by SJ Himes
“Are you okay, little wolf? You were so deeply asleep I was afraid your heart wasn’t beating,” Kane whispered in his ear, his big hand running down his side, fingers digging through his fur coat. He remembered the winter meadow and the woman who was there, her smile full of encouragement and pride.
*I am fine,* he whispered back and sent Kane a rush of happiness, and he felt the alpha’s heart jump wildly in response. *Let me up, I want to try something.*
“Try what?” Kane asked, but he sat up and backed away.
Ghost retreated from the room, down into his mind, and further, to the place his spirit shone as a star. He closed his eyes, heart full of hope and an overflowing sense of rightness. He reached, confident, and grasped at the magic that rested in the heart of his inner star, his magic burning silver and pure white. He pulled and called, and it answered. Magic came roaring out from his center, filling every inch of his being. A charge raced over his body, from the tip of his nose to his toes, every hair standing on end.
He opened his eyes in time to see the fireplace disappear in a cloud of white and silver smoke. He breathed in, and the stars that glowed in the vast expanse of his spirit spilled out from under his skin, and as they passed through him, he disintegrated just as the drops of light had in the meadow of the moon. He was pure energy, a hundred million infinite stars of life and will.
He was surrounded by magic; he was magic. He remembered the body he’d had in the Goddess’s meadow, and it formed at his wish around his inner star, bones and muscles and organs and then skin, and he felt the brush of human hair on his shoulders as it grew from his head. Hands lifted in the cloud, silver lightning arcing from fingertip to fingertip, and the tiny stars in the cloud flashed in perfect time with the lightning.
He heard cries and whispers of alarm outside the cloud, voices raised in confusion as he focused on the lights. He was fine but could not spare the concentration to soothe anyone’s worry. He must finish this first.
At last he was whole and he called the magic home. The infinite collection of little stars rushed in, and the cloud of silver and white dust pushed against the surface of his hairless skin and passed through the top layer, illuminating him from within, before flashing once and then disappearing.
He sat up straight and stared at his hands in the red glow from the dying fire. The shadows in the room were shifting, racing swiftly, and the light from the embers were eclipsed as the sun rose, its brilliant yellow light crashing through the wide windows of the room, throwing his new body in crystal clear relief. His skin was burnished gold in the fiery light, his shadow spreading out over the floor, the silhouette of a man.
He put his hands on the floor, watching as his fingers flexed on the warming wood, and pushed, uncurling his legs from under him as he rose to a crouch. He trembled, but his legs held. He pushed up with his feet and legs, straightening his back as he went, and he rose and rose, feeling somehow too tall, as if he would hit his head any second. He sucked in a deep breath, hands coming to his torso as he inhaled, feeling the motion of his very human body going through the simple actions of living. He exhaled, watching his abdomen flex, and then pulled in a new breath, excitement rushing over him, his first laugh in nearly fifteen years escaping.
He jumped, startled by the sound, but that only made him laugh more, and tears ran down his cheeks. He was happy, exhilarated, and he lifted his hands to his face to feel the tears. They were intercepted on their way by two hands that made his look small. They were hands roughened by use and hard work. His were smooth and untouched by life, unlined, free of blemish.
“Glorious.”
An awed, deep voice spoke to him, and those big hands pulled him forward a tiny step. He looked up at last, into dark eyes, eyes full of wonder and an emotion Ghost was unable to name. He saw Kane anew, from human eyes, and it was as if he were seeing him for the very first time. Where the wolf saw strength and power and ability, the man he now was saw the handsome features and attractive body of his alpha.
Dark hair, shoulder length, pushed back behind ears framed a face that was, by even his limited definition, handsome. High cheekbones, a wide forehead, strong jaw and tanned skin combined to make a man who was, while not beautiful, striking instead. He caught the eye and held it; he was impossible not to see, not to notice, not to recognize as Power.
Kane was tall, or at least taller than he was, and he tipped his head back to get a good look. His alpha smiled down at him, eyes still full of wonder and awe.
“Kane,” he gasped and heard his own voice as he had in the meadow of his dream. His first word as a man was his mate’s name, and he grinned wide, pleased that for the rest of his life, he could hold that piece of his history close to his heart.
He stepped nearer to Kane and pressed his whole body to the man in front of him.
Hands held him tightly, and the skin on skin contact was electrifying. He put his hands on the firm chest of his alpha, and ran them up, over smooth skin and hard muscle. Kane gasped, and wrapped his sturdy arms securely around him, and his hips collided with the other man’s thighs. Kane was taller than him, tall enough he felt the heat of the alpha’s groin on his bare stomach, and he groaned, wanting to get closer.
Kane dropped his head and rubbed his jaw over his, and they breathed in each other’s scent. The alpha buried his face in the hair behind his ear, and his breath tickled his neck. He giggled and tried to get away, but Kane held him tighter, his big arms lifting him off his feet. Kane growled softly and gently bit his neck, and his giggles turned to a gasp.
A gasp that wasn’t his made Kane lift his head, a rueful smile on his lush lips. Kane smiled at him and pressed a kiss to his temple before pulling back enough to gently put him back on his feet, then bent down to grab a white robe from the floor. It was roomy enough that he wrapped it around the both of them at the waist and used the sash to hold it up. He moved them a bit so he could see the rest of the room.
Shaman River was in the doorway, his pale sister at his side, and easily a dozen other wolves behind them in the hallway, staring wide-eyed. River was grinning, but his face was covered in a red blush, and Andromeda was busy covering the eyes of a young beta female, who was trying her best to peek past her hands.
“Sorry about that, got a little carried away,” Kane told the other wolves, laughing.
She Said You’d Be Shirtless
THE STRANGE wolves left eventually, most of them so like the female called Andromeda that Ghost couldn’t tell them apart. They must be her cubs, or litter mates. Their whispers and stares made him slightly nervous, but the powerful female beta shooed them off, and they went, melting away into the depths of the big house.
Shaman River disappeared but quickly came back with clothing. He gave Ghost a pair of soft cotton pants that he cinched tight over his hips with the drawstring, and he kicked his feet out in delight, enjoying the sensation of the cloth on his skin.
“The guest bathroom down the hall has clean towels and new toiletry kits, and I’ll send a beta for your own clothes. I’ll give our new wolf some of my clothing to wear until we can get him outfitted; we should be about the same size. Breakfast is in the kitchen when you’re done,” River told Kane, smiling, and he pointed down the hall, in the direction Ghost assumed the bathroom would be.
“Thank you Shaman, we’ll make it quick.”
Using a bathroom…I don’t remember the last time I used one at all!
Kane was in the robe and held out his hand, which Ghost took without thought. Kane gave him a sweet smile and tugged him near, under his arm snug along his side. He buried his nose in Kane’s muscled chest and inhaled the scent of skin and male. His hands wandered on their own, around Kane’s trim waist and hips, and the alpha laughed as he slid them down, over the firm swell of his rear.
“Careful, my little wolf. We should save that for later,” Kane whispered in his ear, and River threw his hands up a
nd left the room, leaving them alone. “When we’re alone.”
“We’re alone now,” Ghost said, and he laughed, unable to restrain his joy now that he could laugh. Kane shook his head, and chuckled too.
“Still a flirt, I see,” Kane said, and pulled away, but keeping his big hand wrapped around Ghost’s smaller. The alpha tugged, and Ghost followed, watching as his feet moved all on their own, his legs following, and then he was walking, as if he’d spent the last fifteen years doing nothing else. Well, he had, just on four legs, not two, and he marveled that he was able to keep his balance and stay upright.
“So, my little wolf, how does a shower sound?” Kane asked as he led him down the hall, and Ghost held tightly to his hand, nervous.
“It sounds wonderful.” He dipped his head, and realized that he smelled. Not badly, since he smelled of wolf, snow, and damp things, but he didn’t think it was acceptable to smell this strongly. “I can’t recall the last time I had a bath that wasn’t involuntary, or a result of rainfall.”
Kane sent him a wry smile tinged with sympathy as he stopped at a door in the hall, turning the handle and pushing it open. The bathroom was huge, with a double vanity sink, a sunken marble tub, and a shower stall that was enclosed completely in glass. There were two toilets off to the side, discreetly tucked between two large ferns in golden pots. The room was lit by skylights in the ceiling, and a large window that overlooked a portion of the valley where the majority of cabins sat.
He tilted his head, momentarily confused as to how he knew that the tub was made of marble or that the double vanity was anything other than a fancy sink. He felt a rush of amusement that wasn’t his, and then he smiled, recognizing Kane in the back of his mind, supplying him with a steady stream of new words and concepts, things he would have learned just by living indoors full time instead of spending his life on four legs and in the woods of the sanctuary.
Kane was at the shower, the stall door open, adjusting the setting in the wall. Water poured from a rain spout that hung from the ceiling, pooling on the stone tiles, vanishing quickly down a drain in the center of the stall.
“Hop in, little wolf,” Kane said, and Ghost eagerly stepped up, pausing when the alpha’s big hand came to rest on his arm. “Pants off first.”
Ghost looked down and chuckled, feeling embarrassed. “Ahhhh, okay. First lesson as a man—don’t shower with clothes on.” He tugged on the drawstring and the cotton pants dropped, where they puddled at his feet. He saw Kane’s eyes glow, and his body heated in response. He waited, trapped, his feet unwilling to move as Kane’s eyes trailed down over his body, seeming to see every inch of him, sparing no part of his nakedness.
The hand on his arm tightened, and Ghost thought for a moment the alpha was going to pull him close and do…something. Kane instead gently pushed him into the shower stall, and Ghost gasped as the water rained down over his head. It was warm and he was soaked instantly, the sensation of the water flowing over his skin highly distracting, and he sputtered as it got in his eyes and mouth.
“Don’t inhale it, little wolf!” A hand tugged him to the side, and Kane was under the spray with him, closing the stall door behind him. The scent of crushed pine needles and citrus rose up as Kane wet a bar of soap, and Ghost groaned in delight as those big hands started to run over his torso. He fell back against the cool tiles and rolled his hips forward, as Kane’s hands spread the soap over his stomach and waist.
His head was tilted back by a long finger on his chin just as another hand reached his groin, and he gasped. The small sound was captured by firm lips over his, and a wet tongue slid over his lips and into his mouth as soapy fingers gripped the swelling flesh between his legs. The fingers on his chin gripped his jaw and his mouth fell open further, Kane’s tongue sweeping in, exploring, a rumbling growl rising from the alpha when he responded hesitantly. He touched his tongue to Kane’s, awed by the sensations he was feeling, and he rose up on his toes as a firm hand stroked his now rigid length.
He shook, and luckily, his hands fell on the alpha’s shoulders, or he would have spilled to the stone tiles. He realized his eyes were closed but couldn’t find the will to open them. His hands rose from Kane’s shoulders up his solid neck, and he buried his fingers in wet silky hair, the strands clinging to his skin. He tugged, and Kane’s mouth changed angles, his tongue taking now instead of exploring. He could do nothing but accept the pleasant invasion, little growls of pleasure humming in his chest.
The hand stroking him moved slowly, the grip tight enough it was almost painful. He whimpered softly when Kane squeezed the base, and he swelled even more. Kane gasped and pulled his mouth away, and Ghost opened his eyes as he pushed forward, chasing the sweet taste of his alpha, but he saw the flinch on the other wolf’s face and paused.
“Claws, little wolf,” Kane growled, his dark eyes glowing like pieces of the midnight sky, and Ghost realized his nails were no longer blunt and smooth, but pointed and sharp, the tips pricking Kane’s scalp. He loosened his grip, and Kane gave him a smile that made his blood roar in his ears seconds before a long arm wrapped around his waist, lifting him off the floor. He jumped and snaked both legs around the alpha’s hips, his groin right over the other man’s. He groaned, head falling back, the feeling of Kane’s hard and hot organ throbbing against his own making him shudder and move. He was mindless, lost, overrun by a burning heat that made his heart knock against his ribs and his limbs tingle, like he was caught in a lightning storm.
He twisted, moaning softly, as lips nipped and kissed their way down his neck, latching on the skin between his neck and shoulder. Sharp suction and the bite of teeth made him cry out, the sound a thin gasp of air as his body shuddered hard in Kane’s arms. He sobbed, his rigid length pulsing, a sweet ache deep in his groin beating in time with his heart, and wet heat pooled between them. His head fell on Kane’s shoulder as the alpha growled savagely, and the bigger wolf jerked hard against him, pressing his back to the hard tiles of the shower stall.
He smelled a rich, heady scent, and a bloom of scorching hot heat washed over his groin, hotter than the water that ran over their shoulders. His head dropped to the alpha’s shoulder, and he licked the wet skin under his lips. Kane shuddered, hands gripping his backside, keeping him close. Their hearts beat hard in their chests, no space between them. Ghost traced his fingers over the broad shoulders and muscled back left open to his explorations, his breathing finally calming, his heart still beating fast, just not as hard.
“I meant this to be a quick shower, but you’re a temptation I wasn’t counting on, little wolf,” Kane whispered in his ear. He was slowly lowered down, and he found his legs were not wanting to hold him upright. Kane held him around the waist, and Ghost gave him a grateful smile. “That was quicker than I usually like.”
“What…what do you mean?” he asked, trying to find the words to speak, blinking slow. All he wanted now was to crawl up in a warm, dark corner with Kane surrounding him and sleep.
Kane smiled and carefully pulled back, letting the water fall between them again, rinsing away the evidence of the last few minutes. Ghost hummed curiously, running a finger through the white fluid on Kane’s lower abdomen before the water cleaned it off, and he brought it to his mouth. The scent was a deep musk, purely male, and he licked it, making the bigger wolf gasp out a groan as he watched. It tasted like bitter salt and black walnuts, the kind that fell from the trees around the sanctuary building in the autumn.
“That! That is what I mean. All temptation, and you haven’t a clue what you’re doing to me,” Kane moaned and reached down to stroke his cock as it began to stiffen again. “Stop it, little wolf, or we’ll miss breakfast, and I’m starving.”
Ghost pulled his finger out of his mouth and gave Kane a small smile. He wasn’t too certain what exactly he was doing to bother his alpha, but he felt Kane’s arousal in the back of his mind and knew the last few minutes counted as some vers
ion of sex, thanks to the constant flow of information the alpha was giving him. He wanted to do it again, too. Kane dodged his reaching hands, and he found himself under the water, the alpha scrubbing his back and rear, which made him groan. He sighed in delighted frustration when the bigger man went further down, washing his legs instead of focusing on where he wanted him to.
Kane maneuvered him out of the way and cleaned himself just as fast, before turning off the water and opening the stall door. Ghost admired the long limbs and hard muscles as he moved and smiled, thinking his first day as a man was going wonderfully. He couldn’t think of anything to make it better, until his stomach grumbled. Kane laughed, and when he stepped out, attacked him with a towel. He grumbled at the impersonal attention, wishing Kane would take his time, but the alpha, giving him a look that said he knew exactly what he was thinking, made sure to stay out of reach.
“Clothing, little wolf.” Kane handed him a pair of denim pants and cotton socks from a pile of clothing on the counter nearest the door. River must have put it there while they were occupied in the shower. He stared at the socks and the jeans, and realized he had a more pressing need to take care of instead of clothes. He dropped them on the floor and spun around, looking for the toilet.
He remembered how that worked and strode over, even recalling to raise the seat. Living with Cat and Glen the last several years had taught him some things about being a man, after all. He even remembered to put the seat down once he was done, too.
“Well, I don’t have to worry about you being shy. Or housetrained.” Kane told him with a chuckle, fully dressed in dark jeans, thick gray socks, and a long-sleeved tee that was as dark as his fur in wolf-form. Ghost finished, and it took him a moment, but he figured out how to flush. He walked past Kane, knowing the bigger male was watching him move, wondering what he meant by being shy. The housetraining part he understood and gave his alpha a quick glance, thinking the wolfkin was too large to knock on his butt.