They sat quietly for a moment, as Mia felt her emotions swirling inside of her.
Suddenly, it was as if everything had faded away and a door had opened in front of her. She needed Rowan in her life. He was always the one who was there to save her. And here he was just trying to save her again, from another heartbreak.
"I've loved you for all of my life," Mia said, the words flowing softly from her mouth like sweet honey. It was as if an enormous brick had been lifted from her back.
Rowan looked up at her from behind his messy hair. His lips turned up into a smile, and he clutched so tightly to Mia’s hand that Mia thought he would break it. In a flash, he pushed the table away. The scraping of wood against the floor and the clinking dishes of their uneaten dinner filled the room as he pulled Mia right out of her seat.
Mia closed her eyes, the blood rushing through her veins as Rowan kissed her. He was firm and demanding, more so than their encounter at the waterfall. Mia took him in, letting go of everything she was so afraid of. She felt his arms tightly around her waist as he grabbed her, pulling her close into his rock-solid body. She reached around his neck, feeling his soft hair trailing against her hands. Rowan leaned down, planting kiss after kiss on her neck.
“I want you,” he whispered sharply into her ear. “I’ve wanted you for a long time.”
“Is that you or the wolf talking?” Mia dared to ask. She couldn’t feel her breath, just her heart pumping against his chest.
"Both," Rowan said with a sly grin. "I always thought you'd be my mate." Mia's eyes widened. His mate? She felt a strange tingle over her legs and most sensitive places. She suddenly longed to fulfill his wish.
"Take me, then," she said with a smirk.
Rowan, was now fueled with his animalistic urges, and he slammed Mia against the wall of the kitchen. Pans clattered around them. Mia's hands searched under his shirt, feeling those warm sturdy abs against her fingertips, and touching his firm chest muscles. She gently traced the outlines of his scars. She wanted to be on top of him again, but this time with no restrictions. This time it wouldn't be just a dream. Rowan was clawing at her clothes, grabbing at the small of her back as he kissed her again, feverishly. He wanted the same. Mia's head spun as if the air had left the room. She fumbled with his belt as she unbuttoned his pants. Rowan moaned with anticipation as soon as the fabric hit the floor. Mia gasped again as she felt something long and hard brush against her hand. She clutched for it, realizing just how enormous he was.
"Holy shit," she breathed. "You're massive."
Without another thought, she bent down and pulled Rowan's cock, veiny and pulsing, from underneath his briefs.
She was a little intimidated. How was she going to fit all of it in her mouth? Her eyes went up to Rowan as he waited for her. Mia wrapped her lips around him, her tongue barely brushing against his tip as she inched him further into her mouth. Rowan sighed deeply as she gracefully slid over his shaft, up and down, until she could feel his veins pulsing against her lips. She could feel his fingers weaving through her hair, and clutching at the back of her skull as she moved back and forth.
"I can't wait anymore," Rowan said through his teeth as he took himself out of her mouth. In one swoop, he lifted her up. "Where are we going?" Mia asked as he bounded down the cramped hall.
"Somewhere I can do this properly," Rowan said hungrily as he kicked open the door to his bedroom. He threw her on the bed, promptly lifting his shirt over his head. Mia had him completely naked now, and he was an absolute god in front of her, rippling with muscles built up from being in the wild. She was willing to see just how wild he would get.
Rowan climbed over her, bringing her up on her knees as he lifted up her shirt. Mia kissed his warm neck, feeling the adrenaline pulsing through his veins as he felt for her soft, supple breasts. Clothes flew across the room in a flurry as Rowan ripped at her shorts, pulled off her bra until there was nothing left in between them but a lacy black pair of panties.
Rowan stared up and down at her body, lit up by the moonlight seeping through the curtains.
"What's wrong?" Mia asked.
But Rowan was smiling. "You're gorgeous," he said.
Mia sighed at the touch of his hands running up her thighs and reaching around for her buttocks. He grabbed them, kneading them firmly in his hands, until he slid his hands under the fabric, touching her bare skin. Mia admired the healed skin over his chest. Rowan seemed slightly ashamed, but Mia leaned down to kiss them softly, erasing the pain. Rowan laid her down, gently sucking on her breasts, his breath heavy with want. His fingers lingered down in between her legs, just barely moving away Mia's underwear as he slipped his fingers inside of her. Mia gasped at how easily they went in. She was warm and ready for him.
But first, Rowan wanted a taste. With a devilish grin, he bent down, pulling her underwear to the side again and this time searching her with his tongue. Mia moaned as his warm lips puckered around her vulva. He tasted every part of her, the tip of his tongue swirling around her clit.
Then she was completely naked as he pulled off the only fabric in between them. But Mia wanted to do this right. She was the one longing to be on top. She sat up and pushed Rowan onto his back on the bed.
“Excuse you,” Rowan said, and Mia shushed him harshly as she straddled him. Her breasts hovered over his face as she lowered herself slowly over his erection.
She moaned as she felt him slide inside of her. She had never known whether this moment would ever come to pass in her life, and she loved Rowan's face as he fully entered her. Mia was grinding against him, gently riding him as her ass bounced against Rowan's thighs. Rowan reached for it again, pulling her in to get himself deeper. He was so thick and long as he slid inside and out of her.
Mia looked into his eyes as she thrust, her breasts bouncing in between them.
Something on Rowan's face began to change. He was no longer sweet as he had been when he had touched her before. He looked more intimidating now, and Mia found the word…Animalistic. A shudder overcame her entire body, and soon she found herself thrown onto her back by Rowan's massive arms.
"I've been waiting so long for you, my mate," Rowan said. The word 'mate' lingered in Mia's ears, and just the sound of it made her want to come for him. She'd be a good mate, she decided, let him do whatever he wanted. And Rowan did just that, as he spread Mia's legs further apart before he entered her again. Mia could feel warmth seeping from her as she swallowed him up. He was almost too much to take in, but she wanted all of it.
Rowan thrust, slowly and gently at first. But then the animal overcame him, and soon he had turned completely wild on Mia. He picked her up with inhuman strength, slamming her against the closet door as he took her with such ferocity. Mia moaned, her legs wrapping around him as he wildly bounced her up and down over his cock.
"What next?" Mia said in between thrusts.
Rowan smirked as he threw her back onto the bed. Mia had never realized that she liked it so rough.
She was bent over the bed, soaking wet with anticipation as Rowan guided himself in between her lips.
“You like this cock?” He growled as Mia’s ass slapped against his waist. Mia moaned in response, shocked at how rough he was with her. But she’d hear all of his dirty words as long as it meant she got to feel his thick hard cock inside of her.
Mia arched her back as Rowan took her from behind. He grabbed for her ass again, pulling himself deeper and deeper until Mia cried out.
“Did I hurt you?” Rowan asked.
“No,” Mia said. “Give me more.” This was all she needed to say to unlock Rowan’s full potential. He growled fiercely through his teeth as he pounded faster and faster, his cock spreading her lips apart as they slid over him.
He was hitting all the right spots, enough to make the room spin around Mia. She felt Rowan’s hand reach around, sliding down her stomach and heading straight for her clit as he rubbed it in between his fingers.
“You’re soaking wet,” he
moaned as he kept thrusting. Mia could feel the sweat dripping from his body onto hers. He touched her so carefully, but with such purpose that she could feel herself about to go over the edge.
"Don't stop!" She cried out as she clutched at the wrinkled bed sheets. Her knuckles turned white as she buried her face in the bed while Rowan thrust. An overwhelming wave of pleasure washed over Mia, making her toes curl with delight as she screamed out Rowan's name in the seclusion of the cabin. She felt herself contract around him as she came, warmth pouring from her and dripping down her legs.
It wasn't long before Rowan had flipped her onto her back. He closed his eyes. Mia felt him pulsing inside of her. She could feel his seed emanating from him as he softly moaned her name while he climaxed. He brought himself back down, and they laid still for a while, with Rowan breathing heavily over her, sweat dripping from his brow.
Mia smiled at him with satisfaction. In all of her life, she had never dreamed that this moment with come, and she was perfectly content to have shared this with Rowan.
“That was perfect,” Mia breathed as she looked up at the moon, her tired and naked body wrapped in one of Rowan’s blankets. She felt his hand on her shoulder, followed by his soft lips as he gently kissed her neck.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
He left her side, wandering to the other side of the room, but Mia kept her gaze on the white glaring moon in the sky. It wasn’t full, but Mia had a strange prick on the back of her neck as she remembered what Rowan was.
“You were really an animal,” she said with a small laugh. But when she turned around, she realized Rowan wasn’t laughing.
He sat on the floor, his legs crossed, as he breathed heavily. Mia was instantly concerned at how fast and ragged his breaths were.
"Rowan, what's wrong?" She asked. "What's going on?"
But Rowan couldn't answer. His neck muscles tightened as if he was under a spell that wouldn't let him speak. His body shook, but he was paralyzed, confined to the floor as he tried to hold on. Mia realized that his body was trying to shift. "Oh God, let's get you outside," Mia said.
“Mia, I can’t hold on,” Rowan said through his teeth. His jaw clenched. Mia grabbed for his arm, trying to calm him down. She couldn’t let him loose again, she wanted to stay to try to help him overcome this monstrous urge. “Just breathe,” she said quietly. “Please don’t go…”
“Sorry —” Rowan tried to say, but his voice was growing harsher, more like a growl.
It was too late. He had held on all day, but the wolf was longing to shift. Mia had indulged it just a bit too much, and she realized that she was triggering the shift.
"Mia…I'm so sorry…I'm trying…" Rowan choked as he fell onto his side. "It's really bad this time…" Mia felt warm tears in her eyes and a wild panic throughout her whole body. She shushed him, trying to stay calm. "It's okay. It's okay," she kept saying, but she could only watch in horror as Rowan contorted back into a wolf, his limbs stretching and pulling until they were formed into paws. Soon, he was on his four legs, growling up at her.
“Rowan,” she said calmly, but the fur rose up on the back of Rowan’s neck. She knew he couldn’t control this, but maybe she could try. She reached out her hand as she tiptoed towards him, but the wolf was angry for some reason. She thought maybe because he was so worked up from before.
“It’s just me,” she said softly, getting closer now. But Rowan’s jaws snapped at her as he barked sharply at her. His lips curled around his sharp set of teeth, and for a second Mia could picture that poor young girl that he had attacked. The horrible truth was settling in.
“Rowan, please come back!” Mia pleaded desperately, but Rowan was more agitated. He snapped at her hand again, this time his teeth grazed against her skin. Mia let out a sharp startled cry, which silenced the wolf.
He looked at her strangely, as if it suddenly realized what it had done to her. In a mad dash, it sprinted through the hallway, clattering against the table. Dishes crashed to the floor as he clumsily tumbled over the furniture of the cabin. Mia rushed towards the back door, trying to avoid the growling animal that was once Rowan.
In a swift motion, she opened the door in the sitting room and stepped to the side as the wolf disappeared into the night. Mia slid her back down the wall, her head in her hands as she cried. She cried for the both of them because she knew Rowan couldn't. She looked at the blood dripping from her hand. Rowan would never hurt her, she knew that, but this animal was something different, and she could only hope that there was a way to get Rowan back…
CHAPTER 14: OPEN SEASON
Rowan didn’t know where he was going, but he had to get as far away as he could from the cabin, for fear of what harm he might do to Mia. The wolf was satisfied after the tensions he had been feeling for so long, and yet he was still irritable for some reason. He paws thudded against the dirt, kicking up rotted leaves as he sprinted further into the night. Run, the voice kept saying to him. Hide.
He realized that he had run far, past the waterfall, and he no longer could catch the scent of his home or any of Brian's markings that might help him find his way back. The wolf looked around at the forest, suddenly lost amongst the towering trees and the sounds of the night. Rowan didn't mind the woods, but he briefly remembered a fragment from his human memory, of the lone wolf he had seen watching him from the waterfall. It made him uneasy. Enemy, echoed in his mind.
Rowan sniffed around a cluster of shrubs, picking up the sweet scent of berries struggling to grow in the cold. He figured he had come far enough, and rested, placing his head on his two front paws. His ears lowered, as he felt a strange pang of loneliness creep over him. He could feel a slight shudder, possibly from the cold, but most likely from the man inside that wanted to come back out. He wouldn't let him. The wolf was upset and wanted to be alone. He couldn't come back and face the struggles of being a human once again. It was too strenuous for an animal.
He was tired and could feel sleep pulling on his eyes. But there was strange activity nearby that captured his attention. His ears perked up at the sound of something trudging through the forest. He raised his nose to the air. It wasn't another animal and not those wolves that he had sniffed out when he had rescued Mia. He stood, crouching among the shrubs as he continued to listen. There were hushed voices, and a light passing through the trees, searching back and forth.
Humans, Rowan thought, and an image of Mia flashed in his mind. It wasn't her out there, but the thought of her back in the cabin, by herself. He wouldn't want anyone to stumble upon his home and possibly take Mia back into town where the policemen would find her.
He sprung from the bushes, lurking around the trees as he tried to avoid the ominous light searching through the woods. But he wasn't sure where it would land next, until it passed right over him. The light blared into the corner of his eye, and he instinctively turned towards it. The voices grew louder, men's voices. Rowan caught a glimpse of a reflective vest on one of them. They didn't smell familiar, but before Rowan could tell they were hunters he was already startled by the deafening pop of a gunshot.
Rowan took off running, with only the thought of survival in his animal mind. The hunters were following him now, their boots crushing the leaves as they fired off another shot. There were two of them, but Rowan knew he couldn’t take them both. His ears tucked back, feeling the icy wind against his fur as he ran, not looking back. Mia, he thought. Danger.
He ducked and squeezed his way under a fallen tree trunk, hoping the men couldn't get to him there. He came out from the other side, relieved for only a second until he heard another gunshot, followed by a sharp sting that pierced his shoulder. He yelped and tried to keep running, his nose finding the edge of Brian's vast safety circle. But it was too late. He collapsed on the forest floor, whimpering in pain from the bullet that had entered his body. The voices were getting closer, and soon they would finish him off and throw his body in the back of their truck. He'd be a trophy to them, and they wouldn't
have any idea that he had been a human just moments before. The lights shone over the tree trunk. Rowan could almost feel it burning into his back.
But another sound cut through the hunter's voices. A low deep-throated growl that didn't sound anything like a wolf's. Rowan froze, as another gunshot went off. But the growling continued until it was a harsh breathy roar that echoed through the trees. The men sounded frightened now, their voices more distant as they ran in the other direction. Rowan closed his eyes, but before darkness washed over him he could make out a familiar scent. Bear, he thought. Friend.
Mia pulled on one of Rowan's thick sweaters over her head. The wool was a little itchy, but it was warm enough. They hadn't made a fire that night, and Mia wasn't sure how to get one going until Rowan came back. She picked up the furniture that Rowan had knocked over when he had shifted. She tilted one of the kitchen chairs back into place and grabbed a broom to clean up the mess from their untouched food that was now spilled all over the floor.
Mia winced as she clutched the broom handle, looking at the fresh bandage around her wound from Rowan's teeth. He hadn't gotten her that badly, but just the fact that he would still bite her made her feel a little sick to her stomach. She wondered, only for a second, about whether she would end up like him because of it. She realized that she didn't know what she was getting herself into when she found out about Rowan's abilities. As she dumped the remnants of her crispy and cold omelet in the trash, she wondered if there really was any way for him to get his shifting under control.
She cleaned up the cabin as best that she could, and then sat on the worn couch while she decided what to do. She could wait for Rowan, but for some reason, she felt a strange emptiness tugging at her. Maybe he wouldn't come back. Maybe he was too ashamed about what had happened between them; especially since it had happened after their blissful moment together. She suddenly felt upset. How could he not have known it was her and that she was just trying to calm him down? Wasn't he less aggressive the night he had saved her from her prison cell?
Seeking The Alpha (Wolf Pack Chronicles Series Book 1) Page 9