Rae, Beverly - Howling for Sara [Night Runner Werewolves 1] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Special Edition)

by Beverly Rae

  William jumped on the bear’s back, opening the way for the rest of the werewolves. They circled the bear, veering in and out to bite where they could. Victor spun in a circle, trying to defend himself from all sides, but it was useless. The werewolves were too quick for him to land a blow.

  Victor shuffled toward the lean-to, hoping to protect his back. Seeing an advantage, Michael split from the others, letting them draw the bear’s attention. He ran behind the structure and, hoping the ramshackle building would support his weight, jumped onto the roof using it as a springboard to propel him onto the bear.

  He dug his claws into Victor’s back at the same moment he opened his jaws wide and clamped down on the thick skin of the bear’s neck. Victor squealed in terror and rage and, forgetting the others, ran a few steps before turning to spin.

  The pack attacked as one, each wolf biting into a leg or the belly. Victor’s bellows grew louder as wolf after wolf tore pieces of flesh from him.

  Suddenly, the bear roared, the sound muffled by blood streaming from his mouth. He shook his massive body once, then stumbled and fell on his side. Snarling, Michael gripped Victor by the neck and tore out his throat. Blood spurted over Michael and the taste of the animal’s life force filled his mouth.

  The bear’s body shuddered as it accepted death. At last, with the werewolves forming a circle around him, Victor let out his last breath. His eyes stared lifelessly at Sara.

  The pack, growling low and circling their fallen prey, paused, then lifted their muzzles in the air and howled.

  * * * *

  Sara pulled the T-shirt over her head, wincing when the soft material slid over the many bruises and scratches covering her body. She peered into the bathroom mirror and gingerly touched her swollen cheek. Her brown eyes looked lackluster and tears welled in her eyes. Even the luxurious bath she’d taken couldn’t wash away the memory of Victor’s hand between her legs.

  She trembled, once again thinking about what would have happened if Michael and the others hadn’t found her in time. She had no doubt that Victor would have raped her. Once he was through with her, he would’ve killed her and left her body to rot under the hot Texas sun.

  “But he didn’t, so stop with the waterworks.” She glowered at her image.

  “No one would blame you if you cried.”

  Sara whirled to find Michael standing in the doorway of the bathroom. “I didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.” She pulled her body straighter. “How are you doing?”

  Michael shrugged. “I’m fine. He never hit me with a good blow.”

  “And Ranlon? William and the others?” After the fight, she’d collapsed from exhaustion as the terror left her body. Instead, she’d closed her eyes and listened to the comforting rhythm of Michael’s heartbeat as he carried her every step of the way back to the house. If any of them had been injured, she would’ve been devastated.

  “We’re all fine. Jimmy and William are back from town. They took the sheriff and a few others out to get Vic—to recover the body.”

  “Was he still a bear?” Would she ever get used to referring to people in their animal forms? Yet, she knew she would have to if she was going to stay. She dragged in a ragged breath. Providing they still wanted her to stay.

  “If a shifter dies in his animal body, he stays an animal.”

  “What about the townspeople? How did they treat them?”

  “Now that we’ve given them the real killer, the animosity’s grown weaker. In time, they’ll put the stories in the past. They’ll never forget, but I think they’ll go back to leaving us alone.”

  Michael studied her, worry lines forming in his brow. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been out like a light for most of the day.”

  “I was?” She’d been worn out, mentally as well as physically. “I guess I needed the rest.” She smiled, trying to put him at ease.

  Michael held out his hand for her. “Sara, we need to talk.”

  She’d sensed he was there to do more than check up on her and had known this time would come. She nodded, still unable to voice the question she needed answered. Did they want her to stay? Pulling her courage around her, she took his hand and let him lead her to sit on the bed.

  Her stomach churned and her pussy tightened remembering the last time she was in bed with him. And the others? She longed to have all of them in the enormous bed.

  Michael touched her swollen cheek. “I can’t stand that he did this to you. It’s my fault.”

  “How can it be your fault? Victor struck me, not you. If anyone else is to blame, it’s me for running off like an idiot. But when I saw you change, saw all of you as werewolves, I couldn’t think straight. I just ran.”

  He ducked his head and stared at the floor. “Who can blame you? If I’d told you about us from the first, maybe you wouldn’t have taken off like that. You must’ve been scared out of your mind.”

  She trembled again and he slipped his arm around her, quelling her tremors. She giggled, more out of relief than humor. “Wouldn’t you know it? With all this open land, I’d end up running into a killer.”

  Michael’s dark eyes twinkled. “Yeah. First you wind up with a pack of werewolves, and then you get snatched by a werebear. Lady, your luck sucks.”

  She laughed along with him before growing serious. “Actually, I think my luck’s pretty damn good. After all, I’m here with you.”

  He pressed his lips to hers, gently, caressing her bottom lip with his tongue. She leaned into him, needing to feel his warmth, and covered his crotch with her palm.

  He pulled away. “Sara, you don’t have to, you know. After what you’ve been through—”

  She put a finger to his lips. “After what I’ve been through, I need this.”

  He started to kiss her again but pulled away instead. He groaned and stood to pace to the window. He put his back to her as he stared out to the yard below.

  “I want you, Sara, more than I can tell you.” He faced her, a tortured expression clouding his features. “The rest of them and me, we’re one. And we need you. As shifters, we need an alpha-female to start completing our pack. If you take me to bed, you have to take the rest of them, too. Then, later, the call will come for the others to take their mates. If you approve of each man’s future mate, all the male members will bring her into the pack by joining her in bed. But you’ll always be the first, the most important female, the one we’ll always come back to. Do you understand?”

  “You’re saying I get to make love to Ranlon, Nick, and the other men? Is that right?”

  He nodded and tucked his hands in his pockets. “The next time we get in bed together, they’ll be there, too. Can you accept that?”

  She couldn’t help smiling. “So you’re saying that for as long as I live, I’m mated to not one, but six hot men?”

  The corners of his mouth lifted. “Yeah. Even after they take an additional mate.”

  “And what about you, Michael? Will you take an additional mate, too?” She wondered if he knew he was special to her and would always be her first choice.

  He shook his head, almost sadly. “No. I don’t think I could ever do that.” A soft smile teased his dimples into view. “I think I’m a one-mate wolf.”

  Could she tell him how happy his statement made her? Or would such a declaration be disrespectful to the rest of the pack?

  She rose to come to him, but he held up his hands, warding her off. “There’s one more thing.”

  An anxious knot formed in the middle of her chest. “Okay. Tell me.”

  “You’ll have our children.”

  Children of her own? Could the dream of motherhood become real for her? “I would love to have lots of kids. So what’s the problem?” Why was he frowning at her?

  “To have our children, you have to become one of us.” His dark gaze bore into her. “Sara, you have to become a werewolf and go through the Change.”

  She stepped away from him, needing the time to sort through her
feelings and thoughts. She would turn into a werewolf? Could she go through what she’d seen them experience? Could she withstand her body morphing, changing, growing fur? And then what? What else did it mean to be a werewolf? Would her children be werewolves?

  She turned back to him. “What’s it like?”

  He came to her and took her hands in his. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this. It’s not easy. The Change, especially for the first few times, hurts a lot. Your bones bend and break. Your sight changes, the world loses color until everything takes on a strange golden hue. Your skin feels like it’s burning as fur grows over your flesh.”

  She swallowed, her nerves taking hold. “Wow. You sure know how to make it sound appealing.”

  He chuckled and placed his palm on her cheek. “There’s good things, too. Being a werewolf, what we call a Night Runner, is amazing. You can run for hours, alone or in a group. See things you’ve never seen. Hear better than you’ve ever heard. Smell scents you didn’t know existed. You’ll become a Night Runner and spend the night under the moon, its pull driving you to push on until you can run no longer. Then, you’ll howl to celebrate its glory.”

  “You make it sound so beautiful, mystical even.”

  “It is. I wouldn’t trade being a Night Runner for the world.”

  She saw the glint in his eyes, a sparkle she recognized from their time in bed. She wanted to see that gleam when he looked at her, her legs wrapped around his waist.

  As though he’d heard her thoughts, he added, “And the sex? God, the sex is amazing. We can last longer than humans. Trust me. The rush you’ll experience will send you soaring.”

  “More than before?” Her pussy tightened just thinking about Michael shoving his cock deep inside her.

  He laughed, and flecks of amber appeared in his eyes. “Believe me. Much more.”

  “I’m not sure I could stand much more.”

  “Don’t worry. Once you’re one of us, you will. But the best thing”—Michael smiled, the upturn of his lips finally bringing out the full force of his dimples—“is that you’re part of the pack. No matter what happens, no matter where you go, you’ll always be one of us. You’ll always be a Night Runner.”

  She took his arm then pressed a kiss against his palm. “Which means you always take care of your pack. Like all of you took care of me.”

  “We’d do it again. Even if it meant losing one of us.”

  His words made her decision easy. “So how does a woman become a werewolf?”

  “A Night Runner. That’s how we think of ourselves. As more than just werewolves.”

  “Then how do I become a Night Runner?”

  She felt him tense as though he dreaded what he had to tell her. “Again, it’s not easy. One of us will have to bite you.”

  “Biting me doesn’t sound too bad.” The idea, however, left her shaky. “Will you have to bite me once? Or lots of times?”

  “One bite, deep enough, but not deep enough to kill. The pain is awful, but the wound will heal faster than any other type of wound.” He traced his thumb over her bruised cheek. “The bite will help to heal your other injuries as well. I just wish we’d found you sooner. Before he did—”

  “Nothing that happened was your fault.” She dropped her gaze, touched by the hurt in his expression. Making her decision, she lifted her chin and stared into his dark eyes. “Let’s do this. Make me a Night Runner, Michael.”

  Chapter Six

  Michael called everyone into her bedroom. The men entered then took a place around the bed. Sara sat in the middle, the sheets pulled over her naked body, and studied them. They seemed as nervous and as excited as she was.

  “I’ve explained everything to her.” Michael squeezed her hand.

  “And you’re sure this is what you want?” Max asked. “If you need more time, we can wait.”

  Jimmy thumped him on the shoulder. “Shut up, will ya? Maybe you can wait, but I can’t. Some of us haven’t had the pleasure of lying between her legs yet.”

  William clasped the young shifter by the neck and shook him. “He’s not talking about just the sex, you dumb ass. He’s talking about her decision to stay with us. To become a Night Runner. Think with both your heads.”

  “Oh. Sorry.” Jimmy dropped his gaze to the floor. “I hope you stay with us, Sara. And not just because of the sex.”

  She giggled. How had so many different men come together? While the older William was serious, a seasoned warrior of life, Jimmy exuded the unbridled enthusiasm of youth. Nick was the wild one, the bad boy of the bunch while Ranlon, Max, and Michael fell somewhere in between the wild and the tamer side of men. She hugged herself, delighting in the idea of having a lifetime to get to know them better.

  “Are you ready, Sara?” Michael moved to sit on the bed. “Or do you want more time?”

  She closed her eyes and inhaled, drawing in the intoxicating smell of testosterone and musk with an edge of danger. They smelled like no other men she’d ever known. Even now she could sense their lust building, their inner beasts aching to break free. Would she be able to take them all at once?

  “I’m sure.” She opened her eyes and found Michael staring at her, a hopeful expression on his handsome face. “I’m ready.”

  Yearning rumbled through her as though saying the words out loud had opened a long-closed door. Her body ached to touch them and to have them touch every part of her.

  The men glanced at each other then, as if in silent agreement, began disrobing. Sara held her breath as the men took off their shirts, then their boots, and finally their jeans. She bit her lip at the sight of so many rock-hard bodies, all waiting to pleasure her and make her one of them. Their cocks were generous by any man’s standard, many of which were already beginning to grow. Wetness flooded between her legs and the fire in her abdomen erupted into an inferno. She wanted them one, two, or more at a time.

  “I can smell her.” Nick ran a ragged hand over his face. “Sure we can’t give her pleasure first? She’s hot for us. Can’t you smell her?”

  “Of course we can.” William’s voice was deep and filled with desire. He shook his head slowly, as though he wasn’t sure. “But now’s not the time for sex. The bite comes first. Then we’ll show her how much we want her.”

  “How much we need her, too,” added Max. He glanced at Sara. “So who will it be? Who do you want to bring you the Change?”

  “I’m going to bite her.”

  Michael waited for her to refuse, but what could she say? She would’ve welcomed any of their bites, but somehow it seemed right for Michael to be the one to bring her into the pack.

  Michael crawled onto the bed with her, then nodded at Max and Ranlon. They came onto the bed and took her ankles. She searched for reassurance from Michael.

  “Don’t worry. They’re holding you only as a precaution. We don’t want you to move too much when I bite you. If you can stay still, I won’t tear your skin as much and the wound will heal faster and leave less of a scar.”

  Her stomach clenched and, for a moment, she was unsure of her decision. Yet when she brought her gaze to Michael’s again, her fear dissipated, leaving her calm and ready to face her new future.

  She nodded, unable to find the right words to express the turmoil of emotions whirling inside her. Michael slid on top of her, straddling her, his shaft pushing against her stomach. Jimmy sat at her side and grabbed her right arm while Nick took the left one. She studied them, her hungry gaze darting from one incredible erect penis to another. Before she’d met them, she’d never have believed she could be so brazen, but now she was different. They were hers to have as much as she wanted and the realization gave her the confidence to forget any lingering inhibitions. She licked her lips, already imagining taking a cock into her mouth, her pussy, and her ass while the others used their tongues to please her.

  Michael leaned closer and whispered, “One last time. Are you sure?”

  She turned her head to the side to expose her neck, giving hi
m the answer he needed. Jimmy grinned at her, his shaft flying high, and she couldn’t help but grin back.

  Michael brushed her hair out of the way then tracked his tongue along the curve of her shoulder and neck. “Try to relax, Sara. The more relaxed you are the easier this will be.”

  She glanced at him and noted how his eyes glistened with amber. The tips of his fangs slipped over his lower lip. She swallowed and wondered how it would feel to have fangs pushing through her gums. “Michael, would you just shut up and bite me already?”

  Michael’s mouth drew back, exposing more of his deadly teeth. She looked at Jimmy and let out a long breath.

  Michael grabbed her head, holding her still, then clamped his jaws down on her. Pain seared through her neck as his fangs broke her skin and dug into her. Warm stickiness slid down her neck to tickle the back of her shoulder. She gasped only to let out a scream.

  The instinct to survive took over as fear raced through her, overwhelming her mind. She screamed again as Michael’s grip tightened and the stabbing agony flared outward along her shoulder and down her arm. She tried to yank her arms away, tried to strike them, but the men held her.

  She couldn’t think, couldn’t reason. She could only react.

  Pain tore at her, scorching into every part of her body. Her body shook, denying the assault, but the torture was relentless. She cursed the men even as they murmured words of comfort and encouragement. At last, she had to give up the fight, spent and exhausted as the true battle raged inside her. Her blood boiled and her heart pounded as the Change took her.

  Clenching her teeth, she stared at Jimmy, worry knitting his brow, and saw him glance at the others. For a moment, she thought he would turn her loose. Instead, he increased the pressure on her arms, his fingers boring into her flesh.

  God, it hurts. Please make it stop. Michael, let go.

  An image of Michael hanging onto the bear’s neck flashed into her mind, and terror gripped her. Was he trying to kill her as he’d killed Victor? She cried out, but her cries soon turned to whimpers.

  The world spun around her in dizzying arrays of light and dark. Sparks of amber dotted her view until, at last, blissful darkness took her.