by T. F. Walsh
Mila’s whines tugged at my heart.
Alena’s voice rose. “Mila, please. I can’t lose you during the night.”
Mila retreated, her back legs bumping into a dead log.
I slipped out of wolf form, and the sudden iciness of the night slapped against my skin. “You don’t have to tie her up. She’ll stay with us.”
Alena’s head jerked in my direction, her gaze dipping south.
Oh yeah, she likes what she sees.
“How would you know? She’s under my protection. I can’t risk losing her in the park.” She blew hot breath into her cupped hands.
I rubbed my arms, the cold settling into my bones. “Where’s she going to go? The three of us can warm up together. I’ll keep an eye on her. She’s a wulfkin.”
Alena shook her head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Mila dashed behind a tree, and Alena chased after her.
“Wolves should be free, not tied up. She’ll stay with us.”
My teeth chattered. Mila slipped past Alena and scurried across to me, her body heat and fur a blessing. I crouched low and hugged her as both a show of protection and for warmth.
Alena shot me a glare and stomped back to the tree where she’d left her backpack. She rummaged in her bag and tossed a folded blanket my way.
I caught it with one hand. Animal fur—nice.
“Put it on or you’ll freeze.”
I threw it over my shoulders and tugged it around my chest, figuring I should have been smart and grabbed my stash of clothes, too. Not that I planned to stay in human form for long anyway. Transforming heated our bodies. Despite the frostiness, our wolf forms were more resilient than our human ones, and a bit of chill wouldn’t kill us.
“Why didn’t you get on the bus?” She proceeded to collect branches, snapping them to check if they were dry.
“Why didn’t you?” I knelt in the center of the clearing and flattened a circular patch of snow with a rock I found nearby.
Mila huddled next to me, her paws also stomping the ground in front of us.
“Father told me to stay in the woods for another night with Mila, in case the police were still searching the circus. The bus is coming for us first thing in the morning. What’s your excuse?” She set an armful of branches by my side.
I constructed a small platform out of the branches, and then arranged the remaining sticks like a teepee.
“Spotted you two hiding from everyone else and was curious. No rush to return to the circus anyway, especially without you there.”
“You ignored me for several days and now you miss me?” Snow crunched underfoot as she approached. “You should keep your lies straight.”
“A bit harsh.”
Alena stopped next to me, her coat slightly open across her chest. A glimpse at her cleavage, and my adrenaline spiked.
“Well, you weren’t exactly honest with us,” she said. “Like, why would you send your Varlac friend away so quickly?” She retrieved several pieces of scrunched-up paper from her pocket and strategically placed them in and around the pile of wood. With a quick flick of a lighter, she touched the flame to the paper.
I placed my cupped hands on either side of hers to stop the breeze from snuffing out our fire.
“No lie. I’m a Varlac, watching over your pack.”
The papers lit, and soon the flames engulfed the sticks.
She turned to face me. “Why? Varlac always have ulterior motives, and don’t give me that crap about how you don’t.”
It was generally the truth. She had me there. Except it wasn’t what she thought. “Don’t hate me because some other Varlac upset you.”
“Even when their blood runs through your veins?” Jumping to her feet, she stormed into the forest. “I’m going to find more branches.”
What had my family done to her?
I warmed myself by the swelling blaze, and Mila settled closer. The fire’s reflection bounced off her patchwork fur of dark and light bronze. It was better if I kept away from Alena and finished what I came here for, but the heaviness in my gut demanded a different outcome.
I scratched Mila’s ear. “Listen. I know you can understand me. Please, don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back, I promise. Stay.”
Mila lifted her head, holding my gaze with her dark eyes, then settled her chin back down across her outstretched front paws. Her eyelids shut.
“Thank you. We won’t be long.”
Up on my feet, I hurried into the woods, following Alena’s scent, determined to uncover her reasons for hating my family.
The wind velocity increased, and my feet were ice. I tightened the blanket around my shoulders, which did little to keep me warm, so I summoned my wolf. A great breath gushed from my lungs, misting the air in front of my face as I fell on all fours. Fur spread over my torso and limbs, and the cold vanished, replaced by an adrenaline rush to hunt down Alena. I released all human appearance and became one with my wolf. This is how it should be. Snatching the blanket in my mouth, in case she accused me of losing her property, I ran free through the woods, following her lavender scent.
Trees were easily dodged, colors muted, and the occasional spray of moonlight shone on the tree trunks and white powder coating the branches. This was life. The breeze carried Alena’s sweet aroma, propelling me forward.
Swinging right, I pounced through knee-deep snow.
A silhouette appeared in the distance. My target.
Alena turned toward me. Night stole her features until I got close, finding her arms filled with branches. Her wild, huge eyes held another emotion behind them. A familiar wildness—her wolf.
I dropped the blanket into the snow and shook my fur, climbing to my feet as a man.
She stumbled backward into a tree, the sticks falling to the ground.
“You shouldn’t have followed me.” Her voice wavered.
I adored the effect I had on her. Smirking, I shortened the gap. “And why not?”
“Because you left Mila alone.”
Less than a pace between us, I shoved some of the wood on the ground aside with my foot, ignoring the cold and welcoming the fire coursing through me.
“You don’t give her enough credit. She’ll be fine.” A guttural tone resonated from inside me. My wolf nudged against my insides, insisting we take Alena now.
One of her eyebrows arched. “You always so reckless?”
“It’s not recklessness to put trust in Mila.”
Her breaths deepened, and her gaze dropped, checking me out. I could deal with that.
“Why are you mad at me all the time?” I asked, rubbing the frostiness out of my arms.
Her mouth opened, but no words came out. For a long moment, she remained there staring at me, and only the hoot of an owl sounded around us.
“So.” I broke the silence, trying to fight a horrid shiver engulfing me. “You going to share that coat or let me freeze to death?”
“Turn back into a wolf if you’re cold, or grab your blanket.” Alena turned away, but I grabbed her elbow, adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“I know you feel it too,” I said. “Our wolves call to each other.”
She responded without looking my way. “If I gave in to her all the time, I’d be a wild wolf. We’re wulfkin. We can’t do that.”
Those words sounded familiar, as if I’d heard them somewhere before. I lost my train of thought. My fingers buzzed. I scooped an arm around her back, bringing her tight against my chest, forcing her to face me. Every part of me yearned to strip her down and run my hands over her flesh.
She softened in my embrace, and her warm exhale unfurled over my face. A labyrinth twisted behind her pale-gray eyes, the same look she’d carried back in her trailer when her wolf took over and we made out. I was ready to dive in and get lost.
Lifting her chin, she pressed her lips to mine, stealing my breath.
I cupped the back of her neck and kissed her. She sucked on my lower lip and let out a
tiny cry. Her taste had stayed in my mind since our last kiss, and now my arousal stood on end.
Pinning her between me and the tree, I leaned closer, a blaze raging inside me.
She tugged open her coat, welcoming me.
My arms snaked around her tiny waist, her bouncy breasts against me, and I drank in her scorching heat.
The breeze shifted, flapping the edges of the coat we shared and sending a chill across my back, but I was drowning in the inferno between Alena and me, loving every second.
Her gloved hand slithered down between our chests and wrapped around my cock. My lips broke from hers; a groan echoed in my throat.
A sly grin split her pouty mouth, and I was lost.
“Turn around,” I said.
“What?” She released her grip. I wanted her touch back.
“Bend over.”
Her eyes widened the same time as her mouth.
I nudged her shoulder away from me, and she now faced the tree. She stared over her shoulder at me with a raised eyebrow but never told me to back off.
Pushing the coat away from her butt, I uncovered the most delicious backside and long legs. I grasped her hips and heaved them toward me. Sliding my hand down her ass and to her inner thigh, I parted her legs. Her breath hitched.
“How much do you need me?” I asked as I stroked the gorgeous curve of her ass, sliding lower to the burning passion between her legs. So temptingly wet. My wolf stretched inside me, commanding we claim her this very second.
Alena’s response was a whimper, and gravelly moans, which I took as her ferocious desire to accept me.
Kneeling in the icy snow behind her, her beauty overtook me, her sexiness, her fire. Her seductive, feminine fragrance filled my senses, fogging my thoughts. I grasped her hips and tasted her with long licks. Her quivering beneath my touch had me so hard it ached. Clasping her sweetness around my mouth resulted in her purring and twitching beneath me. I tongued her until her knees wobbled and threatened to collapse.
“I’m dying to sink into you.” My body pulsated with desire.
I inserted two fingers inside her, sliding them back and forth. Her pelvis ground back and forth, her breaths louder, quicker.
Her body trembled, and the escalating screams were driving me insane in anticipation. Fuck, she had me wound tight.
Taking mock bites out of her butt, I withdrew my hold and stood. Hard as steel, I was ready to party.
Without notice, she pulled her gorgeous ass away and turned to face me. Her cheeks blushed bright red, her eyes still caught in the elysian pleasure, and she dug a hand into her coat’s pocket.
Never saying a word, she stood there, her voluptuous breasts rising and falling with each fast breath, nipples taut. She held a leash.
“You dirty, dirty girl.” My words lowered. “Give it here.”
She shook her head and wore the grin of a wicked temptress about to get her way.
I skimmed a hand around the back of her head and drew her closer, my lips taking hers. Our tongues entwined, and her kisses matched my hunger and ferocity.
Sliding the leash out of her grasp, I broke our kiss and threw one end of the leather over the lowest, thickest branch of the tree alongside us. Most of the snow remained on the ends of the branches. We were unlikely to be showered in snow.
Alena didn’t hesitate to jump up and snatch the ends, one in each fist, her feet suspended off the ground. A sexy, tormenting grin captured her mouth.
Kicking her boots off, her tiny feet reached out for me, the tips of her toes on either side of my waist, curling inward, pulling me closer. Every nerve ending in my body suddenly focused on those points of contact. My eyes focused on her delectable body.
I grabbed both of her ankles and spread her legs wide, getting hornier by the second at the view.
“You just going to stare?” Her voice was as engorged with lust as were her breasts.
“Oh, babe, I’m going to fuck you like I’ve fantasized since we first met.”
My fingers inched up her toned legs toward her hips. She extended her legs wide open for me. Oh, her acrobatic ability was coming in very handy. I gripped the underside of her thighs, positioning my tip into her entrance. The sensation of her heat against my cock sent shivers down my spine.
“Kiss me,” I begged.
Wildfire burned behind her eyes. Her lips brushed mine, soft, warm, and inviting. I slid inside of her, spreading her clenching walls.
She mewled.
Grasping her hips, I rocked into her, back and forth, our movements simultaneous, our rhythm quickening. My pulse drummed, and with each delicious smacking sound, my balls tightened.
I hammered into her as her legs tightened even more around my waist. We moved together, gasps escalating, our bodies covered with a thin layer of sweat despite the cold.
She arched backward, echoing passionate screams. I slid my fingers between our bellies, dove deeper to her melting bud and rubbed it ferociously with my thumb.
“Come for me, Alena.”
A charge streamed through me, and I wrestled to take another breath. We were both on the brink of exploding. And suddenly her body shuddered. The constriction on my erection tipped me over, and my body throbbed into her.
My arms entwined around her as she released the leash, falling into my embrace. Her face snuggled into the nest between my neck and shoulder, her inhales loud and fast.
As I fought for my next breath, we stayed that way, my heartbeat matching her racing pulse.
Our gazes met.
“I could do that every day with you,” she whispered.
“Just once a day? Not enough for me, babe.” I withdrew myself as her feet dropped to the ground. She drew the coat tightly around her body, rubbing her arms.
Placing a kiss on her nose, I said, “I’d love to steal you and take you away forever.”
Softness caressed her expression as she stared at me without a trace of hatred. Was it her or her wolf who looked at me with such desire?
A whimper sounded in the woods. Alena’s head shot up, her expression transformed into concern.
“We should go to Mila,” she said and grabbed the leash, slipping it off the branch. She stepped into her discarded snow-covered boots.
“Then maybe we can continue?”
She offered me a deliciously wicked wink and trudged ahead in the snow, passing me.
A few trees behind me, Mila trotted in our direction, her ears low.
“I’ll take her back and stay with her,” Alena said, already at Mila’s side, scratching her head. “The bus will be coming for us before daylight.”
“I’m going to get us some food.” I slipped into wolf form, embracing the sudden warmth, while the exhilarating excitement of having had sex with Alena had my arousal resurfacing and clinging to me like a straitjacket. Sprinting in the opposite direction, I was determined to take down the first animal I encountered and impress Alena with my hunting skills.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ALENA
I slumped in my seat at the back of the bus, my legs stretched out along the seat. Our driver, Ivitka, blared a rock song on the radio as the bus rattled down the freeway. The tiny lights running down the aisle of the bus cut through the four a.m. darkness.
“The wild bore you caught was so sweet.” I eyed Enre, who reclined in the seat directly across from mine. He wore the wrinkly jeans and jacket he’d stashed in a dead log while in the woods.
Mila’s head popped up from her spot in the aisle between us, ears perked. Her long tongue extended, and she licked her nose. If we offered her more chow, she’d gobble it.
Enre studied me with his fiery, blue gaze and blew me a kiss.
My first instinct urged me to go to him, crawl across his lap, and ride him. It had been on my mind since we woke up in the forest, huddled near the dwindling fire. Yesterday, my wolf had taken over again, and before I’d known it, Enre and I were having sex. But I didn’t regret a single minute.
Enre had
stayed in the woods for me, kept me warm, and hunted for our food. Why would he bother unless he had feelings for me? Had I been wrong the other night about him using me? What if he was here to help our pack?
Since arriving at the circus, Enre had helped me attempt to break out Nicolai and connected with Mila, and our wolves had bonded. The rest of the pack trod with care around me because of Father, but Enre didn’t, and I liked that.
Enre shifted in his seat, arms folded across his chest. “If you keep staring at me, I can’t control what I’ll do next.”
“When have you ever held back?”
“If you want me, say so. I’m yours.” He returned to slumber mode.
How do you respond to that? My body quivered, and I didn’t trust my voice. I’d likely invite him to my place, and the cogs in my head whirled. He’d return to Hungary soon enough, and hopefully with me on his mind, he’d have only good news to report back to his clan.
I couldn’t believe I was even contemplating spending more time with him, considering his family and their purpose.
Mila whimpered. I leaned over to scratch her ear. “We’re almost home.”
“She doesn’t want to return to her cage,” Enre said, reminding me of Nicolai.
My stomach churned at the thought of my brother. How could I be enjoying myself when Nicolai remained locked in a cage? Shit, the full moon was tomorrow night, and instead of helping my brother, I had followed Father’s instructions to stay in the woods. He kept me at a distance on purpose.
I’d visit Nicolai in prison this morning and bring him more food and clothes, but not before I insisted that Father tell me his plans. If he didn’t … then I’d go against his wishes and rescue Nicolai tonight. This time, I’d succeed. Whatever it took. Maybe Enre would join me again, and we’d create a foolproof plan. It would have to work this time.
“No one likes being locked up.” Enre’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and for a smidgen of a second, I swore he referred to Nicolai. But he spoke of Mila.
“When we move to a new place,” I said, “Mila can roam free in the woods. We’ll all be free.”
Enre stared at me with a hooded gaze, the sexiness replaced by darkness.