by May Sage
Fucked up as it was, Chase was harder than he’d ever been, his cock pushing against his zipper like crazy. It wanted to be buried balls deep into that sensual, untamed woman and own her. Might have been the whole about to die thing, but nothing seemed to matter as much as fucking the shit out of her before giving up the ghost.
“Qu’est-ce que vous faites! C’est le roi d’Enom,” the woman said; he recognized the last word, but the rest sounded like I need to be fucked really, really hard right now.
Some of the wolves dropped their gaze, but the brown one growled at her, snapping his jaw as if daring her to antagonize him.
Then, he turned back to Chase.
He’d only managed one step when the woman jumped on him; one instant, there was the sexiest female he’d ever seen, the next, an immaculate white wolf was clawing at the alpha.
He opened his mouthful of fangs and leaped towards her, aiming for her neck; the white animal moved just in time to evade his assault.
Apparently some of the other wolves didn’t like that. The huge red one snarled, rushing by her side and bared his fangs at the Alpha. Slowly, as though they were considering their decision, two others detached from the bulk of the group and took her flanks, too.
So they did have some free will, then.
The brown wolf painfully phased, assuming the shape of a man – the lumberjack who’d greeted them.
Chase was well beyond shock right now; nothing he saw could surprise him. Wolves turning into guys? Sure. No problem.
Whenever reality hit, it was going to be the mother of all bitches.
“Pense très fort, petite chienne, and demande-toi si tu peux finir ce que tu commences.”
Whatever he said, it offended everyone.
The woman morphed again, much quicker than the guy – it almost seemed effortless on her part.
“Laisse-le partir, Norman. Tuer un monarque va nous ramener beaucoup d’attention.”
“C’est ma decision!” the guy screamed in response.
Then, he launched at her, regardless of the fact that he was a very big six foot five guy and she, definitely a woman, and a little one, at that.
Chase walked forward, ready to intervene, but as the woman got the guy in an arm lock, kicked him to the floor and pushed her knee to his throat within twelve seconds, it was somewhat unnecessary.
Chapter Four
Attacked
“Submit,” she ordered, knowing Norman wouldn’t.
He had one humongous advantage on her: he didn’t mind killing. Why would he submit to a female who wouldn’t take his life?
Can’t blame a girl for trying, though.
“In your dreams, bitch.”
Yeah, like she hadn’t seen that one coming.
To her surprise, everyone winced on her behalf, even those who hadn’t decidedly sided with her.
Lana was respected in the pack; she did more than her share, helped where she could and she was daughter of the strongest female they had – no one, Alpha or not, should insult her.
Especially an alpha so far gone his taste for blood clouded his judgment. They’d all seen it; it was just the first time someone did something about it.
Eventually, she sighed and let him go, knowing that keeping him down wasn’t doing any good. Well, it was kinda fun, actually, but counterproductive.
If a male had been in her position, things would have been different but she was a female: she couldn’t usurp the alpha male role.
Still, her little display clearly stated that she could take him, and there was no denying that the way he would be seen from there on would change. Knowing the way of the pack, Lana was pretty sure he’d be challenged within the next fortnight. With a bit of luck, he’d get the message: messing with her wasn’t in his best interest.
She knew what her rebellion meant for her, though. She wasn’t part of the pack anymore.
Strangely, she wasn’t exactly torn up about it.
“Don’t you dare show your face in pack territory again,” the wolf spit when he rose to his feet, stating the obvious. “Any of you,” he added, addressing Tarik, Vince and Bain.
She could have said she had no intention to, but she wouldn’t be seen obeying to him so instead, she tilted her head and asked, “What are you going to do about it? Bark orders?”
He’d ordered her to fall in line through the pack link. Seven times. Each of them had fallen flat. The instant the three wolves by her side had decided to protect her, they’d stopped being subjected to his will, too.
Holy shit. She was an Alpha. She had a pack.
You sure do, a familiar voice announced, reaching her although Jaya was miles away.
What the hell?
Tarik gave in his two cents: I’ve given everyone a head’s up before leaving the pack.
Holy shit. Paying attention, she felt people through the new link. A hell of a lot more than a handful, too.
She knew just when Norman realized the same thing. His usual scowl transformed into a murderous grimace.
“You’re going to regret crossing me, you slutty, pathetic excuse for a…”
Ok, enough of that. She locked eyes with him and stared, sending out dominating, domineering vibes.
One minute in, he dropped his gaze and turned around, leaving in a huff.
She smirked, pretty damn satisfied with herself. She’d always known she could out-alpha the jerk, but she hadn’t, because… she wasn’t sure why, actually. Becoming an Alpha hadn’t entered her mind until she’d had a compelling reason to disagree with Norman’s command.
Lana turned towards that compelling reason, wincing as she imagined the disgust in his eyes.
Surprisingly, there was none.
The prince of Enom simply looked exhausted and confused; to his credit, though, he hadn’t seemed frightened, even when facing what he must have realized was a death sentence.
Her wolf approved. She approved a lot, wanting to rub herself all over him, like a slutty little wolfie puss.
“Come on, your highness, we’ll take you back home. You may have heard – there’s a big bad wolf in these woods.”
So judge him, but Chase was silent at first; and cold, too. He also felt quite nauseous. He was no doctor but he was so bold as to presume his symptoms meant that he was in shock right now.
Twenty minutes into their walk, he stiffened when they came across other oversize wolves.
Many of them.
“Chill out,” a naked redheaded guy said, next to him. His accent was slight, but noticeably foreign: slower, more languid than Chase’s. “These are the good guys. More or less.”
Because that was reassuring.
Some of the wolves were holding bags in their mouth, others had been loaded with goods around a saddle, like horses – well, they certainly were the right size for that.
A graying white wolf pushed its snout against the woman in the red hood and Chase felt the first emotion fight his way out of the numbness. A powerful, irrational jolt of jealousy.
“That’s Mary, Lana’s mother,” the guy said, immediately easing his nerves.
Lana. What an utterly normal, common, non-wolfish name that was. Chase wondered how many things existed in the world without his knowledge; things called Mary and Lana. Things he spoke to everyday without knowing which shape they turned into in the dark. He wondered how many of them were threats.
“You’re going to hunt the pack when we get you back, aren’t you?”
Chase didn’t deny it; if it was the last thing he did, he’d get rid of that psychotic wolf. As for the rest of them…
“Why did you obey him?”
It was the first words that had come out of his mouth since the attack and strangely, his voice was steady, firm.
The Wilderling looked at him for a long time before responding.
“I could try to explain. You wouldn’t get it; not really. I’d need to show you. Trust me?”
What a ridiculous question; of course he didn’t.
Then, he re
membered the reddish wolf quite clearly. The one who hadn’t attacked anyone. Somewhere in his mind, he thought it might even have lingered around him, as if to guard him...
Slowly, he nodded.
The male took his hand and pushed it on his forehead. All of the sudden, Chase felt part of something bigger, something that was beautiful and warm, like a tight knit family. It was his link with Mimi, only, ten, a hundred, a thousand times stronger.
“That’s what a pack should feel like,” he said, dropping his hand.
For one moment, Chase hated him for taking something so pure away from him.
“We’re all intertwined because we all answer to our link – our Alpha. When the Alpha orders, we obey. Simple as that.”
The Wilderling had been right: he wouldn’t have understood if he hadn’t felt the link – he was pretty certain he would have done just about anything to carry on being part of that crowd.
“But you resisted?”
He shrugged.
“I said it’s what a pack should feel like. Norman’s is polluted because he’s a wild beast. He pretends to obey our traditions, but really, he’s just picked whichever ones suit him. For example? Killing Jereenan. He only started a few years ago, to feed his lust for the hunt. Many of us wanted out, but there’s no male with his strength – trying to take his place would have been suicidal. So we waited for a window of opportunity. All I mean is, don’t start a personal vendetta against the entire pack; there are less than a handful amongst us who are truly loyal to Norman. Here we are, your highness. You’re home.”
He was: as promised, they’d taken him back right to the palace’s doorsteps, at the edge of the forest. Chase was grateful they’d chosen to lead him there rather than back to Crystalia: it was dark out, which meant that he’d been missing for a while. Mimi was probably frantic by now.
“Where are you going to go?”
The male shrugged, turning to glance at the woman in red.
She’d closed her coat around her ample chest, but every glance he stole made him react completely, utterly inappropriately. For all that was holy, she was a wolf.
Some part of him was thinking and your point? Frankly, it baffled him. Why was he so indifferent about it?
Probably the shock. Reasoning that he could most definitely not be trusted to make any kind of decision regarding the hot, dangerous female before he had a shower, a glass of brandy and a wank – not necessarily in that order – he ignored his illogical desire to just close the distance and pull her into his arms.
The woman’s gaze went to him, first, piercing him in a way that made him feel hot under the collar for all the right reasons, before focusing on the redhead, who turned to tell him: “We’ll be fine.”
“Don’t tell me: You guys are psychic.”
He hoped he was just going to wake the fuck up and actually open his eyes to a world that made sense.
“Anyway, it’s late. You should stay – there’s plenty of room, as you can imagine.”
He had no fucking clue what possessed him to offer them shelter.
Except the fact that they’d kind of saved his life, taken him home in one piece, and there were children amongst them.
Besides, if they lived in those woods somewhere, they were his subjects. Ensuring they were fine was his job.
He’d apparently shocked and confused all those who’d heard him, as much as he’d shocked and confused himself.
A very small – cat-size – pretty fluffy, adorable pup trotted to his feet and shot him the most disturbingly cute puppy dog eyes, before barking at a high pitch and pushing on its hind leg, trying to climb up his trousers.
Ah, hell. What had he gotten himself into?
“Come on up, then,” he sighed, grabbing the pup and tucking him under his arm.
Chapter Five
Mistake
She’d expected that he’d give them a couple of larger rooms where they could all bunk together, or something; instead, each family was shown to one of their large, luxurious royal guest suites. She’d be eternally grateful for that, although his hospitality had been given reluctantly, she’d heard it in his voice.
If it hadn’t been for the kids, she would have turned it down in a heartbeat, but regardless of the depth of her purse, she couldn’t very well have knocked at a hotel’s door and checked in that crowd without a booking, on such short notice.
Thankfully, the palace was pretty damn huge, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to fit the two hundred and seven wolves in her pack.
Her pack. Her couple of hundred wolves. It was still outright overwhelming, and humbling, too.
Forcing herself to look professional, she held her shoulders back and walked into the drawing room where she’d been ask to present herself after settling in her rooms.
Chase was nowhere to be seen, so she relaxed, for a while, in any case.
On a large, plush damask chair that could only be called a throne, sat a woman who held herself like the queen she doubtlessly was. She had Chase’s green eyes, and his imposing presence, too.
“Your highness.”
The woman seemed to analyze her; it was impossible to tell whether she approved or not.
Jaya, bless her soul, had stopped by her room and brought some of her clothes, as well as most of her gold, so she was wearing pants, at least.
“My grandson has either eaten some very interesting mushrooms, or you’re a she-wolf,” the woman stated.
So much for pants.
Lana shifted, destroying her trousers as her wolf burst out of her skin, and went right back to her human form.
The Queen raised an eyebrow; she was definitely related to Chase Hunter, because no fear or disgust could be read in her eyes. More interestingly, though, there was no surprise either.
“Hmm. Your children. They’ll be wolves, too?” the lady asked evenly.
Unsure of where that was going, Lana nodded; amongst those who left the pack, plenty had paired up with humans, and from what she’d heard through their social media interactions, the children had been Wilderlings, too.
“Hmm,” the Queen repeated noncommittally, before patting the chair at her right. “Sit down, child. I want to hear all about your plans. How do you like your tea?”
“With biscuits.”
The Queen chuckled and gave her a broad smile.
“Here. Have you tried Tarina’s chocolate chip cookies, by any chance?”
“Have I ever. These are just the best. How do they stay so chewie?”
“We’ll get along just fine.”
“And all this time, you’ve lived at our doorstep,” Chase heard Mimi muse as he joined her in her favorite study.
He stopped long enough to recognize the wolf’s voice.
She sounded sultry, but common rolled on her tongue as easily as her strange, sensual language.
“For three thousand years, yes,” she replied. “There are plenty of us living across the New World and Europa, too – Denker, mainly. That might be where we’re headed. We can hope to blend in, there... But thinking of it, we might go north.”
“You wouldn’t want to stay in your own country?”
Mimi sounded outraged; Lana replied casually, almost indifferently, without any edge to her voice: “We have no country. Most of us aren’t registered in your censuses; as far as the world is concerned, we don’t exist.”
Chase was done eavesdropping; he walked in, giving his two cents: “That’s quite enough of that. The world deserves to know what they can step into when they take a stroll through the wrong woods. They need to understand what kinds of monsters roam their lands.”
He felt quite entitled for thinking – and saying – that, given the circumstances, but seeing the look both women shot him, he felt very small all of a sudden. Mimi narrowed her eyes in warning; she’d never seemed so annoyed; as for the wolf… Lana looked like she’d been kicked in the guts, and he didn’t like it. He could not quite bring himself to regret his words, but he wished t
hey hadn’t upset her.
“You may not make a habit of dismembering people, but others amongst your kind do,” he stated, matter-of-fact.
She nodded her agreement and looked away from him, making him feel even worse. He wanted her dark eyes back on him.
“There, there,” Mimi said softly, her hand on the woman’s knee. “It won’t be so bad. If elves can turn up and announce themselves without any issues, I don’t see why we’d reject wolves.”
“I never understood it either, before today,” she admitted. “Your grandson has a point: we’ll be mistrusted because wolves are hunters. We are threats. I shouldn’t have forgotten that.”
She turned to him, her eyes ablaze, yet cold as ice.
“Feel free to announce to the world what a menace my kind represents, but if you point a finger in my direction and endanger my pack, you’ll become my enemy, your highness. Trust me: you don’t want to find out what that means.”
Then, as regal as anyone in the room had ever been, she pushed on her feet and headed out. When she’d reached the door, she turned back to add: “We’ll be out of your hair by morning. Thanks for the hospitality.”
The latter part was addressed to Mimi, and said with a faint smile. Then, she was gone, without sparing him a glance.
And that, gentlemen, is how you utterly, completely fuck up.
None of what had occurred had been part of the plan. His idea had been going in, actually introducing himself, asking about the pack leader, and getting her opinion on the best way to get rid of him. He’d also wanted to thank her... and perhaps even ask her out. That was left to be determined. He was so confused, but in the midst of everything, the sole thing that hadn’t wavered was his inherent attraction towards her. If there was any way it could be reciprocated, he needed to know where it might lead.
Somehow, he ended up offending her instead of charming her.
Great.
Chase slept rather badly that night; by dawn, he was resolved: he had to apologize.
With some distance, he could see that what he said could be interpreted in various ways, including some that weren’t in his favor.
