Fighting the Inevitable (40 page)

Millie felt the strange
being inside her growl her impatience again, and she stifled down a
giggle at the strangeness of it all. It felt weird, and yet, it
felt so right too. She was a wolf now. She would be able to change
like Jared and Rafe. She still felt like herself, only she was
something more, something better. It was the most amazing feeling
in the world.

“
Jared, she
doesn’t want to wait,” she said with a little laugh. “Can’t you
make your knot go down faster?”

Jared rolled his eyes and
barked out a laugh. His woman really was awfully demanding, but he
couldn’t stop the thrill of anticipation which went through him at
the thought of her claiming him. “Lie still, and be quiet,” he said
gruffly, closing his eyes and trying to will his body to do what he
wanted it to. Ordinarily they could be joined for anything up to
half an hour, but if his Millie wanted to claim him, he’d try to
accommodate her.

A few minutes later, he
achieved his goal, sliding from his mate’s body, as she twisted
around in his arms smiling excitedly at him. Her cobalt eyes
flashed with barely controlled need. His heart skipped a beat as he
stared up at her, seeing her wolf prowling close to the surface,
his own wolf howling his glee deep within him.

“
You don’t
need to shift, Millie,” he said huskily. “I can teach you that
later. For now, you just need to bite me in the same place where I
bit you.”

Millie stared at the join
of Jared’s neck and shoulder, the spot she had to mark. Her wolf
howled her impatience again and gave her a mental nudge to get on
with it before someone else came along and tried to take their
mate. She smiled wolfishly and licked along the spot as Jared
trembled with excitement, his hands coming to her waist to pull her
on top of his body, his cock once more standing proud and rubbing
against her wet heat.

“
Please,
Millie,” he ground out hoarsely. “Don’t make me wait,
baby.”

She laughed and sank her
teeth into him, feeling his blood enter her mouth, as he growled
loudly and impaled her on his body. She licked at her bite mark,
and then brought her mouth to his, as she began to slide up and
down his hard shaft. “Mine,” she growled, possessively.

“
Mine,” he
answered with his own deep growl

CHAPTER
eighteen

Millie woke and blinked
in confusion for a moment, her eyes taking in the strange
surroundings around her before finally turning to the man lying at
her side. She smiled as she ran her cobalt eyes over Jared’s
handsome face, shifting slightly so she could brush his long black
hair aside, wanting to fully appreciate the view.

Her Jared. Her mate. She
felt her wolf rumble her satisfaction deep inside her as her eyes
lit on the mark on his body, their mark which told the world that
this beautiful man belonged to them and no one else.

She blinked again, this
time in surprise when she realised it was still dark and she could
see almost as well as she could in daylight. She could hear better
too. Every single sound outside drifted towards her. She could hear
the leaves on the trees blowing gently in the breeze, the sounds of
some of the pack moving around in the compound. There was even the
hungry wail of a child off in the distance, demanding to be fed
instantly.

So this was what being a
wolf was all about. She had thought it felt amazing last night,
just feeling the wolf come to life inside her, but she had no idea
all her senses would be heightened the way they were now. She had
such a lot to learn about her new life but she knew Jared would
teach her everything she needed to know.

Right now her wolf wanted
to be free. The compulsion to go outside was so strong she found
herself rising quietly from the bed, making sure not to wake Jared
as she did so. She was so awake, so alert, so not like how she used
to be before she was changed. She had never been a morning person
before. Now she was chomping at the bit to get up when it was still
dark and run downstairs to greet the sunrise.

Grabbing Jared’s shirt,
she pulled it on and padded silently from the room and down to the
lower floor. She threw open the front door and stood on the
threshold taking a deep breath and smelling the heady aromas of
forest. She could smell the damp earth, the morning dew seeping
into the ground and settling on the leaves of the trees. It smelled
so perfect, so wonderful. Her wolf growled impatiently, asking to
be allowed to come forward, to run on the damp ground, to race
through the tall trees.

Millie smiled slowly a
second before Jared’s arms wrapped around her from behind and his
lips settled on his mark at the side of her neck. His tongue traced
fast whirls across it as she leaned back into his embrace with a
sigh of pleasure. He was naked and unashamed of it, not caring who
saw him as he greeted his mate enthusiastically, spinning her
around so he could devour her mouth in a hot, wet kiss.

His body hardened and he
groaned softly as he stroked his tongue into her willing mouth, his
hands sliding to her ass to pull her tightly against his erection.
God, he wanted her so badly he was ready to take her in the doorway
and to hell if someone came along and saw them.

Millie moaned and pulled
her mouth away, taking a moment to lick at her mark on his body
before she pushed against his chest. “I want to run,” she said
huskily. “Teach me how to shift, Jared. Come run with
me.”

He groaned his
displeasure, much preferring to take her back upstairs and lose
himself inside her beautiful body, but she smiled up at him, her
wolf prowling close to the surface and he suddenly very much wanted
to see just how beautiful she was in wolf form. “Come on,” he said
gruffly, scooping her up into his arms and striding outside and
into the closest cover of trees.

“
Do you
always walk about naked?” she laughed as he set her down on a patch
of wet grass.

“
Clothes
don’t transform,” he laughed back, eagerly peeling his shirt from
her body and sucking in a deep breath as her beauty was once more
revealed to him. He ran his hands lightly over her breasts, tugging
playfully at her nipples which had hardened instantly as the cool
morning breeze danced over her creamy white skin. “You’re so
beautiful, baby,” he whispered hoarsely, his eyes darkening with
need as he lowered his head to suck one taut peak into his mouth
and he suckled on it firmly.

Millie groaned loudly and
threaded her hands into his head, tugging gently to pull him away
from her body even though she didn’t want the delightful feel of
his mouth against her breast to stop. “We can do that later,” she
sighed softly. “My wolf wants to run, Jared.”

He growled and frowned in
annoyance at being thwarted again and then his expression smoothed
and he smiled and gave her a quick kiss. “I can’t help it if you’re
too beautiful for me to keep my hands off you,” he said cockily and
then sighed when she arched an eyebrow at him. “Wolf, run…I get the
message.”

He sank down onto grass
and pulled her down beside him, laughing when she grumbled at how
wet the grass was. “Close your eyes, Millie,” he whispered softly.
“Concentrate on your wolf. Feel her inside you. Let her come to the
fore, surrender to her and let her come out.”

She blinked slowly and
then closed her eyes, feeling inside herself for her wolf. She
relaxed and took a deep breath. Jared said to surrender so she did
her best not to fight as she felt her wolf start to become more
dominant. She uttered a startled gasp, feeling as if she was slowly
sinking downwards as the wolf seemed to grow stronger.

“
Don’t fight
her, Millie,” she heard Jared say softly as if from a distance.
“She won’t let anything happen to you, baby. She’s as much a part
of you as you are a part of her.”

She opened her mouth to
answer him but nothing came out. She felt her body tremble slightly
and then suddenly it was shifting around her and she felt her bones
melt and start to change. She yelped loudly in shock as pain
blossomed through her body as her bones stretched and her body
elongated. She fell forward, yelping once more as she looked down
at the long black fur covered paws in front of her.

“
Jared,” she
tried to say but only a long whine came out of her snout because
her face was no longer the same anymore and she was incapable of
making human speech form in her new throat.

“
It’s
okay, baby, I’m here
,” Jared said inside her head and she swung
her head around to look at him in surprise. “
Yes, I’m talking
inside your head
,” he smiled, reaching a hand out to place it
soothingly against her jaw. “
We can all talk to each other
mentally when we’re in wolf form,
” he continued in the same
soothing tone. “
As mates, we can do so when in human form too. I
will show you when we shift back.
”

Millie blinked at him and
nudged against his hand. “
Jared,
” she said experimentally
inside her head and he smiled again at her, signalling he had heard
her even though he was still in human form. “
Oh, wow!
” she
suddenly laughed. “
This is so amazing. Does it always hurt when
you change? How can I still talk to you when my wolf is in
control?
”

Jared laughed and reached
around her neck to brush his face against her glorious black fur.
“
You’re balanced almost evenly at the moment,
” he explained.
“
You won’t notice the pain of shifting again. You really only
notice it the very first time you shift willingly. After that, it’s
a simple as breathing, you just do it.
”

Millie rumbled deeply and
pressed against Jared’s body, chuffing lightly when she
accidentally pushed him over and he fell on his backside. Blue eyes
glinted at him before she turned suddenly and raced out of the
little clearing, disappearing into the trees. “
Catch me if you
can,
” she called mentally, laughing as she disappeared from
view.

Jared’s wolf howled his
pleasure as he sat on the grass a few moments longer, letting
Millie get a head start on him. She didn’t stand a chance of
escaping him. It didn’t matter how fast she ran, he would track her
down. He grinned wolfishly as he felt his blood rise. He shifted
and set off after his mate.

Millie flew through the
trees, her heart racing, her paws pounding on the damp ground. She
knew Jared was somewhere behind her, catching her quickly because
he was bigger and stronger and much faster than she was. But he
wasn’t smarter than her. She veered left, towards the sound of
running water, breaking cover from the trees and diving into the
small stream, running furiously along the waterbed before darting
left again and exiting the stream further up.

She laughed and her wolf
chuckled along with her. That would slow him down. He would have to
stop and check for her scent while she would be able to gain better
distance on him. She wove back out of sight and continued on
through the forest, spotting a rock formation with practically no
vegetation on it. She laughed again and sailed through the air onto
the rock, running along the smooth face and then turning right,
sailing back through the air to put as much distance between the
rock and her landing spot.

“
Millie,
” she heard him whisper in her head and her
heart faltered slightly because he sounded so close. “
Neat trick
with the stream, baby, but it’s not going to stop me catching
you.
”

She refrained from
answering him, knew he was trying to tempt her into giving away her
direction. She continued to run, wondering if she could climb up
into one of the trees to hide from him. She was just about to ask
her wolf if she could climb when a black wolf streaked out of the
trees and barrelled into her, knocking her to the
ground.

She rolled and came up
snarling, shaking her head in anger as she glared balefully at
Jared. He snarled back at her and she would have gulped if she
could. His snarl was so much more impressive than hers
was.

“
That’s
because I’m your Alpha,
” he chuckled inside her head and she
snarled again, angry with herself for thinking the thought when she
knew he’d be able to pick it up.

“
Oh, you
think so?
” she thought archly. “
Thought I’d made it
perfectly clear how I feel about your macho male crap, oh powerful
Alpha.
”

Jared lunged for her and
she darted to the left, barely escaping his jaws as they went to
clamp around the scruff of her neck. She rolled again and came up
facing him as he paused slightly, watching her intently.

“
But I’ve
never made it clear how I feel about your constant challenges to
me,
” he countered softly and his mental tone made her shiver
slightly. “
Submit, Millie.
”

“
Submit!
” she huffed shaking her head. “
Do you
intend to teach me how to sit and beg on command too,
Jared?
”

His head cocked to the
side and he grinned at her. “
What an excellent suggestion,
”
he laughed. “
Now, that could truly be fun. Mmmmm, the thought of
you begging me makes my body tingle all over.
” His irritation
flared into something else and Millie shuddered as she watched his
eyes darken and her wolf started to rumble her appreciation at the
way their mate was regarding them.