ChangingPaths

by Marilu Mann

  His grip was tight but not punishing as he showed her just what he needed. “Fuck.” His voice sounded guttural and deep. She loved it. “I’m gonna…oh fuck…Harmony…”

  The disjointed speech just spurred her on. She sucked harder, squeezing and tugging at his cock with both hands now.

  “Oh…fu…fu…fuck…” His hips raised off the rug as the first stream of cum hit the back of her throat. She loved that she could reduce this powerful male shifter to babbling, loved that he would let her take so much control, loved…

  Swallowing every drop he offered, then softly licking at him when he forcibly pulled her off his cock, she fought back her fears. She didn’t want to be in love. That scared her more than any thoughts of her ex. But somehow, some way, this scarred, damaged male had wormed his way into her heart. Now she just had to figure out how to deal with that.

  Sighing, she snuggled closer to him as he wrapped his arms around her and panted softly. When he tilted her chin back to kiss her she made sure all he saw was her smile.

  Chapter Nine

  Gareth took a deep breath then raised his voice. “Settle down. Let’s get through this. Some of you said you needed to leave early and the only way that’s going to happen is if we get through this session.”

  When he had the attention of the youngsters he started over. Telling a group of teenagers how to prepare themselves for their first shift, reining in the ones who had already shifted and wondering how to console those who would be Moon-Denied, he talked until his throat was dry. He had lifted his water bottle to his mouth when the door to the res meeting house opened. Micah and Rion walked in.

  The teens immediately got quiet as the Alpha moved through the room. Gareth saw the glances they exchanged as some of them wondered why the Alpha was there. If Rion hadn’t followed Micah in, Gareth might have wondered the same thing. For a week now, Micah had been pushing them together, inventing reasons why the twins needed to be around each another.

  He’d resisted at first. Then last night, after Harmony had told him more about why she’d left home, about the misunderstanding that kept her away, he’d given up. Hearing how much she had missed her family drove home how much he’d missed his. Everyone, including Rion it seemed, wanted them to talk. So, they’d talk. But first he had to dismiss these kids. The moon would be full in another day. He almost had them ready to experience it.

  “Okay, everyone, for those who don’t already know, that’s my twin Rion Volpe with our Alpha. Now take a break. We’ll meet up near the lake in an hour.” As they got up to leave he pitched his voice to carry. “An hour! Don’t make me wait for you.”

  Micah nodded in response to the respectful greetings from the teens and as soon as the last one had left the room, closed the door. “Gareth…”

  “My apologies for interrupting you, Alpha. I know, I need to talk to Rion. You, Olivia, Kaj and now even Harmony have all told me what an ass I’ve been. We have an hour. It’ll give us a starting point.”

  Micah laughed and shook his head. “Once your female starts in on you, you might as well give up. I will expect all of you at the lodge tonight for dinner.”

  With a short nod he left, closing the door quietly behind him. Rion still stood near the exit but moved closer when he sat down in one of the chairs in the middle of the room. The loose circle worked best for talking to the teens as he demonstrating a shift. Though some of the kids were still at the “giggling at the naked man” stage, most of them were more interested in the way the shift flowed over his body.

  “Sit down, Rion. I don’t want to break my neck looking up at you.” As soon as they were both seated he took a deep breath.

  “So, Micah mentioned your female? Are you mated?” Rion had beat him to the punch, so to speak.

  “No. I have a female but we haven’t been together long and we haven’t taken that step. She’s not ready.” He met his brother’s eyes. “Are you mated?”

  “No. Though Mom is pushing hard. She wants grandkids again. She still visits our sister’s grave and the children’s graves every week. She really does want you to come home. She’s been sick. I’m not sure what it is, she won’t say.”

  “I’ll go with you, Rion. I gave Micah my word and I wouldn’t disappoint him for anything in the world.”

  It was Rion’s turn to take a deep breath. “I remember when that was how we felt about each other. I remember how we used to be, G. Do you think we’ll ever get to a point where…”

  “We can be like that again?” He finished the sentence when Rion stopped. “I don’t know, Ri. A lot has happened, to both of us, in the last six years.”

  Gareth adjusted his patch and glanced at the clock. “We need more time. I guess we’ll have plenty of that on the way back to Oregon.”

  Rion laughed softly. “Yeah, it’s quite the drive. Do you remember when we first left home? How many times we stopped that first week? I didn’t really think we’d ever get out of Oregon, much less all the way to Mexico.”

  Gareth joined his brother in laughter. He tried to remember all the stops they’d made on their trip. They shared memories for the next forty-five minutes before he got to his feet. He felt an easiness with his brother that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

  “Come on, then. You might as well join me at the lake. The kids need to see someone other than me shift, plus I need to work on their tracking skills. Remember playing hide-and-sniff?”

  They walked out of the meeting house, not entirely back to where they’d once been but he had the feeling that they’d made great progress. Strangely enough he wanted to get that closeness back. He missed Rion and hadn’t really realized how much until right this minute.

  Rain couldn’t keep her attention on what Gareth was saying. He’d sent the males off with his twin—and how freaking cool was that?—to “hide” in the woods, giving the females their turn at tracking by scent. But she wasn’t really listening as he explained what was going on. Her attention had been caught by a huge light-gray wolf standing at the edge of the lake. She glanced to the side to see that most of the other girls were also watching the wolf. She knew without being close enough to really see that the wolf was male. Something female in her just responded to him even though he wasn’t Keme.

  The other females in the group were having the same trouble. Gareth turned to see what they were all watching so intently and sighed. “Kajika, should have known. Ladies, you have five minutes to ogle him then you need to hit the woods to find the guys.”

  Gareth’s laughter didn’t distract her attention at all. The wolf waded into the water and she shivered just watching him. It was too freaking cold to be swimming in the lake. In the early morning air there was frost on the grass and a thin layer of ice on any standing water. Without hesitating, he swam out toward a floating dock then turned and started back toward the edge of the lake. He came closer and closer then went underwater. She’d didn’t even know wolves could go underwater!

  When he emerged it wasn’t a wolf’s head but a man’s. Muscular arms lifted out of the water then he smoothed his hands over his head. She had an impression of long black hair, but it wasn’t the hair that caused her and some of the other girls to catch their breaths. The guy was seriously built, gorgeous with a lot of ink. Tattoos on his right pec, a full sleeve on the right and his left arm was done down to the elbow. Even though his chest was hairless she could see a thin line of hair that started just below his belly button and…

  Feeling herself turn red, Rain dropped her gaze. She still wasn’t comfortable with the casual nudity the shifters displayed—especially not with this hot guy. Alicia, one of the females who had already gone through her first shift and was one of the most beautiful girls Rain had ever seen, laughed softly as she nudged Rain. “Well, I guess what they say about some guys and cold water isn’t entirely true. No shrinkage there!”

  Rain bit her lip but didn’t turn around. She really didn’t want to see all of the hot guy. She didn’t really want to see any guys naked,
but Gareth had told all of them they’d get over that. Nudity didn’t mean someone wanted sex, it was just that they were pretty comfortable in their skin.

  She didn’t think she’d ever get to that point, especially after seeing Alicia and one of the other girls undressed. They had model bodies, all skinny but with muscles. Maybe more like really amazing dancer bodies. She watched Alicia do a one-armed cartwheel and amended that to Olympic gymnast. Her tummy wasn’t tight and she didn’t have the muscles they did. Yeah, her body wasn’t anywhere near that great. At least the other girls hadn’t been mean to her once they found out she was one of them.

  Still, Keme had sat down next to her during the training earlier. He’d even reached for her hand as they walked through the woods. In the past month at school they’d gotten closer. He was one of her best friends. She thought he could be more.

  She hoped that maybe he felt the same way she did. Maybe he wouldn’t mind that her boobs weren’t as big as Alicia’s, but that her ass was stupid flat. She really wanted her butt to look like Erica’s did. All the guys watched Erica in those filled-out jeans. Knowing it was dumb to compare herself to the other females, she rolled her eyes then tuned back in to what Gareth had been saying.

  Her skin felt itchy, almost as if it was too tight on her body. She’d asked Keme on the way to school the day before what shifting was like. He’d told her as much as he could. Then he’d ruined it by saying that it was different for everyone. He blew off the importance of the first shift, saying that he really didn’t remember it. He did recall his first run through the woods as a wolf. He’d painted a picture in her mind where everything was sharper, clearer and smelled better.

  She wanted that. Wanted it desperately—had even said a prayer every night since finding out that she might be able to do it, that she wouldn’t be like her mom. And that felt disloyal as all hell. Her mom was great. Her mom was the best. It wasn’t fair that she couldn’t experience this. Some of the other kids had Denieds in their families, so it wasn’t too weird having others know.

  Realizing she’d tuned out again, Rain tried to force her attention back to Gareth. He shot her a bemused look then jerked a thumb at her then toward the pines. Some of the girls who had already shifted once were getting naked. It was time for them to hit the woods and try to find the guys. She lifted her head, scenting the air as he had taught them. The faint trace of hazelnut that she associated with Keme caught her attention. Just for a moment she thought she smelled something sour on the air that reminded her of her dad, but she lost that as soon as Gareth’s shouted “Go!” reached her.

  Taking off in the direction of the hazelnut scent, Rain gave herself up to this experience. She mouthed another silent prayer that when the time came tomorrow night, she would be doing this on four legs instead of two.

  Gareth grinned as the females took off into the woods. No doubt they’d be rounding the males up to bring them back to the edge of the lake soon. And no doubt he’d have to go into the woods to find the stragglers. He remembered his own training— how it felt to be chased by a female during this same game. If he had been placing bets, he’d bet that Rain found Keme and Alicia Strong Pine found the Johnson boy. He’d have to make sure they didn’t delay too long in the woods. That brought his thoughts around to Harmony and he took a deep breath.

  She was so responsive to his touch—her scent was so strong he couldn’t believe she couldn’t shift. He’d been with other shifter females as well as humans. Harmony just felt like a shifter. She took every ounce of strength he had then gave back as good as she got. She wasn’t afraid of his wolfish side. God, his wolf responded to her as it had to no other female.

  Just remembering that morning had his cock hard and ready again. She’d awakened him with her mouth on his cock, sucking him deep and squeezing his balls. He’d nearly shredded the mattress because he’d been holding so tight to it. Then when she’d risen over him to take him deep into her throbbing core he’d totally lost it. They’d fucked harder, faster than he’d ever done with a human female. He had thought for sure that he’d bruised her but she had only laughed as he’d inspected her hips and thighs for marks. Then she’d flipped over on her hands and knees. All looking for marks went right out of his head. He’d risen up over her to fuck her one more time. And very nearly been late for the morning class.

  The sound of someone clearing his throat had him spinning around. Kaj’s grin was wide and his eyes sparkled. “Well, well, well, another male bites the dust. What female has you in such a state, or should I even ask? Must be difficult to get horizontal with her daughter in the next room.”

  “We manage.” He couldn’t help the smug tone as he shoved Kaj. Kaj teased everyone, even their normally staid Alpha. It was just his way.

  “Yes, I can tell.” Kaj’s features turned a bit solemn as he combed through his hair with his fingers. He nudged with words this time. “Gareth, is it true that she’s one of the Moon-Denied?”

  “She is.” He sighed. “Kaj, it’s weird. She insists she’s Denied but I’ve never felt this way about a human, never been able to just let go the way I do with her. She even smells of shifter. I don’t get it.”

  “Has Micah offered to help her?” He knew Kaj referred to Micah’s gift of forcing a Change on a shifter who couldn’t do it on their own or one who was injured to the point that they couldn’t shift on their own.

  “No. I haven’t really talked to him about it. But you know? Last month when we showed Rain about shifting, Harmony said something to me about her skin itching during a moon. I’ve never hear a Moon-Denied say that. Have you? That sounds like a shifter who hasn’t shifted.”

  “That is unusual. I think Micah should be told. The full moon is tomorrow night. When did you intend to talk to him?” Kaj raised an eyebrow as he finished braiding his hair. “Don’t you want to know what is going on before you have to leave with Rion?”

  “Yeah, I’ll go to the lodge after I release this Pack of pups. By the way, next time you want to skinny-dip, you might not want to do it in front of this group of females. They’re some of the most sexually aware and aggressive teens I’ve ever seen.”

  “Ah, the times they are a’changing, brother wolf.” Kaj laughed. “I remember when a wolf was well into his twenties before having sex for the first time.”

  At his eye roll, Kaj clapped him on the back and strolled off toward the lodge. He narrowed his eyes when he noticed new ink on Kaj’s ass. He’d never seen that tattoo before. Kaj was addicted to ink, apparently. Every time he showed up, he sported something new. The tribal black resembled an Inuit piece but he couldn’t be sure.

  Rain leaned against a tree, breathing hard. She really hoped she was a shifter, otherwise this ability to run so fast might be wasted. No way would she want to lose this. She lifted her head as she heard something off to her right. Alicia, again. Seemed as though the other female was just following Rain’s scent, not seeking out one of the males. Whatever. If she wanted to follow along that was fine with Rain. It just meant she was on the right track.

  With a smile she headed off again. She knew she was close and it was about time. They’d have to get back to the lake soon. A branch snapped off to her left, causing Rain to jerk around just as a gray shape lunged out of the woods. She laughed as he circled her then turned around so that she kept him in sight. Keme’s wolf wasn’t nearly as big as Gareth’s, he was more along the size of a big German shepherd, but she could see the muscles in his shoulders and hips. He started to shimmer, so Rain watched the Change come over him.

  Keme grinned at her as he stood there in the nude. Rain clenched her fist in order to remind herself to keep her eyes on his face. It was so tempting to look down, to sneak a glance, but she didn’t.

  “You found me.”

  “I did.” She returned his grin. They just stood there for a few minutes smiling at each other. “I guess we should…”

  Rain gestured toward the lake then turned to lead the way back.

  “Rain
?” She turned back to face Keme. “I want to be there. When you have your first shift, I mean. Is that okay?”

  She took a deep breath. “Keme, I’m not even sure I’ll be able to do it. My mom can’t.”

  “You will, I know it.” He took her hand and held it tight. “I just know it.”

  “I sure hope so.” Hand in hand they started back toward the lake. They’d find out tomorrow when the—what had Gareth called it? The Moonlust rose. Then she’d know whether or not she could do this. She’d know if she was special like Keme. She ignored the faint sour stench that tickled her nose. Whatever it was, she didn’t want it to spoil the feeling of her fingers entwined with his.

  Gareth grinned at the pups. “Good job, everyone. Next time though?” He let his eyes meet those of every youngster in the mass looking at him. “Next time it’s for the Gathering. Don’t embarrass your folks or me. You know the protocols. Don’t shift before the Alpha gives you his first blessing. If you can’t shift, don’t panic. Performance anxiety is a bitch. Remember to breathe into the shift. Don’t forget the Pack blessing after. You’ve got this.”

  He jerked his chin. Their voices faded into the distance as they walked, or in some cases ran, home. As he headed for the lodge to talk to Micah he mentally inventoried the pups. He didn’t think they had any Denieds this time. They’d had one the last. The sorrow on the kid’s face had been hard to take. But after six months he seemed to have settled in.

  The drummers for the Full Moon Gatherings were all Denieds. That had been one of Micah’s decisions. The Pack had not fully accepted it at first but now they welcomed their Denied kin. Having a part in the Gatherings seemed to help on both sides.

  The door opened as he approached.