by Cara Wylde
“Well, today is your lucky day.” He said with a toothy grin, his emerald eyes sparkling with obvious excitement. “It just so happens that I live there.”
“You do?” She asked, a note of confusion in her voice. Then she smiled and shook her head. “Oh, silly me. Of course you do.” When Kevin didn’t say anything, she bit her lower lip and said carefully: “You’re… a werewolf, right?”
“Guilty as charged.” Kevin said enthusiastically, his arms spreading to his sides in a grand gesture. “You’re gazing upon none other than the Beta of the Crescents pack.”
Why was he being so ridiculous? It wasn’t like him to introduce himself like that. To anyone. It was as if he was trying to impress the beautiful woman in front of him, but that made him act like a desperate teenager who wanted to prove to his love interest just how cool he was. He dug his hands into the pockets of his jeans and chuckled, suddenly embarrassed.
“Beta of the Crescents? What does that mean?” She asked blankly, her head tilting slightly to the side.
That gave Kevin some hope. Fortunately, he had managed to confuse her enough so she didn’t notice how much of a moron he was.
“It’s kind of complicated... Werewolf ranks and all…” He scratched at his beard, thinking of how he could better explain it to her. “As a Beta, my duty is to have my Alpha’s back and help him run the pack.”
Ashley nodded, but she didn’t look very convinced. Truth be told, she had never been that interested in shape-shifters. After a bloody war between shifters and humans, a peace treaty was signed a little over 100 years ago. Since she hadn’t been born yet, Ashley wasn’t there to witness just how much damage the war had done to her own species. She grew up in a society that accepted shape-shifters. Werewolves, werebears, weredragons, werefoxes, and wereeagles… they all lived in peace now, and the humans were still in greater numbers than the shifters, even in the case when the five shifter factions might have united. It was because shifter females couldn’t have children, and shifter males needed human brides to help keep their species alive. But Ashley hadn’t given these things much thought. She had never been afraid of shifters, but she hadn’t met many anyway.
“Do you still want to see the castle?” Kevin asked.
Ashley looked at his handsome face and tried to make a decision. He was nothing like the guys she had met earlier, and he seemed like he genuinely wanted to help her. She couldn’t sense any hidden motives underneath his friendly behavior.
“More than anything,” she finally said. “But how would we get there?”
“That is where I come in.” He said with a smile, taking a few steps away from her and starting to tug off his clothes, one article at a time.
Ashley’s eyes widened, and her face lit up with an angry blush as she found herself staring at Kevin’s naked body. How could he move so fast? She was aware that shifters possessed incredible speed and strength, but right now she was too distracted to dig the little she knew about werewolves out of her brain.
She didn’t get much time to admire his taut, bulky muscles because Kevin started shifting right in front of her. Fur erupted from the pores of his body, quickly covering him in a thick coat as his bones snapped and rearranged themselves in the shape of a tall, large wolf. His facial features morphed into those of a wolf, while his hands and feet transformed into large paws, his joints reversing as he fell onto all fours.
Ashley had never seen something so wonderful in her entire life. She realized she had been staring at him open-mouthed when her throat had become too dry for her to swallow properly. Her trembling hands reached for the bottle of water she had brought with her.
The wolf looked at her expectantly.
She simply stood there, barely able to drink. She took a couple of small sips, then put the bottle back inside her backpack.
The wolf stepped closer to her, and Ashley fought the urge to take a step back. She knew it was Kevin, and she knew he would never hurt her. But, for goodness’ sake! In his wolf form, he was almost the size of a horse! She watched him carefully as he turned around and plopped on the ground.
“I… I don’t understand,” she whispered.
The wolf growled low in his chest, but it didn’t sound threatening. It was as if he was trying to tell her something. Ashley thought hard about everything she had read about wolf-shifters, trying to remember if they had any special way of communication when they were in their animal form. She came up short. None of the articles she had come across while mindlessly browsing the web proved to be of any help now.
Kevin growled again, his green eyes rolling in slight frustration. His big, brown head motioned towards his back, and Ashley finally got the message.
“Oh! Oh! You want me to… oh wow! I don’t know if I can…”
She had ridden a horse once or twice, but never a werewolf. She had trouble wrapping her mind around what Kevin seemed to be asking of her. She had to climb on his back and hold on tight as he would take them up to Schloss Blackmane. Her brain was able to process that, but her body still refused to move.
“Okay…” she said. She took a step towards him, her hand reaching to touch his soft, brown fur. “Okay…” She was talking to herself more than she was talking to him.
Kevin’s kind eyes watched her patiently. He needed to remind himself that she was a frail, innocent human, and he probably was the first werewolf she had ever met.
Ashley closed her eyes and gathered up her courage. She opened them, but before she pushed herself up on his back, she saw his clothes lying on the frost-covered ground.
“Do you want me to grab those before we go?” she asked.
An amused growl echoed from the wolf’s sizeable throat, making Ashley blush as she realized just how foolish her question had been. She walked over to where his T-shirt and pants were waiting, picked them up and quickly folded them into a bundle she could tuck into her backpack.
Eventually, after taking a couple of deep breaths, she went back to Kevin and reached up to grab a handful of fur so she could climb onto his back. He seemed completely unfazed by her tugging on his fur, and once she had managed to straddle him and make sure she wouldn’t fall, she leaned down to whisper in his ear.
“I’m ready. I think…”
When he lifted himself up from the ground, Ashley squeezed his sides between her strong legs. She could feel his muscles moving underneath her, and the sensation sent a wave of unexpected warmth right to her core. However, she didn’t have time to analyze what she was feeling, because Kevin started running faster, using some of his shifter speed to jump over roots and bushes. Soon, all she could focus on was breathing as normally as possible while the cold wind rushed past her heated cheeks, whipping her long brown hair in smooth waves behind her.
CHAPTER TWO
Ashley didn’t think she would ever find the words that could give justice to the sensations coursing through her body as she barreled through the woods on the back of the werewolf. She could feel every muscle coiling and uncoiling underneath her like a well-oiled machine. If it hadn’t been so hard for her to breathe, she would have screamed in delight. But, as things were, tears had started to well up at the corners of her eyes. Not catching a cold would be a real miracle. It all felt so surreal, that she sometimes wondered whether it was possible that she was, actually, in her bed, at the hotel, dreaming about riding on the back of a werewolf.
“If only I could tell my friends back home about this!”
And why couldn’t she? She could, of course. They would probably find it hard to believe, but she didn’t care. Now she was glad she had chosen to spend her vacation in Europe, and not in the US. In the small town where she lived, not much ever happened. She had only met two or three shape-shifters at the local bar, but they had only been tourists. No shape-shifter came there to stay. They were wealthy and used to a better, more exciting life.
Kevin was more sure-footed than any steed could ever hope to be, his wide paws having no issue gaining purchase on the
earthy soil to help launch his large body forward time and time again. Each time the mighty beast leapt forward, it felt as if Ashley was soaring on the back of some large winged creature. And when he landed, it seemed like no time passed at all before she found herself being launched through the air again, as Kevin took another powerful leap.
She could see his eyes darting around alertly, and his body moved in time to dodge in between trees, much to Ashley’s delight. It was like she was in Princess Mononoke, only instead of being a native princess, she was an online business owner who sold handmade lingerie through an online store and spent her free time hiking. It wasn’t exactly the most ideal job in some people’s eyes, but she enjoyed what she did, which she thought was more important. It offered her independence, something she had strived to have her entire life. She earned enough to afford a nice, comfortable life, and the fact that she was her own boss gave her freedom to leave and travel whenever she felt like it. For instance, her friends back in the US didn’t have a vacation this time of year. If she had worked a normal job, she wouldn’t have been here now, and she wouldn’t have met Kevin.
Ashley smiled. More heat spread inside her stomach. Her cheeks were flushed a bright pink, and she knew for a fact that it had nothing to do with the chilly air streaming past her face as the wolf ran. What was happening was more than she could have ever expected, and the whole thing was so magical that she almost didn’t want it to end.
She could see the castle that had seemed so far away gradually come more and more into view, but it was still taking quite a bit of time to get there, even at Kevin’s unnatural speed. She didn’t mind it too much, although her palms were beginning to sweat because she was squeezing his warm fur so tightly in her hands. She hoped she wasn’t accidently tugging fur out of him from how tight her grip was. She would have never made it up to the top of the mountain by herself. The terrain looked more dangerous, too.
Ashley couldn’t allow herself to relax entirely. The constant bouncing and shaking kept her alert, as the large wolf launched himself into the air and came back to land quite heavily. She didn’t think he would let her fall off his back, but a small part of herself kept reminding her that they were running up a mountain path that technically lead up the side of the mountain. If she were to fall right at that instant, she didn’t think she would come away from it completely unscathed. That worry, however, was only the barest whisper at the back of her mind. She was simply having too much fun to really care about such seemingly small matters.
“This is amazing!” She shouted giddily, the delight in her voice obvious. She let out a slight squeal when she felt Kevin suddenly change direction, her legs instinctively tightening around his sides. Her laughter echoed through the mountains, then she coughed from the cold air entering her lungs in a rush, and closed her mouth. Opening it again would have been a very bad idea.
Meanwhile, Kevin was also having a great time. Not only was it refreshing to shift and run in his wolf form, but the elated noises that kept escaping the woman who was currently perched on his back only served to improve his mood even more. He could feel her firm, toned legs digging gently into his sides, the woman obviously working very hard to make sure she wouldn’t fall. He was rather impressed that she had stayed on so well. It showed she was strong and well-balanced, which not many human females could say about themselves. It only reinforced his belief that she could make a great mate if she happened to be interested in a relationship with a shifter. His inner beast whined quietly at the thought. So many questions, so many curiosities about her, about who she was and what her dreams were… But he couldn’t afford to dwell on them now. The need to keep himself aware of his surroundings was the only thing preventing him from turning his head to look at her and lose himself into her gorgeous blue eyes.
He wished he could see the expression on her pretty face. He could easily envision the excited gleam that was probably illuminating her deep blue eyes, the smile that was tugging at the corners of her lips... But he knew his imagination would never do her justice.
Kevin kept his enthusiasm in check, and didn’t make any noise aside from his breath coming out in deep pants from the effort of keeping up the pace of his sprint for as long as he had. His body was accumulating a lot of strain from running today, and he couldn’t prevent himself from considering the possibility that he was overworking his muscles. Even with his superhuman levels of stamina, his hunting and his run had all been somewhat taxing on him. The deer he had hunted had proved to be quite the prize, but his energy was wearing off.
“I’m going to fall asleep in an instant the second I hit my bed back at Schloss Blackmane,” he thought. It was a pleasant realization, since he hadn’t slept well in weeks.
Another minute, and the castle was right before them. Kevin slowed down so Ashley would have time to admire it.
Schloss Blackmane looked as if it had been ripped straight out of a storybook, and Ashley briefly wondered if a flash of lightning was going to illuminate the sky to complete the picture. She chuckled at her own silliness. From the outside, it looked cold and uninviting, but she was sure the interior was rich and comfortable. Wolf-shifters were well-known for their incredible wealth.
“We are almost there,” she whispered, more to herself, to break the silence that had enveloped them now that Kevin was walking at a leisurely pace.
The castle looked far more regal up close, the patterns on the stained-glass windows catching Ashley’s attention as she strained her eyes to make out the features.
Kevin made his way to the gates, where he stopped as if he was waiting for something. The gates were made of wrought iron, the tips shaped into rather lethal-looking spikes that were so common to medieval architecture. Whether they had always looked like that Ashley didn’t know, but she did know that the whole place seemed to emanate power, as well as something else: danger. Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to go inside.
***
Ashley let herself slide off the wolf’s back. She lost her balance when her feet hit the ground, and Kevin leaned towards her to support her weight. She smiled weakly and closed her eyes, taking a minute to came back to her senses. Adrenaline was still rushing through her body, making her dizzy and confused. When she opened her eyes again, she felt better, ready to step away from the wolf and stand on her own two feet.
She looked around her, then her gaze traveled up the impressive towers of Schloss Blackmane. She was grateful Kevin hadn’t taken her directly inside; she didn’t think she was prepared to experience any more wonders that day. Also, she had no idea how to behave around wolf-shifters. Maybe they were all nice and friendly like Kevin was, but she knew too little about their species to make assumptions. The idea of meeting the Alpha alone made her heart beat faster. If the Beta was tall, handsome, and so imposing, then she didn’t even dare imagine what his Alpha was like.
“So, what do you want to do now?”
The sound of Kevin’s voice made her jump. She had completely zoned out and she had missed him shifting back to his human form. He stood naked before her, an amused smile on his lips, and Ashley did her best to keep her eyes from wandering down his body. She focused on his face as she retrieved his clothes from her backpack.
“Oh, sorry,” she mumbled. “Here you go.”
His boxers slipped from where he had tucked them at the top of his jeans, and Ashley blushed bright red when they fell to the ground, right at her feet. She mumbled more excuses, earning herself a hearty laugh from him, then she eventually picked them up and handed them over with the rest of his clothes. She turned her back as fast as she could, her whole body burning from all the embarrassment. She pulled at the collar of her coat to let some of the icy air in.
As she waited for him to get dressed, Ashley couldn’t help taking a peak from the corner of her eye. She hoped he didn’t notice. She immediately stifled a gasp by biting hard on her lower lip. Oh God! The erection between his thick, strong legs was huge! Instead of feeling uncomfortable
because she had just seen a complete stranger naked, she felt unexpectedly aroused. When had it been the last time when the sight of a naked man had made her so horny and reckless?
“No, I’m anything but reckless. What’s wrong with me?! Keep it together, Ashley!” She scolded herself. This was not the time to throw all reason out the window. Not when she was in the middle of nowhere, in front of a medieval castle filled with werewolves.
“It’s fine, you can turn around now,” he said.
Ashley sighed in relief when she saw he was dressed. His jeans were hanging low on his hips, and his T-shirt didn’t cover much, anyway, but it was better than nothing. Now she could think again.
“Do you want to go inside?” he asked, his eyebrows wiggling playfully as he moved his eyes between her and the castle a couple of times. In truth, he hoped she would say “no”. It was nice having her all to himself, and he knew the pack would be all over her the second she’d set foot on their territory. Kevin bringing a woman up to Schloss Blackmane… that was something they could talk about for months!
Ashley almost picked up something in his voice, but she wasn’t sure what. Either way, she shook her head “no”, hoping he wouldn’t be disappointed. There was a lingering feeling in the pit of her stomach. Yes, she had allowed a sexy stranger to bring her up here, but she wasn’t crazy enough to let him take her inside a medieval castle which she could imagine was pretty much built like a labyrinth. Maybe she had seen too many horror movies… She remembered the Hostel series, and the mere thought of being kidnapped made her shiver. Then, she looked into Kevin’s green eyes and realized she was being silly. Her gut told her she could trust this man. After all, he had kind of saved her earlier.
