by Fran Lee
When she had watched Hallie with Cal in the long grass that other afternoon, they had treated one another as equals. The small female had invited the big golden male to fill her, and watching them together had stirred deep, restless needs within her body, deep down in her belly. Her sex had seeped and swelled as she had watched Hallie open her legs wide to welcome Cal’s engorged phallus into her tiny body. She had wondered how he could fit all of that into her, but he had been gentle and patient, and when he had sunk to the root inside Hallie he had spoken soft words to her, as if he cared very much for her. She had never seen a pairing front to front. It had left her trembling and hot all over. The cats mated far differently from the pack.
The alpha male and female in the pack simply shifted to human form and copulated, making harsh noises and biting each other on the shoulder and neck until each had bloodied the other. It always ended with the male thrusting in from the rear and clamping his teeth on the female’s shoulder. But Cal had only used his mouth to press open-mouthed touches on the female, not once drawing blood or causing pain. In fact Hallie had seemed to enjoy it—especially when his open mouth had pressed over her nipples.
She felt oddly tingly as she recalled with clarity the things the two had done…and they had continued for a long time, not just the few moments it took to sate their need. Cal had licked and suckled and touched his mouth hungrily to the place where her legs came together, and she had cried out and begged him not to stop.
It had made her shiver all over. And when they had finished, instead of shifting back into their animal forms they had helped each other to put on clothes. Clothes like those Jock wore when he shifted to infiltrate the human community, seeking easy marks. Clothes that he had taken off the bodies of those he killed for prey. Being the omega, she had never had any clothes. Jock said she didn’t need any. She didn’t join the hunts. She never entered the town. Her fur kept her warm on cold nights.
He was standing very still beside the bed and she sensed that he was watching her. Did he suspect that she was listening? Would he punish her for eavesdropping? She drew a deep breath and rolled onto her back, biting her lower lip. She lifted her eyes to his face and the expression there made her jerk with fear. His eyes had dilated to nearly black and his body was tense. She scrambled up to her knees, then immediately stretched flat on her belly, submissive on the wondrously soft cloth that covered the bed, avoiding his eyes. But the expected pain never came. She lifted her head fearfully to look at those eyes. And her gaze widened at the amazing sight of the huge bulge inside the tight blue trousers he wore.
“Jane…” His voice was strained.
She looked down and whimpered.
Gentle hands took the soft cloth and covered her with it again. She gasped and looked up in shock. He was a strange dark-red color. He’s very angry! But he smiled slowly and said quietly, “I’ll feel more comfortable if you keep something over your body, Jane. No one is going to hurt you.”
Her body disgusted him? Like it disgusted Jock and the other males? She drew a breath of relief. He isn’t angry. He was just disgusted. But unlike the pack males, the feline male didn’t strike out and send her rolling across the floor. Instead he covered her body so that he wouldn’t have to look at her pale hairless skin. She wished desperately that she could manage to shift back to her real self. Maybe he wouldn’t be disgusted if he saw her in her own form.
Scratch that.
He would probably claw me to pieces.
Cal nearly swallowed his tongue when Jane rolled onto her back and lay naked on his bed, her hair strewn around her head like a mussed halo and her thighs long and slim, falling apart just enough for him to see her hair-free sex. Lykos females had no pubic hair? He felt his mouth begin to water. Her lips trembled as if he terrified her. It took every ounce of strength he possessed to not drag her down the bed and feast on that utterly delectable pussy. His cock strained against his zipper as if it had a mind of its own, and the female gave a strangled cry and flung herself down in front of him on the bed in a totally submissive posture.
He did the only thing he could in the circumstances. He grabbed the comforter and flipped it over her naked body and sent a swift silent call to Hallie.
He heard the door open quietly. It had taken her only a moment to come. He glanced at her thankfully and said a trifle shakily, “Um…can you show her how to get dressed?”
“I’m sure you could have helped her get clothes on. I thought you were going to be her big helper.” She shot him a wry glance.
Her sarcasm wasn’t lost on him but he was grateful for her presence. She turned to Jane and said quietly, “If you are going to live here, even for a short while, you must wear something to cover your body when you can’t shift. We live among humans and we blend in with them this way.” She picked up a sleeveless dress that looked suspiciously like the sundress she’d worn a lot when she had been pregnant. Cal watched her as she demonstrated how to pull it on over her own head, then she handed it to Jane. That seemed simple enough.
Jane looked at it, then glanced at him as if for his permission.
He cleared his throat and nodded. He watched as she sat up and dragged the soft yellow material over her head and wriggled into it, looking down at it as it settled over her breasts and pooled about her hips. Her sweet feminine flesh remained uncovered and he said roughly, “Stand up and pull it down over the rest of you.” He wanted to smack Hallie’s ass as he heard her choking laugh.
Jane slipped off the bed and obeyed, and when she stood there wearing the bright sunny shift with her eyes wide and questioning, he prayed he would have the strength and the brains to handle this one little Lykos. Hallie cleared her throat and handed Jane a pair of sandals. “These will protect your human feet when you walk on rocks and sticks.”
Cal watched as Hallie showed her how to slip them on and buckle them. Jane’s wide eyes were no longer confused and wary. She looked up into Hallie’s face and did her very best to smile, although it resembled a weak snarl. His nervousness melted as his heart skipped several beats. Yes…there were a lot of questions that needed to be answered. Had she never smiled before?
But then she looked quickly around and said, “I need to urinate.” He felt hot color fill his face.
Hallie practically dragged the Lykos into the bathroom, and he realized that he was, indeed, taking on a great deal by saying that she could remain with him. He prayed that Jane was a quick study, because he wasn’t at all sure how to handle any more intimate emergencies!
She watched Hallie demonstrate the proper place for relieving herself within the house and she followed suit, feeling as if she were going to fall into the strange hollow seat. It took her a long time to relax enough to relieve herself, then she was further confounded by the explanation of “toilet paper” and “flushing”. She wondered why Hallie turned red like Cal when she explained how to use the long strip of soft white paper to dry off her bottom.
She would be so happy when she could shift again! There were so many unnecessary, strange things humans did. But if Cal wanted her to do these things so she wouldn’t disgust him, she would do them.
I have a new alpha. And she didn’t want to anger him. She liked the way his mouth curved when he was pleased. Jock never made that nice face. And for some reason the nice faces these cats made reminded her of something pleasant. Something buried deep in her memory. Something that surfaced almost close enough to touch…
It tantalized and twisted itself into her mind…but she couldn’t quite figure it out.
Chapter Four
The old Halleran place was only a few blocks away up the private lane, but Gar drove because of all the supplies they needed. Jane had refused to climb into the big SUV until Cal had pointed adamantly at the open door and ordered her inside. He had slipped in beside her and had instantly found her slim arms wrapped about his body as she had whimpered and shoved her face against his side. She had shivered uncontrollably as the vehicle had started, and Gar had wh
eeled out of the circular drive toward the wrought iron gate that opened to the lane beyond the property walls.
Cal drew a shaky breath to calm his inner animal and simply patted her on the back as one would a nervous puppy. But when he heard her draw in a couple of deep, sniffing breaths of his scent, his cock came to full red alert and his pulse leapt. Dear gods…where was Hallie when he needed her? Hallie had stayed home with the boys, saying, “I wish you luck, Cal.”
He glanced suspiciously at Gar as he heard a deep chuckle issue from the driver’s seat, but his sibling ignored him. He swore under his breath and stifled his body’s reaction to her little murmurs of enjoyment at the feel of his overheated flesh and his shudder of reaction to her sweet warm breath through his Polo shirt.
He was certainly glad that she was happy. But his body was seriously gearing up for a meltdown, and he fought the involuntary shift he could feel coming on. He saw the house coming up along the crest of the hill, and when the SUV pulled into the pitted, unkempt driveway, he leapt out the door and paced to force his throbbing body to relax.
Jane stared up at him from the wide-flung door of the vehicle, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. He walked around slowly for a minute as Gar slid out from behind the wheel and shook his head at him over the roof of the SUV.
“You had better get that under better control if you mean to be her protector, kid. Otherwise who the hell is there to protect her from you?”
Cal inhaled deeply and snarled at his brother. “I can handle this.”
Gar lifted one dark brow and shrugged. “I sure hope so. I don’t think she will be able to withstand a full-grown Seronta male trying to ride her into the ground.”
Cal hissed across the black sunroof at his brother, then spat, “I will never harm her.”
“Glad you feel that way. I would hate to have to take you in hand. But if I must, I will, brother.” The quiet reminder of Gar’s alpha status and his vicious temper made Cal inhale deeply and calm his libido. Gar was right. If he shifted, his animal half would do some serious damage to the small Lykos, even in her wolf form. He could easily kill her in her frail human shape.
If he did ever take her, it would be as a human. His experience with Hallie had taught him much about the gentleness required when mating with a female in human form. And he wanted Jane to like him… To more than just like me.
He tried hard to contain his beast. He glanced down at Jane as Gar opened the hatch and rear door. She was huddled on the leather seat, her knees drawn up to her chest, her wide eyes on him as he paced. A trickle of something soft and gentle slid down his spine, something warm and very soothing. Hallie’s sweet voice came to mind as she had whispered that he must remember his humanity. He trembled and drew in another great breath, exhaling the tension.
He let his tight lips curve into a gentle smile. “I’m sorry, Jane. You’re safe here but you must remember what I am. I’m a Seronta shifter. I can use that to protect you. But at times I can be dangerous even to you. Do you understand?”
She stared at him and slowly shook her head. “You would never harm me.”
He groaned softly under his breath. He glanced at his brother, who was pulling boxes out of the SUV and pretending not to listen.
“Look…you know women, dammit! Tell her why I’m dangerous to her!”
Gar turned and set the box down, glanced at him, then walked over to the open SUV door and held out a hand to Jane. “Come with me, Jane. Cal has asked me to talk to you.”
Her wide silver gaze lifted to Cal’s and he nodded jerkily. “Go with him. I’ll get this stuff into the house.”
Cal transferred the boxes and supplies into the house, carrying the bedding and linens upstairs, then the food boxes into the old kitchen. He had put nearly everything in its place by the time the creaky old porch steps groaned underfoot and Gar stood there, with Jane a few paces behind him, her eyes on the ground at her feet. Cal’s heart jumped at the desperately sad look of the Lykos and he lifted one brow questioningly at his brother.
“Jane will do her best to behave properly.” Gar’s voice was quiet and even. “I explained to her about touching without being invited to touch and about trying to help you around here to clean the place up. Having been in wolf form seventy-five percent of her life, she needs to have directions, Cal. And she’s relying on you to guide her in this until she’s capable of shifting again and going back to her pack.”
The brothers stepped down from the wide porch and moved slowly to the vehicle, noting the little female skittering up the rickety steps but not entering the house. Cal hoped she would pose no big problems once they were alone. Hell…he hoped he would pose no big problems.
Cal swallowed the tight lump in his throat and nodded his thanks to his brother. He knew that the little speech had been more for Jane’s ears than for his. He extended his hand to Gar and his brother caught it and jerked him close for a half-chest hug, then cleared his throat and glanced around self-consciously. He ran a shaking hand through his dark hair, looked back at Cal and said gruffly, “You watch your ass, kid. No heroics. If you get into a jam, shout! I’ll be here.”
Jane stood on the wooden verandah that ran most of the way around the lower level of the venerable old house and watched the two men interact. She had never seen a male succumb to emotion before—unless it was rage. The way the big dark one treated her new alpha amazed her. She swallowed hard, because her throat felt as if it were blocked, then she blinked, startled to feel wetness on her cheeks. And somewhere, at the very back of her mind, something awakened at the sight of the brothers embracing.
A long-lost memory flickered, then dissolved into nothingness again, but not before she snatched at it and tried to place it. As she stood there, transfixed, a woman’s voice seemed to call to her…
Jessie! If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times not to wander off like that! There are dangerous things down in them swamps, and last week old man Ramey lost two of his best hounds… Stay close to the house or the loup garou is gonna snatch you…
The voice was so very familiar, yet she couldn’t quite place it. The stinging behind her eyes increased and she swiped away more wetness from her cheeks with a shaking hand. She stared at her fingers and licked the salty moisture.
Hush, li’l baby, don’t you cry… Mama’s gonna sing you a lullaby…
The sensation of arms around her shoulders and the remembered touch of a soft mouth on her forehead made her inhale sharply. She frowned at her fingers and murmured softly, “Don’t you cry…”
Am I crying?
Words formed. Sounds flitted through her head. Images flitted through her mind and she tried hard to remember where she had seen them. She pursed her lips and whistled like a bird. I’ve done that before. Somewhere. Long ago. And the words came out with a strange lilting singsong… “Hush, li’l baby, don’t say a word, ‘cuz Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird…”
Cal turned away from the pitted old asphalt lane as the SUV vanished down the hill, his ears catching the sound of…singing? He blinked at the young Lykos female kneeling on the rough boards of the porch, hugging herself tightly and rocking—singing to herself. Singing a song he’d heard long ago when they had first come to Rutledge, before rock and roll and rap had taken over. Her voice was soft and melodic and she sang the words easily, as if they were extremely familiar to her.
He walked silently up the gravel driveway to stand at the side of the peeling verandah railing, not wanting to interrupt her. And when the sweet song ended, she started another. Another old lullaby. But where would a Lykos hear lullabies? He didn’t want to stop her, so he sank to his haunches on the yellowed grass and plucked at a long stalk, rolling it between his fingers as she sang several more songs, before her voice fell silent, and he heard her…crying?
He rose silently and saw her with her knees pulled up to her chest, hugging them as she wept helplessly into the fabric of the yellow sundress. Gods, but a woman’s tears just tore him up
inside.
“Jane? What is it?”
She lifted her streaming eyes with a hiccup and a sniff and said in a shaking voice, “It’s Jessie.”
Cal sank down onto his knees beside her, gently touching her shaking back with one large palm. “What’s ‘Jessie’?”
“I am…I think.”
He stared blankly for a moment before finding his voice. “I thought you didn’t have a name.”
She turned those silver eyes up to him and her lips trembled as she whispered, “I think I had one…before they stole me.”
Chapter Five
The memories had washed over her like a tidal wave. Memories of a place that was warm and safe. Of arms that were strong and tight hugging her. Memories of a tall human man with a wide smile and a woman with a lilting voice that made her happy. Memories of a rag doll with a pair of blue button eyes.
Memories of the day she’d been taken away…
And she buried her face against her raised knees and sobbed. Cried. Hush, li’l baby. She was crying. Just like a human. I am a human. Had been a human. But the big one had carried her off into the swamps, just like her mama had warned her. And after he had dragged her into the loup garou den, he had left her all alone to lie there sick. Burning up with fever. No. Burning up with the change. He had bitten her arm half off. But it had gotten better after she’d changed. The pain of her first change had made her want to be dead. It had felt as if her bones were on fire. Her fingers and toes had felt as if they’d been snapped off.
The rest of the pack had wanted to kill and eat her, but the big one had told them she was to be his…whatever that meant. He had seen her silver-white hair and wanted her to be his. So as long as the big one was there, they had left her alone.
