by Lauren Dane
When he’d gotten her completely undressed, he quickly got rid of his own clothes and stepped into the tub first. She took the hand he held out and got in, nestling between his thighs. Kari breathed deeply, the scent of the herbs floating in the water soothing her senses.
“The herbs in the water are Anna’s special mixture. Rosemary, lemon balm and she said a bit of vanilla just for you because she knew you liked it.”
Tears stung Kari’s eyes. She held such a feeling of belonging, of being cherished and adored. For a moment panic drowned her as she remembered her life before, without this man and his family.
Sensing it, Andreas leaned in and kissed her temple. “Tonight, in just a few hours, you’ll be mine and I’ll be yours. This is forever, Kari. And I’ve never felt so satisfied and sure about anything in my life.”
“You’d better be, Andreas. Because I’m trusting you with my whole self. I’m giving myself to you totally. If I lost all of this, if you change your mind, it would break my heart. And then I’d have to rip your balls off.”
She felt him wince behind her and then he laughed. “Such a vicious little wolf. I like that.” And she felt the truth of it as his cock pressed into her back. “And I’m not going anywhere. If anything, you’ll have to beat me off with a stick to keep me away from you. I can’t seem to get enough.”
Rising up on her knees, she turned to face him. “I’m a buffet, Andreas, come and get me.” One of her eyebrows went up and he groaned.
“Don’t torture me!” He brought soapy hands to her nipples and rolled and tugged them between his fingertips and a soft moan broke from her lips. “You don’t know how much I wanted to rip off your pants and fuck you on the table this afternoon after you told Johanna off. Seeing you that way really turns me on.”
He sat her on the edge of the tub. “Spread your thighs.” He knelt before her as she did. “I want you to touch yourself for me. I want to watch you here, flushed with the heat of the bathwater, skin glistening and wet and golden from candlelight. I want to see your fingers on your pussy. Show me what you like.”
She was speechless for a moment. But he’d given to her twice when he couldn’t come at all. He’d loved her and cherished her and asked for something she did anyway, why not give him a little show?
Her gaze locked with his, she brought two fingers to her mouth and then down her stomach to her pussy.
“Hold me open, Andreas.”
Reaching out, he spread her labia with his thumbs.
When her fingertips found her clit, she jumped. She’d never masturbated in front of anyone before. It was incredibly erotic and intimate.
“That’s the way, little wolf,” Andreas growled low, eyes rapt on her fingers.
She tried to give him a show, drawing out her movements as her fingers slid through her wet heat, her clit a swollen bead beneath the pads of her fingers. When she pressed two fingers into her gate, they both gasped. The walls of her cunt gripped her, wishing it was him instead.
And as she fucked herself with her fingers and her thumb went to her clit, he leaned in and licked around her hand.
That was all it took. A cry came from her as orgasm rippled through her system. A quiet, moving climax that pulled her under for a brief time and then she resurfaced, feeling calm and relaxed.
Andreas kissed the insides of her thighs. “Beautiful.” He pulled her fingers from her and sucked them into his mouth and she nearly came again just watching. “Let’s go, little wolf. Let’s go and do this so I can finally take you in our bed. And out of our bed. Against a wall. On the table. Wherever.”
“Oh! Promises, promises.”
* * *
Just before nine they went downstairs, where the Pack waited. The emotions of the wolves, her wolves, slammed into her as she began to walk through them out the door.
Most of them wore robes like Andreas’s, a few were naked already.
Andreas led her into a meadow ringed by trees behind the lodge. The place felt magical, heavy with power. He turned to her. “It’s time, little wolf. Are you ready?”
Taking a deep breath, she nodded. He carefully removed her robe, hanging it on a peg in the tree trunk, putting his own next to it. Her heart did a little lurch when she saw him naked again.
Andreas looked at her, so beautiful as the silvery light of the moon shone on her skin, making her glow like a pearl. Her hair hung down over her shoulders and played peek-a-boo with her nipples as she moved. His own personal goddess. The importance of the moment weighed on him, not as a burden, but as a cloak. This was his Pack and here was his Mate. They’d lead together and build a life, like his parents had. The yearning he’d pretended not to have all those years rushed through him and drained away, replaced with satisfaction.
Bowing over her hand, he kissed it and stood again before leading her into the small clearing.
“This meadow is where most of the Clan are buried. You can feel them all here, watching over us. All our major celebrations happen here—dedications of children, Mating ceremonies, first transformations. This piece of ground is the heart of Cherchez.” Andreas gestured around the meadow.
Kari nodded, feeling the sense of unity, of kinship with the others there. Her skin had begun to itch. The energy from Andreas hung over her like fog. Her head began to feel muzzy and her hearing was tinny, as if she was listening through bad speakers.
“Let it come, Kari. Don’t be afraid.” Andreas looked deep in her eyes and she looked back into his, latching on to him like a life preserver.
The Pack formed a circle and Andreas pulled her into the center, under the open sky.
He addressed the Pack but his eyes were for her alone. “Tonight the moon will pull the wolf to the surface and Kari will become my Mate. The Alpha of Cherchez Clan. Your queen stands before you, human for moments more.”
“J’honore ma partenaire. I honor my Mate.” Andreas held out his hand to her and she took it, kissing his knuckles. “J’honore ma reine. I honor my queen.” He put a wreath of white star jasmine in her hair. The rest of the Pack repeated the last phrase.
Andreas turned in a circle and spoke. “Nous souhaitons la bienvenue au loup. Nous celebrons le lien. Nous honorons notre soeur. We welcome the wolf. We celebrate the bond. We honor our sister.”
Kneeling before her, he ran his hands up her legs. “The moon calls the wolf, Kari. Let her come.” He drew her to her knees, and the need to stretch burned through her. Her bones ached, especially the long bones of her legs. Her fear was muted by the energy of her Pack. Their presence calmed her.
The itching rippling of her skin that she’d felt earlier in the day returned. Her humanity, her woman-skin, slid beneath the fur. Her humanness fell away. The wolf within took over, bursting up and through her body, roaring to the surface, and suddenly she blinked. The world was black and white and gray. She looked up at the moon and howled, joined by the voices of twenty-eight others howling triumph and joy.
It was amazing. She shook her head and felt another wolf rub his muzzle along her own. Joy rolled through her—it was Andreas. Even with her black-and-gray vision she knew he was a golden wolf the size of a small pony. His eyes gleamed with an otherworldly fire. She wished she had her human sight to see him in full color, but still, she’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
The jet-black wolf from her dream thudded into her playfully, grinning at her. Skye. As she was nuzzled and bumped by numerous other wolves, she could tell who each one was.
Andreas sent a burst of emotion to her—run—and she nodded her head at him, tearing off into the forest, following closely on his heels.
She had never dreamed anything could feel so good. Utterly free. Powerful. She’d have giggled if she were human. Experimenting, she sent a burst of extreme joy to Andreas. He looked back at her for a moment and howled as he ran.
They ran for miles, the forest whipping past. The smells and textures intoxicated her. Finally she scented a lake. It was higher here, the air a bit thinner. She coul
d smell the fish, the birds in the trees, the fur all around her. She slowed, approaching the lakeshore, padding beside Andreas.
Andreas herded her by pushing her with his head in the direction he wanted her to go. She nipped at him playfully, and he batted her with a big paw on her hindquarters. He sent a burst of lust so strong that she nearly stumbled. Her legs trembled. This was the moment.
Rearing up behind her, he mounted her. His teeth closed in on her neck, holding her in place. He growled and she whined. She wasn’t going anywhere, mesmerized by the spell of this place, of the ritual. Of Andreas inside of her in such a primal way. There was no orgasm for her, just a feeling of possession and pride. The pleasure of being wanted and desired by this wolf at her back. Her Mate, her king.
She felt his climax and he withdrew from her slowly, licking her where he’d bitten, nuzzling her. She got down on her belly and crawled to him, utterly submissive. He stood over her and howled. Finished. She was his. He was hers. Getting on his belly, he rolled over to her and she pounced on him. Playing, they rolled over each other, growling and yipping in joy. Other wolves were coupling, as well. Some with their Mates, some were sharing, which she found interesting and wanted to remind herself to ask about later.
A female approached and presented toward Andreas. That bitch Johanna wanted to fuck her wolf? Kari didn’t think so.
Even though Andreas turned his back on Johanna, Kari came forward and snarled at her, but the other wolf wouldn’t back off. Kari shot over and bit her on her hind leg, drawing blood as a warning. It should have been enough but Johanna came tearing toward her, trying to bite her back. Sean and Phillip started to get in between them but Kari snarled at them both to get back. She had to fight her own battles. If she didn’t take care of the Johanna problem now, her status would be in jeopardy. Other females might be having sex with males they weren’t mated to. But she was sure that, as king—on the night he bonded with his Mate and queen—Andreas fucking other women, wolves, whatever, was not allowed. Even if the rules allowed it, it certainly wasn’t okay with Kari and Johanna knew it.
No, Johanna was pushing. She thought she could take Kari and she was dead wrong.
Kari jumped at Johanna, slashing her hindquarters with her teeth, raising more blood. She growled low, Give it up, bitch. Johanna looked her square in the eyes and lunged but before she’d even realized it, Kari was gone, having jumped out of the way.
Sean stood next to Andreas, two great hulking wolves. Andreas looked supremely assured that his Mate would win. He hadn’t even raised his hackles.
Phillip, on the other hand, growled and snarled at Johanna.
Johanna kept trying to catch Andreas’s eye. Kari’d had enough. Lunging, she caught Johanna’s neck, throwing her on her back, belly exposed. She closed her mouth over Johanna’s throat and the song of Johanna’s blood slammed into her. Warm and coppery, spicy and intoxicating. She tightened her grip and placed her front paws on the exposed stomach.
Johanna whined and went limp. She’d surrendered. Kari let go and turned her back, snorting. She’d nearly reached Andreas when she saw his head snap up and Johanna’s body slammed into her. The bitch had faked it and attacked her when her back was turned!
Kari went limp for a moment to confuse Johanna. When Johanna moved in for the kill, teeth bared, killing light in her eyes, Kari rose up and jumped into her full-force. Grabbing Johanna’s neck between her jaws, Kari jerked Johanna’s head back and forth, avoiding the snapping jaws that tried to bite her. One last savage whip of the neck and Kari heard the crack and dropped Johanna’s body from her jaws. She’d broken Johanna’s neck. The reality of it hit her human, deep beneath the fur of her wolf. Oh god, I’ve killed someone.
The other wolves came in and yipped and stroked and touched her. Andreas came and licked a bite on her side. Sean nuzzled into her as if he was looking for wounds. He licked the scratches on her stomach. Her human was in shock but her body, her wolf nature, sang in victory. She’d dealt with a threat effectively. There’d been no choice but to kill Johanna in the end but Kari hadn’t had to start the fight to begin with.
Andreas shook his head at her, whining and licking her face. Jade came and rubbed against her gently. Andreas put his body against hers and pushed and the two of them ran back through the woods, fur gleaming under the waning light of the moon, until she and Andreas stopped at the tree where their robes hung. He looked at her as if to ask if she was ready to change back. She lay on the ground, belly pressing against the cool dirt and pine needles, her breath visible against the cold. She let her wolf slide beneath her human self and her soft pink skin rose as the furry skin sank.
She said, “Wait,” to Andreas, who was still a wolf.
He was beautiful, his coat the color of wheat, his eyes like amber with flame behind it. He was so large that he rose to her chest. She ran her face and hands through the soft fur and his sandpapery tongue came out to lick across her jawline. She held his muzzle in her small hands. “You are so beautiful. Come back to me now, Andreas,” she murmured and stepped back. Before her eyes he took back his human self. Coming to her, still naked, he pulled her into his arms.
“Don’t feel bad. You did what you had to do. She started it, you had to finish it, or you would have never been truly safe,” he whispered against her hair.
“I killed someone.”
“You killed a wolf. Wolves do that. We also kill deer. You’ll do that too. You’re no longer human, Kari. You’re a werewolf, a shapeshifter. You’re my queen and my Mate. As of tonight, you rule at my side. You are my wife. You have responsibilities on so many levels. You did what you had to do. She forced it.”
Touched, she nonetheless had to deal with what happened. “What’s going to happen to Johanna’s body?”
“She’s Pack. She died as a wolf, she’ll keep that shape. Every Pack member has contingencies in place should any of us die. To deal with our human lives. Johanna’s human life will be dealt with as she wished it to be in her will. She’ll be buried in the meadow. As Second and the healer of the Clan, Sean will conduct the burial ritual before he comes back to the house.”
“Good. I like that.”
“Part of this world is death, Kari. It’s not an everyday occurrence. But it’s there. We’re predators, not just people with fur. It sounds savage, but it’s our reality. Don’t let this mar your Ascension. As hard as it is to understand, please know that you did what you had to. She would have killed you. You defended yourself and you killed her first.”
She took a deep breath. True, she’d had no choice. She’d tried to show mercy many times but Johanna wouldn’t accept it. It truly had been a kill-or-be-killed situation. Nodding, she gave Andreas a small smile. “I know. It’s just hard.”
“Good. It should be. You shouldn’t take it lightly and you haven’t. You did your job with integrity.”
She let him hold her, let the steady rhythm of his heart calm and comfort her.
“Come, my queen. I’m now going to make love to you as a human should. And then I’m going to fuck you.”
Stifling a smile, she took the hand he held out and they started walking toward the house.
“Let’s get upstairs before they all start coming back. If we aren’t behind our locked door, everyone will want to talk to you. I’ll have to share you and I want you all to myself. And naked.”
They ran up the stairs and into the bedroom, where Anna had set up candles, chilled champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries. “Man, you’ve really charmed that woman,” he said, shaking his head in amusement.
“What can I say? I’m very charming,” she said in a haughty tone, then laughed.
He poured her a glass of champagne and she took a bite of strawberry, watching him, eyes alight with lust and mischief. So amazing, his woman. He walked toward her, holding out the glass and staring his fill down the lines of her body. Curvaceous thighs and hips, high, full breasts, softly rounded stomach. Candlelight flickered against her pale skin. His co
ck bobbed painfully when she licked her bottom lip, clearing a smudge of chocolate.
Taking the glass from him, she held out the other half of the strawberry in her fingers. He took it from her, licking her fingertips, making her gasp. “To forever,” he said, holding his own glass up.
She clinked hers against it. “Forever,” she agreed and sipped. “Mmmm. Strawberries, chocolate, champagne and naked man. No combination can beat that.” She gave him a wicked grin.
He drained his glass in one long swallow and set it down. Grabbing her hand, he led her to the bed, their bed.
“I can’t think of a better way to wake each morning than with you at my side. I’ve waited so long. I was beginning to think I’d never find my true Mate, and yet, a few days after meeting you for the first time and I feel like you’ve been with me forever. You just feel so right.”
“You sure know your way around the love words, Andreas Phinney. I bet that got you loads of ass over the years.”
Grinning a moment, he wisely refrained from commenting. Instead he took her glass and put it down on the table next to the bed and waggled his brows at her with lascivious intent.
Kari smiled at that, shivering as he ran his tongue around the shell of her ear and down the column of her throat, stopping to nibble on her collarbone.
“When I was in high school, I read some romance novel about this couple who fell in love the first day they met. I always thought that was a load of hooey. Love was something that only happened for some people. When you brought me here... I was so scared and so pissed off! But at the same time I felt this intense draw to you. When Skye changed it gave me a lifeline, a reason to believe you and to let myself want to be here.
“This is all totally fantastical! Not just the werewolf thing, but the love-at-first-scent/sight thing. But I don’t know, when I’m with you I believe it. The fairy tale is real. Love, shapeshifters, all of it.” She gasped again as his head bent over her breast, tongue flicking out to lave a nipple. “That’s very nice.”
