by DJ Bryce
Shonda was still asleep when I went back in the room, so I placed the platter on the end table and moved to the bed.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” I called as I sat down next to her.
She shifted and the sheet slid down, baring her naked breast to me.
Knowing if I stared too long, I’d forget breakfast and wake her up in a different way, I reached out and pulled the sheet back up, the ran my hand over her hair.
Her lips turned up and one eye popped open, before closing again.
“’s early,” she muttered, trying to turn away from me.
“I made you breakfast,” I told her. “There’s coffee.”
That perked her up and had both eyes opening as she struggled to sit up.
I shifted to release the blankets so she could move and still cover herself, then stood up to go get her platter of food.
Once she was settled, back against the headboard and blankets tucked around her, I placed the food on her lap.
“Wow, that’s a feast,” she said, her eyes widening as she took in the large platter.
Maybe I overshot the portions…
“You don’t have to eat at all… I wasn’t sure what you liked,” I said sheepishly.
Her hand covered my forearm and I looked up.
“It looks great, thanks,” Shonda said, then asked, “Share with me?”
I nodded and moved around to the other side of the bed, climbing in and settling next to her.
She took a sip of coffee.
“Mmm,” she sighed happily, then her eyes darted to my face. “So… do you want to talk now?”
I didn’t, but I knew it would be better to get everything out in the open so we could deal with it, rather than hold off and have the truth festering in my soul.
I nodded, popped a piece of bacon in my mouth, and told her about Travis.
“Oh my God, that’s terrible,” Shonda cried softly, her hand covering her mouth. “They told us he died, but I had no idea… and you have no recollection? How can you be sure you had anything to do with it?”
“Because I was the only one there and Shonda, I had the coppery taste of blood on my tongue,” I replied, my heart breaking all over again, just as it did anytime I thought of my childhood friend. “Believe me, I’ve tried to remember what happened, and have spent many nights praying we’d find out it wasn’t true… but, all signs point to my wolf being the culprit.”
“And, did you hear from Nathan after you left?”
“Yeah, he found me a couple days after I ran before I found this place. He told me that they had no hard evidence, only circumstantial. He refused to believe that I’d had anything to do with it, even though my proximity to Travis was pretty damning. As Alpha, he said it was his duty to protect the pack, but to protect me as well. He told me to leave and never come back. That they’d keep looking into Travis’s murder, but unless they found something concrete, there was nothing to be done.”
Shonda tilted her head, her big eyes searching my face.
“I’m so sorry, Gray. I know how much you loved Travis.”
“I was lucky. It would have been worse if Nathan went to the human authorities, rather than keeping it in the pack. Yes, it sucked to leave everything and everyone I’d ever known, but once I settled in here, I knew it would be safer for everyone if I kept my wolf confined to this land.”
“And you’ve never shifted with another wolf again? Not even Bane?”
I shook my head.
“No, I couldn’t risk it. I won’t,” I looked into her eyes, needing her to hear my truth. “I know you’re my mate, Shonda, there’s no doubt, but I can’t allow our wolves to finish the claiming. I want you to stay here with me, to have children with me and share my life, but we can never shift together.”
“But,” she began, but I cut her off.
“No, it’s a hard limit, Shonda. It’s not safe for you, or any children we have. My wolf needs to remain a solitary creature, no matter how hard it will be on us to keep them apart.”
Shonda was quiet for a few moments as she went over what I said, before finally agreeing.
“I understand.”
“Thank you,” I said, leaning in to brush my lips against hers. “I won’t risk you being hurt.”
“Speaking of shifting, I’ve been here a few days, and after everything that’s happened between us, my wolf is chomping at the bit to get out. Do you think after breakfast, I can let her out and you can show her around? Give her a lay of the land, set up any boundaries I need to know about.”
“Yes, of course,” I replied. I’d never met Shonda’s wolf, and it was important that we got to know one another. “And, tonight, I’ll introduce you to my wolf.”
“Great,” she said, but I could see the sadness in her eyes.
“Hey, don’t worry about me,” I said, brushing my lips against hers again. “I’ve come to terms with the course of my life. I’ll never forget Travis, and I’ll always feel terrible for what happened, but where I am now isn’t a prison. Especially now that I have you.”
Shonda
After breakfast, Gray and I went outside so I could shift and he could walk with my wolf. When I’d shifted back, he’d said, “She’s beautiful,” and then laid me down in the grass and made love to me.
The rest of the day was spent lazily. We talked, kissed, ate food, and made love.
In other words, it was perfect.
When the night finally came and he knew he could no longer deny his wolf, who hadn’t come out since I’d arrived, we went back outside and I could sense Gray’s nerves.
“Hey, it’s going to be fine,” I assured him, wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him close.
He was so warm and smelled so good. Like sandalwood and clean air.
“I know,” Grayson replied. “I’ve shifted around Bane and Sloane, with no issues whatsoever, but they’re family… I can’t help but be worried that he’ll react differently to you.”
“I’m your mate, Gray, he’ll know that, just as my wolf had sensed it with you.”
He nodded, but I could see the worry on his brow.
I lifted my hand and tried to erase the line there with my thumb, but Gray grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips.
“If you sense any danger, don’t run, and don’t shift, just yell for me… I’ll shift back.”
I knew it wouldn’t come to that, but in order to ease his mind, at least a little, I agreed.
Grayson dropped my hands and stepped back as he began to disrobe. Once he was gloriously naked before me, he gave me one last kiss before shifting.
Even after all his warnings, when I was faced with the large grey wolf, I didn’t feel an ounce of fear, only love and a wave of kinship.
I stuck out my hand and watched as he stepped forward to sniff it.
“Hey gorgeous,” I cooed when he nuzzled my hand.
The urge to shift and run with him was great, but I wouldn’t betray Grayson’s wishes that way, even though I didn’t see this beautiful wolf as any sort of danger or threat.
He nudged me with his nose, and took off, stopping before he was out of sight to look back at me, as if to say, hurry up.
I grinned and took off after him, Gray’s wolf going at a slow trot or else he for sure would have left me in the dust. I could run okay as a human, but I wasn’t a runner or anything. As a wolf though, I’d have no problem keeping up.
Once again, I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and kept up as best as I could.
When I finally caught up, or rather, the wolf was stopped and waiting, I struggled to catch my breath as I took in the space around me.
“Oh wow, this is gorgeous,” I exclaimed as I took in the pretty spot with tall trees, lush green grass, wildflowers, and a small creek running through it.
The wolf walked to the water and drank, while I sank down to my knees then moved to sit near the water’s edge. I knew he was sharing it with me so my wolf could come here next time I shifted. It was th
e perfect place to rest up and have a drink after a good run.
“Thank you for sharing this with me,” I said.
Grayson’s wolf turned to me, lifted his head as if nodding in reply, then took off at a full-out run.
I stayed where I was, laying back to enjoy the cool breeze and peaceful sound of the water running over rocks.
I must have dozed off. I awoke to the sounds of splashing and turned my head to look drowsily toward the creek. Grayson was standing there, naked as the day he was born, splashing water up on his arms and face.
He looked beautiful. His tanned skin taut over his muscular form, the sun breaking through the trees to fall on him and highlight his stunning body.
I shifted onto my side so I could watch unabashedly as he cleaned himself up.
Gray looked over his shoulder and grinned.
“Looks like I wore you out,” he said, obviously pleased with himself.
“You did,” I agreed, and hell, I was pleased, too. I mean, making love to Grayson was an experience unlike anything I could have imagined in my innocent brain.
Gray stepped out of the creek and strode toward me, water dripping down his body erotically like he was walking right out of my best fantasy.
Good Lord, he was perfect.
“Seems like you’re trying to get me all riled up again,” I said, coming up to sit.
“You think so?” he asked, that grin turning into a smirk.
“Oh yeah, I think you know exactly what you’re doing,” I replied, rising up on my knees until I was positioned mouth level with his cock.
I held out my arms, urging him to come with me, placing my hands the skin at his hips when he was close enough, then pulling him closer.
“I’ve never done this before, so please bear with me,” I admitted, looking up at him.
God, this was a good angle, looking up those ridges and muscles to his dark eyes, which were watching me intently.
“You know how they say there’s no such thing as bad pizza?”
I nodded.
“Well, this is like that…”
“What if I gag?”
“Then I’ll feel like my cock is so big you can’t handle it, which is a compliment.”
I giggled.
“What if I accidentally nibble?”
“I like it a bit rough.”
“What if I suck too hard?”
“Baby, there’s no such thing.”
Grayson
I smiled down at her, that sweet little giggle filling me with a warm sense of something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
Then my smile dropped and all thought was lost when she leaned forward and kissed the tip of my aching cock.
My hands came to rest on her head to glide through her hair as she began her torturous exploration of my dick. Shonda licked the length of it, teased the head between her lips, and wrapped her fingers around the base, before finally opening her mouth and sucking me inside.
“Jesus, Shonda,” I managed, my hips bucking reflexively.
I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, knowing if I looked down at her ministrations, I’d be done for.
As she squeezed the base of my cock and bobbed enthusiastically, I was in danger of coming whether I looked at her or not. And when she reached down and cupped my balls, rolling them curiously through her palm, I let out a choked, “Shonda.”
She let me go quickly, falling back on her heels to look up at me with a worried expression.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No, I’m gonna come,” I managed. “Wanted to warn you.”
“Oh,” Shonda said, then sprung forward, placed those beautiful lips back around me and sucked until I was spraying down her throat.
Her hands came around to squeeze my ass and hold me tight as she finished the best blow job I’d ever had.
Maybe it had to do with her enthusiasm, maybe it was because I hadn’t had a good blowy in years, or maybe it was who we were together, but by the time I’d finished coming, I was seeing stars and ready to profess my undying love for Shonda and her glorious mouth.
“Mmmm, I liked that more than I thought I would,” she murmured as I helped her to her feet.
“And, I think I liked it even more than you,” I said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, I got that,” Shonda said cheekily, and I had to lean down to kiss her pleased little grin.
“Ready to head back?”
She nodded and her stomach grumbled, causing her cheeks to redden prettily.
“Sounds like my girl needs to eat,” I teased, and took her hand so we could walk back to the house.
I was looking at Shonda, which was why the sound of my brother’s voice scared the shit out of me.
“Oh, for crying out loud, what is this a nudist colony?” Bane asked, and when my head swung toward the sound of his voice, I saw him ushering Katja and Sloane inside, his hands covering both of their faces.
“What the hell are they doing here?” I asked, annoyed that my brother seemed to think it was okay to keep dropping in unannounced.
“I don’t know,” Shonda replied. “We still have over a week to go.”
Bane came back outside, grabbed the clothes I’d left out and jogged toward us.
“Here,” he said, thrusting the clothes at me. “Hey, Shonda.”
“You know, this is my land, and if you don’t want to catch me unaware, or without clothes, maybe you should call first… as usual,” I said as I pulled on my pants.
“I tried, but you didn’t answer,” Bane informed me. “And Katja started to get worried that you were mad and being mean to Shonda, so she wanted to come check on her. I couldn’t say no, brother.”
I nodded, knowing how much his mate meant to him, and understanding it even better now that I had met mine.
“I’m not mad, and as you can see, Shonda’s fine,” I grumbled.
Bane’s eyes were comically wide as he knowingly looked from Shonda to me, and smirked.
“Yeah, I got that by your dick swinging in the wind while you were holding hands and taking a stroll. Didn’t know you had it in you, Gray.”
I wanted to punch him, but Shonda just laughed and took my hand in hers again.
“Everything’s great,” she told him, and I felt that warmth around my heart again.
My brother positively beamed at us, and I decided not to punch him.
“We were just going to head inside and get some food, you guys hungry?” I asked him.
“Yeah, I’m sure you heard, Katja’s expecting, and I swear, she eats constantly,” Bane said, then shot me an apologetic look. “Sorry I didn’t tell you right away, things have been hectic.”
“No problem, man, I’m happy for you. For all of you, this is great news,” I assured him.
I saw a little twinge of something in his eyes and made a mental note to pull him aside later to talk privately. I had an idea of what may be bothering him.
“How long are you staying?” I asked.
Not that I didn’t love my brother, but Shonda and I were definitely in the getting to know you, want to make love all the time, life is good phase, and having my brother and his family here would definitely cramp my style.
“Just until tomorrow, if that works,” Bane said, giving me a knowing grin. “I’d leave now, but my girls are hungry and tired.”
“Tomorrow works,” I assured him, thinking that would give me time to talk to him and I was sure Shonda would be happy to have someone other than me to converse with. I knew she and Katja were friends.
Which was pretty much how we got here in the first place.
Shonda
“Katja,” I said happily as we walked inside to see my friend and Sloane waiting for us in the kitchen. “It’s good to see you.”
Katja rounded the counter and pulled me in for a big hug.
“Things seem to be going well, huh?” she whispered, then pulled back to give me a wink and a smile.
I bit back a giggle and nodded.
“Better than well,” I whispered back.
She let out a little squeal, then let me go and moved to give Gray a hug.
I heard him murmur, “Congratulations,” and saw Katja beam at him.
“Thanks, Gray,” she replied, then moved to put her arm around Bane. “So, what have you two been up to?”
I flushed, but Gray just shook his head, kissed Sloane on the cheek, and went to the fridge.
“Who’s hungry?” he asked.
“Me,” Sloane called out, bouncing on her stool.
Grayson chuckled and said, “Well, we can’t have that, now can we?”
He pulled out stuff to make sandwiches, setting up an assembly line of items so that we could each make our own the way we wanted.
Once we were all set, we took our sandwiches and a few bags of chips to Grayson’s deck and gathered around his patio furniture.
“Anyone want a beer?” Bane asked, heading back inside.
Gray and I both said yes, while both Katja and Sloane opted for juice, obviously.
“My delivery guy should be here in the morning with groceries and your wine,” Gray informed me before taking a bite of his massive sandwich.
“That’s sweet, but the beer’s fine, really,” I assured him, thanking Bane when he handed me the cold bottle.
“So, anything else new other than Shonda coming here and you guys expanding your family?” Grayson asked once Bane had taken his seat and joined us.
“Nathan called me in for a council meeting the other day,” Bane told Gray, his tone wary.
“But, you’re not on the council… unless that’s changed,” Gray replied.
Bane shook his head.
“No, not yet anyway… Nathan has been asking… but that’s not what this meeting was about. Apparently, there’s’ been some issues cropping up with Arch.”
“What kind of issues?”
Bane looked pointedly at Sloane, who was happily eating her peanut butter and jelly sandwich, while pretending to give her doll bites.
