by Abby Weeks
“And you’ll be heartbroken if I chose another?”
“We’re not petty,” Logan said. “We want you more than anything in the world, but when you chose one of us, the others will not sulk. We do not begrudge each other anything. When one of us kills a mighty wolf, the others howl in celebration, and we will do the same when one of us mates.”
“And if I were to mate with more than one of you?”
“So much the better,” Logan said. He looked at her and smiled. Then he looked toward the forest. Aisha saw his ears cock.
“Is someone coming?” she said.
Logan nodded. “It’s Tucker. Just remember, whatever he does, he’s very young. Try not to take any of it too seriously.”
Aisha looked toward the forest and couldn’t see anyone.
“Tell me one thing, completely honestly,” Aisha said to Logan.
“Anything.”
“If I mated with one of your brothers,” she said.
“I already told you, I’d howl at the moon in honor of his victory.”
“I know,” Aisha said. “But you’d be jealous too, right?”
Logan looked right at her. “All right,” he said. “I’ll be honest, but only because you have a right to know the truth.”
“Thank you.”
“I’d try not to be jealous, but it would be very difficult. I’ve read your holy book.”
“The Bible?”
“Yes, the Bible. I read about your first man.”
“Adam.”
Logan nodded. “He had two sons, Cain and Abel. And even then, when there were only those two brothers and their parents on earth, the one brother was jealous and killed the other.”
“Cain slew Abel,” Aisha said.
“Now, I’m not a man. So maybe Cain’s curse does not apply to me. I’m half man, half wolf.”
“So you wouldn’t be jealous?” Aisha said.
“Let’s just say it would be complicated. It would be difficult. Jealousy, doubt, sadness, all those things would be real emotions that me or any of my brothers might feel if you choose not to bond with us.”
“Then how can I mate with any of you, knowing that it would create such ill feeling.”
“Because your job is not to worry about our unruly emotions. Your job is to live your life the way you see fit. If you want to mate, you mate. You leave the handling of our emotions to us. We must overcome those emotions, if any of us were to feel them. That would be our challenge, not yours.”
There was a ruffling in the trees and Aisha looked up to see Tucker walk out of the forest in wolf form and shift into a man in front of her. Again, like his brother had been, he was stark naked. Aisha blushed and realized she was going to have to get used to seeing naked men if she was to live in this place.
Tucker walked up to her and stood in front of her. Aisha looked at his naked body, then looked at Logan.
Logan shrugged. “Just try to remember what I told you. He’s very young. He’s got a lot of growing up to do.”
Aisha blushed and looked at Tucker’s naked body. He was grinning at her and it caused her to laugh in embarrassment. She covered her mouth with her hand.
She looked at Logan again, but Logan only had a bemused look on his face.
“Don’t look at him,” Tucker said. “Look at me.”
Aisha faced Tucker, but her cheeks were hot from blushing. She looked down at Tucker’s immense penis and saw that it was semi-erect.
She felt her own sexual interest begin to arise within her. Her pussy throbbed with an inkling of desire. She couldn’t help it. Everywhere she looked there seemed to be a naked male vying for her attention.
“I can see you, Tucker.”
“Can you see what I have to offer?”
“You’re body isn’t the only thing you have to offer,” she said.
“No,” he agreed, “but you should see it all the same. I’m in my prime. I can kill any creature that comes within two hundred miles of our home. I can cover a distance of eighty miles in a single day. I can hunt for four days without stopping to eat or sleep.”
“You’re very strong,” Aisha said, trying hard not to giggle. He was so direct. Didn’t he know how to flirt? It was supposed to be more subtle than this.
Tucker looked at Logan. “Don’t you want to go hunt or something?” he said.
“I don’t want to go anywhere,” Logan said.
“I wanted to show Aisha some things.”
“I bet you did,” Logan said. Then he turned to Aisha. “Would you like to come see how we hunt?” he said.
“Yes,” Aisha said, relieved for a chance to get out of the embarrassing situation that Tucker was creating.
She knew she couldn’t blame him. He was just behaving as his instincts dictated. He’d never met a female of his own species before. All he knew was that she’d care about his strength, his ability to protect her and their young, and his ability to provide. What he didn’t know was that people usually flirted with some degree of subtlety.
*
Chapter 28
AISHA WAS DRESSED IN FINE fur boots, a fur coat and the fur-lined dress she’d worn the night before. She was surprisingly comfortable in the shifter clothes. They were perfectly designed for this climate, and what surprised her most was how stylish and attractive she felt while wearing them. She knew someone could make a lot of money selling clothes like these in New York or Los Angeles, assuming they could source the fur in some humane way.
Tucker and Logan were taking her down into the valley to watch a hunt. There was a herd of deer down there, and it would be a safe way for her to see them in action. Packer and Hardy had been out patrolling the farther reaches of their territory but were coming back to meet them in the valley.
She walked through the forest with Logan and Tucker, both of them naked.
“If you like you can shift,” she said to them. “I know we’ll make better time that way.”
“You can ride on my back,” Tucker said.
Aisha looked at Logan. Logan shook his head. “You don’t have to,” he said. “Tucker’s just eager to get to know you.”
Aisha pulled up her hood to hide her embarrassment. Then she walked over to Tucker. He transformed before her eyes into a massive wolf with a deep, white coat. At his shoulders he was almost as tall as she was. Shifters were definitely the super predators of these parts. There was no way a normal wolf could compete with a creature of this size. He bent down with his muzzle and put it between her legs and lifted her onto his back.
She landed high on his shoulders, facing forward, ready for action. From the height of Tucker’s shoulders, she watched Logan transform into a wolf too. Neither of them spoke to her after that. She realized they probably couldn’t speak while they were in wolf form. If their throats and mouths transformed as dramatically as the rest of their body, they’d lack the ability to form words.
As she rode down into the valley, she realized she could faintly understand traces of their thoughts, even if they couldn’t speak. She clung tightly to Tucker’s muscular neck, carefully watching forward, keeping her body low, but there were a lot of low-hanging branches that threatened to knock her off. Whenever they approached one, she saw it coming in her mind before she saw it with her eyes, and she always ducked in plenty of time. Tucker was transmitting the images of the branches directly to her. She could also tell when Logan wanted them to take a slightly different path or veer on a different course. He was telling them telepathically. She couldn’t feel Packer and Hardy, but she had no doubt that Logan and Tucker could. She presumed that with time, her range would extend to match theirs.
As she thought that, Logan and Tucker both impressed on her the idea that eventually her range would far exceed any of theirs, and that as a female, she could even read the thoughts of humans sometimes, which was something the males could not do. She realized that as her shifter powers increased, she’d be able to contribute talents to the group that they completely lacked due to not hav
ing a female.
When they got down into the valley, the forest cleared out and made way for some open grassland. Aisha was shocked at how much she welcomed the openness of the plain. Being surrounded by forest was still something she would have to get used to. Across the grassland she was suddenly aware of Hardy and Packer. They were waiting across the clearing. Along the valley floor was a river, and on its banks was a herd of deer.
Aisha briefly wondered how far they were from the village of Dead Wolf and immediately the answer came from Logan that it was forty miles farther east. There was no risk of any humans being around. Their patrols were far less effective, and far more predictable, than they liked to imagine.
Tucker shifted into human form and Aisha felt herself falling as his body disappeared from beneath her, only to be caught in his strong arms immediately. He held her close to his chest, hugging her against his naked body and Aisha felt a throb of desire. Tucker might be immature, but he was still incredibly hot. He reminded her of the guys in her high school who’d played for the football team. They weren’t going to win any contests in etiquette or male chivalry, but they sure were attractive physically. She sighed quietly as Tucker held her against his chest, and immediately she was aware that all four brothers could sense her sexual arousal. They were all looking in her direction, watching her nestle up to Tucker’s chest, and she could tell that hunting deer was no longer on any of their minds. All they could focus on was her—her arousal, her state of mind. There was no shame or embarrassment coming from any of them. She was also pleased to sense that there was no jealousy. They weren’t in the least jealous that it was Tucker who was the one holding her. They were just physically incapable of concentrating on anything but her when they knew she was sexually aroused. She found the knowledge simultaneously arousing and disconcerting. It was exciting to know she was the center of their attention, that she occupied a permanent position at the fore of all of their minds, but it was also disconcerting to know that she really couldn’t keep any secrets from them. They were all in her head. It was something she’d have to get used to.
She turned to see that Logan was now human as well. Tucker put her down on the ground and she was shocked when she noticed how erect his penis was. Then she looked at him and concentrated, and could just about sense the throb of attraction he was feeling for her. All he wanted to do was take her into the forest and mate with her.
“Let’s kill some of these deer,” Logan said quietly, indicating the herd down by the river.
Packer and Hardy loped across the meadow and joined them. When they shifted, Aisha couldn’t believe what her life had become. She was standing in an Alaskan valley, dressed in furs, surrounded by four completely naked brothers who would gladly give their lives to be with her. And they were so attractive it made her cheeks flush.
*
Chapter 29
“AISHA,” PACKER SAID.
She looked at him and had a sudden flashback to the night he’d met her outside of the village. That had been the night she should have come back with him, but she’d been too afraid. She remembered the electrifying intensity of the moment she’d allowed her hand to brush against his cock. A throb of desire pulsed through her vagina and she quickly tried to clear her mind. It was too late. She looked around at the four men, and all of them were staring at her. A quick glance down at their penises showed her that they were becoming aroused.
“Are we hunting or not?” she said.
The men shook their heads and tried to clear their minds.
“Yes,” Packer said. “If you would stop giving us sexual signals, we’d be able to concentrate better.”
“If you four weren’t surrounding me, completely naked with semi-erections, I’d be able to stop having sexual thoughts.”
Packer smiled at her. He looked at Logan and then at the others. “Fair enough,” he said, shyly. “You just have to understand, we’re not used to having a female around. It’s very exciting for us.”
“I’ll try to remember,” Aisha said, failing to mention that she wasn’t exactly used to being the center of attention for four horny hunks.
“So this is what’s going to happen,” Packer said. “We’re going to run down through the meadow. The deer will see us and start running. We’ll have to cross the river, which will give them more of a lead. On the other side they’ll keep running down along the valley, and we’ll just keep running them down. We’ll run up among the herd till we see a fine stag, and then we’ll jump on him and tear out his throat.”
“How far will you run?”
“It will be a few miles.”
“What about me? I’m not just going to sit and wait here, am I?”
“You’re going to run with us.”
Aisha laughed. “Am I? I’ve never been a particularly athletic sort of girl.”
“You’ll be surprised,” Logan said. “You’re not just a girl any more. You’re one of us. Your animal powers are coming back to you. You’re going to be able to run faster than you’ve ever run before. We’ll keep our pace moderate to match yours.”
Aisha wasn’t so sure. She didn’t think running after deer was anything a girl like her would be particularly good at, but she was too proud to ask one of them to carry her again. It seemed they carried her everywhere. If she was going to live here with them, she was going to have to master her new physical abilities. Running fast with the shifters was the equivalent of getting her own driving license. It would give her freedom.
“Let’s do it,” she said and began running down through the meadow toward the deer.
Immediately the deer looked up toward her, but seeing who she was, they didn’t see any threat. The four brothers came running after her in their naked human form and still the deer didn’t give much of a reaction. As they made their way toward the river, Aisha was amazed to learn that she was actually a good runner now. She was running faster than she ever had before, she was certain of it, and it seemed to take no effort at all. She felt she could double her pace if she wanted.
“You all right?” Packer said from beside her.
“I’m fine,” she said, and she wasn’t even breathless. She wasn’t gasping for breath like she normally would have been.
“We’re going to shift,” Packer said.
The four naked brothers shifted into wolves, and it was then that the deer took notice. They started charging away down the valley, trampling the ground with the sound of a thousand hooves, thumping down over the ground like a small version of a charging buffalo herd. Aisha felt so in tune with the brothers, even with the deer, that it was like they were all performing a choreographed dance together. It was as if everyone knew exactly what they were doing and exactly what everyone else was doing. Everyone had their part.
She felt the subliminal messages coming from the brothers, telling her that she could easily run faster. All she had to do was believe it was possible, and she’d be running as fast as the deer were. She tried and found she could run a little faster, but not nearly as fast as the deer that were rapidly descending down the valley.
She was approaching the river and did not relish the thought of plunging into its icy water.
She received the image in her mind of herself, leaping over a narrow stretch in the stream, and before she knew it, she was running for the point in the river where the image had occurred. She tried to run at the speed she’d been running at in that mental image. It was difficult, but the more she accepted the image as reality, the faster her running became.
By the time she reached the bank of the river, she was flying through the air at a speed she’d never even known to be possible. She had no idea how fast she was going. She had no idea how it was happening. All she knew was that the images the brothers were giving her were becoming more and more real to her, and as she accepted each of them, her body reacted and moved her through the air just as she was moving in their minds. It was almost as if time slowed down. She could see herself in the air, suspended over the fift
een-foot width of the stream. She could see the icy water rushing by beneath her, and she could see the four brothers in wolf form behind her. Everything passed through her mind in an instant of crystal clarity, and then she was down on the other bank of the river, running just as fast as she had been before taking the jump. She looked back over her shoulder and couldn’t even believe she’d just leapt over the river. The brothers were right behind her. Tucker yelped in encouragement. She felt like laughing. She’d never felt so alive in all her life. It was like being on a drug. It was like having pure oxygen pumped into her lungs.
She ran on down the valley toward the stampeding herd, each step making her rush on faster and faster. As she continued, the images the brothers had been sending her of running fast gave way to a new set of images. Now she could see herself rushing at the deer, running among them, leaping onto them and ripping out their throats.
She ran toward the deer like her very life depended on it. The thoughts the brothers sent flooding through her senses, taking over her mind in a frenzy of flickering images like an old-fashioned film reel running on double speed. Before she knew it, she was among the deer. They were stampeding down the valley and she was right among them, running, a predator. She looked back and saw the brothers right behind her, all four of them supporting and guiding her.
Her first instinct was to leap onto the back of a smaller deer and tackle it to the ground. She was suddenly aware of all these options she had for bringing down a speeding deer. She looked at one and realized the brothers didn’t want her to go for that one. It was too small.
She ran on, passing the slower and smaller deer in the herd as she progressed toward the front. The deer here were stronger and faster. The brothers were looking among the herd, trying to pick a suitable candidate for her to take down. For some reason, they kept suggesting females to her. She could see the females leaping gracefully through the meadow. They were magnificent, but she didn’t want to pounce on any of them. She was exhilarated. She’d never felt so alive in all her life. She was the only one in human form, running in her deerskin clothing with wolves and deer, and she was keeping up with them. If anyone had ever told her she’d be running this fast, she’d have laughed in their face. She didn’t even use the treadmill at her gym back home. She never even went to the gym. She wished all those stuffy personal trainers who’d made her feel bad for not signing up for more classes could see her now.
