by Beth Rosalee
I take a deep breath to clear the emotions.
“It’s ok, Pretty Girl; I will take care of you for the rest of your life now. I will wash your hair everyday if that is what you desire,” he tells me; then, places a gentle sweet kiss on my lips.
Then, he turns me back around and repeats the process with the conditioner. Sighing in happiness, I relax into his chest and let him.
Once he’s done, he grabs the loofa and says, “I’ll wash yours if you wash mine.”
He has a silly smirk on his face.
“Deal. Now, give me that,” I say as I snatch the loofa away.
We wash each other, playing and laughing together; then, get out. Liam just throws back on the clothes he was in, but I grab some new clothes. At this rate, I’m going to run out of clothes in a day. I chuckle to myself- totally worth it.
“Alright, let’s go have that chat now that you’ve calmed back down.”
“Fine, but I can’t promise I won’t try to kick that asshole in the balls,” I say with a straight face.
Liam bursts out laughing, making me giggle with him.
“Oh man, I would pay to see you do that, Pretty Girl.”
“Come on, let’s get it done then,” I say, grabbing his hand and leading the way to the living room.
I decide to call the guys in for a meeting through our link.
“Meeting in the living room boys; someone inform the asshole, please.”
They all laugh, and Tate confirms that Gray is coming since he is next to him trying to figure out what is so funny.
Once we are all in the living room and seated, I look at everyone, but Gray. The rejection from earlier still stings, regardless of what Liam said to me.
“So, where do we start? Do I need to repeat to you what I said earlier before I was so pleasantly interrupted?” I ask, suddenly nervous.
I can feel Gray’s eyes burning into the side of my head, but I refuse to look at him. I will likely burst out crying if I do.
“No, you don’t need to repeat it. What we need is for Liam to find that second prophecy that was foretold and ASAP,” Gray says, still burning the hole in the side of my head.
I want to look over at him, but I know the conversation will be over before it started- again.
“I’ll head over to the main house when we are done here and search the vault for it. Tate, would you help me? And we can finally ask dad tonight at dinner,” Liam responds.
“Of course, bro,” Tate answers easily.
“Alright, now we need to focus on your shifting. There isn’t anything we can do to find out more about Fenrir being your father….I wish I knew how to find those answers, but no one has seen or heard from him in a thousand years or more.”
Gray is clearly trying to get me to look at him, the commanding tone of his voice is making that clear.
I lock eyes with Wyatt instead as I respond, “That’s ok, I’m sure there is probably some hurt that goes along with finding that out. I’m in no rush to feel anymore hurt.”
I pause and gulp back my emotions.
“Wyatt, are you going to help me with shifting while the boys are researching?” I plead, my eyes begging for him to say yes.
He opens his mouth to respond, but Gray stands and says “No, I will be. I am the Alpha of this pack; therefore, the best person to help you. My wolf is strong enough to draw her forward if you can’t.”
I finally turn and glare at him as he towers over me. I can swear I see him relax a fraction and release a breath when I meet his eyes.
“Fine, but I won’t need your help. I’m sure I could do it just fine on my own,” I sass at him like a child.
He smirks, clearly satisfied with his effect on me.
“Liam, Tate, head over and start looking into that second prophecy. Wyatt, run into town and find our little princess a dress to wear for dinner.”
They all stand to do as they are told, pausing when I protest.
“Wait! I should go with Wyatt to pick out my dress; he won’t know what to get me!”
Wyatt smiles at me; then, in my mind tells me, “It’s ok, Beautiful, you need to stay here and shift. It will only take a few times for you to be able to fully bond with Svana. I promise that I will be just fine picking out your dress.” He winks at me, then tells the guys, “I’ll be back after a while. I’ll come help y’all when I get back. I’ll lay your dress on your bed for you, Beautiful.”
He walks over and presses a kiss to the top of my head; then, he pulls his keys from his pocket and heads out the door.
Tate walks over and wraps my in a tight hug, whispering in my ear, “It’s ok, Pussycat, the more time you spend with him, the more he will open up. He can’t help being an asshole.”
The last part he speaks a little louder to make sure that I’m not the only one who heard him. Considering the growl rumbling out of Gray’s chest, I’d say he heard. Quickly kissing my lips, he scurries out the door behind Wyatt. Liam walks over and claims my mouth in a demanding kiss. As I gasp, he darts inside, deepening it as he speaks in my mind.
“Be a good girl for me while I’m gone and I will reward you later.”
Finishing the mind blowing kiss and that promise with a last peck on the lips, he cuts his eyes to Gray, nods his head, then leaves as well. Breathless, and a bit taken aback from the kiss, I almost miss Gray readjusting his pants.
“Let’s go, Celia. The sooner we start, the sooner your bond with Svana will be complete,” Gray demands, turning on his heel and heading for the backyard.
Not waiting to see if I’m following, he just walks out the door, leaving it wide open.
Chapter 30
Celia
I grumble to myself all the way out the door, only shutting up when I hit the threshold of the house, not wanting him to overhear me.
“Strip,” is all he says.
Well, demands, once I stop in front of him in the center of the backyard.
“W-w-what?” I stutter nervously, looking around like someone is watching us. “I am not stripping in the middle of the backyard!”
Folding his arms over his mountain sized chest he says, “You will or you’ll rip those to pieces like you did to your clothes on the first shift. No one is around for miles and I don’t give a shit either way.”
He’s right about one thing; there isn’t likely anyone around for miles. The backyard is huge and it is surrounded on all three sides by a thick canopy of trees.
Growling at him I say, “Fine, but only because I don’t want to ruin my clothes.”
I rip off my shirt with a huff, aggravated that he is the one helping me. Also, doesn’t help that I can feel the mating heat starting to surface.
“Not now, Svana, we need to shift.”
Of course, she doesn’t respond since she is mostly buried in the back of my mind at the moment. As I pull my bra off, I can feel Gray’s eyes burning my skin, taking me in. I start to sweat as the fire in me blazes to life full force. My pussy throbs and I feel the telltale sign of a wet spot in my panties as I pant through it and I finish removing my clothes. Gray inhales sharply, chest rumbling, but doesn’t say anything.
Once I’m standing there completely nude, chest heaving with my need to mate, I ask through gritted teeth, “What do I do now, Alpha?”
“First, you need to fight through that urge to mate right now; this more important.”
I roll my eyes and take a deep breath at yet another rejection from the Alpha asshole. Clearly, his need to mate isn’t there like it was for the guys. I take another deep breath, trying to keep control over my emotions and hormones at the same time. Not an easy feat when they are raging against each other. As soon as I feel confident that I have a tight grip on my control, I nod to him.
“Now what?” I ask, hoping I covered the hurt up well enough with my attitude.
Clearing his throat, and in a much softer voice then I was expecting, he says, “Now, close your eyes and try to clear your mind. Picture it as a river following; right
now, the water is wild and the current is strong. Now, take a deep breath in and imagine the water slowing. Now, slowly release your breath and, as you do, imagine that river is stopping completely. Got that?”
I nod my head.
“Good girl, now that the river is calm, walk to the edge and look inside. Find that ball of energy just below the surface. Once you see it, you just need to simply grab it and pull it to you. As you do, your minds will connect; then, the shift will just happen naturally. Your wolf will guide you from there.”
Taking one more deep breath, I walk over to the edge of the river, doing as Gray instructed. The water looks very deep, making me feel nervous. Will I drown if I fall in there, even though this is only in my mind? I don’t want to find out, that’s for sure. I crouch on the bank, feeling a bit safe that way, and I look into the water, searching for that ball of energy. There, just below the surface to the right, I can see it. Moving over in front of it, I reach in the grab it, only my fingers just barely graze it. Growling, I try again, but with the same results.
“Easy, baby girl, coax it up. It will come to you.,” Gray whispers in my ear.
Inhaling, then exhaling slowly, I try again. I picture the energy coming to me.
“Svana, come on, baby, it’s time to bond.”
With that, the ball of energy shoots into my hand with such force that I fall back. Snapping my eyes open, thinking I’m actually about to fall, only to realize everything is in sharp focus and that I can smell Grayson’s musk. Damn, he smells so good.
“Yes, he does.”
Svana startles me out of my thoughts.
“Shit, Svana, you scared me. I am so glad to hear your voice, though. I started to think that you were only going to come around to growl at me to mate.”
“Wow, good job, Celia. Most people can’t get it on their first try. I thought that I’d have to force the shift for you. Now, move around to get accustomed to your new form.”
I look at Gray and growl.
“Gods, he is such an asshole; are you sure he is one of our mates?” I ask Svana as I move around the yard, just stretching my limbs and getting a feel for this new body.
“I’m sure, C,; he is our mate, but I agree he is an asshole. We will just have to butter him up and back through that tough exterior,” she says; then makes me yip. “Oh, how it feels to be free! Do you feel that, C? Do you feel the power coursing through our veins? This is the only shift that we needed- our bond is complete. Now, I will always be right here with you in both forms. We are completely connected.”
She sounds as truly happy as I feel. I feel her take the reins for a minute and I let her. I can feel that I could take it back if I wanted, but I let her take over. She has been caged for a very long time, after all.
Crouching down low, with our butt in the air and our tail wagging, she yips at Gray. He hasn’t taken his eyes off of us this entire time, so he just lifts an eyebrow at us in question. Confident that we have his full attention, she suddenly takes off at full speed at him.
“Hey!” he shouts, but a second too late.
We are fast- like really fast. She pounces on him, tackling him to the ground and licks his face.
“Ugh, get off, Celia. I don’t want to be cover in your slobber.”
Of course, he blames this on me.
Asshole.
I take over and nip his arm baring my teeth.
He growls at the challenge; then, all of a sudden, he is shifting, forcing me to back off. Clearly, this is what Svana wanted because our tail starts wagging at super speed. We yip and prance around, trying to get him to join in.
“Even in wolf-form, he is an asshole,” I tell Svana frustrated.
“He may be, but his wolf is fighting him to come play, look at him,” she says excitedly, running up to rub our body down the side of his.
I decide last second to nip his tail; then, we dart off to the other side of the yard when he growls at us. Crouching back down, we wait. His wolf won the battle this time and he suddenly comes bounding towards us. We jump back to our feet, waiting until the last second to dart out of the way. We run around the backyard, yipping and playing for a while, his wolf showing a totally different side to him.
“I wish that he would be more like this all the time, not just as his wolf,” I say to Svana on a sigh.
“He will be in time- he and his wolf are one and the same, just as we are now. So, his wolf is acting on his true primal desires. Wolves are all instinct and reaction, whereas humans are thoughts and logic. Having the true bond between the two balances both out. He isn’t doing anything that he doesn’t truly want to, Celia,” she finishes explaining.
“Well, that shines a whole new light on things then. Maybe I should try and push him more. Liam said that he is just afraid of hurting me. He is naturally aggressive as an alpha and he doesn’t want to ever make me feel like I did in the past. It’s just so hard to believe. I mean, all the rest of us could barely keep our hands to ourselves with the mating call. How is he resisting it so easily?” I ask her, jumping out of the way just in time as Gray charges us.
“He isn’t resisting it well, just look at the way he watches you when he thinks you aren’t looking. And if the bulge he sports in his pants on a regular basis doesn’t speak for itself, then I don’t know what will. I may have been locked in your mind, but I still saw everything,” she says as we tumble on the ground with him.
Nipping at each other, I try to get the upper hand. He manages to get on top of us and pins us down by the neck, holding tightly, but not hurting us until we finally submit. As soon as we lay still and relax into a submissive position, he lets go and backs off. He is clear across the yard and shifting back before we can even blink. He grabs his clothes and storms inside, slamming the door behind him.
“Well, that went well, didn’t it? We will have to push him. Now that we are fully bonded, you and I, maybe you can lend me some of that sass you possess,” I say, making her chuff out a laugh.
“It’s our sass now, Celia; you will be submissive no more, unless you chose to be, of course.”
“Ha-ha, that is certainly going to happen. Speaking of which, do you, uh, watch while we are uh…you know?” I ask awkwardly.
She laughs again.
“Of course, I do, unless you are going to let me go at it with them in their wolf forms; then, it is my only form of satisfaction that I’ll be getting,” she tells me haughtily.
“Right, uh, guess that makes sense. Now, how do we shift back? Since Gray decided not to stick around to help out with that part.”
“It should be easy enough. I’m guessing that you just do what you did the first time, only in reverse,” she says sarcastically, and I sigh.
“Guess I deserved that. It can’t be that hard.”
I close my eyes and picture my river again; I collect the ball of energy into my hands and place it in the water. When I open my eyes, I am in my human form. Putting my clothes back on, I decide to go in and take a nap until it’s time to get ready for dinner. I have to say that I’m a bit nervous to meet Gray’s father. I wonder if he is an asshole as well.
Svana laughs in my mind.
“I’m sure that he is, but I doubt he will act that way with you, C. Gray will eventually get past his stubborn ways with you; then, he will treat you like the queen you are.”
I scoff and head to the back door. I grab the doorknob twisting and try to open it.
Only as I do, I crush the doorknob in my hand and it snaps completely off.
“Holy shit! How the hell did I do that?” I say, looking at the smashed hunk of metal in my hands in wonder.
I burst out laughing at the craziness of it all. Apparently, bonding with Svana has made me insanely strong. Keeping the doorknob in my hand, I head around to the front door. Making sure to grab that one extra carefully, I go in the house. I set the smashed doorknob on the kitchen counter as I walk past; since everyone but Gray is gone, I have no one to tell about it at the moment. I’m going t
o have to learn how to do things with this new ability. Oh well, that is for another time. For now, it’s nap time. I just kick off my shoes and lay in the bed fully dressed, closing my eyes. I’m asleep within minutes.
Chapter 31
Celia
Several hours later, I wake to the sound of someone in my room. Blinking my eyes, I see Wyatt just closing the door quietly behind him on his way out. There, laying on the end of my bed, is a gorgeous dark teal dress. I scramble out of the bed in excitement to look at it. Picking it up, I see that it’s a glittery, off the shoulders dress with a ruched thigh slit.
There, next to it, is a pair of black pumps. I pick them up to look at the size and my heart nearly stops. He freaking bought me a pair of black peep-toe Louboutin heels. I squeal in excitement. I set everything back down and dart into the bathroom. I shower quickly, then decide to blow dry and curl my hair in loose elegant waves. My hair won’t hold any other type of curl with its length and how thin and straight it is.
Once I’m finished with that, I apply a small amount of makeup- just some nude eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, and a light gloss that helps bring out the tiny bit of pink in my lips. I check myself one last time in the mirror. Satisfied, I walk out and look at the time. Perfect, it’s five o’clock, and they said dinner is at six. I put on a sexy black lingerie set; then, slip on the dress. It’s a perfect fit.
I grab the heels; then, walk to the full length mirror in the short hallway from my room to the bathroom. I gasp at myself in the mirror- I look beautiful. The dress hugs my ample chest and hips perfectly. The dress falls to just below my knees and the slit comes all the way up to just below where my panty line would be in a pair of regular panties. The shoulders allow me to show off my mating marks as well as my new mysterious tattoos.
With a last minute decision, I grab a cute diamond hair pin that my mom got me. I somehow managed to keep Nathan from destroying it. I pull the hair back on that side and pin it in place. I slip on the heels and check out the complete look in the mirror. Wow, I don’t think I have ever felt so beautiful.
“Thank you,” I whisper through our link to Wyatt.
