The Wolf At My Door

by Sam Hall

My gaze jerked up, and I met those blue eyes head on, my hand straying automatically to the place where he had bitten me.

  “What did you do?”

  His teeth were bright against the grime of his skin. He smiled with all the light-heartedness of a child, tossing his snarled mane over his shoulder.

  “That’s the question, isn’t it? All I know is,” his hands went to the bars, something that had the soldiers stepping forward, “biting is an intimate thing, y’know. The feel of their flesh in your mouth, swallowing down their blood. I’ll be seeing you, little queen, a whole lot more now.”

  The guys started to growl, but I held up a hand.

  “How? You’re locked up in a cage. You piss and shit in a hole. You won’t be seeing anyone but these fellas for the rest of your life.”

  He shrugged nonchalantly, pushing away from the bars before shivering and turning into his Tirian form, the wolf looking like it was only just contained by the room. Those red eyes stared into mine for a moment, before bolts of electricity arced out from the roof, walls and floor, forcing the wolf back into his human form. He lay on the ground, laughing between rasps of breath before rolling to his feet, standing short of the bars again, but now he was in a much better condition. His skin was now clear, pale as the moon, his hair a long fall of black feathers. He crossed his arms, smiled down at me with a cruel twist, as my eyes compared the well-muscled form in front of me with the black wolf of my fevered visions. The men started to curse when his hand went to his dick, but the shouted threats didn’t stop him, and neither did the pulled out tasers.

  “Sweet dreams,” he said as the electrical bolts zapped out again, and he fell to the floor.

  31

  The drive back home was a quiet one. I’m sure the guys wanted to say they’d told me so, but they thankfully kept their mouths shut.

  He was posturing, I tried to tell myself, trying to look like a big man while being locked in a cage.

  That one is a threat, my Tirian replied, one I don’t know if I can protect you from.

  Well, that sure put a downer on my mood. When we rolled in, Jack and Hawk were still working on the fence, but I just glanced at them. I had bigger fish to fry. I sat down at the dining table when we got in, trying to process. A cup of tea and some biscuits appeared in front of me, then a warm hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Finn standing there, along with Aaron.

  “He can’t touch you,” Finn said.

  “Who can’t touch her?” Brandon asked, striding out of the kitchen and over to the table. “I thought she was just looking at the dickhead in his cage? What the fuck happened?”

  That threw the cat among the pigeons, and I sat there quietly as the guys filled each other in.

  “You said she’d be safe,” Slade snapped.

  “She was, is. He got electrocuted a few times while pronouncing vague threats.”

  “What fucking threats?” Shaun said.

  “He said he’d see me again. He’s locked up behind metal bars and concrete, and there was a metric fuck tonne of men with guns there. It was just empty threats. Don’t let it worry you, I’m not going to.”

  I picked up the cup and took a big sip of tea, feeling the need for something to ground me as much as anything.

  “I’m talking to the boys, see if we can’t beef up security along the fence,” Shaun said, opening the sliding door and stomping outside.

  “What’re you thinking, Aaron?” Slade said. “We get some munitions up here, set up some defences?”

  “You clear that with the alpha?” he asked.

  “I can’t see her refusing the request. She’s already distraught the prick got through in the first place,” Finn said. “We should have anticipated this, built the house security up before we even brought her here.”

  “And what do you want?”

  Brandon sat down at the table, watching me closely, the only person who was. He smiled when I noticed him, but it wasn’t necessarily a happy thing.

  “What I’ve always wanted,” I said, putting the cup down on the saucer. “What’s going on? Who are the black wolves? Why did he bite me? Why did he fight to get to me? What’s behind the ‘Sanctuary’ fence? You know, all the usual questions one might ask when transformed from human to something else when not drunk on dick.”

  Slade shot a look at Finn and then sat back down, nodding. “The heat’s abating. The ‘ole pre-frontal cortex is coming back online. Of course, you have questions, love, and we’ll answer every single one of them. As soon as we feel like you’re safe. Finn, get Kelly on the line.”

  “No.”

  Slade frowned then looked at me. “No?”

  “No, tell me first. Something always gets in the way. Kelly, the heat, the matching hall. I want to know, Slade, now. I want my dog, my stuff, my fucking life back...” Silence reigned as my voice cracked. “And if not that, then I want to know what the fuck is going on. Who are the black wolves? I’ve had visions of them.”

  “What?” Finn stiffened. “You’ve never told us that.”

  “Sucks, not being given all the information, doesn’t it?”

  “What did you see?”

  “I saw the...white Tirians, how they came from the women who were raped by the men. I saw those crystal spearheads and the gate and the first alpha...” My voice trailed away as I saw the guys looking at each other. “What?”

  “None of us have ever seen or heard what you just described. It could be a women’s thing. Not all knowledge is shared with the men,” Brandon said. “I could get my mum to come over.”

  “Sounds good. Tell her I’ll be a lot more hospitable this time.”

  “She understood, but sure.”

  “Jules, from what you’re saying, you know more about him than we do,” Aaron said. “The only intel we get is the dark wolves are the unfriendlies. The gate, that’s locked away in the Sanctuary,” Aaron said. “We stop all creatures that can pass through from coming into this realm. Most come for dubious reasons. There are resources here that they can’t get back home, there’s land, minerals and human wrought goods. Incursion rates always spike around the full moon, but we’ve been given no intel about them wanting women. That was why we were so ill-equipped to deal with your attack. We only bite other Tirians in dominance displays and sex, never anyone that can’t turn. Doc had no idea how to deal with a human infected with our venom.”

  “So who would know?” Everyone’s eyes slid around to Finn.

  “I’ll get Kelly on the phone, organise a meet. Who do you want sitting around the table?”

  This was the first time anyone had asked me a question like that. Before this, people were invited into the house, and just stayed until I said otherwise. I hadn’t said otherwise, hadn’t even considered it. My body was calling the shots, and it wasn’t ready to disregard any warm form that might bring it pleasure, except for rude pricks like Jack. Brandon, I wanted him there. His hand was on my arm, his grey eyes taking in every one of my micro-expressions. He was good for me, I realised. Things felt right when he was around, he seemed to get what I needed to adjust to being a part of the Sanctuary. I reached over and squeezed his hand, and a small smile appeared on his face.

  Slade sat next to him. He was trying to stay calm, but his eyes were slightly too wide, his face a little pale. My straight talker, he’d tell me what he thought, whether I wanted it or not. In some ways, it was reassuring to see someone as confident as him as shaken by the black wolf as I was.

  Finn was pulling out his phone, and I watched the play of sinews in his forearm as he brought up Kelly’s contact, guessing it was only me that saw the slight shake there. His shoulders had started to tighten. I got up before I even thought about it, placing a hand on either side and pressing my fingers into the big muscles there. His eyes darted up and over his shoulder. For someone who was so confident and ready for action, there was something almost shy in his gaze. Finn had looked after us, managing my transition, the house, the mating hall. He was always level headed and
prepared, which was why, as my hand slid down and into the front of his shirt, I liked watching his fingers go limp, dropping the phone to the table-top, and feeling him lean back against me. My fingers circled his nipple, I heard his breath hitch as the door opened and Shaun returned. While I stroked Finn, he and Aaron discussed what they would do to fortify our place, to keep us all safe, geared up to make calls, get equipment, take action.

  This is what he’d wanted, the black wolf. He was locked up, caged and constrained. He had no power, so he’d taken what he could, our peace of mind. He’d ruffled feathers, sowed seeds of fear and doubt. I straightened up, letting my fingers trail along the muscular column of Finn’s neck.

  I wasn’t in Melville anymore, not working at the diner, I wasn’t even human. That Julie had died when she was bitten by the black wolf. So who was I now?

  I looked around the table at the guys, only Finn quiet under my hands. They all talked to and over each other, sharing ideas, trying desperately to work out how to keep us safe. These very different, very beautiful men cared for me and each other, would do anything to protect us. I felt a hard lump rise in my chest, something I would never swallow down.

  “C’mon, let’s go,” I said.

  Heads turned, fingers paused in the process of making calls, conversations stopped. For a moment, old Julie quailed in the face of all that undivided male attention, but Jules shouldered her aside quickly, accepting their regard as her due.

  These are your mates, my Tirian said.

  Maybe. I don’t know yet, but I want to.

  They look upon you with hunger. You can smell their desire. They strive to protect and care for you. For now, these are your mates. Enjoy it, relish it, surrender to it, for now. When you know you care enough to do the same for them, you will know they are your pack.

  Perhaps it was this advice that prompted what came next.

  “All of you. In the bedroom, naked, now.”

  We’d had plenty of group sex, but usually with no more than two of the guys involved. The heat had definitely abated. I could think a whole lot clearer, but somehow, that just made the idea hotter. There was no foggy cloud of instinctual lust directing my actions. My eyes skipped over every single one of them, my gaze tugged hither and thither by their individual beauty. There was a brief pause, as my order hung in the air, then everyone moved as one. Shaun locked the sliding door and drew the curtains, and Finn swept me up into his arms, provoking a yelp as he carried me down the hall. The light in our room flared bright as we stepped inside, the others following hot on Finn’s heels, pulling off clothes, revealing acres of hard-muscled flesh.

  By the time Finn put me down, there was an honour guard of naked male bodies leading to the bed, erect cocks straining as they waited. I turned to see Finn was half the way to the same place. He paused, hand on his fly, grey eyes searching mine until I reached out and placed a palm on his cheek. I heard the rustle of the others moving when I kissed him, and put out a hand to stop them from coming any closer as I focused just on the feel of Finn’s lips against mine, soft, slow, nipping. It deepened as I undid his jeans and pushed them down his hips, him groaning as his hard cock slapped against his belly.

  “Jules...”

  He reached for me but I pulled back, letting my fingers trail down his body as I went. His brows creased, then smoothed, his smile twisted with frustration as he watched me move over to Slade.

  “You liking this little display, love?” he asked as I placed my arms around his neck. He moved to turn me, so I did so, facing the group. “Look at them, aching to touch you.” As if to prove his point, his fingers trailed up my ribs and cupped my breasts.

  “And each other.”

  “Some of them. You want to see that, love? When I push my cock into you, you want to see one of them take another? Hear them groan as one of them settles in deep while I swallow yours when I fuck you?”

  “If they want it.” I wanted to sound cool and open-minded, but instead sounded all breathy. “That’s what I want, for people to be able to tell me what they want, and if everyone’s cool, to go for it.” I turned to face him, glad to see that twinkle in his eyes was back. “And what do you want?”

  “Let me go first.” His voice came out as a hoarse rumble. He was trying to play it cool, fixing that sly grin of his on his face, but I could see the need plainly. “Let me be the one that works his cock into that tight little cunt of yours, watches you squirm around on the bed as you try to push me clear and pull me closer. Let me send you into the arms of one of the others with my cum dripping down your legs.”

  It was hot, what he described, but there was something else there. His eyes bore into mine, his smile fading, as if somehow his gaze could communicate what he dared not. My kiss was light, gentle, trying to reassure him, but he wasn’t having it. He yanked me to him, forcing his tongue between my lips, pouring everything he had into it before pulling away again. I blinked, feeling dazed by sensation and the sudden absence of it, and then he smiled, quick and brilliant as the sun. “C’mon, you better get to the others before they burst.”

  “Let’s get these clothes off,” Shaun said when I moved to him. I tangled my hands in his hair as he removed them, neat as a maid. He struggled to meet my eyes as I leaned in to kiss him, but his fingers dug into my waist as his lips brushed mine. The lightness of his touch seemed to belie what he was feeling. I could hear the desperate rasp of his breath as we touched, something that only got more intense when he turned me around and pushed me dazed towards Aaron.

  I should have felt self-conscious, standing there naked in front of five guys, but I didn’t get a chance to. Aaron’s lips were on mine the moment I was close enough, his hands everywhere. I found myself clinging to his chest, our tongues twining as his hand slid up my thigh. “Jules, you’re so wet.”

  He said it like I gave him the greatest gift, like it was steak and blow job day, and he was getting a double suck while eating a 400gm, grain-fed, Scotch filet. The rumble of his voice and the press of his mouth was one part reverent, one part ravenous. I panted against his lips as those fingers slid across my seam, the V rubbing on either side of my clit. My thighs widened instinctively, my hips thrusting along with his caresses, the pleasure building and building...

  “Time for Brandon, Jules.”

  The man in question’s face swum into focus as I blinked. He took in my dazed expression with a heavy-lidded smile and drew me into his arms. For some reason, resting my head against the hard expanse of his chest and breathing in his scent was just what I needed. He chuckled a little, then brushed my hair back from my face.

  “It’s a bit overwhelming, yeah?”

  He said it quietly, as if only for us.

  “Yeah.”

  “We’re gonna make you feel so good.” He spun me around to face the group. “Look at them. They’re aching to be inside you, just like I am.” He flattened his hand against my pelvis, grinding me back against his rigid length. “Ask them to touch those hard dicks.”

  I glanced over my shoulder, but then turned back to the rest of them. “Do it.”

  Big square hands, knotted with muscle, grasped each thick cock. Some, like Slade, made a show of the act. He moved his hand so, so slowly up and down his dick, as if remaking every inch of it with his movements. Veins stood out on Finn’s neck and temple. He did what I asked, but it looked like it hurt him to do so. I remembered how long it had been for him, longer than the others.

  “We shouldn’t do this to Finn. He needs it too much.”

  “He does, doesn’t he? Look at that cock, those veins standing so proud. It’s so red and angry.” We watched Finn shudder with the effort of holding back. “You can ease his suffering, if you want.”

  A memory of Brandon working his dick into Aaron flashed into my mind, so I looked back at him.

  “What do you want?”

  His smile was perfect, bright and beautiful, and he knew exactly what I was and wasn’t asking.

  “Me? I want to push S
lade out of the way, drop you on the bed and bury myself in you.” His smile widened when he heard my sharp intake of breath. “I want to be selfish and just fuck you until we both come. But really, I want to see you let go, really let go. I want to see you spread out and wanton, with us sucking, licking, biting, fucking every bloody inch of you. I want you to come until you can’t anymore and then I want you to come just once more. I want you covered in our cum, marked by any and all that smell you as ours.”

  A growl went around the room that sounded like one of agreement.

  “And you? Do you want to experience that too?”

  “Being on the receiving end?” His eyes roamed my face, as if looking for clues. “If that’s something you want to see, I’d do that for you. But not with these guys. There’s only a couple here that’d be into that. But it’s not what I need, Jules. I need what everyone here needs. You.”

  I kissed him then, because it was all so intense and overwhelming and confusing. And because despite my protestations, the geeky guy who quoted comic books and gave me romance novel recs, who also was a little bit of a dominant, was getting under my skin. They all were. And right now, I wanted to celebrate that. What we had, it was fragile. I wasn’t sure if all of our bonds would deepen enough to be made permanent, but I wanted to find out.

  I was brought back to the here and now when Brandon’s hands cupped my breasts, and his fingers tweaked my nipples hard.

  “Don’t get too caught up in your head, love.”

  I smiled, then gasped as I felt that tug on my clit each time he rolled my nipple with his fingers. “I’m not.”

  I pulled away, something I didn’t want and neither did he, if his clinging caresses were anything to go by. I moved clear of him and went to Finn, stilling his hand and then drawing his head down to mine. He fell upon me like the hungry wolf he was, his kisses open mouthed and brutal, his hands cupping my butt and jerking me close, his dick grinding into me. He tried to claw me back when I drew away, a low growl indicating his need. That stilled when I dropped down to my knees in front of him.