A dimly lit prison rises two floors above us. It’s concrete walls are filled with cells, but most of them are empty. Weak fluorescent lights buzz and flicker above us.
We continue to keep close to the walls as we inspects the cells, finding nothing until we come to one near the end of a long row we’ve been inspecting. I’m the first one to notice her. My hands close around the bars and I whisper, “Rita,” to the redhaired form crouched in a gloomy corner of the tiny prison. But she doesn’t respond. She remains curled in a ball behind a thin cot, her head pressed to the wall.
“How do we get her out?” I turn to the men who now stand behind me.
Adam wiggles his fingers at me. “Would you believe magic?”
“Great, so you’re a wizard and a werewolf?”
“Some monster are also magic wielders,” Noah tells me as Adam curls his hand around the lock on the bars.
The lock begins to glow like a campfire and it melts away under Adam’s touch. “I’m pretty good with fire spells. I once cooked the face off this vampire that that tried to kill me. Nasty stuff, but it kept me alive.”
I’m not sure I want to hear anymore. But I don’t have to, because a smoking hole is left when the lock is ruined and I rush past Adam after he opens the cell door.
After crouching down beside Rita, I put a hand on her shoulder. She’s cold, too cold, and fear sours my stomach. “Rita, honey.” I shake her gently. “We’re going to get you out of here. Can you stand up?”
Slowly she turns her head, and the woman looking at me isn’t Rita at all. I almost fall on my butt as I stumble back and stand up. Her face begins to elongate, turning her cupid’s bow lips into a furry muzzle. She growls as hair sprouts from her pale cheeks and she springs to her feet, ready to attack.
“Move out!” Noah yells. “We’ve been set up!”
We walked right into the trap we were supposed to avoid. Cell doors creak and slam open and more werewolves spill out of what we thought were empty prisons. They snarl and speed toward us.
The cot in the cell we’re backing out of is thrown high into the air and crashes into the wall opposite. Eyes glow yellow as a burly man charges out from his hiding place. Before he grabs my arm and whirls me around, I recognize him as Pierre.
I struggle and kick against him, trying to bring my boot up into his crotch. Finally I managed to clock him a good one on the jaw, but he recovers from the blow all too quickly. Noah and Adam fight through the crowd of werewolves attacking them to get back to me.
“Merry!” Noah screams, just before sharp teeth sink into the tender flesh where shoulder meets neck and my skin is torn away. Warm blood soaks through my shirt and my knees grow weak, my head grows fuzzy.
A high pitched howl follows me into blackness.
***
Chapter 9
Groggy and aching all over, I struggle to wake up, and I find myself once more inside a forest. My shoulder feels like someone is raking hot coals through the open wound. Voices drift above me, and when I focus I realize it’s Adam and Noah.
“Awfully convenient how you take us to the prison and they ambush us again,” Noah says. “I don’t want to doubt you, Brigette, and Regina, but I’m starting to more and more.”
“Come on!” Adam protests. “They killed Malcolm. You think I’m going to do Dark Moon any favors? I want Pierre to pay for the bullshit he’s caused as much as you do.”
“I’ll believe that when this is over and Merry and Rita are safe.”
“Then you better get at it. She could die before the transformation completes,” Adam says, sounding agitated. “Do you really want to take that chance? The bite is too deep and she’s lost a lot of blood.”
“That was Pierre’s motive,” Noah growls. “But if I heal her, help her transform so she will heal, we both know she could attack me while I’m doing it. Her emotions will be running high and she doesn’t know how to control the wolf in her yet. I won’t hurt her.”
“Then you’ve got to make sure she can’t hurt you. I’ve got some rope in the trunk. Tie up her wrists while you do the healing.”
“I won’t do it without her consent.”
“Then you better get it fast. We’re running out of time.”
Footsteps move away from me, crunching through grass and twigs. A shadow looms over me and then I feel the heat of Noah’s body as he kneels down beside me and brushes sweaty hair from my face.
“Sweetheart?” he says, still stroking my face. “Pierre bit you deep, too deep. I have to heal you. Are you okay with that?”
I lick my lips, gather air into my burning lungs, then croak out, “Of course.”
He kisses my forehead. “It means we have to exchange energy, and that means sharing my DNA with you.” A pause, and his warm palm rests near my wound. “I have to have sex with you.”
I manage a weak laugh. “Like I’m complaining. Hurry up.” A watery cough bubbles up from my chest. “I heard Adam. I don’t want to die.”
“You’re not going anywhere.” His soft lips brush over mine. “This might hurt and could get weird.”
“Noah, we used to experiment all the time before you left. You can’t shock me.”
I close my eyes just as Adam returns. He asks how I’m feeling and I mutter a reply as he hands over the rope to Noah. Noah tells me to sit up so he can bind my wrists for his safety and mine.
It’s a struggle to get up. Noah places his broad palm between my shoulder blades and helps me rise. Adam leaves to give us privacy.
“Let me know if it’s too tight.” Noah sits behind me and the feel of his strong legs stretched out, touching mine, comforts me. So does his broad chest pressed to my back. Despite my wound and weakened state, desire flutters low in my belly. He lifts my t-shirt over my head and the chilled morning air skims over my breasts, making my nipples harden. Skin on skin is best for healing, he tells me.
The rope is rough but soft as he twines it around my wrists and knots it. He asks if it’s too tight and I shake my head. As he lowers me to the soft, damp earth, the fibers lightly scratch my skin. The coolness of the earth seeps through my fevered flesh.
“Try to relax,” he tells me, then his hands move to my pants, sliding them down over my hips. My sex throbs as it’s exposed, warring with the pain in my arm for attention. Lying naked in the woods, I’m hyper-aware of my vulnerable state, even though grogginess from blood loss lingers.
One hand stays close to my wound and the skin there heats up, pulsing as his energy enters me. A sensation like I’m lying in warm cotton fuzz envelops me. His lips press to mine, teasing them open with a gentle kiss. Electric air trickles down my throat as his tongue enters my lips, licking the roof of my mouth and them twining with mine. This energy hums through me, taking away the pain and slowly recharging me.
His mouth presses to the wound while his hands skim over my breasts, teasing the nipples with light flicks and quick pinches that make me gasp. The tingling in my sex spreads out, igniting a fire deep within me. The torn skin on my shoulder begins to pucker and tighten as it starts to close.
Lips move lower, closing around my hardened nipples, sucking until the sensation zips straight to my groin and I grow wetter. Hands explore my ribs, lovingly tracing each curve. Fingers sweep over my belly and massage my hips, molding to their contours to hold me still as he explores me. His tongue tastes the valley between my ribs. Teeth pluck at the skin around my belly button until I writhe under this torment. Liquid heat fills my belly button when his tongue dips inside and probes. The more he touches me, the more I feel as if I’m floating in an altered state of consciousness.
He spreads my legs and a thumb strokes up and down my slick labia, making my sex all the more aware and sensitive. I bite my lip as my eyes flutter closed and I swim in this delicious stimuli. His fingers part my folds and his tongue laves between them, tasting my juices and filling me up with more of his healing touch. The wet tip teases my opening, poking in and out, lapping at my opening until I clench a
round it, begging him for more.
Finally it sweeps over my clit and I sigh as a flood of bliss ripples through me. He flicks it rapidly over the swelling bud and I moan. My bound hands twist behind me, wishing I could touch him. The ache in my shoulder is only ghost pain now.
He slips a finger inside my pussy and curls it, exciting my g-spot with languid strokes. My hips rise up and down in a rhythm that matches his caresses. I float higher, farther into this glorious state he has taken me to as my body mends.
His tongue works in time with his finger fucking, making my pleasure build and build until it bursts and showers me with release. The first orgasm is small but intense. I tremble and something moves deep inside me. Something primal. Euphoria is washed away by spasms of raw pain as I enter the first stage of my transformation. My face begins to morph and it feels as if this skin rips apart.
Screaming, I open my eyes to find hair sprouting from my stomach. Flesh bubbles as the change continues. I’m sure my every cell will explode if this keeps up. Claws tear through my hands and feet as Noah watches me with an expression that shows both concern and surprise.
He pushes my shoulders back to the ground after I struggle to sit up, subduing me and the beast that stirs in my mutating genes. Now he sucks my clit deep into his mouth, flitting his tongue back and forth over it until I let out a cry that almost sounds like a howl. The tiny bead of nerve endings is ultra-sensitive after the first climax, and I fist my hands in the ropes, digging up the dirt with my talons.
His lips move to my inner thighs, raining gentle kisses across them. I thrash now as the transformation continues, mingling with my pleasure and my healing. He bites me just above the knee to shock me into stillness. I whimper and am subdued, but only temporarily. So he lets the emotions, the desire, bring the change on him, too. His eyes glow yellow as he looks up from between my legs. His face and teeth begin alter, and long claws dig into my hips once again to hold me still.
Suffering sears through me, but in the flood of lust and metamorphosis it becomes remote once more. My nerves have probably burned out from the agony. But as ecstasy begins to return, I rethink that theory, and I’m thankful the intense pain is replaced by pleasure.
One clawed hand moves to my belly and he uses this to hold me while his thumb brushes back and forth over my clit again, trying to bring me to another orgasm as his energy continues to reknit my flesh. His lips trail back to my cunt, and his teeth tug on my labia before his tongue once more traces up my wet seam. He fucks me with it until I growl and sit up, on the cusp of another climax. The beast inside grows harder to control. A sensation like I’m watching myself, becoming a passenger in my own body, takes over.
I snarl and try to sit up again. When he moves over top of me, brings his face close to mine, I try and bite him.
“Control it, Merry.” His guttural voice soothes me. “Don’t let it control you.”
Then his transforming mouth teases mine open. I realize the chance he’s taking, and the monster in me is held sway by the human who loves him. I could bite his face off, but he’s willing to risk that to help me. We exchange tender kisses as he lowers me back to the forest floor. His mouth moves to my ear and he teases it with teeth and tongue. His clawed fingers skim over my breasts and flick the nipples. I breathe hard, flaring my nostrils as I struggle to hold the new wolf inside me at bay.
When my beast rears up again, he flips me so my face presses into the cool, moist earth beneath us. The pungent, musky scent of dirt fills my nostrils and I let out a feral snarl before I snort soil up my nose. I cough and sputter as he positions himself between my legs. His palms massage my full, rounded ass. He squeezes the cheeks and the tips of his claws scald my skin as they dig in and draw blood. The side of his finger explores the seam of buttocks, between my labia, but he’s careful not to nick this tender flesh with his talons as he once more brings me pleasure with deft caresses.
I wriggle and roar at him as the werewolf aims to control me once more. He slaps my ass hard enough to shock me into submission. The sting radiates through my cheek and the pain is not unpleasant. It heightens my desire, in fact, but as the transformation continues I’m torn between wanting him to fuck me and wanting to rip him to shreds.
Another harder slap follows when my inner wolf still disobeys. He spreads my legs wider and his cock glides across my labia, grinds into my clit, spiking sensation through me like a rocket going off inside every nerve. I arch my back more, wanting him inside me now. The pain in my shoulder is barely existent at this point.
His thick glans stretches me as it enters my sex. I relax and open up for him, then my cunt walls clamp down around his shaft, urging his thrust deeper. Hi penis stirs a sublime friction that build pressure in my g-spot. I milk him with my pussy and push my ass backward into his every thrust, wanting more of him inside of me. We grunt, groan, and growl as we fuck.
Finally the pain in my shoulder is completely gone, and I feel stronger, healed, as my euphoria climbs. His thrust get faster, harder, but not too fast. The pressure inside me erupts, letting ecstasy flood my being. The wolf inside me sleeps as I tremble from an intense orgasm. I cry out in a human voice this time as I come hard and want this bliss to never stop.
His claws have retracted, and he grips my ass tightly, digging his finger in until there is exquisite pain. Then he pumps frantically in and out of my sex until he drives his penis deep and cums inside of me. After pulling out, he falls to the earth beside me and takes me into his arms. He unties my bound hands.
“How do you feel?” He wipes dirt from my face.
A satisfied grin spreads over my lips. “Amazing.”
He checks my wound and kisses the healed, puckered skin, then he checks me for any damage left by his claws. These welts receive kisses and tenderly licks also, as if his tongue is a salve to ease the stinging his scratches have left behind. Then we curl up near a fat pine tree. I snuggle closer and he wraps his arms tighter around me as we drift off to sleep.
***
Chapter 10
I have a strange dream that doesn’t feel like a dream. It’s too real, and in it I find myself staring down at the hands of a man. I’m that man. A glance in a nearby stream reveals the face of our enemy. Pierre Gévaudan stares back at me.
The brunette woman I saw him talking to in the woods joins him. Her heart-shaped lips are pulled down and her slightly upturned, brown eyes are narrowed as she looks at her father.
“You realize what you’re asking is beyond insulting?” She crosses her arms over her chest.
Words fall from my lips, but I don’t speak them. “If you are to be the alpha of Dark Moon, you must take a mate and produce an heir.”
“No, I don’t have to, actually. I can pick an heir from our wolves.” She steps closer, stares him down, though she has to look up. “I won’t trap Noah just because you don’t believe in my ability to lead alone.”
“It isn’t about that. It’s about tradition, family.”
She stabs a finger into his chest. “You said all wolves in the Dark Moon pack are family. I don’t have to pick an heir from blood alone. I trust everyone in this group, except you.”
“You’ll watch how you speak to me.”
She shakes her head at him and walks away, stopping near a maple tree a few feet ahead. “I’m not a child. I’ve proven I’m a competent leader these last few months, while you were too busy trying to strike deals to change humans who don’t want to be wolves, and make Regina your wife. Everyone in this pack trusts me. Ask them.”
“Will you do it for a dying old man?” He sighs wearily.
Her face clouds with fear and suspicion. “You’re not dying.”
“You saw what’s been happening to me. Bad genes, Brigette. Bad genes. I’ve been breaking down for years, and we both know it. I’ll either go insane or my body will simply fall apart. So grant me one last wish. Marry Noah. Have his child.”
She snorts in disgust, but still looks worried by Pierre’s words. “
We don’t have a right to kidnap humans or wolves and hold them here, breed with them, against their will. Sometimes I think you’ve already gone insane.”
***
Our nap is interrupted by Adam’s return. He tosses our mud stained clothes at us. “Get up. We need to get moving.”
Dazed from my odd vision, I slowly get to my feet. Noah offers me a hand up and I take it, thankful for the help. After we’re dressed, we join Adam near his car.
“How’re you feeling?” He casts me a sympathetic look.
“I’m … okay.”
Noah frowns. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” I collect my thoughts, wondering how I should break the strange vision to them. “When I was asleep, I had a weird dream. That girl we saw in the woods with Pierre—Brigette—she was in it. She was telling her father she wouldn’t help him kidnap you.”
Noah looks at Adam and then at me. “Brigette never agreed with her father’s plan, but Pierre is dying. Bad genes. He used his health to manipulate her into going along.”
“Brigette’s always wanted to run the pack by herself,” Adam says. “I thought it was weird she’d go along with it. She definitely strong enough to be a lone alpha, but Pierre likes to cling to the old ways.”
Before I get a chance to say, ‘Maybe she could help us out with getting Rita back,” Adam’s smartphone rings.
“Hey, yeah. We’re on our way now.” He puts it back in his jacket pocket and looks at us. “That was Regina. She wants us to meet her at the tunnels. She’ll get us back into the lair.”
“Can we trust her?” I’m still sore about the fact she kept Noah’s whereabouts from me.
Adam smiles. “You never have to worry about Regina. The forest is fae territory. She only shows the tunnels to those she truly trusts. She’d never let you use them if you weren’t important to her.”
As we drive to the tunnels, where Noah took me earlier to hide me and himself from the pack, I learn they are a world within Glamour few know about, outside fairy beings. Regina showed the tunnels to Adam and Noah when they were planning a way to get him out. After Brigette broke his binding spell, he used them to get back through the veil to the human world.
BDSM Mega Boxed Set Page 45