Wolflord: A Dark Shifter Romance

by Delta James

  Perhaps if he’d been a little less smug or she had been less sore and had less heat radiating off her behind, she might have complied. After all, she knew he was her fated mate... she could feel it and she was wildly attracted to him. But in light of his arrogance and her pain, she smiled sweetly and spoke in a soft, but clear voice.

  “I don’t think so, my lord.”

  Ruari growled angrily.

  “Growl all you like, but I am refusing you and invoking my right to challenge you to let me run,” she said with far more calm than she was feeling.

  Challenging her mate to run was an ancient, but time-honored way that a she-wolf might keep herself from being forced into a pairing against her will. Granted, the male wolf had to agree, but to not allow it could seriously threaten his reputation as alpha.

  The rules were simple. A she-wolf would have until she left the building or twenty-four hours to start on her run before her mate would take up the chase. The male wolf could chase as long as he chose, but once caught, the she-wolf was considered claimed and he could consummate the claiming as wolf, human, or both.

  “I guess you didn’t take today’s lesson to heart. No matter, we will have all the time in this life, and all the lives to come for you to learn.” Ruari shook his head. “So be it, cushla macree, I challenge you to run. Rest assured when I catch you, I will make short work of claiming you and teaching you the finer arts of pleasuring me. Run, Arielle.”

  * * *

  She had surprised him with her refusal. Her response to his earlier fondling had been everything he could have wished for. Even now her body was eager for his possession. His cock had become painfully hard in anticipation of taking her maidenhead and then taking her to the heights of ecstasy repeatedly throughout the night. He knew he needed to be gentle and mindful of her inexperience. There was no way to spare her the discomfort that would result from their first mating, but his plan had been to share a single rapturous climax, mark her as his, and then let her body recuperate before exploring the depths of her hedonistic nature. He smiled. If she wasn’t very careful, she’d find that being tied to an alpha didn’t necessarily have to be pure pleasure.

  “I will need something to put my clothing in, my lord,” he heard her say.

  “I ought to remind you that our tradition does not provide for my making it easy for you to indulge your temper tantrum before you are caught and brought to heel.”

  “You assume you will catch me,” Arielle challenged.

  “Have you ever heard a story where the she-wolf who seeks to evade her destiny manages to get away?” He let the question hang in the air.

  Arielle seemed to consider his question before replying, “Well, no...”

  “That is because none have ever been successful. Wolves can choose to pursue their mate for as long as is necessary to ensure she is caught, marked, and mated. Those same stories most often end with the naughty mate being dragged to the ground and ravaged from her beloved’s need to claim her thoroughly. Consider your choice carefully, cushla macree. I am under no obligation to treat you gently when I catch you. Many a she-wolf has been claimed in wolf form for trying her mate’s patience before being forced to shift, taken back to his bed, and claimed even more thoroughly.”

  “Ruari, Arielle has a point. She will need clothing unless you want the entire clan to see her naked,” said Bridget.

  Ruari shook his head. “If she wants to run, she can do so as a wolf and perhaps I will bring her something to cover herself with when I catch her.”

  “You cannot dictate to me that I have to run as a wolf...”

  “No, but ask yourself if you truly wish our people to see you naked...”

  “They are not my people...”

  “Not yet, but rest assured they will be. Understand, cushla macree, you will be mine. I will never stop; never give you up.”

  * * *

  Arielle looked around the room. There was no help for her there. Bridget seemed sympathetic, but there was nothing she could do. She took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind and push down her fear before shifting.

  Ruari grasped her arm gently. “Yield to me. Take your vows and I will forgive this latest bit of naughty behavior. Give yourself to me,” he growled seductively.

  She felt herself drawn to him. It would be so easy to simply acquiesce and take her place as the mistress of Dundalk, but she had promised herself to find a different path. She had been told all her life that she had but one destiny. She’d never been given the chance to be anything else. She had that chance within her grasp and didn’t mean to let it go so easily.

  All she needed to do was to shift and evade capture by Ruari. She could make her way across Eire as a wolf and then find or steal clothing when she needed it. If he would just quit rumbling at her... Between that and the alpha waves he continued to send to wash over her, it was hard to remember that she wanted to choose her own fate.

  She shook herself to try to clear his powerful presence from her being. Finding a bit of clarity and peace, she called forth her wolf and felt her body shift. This time when she shook, she did so from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail. Ruari took a step toward her and she growled, snapping at him.

  “You will pay for that bit of naughtiness, beloved. It seems you are determined to lose your maidenhead on a welted bottom. Enjoy your run... it will be the last time you leave these rooms for a while.”

  She bounded out of his chambers, down the main stairs, through the door of the keep, and into the bright sunshine. Arielle barked and ran with wild abandon; she had never felt so free. She both heard and felt Ruari’s howl. The powerful alpha force he pushed her way almost crippled her and threatened to knock her off her feet. She looked up and locked eyes with him for a moment before she sprinted out the gate toward whatever the future held for her.

  * * *

  Ruari watched her run. The pain of her loss was almost overwhelming, and she had yet to get too far away. He knew that in her wolf form, she would feel his loss, but not as much as if she were to remain human and not as keenly as she would when she bore his mark.

  “Aren’t you going to shift and go after your mate?” Bridget asked with a certain note of disdain in her voice.

  “Mind your tongue, Bridget,” Ruari snarled.

  “I meant no disrespect. But as you said she is young and untried; you might have attempted being gentler with her.”

  “That had been my plan until she tried to run me through with her father’s sword this morning.”

  Connor laughed. “I thought Alaric claimed the warrior sister?”

  “He did. Had it been Rowan, I might not have survived the encounter. It would seem my sweet Arielle has gotten it into her head that she would prefer to be more like her sister and Gareth’s mate. But she is my fated mate and I will see her brought to heel. Seamus, will you see to getting me one of the other war horses saddled?”

  “You aren’t going to shift and give chase?” the affable omega asked.

  “No. I won’t give her the satisfaction. I’ll chase her down, force her to shift, blister her backside, and claim what’s mine. If she’s lucky, she’ll get my shirt to wear for her return. However, this time when she enters the castle, there will be no doubt as to who is alpha and who is mistress. She will most likely have her freshly spanked bottom on display and perhaps the proof of her lost virginity on the inside of her thighs. Once we have returned, Arielle will take her vows before I take her into seclusion and allow her to atone for her behavior in the way she-wolves have done for millennia,” Ruari said angrily.

  “Don’t forget, your mate is still a maid,” started Bridget.

  “And she has forfeited the right to expect any gentleness from me taking that prize. In the years to come, she will count herself fortunate that I didn’t mark and claim her as a wolf.”

  Ruari spun on his heel and headed out to his horse to take up the chase. Eire wasn’t as civilized as Britannia and he meant to teach her a lesson about pushing
him too far and keeping herself safe. He swung up onto his mount, sniffed the air, caught her scent, and galloped out to run her down and claim for once and all what was his.

  * * *

  Arielle ran, glorying in the sense of freedom both from being free of Ruari and in the innate sense of independence that knowing she answered to no one except herself. The feeling of the sun shining down and the wind rippling through her thick, glossy coat were unparalleled in her experience. The thought had no sooner crossed her mind than a sharp pang of desire surged through her system and pooled in her belly. Damn the man. Had he not forced his sexual fondling on her earlier in the day, she would not be experiencing a need to surrender to him and explore and indulge the pleasure he offered. Ignoring the yearning for his presence and touch, Arielle ran on.

  She had deliberately run west when she left the castle. She believed her fate lay on Eire’s distant shore and not with the wolf who now pursued her. Arielle recognized that Ruari was bigger and stronger, but hoped that by going in an unexpected direction and by being young, fast, and capable of running long distances that she could evade his pursuit. Feeling good about her chances of escaping, Arielle was startled to hear the sound of thundering hooves on the ground behind her. She had no need to glance over her shoulder to know that it was Ruari. She could feel his presence even before he roared in triumph and sent an alpha wave to cause her to lose her footing. She might have taken an actual tumble but as she started to go down, he fisted her by the scruff of the neck and hauled her over the withers of the horse he was riding.

  “Shift,” he ordered as he brought his hand down on her flank.

  The harsh impact of his swat combined with her surprise with the speed and apparent ease with which he had caught her caused her to send her wolf to the far reaches of her being and become fully human once more... a naked and highly aroused human.

  Chapter Six

  Ruari found it curious that, instead of heading back toward the town, she had headed west. Tracking her had been easy. Not only did she make no effort to hide her tracks, but apparently, she had not thought about his ability to track her scent. As soon as he spotted her, he urged his horse forward and charged. He roared victoriously and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, hoisting her over the saddle in front of him.

  His palm had been itching in anticipation of feeling her naked buttocks quake as he rewarmed it for her.

  “Shift,” he demanded as he smacked her flank.

  As soon as she shifted, he brought his horse to a halt and quickly spanked her three more times. Arielle yowled in discomfort and dismay. Ruari could feel both in equal measure.

  “You, my beautiful mate, had best save your histrionics for when they are appropriate,” he snarled.

  “And when might you think that would be?” she snarled.

  “It’s not that I don’t think you ought to be concerned, but as often as I fear I’m going to have to discipline you, I wouldn’t waste yowling on a mere swat or two.”

  He rubbed her bottom possessively and slipped his finger in the crack of her ass, fingering her back passage. The lightest touch brought forward a profound and primal need in him to have her on her knees in front of him as he mounted her and then stroked her hard and deep. His cock hardened. He growled seductively and she shivered in response.

  Ruari stepped down off his horse. He turned back toward her and nuzzled between her legs, stopping just short of licking her slit.

  “Ruari, no.”

  He brought his hand down on her rump.

  “You do not tell me no, especially when it concerns my touching you in whatever way I choose. You’d best get used to my fondling as it will only increase as I make more and better use of all you have to offer.”

  He put his hand between her legs as she lay over the horse’s withers and shallowly stroked her feminine core. He smiled as he found the glistening proof of her need. Arielle moaned as he took just the tiniest bit and rubbed her swollen nub with it. The sound was among the sweetest sounds he’d ever heard.

  Ruari lifted her off the horse and set her down on the grass before him. He smiled. His mate, standing before him naked, was a glorious sight. Her figure in clothing had only been hinted at. Arielle, with nothing to conceal her beauty, was a sight beyond compare. Her nipples were stiffened in anticipation. And he knew her to be wet with desire. His mate might yet still be a virgin, but her body was well aware of what it wanted and needed.

  The perfumed scent of her arousal was intoxicating. He breathed deeply as if sniffing the bouquet of a fine wine... one he intended to get drunk on for many years to come. Innocently, Arielle blushed from his candid perusal. He reached out to gently take her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. He rolled it between them, savoring the delicate beading all along its surface.

  Arielle leaned into him and purred. Ruari fisted her hair none too gently as he led her toward a large fallen tree that lay uprooted from the last great storm.

  “Ruari, please...”

  He could hear not only dread for the pain she knew another spanking would bring her, but genuine fear that he might ill-treat her when he took her maidenhead. While it was true that no she-wolf had died from her fated mate’s rough pleasure, Ruari knew it was not the way to introduce her to the ecstasy and intimacy that should exist between fated mates. He wanted her mindful of disobeying him, but not afraid of him.

  The throbbing of his cock made him question his decision to not claim her in the ancient traditions of their kind. The more primitive part of his being urged him to claim her as his mate—to take her maidenhead and mark her as his. She had challenged him; he had let her run and he had caught her. She was his to claim.

  If she hadn’t been quite so beautiful, defiant, or aroused, he might have listened to the rational, civilized part of his brain. She was still a maid but was his fated mate and she needed to accept that she was. He could sense her attraction to him. When he called to her, didn’t she answer to him? When he touched her, didn’t she respond?

  Arielle struggled to get away but couldn’t dislodge his hand from her hair. He kept control with one hand while he reached up and ran the finger of another around the outer border of her areola. The texture was different both from the ivory mass that made up the majority of her breast and the pebbled nipple—a kind of transition between the two. He brought the rest of his hand up to stroke the dusky area as he brushed her distended nipple with the back of his knuckles. He growled at her provocatively. Her entire body shivered, and she purred at him.

  Ruari loosened his grip on her hair. In that instant, she shifted, inflicted a deep bite wound into his hand and charged his horse, snapping at its heels and causing the beast to gallop a short distance away. Ruari howled, stripped, and shifted as he bounded after her. She appeared to be determined and had a head start, but he was bigger, stronger, and had a need to capture her that exceeded her need to elude him.

  Watching her sprinting away, he was glad of all the pack runs at Ravenscar. His muscles and lung capacity as a wolf were greater than hers. The last human thought he had was that it was curious that once again she headed west. What was it that held her interest in that direction?

  Ruari growled in exasperation and impatience. This was not going at all the way he had planned it. What had happened to the meek, beautiful girl that he had met at Calon Onest and why did the sultry beauty who continued to defy him call to him so fiercely?

  * * *

  She couldn’t believe he’d caught up with her so fast the first time. She had expected him to shift and chase after her, assuming he would head toward the harbor. Instead he had saddled a charger and hunted her down. She was surprised when he had let go of her hair and inadvertently given her another chance at freedom. He was right that male wolves could chase their mate for as long as they liked. What he had failed to understand was that she-wolves could continue to try for their freedom just as long.

  Once again, he called to her. The power of his seductive song was almost i
mpossible to resist... almost. She shook her head and forced herself to run faster. If he caught her again, she knew he wouldn’t make the same mistake of releasing her from his grasp. She flicked an ear back and heard him in hot pursuit. Even though she was pushing the outer limits of her physical abilities, he was gaining on her.

  She heard his victorious howl only seconds before he pounced on her, sending both of them tumbling. She had almost managed to gain her feet when she felt him take the thick ring of fur that circled her neck firmly in his teeth. Arielle tried to reach around to bite him, but he had her within his jaws. He shook her ferociously. She tried to find some way to loosen his hold but failed. She felt him shift to human, exchanging teeth for hand as he shook her again.

  “Enough, Arielle. Shift!”

  She complied and felt the hand that was not holding her captive snake out and land harshly on her still painful buttocks. He stalked toward a group of bushes, leaning down toward the ground and breaking a switch off. Ruari held it and her in one hand while he stripped the leaves off. Fisting her hair once again, he turned in the direction of his horse, who hadn’t gone far and was now lazily nibbling the grass.

  Arielle yelped as the switch laid a thin line of misery across her bottom. She started to yowl but the sound was cut off as another was laid down next to it. Ruari used the terrible instrument of pain on her several times as he marched her toward his mount. Just as he reached for the reins, Arielle growled and swatted the horse on its rump, which made it jump and put distance between itself and the two arguing humans.

  Ruari sank to his knees, compelling her to do the same. After staring at her intently, he forced her to her back and pinned her beneath him. Arielle had never found herself bearing the weight of a man, much less one who was highly aroused and had every right to possess her. She told herself that struggling with the powerful warrior would do no good. It wasn’t his physical strength that held her in his thrall but rather the intensity of his call and her need to surrender to him.