by Terry Spear
"I can't deny I'm uncomfortable doing this to you, Tessa. I don't want you to regret it. But I also don't want to bite you. Wolves do bite in playfulness, but as a wolf to human?" He shook his head and pulled her blouse off her shoulders.
So he was changing her. But that didn't mean he was taking her for his mate. Despite wanting to know the truth first, her body instantly responded to his touching her, flames stoking her insides, a wet readiness preparing her for sex--not change. Want and need replacing common sense. His gaze focused on her face--watching for any sign of hesitation?
The change. That's what he was concerned about. "I used to play tug-of-war with my Irish Setter when I had one. She'd sometimes go for my hand by accident." She hoped her lighthearted response would ease his concern.
Hunter smiled. "Want to play tug-of-war?" He pulled her blouse off the rest of the way. "I've got to do this. We don't have a choice."
She seized his hands and looked into his eyes. In that instant, he looked even more concerned, his mouth tightening, jaw clenched, brow furrowing.
"I'm afraid, which isn't being alpha like, is it? But I worry I'll change too much. But more than that, what are you going to do with me afterwards?"
Still looking stern, a hint of relief flitted across his expression. "You're mine."
She should be ecstatic to have that question resolved, shouldn't she? But she couldn't quit worrying about the change. Instead of addressing his claim, she said, "I thought you couldn't shapeshift unless the moon was out." Yet she recalled the look Meara had given him.
His sensual lips curved upward just a little as he started pulling off his clothes, revealing his beautiful body, rough hewn, rugged, capable of enduring great hardships, or giving her carnal pleasure. "I'm a royal and can do anything I want." He gave an arrogant smile. "Almost anything."
"So as a royal, you can shapeshift anytime?"
"That's the beauty of it."
"That's why you could be a SEAL. No worry about shifting while under water."
He chuckled. "No. And the group I was with--all royals, just for that reason."
She sighed. No scars marked his smooth as silk skin, every bit of toned muscles from his wide shoulders to his well-developed chest, flexing in anticipation. She looked lower, from his narrow waist and hips down to his full blown erection standing at attention amidst dark curls.
"I have to shift, but if you keep looking at me like you want to eat me all up..."
Her eyes riveted back to his lusty gaze.
"You might want to look away when I begin to shift."
"I've seen you shapeshift. You're gorgeous. What if I'm motley?" Again, she tried to make light of the situation, although her stomach churned with renewed apprehension.
"You'll be beautiful. But Leidolf and Devlyn will want you unless we're mated. Ready?"
She nodded. He looked like he wanted to kiss her, his gaze lowering to her mouth again and lingering there... but then he took a deep breath and began to shift into his wolf form. She couldn't get over how fast the transformation was. Would she shift just as quickly? If Ashton was any indication of a newly turned lupus garou, then yes, she'd change just as swiftly. Probably of a necessity, to avoid humans catching sight of them between forms.
She watched in awe, how his body changed gracefully, effortlessly, painlessly, from the muscled hunk to the healthiest specimen of a wolf she'd ever seen. Beautiful almond eyes captured hers and then before she could say a word, the wolf that was Hunter jumped on the bed and nuzzled her cheek.
She stroked his head. "Hurry and do it before I change my mind." Her skin perspired lightly and in the cold hospital room, she shivered.
His amber eyes remained fixed on hers and then he dipped his head and nipped her uninjured arm.
"Ow," she said, frowning. "Jeez, Hunter. That hurt like a hard pinch and you didn't even break the skin. But I'll have a bruise for sure there now."
If a wolf could look contrite, he did and tried again. His second bite was as lame as his first.
"Ah for heaven's sakes, Hunter. Another bruise. Hurry and do it right or I'm calling it quits." She hoped her words would make him stop worrying about hurting her. She'd heal quickly anyway, wouldn't she?
He bit again and broke the skin this time. Her eyes watered and she bit her lip. Blood trickled from the bite on her arm, and he licked it away. And waited.
Self-doubt filled her. Maybe he didn't turn her either, just like Yoloff hadn't. What if she was some strange anomaly and couldn't be turned? Maybe her great-grandmother couldn't be either and that's why she died of the fever? A sadness filled Tessa with the notion neither her ancestor or she could forever be with the one she loved.
But if the change had taken effect, what was she supposed to feel like? Except that her swollen ankle and arm where Yoloff had bitten her were tingling with the strangest sensations, nothing else was different.
Hunter continued to watch her, not shapeshifting. She hoped to hell he wouldn't have to bite her again.
"Too bad with all of your enhanced abilities, you can't talk when you're in your wolf form, too." She glanced at the door. "Someone's coming. You'd better hide under the bed."
Hunter didn't budge, just continued to observe her.
"I mean it. I... I hear several people." Her heart pumped harder.
"Howdy, folks," Allan said at the door.
"Did he do it yet?" Leidolf asked, his voice guardedly amused.
Leidolf. Her heart took a dive.
"It remains to be seen. I'm taking care of things here. Why don't you run along?"
"Tell Hunter four of his people want to return with him. The fifth wants to stay with one of my widowed males to be his mate. When Hunter's through here, he and Tessa can meet me at the hotel. Different set of rooms. Just check at the front desk. Dinner's on me."
Tessa relaxed. Leidolf didn't want her, thank God for small miracles.
"I'll let him know."
Tessa took a deep breath, smelled the air, and looked at Hunter in his feral wolf form, her eyes widening. "You're a gray. I mean, I smell a special scent that surrounds you. A wildness, like a fresh spring day, the woods, the great outdoors."
She swore his mouth curved up just a hair, before he began to shapeshift--his body straightening, his rich fur pelt vanishing, leaving behind bronzed skin over hard muscles. Until he stood before her, one gloriously built male stud.
He touched her face, his amber eyes gazing into hers, his expression concerned. "How do you feel, Tessa?"
She loved him for it, for being concerned about her welfare above all else. No one but her mother had ever treated her that way.
Tessa took his hand and kissed it. "Better. My ankle feels strange. Prickling and numb, but not sore any longer. And where you bit me, the skin's already sealed up. The bruise you gave me has gone away. Where Yoloff tore the skin feels ticklish, like when injured skin is scabbing over and new skin is created to take its place."
"How do you feel in here?" Hunter said, still frowning as he reached for her forehead with a whisper-soft touch.
"Oh. I don't think I'll know the answer to that question until I've experienced more of the changes."
He unbuckled her belt and then unzipped her jeans. "You're not upset?"
Her eyes grew big. "You're going to make love to me in a hospital bed?"
He leaned over and kissed her lace-covered breasts, stirring her craving to make love to him.
"You bet, alpha mate of mine. We do it often, whenever and wherever we can."
"Well, hell, Hunter. Why didn't you tell me that before?"
He chuckled darkly. "You'll fit right into the pack, Tessa."
"Are you sure about this?" She motioned to the room. "Shouldn't we go somewhere more private?"
"The room's well guarded with our police friend at the door. It's up to you, but until I've mated you, you're available to any unmated male out there who's willing to fight me for you. So yeah, I'm sure about this. You can't be out of my sight
until then."
"But we've already made love. Doesn't that count?" Not that she didn't want to make love to him and like now, but it made her realize she didn't know all the rules of Hunter's world yet, and she could get herself into a lot more hot water. Well, more than she was already, until she understood what was going on better.
He shook his head, then brushed a kiss against her lips, mouth-watering, mind-numbing. Everything about him made her bones and muscles melt like lava beneath his heat. She knew he'd take her for another sensual ride like she'd never known with any man before him, and she was past ready for everything he could give her.
Wanting her like no other, Hunter quickly removed her clothes, desiring to claim her like any wolf would its chosen mate, male and female alike. He wanted the first time to be slow and leisurely now that she was a lupus garou. Making love to her all night long would have sufficed, but not with a bunch of reds breathing down their necks. Or Yoloff and his brother still on the loose. And Devlyn would soon be a problem.
Tessa had already covered herself with the thin hospital blanket, her skin raised with chill bumps. As usual, the hospital room felt like a refrigerator.
"Next time I make love to you, we'll have a well-heated room and no huddling under the covers," he said, his brow raised.
Tessa's infectious smile heated his blood, sparking his desire.
He jerked the cover aside and climbed on top of her, then pulled the blanket over them and molded to her soft body, pressing his arousal against her mound. "Not much room, but it should suffice."
"Hmm," she said, yielding to him, wrapping her arms around his back, her embrace every bit as possessive as he felt about her. "Seems like the right amount of room to me. You just need to put that well-honed lance somewhere where it's not so dangerous."
He chuckled darkly.
Everything seemed to fade in the room, the noises in the hospital, the cold air circulating about them, the odor of antiseptics.
Take me, her expression silently pleaded. She moved her legs apart, giving herself completely.
"I know just where to sheathe it."
"Do." She licked his lips. "Mate with me so I'm all yours."
That was all Hunter wanted to hear, yet he couldn't help saying what he knew was in his heart. "You're all mine, anyway."
She cast him one of her impish smiles that said he was being full of himself as usual, which stirred his compulsion to have her even more. He pressed his lips against her sensual mouth, his hand kneading her soft breast and then ran his thumb over her nipple, the rosy crown peaking. Not enough. He could never get enough of tasting or touching her. Of breathing in her subtle arousal.
Her gaze soft and sultry, she turned her head toward the door.
He wanted to groan out loud at her distraction. "You'll learn to ignore the sounds that aren't important," he whispered, then turned her head back to his, lost himself in the exotic sparkles of blue against green in her languid eyes.
He slipped his erection into her wet folds, the heat of her body sparking flames in his. Wanting to fully mate her, possess her, claim her like he'd craved from the first moment he'd seen her checking on Uncle Basil, her determination, her concern for him, her friendliness toward his sister even when the feeling wasn't reciprocated. No matter how much he'd tried to reconcile himself with the notion that he couldn't have a human for his mate, he'd wanted her.
"Ahh," she said, pressing her pelvis against him, working him as he deepened his thrusts. Her eyes closed, her tongue licked her swollen lips, and he captured it, sucked on it, making her mew.
Claiming her felt more than right, like they had been meant for each other since the dawn of time. He'd worried he would notice a difference, that she wouldn't be feral enough, not lupus garou enough to satisfy some primal need. But she was perfect, her hot, supple body molding with his, her moves every bit in sync, deepening the bond, the feelings, the ecstasy. Just as driven to satisfy her sexual needs-- and his--to consummate their relationship, to delve into the unknown and conquer it.
She was alpha all right, but not in the same way as others were. Better--his.
His fingers fanned through her hair, the satiny mass a tactile delight as she stroked his back with greedy fingers, her heart pounding, her body trembling with the adrenaline rush of passion and arousal and sex racing through her veins.
Her nails dug into his back, and he silenced her moans with a kiss, but he couldn't do anything about the darned creaky hospital bed. Every time he thrust, he figured all of the hospital staff would hear and know what was going on in the room. He hadn't expected that. But then again, his attuned hearing picked up what humans couldn't.
Thankfully, Tessa was so caught up in the heat of the moment, she didn't seem to notice.
"You're heaven-sent," she mouthed softly against his lips, "... a god from Mt. Olympus, my gold, my treasure."
And she was more to him, a priceless gem, the mother of his future offspring, his legacy, his unwavering and loving companion for life.
He thrust into her tightness, her body stroking him, drawing him to the zenith of pleasure. He groaned as he found release deep inside of her hot, tight body and sank against her. Kissing her mouth, he loved the feel of her velvety lips, but seeing tears glistening in her eyes, he abruptly stopped.
"What's wrong, Tessa?" he asked, too gruffly.
Already he was mad at himself for being overly zealous, too damned rough, pushing her when he should have seen she needed more time to absorb all the changes she was sure to be experiencing. Hell, what was the matter with him? He loved her more than life itself, and this is how he showed it?
"He can't have me now, can he?" she asked.
Uncomprehending, he stared at her. "Who? Leidolf?"
She shook her head and rubbed her hand over Hunter's arm.
And he relaxed some, figuring her upset wasn't with him. "Yoloff? No, he can't have you."
But he could if the gray somehow managed to kill Hunter, although he hadn't planned on that ever happening.
He maneuvered in the narrow bed until Tessa was lying on top of him. "You're mine, Tessa. Now and for always."
"What about my brother?"
He hadn't wanted to bring up that scenario yet, hoping with the change she would understand how important it was not to let humans know of their existence. But he and most of the others were born with the knowledge that their kind's safety came first. Some of the wolf's wariness was instinctive, but dealing with the brother, that was another matter. Her blood ties were apparently as strong as the wolf's instincts. On the other hand, her brother had lupus garou genes also.
"Hey folks," Allan said, knocking on the door. "I hate to interrupt, but I just got word the hospital staff is moving someone in here in just a few minutes. You can stay at my place if you like."
"Thanks, Allan. We'd love that." Tessa scrambled to get off Hunter. As soon as her bare feet hit the floor, she yanked on her clothes.
Not ready to give up the relaxed and satiated feeling that cloaked him, Hunter climbed out of bed, kissed Tessa's lips, and then jerked on his own clothes.
Just as they emerged from the room, an attendant wheeled a gurney toward them, carrying an old man buried under blankets.
"Patrol car's parked this way." Allan led them down the back stairs. "I've got tons of security on the house. 'Brother-in-law' sells the stuff so I get it wholesale. No one will bother you. Jacuzzi's in an enclosed porch. Great for unwinding after a hectic day." He winked at Tessa and sighed. "Never could find a mate after mine died ten years ago. You wouldn't happen to have a widow or two looking for a mate in your pack, would you?" he asked Hunter.
"One, but she's pretty cantankerous," Hunter warned.
"The red's got your people at the hotel. Some of his people brought them with them when they came to get Tessa. If you don't mind, I'll drop by there and say hello. Anything you want me to tell them?"
"We have three newly turned lupus garous in the pack, and they have an alpha
female pack leader now, too."
Allan smiled. "So that's what you meant when you mentioned having a heap of trouble. Not concerning the little lady, of course. Three new lupus garous, you say?"
Allan grew quiet for the rest of the drive to his place. Tessa cuddled with Hunter in the backseat. Now that they were mated, he seemed different somehow. Less anxious, more... well, like he was riding on top of the world.
"You wouldn't need a cop in your area, would you?" Allan pulled into the driveway of a neat, little red brick suburban home.
"I know the sheriff. If you're interested, I could put in a good word for you," Hunter said.
Tessa wasn't sure the sheriff would want anyone working for him that Hunter recommended.
"Good. It's about time I left this area. I've been here ten years already. Maybe Caruthers could come, too. He and his mate, Greta. That way if anyone from your pack gets in trouble, we can circumvent the situation."
"In California, we lived away from civilization. But I can see where having backup in a more developed area can be beneficial."
"You bet. We have another four on the force here, so we wouldn't be leaving the department shorthanded as far as the grays go. Although Judge Graydon might be a little perturbed with me."
"The one who got me out of jail," Hunter said, squeezing Tessa tighter.
"Yeah. I'm always bailing his brother out on brawling charges. The judge will just have to train another gray cop to take care of his brother." Allan went to the car door and opened it for them. "I understand you're off to see your brother at the prison tomorrow. I'll put in a word for you before you get there."
"Grays work there, too?" Hunter asked.
Allan laughed. "No. But some of the guards were former police officers and friends of mine."
"How's your ankle, Tessa?" Hunter asked.
"A little sore still, but much, much better."
"Then you'll need a lift." He carried her out of the patrol car and she smiled at him.
"I'm not usually the type who likes to be babied, but when you're doing the babying, it's awfully nice."