by Unknown
For reasons she could not explain, she knew in her heart she would be back, but she marched to her car anyway. The evening’s second concert had ended, and the parking lot was full of people exiting the hall. She quickly ran a hand over her hair and dress in a vain attempt to not appear as though she’d hadn’t had wild abandoned sex in the woods. Thankfully, no one glanced her way as they got into their own vehicles.
When she turned the key, a pang of sadness hit her. A tiny one. Shaking her head, she flat-out refused to feel sorry for herself. So she met some hot sexy guy in the woods, so what? It was over. Done. It didn’t matter anymore.
But as she pulled onto the highway and clicked away the miles toward home, a dreadful feeling in the pit of her stomach worsened. She felt untethered, alone, and lost. This can’t have anything to do with Snake. It just can’t. Words are just words. We’re not really mated for life, for Christ sake.
Her stomach could rebel all it wanted. She was going to bed.
At her door, she put the key in the lock and turned. Just then the sound of wolf howl split the air. It came from far off, but the faint wail seared her heart. She searched the shadows, half expecting to see Flint, but didn’t. Then the loneliness crept in once again. Quickly entering, she shut the door and bolted it shut, then took a long, lonely walk down the dark hallway to her bedroom.
Her dreams shattered on a scream. Torn from her own lips, it woke her, driving her bolt upright in bed. The time was early morning, the room still dark. But had it been the middle of the day, she’d of heard the rapid thumping of her heart over the bustling tourist traffic as clear as a bell. Gasping, she put a hand over her chest and held. The dreams were so real…
On the night of the full moon, a man stood captured in the woods. Bound by chains, he rattled them and let out a screeching roar as though his soul had been torn in half. “Casiiiiiii!”
The sound of his pain cut into her chest, wounding her heart. Snake’s torture was all her fault. She’d done this to him – left him naked and alone.
Guilt pierced through the thick fog of the dream, impelling her to rescue him. Tears flooded her eyes as she ran. “I’m coming. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
She ran, her legs carrying her at a hopelessly slow pace. By car it would take her two hours to get there, but on foot? He cried out again, this time the sound mournful, and she sobbed into her hands. She’d never make it in time. He’d die of a broken heart long before she reached his side.
Then, out of the corner of her vision, a white wolf streaked through the brush, its fur unblemished and snow white. Its legs stretched with every powerful pump, covering a lot of ground quickly. Effortlessly. Its every move majestic.
Awestruck by the beast, she watched, riveted as it passed her on its way to Snake. As it went by, it turned its head and looked at her. With her eyes…
Sitting up in bed, she willed her heart rate to slow, but it galloped on steadily. The wolf was her. She was the wolf. How was that even possible? There was no explanation other than it was simply a bad dream. But the part about Snake had been only too real. His cries for mercy had been one thing and one thing only – desperate wails for her. He needed her presence, ached without it, and damned if she didn’t feel the pull, too.
She glanced at the clock. It had been less than eight hours since they’d parted, but already a powerful need to be near Snake once again trembled through her nerves. More than need, more than mere loneliness, the magnetic-intensity attraction seeped into her very bones and rattled her notions of freedom into dust. I belong with Snake now. I have to be with him, or else I’ll die.
Shock hit her, and her hands shook. “N-no, this can’t be. I can’t… This can’t be happening to me.” And yet it was. Driven by lust, she’d let him mate her in the woods, thinking the joining could be undone later. But if this suffering was any indication, undoing their mating might cost them – both. Sighing, she covered her face with her hands. This wasn’t what I signed up for.
Oh yes, it is. Deep in your heart, you know it’s true.
Eyes wide, she sucked in a breath. Hearing Snake’s voice inside her head didn’t seem possible. She’d never been telepathic before… Shaking her head, she willed the strange intrusion away. “I don’t hear you. I refuse to listen because this isn’t real.”
From outside her condo came a far-away howl. It vibrated the windowpane to her left and wrapped bands of tension around her heart. Snake. Using her fingers to plug her ears, she yelled, “Leave me alone!”
The sound abruptly halted, leaving silence in its wake. Not even a bird twittered. It was though the world had gone cold and still as a giant grave.
Teeth chattering, she crept out of bed and wrapped a throw blanket around her shoulders. Had the entire planet stopped in its tracks? Or was it just her that was out of sync, tossed into an alternate reality where only she existed? To be sure, she padded to the kitchen window and looked out. The world seemed normal. Traffic lights still operated. The all-night grocery store’s neon signed flickered. But to her, the world appeared empty. Perhaps because she was missing the one thing she so desperately needed.
“Snake. Snake, where are you?” She spun in a circle on her living room carpet, searching for a trace of him, but she got nothing. “Snake? Snake, can you hear me? Answer me, damn it.”
When he didn’t reply, she rubbed her forehead with the side of her hand. Of course he didn’t answer, she’d told him to go away. Well, he certainly had. She ought to be happy, except for this gnawing fear in her gut that she didn’t know where Snake was or if he was all right. It mattered more than she thought possible. She could not sit still and wait for an answer. She had to touch him, see him, be convinced he was whole, or a hole would be torn in her heart that would never heal.
Diving into her closet, she yanked out a suitcase and started filling it haphazardly. Every step she took to get closer to finding Snake eased her pain. But it wasn’t until she loaded the luggage in the car and started down the road that the tight knot in her stomach began to ease. Relieved, she sighed out a breath and gave it more gas. Now all she had to do was find Snake and give him a piece of her mind for scaring her half to death.
***
Casi parked at the deserted concert center. With no concerts at wee hours of the morning, she had the place to herself. The early light played over the wood siding on the front of the massive barn-shaped hall, bleaching them golden. So much light reflected off the structure she squinted her eyes nearly closed against the pain. Funny that her pupils actually ached, as if someone had stabbed them with a needle. They’d never felt so sensitive before. Turning her head away, she listened, and heard footsteps coming through the grass.
No, not footsteps. Paws.
A bolt of worry flared up her core. Was the beast friend or foe looking to make her its lunch? Bears were known to be in the area. She’d witnessed one dart across the highway in front of her car a few years back, on its way to feast in the berry-filled mountains. At the time, she’d been startled, and worried for the bear’s safety. But at the moment, she was worried about her own. Slowly she pivoted, the toes on her right foot dug into the dirt, ready to run.
The wolf behind her sported a liver-colored back and a tan underbelly. Its eyes were a light orange that complemented the fur coloring perfectly. It looked part of the forest, rough and wild. The sheer size of its paws – bigger than her hands – would have frightened her, if she hadn’t heard it say her name in her head.
Casi. Before her eyes the wolf seemed to pull back toward its powerful hind legs, its entire body curling into a ball. Then, in a fluid motion it unfurled. As the body rose, each of its parts changed from animal to human. Feet, lower legs, legs, hips and torso, all changed, until finally Snake’s head topped off the transformation. His gaze was narrowed, expression concerned. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”
Her mouth had opened and she ought to shut it, but she remained ogling his fine muscled form. Yes, she’d just seen him
yesterday but his firm abs and heavily banded thighs made thinking difficult. Especially since resting between them was a half-hard cock, coiled so that the tip brushed his inner left leg. “Yeah. Um…”
He stepped toward her, and she scented wood, grass and water. Three of her favorite aromas when mixed with warm manly skin. She blinked, and at last tore her gaze away from his privates, but not before her core clenched with desire to feel him inside her once more.
“You were in a dream. The dream.” Trying to work up anger wasn’t working, although she’d intended to rake him over the coals for scaring her half to death.
His human eyes were no longer orange, but very light brown. She could still see it though, the wildness lurking just below the surface. “Tell me.”
“You know. The one where you were howling.” At his squint, she tried again. “You were chained up and I was running. Running. I was … a wolf.” The image came back all the sudden, startling her with its clarity. She could feel its pure white coat ruffle as it blasted through the forest. Could smell the pine trees with its nose. Feel the ground littered with leaves under its paws. It was too real. Too vivid. So utterly impossible. She shook her head, and lost her balance.
Snake’s hands settled onto her arms and held her steady. His assessing gaze raked her up and down and he sniffed her, then seemed satisfied she wasn’t in any danger. “I don’t know about this dream.”
“Afterward, you talked to me. In my head.”
He shrugged, as if to say, yeah, and? “You said my name. You talked to me. I talked back.”
“You couldn’t possibly have heard me.” She rolled her eyes. “I was too far away.”
His lashes dipped down, and he traced a hand down her arm. When he looked at her again, his gaze was tender and somehow nostalgic. “We’re mated now, Casi. Remember? It’s not unusual for mates to experience that kind of closeness.” He stopped and bit his bottom lip. “But I hadn’t expected it to happen quite that fast.”
Her anger rose again, and she smacked him in the arm, hard. “You howled at me. You were trying to make me feel guilty so I’d come back.” Hating him momentarily felt good. Gave her a modicum of control over a situation she couldn’t make any sense of at all.
His head snapped back as though she’d hit his chin. “Of course I wanted you to come back. As your mate, I’d eventually die without you.”
Her jaw dropped and her stomach plummeted. “Literally, die?” Oh my God. That wasn’t a dream. It was reality. Or a premonition of one, at least. Except for the wolf part. She placed a hand over her stomach and shut her eyes. Dizzy, she focused on her inner compass, the part of her that instinctively knew up from down. What she found instead was a strong magnetic force urging her closer to Snake. When he wrapped his arms around her, she did not resist.
He brushed his lips against her hair and murmured her name. “You need to rest. Come on. Let’s get you home.”
She jerked her head up. “Home? All the way back to town?” The thought of a two-hour car drive made her queasy. Was it lack of eating breakfast doing her in? Or had she contracted a stomach bug? Worse, was it the thought of being parted from him once again?
“No. Home with me. To the compound.” He smiled reassuringly. “You’ll like it there, I promise, and it’s not far away.” He snaked a hand into her jeans pocket and dug out her keys. Then, with his arm securely around her shoulders, guided her to the car and tucked her into the passenger seat.
She glanced at him, surprised. “You know how to drive one of these things?”
“Of course. I’m a modern wolf.” He winked and started the engine. “Just sit back, we’ll be there soon.”
Clutching her stomach and rubbing her head, she sure hoped so. Otherwise, whatever bothered her might gain the upper hand and she’d have to stop on the side of the road…
***
The entire trip down a dusty dirt road must have taken all of five minutes. Blinking, Casi exited the car and stepped into a fairytale setting the brothers Grimm would highly approve of. Except for the fact the cabins were new enough she could smell the red cedar wafting off them, the foliage surrounding the place appeared as if it had been hidden from human eyes forever. It didn’t make any sense. How could all of this activity exist so close to the concert hall and not be noticed? “I don’t get it.”
“Get what?” Snake had taken her arm and started herding her towards a one-story hand hewn cabin with a large surrounding cedar plank deck.
“Where we are.” She looked around, seeing other people milling about and a shiver raced up her back. Were they all wolves or shifters, too? Did they all live here? There were certainly enough cabins for all of them.
“We’re at my home. Not far from the concert hall.”
“So I gathered.” She stepped up onto the bottom stair of the porch and froze as a low dark growl issued behind her. Next to her, Snake growled, too. Suddenly the tension in the air thickened like solid butter.
“What is she doing here?”
Liam. She’d know that voice anywhere. It sent her hackles up and filled her with fear at the same time. Liam was pissed she was here. But she wasn’t exactly glad to see him either, despite their recent ménage. The way he’d treated Dahlia on their first meeting left her less than impressed. Slowly, she pivoted her head but didn’t see much of Liam. Snake had protectively blocked her view with his body.
“She’s my mate,” Snake hissed.
“Mate?” Liam’s tone didn’t conceal his disbelief nor his anger. “You mated a human?”
When she turned toward him to argue, Snake did a shoulder block and pre-empted her move. “Yes.” From his linebacker stance, it was clear he’d defend his decision to the death. Her heart warmed toward him.
Snake wasn’t just an animal, or a hot as sin lover. If what he said about Liam being his leader was true, standing up to him on her behalf was about the bravest thing he could do.
“We’ll see about that.”
“Yes, we will. How about we settle this right now?”
Without warning hair sprouted on Liam’s face and neck, and Snake vaulted over the porch railing, hair covering his hands and the back of his neck. Every shifter in attendance gasped and stepped back. Snake’s blatant challenge shocking the small crowd that had collected.
Her heart sped. Anxiety filled her head, making it hard to think. Her hands shook, the palms damp. Should she run or apologize or stay?
Snake still blocked Liam’s most direct line of attack to her with his body, giving her no reason to doubt that even in a fight to the death, he’d protect her to the end. In return, she owed it to him to stay and support him no matter what the outcome.
One glance at Liam’s face confirmed her worst fears. The battle would be grisly. She lifted a hand and circled where the breath was caught in her throat, waiting. Then she spied a motion out of her side vision and her jaw dropped.
Dahlia strode through the crowd relaxed, calm and utterly naked. Power emanated from her glorious tanned form and all in her path stepped aside automatically. Without increasing her speed, she sauntered up to both their mates and stood between them, one arm extended toward Casi.
Nervous as a cat, she tip-toed off the relative safety of the porch and came to stand beside Dahlia. As she did, the tension in Snake’s body ratcheted up a notch. Both men growled at each other anew as they continued to stare each other down. She got the distinct feeling their argument was far from settled, but Dahlia’s presence had quelled their blood thirst.
Touching her had an entirely different effect on Casi however. The warmth from her body seemed to seep into Casi, along with strength, confidence and ease. Casi’s body responded with desire, need, and lust. Her face heated, a dead giveaway to her inner turmoil, but neither man seemed to notice.
“Gentlemen,” Dahlia began. “What seems to be the problem?”
“Snake has taken a human mate,” Liam hissed. His face contorted as he talked, and he spat the word human out in a way that made
her feel small.
Snake puffed out his chest, making himself appear larger. “She’s mine, and that’s final.”
Beside her, Dahlia glanced her way for a split second, then smiled. Turning her attention back to the men, she announced, “She’s also pregnant. With a wolf child.”
The bottom fell out of the universe.
Liam’s eyes went wide, breaking his threatening stance. Snake whipped his face toward her, his expression a mixture of surprise and confusion. She gaped at Dahlia, who gazed smugly at the two male opponents and didn’t return her attention.
“But… I … How do you know?” They’d only had sex yesterday. How could she possibly be pregnant already? There was no way Dahlia could know.
Dahlia swept a hand down her belly. “Trust me, child. I can sense it in you.” Her face brightened. “We’ll be having our babies at the same time.”
Possibly, the thought of two pregnant females living in the same quarters put the last of the fire out in the men. They both went a shade whiter and their stances sagged. Liam opened his mouth, caught Dahlia’s gaze, and shut it. None of the spectators said a word.
“Come. Let’s go to my cabin and talk.” The dark haired beauty led her by the hand, away from the crowd and into a thick forested area. She didn’t look behind her, but walked gracefully and slowly, as though on regal display.
Casi hadn’t realized how much she’d missed her. Being with Dahlia felt … right. Comforting. Completing. She didn’t resist as Dahlia pulled her into her cabin and shut the door.
Right away she could tell this was purely a woman’s domain. If Liam ventured here, he likely didn’t stay long. A large dais sat centered in the room with a massive bed on top of it. Draped in layer after layer of tapestries and adorned with silken pillows, it looked fit for a queen to lounge upon. Dahlia laid down on it, and tugged her hand. She followed, willingly.
The softness of her skin intrigued. Her scent mesmerized. Stroking her left an indelible trace on Casi’s senses, filling her with an insatiable, unusual need to claim ownership. She didn’t understand, but didn’t fight it, either. Needing to get closer, she lifted from the bed long enough to shuck her clothes. When Dahlia opened her arms, she immediately snuggled into her embrace. Their bodies pressed together – both female, both fertile – seemed perfect. No man could comprehend the bond they shared at that moment.