by Aspen Drake
“Jake,” I clapped our head cook on the shoulder, “how are things going tonight?”
He wiped the sweat from his brow and then washed his hands. “Everything’s great, boss. The new menu items are a huge hit.”
“I think we made the right choices. I know quesadillas have been on the menu for a while, but the new flavors were too good to pass up.” I washed my hands and joined him at the grill. I managed to knock out a few orders before making a burger and fries for myself and heading to the office to do some paperwork.
I’d been working on the inventory sheet when there was a knock at the door. Logan stepped in. “Hey, man. Lily is here to see you.”
I jumped up from my desk. “Is everything okay?”
“Seems to be.” He gave me a wink, and I followed him down the hallway to find Lily standing there in the sexiest outfit I’d ever seen. She was stunning, even though she seemed a bit nervous. She’d never said anything, but I could tell she was worried about her new rounded look.
I walked up to her and leaned close to her ear. “Are you trying to get laid?”
“Maybe I am.” She leaned into me and rubbed her tits against my chest. They had grown a lot during the pregnancy, and that seemed to please her. When I looked into her eyes, I saw more than her want reflecting back at me.
I saw her need.
I covertly raised my hand between us and rubbed her hard nipple. “Let’s head to the office where we can talk.”
Once we were in my office, she closed the door and locked it. I couldn’t hold back the hard swallow in my throat or the rise in my jeans. The way she wanted me lately was every man’s dream. She placed her hands on my chest, pushed me into the chair, and started kissing me. I let my hands glide up her legs and was surprised when I reached her wet pussy. She wasn’t wearing panties.
I grinned against her assault on my mouth. “You little minx.” I carefully laid her down on the desk and started kissing my way up her inner thigh. When I reached her folds, I was amazed at how wet she already was. I took her into my mouth and moaned, sending vibrations throughout her most sensitive area. She squirmed and began to buck against my face. I moved my tongue in and out of her channel, fucking her with my mouth.
God, she tasted so sweet, even sweeter than before she was pregnant. I lapped at one of her folds, and she gasped in ecstasy. Repositioning myself so my cock was at her opening, I held my breath before pushing into heaven. When I was fully inside her, I almost cried out in pleasure. The need to shift was so intense. Her body was ready for me, wetter than I’d ever felt it. I’d never been with any other woman this responsive to my touch. I steadied my inner wolf and slowly moved in and out, desperately wanting to fuck her senseless but afraid to hurt her.
Sex had never felt so good, and I was surprised when my eyes filled with tears. I had no idea that sex could feel good enough to make you want to cry tears of joy. I’d been with many women, but never like this. I reached down and exposed her swollen stomach. I ran my hands over her beautiful belly and then cupped her face in my hands. “Mine.”
She raised her hand and ran it through my hair. “Yours.”
Out of nowhere, tears began to flow. “God, Lily, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I love you. Not because you’re carrying my children. Not because of how sexy you look. I love you for the woman you are. In such a short time, I’ve fallen head over heels in love with you because of everything that makes you you. I love that you’re clumsy and want to feel dominated and protected. I love that you’re funny and care about animals. I love your obsession with sweet tea and overpriced ice cream. Everything. I love everything about you.” I pressed my forehead against hers. “Marry me.”
“Yes.” She kissed me passionately, and our love making turned intense. She met me thrust for thrust as our tongues tangled together.
I couldn’t help it. I let out a howl and shifted seconds before I sank my teeth into her shoulder, claiming her once and for all.
She threw her head back and moaned, her voice filled with pleasure. “God, Anwell. Anwell.” Her core tightened around me, and she bucked against me as she rode out the orgasm that every woman is said to experience when being turned.
33
Lily
In a way, I guess I should’ve been angry that Anwell turned me without my permission. The elders of the werewolf clan were certainly angry. I, on the other hand, was blissful. I rubbed my tummy as I made dinner for us. The elders had spent hours screaming at him behind closed doors. No one had been turned in decades. They weren’t even sure what to make of it. When I entered the room though, they were gentle and nice – asking if I needed anything. They even congratulated me on my pregnancy and welcomed me into their community.
An elder, who turned out to be Anwell’s grandmother, approached me with her arms held out wide. “We are so happy to have ye, lass,” she said in a deep Irish brogue. “I can see that ye make Anwell very happy. I can also tell that yer babies be healthy and strong in both body and spirit.”
I gently squeezed her hands in my own and thanked her for welcoming me into her family.
I turned the steaks and again thought about how I would tell my father. Chances were good he didn’t see this coming when he saw the prophecy fulfilled. In fact, it kind of made the prophecy null and void. I was no longer different from Anwell. Would others feel safe being with someone unlike them or would they fear it wouldn’t work if they were unwilling or unable to change?
A second later, my front door burst open. “How dare you!” I heard my father shout. “You didn’t ask for her hand in marriage, and you certainly didn’t ask if you could change her.”
“Walker, wait—” Anwell got up from the kitchen table and tried to calm my father.
“What? Was being a fairy not good enough for you? Did you think she was too weak to be your partner?” My father was up in Anwell’s face, trying to intimidate him, which would have been funny under different circumstances.
“Daddy, please.” I waddled out of the kitchen and pushed the two men apart. Not that Anwell was doing anything but standing there while my father continued to verbally abuse him. “It’s okay. I like being a werewolf, and now I don’t have to worry about my babies or the pregnancy.”
He turned and looked at me for the first time. “Lily.” His eyes showed his true emotions as he took in the change in my body. “You’ve grown.” His voice held a hint of terror, and it broke my heart.
“I’m still the same me. I may be a few inches taller and more muscular, but I’m still me.”
He continued to stare without saying a word, which was making me uncomfortable.
“You’re going to have to get used to it,” I said, feeling insulted. “I plan to marry Anwell tomorrow morning. You can be there or not. It’s your choice.” I turned and went back into the kitchen to finish dinner. I was beginning to understand how Juliet felt.
“You’re not even going to give her a proper wedding?” my father asked, sounding defeated. “She’s always dreamed of a fairytale wedding.”
Anwell led my father to the couch and they both sat down. “She wants to be married before the babies come. We’re going to have a real wedding around Christmas.”
“Huh.” My father just sat there, staring off into space.
“I promise I’ll be good to her,” Anwell said.
“But are you good for her?”
Anwell glanced at me and I caught his eye through the kitchen doorway. “I’ll do everything I can to be exactly what she needs.”
I felt my heart melt and my love for him grow even more.
The next day, we were standing in the courthouse with Willow, Logan, my parents, and Anwell’s grandmother. I asked Anwell where his sister was, and he mumbled that she couldn’t make it. Something told me she wasn’t happy about the decision for us to be wed. I tried to shake off the feeling. I wanted to be accepted by his family, but I wasn’t about to give up our happiness to please others.
I looke
d around the room and saw my mother and father embracing each other. Logan and Willow were holding hands. Anwell’s grandmother was already wiping away tears, but she gave me a big smile and a thumbs-up. I could tell I was going to love getting to know her.
My own grandmother arrived a couple minutes later. “Sorry, dear. You know I wouldn’t miss this for the world, but I had to see what happened on my soap this morning.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. My grandmother had been watching the same soap opera for fifty years. She hated when she missed an episode but loved having a DVR so she could record it.
“You could have recorded it, Granny,” I said while trying to sound firm.
“Not a chance. That sexy young Trevor was about to give it to Alicen real good.”
“Granny!” This time, I really did burst into a fit of laughter and so did everyone else.
“Well, did he?” Anwell’s grandmother asked.
My grandmother’s face lit up. “Oh, yeah. Real good.”
We were all still joking around when the court clerk came into the room to make things official. We probably looked like a bunch that didn’t get out much, but we were all so happy. The clerk was just about to read through the vows when Anwell’s sister burst through the double doors.
“Wait!” She rushed over to me. “I’m so sorry. I never should have wanted anything different for Anwell. When he called to invite me, I could hear the love he has for you.” She embraced me and whispered, “And I would have loved being your sister-in-law even if he hadn’t changed you.”
I turned toward Anwell and wasn’t the least bit bothered that I was getting married in a courthouse surrounded by stacks of paper and the sound of someone typing on a keyboard. I was marrying someone who loved me, and I loved him. I wasn’t getting married to make someone else happy or because I was pregnant.
We both wanted this.
“I do,” Anwell said, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Do you, Lily, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and health, to love, honor and obey, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto him for as long as you both shall live?”
“You bet your sweet ass I do.” I pulled him to me and kissed him with every bit of passion I had in my body. It wasn’t a kiss that was lewd or distasteful. It was a closemouthed kiss that promised him I would be everything he needed me to be and more.
“I can’t believe you said that.” Anwell chuckled into my ear at the reception Willow had thrown together at her house. “You probably shouldn’t do that when we have a preacher at our real wedding.”
“Probably not.” I laughed. “But I wanted this to be fun and carefree. I think my grandmother sort of set the mood for that.”
“So true.” He spun me around in a circle on the makeshift dance floor and then pulled me close. “I love you, Lily,” he said while staring deeply into my eyes.
“I love you, too, Anwell.” I buried my face into his neck and sniffed his cologne. He smelled amazing, like wood and leather combined. I could breathe his scent for all eternity.
We danced in each other’s arms for most of the night before my father cut in.
“May I?” he asked Anwell.
“Of course, sir.” Anwell gave me a kiss on the forehead before handing me off to my father.
I rested my head on my father’s shoulder and remembered all the times we danced together when I was growing up. I used to stand on top of his feet so I’d be taller, and we’d slow dance in the kitchen while my mother cooked dinner. All at once, I was overcome with nostalgia for the days when I was little and carefree. “I love you, Daddy.” I felt my tears wet the front of his shirt and he hugged me closer.
“I love you, too…forever.”
We continued to dance for the next few songs, not saying a word. It seemed like everything had been forgiven, and we were back to being the family we’d always been. I had always been a daddy’s girl and always would be. The conversation I’d had with my parents had certainly opened my heart to my mother. She’d gone through so much. She lost the love of her life. Yet, she’d managed to live again and care for her family. It must have been hard to move on, but at least she’d been able to do so in the arms of her best friend.
“Your grandma seems to have found a new friend in Anwell’s grandmother.”
I turned to see the two sitting at a table, laughing until there were tears streaming from their eyes. “Have they been hitting the bar?”
“I don’t think so. The last time I passed their table, they were talking about soap opera bloopers,” my father said, shaking his head in disbelief.
I smiled and returned my head to his shoulder. I had always felt safe in his arms, but now I had someone else to feel safe with. Anwell would protect me from anything and had given me the ability to protect myself when he couldn’t. The pregnancy was already going easier now that I had been turned. The only downside seemed to be the need to shave my legs a LOT more often. That was a huge downside in the middle of summer.
“What’s it like?” my father asked as we danced to some of my favorite oldies.
I thought about it for a minute. I hadn’t actually shifted yet, so I wasn’t sure how to answer. “It is different. I feel stronger and my appetite has increased dramatically, but that could just be from the pregnancy.”
He nodded in contemplation. “How are you doing at controlling your anger?”
“I haven’t had the chance to test that, and now I don’t have to before the babies are born.” I was afraid to shift during my pregnancy. I wasn’t sure what would happen and if it would hurt the pups.
“I had a really good friend who was a werewolf,” my father said in a dreamlike state – as if he were thinking back on it. “We were friends up until high school, and then his mood changed. That’s when he started shifting. He was never the same after that. He was different – angry all the time.” My father looked down at me, and it was then I understood his concern. He was worried I would change and not be the girl he once knew.
I opened my mouth to tell him that wouldn’t happen to me, but I snapped it closed just as quickly. I couldn’t make that promise. I didn’t want to change who I was, but would I have a choice? It was the first time I was really concerned about my new life. I clung to my father and wrapped my arms more tightly around him. I wanted him to remember me this way. To remember that I always wanted to be his little girl, even if I changed.
“Why are Anwell’s parents not here?” The music shifted to a more upbeat song, and we danced faster.
I had been just as perplexed about his parents. I hadn’t seen them when I’d met the pack, and his grandmother seemed to be the only member of his family other than his sister. “I’m not sure. When I asked him about his parents, he said they wouldn’t be coming. It had been a statement that seemed to say the conversation was closed so I didn’t push.” I wasn’t sure if his parents had passed on or were so unhappy about our relationship that they refused to come to the wedding or reception.
“A man should never keep secrets from his wife.” My father looked me straight in the eyes and held me with his hands on my arms. “You deserve to know. Even if his parents are unhappy with his decision, you deserve answers.”
Deep down, I knew that, but it was the first time when Anwell seemed to keep me at a distance. I assumed he had a good reason, but it bothered me. I didn’t want to break up his family. The music stopped, and I realized the reception was coming to an end. I leaned in and gave my father another strong hug before releasing him.
Anwell immediately returned to my side and took my hand. “Are you ready for our honeymoon?” he whispered in my ear.
I blushed and prayed my father hadn’t heard. But by the look on his face, he knew exactly what was on Anwell’s mind and wasn’t pleased. He was definitely looking into Anwell’s mind. Stop it, I mouthed over Anwell’s shoulder. My father looked away from him and toward me. He shrugged and gave me a kis
s on the cheek before disappearing into the crowd.
Anwell and I stood on a makeshift stage and thanked everyone for coming. There was a large pile of gifts waiting to be opened, and Willow said she would make sure they made it to my house. Our house I corrected myself. It was now a home for two and was soon-to-be a home for many more.
We probably needed to rethink where we were going to live.
The small crowd congratulated us again, and we made our way out to Anwell’s truck which had been decorated with streamers and cans hanging off the bumper. As we passed, our friends and family tossed birdseed at us. The birds would have a field day in Willow’s yard the next day. It made me smile and wish I was there to see it. I absolutely loved wildlife of all kinds. The thought made me giggle, and Anwell turned to see what was so funny. I shook my head and climbed up into the truck with his assistance.
We were soon driving down the road…in the wrong direction. “Babe, our house is that way.”
“I know. We’re not going to our house. We’re going to our honeymoon destination.” He grinned but kept his eyes on the road as he got on the interstate.
We drove for a couple hours before I drifted off to sleep. I tried to get him to tell me where we were going, but he wasn’t giving up any clues. When he woke me up, we were at a cabin, deep in the woods.
“Where are we?” I asked while rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
“We’re up on the Blue Ridge Mountains. My family owns this cabin and the surrounding 300 acres.” He helped me down from the truck and grabbed some bags from the truck bed. “I’m going to teach you how to shift in a safe place. I don’t want you to get angry and not know that you’re about to lose yourself.”
I could feel the color drain from my face, and my stomach began to turn.
Anwell opened the door and turned to carry me over the threshold when he saw my face. “What is it? Is it the pups?” he asked frantically.
