by Juniper Hart
It made Sasha lightheaded. She couldn’t make up her mind whether or not to push him away, so she stayed still. Diesel moved first. He took her arms from around him and stood up.
“Maybe it’s too much to think about right now, considering everything that happened,” he said, “but at least consider it. You’re the one that I want.”
Before Sasha could say anything, Diesel smiled at her and then walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Left alone with her thoughts, Sasha didn’t know what to do next. She had a life in another town. A job. A decent apartment.
If she accepted Diesel’s offer, what would that mean for her future? Living in Pine Bend together?
And what about Nolan? Would he keep trying to win her by fighting Diesel again? The easiest thing would be to leave town as soon as her car was ready and forget all of this had happened. There was still time to make the drive home before Christmas, even if she had to drive all night.
Sasha looked at the closed door of the bedroom. She couldn’t deny that she still felt drawn to Diesel—if anything, the bond she had thought they shared before had only seemed to have increased, pulling them closer and closer to each other.
Sasha spent most of the next day sleeping. Being up all night with werewolf shenanigans took a lot more out of her than she had realized.
When she woke up, Diesel was hard at work in his shop. Those same melancholy feelings crept back into Sasha’s mind: cheerless. Joyless. Alone. But they didn’t linger there. Her mind was overrun by the memories of so many brief encounters. Almost kisses. Embraces. Caresses. Times when she was sure they wanted the same thing. Sasha made up her mind. She would stay in Pine Bend to see this through, at least until Christmas.
Diesel wanted to make sure he didn’t miss what would be his last opportunity to impress Sasha. Convincing her he was serious and that she should stay meant making this holiday perfect. He started with a trip out to a Christmas tree farm. A man and his dog living in a small loft in a mechanic’s shop didn’t exactly decorate for the holiday. In fact, DJ only looked at trees as a way to mark his territory, so Diesel had never bothered to shop for one.
But, for Sasha, he would. He let her know that he was determined to make the Christmas experience they shared the perfect one. It was their first Christmas of what he hoped would be many.
With the tree safely in the truck bed, they had to figure out ornaments. The cheap plastic type from the drug store were the only ones available, but there were lots of options for lights. Diesel also bought a dozen boxes of popcorn to make garland. It was unexpectedly endearing, coming from someone who looked so macho; Sasha couldn’t stop smiling about it.
They set up the tree in the loft. After burning two batches of popcorn, there was enough to finally start the garland-making process. From beginning to end, it took all day to finish the tree. Sasha hadn’t decorated a full-size evergreen since she was a child; it was a bigger task than she remembered, but it was worth it. Diesel seemed happy about it as well. There was a cheerful sparkle in his eye as he looked at the tree that she hadn’t noticed before.
“It’s just a shame we don’t have any presents.” Sasha sat on the floor next to the tree. “I didn’t get any wrapping paper, so we can’t even wrap empty boxes.”
Diesel yawned. “We don’t need them.” He sat back on the bed, then laid down.
Sasha got up from her seat on the floor and laid across the bed next to Diesel. He put his arm around her, pulling her close. Sasha was worried he would be able to feel her heart about to beat out of her chest. If he did, he didn’t say anything about it. Instead, Diesel yawned again and fell asleep.
8
When Sasha got up the next morning, she was alone in bed. The whole day, it was her and her canine companion stuck upstairs in the loft with nothing to do but watch Christmas movies. It was just before dark when Diesel finally showed up. He’d spent most of the day decorating the old vehicle with lights and cheap plastic evergreen garland. There were fuzzy reindeer horns on the roof and a red nose that was three sizes too small attached with pipe cleaners to the grill of the truck. The bed of his pickup was full of blankets and pillows.
“Is this supposed to be Santa’s sleigh? Or the Polar Express?” Sasha laughed as she climbed into the truck.
“Well, Merry Christmas to you, too.” Diesel just smiled.
The cab smelled delicious, like a savory blend of herbs and spices. On the floor of the passenger seat was a duffel bag filled with something that smelled wonderful. The pair were headed out of town.
Sasha had tried to guess their destination, but Diesel just repeated, “That’ll spoil the surprise.”
She couldn’t help but look at the bag next to her feet. Was it full of food? Or had he packed clothes for an overnight stay? Her mind transported her to a fictional cabin, with a fire and a cliché rug. She was hoping they would share wine and then… maybe…
Sasha was a little disappointed when Diesel took her to a little park close to a primitive campground, with, quite possibly, the only overlook in all of that patch of desert. She hadn’t dressed for roughing it. A knit dress and tights were practical for an evening out to dinner, not for camping. She was starting to second guess Diesel’s choice when she looked up. The moon was huge that night, and that vantage point made it look like it was close enough to touch.
Diesel helped Sasha out of the vehicle and into the bed of the truck. He tossed the gym bag in the back before hopping in himself. He took a seat next to her. Rummaging around in the bag, he pulled out a couple of thermoses and a flask.
“This will warm you up.”
The flask was full of bourbon, and the thermos was full of stew. Sasha took a sip from the flask first, then rested her head on Diesel’s shoulder. He put the food away quietly and stayed silent for another moment, as if searching for his words.
“I don’t want you to…” He made a small pause. “I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”
She looked up at him but didn’t speak.
“I don’t want you to hold back your feelings because you’re scared of what might happen,” he continued, looking deep into her eyes. “Whatever it will take to keep you here, I’ll do it.”
Sasha could feel her heart in her throat.
“I want you as my mate.” Diesel’s voice was delicately candid. “I love you.”
Sasha hadn’t realized how much she had wanted to hear him say those words until she did. All of the moments they had shared, the memories of all their brief encounters, came flooding back to her, and though the words would’ve sounded rushed under any other circumstances, now they didn’t. Not when they came from Diesel.
“I love you, too,” Sasha said, and she meant it.
Diesel closed the distance between them and finally kissed her. His mouth was intense and sweet against her, as if he had pressed all of his longing for her into that one touch. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him back ferociously. God, how had she been waiting for this moment.
They fell into the nest of linen.
Above her, Sasha had the most amazing view of the starry sky. She could see her breath before her eyes began to dampen. Diesel traced a line from her jaw down her neck with his mouth. When he reached the intersection of her neck and shoulder, he bit her, and Sasha arched her back up into his body.
“Sasha,” he whispered, “I love you.”
She bit her lip. It was hard to control herself underneath such a big body when she was aching for him.
Diesel waited for permission to have her, but she couldn’t form the words. Instead, she spread her legs open and let her knit dress rise above her hips, nodding her head. Diesel leaned back. Rubbing his hands over her legs briefly, he stopped at the crotch of her tights.
He reached under the seam of her tights, and then under her panties as his fingers reached the sensitive area between her legs. He expertly rubbed her mound, swirling his fingers over her pink bud while simultaneously sending shudders through
her body.
Sasha gasped with every movement of Diesel’s fingers, her arousal increasing by the second. Her hands reached down to his pants, and she struggled with the button and zipper before she finally unleashed his erection. A low, guttural growl escaped his throat as she stroked his shaft in a rhythmic motion.
Unexpectedly, Diesel ripped off her tights and entered her waiting core with one hard thrust.
Diesel took a deep breath, and on the exhale, his eyes changed color. Sasha could barely make it out, but he seemed different. His gaze was fierce, even the sinew and vein in his arms were more prominent. Her whole body shuddered under his weight, and she couldn’t help but cry out as he moved in and out of her over and over, bringing her to her orgasm.
Sasha tried desperately to close her arms around his bulging back, but it was impossible. Diesel’s muscular body was much larger than her petite frame, and she wanted to experience every inch of him as he drove himself into her with ardor.
Sasha clawed at her lover’s back when she climaxed for the second time. She tried to catch her breath.
“Don’t stop,” she moaned despite the oversensitivity threatening to overwhelm her.
Diesel grunted. “Are you sure?” he asked her, his voice hoarse.
She moved her arms to encircle his shoulders again. She wanted him to climax just like she had. “Yes,” she rasped. “Please don’t stop, oh, don’t stop—”
Diesel didn’t need to be told twice. He thrust in and out of her, continuing to build both of their pleasures until he finally reached his own orgasm, gasping his climax against her mouth.
The sunrise was as beautiful as the moon had been the night before. The pair had fallen asleep long before the moon said its goodnight. Bundled up in the back of the truck, Sasha had never felt so warm. The crisp air reminded her that it was still winter. It was an added encouragement to make up her mind. She would be staying right at Diesel’s side as his mate.
THE END
Part III
The Lost Shifter
1
The moon hung high in the sky, silver and beautiful, its light glimmering over the forest. The looming tall trees, with their ever-reaching branches, broke the light up into majestic patches in front of him. The world around him was perfectly illuminated, and even with his perfect night sight, he was amazed at how the brightness was almost too much for his eyes—the gleam cascaded off the trees and the leaves on the ground in front of him.
Caleb Saunders inhaled deeply, breathing the open air into his massive lungs and letting his chest pump and stretch to its absolute limit. He loved the way it felt to be alive, and he never felt more alive than on the nights with a full moon. The sweet scents that flooded his head were magnificent, and he loved to taste every single thing Mother Earth had to offer when he was in his fully shifted form.
It was during nights like this that he found himself gladder than ever to be a werewolf. He’d been born a wolf; he’d never known anything else, although, as a younger wolf—and especially as a child— he’d often wished that he could experience what it was like to be normal. It wasn’t until maybe the past twenty years or so that he’d realized how lucky he was, and he had finally grown to truly appreciate being a wolf.
Caleb emerged out of a legion of trees into a stretch of open land. The grass was dying and shorter than usual under the October sky. He loved this time of year. Everything seemed to be winding down and going into hibernation: the color of the trees, the smells, the sights and sounds—all of it was intoxicating to him. His feet began to thump harder against the cool ground as he started to sprint across the open field. In the distance, he could plainly see where the forest wrapped back around, the way it would soon engulf him in a warm embrace of trees and shrubbery.
Caleb welcomed it all. As a creature with one foot in the supernatural world of being a werewolf and the other foot firmly rooted in the realm of being human, he was able to experience and truly appreciate the best of both worlds and everything that each had to offer someone like him.
He wondered what the rest of his pack was doing tonight. Many of them did not seem to share his enthusiasm for experiencing everything through the eyes of a shifter. Most of them had long ago become disillusioned with their immortality, but Caleb still found new things in this ever-changing world to be surprised and inspired by. Perhaps it was because he was a young wolf still, barely two hundred years old, or maybe it was because he was now the alpha.
He’d been born to his pack’s last alpha, David. His father had been killed by a silver bullet while out one night on a routine surveillance route. Caleb knew that the murderer belonged to the Manzweil pack, a werewolf clan with a long-lasting feud against his own—he knew, deep in his bones, that his father had been a casualty of that feud. But there had never been any actual proof, and Caleb had never been able to find anything, even after more than thirty years.
Human hunters were also out there that could be blamed for any tragedy surrounding werewolf packs, but their numbers were very. The lycanthropes had tried to keep a low profile for the entire span of their existence, but some humans did occasionally stumble onto them. These people were a nuisance and had to be swiftly and carefully dealt with.
Caleb hated the idea of killing anyone, even more if it was a human, but if a human came at him or his pack to destroy them, then he would do what had to be done. It was simple self-defense at that point.
As much as he and the rest of the pack knew that the Manzweils had murdered his father, nothing could be done about it. The feud had lasted for almost five hundred years, but the packs had been quietly coexisting in the same region for that the last few decades.
No one wanted an all-out war. It would draw the wrong kind of attention, and bloodshed was something Caleb’s father had forbidden if it could be avoided. Caleb was doing his best to uphold his father’s wishes, even though certain members of his pack had tried to convince him to end the feud by any means necessary. While he understood their feelings, and while he agreed that the Manzweil pack was dangerous in more ways than one, he just did not want to start anything that would risk even more lives. He knew that if his father were still with them, he would not accept it, no matter what.
Caleb was almost to the edge of the forest when he spotted… something out of the corner of his eye. At first, he thought it might be a member of the Manzweils. Instinctively, he crouched down in a defensive position, ready for whatever might be coming his way. As an alpha, his reflexes were far superior to that of an average werewolf, but he knew never to underestimate an opponent, no matter how weak they appeared to be.
After a few moments without anyone or anything jumping at him, Caleb approached the patch of grass where he thought he’d seen the threat. But what he found was no threat—it was a woman.
She was lying face-down on the ground, her body shaking from head to toe, leaves tangled in her hair, wearing little clothing, and as Caleb moved closer to her, he could see a bad wound on her shoulder.
It only took him a moment to smell the silver. It permeated the air surrounding the woman, emanating harshly from the wound itself. Caleb could see that the bullet had not penetrated the flesh, but merely grazed her. If it had actually hit her, she would have been dead.
Which could only mean one thing: the woman was a wolf, like him. He was certain of it. No one else would have been shot at with a silver bullet.
As Caleb knelt down to lay his hand on her, he could feel her life slowly fading away. She was going to die soon if he didn’t help her.
Caleb carefully scooped the woman up in his arms. As he did so, she opened her eyes, only briefly, and he got a good look at her face for the first time. She was beautiful; angelic, even. Her long blond hair perfectly cupped her smooth facial features and her soft, perfect mouth. Her body was curvaceous, but athletic. And Caleb couldn’t help but notice her large bosom, now pressed against his chest as he gently cradled her. Looking into her eyes, he could tell that she probably didn’t know w
hat was going on. Her gaze was hazy and unfocused; it was only a survival instinct. Then she passed out again, her breath becoming shallower by the second.
Caleb ran at full speed, carrying the woman through the woods as he dodged trees and plants, using his perfect vision and supernatural athleticism to ensure her safety.
His first instinct was to take her to his pack, but then he thought better of it. While she wasn’t part of them, he didn’t think she was part of the Manzweils, either. He wasn’t aware of any other packs in the area, though. He needed to find out more about who this woman was exactly, so his cabin, a small yet cozy cabin in the middle of the woods, would be the perfect place.
He often used it during the week of the full moon so he could better commune with nature, and it just seemed to help him feel closer to who he really was without having to constantly pretend to fit in the modern society all around him.
Once they reached his cabin, Caleb quickly bathed the woman. He poured in several different concoctions into the water. The pack doctor had given each pack member remedies to help if they were ever poisoned with silver. Caleb was glad he had them on hand. It was important that he extract every little trace of silver from her wound and skin.
Even though the bullet had only grazed her, just those microscopic particles were enough to nearly kill her. It would have happened over a long period of time, so he figured this woman had been lying there for at least a day. She was strong; it was a miracle that she was still alive.
After the bath, Caleb dressed her in a pair of his sweats and a t-shirt. He felt very odd about seeing this woman nude, and he did his best to overt his eyes to respect her privacy, but in a matter of life and death, privacy often had to go out the window. He just hoped she would also see it that way when she recovered… if she recovered.
