by Anh Leod
She wasn’t afraid. Cere’s eyes looked at her beneath the thick eyebrows and she still kissed his lips even if the rest of his face was so different.
His rhythm caught her and she forgot his transformation, only feeling the strength of his cock in her weeping pussy. Each thrust found her G-spot then moved against her clit. The juices running down her legs would have made it hard to keep riding him if it wasn’t for his iron fists holding her up.
She came in a burst of light, muffling her cries against his chest. His shirt was gone, ripped away by the transformation that had broadened his chest. A softly furred pelt covered formerly smooth skin, soothing her hot cheek.
Cere seemed to be built of steel. His cock pistoned in and out of her for so long the crowd outside might have finished dinner and left by then, or so it seemed to Vi’s passion-soaked brain.
“I’m going to come again,” she moaned. “Oh God, Cere.”
He gripped her more firmly, pushing her pelvic bone against his. She spread her legs just a little farther apart, gyrating with desperation.
Her mind fell apart as her body crested. Distantly she heard his low shout, felt cum shoot against her womb as he found his own release. His arms never faltered, nor did his cock relax inside her.
She rested, knowing she was secure between his body and the wall. “You are one amazing beast,” she muttered.
His chuckle made his chest vibrate against her cheek.
“You are one amazing mate,” he said.
Her daze suddenly lifted, she looked up at him. What surprise could he have left, after trusting the truth of his people to her? She knew him now, could embrace her sweet protector. Was that the significance of her dream last night—that she could trust him?
“It’s all happened so fast,” she whispered.
“That’s the joy of a true mate.” As she watched, his face transformed back into human form. She reached up a hand to touch his cheek.
“We don’t need to worry,” he assured her. “Barkley is always right.”
She wanted him too much for caution. “Now what?”
“If you are willing, the Brotherhood has come together to witness the ritual of mating.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Do we have to make love in front of them?”
He smiled. “Only if you want to. But it’s really a tattooing. We mark each other with our claws.”
She let herself slip to the floor, smoothing down her skirt. Thankfully it was some manmade fiber that didn’t wrinkle. Cere handed her a handkerchief and she cleaned up.
“I don’t have claws,” she reminded him.
His brow wrinkled in thought. “Right. It’s rare for a member of the Brotherhood to take a fully human mate now. We’ll have to ask Barkley.”
Holding Cere’s hand, Vi cast her gaze to the floor shyly as they reentered the room. Perhaps to reassure her, Cere kept his human form though the many people in the room were in wolf form.
They weren’t the frightening creatures from legend, but recognizably human relatives, standing upright with intelligent expressions on their canine faces. Vi recognized Cere’s sister and even Barkley despite their transformations.
One of the shapeshifters Vi had seen at the strip mall construction site pulled a table aside to allow Vi and Cere to enter the center of the rectangle. Bijou handed them each a glass filled with a clear liquid.
“Ouzo,” she whispered to Vi.
Once they held their glasses, Barkley held his up for a toast.
“I vow these two be mated by the Fates,” he pronounced. “Long may they live and love.”
“Long may they live and love!” shouted the group, holding their glasses high.
Everyone drank. A silence afterward had Cere clearing his throat.
“We need guidance in the ritual.”
A tall shapeshifter stepped forward from the gloom beyond the candles. Vi immediately sensed power radiating from him.
“Is he the alpha?” she whispered to Cere.
He nodded. “See, you do know something about us. That’s King. He’ll know how to make the ritual work.”
“Cere,” the tall shapeshifter spoke. “You may perform your part of the ritual. Then your mate will put her fingers on her tattoo and make the marks on your skin.”
Cere bowed his head. “Thank you, Alpha.” He turned to Vi. “Are you ready?”
Vi looked into his eyes. Was she ready to take a life mate? Yes, she had been more than ready to commit herself before, she had merely made a poor choice. Now she was faced with a strong, honorable, trustworthy man. They would have a lifetime of passion together. She could love him and be happy with him.
“Do you really love me?” she asked.
In answer, he took her face in both hands and kissed her deeply. When his lips left hers he was laughing. “Yes, mate, I do love you, though I’m more likely to show it in deed than in words.”
Vi nipped his lip. “I want you to show it often.”
“I promise.”
She felt air at the back of her leg, realized that he had slyly begun to lift her skirt.
“Cere,” she said, grasping at it.
A few shapeshifters chuckled.
“I have to lift it for the ritual.”
“Why?” she asked nervously, well aware now the Brotherhood had different standards of privacy.
He lowered his voice. “The tattoo goes on your ass.”
“Of course it does.” With a sigh, she allowed him to raise her skirt on one side, exposing her right butt cheek.
She heard one of the men let out a low groan, quickly hushed by a woman’s voice. Probably one of the construction workers, she thought. The pervs.
“This will sting a little, like having your ear pierced,” Cere warned.
The shapeshifters began a low chant in a language she didn’t understand. Glancing to her side she saw Cere was in wolf form again, his long, sharp claws apparent, his clothing torn half off his body as his musculature increased. She squeezed her eyes shut as his hand moved close to her fragile skin.
Multiple pinpricks of heat suffused her skin. Just as quickly, it was over.
She glanced down, saw five tiny points of blood on her skin, in the shape of a half circle.
“Now put your right fingers to each spot,” the alpha instructed.
Vi obeyed. The Brotherhood continued the chant as she touched each of her blood-tipped fingers to the same spot high on his right butt cheek.
Like magic, the blood dissolved into his skin, until all that was left were five raised spots.
She tried to look at her own cheek. Instead of bloody spots she could just barely see the same five markings. Remembering her skirt was up to her waist, she quickly smoothed it back down.
The chant ended with a chuckle from several of the participants.
“You are hereby mated,” the alpha said with satisfaction. He vaulted gracefully over the table in front of him, then strode toward them.
Vi followed Cere’s lead and bowed her head as the alpha placed his hands on each of their heads.
“Blended blood, blended hearts, blended families, blended souls,” he intoned, then Cere raised his head. Vi followed his lead and the alpha smiled.
“I see many happy cubs in your eyes,” he told her. “Blessings upon you.”
Vi blushed, tightly grasping Cere’s hand. She had not planned a wedding day like this one, but she knew she was safe and loved now and looked forward to a future with her wolf, her lucky number seven.
About the Author
Anh Leod is a goddess-in-disguise who hopes readers will enjoy her romantic, erotic stories as much as she enjoys creating them. Her favorite things are love and chocolate. She writes about love because, after all, it’s awfully hard to write about chocolate all the time.
She also writes as Heather Hiestand for Cerridwen Press.
Anh welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Also by Anh Leod
Also see the author’s stories at Cerridwen Press, written under the pen name Heather Hiestand:
Cards Never Lie
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