Feral Love (Paranormal Alpha Werewolf Shifter Romance)

by Walsh, Alison

  She saw his eyes change but didn’t understand the gravity of it all. “It’s just a hickey. It’ll go away in a few days.”

  His own words echoed again and again, beating against his skull like a drum. She almost marked me. His Betas were no fools. Locke would know, Locke would see, and Locke would act on the opportunity to challenge the Alpha.

  He looked back at Remy. The old buck’s pelt covered her full breasts and lent her a modesty that made her appear even more erotic by the suggestion of what lay beneath it all. The smoldering look on her face made him stiffen again as she stared at him.

  “Oh my. Am I about to be attacked by the big bad wolf?”

  Yes. He wanted to say and pull aside the pelt to claim her again. But he slid against her, threaded his fingers through her wavy hair, and whispered. “Not this morning. Today, we’re going back to my pack.”

  He drew her in for a kiss again, gentler and softer than last night but still warm and passionate. She shifted beneath the pelt and suddenly he found their limbs tangled once more. The morning sun and snow shimmered around them. Blue eyes found green.

  “Liar.” She smirked and nibbled his lip.

  ***

  Freedom. She repeated the word again as her nibble turned to a kiss. Freedom. She thought again as her fingers reached down to caress the strong bands of muscle lining his abdomen. When they fell into the pelts last night, she found herself kissing his neck with such fervor that he pulled her away into a kiss.

  She was implacable then. All she wanted was to feel him move, to feel him push deep into her until they were one. But always he pushed her away at the last moment. Once or twice, she swore she heard his wolf speaking to hers.

  As she fell deeper into the kiss, she rolled on top of him and pushed him into the bed of moss and pelt. Her hands pressed into his hard chest and she marveled at the broad expanse of his body. His fingers—thick and warm—reached up and brushed her lips lightly. She kissed their tips and took each one into her mouth.

  He throbbed beneath her but she wanted to give him something else, something different. She kissed him again and filled her mouth with his taste before making her way down his body.

  ***

  When her lips brushed his neck, he feared that she might linger there and tensed up for a moment. But then she was gone, her full lips tracing lines further down until it went past the tuft of hair that extended to his sex. But still she descended, to a place that Blake never expected anyone—least of all a collared wolf like her—to descend.

  And when her warm lips closed around his head, he gasped and clenched his fists. It was different than when he entered her. Gentler, wetter, and somehow more intimate. Her hair cascaded between his legs and tickled. When she brought him so close to his climax, she eased off and kissed inside his thighs.

  “What was that?” he asked when he caught his breath.

  “Do wild wolves not do this?” There was that impish smile again.

  “We—” He didn’t get a chance to finish when she took him in her mouth again.

  Where he’d left her gasping, she now stole his breath. Where he’d held her trembling in his arms, she now had him powerless as a child.

  And when he’d lit her world up with the sparks of desire, she now set a conflagration in his heart that burned through all five senses. Blake shivered as a multitude of different pleasures and sensations rocked through him, culminating into a single throbbing point that Remy’s silky tongue and lips caressed. But when he thought he was at his peak again, she pulled away once more and squeezed him gently.

  “If you keep doing that, you’re going to make me explode.” He panted as he ran his fingers through her hair.

  She pressed her tongue against the shaft and giggled. “That’s the idea.” For the first time in his life, Blake Christensen heard himself cry out in ecstasy as Remy’s head bobbed up and down between his legs.

  In the haze of his pleasure, he suddenly found her body fitting to his and her hands pressed down on his chest. He reached out take her waist when he slipped inside and she slapped his hands away. Her message was clear: she was in control now.

  She rode him with reckless abandon, her wavy hair bouncing against his face. When she bent down to kiss him, he felt control slipping further and further away. He tasted himself on her sticky lips and her eager tongue. But always he could taste her with every deep kiss, each one claiming him and sending his heart racing faster and faster.

  When he finally came, she gasped and held on tight, sinking down on him so as to not lose a single drop. Their fingers twined together and she whimpered into his chest as their pleasures mingled as one.

  He no longer cared that Remy Clearwater was a collared wolf. The doubts were erased from his mind. He found himself drawn to the beautiful woman bucking wildly above him in the morning air. His lips pressed against her neck and sucked greedily until just the barest hint of copper filled his mouth. She did the same and the two collapsed into each other as one.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Aaron grabbed the jacket and sniffed it deeply. Hints of Remy snaked their way through his nose. He closed his eyes and it was almost as if he were running his hand through her wavy hair. The Clearwaters had been gracious enough to give him some of Remy’s clothes so he could pick up her scent but it didn’t make tracking her any easier.

  He’d been running all night through the snow with two of his best hunters. They carried high powered rifles with them and shifted only when they lost track of the scent. Several miles away from pack territory, they picked up on Remy’s scent again—this time stronger and fresher than the mere traces they chased during the night. Aaron was sure they were going to stumble on her and he prayed silently that she would be huddled underneath a tree or a bush or something and not strewn in the snow with her throat torn open.

  A part of him knew that if she wandered this far from pack territory, she was bound to encounter Christensen’s wolves but a part of him also didn’t want to entertain the terrifying notion. He had been in love with Remy Clearwater for years and now that he was so close to being finally with her, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her forever.

  There once was a time when the two of them were as close as any couple but Aaron had always been afraid to make a move. He didn’t want to ruin their friendship. What would happen if she rejected him? Could they still be friends? It was this paralyzing fear that stayed his hand when they were fifteen and lying down in the meadow looking at clouds on a lazy summer afternoon.

  As the years went by, so did their paths until she became almost a stranger to him. But still, Aaron Van Houten loved the chubby little girl who has now grown into a voluptuous woman with curves in all the right places.

  There were nights when she came to him in dreams but never spoke. It was always the same dream. She stood there in a robe of wispy silk. Maybe in a doorway, maybe beside his bed, it didn’t matter. Always, she would smile at him and the robes would fall.

  And always he would wake up before the silken material could pool beside her feet.

  So close! It was so close! Just three more days and all of those dreams that haunted him at night would have become realities. Aaron balled his hand into a fist and took a deep breath to calm himself.

  She kissed him once. On the tip of his nose when they were fifteen. He still remembered how her hair tickled his face when she leaned in. But when he suggested that they kiss for real, she giggled and shied away.

  “Aaron, look.” One of his hunters pointed at the snow and brought him back to reality.

  Fresh tracks. Aaron followed the tracks and felt his heart drop. It led deep into the woods where even the most seasoned hunters didn’t go. But what frightened him the most wasn’t where the tracks led. It was what accompanied the tracks.

  Another set of prints—wolf prints—were pressed into the snow. He bent down, sniffed them, and nearly tasted the wildness in them. His heart stopped and Aaron Van Houten dropped to his knees in the snow.

/>   Remy was taken by the wolves in Christensen’s pack.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Snug in Blake’s arms, Remy found herself caught between a rock and a hard place. She never thought she’d ever find someone that stole her heart and soul as completely as Blake Christensen did and even now she still could not believe that they had made love not once but three times already. He seemed utterly insatiable in his carnal hunger and for a few moments Remy thought that she might not be able to satisfy him to the best of her ability.

  But it was something more than just pleasure. In his arms, Remy felt safe, she felt wanted and loved. Her whole life had been a series of appeasement and pleasing others. With Blake, it was the first time that she was given the opportunity to enjoy herself, to truly do something that she wanted to do.

  The fact that it drove him over the edge was just a bonus.

  It was freedom, pure and simple. The freedom that she craved for her whole life.

  Which made it that much more difficult for her to say the words. “I have to go back.”

  His hand was running through her hair, brushing the tangles and dirt and leaves out of them. Steely blue eyes looked at her in puzzlement and he asked. “Why?”

  I don’t know. But she knew and she answered truthfully. “My parents. They don’t know that I’m here.” She smiled sadly. “They don’t even know that I left.”

  “So tell them.” He whispered and kissed the tip of her nose. “Speak to them as a wolf would speak.”

  She ran her finger down his chest. “I can’t, remember?”

  “I can teach you how, Remy.” He took her face and pulled her closer to him. “I can teach you how to live like a wolf, how to hunt like a wolf, and how to love like a wolf. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”

  Yes… But she could only smile stupidly at him and shake her head. “My parents are worried, Blake. Don’t you think they have the right to know that you’re my mate?”

  “Mm.” He nodded and pressed his lips to hers, filling her mouth with his taste and she was drowning in him again.

  When they broke apart, she looked into his eyes with deadly seriousness and said. “Do you understand?”

  He took her hand and held on tightly. For a moment Remy hoped—prayed even—that he might ask her to stay, that he might pull her in for a second kiss to drown out the voices in her head telling her to go back. Anything, any reason at all, and she would have gladly stayed with him and gone with him to his pack.

  But he said nothing and stood up, pulling her up with him. Sunlight bathed his wondrous physique and Remy blushed despite herself. She saw the hurt in his eyes at the thought of parting and heard her wolf crying for her to stay and comfort him.

  She cradled his face, feeling the stubble along his chin and smiled. “It’s only goodbye for a little while. After I go back and tell my parents, I’ll come back here.”

  “Remy.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “Before we part, you need to learn to speak as a wolf. So no matter how far apart we are, we’ll always be right next to each other.”

  She closed her eyes at the thought. Blake always next to me… It would make the conversation with her parents easier. It would give her courage to tell them that she’s found her mate—her real mate—and that he’s a wild wolf.

  She opened her eyes. “Show me.”

  “It’s easier at first if your eyes are closed.”

  She did as he was told and felt his hands on her shoulders.

  “Reach for your wolf, Remy, reach for your wolf but don’t let her take you over.”

  Remy tried but somehow her wolf fought her. She had always slipped in and out of the beast skin without problem, but now that she was asked to pet it, she found it more difficult than anything else she’d ever done.

  “I… I can’t.”

  “Talk to her, Remy. Let her know that you’re only going to come so close to her without letting her out. She’ll fight it at first but you’re stronger.” His voice washed over her. “You’ve always been stronger. She’s your wolf, not the other way around.”

  Easy girl… She told her wolf as she reached for the beast. The wolf growled at first but Remy persisted. It was strange, almost as if she was looking at herself from above, reaching down to pet a beautiful silver-furred wolf in the snow while the black wolf prowled around them both.

  She reached out with trembling fingers and touched the wolf on the head and suddenly the forest seemed to come alive like she was shifting. But she still felt Blake’s hands on her shoulders. She still felt the cold air brushing against her bare skin.

  The black wolf came closer. Can you hear me, Remy?

  Could she speak? Her eyes remained closed but she could see the black wolf clear as day. Reaching out hesitantly, she spoke in her mind while her lips remained shut. Yes.

  “You did it.” Blake’s voice kissed her ear and Remy opened her eyes. He was smiling from ear to ear.

  “I did it.” She repeated and smiled at him.

  “If you need me, reach for me and I’ll come to you.” And then their lips pressed together again and a flood of images rushed into Remy’s mind.

  A man held his newborn son. A mother comforted a boy and gingerly picked out a splinter in his arm. Laughing children shifted and chased each other around the woods. A circle of wolves bowed their heads, howling mournfully at the full moon overhead as a pyre burned away the pelts and bones of an old couple.

  Remy found herself falling, falling deep into Blake’s kiss. Their tongues coaxed and twined around each other, dancing as their bodies pressed closely. Heat flared through Remy and the images came faster and faster until they were nothing but a continuous blur.

  When they finally broke apart, Remy was left breathless. Beside Blake was the great she-wolf Emma. Before Remy could say anything, Blake pressed his finger to her lips.

  “Emma will guide you through these woods to your territory. When you are done with what you need to do, come back.”

  In her mind she heard him say. I’ll wait for you here Remy.

  What did you just show me? She asked, delighted at the fact that the two of them had their own private means of communication. A secret language all their own.

  Blake smiled as the trees swallowed him. Our future.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Alone now, Blake shifted and made his way back to the pack.

  He’d shown her the vision of things to come that the old wise wolves had shown him when he first took the pack. Ulfurdraumurs—wolf dreams—the Old Ways called the visions and such visions do not lie. But a wolf who grew content with thoughts of ulfurdraumurs without taking appropriate action risked having the dreams come true under different circumstances.

  He wondered if he did the right thing to send Remy back home accompanied by Emma rather than himself.

  He fought the urge to turn around and rush after Remy. Each step was more torturous than the previous one. His sharpened sense of smell made it worse. Remy’s scent lingered in the air, teasing him and beckoning him to turn around and run towards her.

  No. he told his wolf. There are more important things at hand. If what Remy told him was true, then there may very well be collared wolves prowling where they shouldn’t be. The pack must be told and appropriate measures must be taken.

  He sniffed the air again as he quickened his pace. Remy’s smell was dwindling but somehow she still remained. It wasn’t until he splashed through a gurgling stream and re-emerged—sodden and shivering—did he realize that her scent was in his coat.

  If he closed his eyes and sniffed himself deeply, it was as if she were here with him. Come back soon, Remy. He thought and pushed deeper into the trees.

  The lands of his pack were widespread and poorly defined. Individual wolves often came and went as they pleased, marking whichever tree they saw fit. While Blake had a good idea just how much land his pack could cover, the exact borders were always shifting.

  By sundown he came upon the vast circle of pines stabbing into
the winter sky that marked the Wolfden—the place where his pack settled twenty years ago as he began his search for his mate. A pair of sentinels saw his approach and howled at the Alpha’s return. They came to him tails wagging and heads bowed.

  Though wild wolves preferred to live on all fours, in the circle of the Wolfden, all were expected to shed their skins—a sign that they existed both as man and beast. With a graceful leap, Blake shifted and walked through the approaching ranks of wolves to the great fire burning in the middle of the clearing.

  Several benches were arrayed beside the fire. Sitting on the highest bench was Locke. In the crook of his arm was the pelt of the fawn that they brought down a night ago.