Heart of the Wolf

by D. B. Reynolds

  A faint, unpleasant scent wrinkled his snout, the familiar stench of humanity and the city. Wolf shook his head, trying to blow it away, intent on finding her. The need to focus on his mate, to follow her trail, was an ache driving him to find her, to take her.

  But Ren was more than Wolf. He forced Wolf to slow, to turn aside and follow the greasy smell to its source—a lone truck parked on a narrow fire road barely wide enough to accommodate it. Wolf whined as he circled the vehicle, feeling the warmth from the tires, hearing the ticks of the cooling engine. He sniffed around the passenger compartment then turned to lift his head and stare into the woods where the scent led. Human sweat, the chemical smell of the truck’s leather seats, and the biting stench of oil and gunpowder.

  It was the hunter.

  Wolf howled and took off, urgently following the smell of danger now, tracking the hunter, the one who would harm his mate. The hunter had no paws to dance along the snow, but he wore snowshoes, moving over the dense powder easily and leaving a trail Wolf could have followed even without his nose.

  The trees thickened as he ran deeper into the forest, the full moon still trapped behind the clouds, the woods dark, sounds of small prey muffled by snow. Owls fluttered overhead, resenting Wolf’s intrusion and that of the hunter he followed, hooting nervously in the early night of winter. Wolf was aware of all of these things on a subconscious level, filing them away as the normal sounds of the forest, shutting them out to concentrate on the only thing that mattered—stopping the hunter before he found the female.

  Abruptly, the trail altered as the hunter crossed her path and her delicious scent was soiled by the hunter’s human stink. Wolf’s lips drew back, baring his fangs in a feral snarl. He threw his head back, stretching out his long throat to howl a warning to his mate. Deep inside Wolf, Ren wondered if Kathryn would understand the meaning of Wolf’s warning howl, that she should run as far and as fast as she could.

  Wolf lowered his body to the ground and ran, belly skimming the snow as he raced beneath low-hanging branches, his long legs stretching out to leap effortlessly over fallen trees and frozen streams without breaking stride. Around him the forest barely registered his passing, a whisper of movement, the passage of clouds over the pale moon.

  A tiny click gave the hunter away. Wolf slowed from his headlong charge, flattening to the ground as he crept closer. The human had raised his lethal weapon and was holding it steady, aiming for something in the distance, something Wolf couldn’t see. Wolf howled, and the hunter swung toward him in a practiced sweep, sighting and firing. The bullet was nearly silent, a dull thwack of sound in the snow-dampened forest, a whisper of heat past Wolf’s flank as he became no more than a shadow in the darkness.

  The hunter lowered his rifle and stilled, and Wolf knew this was a knowledgeable enemy. He was no fool to think Wolf little more than one of his lesser cousins. The female, dulled by her years among the humans, would be an easy target. Wolf was not.

  Crouched low, the skin on his belly shrinking away from the freezing snow, Wolf crept forward, nose in the air, following the hunter’s unmistakable stink. He froze briefly as he scented the female nearby. He wanted to whine with fear for her, hoping she would recognize the danger of this hunter and stay far away. But he remained silent, the hunter too close. He could hear the hunter’s breathing now, could smell the fear-sweat the human was unable to control.

  The hunter moved, a slight shifting of his weapon. In the thick night, his winter-white camo blended into the snow-covered trees. But Wolf’s eyes saw him clearly. Still, this hunter was smart, and Wolf crept slowly, his footfalls soft on the piled snow, gliding through the trees until the hunter’s back was before him.

  The human turned as Wolf launched himself. The rifle came up. Wolf heard the click of the trigger mechanism, and then he was on the human, teeth tearing, claws rending flesh. The gun fired too close to Wolf’s sensitive ear, and he howled in pain and anger, riding the hunter to the ground, digging for his vulnerable throat.

  The hunter tucked in his chin, wrapping one bearlike arm around Wolf and squeezing, his other hand scrabbling at his own clothing. Wolf felt the cold metal against his belly and knew what it meant. Abandoning his attempts to reach the hunter’s throat, Wolf dug his fangs into the thick arm, finding blood and muscle through the layers of clothing. This wolf had a brain. The hunter screamed as his white snowsuit ran with red, as Wolf’s teeth met and cracked through bone.

  In his pain, the hunter forgot to protect his neck, and Wolf lunged, finding vulnerable flesh, biting down, feeling the crunch of cartilage as the throat gave way, the rush of air escaping from the lungs, the chest heaving, no longer able to draw a new breath.

  Wolf twisted his head in a final tearing movement and jumped away, feeling the scrape of a knife blade on the bone of his foreleg. He snarled in fury and backed off, watching, but the hunter’s heartbeat slowed in his chest and already Wolf could smell the taint of death.

  A frightened howl rose over the woods, and deep inside Wolf, Ren turned, raising his snout to the air and scenting…Kathryn. He sent his own cry floating up over the trees and let instinct take over. Ren was gone. Once again there was only Wolf.

  * * * *

  Wolf raced through the forest, following her scent, sensing her fear and her need. He leaped through the trees into a clearing and there she was, the moon breaking through to gleam off her silver fur as she backed away from him, her teeth bared in warning. Wolf snarled. She was his. He had fought the battles, shed his blood.

  The female cowered beneath a snow-heavy tree, her scent driving him nearly mad as she shivered in the grip of her body’s demands as much as her fear.

  Wolf approached slowly, lifting one paw at a time. He made no attempt to staunch his bleeding, to lick it clean or stop the flow. It was proof of his fitness to claim her, that he had defeated her enemy and still stood. The female backed up as far as she could, watching him with eyes gone silver with fear, with anticipation, with a hunger of her own.

  Wolf began a low, rumbling growl, meant to soothe, to reassure. She cocked her head at him curiously. And he took another step.

  She ran.

  Wolf howled furiously and followed, pursuing her through the trees, catching glimpses of her silver coat. But he knew where she’d go. The female had been too long among the humans. She thought like they did. She would run for the only safety she knew. The house with its fences and gates, its doors and locks. Deep inside Wolf, Ren smiled.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ren let Kathryn get well ahead of him, giving her time, not wanting to frighten her into doing something foolish. He raced into the yard to see the door slam shut, to hear the locks click into place. She had lived with humans too long if she thought a locked door would keep him out.

  He loped up onto the porch and changed, giving his body a few moments to adjust to his human form. His leg throbbed where the knife had cut him, but he barely felt it, his heart pumping with victory over his enemy, with his pursuit of Kathryn, his mate whether she knew it or not. Coming down off the adrenaline high, his sweat-slicked skin shivered in the cold, despite the clouds of steam rolling off his body. He shook his head once, and again, then took a single step back and side-kicked the front door off its hinges.

  He heard Kathryn’s high-pitched scream of surprise, followed by the pounding of bare feet on the wooden floor upstairs. A door slammed loudly as he strode into the large living room and headed for the stairway, taking the time to find his pants and drag them up his bare legs, using his discarded T-shirt to wipe away the worst of the blood from his face and neck. Wolf knew only his hunger, the need to claim the female, to mate. Ren wanted her every bit as badly as Wolf did, but not for a quick joining. He wanted to take her and keep her. Which meant he had to first prove she had no reason to be afraid of him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Kathryn pressed her back against the wall, as far from the door as she could get. Her mind was filled with images of the hunt, of Re
n, ferocious in his wolf form, black fur bristling in the cold, the tips silvered by moonlight to match the gleam in his black eyes. He’d smelled of the hunt and of lust, his muzzle stained with the blood of the human he’d killed to protect her, the hunter who’d wanted her dead.

  Her wolf had wanted to surrender to him, to stretch out her neck and lick away the blood of their vanquished enemy, to slide her belly across the cold snow and submit. But Kathryn had never known the lust of a wolf, only a man. And what she knew was tainted with pain and disgust. So she’d run.

  She could hear Ren coming up the stairs, his footfalls heavy and even. She was naked, her skin pebbling with cold, trembling uncontrollably with equal parts of fear and desire. The door opened slowly, so slowly, she found herself craning her neck to see who stood there, even though it could only be him. She jerked back as his broad shoulders filled the doorway, his chest heaving with effort, blood still staining his human form, despite his obvious efforts to clean up.

  His eyes were heavy, half-lidded beneath thick lashes as he scanned the room with a lazy, predatory gaze. When he found her, his hungry eyes swept over her from head to toe, and a small smile creased his hard mouth.

  “Kathryn,” he growled.

  She jumped at the sound of his voice, pressing herself harder against the wall as if she could escape through the wood and plaster somehow. And yet a part of her didn’t want to escape. A part of her wanted to run across the room and throw herself into his arms, to press her breasts against his firm chest, to open herself and let him…

  “Kathryn,” Ren crooned, “I know you want this, want me. I can smell your need.”

  She gasped. “Don’t say things like that!”

  Ren laughed, low and seductive, as he came slowly closer. “Don’t you want me, Kathryn?”

  “Yes,” she whispered desperately. “I want you to—” She covered her mouth with her fingers, shocked at herself.

  “What?” he murmured. “Tell me what you want.”

  He was so close. She could feel the brush of his breath washing over her skin, could feel the heat rolling off of him in waves. And, oh, God, she could feel his desire for her, his cock hard and rampant with wanting, pressing against the heavy denim of his jeans.

  “Don’t be afraid of me, Kathryn.”

  “I’m not. Not really. It’s just…”

  “What, sweetheart? Tell me.”

  “I’m afraid of this. I’ve never mated as a wolf. I’m afraid I’ll do it wrong, that you’ll—”

  He held her then, his arms hard and strong, letting her feel the beat of his heart, the slickness of the blood on his skin, the firm shaft of his erection pressing against her belly through the rough cloth.

  “You are Wolf, sweet Kathryn. You may have been exiled among the humans for all these years, but you are still Wolf. I come to you covered in the blood of our enemy, as male wolves have for centuries. Torn, bloodied, furious that we have been forced to fight in order to claim our mate and yet filled with desire for her, for you, Kathryn. It is a glorious thing that no human joining could ever rival.”

  “But—” She gasped as she felt a single sharp claw glide down her back, slicing deftly into her skin in a long line of exquisite pain. She shivered with desire, every nerve in her body coming to life.

  “There is no shame in what you are, Kathryn,” he continued in a low, sensuous voice. “There is only beauty and grace such as I never found until I met you. You are mine, Kathryn. You were always mine.”

  He raised his hand again, trailing two claws this time, down her back to her buttocks. She moaned with need, her hands falling away from her chest and reaching out to stroke his muscular thighs, letting her own claws run out to hold him against her. He sucked in a breath.

  “Let me show you,” he managed to say. “Gods, Kathryn, let me show you the glory that is Wolf.”

  His claws disappeared as his fingers cupped her bottom and pressed lightly, tucking her up against him so she could feel his arousal, hard and long in the crease between her legs. She moved instinctively, rubbing herself against him. He groaned as his fingers dipped between her legs where she was wet and hot, her sex swollen with desire. She cried out when he touched her clit, heard his soft chuckle as he began stroking her with his thick fingers, dipping into her wet core and out, his thumb reaching out to strum her clit, his rough skin like a thousand sparks of lightning against her sensitized skin as he dipped deep inside her once more, teasing her until she wanted to scream with frustration.

  She dug her claws into his thighs, slicing through his denims like butter and digging into his flesh, drawing enough blood she could feel its warmth over her fingers, thrusting herself against his maddeningly slow fingers. Ren growled, bending down to sink his teeth gently into her neck.

  “Ren,” she breathed. “Please.”

  Without warning, he plunged two fingers into her satiny slick sex, fucking her in and out, while in the same instant, he pinched her swollen bud. She screamed, nearly fainting with the rush of pain and soaring pleasure that swamped every muscle, every nerve, every instinct in her body. Her vaginal muscles clenched around his fingers and she lost control of her own responses. She would have fallen if he hadn’t been there to brace her against the wall, holding her upright against his hard body, with his fingers still buried deep inside her, his thumb still stroking her hot and begging little nub.

  Her orgasm seemed to go on forever as he roused her again and again until she was weak with the effort of remaining upright. He kissed her neck, licking away the pain of his bite, trailing a line of kisses from her shoulder to her cheek, taking her mouth when she hungrily sought his lips.

  His fingers slid from inside her, and she gasped as he teased them across her clit one last time, feeling her own slick wetness on her skin as he caressed her belly and breasts before circling her with his arms.

  “I love you, Kathryn,” he whispered against her ear. “I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you.”

  Her eyes filled with tears she never thought she’d shed again. “He told me you left. That he’d offered me to you and you refused.”

  His arms tightened around her, and she heard the low rumble of his growl. It was a soothing sound. It spoke to her of love and of safety.

  “He lied.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Ren scooped her into his arms and crossed the room to the big bed. He didn’t know whose room this was, but there was a bed and that’s all he cared about. Kathryn was limp with post-orgasmic lassitude as he laid her on the bed, pulling the covers from beneath her. He watched her as he stripped his pants off. She lay slightly to one side, her breasts full and swollen, her nipples hard, rosy buds that begged him to taste. Unable to restrain himself, he knelt on the bed and leaned forward, taking one hard little pearl into his mouth and sucking it to an even greater firmness.

  Kathryn arched suddenly against his mouth, her hands winding through his hair to hold him in place. He bit down lightly, and she moaned, her body rippling beneath him. Closing his eyes against an almost overwhelming lust, he covered her body with his, pressing forward with his hips and feeling her legs spread in welcome. His heavy erection nestled into the silky, wet folds of her sex, and he began moving slowly, sliding his shaft back and forth, coating it with her slick juices.

  “I need you, Kathryn,” he rasped.

  “Yes,” she whispered, thrusting against him.

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You won’t, Ren. Please.” She cried out as he pushed harder against her, letting the length of his cock rub back and forth over her swollen clit. “Oh, gods, yes.”

  He pulled back enough to slide the tip of his cock into her heat and slammed forward, thrusting his entire aroused length deep inside her, groaning as her hot, tight walls closed around him, sucking him in. He held still for a long moment, supporting himself with his arms, letting his head fall forward, eyes closed against the strength of the emotions threatening to swamp him. As if she understood, Ka
thryn wrapped her arms and legs around him and held him close.

  And then he began moving, pumping in and out, withdrawing almost completely before plunging into her once again, back and forth, reveling in the feel of her hungry sex as it tightened around him, drawing him ever deeper, milking his cock, urging him to climax, to spill his seed deep into her womb. Kathryn moaned and began rubbing herself against him eagerly with every thrust, giving little cries of pleasure that made his sac tighten and his already hard cock swell even further.

  She came without warning, her muscles contracting so strongly around his cock that he could barely move. He growled, his teeth baring in combined rage and pure sensuous ecstasy as he gradually forced her slick channel to release him, moving slowly, gaining urgency until he was pounding her once more. He captured her mouth with his, swallowing her cry as she orgasmed one more time, screaming his name, her satin walls convulsing around him, caressing him, and sending him over the edge. He roared as his seed rushed forward to fill her, as he claimed her for his own, his mate, his love.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Ren woke to find his arms full of naked warm female, and not just any female, but Kathryn. He buried his face in her neck, breathing in her scent, filling his hands with her soft, full breasts, rolling her rosy pink nipples in his fingers until they were hard and begging to be tasted.

  Kathryn sighed in her sleep, covering his hand with hers and wiggling her firm ass as she tucked herself deeper into his embrace. Ren’s body immediately responded, reminding him of all the delicious things one could do with a welcoming, warm woman on a lazy winter morning.