“I don’t think…” I heaved but produced nothing. “Don’t leave my side, okay?”
“Promise.”
When the transformations were complete, I watched as dozens of wolves of varying size chased each other in an impish manner. They almost seemed friendlier as wolves, reminding me of young children at play. Rikki named each wolf that passed, hoping to help me get accustomed to identifying each member of the pack.
I checked my pulse when I noticed my racing heartbeat. My eyes widened. “My heart’s beating 160 a minute!”
“That is normal for a werewolf,” Rikki assured me, her hand still holding mine.
My eyes began to water. I panicked. “Is this the start?”
“Take a breath,” Rikki cooed, the brown of her eyes melting into gold.
I winced as my skin tightened. I staggered backwards, but Rikki kept my hand in hers. A pounding as heavy and sonorous as a drum erupted from the nothingness in my subconscious. The aching in my gums returned. This was happening. Despite my defiance in the face of Rikki’s many warnings. Despite seeing everyone around me turn into wolves. I couldn’t think. My skull felt as if it was being crushed repeatedly by some large object. I wrested my hand from Rikki’s and pressed both my hands against my head, hoping for some relief.
“Take off your clothes. They will only cause you pain as your body shifts,” she instructed.
Under normal circumstances, I would object to removing my clothes in front of a group of strange wolves, but I did as she ordered. I barely finished undressing before pain savaged my collarbone and sternum. I dropped to my knees. I wrapped my arms around my stomach. My ribs were splitting apart. I couldn’t breathe. I collapsed on my side. My mind went blank. I dug my fingers into the soil, clawing at the earth in desperation. I screamed. I wanted it to end.
“Fighting it will only make it worse,” Rikki counseled, trying to soothe me.
“Please,” I begged.
Rikki knelt beside me. “You can do this, Bonnie. Tell your body to shift. Plead for it.”
I was done. I couldn’t struggle against it or the pain anymore. I accepted it. My back arched and a hollow pain tore through my spine. Hair sprouted, claws formed, a snout developed. I disappeared into something new, something that belonged to the forest – the trees, the rivers, the pulsing of blood.
A wolf was born.
*
Cautiously, I opened my eyes. My vision had considerably improved. I spotted a line of ants weaving through clusters of mushrooms at the base of a fir tree. I heard the thumping of a rabbit’s hindlegs against the soft earth. The urge to run was consuming. I wobbled, unsteady on my new legs. New instincts and desires flooded my consciousness. I sniffed the air and was bombarded by dozens of scents that battled one another for primacy. I was something else now – a bizarre and elemental being.
Someone brushed against my fur. I looked to my side with my new eyes. It was Rikki. I don’t know how I knew it was her, but I did. She was a magnificent wolf. Her black and silver coat was striking in its contrast to the hues of the forest. I wanted to be near her, but I was still shaky in this form. My tail wagged. I have a tail. This is weird. Rikki brushed her body against mine again. She was playing with me.
Hesitantly, I took a step. I stumbled like a newborn calf learning to walk for the first time after emerging from the womb. In time, I was brave enough to sprint. I reveled in the caress of the wind against my body, sensing the human Bonnie fade. The wolf was all there was now. The others soon joined, and we cut deep into the woods. Tree limbs stretched low before us, partially blocking our path. The pack dodged each obstacle with ease. Every movement was elegant – muscles worked in tandem with bone.
Chapter Ten
I awoke to a chorus of calm breathing. I rested the weight of my body on my elbows as I lifted my chest and arms off the ground to get a good look at my surroundings. The entire pack was sleeping soundly. The spongy moss underneath my body was cool. My body. The fur had vanished and was replaced by the familiar caramel color of my skin. The wolf was gone. I had returned.
I was acutely aware that I was naked. I hastily covered myself with my hands, looking around for anything I could use to help me to feel less exposed. I knew it was silly, especially since the rest of the pack members were naked. I looked around, finding Rosemary near Tato, and Cecilia cuddling with her mate, Toni. It was still dark, but my wolf instinct told me it was early in the morning.
The air was crisp. I wasn’t cold, but I wouldn’t have refused a blanket at that moment…or clothes. I turned to my side and found Rikki sleeping next to me. Her beauty was wild and dazzling. I slid closer. She was facing me on her side. Her angles were softer somehow. Maybe it was an effect of shifting. I shook my head. I needed to think rationally. But she was mesmerizingly beautiful. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
Damn. Don’t fall for her, Bonnie.
Her lips were full and bitable. Rikki’s eyes sprang open and I was startled.
“Fuck!” I squealed. “What are you? Lazarus reborn?”
“I was not dead,” Rikki quipped.
I narrowed my eyes at her remark.
She grinned. I fell again, spiraling down the tunnel of lust. Damn. She had a beautiful smile. I wanted to turn away but knew that was impossible.
“I brought this for you.” She offered me a blanket that was stowed beside her on the ground.
“May I?”
I wasn’t sure what she was asking permission to do, but I nodded before thinking. Rikki didn’t touch me, she merely looked at me, drinking in the view of my body. My nipples hardened. I licked my dry lips, trying to control my breathing. My stomach tightened, and I squeezed my thighs together. I was afraid. If Rikki touched me then I wouldn’t have been able to resist her.
“May I?” she asked again.
I should have asked this time what it was she wanted, but I was afraid to. Coward. Something inside me sought something from her. I was unsure of what that was, but I knew I would eventually discover it. Some part of me knew it was my newly born wolf driving the desires.
I nodded again. I didn’t care if everyone was awake and watching, I couldn’t say no to this woman. Where was the tough, relentless part of me?
Gentle fingertips lightly grazed my cheek. I shuddered. Rikki’s jaw was clenched in restraint. Before Rikki could give in to her yearning, her head abruptly shot up. Her eyes were gold. In one swift motion, she grabbed my arm, pulling me up from the ground. We joined the others who were already awake and golden-eyed. Something was going on.
“Keep her here,” Rikki demanded of Rosemary. She then disappeared into the forest.
*
I paced. This is precisely what made me not trust the connection I had with her. I was being foolish thinking this could work. She would always be this dominating ass who lacked the ability to communicate with me properly.
“She’s only trying to protect you,” Rosemary insisted. She was nervously chewing her fingernails and staring at something past the trees.
“I don’t care. I am not a child. And I am not weak!” I bellowed.
“Fuck. Can you calm the hell down? Since you’ve been here, there has been nothing but anxiety.” Cecilia couldn’t help herself. She’d never let me forget how much she disliked my presence in the pack.
I glared at her threateningly. I wasn’t in the mood tonight. “I will tell you this once, princess! I’m already pissed off at Rikki. Don’t make me show you a good ass whooping.”
Cecilia rolled her eyes. “I don’t see how you’re upset with our Alpha. You were just about to—”
“You do know that Rikki can sense Bonnie’s tension right now?” Rosemary warned Cecilia.
Rosemary explained to me earlier today that she was a submissive wolf. It was strange. Whenever I saw her at the hospital, she was scary as hell. No one wanted to be on her bad side. Here, she was the exact opposite. I guess humans were submissive to submissive wolves.
I paced for a few more minu
tes. I reminded myself that I didn’t have to follow anyone’s orders but my own. I started marching to the house, but Rosemary blocked my path.
“Rikki wants—”
“Rikki should have thought about staying here herself to keep me from leaving!” I was so mad that my heart rate was climbing at an alarming rate. I felt like a caged animal.
“Please, Bonnie.” Suddenly, it seemed as if all of Rosemary’s energy was sucked out of her, leaving her exhausted. I listened to her this time.
I stared in the direction of the house and then turned back to Rosemary, still feeling conflicted. I was in a whole new world. I knew Rosemary was only trying to keep me safe. It was obvious that Rikki and the others were running toward a threat. I could feel the frenzy sliding up and over me. It was chilling, but that frenzy never overwhelmed me so much that I lost control. I took a deep breath and then another, wanting that cold and feverish sensation to dissolve. I let my rigid shoulders drop.
“Thank you,” Rosemary whispered.
“Why are you thanking her?” Cecilia shouted. I was starting to think she loved to create drama unnecessarily. “She just did it again! Making us feel what she—”
“Why are you complaining?” It was someone I had not yet met. He crossed his arms over his chest.
Honey-colored eyes reprimanded Cecilia. His blond hair was short, which only drew attention to his slim body. He reminded me of an old friend of mine I had known since middle school. His shoulders were slumped, and there was something about his posture that made me believe he might be a submissive wolf. Far more submissive than Rosemary.
He spoke softly, never raising his voice, “For a few of us who were scared, she helped to calm us. I was ready to shift and hide behind a rock or something.”
Cecilia frowned and said nothing. She stormed away from our group.
He looked to be in his mid-20s. Maybe even younger than that, but it was difficult to discern the age of a werewolf.
He smiled at me and I returned his smile. “I’m Greenly.”
I shook his hand when he offered it to me. I was relieved to finally meet someone who was kind. I was beginning to think Tato and Rosemary would be all I knew in this…pack. That word still was foreign to me.
It took me a little too long to say, “I’m Bonnie.”
“And our Alpha’s mate. Yes?” someone new interjected.
I could do this. Be friendly. I wouldn’t comment on being Rikki’s mate yet. It was the last thing I wanted to think about, particularly here, naked in the forest with other naked people. I told myself not to get swept up in the niceties. There was no way I could join their pack. It would be too much for me to handle. But if I didn’t join this pack, how could I survive alone?
“So much pressure is on you,” Greenly said. “I would not want to be in your shoes.”
I bit my lip. “Yes. I’m still in denial, though.”
Rosemary hugged me from behind. She rested her head on my shoulder and I leaned against her. What was I doing, letting her or anyone comfort me? That was not something I did. Ever. When I felt tons of emotions piling up on me, I usually hid away from the world, letting it all out privately. I couldn’t show my weaknesses in front of all these strangers. In front of Rosemary. In front of Cecilia.
But her touch was intoxicatingly cozy. I could almost fall asleep in her arms. Is this what it felt like to be in a pack? Greenly’s hand brushed my other shoulder. His smile was contagious. I smiled in response. My heart fluttered with mixed emotions. I wasn’t ready to let them all in. It was a hard thing for me to do.
“Stop fighting us,” Rosemary whispered in my ear.
That seemed to do it. Tears burst from my eyes and I shuddered. Rosemary’s arms gripped me tighter.
“I thought she was a dominant?” Cecilia asked quizzically. “I mean, Omegas aren’t submissive.”
Rosemary answered, “Omegas do not merely live as dominant or submissive. She is dominant when she needs to be. Submissive when she needs to be. Only a very few are mostly seen as submissive and Bonnie isn’t one of them.”
I pulled myself out of Rosemary’s arms and wiped my eyes. I reached down to grab a shirt, forgetting that there weren’t any clothes out here. The blanket lay several feet behind me on the ground.
“I can—”
I waved dismissively. “No. It’s all right.”
If everyone else was naked then I really wasn’t alone. I smiled awkwardly. There was no hiding my emotions from them.
Everyone’s attention was directed toward the house.
“She is calling us to come home,” Cecilia announced.
The pack began to walk toward the house. I was about to take a step forward when Rosemary put her hand on my back. “Our Alpha wants you to stay here. She will come to you.”
I frowned but nodded. Rosemary flashed me a sympathetic look.
I waited for Rikki alone. She probably knew I was feeling so many conflicting emotions right now and wanted to address them privately. I was not the type of person to air personal grievances publicly. I grabbed the blanket from the ground and wrapped it around myself. I could do this. Face her. I said it over and over again in my head, knowing I had no clue how I would act once I saw her.
*
I was alone. Alone and naked. Alone and naked and Bonnie. My wolf was gone, and so were the others. They had received some telepathic order from Rikki to return to the house. I was to wait here alone. For her. I was still a little fuzzy on the wolf telepathy details, but I knew I would understand it eventually. Hopefully. The birds were announcing the sunrise from their nests, and it was less chilly than earlier. It was peaceful. It was the perfect atmosphere for me to sit in and process my first experience as a wolf. But of course, with my luck it wasn’t going to happen.
I sensed something approaching me at a rapid pace. I didn’t panic. I knew it was Rikki. Her scent was unmistakable. She was 30 feet out. As she closed the distance between us, the wolf became human. Her angles reemerged. I was beginning to really like those angles. But something was off. Her expression was grave, her eyes remained gold. I was certain she perceived my frustration at being forced to remain behind by myself. I wasn’t accustomed to being ordered about, and even though I understood that she was Alpha and that I would have to get used to the dynamics of the pack, I wasn’t quite there yet. I hadn’t let go of my autonomy.
I knew she was upset about something, but I needed to tell her that I was upset too.
“Look, I do not appreciate being bossed around, especially when I am new to the circumstances and the people…well, the wolves.”
Rikki was silent for a second and then said, “I understand. Accepting this…is not easy, I should know. I didn’t ask for this life either, and only in the last several years have I truly embraced this identity.”
The smallest breeze could have knocked me flat on my back. Not once did I ever consider how this life might not have been an entirely positive experience for her. I became angry at myself for not making much of an effort to assimilate into the pack. In fact, I did everything I could so far to separate myself from the others. From Rikki. The two of us were more alike than I imagined. I wanted to say something, to apologize, but I was unable to even open my mouth.
Soft hands found my shoulders. I resurfaced into awareness, realizing that it was Rikki’s hands on me. I didn’t want to push her away. At least, not right now. I needed the comfort that she wanted to provide. She moved closer to me and pressed her forehead against mine. Her warmth entered my body. I closed my eyes.
“Everything I’m doing is for the protection of the pack…and you.”
“What were you protecting me from?”
Rikki’s body stiffened. “A rogue who claims his Alpha attacked you. They crossed our boundary.”
I was instantly alert. “What did they want?”
“To meet. With you there.”
“Why would he want me—”
“He made you. He technically has… rights to you.
”
I scowled and shifted my weight to one leg. “What does that mean? Rights to me? No one has rights to me!”
She didn’t say anything.
Terror washed over me. “You would hand me over—”
“Never,” Rikki snapped, the gold in her eyes flickered. “But by werewolf law, one who creates a wolf has a claim to that wolf for their pack or mate. Anyone who goes against that law is punished.”
“I’m not going with him.”
Rikki chuckled. “I figured you’d say something like that.”
“So, then what’s the plan?”
She chewed on the inside of her lip thoughtfully. “First, let’s go back to my house and dress. Then, we’ll talk.”
*
“Do I scare you?” Rikki looked up at me from her place on the couch.
I was pacing the floor in the living room of her little shed after we finished dressing. Her question irritated me.
“No. Right now, whatever is happening between you and me is the last thing on my mind. I-I just…all I can think about is the wolf that attacked me. He’s coming for me. He and his Alpha want to claim me.”
She waited patiently for me to finish, then said, “We will figure this out.”
I scratched the back of my head anxiously. “I…I want to go home.”
As if in response, the door opened. It was Rosemary.
“Take her home,” Rikki said barely above a whisper.
Rosemary never spoke a word. After that exchange I didn’t speak either. I could only think of my bed and those yellow eyes. I wondered if the image of those eyes would ever disappear.
Chapter Eleven
On the way back home, I called my supervisor. She wanted me to come into the office. I was nervous and eager all at once. It had been too long since I worked a shift on the rig, and I was desperate to return to the grind. But honestly, at this point I’m sure I would have been happy to get intense dental work done if it took me away from Mill City and anything involving werewolves. I only stayed at my house long enough to shower and change, and I did it all at top speed.
A Night Claimed Page 7