She was particularly pleased with the fact that one night, while they were alone, Jack let her see what he looked like as a wolf; he transformed for her, stepping into the moonlight that was streaming through a window and closing his eyes. The change had not been easy to watch or listen to; Mia’s enhanced hearing picked up the sound of clicking and spinning, as a faint fogginess surrounded her lover. It sounded almost as if someone were stirring a thick liquid with solid chunks in it, and Mia realized with a start that what she was hearing was the bones inside of Jack’s body changing and moving around, shifting into their position. Somehow fur began to appear, and Jack moved onto the floor of the room, onto his hands and knees, his head down. In a matter of moments he had changed utterly from a human man she was attracted to into a massive wolf with sandy fur and dark eyes, the suggestion of a smile on his face as he looked up at her. He let her approach and leaned into her caressing hand as she found the spot behind his ears, scratching and petting him. He had only stayed in his wolf form for a few moments, to satisfy her curiosity, but Mia was proud of the fact that he had done it for her.
Mia found her social life expanding; after years of only really having Gary as the basis of her social world, Mia was finding herself getting phone calls from different members of the pack several times a week, inviting her to go out drinking, to hang out watching bad movies and eating junk food. It was almost like a return to her teenage years, before she had somehow grown up and lost touch with her friends, wrapped up in the world of two she had formed with Gary. Mia was exhilarated by her new family, touched to the heart by the way they readily accepted her, and pleased to be part of a group once more. She understood why she couldn’t go with the pack on hunts—since she was only half werewolf, she couldn’t transform, and as a human she wouldn’t be able to keep up with the rest of the pack. But apart from that, Mia felt as if she had never been happier, healthier, or more actively involved in her own life before.
Mia was out with the women of the pack, celebrating with Bonnie, one of the younger members of the group, as she approached her wedding. Mia knew from what she had heard from snippets of conversation that the wolves in the pack tended to choose their mates carefully, and that there was—due to the limited numbers—a great deal of competition. Women from other packs could be brought in, but there was a kind of unspoken rule about men from other packs being taken as mates. Mia thought to herself that having to choose from such a limited pool would not be appealing to her at all, but then she had sort of—she thought with some chagrin—jumped the normal process, due to her status. “Man, Mia, you lucked out,” Lila said as they finished a round of shots.
“I did?” Mia asked, slightly tipsy and confused by the comment. “I mean, I know I’m lucky to have Jack, he’s great—but what do you mean exactly?” Lila and the other women laughed.
“I mean, of course, that Jack’s a great catch. Almost all of the women at this table have tried to catch Jack’s eye at one point or another.” Mia blushed, feeling instantly uncomfortable. This was the very kind of situation she had dreaded when she had first agreed to join the pack. “Don’t get me wrong—we all love you—but there isn’t a woman at this table that doesn’t envy the fact that you’re his lady.” Mia tried to laugh it off.
“Well I guess it’s partly a matter of prestige for you all,” she said, feeling tense. Lila and the other women laughed.
“It is. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be with the big man in charge?” Everyone exchanged knowing glances, and for a moment Mia’s feeling of belonging slipped away from her. “But he’d made it clear to everyone long before he met you he wasn’t interested in any member of the pack, so no harm and no foul.” Lila poured another shot for Mia; she almost begged off, but let herself be persuaded. “And anyway, we’re all glad that something happened for Jack. We’ve been worried about his lack of interest in women.” That gave Mia pause for a different reason; she had never heard anything about a lack of interest in women on Jack’s part before.
“What do you mean?” she asked, taking the shot and putting the shot glass down on its rim to signal she was done for the moment.
“Oh sweetie, Jack didn’t tell you?” Mia shook her head. Lila and the other women of the pack made sad noises, shaking their heads almost in unison. “Jack used to have a mate; a sweet woman, tough as nails but kind to everybody, named Lena. They’d been an item since they were teenagers, and nobody at all was surprised when they paired off.” Mia stared at Lila in confusion; if Jack had had such a strong mate, what was she? “A few years ago, Lena died. It was a real tragedy for the whole pack, but no one more than Jack. He was absolutely devastated. He hadn’t been the same ever since.” Mia was shocked. She would never have suspected the tragedy that had befallen her lover; she knew that there was something about him, that there had to be a reason that he was so reticent about his past—but she would never have thought that something so dire had happened to him.
She knew that she couldn’t approach Jack about his past; the fact that Mia had heard it in what amounted to gossip would probably not sit well with the proud and charismatic man. She would have to wait and see if he would tell her about his tragic loss when he got to know her better. They had already been involved for longer than Mia had been with Caleb, but she could understand his unwillingness to open up; it must have been devastating for him. She wished that he could trust her more, but she couldn’t force the confidence. In time, as they grew closer, Mia told herself, he would eventually tell her about it. In the meantime, she did what she could to improve his trust in her by not prying, instead letting him know that she was happy in the relationship, adjusting to her new life as a member of the pack.
Chapter Nine
One night, after the weekly pack meeting—the one everyone was required to attend—Mia had wandered outside for fresh air, wondering to herself where Jack had gotten to; she had been invited on a double date with one of the other couples in the pack, and she hadn’t been able to give a definitive reply, because Jack had seemingly disappeared. She knew that he was probably talking to another member of the pack, getting some bit of information or providing advice about some matter or another—it didn’t bother her, but she wanted the break anyway. Mia sat down on a bench, staring out into the streets, thinking about how far she had come from when Gary had left her for the other woman.
As Mia began to relax, she heard the sound of low voices, in tense conversation. At first she couldn’t quite recognize the voices; but after a moment of pause, Mia realized with a shock that it was Jack—and Caleb. She knew that the two men she had been involved with had to have some contact; Caleb was Jack’s second, and even if he hadn’t been, as Alpha of the pack, Jack would be involved in Caleb’s life constantly unless her former lover decided to leave, or if he was shunned. Mia was confused by the tension she could hear in the two men’s voices, however; it didn’t seem as if they were discussing good matters.
“Keep her out of this,” Caleb was saying. “She has nothing to do with it.”
“You know as well as I do that she’s instrumental to the situation,” Jack said. “Who else could it be referring to?” Mia listened more intently, wondering who on earth the two men could be talking about.
“You don’t even know if the prophecy is real!” Caleb’s voice almost rose above the tense murmur that he and Jack had both adopted, and Mia made a face in the darkness, confused. Prophecy?
“I know you brought her into the fold, but your involvement in this stopped there—you agreed.” Mia’s confusion deepened. Who else had Caleb brought into the pack? There were no new members that she knew about—other than herself.
“I’m telling you, the prophecy isn’t about her—or you should just get over it and accept that if it is about her, it’s not what you think. How could you be sleeping with her and thinking about the prophecy?” Mia’s eyes widened. She was the only person that Jack was sleeping with—she spent enough time with him that she would have known if he was cheating, a
nd as the Alpha, it wasn’t like he could be with someone else in the pack; there would be all kinds of gossip. Mia would have heard. They had to be talking about her. But what prophecy? Mia hadn’t heard anything about a prophecy before.
They finished up the oblique conversation, and Mia felt more confused than ever as she sat there, waiting for a long enough interval to pass before she could go back into where the pack was assembled. The end of the argument hadn’t been a real conclusion; Jack had simply told Caleb to mind his own business, that he would proceed as he saw fit, and Caleb had already made his choices. Mia once more felt the sense of belonging that she had started to appreciate since joining the pack begin to waver. No one in the pack had ever mentioned anything about a prophecy of any kind to her—or even that there was such a thing as prophecies involved in the pack.
There was definitely something being hidden, but Mia didn’t know what. As she sat outside, Mia’s sense of alienation from the pack grew. She had always known there was a slight difference between her and the other members of the group; the conversation with Lila at the bachelorette party had underscored that, even if she had been a full wolf, her attachment to Jack set her apart in subtle ways. But the fact that she was not fully a wolf was a sort of unspoken thing—everyone made her part of the group, everyone included her in social activities except for the hunt, but Mia felt as though in spite of the openness with which she was treated, there was a great deal about the pack that she didn’t know. Things that could possibly be dangerous for her not to know.
But Jack loved her, didn’t he? If there was something concerning her and it involved a prophecy of some kind, he would have to be willing to tell her, particularly if it was dangerous. Mia went over the snippet of the argument she had heard in her mind but couldn’t make heads or tails of it. The fact that Caleb seemed to be arguing on her behalf was so strange in light of his coldness towards her—she couldn’t understand it. Mia thought to herself that the only way she could make things clear would be to confront Jack directly; she had to trust that if she came to him with concerns, he would tell her. He cared about her, he made a point of showing her his affection for her at every turn. Mia took a deep breath and rejoined the group, mingling with the pack while Jack went from member to member, checking in and making sure that everything was as it should be. She casually mentioned the double date invitation to him and he accepted it, pulling her in for a quick kiss and holding her body against his tightly for a moment. Mia felt reassured and decided that she would approach him about it after they went back to his house, after the meeting finally broke up for the night.
Jack finally took them both home, and before he could pull her into the bedroom, Mia told him to wait. “You’re not having your monthly,” he said with a little grin. Mia smiled back; she had never been into having sex during her monthly visit, but Jack enjoyed it—and had taught her to enjoy it as well. He was uncommonly tender during her time, but he told her unabashedly that he enjoyed the sensation of having her then—that it called to the wolf in him. Mia had not quite gotten past her general squeamishness, and sometimes insisted on taking a shower first if it was that time of the month before they had sex.
“I’m worried about something,” she said, sitting down and chewing on her bottom lip in thought. “I overheard something about a prophecy earlier tonight.” She felt like a coward for not confronting him outright about his conversation with Caleb, but she decided that she would work her way around to that. “I thought… it sounded like the conversation might have concerned me.” She looked at him, feeling uncertain and worried, hoping that Jack would reassure her; there had been something ominous about the argument he’d been having with Caleb. There was a flicker of something in Jack’s dark eyes, but the next moment she thought she had to have been imagining it.
“There are a lot of things about the community that will become clear over time—you’ve been with us a relatively short time, remember,” Jack said, sitting down next to her on the sofa.
“But I know I heard you and Caleb talking about someone, and it had to be me—based on what you were saying,” she said, trying to remain as firm as possible.
“It’s nothing you have to worry about, I promise you. It’s a minor thing.” Jack leaned in and began to nuzzle her neck, his hands wandering over her body slowly. “Besides, wouldn’t you much rather submit to me?” Jack added. He brought his lips around to the back of her neck and bit down slowly. Some essence deep inside of Mia relaxed, and she inhaled sharply at the sudden, strong surge of lust she felt at the contact. It was a trick, she knew, a kind of werewolf inheritance that she was susceptible to in spite of her inability to change. Mia melted in Jack’s arms, moaning lowly as he brought his lips back around to hers, kissing her deeply and hungrily.
Jack lifted her up off of the couch, settling her thighs around his waist as he pulled her against his body, holding her tightly. Mia wrapped her arms around his shoulders, kissing him back hungrily, distracted by the rising lust inside of her from the worries and thoughts that had plagued her moments before. Jack carried her into the bedroom, throwing her onto the bed with his usual rough impatience, launching himself onto her to paw at her clothes as they moved together. Mia could feel Jack’s hard cock pressing against her through the fabric of his jeans, and she shifted underneath him, rubbing against the ridge. Jack pinned her down, nipping at her neck roughly as he unbuttoned her blouse quickly. Mia was trembling as he pulled her shirt off, almost twisting her arm in the process. Jack’s lips moved to the base of her throat and he kissed and lapped at her skin, nuzzling against her. “You didn’t answer me,” he said in a low growl. “Do you submit?” Mia moaned out, arching into his attentions as his hands moved all over her body.
“Yes!” she cried out. Jack lifted her up and unhooked her bra, guiding it away from her body and tossing it aside. Mia was startled the next moment when Jack lifted himself off of her, climbing out of the bed. She shook her head, smiling slightly to herself as she realized what was happening. Jack opened his closet door and withdrew a length of silk rope, shooting her a playful grin as he made his way back to the bed. He tossed the rope down and covered her body with his own once more, his hand moving down between her legs to cup her already-wet pussy through her jeans. Mia pushed her hips down instinctively, beginning to pant in her excitement as Jack rubbed her slowly and steadily. He moved his lips down along her neck to claim her breasts, sucking each nipple firmly in turn. Mia moaned out, arching into the separate touches; the attentions to her breasts sent tingles surging through her body, straight to her pussy, making her inner walls tighten with anticipation.
Jack stopped rubbing her for just a moment, freeing his hands to unbutton and unzip her jeans. He tugged them down over her hips and guided them along her legs, pulling them free of her ankles and throwing them across the room impatiently. “Good girl,” he murmured approvingly, reaching up between her legs to rub her once more through the thin, flimsy fabric of her panties. “Already turned on for me.” Mia nodded; she didn’t know how it was, but Jack’s pheromones did something to her—it was a kind of instant aphrodisiac, distracting her completely from anything other than thoughts of sex with him. She had never regretted submitting to his dominant ways in the past, and she didn’t think she would ever regret it in the future.
Jack turned her over onto her stomach, collecting her wrists in one of his hands and pinning them to the small of her back. Mia took a deep breath as she felt the silk rope caressing her skin at first, trailing along her wrists, her inner arms, her back. Gradually the rope tightened, the silk biting into her skin in degrees, and Mia felt the surge of apprehensive readiness that always accompanied the dominant games that Jack liked to play in bed with her. She was never entirely sure she was ready and willing to be tied up, but her apprehension added a layer of urgency to her lust every time, making her desire even more potently intoxicating. Jack tightened the bindings on her wrists and arms until she was thoroughly tied, her shoulders pulled back
in an uncomfortable but not impossible position, her hands beginning to tingle slightly from the slowing of blood flow. Jack had tied her up like this before, and Mia had enjoyed every moment of her submission to him.
Jack turned Mia onto her back once more, leaving her legs dangling over the edge of the bed, and Mia smiled up at him as he admired her from above, licking his lips. She could feel her heart beating faster with the faint fear that being tied up always inspired in her—but her desire was more intense. Jack reached down and found the side seam of her panties, giving her a wicked look before he ripped the lacy fabric from bottom to top in a quick, decisive movement. Mia had gotten used to the fact that Jack enjoyed destroying her underthings—though he didn’t do it all the time—and had started to enjoy it herself. Jack followed up on the performance on the seam along the other side of Mia’s hip, and he pulled the tattered, torn fabric away from her, reaching between her legs and slipping his fingers along her slick folds before Mia had completely understood what he was doing. His fingers slid and probed along her inner labia, rubbing and stroking, and Mia squirmed helplessly, struggling in instinct against the bindings on her wrists and arms. The rope tightened as she moved, cutting into her skin, but the pain mingled with the pleasure of Jack’s caress, intensifying it until Mia didn’t care whether the circulation was gone from her hands.
Half-Blooded: The Alpha's Mate (BBW Shifter Romance) Page 9