Inferno Wolves: The Complete Tale: Werewolf Paranormal Romance

by Lyra Valentine

  ‘His pack,’ she remembered. He sat and spoke like a counselor. He probably did this sort of thing every day. She had to admit, he had her calmed down.

  “I think I know when it happened.” She told him then, about the mugging that wasn’t a mugging. The mad man had bitten her, stolen nothing, and run away into the night. She raised the sleeve on her shirt for him to see the faint scar that still marred her skin.

  “That is not our way. I don’t allow that in my pack.” Xander bristled with anger. “Think back to anything you might remember. We need to handle it if there’s a rogue werewolf in the area.”

  There, he’d said it. She was a werewolf now. They actually existed outside of fantasy novels and the deep internet, and she was one. At least that narrowed down what she would turn into when the moon rose later that night.

  “I don’t remember much more than what I already told you.” She made a face. “Believe me, I would have told the cops if I knew more.”

  “Police were involved?”

  “Of course. I wasn’t going to not report someone trying to bite my arm off!” Stella sighed in frustration. She didn’t want to talk about the mugging. She wanted to know what to expect in her new life as a werewolf.

  Xander softened, and came around to sit on the desk near her. “We’re usually informed of this type of thing. It’s curious we heard nothing. I’m sorry, I won’t push further.” He smiled down at her.

  “And the cage? Will I need one now?” She remembered the first smile she’d needed to look up to see, which led to thoughts of feeling his lips on hers. She wet her lips with her tongue and his eyes followed the motion.

  A shadow passed over Xander’s face for the first time. “That will be up to you and your level of control and comfort. My parents built it for me as soon as I started shifting. It was hard on all of us, and I’m thankful they didn’t just throw me to the streets. Some of those downstairs didn’t have such acceptance and were thrown out with the trash.

  “I keep it because it has proved to be useful. New weres are especially shifty.” He shrugged his shoulders and flashed her a wolfish grin. “It’s a good thing to have when you need to control a raging wolf and have company over.”

  Stella’s stomach turned with anxiety. She might finally have her answers and still had zero idea what to expect. “I’ve been kicking myself that I didn’t ask you when I saw it on the door to the basement. I’ve been dreaming of that since the mugging, and drawing it everywhere. What does the symbol on your basement door mean?”

  “It’s the sign of the wolf. It’s a curse, some say. The mannaz rune was scrawled on the first werewolf, then the gods etched the wolf fang. The man would become the wolf after that.” Xander paused and cocked his head to look at her for a moment. “You were dreaming of it?”

  “Yes. Is that bad?” One answer evidently lead to another question, she thought.

  He shook himself off. “Not at all. Will you stay? Tonight, that is. And run with us? Or use the cage, if you’d prefer.”

  He changed subjects quickly, something that Stella didn’t let go unnoticed. Of course she’d be strange, even amongst werewolves. She stored the information for later. She hesitated before she answered. “What happens then?”

  “Well, we just finished cooking out, though there’s probably some burgers left somewhere if you’re hungry. The sun will go down in the next half hour or so and we will begin shifting. Then we run in the woods for the night.”

  “You don’t wait for the moon?” It felt like an idiotic question to ask, in general and to someone who was familiar with the routine. Stella didn’t like being unsure of herself.

  “Some do. Some won’t shift until later tonight. There’s a teenage boy who just joined and can’t control the change happening exactly at sunset,” he explained.

  “Do you want me here?” Stella heard the double meaning in her words the second they were out of her mouth. Her cheeks blushed, but she didn’t take the words back. She felt heat radiating from him at such a close distance.

  His eyes darkened. “Yes,” he breathed. He brushed fingertips across her cheek and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

  Stella turned her face into his palm. She turned large dark eyes on him and kissed his skin. Her hands trembled when she guided his thumb into her mouth. She swirled her tongue around his digit and pulled him back out with a gentle grazing from her bottom teeth. He tasted just like she remembered and she couldn’t get enough.

  He pulled her out of her seat and wrapped her in his large arms. “You drove me crazy trying to find you.” He breathed his words into her neck between light kisses.

  “I was scared.” She was surprised he could hear her over the racing beats of her heart.

  He tangled fingers in her hair and pulled her back to look into his eyes. She loved their green color with his dark hair.

  “Are you scared now?” He asked it as almost a challenge.

  Stella stood straighter and pulled her shirt slowly off her body. She tugged jeans down her slender hips, over her white thighs, and finally let them pool on the ground. She stood again, and made eye contact. “No.”

  Xander pulled her closer with a demanding kiss. His hands could almost circle her waist. He rubbed hands up her ribcage, over her breasts, then behind her back. Her bra popped open under expert fingers.

  She melted into him, thrilled with every electrifying touch of his hands. She tossed her head back and bit her lip when he bent to take one of her nipples in his mouth.

  His tongue touched first and then he blew a soft breath across the skin. Her nipple puckered under the chill. Uncompromising on symmetry, Xander cupped her other breast in his large hand and toyed the other nipple into attention with his fingers.

  He switched then, back and forth between the pink buds, until she thought she would go mad from desire. She gasped under his touch, and could feel her panties getting soaked. She pushed her hands forward and rubbed the very large bulge in his pants. She needed to feel his skin again.

  She pushed up at his shirt, and he took the hint. His jeans came next, then he shucked off his briefs as she pushed her panties over her hips. They stood naked and wanting in front of the other, devouring each other with their eyes.

  They reached for each other at the same time. Stella wrapped her arms around Xander’s strong back, and he tangled his hands in her hair again. They kissed deeply, letting their tongues mingle and dance together.

  Xander pulled away first. He turned his back and pushed the contents of his desk out of the way.

  Stella was seated in the clear spot before she knew what happened. She slowly leaned back on her hands. She opened her legs and let Xander settled between her thighs. He rubbed his cock on her folds until she nearly cried out with impatience. When he finally pushed gently inside her, he stretched her to the brim and she only wanted more.

  Xander moaned loudly and it almost pushed Stella over the edge.

  “Shh,” she whispered, then giggled. She felt like a teenager sneaking around. The thrill of maybe being caught made her twitch in excitement.

  He chuckled and thrust fully into her. “You’re in a house full of wolves. They’ve heard worse, and they know what we’re up to now.”

  Pleasure quickly overrode any embarrassment for Stella. She should feel proud, she urged herself. There was no shame in enjoying herself. Even in all her inexperience, the pack leader wanted her and not some other she-wolf. Her smile grew wider. She hadn’t ever felt so alive. She tossed her hair over her shoulders, and gave herself over to Xander.

  Xander leaned his weight on one hand placed on the desk. He hitched one of her legs close to his side and moved faster into her. His fingers dug into her thigh.

  She gasped with each thrust, trying to hide the noise at first. Her manners flew out the window when he moved the hand at her thigh to her clit. At the top of each thrust, his thumb would flick over the increasingly sensitive bud. “Xander, Jesus,” she moaned.

  Just as she f
elt the oncoming storm of her climax, Xander stopped. She throbbed with frustration. “I want to see you bounce in front of me,” he fold her, and gently pushed her back.

  Stella let herself fall back against the desk, and licked her lips. Xander took hold of her hips and dragged her closer to the edge of the desk. She loved the way his eyes moved up her body to take in every detail. A wave of dizzy desire washed over her and tightened her nipples even harder.

  Xander trailed one hand lightly up her side. His fingers closed around her nipple just as he began thrusting again.

  The noise she made was a cross between a growl and a moan. She felt something clawing at her insides. It was desperate to get out. It pushed at her consciousness, and Stella shivered. It wanted to take control, and it wasn’t asking for permission.

  Xander sounded calm but firm. He would have her obedience. “Stay with me. Breathe, Stella. You control your beast, not it you.”

  The hand at her breast moved to loosely hold her throat. The slight pressure on her windpipe forced her attention. She concentrated on his words. The rising violence inside her calmed. She was just a woman being properly manhandled. Xander’s words made the beast retreat.

  Xander moved fast, then. He kept his eyes fixed on hers until she couldn’t help herself. Her back arched off the desk and her eyes closed. Her breath blew fast and hot. She wrapped her legs around him to draw him closer.

  “Stella,” Xander groaned, and pulled her up and close to him again. He wrapped his large arms around her back and pushed his hands deep in her hair. His lips tickled at her collarbone.

  Her nipples scraped against the hair on his chest and Stella’s mouth went dry at the sensation. Her nails raked down Xander’s back. “I’m going to come,” she panted.

  “Good.”

  The whisper in her ear was accompanied by a nip at her earlobe. Stella’s head dropped back and a shudder ran down her spine. The heat at her core grew more intense until she thought she’d combust. She felt him jump inside her. Her vision faded and their cries mingled together.

  Stella dropped back on the desk again and gulped large breaths of air. Xander collapsed in the chair she’d previously occupied.

  “Wow.” Xander sighed after a moment, then cocked an eyebrow. “You didn’t shift that time. You’re a natural.”

  “I have a good teacher.” She smiled lazily at him.

  They snuck across the hall to clean up in his bedroom, then prepared to go downstairs. They walked together, and she had to suppress a shock when she saw three wolves walking amongst the furniture. Of course, sunset would have happened while they were upstairs.

  Most of the humans kept their thoughts to themselves, though Stella did see a sly smile here and there. She thought she saw a scowl directed at her from a willowy redhead, but the look was replaced with a smile when Xander glanced in her direction.

  The wolves didn’t have any such compulsion. Two grey-coated wolves came to sniff at her crotch until Xander shooed them away. The third, dark red in color, sat on its haunches and lolled a tongue at them in a way that Stella thought meant laughter.

  They had missed sunset by only a few minutes. The sky still glowed red with the last of the light. Xander led Stella outside to the picnic area that had been set up. They took a seat on foldable camp chairs, and someone even brought Stella a beer to sip. She was grateful to have something to do with her hands.

  They watched a small number of humans wander outside. Some stripped there in the yard, others came out wrapped in towels or loose robes that they dropped to the ground. All shifted into large wolves. She’d seen wolves in captivity, but nothing had prepared her for their size in person. Their paws were easily larger than her hands, and she thought her throat would fit perfectly between their glinting jaws. They were beautiful in their danger.

  Some bit at the heels of others and ran into the forest behind Xander’s home. Howls sounded in the distance and Stella pieced together the source of the successful conservation efforts to save the local area wolves.

  “I’ll stay with you,” Xander offered.

  A sense of anxiety filled her. She smiled weakly at him. Last time had been a surprise, but she entered with her eyes opened now. She didn’t know what to expect, really. Everyone else appeared to know when the compulsion to shift grew too strong to resist, or had enough control to force the change on their own time.

  “You need to release your beast. But remember, you’re in control.” He squeezed her knee.

  An itch grew at the base of her spine, and echoed in the mark on her arm. The anxiety grew worse. She felt like ants were crawling on the inside of her skin. The first ripple of her skin startled her and she jumped in horror. She watched her fingers twitch on their own, bubbling with the beginnings of her transformation.

  Xander pulled her to her feet. He stripped off his clothes and urged her to do the same. The excitement was clear on his face. He wanted to be out with the rest of his pack. “You’ll only rip them if you keep them on.”

  A blush came over Stella, but the urgency kept her moving. Her bra dropped to the ground and four paws followed. Stella became her wolf.

  After

  Stella woke the next morning when a beam of sunlight hit her eyes. She felt cozy and warm, and realized the weight across her was Xander’s arm. She didn’t remember much of the night before, and certainly didn’t remember getting back in the house with Xander, though he had assured her that would pass as she gained control of her beast.

  Release and control, were the words she remembered. She needed to release her beast, and control it. Once she had that mastered, they would share thoughts and memories like they were one creature instead of two inhabiting one body.

  She yawned, and tucked her head back against Xander’s shoulder and inhaled his earthy scent of dew drops and rich dirt. She knew what wolves felt like when they curled into themselves with members of their pack. Contented sleep came quickly.

  Darkening Moonlight

  Inferno Wolves #2

  Lyra Valentine

  Stella Carlson never expected to see her ex after he disappeared months ago. A sizzling reunion is in order when Derek Shore appears unannounced in the middle of an argument between Stella and her new boyfriend, Xander. The returning Derek is leaner, darker, and intent on hiding a secret from Stella. Her own wolfy secret opens a rift between the two. Powerful Xander Dante is more than willing to fill that rift, but only if Stella will commit herself to the pack. Now Stella must choose between the comfortable familiarity of an old life or the thrill of starting a new one.

  Chapter One

  Stella glanced at the timer blinking at the corner of the screen and continued to type away on her laptop. Her new job let her work from home, which seemed to be a requirement for the recently lycanthroped. She had flexibility to take the day off after a moonlit run in the woods, or when a shift unexpectedly happened.

  The thought made her pause. She still struggled with her beast. It felt like the Hyde to her Jekyll. It attempted to take control more often than she liked, but she had to admit the trend was turning in her favor. She remembered her times as the wolf, now. Its desires crept into her awareness. The smell of meat and blood sent her mouth watering, her mind to thinking about darting between the trees on a hunt, and her wolf surging. She controlled most of the shifts, but struggled when she was tired or angry. The full moon forced a shift, too, but Xander said there was little control to be had there.

  The jangle of keys in the door alerted her to Xander’s arrival. She smiled. She liked when he came to her place. He had temporarily moved in to avoid the awful traffic of street repairs near his house, scheduled to last for two more weeks. They quickly fell into a routine. He came home from running Lupine Landscapes, smelling of rain on warm dirt, kissed her on the head, then hopped in the shower. Food and sex followed, though not always in that order.

  The evening she pictured in her mind wasn’t in the cards. Xander was halfway through the tiny living room before she
realized he had skipped the head kiss.

  He called from the bedroom, “You didn’t clean out the closet.”

  The flatness of Xander’s voice alarmed her. Guilt made her defensive. Derek’s left behind belongings had become a point of contention in their otherwise wonderful relationship. Xander didn’t feel comfortable with such strong reminders of her recent breakup. From offseason clothing to golf clubs, Xander wanted Derek scrubbed from the apartment. She hadn’t done a thing about the closet all day, though she said she would.

  Stella made a small effort in the beginning to remove traces of Derek, and consolidated everything into one closet. She even emailed Derek to ask for a shipping address, which he never answered. Xander wanted the closet emptied. Stella didn’t want to think about why she hesitated.

  She called, “I’ll get to it this week!”

  When he came back through the living room and into the kitchen, she saw his jaw tightened in the sign she knew meant suppressed anger. “What?” She dared and followed him.

  He placed his hands deliberately on the counter between them. The muscles of his arms were tight ropes of tension. “You said that last week,” he said quietly.

  “I’m sorry, I got busy with work today.” The excuse sounded flimsy even to her. Work emergencies just didn’t exist in the world of product descriptions and reviews, and he knew it. She closed her laptop and cautiously approached the kitchen. She felt hyper focused, like she was dashing through the forest and playing chicken with the stationary tree trunks. She didn’t think she’d dodge in time to miss the oncoming argument.

  Xander took a breath. His voice was tight. “It’s hard enough knowing he lived here until very recently. I can’t get his scent out of my nose.”

  “That’s not fair.” Her nostrils flared with anger. “I never once asked about the hookup history of your house.”

  “It’s a little different when the evidence is shoved in your face. I don’t think you really want to let go of him, Stella.”

  “I’m with you, Xander. We’ve been over this.” The words sounded rote.