You are a hereditary witch. Your mother was a witch. Your sister is a witch. Witch skills pass through maternal lines.

  Moona gasped. “Hold up, Sha. Sister? What sister? I have no freaking sister. Mom and Dad only had me. If Dad had other children, they’d be wolves, not witches. You said maternal which means Mom had to have had a child before me. No way. How could that work? She was young when she died.”

  Sha yowled and paced around in a circle. I spoke too soon.

  “No, no. You can’t drop a bombshell like that and not…” Moona stopped. “Great Mother of the Earth—I know who it is. Her face just popped into my head. Why didn’t she tell me? How can someone forty years older than me be my sibling when our mother was younger than her?”

  Moona slid off the boulder and shook her head.

  “Thinking about this is giving me a headache. If I live after the fight, I’ll get to the bottom of this sister mystery. Right now, I need to get in touch with my inner wolf. I hope like hell she’s a bad-ass and not just a mad-ass. All I feel from my wolf is incredible anger.”

  She was trapped by the spell in your amulet. It was to save you in a way you don’t understand yet. Have compassion for your wolf, Moona. You’d be angry too if your human side had been trapped.

  “Are you talking about the amulet my parents gave me when I turned thirteen? I never took it off until yesterday. Well… hell. You mean, that’s been my problem all this time?” Moona groaned in dismay. “Stop. Just stop telling me
these things. I can’t give up everything I believe the day before I die. I just can’t.”

  You will not die. I will not allow it.

  Moona looked down. “These are wolves, Sha. I applaud you for being willing to bring your impressive bobcat mojo to the table when things look this grim, but I don’t want your death on my hands. Jared and I have to do this. It’s not your fight.”

  Your fights are my fights now. You are the reason I came back to this world. I have to help you become the witch you were meant to be. This is what I was told to do. The Great Mother is counting on me.

  “Gaia? You get your orders from Gaia?”

  I have seen her, but one of her faithful takes care of all familiars.

  “There you go—using the “F” word on me again.” Wincing, Moona looked back at the house where she’d left her new mate sleeping in the small bed Willa kept for her. “I trust myself and the wolf I mated. Perhaps I trust the dragon-witch who’s turned my life upside down because at least she did something. I used to trust Willa...”

  A yowl pierced the air. You can trust me.

  Moona nodded and smile. “Maybe I can. It helps that we can talk now.”

  I agree. Will you pet me?

  “Pet you? Sure.” Moona stooped and let Sha come close enough for a scratch behind her ears. “So how big did you get as that creature you used to be?”

  A liger? Very big. Too big.

  “I think I have different standards of too big. Did you grow bigger than a dragon?”

  Sha purred and flicked her tail. No. Dragons are apex predators. Ligers are just enigmas.

  “So are wolf-witches, right?”

  Yes. We were meant for each other, Sha said.

  “Maybe we were. Jared said you could live with us if we don’t die tomorrow.”

  Live with you in your house?

  Moona nodded and laughed when Sha turned hopeful cat eyes up to her. “As the alpha of our pack, Jared has the biggest house in the village. I’ll just need you to leave occasionally so we can have loud, messy wolf sex in the kitchen or wherever. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

  Willa made me live outside. I will leave when necessary. You have my word.

  “She told me you were hanging around for her benefit. Willa probably did that to keep me from freaking out.”

  Sha wove herself around Moona’s legs. I understand your fears, but Moona, you are a witch. You’ve always been one. You use your powers for healing. It is very noble of you. And you took your magic to others who were not wolves. That was brave of you as well. You did important work in helping save the new fairy queen. I watched you for two years before I chose you as the one I would serve.

  “Guess I can only be flattered,” Moona said, standing up. Her head rose at Jared’s approach.

  “Talking to yourself?” he asked.

  Moona snickered when Sha ran up to Jared and rubbed against his legs, purring loudly the whole damn time. What a suck up.

  Jared looked down and smiled. “Oh. Hi… Sha. Can I have my mate back now? We’re still working out our mating.”

  Sha yowling up at him in answer made Jared laugh. Moona fell a little more in love with him for being so accepting of her weird life. She hid her smile when Sha rubbed one final time and trotted off into the forest like a well-trained pet. That probably wouldn’t last long.

  “You told her, didn’t you?” Jared asked.

  “It seemed only right,” Moona replied. “She told me my family was to blame for me not shifting.”

  “What?” Jared looked off into the forest. “The cat talks?”

  “Only to me in my head,” Moona said. “Did you miss the bigger thing I just revealed?”

  “No,” Jared said looking back at her. “But that’s in the past and you’re the wolf you were always meant to be. As for being a witch…” He looked at the woods and lifted his chin. “…might as well be one if we’re going to have to keep a bobcat familiar around.”

  “Right. Unless we die tomorrow,” Moona reminded him.

  “I’m less worried than I was. Plus, we have the element of surprise. They won’t be expecting two alphas.”

  “That’s so nice of you to say. You really think I’m an alpha?” Moona asked.

  Jared pulled the collar of his shirt to the side. “I don’t have to think. I know you are. And so will everyone else when they see the mark you put on me. Your aggressive side is sexy as hell, by the way. I’m getting hard just thinking about all the things you did to me this morning.”

  Moona giggled and felt heat climbing her face. “Guess I’ve been saving up all these years.”

  Jared flashed his canines. “Me too.”

  Moona yelled like a wimpy human female when Jared grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder. He ran back to the house with her while she laughed and sent a gratitude prayer winging to all those who helped put her on her journey to this particular happiness.

  If tomorrow brought her death, she’d have at least achieved her two most important goals in life. She’d found the perfect mate and released her wolf.

  She could go to meet her parents in the afterlife now and feel like she hadn’t let them down.

  Though their chances were slim, if tomorrow brought victory to her and Jared, she’d praise Gaia for the rest of her life and be the happiest wolf-witch the world would ever see.

  11

  “This better be good, Sha. The Jezibaba will be here soon. She’s taking Jared and me to the pack this morning… hey...”

  Moona almost stepped on the stupid bobcat when Sha suddenly stopped her caterwauling, ducked her head, and splayed herself on the ground directly in front of her.

  “Nap time? Are you kidding me?” Moona yelled the questions, glaring down at the bobcat whose eyes were now tightly closed.

  “I only know one other witch with your level of sarcastic impatience. No wonder she’s so determined to save your wolf-witch ass. Elenora’s truly found another kindred soul in you.”

  Moona turned her glare to the speaker and found herself looking at a muscular, average-sized woman wearing pink leg warmers and an orange spandex bodysuit. The colors of the clothing hurt her eyes. More power than Moona had ever felt radiated off the woman.

  For lack of a better way to describe her, Moona decided the female actually glowed. Fairies glowed sometimes. Was the female a fairy? Fairies were nearly the woman’s size. But the woman’s body? Despite her horrible fashion sense, the woman was built like an Amazon warrior.

  The word “freak” fit the glowing woman perfectly too, but who was she to judge? People had said the same about Moona all her life. Moona sighed as she decided to be polite.

  “Who are you?” Moona asked as calmly as she could manage through her irritation to be here when she wanted to be back at the house soothing her pacing mate.

  She watched the woman’s mouth quirk at her question. Gaia save her, she had no time to be someone’s entertainment this morning. “Look, whoever you are, I’m really busy this morning. State your name and your business.”

  The woman chuckled. “You can call me your special friend.”

  “Special friend?” Moona snorted. Who used that ridiculous ploy? “Did the Jezibaba send you to torment me?”

  “Yes, but not for the usual pleasure we both find in creating havoc,” her self-declared special friend said with a laugh.

  Moona frowned. “Seriously. I have no time for foolishness this morning. I may die in a few hours. I have a lot to do.”

  “Die? Well, that’s not a very good attitude going into an alpha wolf challenge, now is it?”

  Moona froze. “What do you know of what I face—of what my mate and I are about to do?”

  Her special friend swept a hand out to the still prostrate Sha. “Quite a lot actually. Your familiar told me everything. I must say I admire you for your determination. It would be far easier for you and your mate to just go start a new life.”

  Moona frowned. “I can’t run from this. I must fight f
or my people, and for my parents and what they gave their lives for. I have prepared for my death, but I don’t seek it. Whatever the outcome though, I have to fight. Now that I’m a wolf, I even look forward to it.”

  “My, my… Elenora was right. You have the sensibilities of a healer and the soul of a warrior. No wonder you’ve survived all these years. You had that alpha thing going on even before you let your wolf out, by the way. Bet your parents didn’t even know that about you. It’s subtle unless you’re really, really looking.”

  “If you have nothing more than general opinions to share, I have to go meet the dragon-witch. She’s our transportation to the big event. We’re going to make a grand entrance, I hear,” Moona reported.

  It shocked her when the female laughed at her again.

  “Don’t rush off yet. I brought you a birthday present, Alpha Moona.”

  “My birthday was yesterday. And why would you bring me a gift? We’re strangers.”

  Her so called special friend walked closer. “Now I realize it’s hard to deal with me showing up while a full measure of wolf bloodlust is rushing for the first time through those veins of yours, but you’re going to want what I’ve brought for you. Trust me.”

  Moona leaned away when the woman lifted a charm on a leather strip from around her neck and held it out in her hands.

  “Let me put this on you and then I’ll explain. Come here, Wolf. I have to chant to make this work.”

  “Are you a witch?” Moona asked.

  “Something like a witch, but much, much more. Now stop insulting me or I’m taking my present back.”

  Moona glanced down at the prostrate Sha who was silent in every way a creature could be. Her alleged ‘familiar’ was offering absolutely no help.

  “Fine,” she said finally, leaning forward to get within the shorter woman’s reach.

  The moment the charm hit her chest, Moona’s knees gave out from under her and she fell to the ground on them.