Reluctantly Lycan (15 page)

“I think so. What if something goes wrong? I’m so old. The transformation could
kill me or not work at all.”

He laughed a little. “Oh, it will work.
You’re not that old. I can smell the need on you. Relax. I’ll take care of you. Jak is locked up in his room with his headphones on at full blast.” His hands rubbed over her shoulders and down her arms. “You’re more beautiful than you were the day you left.”

Marala
ran a fingertip along his chiseled jawline, looking into the depths of his eyes. Rising to her tiptoes, she pressed her lips to his. She loved him so much it hurt and soon they’d be even closer. Instead of trying to kill the wolf within with depressants, she’d spend full moons running through the forest with her mate.

His hand
s fell to her waist and slowly he lifted the gown from the bottom until he was pulling it over her head. Though it was removed quickly, the respect and honor the dress represented was important to her. When he’d finished, he untied the belt holding his robe closed and it fell open to reveal his toned, muscular physique. Without modesty, he allowed his member to jut out toward her.

“I’m scared.” She whispered, not wanting to admit it.
Ashamed to say the words out loud.

Firmly, he touched lips to her forehead and held her close against his chest. She could hear his heart and it was racing. “Do you want to be with me forever?” He asked.

“Forever.” She repeated.

“Then it’s necessary. Everyone is afraid the first time they shift. Even
I was.”

“I wish I had been here for it.”

“Me too, wa-ya. We’re together now.” He led her to the bed, lifted her, and placed her flat on her back. Discarding the robe, he covered her with his body.

“Don’t bite me when you change.” He put on
e finger against her nose and smiled again, trying to ease her tension.

Mara wiggled a little to spread herself open and he positioned himself in a way to give her room beneath his massive frame. “I won’t.
”

He must have caught more of her scent because his nostrils flared and ravenously he went in for a kiss. His tongue pushed into her mouth, followed by his member between her legs and into her body.

Mara and Kaden were both virgins to full moon sex. Neither was prepared for the mind-shattering, body shocking ecstasy of the most intimate embrace two lycan can share.

She locked eyes with him when he pulled away from the kisses to look down at her expression while he made love to her. Never stopping, never losing rhythm.
Thrusting for what was surely hours but felt like days. Her hands went up to his chest and she lightly ran her fingernails down it. Only for a moment they weren’t nails at all, but claws. She blinked once and the illusion vanished.

“Don’t be scared
of the wolf.” She heard him say and felt his hands protectively on the sides of her head to still the insanity.

Had she been writhing back and forth, screaming?
Yes.
But his mouth was on hers again and she calmed. This only lasted a moment because orgasm sent her body arching upward. His arms wrapped around her and lifted her up to sitting on him, hugging her tightly as he released within her.

Reality revealed.
With eyes open, the truth of what she was, visions and shared memories, were shown to her. The wolf was free and she belonged. Not only to Kaden forever, but to the pack… to the wolf and to the moon.

He’d slipped away from her to the foot of the bed, watching. She saw his form, but couldn’
t make out his features clearly with her new eyes. His mouth was moving, but there was too much going on in her mind and body for her to hear.

Then she
fell forward on the bed where Kaden had placed her after he’d lifted her off him and set her down. On all fours, her back arched upward, then another tingling sensation went through her body and she lowered it. Her head rose into the air next. In a shaky motion, not fluid like Kaden’s shifts, she suddenly transformed into a soft red wolf with bright yellow eyes. A sensation like vertigo disoriented her, but nothing she would call pain happened.

“You’re the most amazing creature I have ever seen.”
Kaden whispered.

She could see him clearly now and he had tears in his eyes. The tough guy, the leader of
lycan, was on the verge of crying. Mara drew in a breath, testing her newfound senses. Immediately, she bristled and jumped off the bed. Her changed appendages faltered and she fell flat, but in a scramble, made it to her feet.

“
Marala, my love, please calm down. You’re okay.” He spoke soothingly, knowing how the wolf mind could be confusing. It was mostly instinct, not thought.

Looking directly at him she growled and then placed her front paws on the
bedroom door, clawing at the knob, trying to open it. She knew it would be nearly impossible to return to human form until her first full moon set.

Kaden
, confused, put on his robe and opened the door. Mara darted across the hall and did the same clawing motion on Jak’s door. Kade gently pushed her aside. “Stay here and let me check. I will not hesitate to muzzle you if you try to bite our son.”

Mara gave a heartbreaking howl to tell
Kade to hurry. He opened the door, stepped inside and shut the door behind him. When he came back out, Marala looked up expectantly.

“He’s gone.”
Kaden told her as he ran for the front door.

“Wake up, Jak.” A familiar voice said. He was being shaken.

“Taylor?”
Growling. What is that?

“Come on, kid. I know you’re groggy, but bad shit is happening.”

Jak forced one eyelid up. What he saw had the other open wide despite the effects of the drugs he’d been shot with. A wolf stood in the corner of the dirt hole he was in and looked ready to attack at the slightest provocation.

“Is that Mason?”
Jak asked.

“Uh, yeah, and he’s about to eat us.”

The moonlight lit the pit enough for Jak to see how weak Taylor and the wolf were. With a little help, Jak was able to get to his feet. He leaned against the dirt wall and spoke. “Mason, I’m a wolf like you. My dad is Kaden Dakota. You know him, the pack leader.”

Mason’s eyes lowered a little as if he was remembering
the pack… or thinking about how delicious two humans might taste. A few seconds passed and the wolf took a step forward, teethed bared again as if he’d forgotten everything Jak had said.

Taylor went to block the wolf from attacking
Jak, but Jak held out an arm to stop him. “No. I got this.”

“I sure as hell hope you do because I don’t.”

Without showing an ounce of fear, Jak Dakota stepped forward and extended his hand toward the wolf. “I am pack. We are brothers.” The act of bravery would have made any ancestor proud.

The wolf sniffed his palm and calmed down a little.
Jak had bought them some time, but the hungry wolfborn could lose control at any moment.

“Stay over there, Taylor.” He draped one arm over the new wolf’s back and tried to remain calm.

“No argument here.” Taylor held up his hands briefly and shrugged.

On the surface, the kidnapper watched the exchange. “You’re a braver man than your father. Too bad it means little at this point. If your mother hadn’t taken you away things may have been different.”

“You know nothing about my family.” Jak yelled and the wolf at his side growled again, this time at the kidnapper. “You’re a cowardly, rejected pup.” The usually calm teenager screamed with ferocity that surprised even him.

The man laughed, removing his mask and speaking clearly. “I should have been leader. I was
older, your grandfather’s closest friend. Your father never appreciated any of his blessings.”

“Levi… I knew it.”
Jak said. “You’re pathetic.”

“So I’ve been told by my wife for years since I’m unable to give her a child. It ends tonight. You’re the last two young sons. She’ll thank me for not having to witness the others with children.” He rambled on, crazed. “
Kaden and Marala will be broken. The pack will fall apart and I can take my wife and live as a human away from all this.”

“It’s not too late to stop
. Let us go. We can get you the help you need.” Jak told the elder wolf.

“It’s almost time for the battle for high pack. Of course, if they’ve noticed you
’re missing, that won’t happen. Their lengthy mating ritual gave me the perfect opportunity to take Kaden’s spare key and sneak inside to take you.” Levi laughed. “Enjoy your night. Eat up, Mason.”

The young wolf bared teeth. When
Jak tried to soothe him, he snapped in warning. Jak slowly moved to the other side of the hole and huddled up with Taylor. The two of them might be able to take Mason, but it was a long shot. And all options left someone dead.

Marala ran out the front door as soon as Kaden opened it, following the scent of her son that still lingered in the air. No one else would be able to find him but her. She’d carried him for nine months, cut his hair, tended to his cuts, and washed his dirty socks. All these memories melded together and flared like beacons before her sniffing nose.

“Wait for me.”
Kaden called out, tripping over the gifts that had been left on the porch by the pack members. He dropped his robe after catching himself on the post near the steps. There was no keeping up with her as a human. Gracefully, he jumped off the porch as a human and landed on the ground on all four black paws.

Occasionally, she’d catch a whiff of Levi, but she wasn’t as familiar with it. Instead, she focused on
Jak, tracking him like a veteran instead of a wolf at her first moon. Behind her, she heard Kaden keeping pace. He howled and the sounds of more paws hitting the forest floor joined in.

Marala
led the way, the pack trusting her judgment. They wound around trees, through thickets they had to crawl through on their stomachs, paws dragging them through inch by inch. Jak’s scent was strong there, where he’d been dragged on the ground. Mara growled low, but tried to keep quiet so she wouldn’t alert the man they were after.

When she was through the brush
and rock formations, she took off running again without waiting for the others. Kaden was the largest wolf, having trouble squeezing through the brambles and low hanging limbs and stone. He wasn’t on her heels anymore, but she couldn’t stop. There was no time to wait.

At a river, she briefly lost
Jak’s scent and almost panicked, but when she crossed, she immediately found it again. It was getting stronger. He’d been here recently. Her son was close by. She slowed down. Up ahead she could see a figure. A quick inhale told her that it was Levi, but where was Jak?

“Eat up, Mason.” She heard Levi say. He was looking down at the ground. That’s when she charged.

Mara nearly ran right into the huge pit. The fall would have probably killed her, at minimum broken some bones. At the last second, she leapt and hit Levi full force. Surprised, he stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. He lifted his arm to block her. She bit and tore at it, the large teeth ripping through his sleeve and into flesh. When he turned his head to the side, she pinned him to the ground by his throat.

“
Marala! No!” Kaden screamed from a distance.

She didn’t tear Levi’s throat out, but held him still, low rumbles coming from her. The other wolves closed in, setting a perimeter.
Nashoba, Blake, Luke, and Martell were all there, along with some lesser wolves.

Kaden
stood naked like an ancient statue, watching over his pack and his mate. “Let him go and I will take care of this. Tend to Jak.” He peered into the hole briefly, the impact of his powerful presence calmed the new wolf in the pit.

Several of the other pack members had shifted and begun lowering a rope to pull the captives
out. Mason was first so that Jak and Taylor could tie the rope around him. The wolf kicked at the walls on the way up, trying to gain traction. Martell hugged him closely and Mason whimpered in his father’s arms when he was safely on the surface.

Mara’s eyes were wild. She wanted to kill Levi. Wanted to gut him and leave him for the buzzards. But
Jak needed her and she found it difficult to go against Kaden’s word. Carefully, she released her hold on Levi and stepped back.

“This is why the pack needed to be dissolved. It took a newly transformed female to find me.”
Levi said hoarsely.

Kaden’s
calmness was unnerving. “Why did you do this?”

Mara waited at the edge of the pit, pacing back and forth as she waited for
Jak to be retrieved.

He called up to her. “I’m okay, Mom. That’s weird, calling a wolf ‘Mom.’”
He said.

She listened while
Kaden spoke to Levi, comprehending, but the wild anger making it difficult.

“Because my first plans backfired.
Marala was like a daughter to me. Elle found the positive pregnancy test Mara had taken. When she told me, I decided to remove you from the picture, Kaden. Mara would be my daughter and her child my grandson. This would allow me to influence the direction of the pack.” He rubbed his neck lightly, blood was on his palm.