Author: J.D. Tyler

And not just any arousal, but the kind that took that fire and melted her bones. Pulsed inside with every beat of her heart. Her blood pounded in her veins, and she shifted smoothly to human form, rolling to crouch on her knees. She was aware of him staring at her naked form. Lust shone in his eyes.

“I want you,” she said simply.

He shifted too and sat back with one leg straight on the ground, one leg cocked with his knee up, arm resting on it. His cock jutted proudly to the sky, and his smile was feral.

“Then come and get me.”

She crawled to him and pounced. Their mouths met with a clash of lips and teeth, and she tasted a bit of blood. This wouldn’t be a gentle mating, but a coming together of two primal souls. Two wolf mates, taking what belonged to them.

That was fine by her.

Their tongues dueled, tasted. His fingers found her nipples, plucked and twisted, sending her need through the treetops. Placing a palm in the center of his chest, she shoved him onto his back and straddled his erection.

“Oh, yeah,” he groaned. “Fuck me, beautiful.”

She lowered herself onto his rod. Already so aroused, she was wet and ready. She slid onto him, loving how he stretched her. Giving in to the moment, she let the wild side of her nature take over—and she did a partial shift.

He gasped as his fingers at her waist buried themselves in soft fur. “You—you’re shifted!”

“Half,” she corrected him with the throaty voice of her partial form. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. You’re beautiful this way.”

She knew he was seeing her elongated fangs, the soft white fur. Her claws. “You can do it too, and it’ll feel so good to me. Have you had it this way before?”

“No. Is it better for you?”

“Not better, just different. Sort of wild.” She grinned. “Did you know your cock will swell even bigger inside me in half form?”

“God! I want to try it.”

“It’s easy. Just start the change, but let it go only until you have fur and claws, like me.”

As she moved on him, fur sprouted under her fingers, soft and silky. Fangs grew to overlap his bottom lip, and his eyes were that of his wolf peeking through. His claws dug into her hips as he thrust. And best of all, his cock grew, filling her almost too much. He was huge inside her.

“Fuck yes!” she cried. “Do me!”

With a snarl, he flipped them. Suddenly, she was scrambling to get on her hands and knees, and he was behind her, poised at her entrance. Then he plunged deep, filling her so full, she thought he’d impale her all the way to her throat.

She screamed her pleasure as he fucked her hard, like a wolf mate should. His hips pistoned into her, his cock stroking her walls with increasing speed, balls slapping against her sex. It was so good, so damned fine.

Then he stiffened and began to come with a shout. His orgasm triggered her own explosion, and she rode out wave after wave of intense pleasure until she collapsed to the ground, limp and sated.

Zan joined her, lying close so that their bodies were touching, but stopping short of pulling her into his arms. It would’ve been okay with her, but she wasn’t going to mention it and sound needy.

“I’ve never felt anything like that,” he said in awe. “Is it always like that in half form? Wait. Don’t answer that. My wolf doesn’t like the idea of you having done that before.”

“I wish I could tell you I haven’t,” she said, and meant it. “But with born wolves, it’s quite natural to give in to our feral nature once in a while. Especially with mates, though you are my first in that area. And I’ll tell you, nothing that came before came close to being as good as that!”

He puffed up a little. “Yeah? That’s because I’m awesome.”

She snorted, secretly thinking he was pretty cute. “Come on, Mr. Awesome. Let’s splash off in the creek and then see if you can keep up with me this time.”

“Hey!”

Shifting back to her wolf, she sprinted, and was gratified to hear his yip sound behind her as he gave chase. They washed off some, then shook their coats on the bank and ran again. They bounded through the forest, letting their wolves play until well after dark. Until her stomach was snarling in anger at having been neglected.

As if sensing her hunger, he turned them toward the compound. Within the hour, they were at the edge of the forest, shifting to collect their clothes and dress again.

“I’m starving,” he said, pulling on his T-shirt. “You?”

“I could eat.”

“We’ve missed dinner in the dining room with everyone, but I’ve got stuff for sandwiches and chips in my quarters.”

“Sounds great.” Truthfully, she wasn’t eager to face his Pack just yet.

Back in his apartment, he fixed them turkey sandwiches on crusty hoagie rolls, with Swiss and spicy brown mustard. She ate like a starving wolf and then yawned, sleepy.

“It’s been a big day for you,” he said gently. “Why don’t you turn in, get some rest?”

“All right. And thank you for tonight. I really needed the run, and the company wasn’t so bad, either.”

He laughed, as she’d hoped he would. “Same here. Get some sleep.”

Padding into his bedroom, she stripped and slid under the sheets with a tired sigh. Again, she thought of their run. And the extremely satisfying sex.

She hadn’t felt that alive in a very, very long time.

Selene awoke the next morning, rolled over, and peered at the clock.

Almost noon? She’d slept damn near the whole morning away. Stretching, she tried to get rid of the cobwebs and realized the shower was running. What would Zan look like standing under the spray, stark naked? Even better than he’d looked last night by the stream, she’d bet.

A few minutes later, he emerged from the connecting bathroom, a towel slung around his waist. Glancing toward the bed, he smiled.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”

“Morning,” she grumbled. “I guess.”

“Well, it’s nearly noon, so it’s technically morning for a few more minutes. Hungry?”

“Not right now. I just need a shower.”

“Help yourself.” He pointed to the foot of the bed. “Rowan sent over some more clothes. I figured after you get cleaned up and dressed, we can head to your motel and gather your stuff.”

“All right.”

It was nice of the other woman to loan her more clothes, but Selene couldn’t wait to fetch her own things. She made short work of showering, then toweled off and blew her hair dry with a dryer she found under his sink. Being short, her hair dried fast, and she was soon dressed.

“I’m ready.”

He ushered her out. In the hallways, they encountered only a couple of his friends, who clapped Zan on the back and shot her knowing smirks. That pissed her off, and she wanted to rip open their faces. But she refrained. She could be reasonable when she tried. When they reached the garage, her thoughts were diverted by the sight of the vehicle Zan was leading them toward. Unable to help herself, she snickered.

“What?” He shot her a curious look.

“Men are all the same. Their ride has to be an extension of their cock.”

She thought he’d get pissed, but unexpectedly, he grinned. “Then I must have a damned big one.”

That surprised a laugh out of her, in spite of herself. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

A sudden realization smacked her in the head as they climbed into the monstrous truck—she was now the only one with the right to know just how big Zan was, all over. And the idea of any other female having that knowledge made her she-wolf growl in anger. It was a strange feeling.

As she pondered this, Zan’s voice interrupted her musings. “For the record, Nick didn’t do what you’re accusing him of. I’ve known him for almost a year now, and he’s as honorable as anyone I’ve met.”

“You’re going to tell me there’s an explanation, as your friend Ryon suggested?”

“There are good people at the compound. You might want to listen to what they have to say.” He glanced at her as he pulled the truck out of the hangar. “You seem like a sharp, intelligent woman who can make her own decisions. All I ask is that you go by what you observe for yourself, not by what you’ve been told for years.”

His words angered her—probably because he made sense. Before she’d entered the compound, the issue had been black-and-white. Now her belief was being colored by shades of gray, and she didn’t want to change her thinking. It was too painful otherwise. Still . . .

She wasn’t one to condemn unjustly. Damn.

He drove them into Cody, and as the vehicle rumbled along, she took the opportunity to sneak glances at the man who was her mate. He seemed to get more handsome the more she studied him, and he had integrity to boot. He was brave. Kind. Most of the males of her clan were extremely stern and unbending, but not so this man.

“What’s it like to be a born shifter?” His question might have been plucked from her thoughts.

“I’ve never known any other way, so I’m not sure how to answer that.” She thought for a few moments. “I grew up differently from human kids. We weren’t totally sequestered from the outside world, but we were a bit sheltered. We have our own community, schools, and clan law that’s enforced by the Alpha’s men.”

“No humans live there at all?”

“There are some, but most of them don’t know what we are. The Alpha is very selective about who’s told.”

“Your uncle is the Alpha, I assume.”

“Yes.” He looked like he was chewing on something, but whatever was on his mind, he kept silent. “Anyway, other than that, there’s the immortality thing.”

“The what?” He shot her a quick look, briefly taking his eyes off the road.

“It’s not common knowledge, even in the paranormal community. Born wolves are immortal. We can be killed by accident or treachery, but other than that, we’re around for a long time.”

“How old are you?” he asked curiously.

“I’m only thirty, in human years,” she told him. “But I won’t look much older than I am now for as long as I live.”

“That’s pretty handy,” he joked. “No wrinkles or gray hair.”

“There is that.”

“What about Nick? How old is he?”

“More than two hundred.” Older than he deserves to be.

“Holy crap! That’s quite a secret to carry around. Just think of all the changes he’s seen,” Zan mused. “The history. He’s been alive since America was a brand-new nation.”

“So has my uncle.”

“What’s your uncle like?”

She considered that. “Stern. A stickler for rules, and he trusts few people. But he’s honest and tries to be a fair leader.”

Zan said nothing to that. Perhaps he felt Damien hadn’t been fair in his dealings with her father. Not that it mattered what her mate or any of his friends thought. They weren’t there.

When they arrived in town, Selene directed him to the cheap motel where she’d been staying. As soon as they pulled in to the parking lot, Zan wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“After seeing this fleabag, I’m glad we’re getting you out of here.”

“Aww, I was going to invite you to stay here with me instead of the compound.”

From her smile, he knew she was kidding. “In a place where the cockroaches are the size of Doberman pinschers? I’ll pass, thanks.”

Truthfully, she was eager to see this place at her back as well. Inside her stark, musty little room, she gathered her few things, stuffing jeans, T-shirts, and underthings into her duffel bag. A few toiletries and her mini tablet were last, and she was done.