by Jessica Snow
Something hit Kat right then like a brick. “Wait a minute...how on earth did Mom know about what you were? And why the hell did she need you to protect her?”
“There were bad people after your mother, Kat. Very bad people.”
“What? Like loan sharks?”
Mike shook his head and then looked directly into her eyes. “No. Fucking vampires.”
Kat froze. “Why would vampires be after my mother?
Her father’s next words chilled her to the bone. “Because, Kat,” Big Mike said slowly, “Your mother was a witch.”
Chapter 17
It was the night of the full moon. Liam’s and Crystal’s night of mating. One week from the day that Kat had escaped. The wolves were gathered in their meeting place in two single file lines that faced each other, all in wolf form save for two.
Crystal waited patiently at the end of the line, the pale moonlight illuminating her bony figure. She wore a crown woven of moonflowers and a nasty smirk.
Naked as the day he was born, Liam walked between the lines of wolves, the moonlight reflecting off the taut muscles of his back and his firm ass cheeks. He tried not to glance at all the golden eyes watching his magnificent naked form. Scrutinizing him; looking for signs of hesitation or weakness. Though he had been dreading this moment for a while now, he could not let it show. He was strong. An Alpha wolf. He had to make certain that they understood that, no matter what happened.
He reached the end of the line where Crystal waited with a smug smile on her face. This was her night. Her night of victory. She would claim him, just like her family would claim the Greyson family.
She took his hand. “Are you ready, my mate?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied after a long moment. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” Meaning, not at all.
Her smile widened, showing all her teeth. There was human flesh on her breath, the smell sending a wave of revulsion through him. She had hunted earlier in the night. “Then let’s begin.”
Crystal turned, pulling him off into the trees, towards where the ring of standing stones awaited their ritual mating.
Not a chance, bitch. There was the sound of popping bones, and Crystal gasped in shock as she felt Liam’s hands slip from her grasp. She screamed out a curse as he ran away from her in wolf form.
More transformation noises filled the clearing behind Liam as he ran away, as numerous wolves returned to human form. He could hear their voices echoing through the forest. “What is the meaning of this?” Crystal’s father bellowed at Lance Greyson. “Why does your son abandon my daughter on their mating night?”
Fury shook Lance’s voice. “I don’t know. He knew what the consequences would be if he did not cooperate!”
Crystal’s father’s voice broke with outrage as he addressed the gathered shifters. “Go find that rebellious ingrate now...and bring him to me!”
Kat tossed and turned in her bed. She was having horrible nightmares filled with dark, evil creatures, like shadows with fangs. In her dream, she was in bear form, felling scores and scores of these dark beings, but they kept right on coming.
Her mother, garbed in hooded robes, stood silently behind her, watching her daughter fight viciously for their survival. Kat was confused. Her mother was a witch. Why wasn’t she helping her?
She let out a pained roar when one of the creatures scored a particularly nasty hit, ripping shreds of hairy flesh from her side. Kat lashed out with her paw, infusing every ounce of her might into it, sending the ugly thing’s head flying into the pack of monsters.
But they kept coming.
“Mother!” Kat cried, tossing a glance behind her at her mother’s watchful form. “Don’t just stand there, help me!”
Then she remembered that she was in bear form and that her mother probably did not understand her. Still, she had to have understood Kat’s desperation. Yet she did nothing, simply watching the army of creatures advance on her daughter. Another claw raked across her flesh, filling Kat with unbearable agony. Then another...and another...and another. Kat screamed.
She came awake with a gasp, her heart pounding like a sledgehammer, her forehead covered in sweat. For the past week, since learning about the secret supernatural war and her family’s place in it, she had been having nightmares involving her mother. Most of them made no sense.
Her father explained to her that it was just the process of her awakening to being a werebear and that it would pass. He’d explained that with time, training and learning how to shift, the mental pressure to adapt would evaporate, and so would the senseless, frightening dreams.
The floorboards in her room creaked. She started and let out a gasp when a tall, muscular form stepped into the ray of moonlight beaming through her window.
It was Liam standing at the foot of her bed, naked. Kat was instantly filled with desire and confusion. How did he get inside her room? Was this a dream within a dream?
“Come with me,” Liam ordered firmly, offering his hand.
Kat stared at it long and hard and then took it. If this was still a dream, it was guaranteed to be better than the ones she had been having.
The howls of wolves surrounded them as they ran through the forest.
“Why are there so many of your kind out tonight?” gasped Kat, struggling to keep up with the swift-moving Liam, her pink, flimsy nightgown catching on the brush.
“It is a full moon,” the naked golden-haired shifter replied shortly.
Kat could not keep her eyes off his firm ass. Whenever it moved, the moonlight glinted off the muscled indents on his cheeks. The pleasant distraction made the cacophony around them easier to take.
“So, does your kind normally turn into rabid yowling animals whenever the moon is out in full force? Isn’t that bad for secrecy?”
His jaw tightened. “Tonight was the night of my mating ceremony.”
“Oh yeah,” said Kat, suddenly remembering. Since fleeing the Greyson Company grounds, Kat had given up hope that she and Liam would ever be together. There were too many variables involved, mainly his psychotic wolf bitch fiancée and the obvious enmity between wolf and bear kind. “But wait, if it’s your mating night, what are you doing out here with me—” She paused, her eyes going wide with shock. “Liam...what have you done?”
Liam stopped and turned, his golden gaze drifting down to her breasts. Kat knew he had to have been looking at her nipples, which were erect from the chill air and pushing against the flimsy nightgown. “What I must,” he replied simply. He grabbed her arm and began firmly pulling her along. “Now come along. We must be quick. They are looking for me.”
They kept moving quickly until they came to a dirt mound that sat in the middle of a leafy clearing. Kat suddenly doubled over into coughing fits. “What is that awful smell?” she gasped. To her sensitive nose, it smelled worse than any garbage dump or landfill that she had ever been to.
Liam grinned mischievously at her and said two words. “Skunk den. The smell will break our scent trail.”
Kat continued to cough and sneeze violently, almost feeling like she would throw up her roast-rabbit dinner. But it seemed to work. After a while, the sound of the howling wolves faded into the distance. Liam remained listening for several minutes before nodding firmly. “Come.”
Kat was grateful to leave the reeking area.
Moving with an assuredness, Liam led her to a pond fed by a waterfall. It sat on the middle tier of a stair-step like cliff overlooking the city. The sight of the moonlit sky, twinkling stars and city lights completely took Kat’s breath away despite the tense circumstances. “Liam, this is beautiful.”
Kat sniffed. Just too bad there’s no fish in here, she thought.
He smiled. “I thought you would think so.” He stepped inside of the water and offered her his hand. “Get in,” he ordered. His voice was different now, huskier and less urgent. He was getting turned on; a glance at his swelling cock confirmed it.
Kat stepped in the water and let out a ti
ny squeal. “It’s cold,” she quivered, her teeth chattering.
Liam smiled and pulled her close against his washboard stomach. “I know...but the water will mask our scents even more. Besides, you have me to warm you up.”
I can’t believe this is happening! Everything seemed so surreal. Their surroundings, the existence of supernatural beings. Kat’s new life.
Liam glanced up at the moon as a faint howl sounded off in the distance. “Kat, I need you to answer me something. It’s very important.”
“What?” the heat from Liam’s body was sending warmth through her limbs.
“Are you ready to be my mate?”
Of course, I am! Even though she hardly knew the man, Kat was absolutely thrilled by the question. She wanted Liam badly. But there was just one problem.
“What about the mixing of species?” Kat asked worriedly. “What will happen to us if we, like, do it? I did not know a bear and a wolf could mate.”
Liam chuckled, his breath hot on Kat’s cheeks. “We are in a human form, silly. I think we’ll be more than fine.”
Kat was burning up now. She had wanted him for weeks, and he had finally run from his horrible betrothal so that he could be with her. But her doubts still nagged at her. “Are you sure?”
Liam’s lips closed in for her throat. “There’s only one way to find out.”
As soon as Liam’s lips hit Kat’s throat, she half-slumped into his arms and moaned. His lips against her skin and his strong hands roaming over her skin felt so good that her doubts burned away at once.
While he nibbled and suckled on her neck, his hands quickly found her breasts, teasing her nipples through the flimsy material of her nightgown.
“Oh Liam,” Kat moaned, feeling moistness that had nothing to do with the water they were in gather down below. She clutched at his back, her hands feeling along every inch of muscle.
Liam suddenly pulled away from Kat’s neck. With deft fingers, he pulled the gown over her head and tossed it over the edge of the pond. Then he stared down at her bountiful breasts with an almost desperate hunger, like a starving man might stare at a feast. “My god, Kat,” he whispered with awe. “Your body is even better than I’d imagined it would be.”
He sank into the water, making himself level with her chest, and began sucking on her right nipple. He teased it with his tongue, twirling it around while cupping her breast gently in his hands.
He looked up at her intently with his golden eyes all while he did it. Kat tossed her head back, unable to take that intense gaze, as a slow-burning fire swept through her body.
It felt amazing.
Liam dipped one of his hands beneath the water and began massaging her mound. Suddenly the chill of the water seemed to retreat entirely as her flesh warmed under his touch.
“Oh,” Kat moaned. “Don’t stop.”
He didn’t. Liam kept rubbing in a circular motion while sucking on her nipple. Jolts of pleasure shot up through her body. Pure euphoria, and a delicious growing tension inside of her. As he continued to rub, her eyes began to roll back into her head, catching a glimpse of the full moon and starry sky.
It was all too much. Her nails dug into his skin, and her head fell back. Her ecstatic cry rang out over the cliff as Kat’s body shook with immense pleasure.
“You liked that?” Liam asked with a grin when she was back on earth.
Kat let out an explosive breath and nodded. “Hell yeah! You sure know what the heck you are doing.”
Liam chuckled, eyes gleaming. “There’s more where that came from.”
She grinned slowly, her body relaxed and tingling. At this point, the chilly pond felt as comfortable as bathwater. “Oh yeah?”
With a soft grunt, Liam placed his hands on the bottom of her ass and lifted her to his waist. Kat was impressed. She weighed quite a bit, but it did not look like Liam was breaking a sweat holding her body up. The water probably helped, but not by much.
Kat wrapped her thighs around his trim waist, feeling his hard, throbbing cock press up against her stomach. It was so big. This might hurt. But I bet it will hurt really good.
He took her over to the waterfall, letting the sparkling water rain down on their heads. Then he pressed his burning lips to hers, darting his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues slid over each other. He tasted so good. Fleshy. Like meat. Kat was probably tasting his last meal.
He slipped inside her then. Kat let out a startled gasp into his mouth as Liam’s thick cock shoved into her, and she was suddenly glad he had gotten her off. Otherwise, she might never have been relaxed enough to take his girth. For a moment, Kat felt pain inside of her canal, but it quickly slipped away as her body adjusted to his size.
Liam began a measured hump, his hard stomach hitting up against hers with a wet slap each time. She threw her head back away from his lips, letting out a sharp cry of encouragement as the water rained down into her eyes. “Fuck me, wolf!”
Liam’s head snaked down between her soaked breasts. He began gently biting her right nipple as he picked up speed. He pounded away at her, in and out, his grip on her tightening as he started to pant. A churning fire began building inside of Kat’s stomach, seeking release.
Liam released her aroused nipple, his breath coming in short, heavy gasps. He pounded faster. Harder. Through the sparkling water, Kat could see the starry sky, although it looked distorted. The stars looked so big, shimmering and iridescent, like diamonds.
Faster and faster Liam went, his body slamming into hers with a wet smack each time. Kat’s vision began to swim as prickling sensations popped up over every inch of her skin.
Liam worked his magnificent body furiously, hitting all the right spots. All the while, he kept a firm hold of her ass, using it as leverage to pound his body into hers.
Clap, clap, clap. Water splashed around them. Burning with passion, their bodies became one as Liam released one final thrust into Kat, sending her mind spinning to dizzying heights.
A wolf-like howl tore from Liam’s lips; his hot seed poured into her, and she felt her body clench around him as she came even harder than before. Her voice rose with his...and then fell to a whimper moments before she grayed out.
Kat lost consciousness for what was probably just a few seconds. When she came to, she was still in his arms, being pelted by water. His golden eyes were studying her as she focused on his handsome face.
“My God,” she whispered. “That was amazing.”
Liam kissed her on the cheek and nodded. “And the wonderful thing is, we get to do it as many times as want from here on out...want to know why?”
Kat wasn’t so sure about that. There were gangs of wolves out there looking to find Liam...and probably kill her. But she would take all she could get for now. “Why?”
Liam brought his lips to her neck, kissing his way up to her ear. He nipped at her earlobe and then whispered, “Because now you’re mine forever.”
Chapter 18
McKenzie sighed as she pulled back away from Zack’s lips. The kiss had been intense and sweet, and she had not wanted it to end. They were seated together on the couch in the living room of his incredibly nice house on the edge of the woods. None of his family was home. After going out with the boy for a week, it was McKenzie’s first time being invited there. She was kind of disappointed because she wanted to meet the parents that had raised such a fine young man. After he had saved her from Erick, she had gotten a gigantic crush on him...and discovering that he had had one on her for a while had delighted her.
He had protected her from all the awful gossip that had started up at school after the night of the party when he had had to carry her out. He’d stuck with her even after McKenzie’s best friend had abandoned her.
When McKenzie had gone to Annabelle with the tale of what Erick had done the night of the party, she didn’t believe it, immediately accusing McKenzie of making up vicious lies. But that was before the rumors of McKenzie sleeping with Erick had started. Rumors that Erick had und
oubtedly spread to salve his pride.
That’s when Annabelle got pissed off and confronted McKenzie about it. McKenzie responded with telling her the same story, but still, Annabelle would not believe it and instead took up for Erick, calling McKenzie a dirty slut. Because of this, McKenzie never wanted to see the stupid bitch again. Let her find out for herself what kind of a monster he really is, she thought bitterly as she remembered. But she had much nicer things to focus on...like being in her hot new boyfriend’s arms on his white leather couch.
“That was wonderful Zack,” McKenzie murmured. She placed a hand on the thigh of his jeans, admiring his physique. He was so ripped for such an unassuming guy. He really must have the best body in the school.
“Was it?” he asked, staring at her intently, looking almost as if he wanted to eat her. His eyes had those gold specks floating around in them. McKenzie had inquired about why they did that, and he had responded with that it was just a family trait.
“It was,” sighed McKenzie. “How about another one?”
Zack grinned. “I can do that.”
He leaned forward. Just as their lips were about to touch, the front door banged open and an older blonde girl stormed into the room. She was thin and wild-eyed, and wilting flowers were tangled in her hair. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the two teens sitting on the couch.
“Jesus, Crys,” Zack said sharply as he shot to his feet with alarm. “Knock the door off the hinges, why don’t you? Ever heard of inserting a key and unlocking the door like a normal person?”
“Shut up, you fool!” the girl screamed, spittle spraying from her thin, colorless lips.
Taken aback by the girl’s unhinged demeanor, McKenzie let out a low whistle. Okay....someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
Zack gave a quick look of apology to McKenzie. “Sorry, this is my insane sister, Crystal. She isn’t usually this crazy, but it’s the full moon, after all.” He turned back to Crystal, who was glaring at them, at the floor, all around, like she was going mad with the need to kill someone. “What the hell crawled up your ass and died?”
