This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, businesses, events, and places are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

This story is intended for adult readers (18+) only. All sex acts contained herein are consensual.

***

CHAPTER ONE

Curtis had set up a room for me at his sprawling estate. I’d panicked at first — after all, who goes from just meeting someone to living at their manor in a week’s time? The more I got to know Curtis, however, the more I realized that he was a wolf through and through. He protected and cared for his pack, and that meant that he kept them under his roof. He protected and kept them from harm. As he explained, I was part of his pack as soon as he had fucked me, maybe even before them.

After we made love the first time, he’d taken me and held me in my arms, telling me that he wanted me to stay, telling me that he never wanted me to leave.

“You’re mine,” he’d growled on that very night. He looked into my eyes with his own, eyes that flickered yellow and betrayed his inhuman side — the side of him that belonged to the wolf. I was filled up with his seed already, and the scent of his body was heady and intoxicating. He smelled of earth and evergreen trees, like something of the forest. He’d kissed me roughly then, and I knew that he was right. I was already his.

“You live here from now on,” he whispered to me as he playfully bit my neck and parted my legs with his powerful hand, forcing me to spread for him. I’d just nodded, even though the panic had risen through me like the crest of a wave. Curtis’s command was far more powerful than my human wants or needs. My panic washed away as quickly as it rose, and I submitted to him, letting him enter me again and fill me with his essence.

“You’re so tight, my sweet,” he said as he plunged deep inside of me. I gave myself over to the pleasure of being commanded, and the pleasure of being truly his.

He’d had the room prepared for me the next day, and there was little I could do but obey him. He was the alpha of his pack, and he had become my alpha too. Whatever magic resided in him had taken root in me when he took my body for his plaything. The room was quaint and rustic, a microcosm of the beautiful lodges where his pack worked and lived. The walls were lined with reclaimed cedar, and he’d had antique wooden furniture brought in for me. The windows looked out onto his sprawling property, which was verdant with life. Often, I’d wake up early in the morning to hear the howling of wolves, and if I was lucky, I’d catch a glimpse of one of the pack members, coming back from its hunt. These wolves were sleeker and more beautiful than any other animal I’d seen in my life, with their tall, slender bodies and flashing yellow eyes. I sometimes even saw Curtis in wolf form, walking his grounds in the misty morning air. The first time I’d seen him from my window, I was shocked to find him opening my door thirty minutes later, naked and disheveled — and already hard for me. I came to learn that day that he was filled with desire after each hunt, and that he needed to come to his mate after he’d killed his prey and feasted in the moonlight.

I admit, I had been scared that first time. Curtis, wild with desire, had taken me and ripped my clothes off, bending me over the bed entering me before I could even speak. He plunged his thick, hard cock deep inside of me, grabbing onto my hips and slamming into me as he growled, guttural and inhuman. I’d moaned with desire, even though his inner wolf had shaken me to my core. He always hit the very deepest place in my soul, making my body ache with passion and longing. He kept pounding, thrusting hard and not letting up for a moment until he shot his thick, hot seed deep inside. Sensing that I had not received my own pleasure, he had pulled away and flipped me over, immediately burying his face between my legs, licking his cum from my delicate folds and gently sucking on my clit until I came against him with a force I’d never imagined possible. The climax reverberated to the outer reaches of my body, centering on the white hot pleasure Curtis created as he sucked and nuzzled against my swollen and filled sex. He had licked me clean, making me come again, this time longer and slower than the first. I cried out, letting the pack roaming the halls know for certain that I belonged to their alpha. That I was his chosen one.

When Curtis had finished, he came to lay in bed beside me, growling in my ear softly before he spoke. He caressed me with one hand, cupping each of my breasts and snaking his fingers down to my hips. He kissed me, long and deep, the scent and taste of our sex mingling together on our tongues.

“On the next full moon, I will claim you as my mate. Is this something you still want?”

“Yes,” I sighed against him.

“That night, and that night only, I will share you with the head members of my pack, and after that, you will become one of us. The rest of our lives, you will serve as my mate and bear my children.” I gulped with fear … what did he mean by “sharing me?” I wasn’t sure that was something I wanted, but the idea sparked a hidden desire inside of me. I didn’t know it then, but that night would change my life forever.

“I don’t know if that’s something I can do, Curtis …” My voice wavered with anxiety. Would I have to have sex with other men? What did that mean for me and Curtis? Curtis chuckled, kissing me again.

“Oh my sweet, don’t worry. This is just part of the tradition of claiming. I need you to be my mate. You are my mate in your heart, aren’t you?” He looked into my eyes, and I saw that yellow flash again. Sometimes, his inner wolf made me feel very distant from him. I didn’t understand the traditions he spoke of, or why I’d need to submit to them to be his. But I nodded — in my heart, yes, I was his mate. If that meant doing something I hadn’t considered before, I might do it … for the sake of staying with him.

“In order to be my mate,” he continued, “You need to be initiated into the pack. And for that to happen, I have to grant my head pack members access to you for one night. That completes the process … and you will become one of us.” I had to gulp again. Did that mean I would become a wolf … a wolf like the creatures I saw all around me?

“You mean … I’d be a wolf … like you?” My voice sounded fragile again, like a delicate glass thing that might break if not handled carefully. Curtis read my anxiety and held me closer, filling me with his reassuring scent.

“I know that I’ve been a wolf all my life, my sweet. I take this life for granted, and I love the man that I am. If you do not want to be a wolf, I understand. But I promise you, I’ll be there beside you every step of the way. I want to claim you so that no other may ever have you again, and to do so, I must make you a wolf at the culmination of your claiming.” I snuggled against him.

“And if I don’t become a wolf …” My voice trailed off. I didn’t want to consider parting from Curtis. He had quickly become a staple in my life. His estate was the home base for my work, and his pack was beginning to become my family.

“We’ll have to part ways.” He looked away, sad. I knew he was trying to sound strong, but he didn’t want to part from me either. His eyes flashed, and he retreated to that place where his inner wolf resided, shutting me out of his thoughts. But he still held me, and his arms were strong and warm.

“I don’t want to ever leave you … but this is so much to consider.” He looked at me again.

“There’s three weeks until the next full moon,” he said. “By that time, will you know?” I couldn’t read those strange eyes. But his voice was full of emotion.

“I promise … I will know by then.” We spoke no more of it, but the weight of our conversation was present in our every interaction. And Curtis released his tension physically.

CHAPTER TWO

One morning just before the next full moon, I woke one morning with the bed cold beside me. There was a howling in the distance — a chorus of unearthly voices rose over the soft hills beyond Curtis’s home, and I knew that he’d taken the pack out for an early morning hunt. Given the rival pack’s behavior over the past few weeks, I was concerned for the safety of the pack. It had proven to be safer for the wolves to hunt in smaller groups. The whole pack together attracted attention, but Curtis was bullheaded, and my reluctance had hurt him. The pack would follow whatever command he gave, and I knew in my heart that he’d sent them out for a long morning hunt. All together, the pack was strong, but they attracted attention, and it would be much easier for the rebel pack to find them. My heart beat fast. The pack was in danger. Even though I was not yet initiated or claimed, I knew they were my family, and I would do whatever it took to save them.

I walked out into the hallway, still wearing my nightgown, and the worst of my suspicions were confirmed. The halls were empty. Usually, there would be a bustle about this time of morning, with pack members coming and going, grabbing breakfast in the great hall, and getting ready for the day’s work. I’d grown used to seeing beautiful half-dressed men and women and the occasional wolf walking down the hall. This morning there was nothing. I went to the one person I knew would be here. Though Harry was an unofficial pack member, he did not hunt with the others. It just wasn’t what a bear did.

I went to his office at the end of the hall. Sure enough, he was there, working on payroll.

“Harry, what’s going on this morning?” I knew damn well what was going on. But I wanted confirmation.

“Pack’s out for a hunt,” Harry said, not looking up from his computer screen. “They’ll be back soon.”

“Harry, look at me.” He did. When Harry was crunching numbers, he looked like an accountant — entirely human, with no trace of the bear he became. He looked at me, his blue eyes cool. Maybe he wasn’t aware of the danger. “What about the rival pack?” He knitted his brows, as if he hadn’t thought about the pack or what it meant that they were out for the first time together this month.

“That’s a good point, Cass. I’ve been absorbed in this stuff all morning, and I hadn’t thought about what might happen.” He cringed and stood. “We’d better go see if we can get Curtis back here. I’m betting he didn’t think of it either.” Harry gave me a knowing look. “Do you think this is about the claiming ceremony? It’s coming up fast, isn’t it?”

“I think it could be. I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about … becoming a shifter. No offense.”

“None taken,” said Harry. “It’s a big commitment. But Curtis has never been anything but. He probably doesn’t realize the decision you’re facing.” He paused to think. “I’ve known him for years, Cass. He’s probably very hurt, and he doesn’t know a way to get that out besides hunting. Go get dressed. We’re going to go bring them back, if we can.” I went back to my room and slipped on my jeans and a long sleeve shirt, along with the boots I’d gotten after I’d moved in here. Going out in the woods was dangerous for a human in this area, and my heart gave a great leap.

After we’d gotten ready, Harry and I headed out in the direction of the forest. It was a cold, misty morning, more common than you might think in our area of California. But the mountains cast a shadow over everything come fall, and we were recipients of the chill and mist. Harry had dressed in loose clothing, and I anticipated that he might shift if we encountered the rivals. They were very aggressive, and Harry had been our secret weapon against them. We heard agitated howls as we approached the wood. It sounded like the two packs had found one another. There were distant growls and the rustle of leaves.

“Oh no,” I said to Harry, grasping his arm. “The packs are fighting. This could lead to war.” He cast me a worried look, and we walked on in the direction of the noise. The howls seemed to come from everywhere at once, and the direction was difficult to follow. I had no idea which direction to move, so I followed Harry, hoping that his animalistic senses would win out over his more human side. As we approached the noise, we heard a scuffle to our right.

“Shh,” said Harry. Harry paused and looked in the direction of the noise. Before my eyes, Harry began to shift, his body expanding up and out, ripping off the clothes he had worn for our dangerous walk. I stopped in my tracks, my heart pounding. As my eyes adjusted to the dim morning light, I could just make out three shapes heading toward us — three wolves I’d never seen before. I gasped. Harry was in mid-shift when the wolves attacked us. I knew from the pack that shifters were most vulnerable during the process of change — and if attacked while shifting, they would stay in their more vulnerable human form. One of the wolves pounced on Harry, knocking him down hard and scratching him across the chest. Harry’s bulk faded back to his human form, and he became the tall, skinny accountant I’d come to know and appreciate. I cried out, and jumped over to Harry’s side. The scratches had cut deep across his vulnerable chest, and the fall had knocked him out. His breaths were ragged and shallow.

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