The door closed and Jake lay still on top of her, resting his muzzle against her neck, his chest panting. Slowly she felt the shape of him changing. The soft, silky feel of his fur was replaced by warm skin as his bare chest met hers for the first time.
He kissed her neck and then spoke softly with his lips brushing her ear lobe. “My wolf can mind link with yours. You heard him speak, even though he was really only speaking to me. Then he warned your wolf we were going to bark, and she got you to cover your ears. Soon you and I will be able to communicate that way anytime we want to.” He sat, pulling her onto his lap. The size of his erection against her hip made Lia tense. “You’ve never had a human boyfriend either.” It was a statement, not really a question, but Lia answered anyways.“Well, yes I have. But he knew I wasn’t going to be intimate with him unless our relationship got more serious, which it never did. We were just friends who liked hanging out together and we started holding hands and kissing a bit, more or less just because everyone was doing it and sort of expected us to because we spent so much time together. Over the summer he met someone else, someone who didn’t have to be home before sunset, and well,” she shrugged, “we hadn’t really had anything super special so I was fine with just moving on. I was a bit disappointed we didn’t go back to being friends, but life went on. We certainly weren’t ever topless and his pants definitely stayed on.” One side of Jake’s mouth lifted as he pulled her hips more tightly against him.“Then that will probably hurt a bit the first time too,” he said softly. “Tell me, Lia, what do you know about intimacy? Both the human version of mating and the werewolf kind.”She was surprised that she felt no embarrassment by his question and could answer him easily, without feeling even the slightest bit of discomfort. “We covered sex in school, so Gran didn’t have to touch on that at all. If she did I’m fairly certain I completely blocked it out. As for the werewolf mating...well, I have some very contradictory stories for that one. To hear the Rogues talk about it, it sounds wonderful and perfect, but from Gran’s tales,” she shuddered involuntarily, “I think I’d rather die.” They sat in silence for a moment.“You’re more comfortable with me now, aren’t you? Not just my wolf, but me too. Since our wolves healed each other you’ve been more at ease with me, both being together and talking openly.” She nodded.“Wolves are less complicated than humans. Our human side is important, reason over instinct has advantages, but listening to our wolves is important too. What matters to them is here and now.” Lia thought about that a moment and realized he was right. When they’d been running around the room she hadn’t thought about anything other than what they were doing. She was just doing it and enjoying the time together. And now, just talking, she was...just talking. Not worrying as much as she usually did about how someone was going to react to what she did or said. “Will you promise to talk to me when something is bothering you, Lia? We’ve got very different views on werewolf life at the moment and I need to know what you’re thinking. My wolf is to be able to talk to yours now when he needs to which is great, but we aren’t getting anything from you yet so you’ll have to actually speak out loud. I promise I’ll talk things out with you, not just assume I’m right, and I’ll answer any questions you have honestly. Deceit doesn’t come easily to wolves. It isn’t natural.”“I guess that explains why I can’t ever seem to mislead anyone. There have been times where that was quite a problem.”“Being honest is difficult for you?”“Well, not exactly. But for example, when you first visited me, Albert asked if I’d seen a wolf. Had I been able to lie convincingly it would have been easier to just say ‘no’ than to think up an honest way to avoid saying yes. And sometimes people find me a bit too blunt. You know, when a girl asks ‘hey Liana, how do you like my prom dress?’, ‘the ruffles look like pink frosting with silver sprinkles’ or ‘it makes you waddle like a duck’ were definitely bad answers.” Jake laughed, the sound making her feel even more at ease. It occurred to her that it was the first time she’d heard him really laugh. She liked the sound of it. She took a deep breath and the smell of evergreen trees and rain filled her. She sighed, resting her head on his shoulder, delighting in the soft rumble of desire that vibrated his chest as it slipped softly past his lips. Had she really only known this man, this werewolf, for a few weeks? Was today really the only day she had spent any time with him? In some ways, it felt like she’d always been here, or always known she belonged here in his arms.“As much as I’d love to sit here talking to you like this all day, we should get dressed,” he whispered against her hair. “David is livid. He thinks I’ve mated you before you’re of age, and possibly against your will.”“How did he have any idea what we were doing?”“He might have just been coming to talk to me, but your wolf might have been sending something out. I’ll ask him to be sure, but I’ve been told your wolf sends emotions and sometimes messages out to wolves you’re comfortable with. Gran, Ellie, Elsie, Marie, David... Maybe he felt your surprise when I nipped at you, or when you first heard me through the link, but whatever it was, at the moment he wants in to rip me to shreds. Mark and Dylan have his wolf pinned to the wall across the hall from my door and he won’t stop struggling against their holds. His wolf won’t even let us link. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”“Doesn’t he want us to mate?” Lia asked in surprise. “He’s the one telling me all the good points about mating and making it sound like such a wonderful thing.”“Well, he’ll probably stop that now. If you have any questions you can ask me, or really any mated wolves here since I don’t allow forced mating in my pack. David's issue with this would be that you can’t scent me as your mate to know for yourself that it’s right until after you turn eighteen. It might take even longer since you haven’t shifted yet. We don’t know if waiting until you're 18 to shift will affect mating age or not. David wants you to know, and for that, you have to scent it yourself, so that you never have any doubt or worry. From what I’ve been told, it seems you’ve grown up with a pretty horrific view of what mating is. He hopes the sense of rightness and fulfillment that comes with scenting your mate the first time will give you some confidence in what mating really means to a werewolf. With luck, it might help Selene to see she was never truly mated, so she’ll worry less about you and maybe heal a little herself.”“But you already know I’m your mate?”“I do,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “I scented you from halfway across the wildlife reserve and followed your scent all the way to your Gran’s house. Knowing how scared you were when you saw me was gut-wrenching. It was really hard to deal with in my wolf form. Wolves aren’t very good at reason over instinct, we live in the moment, on instinct. Come on,” He stood, lifting her easily as he walked over to where they’d strewn their clothing. “Let's go show David that you’re still his little lone wolf pup before one of those wolves draws blood.”“Is it ever wrong?” She asked as she ran her fingers through her hair to make it more presentable, “Is there ever only one of the pair who scents the other as a mate?”“Not as far as I know.”Within moments they were both dressed. Jake opened the door and Lia was surprised to realize that she was only slightly taken aback at the sight of three wolves in the hall. She was actually more amused than surprised. She knew the large, grey one that held the grey wolf’s neck to the wall was Dylan. The multi-grey one she assumed was Mark. The big grey and white wolf that was being held down by the other two were very familiar. She’d never seen his wolf, but she knew his scent. She could hear his heart rate slowing as she moved into his view. She crouched down on the floor by his head and he lessened the effort he was putting into freeing himself.“Hello dear old friend,” Lia said, a soft smile touching her lips. “I have been worried that everything would be different and strange now that I know, but somehow my life actually makes a lot more sense than it used to. I’ve never seen your wolf, but I know you.” She reached out and ran a hand down the side of his face. “You’re smell has always given me feelings of peace, calm, and security. Thank you for keeping Gran and me safe all these years.” David’s wolf eyes kept searching hers, but he was no longer struggling against the wolves pinning him and they began to loosen their hold. Liana smirked, hearing the voice of her wolf in her head and deciding to repeat the words out loud for the first time in a long time. “Don’t be too hard on Jake about that, okay?” She glanced over her shoulder towards the door just to be certain they knew what she was referring to. “He might think he runs things around here, but what happened in there was all my idea, he was just along for the ride.” She stood and sauntered confidently down the hall, leaving Jake and all three wolves staring after her with their mouths open in surprise.A mental image of three very large wolves standing in the entrance hall was the first alert Jake had of strangers on his land. He was not impressed. There would be consequences to whoever had neglected their post. The snarl hadn’t even left his throat before Mark, Dylan and a few other men leaped from the table, shifting to wolf as they went, their clothes torn to shreds before their paws hit the floor. The next mental message was sent to every werewolf in the pack but was not a pack link. The wolves all lay down on the floor, their necks bent in submission. The werewolves who were still in human form all knelt down facing the door and bowed their heads. Jake caught Lia’s hand and gave her a small tug and she knelt down too. He tried to share the idea of a Lycan royal family visit with her and hoped her wolf could get the message across. They really had to find a way to get more free-flowing communication. No sooner had Lia copied the others than the three large wolves and a tall-ro
The few remaining days before the Wolf moon had flown by. Selene was still unconscious, but the silver was removed from her blood. She had fully shifted to her wolf in the middle of her first night sleeping in the moonlight. Seeing a scruffy white wolf on the cot made everyone much more confident that she would heal well as soon as she got enough hours with the goddess. Every morning her coat seemed to have filled in some, which was a good sign. The lycan appeared to have left, but the guest houses still smelled recently used, so nobody in the pack was quite as comfortable as they would normally be. Jake had fallen back on his traditional pack party plans, omitting most of the birthday and mate announcement plans he’d been making. He really wanted to count on both Lia’s shift and their mating, but he understood Lia not wanting attention from a bunch of werewolves who were still mostly strangers to her, so he’d agreed to keep those things just between them for tonight. Knowing most of
Lia dove onto her bed and spun around, her knees bent up to hide her chest and her hands over her burning red cheeks. Had she really just done that? Had she really felt him up like that and then stripped naked? What had come over her? She heard Jake following her and buried her face behind her knees.A large hand wrapped around her ankle and tugged her leg out, hauling her to the end of the bed. She squealed, then burst out laughing as Jake ran his tongue up her leg. His shoulders stiffened and he stilled for a moment, cursing softly. “Come here Lia, our wolves need to have a chat before we do anything else.”“Why?”“’Cause yours is sending out messages when you have strong emotions or sensations. David doesn’t want any more glimpses of me licking your bare legs and apparently, he heard a couple of giggles from Ellie and Elsie’s room a few minutes ago so they’re probably seeing or feeling something too. Dylan also says that Zinnia just asked him some interesting questions about tingly
After sleeping most of the morning, Lia and Jake snacked, snuggled, and made love in their rooms. The activities on the lawn and in the house grew louder as everyone’s anticipation of the wolf moon grew. The new coupe hardly noticed the festivities, except once, mid afternoon, when the howling and cat calling from below the balcony had Jake reluctantly pulling Lia up from the bed.“Put on...something.” He grumbled as he waved around her room. “They’ve scented our pheromones now so they won’t leave us alone until I take you out and introduce you as my mate and Luna.”“Oh.” Lia’s face burned with embarrassment.“Yeah. Then I guess we better leave the doors open and put a fan on for a bit to push the scent out as much as possible, otherwise the little Rogues will be asking questions and the big ones will be distracted all through dinner.” A smile curved Jake’s lips as the heat of her blush made the scent of their lovemaking even stronger. She was definitely more easily embarrassed than an
Lia sighed in relief as her wolf and Jake’s finally managed to mind link. The first image he shared with her was of a majestic white wolf on a lounge chair with her eyes closed and her head tipped up to the sky, the moon gleaming brightly behind her, its light sparkling and glowing on her fur. His first image of her as a wolf, she guessed. She heard Jake whimper then and knew that without her consciously trying to, her wolf had shared the feelings of her experience with him. Her orgasm had been sweet but then the pain of shifting had ripped through her with such intensity that for a moment she’d been terrified the change was going to just tear her open and she’d bleed to death instead of fully transforming! As that had dimmed, her other senses had exploded. She had always been able to see, hear, and smell more than her human friends, but the full wolf senses were amazing. The intensity of it had completely overwhelmed her at first. She could scent every wolf in the pack and hear every
Liana awoke the next morning with a sneeze. She sat up, looking around the room. She was human again. When had she switched back? Obviously that hadn’t been as painful as the shift to her wolf. She was human, naked, and curled up on the floor near the fire in the Alpha family’s suite. Jake was behind her, his hand on her hip tightened slightly as her movement disturbed his sleep. She sneezed again and felt the tingling all the way down from the back of her head to her shoulders. “Aconitine?”Jake sat up. “Wolfsbane? Here?”Jake stood, pulling Lia to her feet with him. “Is it on us? Do we need to shower?” She sniffed again, following the scent to the open patio door, sneezing twice before she got there. “It’s definitely coming from outside, but there can’t be any plants from the Ranunculaceae family growing wild in the winter. I think I smell Albert too, and Albert shouldn’t be hunting this close to houses.” She sneezed once more and pulled the patio doors shut against the smell and th
Jake heard David’s yelp of surprise at the same time he got his linked message. Lia had been there one moment, sneezed, then disappeared into thin air! There one moment and gone the next. Literally vanished in the blink of an eye. The werewolves around him were frozen in shock, looking at each other and trying to make sense of what they were seeing in the link. Only a lycan could make werewolves vanish like that, and they only did that when a law had been broken. There was always a warning too, not a hearing really, but a sentencing so the wolf and their family all knew what was happening and why. Jake took a slow steadying breath. Lia had done nothing wrong that he knew about and a lycan would ensure one mate knew the other’s transgressions. Usually their entire family and the pack as well. Lycan were heavy-handed and unforgiving when it came to law breaking, but they too followed their own laws to the letter. The family had to be notified first. Jake suspected the point of that was t
"For the love of the moon!" Yelled Mark, "how do they expect us to find what they can not? A Lycan who doesn't want to be found can not be tracked by werewolves just because the council commands it! We sure as cats can’t make him come here just by asking politely."The words were barely out of his mouth when David, Jake and Zinnia all cried out, "Lia!" Mark spun to look at his Alpha, surprised to see hope radiating from his smiling face."She is alive!" He said, "Her wolf is linking with me, though not well. I'm getting a jumble of images and sensations. I can't really figure it out.""I got the message scared, stuck, and a call for help as clear as air," David said, "but that is the sort of message Selene taught her to send specifically to me, so her wolf has known how to do that for many years. I don't have a location or anything useful. Usually useful information comes with the call for help.""She in on or near the ocean," Zinnia said, "and I think Selene is with her. I am getting