by Lola Taylor
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, feeling his skin tingle with the first twinges of the Change. It didn’t hurt like it did the first few times. His body was used to it, anticipated it even. He tried to focus on nothing, to let the Change flow effortlessly, molding his bones and muscles into a new shape. The thing about weres and shape-shifters is that they never quite lose touch with their humanity, even when inhabiting another form. It was a fantastic blend of animal and human, and he reveled in its power. It reminded him of what he was supposed to be—where and who he was supposed to be. The power of nature brought security, something he hadn’t had growing up. Being the baby brother in his rowdy family didn’t exactly help.
As his wolf senses took over, he could sense more of the emotions rolling off Danica—surprise, denial, awe, terror.
Not wanting to repulse her, he quickly pushed the Change along. Within seconds, a great white wolf stood on four paws before her.
Danica shrieked, backing up against the wall. “Oh, my God! What the hell? Help!”
There’s no need to call for help, he said, reaching out to her through her mind. Thanks to the Mark, he knew she’d be able to hear it. She was bound to him now, connected in a way no other man or woman could ever be.
Her head whipped around. “Who said that?”
I did. He took a careful step forward.
“Stay back!” She edged closer to the fireplace, taking her eyes off him only long enough to grab a fire poker.
I won’t hurt you.
“This isn’t happening,” she said, pinching herself hard. “Wake up!”
All right, maybe Shifting before her wasn’t the best idea. He quickly changed back, standing completely naked and covered in sweat.
Her face went white, those enchanting green eyes growing so large he thought they may pop from her head. “What are you?” she at last whispered.
He kept his eyes on her shaking knees, preparing to catch her should she faint. “I’m a werewolf….” He swallowed hard and sucked in a breath. “As you will soon be.”
“What are you talking about?”
“That mark—it’s the Mark of the Change. All werewolves have them.”
“No. I don’t want to be a werewolf. I didn’t ask for this.”
“Few of us rarely do,” he said darkly. His heart broke a little, staring at her terrified face. “I’m sorry, but once the Mark has been given, there is nothing I or anyone else can do to revoke it.”
“But that’s impossible! Surely, somebody, somewhere, knows how to get rid of it!”
“Believe me, people have tried.”
She stared at him for a while, silent tears falling down her face. “I just wanted to go on a date, maybe fall in love. Start over.”
He walked toward her, but she whipped up the fire poker, holding it before her like a sword. His hands clenched into fists as he paused. “This doesn’t have to be a curse. It can be a gift—a new life.”
“What kind of life?”
“A life with me, as my mate.”
“What are you talking about?”
“That Mark,” he pointed to it, “it appeared when I touched you. That only happens when a were finds his mate.”
“You mean… like forever?”
He pressed his lips together, bracing himself for her rejection. Since when did he so desperately crave this woman’s approval?
“I know this is a lot to take in,” he said slowly, gently lowering the poker.
“A lot to take in? My whole life has been turned upside down!”
“When you came to the bar, you were looking for something, for someone to belong to. Otherwise, what’s the point of dating?”
She stared up into his eyes. Hope, longing, and fear mingled in the green depths of her irises. Her breathing quickened as she wetted her lips. “This mark… is it responsible for making me feel this way around you?”
“What way is that?” he murmured.
She swallowed hard. “I want you,” she whispered. “I don’t know why, but… since meeting you, it seems to be the only thing I can think about.”
“And what kind of things do you think about?”
She took a breath and wetted her lips, her long-lashed eyes ducking to his mouth. “All kinds of things.”
Those beautiful eyes looked up, a question in them. He could feel her fear—and her desire. For a long moment, they stared at one another. She was so exquisite, so innocent.
So fragile.
With perfect tenderness, he reached up and cupped her cheek, brushing away a wisp of blond hair with his thumb. His tanned skin contrasted nicely with her creamy flesh. “May I kiss you, my lady?”
Her throat flashed as she swallowed hard, and her pulse picked up its pace. “Yes.”
He didn’t waste another second. No sooner did the answer pass her lips than his mouth crashed down on hers, his hands burying in her hair. She moaned as he ravished her, his hands searching every inch of her plush, silky body beneath the robe he was ready to tear off.
“I will treasure you,” he whispered against her mouth, “will treat you like the queen you are. Please, don’t fear me.”
She sighed with pleasure as he kissed her neck, stooping to her breasts, her nipples erect and primed for his tongue. She reached forward and grabbed his length, stroking him long and hard.
He groaned. “Yes, just like that.”
She gripped him with both hands, pumping him in slow, tantalizing movements. He felt himself growing longer for her, needing to be inside her wet, hot depths, needing to claim her.
Slowly, she lowered herself to her knees so her face was in front of his sex.
“What are you doing?” he asked raggedly.
A coy smile was his answer. “Seeing what I could potentially be getting myself into.”
Potentially. He could work with “potentially.”
She ran a finger along him, making him quiver with desire. “You’re so big,” she whispered, leaning forward and kissing the swollen head tenderly.
He braced himself against the wall as her tongue danced along the tip, then licked him as her lips closed around his shaft.
“Danica,” he gritted out as she sucked him. He bucked his hips, grabbing her head and holding it steady, taking over the rhythm. The faster he pumped, the harder she sucked, squeezing her mouth around him as he moved in and out, in and out.
She grabbed his hips, digging her nails in.
He groaned, bucking harder. Sweet release was close; he could feel it building up, bubbling to the surface. Just a few more pumps….
Frantic knocking came from the door. Nik’s voice yelled from the other side. “Sire! A word with you!”
“Not. Now,” Gage growled. He was losing his mind. Never had he felt such intensity during any sexual act.
More banging, louder this time. It didn’t stop, becoming more insistent.
Danica pulled back, and Gage swore profusely. The mood ruined, he stormed toward the door. “This had better be damn good, or I swear, Nik—”
Nik opened the door before he reached it. “It’s Onyx—he’s been spotted on the property.”
Gage wasted no time. Danica was already covered again in her robe, to his immense disappointment, when he turned around. “What’s going on?” she said dreamily.
“Nothing to worry about,” he said soothingly, not wanting to frighten her any more than he already had earlier with the wolf stunt. Never would he do something so stupid again. “We have to go.”
He went to the bathroom and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist. His erection hadn’t gone away, the towel making it more obvious, but that was the least of his concerns.
“Why?” Danica said as he ushered her out the door and down the hall, Nik leading the way. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing.” Yet.
Her face turned stormy. “Tell me what’s going on right now! Obviously, I can handle it. I saw you turn into a wolf earlier, and you haven’t had to commit me to an in
sane asylum.”
Nik stifled a snicker.
Gage glared at him. “I’m taking you to my quarters, where you will remain under my watch. The rest of the premises is to be under lockdown. I want him found and brought to me, Nik.”
“On it.”
He parted ways with them at the next landing, disappearing around a corner.
Danica glanced around anxiously. “Is that man back?”
Gage felt a strong, protective urge surge through him, and he hugged her tight. “I won’t let anything—or anyone—hurt you. I swear it on my life.”
Holy. Shit.
Werewolves. Mating. Stalkers.
Her horoscope had not forecasted this. More importantly, what the hell was wrong with her? She’d gone from freaking out over seeing him literally turn into the biggest wolf she’d ever seen, to taking one glimpse of his sex and wanting to mount him right there. It was like PMS on crack.
Gage held her close the rest of the way to his room. Being held by him felt right—a sense of rightness that was growing by the minute—but she couldn’t help looking all around her, expecting Onyx to leap from the shadows like a bogeyman.
Two guards stood outside a large, ornate golden door. They looked like they just stepped out of Howl, wearing torn jeans, sleeveless shirts that showed off their muscular arms, and a leer to make most people think twice about crossing their paths. They bowed as Gage approached, opening the doors for him.
The room was huge, with a California King-sized bed on one wall and another gigantic, walk-in fireplace opposite it. A large fur rug lay before the fire, and a window seat sat beneath a window that took up a good portion of one wall, providing a spectacular view of the distant lake and the star-spackled sky.
“Wow,” she said. “You wolves spare no expense on interior decorating, do you?”
He chuckled slightly. She felt some of the tension drain out of him as he wrapped his arms around her. She instinctively leaned into him, liking the way he held her. She imagined falling asleep in his arms every night, staring out at the sky, feeling safe in the warmth of his embrace.
And how safe had you felt in Seth’s arms, hmmm?
Shaking her head, she stepped away and he reluctantly let go. He didn’t move to stop her as she walked around, exploring. Her face heated. “Earlier… in my room… that…”
“Was amazing?” he said with a sly smile. “You scandalize me, my lady. What will this do to my sterling reputation?”
Now her face was on fire. “I just don’t want you to think I’m some nympho looking for a quick fix.”
His face turned serious. “I would never think that of you. Your reaction is entirely normal, actually.”
She looked again at her hand, at the dark blue ink that seemed to catch the moonlight. “The Change, you mean.”
“And the Fever.”
“What’s the Fever?”
He cleared his throat, staring at the rug. “When a wolf reaches his or her prime, they go through the mating season—their Blood Moon. That’s when the mating Fever takes hold.”
“Oh.” Awkward. “When does it go away?”
His eyes met hers, burning as brightly as the fire. “When we mate.”
“As in… have sex?”
He nodded.
Had the rational side of her brain been working, the idea of having sex with a total stranger would definitely not have been down her alley. If anything, now, it made her wetter. Who knew soft-spoken, “good girl” Danica could be such a total slut?
“What happens if we don’t have sex?” she asked.
His eyes grew troubled, and a shadow seemed to fall over his face. “We both remain unmated forever.” It looked like he wanted to tell her something more, but he remained silent.
“That sounds lonely,” she said, shoulders falling.
“Yes.”
Silence.
She shook her head, going to sit on the bed. Patting the bedspread beside her, she said, “Tell me about the Change.”
He blinked, then sat down beside her. “The first one is out of your control. I’m also sorry to say it will be the most painful.”
“Great. Like a second period.”
He laughed. “I’ve never heard of it put that way before, but I suppose you could compare the two. You’re in wolf form for the entire night, changing back at dawn. From then on, you can control it, shifting at will.”
“So the whole thing about shifting during a full moon…?”
“Nonsense. Humans mixed up our Blood Moon with the ‘Curse of the Werewolf’ that’s so popular in modern culture. It’s completely ridiculous.”
“I see.”
“You’re taking all of this surprisingly well,” he said warily.
She laughed. “Aside from my initial freak-out? Yeah, I suppose.” She shrugged. “When I was little, I wanted to be a superhero. Somebody special, who was strong enough to make a difference in the circumstances around me.”
He waited patiently for her to continue.
“My folks were always fighting while I was growing up. We didn’t have much. When my dad nearly broke my mom’s jaw one night, she grabbed me and we ran away.”
“Where’s your father?”
“In jail, most likely. He was in and out so much, I think they just keep a cell prepared for him.”
“And your mom?”
Her throat nearly closed up. “Dead.”
Gage took her hand and squeezed. For once, the gesture actually was comforting. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Blinking away tears, she said, “It was a long time ago, a car accident. I lived with my aunt, whom we were staying with until she left me one day, too, for her boyfriend. They eloped.” She smiled. “I’m happy for her. I hear they had a kid.”
“But she still left you.”
“I was eighteen.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
She looked at him. “No, I guess it doesn’t. But it still happened.”
“You’ve been alone for a while, haven’t you?”
“Yeah,” she said flippantly, picking at a pearl sewn into the comforter design.
Gage stared into the fire. “My dad couldn’t hold down a job to save his life. He moved me, my mom, and my brothers all over the place. I think that’s part of what drove Mom away. When we got old enough to work, we all pitched in and helped pay bills. But it wasn’t enough. My father owed a lot of bad people money—one of them was the were who marked him as punishment. He marked us the same day.”
She listened intently, frozen by the sadness in his eyes.
“More than anything, I think the Mark was what tore our family apart. Dad couldn’t handle it. He killed himself after the first Change, and eventually, my eldest brother drifted off to a different walk of life—but Nik stayed. I was a lot scrawnier than my brothers for a long time, since it took me a while to hit my growing spurt. Nik looked after me, protecting me at school and at home. He took a lot of shit from Dad.”
Danica could see the regret written on his face, making his handsome face seem much older as he spoke about his past.
“Nik and I set out on our own, moving from pack to pack until we found one that more or less fit. It wasn’t easy. Packs are supposed to be like your family, but there was a lot of in-fighting and warring with other packs when we first joined the Moonstruck Pack.”
Danica was silent for a moment, digesting this. Gage had to be incredibly tough to endure something like that. “You’re the Alpha, aren’t you?”
“Why would you say that?”
“Well, the guards and the fact everyone keeps calling you ‘sire’ or ‘your highness’ kind of gave it away.”
He gave her a small smile. “Does that bother you?”
She blinked. “No! I think it’s great. You’ve fought your way to the top. You’ve earned it.”
That troubled look returned. “If I could spare you from the Underworld, I would.”
“Underworld?”
“The su
pernatural world most humans don’t know about.”
Pause. “You mean, there are other creatures? Like vampires?”
“And succubi, incubi, demons, angels, witches, warlocks, faeries.”
Her face lit up. For the first time in a while, she felt like a kid again. “That’s awesome!”
His brows rose.
“I, er, read a lot of fantasy books to escape while growing up.” And still did, but she didn’t want to look any more like a dork. “Anyplace was better than home, you know?”
He smiled, seeming amused. “I see.”
Her mind spun with questions. Who knew there was a whole other world out there, one she’d only dreamed of?
Maybe life was more magical than she thought. Maybe there was more to look forward to than working for “the man,” always owing on taxes, and never being able to pay rent on time. She started to open her mouth, another question on her tongue, when a yawn escaped instead. “Jeez,” she said, blushing, “sorry. I didn’t realize I was so worn out.”
Gage shifted his weight. “You should rest. You’ve had a tiring day. I’ll sleep on the rug.”
She wanted to talk to him more, but she couldn’t argue that sleep sounded fantastic. She caught his hand as he started to stand. “Stay with me?”
It was nearly inaudible, but he sucked in a tiny breath. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. With that psychopath still on the loose, she wanted to be as close to Gage as possible.
She wanted to feel safe, plus she was too tired to fight the urge to be near him. She couldn’t begin to understand it. Nothing about the whole situation made sense. Hell, up until he’d literally shifted in front of her, she’d been ready to tie the bed sheets together and scale the side of the building in hopes of escaping. But there was one thing she’d noticed ever since he’d marked her—she craved his touch, to be as close to him as possible.
Starting with right now.
To her disappointment, he pulled on some pants before they pulled back the covers. She climbed in, then waited for him. And waited. “What are you doing?”
“I was going to sleep on top of the covers.”
She suppressed a giggle. “After what we did earlier, you’re going to be shy now?”
That look of arousal spread through his eyes. Without a word, he crawled under the sheets with her and wrapped his arms around her as she laid her head on his chest. They lay there, staring at the fire. It was so cozy, nothing at all like her rundown apartment.