Direwolf's Desire (Ice Age Alphas Book 3)

by Lily Thomas

  “Umm, no,” Andrea replied as she shook her head. “There is no way I’m coming down there. Dream or no dream.” She clutched tighter to the branch under her. “There’s such a thing as stranger danger, and a werewolf is definitely dangerous.”

  His upper lip curled in a growl, and his golden eyes flashed at her, but she still didn’t budge from her crouched position.

  They stared each other down as each studied the other.

  A slow smile of success crept across her lips, and a fire leaped into his golden eyes as he caught the smirk. Then he strode towards the tree, hooked a hand on the first branch, and hauled himself up. Then he climbed to the next branch.

  “Stop!” Andrea flung out a hand with an open palm.

  The naked man halted as he was about to hook a hand on a third branch and glanced up at her.

  “I’ll come down.” She didn’t want to get into a fight with mister hunky when they were high up in a tree. One of them could fall and break a neck. If she was going to fight him, then she would do it on the ground.

  His golden eyes stared at her blankly. Great, they had a language barrier. Then again, what had she expected?

  Andrea pointed to herself, and then the ground. “I will climb down.” She motioned to the ground again.

  His eyes narrowed on her, but he leaped to the ground straight from the branch second branch, landing with a grace only a man like him could possess.

  Great. And now he was going to watch her as she climbed her unfit body down the tree. She wasn’t fat by any means, but she also didn’t keep up with exercising, and the fact she got up this tree was a miracle due to adrenaline. Now she was worried she might not make it down as gracefully.

  Slinking from her branch, Andrea reached a cautious toe blindly for the next branch. When she felt the welcoming scrape of bark under her foot, she planted her foot firmly, and let the toe from her other foot explore. When she felt the branch, she planted her second foot and let go of the branch above her head.

  Andrea smiled with her success. Now she just had like five more of these to go. As she eased herself onto the next branch, she planted her feet and let go of the branch above her. Then the bark slipped, and her arms pinwheeled next to her.

  With a gasp, she felt the branch slip out from under her feet. She tried in vain to grab hold of a branch or anything.

  But no such luck.

  Her loose hair whipped around her face as she fell backward. She was going to die! Maybe she’d wake up in her hotel bed… but if this wasn’t a dream, then she was going to go splat on the ground… or at least break a leg, and a broken leg in the ice age wasn’t the best thing. She didn’t even want to think about their shamans treating her. A broken leg could be a death sentence.

  All these thoughts flitted through her mind as though she fell in slow motion, but all these thoughts floated through her mind in the blink of an eye.

  Then Andrea landed against something hard and… soft at the same time.

  Her eyes had slammed shut sometime during the fall, and when she determined she was truly still alive, she popped one eye open to see the naked man’s face right next to her face.

  “Eeek!” Andrea screeched as she realized he had caught her against his firm chest. “Let me go!” She screamed at the top of her lungs and was pleased when she noticed him wince in pain. Wildly, she beat at his chest with one hand and kicked her legs like a woman gone wild. That chest was even more firm then she thought it would be, and a tingle of something that wasn’t fear seared through her.

  The naked man released her, and she darted away. Facing him, she cast him a glare. “Thanks for saving me, but you could have put me down sooner. I’m not one for being pressed up against a man’s naked chest when I have no clue who he is… or what he is.”

  Naked man moved in the blink of an eye and shoved her up against the rough bark of a tree.

  “Eep.” She exhaled as his naked muscled body flattened against hers. That flaccid member, well, it wasn’t so flaccid anymore. It pressed urgently against her abdomen, demanding her attention.

  Andrea raised her hands to his chest and immediately regretted the decision. The feel of his rock-hard tanned pecs under her hands had a tingle of awareness spearing through her body.

  Naked man bent his head down, his mouth next to her cheek. Then he growled something next to her ear, and even though she didn’t understand the words, a deeply hidden feminine part of her knew exactly what he was saying. He promised her pleasure beyond her wildest dreams.

  Then his head drew back, and she glanced up at him, still too frozen in shock to move or protest their closeness. His lips curved up in a smile, and her eyes drifted down to them, and she tried to imagine what those lips would feel like on hers.

  Emma had told Andrea that she must have read too many werewolf romance novels, and maybe she had. Maybe this was a dream made in part because of her job and because of her favorite romance novels.

  Leaning up on her toes, Andrea captured his lips with her mouth as she made a decision. It appeared to be the invite he needed. His lips slanted over hers as his head bent, deepening their kiss. His lips worked hers right before the tip of his tongue slid against the crease of her lips, asking for entrance.

  Andrea was more than happy to part her lips and allow his exploring tongue entrance into her mouth. He scraped his tongue across her front teeth before fighting with her tongue in a dueling dance.

  Her hands scraped down his chest and then back up before she wrapped her arms around his strong neck. Her hands curled into his hair as her body thrummed in excitement. An excitement he was slowly stoking within her. An excitement she hadn’t felt in years with a man.

  His hot hands worked over her body as if he was trying to memorize her form. His lips disengaged from hers, and he nuzzled her neck as one of his hands slipped between her thighs.

  Andrea eagerly parted her thighs as his fingers explored further. One finger slid between her folds, which were slick with her desire. She wasn’t normally this easy to turn on, but it’d been years since a boyfriend had graced her life, and she refused to have sex with anyone on the dig sites she worked.

  And here was a man who could only ever exist in her dreams, acting like he wanted to ravish her. It was too hard to pass up.

  The tip of his erection pressed into her abdomen, and a moan escaped her lips as his exploring finger found her clit. The pad of his rough finger circled as her hips bucked against his hand. His finger felt great, but what she wanted was the thick hard cock pressing against her trembling abdomen.

  Then he slipped a couple of fingers into her slicked entrance, sliding in with ease.

  “Oh, yes.” Andrea moaned as her eyes slid closed.

  The naked man’s head dipped lower, and he sucked a tight bud into his mouth. His tongue swirled around her nipple, and pleasure engulfed her. Her mind went blank, and all she could think about was getting off.

  “Yes, yes! Harder!” She begged, unsure if he understood her, but hoping the desperation in her voice would translate her words for her.

  A shudder rolled through her entire body, and if naked man’s hand hadn’t been on her ass, she would have melted and slumped onto the ground. Her pussy clamped down around his fingers, and stars shot across her vision until the tremors faded.

  Andrea sighed in satisfaction.

  Naked man’s hands gripped her ass and yanked her up, then he pressed her against the tree trunk, grabbed his cock in one hand and…

  “Hell, no!” Andrea barked as she yanked out of his arms and landed on her feet.

  When she met his eyes, she could see the fire dancing in those golden eyes once more, and his dark eyebrows drew down over his eyes. He took a threatening step towards her, so she held out a hand and glared him down. Wasn’t that what people were supposed to do with dogs and wolves? Meet their eyes and stare them down?

  His eyes widened as he realized she wasn’t going to let them go any further.

  Poor guy. She had led
him on a bit, but no was no in her world, and she was ready to enforce it here in the ice age.

  “No more.” Andrea’s eyes lowered to his still proud and jutting cock. “As much as I want to have sex with a primal man against a tree or in the grass, we can’t. I can’t.”

  The naked man growled at her, the sound feral. It sent shivers of primitive fear running down her spine as a tiny voice in her head yelled at her to run, but she squashed it like a bug. If she ran, he would just turn into a wolf and chase her down, like he already had.

  “We can’t do this,” Andrea explained despite the language barrier, “when this dream ends because this has to be a dream if there are werewolves, although to be honest, I guess werewolves are just as far-fetched as time travel… anyways,” she shook her head as she realized she was rambling like an idiot, “I’m getting off topic here. If this is a dream,” she restarted, “then I’m going to wake up someday, and you won’t be real, and I’ll be hot and needy, and all I’ll have is a dildo and vibrator to satiate me. And as good as they are, I’m sure you’d be much better.” Her gaze once more slid down to his pulsing member, which strained for her loving attentions.

  He growled at her.

  Andrea yanked her eyes from his cock and met his golden eyes. “Sorry. Hard not to stare. I don’t mean to tease.”

  Naked man took another step towards her as he offered her a hand. A hand that had brought her so much delicious pleasure.

  Andrea shook her head as she backed up. Her hand came up to fiddle with the wooden bracelet on her other wrist. It was time to end this. His eyes fell to the bracelet, and she removed it while she wished to be back in her hotel bed.

  Chapter 7

  Rokki blinked dumbly as he stared at the empty spot before him. One moment his mate was standing before him, and then the next she was gone, like the last time he’d seen her.

  The shift ripped over him.

  Lifting his head, he howled to the sun above in protest. She was gone, and Rokki had no idea when he would next see her, or if he would ever see her again. He hadn’t understood a single word that she’d spoken, but her tone… he understood her tone. It had sounded like a goodbye to him.

  His wolf howled in anger once again.

  Raking his claws against a nearby tree, he ripped chunks clean off the trunk. His mate had fiddled with a wooden bracelet on her wrist before she’d disappeared, and he was sure that object was to blame. If he saw her again, he would rip it off her wrist and break the bloody thing.

  Nothing.

  Nothing would take his mate from him ever again.

  Rokki’s dire wolf refused to leave the area. The sun moved through the sky as it headed west, and as the sun finally began to sink below the horizon, he gave up hope of her coming back that day.

  Shaking out his thick shaggy coat, Rokki sniffed the area, memorizing the area. His mate had reappeared near the same area where she’d disappeared the first time. If she came back, then he assumed it would be near here.

  Once he was sure he had the area memorized, he loped off, back to his village. Until she came back, he didn’t need any of his pack sniffing around or wondering where he kept going. No one needed to know he may have found his mate. There would be too many questions, and none he would be able to answer.

  As Rokki broke into the village, he shifted back into his human form, never missing a step as he strolled between a couple of mammoth skin huts.

  “Where have you been?”

  Rokki turned to spot his one of his three sisters watching him with her intelligent brown eyes, a hand on her hip. “Taking a run through the forest and searching for any signs of Neanderthals.” Partly true, he had been searching for Neanderthals before he’d heard the mammoth trumpeting in the forest and smelled the sweet scent of his mate.

  “Did you find any sign of them?” Zuri asked as her hand dropped from her waist, and she walked past him.

  Rokki followed her into the village, unconcerned with his nudity. Being unclothed was beneficial when one was a shifter. Now he could shift without shredding his clothing, which took time to make. Tanning hides and sewing them together was a long process. If he didn’t watch how many he tore, the women in the clan wouldn’t be shy about sharing their opinions with him.

  “No.”

  “Good. Darc wouldn’t like to hear that the Neanderthals were spotted in our territory again.” Zuri said, referring to their brother. “He worries about them harming someone in the pack.”

  Rokki’s brother liked to pretend that he was leader of the pack. Rokki suppressed a growl that threatened to rumble out of his throat. Their uncle was the leader until one of the brothers found their mate, but not just any mate, whichever brother found a witch as his mate would lead the clan. It had been foretold by a seer long ago.

  Both brothers were alphas, and when one of them became leader, the other would be forced to leave. That was the way it was. There could only be one alpha, or they would continue to fight. They could barely tolerate each other as it was. Rokki wished his dire wolf could tolerate Darc’s dire wolf, but the two alpha males couldn’t.

  “I think you meant to say that our uncle would be upset by the Neanderthals wandering into our territory since he is the pack leader.” Rokki corrected his sister.

  Zuri flashed him a smile over her shoulder. “Want to be pack leader, little brother?”

  “What alpha wouldn’t want to be pack leader?” Rokki asked as he ignored his sister’s teasing of his age. Every alpha wanted to be a pack leader, and their pack was the perfect pack. It was a large pack with nearly forty dire wolves, and one of the largest in the area.

  “You’ll need your mate then.”

  He had found his mate, and he wanted to tell his sister, but he clamped his mouth shut. With his mate disappearing and reappearing, there was the chance she was using magic, which would mean that his mate was a witch. And if Darc found out he had a witch as a mate, her life would be in danger. He didn’t want to believe his brother would kill her, but he couldn’t be sure.

  So, for now, his possible mate was going to stay a secret.

  “I know some of the pack were thinking about hunting. You might want to join if Darc doesn’t go.” Zuri informed him. “The more time apart for you two would be best. The pack doesn’t need to see you and Darc fight.”

  “He’ll go. Darc can’t resist leading a hunting party.” Rokki wasn’t too worried about getting into a brawl with Darc. Their dire wolves might be hard to control, but they were two brothers who wanted the best for the pack.

  “Rokki!” Ode pranced into his arms and wrapped her long arms around him in a tight hug. Then she glanced up at him after he’d wrapped his arms around her. Her blue eyes shimmered with happiness.

  “What has you so happy?” Rokki smiled as his youngest sister clung to him. She’d just come into age, and her dire wolf was gorgeous. Rokki would have a hard time keeping men away from her, but he would do it. He wasn’t even sure he would let her mate get near her. This was his little sister. She was precious.

  “I shifted today.” She beamed up at him, nearly blinding him with her smile.

  Rokki hugged her closer as her statement sank in. Not only was his little sister of age, but now she’d shifted, and soon werewolf males would come sniffing to see if she was their mate. His sister. If they didn’t treat her carefully, he would eagerly rip out their throats.

  “How did you enjoy your dire wolf form?” Rokki asked as he released her, and she took a couple of steps back.

  “It was so freeing!” Ode’s smile grew larger, and she swung her arms out as she spun in a tight circle. “My wolf and I went for a run in the forest, and all the scents and sounds…” she drifted off as her eyes hazed over as she recalled her run.

  “She’s a beautiful wolf.” Zuri wrapped an arm around Ode’s shoulders, bringing Ode back to the present. “A slender white wolf with blue eyes.”

  Rokki would have to seal Ode into her hut. Male wolves were sure to be attracted
to her. White wolves were rarer than black, grey, and brown wolves, and males would be even more interested in knowing if she might be their mate.

  “Don’t even think about it, Rokki.” Ode glared at him as her sky-blue eyes darkened.

  “Do what?” He held up his hands innocently.

  “Don’t scare away the wolves who will come to see if I am their mate. I’m old enough and ready to be claimed as someone’s mate.”

  “If they bother you, you will tell me?” Rokki asked.

  Ode nodded her head eagerly, her long brown hair bouncing around her shoulders. “Don’t scare them off, Rokki. Darc already gave his approval to males seeking me out.”

  Rokki smothered a growl at the mention of his brother, but he couldn’t help the curl of his upper lip as his inner dire wolf begged to start a fight with his brother’s wolf. How dare Darc act like the alpha of the pack while Rokki was out of the village. They should have discussed their sister’s coming of age and releasing of her dire wolf.

  “Don’t kill him.” Ode held out a hand as if she would be able to stop him if he did decide to seek out Darc. “I came to both of you with this, not just him.”

  His inner dire wolf settled down… a bit. She had come to both of them for approval. She wasn’t choosing who she wanted to be alpha.

  “I wish you luck in finding your mate.” Rokki stepped forward and placed a kiss to Ode’s forehead. Some werewolves could go years, sometimes even a lifetime without finding their mates. He would never wish that on his sweet sister. She deserved to have some pups.

  Ode danced off, her steps light and giddy.

  “She will be fine, Rokki. She has two alpha brothers. No wolf would think of hurting her and facing the wrath of the alpha dire wolf brothers.” Zuri smiled. “The two of you may disagree on a lot, but I know you would join together to kill any man who hurts her.”

  “If a male does hurt her, you can be sure it will be the first time Darc and I work together to destroy him,” Rokki growled low in the back of his throat.