‘I’m ready.’
Jared doesn’t speak, he just grins. He allows me to slip behind the tree as I take my leggings and sneakers off. I get on all fours and concentrate, allowing the change to take over. The pain is excruciating but liberating. My muscles stretch and my bones dislocate under my skin. The all-familiar point where my chest is so restricted, and I feel like I’m suffocating, comes, and the short state of panic leaves me as my wolf lungs inhale deeply. It's thankfully quick today. But no sooner have I lifted my rear off the ground, I feel Jared’s wet nose between my hind legs. I huff out and sit my ass down. He whines, which turns into a grumble, as he prods at my rear end, pushing me up and onto my paws. I take off running and hear him sprinting after me. If I could laugh in this form, I would.
I run into a clearing and come to an abrupt stop. All around me are the rest of the pack. I tentatively take another step forward. Another. And then I stop completely. A nervous feeling runs through me as everyone looks at me. I feel Jared nudge me forward as each member of the pack comes forward. First, comes Zoe. In her wolf form, she is stunning. She has chocolate coloured fur, stands at about my height, and her dark eyes shine as she looks at me. She bows her muzzle and rubs herself along my side. I’m unsure what I should do, so I do nothing. Next, comes Imogen. She is just as stunning as a wolf. Her light blond hair comes through when she changes, and her piercing blue eyes are just the same. Again Imogen goes through the same ritual, closely followed by Logan and Howard. Brad walks up and something about his swagger tells me he is going to start something—albeit in fun. Brad will be Brad after all. He bows his head and begins rubbing against my side. All of a sudden I feel his nose at my rear and instinct has me sitting down, but not before I let out a snarl. Jared is in motion before my ass hits the grass. He has Brad by the throat. Brad is belly up and whining in submission. A few seconds pass and no one moves a muscle. Jared lets him go, and he scrambles to his feet but doesn’t stand. Instead, he stays in a laying position in front of me. Am I expected to do something? Is this an apology? Shit, I have no idea. Jared yips a small sound and Brad moves away, and then Howard is approaching. He goes through the same process that the others did. I notice then that they are all behind me in a semi-circle, only Kristen is left. She’s looking none too happy at what is about to go down. As she steps forward, she looks like she is in pain. She doesn’t bow her head like the others and then tries to walk past me to join them. I would have happily ignored her and moved on from whatever this was, but Jared has other ideas. He snaps his jaws and snarls, so loud everyone cowers. I turn a little toward him and see his teeth bared completely. He looks almost rabid. Kristen cowers under his glare, and she bows her head a fraction. Now for the rubbing—great. I feel her against me, not affectionate like the others. I get a clear pissed off feel from her. Ditto bitch. Just as she is passing my head, I feel a sharp pain at my ear. I whip around, and in no time at all, we are snapping and biting at each other in a flurry of fur and fangs. We’re literally rolling around. Vying for the best position. I have a mouth full of fur around her throat, and she is beneath me now. I bite down harder and taste blood. All the while her hind legs are gouging the skin on my underbelly, as they pinwheel around. She’s trying like hell to throw me off. And she has lost the use of her best weapon—her teeth because of how I have her pinned down. I hold on for as long as I can and just as I feel I can’t hold her anymore she stops struggling. I immediately let go to find her submitting to me completely. Her legs are lax, and her neck is on show. Bleeding. Well, what do you know? I bested her. I curl my lip in a snarl, letting her know I’m not happy.
Kristen stays where she is, and Jared nudges me from the side and throws his head up in a ‘come with me’ gesture. I follow—leaving Kristen sprawled out behind me. The pack walk with us, surrounding us, in a kind of formation, I hear Kristen scramble to her feet, whining. Hopefully in pain. And she joins the group at the back. Bitch. I’m still no clearer on what just happened, but I can’t think on it too much because when Jared lets out another little yip, the pack disperses in all directions. Leaving me alone again with Jared. He rubs himself along my body one way and then back the other side. He licks at my muzzle, and I feel that all too familiar arousal flow through my body. Shit a brick. I’m in wolf form, and I’m aroused. What the hell? I didn’t even know this was possible. Jared must smell it. It’s clear in the air, just as his scent is. He starts to get worked up like an excited pup, lapping at my face. His tail is wagging, and he seems to be very taken with my ass end. I’m excited—it’s instinctual. I cannot help myself. I have a sudden urge to submit and mate.
My wolf has almost completely taken over my rational mind, when I hear someone approaching. Jared spins in a protective stance snarling toward the sound. I realise then that it’s Brad. He’s making a wheezing noise that sounds a hell of a lot like he’s laughing. Pleased with what he’s just interrupted. He throws his head back over his shoulder and yips at the two of us. Jared calms down pretty quickly, and we follow. We run through the woods, and I feel full of life with Jared at my side. I can hear the rabbits thumping their legs in warning all around me, and I hear all other signs of life cease as we get close, knowing we are predators. Brad keeps the pace, and we follow him easily, jumping boulders and huge tree roots, hopping over felled branches and dodging prickly bushes. We run like that for some time before we stop at a small stream. The rest of the pack is sprawled out with recent kills between their forepaws, tearing and ripping at their meals. Howard tosses a rabbit at my feet, and another at Jared. I follow Jared’s lead, and when he settles in to eat, I do the same. I’m sated and feeling content when Jared comes over and cleans my muzzle, lapping at my fur. I return the favour, and when I’m done he rests his head over my back, and we lay there watching the rest of his pack fool about around us.
I’ve never seen a pack before, so their behaviour together amazes me. I could stay like this forever. I want to join in but a bigger part of me is still feeling reserved, and so I settle for watching. I go to get a drink from the stream and Jared follows. I watch as he bends his neck to lap at the water. He is such a stunning wolf. He is easily the biggest of all the males here and in my opinion the easiest on the eyes too. He is beautiful—his green eyes stand out from the dark colouring of his fur. He is so tough looking I’d have a hard time believing there’s a wolf whom would dare to challenge him. I lose myself watching him, and he catches me. He saunters over as if he knows exactly what is on my mind, and he rubs himself under my chin and all over me. He is marking me as his and I then realise that that was what the rest of the pack were doing earlier—marking me as part of their pack.
Jared moves us to a spot where the stream narrows to almost nothing and I notice all the males heading to the section which leads up a small hill. It’s quite a distance, but they stop on the crest of the hill. Zoe stands before Jared and me with a rock in her jaws. I watch not knowing what is going on. But Jared seems to have settled in to watch whatever it is. Brad and Logan both stand on the crest, Howard to their side. I watch as Zoe throws the rock upward and the second it hits the water the males are off sprinting toward us. Racing. Logan is a hair's breadth behind Brad all the way, and Brad wins literally by a whisker. They head back up to the top, yipping and bustling each other like a pair of teenage boys would. Then Howard lines up next to Brad. Racing the winner. And Logan stands watching at the top while Zoe thrusts the rock in the air again. This time, Brad is behind, Howard stumbles slightly and almost gives up his lead, but he recovers fast, and he beats Brad by a full head. Brad yips in our direction and Jared moves from our lazy spot. I watch his muscles contract as he pushes up the hill. It’s possible I could be drooling right now. I watch as he lines up next to Howard. Knowing how fast Howard is, I have to wonder if Jared can beat him. The rock hits the water and in a matter of seconds Jared is back at the bottom—the winner. He’s so fast that Howard didn’t even come close. Wow. I jump up and rub myself all over him. I can’t help myself.
He is mine after all. He nudges me, and I come out of my Jared-loving haze and realise that the girls are now up on the hill.
First up are Imogen and Kristen. Kristen is easily the leaner and more athletic of the two, but does she have the speed? Yes, apparently she does, beating Imogen by a clear margin.
Next up are Zoe and Kristen. The rock is thrown, and Zoe has the lead easily, but she stumbles badly, and Kristen takes the advantage, practically bowling Zoe over in the process. Bitch. Kristen wins. I feel Jared nudge me again, and I am being beckoned by Imogen at the top of the hill. Oh, shit balls. I huff out a little and shake my head, hoping to get the message across, I don’t want to race. I’m happy watching. He prods at me again and whines a little in an ‘aw but please’ kind of way. So I trot up there and stand beside the bitch, watching for Brad to thrust the rock in the air.
It hits the water, and we’re off. It seemed such a short race when I watched the others but the end seems a million miles away right now. I’m in the lead, by almost my entire body—I can feel her hot breath at my rear. I’m suddenly yanked back by my tail. I yelp in shock, turning to find her jaws clamped on it. I turn—snapping and snarling at her, as we go at it for round two. I’m sick and tired of this little tramp. And it ends now. I’ve had it. I bite down on her ear and pull my head, tearing at the flesh. As blood pools in my mouth, I hear Jared growling. But I pay him no attention because I have one thing on my mind and that is to maim. I lose my footing and stumble, and she tries to get on top of me, but I’m up as quick as I go down, and as she clasps my foreleg in her jaws, I clamp onto her scruff and yank with all I’ve got. I feel a searing pain shoot down my leg as I throw her off but my adrenaline has kicked in, and my only goal is to hurt her and keep on hurting her. I yank again, and her teeth come loose, taking my flesh with her. I’m all over her, snapping and tearing at her fur. I will make sure she doesn’t recover quickly from this. I tear flesh from her hind leg and move quickly to her rib area, where I bite again and again, moving the whole time so she can’t get a grip on me again. The whole pack is surrounding us now as we circle each other. She’s tired and flagging. I feel like I could go on all night. I’m hungry for more. I’m salivating at the thought of tearing her head from her body. I’m going in for the kill when Jared knocks me off course. I look at him in disbelief. How could he? Why would he want to protect her?
I turn and walk away. Only then realising just how bad my forepaw is. I lift it and carry my weight on three legs so I don’t make it any worse. Jared follows me, but I’m pissed and injured and not in the mood. I want to be alone. I make my way slowly to where my clothes are. I want to change and get myself dressed before I have to deal with any repercussions about what I just did. Jared is not letting me go that easily though. He keeps prodding me and grumbling. I eventually give in and stop, sitting down as I breathe deeply. Jared is all over me, checking for injuries and he laps at my paw, trying to clean it. It stings like a bitch and I’m being impatient, but I want to change and take care of things. I try to move off, and he makes an impatient yipping noise and a low rumble in his chest. I huff out a sigh of frustration and sit back on my haunches. Resigned to the fact I won’t be going anywhere until he’s satisfied, I make no move to be affectionate while he cleans and checks my wounds. I am pissed. Despite my wolf wanting to reciprocate his attentions, I fight it because I’m so angry, and when I’m angry, I’m stubborn. So I sit with my nose in the air looking up at the sky.
***
My change is painful, and no sooner have I finished Jared is picking me up from the floor.
‘Shit. Baby. This is bad. We need to get this stitched.’ I pull my arm from his hands and ignore him. Struggling to grab my clothes, he pulls them down for me. I take them and stuff my legs into my leggings and my feet into my sneakers. It’s difficult with my arm, but I’m being stubborn, so I don’t give a shit how much it hurts. I’ll do it by myself, thank you very much. My tee is an issue and Jared, realising he’s getting the cold shoulder, is now leaning against the tree arms folded with a shitty look on his face. Making me even more determined.
‘You need help with—’
‘Nope,’ I snap. I’m smearing blood all over myself trying and failing to get it over my head then put my arm through, so I try a different tactic and put my injured arm through first, then pull it over my head. I manage it, but I’m a hot mess. I harrumph at Jared and begin walking, in no mood to stick around. I’m going home. I am not staying to be berated for something she started. I get back to Jared’s room—he’s followed me the whole way, saying nothing. I start packing my bag, and he breaks his silence.
‘The fuck are you doing?’ he asks.
‘What does it look like?’
‘Well, looks a fuck-of-a-lot like you’re packing your shit, for nothing, ‘cause you’re not going anywhere.’
I ignore him and carry on packing. Well, I say packing. I’m smearing my blood all over my clothes and stuffing them ungracefully into my holdall.
‘Devon.’ Nope, ignoring. Not giving in. ‘DEVON!’ I jump at the harsh and loud tone in his voice.
‘Stop it, you’re not going anywhere, and you need that stitching,’ he says pointing to my arm. It’s a real mess and still bleeding. He grabs my hand and steers me into the bathroom where he wets a cloth and proceeds to clean it. It stings, and I wince.
‘Baby, I’m sorry, but it needs cleaning,’ he says lifting me to sit on the counter.
‘Maybe I should go and get a tetanus too?’
He gives me a ‘don’t be so stupid’ look.
‘Don’t look at me like that, Jared. Who knows where that bitch has had her mouth?’
His eyes widen just a fraction. And I know why and can’t help myself.
‘Oh, that’s right. How could I forget? I KNOW where she’s been.’
‘Fuckin’ Hell, Devon. I’m sick of this shit.’ He kicks the wastebasket over. ‘How many times do we need to go over this? FUCK!’ I look on at him in amazement. How can he make this about him?
‘You know what, Jared. Fuck you.’ I jump from the counter and move past him into the bedroom. The bleeding has stopped at least, with the cloth wrapped around my arm. I grab my bag and head for the door. As I open it, he slams it shut with his arm over my shoulder. He looks as if he’s trying to show restraint. His jaw ticks, his eyes are closed, and his forehead is creased. He’s past annoyed. Well, so am I.
‘Let go of the door, Jared.’
‘So you can run again? just ‘cause the goings got tough?’
It’s like a slap in the face. And my head snaps back like he’s done just that.
‘YOU.’ I prod at his chest. ‘You protected HER when you should have stood by me. She started that—’
‘I WAS PROTECTING YOU!’
‘Me?’ I scoff. ‘I had her handled. I didn’t need protecting. You saved her, not me.’ He cages me in with his arms. My back is flat against the door, and he growls in my ear.
‘You are fuckin’ testing me, woman.’ Oh no, he didn’t.
‘Who the fuck do you think you are, Jared? Don’t you dare pull that shit on me!’ I shove at his arm, but all I manage is to hurt my own further. Jared drags me by my good arm and pushes me onto the bed.
‘Who the fuck do I think I am?’ he says calmly, but he’s raging, leaning over me. I kick out at him, but he blocks my attempts. I’m so mad now I can’t even see straight.
‘I’m your male, and you are my female, and you will not fuckin’ run out on me every time you get your knickers in a fuckin twist. You got me?’
I breathe in hard through my nose and grit my teeth. Jared pushes my arms above my head and puts himself between my legs. Holding me in place with one hand he grips my chin with his other. I see lust flash in his eyes as they meet mine. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel it too. But then an image of him with her flashes in my mind, and I’m over it. I don’t like feeling jealous—it’s unwanted. But it’s just not something I can switch off, especially when h
e pulls a stunt like that. I struggle, wanting to be free of him and that fucking image.
‘Devon, Jesus Christ. Will you calm the fuck down and listen to me?’
‘Why, Jared? Explain, why you did it?’
He frowns and shakes his head and pushes off me he drags his hands through his hair—something I’ve learned he does when he’s frustrated.
‘You really have no fuckin’ idea how things work in a pack do you?’ I raise my eyebrows. A sarcastic ‘oh please’ look etched on my face.
‘Devon you can’t just take someone out like that unless you have good reason, and don’t fuckin’ look at me like that, being jealous is not a good reason.’
‘She started it, Jared!’
‘Baby, you have me pegged all wrong here. I’m not trying to say you were in the wrong. Fuck, she deserved it, but I stopped you because of the consequences.’
‘Well, the only consequence I see happening is her strutting her slutty self all up in my face because you saved her. How do you think that will look to her, Jared. Huh? Do you really think she’ll be out there thinking, ‘oh Jared saved me so Devon wouldn’t get in shit?’ Hell no. She’s thinking right now that you still want her—that there’s still a chance and that’s why you saved her.’
He’s pacing now, and my arm feels numb. I shake it a little, and the cloth comes loose. I have several gashes and all look like they need a couple of sutures, otherwise, they will heal badly. I don’t care, though. I’m still mad.
‘I’m going to get Zoe,’ he tells me as he leaves the room. I jump off the bed to follow him, but he turns as he gets to the door,
‘Do I need to lock the fuckin’ door or you gonna behave?’
‘Are you gonna answer me or are you gonna just leave?’ He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
‘I’m getting your arm looked at. That’s my priority right now. THEN we will have this shit out, okay?’
Forbidden Love (Stone Pack Book 1) Page 17