“How?”
“You need to be in the right place for it. If you’re born into it, then your family helps you for years before you even shift. I take it you weren’t born into it?”
“No, I was scratched.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I can still help you. The full moon is in two days. Each night, if we meet someplace public or private, I can teach you how to get your mind in the right place. If you would like my help that is?”
“I would be grateful for your help.”
“Not all wolf shifters are bad, Emma. There are only a few rouge packs around the whole country. I swear by the time the full moon comes shifting won’t be painful and you will be able to control your wolf.”
“Where do you want to meet then?”
“You know the town better. Pick somewhere public for the first session, so I know how suppressed your wolf actually is. Here is my number, give me a call.” Travis scribbled his number down on a napkin and handed it to her a few moments before the door opened to the bakery again.
“There is a park just beside the motel. Meet me there at nine?” Emma whispered to him. He nodded his head before placing the money on the table with a smile.
Emma stood and headed behind the counter again, a smile on her pretty face. She really was an amazing creature. The old man she was serving said something that Emma obviously found amusing, since the laughter that flowed through the bakery was magical.
Travis picked his helmet up off the sofa and nodded his head at Emma before leaving the bakery. He needed to figure out how to calm Emma’s wolf so she could shift, yet still allow her to remain in control.
****
Emma was excited, but nervous about tonight. She wanted to be able to accept the wolf that was inside of her, but at the time she didn’t want to. While she wanted to feel free and not feel the desire to suppress her wolf, she also didn’t want her wolf. She just wanted to be a normal twenty-six year old woman who ran a bakery in a small town.
She was wiping down the counters when the bell on the bakery door dinged again. It was near closing time and nobody usually visited her shop around this time. Surprisingly, Mrs. Humphrey came inside, dragging her wheelie basket behind her.
Emma knew something was wrong or weird. She asked the elderly woman, “Are you okay, Mrs. Humphrey?”
“Yes, dear. It’s my grandson’s birthday tomorrow and I was wondering if it was too late to put an order in?”
“Of course it’s not too late. What can I help you with?” Emma grabbed the pen and pad that was beside her cash register and waited for Mrs. Humphrey’s order.
“I would like one hundred cupcakes.”
“One hundred?”
“Yes, by nine tomorrow morning. It’s not too much is it, dear?” Mrs. Humphrey clasped her hands together and smiled widely, her gap-toothed smile melting something inside of her.
“No, of course not. They should be ready tomorrow.” Emma didn’t really want to take on the order, but the money would be good for business. The only downside was that she wouldn’t be able to spend the evening with Travis. She sighed before dialling the number that he had left her.
“Hi, Travis. It’s Emma. I can’t come tonight,” she blurted out, as soon as he answered the phone.
“Why not?”
“Mrs. Humphrey just asked me to bake one hundred cupcakes for her grandson.” Emma sat down on the sofa with a sigh.
“Well, I could come and help you. Kill two birds with one stone and all that.”
“Have you ever baked cupcakes before?” Emma asked, as she smiled to herself. The thought of Travis wearing one of her flowery aprons in her kitchen amused her.
“I used to help bake at home.”
“Come on over then. Be prepared. If you mess it up, then you’re replacing it all.” Emma hung the phone up and headed back into the kitchen. If Travis was really going to help her, then she needed to make sure he knew what he was doing before letting him loose in her expensive kitchen.
Travis rolled into the bakery five minutes later, a smile on his handsome face. Emma tossed him an apron and he cast a disgusted look before donning the garment. She mixed the batter, then she made him scoop the batter in the cupcake trays before putting them in the oven. The system worked well and, soon enough, there were one hundred cupcakes on the table, waiting to be iced.
“Okay, break time.” Travis dragged her away from the kitchen and into the bakery storefront. She watched in silence, as he pushed the sofas out of the way so there was an area on the floor where they could sit.
Travis sat cross legged on the floor and gestured for Emma to do the same. Once they were both sitting on the floor, Travis took a hold of both of Emma’s hands and smiled.
“Okay, close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Just close your eyes, Emma.”
Emma sighed before closing her eyes and Travis squeezed her hands gently.
“I want you to bring your wolf forward.”
“I don’t know how to do that.”
“Just think of your wolf. Think of how it’s trapped. Think how it needs to be freed.”
Emma scrunched up her nose, as she thought about her wolf. Her head felt funny for a few seconds before a picture appeared behind her eyes. As the gray and white image came into focus, she saw that it was a small wolf with her tail between her legs.
“Tell her you’re sorry.”
“What?” Emma thought Travis was being ridiculous. No way was she saying sorry to an image of a wolf. She wasn’t crazy.
“Emma, you’ve denied her the chance to get to know you and to be free. You need to say sorry to her, so she knows you feel for her. She needs to know that she doesn’t need to be a true animal once you release her.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, as tears welled up behind her eyes. If it was true what Travis was saying, then she’d denied her wolf for too long. She could have caused her wolf’s anger each time she was released.
“Good. Now let her out.”
“I don’t want to.”
“We need to get a hold of your wolf before the full moon. When you shift on the full moon, for a while the wolf will take over. We need to control it now.”
“It hurts too much.”
“Open your eyes and watch me.” Emma opened her eyes and was confronted with a bare stomach. Travis was stripping his clothes off in front of her and she couldn’t help but stare at the man’s amazing form.
“Why are you getting naked?”
“I don’t want to rip my clothes.” Travis winked before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Emma tried not to stare at his crotch, but it was hard not to, since it was eye level with her. She didn’t have long to stare before a golden glow appeared. Within a second, a burgundy wolf stood in front of her.
The wolf whined and nosed her hand. Emma smiled, as she buried her hand in Travis’ warm fur. When the wolf looked up, she was stunned to see that the wolf still had Travis’ eyes. He wasn’t a wolf for long and, before she knew it, Emma had her hand on naked skin.
“See, no pain.” Travis smiled so big it made her heart ache.
“I’m not sure I can do it.”
“If it hurts, you can bite my ass in your wolf form.”
“Travis...”
“Emma, just trust me. I promise you this won’t hurt.”
“How do you know?”
“I will walk you through it. I swear on my life, I would never do anything to hurt you.”
Something inside of her knew that he was telling the truth and that he wouldn’t lie to her. She nodded her head slowly before standing and slowly stripping from her clothes. While she would normally be shy undressing, in front of Travis it felt like a perfectly normal thing to do.
“You’re stunning.”
Emma’s eyes widened, as her eyes were drawn to Travis’ groin again. While they were talking about shifting, he was soft; but since she had taken her clothes off, things had taken a drastic turn.
“Oh...”
“Just shift.” Travis’ voice was deep and gravelly, almost like he wasn’t human.
“I don’t know how.”
“Close your eyes and imagine your wolf. Don’t think about it hurting. Think about the wolf standing in your place instead of you.”
Emma nodded her head again before closing her eyes. She envisioned the wolf standing in her place. There was slight tingling over her skin for a few seconds and she opened her eyes, sighing. Although a sigh wasn’t what came out, it was a deep, rumbling growl.
“You did it, Emma.”
Emma swung her head around and looked at her reflection in the glass cabinet. There, in her place, was the gray wolf. She let out a yipping sound and bounded over to Travis, placing both paws on his chest and knocking him to the ground before lapping at his face.
“Good girl.” Travis chuckled and scratched her behind the ears. Emma thought of being human again and moments later she was straddling his naked body.
“I did it.”
“You sure did...” His hands reached up and landed on her hips, not moving anywhere other than her hips.
“Thank you.”
“It’s been my pleasure.” Travis rolled his hips slightly and Emma gasped, as pleasure danced across her body. She gazed down at him, seeing a smirk on his handsome, rugged face. Two could play that game, she thought.
She faked a yawn and raised her arms above her head, stretching her body and pushing her chest out. Her breasts were now horizontal to his face.
“Well, I guess we should get back to work now.” Emma smiled and climbed off him. As she headed to the kitchen again, she made sure to add an extra sway in her step. In response, he growled so loudly that Emma could hear it as she pulled her apron back on.
“Emma, you do bring out some wild urges inside of me,” Travis said, as he growled and pulled his apron on, too.
“Sorry, I don’t sleep with someone on the first date.”
“So, this is a date, is it?” Travis walked forward and backed her up against the counter, his body boxing her in.
“Hmm, maybe soldier.” Emma trailed her fingertips across the revealed section of his side. She was delighted when she saw that the contact caused him to shudder.
“This isn’t a very good date. Why not let me take you on an official one?”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Well, I can’t sleep with my mate without getting to know her first, now can I?” Travis bent down and placed a kiss on each of the claw marks that poked out from under the apron. Emma shivered and smiled down at him. Being Travis’ mate isn’t unappealing in the slightest, she thought.
“When?”
“Tomorrow night?”
“Deal. Let’s get these cupcakes done.” Emma reached around and spanked on his ass with a giggle. The night moved quickly and, by two in the morning, there were one hundred iced cupcakes, ready for Mrs. Humphrey to pick up for her grandson.
Emma and Travis stopped on their way out of the bakery to pick up their clothes before leaving for the night. Emma went to sleep that morning with a smile on her face. She was able to control her wolf and there was a man who was interested in her, possibly one who would stay with her forever. Life was looking good at the moment.
****
The next night couldn’t come quickly enough for Travis. He spent the day looking for houses or apartments in the small town. If he was going to be with Emma, then he needed to make sure he was putting down some roots. For the first time in his life, since leaving home at a young age, he was finally thinking about settling down.
He found a two bedroom house for rent down by the beach. He was going to view it tomorrow morning and hopefully make a deposit.
It was almost time for Travis to pick Emma up from work. His heart was beating in his chest, like a schoolboy who was about to lose his virginity. He shouldn’t be nervous with Emma, heck, he’d already seen her naked and was she a goddess, he thought.
The thought of Emma’s nakedness had him hard within a few moments. He shook his head before stepping into the shower. He hadn’t managed to shower last night, instead he fell into bed with cake batter splattered across various parts of his body.
The full moon was tomorrow night and his body was itchy with the need to shift. He knew Emma’s would be much worse, since her lack of shifting these past few months. He was hoping to convince her to run with him on the full moon. He just needed to get through tonight without jumping her bones.
By the time Travis was dressed and at the bakery, it was nearly nine o’clock at night. He hoped there were some suitable places to take her on their date. He saw a restaurant not far from the motel and hoped that they didn’t need reservations.
“I’ll be out shortly!” Emma yelled down the stairs, once Travis opened the door to the bakery.
“Take your time.” Travis wandered around the small bakery and smiled at the paintings on the wall. Some were of sweets and treats, but the one above the sofa caught his eye. It was a white, snowy wolf standing on a cliff edge, his head tilted back and howling at the moon.
“There was something that demanded I buy that,” Emma whispered over his shoulder. Travis was so interested in the painting that he hadn’t heard her approach. He turned and stared in silence at her. Emma was wearing a black dress that puffed out at the bottom, her pale skin showing.
“Amazing,” Travis murmured before cupping her delicate face and pulling her closer. With Emma so close and her scent tickling his nose, he had to have a taste of her. He needed to see if she tasted as sweet as she smelled.
Emma met him halfway and their lips collided. He was right. She tasted like vanilla and chocolate, a heady concoction. Travis wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him, so their bodies were in line from lips to toes.
Emma made a quiet whimpering noise and pulled him in even closer. Travis went willingly and devoured her mouth. The kiss was hot and had Travis wanting to be inside Emma more than he wanted to breathe.
“We should go if you want dinner,” Travis whispered against Emma’s lips unwillingly.
“Yeah, dinner.” Emma stepped back, smoothed her hair down, and licked her lips.
“You could be on the menu, if you wanted to be.” Travis reached out and trailed his fingers down her naked arm, a smirk on his face.
“I’m awfully hungry though.” Emma spun away from him with a giggle and left the bakery, leaving Travis to follow her or be locked inside. By the end of the night, he was determined to have her writhing under him and moaning his name.
****
“This place is pretty expensive,” Emma said, frowning as Travis led her into the only restaurant in the small town.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got enough to pay for it.” Travis placed his hand on her lower back and followed the hostess to their table. They were seated in a corner that was away from most of the other patrons. Travis pulled Emma’s chair out, then he took his own seat.
“What does your stomach desire?”
“Steak.”
“That would be your wolf craving red meat.” Travis didn’t bother looking at the menu. He knew what he was going to have, a steak so rare that there was blood still dripping from it. He placed their orders and requested their best wine.
“So, you said you’re in antiques. What do you do?” Emma swirled her finger around the top of the wine glass as she stared at him.
“I travel across the country and buy the rarest antiques known to man. Then, I sell them for a hefty profit.”
“What was your favorite piece you’ve bought?”
“I was in Ohio and someone called saying they had the suit that JFK died in. Being the curious person I was, I headed to Ohio and it turned out to be a fraud; but, I spotted something in a charity shop window. It was a grandfather clock that was from the 15th century. I bought it and upon further inspection it turned out to be Henry the Eighth’s.”
“So what did you do
with it?”
“Nothing, it’s in a storage unit I have. It was too beautiful to sell.”
“How much did you pay for it?”
“Fifty dollars.” The smirk on Travis’ face was priceless.
“Oh, good, food.” Emma sat up higher in her chair and licked her lips at the steak that was placed in front of her. She didn’t wait for the waiter to leave before she dug into her meal. Obviously, she was hungry. It pleased Travis that Emma had a hearty appetite, he couldn’t have a mate who didn’t like food as much as he did.
Alpha Heart: A Paranormal Werewolf Romance Page 2