He wanted to bond and tie with me, conquer me. He promised that I would be the mother of his future children.
But I was a woman, not a wolf, not a beast. I could not accept such a mating… Could I?
My body was still flushed from my recent climax, and my legs were weak.
Perhaps Sawagga could truly arouse the she-wolf within me, as Gall had done for Emily?
Was THAT what I was most afraid of… The overwhelming power of my own lust and need?
Sawagga must have seen the conflict on my face. Or perhaps he smelled it somehow… At any rate, he softly told me: “Come, Sarah, and lie down with me. To rest, jarr? Rest your head, I mean.”
His concern seemed genuine, and I was surprised by his gentle understanding… Especially considering that I had done nothing to satisfy his own male lusts.
Big hands steady and calming on my shoulders, he led me over to a pile of furs in one corner. It seemed raised up higher than any of the other sleeping-places. When I sat down, I found it to be exquisitely comfortable, as if it adjusted to my weight and the shape of my ample bottom.
“There’s a molecular-weave mattress under there,” Sawagga announced proudly. “We looted it from a bulk freighter. Even an Alpha likes to sleep comfortably, jarr?”
I smiled. “I like it, yes. It’s very comfortable. I always slept on a hard, lumpy mattress at home.”
And his huge arms around me were comfortable too… Not as soft, but still quite pleasant.
“You will have to tell me about your home, sometime,” he said.
He guided me down on my side to the fur-covered mattress. He was behind me, with one arm over me, shielding me without clutching me too hard.
“There’s not much to tell,” I said. “Provident is just a low-tech farm planet. Only solar power for electricity, and many people still ride horses. I lived on a potato farm… Just flatness of fields as far as the eye could see.”
“So,” he asked, as if probing, “You wouldn’t miss it?”
“Well,” I replied, “as it now, no, I wouldn’t miss it. But I have a few good memories, from when I was a little girl and my parents were still alive. Picking wildflowers with my mother, or chasing fireflies in the summertime with my father… We had huge fireflies, big as a fist and bright blue. I guess I’ll miss them.”
“Ah, nothing else?”
“Well… Wait, once there was a carnival that came, with candy apples and antigrav sleds and… Ha, this is too funny, I just remembered.”
“What?” he asked, purring in my ear.
“Well, there was a show where a man turned into a beast. This fellow went into a cage and the lights went down, and… wham… he turned into this huge monster. I had nightmares for weeks after that. Of course, I realize now it was all done with holograms, but as a kid it terrified me.”
Sawagga frowned. “Did he turn into a wolf?”
“Oh no. He was supposed to be ‘the Tralg Beast of Tarsha.’ The man with the soul of a beast. He had fur, but also scales and big horns on his head and eyes like a bug.” I laughed.
Still, I had to wonder if my childhood memory of seeing the carnival actor “shift” into a beast had created a far that had been buried… Was that why I felt so obliged to resist Sawagga’s claim on me now?
But he didn’t seem like a beast now. His arm around me was warm and hard and protective and wonderful, his embrace possessively male and very human…
“I lost my parents too, when I was just a young pup,” Sawagga said, surprising me. “They were killed in a pack war with the Red Claws. I grew up on Wolf Star—which is a big, hidden space station which is as much of a home as the Star Wolves have right now. I was an orphan, but others helped to raise me. I was lucky to get help and support from some of the older males. Rakh was one… He was like an uncle to me back then.”
“Rakh?” I asked, surprised. “That stinky old one? But he insulted you.”
Sawagga shook his head. “He’s been through so much. A lifetime spent in space, with no planet to call home… I don’t think any shifter is really meant for that. Which is why I have other plans for my pack. There’s a forest planet that’s… Well, it’s a lot to explain. I will tell you, soon, Sawagga’s-She. For now, we should rest.”
In his embrace, I felt perfectly comfortable, perfectly secure, and I dozed off…
Chapter 6
I awoke with a jolt a few hours later, startled by the unfamiliar surroundings…
Until swiftly, the recent memories flowed back to the forefront of my conscious mind. I realized I was on the Star Wolf’s pirate ship, the warm, musky-scented bulk of Sawagga’s huge body behind me, his left arm covering me protectively.
I supposed that latent adrenaline had awakened me. My heart was beating fast, and I felt hot. I needed to move.
With a twinge of regret, I pulled myself forward, out of Sawagga’s embrace. He made no effort to stop me, though I noticed that his breathing was suddenly shallower… And I thought his cool blue eyes were just barely slitted, watching me.
My Star Wolf, alert and looking out for me…
My Star Wolf. Was I really thinking of him that way?
Protective, yes. Gentle at times… But still part animal.
Could I accept a lover who was half beast? What would happen if he became bored of me, or lost control one day…?
I’d had a brief glimpse of the feral beast inside Gall. I reminded myself that Sawagga, too, could shift and turn into such a huge, hairy monster.
I tiptoed towards the gurgling pool in the center of the chamber. The crew slept on their own furs, scattered about, and no one moved or made any sign that they would interfere with me. I did not think any of them would bother me with their Alpha, Sawagga, so close by.
I reached up and touched the rough wound on my ear where he had bitten me. It still was a little sore to the touch, and scabbing over in places.
But perhaps it was my badge of honor… And Sawagga’s label of ownership. I was the Alpha’s intended mate, and so none would dare harm me. At least, I hoped so.
At any rate, I felt hot, sweaty and sticky—especially between my legs, thanks to Sawagga’s earlier finger-play. I could think of nothing I desired more at that moment than cool, cleansing water.
As I walked towards the pool, I glanced over to where Gall and Emily rested. The tattooed Star Wolf was on his back now, with Emily curled up on his huge chest. Funny, I’d thought at first that he was smaller than Sawagga… And well, he was. But compared to Emily, her new mate was absolutely gigantic.
He held her to his chest, while she breathed evenly, an angelic smile on her sleeping face. His giant cock was withdrawn from her now, hanging limp between his legs. It was big even in this flaccid state, but not quite as frightening.
As I watched, Gall stirred. He stroked Emily’s hair and sighed… Before falling back to sleep and snoring softly.
They looked so happy together, the very image of the ideal newlywed couple in the full flush of love. Nothing so rough or bestial now.
These wolves knew how to be gentle, too…
So why was I still anxious about Sawagga? He had not given me any reason to be.
If he could truly control the beast within him, and unleash it only when he wanted to…
I had reached the edge of the pool. I knelt down, dipped my hand into the clear, cool water. It felt glorious, and I splashed my face, feeling instantly much better.
I had seen Star Wolves drinking from the pool. I thought that the crew probably bathed in the water too, and I had witnessed some urinating in it… While others had pumped their seed into the pool, giving themselves relief after witnessing Emily and Gall’s coupling.
But the water seemed to be flowing through a recycling and filtration system, and it was odorless now, the pool clear aside from a few bits of heavy sediment at the bottom.
So I sat at the edge of the pool, and dangled my legs in. After a moment, seeing that no one was watching, I hiked up my dress and squatted
in the shallow water.
Now, I was squatting there, holding my dress high to avoid soaking it. It just seemed ridiculous, and I had to laugh at myself.
Finally, I took a deep breath and hauled the dress over my head, letting it fall to the floor just outside the pool.
Here I was, naked in a room full of randy Star Wolves. Just because they were sleeping at the moment, was I really safe? What if one decided to sample my wares…
But no, Sawagga would know if they tried.
He’d been watching me secretly even as I rose from his embrace. Somehow, I knew that he would be keeping a lookout, and would not let any other touch me.
I slid down into the cool water until it lapped and my chin and soaked the thick tresses of my hair. I rested with my head and back supported by the side of the pool. The water soothed my nipples, which still ached slightly from Sawagga’s earlier toying with them…
Thinking about that, they started to get hard again under the water.
Damn Sawagga.
What was it about that man--that wolf--whatever he was, that filled me with desire and at the same time left me panicked at my loss of focus and control?
Now, I felt a persistent pressure in my lower abdomen, and an urgency that meant my bladder needed emptying. No one was watching, and I knew that the water in the pool was constantly recycling, so I gave in and let go… Something I hadn’t done since peeing while swimming in the farm pond as a little girl.
Talk about losing control… The brief warmth flowed swiftly away and I felt decadent, like this was something a she-wolf would do.
That pressure relieved, I tried to relax, to empty my mind, just enjoying the feel of the cool water on my nude body and listening to the gurgling of the pool’s flow…
I suddenly felt like I was floating, and my mind drifted off into a slumber…
Chapter 7
I was still floating, like a little stick on the surface of the ocean, spinning and bobbing pleasantly with the tide… Drifting liquidly over the edge of the consciousness… When, from a long, long way away, I heard a commotion.
Shouting, animal snarling…
But I was adrift on my peaceful dream ocean, and this didn’t seem to concern me at all. I tried to ignore it—
Until suddenly, the roaring was close enough to be painful in my ears.
“RRRRRRAWWWWWWWWWWWWWGGGGGG!” the beast cried.
It was as if my sleepy world was darkened, the sun above eclipsed by the silhouette of a gigantic monster.
My leaden eyelids were open just a slit now, and I saw that there WAS a great beast over me. I could see the silhouette of a huge shaggy head… One yellow, bloodshot eye seeming to burn into me…
I opened my eyes fully and saw the misshapen form of the feral shifter above me. One yellow eye, and the other gone, a ruined pinkish gash remaining. Gray fur spotted with white and missing in places to expose pinkish-grey, raw skin. The nostrils of the beast dripped mucus, and the mouth was overflowing with froth. Yellow fangs protruded over the ragged lips.
His scarred body was somehow… uneven… the shape of the torso wrong, one clawed arm longer than the other. The scarred chest was sunken in the middle. And yet, he was still huge and powerful enough to rip me in two without an effort, I knew.
I tried to shake myself to full wakefulness, but I was still groggy. Things seemed to be happening in slow motion…
He reached down, and I heard the splash of the water as he grabbed me up.
“Myyyyy bitttch” he croaked, as if the effort of speaking in this form caused him pain. “Sawaaaaaga bitttch Rakh bitttch nowwwrr!”
Still stunned, naked and dripping water, I was flung over the shoulder of the beast, feeling dizzy and unable to breathe properly.
His rough, greasy fur scratched at my skin and I bounced painfully as he ran. The stench of him was a sick-sweet smell that made me retch.
The realization flooded my mind as I fully awakened: It was Rakh.
He had shifted and come for me, and now he was running with me, carrying me away.
Sawagga… Where was my Sawagga?
I was unable to turn my head to see if the Alpha was aware of my plight.
A few other Star Wolves were rising from their slumber now, moving slowly as if they were groggy themselves.
From the corridor ahead, I heard snarling. As we approached, I saw one of the Star Wolves standing there. He was shifting even as I watched, growing in height, brown fur sprouting all over him, his jaw elongating.
Still caught in mid-transformation, he stepped in front of Rakh with one clawed arm extended, trying to stop my abductor’s progress.
But Sawagga just rushed past him. The newcomer struck out with his claw and Rakh suffered several bloody gashes to his belly, but he ignored this minor wound and kept running.
Rakh. The cunning, evil one had taken them by surprise. He did not care that their Alpha had marked me; some diseased passion fueled him now, and I had no illusions about what he wanted.
“Sawaaaaaga bitttch Rakh bitttch nowwwrr!”
He would try and claim me for himself, to mate with me before Sawagga could.
Sawagga seemed to want my consent.
Rakh would not care.
“Sawagga!” I tried to cry out for my protector, but my voice was faint and choked.
Rakh carried me up an adjacent corridor. A small Star Wolf with red-brown fur in a flight suit—I thought it was the co-pilot, Tinnee—lay on the floor to the one side of the corridor, his chest a mess of blood.
He must have tried to stop Rakh, I thought.
Up ahead was an arched doorway surrounded with lights and display panels. Through it, I could see a well-lit area, with pilot seats and instrument panels. A long, wrap-around window showed the star-dusted blackness of space outside.
This had to be the bridge of the ship. More of a cockpit, really, a fairly confined space. Cramped but functional.
As we reached the threshold of the room, I heard an ear-splitting cry from behind us. The whole ship seemed to vibrate with its fury.
“RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
It was followed by a word… My name, screamed in a bestial tongue: “SSSAAARRRRRRR-RAHHHHHHH!!”
Then I knew who it was: Sawagga.
Coming for me.
Not far behind.
Rakh leapt into the opening of the cockpit door. He landed just inside, and slapped a large red, square button that said “Emergency Door” with his big clawed hand.
Almost instantly, a heavily reinforced plasteel door hissed down, cutting us off from the corridor outside.
Only a second after that, I heard the sound of something very heavy hitting that door. There were scrabblings and scratchings, although muffled by the bulk of the door… And then, a loud howl of rage.
Sawagga! He was right outside, so close, and yet…
I didn’t know much about starships, but I imagined that an emergency door would have to withstand explosions, and vacuum… It might be too much for even a Star Wolf shifted into his feral form to penetrate.
Would Rakh finish me off while Sawagga was helpless outside?
Rakh threw me down hard into one of the padded pilot chairs, knocking the wind out of me.
I glanced around to see if there was anything I could use as a weapon… Or any way to weaken Rakh, or help Sawagga get in.
The display panel on the console in front of me was flashing red and beeping. “Cargo hold oxygen low,” it read. “Failsafe engaged.” There was a little bar showing a readout of the oxygen level that was slowly climbing.
No wonder I had felt so groggy! It must have been Rakh, lowering the oxygen level in the air while we slept so that he could take us by surprise.
And even then, Sawagga had reacted only a split second too late. My Star Wolf really had been that alert and attentive in protecting me.
If not for Rakh’s sabotage, he would have been there instantly…
But now, he wa
s on the other side of the thick door. I heard a distant bang that I realized must be Sawagga throwing his body at the door. I looked up to the wall just to the right of the door, where there was a viewscreen, showing a view from a camera outside in the corridor.
It was Sawagga. I recognized him instantly… Although he looked so very different now. He must have shifted on the way to my rescue, his form now giant and feral.
He stood raging in his beast form. Still roughly man-shaped, but with unnaturally long legs and arms bulging obscenely with muscle and ending in claws. He was furred all over now, shiny brown fur streaked with silver. He still wore his silver wolf’s head amulet.
The giant wolfen head was fierce, that of a magnificent animal. The cool blue eyes were almost the same as those of his human form, and long, shiny brown air ran down from the back of his head like a mane. His jaws were long, his teeth and fangs were perfect ivory white.
But those eyes… The eyes, blue and deep as a frozen ocean, were still Sawagga’s. He raged now, not because of uncontrollable animal impulses, but because of my position…
The one who had truly lost control was Rakh.
He gazed towards the screen which showed Sawagga, waving one gnarled, clawed hand in the air.
“Sawaaaaaga bitttch!” he rasped, looking towards me. “Rakh rut bitttch noowwww!”
Apparently, he wanted Sawagga to know what his intentions were for me.
On the screen, Sawagga showed all of his gleaming teeth as he growled fiercely, pummeling the outside of the door.
And then suddenly, Rakh was over me, straddling me in the seat. He leaned down, and his breath stank of rancid meat. Hot saliva dripped down onto my chest, and I shuddered.
There was something heavy poking at my belly.
I looked down and saw his horrible cock, all too wide and long, the gray skin of it cracked and blistered and bulging with veins. The purple head of it was peeking out of the foreskin, leaking thick yellow fluid.
He pushed forward, and his disgusting member slid across my belly.
He pulled him up and back, as if he were going to adjust himself…
Seized by the Star Wolf Page 5
