A Bride For a Werewolf

by Rachel E Rice

  But Harper appeared inflexible about the woman he would marry.

  Chapter Nine

  After Harper met with the landowner to finalize the papers where he would purchase over a hundred acres of land near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, he drove around the area to see where he would build his ranch. The house would be backed against a mountain. His bedroom looking out at the snow covered peaks would give him a sense of security and he could see the sun rise in the morning and watch at the moon at night.

  He began to dread the coming of the full moon. No wife and no one to mate with, he thought. “What’s the fuck wrong with me? I’m behaving like a fucking animal. But I’m not an animal. I have to remember that,” he said. “I’m a man.”

  Pulling the Truck to the side of the road, he stepped out and looked around at the large forest bordering his property.

  Instinctively he knew he had to keep some of the property as a sort of reserve. Only the land that had been cleared would he build a house on, and a stable for his horses. He walked with a stake in his hand. He plunged it into the ground.

  “Here’s where my house will stand. And here’s the stables and over there a hospital and behind the hospital a place for my wife where she can have flowers,” he murmured. It felt good to plan his life. It made him feel like a man with a future.

  When he turned, after hearing a thrashing sound, he spotted a deer rushing through the pines.

  A pain hit him, jolting him upright. Then he doubled over with sweat. He wrapped his arms around him, as if he could hold back the changes rushing through his body. When he glanced at his hands and looked at his arms he had transformed into half man and half wolf. His body altered a little at a time, until he had reached the final phase. He wasn’t in control of his body, but he had to get it under control. Realizing what had happened to him, he tried to reverse it back.

  “What the fuck. I have no control over this?” He asked himself. But he did.

  His brain would tell him how to control that body of his, but now his brain was telling him that he was hungry, and no cheeseburger with tomatoes and lettuce would satisfy his hunger. The thought of food sent his body to the final phase of change, and he shifted into his wolf form and he took off in a quick sprint in the direction of the deer.

  Running fast and jumping over boulders and high brush, he caught up with the elk even though it had a head start with the deer running over thirty five miles an hour. But there was something the elk had been afraid of when he passed Harper.

  Before Harper reached the animal, a black panther leapt from a tree and pounced on the animal and brought it down. The elk lay there kicking and moving its head, but the panther crouched down and tore a large piece of meat from its neck as she scanned the area.

  The panther sensed Harper, but it didn’t stop her from feeding until the animal had no light in its eyes.

  Harper stopped in his tracks. “What the fuck is this?” He murmured. His breathing hard and loud from the chase. There are animals like this in my forest, he thought. I can’t bring a woman and animals here to be eaten alive by this thing.

  Then she shifted, and stood before Harper naked. Her dark hair long and shimmering in the sunlight. Her eyes black, her skin olive. She wiped her mouth. “Are you going to stand there like you’ve never seen my kind before? Are you going to help me eat this animal? I hate to let an animal like this go to waste,” she said to Harper.

  He stood with eyes wide and mouth open and then he shifted and he also stood naked alongside of her. “Did you bring clothes?” A minute went by and Harper didn’t say a word.

  “Do you talk? Are you one of those mutes? When you are bitten they don’t tell you what you’re going to become. No one tells you. You just find yourself having powers you never thought.”

  She ripped the underside of the elk and shoved it into her mouth. “By your expression, I can tell this is a first for you. You will have many first so get used to it. I’m full.” She patted her flat hard stomach and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “You should eat.” She smiled at Harper, showing her sharp incisors, and calling him with her long claws for fingers and nails.

  Harper walked reluctantly to the dead animal, crouched down, and began feeding on the meat the were-panther had ripped apart and offered to share with him. When they had consumed enough, the were-panther stood and he stood. He tried making sense of what he was seeing.

  “Do you want to fuck?” She questioned. “I like to be penetrated when I have consumed a large meal. It keeps me in shape.” She strutted away showing her curvaceous body.

  He blinked his eyes registering what she had just asked him. Because of the intense rush he felt and the lack of sexual intercourse, he thought it was a good idea, but for one thing, she didn’t arouse his senses and he was looking for a suitable mate and she wasn’t one. She wasn’t like him and he was looking for someone like him. A were-female or a human.

  “Where is your home?” He asked.

  “I don’t need to go home to fuck you. We can do it here on the ground or against the tree. Hasn’t it dawned on you that we can fuck wherever we want?” She turned and bent over revealing an inviting behind.

  Harper didn’t know what he should do, but he didn’t want to let an opportunity go by because he had been without sex, and his new body was telling him he needed an orgasm.

  This was another thing he had to get under control. He couldn’t go around fucking every female who desired him.

  Then he remembered his search for a bride and he didn’t want to complicate his life with a were-female. He wanted to bring his bride here and if he started a relationship with this were-panther, who was unknown to him, it might prove fatal.

  “I’m going to be married soon. I don’t want to break my vows to her.”

  What Harper didn’t realize, in this world of shifters, they made their own laws. Their laws centered on how they felt at the moment.

  He was still clinging on to the world of men and their civilities. Here if they wanted to have sex they found a female if she was willing or not and they would take what they wanted. And the female shifters were more than willing to have sex with a high status male and this male owned the entire county.

  Harper was the personification of an Alpha.

  “If you don’t want to fuck me, you will when the moon comes around again, maybe then I will be busy,” she said throwing her long dark hair to the side. She reached inside her leather pouch and pulled out a black shirt and leotards and dressed in them. “You better get some clothes. Do you have any?”

  “I have a change in my truck.”

  “Good because you look like you need a drink. I know just the place. On our drive there, I’ll tell you what to expect as a new shifter. I’ll give you heads up on what to look for.” She strutted to Harper’s truck, hopped in, and sat waiting for him to catch up. He appeared dumbstruck by all that was happening to him. Things had been occurring too fast, and he couldn’t get control over his body.

  When Harper dressed in a black and green flannel shirt and a pair of worn jeans, he stepped into the truck. Looking to the were-panther who had put a sliver of red lipstick on her mouth and managed to clean up the blood on her face, she said, “I carry this at all times.” She handed him a moist cloth, leaned over and wiped his face and watched at him.

  “You are handsome. Did anyone ever tell you that?” Still not making sense of everything he didn’t answer her. “Oh well. When you’re ready during the full moon you can drop by. I live about a mile north of your property on the other side of the mountain. I’ll be waiting for you,” she said purring.

  Turning on the ignition, Harper looked to the were-panther and said, “What’s your name?”

  “Angela. What’s yours?”

  “Harper. Are you the Harper Samsa that everyone is talking about who bought up all the land in this area.”

  He smiled. “I guess I am.”

  “I wouldn’t admit to that where we’re going. We have many shifters w
ho stop in at the bar, that’s what you are. You are a shifter. A werewolf,” she said glancing at him to see a raised eyebrow, “you may not like it, but you are no longer a man. You’re a man, but not in the sense of a man. Have you notice how large your cock is?” She shot him a devilish smile.

  “This bar, where we’re going is the nearest for miles, and we get humans and shifters coming in. All who go there are cat shifters, a few werewolves, not many left from what I hear, and a few humans who are living with shifters. You can’t tell the shifters from the humans. I mean the humans can’t tell, but the shifters know the humans. You aren’t especially liked because the humans in this area and the shifters think you’re going to cut down their forest.”

  “I’m not going to do that. I’m going to make it a haven for shifters. I’m going to build a town where shifters and men are welcome.”

  “That may be human of you, but until you do that, don’t tell anyone who you are,” she said watching at him as if she could pounce on him and rake her claws down his wide muscular chest. “You have to make a right turn off this road. Then you follow the curve and it will take you right up to the Rusty Nail.”

  “Why do they call it that?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  Chapter Ten

  Turning off the engine, Harper hopped out of the car and rushed to open the door before Angela climbed out.

  “That’s another thing you have to remember. Don’t be so polite to a female. The Alphas around here whether human or cat or wolf will take that as a weakness and challenge you. From looking at you, you aren’t ready to fight one of these seasoned wolves. And don’t challenge a human, they carry guns.”

  “Is there anything else I should know?”

  “Yes. I belong to Nero. He owns this bar.” Harper rushed to open the door to the bar and caught himself. Then he remembered what Angela had said to him. He walked in first and she held the door. He stood looking around. The eyes were on him and he thought it was for obvious reasons. Reasons Angela had gone over with him and reasons she had yet to disclose.

  She belonged to the notorious shifter who owned the Rusty Nail and it lived up to its name. It was more like an old barn without the livestock. It was open with a high ceiling and rafters. Then there were stalls. The kind where they keep horses.

  When Harper strode in heads lifted from the stalls. On the floor, wood chips and straw. In the middle of the bar an open arena not for dancing, but it looked like someone had made a ring. The kind you see where humans fight.

  The livestock had been replaced with wolf shifters and cat shifters of all kinds. Mountain lions, panthers who were mostly females. It appeared all the female shifters were cats. Big ones and little ones. And all the male shifters were wolves. And then there’s the men.

  Harpers first thought was to walk out and leave this gruesome bunch of characters, but this was to be his life, and this area was where he would make his home. Like it or not, he had to make it home and get along with the shifters and humans.

  Nero glanced up when he saw Angela, and his face fell into a sour look. His ears peaked upward at seeing her. She strolled to the bar where Nero stood behind the counter stocking it with recognizable liquor and some homemade brews.

  “Who the fuck is that with you,” Nero said looking at Angela and shooting Harper a menacing glance.

  “This is Harper. He’s one of us,” Angela added.

  “He’s not one of us. Not with a name like that, and that simple expression on his face. But we can toughen him up.”

  “What do you mean toughen me up? I didn’t come here to fight anyone. I came here to bring Angela here. I met her...” Angela turned to Harper and narrowed her eyes.

  “Don’t say anything more,” she whispered, but it wasn’t low enough and Nero heard her.

  She forgot to warn Harper that Nero forbid her from hunting without him, and he banned her from going near anyone when she was in heat. And she was in heat. But Harper didn’t know it. His instincts and smell wasn’t for felines, but humans and were-females.

  Walking around the counter and standing in front of Angela, his long arms reached for her hair where he wrapped it around his large fist, and then he dragged her into the stock room.

  When Harper made a move to stop him, three large werewolves shifted to block his path. They had learned how to shift quickly which gave them an advantage over Harper. He was still learning. He was learning everything on how to be a werewolf.

  “You had better mind your own business,” a large muscular werewolf barked. He appeared to be part of Nero’s pack because they sported the same tattoos. A picture of a skull.

  “What does that stand for?” Harper questioned pointing to the skull on the beta’s arm.

  “It signals a dying breed. We’re the dying wolves but before the humans wipe us out we’re going to reap such havoc on them, and anyone that stands in our way. Do you want to join?”

  “I don’t believe you can settle anything with violence.” The werewolves laughed out loud and moved closer to Harper. He could smell their musk. He could hear their hearts beat.

  He back away to the edge of the bar. Sitting on both sides of him were the female cats who appeared more interested in what they were drinking than a werewolf about to be killed.

  “You haven’t understood your reality, have you? You’re a werewolf and you shed blood when you hunt animals and eat them. The only difference of what you were and what you are now, is you’re much stronger, and more blood-thirsty, and you fuck a lot.” He turned to the members of his pack and laughed. Now all the shifters hiding came out for a laugh.

  He stopped laughing and his eyes narrowed and he furrowed his bushy brow. “This makes you apart from that human you were,” the beta said.

  The beta wolf reached for Harper, grabbed hold of his shirt, and tossed him in the air into the ring as if he was a doll. Harper feeling threatened, shifted into his second stage. He stood like a man, but his body stronger and more powerful. His hands became large paws with long claws. His fangs like blades.

  His eyes changed from a cool blue to a glowing sharp golden brown. His teeth elongated and his two incisors, sharp and deadly. He hadn’t wanted this, but he was thrown into this situation, and now he had to prove himself in front of these shifters.

  If he didn’t, he would never be able to live in this area. And he would never walk out of this bar alive.

  There wasn’t a doubt that the shifters would kill him eventually or run him out of the area. But where could he go? Back to San Francisco, or any large or small town? There was no place for a werewolf. There was no place for him, but here.

  Only in the rural areas could he find peace. But he had to prove that he belonged.

  When Harper landed on his feet the large werewolf with the muscle bound neck and arms which hung to his side like two hammers had jumped in the ring. They were facing each other down. The shifters hiding in stalls having sex with the were-cats came out to see the cage match.

  “No one will leave until one is dead.” Harper heard one werewolf whisper to a were-bobcat with large breasts.

  A low groan and snarl crossed the beta wolf’s lips. And his wolf was ready to dig into Harper until there was no more Harper. He had the body of a fighter, but he had few scars and bruises anywhere on his body.

  He had either won without being mauled, or he had never had a fight before, Harper thought. The beta chose him because he wanted to make a name for himself and what better way to do that than to kill the new wolf in town.

  Fear wasn’t part of Harper’s DNA. He had lived and loved clueless. He didn’t know he had to fear the beta because he knew he was an Alpha in all sense of the word. He knew he could survive anything, and now he would be put to the test.

  As the two werewolves stood watching and circling each other, the crowd in the Rusty Nail came to the forefront to cheer. Shouting out the werewolf’s name “Redlin. Redlin.” The stomping of feet and the whistling and jeering at Harper di
dn’t faze him. Today he would test his courage and determination. Today he would know if he could be a werewolf or just ceased to exist.

  Today he would know if he is a true werewolf. Redlin made a leapt at Harper and he raised his large paw and swiped him away like Redlin was a bug. Redlin gave a loud bark. When he turned Harper’s sharp claws had torn a hole from his eye to his neck.

  Harper stood wishing he wouldn’t have to do this again. He wanted this to be over. But Redlin came at Harper again and Harper backed away. Redlin grabbed a hold of Harper’s shoulder and Harper heard someone shout, “His jugular. His jugular, Redlin, and it’s over.”

  Now Harper knew what he had to protect. And what would bring an end to Redlin’s aggression. Harper realized Redlin had been hurt because the blood oozed from his face and shoulder. Redlin kept checking his face. He appeared concerned with the amount of blood covering him, than Harper poised ready to kill him.

  He didn’t see Harper’s eyes turn to a burnish gold. He didn’t see that he forced Harper to become a killer.

  Redlin’s breathing became loud and he clenched his teeth and made another leap for Harper. Harper sidestepped him and pivoted and launched himself on Redlin’s back and sunk his teeth into his jugular ripping a large hole on the side of Redlin’s neck.

  Dropping down on the canvas like a boulder in a lake, Redlin lay there flaying around. Harper had never seen anything like it and didn’t want to see this again. He climbed out of the ring in silence and covered with blood.

  Harper staggered through a throng of werewolves and were-cats watching at him but not saying a word. They appeared stunned. He stumbled into his truck and staring at nothing, he started the motor and drove away.

  Nero and Angela had been in the back and hadn’t come out for all the shouting and then the silence. One of the betas knocked on the door to the room they had disappeared into.

  “What the fuck do you want?” Nero shouted through the moaning and groaning and heavy breathing. “I’m fucking. When I’m finished, then I’ll be out,” he barked through his teeth.