Greywolf

by Mary A. DeCarlo

  "I don't want to get rid of you,” he growled. “You're my mate.” Tugging her back in his arms, he held her close. “I'll never let you go,” he vowed. “Now get dressed. I'm taking you home. And bring whatever you think you'll need for the next week or so. You'll not be coming back here soon.” He turned to go and recover the kitchen window.

  "But I've got to go to work on Saturday. There's no sense in staying at your place, it's further away."

  "Quit,” he stated flatly, his tone brooking no argument. “I want you home."

  "Wait a minute. I never said I was going to quit work. I make good money at the Post Office; we can use it,” she argued as she caught up with him.

  "We don't need the money that badly, and anyway, it isn't safe. The stalker is still out there and I want you where I can protect you.” Taking her face in his hands, he looked in her eyes. “I love you, Altheia. If anything happened to you, I'd never forgive myself. Besides, you'll be too busy taking care of me.

  "And by Saturday I intend to be honeymooning with my wife. So you'll just have to come along.” Dropping a kiss on her nose, he turned her and gave her a push toward the bedroom. “Get dressed; I've got to recover this window."

  She glanced at the window, just now noticing. “What happened?"

  He shrugged. “You didn't answer and I didn't have a key."

  He was waiting for her in the kitchen when she was ready to go.

  "Michael, you're not dressed."

  "I didn't take the time to dress when I realized you were gone."

  "Surely you didn't come all the way here buck naked ... oh...” She wondered if she'd ever learn to take his shape shifting for granted. “You're not going back like that, are you?"

  "No,” he smiled. “Race you home,” he laughed, as he stepped out on the porch and dropped to his knees.

  Before she reached the oak tree, Wolf was running circles around her, yipping and barking.

  They were crossing the yard to the cabin when Wolf suddenly stiffened and moved around behind her. Turning around she saw the female wolf standing just inside the cover of the trees. She froze, afraid to startle the female. She knew Wolf would protect her.

  Wolf slowly approached Koani. Aggressive, his hackles were raised and his tail was straight out behind him. It bothered him to be torn between the two females in his life. But the human female was his mate; that made her Alpha. Koani must understand this.

  Koani whimpered as she lowered herself to her belly. Wolf stopped a few feet away, growling a warning deep in his throat. She must understand that Altheia was his mate, that Koani would not be allowed to challenger her. He wouldn't allow it. He tried to communicate this to her.

  Finally she crawled closer to Wolf, then turned on her back, presenting her tender belly. She would accept her position in the pack. She would still be his partner in the hunt.

  After nuzzling her, Wolf turned away and padded back to Altheia. Koani got to her feet and watched, standing still and alert. Tremors started to rip through Wolf and a few seconds later Michael knelt in the yard. With a slight shake, he rose to his feet and faced Altheia.

  "You were right to stand your ground,” he said. “I'm proud of you. As my mate, you have become the Alpha female in the pack. Your place is at my side. Do you understand this?"

  "I think so. I'm number one?” she questioned.

  "Yes. Now, do you think you can show her?

  "What do I have to do?” she asked bravely.

  "I want you to come with me and face her. If she accepts you as Alpha, she'll follow you and fight for you.” He held out his hand to her. “I'll be right by your side."

  Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand in his. Giving it a squeeze, he smiled at her and led her toward Koani.

  "Just remember, let her be the first to turn her eyes away. You have to show her you're Alpha.” When they were a few feet away, he released her hand. “I'll be right here."

  Taking a deep breath, she raised her eyes and made contact with the amber gaze of the wild wolf in front of her. There was a hint of a challenge in those eyes and for a moment, Altheia almost faltered. Then she remembered Michael standing by her side ... her mate. He deserved one who was worthy. She felt a primitive desire to do more than face down the creature in front of her. She felt the need to challenge her, to earn the position of leadership. Never breaking eye contact, she took a determined step forward.

  She heard Michael's sharp intake of breath when she moved, but he made no attempt to stop her. Koani's tail dropped and she took a half step backward. For another minute no one moved. The forest was silent around them, as if it was holding its breath while awaiting the outcome.

  With a whimper, Koani broke contact, her head turning toward Michael for a second. She slowly dropped to her belly again. Crawling forward, she rolled over in submission at Altheia's feet.

  Altheia instinctively knelt and laid her hand on Koani's stomach. After a few seconds, she pulled her hand back and stood. Michael was again at her side. Kneeling, he ran his hand over Koani's belly. She whimpered in response. Michael made a growling sound in his throat and Koani rolled to her feet.

  "You can pet her if you want,” he said softly as he rose to his feet.

  She ran her hand across the she-wolf's back and then scratched between her ears. Her eyes closing, Koani breathed a sort of waffling sound and her tail wagged slowly back and forth.

  "I'm glad she accepts you,” he said quietly. “Do you know what you did?"

  "Yes,” she grinned at him. “I challenged her. And she backed down."

  "You could have been hurt, had she accepted your challenge. You would have been no match against a wolf.” He had thought his heart would stop when she'd stepped forward.

  "Oh, I think I'm more than a match,” she said seriously. “I have you to protect me."

  Michael blinked. She had a better understanding of their relationship than he could have hoped. Mated, they were committed to each other. He had no doubt she would risk her frail human body even for him.

  "Forever,” he vowed, taking her in his arms. His body trembled with emotion as he held her close. He prayed to God that he would never fail her faith in him.

  "I think we better go inside. You can't keep running around out here naked. This isn't exactly a nudist colony."

  "If it is, then you're definitely over-dressed,” he teased as he released her.

  Turning to Koani, he knelt down and took her head in his hands. Staring into her eyes, he made a few unintelligible sounds. After a few seconds, he released her. She turned away and vanished into the forest.

  Altheia stared at him. He stood up and turned, pausing at the look in her eyes.

  "Can you ... talk to her?” Would she ever stop being amazed at the things he could do. “Does she understand you? How can you communicate while you're still human?"

  "When Koani was a pup, she had to learn to talk just like children do. Since I spent so much time with her, I just sort of learned to talk along with her. It was easy to talk when I was Wolf. A few months later I realized I could understand her while human. It seemed natural to answer her and I discovered I could.” He shrugged. “I guess it's just another of those things I can do because of my altered genes, like the ability to heal quickly and the enhanced sense of hearing, smelling and tasting. I also have increased strength and speed."

  Able to leap buildings in a single bound, she thought to herself. “Is there anything else you're capable of that I should know about?"

  "An overactive libido,” he said with a leer. He grabbed her and jerked her up against his hard, naked body. “Want to make love?"

  His arms held her immobile as his mouth took possession of hers. When her mouth opened to take a breath of air, his tongue entered to parry with hers. With a soft moan she received his kiss like it was oxygen to a drowning man. She felt him rise high and hard against her belly.

  What began as a joke swiftly became raging need. As he hardened, he felt her grow warm and soft and yield
ing in his embrace. With a groan, he began to rub his erection with agonizing need against her warm body.

  "Altheia,” he groaned. His desire had become excruciating. “I can't explain it, but I need you."

  The need was a blinding, all consuming thing. Something more powerful than he had ever experienced before. He had seen this mindless lust when a she-wolf was in heat. His hands were busy trying to remove her clothing that hindered him while his lips were trailing kisses down her neck, seeking the swell of her breasts. The urge to mate was all he knew. At the edge of his mind, he knew there was something he was supposed to remember ... something about she-wolves in heat. But the thought slipped away in the haze of passion.

  When he looked at her, she could see the pain of compelling lust in his cobalt eyes. She wanted to give him back some of the exquisite pleasure he had given her. Pulling him back to her lips, she kissed him deeply, passionately.

  Her hands ran across his chest, her fingers stopping to stroke his flat male nipples, making him groan against her mouth. Her hands forged a path down though the silver gold fur crossing his well-muscled abdomen. Her mouth began to trail kisses across his chest, pausing to nip and lick his nipples. His hands held her head and his fingers buried themselves in her luxuriant chestnut hair. Her hands found his rampant organ. Wrapping her fingers around him, she squeezed and stroked him until he whimpered and his body began to shake.

  "God, Altheia, you're going to drive me crazy. Don't tease me."

  She began to trail her kisses down as she lowered herself to her knees in front him.

  When her lips touched him, he thought he would explode. Iron control barely held his desires in check. When she took him in her mouth, he thought he had died and gone to heaven. Illicit tendrils of lust spiraled up his spine and his hands held her to her task. Her tongue sent electric jolts along all his nerves and her mouth was like molten honey.

  Altheia pulled away and again wrapped her hand around him and began to stroke him in earnest.

  "Altheia, if you don't stop...” His eyes closed in ecstasy as his head dropped back on his shoulders. “Yeesss,” he growled as his body shook beneath her ministrations.

  "Don't stop,” he cried out.

  Her mouth wrapped around him again and he growled in release as waves of unspeakable delight sent him spiraling across the heavens.

  When his legs could no longer hold him, he dropped to his knees and took her in his arms. Kissing her, frissons ran through him at the taste of himself on her tongue.

  Sometime later, when he once again was in control of himself, he rose to his feet. Lifting Altheia with him, he carried her into the cabin.

  "I'm hungry, I haven't eaten today. How about we take a shower and go out to eat?"

  "Oh no. You go take your shower alone.” She knew what would happen if she got naked with him. He was insatiable, but she wouldn't have it any other way. “And when you get done, I'll have something for you to eat. I don't want to go out right now."

  Giving him a shove toward the bathroom, she turned and went to find something to fix.

  An hour later, Michael pushed away from the table with a sigh. “That was good. You're a great cook. But if you keep feeding me like that, I'll get fat and lazy."

  "No worry. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. After we're married, I won't have to work so hard. Then you can take care of me."

  He chuckled. If anyone had told him a couple of months ago that he would be getting married, he'd have laughed in their face. Now he could barely wait to make it legal. But she was already his mate in his soul and always would be. He stood up and took her hand.

  "Come sit by the fire with me. I need to touch you."

  Sitting back against the side of the couch, he drew her between his legs and pulled her back against his chest. Wrapping his arms around her, he rested his chin against the top of her head.

  "I love you,” he whispered with a sigh of contentment. They sat quietly for a while staring into the flames.

  "So tell me,” he asked, “are you still willing to marry me?"

  "Oh yes, with bells on."

  "A dress will be fine,” he laughed. “How about Friday? That will give us tomorrow to tie up loose ends."

  "Friday! Are you serious?” She sat up and turned to face him. “What about my job? What about your job? I haven't anything to wear! And where are we going to get married in one day?"

  "Whoa, slow down. It's not that bad. Quit your job tomorrow. Tell them you're getting married. Joe can take over for me and he can hire some high school kids part-time till school lets out and then full time. Tomorrow we'll go shopping for a wedding dress and we can get married either in Las Vegas or like my parents did, in Maryland. He paused to catch his breath. “Did I leave anything out?"

  "You got it all figured out, don't you?"

  "Sure, it's easy. I love you, you love me and we want to get married. Easy. Right?” he said with a grin.

  "And what are you going to use for money? I know your garage isn't exactly raking in the bucks. And those bodyguards had to set you back a bundle."

  Michael's eyes widened in surprise. “You knew about the bodyguards?"

  "Let's just say I stumbled over one in the forest by accident. And thanks, that was a really generous thing to do. But you still haven't answered my question."

  "Actually, I planned on charging it."

  "Charge it! And what do you expect to pay the bills with?” She had money in the bank from Eric's insurance, but he didn't know that. Besides, if she was going to quit work, she liked the idea of having a nest egg to fall back on in an emergency.

  "Well...” Michael didn't know quite how to tell her. “After we get married, I'll come into a trust fund. There will be a lot of money."

  "And just how much is a lot? We've got to worry about our future. Didn't you tell me the garage needs a lot of input to get it on its feet?” She didn't want to waste it all on a wedding and frills when they could just wait and have a quiet, simple wedding here.

  Michael stood up and began to pace.

  "As a matter of fact, I won't have to work either if I don't want to. The trust fund is around a million dollars, give or take."

  "A million dollars?” she repeated in shock. “But..."

  "My grandfather set it up for me when I turned 18 so that when I was 25 I would get a half a million dollars. But what he didn't tell me was that if I didn't marry, I couldn't collect. And it would stay there until I did or, at 40, it would go to charity. And in the meantime, it's been invested very well. I guess I beat the old man after all. I never had any intention of collecting since I refused to marry just to get at it. But we can use the money."

  "Your grandfather must be well off to give you a half a million dollars,” she said with awe.

  "Well, Greywolf isn't my given name. It's my Indian name.” He hesitated. Not many people knew who he really was.

  "So what is your name? Will I be Mrs. Greywolf, or who?"

  "I was christened Michael Philip Lafayette III."

  "The third,” she laughed, then suddenly sobered. “Like in Lafayette Industries?"

  "That's the one. Shipbuilder, importer, oil and another dozen or so enterprises. And I'm the only son of an only son of an only son. The end of a dynasty. My great-grandfather started as a shipbuilder and importer and grandfather branched out and became filthy stinking rich. He thought it gave him the right to dictate his son's life and now mine. Of course, we couldn't tell him why we couldn't marry. But then, I guess he knew what was best after all.

  "My father was very much in love with my mother. And having me was their greatest joy, even when they found out what I was.” Michael stopped pacing and sat down with her again. “And now I've been lucky enough to find you."

  Altheia looked at him with sorrow. “Michael, I'm so sorry. I never even thought of it, maybe because I'm older than you."

  "What's the matter? And I don't care how old you are or aren't. You're young enough for me,” he
told her as he pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

  "But Michael, I probably can't have children."

  Michael paled at the thought. Dear God, that was what he was trying to remember all day, but his lust had blinded him. She was in heat and his primal drive had been to breed. It may already be too late ... all that unprotected sex.

  "Are you sure you can't get pregnant?” Maybe his senses were wrong.

  "Well, Eric and I tried to have a baby and when he tested fine, we figured it was me and didn't bother to test any further. And I've never been pregnant. I never really thought about it after all these years."

  Michael couldn't help the sense of loss he felt that there could be no child. But he knew it was for the best. He was afraid it would be of true blood, like himself.

  "It's all right. I've been careless. I hadn't wanted to get you pregnant. What if the child were like me?"

  Altheia had always wanted to be a mother and she would have loved to have Michael's baby, no matter what. But she had accepted that she would be childless years ago.

  "I would have cherished a child of ours and thanked you for giving it to me.” But she would love him nonetheless for the loss.

  "So we can really get married Friday?” She changed the subject before Michael realized the full extent of her sorrow over not being able to have a baby. “What about your mother? Won't she want to see you marry?"

  "She and father eloped, so she will understand. And if we remarry in the Indian tradition she will be much happier. How about Las Vegas and we can go to visit my mother on Monday and Tuesday?"

  "Sounds fine,” she whispered as she kissed him. “And since tomorrow's going to be a full day, I suggest we get a good night's rest. Do you think you can manage that?” she teased.

  "As long as you're in my arms, I can manage to do anything,” he answered as he swept her into his arms and carried her to bed.

  TWENTY-TWO

  Thursday was indeed hectic. After a breakfast of ham, eggs, toast and coffee, they didn't stop till one o'clock.

  Altheia notified the Post Office of her decision to quit. That they were not pleased was an understatement, but nothing could keep her from Michael now. Then she went into town with Michael. While he made arrangements at the garage, she went shopping for a trousseau.