by Angela Foxxe
The lack of response told Alexa all that she needed to know as the three of them burst through the thick pine trees and into the clearing that they had been too far too many times now. Her entire body was stinging with little cuts and scrapes, inflicted by the whipping branches of the pine trees that they had been running through. The two wolves were lucky with no skin bared to the stinging needles of the tree branches, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t injured.
Antony, now that he had a moment to rest, collapsed onto the ground. Noemi took up her position guarding over Antony and Alexa. They couldn’t wait long for Tracy, only just long enough to give Antony time to breathe.
She shifted into a human, and put a hand on Alexa’s shoulder. She was staring down at her strained mate, her eyes wide and frightened. She looked like a young deer, and Noemi pitied her. She had never seen such pain cross a wolf’s eyes before, and especially not one that meant so much to her. She wanted to hold Alexa close and assure her that it was all going to be okay, but there was no time.
“He’s weak,” Noemi said. “We weren’t expecting him to be as wounded as he is. He must have put up a good fight the night that we were separated,” she mused. There was no other reason for him to be so injured, unless he had put up a fight at his pack grounds. If he had, he probably would’ve been killed on the spot. Noemi held her tongue, something else that Alexa didn’t need to hear in her already-weakened emotional state. Noemi hated how weak it made Alexa.
“He’s too weak to shift,” Alexa explained.
Antony rolled over from where he had not-so-gracefully flopped over onto the ground, and struggled back to his feet. He plodded over to Alexa, receiving a gentle stroke to his cheek, trailing around to his back and traveling down his spine. The action sent shivers through his body, and he allowed his tail to wag as much as it would from side-to-side. The movement was still small, but more than it had been before, now that his blood was running and pumping again.
“We need to move,” Noemi said after another moment of quiet. The only noise around them was Antony’s pleased growling, but even that was nearly drowned out by the sound of her blood rushing in her ears. “We don’t have to run, but we have to make a fast pace,” she explained.
Alexa nodded, and motioned for Antony to follow after herself and Noemi. He did so diligently, happy enough to trail behind the two of them as they moved through the clearing. They headed toward the south as they had the time before, on their way to the free lands where they could make a pack of their own.
“What about Tracy?” Alexa asked.
She could see the way that Noemi stiffened up at the thought of the friend that she had just left behind. Noemi didn’t want to think about it anymore than Alexa did. So Alexa stayed silent. If Noemi didn’t want to talk about it, then Alexa wouldn’t press her to say more. She was content walking with her friend and mate, on their way to true freedom.
The thought brought a smile to her features for once in what seemed like forever. Their freedom was just a few miles away now.
*
Alexa felt as though they had been walking for hours through the forest. It all started to seem like the same thing within a few seconds. There was no difference to her between one tree and the other, not with the speed that they were traveling at. Even if they walked slower, it was hard to tell the difference between the ground and the sky. Alexa was certain that this is what it felt like to completely lose her mind. She knew that was what was happening to her. Otherwise there wouldn’t be an excuse for her dizziness.
Noemi seemed to have notice her weakness, falling short of how weak Antony was. The only difference was that she was feeling a gaping hole in her stomach, rather than the serious wounds that Antony was suffering from. Some of the gashes on his body had begun to heal, but they were still bleeding rather freely. The worst was a cut from the underside of his chin to the start of his sternum. It looked ugly, and it was bleeding to the point of soaking through half of his fur.
Halfway through their trek, Noemi turned to Alexa and Antony, giving them both a stern look. “Stay here,” she ordered. The alpha she wolf then doubled back around the two of them, shifting mid step and leaping into the brush.
Antony flopped over almost immediately and settled himself on the ground, his paws stretched out in front of him. His breathing was still as harsh as when Alexa had found him, but at least now she was certain that he was alive. It was better for her own heart, knowing that Antony was still with her.
Alexa sat down next to Antony, petting through his fur and admiring how soft his pelt was. Even matted with blood and dirt, he was a sight for sore eyes. Alexa never wanted to leave him again, not with how close they were. She leaned down, and pressed her lips to the crown of Antony’s head in a soft kiss.
The gigantic wolf looked up at her and gave a low groan deep in his throat. His eyes displayed the sadness at not being able to speak with Alexa. She felt the same regret, but it didn’t bother her terribly.
“You’re not strong,” Alexa crooned, petting the patch of fur that was clean on Antony’s cheek. He turned his head to lean into the touch. “You need to rest, Antony. There’s no use in tiring yourself out, you’ll just regret it later. The last thing we need is for you to become injured even more than you already are.”
The male alpha wolf whined deep in his throat once more, looking up at Alexa. He wanted to be closer to her, closer than his wolf body would allow him to do. Alexa understood, but there wasn’t anything that they could do. She turned to lean her back against Antony’s chest, closing her eyes and relaxing against him. He was able to support her weight, even injured and in the state that he was.
Antony closed his eyes, but kept himself alert. Alexa, as a human, wouldn’t be able to hear everything and smell everything that he could hear and smell. He wished that she would shift, but there was no way for him to tell her that, so he just kept her as close as possible.
An hour later, and Noemi returned, dragging a young doe by the hind leg in her strong jaw. Antony huffed at Alexa, who roused herself from a deep nap. She stood and went over to Noemi, helping the she wolf drag the doe closer to them for the three of them to share. Alexa was grateful that Noemi was an alpha who could hunt on her own. If it weren’t the case, she might not have been able to survive with Antony injured and helpless by her side.
As Noemi dropped the body, she shifted into a human, the process arduous on her tired body. She shoved the doe closer to Antony, who began to eat his fill. As the male ate, growling and snarling as he did so, Alexa turned to Noemi. She was rubbing at a deep cut on her jaw, inflicted by the doe’s kicking, razor sharp hooves.
“Are you okay?” Alexa whispered, reaching forward to try and touch the wound.
Noemi smacked her hand away, and curled her lip at Alexa. “I’m just fine, and don’t touch it. You’ll only make it worse if you touch it. I’ve had worse than this before. I promise.”
“That doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t look at it,” Alexa objected, but withdrew her hand. If that was how Noemi was going to be, then that was how Alexa would let her be. “Thank you for hunting for us,” she said. “If it weren’t for you, we would both probably be starving by now.”
“You would have figured it out eventually, or you would have starved,” Noemi replied. She stood up after that, stretching her arms above her head. “I’m going to double back and look for Tracy. The two of you stay here and eat your fill, okay?”
“Why are you going back to look for her?” Alexa asked, furrowing her eyebrows at Noemi. “I thought that she was as good as dead to you?”
“I never said that,” Noemi replied. She brushed off her legs and backside, clearing herself of any dust. “I just meant that if she didn’t catch up, we couldn’t wait for her. If she’s alive, I’m going to go back and look for her. She’s a friend of mine. If you were left behind, I would go back and look for you.” Noemi looked Alexa up and down. “Wouldn’t you do the same for me?”
Alexa
looked down, realizing just how much Noemi’s words stung her. It was true, if there was any shred of a chance that Noemi was still alive, she would go back and search for her. “Yes, I would,” Alexa finally said. “I wouldn’t leave you behind to die, Noemi,” she assured.
“And I would never leave you to die,” Noemi replied.
The she-wolf took off running once more, shifting into her sleek and elegant wolf form. She was such a regal creature; Alexa envied her. She ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it out of her face and sighing quietly.
“This is bigger than I ever thought it would be,” she muttered. Alexa rubbed at her face and closed her eyes. “I don’t know how we’re ever going to make it out of this.”
Alexa turned around to face Antony, the beast inside of him finally sated. His belly was slightly protruding from where he lay on the ground, a happy growl escaping him. Nearly half of the doe was gone, and although it had been a small one, the amount of food that he had consumed was still impressive.
“Feeling better?” Alexa asked, looking Antony over with a small smile. “You sure look much happier now that you’ve gotten some food into you.”
Antony nodded, a deep growl escaping him. He couldn’t have been happier with how things were turning out. Noemi had left them, and now he had food in his belly. He was feeling better than he had been feeling for days. Antony rolled over onto his back, closing his eyes and letting out a deep groan.
Alexa watched as Antony shifted back into his human form, his limbs lengthening and his muzzle shortening into the sharp nose that Alexa was familiar with. He looked so strained, but he powered through the transformation until he was a human once more. Antony was panting hard at the end of the transformation, sweat beading along his hairline.
“I’ve never had such a hard time with shifting before,” he mumbled, closing his eyes. His entire body felt strained, as though he had just been running for miles at top speed, rather than doing something that comes naturally to wolf shifters since they were children. It made him feel rather helpless, but he couldn’t afford to be helpless now. With the only other alpha gone, Antony needed to be there to protect Alexa. He sat up, his body straining with the effort, and looked up at Alexa. “I was almost scared that I was going to stay a wolf for forever at that rate,” he said with a little laugh.
Alexa nodded, and walked over to Antony. Her legs felt leaded down, her entire body having trouble coping with the fact that now Antony was back and he was in front of her. It had all seemed so unrealistic, even when Antony was with her as a wolf. When he was as a human, it made it seem as though he was actually there, and they would be together again.
Alexa kneeled next to Antony, and put a hand on his cheek. Her knees were already incredibly sore from skidding on them earlier that night, but she suffered through the pain to touch Antony again. It was strange to be so close once again. To her, it seemed as though there had been weeks, maybe even months of time between them. There was no way that it had only been a few days since they had embraced, since they had been able to kiss each other.
Alexa’s eyes darted to Antony’s lips, and she found herself suddenly having to swallow around an incredibly large lump in her throat. Antony must have heard the groan, as he looked up to Alexa and raised an eyebrow. He could see that Alexa’s eyes were on his lips, but he didn’t say anything, and he didn’t move. This was an important time for her, and he didn’t want to ruin it by being over enthusiastic. It was the last thing that he wanted to put Alexa through.
Alexa, struggling through her own turmoil, forced herself to move even closer to Antony. With the way that he was sitting up, hands crossed in his lap politely, it was easy to move to straddle his lap. With one knee on either side of Antony’s body, Alexa lowered herself until she was sitting on Antony’s lap. She was conscious of her weight, certain not to set herself down too heavily on the wounds that Antony was suffering from.
“Am I hurting you?” Alexa all but whispered, looking up at Antony.
Antony shook his head, his hands finally working and moving. He put his hands on Alexa’s hips, holding her gently, but firmly. “You could never hurt me,” Antony replied. He was still looking up at Alexa, whose beautiful green eyes were focused on anything other than Antony’s face.
Her cheeks were burning with something akin to shame, but she refused to let Antony know that she was embarrassed. Alexa finally met his searing copper eyes, and her entire body froze up in an instant. Antony looked like a different wolf, all harsh lines and intense features. She found herself leaning forward, her own hands trailing up to Antony’s cheeks. Her thumb brushed over the awful cut on his throat, and Antony winced.
“We can stop,” Alexa said again, her voice just as low and as soft as her first question.
“I don’t want to stop when I’ve finally got you this close to me,” Antony replied. He sat up straighter, or at least as straight as he could with his injuries, and rested his forehead against Alexa’s. The familiarity of the action and the closeness of it all calmed Alexa, allowing her to breathe more steadily. “But I won’t pressure you,” Antony continued. He used his thumb to rub Alexa’s hipbone in gentle circles, coaxing her into a more relaxed state with each moment that went by. He couldn’t stand the thought of her being so tense and stressed out. “If you want to stop, then we can stop,” he finished. He raised an eyebrow, pulling back from their gentle touching.
Alexa stared down at Antony, her heart beginning to hammer against the front of her chest. She was certain that Antony could hear the furious beating, what with how loudly her blood was rushing in her ears. What had she been thinking, making Antony look so guilty? He hadn’t done a single thing wrong, and here she was, making it all worse.
Alexa shook her head after what seemed like hours of silence stretching between them, a silence that was only broken by the scuttling of the little animals surrounding them.
“Antony, you are the kindest wolf that I know. I’ve never known a male to actually care for me in the way that you do, and I will be forever grateful for it. There is nothing that you could do that I would ever say no to. I’m a coward Antony—and don’t say that I’m not—you and Noemi were fighting for me, and I will be forever grateful. Let me repay that favor,” she whispered.
Antony felt his heart tug and leap into his throat at Alexa’s words. The anticipation was starting to make his skin crawl. The way that Alexa’s eyes had changed made his stomach tense with desire. He watched with rapt caramel eyes as Alexa moved down the length of his outstretched legs, using her hands to urge his knees apart so that she could settle between them. He could hardly believe how nervous this was making him, although he could have been mistaking pure, unadulterated excitement as nervousness.
Alexa was reassured in her movements by the way that Antony couldn’t look away from her, as though she were the most mesmerizing creature that he had ever seen in his life. It gave her a rush of power, knowing that she was the one to make Antony flutter nervously. He was clad in nothing already, having been a wolf for so long, and it made his excitement obvious. His cock, as impressive as before from what Alexa remembered, was standing proud and at full attention.
Alexa lowered herself, nearly lying on the ground on her belly and chest, before reaching out and taking Antony’s member in her hand. She stroked her hand up and down at a leisurely and loose pace, knowing that without any sort of liquid to smooth the friction, it wouldn’t be comfortable for Antony if she moved too fast too suddenly.
Antony groaned and leaned his head back, making Alexa’s breath hitch in her chest. She was the one doing that. And it gave her a surge of confidence that she couldn’t explain.
CHAPTER NINE
With her newfound confidence coming out of seemingly nowhere and nothing, Alexa moved her hand down to the base of Antony’s cock. She held it firmly in her hand, steadying his pulsating erection. Already, there was a bead of cum at the tip, leaking out from the slit. In her hand, she could feel the weight of his
knot swelling in her hand and weighing down her movements. It made her pulse flutter, but she was ready to move forward. Alexa swallowed around the lump in her throat, and leaned down, closer and closer to the tip of Antony’s cock.
Alexa pressed her lips to the tip of Antony’s leaking erection, hot and burning under the fragile skin of her lips. She gave it a soft, closed mouth kiss, listening to the way that it got Antony panting and whining for anything to say. Alexa couldn’t help the little smile that spread across her lips, it made her feel absolutely amazing, just this gentle touch. She pulled back a bit, and then pressed forward again, giving the tip another kiss. The bead of cum that had been there smeared on her lips, and she pulled back to lick it away.
Antony groaned at the sight, reaching down and pushing Alexa’s hair out of her face. He looked as if he were straining for any sort of coherent speech. “Alexa,” he moaned, barely managing to get one simple word out. “Keep doing that,” he insisted after a moment of silence, his heart pounding just as hard as Alexa’s heart was, although for incredibly different reasons. His entire world was spinning, tipped on an axis that was too tilted to allow him to think straight. It didn’t help that he had just been on the edge of exhaustion, brought back by Alexa’s ministrations.
“I can do that,” Alexa agreed with a smirk of a smile spreading across her full, flushed pink lips.
Alexa dipped her head down and widened her lips this time as she gave Antony’s cock another kiss, his knot giving a valiant pulse in her palm. As her lips pressed down, Alexa swiped her tongue over the slit, licking up all of the sweet saltiness that she found there. It was delicious, and overpowering, taking over even the scent of the bloody doe just a few feet from her. She couldn’t focus on anything else, tonguing the slit with fervor.
