Alpha's Claim

by 10 Author Anthology

  There were no whispered sweet nothings, no promises to respect her in the morning, and Holly didn't care. Only one thing concerned her mind and body, and it came hard and fast. He fucked her straight into orgasm without apology. She wrapped her arms around his neck, smothering him in her cleavage as her climax claimed hold of her.

  Her inner muscles clenched around his cock until every wave rippled through her, coating him in her juices. Lucas groaned, and with his hands on her hips, gave one last thrust to secure his own final release.

  They held each other for a moment, panting and sated from their exertions.

  "I don't know—"

  "What was—"

  They tripped over each other's words. Holly found some joy in the fact this wasn't an everyday occurrence for him either. She'd never be able to look at her table again without blushing. After carefully extricating herself from Lucas, Holly scooped up the scrap of silk and tried to cover herself. Now that the moment of madness was over, reality started to rear its ugly head and remind her she didn't do this.

  "It's a bit late for modesty, don't you think?" Lucas peeled away the fabric to expose her again and palmed her breasts in his hands.

  "It's just … I don't … we shouldn't have…"

  "Why not? Don't I make you feel good?" He brushed her hair away from her neck and kissed her goose pimpled skin. He wasn't playing fair.

  "Yes. But—"

  He put a finger on her lips."Shh. Let's not worry about regrets and make the most of tonight."

  How could she argue when her body was saying yes, yes, yes?

  ****

  Lucas rolled over and found the space next to him empty. He stretched out his aching limbs and winced. Last night's impromptu shag-a-thon had taken its toll on his knees, but he still had a smile on his face. After persuading Holly to come to bed they'd indulged in another round of sexual gymnastics, albeit a slower exploration of each other after the initial insta-lust in the kitchen.

  They needed to talk this morning about where they went from here. He couldn't speak for Holly, but he didn't want this to be a one off. Perhaps he could make his trips North a regular occurrence, if she was agreeable, and he could find out where she'd disappeared to. Apparently she wasn't one for lazy mornings in bed.

  He rolled to the side of the bed and forced himself out. With any luck he could persuade her to come back and keep him warm.

  "Holly?" He walked into the living room and through the kitchen, but apart from the remnants of her shredded nightclothes there was no sign of her.

  A crash came from the bathroom, followed by a string of swear words.

  "Are you okay in there?" He knocked on the door.

  "I'm fine." The quiver in her voice said the opposite.

  She had to process a lot after last night, but Lucas didn't want to be kept locked out. If she regretted sleeping with him, or couldn't handle everything she'd learned about him, she needed to tell him to his face. He opened the door and let himself in.

  "What's going on, Holly?"

  The place was a mess. The shower curtain was torn from the rail, bottles and towels were strewn around the small room, and she was standing naked in the midst of it all with tears streaming down her face. He immediately went to comfort her.

  "Don't you fucking come near me, you monster."

  The snarled words hit him in the gut. Rejection was the one thing he'd feared the most.

  "Tell me what's wrong." After sharing his secret with her, he didn't understand the violent reaction now.

  "What did you do to me?" Her eyes blazed with fear as she took a step back from him.

  "We had consensual sex. Do not try and tell me you didn't want me as much as I wanted you." He wouldn't let her turn what happened between them into something ugly simply because she'd acted out of character.

  "I don't mean that. Did you bite me?"

  "No, I didn't bite you. Are you on drugs or something?" Trust him to hook up with a bunny boiler. He should've known when she kicked off yesterday she wasn't the full shilling.

  "You … you've infected me, or turned me, or whatever it is you freaks do to recruit new members."

  "What the fuck are you talking about?" He started to back away now in case she suddenly lunged at him with a loofah and tried to shove it somewhere unpleasant.

  "This!" She opened her mouth wide to reveal a nice set of sharp pointy fangs. "This!" She lifted her hands up in front of her face to display some very claw like fingernails.

  No wonder she was freaking out.

  "I swear, I don't know how this happened." He'd slept with a lot of women, and not one of them had ever woken up as his wolfie equal.

  "What the fuck am I gonna do?" Unsurprisingly, her voice was shrill enough to wake the dead. He remembered the first time he'd turned, and it had been shocking even to him, and he'd known about his family heritage.

  "Calm down. You will learn to control it with time. I can help you. But I swear I had nothing to do with this." With his balls in close proximity to her razor sharp new appendages, he needed to reiterate the fact this wasn't his fault. Probably.

  ****

  She wanted to cry and scream and shred everything in sight, Lucas included. He swore this new burden thrust upon her was nothing to do with him, and she almost believed him. It wasn't as if he'd forced her to take part in any sort of weird ritual last night that would explain her sudden transformation. If she believed in superstitious nonsense she might've said she'd been cursed. That somehow, her one night of animal passion had literally manifested in her physical form for the whole world to see.

  "Do you believe in magic, or curses? Or something that would explain this?" It seemed reasonable to her when she was forced to accept the existence of a man who could change into a wolf.

  She needed an answer, or she would have no choice but to blame him. Up until Lucas Forbes came into her life she'd been “normal”.

  Overnight he'd managed to change her low opinion of him, and she had to admit there was something there between them. It was just her luck there was a “claws clause” tangled up in it.

  "I have no idea. If you're asking me if I believe in witches and warlocks and that sort of thing, the answer is no. But who am I to argue against nature's anomalies?" Lucas did little to reassure her. If anything, it increased her panic levels as she envisaged some sort of supernatural witch versus werewolves battle for her soul.

  "Who have I pissed off to deserve this?" Her shoulders sagged under the weight of her new troubles. There were the practicalities to consider here as well as the cause. If she couldn't reverse this spell or curse or whatever it was, life wasn't going to be easy.

  "Apart from me? I'm sure there's a long list." Lucas ill-timed humor would've earned him a slap in other circumstances. He was lucky she remembered about her new manicure before she dismembered him.

  "Not helpful." Perhaps dismembering was still on the cards.

  "As far as I know the ability to turn only comes through the blood line. Maybe you're adopted?" Lucas offered an explanation as far out as her witch theory.

  "You've seen my parents, right?" She was the spitting image of her mother, and she'd definitely inherited her father's eyes. There was no doubting her heritage.

  Lucas squinted at her. "Point taken. You do have your father's jawline."

  She hated him for making her laugh at a time like this.

  "Holly, love. Is everything all right in there? Your mother and I heard an awful lot of noise next door." Her father's voice sounded through the house. Not for the first time Holly wished he wouldn't insist on letting himself in.

  "Everything's fine, Dad." Fuck. Fuck Fuck. She was naked, Lucas was naked, she'd somehow fucked herself into becoming a wolf, and her father was about to walk in on it all.

  Lucas grabbed a towel from the floor and wrapped it around his waist before covering her dignity with one, too. She'd thank him if there wasn't still a part of her that wanted to scratch his eyes out for ruining her life. Someho
w this whole mess was tied to his arrival. Hot sex or not, she wouldn't have let him over the doorstep if she'd known she'd end up as some genetic crossbreed.

  "Holly?" Her father tapped on the slightly ajar door.

  "You can't come in!" She shoulder charged the door, but he pushed back.

  "I think we need to have a talk."

  "This really isn't the time. I'll get dressed and come see you later." She tried one last attempt to fend him off, but he barged past her into the bathroom.

  "Lucas." He nodded hello to the naked man next to her as if it was an everyday happening around here.

  Lucas nodded back as an awkward silence descended on the three of them wedged into the tiny room.

  "As you can see, this isn't really an appropriate time to call. So if you don't mind—" What the hell did it take to get rid of him?

  "This involves Lucas, too."

  Oh God, did he hear us last night? Shoot me now, or put me to sleep like the rabid dog I am.

  "I'm a grown woman. I have sex. Yes, I've had sex with Lucas. There's no need for a discussion. Can you please leave?"

  "That's good to know, and that is sorta why I'm here. Have you told her?" He addressed Lucas directly.

  "Told her what?" Lucas looked as much in the dark as she was at this moment.

  "You know, about the wolf thing."

  Lucas's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "How do you know about that?"

  Her father's gaze turned to her, and she started to feel like piggy in the middle. "Yes, I know. Now please tell me what you're doing here."

  "I was good friends with your dad, Lucas. We share a common interest. He liked to come here and be close to his own kind."

  "The wolves?" That made sense to her, even if she was starting to hate him a little for introducing his son to the foundation.

  "Not just the wolves outside, but wolf shifters, too."

  The penny finally dropped, and nearly felled Holly with it. "You're a wolf shifter?"

  He nodded. "Your mother, too. We thought we were the only ones until Mr. Forbes came along. We both hoped that you and Lucas would be a match and someday further the line, but you never showed any signs."

  She held out her clawed hands. "Until now."

  The pride emanating from her parent was akin to her telling him she'd won the Nobel Peace Prize. "We hoped and dreamed you were one of us, but it seemed like you were some sort of genetic throwback."

  "Oh, I'm the oddball here? Give me a break."

  "So this has nothing to do with me?" Lucas tried to absolve himself of all responsibility.

  "I reckon you two have made some sort of connection that's finally sparked that side of Holly to life."

  "Gee, thanks." It had to be said she wasn't as thrilled about the prospect as the two men appeared to be. Although at least now she had the full facts. Her parents had kept a small, but bloody important detail, about her DNA from her. It wasn't entirely Lucas's fault after all. Good, because if she was honest it was harder to hate him today as much as she had previously.

  "She's my mate," Lucas stated simply. "My father always said there was someone out there for me. We had something incredible last night. You know it, Holly. I think we are meant to be together."

  A blush crept over her skin as he spoke candidly in front of her parent. She knew he was right. Her study of the pack was extensive enough for her to have witnessed that connection between mates. It explained the explosive chemistry between her and Lucas, and the feeling, well, that this was right. Perhaps a subconscious part of her had already welcomed him as her mate and made it easier to overcome her initial Lucas aversion and accept all of this craziness.

  "That's all very well, but what am I supposed to do with these?" She waved her deformed hands at them and bared her teeth. Hearts and flowers were all well and good, but would he stick around for a hand job now?

  "It will take a while for the transition. It's not that bad, you know. I've fought it myself for quite a while, but I found it quite liberating yesterday." Lucas took her clawed hands in his, his gentle tone already starting to reassure her she wouldn't be stuck between her two personas forever.

  "What if I don't change back?" With her shape-shifting ineptitude Holly could very well find herself as a resident in the foundation, rather than the manager.

  "You will. I promise. Do you want me to help you complete the shift now?" Lucas was actually convincing her that this was possible with him at her side. It wasn't often someone had her back around here. It was usually the other way around. A girl could have her head turned by a supportive other half. She hoped he'd stick around to see her through all this.

  "I'm scared." For once in her life she could admit it, knowing the place wouldn't fall down around her. Lucas could be strong enough for the two of them.

  "I know you are. Wouldn't you like to be free of that? I think your wolf deserves to cut loose for a while. What could be better than running out here naked, without a care in the world?" It was no wonder this man was successful in business. He could sell snow to an Eskimo.

  "It's tempting." It could be the release she needed. The next best thing to spontaneous shagging on her dining table of course.

  "Come with me." Lucas didn't give her another chance to say no as he led her to the front door. Before her eyes, he shifted into his sleek black wolf, leaving the towel in a puddle behind him.

  Her father stood beside her. "Stop thinking and just feel. Close your eyes and picture running across those fields with Lucas."

  Holly took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She wanted to be with Lucas. She could do this. A shiver rippled across her body, and she felt as though she was falling. When she shot out her hands to steady herself on the ground, she realized she was on all fours. All four paws.

  "Go, have fun."

  For once she took her father's advice and chased Lucas across the hills. She reveled in her new form, sprinting away from her responsibilities, testing her powerful new limbs. Lucas was right. Here she had no inhibitions or financial worries. In future she would welcome the change. As a wolf she was finally free.

  The End

  www.jorjalovettauthor.weebly.com

  PANTHER RIDGE

  Jessica Jayne

  Copyright© 2014

  Chapter One

  Nathan Thorne’s body ached. After the last forty-eight hours of fighting the brush fire that spread over fifty acres of Florida flatlands, every muscle in his body grumbled and pulled with every move he made. He’d been off-duty two days ago when the Fire Chief had called and told him that extra hands were needed to snuff out the fire before it got too close to nearby neighborhoods that had popped up along Panther Ridge’s country roads over the last several years. The town’s entire department, plus neighboring area fire departments, had participated in putting out the blaze.

  The Florida summer had been scorching, and with little rain to quench the ground, everything was crisp and dry. They’d had a run of brush fires over the last month. Most of the fires were small. But just one lightning strike or a cigarette butt flicked out a window could smolder into a full-fledged fire. Nate prayed for rain. He wasn’t sure his thirty-three year old body could take anymore forty-eight hour brush fire shifts this summer.

  Jumping down from his black Silverado 1500, his feet crunched the gravel parking lot as he made his way to the entrance of his favorite spot. He pulled open the door to the Watering Hole, and his eyes adjusted to the dimness. The darkness of the bar was a stark contrast to the still blazing sun of a late Florida afternoon. The bar was still quite empty. Only one other man squatted at the bar, but give it another hour or so and Nate knew the place would be packed with locals looking to take the edge off the end of the work week.

  “Thorne,” Jack Jantsen said from behind the bar. “Haven’t seen you around here in quite some time.”

  “I know,” Nate said, straddling a stool at the bar. “All these wildfires are killing me.”

  “Just need ourselves a little
rain,” Jack said with a smile. His straw cowboy hat covered his head of gray hairs. Small stains dotted his white t-shirt, probably from getting the bar ready for the evening shift. Jack lived and breathed this bar. It had been in his family for generations. Nate couldn’t remember ever walking into the Watering Hole and not being greeted by Jack. He was a Panther Ridge staple. “What’re you having?”

  “Are the mugs chilled, sir?” Nate asked. It had been at least a month since he’d copped a squat at the Watering Hole. Though he didn’t expect things to change, his mama had raised him right to be polite.

  The thought of his mother caused his chest to tighten. She had brought him to Panther Ridge when he was just a little cub, having left south Florida because the hunters had targeted the already endangered Florida panther and had killed his father. He’d never forget the yowling his mother made when they’d witnessed his Pa shot. The hunters might have come after both of them had his Pa not fought them even in the throes of death. His mother and he had made the trek over the swamplands of the middle of the state to the west coast and north to an area where nobody had known them. And she raised him in this conveniently named town until her death two years ago.

  “You betcha,” Jack said, reaching into the cooler behind the bar and pulling out a frosty beer mug. Nate shook his head in an attempt to get the old memories out of his head … for now.

  “Then pour me a Budweiser, please,” Nate said smiling. After fighting the fire, he’d ventured home to his little ranch house to shower and sleep, in that order. He’d slept for twelve hours straight. Waking up in the late afternoon, he’d thrown on his worn out jeans, a dark blue t-shirt and his Reef flip flops and jumped in his black Silverado. He craved an ice cold beer and knew the Watering Hole was just the place.