by Michele Hauf
A glint of talon caught her eye as the werewolf approached. It bared its teeth and shook its head, which ruffled the thick dark mane from head to neck. Not like a man there. The face of a wolf peered at her.
When she thought a scream imminent, Bella realized it smelled her. It read her as Severo so often did, trying to figure her out.
Drawing back her shoulders, she closed her eyes and allowed the curiosity. She understood its world was navigated by scent.
Severo had said the werewolf had on only a few occasions encountered humans. He sensed his werewolf had feared them and hadn’t gotten too close.
But it seemed at ease now, if that was what she could call the sniffing. Perhaps it simply knew it was at the top of this short food chain.
If it smelled her fear, would that excite it as that did her lover? Or make it aggressive and her position perilous?
She trembled as she stood before the werewolf. And yet, her fear did not prevail. Rather, the atmosphere felt…provocative. And, dare she say, safe?
Maybe. She dared to believe it.
The werewolf came closer.
Bella exhaled and her heartbeats slowed. Sudden calm lifted her courage.
Curious, she put out her hand, as she had to the smaller version, to allow it to sniff. Which it did.
Thick black fur covered its head, shoulders and chest. Though the rest of the body was dark, almost black, its torso was lighter. It was colored like the fully furred wolf.
“Severo?” she said softly.
The werewolf opened its jaws to expose teeth. Longer than vampires’ teeth, and so many more of them, all sharp.
Severo had said nothing about it biting her. Would it bite?
A reedy moan escaped her, and Bella pressed her fingers to her mouth, holding it back.
She could do this. This was her lover. A man who loved her. This werewolf, this creature, if it had wanted to harm her, would have done so by now.
Suddenly it stretched out its massive bulk and howled. The night air echoed with the coarse, low-range howl. In the distance a few short yips answered. Was it a real wolf fearing the cry of what it knew was something larger and stronger than itself?
And when it lowered its head to look at her, Bella stared into a fierce gaze. His clear brown eyes. Looking into her. Seeing her.
“I love you,” she said firmly. “I’m not afraid of you.”
She put out a hand to touch its muzzle, but it jerked away from the shaky touch. “Sorry. I’m new to this. Not sure what to do.”
Another howl silenced her. It must want her to be quiet. She could do that.
Her legs shook, threatening to bring her down. Bella focused on inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. The scent of roses was so heady, she thought she might be drunk.
Wobbling, Bella did fall backward, catching herself with her elbows on the soft grass. It was like a half faint. She wasn’t so much embarrassed as relieved to not have to stand on her weak legs any longer.
The werewolf reached down with a clawed hand yet did not touch, only lingered above her stomach. It was more a hand than a paw. Longer than anything human, yet finely boned and articulated, with a tuft of fur on the knuckles.
It studied her so intensely, she felt sure it must be struggling with Severo’s interior warnings while it wanted to meet its own purposes.
Mating.
A talon slashed before her so quickly, Bella hadn’t realized what the werewolf had done. Until the front of her nightgown fell open, exposing her breasts and stomach.
The werewolf growled lowly. She understood it as a gentle growl, perhaps approving. As Severo did so often while they made love and after he’d climaxed. The werewolf pressed a hand to her shoulder and she winced.
I’m not ready for this.
Then again, how could anyone be ready for this?
“So what’s next?” she said, forcing a casual tone. “First dates are always so awkward, aren’t they?”
The werewolf sniffed her face. Its fur brushed her chin as it moved lower, lingering over her breasts and down her stomach, till it sniffed at her sex.
Claws pricked her hip, but briefly. At the werewolf’s touch, she turned over onto her stomach. She understood what it wanted.
Rising onto all fours, she flinched as a heavy hand hit the grass next to her and its torso touched her back.
The claiming had been quick, frantic. Once satisfied, the werewolf had loped off across the valley. The silhouette of her masterful beast had crested the hill and transformed itself into its smaller wolf size. It returned, loping up like a playful puppy and lowering its head to nuzzle her open palms.
Now she curled against the wolf’s soft fur and snuggled up to it in the thicket of grass. The night had grown quiet. No longer did the ferocious huffs and grunts from the beastly werewolf echo in the air. Nor did she feel it inside her, moving so quickly she couldn’t keep track of how many times she’d orgasmed along with the werewolf.
Initially, it had been frightening.
The first time it entered her, her body had ached.
And then, everything had changed. The werewolf had not spoken or looked into her eyes, for she’d remained in the doggy-style position. Yet, as it had taken her, Bella had forgotten it was the werewolf and had known only that Severo, the man she loved, was inside her.
Severo woke in the grass and jerked abruptly to a stand. Bella lay on the matted grass in a torn nightgown, her dark hair strewn across the grass blades. Sunshine toyed with her toes. Dirt and grass streaks marked the tattered white silk and her palms and knees.
“The werewolf did it,” he said, not sure what exactly he felt.
Horrified? A little. And shocked. But surprised? No, the werewolf had been waiting for decades.
He was also worried for Bella’s well-being. What the hell had she been put through last night? Would she be mentally scarred from this?
He reached out to touch her, but his nakedness suddenly felt so overt. He called her name, but she didn’t rouse.
Forgoing running inside for clothes, he lifted her into his arms. She slept soundly as he carried her inside to the bedroom and as he laid her on the rumpled white sheets, she woke and smiled at him.
She grasped his hand and pulled him to sit beside her. When he wanted to ask her if she was all right, she put her fingers over his mouth.
“I love the werewolf,” she said, and closed her eyes and fell to sleep.
Must be something about having sex with a werewolf that’ll put a shine to a girl’s smile. Bella posed before the floor-length mirror, turning from side to side to check the brown jersey dress that hugged her curves.
She had showered and hadn’t yet seen Severo. She figured he might feel strange about approaching her today. He shouldn’t.
Stepping into her low-heeled mules, she sought breakfast.
Heloise was off for the three days, so she scavenged a kiwi and a banana and cut them on a plate. An English muffin would hit the spot, but she couldn’t find any. Oat toast it was. The guy was into fiber and meat.
From around the corner Severo appeared. Rather, he lingered, like he was unsure about approaching her. He was clad in dark running pants and no shirt, and his tight six-pack drew Bella’s eye. Head bowed and thumb to his lip, he looked up through his lashes at her.
“Come here, lover,” she urged him.
“I…” He remained in the doorway, the sunlight upon his shoulders. He rubbed the heels of his palms together. “I didn’t harm you, did I?” He winced as he said it.
“You did not. Besides being well and thoroughly sexed. But that never harmed a girl before.”
“The werewolf had sex with you?”
“Yes. You don’t remember?”
“You know I can’t.” He slid onto a bar stool across the counter from her.
All she wanted to do was hug and kiss him and show him how much he meant to her, but she sensed his apprehension and would allow him this slow approach. He had to struggle with the right and
wrong of it. He was that kind of man.
“Do you want details?”
He winced again. “Not sure. Was it…terrible?”
“Not at all. You’re magnificent as the werewolf, Severo. All muscles and growl.”
“You weren’t horrified?”
“Honestly? A little scared at the beginning. Okay, a lot scared. But the werewolf was gentle.”
“Really?” He let out a breath.
“As gentle as it could be. I don’t have any scratches or bruises. I checked. I want to do it again,” she said.
“Y-you do? Should I be jealous?”
She slid around the counter and climbed onto his lap. Spreading her palms across his chest, she nipped his lower lip. “It’s the same guy. One’s a lot more intense than the other, and not as handsome.”
“You think the werewolf’s hideous, don’t you?”
“Not at all. Just not as cute as you. There’s no competition over whom I’d pick from looks alone. Besides, the werewolf has back hair.”
“You make light of everything.”
“Severo, it’s fine. The werewolf and I got along, and we had sex like bunnies.”
“Like bunnies? I don’t want to know. Yes, I do. Did you…enjoy it?”
She nodded. “Might be achy today, but that’s nothing given all the orgasms.”
“Christ, how many?”
“Maybe you’re better off not knowing some things.”
“Tell me, Bella.”
“I stopped counting after six.”
He huffed out a breath. Then he laughed and kissed her. “You’re cool with it, really?”
“I think you’ve got yourself a mate, lover.”
Chapter 15
S he did need a rest from sex after three days and nights of endless passion.
Heck, a girl could only take so much pleasure. Seriously. So tonight Severo ran Bella a hot bath and sprinkled rose petals from the hedges out back in the water. He lit candles and left her to soak.
He spoiled her. Was it guilt at subjecting her to the werewolf’s overwhelming sexual needs? Bella hoped he’d get over that. She could handle it. On the other hand, being spoiled was nothing to complain about.
Blowing a handful of bubbles through the air, she settled into the water and closed her eyes.
Life had a way of tossing you the good stuff, then pulling the rug out from under your feet when you least expected.
It was after Severo overheard Bella talking to Seth that he fisted his hand and put it right through the Sheetrock.
Bella hurried out from the bedroom, eyed the hole and his fist. “I know he’s up to something this time. I’m not stupid. He wants me to come to a party.”
“Elvira will be there, as well as other vampires.”
“I know. I told him I couldn’t come.” Her cell phone rang again, and Bella stared at the screen. “Seth’s number. I thought I’d made myself clear.”
“Let me talk to him.”
“No.” She hit the answer button. “Seth, I said I didn’t want to come.”
Severo heard the female voice over the phone and tore it from Bella’s grip. “Elvira, what the hell are you up to?”
The vampiress laughed.
“I warned you about starting this with me,” he said. “If you want a war, you got it.”
“Then let the games begin,” she snarled. “You can start by retrieving the head of your bitch’s dead friend. I’ve already put the body out in the sun, but you know the new ones take so long to ash.”
Severo sucked in a breath. Bella stood beside him, intently watching his face.
“It’s not about them anymore, is it?”
“It never was,” the vampiress said. “It’s been so long since we’ve dallied, Severo. I look forward to the match this time. Oh, I’ve such plans!”
The phone clicked off and Bella took it from him. Severo swung around and punched the wall again. And again.
“What did she say? Would you stop tearing the house apart? Is Seth okay? What’s going on?”
“Stay back, sweet.” He rubbed his knuckles. “This isn’t the time.”
“It is if it’s about my friend. Where is he?”
“It’s between me and Elvira now.”
“What does that mean?”
“He’s dead,” he snapped. He should not be so cruel, but he had never been one to couch the truth in euphemisms. “She killed him out of spite. It’s me she’s been after this whole time. She wants to twist the knife as deeply as it will go.”
“Seth is dead? B-but I just talked to him.”
Bella’s body wavered. Severo caught her as she collapsed against his chest.
“Bella, I’m sorry.” His world had finally caught up to hers. It wasn’t fair.
“Why is it you?” she asked. Her wide green eyes sought the truth from his. “What did you do to her?”
She deserved the truth, and she’d get it.
“Seventy years ago, I killed her family. She owes me this.”
“You’ve killed? You said you’d never…”
Yes, he’d told her he’d not harmed humans. Unless it was necessary. And those deaths had been necessary. It had been too long since he’d thought of that time in his life. The memory filled his nose with an acrid odor.
“But Seth means nothing to you. Why would she go after him?”
“In war one always kills off friends, family and loved ones first. That’s how it works.”
“What? But that means—”
“She’ll come after you next.”
Bella’s shoulders shook. She rubbed her arms, attempting to fight off the shivers. He had frightened her and her fear scent filled him with shame. He shouldn’t have said anything. But not telling her would have blemished the trust he had earned so far.
She settled at the edge of the couch. Severo touched her hair tentatively. He wanted to take her in his arms and make the world go away. To make it all better.
He fisted his fingers. That power was not in his hands.
“So,” she said softly, so faint he had to lean in to hear, “you killed her family?”
“Her brother and father.”
Sitting on the couch, he pulled her lithe body onto his. She tucked her head into his neck and cuddled as he wrapped his arms about her. He wanted to be a safe harbor for her, but he feared her trip down the rabbit hole was only just beginning.
“Before Elvira—Evie—had blooded her teeth, her family used to hunt werewolves. At one time, in the nineteen fifties, the United States had a bounty on all wolves. Paid something like a dollar a pelt. The nation went into a hunting frenzy.”
“Mortals hunted you?”
“No, they hunted the real wolves. Mortals were—and are, for the most part—unaware of our breed. But noting the hunting frenzy, the vampires took it upon themselves to hunt werewolves. They didn’t get paid for the pelts, but it didn’t matter. It was for the thrill of the hunt. They captured my parents.”
He had to swallow, to digest this cruel memory, which he’d thought to press back, far from reach. It hurt in his heart to recall it, as if the steel trap crushed his muscles all over again.
Bella’s fingers played across his chest. So fragile. And yet she was far stronger than him, for she had stood boldly before his werewolf.
“Do you know what happens when a werewolf is skinned?”
“You don’t have to tell me if it hurts.”
It would wound him far worse to keep his secrets from the woman he loved.
“I stood at the edge of the vampire encampment after following my parents’ scents for miles. They were dead, strung up by their heels alongside a wood cabin with half a dozen other werewolf pelts. It takes only a few hours, though, before a werewolf transforms itself into a were.”
Bella’s gasp heated his chest. He clutched her, clinging, stopping his own tears only through force of will.
“I fled at the sight. I knew I had to protect myself. And yet I ran right into a trap. A bear
trap clamped about my left ankle.”
“That’s why you limp.”
“Yes, the bone never did heal right. They took me into captivity. I vowed that if I ever escaped, I would kill the men who had done this to my family.”
“And Evie? Was it her family who did this to you?”
“Yes. Yet Evie’s father was a mortal. The father took vampires for lovers and there were a few witches who served the family. They used their ability to tame us wolves as a power magnet for vampires. There would be days they’d set the vampires on us for fun. To torture us.”
“Oh my God.”
“It was Evie who asked that my life be spared when her father wanted to force me to shift and skin me alive. She begged for a plaything. I…knew she favored me, but she also couldn’t understand that freedom was what I most wanted. I played along, bending to her desires, allowing her to think she was seducing me, preparing me to be the one who blooded her fangs.”
“She bit you?”
“No. She didn’t get the chance.”
He cupped Bella’s chin and held her as a most precious thing. He’d been given one more chance to have goodness in his life after Aby. He didn’t want to lose it. But she needed to know everything.
“Weres come into their werewolf at puberty. The young ones are always the most difficult to control as the new skills of shifting are honed. Because of my uncontrollable rages, I was able to escape. I killed both the father and his vampire son, and left Evie crying on the porch of their home.
“I ran into her years later. Still she professed a pining love for me. I had never had anything but disgust for her and her family, yet, though I did not admit it to her, I was grateful to her for sparing my life. Still, I spurned her. She vowed revenge, which I deserved.” He exhaled, tracking the swift beats of his heart in his throat. “So, yes, Bella, I have killed.”
“You were only avenging your family. I can’t imagine seeing your parents being tortured like that. You poor man.”
He snarled. “It’s been over seven decades. I take care of myself. Those who think to threaten my peace, or my former pack, have only to answer to the werewolf. Evie has every right to pursue a vengeance she holds to be just—but Seth was a cruel blow.”
