by Desiree Holt
He went along his trails in the snow, too worn out to try forging a new path. Sam didn’t know how long they had been there, but suddenly he realized that there were tracks in the snow in front of him. Strange tracks.
Turkey, he realized. He picked up his pace, following the tracks. They looked fresh. The turkey was taking advantage of the shallow snow. Hardly daring to hope, Sam followed the tracks beneath the trees and then out of his path. He heard the turkey before he saw it.
Hunt hunt hunt food!
Sam gave the reins to the cheetah. It would catch the turkey without the bumbling human mind overthinking it and worrying about what happened if he missed. Sam just went along for the ride as the feline stalked his prey. The turkey was freaking huge. It moved and Sam gasped: there were two!
He left the cheetah in control until the first bird was down. It only took a single pounce. Then, he jumped back into the driver’s seat of his mind and forced the cheetah off of the prey. It fought, but Sam forced it to turn and sprint after the escaping turkey. As soon as the chase was on the cheetah lost interest in the dead bird and focused on the hunt. In seconds the other bird was caught.
It was hard to carry both, but Sam managed. He dragged them into the cave, then turned to Cara with a mouthful of feathers, certain that he looked like a smug housecat.
“Oh my god!” she cried, jumping to her feet. “You got two! We have food!”
Sam shifted and stood. Cara didn’t even wait for him to dress, she barreled into him and hugged him. “You did it!”
He hugged her back, adrenaline still rushing.
Neither knew who moved first, but suddenly their mouths were pressed together and they were kissing over and over and over.
Cara snapped to her senses and backed away with a breathless, nervous laugh. “Um…”
Sam cleared his throat and turned to dress, but not before Cara saw how the kiss had aroused him. She felt desire stir in her as well and quickly blamed it on the approaching full moon. She grabbed one of the turkeys to distract herself. “I’ll start cleaning this.”
“Perfect,” Sam said.
Once he was dressed he went to work on the other bird. After the feathers were cleaned off, the pair shifted and tore down each bird into pieces. They split the bones and organs off, eating half of them immediately, and saving the rest for later.
Soon, the smell of roasting turkey filled the air and the shifters were sitting by the fire, feeling full from their initial snack.
“If we’re smart, these will last the rest of the time,” Cara said.
“Two birds?”
“We’re almost half-way done,” she reminded him.
“It’s going fast.”
They smiled at each other, then turned away with embarrassment.
“Sorry for uh… kissing…” Sam trailed off.
“It’s okay. I think I started it,” Cara admitted. “Or at least my wolf did.”
Sam nodded and flashed her a shy smile. “My cheetah’s getting a little antsy cause of the moon. Hopefully the food will calm things down.”
“Sorry if I’ve been snappy.”
“Likewise.”
The shared another smile. Sam pulled a piece of turkey off of his roasting stick and tried it.
“Perfect!”
They ate slowly savoring each bite. When they were full, Sam took it outside and buried it to keep it cold.
It wasn’t long before the pair felt drowsy. They built up the fire and snuggled up under the space blanket; warmer and fuller than they had been since the challenge started.
Chapter 7
Day Seven
“Cara. Cara.”
The whisper woke her from a good dream.
“Hm?”
“Um…” Sam’s voice sounded unsure. Awkward, even.
Cara blinked her eyes open. The fire was low and the cave dark. She was backed up against Sam, with one of his arms over her. A dream about a significantly less platonic sleeping arrangement was foggy in her mind. She knew she had been dreaming about Sam. She started to move and froze. Her hand was down the front of her pants. Oh god, had she been masturbating in her sleep?! Sam’s erection was firm against her butt and she realized that not only had she been touching herself, she must have been grinding back into him.
Mortified, Cara rolled to face him and apologize.
“I’m sorry! The moon and…um…” She trailed off. The human was watching her, equally embarrassed. But the cheetah behind his eyes was staring hungrily. The she-wolf whined in her head. Mate.
Cara growled.
Was it a challenge? A warning? An invitation? She wasn’t even sure. But, she growled. Sam growled back. And then their mouths crashed together. Sam’s fingers tangled in her hair, pulling her against him. She grabbed his ass and yanked him even closer.
They nipped at each other’s lips and tongues as they kissed. Their hands ran everywhere, exploring every inch of the other’s body. Cara slid her hand across the front of Sam’s pants, eliciting a groan.
“Don’t tease,” he chuckled against her lips.
An unusual daring filled her. Cara didn’t do one night stands, but the entire challenge was so different from anything she had done before, she suddenly wanted to go all out. It wasn’t like anybody would ever know but them.
“I’m not teasing,” she breathed. Her fingers found his zipper and she undid it, then slipped her fingers beneath the fabric and wrapped them around him.
“Oh!” Sam bucked against her with gasp of pleasure. He kissed her again and ran his hands under her shirt and up her back.
Cara shivered under his touch and started to stroke him. One of his hands found her breast and he kneaded it gently, then harder as Cara’s moans encouraged him. He rubbed her nipple under the pad of his finger and she arched against him.
The wolf and the cheetah didn’t want to wait. They didn’t care about the slow, almost exploratory pleasure the humans were enjoying. They almost couldn’t be denied, not so close to the full moon. Sam tugged questioningly on Cara’s pants and she snapped open her button and pulled them down, then rolled over to her hands and knees. The cheetah shifter couldn’t deny the invitation. He pulled off his own pants and crouched behind her, wrapping one around her waist and resting his hand over a breast. His other hand worked its way up her inner thigh, teasing, tickling, as it went.
Cara shuddered as he finally slipped a finger inside her, still somehow maintaining the pleasurable tickle. He gently thrust in and out and Cara found herself moving to meet him, driving his finger deeper each time. She felt a second slip in and gasped.
“Yes,” she moaned. “Yes.” The she-wolf in her mind growled in agreement. She almost whined when Sam’s fingers slid away and didn’t return. But, she felt him moving behind her and knew what was coming.
“Okay?” Sam breathed, voice thick and deep with lust.
“Yes. Do it.”
She felt his dick move up her thigh and press against her. And then he was in, filling her. It felt so tight. Good. Right.
Cara rocked back into him. “Fuck me,” she moaned as he waited for her to adjust.
That was all Sam needed to hear. He thrust into her, deeper and harder each time. The cheetah purred in pleasure in his mind as he leaned back, grabbed her hips with both hands, and increased his pace.
Cara’s hands slipped and slid on the pine needles, but she didn’t care. She threw back her head, losing herself in the pleasure. As he slammed in and out of her, she felt Sam let go of one hip. A moment later his hand worked its way between her legs, rubbing at her clit as he fucked her.
“Oh god, yes!” she cried, arching against him.
Sam growled as he came, before bending down and sinking his teeth into the back of her neck. The bite didn’t hurt, instead it sent Cara over the edge was well. She howled and had the best orgasm she had had in a long time.
They collapsed together onto their makeshift bed. Sam pulled up the space blanket over them and pulled Cara against
his chest. She snuggled up, not even bothering with her pants.
“Wow,” she murmured.
“Wow,” he echoed. Then, he laughed. “You howled.”
Cara elbowed him playfully in the stomach. “Never had sex with a wolf before?”
“Actually, no.”
They both chuckled, then sighed contently.
* * *
Considering they had shelter, food, water, and fire, they had no real agenda for the day. Instead, they fell back asleep in each other’s arms and dozed for some time. When they finally rolled out of bed they shared a leisurely breakfast of turkey and a few shy smiles.
They successfully melted snow in Sam’s cup and decided to head down to the river and get some more clay. Full stomachs, not to mentioned satiated inner animals, had their spirits high. Sam didn’t even mind how much his paws hurt after digging up clay in the icy water.
After that, they returned to the cave and sat warming the clay and talking. They had enough for another small cup and some extra for a smaller one that Sam wanted to try shaping into a pitcher.
“You’re good at that,” Cara said, as he formed the vessel. “Do a lot of art?”
“Actually, no,” he laughed. “But, I’ve always liked doing things with my hands.”
“You’re good with your hands.” Cara immediately blushed as she realized how the compliment had sounded. “I didn’t mean… not that you… aren’t, I just…”
Sam laughed and focused his attention on the clay. “Thanks,” he mumbled awkwardly. “What about you?” he asked trying to change the subject. At her confused looked he not-so-eloquently added, “Art.”
“Oh! No, nothing much.” She rolled the clay in her hands. “I like to paint. I sometimes think I’d love to set up and paint as I travel, but I have nowhere to keep everything. I used to…”
“To?”
“It’s stupid,” Cara spat. She gave the clay a more vigorous push than she meant to and ripped a hole in the cup. “Shoot,” she growled, balling it up to start over.
“I won’t judge,” Sam said.
The proximity of the full moon made her snarl. “I said it’s stupid.”
Undaunted, Sam replied, “I once asked a professor how many undiscovered ruins he had been to.”
The she-wolf frowned in confusion. “What?”
Sam smiled at her. “Back when I was in college, I asked my archaeology professor if he had done any excavations in undiscovered ruins.”
“Um… wouldn’t they be considered discovered if he knew about them?”
“Exactly. That is stupid.” The cheetah grinned. “Never lived that one down with my classmates. Your turn.”
“I…” Cara swallowed nervously. “Okay, you got me. I used to dream that I’d somehow figure out how to combine painting and traveling. I don’t know how. Maybe paint where I visited and hang around, selling enough paintings for more supplies and a way to get to the next place.”
“I don’t think that’s stupid at all,” Sam said softly. “I think that’s a great dream.”
“Really? You think so?”
Sam nodded. She looked so surprised and, somehow cautious. “Who told you it was stupid?” he asked on a hunch.
“An ex-boyfriend,” Cara admitted. “He was a jerk though so… whatever.”
“Sounds like this “jerk” really got to you.”
Cara turned away and gazed into the fire. She hated to talk about him. “He was the latest in a… a long line of jerks. Wolves are different. All the males have this stupid alpha, pack-leader mindset. I mean, I’m sure there are good ones out there. But all of the wolves I’ve ever dated have this alpha-complex. I thought he was… different.” She smiled sadly at the flames. “I told him I was going to go to school for art and start traveling. He asked how I was going to earn money and I told him it wasn’t about the money. He told me it was stupid, and I lacked real ambition, and that he wouldn’t allow it.” Cara snapped her head around to look at Sam. Even in her human form, there was an aura of predator about her. “I told him I wouldn’t allow him to run my life. We fought, I left him. And now, here I am…” The fierceness seemed to drain out of her. “I learned to paint, but I don’t… I don’t do anything with it. I just travel now and I’m happy but I’m… happy. Maybe I do lack ambition.”
“But you’re happy.” Sam said.
“Exactly where I am,” Cara argued. “You asked the other night if I want to settle down…” It was a subject she always shied away from, but somehow the dim firelight and the quiet, seclusion of the cave made it seem almost like a dream. Like she wasn’t really confiding in anyone but her own shadow, flickering against the rocks. “I feel like… like he was right. I got the degree in art and I don’t do a damn thing with it. I want to show him he’s wrong and start painting but I don’t want to stop moving. I think I’m afraid that if I stop I’ll end up… with another wolf like him. And that I won’t have the ambition to return to this life if I slow down. I want a mate, but I’m afraid I’ll never find one who wants this life too. And I’m afraid that if I give up this life for a mate that I won’t be happy. Or worse, that I’ll miss my chance to do this, only to have him leave me when I don’t have ambition.”
“It takes a lot of ambition to move around like you do. All on your own like this. And if you want a good mate, I think this is how you’ll find him, to be honest. You’ll never find someone who wants to travel if you aren’t traveling!”
“That’s true,” Cara said with a soft laugh. “I guess this is the best thing I could be doing.”
“You have to make yourself happy first.”
“Thanks, Sam.” She smiled at him. “That’s really sweet of you.”
The cheetah shrugged. “Just being honest.”
Chapter 8
After putting their new cups by the fire to bake, the pair headed out to gather more firewood. They spent the afternoon making repairs and improvements to their outer wall.
“It feels colder today,” Cara said as they worked.
“It does.” Sam looked up at the darkening sky and pointed to some distant clouds. “Those look like storm clouds. We might be in for some snow.”
“Why don’t I gather more pine needles?”
“I’ll come with you.”
Still human, they headed down the trail they had worn into the snow and into the pines. They used their sweaters to carry a couple of loads of needles up to the cave and deposited them on their bed. As she gathered her last load, Cara was distracted by the sight of Sam shifting. He reared back and started slashing his claws down a tree. She waited for him to shift back to human and dress before voicing her curiosity.
“What was that?”
Sam held up the bark. “You can eat this inner layer here. I thought of it last night…” He shrugged, looking embarrassed. “After we starved.”
“Better late than never,” Cara offered.
The first flakes had already started falling as they started back to the cave. By the time they had walked the short distance, the snow was steadily falling.
“This might be a pretty big storm,” Sam said in concern.
“Let’s hope our wall holds.”
They retreated into the cave and sat by the fire to thaw out. The wind started howling and snow was blowing past the doorway of their cave. Inside, Cara’s wolf was mentally pacing. She usually liked to be outside during the full moon. As night crept closer, she could feel it calling her to run.
“Too bad it’s coming down so hard,” she said. “I’d love some fresh air.”
“I want to run,” Sam said, echoing the nagging cheetah in his head.
“Me too. I think I’ll spend the next full moon somewhere warm.”
Sam nodded in agreement. “I’ll be back at work by then. Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“You inspired me; talking about your traveling and your painting. I miss my fieldwork. I might try to find an excavation or something to join somewhere.”
“Sou
nds fun.”
They talked for a while, both avoiding the elephant in the room: sex. Now that they had done it once, their inner animals were screaming for it. The she-wolf and the cheetah were sick of being trapped in the cave. In lieu of enjoying the night under the moonlight, they wanted to satisfy themselves in another way.
It was the sort of thing that was normal for shifters and yet… always sort of an awkward topic. Neither wanted to just assume the other human wanted to have sex again, regardless of how their animals felt.
“Do you think they have cameras in here?” Cara asked.
“What?”
“I was thinking, we have these.” She tapped the camera strapped onto her forehead. “But they wouldn’t just rely on footage from these, would they? We’re inside so much.” The wolf waved an arm around the cave. “Which got me thinking, I wonder if they have cameras in here somewhere. They did basically force us to use this cave as our shelter.”
“You might be right.” Sam scanned the cave, looking for anything that was reflecting the firelight the way a camera lens would. “Ready for dinner?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
They ate their turkey and held another slightly awkward conversation as they tip-toed around the issue. Somewhere along the way, they become so engrossed in talking to each other that the conversation became less about avoiding The Talk and more about just talking and enjoying each other’s company.
Their senses told them the full moon was high in the sky by the time they crawled away from the fire and to their bed. The wind was still roaring outside and the black night was obscured by white. In spite of the blizzard, the inside of the cave was cozy and warm.
For a moment, they sat by the bed together. Their eyes met and their inner animals jumped to attention. Mate, mate!
Cara licked her lips, remembering the feel and taste of Sam’s. Yes, mate, her inner wolf growled. She felt her breath quicken and a shiver ran through her. Sam’s gaze burned into her; she could practically hear the purring of the cheetah looking out from behind his eyes.
