I glared at her. “The dining hall is massive.”
“Exactly,” she winked. “Spill.”
I took a big breath. It was now or never. “Well, from what I’ve gathered he’s a gigantic pain in the ass, he has zero control of himself, and he’s my mate apparently.”
Her thermos of coffee hit the ground with a loud clang and the contents went everywhere.
I cursed, reaching to pick it up, but Tara didn’t even react.
“Rewind,” she gasped. “Sister say what?”
I set her empty cup on a bench and ran a hand over my face. “You heard what I said, Tar.”
“Woah, what’s this mess about?” Seraphim’s voice cut through the room, making us both jump. Wilder strolled in behind him in a white T-shirt and workout shorts, his hair tousled from sleep. My fingers itched to run through it, and I curled them into fists to dampen the ache.
“Just being clumsy,” Tara lied. “You know me.”
Ser narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re the most coordinated person I know actually, but whatever. Wilder here says he’s practicing shifting today. I couldn’t miss out on all the fun.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Good to know one of us is chipper this morning.”
“As always, baby. As always,” Ser winked.
Wilder shot him a look that could have wilted flowers on the spot, but Ser clapped him on the shoulder and threw his head back in a laugh. “Easy lover-boy. I’m like her brother, or really young uncle, or all-around better half.”
Heat flared in my cheeks, but I shoved the embarrassment far, far to the recesses of my mind. “Hey uncle, why don’t you show him the ropes first since you’re so perky this morning.”
He was yanking his shirt over his head before I’d even finished my sentence. “With pleasure.”
Seraphim stripped down to nothing and Wilder’s eyes widened in surprise. As lycans, we were used to nudity. If the clothes didn’t come off first, they didn’t make it through the shift. But Wilder apparently had some modesty to get over.
“Strip, rogue. We don’t have all day.”
We did, actually. But that was beside the point. Eventually, I was going to have to start hunting again, and next time I would be armed to the hilt. If this rogue was as tough as we suspected she was, I’d need to be prepared for the fight of my life.
Wilder glanced at me, then down at the floor as he pulled his shirt over his head and damn it all to hell if my mouth didn’t start watering. I’d forgotten how good he looked naked. Like an angel banished to earth, all hard lines and lean muscle.
The pants came off next, and I averted my eyes. I refused to be that much of a creep.
“Now, I’m going to shift and shift back. I’ve been doing it for years, so it goes quickly for me. See if the wolf responds, and if it does, let the shift happen. Don’t fight it,” Seraphim said.
There was hardly a breath between the end of his statement and the first crack of his bones shifting, breaking, and reforming in a matter of seconds. His canines protruded. His eyes changed from chocolate brown to a glowing golden color. Fur erupted from his skin as the shift forced him into a crouch, and just like that, he was no longer a man. A large, marbled grey wolf stood in his place.
For a moment, I was afraid Wilder would pass out. His skin was three shades paler by the end of the ordeal, and his mouth parted in silent awe at the wolf in front of him.
Seraphim’s wolf form was large and beautiful. I usually only saw it on pack runs or when we were chasing a strong rogue scent. For the most part, we both remained in our skin. But there was something freeing about letting the wolf take over. There were no second guesses or ulterior motives when the wolf was in charge.
We all held our breath for a full minute, wondering what Wilder would do. He closed his eyes, breathing deep. The muscles in his arms bunched and released. But nothing happened.
When he opened his eyes again, he looked defeated. “I can’t...”
Seraphim shifted back to his skin and rolled his shoulders as the joints snapped back into place. The corners of his mouth curved down as he assessed Wilder, thinking.
“You said before that when you feel something it triggers the change,” Tara said, her eyes flashing to Ser. “Make him angry.”
A wicked smile danced across Seraphim’s mouth. I moved forward to protest, but I was already too late. Seraphim’s fist connected with Wilder’s jaw so hard it whipped his head to the side.
Wilder’s eyes flashed that off-silver color, rimmed with something dark. He squeezed them shut again, his hands balled to fists as his muscles contracted up his arms, over his shoulders, and back. His breathing turned to shallow pants, laborious and painful to listen to.
“Don’t fight it,” Ser commanded.
But already, I could see the ripples starting to ease. They slowed with his breathing until he was perfectly normal again.
Seraphim groaned. “This is going to be harder than we thought.”
But Tara had a gleam in her eye that meant only one thing, trouble. I didn’t even want to know what she had up her sleeve.
“Let’s pick this up again later. I’m starving. Wilder, do you want to join us for breakfast?”
I rolled my eyes at her. Of course, she would invite him along.
I almost considered skipping the meal, but the look on Wilder’s face, the surprise and happiness there, had me reconsidering.
“I didn’t get out of bed this early for tea and biscuits. We barely even started!” Ser grumbled as we made our way across the field separating the training house from Tara’s cabin. It was a nice hike at this pace, but I was glad for it and the soft wind that hit my face, stirring my braided hair back from my shoulders and stealing Wilder’s intoxicating scent with it.
He was walking at a safe distance behind me, talking to Seraphim about the pain involved in shifting. The truth was it always hurt. But with time and practice, the change was a lot quicker, and the pain didn’t last once the wolf was in control. It would take him a while to get there.
As we started to pass different houses, I could hear the pack members rising for the morning, the sounds of coffee pots churning and tv’s turning on. Warmth settled over me. We were like our own functioning city. This was safety, home.
Ahead, one of the log cabin doors swung open and two men stumbled out onto the porch. I almost stopped in my tracks. I knew them both. Aaron and Jameson Richards. Two brothers with a death wish if you asked me. They’d been sniffing at my tail for years and no matter how many times I rejected them, they just didn’t get the hint.
I rolled my eyes. Unmated males.
“I thought I smelled something heavenly,” Aaron smiled at me as he descended the stairs.
He had a head of blonde curls that most girls would kill for, and a smile to curl toes. His brother was a year older and just as good-looking, the darker version of his sibling. His brown hair fell to his shoulders, and the stubble on his chin made him look edgy, dangerous.
“Glad to see the princess has returned,” Jameson folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the porch railing, eyeballing me from head to toe.
I snorted at him and kept walking. “Don’t forget, this princess could kick your ass.”
His green eyes sparkled. “Anytime. You call, I’ll be there.”
Aaron approached me as his brother hung back, a broad smile on his face. We’d been friends once upon a time, still were on days he could get his hormones under control. But I could see it in the coy lilt of his mouth that today was not that kind of day.
“Aella,” he teased at my hair as he reached me. “How long are you going to make me work for this? Come inside. Have breakfast with me. I’ll kick James out for a while.”
I moved to twist away from his teasing grip on the end of my braid, but I didn’t have to. His hand was snatched away in a blur, and a big body wedged between us, blocking Aaron from my view.
“What the hell?” Aaron growled.
I gape
d at Wilder’s back as it rippled through his clothes. His answering snarl was loud enough that it sent nearby birds soaring out of the trees.
I spun to Tara, who stood by the Richard’s porch, watching as if she’d planned this all along. She’d used me as bait. Because of course, the Richard boys would smell me coming. And of course, Wilder, my mate, would act on impulse when they harassed me.
“What were you thinking?” I hissed at her, but she just shrugged as if this were no big deal.
The popping of bones and a grunt of pain made me spin around. Wilder had dropped to his knees, his head hanging down as his skin rippled.
“What the fuck, man?” Aaron gawked.
Jameson was pushing off the porch, already stripping off his shirt. If I didn’t do something, there was going to be a fight, and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be pretty.
Wilder screamed as his spine snapped and claws started to grow from his fingers. He was changing fast for a new lycan. Not nearly as fast as Seraphim had but much quicker than average.
“Go inside,” I put enough bite into my words that both of the brothers stopped in their tracks. “Now!”
Aaron glanced at me and spun on his heels. If he were in his fur, I was sure his tail would be tucked between his legs right now.
Jameson paused, glaring at Wilder’s broken body. “What’s his problem? He your boyfriend now or something?”
It was my turn to growl at them. Jameson just snorted, an angry glint in his eyes, but he turned and headed back into the cabin nonetheless.
I shifted my focus back to Wilder. Seraphim was crouched in front of him, talking him through the shift. Fur replaced skin as his body folded in on itself, and then it happened. He wasn’t the tall, muscular man anymore. He was a wolf. The most beautiful wolf I’d ever seen.
I stared, open-mouthed at his jet-black fur, at the silver eyes flashing as he bared his teeth, ready to rip into the Richard brothers.
Seraphim threw a fist in the air and laughed. “That’s what I’m talking about!”
Before I knew it, he’d shed his clothes again and was shifting into his wolf.
Tara’s tinkling laugh floated to where I stood frozen. She didn’t waste any time stripping down to nothing before elbowing me. “Come on. Let’s run a patrol. It’ll be good for him. For all of us.”
I wanted to deny her, to run in the opposite direction rather than face his wolf with my own. I wasn’t sure how I would react to him in my fur. I didn’t know if I could trust myself.
But I needed this. The wolf inside was clawing to come out for the first time in weeks. I hadn’t been shifting enough, hated feeling the slightest bit out of control. But the call was too strong now to turn my back on.
“You guys go ahead. I’m right behind you.”
Seraphim yipped and sped off into the trees as Tara shifted. Her wolf emerged, golden as the sun rising in the sky and just as beautiful as her human form. She lingered by the tree line as Wilder hesitated, apprehensive to leave my side.
I bared my teeth at him, my canines already extending. “Move it, rogue.”
He snorted, lips quivering in a snarl, before taking off after Tara.
I walked into the woods behind them, shucking off my clothes and leaving them by a tree. The pain of the shift burned everything inside me, like a wildfire spreading through my bones. I hissed as I crumpled to the ground and caught myself on four paws.
10
Aella
The woods sharpened into focus. My hearing and eyesight intensified. In our skin, we still had keen senses, but nothing quite compared to being in fur.
I shook out my coat, letting the golds and reds of it shimmer in the morning sunlight. Life this way was simple, not taxing or complex, and the wolf was only aware of one thing.
I lifted my long snout into the air and sniffed, and there it was, strong enough to knock me on my ass, his scent, the smell my wolf would recognize anywhere. Mine.
I knew I shouldn’t think the word, but I couldn’t understand why. Didn’t care.
I took off after him, spraying snow in my wake. He wasn’t far. He was holding back, waiting for me.
A pull started in my chest, yanking tight like a rubber band ready to snap. The only way to loosen it was to get close to him, to be with him, where I belonged.
I growled at myself, torn between my wolfs nature and my own. We had always been one and the same. When I shifted, I was still me, just less uptight, less worried. But now... it was as if another entity was at war with me, struggling to get to her mate, to give herself to him.
I was running so hard; I couldn’t stop myself as I caught up to my companions. I hit the brakes too late, careening forward into a ball of onyx tuft.
My body rolled in the dirt, landing in a tangle of limbs with a warm body.
Wilder stared at me, those silver eyes stunned as we tried to untangle ourselves. Everywhere he touched me was like a livewire going off under my skin. And then he just... froze.
I watched him drink in my scent, and then his wolf called out to mine almost urgently. The bond pulled tight, wrenching me to my feet.
He followed suit, and I was so startled as he rubbed himself along the length of my body, I forgot to growl. He was marking me, putting his scent all over me so that everyone would know we’d been close, that he wanted to claim me as his.
My wolf relished in the feeling. I did not.
He circled me, coming up my other side as his head and shoulder ran along my side and back, and I snapped at him. He jumped backward as my teeth clacked together. If he hadn’t, he’d be missing a chunk of his flank.
Up ahead, Seraphim’s howl stretched for miles, ricocheting off the thick trees. I threw my head back and called back to him, and then I was chasing the sound to find him at the border. We would run a lap or two around the perimeter, checking for any scent marks or breaches, and then I would go back to the dining hall for some breakfast.
My mouth watered at the thought. I prayed Matias had made extra sausage and bacon this morning.
Tara and Wilder were on my heels as we neared the border, and I spotted Seraphim up ahead with two older males, Warren and Jack, the heads of pack patrol. They were unmated but seasoned enough not to try it with me or Tara. Still, Wilder bristled at the sight of them, coming up to stand by my side, his head high, chest puffed out. He was trying to make himself look bigger, which was pointless. He was definitely big enough already.
Seraphim swished his tail in my face as if to say, ‘what took you so long,’ and I snarled at him.
Warren and Jack surveyed the male at my side, dipping their heads slightly to both of us. My stomach drooped. His scent was all over me, and he’d effectively rubbed my scent all over himself. It was pretty clear what they’d think. With my bad luck, word would be spreading about this before we even made it back to the pack house.
I grumbled, taking off past them to start my patrol. They could peruse with each other all they wanted. I had a job to do.
Turned out, shifting back for Wilder was just as hard as changing into his wolf. Seraphim stayed outside to work on it with him for half an hour before they finally walked into the pack house.
Wilder was in a new pair of clothes since he’d effectively shredded the last outfit. He kept it simple today. Black jeans, black shirt and shoes, and he still looked sweet as sin.
Damn it all to hell.
He plopped down beside me at the table, smiling a real, happy smile I hadn’t seen from him yet. It transformed his face, dimpling his cheeks. I was fairly sure he had the whitest teeth I’d ever seen. It wasn’t fair.
“That’s the easiest it’s ever been. I felt... connected to the wolf in a way I never have before.”
I stabbed at a piece of fruit and popped it into my mouth, but inside, I was glad for him. I might not want him tied to my hip, but he deserved to be one with his wolf. He didn’t ask to be turned into a lycan or for any of the hardships that came with it. The least I could be was cordial.
“That’s good,” I mumbled around my mouth full of food. “The more you shift like that, the better it will feel when you and your wolf are one.”
His eyebrows arched in surprise. He was stunned that I’d spoken to him. I was kind of surprised as well.
When I’d gotten back to the pack house, my fears had been confirmed. The unmated females were glaring at me as if I’d stolen the last cookie from the cupboard, and the males weren’t much better. As much as I hated it, I’d been prime real estate around here for years. Most of them were in competition for who would win over the alpha’s daughter. Now that I was supposedly “off the market,” they all looked at me as if I were an alien.
“My wolf was very... taken with you.” I tracked the bobbing of his adam’s-apple as he swallowed, my mouth watering slightly. “This thing between us. Is it normal?”
Tara cleared her throat, shooting me a pointed look. She might as well have screamed, “Tell him!” in my face. But I wasn’t sure how. I wasn’t interested in the bond and if I recalled correctly, Wilder had hinted at coming out of a bad relationship before his move to Montana. How could I educate him about mates now?
I suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore.
I picked up my plate and rose from the table. “It means we should stay away from each other.”
As I started to leave, a strong hand wrapped around my wrist. His touch was gentle but firm enough to keep me still.
“You know I can’t do that,” he said. “Don’t make me do that. Please.”
I could feel the eyes crawling over us, traveling over my face, then to him and the way his hand held me in place. If he were any other male, he’d be without that hand right about now. But as it was, the electricity from our skin contact was making it hard to breathe evenly.
The wolf inside wanted nothing more than to curl up in his lap and show everyone here that he was mine. Mine. And while the other girls could look, they certainly weren’t allowed to touch.
Marked By A Rogue: The Rogue Hybrid Book Three Page 5