The Warrior

by RT Lucas

  “Duck a fuck, you can read my mind!” Alicia’s laughter was filling the medical bay as the wolf padded along the floor. He was being gentle and cautious, she could tell by his movements. Lowering her head, she whispered in his ear, “Come on, let’s get you out of here boy, you can sleep in my bed with me and Frazzle,” adding quickly, “whom by the way is not food.” Still laughing with excitement, Alicia directed her new pet to her room.

  Did she just say….no, she didn’t – yes she fucking did! Galloping at full speed once it had registered in Xavier’s brain that Alicia had just invited him to sleep with her, he practically tore up the flooring as his claws dug in underneath him, before skidding to a halt at her bedroom door. Impatient whines came out from his muzzle as he stood still, waiting for Alicia to open her door. Xavier wasn’t thinking like a man or a wolf – in fact, he wasn't thinking at all, as most of his blood had rushed down South, and was in no hurry to go back to letting his brain function.

  Alicia slid down off her new furry friend, kicking the door open with her foot, and she invited him into her room. “It’s not exactly my choice of décor. This is Xavier’s home but…” She stopped for a moment to catch her thoughts then pointed to her bed where Frazzle was snuggled into her pillow. “You get up there, and I’ll go get you and my tiger milk. Then the three of us will snuggle down for the night.” Smiling up at the wolf, she spun on the heel of her boots and headed to the kitchen.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Teodora accepted the large glass of wine that Shuggie handed her and took a long sip before looking up. “Oh gosh, what an evening this has been yes?” The Doctor patted the empty place beside her on the black leather sofa. “Please Warrior, rest your weary legs and sit beside me? I would like to explain my theory and findings if you may hear me out?”

  Sitting down next to the Doc, Shuggie cracked his neck, then rolled his shoulders. He hadn’t fed or slept in weeks and although normally that wouldn’t have been an issue for him, he had been flashing two and three people at a time around the Compound and his energy levels were drained. Added to that was the worry for his Commander – the only light in all of this was Teodora. “Ah am always keen tae hear yer thoughts Teodora.” Offering a smile, he leaned back and kicked his legs out in front of him, turning his head to the side to watch Teodora as she spoke.

  Shifting her body a little so she was facing Shuggie, Teo placed the now empty glass on the table. “Think back to our late night conversations Warrior.” A blush covered Teo from neck to head as she continued to explain her findings. “You stated that Commander Raige was enthralled? With Miss Carberletti, yes? Now we both know of his lazy wolf syndrome, but the Scientist part of me is screaming Shuggah! It is my belief that the ‘wolf’ recognised its mate the day those two collided and the Commanders werewolf has been rising and battling to gain dominance ever since.” Teodora tilted her head as she rested it in the palm of her hand that was being propped up on her elbow.

  Shuggie’s outward appearance was that of a lean, muscled thirty eight year old man. Elaborate tattoos covered his six foot three inches body from throat to feet, and his dark brown hair was shaved short, close to the skull. It was his eyes that gave his true identity away. His pupils were red, although he masked them with coloured contacts, but they almost swirled in a slow enthralling movement if looked closely at for too long.

  He was an immortal Warrior – vampire of the Caledonii Tribe – and had walked on the Earth for a thousands years. Yet he still looked as young as the day he was turned vampire. His rough fingers stroked up the forearm of Teodora as she spoke, and he inhaled her sweet scent as it wafted over him. Lilies and orchids. The light of the moon was silhouetting her as she sat beside him, highlighting her high cheekbones and slender shoulders.

  Giving himself a shake, he blinked then recounted in his head what she had been saying to him whilst he had been lost to his own thoughts. Clearing his throat he said, “Ye really think that cud happen? Ah dinnae know, lassie, it’s a bit far reaching, even fur one such as I.” Although, on a certain level, what she had described did make some sort of sense to him. From the corner of his eye he had seen Alicia flash away from the room, but as she was looking tired he assumed she had gone back to her quarters to relax. Besides, he was happy to spend some one-on-one time with Teodora, and didn’t want Alicia overhearing what they were discussing.

  “I’ve been fortunate to witness werewolves in their pack and interacting with mates. The Commander has never acted like this towards a female before you said, yes? Think about it Warrior… the way he acted around her. The wolf in my bay was nothing but gentle and protective of Miss Carberletti! I think we have nothing to fear with those two – except perhaps just the killing of each other with their insults yes?” Teodora gave out a giggle as she fully relaxed in the company of Shuggie.

  “Aye, there’s every chance their tongues would get them into bother, yer right there lassie.” Shuggie laughed which shook the whole couch, and as Teodora was thrown forward, he caught her easily in his arms. “We need tae buy sturdier furniture,” he said laughing again as he held Teodora in place, unwilling to let her go. “So ye think there is a ‘mate’ oot there fur everyone lass?” his voice was now low, more serious as his eyes searched hers. The scent of orchids and lilies was intoxicating to his senses and there was a part of his heart that was awakening every time he was near to her.

  Teodora gulped hard as she looked up into Shuggie’s eyes, his touch was sending jolts of electricity through her body that had her tingling is a way she had never experienced before. “Yes, yes I believe we all have a soul mate out there.” His scent was flooding her senses so much that she felt drunk – the smell of his aftershave combined with fresh soap and earth.

  “Then Ah huv a problem, lass, as ah huv nae soul.” His voice sounded almost mournful at the admission. He knew that if he had his soul intact, he would sell it in a heartbeat to have her as his.

  “Take your contact lenses out Warrior, I want to see your real eyes.”

  Shuggie sat Teodora down beside him and deftly removed the coloured contacts from his eyes. Pulling the container out from his jeans pocket and struggling to get the damn thing open, he half growled, half laughed, “Dinnae ken why they make these so damn footery,” before turning around to look back at Teodora. “They dinnae scare ye, lass? Mah eyes, ah mean – they dinnae make ye fiert?” Mostly Teodora could understand everything that Shuggie said, but now and again there was a new word for her to learn and as she looked questioningly at him, he corrected himself. “Fearful, lass, ah find it hard tae believe ye are so accepting o’them.”

  Teodora shifted to push herself onto her knees and raised her body up, her hand gently took Shuggie’s large ones in hers as she took plastic box and opened it for him. Teodora’s hands then moved upwards as she cupped Shuggie’s face in the palms of her slender hands, staring into his red eyes.” Nothing about you scares me Warrior. And you are very much mistaken – I can sense your soul. You do not see yourself as others do.” Teodora’s body of its own accord was shifting closer to Shuggie’s, her eyes never leaving his as she started to get lost in the circular motion they were making. “Breath-taking….”

  “Aye, that ye are lass.” Shuggie was almost talking to himself. The images on his body were morphing and changing subtly and seemed to take on a life of its own – as though being close to Teo had unlocked it from a prison. His large hand reached out and cupped the back of her head as his thumb and forefinger gripped her jawline gently. “Ye dinnae ken the reality of one such as I, lassie…ye see me as an honourable man, a good man…” and he wanted to be that male that Teodora saw, but he wasn’t and doubted if he ever was. Half of his immortality was spent running away from who he was, and the latter had been spent trying to come to terms with it. Teodora deserved so much more, but his selfishness wouldn’t allow him to leave her. “Ye deserve only the best, Teodora. Ah’m no even the best o’the worst.” His hand lingered for a moment and then he dropped it,
getting up from the couch and looking down at Teodora.

  “We shud get back tae work, see how the Commander is doing.”

  A wave of braveness or stupidity washed over Teo as she all but leapt from her seating position, the ties to the hooded top she was wearing over her scrubs almost hitting her face. Standing in front of Shuggie, her five foot seven frame gave her a slight height advantage. Not much, but enough that she could look at him with cranking her neck.

  “Now you listen to me Hugh MacAndrew! I am a fully grown lady, thirty-six years of age and quite capable of making my own decisions, yes? We all have skeletons in our closets but excuse my stupidity for thinking you and I had something between us. Or were the late night calls just to pass the time for you?” She was now on a full scale rant, pacing up and down Shuggie’s office floor. “I have studied and attended to most things Supernatural, Lieutenant – just because you are a vampire, it does not make you the monster fables portray them to be!”

  Shit. He was in trouble and he knew it! Only the Commander and Teodora called him Lieutenant when his arse was out the window. And as she paced up and down, her fury was growing. As he stood watching her tirade, he held his back straight and arms behind him, hands clasped together. “When ye’ve quite finished, Teodora...” But she hadn’t finished. She was just getting her breath back to verbally assault him again. Before she could speak, Shuggie pulled her to him by the wrists and captured her mouth with his. One hand slid down her spine, the other tangled in her hair, tilting her head to the side so that he could kiss her deeper. His tongue forced her lips to open and he growled low as he tasted her. The heat from her body was searing into him – and he wanted more.

  Teodora’s body instinctively moved as close as it could get to Shuggie’s, her long slender arms snaked up and around his neck as her own tongue started to move in sync with his. His lips were soft and gentle against her own and he tasted even better than she could ever imagine. Pulling back a little from him, her voice was hoarse as she spoke. “Oh gosh Warrior, I’ve waited a long time for this.” Teodora unravelled her hands from around Shuggie’s neck, planted them on his chest and with a gentle shove, she pushed him backwards so that he fell back onto the sofa where she straddled over his thick thighs. “I should get angry more often, yes?” Teo’s bravery was showing no boundaries as her tongue slowly started to trace the outline of her lips.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Xavier was lying on Alicia’s bed. She was practically naked and curling up beside him. The only problem was that Xavier was still in wolf form and couldn’t make any moves on Alicia without flattening her or worse. So he made do, licking her when she least expected it and swatting his tail over her legs. He was using this opportunity to learn what she liked – and what she didn’t. Whenever Alicia squealed, he knew to store that Intel for his human form – if she lay still, unmoving, he knew not to try that manoeuvre again. By the time he was back into his fuckhandsome self, she would literally be blown away by his prowess in the bedroom…or kitchen table…or garden…yeah. Unaccustomed to the size of his paws, he inadvertently swiped his right flank over her thighs, his huge paw landing on her asscheek with a thud. Alicia squealed. “Good to fucking know!” Xavier thought, smugly.

  Once Alicia had managed to calm down from all the laughing and squealing, she moved so that she was sitting up with her back against the headboard. She drew her bare legs up as her arms curled around, hugging them. Her new ‘pet’ had his head on her spare pillow and his neon green eyes were staring up at her. After some thought she said, “Xav has green eyes. I can tell what mood he’s by his eye colour, they change shades you know! Oh my duck! He’s going to kill me…” When the wolf gave a small whine, she smiled and started to explain, “I’m rushing ahead here aren't I?” Alicia stopped for a moment to shove a lolly in her mouth and began telling the wolf the story of how Xavier had made her shoot him.

  “...so you see, now he’s awake and pissed off at me somewhere. He’ll be even more fucking fuming when he finds out I’ve kinda ‘borrowed’ his soldiers to build my own army. You see…I’m taking over the Mafia.” Alicia grinned down at her new friend as she lifted one of his huge paws and held it in her hand.

  “Shit! I need to give you a name yeah?”

  Xavier groaned, but it came out like a whine from his muzzle as he processed what Alicia told him. ‘Borrowed’ his men could equate to anything from hiring them out to brainwashing them. Neither was satisfactory. And where the fuck was Shuggie in all of this? His Lieutenant was supposed to ensure smooth running of the soldiers in event of his absence. Had Shuggie sanctioned Alicia to basically take over his unit in a coup? Not only that, but doing so in order to help her build her Mafia family – when she was public fucking enemy number one on everybody’s hit lists after the Belcastro line had been wiped out.

  Xavier slid off of the bed, and paced up and down, his four paws making heavy thuds on the flooring of Alicia’s bedroom. Xavier was trying to force himself to change back, but all that was doing was expending energy that he suddenly didn’t have – the adrenalin rush of the previous hours starting to wear off, and his muscles were beginning to cramp and tighten.

  Alicia perched herself up on her elbow as she watched the giant animal pacing back and forth, his large, muscular body was tensing up and she feared he was in some sort of discomfort. “Hey boy, what’s wrong? Do you want to go back to where you came from? I suppose you belong to someone after all huh?” Alicia kicked her blankets off her and slid off her bed. “I have to sneak you out, I’m not allowed out without guards and if Hugh finds out? My ass is dead meat.” Alicia headed to her private bathroom, feeling deflated that she was losing her pet. Her love for animals was like no other. She would have a zoo full of them if she could.

  Worrying that Alicia was going to take him back to the medical bay, Xavier leaped up onto the bed, giving a triumphant snort as Frazzle was thrown up in the air like a flying trapeze, landing on a beanbag in the far corner of the room – just as Alicia returned from the bathroom. Deciding to play it ‘cute’, Xavier put his head between his front paws and buried his head under the pillows as though he was hiding from her and unaware of his enormous bulk. Xavier had figured out quickly that Alicia had more of an affinity to animals than humans, or other Supernaturals, and so was using his best ammunition for this attack. He would not be removed from her side. Not now, not ever.

  Trying to mask her disappointment as she threw Xavier’s work-out hooded top over her head – which drowned her – she exited the bathroom and a huge grin quickly replaced her frown. The wolf was trying, and failing miserably, to hide from her.

  “Oh meerkats, where has he gone? I was wanting wolfie snuggles.” Alicia stood still, but her body was shaking as she tried to control her laughter. She had never known any animal to act like this but she had decided – she was keeping this wolf. She would just compel his owners or kill his pack. Either way he was hers and that was that as far as she was concerned.

  Alicia pushed down on her bare foot and leapt through the air unnaturally high, landing on the wolf’s back, her small arms snaking into his fur as she nuzzled his fur. “Found you!”

  Rolling around, giving a chuffing noise, Xavier lay on his back letting Alicia sit on top of him. He put his front paws over his snout as though to hide his eyes as she ran her small delicate fingers through his soft fur. Looking at her like this made him want to howl all night. She was glorious.

  “Can I tell you a secret?” Alicia moved her hair to the side over her shoulder. “I barely left Xavier’s side the whole time he was in that coma – I’ve not fed or slept in days” The wolf looked like her arched a brow at her so she carried on “It’s okay, I’m a vampire silly! Do you want to know the last words I said to him? I told him I loved him. Fuck do I miss that Prick.” Alicia had shifted so that she was lying on the wolf, her head resting under his chin as she listened to his breathing.

  As he listened to Alicia saying she had hardly left his side in all the
time he was in his coma, Xavier felt his breathing getting heavier and his eyes closing from deep exhaustion. He wasn't sure if he was angry or happy at her admission – the female could have made herself ill, all because of him. Then again, it showed a heightened sense of loyalty to stay at his bedside. As he drifted off to sleep, he was sure he heard her say that she ‘loved’ him – but then again it could have been ‘shoved’. She did like prodding and shoving him around when he was in human form. For now, he settled his body into the mattress and listened out for her...

  His wolf was content and he was happy.

  ****

  Kissing down Teodora’s throat, Shuggie’s fingers made short work of her top, dipping his head to kiss the tops of her breasts as they were cupped by the thin lace of her bra. His hands were holding her hips in place as she straddled him.

  “Teodora…lass…” his words were being drowned out by her body as she writhed on top of him, and she was making seductive mewling noises every time he kissed and licked her skin. “...are ye sure ye want this?” He knew that he was sure, but he was also aware that Teodora had never been with a man before – and he didn’t want her to have any regrets, especially regarding him.

  Teodora’s back was arching as her hips pushed down over Shuggie’s. She felt his hardening length pressing against her aching core, and moisture was pooling like she had never felt before. Shuggie’s tongue was doing the most delightful things to her neck and her response was throaty. “Oh gosh Warrior, I have never been more sure about anything, yes.” Her hands were starting to move as they explored the too clothed torso of her Warrior.