Lupa (Second Edition)

by Kimberly Odum Wells

  *****

  Max stood outside of Josette’s bedroom door wondering where the hell all his cool confidence had disappeared to. He was an alpha wolf and never in his nineteen years had he been so unsure of himself. The need to change was a physical weight on his skin, the power of his beast pulling his skin tight and covering his body in a light sheen of sweat. His eyesight, hearing and sense of smell were already heightened. He didn’t need a psychic connection to Josette; he could smell her anxiousness, but no fear. The missing scent gave him hope but, she’d not seen him change, so not too much. He took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob just as the door opened.

  “What are you doing standing out there in the hall,” she asked. She didn’t look surprised to see him and Max wondered just how two sided the connection was. It should have been impossible for her to share the bond since she was human, but she kept proving that little tidbit of Werewolf 101 wrong. She grabbed his hand and pulled him in the room.

  The ceiling lights were off and the room was lit by a few lamps. The golden glow of the low watt bulbs gave the room a feeling of romance. It wasn’t what Max expected. She led him down the three steps to the sitting area and sat down in front of his still standing body. The look on her face, the absolute trust, was enough to make him want to howl. God, he loved her.

  He’d told her what to expect. He was going to have to get naked. He could have opted for outgrowing his clothes but he wanted her to see his body change forms. He was proud of being a werewolf. It was beautiful to see a human form change into a wolf. Or at least that’s what Max thought.

  “Are you ready,” he asked after taking a deep resetting breath.

  “Yes,”

  Josette voice was barely above a whisper, but there was no hesitation and he could smell no doubt or fright on her. She smelled like she always did when they were together, wildflowers and green meadows. She smelled of pack, but it was just another impossibility that he had yet to share with the Lycaon or explain to Josette. Tomorrow maybe...after she’d seen him change.

  Max took half a dozen steps back until he was standing in the center of the room. Josette pulled her legs up on the couch flashing her wonderful legs at him and pushed her wild mane of hair back away from her face, gathering it all up and tying it into a messy bun on top of her head. She put her hands in her lap. Max took a few calming breaths and then took off his shirt. He was nervous, but it wasn’t his emotion, it was Josette’s.

  “Do you want me to keep my clothes on?” he asked. He would have preferred to take off the pants right before changing into his full-wolf form but claws weren’t exactly made for unbuttoning and unzipping and the thought of having Josette so close to the most private and sensitive part of his body right after the change was a no go. It wouldn’t have been so bad, except for the smell of her arousal that hung around her like a shroud most of the time when they were together. Her desire was almost his undoing. With his heighten sense of smell having her that close to him would be bad. The last thing he wanted was to become aroused. Josette was a virgin. He could smell it on her. No man or boy had touched her. The knowledge both excited him and scared the shit out of him. He was well endowed as a human; he was way above average in his half form.

  “No,” she said in the same whispered voice. She was a little breathless and the scent of her desire increased. Didn’t that just make him want to puff up his chest?

  Getting himself under a semblance of control, he made quick work of taking off his pants, staying bent over for a second longer than he would have ordinarily before straightening his body. He had the overwhelming urge to cover himself, but left his hands at his sides.

  Josette breathing was almost panted as she looked at him. He watched the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Trying not to meet her eyes, he got an eyeful of braless wonder that wreaked havoc on his reserve. He looked down further at her legs, but seeing the smooth uncovered skin of her thighs gave him nefarious thoughts. He averted his eyes further but even her feet held certain sex appeal. He was damn near considering looking at the floor when she spoke.

  “Look at me Honi,” she said. Max head snapped up at the word. “Did I say it right?” she asked looking a little embarrassed.

  “Yes,” he whispered. It was all the breath he could spare. The rest of it had left his lungs at the sound of the endearment. The Arapaho tribe’s word for wolf. With hope springing eternal, he began his first transformation.

  Half form was easiest, but his least favorite. He controlled his change, slowing it so it wasn’t too fast for her to see the transformation. The hair on his body grew thicker; his muscles became more defined as the hair on his body grew longer, covering his arms and legs completely. Long sideburns grew in, followed by the rest of his facial hair. His nose flattened and his mouth widened to make room for bigger teeth. His fingers elongated and the nails grew long and thick to form his claws. Max heard a soft gasp from Josette and opened his eyes. There was no fear, only amazement.

  He held his arms out a little from his sides and turned around so she could see all of him. “Well,” he said.

  “Wow,” Josette said standing up and walking slowly to him. With each step he could fell her presence become stronger. And was it him or was there something different in her gait, her hips and shoulders rolling in a sexy, graceful way that wasn’t there minutes ago. Max watched her, lids half closed, as she took each careful slow step. The rumble in his chest turned into a growl before he could bite it back. Let’s be honest, he didn’t want to. Josette was throwing off some serious mating vibes.

  “Sexy beast,” she said. The words were so shocking Max threw his head back and laugh while she took the last steps to him.

  “God, I love you,” he said, his words thick as they passed thinned lips with a mouth full of very big teeth.

  She smiled up at him. He was close to seven feet tall now. He wanted to pick her up, have her wrap her legs around his waist. But his hormones were raging off the charts. Josette’s hands making contact with his forearms dried up the last of his laughter. He watched her hands run through the light down of fur on his arms. He felt the heat of her palms travel not only the length of his arms, but all over his body. He took in a deep shuttering breath and closed his eyes and leaned his head back reveling in the touch. His breath caught in his throat when he felt her lips press against his sternum. He looked down at her as she kissed his chest. He brought his hands up but stopped before touching her with hands that seemed too big, tipped with claws meant for ripping, not holding. She took his right hand and turned her head and kissed the roughened palm, never breaking eye contact with him.

  “You can always touch me Max,” she said. “I’m not afraid of you.”

  He gently touched her face, ran his hand down the sides of her neck and then her shoulders. She closed her eyes as he ran his hands down her arms.

  “Take your hair down,” he said in a low voice.

  She obeyed without opening her eyes and he ran his claw tipped hands through her hair. He pulled her into his arms careful to keep the lower half of him away from her body, but she stepped right up to him until their bodies touched from her head to the front of her thighs. He held her tight before breaking the embrace. She raised her hands and grabbed both sides of his face and pulled him to her to kiss him. She started with his eyelids, moved to each cheek and ended kissing the canines that stuck out on each side of his mouth because his lips were almost nonexistent and his mouth could no longer close to accommodate the size of his teeth.

  “I love you,” she said.

  Josette went back to the couch and Max prepared to change into full wolf form. This one was painful. Changing a human form to that of an animal wasn’t whistling Dixie, but it was so worth it. Max body doubled over and he fell to his hands and knees. The pain was blinding and he held a howl within his throat because he didn’t want to scare Josette. He could hear her heart beating like a drum in her chest and smelled the concern like a perfume in
the room. It was so strong it masked her regular scent. As arms and legs shortened and his bones broke and reshape themselves; Max fell over on the floor, panting through the change. He felt his nose and mouth form his muzzle, his hair grow longer, turning into thick fur. He didn’t try to slow the transition it was just too painful. He stood slowly and shook himself before looking at Josette.

  She had been lounging when he changed into half-form. Now she sat on the edge of the couch, her fingernails digging into the cushions. There were tears in her eyes and on her cheeks. She ran to him, falling down in front of him, she hugged his neck and buried her face into his fur taking handfuls of it and holding it in fisted hands. Max could feel her body shake from the sobs. He didn’t know what to think. She wasn’t appalled or frightened of him.

  “God, that hurt,” she said with her face still buried in his neck, “I don’t know how you do it.”

  She’d felt the pain of his transition. Only his concern for her kept him from being the happiest wolf on earth. Whatever doubt he had, which was none, that she belonged to him evaporated. If only she was a wolf too. He’d love to show her why the pain was worth it. Why he looked forward to it. The feel of his muscles as he ran, the smells, and sounds of a wooded area, stalking and taking down prey. He wanted to share it all with her. He loved her so much it was a physical thing that made his heart grow and feel heavy.

  “I love you to Max,” she said.

  Oh God, could it get any better? She could pick up his thoughts while in wolf form. For weeks he’d held it at bay but the words freed him. He threw his head back and let out a deafening howl. Mixed with the sound of Josette’s laughter of delight, it was the sweetest music he’d ever heard.

  Josette walked down the stairs with her hand stroking the fur on Max’s back. He was BIG. His back came to her waist. His fur was both wiry and soft. She couldn’t stop touching it. The pain of the transition had scared the living daylights out of her. It was unbelievable. She hadn’t felt it physically it was like a memory of pain, but it was enough to bring tears to her eyes. She’d gone to him without thinking, trying to offer comfort. Silly, since he’d been born a werewolf, but she couldn’t help it. Max had prepared her. She knew he was still Max even in his full form. When she’d buried her face into the fur on his neck, he smelled different, but the same. Hot and musky like an animal but still of things that made her think of earth; rich soil and summer rain. She was taking raw steaks from the refrigerator when her parents came into the kitchen.

  Her dad had his arm around her mother’s shoulders. He had a grin on his face; her mother looked ready to bolt. It was like any other time someone walked into a room with a large, unfamiliar, threatening animal. Max sat next to her, his fur brushing her leg and she sat the package of cellophane wrapped meat on the countertop before walking over to her parents. When she and Max were closer he laid down completely on the ground.

  “A fine wolf,” Julian said bending down and running his hands through Max’s fur starting at the top of his head and down his back as far as his arm could reach. “Brianne,” he said.

  Josette’s mother looked at her a little unsure before bending down next to her father. She ran her hand along the side of his head starting with his ear and over the side of his neck. Max nosed her hand making her jerk it back.

  “Really mom,” Josette said a little defensively, “It’s Max. He’s not going to bite you.”

  Brianne laid her hand on Max’s massive head and rubbed him between the ears. “It’s like a fairy-tale,” she whispered. “Is this for real?” She asked like she wasn’t laying hands on a pony size wolf.

  Ten minutes later Josette way sitting on the floor next to the kitchen table feeding Max strips of steak while her parents sat and watched the two of them.

  “That howl scared the shit out of me,” Brianne said.

  The curse made Josette head whip around and her mouth drop open right before she started to laugh. Her mother never cursed. For her to do it meant she must have been really, really...really scared.

  “It was unexpected. Maxwell is old enough to know better,” Julian said but he was smiling.

  It wasn’t much of a reprimand. But it didn’t stop Josette from feeling the need to defend him. “He was happy,” she said.

  Her father sat up in his chair. “What do you mean?”

  Josette ran the hand not feeding Max through the fur on his side while she spoke. “I mean it was a happy howl,” she said. She didn’t really know how to explain it. Shouldn’t her father already know?

  “How did you know that Josette,” her father said. The tone in his voice and the rush of worry washing over her body from Max made her look between the two of them.

  “I felt it. I was upset, crying because of the pain he was in during the change,” she said looking at her father confused. “But then Max showed me. Showed me what it’s like to be a wolf and how the pain was nothing compared to the time he spends wild and free,” she finished.

  “Impossible,” her father said with a look of wonderment on his face.

  “What’s impossible,” Brianne asked now looking at all three of them. “Is something wrong?”

  “No, quite the opposite darling,” Julian said clapping his hands together once and then beaming at Josette and Max. “A true mated pair. An ulric and ulrich. Marvelous.” Josette thought he’d actually cry.

  “What,” Josette said looking confused, “It’s not the same with you and mom?”

  Her father shook his head. “No my love,” he said leaving his seat and coming to sit next to Josette and Max, “A wolf mates for life but it is rare to find two that belong to each other completely.”

  “I don’t understand,” Josette said looking at her father. He wasn’t looking at her; he was staring at Max, rubbing his hands down the side of the large wolf. Max started whimpering.

  “Be calm my wolf, I’m very happy for you,” Julian said. Max barked, surprising Josette. She’d never thought of a wolf barking, only growling and snarling, with the occasional howl thrown in.

  “A true mated pair of wolves are bound in every way. There is nothing that separates them, not thought or emotion, they are the perfect match. They crave their mates touch, sometimes refusing—no, unable, to leave each other sides.”

  Josette mouth dropped opened and she looked down at Max. He was licking the palm of her hand. She could feel his teeth on her fingers the pressure of them comforting.

  “Why did you say impossible?” Brianne asked from the table.

  “Because mated pairs are usually both werewolves,” Julian said. “For Maxwell and Josette to share such a bond is...” he struggled to find a word to fit, “Miraculous.”

  “So what does this mean, this mating,” she asked finally leaving her seat and joining the rest of them on the floor. Max was the most well petted wolf in town as Brianne’s hand joined the others in stroking his fur.

  “I’m not sure really,” Julian said. “Can you hear him,” he asked, “In your head.”

  Josette shook her head. “No. I got imagines, sometimes smells but no words,” she said. “I can feel his emotions and I’m pretty sure he can feel mine,” she added.

  “Incredible,” her father said.

  “Would she be able to hear words if she was a werewolf,” Brianne asked.

  “Yes, or so legend says,” Julian said.

  “Why legend,” Josette asked.

  “Because there has not been a true mated pair of werewolves in my lifetime.”

  After the bombshell of the whole true-mated-pair, Josette and her parents sat around the table talking about how it affected everything. And it was certainly something that was going to change the werewolf community. Her dad was awestruck while he looked at Josette and Max. It was almost embarrassing.

  Would they tell anyone about the recent events? No, or at least not yet. Julian still had the business of his mother to take care of. Josette explained how the bond had grown over time. Would it becom
e stronger? Possibly. There was no way to tell and no one to ask. The story of Jean Rene Alphonse de Laurent and his mate, Diana, was so old no one knew what was fact and what was fiction, but either way, it was a great story.

  Jean Rene, legend said, was the first and only werewolf born of two human parents. He met and fell in love with a woman who had the ability to call wolves even though she was human. After revealing his true self, Diana decided to become a werewolf also. Her wolf-form fur was so white it was said it cast its own light.

  What no one knew for the longest time, was that Jean Rene was able to change forms anytime he wanted, full moon or no, daytime or night. Only after he and Diana became king and queen had he revealed his secret. He was called the Sun-wolf. Diana, who had started life as a human but became a force to be reckoned with, became the White Queen. It was a love story that rivaled all great love stories. They lived and fought side by side, and by the end, never left each other’s side. He called her Mon Lune, My Moon, in French, she called him Mon Lupe, My Wolf. As unbelievable as the story was, the next part was what made it truly legend.

  Diana was thought to be the descendant of the daughter of Geri and Freki, Odin’s wolves. You know Odin, Thor’s dad. Geri and Freki were the beloved mated pair of wolves of the mythological god. But there was another wolf, Fenrir, who was jealous of the two. He grew so big and powerful that he was kept chained, which only fueled his rage. Geri became pregnant and went into labor on the day that Fenrir broke free. Knowing that his faithful and loyal wolves would fight to the death in order to keep him safe, Odin took Geri and Freki to earth and gave their pup the form of a human girl. A young boy from a nearby village came into the clearing, startling the new father and Freki bit him. Odin, wanting to keep the child of his beloved animals safe, created the first Sun wolf in the little boy; bespelled him so that he could turn into a great grey wolf to watch over her. Jean Rene was the descendant of the boy.

  Wow. Incredible right?

  Josette and Brianne were both crying by the time Julian finished the story. There were proof that the two existed. If a werewolf were to visit France, the first stop was the castle that the two had lived in, or the gates of the castle that the two lived in. No one was allowed on the grounds. Some thought they still lived in the castle, some say their children did.

  Chapter Eleven