A Wolf's Pride

by Jennifer T. Alli

  “Chloe, what’s wrong?” he asked innocently, the question only serving to further infuriate Chloe whose struggles intensified. “Calm down, you’re going to hurt yourself,” he pleaded.

  “I don’t care! As long as I hurt you in the process then justice has been served.”

  Ryan groaned, laying more of his heavy body atop hers. While he was genuinely concerned for her well being, his motivations weren’t entirely altruistic. Her struggles were bringing the soft, gentle curves of her body into intimate proximity with his and this close to the full moon, his body was reacting. He looked at her, instantly deciding that it had been unwise to do so. Even in anger she was beautiful and the blood in his body was rushing south to his rapidly hardening shaft. Her eyes narrowed, an evil glint entering the violet depths and Ryan gulped. Whatever she was planning wasn’t going to benefit him, that much was clear.

  “Fuck you Ryan,” she screamed, before moving the only way her current position allowed. She lifted her head, bared her teeth and bit the exposed skin of his neck hard.

  Ryan roared, his eyes instantly turning amber. She marked us, his wolf purred. She’s definitely open to our advances. The claiming will go ahead this moon.

  She’s angry about something, Ryan remarked, trying to suppress his more animalistic instincts. Chloe may have bitten him in anger but his wolfish side wasn’t interpreting the action in the way she had intended. As his shaft hardened further, he groaned, disappointed and relieved when she finally removed her mouth from his skin.

  “Did that hurt? I hope it did,” she spat, glaring at him. His expression was dazed and she tried to take advantage of his momentary distraction, resuming her struggles to be free. As she shifted, Ryan’s stiff shaft pushed against her, extracting a moan from him and a scowl from her. Her eyes narrowed to thin slits. “You’re sick,” she hissed. “How you got turned on by me biting you, I don’t know. It wasn’t a sign of affection. It was meant to hurt. Seeing as that didn’t work, let’s try this on for size.” She moved again, aligning her body with his before lifting her leg sharply and kneeing him much as she had done the first time they had met.

  His grip loosened and Chloe leapt from the bed and ran for the door. So maybe I was wrong, Ryan’s wolf conceded. Maybe she is angry.

  What gave it away? Ryan groaned, waiting for the pain in his groin to pass so that he could catch his errant mate. Much as was the case with their first meeting, Chloe didn’t get far. Ryan was a wolf, the thought of chasing his mate only served to spur him into action. A few seconds passed and he was back on his feet, lunging for her and thwarting her attempt at escape.

  “Chloe, that’s enough,” he scolded, lifting her into his arms so that she couldn’t try to attack him again. He moved them back to the bed and sat down, holding her tightly against his chest. “We have something important to talk about.”

  “What? Do you want to talk about how you destroyed my things for no reason whatsoever? I misjudged you. You’re a cruel bastard. You teased me, showing me my things only to have them burned as soon as I touched them.”

  “Chloe, the things are gone now. They aren’t important. We have to discuss the claiming,” he explained patiently.

  Realising that she wasn’t going to escape him physically, her struggles abated, but her words more than compensated. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about your claiming. You don’t care about me, that much is obvious. I can only extend the same courtesy towards you. You don’t care about what’s important to me, I don’t care about what’s important to you.”

  “A relationship isn’t built on tit-for-tat, love.”

  “I don’t know what world your mind lives in, but here on earth what we had could hardly be classified as a relationship and what we have now is even less than that.”

  “Chloe, we’re mates. Of course we’re in a relationship, the highest form of relationship.”

  “So mates go around deliberately causing each other harm? If that’s what it means to be mated then I want nothing to do with you or it.”

  “You can’t change what already is love. Now, we have to talk about the claiming. The moon will be truly full tomorrow, but you’re human so there’s an extra stage that we have to go through –”

  “Shut up!” she interrupted, screaming loudly. “I told you once before, I could care less about what you want. I want nothing to do with you or your stupid claiming.”

  “Chloe, I don’t understand. You were willing to talk to me about it when we came back from my mother’s, what’s changed?”

  “What’s changed?” she asked, stunned. “What’s changed? After what you did how dare you ask me such a thing? You’re acting as though you’re innocent, as though you’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “I haven’t done anything wrong. I protected my mate. There’s nothing more right than that.”

  Her struggles to be free resumed. “Let go of me. Let go of me! You’re an ass. You’re beyond insufferable. I can’t even put into words how much I hate you.” His grip tightened slightly and she winced in response.

  Ryan’s blood ran cold at the softly uttered sound. His heart was pounding in his chest at the realisation of what he had done. He had hurt his mate, the one person he was sworn to protect above all others. His eyes wandered over her frame and he gasped at her red wrists, shocked that there was visible evidence of his abuse. I need to go. I need to leave her alone. If I stay here she’ll only struggle more. I can’t hurt her any more than I already have.

  The claiming Ryan, his wolf prodded gently.

  The claiming will go ahead, with the full moon it isn’t as though I can do anything different. I’ll give her time to calm down and then coax her into accepting us later.

  It’s the right thing to do, you know that right?

  Yes. He stood and gently lowered her to the mattress as though she were the most fragile thing in existence. Confused by his strange behaviour, Chloe watched him move apprehensively. “I’m going to leave you now love. I’ll be back later so we can begin the claiming.”

  “Fuck you,” she snarled angrily. Her expression quickly turned to one of confusion again as the dazed look left his face and he smiled.

  I will, later. “You’ve got to stop asking for such provocative things, you never know when I might take you up on your offer.” His voice rumbled over her and Chloe scowled as her treacherous body reacted to him. “Like I said love, I’ll be back later. If you don’t want to talk about this then fine, we won’t. As your mate I should try to listen to your wishes and do my best to fulfil them.”

  “You could have fooled me with how you were acting earlier,” she groused.

  “Your safety will always come first. I’ll see you in a few hours.” He turned on his heel and left, the sound of Chloe’s angry scream echoing in his ears as he continued to walk.

  The hours passed slowly from the confines of the room. Ryan had locked her in again and so she was trapped. The hallway was filled with noise, the sounds getting louder as the sky became darker. Moving to the window from which she had seen her prized possessions destroyed, Chloe glanced up at the dark sky and the heavy hanging moon that shone its light to earth. “Stupid Ryan,” she cursed, resuming her pacing. The door swung open and Chloe turned to look at who had walked in. “It’s you,” she snarled.

  Ryan didn’t respond. Instead he moved towards her, his strides filled with purpose as he stared at her with possessive amber eyes. Not a word was spoken as he lifted her from the ground and hefted her over his shoulder. “Hey,” she screamed struggling against him. His steps were steady as he dodged the crowded halls and walked outside. She pushed the delicious sensation of his body against hers to the back of her mind as he slid her down his body. It was then that he spoke his first word since their argument that afternoon.

  “Run,” he growled.

  “What?”

  “Run,” he repeated.

  The forest surrounded her and fear crept into her mind but when she looked back at Ryan, her resolve firmed.
Spinning away from his body she ran back towards the estate, her thoughts hectic. A car. I need a car. There’s no way I’m going to run through that forest without some form of protection. If the idiot is going to give me a chance to run away, then I’m going to take it. We drove a car here, its got to be around here somewhere.

  Her hunch turned out to be correct as a garage came into view. She rushed in, her eyes searching for a vehicle. There were a great number for her to choose from but she opted for the small jeep near the front, throwing herself in and rummaging for a pair of keys. “Yes,” she cheered as her hands came into contact with the small metal objects. “You’ve got to love these wolves for not being security conscious.” The engine started with a loud roar and she pushed her foot against the accelerator determined to get as far away from Ryan as possible in case he changed his mind. Tree branches smacked against the pane as she drove through the woods and the car jumped as it traversed the rough terrain.

  Minutes passed and her heart began to calm as the distance between her and Ryan increased. Despite this she refused to slow, she had seen first hand how fast he could move. If he wanted to, he could catch up to her. “Speak of the devil,” she scowled. The bright beam of her headlights, illuminated the area in front of her and it was easy to make out the dark brown wolf sitting complacently directly in her path. “I think we’ve done this before Ryan,” she cooed, remembering their first meeting. “But things are going to end a little differently this time.” She slammed the car into gear and stamped her foot hard against the accelerator and sped directly towards him.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  The car was a surprise. When he had told her to run he hadn’t expected her to seek out alternative transportation. His people used nothing but their legs to begin the chase that preceded the claiming. I guess it’s to be expected with a human mate, he concluded. Chloe was slower than he, she would feel compelled to compensate for their physical differences; it was the human way.

  “Too bad it won’t work,” he smiled allowing the transformation to wash over him. With the moon full in the sky, the change took mere moments. Everything within him was working towards a successful claiming, the instinct, his wolf and his own desire to claim her. Chloe didn’t stand a chance. Now all he had he had to do was catch her.

  His body, now that of a sleek wolf designed for speed, ran off, eager to catch up to her. A car may have been fast when compared to the speed of a human but it was nothing compared to a wolf determined to meet up with his mate, especially not one that was held under the sway of the moon. Though to others her scent may have seemed faint, trapped as it was within the metal enclosure of the car, to Ryan’s nose her lush smell was thick in the forest. His every sense was focused on her, even if she had been miles away he would have smelled her. Guided as he was by his superior sense of smell it was easy to track her down. He ran unnoticed beside the car for a few moments before putting on a burst of speed and stopping directly in her path.

  The headlights were bright, too bright for his sharp eyes but he stood his ground. There were thick trees on either side of the rough path, the only way she could get past him would be to drive through him. He waited patiently for her to slow and leave the car so the claiming could truly get underway but to his surprise she sped up. His lupine eyes met with hers and he knew that it was no accident. Her violet eyes were aflame with anger and a cruel smile was on her soft lips as the car rushed ever closer to him. His body was frozen for a few moments at the realisation that she, his mate, intended to mow him down. It was only thanks to his lightning fast reflexes that he didn’t ended up as road kill, squashed beyond recognition on the dirt floor of the woods. He leapt out of the way and Chloe’s car continued driving as though nothing had happened, moving further and further into the distance.

  She tried to kill me. She actually tried to kill me. She sped up, in a jeep and tried to run me over. Ryan’s mind was reeling with shock. Why would she do something like that? She was upset about something but I haven’t done anything hurtful enough to warrant my death. Anger and frustration was embedded deep into her scent, he would have had to be an idiot not to know that something was wrong, but still he couldn’t understand what had happened to make his seemingly peaceful mate consider resorting to such violence. His mind flashed back to her reddened wrists and he shuddered. Maybe she does have a right to be angry. Does she think that I’ll hurt her again?

  Ryan, his wolf prodded. You’re thinking about this all wrong. Our mate would never try to kill us; she doesn’t have it in her. She knew that we would get out of the way. She’s teasing us.

  Teasing? Ryan mused.

  Yes, someone must have spoken to her about the claiming, someone that we trust otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to get into the room. They must have told her how much it means to us and what it entails and she’s trying to make the chase and claiming a good one. Why else would she take a car? She knew that on foot she wouldn’t be much of a chase, she’s testing us, testing our will to catch her.

  Why is it you always so much sense? The wolf made a sound that was the equivalent of a nonchalant shrug. I want her more than I’ve wanted anything in my entire life.

  Catch her Ryan. The wolf instructed.

  Catch her, he murmured in response. Ryan and his wolf had always been close but it was showing more than it usually did. Already his mind and the wolf’s were merging, melting into a unified mindset dedicated to one thing alone, getting their mate.

  He ran off again, the focus of his thoughts limited to Chloe alone. Nothing else mattered. He had to get to her. His legs pounded against the earth, leaping over rocks, using tree trunks as springboards in some places all the while moving closer to her. When he eventually caught up with her, she had gotten further away than he had initially anticipated. Her jeep was slower than it had been when she had tried to run him over but the path had disappeared and the terrain had become rougher, harder to cover. If she hadn’t been in an off road vehicle she wouldn’t have made it this far.

  Leaping towards a tree, he tensed his muscles as soon as he hit the hard bark and jumped off it, transforming as he flew through the air, hurtling towards Chloe’s car. He landed with a loud thump on the roof and gripped the material with sharp claws to stay in place. Moving slowly, he dangled his head over the side and tapped the glass lightly. “Chloe love stop, I’ve caught you now.”

  The window rolled down. “Fuck you!” she swore before rolling the windows back into place.

  “She wants to be difficult? Doesn’t she know that all she’s doing is making me want her more? Whoever explained the claiming to her didn’t do a very good job.” Digging his claws harder into the material, he began carving away the roof of the soft-topped car. Once he was finished, the material flew away with the breeze, allowing Ryan to fall into the car. “You’ve done well love. Thank you for such an exciting chase. If I’m honest I didn’t think it would be like this with a human mate. You’ve proved me wrong and far surpassed my expectations but it’s time to stop now. I want to get you to where we’ll be sleeping for the night and I don’t think you’ve eaten since this morning.”

  “What are you talking about?” she shrieked pulling the car to a grinding halt. Now that he was in the car with her there was no point in trying to run, he clearly hadn’t intended to let her go in the first place. “Why do you keep tormenting me like this? Giving me something that makes me happy only to snatch it away. You can’t play with people’s emotions like this.”

  He frowned in confusion. “I’m not playing with your emotions. Come, we’re leaving.”

  “No. I’m tired, I ache and I’m hungry. I don’t want to go anywhere with you in my condition.”

  “Did I really hurt you that badly?” he asked, his eyes wandering to the chafed skin at her wrists.

  Her head fell to the steering wheel in exhaustion. It had been a long day and she was drained. She had never fought so hard for so long in her entire life. The skirmishes she had had with her broth
ers when they were young had in no way prepared her for the problem that was Ryan. Every word that she had spoken to him was true. She was tired. The day had been an emotional rollercoaster, from happiness to frustration to excitement to apprehension and then to blistering anger. She couldn’t remember the last time she had gone through the emotional spectrum so thoroughly. She ached. Fighting against someone who was so much stronger than she wasn’t only tiring, it was painful. She was hungry. She had eaten nothing but the breakfast Ryan had prepared for her that morning and her energy reserves were drained.

  Ryan slipped out of the car, moving quickly to the driver’s side. His mate needed him, nothing else was important. Opening the door, he pulled her out and into his arms. He barely resisted the urge to scold her again for not wearing a seatbelt. She was tired, he could feel just how exhausted she was, it was as if the feeling had settled deep into her bones. Lecturing her at that moment wouldn’t help her. He took off running once more, determined to get her to the safety and shelter of the cave he had prepared for the claiming.

  The journey was quick, his body spurred to even greater speeds by his mate’s needs. The candles that he had lit in the natural alcoves that afternoon were still burning brightly and he smiled. He didn’t need the light to see but Chloe did. After ensuring her safety by locking her into their rooms that afternoon he had prepared the large cave for her arrival. A pit had been dug in the centre of the room for a fire for warmth, a cooler filled to the brim with food he himself had prepared lay beside it and a simple fur bed constructed at the far wall. Chloe shivered slightly in his arms and he rushed to gently lower her to the bed before turning his attention to starting a fire.

  The warmth from the flames soon spread to heat Chloe’s body and Ryan smiled. Her eyes had been closed but as she warmed they opened. She scanned her surroundings, eyeing him with anger and distrust before moving on to take in the rest of the cave. Her breath hitched, her eyes widened and then she screamed scrambling backwards against the wall in fear.