by Angela Foxxe
"Wolves cannot abide weakness."
There was one last thing that had to be done, Richard had prepared himself from the moment he knew Brooks would challenge him. It was just dawning on Cara, she took a step back, and Indigo was waiting for her and held her arms.
"By pack law, Brooks has lost, what’s his is mine. Find comfort where you can, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we live."
Richard gazed at Cara, not an admiring or inviting look, but a look of determination and duty.
"No please, I didn't mean for it to happen that way,” Cara pleaded.
Richard stood before Cara, the woman he'd loved for almost a year before he realized she was just using him for power. Now, she was the only potential fertile female left in the pack.
"Don't make this difficult, Cara, you left me no choice."
She looked around to her pack mates for help. After Richard’s brutal display against Brooks, no one would help her, nor did they want to. In their eyes, Richard was entitled, it was pack law. He roughly grabbed her wrist, turned and marched methodically to the lodge. She was forced to follow or be dragged, and her pride would not let her be dragged.
Once in the warmth of the cabin, color returned to her skin, and she became very aware of her nakedness.
Upstairs, in what used to be the master suite, Richard let her go with a shove. This close to her he could smell her, it raised the hair on the back of his neck and sent goose bumps out across his skin. She held her arms awkwardly in front of her, making a small attempt to cover her bosom, and her exposed front.
Richard did not want to take her, he didn't want to be forced to violate her. Wolf demanded it though, it howled for it. Had he been a lesser man he would ravage her, then kill her. But his heart wasn't in it. Her fear though, and the power of the old ways, the power of the wolf inside of him, pushed him on, making her surrender intoxicating.
He closed and locked the door behind him. The rest of the pack was downstairs, music started in the main hall, soon food would be cooked, and drinks shared.
Richard forced his stiff legs to move forward, his shoulders and neck ached from the fights, his wounds would heal. Cara showed no signs of the night’s struggle, her wounds had already mended.
Her smell, though, enticed Richard. God her smell, how does she smell so good, even now?
He walked past her, and a part of his mind delighted at the shudder that ran through her. The scent of fear filled the room. The urge to pounce on her, to treat her like prey... he resisted the call to carnage, he would do his duty, and not one thing more.
The room's lone bathroom had a huge walk-in shower, with rock tile, several shower heads, and a bench. He turned the shower on full hot. He looked over his shoulder at Cara. She flinched and did not meet his gaze, but her legs, as if by command, walked her to the shower. He closed in behind her, their bodies inches apart, her back to his front, he could make out the goose bumps on her as well.
They moved together, under the shower, letting the hot water roll over them. For a moment the water ran red with their blood mixed with those of the dead. Richard gently rubbed her back with soap. Her muscles were so tight, she could not move. He slowly lathered her shoulders, luxuriating in the feel of her skin under his fingertips.
She shivered as he moved his hands lower, around her waist, encircling it with his powerful arms, pulling her to him, so she could feel his calmness. Not the quivering anticipation of a predator, but the deliberate execution of duty.
She sighed, the tension leaving her as his gentle nature reassured her that he wasn't going to hurt her. It was within his right, and instincts older than man urged him to violate her, to punish her, to make her beg, but he would not.
The smooth globes of her ass pushed against him, her legs parted slightly, inviting him, he leaned down, and his tongue darted out, licking behind her ear. She breathed so sharply it raised her whole body.
"It's okay Cara, it's okay," he murmured.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she whispered as his left hand explored her bosoms, so large and inviting. He squeezed and massaged, teasing her, not going in for the quick thrill, but dancing around her nipples, not letting her feel his rough hands across her most sensitive skin. He latched on to her shoulders with his mouth, sucking and kissing his way to the nape of her neck. She bent her head sideways to give him better access. He pushed her long brown hair out of the way as he kissed his way to her ear again.
Finally, after an eternity, he let his fingers find her hard nipples, and she moaned as he slowly ran his rough palms over them. Her legs parted, she leaned forward, her hips pushed into his pelvis. Richard kissed her spine, moved to the right of her neck, and trailed hot nibbles down to her arm.
His other hand found its way between her legs. She pushed against him, forward and back, eager now, as he teased her with his hands, teased her nipples, teased her vulva, darting a finger in between her slick lips, for but a moment in time with the kisses on her neck. She shuddered, he felt himself brush against her warmth.
"Remember this night, Cara, and how it could have gone, and never, ever betray us again," he whispered into her ear.
"Yes, Alpha, I'm yours, please, take me."
He did.
She let out a moan as he slid past her barrier. The warmth of her body enveloped his. He was gentle when the urge to be vicious and cruel was all but overwhelming. He overcame his wolf, and he rocked into her with slow strokes, just a bit at a time. He savored each inch, each moan and sigh.
She pushed herself against him, wiggling her waist in small circles. The feel of her back against his chest, the skin sliding back and forth, her hands on his thighs, his on her breasts, and in between her legs, was finally too much for him. He pushed all the way in and together they moaned, they growled, together they moved, back and forth, rocking with each other.
"Please, oh please, forgive me,” Cara cried, “I won't fail you again."
Richard said nothing, he was trapped in the moment, her body fulfilling his, and for that time his heart enveloped hers. He could smell her stimulation, taste her desire, and feel her pleasure. Cara braced her arms against the shower wall, bending even further forward, Richard slid his hands down her sides, to find the curve of her hips.
Her head bent down, her ass pressed against his hips. He pulled her hard to him, they moaned together. Faster he pulled and she pushed, together they found union. The union of Alpha and pack. She fulfilled his desire, giving herself to him completely, becoming the submissive wolf she could never be before.
The bodies quickened, their muscles tightened. As their mutual pleasure approached, his heart filled with joy as he sensed her acceptance of the pack.
"Oh god," she whispered as a fire leaped out from her core, a wave of heat that bound her, that freed her, that left her insides melting and her body unable to move.
Richard slammed into her one last time, pushing himself as deep as he could. His own body spasmed inside of her, filling her, his lungs tightened, and his muscles burned and he could not move as he writhed and grunted.
As the waves of pleasure rolled off of him, his wolf growled its happiness, and Cara returned the growl. Spent, they swept each other up in an embrace, Cara, eyes down, but lips up, waited.
Richard paused for a moment, holding her in his arms. With her body pressed tightly against him, he let her consider that he would not kiss her.
Then he did.
A long, deep kiss, full of heat and intensity that stirred passion in them both. When she pulled him closer, so that her back was against the wall, and one of her legs hooked around his waist, he did not resist.
* * *
Many hours later, Cara lay naked and asleep in his bed. The waning moonlight illuminated her skin, and made his heart skip a beat. If only she'd found the submissive wolf in her before, she would have been an incredible mate. And she would be, but for someone else. He could never declare her his mate, it would be seen as a sign of weakness. She could stay in the pac
k, though, she would not try this again.
Richard crept out of bed, careful not to wake her. He slipped into his brown woolen pajama pants decorated with the silhouettes of little moose. They were silly, but oh so comfortable.
Downstairs the celebration had subsided, and the pack retired to the bedrooms. With the death of some of the pack it left others unpaired. But they were family, and family took care of their own.
Several of the pack spent the night in more than one room, and others had more than two in a room. The sounds of their love filled the downstairs, as it had the upstairs, and it brought a warm smile to his face.
Once, years before, he had the unfortunate experience of visiting a vampire’s coven. The scene was similar to what one might see in the wolf pack. But where the wolves mated out of love, and respect, and out of a desire to fulfil the needs of their family, vampires merely had sex for no other reason than to dominate and to control. The idea of love was lost on those monsters, and if Richard never had to deal with them again, it would be too soon.
He found the door he'd been looking for, and nudged it open. Indigo leaned back in a chair, Skye, his current girlfriend, knelt between his legs, her head bobbing up and down. Little moans of pleasure came from them both.
He caught his Lieutenant’s eyes, and mouthed "when you're done," to which Indigo nodded. Skye was a new edition to the pack. Her parents hailed from Scotland, and she still had her brogue when she got excited.
For some reason, the West Cascade pack seemed to pick up a lot of immigrants, perhaps because the closest big city was Seattle, a favorite destination of those seeking a better life.
Half an hour later, Indigo appeared in the kitchen, half dressed like Richard, but he wore purple silk pajama pants that swirled around his legs as he walked.
"Glad to see you and Skye getting along so well."
Indigo grinned, "she's amazing, if I ever mated for life, it would be with a woman like her, maybe even her. Keep an eye on her, she'll be running the women in no time."
"I will, but for tonight we have another discussion; here, it's cold out."
Richard handed the Spaniard a steaming cup of coffee. The kitchen led out onto the back deck, which offered and amazing view of Mount Rainier in the distance. The moon was low in the sky, and the eastern horizon was slowly turning pink.
"Cara's barren."
The way Richard dropped it left no room for doubt. Indigo's head sagged slightly, his expression hinted of the sadness his heart felt.
"We can't turn anyone, if we do, they will just get the blight as well. Weak from becoming the wolf, it will kill them long before they can be with child."
Richard nodded, it was an old discussion, one he had with himself a million times. It took years, if not a full decade of practice before anyone, man or woman, could fully control the change. Regardless of control, once a year they must change during the last new moon of the year, the one directly after the winter solstice. If a wolf was with child when that happened, she would lose the child.
"What are we to do, Indigo? We lost too many."
"Will figure out a way, we always have, you always have."
"In the past," Richard said, "we could replenish our numbers with births, and the occasional newcomer. But now, now we dare not change anyone, let alone a woman, and finding the right kind of man is never easy."
Indigo nodded thoughtfully, his face communicating the desire to ease his Alpha's burden.
"There might be another way, Rich."
Most everyone called him, “Alpha” or “Richard,” only Indigo's long-time friendship called for the less formal version of his name.
"Speak your mind, you always have."
"Pack law, and I mean the ancient pack law, would allow for a surrogate. A human mother to a shifter child."
Richard sliced the air with his hand, "That was hundreds of years ago, modern pack law says humans cannot know about us. We know what happened in France, and that was six hundred years ago.
Imagine, with their tech, and their armies, what they would do to us today? Imagine if killing us wasn't what they wanted. No, the old ways passed for a reason."
Indigo smiled at his friend, he'd known his answer before he spoke.
"You listen, old friend, but you don't hear. I said surrogate, not mate. This is the twenty-first century, you know, genetics."
Richards looked to Indigo, understanding slowly creeping up on him.
"You mean, have a woman carry my baby to term, before December, then collect the child and go?"
"Exactly, she need never know who, or what we are, simply that we need her womb."
"Doesn't exactly sound romantic when you put it that way."
"It's about survival, not romance. Naomi can help us locate a woman willing to do it."
Richard shook his head, "It will take more than just any woman who can bear a child... it will take someone special."
"Agreed, but there are plenty of humans willing to do it for the right price. I'm sure something can be arranged, Seattle's a big place."
* * *
The two friends smiled in the coming dawn. A new day set on their pack, and they would see one more moon.
"Welcome to Seattle," Naomi greeted Richard and Cara as they entered her posh office just off of Mercer. Naomi was the pack’s only human contact, an attorney who handled money matters, and helped with any indiscretions.
Cara had agreed to join Richard, he wasn't in the habit of ordering his pack unless it was vital. Where Cara was tall, curvy, and with long brown hair, Naomi was more the modern standard of a woman. Whip thin, with platinum blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and a musculature born of frequent work outs.
"What can I offer my least interactive clients?"
Richard shook her outstretched hand, and nodded to Cara. "This is Cara, and she’s assisting me on our trip."
The two women regarded each other for a moment. Though Naomi wasn't a wolf, nor part of the pack, there was a subtle battle of wills. Cara's wolf trying to decide where Naomi was on the pecking order, and Naomi's force of personality refusing to care. There was a brief moment of tension, then it was over. Cara slipped her arm through the crook of Richard’s, and Naomi relaxed in her chair.
"Naomi, how much do you know of the blight?"
"Just what you told me in your letter, it’s a disease that only effects... your kind. It’s especially hard on women, often leaving them barren."
"Not often, always."
"Oh. I see, I'm so sorry, Cara."
Cara forced a tight smile, but Richard could sense the emotions playing beneath the surface. Often, even if there were no plans for a child, losing the ability to ever have one could be emotionally impacting.
"Thank you, it's... difficult to come to terms with. To live through a disease that has killed so many, but not come out unscathed. My…nature, is having a hard time with it."
Richard understood that, the wolf part of his people was unused to disease or sickness, which was something prey had, not wolves.
"I understand, but without you coming into the light, though, there isn't a whole lot that can be done. We can't fund any kind of research for a cure…" Naomi had obviously given this some thought.
Richard nodded. “No, this is our cross to bear. We're here for a different reason, and we don't have a lot of time. You see, we want to find a surrogate for our pack, someone who can bear young for us, so we can replenish our numbers. A human."
Naomi leaned back in her brown leather chair, her hand absently playing with a lock of hair.
"That's the real trick, then. Any special requirements? Because it seems like there would almost have to be."
"Well, she will need to be…fit, to carry our baby to term, and we'll have to meet her, she would need to be special. The disease killed our women’s ability to have eggs, so she will have to be the mother, not just a womb, she will have to be okay with never seeing the baby."
"They're certainly plenty of girls in the city wi
lling to surrogate, and if the price is right, I'm sure the added requirement of an egg won't be a problem. When do you want to get started?"
"Right away, she has to give birth by December twenty first, or the baby will shift in the womb."
Naomi involuntarily shuddered. “Yeah, that wouldn't be good, let me get a list together and we'll start the interviews right away. In the meantime, I've got IDs for the two of you, husband and wife," Cara stiffened and looked away, her face briefly burned with shame before she could hide it.
Naomi, for her part, continued as if nothing had happened. "Credit cards for both of you, twenty grand on each, and I've got you booked at a suite at the Weston, anything else?"
"You've been great, Naomi, let us know when we can start interviewing."
