Alexandra’s Legacy

by N. J. Walters

  She shivered again. And within a few moments, she’d be changed forever.

  That is if she could manage the transformation.

  Joshua had explained it all to her earlier this morning after they’d finished their shower. Over breakfast, he’d told her it was perfectly natural and he had every faith in her that she could do it. She wasn’t so certain. She’d overheard several men and women speculating on whether or not a half-breed could actually go through the change and take wolf form.

  “It’s all right, Alex.” Joshua’s voice was low as he whispered in her ear. “If it doesn’t happen now, we’ll try again another time. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself.”

  “I want to do this, but I’m not sure I can.” There. She’d said it. Voiced her fear out loud. “Part of me wants it to happen, but part of me is scared.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a quick squeeze of reassurance. She felt surrounded by his love and acceptance.

  “That’s perfectly understandable. You’ve been through so much in the past few days. If you need more time, we’ll wait.”

  “Really?” The last thing she wanted to do was to disappoint or shame him in front of the other members of the pack.

  “Really.”

  Joshua sounded certain, but she could hear the muttering starting behind her. The crowd was getting restless.

  “Tell me again what I’m supposed to do.”

  Joshua sighed so hard her hair fluttered. “Alex, don’t try so hard. Just relax, close your eyes and feel your wolf. She’s there. Right beneath the surface of your skin. You’ve felt her before. She’s familiar to you.”

  Closing her eyes, she let Joshua’s voice and words seep into her soul. He was right. She had felt her wolf within her. Now that she knew what it was, she realized she’d been feeling that other presence inside her for quite some time now. She’d even briefly glimpsed her wolf in the bathroom mirror before Joshua had claimed her.

  “I want to share the night and the woods with you. Show you all the wonders that exist in the world of the wolf. It’s not all bad, my love.”

  Alex could hear the aching in Joshua’s voice. She wanted to share that with him too. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly and let her mind drift. The wolf was there in her mind’s eye. Alex studied her. She was smaller than Joshua’s wolf, but that was to be expected. Her fur was thick and lush, a rainbow of browns from mahogany to tawny brown and every shade in between. But it was the eyes that caught her attention. The eyes were very familiar to her. They were the same pale, silvery gray eyes she’d seen in the mirror since she was a child.

  The wolf was her and she was the wolf. She got it now. They weren’t separate beings at all, but two sides of the same coin.

  As if acceptance was all that was needed, Alex felt something beginning to ripple beneath her skin. Joshua loosened his hold on her.

  “Let it happen,” he whispered before stepping back.

  Alex reached out to the wolf within her, embracing her totally. The wolf surged forward, wanting to be released from its human form. She fell to her hands and knees and arched her back. Bones cracked and reformed. Fur covered her limbs. Her face contorted, her jaw lengthening. Her vision changed, growing sharper. Smells assaulted her from all around. Strength rippled through her muscles.

  She took a step and stumbled. A low growl came from within her. She blinked, all of a sudden realizing that she was no longer human. She was wolf. It felt strange. Yet she was still herself. The primal urges of the wolf were there, but she was still able to think and reason.

  My love.

  Alex spun around and came face-to-face or rather muzzle-to-muzzle with the familiar, large black wolf. Joshua. She’d heard him in her mind.

  Are you all right?

  She could hear the concern even though no words had been spoken aloud. Concentrating on him, she nodded. I’m fine.

  Then run, little wolf. Stretch your legs and run.

  Alex gave a happy yip and padded toward the forest. She didn’t have to look behind her to know Joshua was with her. She could sense his presence. He kept pace as she picked up speed.

  Other wolves ran alongside them. Some of them passed her, disappearing into the forest, while a small, select group ran with them for almost an hour. She recognized most of them and knew Joshua’s brothers and her father were with them, protecting her and sharing in her first run as a wolf.

  Alex had never experienced anything like this in her life. Everything seemed more somehow—brighter, more vibrant—just more. She felt totally alive and at one with her surroundings. She knew where every creature of the forest was for at least half a mile, from birds to squirrels to a lone black bear. The smell of the rich, dark earth filled her nostrils. She could see easily even though it was nighttime.

  She didn’t want it to end, but Joshua started to herd her back toward the compound, nipping at her when she dared to try to veer away from him. She snapped back, but he didn’t look impressed. Instead, he growled at her. Not willing to push her luck, she reluctantly turned back.

  Don’t worry, little wolf. There will be more times to run.

  Can anyone else hear us?

  No. The only mental communication is between mated pairs.

  That was a relief to Alex. She didn’t want to have to worry about other people being able to hear her thoughts. Can you hear me all the time? She wasn’t sure she liked that idea.

  Joshua’s laughter rang in her ears. No. We have to concentrate to hear or send a thought.

  That’s a relief.

  The compound came into sight and Alex was suddenly glad. As much as she’d enjoyed the experience, she was ready to become human again. Stopping on the edge of the forest, she closed her eyes and embraced her human form. She felt her wolf protest, but sent out waves of assurance that the wolf would have many more times to run in the future. Her bones began to shift and reform once again. Alex was surprised that it didn’t hurt. Not really. It was disorienting for a moment, but then it was over.

  Alex slumped on the soft forest floor, smelling the pine trees and feeling the moss beneath her. Strong arms picked her up from the ground. Joshua. She’d know his touch anywhere.

  “Thank you.” His husky voice was filled with unspoken emotion. “Thank you for accepting me and joining your life with mine.”

  Alex touched his face. It still amazed her how much this man had come to mean to her in such a short time. She loved him. He was a part of her life now. Forever. “Thank you for sharing your life with me.”

  His arms tightened around her as his mouth came down on hers. Their lips melded, their breath mingled, as Joshua carried her across the compound to their home.

  In the distance, a lone wolf began to howl. It was quickly joined by another wolf. Then another. Until finally a whole chorus of wolves sang to them. Alex’s heart began to pound. She understood what they were saying. They were singing to her, welcoming her into the pack.

  Joshua paused outside their door and they both stood and listened until the last howl faded. Then he carried her inside and kicked the door shut behind him.

  Epilogue

  James LeVeau Riley stood with his hands on his hips and looked upward. Stars peppered the night sky, illuminating the dark woods beyond the compound. He watched as Joshua carried his daughter back to their home and shut the world outside.

  Alex had achieved her wolf form and was now completely a werewolf. She would grow into her newfound powers in the weeks ahead with her mate by her side. Pride filled him. She was a woman any man would be proud to call daughter.

  Joshua had claimed his daughter in the tradition of their people. It was done. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. On one hand, he was glad to have her settled. On the other hand, his little girl was gone and a grown woman remained. Their relationship would be different from now on.

  It was good for both of them. He was looking forward to his first lone run with Alex. She was a beautiful wolf and that wasn’t just pa
rental pride talking. The joining ceremony today had given the entire community something to celebrate. Unfortunately the burial of his brother and sister-in-law would be next.

  He sensed a kindred soul in the darkness. He wasn’t alone, but no one approached him. A sense of loneliness washed over him as he thought about his wife, Leda. Even after all these years he missed her. Missed the feeling of togetherness, of solidarity, of belonging that came with loving and mating with someone.

  His daughter had that now, and for that, he was eternally grateful. Turning, he headed toward his brother’s house, now his home once again. There was much work to be done. There were still bounty hunters who wanted them dead. And James wasn’t convinced all the traitors had been sniffed out of the pack. They’d need to be extra vigilant. The women and children had to be protected at all costs.

  Isaiah watched James LeVeau walk away. He was grateful to the older man for challenging for the position as alpha. If not for him, Joshua would have certainly challenged, especially with possession of Alex at stake. That would have left Isaiah in the position of having to accept the duty of Striker or handing it off to one of his younger brothers, who were nowhere near ready to handle the responsibility.

  Just thinking about it made his skin itch. The walls of the compound seemed to close in as they always did. His father had never understood him. No one in his family seemed to understand he needed to be free in order to survive.

  Or maybe they did.

  Joshua had taken over the position of Striker instead of Isaiah as if he’d been born to it. And not once had his younger brother ever criticized him for stepping aside and not accepting the responsibility. That was good, especially now with everything that had happened. Things would be tense for a while, but they would survive. It was what they did.

  His new sister-in-law would help ease Joshua’s burden and for that Isaiah was grateful, because as soon as things calmed down he was leaving for a while. He didn’t know where he was going, only that he needed to get away by himself. The violence was growing within him and if he didn’t get away, he was afraid it might actually hurt someone in his family.

  He turned away, ripping off his clothing as he went. He needed to run free and untethered. Shifting as he ran, he disappeared into the thick forest, his clothing left lying in the dirt.

  About the Author

  To learn more about N.J. Walters, please visit www.njwalters.com. Send an email to N.J. Walters at nj@njwalters.com or join her Yahoo! group to join in the fun with other readers as well as N.J. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/awakeningdesires

  Look for these titles by N. J. Walters

  Now Available:

  Discovering Dani

  The Way Home

  The Return of Patrick O’Rourke

  The Seduction of Shamus O’Rourke

  A Legal Affair

  By the Book

  Past Promises

  An animal rights activist is about to get a crash course in werewolves. One she may not survive.

  Savage Retribution

  © 2008 Lexxie Couper

  Lone Irish werewolf Declan O'Connell has lost everything—his family, his clan, even his freedom—to his arch-rival, Nathan Epoc. The head of an underground werewolf clan and a brilliant scientist, Epoc plans to use Declan to create a super-wolf, a creature capable of shifting the balance of power in the lycanthrope world. But Epoc’s plans are about to be thwarted

  Regan Thomas, a determined animal rights activist, rescues what she thinks is an ordinary wolf from his notorious animal testing facility in Sydney, Australia. She gets more than she bargained for when the wolf turns into an extremely hunky, extremely naked man who immediately drags her into a world where the clash between two opposing werewolf clans could spell the end of humankind.

  Declan has survived without a clan for more years than he cares to remember, but sexy Regan stirs up all his fierce, alpha-wolf instincts. Now Declan has one last chance at revenge. But can he keep Regan alive, and resist the overwhelming attraction between them, long enough to stop Epoc?

  Summer in Australia has never been this hot…or this dangerous.

  Warning, this title contains explicit sex, graphic language, graphic violence, violent sex, high-speed car-chases, wild werewolf action and Australian sarcasm.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Savage Retribution:

  Regan’s heart hammered.

  The wolf lay on its side, taking up most of her old sofa, its eyes closed, its rib cage rising and falling with rapid, shallow breaths. Dry blood smattered the grey fur on its neck, cracked and thick like black mud. The cushions of her sofa bowed and compressed under the animal’s massive bulk and, as she had in the lab, Regan wondered what species it was. None she was familiar with.

  How can that be?

  She frowned. She was at least passingly familiar with just about every species in existence—she had to be in her line of work. How could she not—

  The wolf whined again, softer, weaker, and Regan’s puzzlement vanished.

  In a heartbeat she crossed the room and crouched by the wounded animal, skimming her hands over its body. A wave of awe rolled through the cold worry knotted in her chest. It was unwell. Its limbs trembled and each breath seemed weaker than the last, yet its feral strength was undeniable. She’d thought it a creature of primitive power back in Epoc’s lab but now, here in her room with its corded muscles under her examining fingers, its mana seemed almost tangible. “What genus are you, my friend?” she whispered, running her hands over steely quadriceps much bigger and longer than any wolf species she knew. Quadriceps turned to femur, femur to pelvic bone.

  Regan frowned, confusion squirming in her gut. The animal’s pelvis felt wrong, like some sick bastard with a Doctor Moreau complex had taken to it with a bone grinder in an attempt to reshape it into a human hipbone. “What have they been doing to you, mate?” she murmured, tracing the distorted bone. “My God, how can you even walk?”

  She moved her hands up the wolf’s spine, counting vertebrae, looking for wounds or injuries. Curiosity ate at her concern. Where had the creature come from? Wolves were not native to Australia and as far as she knew, the only ones in the country were those housed in zoos and animal enclosures. For this lone wolf to be in Epoc’s lab…?

  Imported illegally, perhaps?

  But from where?

  Her seeking fingers slid through a patch of wet fur low on the wolf’s rib cage and Regan stilled her investigation. She parted the animal’s dense coat, looking for… “There it is.”

  Fresh blood, bright red and warm on her fingers, seeped from a ragged hole puncturing the wolf’s side. Regan prodded the surrounding flesh gently, worrying the bullet may be embedded in bone beneath. She’d have to get the animal to Rick. Whether the bullet was there or not, the wound needed to be—

  The wolf whined. Low. Almost human.

  “I’m sorry, mate,” Regan soothed, removing her fingers from its rib cage. Chewing on her bottom lip, she smoothed her palms over its scapular and down first one foreleg and then the other. Both rippled with muscle and once again, uneasy wonderment wriggled in Regan’s stomach. The humerus seemed too close to human in structure to be possible. She ran her hands over it and it seemed to shift. Grow longer. Straighter.

  Regan scrubbed the back of her hand against her eyes. She must be sleep deprived. Bones didn’t change structure. With a slight shake of her head, she went back to her examination. As soon as she was convinced the animal could be moved, she’d call Rick. He’d give his left nut to help her out, any excuse to try and impress her into his bed. But quite frankly, she had no hope of moving the animal herself, even if it would fit in her car.

  Another whine whispered on the air, so soft Regan almost missed it. “Not much longer, my mysterious friend,” she whispered, letting her hands settle on the wolf’s rib cage again, careful to avoid its wound. Its coat felt like fine velvet under her palms and for a dreamlike moment, she felt like pressing her face to the animal’s s
ide. She leant forward, sliding her hands to its shoulder joint in search of wounds unseen and her bare nipples brushed against the wolf’s chest, flesh to fur. Soft. Cool. So much more than she’d expected. So much more than any animal species she knew.

  What type of wolf are you?

  She returned her attention to the wolf’s body. With the exception of the bullet wound, it seemed physically uninjured, but who knew what Epoc’s scientists had been doing to it. She smoothed her hands over the silken fur, a distant more detached part of her mind admiring the wolf’s superb biomechanical construct. It was a creature evolved for one purpose only—to kill—yet its beauty was undeniable. Strength, menace and deadly purpose all combined in the majestic somehow romantic form of—

  The thigh muscle below her palm shifted, elongated, and Regan stumbled backward, landing flat on her bare butt with an ignominious thud. She stared at the massive, powerful and utterly lupine form. Watched it contort. Shudder.

  The dense fur rippled, each strand seemingly alive with its own energy. The back legs grew long, straight. Thick, corded thigh muscles formed on bones no longer short and crooked. “What the…” Regan’s stunned whisper barely left her lips.

  Another shudder wracked the wolf’s contorting form. Another. And another. Its fur grew thin, retracting into the flesh beneath, disappearing with each violent convulsion until its coat no longer existed and instead…

  Regan’s heart froze and she stared at the naked man laying full-length on her sofa.

  The naked, trembling, gasping man laying full-length on her sofa.

  Looking at her.

  “What the hell?”

  The man’s eyes—the angry color of a stormy winter’s sky—flicked over her face. Like oiled smoke, he was on his feet, hard, lean body coiling, pale flesh glistening with a faint sheen of sweat in the sun-filled room. Regan stared at him. Speechless. Unable to move.