by Taylor Fray
She felt his hand start caressing her under her panties. It was soft, gentle, and at the same time rhythmic, alternating between the sweetest, softest caress to a jolting, flaring stroke that made her face contort with a pleasure she could barely take. Her nervous system was exploding with fireworks. She wanted to say something, to call his name to tell him how good it felt, but her mind was so overwhelmed with a building climax that she could only cry out in delight. Then suddenly he eased up, mercifully letting her catch her breath. But this only meant when she did climax it was going to be even bigger, even more explosive. She breathed deep knowing that what was coming was going to take her to places she’d never been before.
He ran his lips and tongue down her stomach, began peeling her panties off. He let their lace slowly run every inch of her hips and legs. She felt a cold shudder in her chest, knowing that this was not going to be like any other time she had been with a man.
He grabbed her by the waist and picked her up with such ease she almost squealed with excitement. She felt the gentlest rush of air on her exposed body as he swooped her up and placed her exactly how he wanted her. He laid her down so her hips were just barely on the bed’s edge. He crouched off the bed, bringing his mouth just below her belly button. He started kissing, slowly running his lips downward. She felt his stubble running all along the softness surrounding her gap. She couldn’t help but pant as he ran his lips down there, almost came but some shuddering gasps released some of the pressure. She held on just enough until he pulled back.
She could feel the bright red flush on her face as she stared up at him, a giant of a man getting ready grind her hips until she couldn’t remember her own name.
This was it. He was going to go inside her. She gripped the sheets tight—no man had ever made her feel such anticipation. He stood there for a long moment. He breathed deep as a strange, distant look came over his face. He looked as if he was struggling with something inside. She thought perhaps she needed to make it clear that she wanted this.
“Zak, I like you,” she smiled a little at the understatement. “And we can keep going. I want to.”
His mouth parted as if two different answers were stuck in his mouth, both trying to escape at the same time.
“I like you as well,” he trembled. But gritting his teeth, he looked away. The veins on his forehead grew visible and his whole body clenched as he exerted an enormous amount of willpower. That arousing growl coming from his body turned to one of subdued rage. It rattled in the air of the room. He paced a few steps, breathing raggedly. He sat on the other bed and buried his face in his hands.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as she pulled a bed sheet to cover herself.
He took some deep breaths. “I’m sorry. This isn’t right.”
“What do you mean?”
He seemed normal again, the rage having subsided. “I can’t take advantage like this.”
Her face contorted in confusion. “You’re not taking advantage of anyone. I was the one who crawled into your bed. Naked.”
“Don’t you see?” He shook his head, as if he felt the weight of a sad truth. “You’ve finally met someone of your own kind. The sheer instinct in us to mate is something no normal person would be able to resist. I can’t imagine how hard it is to resist the call.”
“The call?”
“You’ve been hearing a sound, haven’t you? It’s a kind of growling. It keeps ringing in the air.”
“Yes. I figured… that’s something werewolves do.”
“It is. But its purpose is for werewolves to find mates. I haven’t being doing it purposely. I just can’t help it around your presence—it’s involuntary. A male werewolf would barely hear it, and even if he did, it would just be a faint noise. But for a female werewolf who hasn’t found a mate yet, it drives her crazy. It’s a mating call. And you have one too. For you it’s not a sound though. For you, it’s your scent. Your scent draws me to you. It takes great will not to give in to it.”
“You sound like, like—” Morgan stuttered in frustration, “like the Discovery Channel!”
“I don’t know how else to explain it.”
“So what, we’re just horny animals now? The only reason you like me is because of some smell?”
“Of course not. I have… many feelings for you. You’re beautiful, and courageous, and many other things besides. But none of these… none of these are love.”
She was stunned to silence. “Wow,” she managed to say under her breath.
“Forgive me if my words hurt. But you must understand. You just went through your first shift. You’re still adjusting to it. You can’t control your beast side like I can. And we’re on the run for our lives. It’s all too much to let you use your best judgment.”
“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do.”
“I’m not. I’m telling you what I can’t do. And I can’t do this, as much as I want to. It’s not right.”
She stared back at him, slowly accepting the situation. For a moment her mind waned philosophical and she thought perhaps it was just a truth of life that the one guy you wanted to sleep with was the one gentleman left in the world. It surprised her how Zak could reason like this, in the heat of the moment, when she had seen how wild, how downright savage he could be.
She lay in bed and began to fall asleep. This was just about the most humiliating thing in the world. But perhaps it was true, perhaps it was just the animal in them that attracted her and nothing more.
Morgan was grateful to have survived being attacked by monsters, but she was a lot more grateful that the entire morning there had not been any mention of what happened the night before. She understood Zak’s reasons, perhaps he had even done the right thing, but it still hurt, it was still humiliating. She vacillated on whose fault it was. Yes, she had practically jumped his bones, but he had been the one who kissed her in the forest. It was all a big mess, and she was too hungry to think about it anymore.
“Where to now?” she asked in a cold voice, as they ate steak for breakfast in the restaurant inside the inn. It was as rustic as the motel side—a wooden grizzly bear statue near the entrance—letting the world know that its owner was Bradley Oak. It was nice to be around other people again. Apparently everyone eating here was part of Shifter society in some way.
“We drive the rest of the way to Washington, to Grey Home,” Zak answered. “So we can clear everything up with what happened in Gilbert. Then you can join our clan, get introduced into Shifter society.” She was taken back for a moment.
“Join your clan?”
“I figured you would want to be surrounded by your own kind. It’s difficult for us to live alone, without a pack or clan, surrounded by humans who can never understand what we are.”
“Isn’t that what you’re doing?”
He finished chewing a chunk of meat. “You don’t want my kind of life.”
She had been so preoccupied with surviving ordeals the last couple of days that she hadn’t really given much thought to their journey’s destination. “What would it mean… joining your clan?”
“It would mean considering yourself a werewolf first, and a human second. Your life as a Shifter would take priority. I know it’s an enormous decision, but if you decided to, you would have the protection and friendship of the entire clan, as well as your responsibilities to it.”
Morgan’s mind swirled with the possibility of being part of something larger, some group with lifelong bonds. She had never had a large family. It had been just her mother and her sister, and when her sister became estranged and her mother passed away, it had been just her. She had grown used to living alone, working alone, sleeping alone, eating alone—being alone. She didn’t fit in with large groups. Even when she entered the police academy, it didn’t last. She had the toughness, the intelligence, the skill, but she couldn’t stand the hierarchy, the gossip, the people. “What responsibilities?”
“The main one is keeping and protecting the veil at all cos
ts.”
“The veil?”
“The illusion that supernatural things don’t exist. That we don’t exist. In places that are part of Shifter society, like this place…” Zak glanced at the restaurant, to the handful of people who were enjoying their breakfast. “In these kinds of places we can be open, be ourselves, but among humans, we have to blend in. For obvious reasons.”
“I guess I could do that. I’m not going to go on a talk show and tell the world about it anytime soon.”
“The other principle duty is… when you are called on, to fight our enemies.”
“The Black Hand.”
“Them, and others.”
“And your clan… are they all like you?”
“We are like humans in this regard, our natures vary from one to the other.” Zak took a swig from his mug.
“I don’t know.” Morgan thought of being surrounded by a hundred werewolves, all snapping their fangs, hunting deer down, probably arm-wrestling or whatever they did for fun. “I’m used to living on my own, and I don’t know that I can get un-used to it.”
“Well, I hope you’ll consider it at least,” Zak said. “Though you’re free not to, of course. But I believe it will be best for your well being.”
The way he was talking, it made her feel like he thought of her as if she was a stray or something. More and more she felt he was right. Her attraction was animal magnetism, and that was it.
“So your clan, they’re like the police of the Shifter world?”
“Not just us. Most Shifters abide by our basic laws such as the veil, regardless of clan. And for most of our clan members, protecting the veil and the clan isn’t their entire life. Most of us are allowed to live our own lives without interference. But now and then, some Shifter or some other supernatural breaks this law. And when they do, we have to take care of them. It’s rare, but sometimes something gets really out of hand, and a lot of us have to band together to resolve it.”
“Is that what brought you to Gilbert? Someone breaking that… law?”
“Something like that.”
Oh no, he wasn’t going to play the mysterious card. “Something like what?”
“I already explained, I was clearing that territory of Black Hand. They’re enemies of the 13 Moons, enemies of all the clans really, but I wasn’t doing it for them. Like I mentioned, I’m not exactly on good terms with my family, with my clan.”
“Then why are we headed to your clan’s capital? It sounds like they hate you or something.”
“I wouldn’t put it that way. But don’t worry, that won’t affect you at all. It’s my own family issues. We have very strict laws on welcoming new werewolves into the fold. You’ll be protected. Me on the other hand, perhaps they’ll burn me at the stake...” He said this with a bit of dry humor, but Morgan could tell that there was something real behind it. Some concern of facing his own people again.
“It’s all so much. I’m still wrapping my mind around it all.”
“The first thing is to get you safe. After that, you can take your time and figure out your new life. You won’t be bound by anything.”
Hearing this, her thoughts went back to much more human concerns. “It’s been two days now. No one’s heard from me. I bet they have a police search going for Albhanz, Pete too. And I bet people are getting suspicious. The Gilbert police department. The people at Pete’s diner...” She shook her head with worry, thinking about all that had happened, wondering if Betty Jo or Janice, or her cousin Paige would lead the cops to her.
Zak saw the worry in her downcast eyes. “Hey,” he said. “I told you, we’re going to take care of that.”
“How, Zak? How in the world can you undo the enormous trail of evidence we left behind? Is someone going to magically make it all go away? Like that… bird you called.”
“Yes,” he answered, plain as day.
She just looked at him for a long moment, then they started to grin simultaneously, then chuckling, then full on laughing. It was so surreal to her, that this was the world she was living in now, one where it was actually believable that magic could make something like a fiery crime scene and witnesses go away.
“Look, even if magic can’t fully erase everything, you know human laws. Those bodies are utterly destroyed, to the point that not a trace of them remains. Albhanz had fabricated some identity to become a sheriff. If anything the authorities will be more suspicious of him once they begin to investigate the whole ordeal.”
Suddenly the big, broad body of Bradley Oak eclipsed their view of the restaurant. “How goes it, my honored guests? I hope the food was to your liking?”
“It was delicious, Bradley, thanks so much,” Zak answered.
“I just ate three steaks,” Morgan said. “So that says it all.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Bradley said. “Anything else we can get for you?”
Zak and Morgan glanced at each other, both seeming like they were full.
“No, Bradley. If we gorge ourselves anymore, we’ll burst,” Zak said.
Bradley nodded, a big smile curling his big mustache. “Well, I just wanted to give you my good greetings before I called it a day and went home for a snooze.” He gave Zak a vigorous handshake. Zak stood and the two big men patted each other on the shoulder.
“Are you sure you won’t stay any longer?” Bradley asked. “We could go fishing. I know a good spot. The fish practically leap into your mouth—and I mean that quite literally!”
“You know you would embarrass me with how good you can catch them,” Zak laughed. “But really, we should be getting back on the road. I hope though, that I can take you up on that offer. Soon. When better days come.”
They looked at each other, Bradley nodding as if to comfort a grieving Zak.
“They will come soon enough. You’ll see.” Bradley gave Zak one last squeeze of the shoulder. “I do hope all works out with your father, Zak of the 13 Moons. Give him my best.”
“I will. Thank you for hosting us, Bradley Oak.”
“Anytime, my friend.” Bradley Oak seemed to relish calling Zak a friend so much that his cheeks bulged and looked like two red apples. He sauntered off, radiating happiness. Zak watched him go, smiling a sad smile.
“Does everyone treat you like royalty?” Morgan asked.
“I could never let Bradley treat me like royalty, even if I was such a thing,” Zak answered. “He’s a friend. A true one. A simple bear Shifter I admire very much. And I mean simple as a compliment. I really do.”
“Do you want to stay longer? I can always catch a bus or something.”
Zak shook his head. “No. I said I will see to it that you arrive to safety, and I don’t go back on my word.”
Zak paid for the meal and they stood up to leave. Morgan looked at Zak, wanting to know more about all these things he’d alluded to, with his father, these dark things from his past he’d claimed would change how she thought of him. She was starting to get him to talk. But looking at him, she couldn’t help but think more and more, that no matter what he said, she would think of him as the wild man who, whatever his faults, was ready to die protecting her.
They walked out of the restaurant into the crisp air of rural Missouri. There was a small path lined with cedar trees that led from the restaurant back to the inn. Their feet crunched on pebbles as they walked along this path, then Zak suddenly stopped. He stared up into a tree, and Morgan lifted her gaze to see what he was staring at. It was a bat. Hanging in the tree, upside down, with its wings folded, it looked almost like a closed umbrella. Its brown fur camouflaged it so that only the sharpest of senses would pick it up. Its head twitched as it watched them.
“What’s wrong? What is it?” Morgan asked.
“Stay behind me,” Zak said, extending an arm out as if to shield her. He slowly kept walking, motioning for her to do the same, the entire time keeping his eyes on the brown bat. It kept watching him back, its eyes eerily tracking him.
As they walked into the parki
ng lot, Zak picked up his pace. “What was that all about?” Morgan asked. “Was that one of those bat Shifters? Like Albhanz?”
“I don’t know, but I didn’t get a good feeling.”
“It could have been just a normal bat, right?”
He opened the door for her, then stepped inside the car. “I don’t want to take any chances. The Black Hand have a lot of sorcerers. A lot of spies. They would know that this inn is a spot for Shifters. And if any of them have figured out who I am, they probably suspect we’ll be headed to Grey Home, and would guess that we’d pass through here.”
How a bat could be a spy, Morgan didn’t ask. She was beginning to accept that her rules of reality no longer applied. Zak sped off. His hand was tense on the wheel as they got onto the highway.
“You really think they could be tracking us?” Morgan asked. “The Black Hand people?”
“If I can track them, they can track me.” Zak shook his head. “I didn’t want to alarm you, so I haven’t told you this, but they want to turn me. They want to make me one of them.”
“What? Why?”
“Because that’s how they grow. By bringing Shifters over to their side.”
“What are we going to do?”
“It’ll be alright. I’m going to take small country roads. If they are following us, they expect us to take the shortest route to Grey Home and go straight north through Iowa but I’m going to swing around east through Illinois and Wisconsin. I know some spots there that are friendly to my clan. Places we can stop to rest and eat if we need to.”
Morgan swallowed, still nervous, but hearing Zak’s plan put her at ease some. At least those states weren’t quite as flat. By taking smaller roads they would travel slower, but they wouldn’t be so easy to spot by either the police—who she might already be a suspect for—or even worse, more monsters like Albhanz.
