by Casey Morgan
“Celeste has shifted,” I explained. “But she will not run with the blood lust you feared, Sir. The wolf within her is bound to me and she is calm. Celeste is in control of herself.”
His green eyes brightened.
“This is true?” he asked.
I nodded.
“My baby girl will be as she once was.”
I grinned.
“Well, she will be what she was, but also a whole lot more.”
I shrugged my shoulders a bit.
The old man dropped his head.
“Mr. Terrell said that once she became a true werewolf that she would no longer be able to see us. He said wolves and humans don’t mix.”
I snorted a laugh.
“Terrell is gone,” I explained. “I beat him in combat. I am alpha of this pack now. What I say goes. Celeste is welcome to visit her parents as much as she wishes. She can work with you every single day if that makes her happy.”
Both of the Blenkos’ eyes fixated on me. Their mouths opened slightly. They were clearly shocked and eager to still have their daughter in their lives.
How could I ever break up such a family?
“Oh Mom! Dad!”
Celeste jumped up from her chair and ran to her parents. She put her arms around them both and pulled them close.
Mr. and Mrs. Blenko cried in their daughter’s arms. I sat back in my chair and let them have their moment.
This wasn’t about me and the wound that had been tearing apart this family needed to heal on its own.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Celeste
Valentine’s Day
My alarm went off at four in the morning on Valentine’s Day and I groaned. I rolled over and swung my arm out, but the alarm clock wasn’t in its usual place.
My hand felt around; what was below it was just more bed. I scooted over and felt again.
More bed.
A question entered my mind and then I remembered that I wasn’t sleeping in the same twin bed I had occupied since I was five. This was a king-sized bed.
This was Mason’s bed.
I rolled over to my back and pushed my hair out of my face. After finding and turning off the alarm, I glanced around into the darkness.
This room would have to change, and soon. It was too punk-rock. I saw no need to have pleather covering the walls. It just made it seem like a sex dungeon.
The old alpha had odd taste. I giggled to myself and pulled my arms up into a stretch. My body ached a bit.
Mason and I had shifted to wolf form earlier in the morning and had run together. It was an incredible experience. Wolf form offered so much adventure. I loved the new way of seeing and smelling my world.
Mason promised we would shift again soon and do a proper hunt with the whole pack. The idea excited me on a primal level— a level I was just realizing I had.
I turned my head and looked at my sleeping alpha. Mason snored happily; the alarm clock had done nothing to rouse him.
I thought back to how he woke me with a kiss after our first night together. I decided to do one better. We didn’t have a lot of time before we needed to be at the bakery, but there was enough.
I pushed the covers up and off, delighted to see that Mason was already hard and ready. Balanced on my knees, I leaned down and slipped his tool into my mouth. I was at just the right angle that I was able to see his eyes shoot open as he woke with a start.
“Oh hell!” he grunted, looking me over.
I smiled at him, keeping his long, hard cock in my mouth and then closed my lips to suck him. He moaned and thrust his hips at me just a little.
“Oh darlin’. I love being woken up like that,” he told me, eyeing my every movement.
I bobbed my head up and down, sliding his shaft in and out of my mouth. I let my spit cover it and get it very, very wet and warm. Mason thrust his hips, bumping them up and down on the bed. His cock rammed into my throat. I relaxed and let it slide deeper.
When I pulled back to take a breath, he grabbed my waist and flipped me, then burrowed his head in between my legs. The first lick of his warm tongue on my lower lips sent shivers throughout my body. Mason licked and sucked at me, making my body twitch and tense up.
His stiff cock was still in front of my face, so I opened my mouth and let it slip between my lips. He pumped his hips, fucking my face as he ate me with abandon.
My stomach tightened. My legs tensed. I was close to coming. I tried to push at Mason’s face to tell him to back off, but he just licked me harder. He formed his tongue into a curve and tickled my insides with it, licking up my juices.
My pussy tightened and then released hard. Tingles ran up through my body as I orgasmed, and my pussy clamped over Mason’s tongue.
He didn’t stop. He just kept licking, pushing me further and further, until I was so sensitive that I came again. I screamed around his cock. It slipped out of my mouth and I dropped my head back onto the bed. I was panting.
Mason dropped to his back next to me. He was grinning like a mad man and I swatted him on the shoulder.
“Pleased with yourself, my alpha?” I asked in my most snarky tone.
“You coming is music to my ears,” he told me seriously. “I would gladly only listen to your moans and cries for the rest of our lives.”
I tried to think of a silly comeback, but the seriousness of his words stopped my lips. He loved me and I was so happy that he did. I had found the man who would be my husband and he came with a whole new world to explore.
I broke the seriousness of the moment by turning over and moving to my hands and knees. My butt was to Mason’s face; the invitation that I offered was very obvious.
He was on me within seconds. His cock, hard as a rock, pushed between my wet folds and inched into my pussy. He pushed in sharply and quickly, driving himself into me until his balls hit my clit.
I ached with the feeling of fullness he gave me; I ached with how he stretched my pussy walls to their limits and hit my cervix. Then he started to fuck me, hard. His hips slammed into my butt cheeks at a rapid pace.
His cock slid in and out of me. My pussy walls and lower lips grabbed at it, causing a strained, aching friction that felt so good. My abdomen pulled into a knot. My inner walls clenched him harder and harder, and still he slid in and out of me, his cock ramming me and then gliding away.
Mason sped up. He grabbed my hips, pulling me back into him. My breasts swung with his thrusts. My nipples rubbed patterns into the sheets. I loved how my alpha dominated and controlled my body. He made me do what he wanted and my whole body loved it.
Tingles started to flow through me, and I came, squeezing Mason with all the force I could. He grunted and gave me his seed. I could feel his thick cock swell further and then release. Cum coated my womb. It was warm and wet and made me feel good inside. I grunted and came again.
Mason slowed to a stop, but still held me by the hips. He nestled his happy, spent dick in my pussy for a few minutes, like he didn’t want to stop and disconnect.
I didn’t really want him to either, but I looked at the clock and time was ticking away. This morning was too important for the bakery. We couldn’t stay in bed.
“We have to get going,” I reminded him.
With a sigh, he released my hips and slipped out. I sat up on my knees, turned and gave him a quick kiss. But when he tried to push me down to take me again, I giggled and rolled out of his reach.
“No time for that now,” I told my love.
He sighed again, but then gave me a lopsided smile. Pleasantly aching, I pulled the sheet around my body and ran towards the shower. Mason joined me there a few seconds later.
We were late to the bakery. Very late.
Mom, Dad and Mary were already hard at work when we got to the shop and there was a line of customers outside of the door waiting for it to open. Mom and Mary had set up a stool behind the cash register, so Dad could sit as he helped customers. He smiled at Mason and me as we came in the front do
or.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Dad!” I grinned at him.
He held his thin arms out and pulled me into a hug.
“I am so pleased to see you, little one,” he said into my hair.
Mason inched up behind me.
“Good morning, Mr. Blenko,” he said.
I could tell he was nervous.
“How is your leg?”
“Mr. Whitepaw,” Dad said with a nod. “It mends, slowly, but it does.”
The two men eyed each other for a second. Then Dad sighed.
“I’m glad you are here, Mr. Whitepaw,” he said.
I grinned at him, glad that he was trying to accept Mason and welcome him.
“You are, Sir?” Mason asked.
My Dad’s grin pulled up at the corners and he looked a bit sheepish.
“Indeed,” he replied. “Someone needs to lift all those heavy cookie baskets and I’m glad that this year, for once, it’s not me.”
Mason and I laughed with Dad. Then he waved for us to open the doors and the crowd came in.
Chapter Thirty
Celeste
When four o’clock in the afternoon rolled around, we were all exhausted. Dad leaned against the counter and pressed his head to the top of the cash register. The drawer was so full of cash that it wouldn’t close. He had a bit of a smile on his face, the first true smile I had seen on my father in years.
I went over and put my hand on his shoulder. He reached up and put his own narrow hand on mine. He nodded towards the cash.
“I emptied the drawer twice today, Celeste, and still they came. It is enough money to move to a new area and set up again. If that is still what you want.”
He squeezed my hand.
My gaze drifted to Mason. He was standing outside and talking to one of the other Weres from The Grinder.
“It’s not,” I told my father. “I hope that you and Mom will stay here. I want us all to be a family.”
He pulled my hand down to his lips and gave me a gentle kiss.
“So, you forgive me, my child?”
He didn’t look me in the eyes.
“Can you accept me for what I am?”
I leaned into him and smelled my father’s cologne. He had been my protector for so many years—raising me as his own, even though I was not.
“Yes,” he said. “I should have sooner. But I was scared. I see now that you are the same willful child you always were. Only now, you are stronger… and occasionally, you bark.”
“The better to lift the cookies with, my dear,” I joked.
Dad smiled.
“Plus, Dad, I’m a wolf. I howl, I don’t bark.”
Mary stuck her head through the double doors and gave me a look.
“You do too bark. You and Mason both. I’ve heard you.”
I shooed her away and closed the doors to the kitchen. Dad laughed lightly and put a hand to his nose. He still wasn’t quite healed. Then he nodded outside with his chin.
“Will you marry him?” he asked.
I watched Mason take something from the other Were and start walking towards us.
“I will, Father, and as soon as possible. I hope you and Mom will be there.”
He nodded.
“So be it.”
Mason opened the front door with his hip and held up a piece of dirty wood. It was faded; mud, cobwebs and oil clung to the surface, but the crescent moon shape at the end was undeniable.
Dad gasped and put a hand to his mouth.
It was the sign for the bakery.
“Look what we found!” Mason exclaimed happily, grinning from ear to ear. “It was in one of the storage rooms at The Grinder. I would like to clean it and put it back up as soon as possible.”
I put a hand on Dad’s shoulder, and he put his hand on top of mine. His whole body was shaking with joy.
“Nothing would make me happier, my son,” he told Mason.
When I looked down at my dad, he had tears of joy in his eyes, which matched the ones that were in my own.
Epilogue
Mason
It took less than a week for things to change within the pack. Terrell, and his ways, were gone. I didn’t feel the need to promote violence. It was not the pack way.
We hunted together and stood by each other—we would fight to protect ourselves, but terrorizing a community and extracting money were not what we were about. We were pack; we created community. We didn’t tear it down.
It turned out that Terrell had stashed away quite a bit of money. Now that my wolves were no longer spending their time creating havoc, they were free to explore the other aspects of life.
I bought the storefronts that lined the same street as the Crescent Moon Bakery, and we sat around the big wooden table in The Grinder deciding what to do with them.
One of the females, Sandy, wanted to open a dress shop and Celeste’s eyes went wide. She said she had the perfect spot and that she could think of nothing better.
One of the men wanted to open a butcher shop, and Augie wanted to open a hardware store. It was quite the revitalization of the area, or rather, I hoped it would be.
As for The Grinder, Leon wanted to keep running it as a bar. At first, I thought Leon would leave with Terrell, but he was at my side the next day. I knew he wanted to be my second in command; maybe someday that could happen, but it would take time for me to fully trust him.
Mr. Blenko insisted that Celeste live at home until we got married or joined, which was what the werewolves called it. We both accepted his order. I may have been an alpha, but I still wanted the blessing of my father-in-law.
He and Mrs. Blenko may have been reluctant to accept Celeste and me as the wolves we were, but they were trying. And for that I was thankful.
Celeste’s absence gave me time to fix up the apartment over The Grinder. The pleather wall coverings were gone; the real walls were oak panels that shined up just fine. I took down the black curtains and replaced them with white ones. I got new sheets—light blue to match my mate’s eyes.
I was anxious to show them to Celeste, but we decided to abstain. It would make our wedding night special. Plus, it was only a few days to wait.
The Crescent Moon Bakery prospered. The advertising around Valentine’s Day really helped and the baskets were a hit. Patrons flocked to the store—sometimes standing in line to get in—and bought pastries and muffins.
There was enough work for them to consider hiring two more employees and Celeste started taking applications. Mr. Blenko healed, but he still had a limp and had to walk with a cane.
So much had happened in just a few days and I reflected on it as I stood nervously in the middle of the street waiting for my bride. Celeste and I decided to do our joining ceremony on the street in the middle of all the new shops. That way the ceremony would be a joining of the community as well.
The snow was mostly melted one week after Valentine’s Day. Spring was coming to Gray Acres and I could feel it in the air.
The wolf in me wanted to run and play; his desires on that day make me fidget more than usual. Mr. Blenko, who stood by my side, noticed my foot tapping.
“Nervous about marrying my daughter?” he asked.
His green eyes looked as though they were trying to read my face.
I turned and took in the sight of his frown.
“Not at all, Sir.”
I gave him a big grin.
“I’m anxious to be married. Nothing in the world will bring me joy like this day.”
He nodded and shared a slight smile with me.
“Celeste is my life, Sir,” I continued. “She is the most important thing in the world to me and that will never change. The bond between wolves is for life, always.”
The thin man nodded again. Talk of werewolves still made him nervous. I didn’t push and speak of it further.
He looked down at the notecard in his hands. Celeste and I had asked him to perform the ceremony instead of walking her down the aisle. As a religio
us man, he agreed.
Movement at the end of the street caught my eye. I looked up and saw a bunch of color moving towards me. The pack had arrived to witness.
They were dressed in their most colorful clothes, acting as decoration to the still gray colored street. No doubt this was Celeste’s idea. One that I approved of.
My pack members waved at me and gave me nods of approval. I smiled at them all; pushing my alpha influence towards them to give them feelings of belonging. Just a few weeks before, I had thought I would die a lone wolf. Now I had twenty plus members in my pack.
It was a blessing in a time when big packs were rare. We would thrive together and maybe even draw others. These few blocks in Gray Acres were now a werewolf haven. It was a blessing and a responsibility that I was proud to take on.
Halfway down the street, Leon opened a case by his side and pulled out a violin. He set it to his shoulder, flourished his bow and began to play beautifully. It was a talent I didn’t know he possessed.
This must have been another idea of Celeste’s. She had made the effort to get to know each and every wolf of the pack, just as a good queen should.
At a flourish in the music, Mary started walking down the middle of the street. The small woman was in a bright red dress. Red was one of Celeste’s favorite colors. The bridesmaid’s dress was tailored to Mary’s tiny frame and hemmed up a few inches so she wouldn’t drag it in the snow.
The nervous girl glanced at the pack members on either side of the street but moved forward with her head held high. As always, Mary didn’t let her fear keep her feet from moving. In our brief acquaintance, I had come to respect her greatly.
As she approached, I took a minute to soothe my black suit and ensure that my appearance was as perfect as I could make it. A suit, vest, and tie was a very different outfit from the one I entered town in, but I was a different wolf and a different man. All thanks to Celeste.
The music changed and my eyes spied a movement of white cloth. Celeste and her mother entered the street.
