The Willing

by Aila Cline

  He finally approached me with no notice of my snarled emotions. He was too enraptured in his own. “We are traveling tomorrow, Emily,” he said with a smile. “Today we’ll rest, but tomorrow we’ll be running the whole way.”

  Curiosity instantly gripped me, but I remained silent. I had not forgotten the slap.

  He continued with noting my sullenness. Instead, his eyes drifted to fantasy as he spoke. “To Alaska. The beautiful, remote state where we can hunt freely and no one will be missed, because life is dangerous anyway and stray people are lost all the time.”

  A jolt of adrenaline and fear shot through me. He seemed to notice me for the first time as his eyes took in my surprise.

  He smiled, all teeth visible. “And if you are thinking of running away, don’t. I will kill you.” The pause between his words was almost indiscernible. “Now come with me. I need you.”

  The mass of emotions that assaulted me ultimately lost to his powerful voice. I wanted to run, I wanted to cry, I wanted to laugh madly at the cannibalistic ritual I had partaken of and the madman who was its orchestrator, I wanted to throw up.

  But most of all, I wanted to be wanted. The insecurity of being a Lycanti in a human world never left my mind; I would never survive on my own.

  And he wanted me, so like once before, I followed him deep into the woods. His first kiss was gentle, a mockery of the savagery he displayed earlier that day. His fingers ran down my spine and the vision of his claws, outstretched and slashing, crammed its way into my mind. Revulsion rose up in me, bile mixed with the hot blood from earlier. I pushed him away, suddenly desperate to be rid of the images and taste in my mind and mouth.

  I did not even get to leave his grip. No matter how hard I pushed, he pulled me back to him, shoving his tongue into my mouth and making the heat build in my body by slipping his fingers between my thighs and dancing his finger in circles on my clit. My body opened to him, legs parting willingly to his rough but wonderful hands. The visions of blood left my mind, and suddenly my body was shivering with pleasure.

  His mouth finally left mine, allowing me to catch a breath as he traveled down my ribcage, paused for a moment to nip my bellybutton, then plunged his head between my legs. His tongue massaged the tender flesh in a constant motion that brought me towards climax, and suddenly I felt his fingers join in the battle for my body’s obedience. His middle finger paused at the entrance to my core, stroking the sides easily and making me arch towards him. When he finally shoved his finger in, almost viciously, I cried out—whether in joy or pain, I could not answer. I looked down to see him cradled between my legs and his gaze burned back into mine, those blue orbs practically devouring me.

  I was on the verge of begging for him when he flipped me over into the dirt. I pulled myself up onto my elbows, ready for him to enter me. Then, I felt the unexpected tongue lap at the juices running down my leg and flicker in and out of my pussy. I cried out, rocking back and forth to allow his tongue to mimic the thrusting motion of a cock entering me repeatedly.

  With my knees digging into the dirt, the warm rich scent of coastal autumn all around me, I let out a yowl of beautiful agony. Obviously pleased with his work, he mounted me directly after my coming and with his hands yanking back my shoulders and hair towards him, fucked me so hard that choked sobs suddenly found their way out of my throat. His grunt of pleasure did not come quickly, and with each thrust I felt like my womb was being ripped open for all the world to use.

  After finishing, he unceremoniously pushed me away from him. My tears mixed with the dirt, and I wondered if I was now a part of Washington state’s history. His feet materialized silently in front of me, and I looked up, gaze traveling up in his legs, past that which had just given me such pain, and into his scorching eyes.

  His words came out hard. “You will come back to the pack. You will eat when I tell you to eat, sleep when I tell you to sleep, and fuck when I tell you to fuck. Most of all, you will travel when and where I tell you to go.” He breathed deeply, cornering me with his eyes as I fought to the breath to say something. “You are mine, Emily. Just as Sam was. And now Sam is dead, killed by the others I own. Keep that in mind.”

  As he walked away, I knew that everything he said had been true. And I fleetingly recalled that it was Sam who had tried to get one of the humans away by snarling deeply at one of his pack mates—me—and swiping at my face. We had killed the human anyway, but Sam’s betrayal to the pack obviously did not go unnoticed.

  I wondered what other parameters of punishment Josh meted out.

  Sometime later, we were extremely close to Alaska. I soon found iout that Josh’s pack was tightly organized. We acquired several new members as we traveled north, and at each stop, there were more cages of humans. Sometimes there were only two, but it was enough to make me cringe and remember the horror of the first slaughter.

  The nights grew colder, and that night I yawned at the back of my throat. I had never been this tired. I was not stupid; I knew the signs of pregnancy. I missed the energy provided by my werewolf form. Before you ask, no, I had no idea at that time whose baby it was. I did not tell the pack. Josh had cooled towards me in the past few days when I refused to hunt another human. Sam’s face haunted me, but for some reason Josh let me live. He would have been apt to let me starve or let the pack kill me, I believe, had I proved less of a sexual amusement for him. I will admit that I tried my best to keep him interested in order to spare my life. Whether or not he was pleased with my sexual favors, he reluctantly indulged me and let me hunt small game. He especially loved to laugh at me when I hunted as a human, my reflexes slow and clumsy. Until I discovered I was pregnant, I let his humiliation fuel my Change so I could hunt confidently.

  Still, I was terrified to go to a doctor because of, well, myself and the possibility of an unexpected Change. I had no idea how far along I was. But I seemed to drag all the time now. I tried to stay as calm as possible. How was I to know what the Change could do to my baby? My eyelids drooped even though I wasn’t ready for sleep.

  Sparks from the fire jarred me a little more awake. The nights were becoming monotonous; a never-ending cycle of sitting around fires, running through the woods marveling at our own stamina, and hunting a stray human every few days or so while the pack laughed at my ill disposition for this life. One of the females who paid me no attention sat to my right, and one of the males to my left. They would often lean forward to talk over me as if I didn’t exist. The glowing sets of eyes from the naked, lounging Lycanti across from me looked like fireflies filled with food dye, enhanced by the heat of the flames. Josh’s blue ones burned into me from across the blaze. They had just finished hunting, and I could smell the blood and contentment on them. The night was cold, but my body temperature had risen with the pregnancy. I could easily tolerate the cold. Despite my fatigue, I felt stronger than ever. Over the last few days, I had felt almost free, especially since Josh had not sought me out sexually. From what I could tell, he took his pleasure with Layla. No jealousy carried me forward now; she could have that monster. I thought of survival and little else at this point.

  Josh stalked over to me, lithe and unconcerned about his naked body edging so close to me. The two Lycanti beside me slid over to give him some space should he choose to sit. He massaged my shoulders.

  “Yes?” I asked, drawing slightly away from him. I, too, sat in my skin even though I had no desire to. I was already a disregarded stranger to them; I had no desire to be an enemy. But I had covered myself with a jacket I carried no matter Changed or not. I could not subscribe to their ways. It was nice to have some sort of protection from the world in the form of this pack, but I still held onto the something that made me human, emotionally and physically.

  “Is that any way to react to your pack leader?” he asked with a light tease to his voice.

  “No,” I agreed. My tone practically dismissed him. “But then you are not my leader.”

  His face changed to the frown I had learned t
o avoid lately. “I am your master.”

  “Lycanti have Lycanthrope masters. You are nothing to me,” I said with no emphasis. I was tired and hormonal. This, for me, equates to giving him nothing but the truth.

  He jerked me up. I thought my arm had been ripped from the socket.

  “Say that again,” he snarled. “Let everyone hear the declaration of your disloyalty.”

  They had all heard me the first time. Their sensitive ears could have heard me two miles away. There was no need for me to repeat the words when they were only two feet away.

  I repeated my sentiments anyway. “You are nothing to me. You’re a monster, and I hate you.”

  “I own you,” he said with a dangerous calm. He was fighting his anger, fighting the Change. Josh is the most composed Lycanti I know. He always wanted to deal with me as a human. “You belong to this pack.”

  However, I am not so put together as a Lycanti. A cold fury crept over me at his statement, the fog of anger waxing over me like the moonlight.

  “Let go of me.”

  “No,” he said, jerking me to him. “I think it’s time you became a full member of this pack.”

  “I don’t want to stay with you. I have other plans.”

  He ripped the jacket away—not that it had been covering much anyway, but it served its dramatic purpose. “I know what your plans are.” Cold eyes moved possessively down my body, stopping at my abdomen. “And I hope you know that I tolerate no children in my pack.”

  “All the better reason for me to not join your pack.”

  Josh looked me over again, hungrily this time. He leaned in, stroking my breasts and ribs in a rough parody of our previous times together, moving his hands down to grip my hips, the jacket slightly trailing over my pubic bone. I wanted to snap at his throat with my human canines and rip the carotid artery open to the world. I would have drank his blood with the pack watching had I known they would support me.

  “I will own you, Emily,” he said before the lust flowered fully. “You will owe your allegiance to no one but me by the time I finish with you.”

  I cringed at that, but his lips had already found mine, ignoring my struggle against him. He threw the jacket away. I heard it hit the fire and temporarily dampen the crackling flames. Another fashion statement lost. The other Lycanti were silent, too quiet—expectant. I yanked my head away from Josh, but his main intention was not to kiss me, so he ignored my movement, bringing his hands to my breasts and massaging them in circular motions and moving his lips to them instead.

  I pushed him away as hard as possible. He didn’t even stumble; rather, he just stepped back away from me, slightly amused. Contrary to popular belief, werewolves do not have superhuman strength. I brought my weaknesses as a human to my Lycanti life, and Josh towered over me.

  He chuckled. “Really, Emily?”

  “Fuck off.”

  “Oh Emily,” he purred softly, as if it were just us in a room together. “How easy it is to arouse the human in you.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “You have no idea what it means to truly be Lycanti.”

  My voice shook as I remembered Will. “I know there’s more to this life than living like an animal.”

  His eyebrows lifted in surprise. “You honestly think that we’re destined to go around doing charity or something?”

  Sycophant laughter erupted around the fire. I glared at them, but I have to admit that I’m probably not that intimidating, especially standing next to the leanness of Josh.

  “Layla,” he said without allowing his concentration on me to falter. “Get the rope.”

  The female across the flames rose and disappeared. I stepped back from him, fear edging in on my anger. I had to Change, no matter what it cost me, had to get away. His calm demeanor could only mean something bad for me. I let the emotion overwhelm me, felt my mind slipping into survival mode, my gut clenched in anticipation…

  A hard grip at the nape of my neck brought me back. “No bitch,” Josh snapped. “You’ll deal with this as a human since you’re so gung-ho to be one.”

  My arms trembled. Why couldn’t I fucking Change when I wanted to? Why should Lycanthrope and Josh be the only ones with that power? I needed it now!

  I tried to shake out of his hold, but it was useless. I needed him to hit me, do something to provoke me so that I could lose myself in the Change. As it was, my fear and anger clashed too much within me and Josh held me to this corporeal world of humanity.

  The woman Layla brought a thick knot of rope back with her, displaying a slinky smile as she handed it to Josh. “Hold her,” he commanded. I flailed, but Layla took hold of me, then the two males rose from their fireside seats and helped. Bile rose up in my throat. This could not be happening. Josh had promised me protection.

  “I’ve been thinking about this for a while,” he said in my ear softly. “I just don’t get why you want to be human.” He gestured to the rest of the pack. “They’re human right now, and there’s nothing special about them. We’re stronger when we embrace ourselves for what we truly are. You fight it too much.”

  I listened to his tirade with an awkward ear. It’s hard to fully pay attention to a lecture when you’re busy thinking about why there's rope around your limbs and what the vicious werewolves around you have planned.

  Josh stepped back. “Now I want you to see what the human in you can experience at the hands of other humans. I have an odd feeling that they will do far worse to you than I ever did. Good luck.” He turned and began to strut away, walking like a perfectly balanced dancer.

  “Josh, don't do this!” My voice registered panic, no matter how composed I tried to remain. Humans who knew what I was…free to do what they wanted with me?

  He looked back over his shoulder but did not pause in his stride. “I'm not, but only because I have other matters at hand. Good luck with your human captors.”

  Layla grinned widely and reached forward to grip the back of my neck. I growled and snapped at her with my human canines, but she easily avoided me.

  Then the backhand came. The sting, luckily, was not bad, but anger swamped my senses. My body burned against the cool night sky.

  “You fucking bitch,” I snarled and bucked against my restraints. “Don't you dare put your hands on me again.”

  Now both of her hands wrapped around my throat, cutting off my breath. I gagged against the suddenness of her attack. Just when I started to see blue lights against the back of my eyelids, her hands were yanked away from me, letting blood rush back to my brain. Dizziness washed over me.

  “No,” David told Layla, practically throwing her hands away from me. “Josh would be mad.”

  “He'd get over it.”

  Michael's voice, so melodious to me in the past, seemed like an angel's that night. “You should leave her alone. She's pregnant.”

  That defense sounded so weak to me that Michael seemed like a naïve idiot rather than an angel now.

  “Josh said it was okay,” Dahlia prompted. I glared daggers at her. She usually ignored me; it was Layla who had always hated me for some reason.

  “Josh isn't right about everything,” Michael said.

  “He's right about this,” Layla insisted. “She needs to be taught a lesson about loyalty to her pack.”

  “He said to give her to the humans,” Michael reasoned. “Not to suffer at your hands.”

  For a moment, the dangerous gaze on her face brought up the buried anxiety in me. I swallowed. Michael’s gaze did not falter, and the moment grew pregnant with tension. Finally, Layla’s breathing slowed.

  “Oh, Michael,” Layla purred dangerously. “You are such the humanist.” She sighed heavily. “I guess she will just have to deal with the hospitality of our lovely humans.” She stared at me, almost as a butcher measuring out cuts of meat. “They are, after all, such a wonderful species, yes?”

  “I won’t be part of this,” David said, stalking off into the darkness.


  Coward, my head screamed. But in my heart, I knew that he could not, and would not, fight the decision of his pack leader. Nor would any of those who had jealously watched Joshua’s possessive acquisition of me for the past few weeks save me.

  Dahlia joined Layla’s cruel laughter, and Michael’s slumped shoulders told me all that I needed to know about what was about to happen.

  I have no desire to tell you of the inhumanity of humanity. We see it daily with the wars and the violence. Lycanti may be the most base passions of humanity come to surface for exploitation, but these humans had been frightened beyond the need for them to hold out hope. They knew they were going to die, consumed by their captor Lycanti, and there was only one thing left to achieve before death.

  Revenge.

  And Joshua had delivered it to them, bound and gagged.

  Emily

  Maria stared hard at me. The angular planes of her face brought the memory of Will surging to the forefront of my mind so vividly that my head spun. I could even breathe him in again, feel the razor blade touch that heated my flesh every time we were together.

  “I see you are still alive,” she said stiffly. “A veritable miracle for someone of your intelligence.”

  I shrugged off the insult. “It’ll take more than a boy with a knife and a flannel nightgown to kill me.”

  “Hmph,” she snorted, not even bothering to deny knowledge of the attempt at my life last year which would have effectively kept me from polluting the “pure” Lycanthrope line. “And I have no reason to finish the job now?”

  “I am under Luka’s protection, as you well know.”

  “Yes,” she growled. “An unfortunate fall for him. I knew he had a love for Changelings, though I cannot imagine why.” She wrinkled her nose.