“Here, Jared. Drink this slowly. It’s going to taste terrible at first, but it will be fine once you get half of it down.”
Jared took the glass, took a sip, and swore.
“Stop being a big wolf baby. It’s not that bad,” Moona said with a smile.
“It’s vile… but I trust you aren’t trying to kill me,” he said, making himself drink.
Moona eased herself back down into the chair while Jared sipped the stomach remedy she’d made. The peppermint and ginger would settle his sick stomach. Other herbs in it would restore his vitality. She just had to make sure he drank the whole glass.
Jared stared at her. “You’re still not going to admit it, are you? Not even when I’m facing my death.”
“Admit what?” Moona asked.
Jared lifted the glass and looked at her over the rim. “I have two days until I have to fight Harkin for the alpha role in our pack. If there is a conspiracy going on, my chances aren’t good for surviving. The only reason I’m here with you is that I want to spend my last couple of days on this earth with the female I love.”
Moona sighed and didn’t answer his declaration. She was going to go to werewolf hell one day for being a coward about this man. “Maybe we’re worrying about nothing but an old man and a vengeful she-wolf. How many sympathize with Harkin?”
Shrugging, Jared took another drink. “No one can tell for certain. Harkin has made sure I wasn’t able to find out. Based on the lack of surprise among the pack about his challenge, my guess is that a third or better are already following him. Whatever the number, it’s too many for me to kill. The best I can hope for is to take out Harkin himself. He’s always been the real problem.”
Moona grunted in irritation. The odds sucked. It wasn’t fair. “Harkin’s probably got three or four lined up to help him take you down. Gaia only knows what he’s promised them. I remember when you took over the pack after Mom and Dad died. You fought two of Harkin’s supporters and then he refused to fight you.”
“This time though he’s issued the challenge directly. He has to fight me himself, but I don’t think he’ll be fair about it. I’m not sure I can count on the pack to keep the fight honorable.”
Moona ran a hand through her long hair. Every time she cut it, her hair grew back overnight. She’d finally stopped fighting the inevitable. The situation with Jared was just like that. Alphas had to fight to hold their positions. “What could Harkin possibly be promising anyone?”
Jared set down his glass. “Harkin’s promised them glory and that they will be feared by the other packs. Peaceful existence and cooperation do not appeal to those hungry for power.”
“You remind me of my Dad when you talk like that,” Moona said with a sigh.
“I should since he trained me. When my father figured out I was an alpha wolf, he asked your father to be my teacher. They both wanted me to do what I’m doing in our pack… or in another. We could go start our own pack, Moona. They would understand. We could have a good life together.”
“Both our fathers lost their lives to pack warfare. That’s history, Jared. It’s not going away.”
Jared nodded. “Yes. So might we. I’ve pushed for peace all I can, but there are always going to be wolves who don’t want it. I can’t change the nature of everyone.”
“Even if only two-thirds of the pack support you as alpha, I don’t want us to just run away. Our parents gave their lives to save the pack. How can we not stay and fight for them as well?”
“You’ve served as the pack healer alongside Willa, but do you really care what happens to people who wouldn’t stand up for you if you needed help? They spared you from death, but they haven’t welcomed you.”
She looked at the wolf who held her heart. “I could have stayed and fought for my proper place. Instead, I lived away from them. I did that so people showing me kindness wouldn’t be harassed by wolves like Harkin and Beth. Willa’s house is as far as I ever got though. No matter where I went in my life, I always ended up back here. For better or worse, the pack seems to be my destiny.”
Jared leaned forward and looked into her eyes. “Then be my mate and stand by my side, even if it’s only for two days.”
“Would you truly shackle yourself to a human for the rest of your life?” Moona whispered, speaking her greatest fear aloud.
Jared set down his glass and went to her. He pulled Moona into his arms and wrapped himself around her. “I want you whatever you are. My heart is yours, Moona. It always has been. We deserve to be together. That’s our destiny.”
8
Moona told herself to fight off Jared’s kiss, but in the end, she couldn’t. If they only had a couple days left on this earth, being with him was the last chance of finding true happiness that she was ever going to get to take.
Groaning at the unbearable thought of Jared dying, she wrapped her arms around him and tilted her mouth to his for exploring.
“Say the words to me,” Jared ordered against Moona’s mouth. “I need to know your feelings.”
“I’ve wanted you all my life,” Moona admitted.
Jared groaned in relief. “Enough to be my mate for the rest of yours? I need to know that as well.”
Did she? Moona looked at the male who’d been all to her that she’d let him be. Now he wanted them to be everything to each other. If they survived the alpha challenge, she would be his forever, no matter what she was inside or out.
“I…” Her courage failed her. Sha would be so disappointed. “How do you feel about bobcats?”
Jared raised an eyebrow at the change of subject. “You mean in general, or just that mangy one that follows you around everywhere?”
Moona chuckled. “You saw Sha?”
“Saw her. Smelled her. Then I noticed that she wasn't following you so much as guarding you. As long as the bobcat doesn’t require a litter box, she will be welcome in our home.”
“But wolves don’t like cats.”
“In general,” Jared agreed with a laugh. “Knowing you, she might not even be a bobcat. She could be some other creature you’ve won over to your side. You’re some kind of weird creature whisperer. You’re always hanging out with trolls, and fairies, and who knows what.”
Moona snorted. “Gee… thanks.”
“Hey, a female who makes deals with dragons shouldn’t mind a little healthy skepticism from the male she loves who loves and cares about her in return.”
“I didn’t say I loved…” Her denial died on her lips as Jared lifted her high into the air.
She’d forgotten that Jared was taller than her. Moona’s heart thudded loudly in her chest as Jared gently shook her. Instead of being appalled by his actions, she ended up laughing at his attempts to ‘shake the stubborn out of her’ as he’d so often in her life threatened to do.
When they were kids, he used to do the same thing to get her to agree with him.
“Okay. Okay. I love you, Jared. Put me down. Confessions under duress don’t really count.”
“They do today,” he said with a chuckle.
Moona landed back on her feet with a thud. She laughed harder at the look of satisfaction on his face. Gaia help her. The grown-up Jared who knew what he wanted was not going to be a male she could get around as easily as she had most. This was the reason she’d avoided this confrontation for as long as she could.
“Saying you love me isn’t so hard, is it?” Jared asked.
“Yes. I don’t know if I’m ready.” Moona bopped his chest with a firm hand. It made him laugh at her weak attempt to chastise him for his bad behavior.
“How about I help you get there?” Jared asked.
Moona froze and stared at him. His mouth lowered to hers with his tongue insistently seeking entrance. He lifted her by her thighs and wrapped her long legs around him.
“Got a bed of your own in this place? Maybe somewhere with a door that locks out the rest of the world,” he asked when he set her mouth free.
She pointed in the di
rection of her room. The house was small. He’d find it. And he did.
Jared lowered both of them to the bed and managed to stay between her legs. Moona felt a kinship with melting ice cream. Jared’s heat seemed to be molding her body around his. But he made no move to rush.
He took his time removing her shirt and what was under it. He kissed every inch of skin he uncovered, then let her return the favor. He rubbed his chest against hers in pleasure and used his hips to show his intentions.
He nipped at her mouth, her earlobes, down her throat and across her shoulder. “Sex now. Mate later. I don’t want to rush anything.”
Her head nodded. Jared wrestled her hair out from behind her and draped it over one shoulder to cover her breast. “You are so beautiful, so very, very beautiful.”
His lips kissed her breast through her hair, then nuzzled a nipple free until he could feast on it. Her back arched in response to his tugging. She was panting, then swearing, then kissing him until he winced. Winced?
Jared grabbed her hands and inspected her fingernails. “Keep using these claws on me and I’m going to stop being so nice.”
“Claws?” Moona sought for a clear head as she inspected her hands. “I have no claws or fingernails. I keep them short because of the healing work.”
Jared grunted on top of her. Before she could second-guess herself, Moona rolled them until she was looking down. “You’re going to have to be a lot tougher than that.”
“I can be as tough as you want,” Jared choked out as her clever hands worked him free of his clothes. “I’m trying to be civilized. I’ve waited so long for you.”
“Same here,” Moona said, sliding his pants down to his knees. “Magnificent.”
Jared rose and kissed her, wrestling off her bottoms without breaking the delicious contact with her mouth. When she slid her inviting wetness across him, he lost what was left of his mind. Rolling her under him, he rocked into her welcoming lusciousness. The heat of her stole his control or maybe it was her calling his name when she went over. He slowed then to enjoy the startled look on her face.
“I always knew it would be like this,” he said. “Again.”
Her back bowed as he moved in her. He gasped in pleasure when Moona tightened around him again and then throbbed in another release.
“Jared… Please. I need you to…”
“I know. This time,” he whispered as his mouth covered hers.
He drove her up again, and in the process, drove himself to the brink with no mercy. This time when Moona tightened around him, he released her mouth to laugh at how much pleasure this one female’s lovemaking brought him.
Her screaming his name in an orgasm of epic proportions ripped away everything he thought he knew about himself as well as all conscious thoughts about pleasuring her. At the end of the madness, all he could do was rock them both until the last tremor finally ceased.
Beneath his gently rocking body though, the female he loved growled low and raked her fingernails over him possessively. For as long as he lived, he would not forget having Moona the first time.
And they hadn’t even mated yet.
The thought of that alone stiffened him enough to have Moona gasping.
Jared smiled against her throat. “Are you mine, Moona?” he asked.
Moona groaned as Jared buried himself inside her. “Yes, Jared. I am yours,” she whispered back.
9
Moona woke in the dark feeling strange and achy all over. Sex with Jared had been of the marathon variety, but strenuous sex was pretty normal for werewolves.
Too restless to lie still, she slipped quietly out of bed to keep from waking Jared with her thrashing. Her ears were ringing as if there was a siren going off in her head. There was also a burning in her gut—a terrible wrenching, churning sensation.
Had he mated her spiritually but not marked her?
A sense of foreboding swept over her as she walked around the small house. Instincts she hadn’t known she possessed started ordering her to run as far and fast as she could. Everything screamed inside her body that something was happening whether she wanted it to or not.
She stopped pacing to gasp. Maybe something already had happened.
Being a female wolf in heat was always painful… and it was dangerous if one didn’t want a family. Had she and Jared created a child earlier? Was her human body not accepting it? The thought alarmed her and tears of worry welled that she’d never carry their child.
She swallowed hard to keep from crying—something she rarely did.
Calling herself crazy for having such wild thoughts with no basis in reality, Moona stumbled out of the house to get some air. The healer in her was trying to analyze what was going on and diagnose the core of her illness.
Outside she discovered it was night still, but there was moonlight enough to see around her.
Naked and confused about the strange feelings that weren’t easing, Moona paced restlessly around the yard while the burning and churning within her continued.
Her head lifted as she realized she could suddenly hear the heartbeats of all the animals hiding in the dark.
Then she felt the stare of an owl paying super close attention to her.
Gaia knew—her head was in imminent danger of exploding. She put her hands to her face and felt her nails rake her skin. She couldn’t see her fingernails in the dark, but Jared’s inspection of them came back to haunt her.
“Moona? Why are you standing outside in the dark?”
“I’m not… I’m not… well,” she whispered through a dry throat.
She looked up and saw Jared walking toward her, but his voice calling her name faded more with each step he took.
Or maybe it faded because she was finally giving in to what was happening inside her.
Whatever it was, the moment she gave up fighting it, she immediately felt ripped apart and reassembled into a different version of herself.
And running became a throbbing imperative for her.
She watched Jared freeze in his steps to stare. Panic over the concern in his gaze pushed her into moving away from him at a speed she didn’t recognize or understand.
Was she magically transporting somewhere? It felt magical. But that would mean she was a witch after all. Damn her luck.
Trees seemed to whiz by as she ran. Night animals scurried for cover.
Where the hell was she going?
Her mind had no idea but the urge to run stayed strong. The crackle of dried leaves and twigs finally got her attention and made her look down. The ground was far closer to her eyes than her brain expected.
Her mind—at least what was left of it—promptly informed her of what should have been the case if she were still walking upright.
Then she saw them hit the ground and immediately stopped running to inspect them. She lifted one front paw and then the other.
Holy Great Mother… she had paws… actual paws.
Did that mean what she thought it did?
Lifting her head, Moona sniffed for water and took off in that direction. Braking at the nearest stream, she trotted out into it making sure the moonlight beamed down brightly in that area. She looked down at her reflection in the water and her breath caught at what she saw.
Bubbling laughter filled her, but it exited her mouth in stifled wolf woofs and chuffs.
It was so hard to believe after all this time. She was a wolf. She was finally, finally a wolf.
But then suddenly she wasn’t a wolf anymore. Like a miracle in reverse, the next time her eyes blinked at her moonlit reflection, she was her naked human self once more, sitting in the stream and getting wet. It hadn’t hurt much returning to her human form, but turning into a wolf, wowzer—that had been real pain.
Jared’s badass wolf form splashed water over and around her as he ran full-gallop into the stream where she sat. His wolf form stopped in front of her, staying on all fours as his big head dipped and his dark chocolate eyes stared at her with deep concern.
Moona looked at his solemn wolf expression and began to laugh. She was still laughing when a human Jared lifted her from the water and carried her to the shore. He sat her in a patch of grass and then plopped his naked butt down next to hers.
They sat there not talking until she got control of her emotions enough to speak rationally.
She looked at him and smiled. “Happy birthday to me. I think this is the best one ever.”
Jared snorted. “Was it because of the three orgasms I gave you the first time we made love or changing into a wolf finally?”
Her laughter rang out around them. Her life-long bad mood lifted off completely. Maybe that was due more to the realization that if she hadn’t slept with Jared tonight, she might have died without having him or being proved right about her wolf.
Jared turned a grin her way. “Your wolf is enormous, Moona. At first, I was shocked by her size, and then I just thought… wow...”
Moona snorted. “My size? Is that your idea of sexy pillow talk? Epic fail there, Jared.”
She grinned when Jared laughed and threw an arm around her shoulders.
“You have to admit the sex was epic,” he said. “And if you count three orgasms in one session as a failure, you might need to find yourself a younger wolf.”
“You are a younger wolf,” Moona said.
“By three years? That hardly counts as an age difference. I’m fifty-seven to your sixty. It’s not like we’re children anymore.”
Moona laid back in the grass and stared up at the stars. “I wish Mom and Dad were still here so they could see my wolf. I can’t wait to show Willa.”
“Can you wait until tomorrow at least?” Jared asked.
Moona nodded and turned to smile at him. “Why? Are you going to try to win me over with more spectacular sex tonight? If that’s what you’re hinting at, I’m all about finding out what else you got.”
“Yes—to using the sex part to convince you to keep me. No—to it being the main goal.”
Her breath caught when Jared reached out and flipped her to her stomach before crawling on top of her back. He lifted her hair away from her neck and licked a trail down her throat and across her shoulder. A shiver shook her body even as delicious heat curled low in her belly.
Howl About It Page 5
