by Delta James
A profound silence hung in the air. Sloan could see Fallon’s guilt abated somewhat as Gareth tried to take the blame. She could feel his sorrow and culpability. He might be arrogant and demanding, but she was beginning to see that he cared deeply for those he considered pack.
“So, now what?” Sloan asked. “How much longer will we stay here?”
“I was coming to tell our alpha that I believe you are completely recovered from your transition. I would like to see you remain quiet for a few more days, but I believe you are well enough to travel. Edan has remained with us, Alpha, and asked if you wanted him to ride to Calon Onest to have them prepare for your return.”
“You might want to tell them I survived,” muttered Sloan.
Gareth’s hand descended quickly and sharply on her upturned rump; Sloan yowled in response.
“That has already been seen to. Unlike you, I do not want our pack, or my brother’s, to have to worry about you. If you could stay with my mate for a few minutes, I would like a chance to speak with Edan.”
* * *
Gareth left their tent and went in search of Edan. He found the young man amongst their soldiers helping to ensure the camp was in good order. He thought to himself that his brother would be lucky to keep him. Edan had all the makings of a good beta. Gareth smiled as he approached him.
Edan quickly drew himself up and his body lost the relaxed look it had exhibited moments before. “How may I be of service, my lord?”
“Relax, Edan,” he said, placing his hand on his shoulder. “I owe you a debt I can never repay. I wanted to thank you for your help and let you know you are welcome at my hearth anytime.”
“While she is now your mate, my lord, there was a time I called her pack.” Edan smiled, relaxing a bit. “Whether she yet recognizes it or not, Sloan is indeed fortunate enough to have been claimed by a fated mate who obviously cares for her.”
Edan turned and took his leave. Ruari joined Gareth.
“He’s a good man. He would do well as a beta in the right pack.”
“I agree. I don’t think Alaric will have him for long. I think once he sees Rowan is settled with Alaric and Arielle is mated to the right wolf, he may well seek his fortune in service to another.”
“Your mate is fully recovered?”
Gareth laughed. “Not as recovered as I’d like, but once she is home, we can get things back on track.”
* * *
Sloan had undertaken the role of the mostly dutiful mate. She was careful to tread a fine line as Gareth was far too intelligent to believe that just because she had successfully transitioned, she would become complacent and submissive. Sloan spent the little time she was alone with Fallon trying to get to know her and asking questions she didn’t want Gareth to overhear.
“Fallon, can I ask you some questions about my new state of being?”
“What do you mean, Milady?” Fallon responded a bit anxiously.
“Please relax, Fallon. There are things I need to know. Normally, I’d ask Rowan, but she isn’t here.”
“Like what?”
“What’s it like to be wolf? For instance, how do I shift? I’ve only rarely seen anyone in my pack in anything other than their human form. How does one even go about shifting?”
“I’m not sure our alpha would not want to teach you that...”
“But see, I wanted to learn and then invite him to go for a run as a kind of surprise bonding gift. Gareth is so sure of everything; I’d like to get it right instead of having him watch me struggle.”
Fallon smiled, relaxing for the first time in her presence. “I’d be happy to help you. What a thoughtful gift. It’s really very easy.”
“For those of you born wolf,” Sloan said, smiling, suppressing her resentment that he had stolen her choice in the matter.
“You should already feel your wolf at the back of your consciousness. All you need to do is quiet your mind and your emotions and call her forth.”
“So it can only be done when I am at peace?”
“No; it’s best to learn that way, but once learned, it becomes as easy and natural as breathing. Why don’t you sit here on the bed? I should warn you that the first couple of times can be physically uncomfortable, but that will pass.”
Sloan smiled at her, beginning to genuinely like Fallon and wishing that she didn’t have to take advantage of her.
“The pain being kind of a rite of passage?” Sloan asked.
Fallon nodded. “In a way.”
She tried calling forth her wolf the first few times with Fallon in attendance. The first time had been an utter and complete debacle, which had resulted in both teacher and pupil dissolving into gales of laughter.
But as she continued, she began to only pretend that she was struggling. Fallon had been right; the more she practiced, the easier and more swiftly she could accomplish the change. She hinted to Fallon that she might give up on her gift, as she found the process painful and disorienting. Fallon was loving and supportive as she encouraged her to keep trying. Sloan hid her progress and was beginning to be able to shift seamlessly from human to wolf and back again. She bided her time and waited.
Gareth had taken to sharing their bed, insisting that she sleep spooned against him with her back to his front. She was usually aware that he was awake when his cock began to nudge her backside. He began to fondle her bottom hole as well as her nipples and clit. Fallon had counseled him not to resume using her in the way that alphas used their mates, but Gareth felt that getting her used to the idea that he would touch her whenever, wherever, and however he chose was good for her. She hated to admit it, but she was becoming frustrated with his unwillingness to finish what his fondling started and that the idea of sharing his bed was no longer reprehensible.
Gareth had reluctantly begun to leave her for long stretches during the day while he worked and trained with his men. He allowed Sloan to join them on the field for an hour or two so that she could enjoy the fresh air and sunshine but was careful to keep her from becoming overtired. He had forbidden her to help in any way within the camp.
The one time she had growled at one of their men and pushed him to the side so that she could help with meal preparation, Gareth had grasped her by the arm and marched her to their tent, peppering her derriere with hard swats until they were inside.
“Damn it, Gareth, that hurts,” she said, swinging around to face him.
“Not nearly as much as it will should you choose to disobey me again. I will tell you now that if we were not so far from home, and you so recently transitioned, our men would hear the caterwauling of their mistress as she gets her first taste of real discipline from me. Disobey me again and you will enter Ravenscar as Rowan entered Calon Onest as Alaric’s mate—draped over my saddle with your red bottom on display.”
More and more Sloan could feel the advantages of being wolf. She was recovering rapidly and felt far better than she let on. She tried to get out of their tent and walk around to increase her physical conditioning. If she was to escape Gareth, she would need to be in as good of shape as she possibly could be. But Sloan was unprepared for the pain that clawed at her insides when she thought about leaving Gareth.
Sloan woke and watched as Gareth sat on the edge of their bed pulling on his boots. He smiled as he saw her wake and ran his hand under the covers to cup her breast and stimulate the nipple until he tugged on it affectionately.
“It pleases me that your body responds so readily to my touch. Our children will sup well from their mother’s breast,” he said in a voice that held both warmth and lust.
“How long will you be gone?” she said in a neutral tone.
“Most of the day. We will hunt today to replenish our supply of fresh meat. I expect we will break camp and head for home in the next few days. I want you to rest and stay in our tent while I am away from camp.”
“Gareth, can’t I...”
He leaned over and kissed her, cutting off her protest. “You can, mate, do as you�
�re told.” He reached over and patted her rump lovingly.
Sloan said nothing as he stood, picked up his bow and arrows, and strode away. She got out of bed, pulling on a dressing gown that had been given to her. She opened the tent flap and watched as Gareth mounted his horse and rode off in search of large game with his men.
Fallon entered the tent and checked her vitals. “You have made a splendid recovery from your transition, Mistress. I think when you feel ready you may tell our alpha that you are able to accommodate his needs in all ways.”
Sloan had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. As capable as she was as a surgeon, Fallon was very uncomfortable in speaking to her woman to woman or talking about sex in plain terms.
“Thank you, Fallon. Our alpha wishes for me to stay quiet in our tent while he is gone today. Perhaps if I do as he asks, I will be able to entice him back between my thighs.”
Too embarrassed to speak, Fallon agreed and withdrew quickly. Sloan knew she should feel badly about misleading her, but she wanted as much time alone as she could give herself. She turned to the back of the tent and quickly unlaced the edge that bound it to one of the poles, creating an opening that she could slip through.
Sloan centered herself and called forth her wolf; the change came over her as her beast came to the fore. Shifting was now no more difficult than slipping on a warm shawl to ward off a cool evening. It was an odd feeling. Her human consciousness still existed, but she could feel that of the wolf as well. She nosed the back of the tent open and scented the air. There were no humans or those of her kind present. Sloan shook her head and wondered when she had started thinking of humans as no longer her kind. Slipping through the tent, she ran in the opposite direction of Gareth.
Running as a wolf was exhilarating. The feel of the grass beneath her paws as she galloped toward the coastal forest was something she could never have imagined. It was as soft as the most expensive rug, and yet she could feel every blade of grass. It seemed that the farther she ran, the more distance she put between herself and her troubled mind.
Sloan had been drawn to Gareth in a profound and fundamental way. But, having questioned her ability to be happy in a society that was so heavily male-dominated, she had come to the conclusion that it was highly unlikely. Arielle had talked about feeling loved and protected. She had picked up on that from Gareth, but the confinements that she-wolves had to live within were not something she could accept.
The emptiness that had taken hold of her when Gareth had ridden out this morning was lifting, and she was filled with the tang of the salt air and the knowledge that she was free. She believed that being able to shift would allow her to live her own life in her own way. She would try to find a way to get word back to Rowan that she was safe and to encourage her to embrace her new life with Alaric, which seemed to be what Rowan now wanted.
Sloan ran for miles, changing her course often. She traveled through streams and then down onto the beach to run amongst the waves, knowing that her tracks would be erased by the incoming tide and her scent masked by the water. After several hours she stopped in a sheltered cove and stretched out on the warm sand. She shifted and then realized she hadn’t thought to bring clothes with her. She laughed for the first time in days. She’d have to find a cottage or farm and borrow some clothing.
She took stock of where she was, shifted again, and headed for a fishing village she thought was close by. Sloan found that the more often she called upon her wolf self, the more integrated the two became.
As she got closer to the village, she noticed abandoned farms and every hackle along her spine began to rise. Wanting to lose her scent in the water again, she padded toward the stream that she knew ran through this section of land... the soil was wet, but there was no water. Knowing which way the current normally flowed, she trotted upstream and heard the sound of building.
She sank to the ground and belly crawled closer. There was something wrong about all of this. She tried to pinpoint what it was and stopped to try to utilize all her senses. Sloan scented the air and realized what it was—something didn’t smell right... literally. She could smell fish, but they were rotting and there was no aroma of human or wolf. She couldn’t identify the smell, other than it was just wrong. She continued making her way surreptitiously through the grass toward the sound. She peeked her head just above the grass to look... dam-builders. Mutants that had evolved from the plague as a kind of half-beaver/half-human. Slow-witted, they had, nonetheless, been driven out of Britannia. They destroyed freshwater rivers and streams as well as drained the land dry of both water and other resources before moving on.
Sloan backed away, keeping low. The only thing dam-builders liked better than building barricades to water was fucking, and humans were their species of choice for pleasure. The males would breed other dam-builders to sire offspring, but preferred to rut with human females often to the point that the woman was left for dead.
She made her way back toward the coast and found a place to hide amongst the tall dunes and driftwood that had been washed ashore. Sloan found the discarded carcasses of some rotting fish and rolled in it to further mask her own scent; she curled up and waited for nightfall. She hadn’t expected the toll that being in her wolf form and being parted from Gareth would take on her. She was exhausted.
* * *
Gareth reentered the camp triumphant from the day’s hunt. They had done well, and they would eat fresh venison this night.
“Fallon!” he called, wanting to ask after his mate.
“Yes, Alpha?” she said, coming out of her medical tent.
“How fares my mate?”
“She improves with each day. Her strength is quickly regaining, and I believe she would welcome your attention... your more amorous attention,” she stammered.
Gareth laughed, picked her up and swung her around. “She would, would she? Then you have provided me with the best news of the day.” Gareth set her down and headed for Ruari.
As Gareth approached him, Ruari called to him. “Alpha?”
“See that the men are fed well tonight and have a tray set outside my tent. I will be happily ensconced with my mate, who I am told is fully recovered.”
Ruari smiled at him. “I will see you are not disturbed.”
Gareth turned toward his own tent. He couldn’t remember a time he had been happier. Perhaps, he thought, Sloan’s actual claiming and marking, which had been extraordinary and the most completely and erotically satisfying encounter of his entire life, was only the start. He looked forward to a lifetime of trying to improve on that memory. Gareth was well aware that he had taken and turned Sloan without her consent, but her response to him made him believe that it was only her fear of the unknown that kept her from embracing her new life with him to the fullest.
As he approached his tent, he realized he could not feel her presence. He broke into a run and threw back the tent flap. His eyes immediately focused on the back wall where she had created an opening. Her clothing was in disarray on the floor. He could detect her wolf scent. She had shifted and made a run for it. It seemed his mate was going to force him to run her to ground after all.
“Sloan!” he howled.
His cry swiftly brought Ruari, Fallon, and others to where he stood. The opening in the back of their tent gave them all the explanation they needed.
“When did you teach her to shift?” asked Ruari.
“I didn’t,” growled Gareth.
“Well, someone had to have done so...” said his beta in a confused tone.
“I’m afraid I am the cause of this, Alpha. She told me she wanted to surprise you, to give it to you as a kind of gift in celebration of your pairing. I believed her...” stammered Fallon.
Gareth put his hand consolingly on her shoulder. “It is not your fault. She lied to you and misled us all. You will have her apology once I have brought her back and blistered her backside. If she has recovered sufficiently to shift and run, she is well enough to feel the consequences f
or doing so.” He turned to Ruari. “Fetch me a fresh horse, clothing for myself and my mate, and two or three of the men who were not out on the hunt. I will shift and track Sloan. Send a rider to Calon Onest to ensure she doesn’t seek refuge with Rowan.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
Gareth entered his tent and quickly stripped out of his clothing. He shifted and immediately recognized her scent. He went through the opening that she had used to escape and howled mournfully at the sky, then began to run. It wasn’t safe out here for her. She had no idea how to be wolf, no idea how the shift could sap her energy reserves and leave her unable to care for herself.
While their kind had been able to keep other shifters in line and virtually wipe out any mutants in Britannia, it didn’t mean that their land was without danger. Having lived so isolated at Calon Onest, she had no idea of the politics amongst wolves and the various factions that vied for favor and power.
He could hear his men mounted on horseback following close behind. He vaguely wondered if Sloan knew how blatantly disobeying him would force him to deal with her in a more public display than he would have liked. He recalled Alaric saying that baring Rowan’s well-punished backside had been necessary to humble her and force her to begin to accept her new role.
Gareth had thought that by claiming Sloan in the manner he had and taking her to their chamber still impaled on his cock, he had done all that was necessary to establish his dominance with her. But he had underestimated her stubbornness and defiance. He would see both quelled when he caught up to her. The memory of her climaxing as he carried her to their room biting down on the top of his shoulder in order to keep from crying out brought him to a halt as he howled again.
She wasn’t as easy to track as he would have liked. She had switched her trail back and forth, crossing over herself and going through water. Much as he hated to admit it, Sloan was clever and adapted quickly. She would need to apply that ability in her new role. Gareth realized that it was a lot for her to accept, but he also knew that she had felt his call and understood what it meant... for both of them.