She wanted to run, but she could only stare in morbid fascination. Kevin Burrows, bodyguard for the Sheridan household, was transforming into a grey wolf. When he was on all fours, he shook himself and then growled. The old man transformed back into a bird and flew to the ceiling. Abe started to transform too. In the blink of an eye, a monkey emerged from his clothes on the floor.
She was ready to run at that point, but she couldn’t—because Aleksander was also transforming. Her legs wouldn’t work as she watched him turn into a tiger—a black-and-orange killing machine. Alek was a tiger shifter. The man who’d been guarding her for years, who she spent more time with than even her best friend, was a shifter.
Jessica ran fast and hard. She didn’t stop running until she was in town again. Her lungs burned and her legs were jelly. She was sure she was going to pass out soon, but she looked around for the bar. She had to get as far away from the Wasteland as she could, and fast.
***
There was no choice. He had to protect her, and he could only do that as a tiger. It pained Alek to shift, but he had to do it. He’d told her to run, but she hadn’t listened. By the time he was on four paws, Jess was gone.
Kevin lunged at him fast. He bit down hard on Alek’s left front paw. Abe’s monkey screeched and threw a rock at the wolf before scampering up the rock tower. The wolf circled Alek and tried to lunge for his throat.
Alek made a quick move and used Kevin’s energy to turn him on his back. He closed his teeth around his former friend’s throat and bit down until blood filled his mouth.
He shook the wolf around until it yelped. It brought him no joy, but he held on to the wolf until it stopped moving, then let his tiger take over. The animal knew what to do, and it was ruthless. Kevin had never harmed him, but he had killed Alek’s mate’s mother and would likely go after Jessica too. Alek couldn’t risk it.
“I think it’s done.” Abe was standing next to him, putting his clothes back on. “We must hurry to find Jessica. I’m sure she is scared out of her mind.”
“First, tell me what the hell is going on,” Alek said after he had transformed back. “I just killed my friend, and I’d like to know why.”
“He was not your friend. He was the wolf shifter who killed Jessica’s mother and who imprisoned the one of the founders of Rose Valley in a cage.” Abe pointed to the dodo. “Jinn, could you please come down here?”
The bird floated down and transformed. “I am not going back to town. I don’t belong there anymore. I should be locked up.”
Abe shook his head. “You did everything you could.”
“What is this?” Alek asked again. He was starting to lose his patience. He had no idea what they were talking about, but it had to be common knowledge in Rose Valley.
“When Rose Valley was first founded, a shifter woman was killed by humans in an accident. Jinn decided not to retaliate as long as the humans left the town alone,” Abe said.
Jinn nodded. “It was Kevin’s wife. After all I did, the humans still treated us like garbage. It was useless. We should have killed those men when we had the chance.”
“Not quite.” Abe patted him on the shoulder. “We’re still here. They have left us alone all these years.”
“You said Kevin killed a woman,” Jinn said.
Abe nodded. “A human woman found the map to your cave. You’ve become part of a legend.”
“Great. I just transformed in front of my mate because of a stupid legend.” Alek shook his head in disgust. “What happens to a shifter who loses his mate?”
“You haven’t lost her,” Abe assured him. “You just avenged her mother’s death. I don’t think she’ll stay mad at you.”
“Except I attacked her last night,” Alek said. “I don’t think she’s going to forgive that. You didn’t see her face when she ran off.”
“You attacked her?” Abe laughed. “You marked her without asking. Silly boy. I’m sure she’ll understand. We have to go now. She might not have gotten out.”
Jinn crouched next to Kevin’s body. “Thank you for your help. I will bury him. And please, don’t tell anyone I’m here.”
Abe nodded. “Your secret is safe with us.”
Once they were out of earshot, Alek had to know. “Is that for real? How old is that guy?”
“Hundreds of years old. It’s very real.”
“How is that possible?”
“We’re shifters. We live for a long time. Surely you know that much about us.” Abe looked at Alek. “You were raised by humans, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” Alek said curtly. “I do know some things.”
“Not the smell of a shifter masking its scent. To a tiger, it should have smelled very wrong.”
“I thought he was wearing bad cologne,” Alek murmured. They got to the mouth of the cave and hadn’t seen Jessica. He smelled the air. “I think she got out. I can smell her out here.”
“She must be very fast.” Abe stroked his chin. “Maybe your bite has given her speed. These things happen sometimes. When her adrenaline kicked in, she got a little shifter boost thanks to you.”
“What the hell does this mate mark do to humans?”
“Many things, but none are guaranteed. Maybe we can use some of that tiger speed?”
“You want to ride on my back?” Alek laughed. “What the hell. It’s been that kind of a day.”
“Thank you. We’ll go to the bar. I’m sure she’ll be there.”
Abe transformed back to his monkey and Alek to his tiger. The monkey climbed on his back and they were off. Alek couldn’t run fast for long, but he was quicker than his human self and much faster than Abe. Jessica must have been moving fast if she had gotten back to town that soon. Even with a head start, she shouldn’t have been able to move that quickly.
They stopped in at Abe’s before going to the bar. Alek didn’t want to see her again while he was completely naked. If she rejected him, he wanted to at least be wearing clothes.
The Thorn Room was easy to get to from Abe’s house. It looked like a bar from a Renaissance fair. It was more intricately decorated than the other buildings in Rose Valley on the outside, but inside it was very dark. Exactly the kind of place you went when you didn’t want to be bothered. It fit right into the vibe Rose Valley had.
He could smell Jessica outside. “She’s here.”
Abe went to speak with the barkeep. “Gunner, this is my friend Alek, and we are looking for a young lady.”
Gunner looked nothing how Alek had pictured him. He looked like a fairy tale prince with his chiseled good looks, blond hair, and amber eyes. There was an intensity about him that befitted a barkeep in the Valley. He looked like a wild card. Maybe he couldn’t fight; maybe he was secretly a polar bear shifter or a T. rex. After seeing a dodo in real life, Alek had no idea what kinds of shifters were possible.
Gunner nodded. “I sent her to my house with Lucy. She looked pretty spooked and was mumbling crazy things. Said she saw a dodo fighting a wolf.”
“Thank you. I owe you for your generosity,” Abe said.
Gunner shook his head. “I can always help out a pretty lady. It’s Lucy you owe your thanks to.”
It was a very short walk to Gunner’s home. He lived two doors away from the bar, convenient for working late nights and early mornings.
Alek got nervous outside the door. He stopped Abe before he knocked. “What if she says no? I need to know what happens to a shifter with no mate.”
Abe put his hand on Alek’s shoulder. “She’ll say yes. She hasn’t turned you away yet. Don’t worry about mateless shifters.”
“Do they turn out like Kevin?”
Abe didn’t answer. He knocked on the door, and a short woman with long blonde curls answered.
“Your girl is here, Abe,” she said. “She’s having a rough time, though. She’s been holed up, talking on my phone with some woman in Baghera.”
“Her best friend,” Alek sai
d. He went to the bathroom door and knocked. “Jess, it’s Alek. I want to talk.”
There was no answer. He knocked again and then listened at the door. After a moment’s hesitation, he kicked the door in. The room was empty, but the window was open and a pair of legs was struggling to get out of the room.
Chapter Eight
Getting out the window was a lot harder than she’d imagined. It looked a lot easier in the movies. She’d heard them coming down the hall and panicked. When Alek kicked the door in, she knew she wasn’t going to make it. Instead, she climbed back into the bathroom with as much dignity as she could manage.
“Hello.”
“Hi.” He closed the door behind him and sat on the edge of the bathtub. “Can we talk for a minute?”
She sat on the toilet seat. The phone next to her buzzed as Daria called her back. She’d hung up the phone quickly and with little explanation. She picked up the phone. “It’s okay. I’ll call you back in a minute.” She closed the phone and stared at Alek. “You attacked me.”
He nodded. “I did. But it was an accident. I didn’t mean to.”
“Why?” she choked out. “I thought you were my friend.”
“We were never friends,” Alek said. He looked at his hands. “My tiger attacked you because it thinks you’re my mate. It was marking you.”
“Mate? You mean I’m not going to become a were-tiger?”
Alek laughed. “I don’t think so. You would have already changed already if you were one. Most of the stuff you’ve heard about were-animals is urban legends.”
“I guess I have a bad habit of believing stupid myths.” Jess laughed softly, but the laughter quickly turned to tears. She was embarrassed to be crying in front of Alek and put her hand over her face. “I’m sorry. This is all too much today.”
Alek’s face was pained. “I’m sorry about all of this. If I’d known, I would have never let you come here. I would have forced you to go home.”
“You’ve never apologized before,” Jess said from behind her hands.
“I never felt like I had to.” He handed her some toilet paper to wipe her eyes. “Sorry about your mom.”
“Me too. She must have been really desperate if she was looking for a genie. I mean, it’s silly.”
Alek said nothing for a while. He was wearing more of Abe’s clothes and no underpants. Jess couldn’t help but notice the bulge in his pants again.
“What are you going to do now?” he asked finally.
“I’m going to stay with Daria. I love her family, and they’d love to take me in.”
Alek nodded, then cleared his throat. “I’ll probably follow you.”
“You don’t have to follow me around anymore. I’ll be fine on Baghera. No one hates my dad there.”
“Yeah, did you miss the part where I said you were my mate? I don’t think I’m going to be able to stay away from you.”
That made Jess giggle despite her sadness. “So before, you were paid to follow me, and now what? You’re biologically compelled to follow me?”
“Sounds about right.”
They sat in silence until Jess’s curiosity got the best of her. “What happened to Kevin? And why did he do it?”
Alek told her the whole story as he understood it. It was all very crazy. An old vendetta. She hadn’t known Rose Valley was so old, either. All the news stories about the place made it seem fairly new, like the shifters had taken over a nice human town. But if Jinn had founded Rose Valley, it must have always been a shifter spot.
“Why would they lie about this place?”
Alek shrugged. “Easier than having to do anything about it. I didn’t know any different until I came here, and I’m a shifter. Nobody’s going to find out they’re lying.”
“My dad is one of those liars. What are you going to do about work?”
“Find a security job in Baghera. They have to need some muscle somewhere.”
“So you’re for sure going to follow me, then?”
“I don’t have much choice. Unless you lie to me about where you’re going, I’m going to come too. My tiger won’t let me leave you.”
The thought was oddly comforting. She’d gotten used to him shadowing her. As much as she used to hate it, she didn’t think she’d feel right without him.
“I guess we’ll have to get two tickets to the island.”
Alek smiled. “Looks like you do have a soft spot for me.”
“No, but if I can’t stop you, we may as well fly together.”
“Sure. Don’t expect me to follow you around the island, though. Mate or not, I’m going to have a new job now.”
“Fine by me.” She winced. “I wonder if there are any painkillers in this bathroom.”
“Is this better?” Alek took down her bun and began to rub her scalp. The tension eased away from her throbbing temples. She leaned into his hands and closed her eyes.
“Much better,” she whispered.
His mate. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but she didn’t hate him. He was insufferable sometimes, but he cared about her. He’d never done anything to hurt her. Even when he had attacked her in the forest, he hadn’t actually hurt her. Maybe she’d been too quick to judge her bodyguard.
“So, about this mate thing. What does it entail?”
He stopped rubbing her scalp for a moment. She wished she could see his face. “It means that you’re meant for me and me for you. It means I mark you so all other shifters know that you belong with me. It means my tiger mating you on all fours. It means cubs and forever-after happiness. Or so I’ve heard. I’ve never had a mate before.”
At the mention of being mated on all fours, Jess almost gasped aloud. Did he really want to do that? She was staring right at the bulge in his pants, so she was confident of the answer. She reached forward and touched the bulge tentatively.
“On all fours, you say?”
Alek pulled her head back roughly. “Don’t. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t hurt me.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to control myself.”
“You won’t hurt me,” Jess said confidently.
She unbuttoned his too-tight pants and reached inside the tented fabric. His dick was warm and very hard. Alek kissed her roughly and then pulled her off the toilet seat, picked her up and put her on the sink. Jess wrapped her legs around him and pushed his pants to his knees. His cock sprang free and she quickly wrapped her hand around it. Alek groaned as she pumped him hard.
They kissed, his tongue running around her mouth to taste her. He pulled back to take her shirt off and pull her jeans off frantically. Once she was in her underwear, he attacked her again. He pulled her panties down while they were kissing. Jess arched up until his hand connected with her aching pussy. She’d gone from unsure to dripping in just a few moments. She had to have him. It had to be the mate thing. Her bite mark was aching as bad as her pussy.
She had an emptiness between her legs that only Alek could fill. And she was desperate for him to do it. “Fuck me,” she groaned.
He tangled his hand in the back of her hair and pulled her close. “If you insist.”
He let go of her hair and grabbed her ass, pulled her off the counter and lined up with her dripping core, then entered her fully with one swift stroke. He growled as he slid into her. He pulled out of her slowly and then pushed in again.
She was trembling and grasping at the edge of the counter. “More.”
He pulled her further off the counter and held her up with her ass in his hands. Jess held on tight and closed her eyes in bliss as he pumped into her full force. She was sure the whole town could hear the slap of their bodies joining but she didn’t care. She cried out loudly as Alek brushed against the magic spot on the front wall of her pussy.
His hands tightened on her ass cheeks as she came hard. She threw her head back and licked her lips, and Alek roared as he came inside of her. Fin
ally, he stilled and put her back on the counter, and they kissed lazily.
“If this is what being a mate is, I think I can get used to it.”
Alek laughed. “That’s promising.”
She didn’t care that they were going to have to go out and speak with Abe, or that her father would be livid. In that moment, nothing mattered but her and her mate. “This is nice. Why did we wait so long to do this?”
“Because you were a brat and I was an idiot. We didn’t really see each other.”
“Good thing your tiger is smarter than the both of us.”
“Good thing you were brave enough to decide to leave. If you hadn’t been leaving, my tiger might not have come to its senses.”
“Lucky us.”
And they were. Jessica knew that no matter what happened next, Alek would always be by her side, protecting her. She had found her soulmate, and together they would find their way to happily ever after.
THE END
Werewolf Wedding
By
Lynn Red
-1-
“Someday, all of my lumps will be in the right place. Yeah, right.”
-Delilah Coltrane
I took a deep breath that burned in my chest. My nostrils flared as I gazed up from the field, all the way to the top of the stadium.
One more time.
Just one more hellish, awful, painful, terrible trip up the stairs and I could rest.
The walls of the Jackson Community College stadium loomed over my head like a boogeyman with hunched shoulders waiting to suck the soul out of me as soon as I closed my – wait, wait, that’s not right at all. They were just walls and I am not a ridiculous drama queen when I’m making myself run the stadium stairs.
Not at all.
One more breath, Dilly, I willed myself. Stop saying one more breath and just go.
Spring Feve Page 75
