Animal Behavior

by Gabrielle Holly

  He couldn’t explain why, but after wrapping his neck wound with strips of T-shirt and subsisting on cattails and creek water, he’d hiked over unknown terrain and eventually limped his way up to the huge log home.

  Dan had passed out after recounting his strange vision quest and Jeremiah Morgan had tended to the young man’s bite. The leggy redhead—the one Gwen had witnessed knocking back tequila shots at the party—had copped to the attack. “He just smelled so fucking good!” she’d offered by way of explanation.

  Her pack mates had taken it in stride, but Gwen had been horrified. She knew that Dan Hunter’s life would be forever changed in ways he couldn’t yet imagine. But the worst of it was that Gwen had been charged with seeing him safely through to his new reality.

  Alex hadn’t been much help. He and Jeremiah had given Dan a thumbnail sketch of his predicament, fed him rare steaks and eggs over-easy and handed him off to Gwen. “She’ll take real good care of you, son,” Jeremiah had said.

  Then they dropped Dan and Gwen off at Chaney Acres and made a hasty exit. She’d thought that she was in real danger of passing out when she slipped the amulet over her head and led him to the cave. It was only her sense of responsibility to this poor, clueless guy that kept her from curling into a ball and waiting for the whole thing to be over.

  She’d lit the lanterns, just like the book had instructed, then guided Dan Hunter into the cell. Centuries of notes from her ancestors jumbled in her mind.

  Gwen pulled the old rocking chair out of the shadows, well out of reach of the bars, and settled in, pasted on her best confident face and smiled at the fledgling.

  The skinny young man behind the bars brushed his greasy blond hair from his eyes and stared back at her.

  “What’s going to happen to me?” he asked.

  As soon as Dan uttered the question, it was as if a switch had been flipped in Gwen’s psyche. Generations worth of journal entries had recorded this question and supplied her with an answer. “You’re safe here, Dan. I can’t explain what’s about to happen. You wouldn’t believe me even if I could. But know this, nothing you can say or do will shock me. I won’t take any of it personally. Don’t you worry. It’ll be over soon.”

  Gwen had barely finished her scripted speech when the overgrown skater boy began his transformation.

  “Is it hot in here?” he asked before frantically ripping off his clothes.

  Dan paced the length of the cell, apparently unembarrassed by his nakedness, then stopped as if hitting an invisible wall and stared up at the skylight. Gwen leaned forward and followed his gaze. The edge of the three-quarter moon had just breeched the opening.

  The fledgling drew in an audible breath of awe, and turned to Gwen. “Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?” he asked.

  Gwen smiled back at him and silently scoffed at the obviously exaggerated tales in her handbook. She sat back in the rocker and crossed her arms under her breasts. Dan’s handsome features came into focus as the moon slid across the sky. Gwen thought it was like watching a Broadway production.

  The lines of Dan’s wiry body became a work of art under the moonlight. Every peak and valley of his lean muscles was defined in the glow. He tilted his face up to the skylight and the action reminded Gwen of a man standing under the cleansing stream of a shower.

  Dan stretched out his arms and the change overtook him. He moaned as his limbs stretched and his boyish face morphed into something between man and animal. Gwen was mesmerized by the transformation. Even as he doubled over in obvious pain, she leaned forward to take in every nuance. She was a detached observer.

  When his body had fully changed he jerked his attention from the skylight and focused on her. He stomped to the barrier between them and wrapped his clawed hands around the iron bars. She focused on the long strings of saliva dripping from his newly formed jaws. “I will kill you, bitch!” he growled.

  Gwen couldn’t help but smile. The miracle she’d witnessed was something outside of reason and she was honored by the enormity of it.

  “Not tonight you won’t,” she whispered.

  Everything she had read in that journal, every line she had studied, had foretold what she would see tonight, but nothing had prepared her for the awesome beauty of it. Gwen sat back in the chair and wrapped her fingers over the padded armrests. She rocked serenely while Dan Hunter met the moon.

  She weathered his viscous threats then kept watch while he collapsed on the cot’s bare mattress and panted as sleep overtook him. For all the young man’s fear and pain, Gwen couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy.

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  Gwen slipped the amulet around her neck and led the frail woman into the late afternoon sun. Jenny Williams was the third new wolf that Gwen had been charged with seeing through the change. The little hippie had been bitten while attending an outdoor concert in northern Wisconsin. She’d insisted that she was a vegetarian, but had eaten ravenously when Sergei and Alex presented her with rare steaks and runny eggs.

  The women slipped into the hidden opening in the stacked stone wall and picked their way down the dim tunnel. Jenny looked frightened, but didn’t protest when Gwen locked her into the cell. “What’s going to happen to me?” she asked.

  Gwen settled into the overstuffed rocking chair outside the iron bars. “You’re safe here. I can’t explain what’s about to happen. You wouldn’t believe me even if I could. But know this, nothing you can say or do will shock me. I don’t take any of it personally. Don’t worry. It’ll be over soon.”

  The formerly peace-loving Jenny ripped off her clothes and stormed around the cell. She frothed and spewed murderous threats through the bars while her guide smiled serenely and rocked in her chair. Gwen plucked a tattered paperback from the basket beside her and when she opened the cover the subtle scent of cherry pipe tobacco wafted up to her nose. She smiled at the memory of her grandfather and silently thanked him for leading her to this adventure.

  Jenny threw herself against the bars. “I will fucking kill you, you stupid cow!”

  “Not tonight, you won’t,” Gwen said. She set down her book and watched the little blonde’s lithe body transform. Her willowy arms and legs bulged with new, lean muscles and the tiny, upturned nose pushed out into a long snout. Her ears slid up the side of her head and molded into sharp peaks. When the yellow fur poked through her skin, the new werewolf stepped under the skylight, threw back her head and howled at the full moon.

  Gwen knew that though Jenny’s body was going through an actual transformation, much of what she was witnessing was illusion. How much of it was real and how much of it was lunar magic was still a mystery to Gwen. John Chaney had left behind detailed instructions on how to do her job, but some secrets were reserved only for the moon people.

  Pride and longing washed over Gwen. She was honored to guide this fledgling through her initial trial, but wondered if she’d ever travel that path herself. With Alex’s guidance and input from the elders, she’d accepted the role of human consort. She knew that the council was biased—they were invested in the future of pack.

  It was her lover’s opinion that she’d taken to heart. “There’s plenty of time to think about whether or not you want to become one of us. I still have the second dose of tea and you can take the potion at any time.” Alex had said. “You can serve the pack while you decide and in the meantime we can still be together.”

  Gwen glanced in the cell as the fully shifted Jenny collapsed on the cot. The little blonde werewolf panted and twitched in her sleep. She would be out cold for the rest of the night and only return to her human form when the first rays of morning sunshine streamed through the skylight. Gwen would watch over her tonight and every full-moon evening for the next several months.

  The first night was always the worst, and once she’d gotten through this trial, Jenny would be mated with Sergei. The dark werewolf had petitioned Alex for her on the same day she’d arrived in Talbot and his reque
st had been granted.

  Jenny whined in her sleep and Gwen recalled the lusty look in the woman’s eyes when she’d met the Russian. The little blonde had immediately agreed to the match. It was within Alex’s power to deny the union without grounds, but he had proven to be a good and fair leader. He and Gwen had accepted Sergei’s apology for the attack. All three knew that it was the desperate act of a man who was watching his position as alpha slip away.

  Gwen was proud of Alex and proud to be his. The two had become mates without fanfare or ceremony. Their passion for one another seemed to grow every day and their lovemaking changed with the moon phase. Gwen thought it was like having two lovers in one man—at turns gentle and frenzied. The memories of their time together flooded her mind in a slideshow of sexual images and her body responded.

  When she thought of his strong body looming over her and the way he filled her so completely, her pussy throbbed and wetness soaked her panties. She squirmed in her chair and ground her thighs together, but that only made her longing more intense. She was just about to snake her hand down the front of her jeans and relieve her aching need when she heard shuffling from the mouth of the tunnel.

  Squinting to see in the dim lamplight, Gwen leaned forward in her chair. The copper-colored werewolf prowled out from the shadows and Gwen felt her heartbeat quicken.

  “Were you thinking of me, love? I can smell your want.”

  The deep, gravely timbre of his voice bounced off the stone walls and caused a shiver to speed up Gwen’s spine. She cast a glance in the cell and, seeing that Jenny was still dead to the world, stood and stripped off her clothes. When she turned, Alex was in front of her, his amber eyes flashing in the flickering light. He reached out and dragged the back of his hand over her cheek and across her throat. She cried out when he ran a sharp fingernail down her sternum and over the rise of one breast. He pinched the aching nipple and the juices gushed from her, smearing her inner thighs.

  His gaze was so intense that she had to fight to break it and take in his beautiful man-beast body. When she saw his hard cock straining toward her, she licked her lips and knelt on the cold stone floor and took him into her mouth. A low growl rumbled from his chest and she could feel the vibration on her tongue. She sucked hard on his engorged shaft and he wrapped his hand into her hair, guiding her movements for a moment before yanking her to her feet.

  He pushed her back into the chair and draped her legs over the padded arms then sank to his knees in front of her. The feel of his shaggy jaws along her skin sent a shiver through her body. She stroked his enormous head as he licked a path up her inner thighs then teased her outer lips. He played outside her opening until her clit crested through her glistening curls and she whimpered for contact. “Please, Alex!” she finally cried. He shoved his long, thick tongue into her, contorting it to touch hidden places deep inside.

  Hooking her arms under her knees, Gwen stretched herself wide and lifted her hips into his face. He pulled back long enough to lap the cream from her throbbing sex before plunging back into her slick canal. As her orgasm built, Gwen let go of her knees and pulled him into her. When he grasped her calves and clawed at the soft flesh, she exploded in release.

  Before she could catch her breath, Alex was on his feet. He pulled her from the chair. “Grab on,” he commanded, placing her hands on his shoulders. Gwen did as she was told and he reached behind her to take hold of her thighs, and easily lifted her against his hard body. Clinging to him and pressing her face to his, Gwen cried out when he impaled her on his thick rod.

  His erection stretched her wide and every movement was ecstasy as he effortlessly bounced her against his body. With each lunge, her nipples were grazed by his hairy chest, fueling her lust. Just as she felt herself climbing again, his tempo increased to a superhuman pace. “Yes, Alex! Yes!” she panted and tightened her grip on his neck as the second climax rippled through her. Alex drew out her orgasm with his manic thrusts and when she thought she could take no more, he pulled down her hips until he was buried to the hilt and she felt his enormous cock swell and jerk inside her. He threw back his head and howled. While his cum seeped from her, Gwen rested her cheek on his chest and from far off she could hear the howls of the other pack members answering their alpha’s call.

  * * * * *

  Gwen dropped her book into the basket and glanced into the cell. The morning light had returned Jenny to her human form and she sat naked on the cot. “How are you feeling?” Gwen asked.

  The little hippie rose and pulled on her clothes. “I feel great! I’m starving, but awesome!”

  The new werewolf’s sunny demeanor was a complete one-eighty from her mood the night before. Gwen knew that it would continue to improve as Jenny realized her full potential. Before long Jenny would be stronger and faster than any human. Her senses would become incredibly acute, she’d have perfect health and her life expectancy would double or even triple.

  Gwen unlocked the cell door. “Let’s get you something to eat.”

  Jenny drew her consort into a big hug and whispered in her ear, “Thanks so much, Gwen. I know I’ve got a long road ahead of me, but I’ve been given a gift. I never imagined I could feel this way.”

  Gwen returned her hug then led her through the tunnel. Sergei and Alex were waiting for them outside the hidden entrance, both leaning against Alex’s golf cart. Jenny sprinted to Sergei, launched herself into his arms and covered his face with kisses. The big Russian laughed. “How did she do, friend?”

  “Came through with flying colors,” Gwen said. “She says she’s hungry though.”

  Sergei looked down at her. “Is that so?” he teased. She nodded up at him and raised her eyebrow.

  “Is it only food you’re hungry for, tiny one?” he asked. She slowly shook her head and licked her lips. “Then I shall take you home and make sure you are satisfied,” Sergei said, then bent down, hefted her over his shoulder and slapped her on the ass. He took off running toward his farm with his giggling mate bouncing against his broad back.

  Gwen listened to Jenny’s laughter fade, and wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck. “Long night?” he asked. Nodding, she climbed into the cart. She was silent on the ride back to his log house. It had been a long night. Between the adrenaline rush that accompanied watching a new werewolf transform and the frantic lovemaking she and Alex had shared, Gwen was exhausted. Her body was sore and the first hint of a headache was building behind her forehead. She couldn’t imagine how her grandfather had kept it up into his old age.

  She followed Alex up the wide stone steps and through the house to the kitchen. Settling in at the breakfast bar, Gwen watched Alex as he pulled eggs and steaks from the fridge and set them by the stove. He grabbed a mug and set it in front of Gwen. “Coffee?” he asked.

  Gwen reached out and touched his hand. He looked across the granite countertop at her, and when she was sure she had his attention, she shook her head. “No, my love, I don’t want coffee. I’d rather have tea.”

  About Gabrielle Holly

  Gabrielle Holly lives in the Midwest with her husband and two enormous, world-class-shedding dogs. She has worked as a freelance journalist, newspaper humor columnist, magazine editor, stand-up comic and morning radio show host. She has a short attention span and enjoys reading, cooking, crafting, hunting for antiques, attending live theater, spending time outdoors, watching movies and coercing her husband into being her “research assistant”.

  Gabrielle welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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  Animal Behavior

  ISBN 9781419947926

  ALL RIGHTS RESER
VED

  Animal Behavior Copyright © 2013 Gabrielle Holly

  Edited by Briana St. James

  Cover design and photography by Willo

  Additional cover photography by Matthijs Wetterauw/shutterstock.com

  Model: Axl

  Electronic book publication October 2013

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