Mating Behavior (4 page)

The smells and sounds of the forest helped
to drown out the voice in his head telling him to rush back, tell
Katie the truth and beg her to always remain by his side. Though
he’d called the city his home for the last fifteen years, Alan had
been born and bred country. On many occasions, his father had taken
him to stay in their family cabin in these very mountains, letting
him watch the wolves. He didn’t understand at first that his father
was preparing him for puberty, when he’d undergo his first shift
into wolf form. It had been both terrifying and exhilarating.

The push to discard his clothing, shift and
run free in the wild was vast. In the city, Alan rarely was able to
shift in public. When he did, it was in the middle of the night,
tucked away in one of the city’s many parks. Occasionally, he’d
shift at home, in the privacy of his room. Every now and then, Alan
would shift forms and then find Katie, resting on the couch or
sleeping with her door open wide. Even the wolf within appreciated
the beauty of not only her body, but her spirit as well.

Alan’s palms itched, burning for the change.
He closed his eyes and felt them swirling as they often did
whenever the call of the wolf was thick. Taking a deep breath in,
Alan cleared his head and focused on the task at hand—gathering
wood for a fire. He’d given Katie the duty, but assured she
couldn’t go far. She gathered what he’d need as far as small pieces
went, and the guilt he now had over her doing so with a broken
ankle stabbed at his gut. He hadn’t told her the complete truth.
She’d fractured her ankle yet had pushed on the entire hike, never
once complaining. For some reason, his natural gift of healing
himself seemed to extend over to Katie as well. It didn’t work with
anyone else, but he didn’t care. Katie was all that mattered.

Something covered Katie’s mouth and she
jerked awake, barely holding back a scream and the power she
carried within. Familiar blue eyes soothed her nerves as her brows
drew together, forming a question. If Alan had any idea how close
he’d come to being burned alive, he wouldn’t look so amused. She
let the power coursing through her veins cool slightly, thankful
she hadn’t filleted him on accident.

Alan winked and tipped his head to the side,
motioning to something in the distance. He leaned in close,
pressing his mouth to her ear as he kept his hand on her mouth.
“Wolves.”

Her eyes widened with excitement and the
threat of having almost laid into him slipped from her mind. A
smile stretched over Alan’s face. The sight warmed her. The next
thing she knew, he released his hold on her mouth and pressed his
lips to hers. As quick as he kissed her, he ended it, leaving fire
shooting through her lower regions and her breathing erratic. Never
had a chaste kiss done so much to her.

“Come on, hon, let’s go get a closer look at
them,” he whispered. “I’ve got your notepad all ready so you can
jot down anything that strikes your fancy.”

Hon? He’d used the term on more than one
occasion on their trip. Katie liked the sound of it. Especially
coming from him and concerning her. It sure the hell beat “kid,”
which he’d called her for the first several months they’d known
each other.

Katie didn’t question him. Instead, she
pushed the sleeping bag she didn’t remember ever covering up with
aside and rolled to her feet. Alan took her hand in his and pressed
a finger to his lips, indicating the need for silence. She nodded
and followed as he led her to the side of the tent. Katie couldn’t
help but wonder how long she’d been asleep since the last thing she
could recall was watching Alan walk off for firewood and now it was
bordering on being dark.

He bent down, pulling her with him and
pointing off in the distance. She looked and her breath caught as
she spotted a pack of wolves. She counted seven in all. It was easy
to spot the alpha male. He was larger than the others and in the
center of the pack, circling another male. Katie couldn’t be sure,
but they looked to be challenging each other.

Alan leaned over and pressed his mouth to
her ear. “That’s the pack’s alpha there, in the middle. The one
with the white chest.”

She smiled and went to her knees.

Alan did the same. “There, the one in front
of him, with the dark coat, is most likely the beta male. That
female off behind the alpha is no doubt his mate. See the way he’s
hovering near her?”

“Did the beta try to hurt her?” Katie asked,
keeping her voice low.

A manly chuckle followed. “No, hon, I doubt
it. My guess is that the beta tried to mate with her.”

Katie tipped her head. “I thought wolves
mated for life even if one of them dies … they don’t take
another.”

Alan chuckled. “That’s not entirely true.
Yes. Wolves are one of nature’s most monogamous creatures, but
they’ve been known to have many mates over the span of their life.”
He pointed towards the wolves. “The betas are known for butting
heads with the alpha as much as possible. They’re generally
sexually repressed. That too depends on what kind of wolves we’re
talking about.”

Something was different about the way he
ended his sentence. It was like he knew a secret, but wasn’t
willing to share it with her just yet.

“So, trying to bone his chick is another way
of goading him?” she asked, suppressing a giggle.

Alan wrapped his arm around her hand and
pulled her into the warmth of his body. “Yeah, but don’t worry. The
beta female, wherever she is, has most likely tried mating with the
alpha male too. So, each lead couple gets to spend a lot of time
making sure the other remains faithful.”

Her laughter died immediately. “How
horrible. I’d hate to think that the second I turned my back, my
husband would accept some other woman’s offer for sex. I’d never
let another man touch me, not if I was committed to someone. It’s
not love if you do.”

Drawing her in tighter, Alan positioned her
so she was sitting in front of him. As he wrapped his arms around
her, pulling her back against his chest, she gasped at the feel of
his powerful body. He gave her a quick squeeze. “They’re animals,
hon. Some alpha pairs never entertain the idea of mating with
anyone other than their chosen one. Others play the game of nature,
survival of the fittest.”

“If you were a wolf,” she put her hands over
his, “which would you do?”

The swift intake of breath Alan took before
stiffening alarmed Katie. “If I were, umm, a, umm, wolf, I’d be
forever faithful to my chosen one—that’s assuming she’d even have
me to start with.”

“She’d be the stupidest wolf alive if she
turned you down, Alan,” Katie said, glancing back at him to find a
strange look upon his handsome face.

He pointed towards the wolves and Katie
looked to find the alpha bearing his fangs with his hackles raised.
The snarl that tore free of him warned of just how serious he was.
The beta backed down, going towards a different female wolf,
pushing her off and away from the group. The female he selected
seemed receptive to his advances and followed him without
incident.

The pair neared Alan and Katie and she
leaned back into his arms. The beta wolf nuzzled with the female
before moving to sniff her backside. Alan hugged Katie tight to him
and she instantly felt his erection pressed to her butt. She would
have been shocked if she wasn’t so damn horny already. Having his
cock near her ass did nothing to chase away the desire she had for
him.

The female wolf assumed the lordosis
position, raising her tail to entice the male. Alan suddenly
sounded as if he were in pain. Katie turned in Alan’s arms and
found his blue gaze locked firmly on the pair, preparing to mate.
She touched his cheek lightly and he shot her a look so feral, so
utterly manly, that her pussy dampened.

“Shouldn’t she be whelping pups this time of
year?” Katie asked, trying to catch her breath and ignore the feel
of Alan’s hard body pressed to her.

His jaw was tight as he nodded. “Yes.”

“Then why… ?” Her words faded away as she
looked to see the female being mounted by the beta wolf. Using his
forepaws, he pulled her hips back and began thrusting madly. Katie
knew they were tied together and would be locked in copulation for
a bit. She also knew something was off with Alan. She started to
turn around to face him, but he ran his hands up and held the sides
of her head in place.

“Alan?”

“Don’t look at me right now, Katie. Please,”
he said, his voice so deep that it rumbled through her, exciting
her even more. He sniffed the air and his breathing sounded
labored. “Dammit, no. Not now. I can’t control it if I can smell
your arousal.”

Smell my arousal?

She yelped as she tried to get away from
him, mortified he’d not only declare something like that, but know
she was indeed horny for him. Alan held tight to her and Katie
looked to find the mated pair staring in their direction, still
locked together. Something was off. A threatening vibe seemed to
course through the air. Deciding it was best to stay with Alan,
rather than run off, she stopped trying to get away and sunk into
his hold once more.

Alan groaned, as he pressed his erection to
her backside. “Dammit, Katie. I knew this was a bad idea. I told
you I could have showed you how wolves mated at home. Bringing…
you…” he thrust against her ass and she clutched onto his hand as
the seam of her jeans rubbed against her clit, “uh, here was a bad
idea.”

“W-why?” she asked.

Alan growled. “Because it’s taking all I
have not to rip these clothes from your body and—” He jerked away
quickly and was gone before she could so much as look behind
her.

“Alan?”

No answer.

“Alan, where are you?”

Still no answer.

She tried and failed to swallow back the
lump in her throat. “Alan, baby, where are you?”

Her breathing was rapid and her body in a
state of need. There wasn’t anyone around to help ease her desire,
not that she wanted anyone but Alan, but the idea of sharing such a
moment with nothing more than wolves nearby, stung. Masturbation
was an answer, but having Alan return to find her making herself
come wasn’t what she wanted to happen.

She glanced over her shoulder at where the
pair had been, but found nothing. An eerie feeling settled over
Katie and she let power trickle slowly through her body.

Alan ripped his shirt from his body and
worked his jeans off seconds before the shift overtook him. His
bones cracked and his skin ripped as fur sprouted forth. His body
contorted. The process at one point in his life had been painful.
Now, it was liberating. The second he was fully shifted into wolf
form he heard Katie’s calls for him.

“Alan, baby, where are you?”

Baby?

She never used a term of endearment for him.
As much as he hated his inability to control himself while on this
trip, a part of Alan was thankful he’d agreed to bring her. Katie
seemed to be opening up for him, getting closer to him. Whether it
was intentional or not, she was giving him signs that indicated his
advances would be welcomed.

Yeah, right up until I shift in front of her
out of excitement and she runs screaming to her death to get away
from me.

Sharing a tent with her for the night meant
they no longer had separate apartments to retreat to for space. At
least he had nature now. Alan ran full force into the forest,
needing to wipe his mind of all that plagued him. He ran, the wind
at his face and the smells of the forest all around. Unsure of how
far he’d gone from Katie, he stopped and sniffed, trying to catch
her scent. As he did, he caught the scent of others. At first he
assumed it was the pack of wolves they’d seen and then Katie’s
question hit him like a ton of bricks.

Shouldn’t she be whelping pups this time of
year?

He sniffed again, this time his chest
tightened as he realized what he smelled. The scent of
werewolves.

Katie!

Alan changed directions, rushing back
towards camp. The mating pair of wolves hadn’t been ordinary grey
wolves, they’d been weres and they’d seen Katie watch them fuck. If
there was one thing Alan was sure of, if the weres caught the
notion to investigate the two strangers watching their mating,
they’d know instantly he was a werewolf and Katie was human. They
wouldn’t take kindly to him bringing a human among them, regardless
of the fact he didn’t know weres still frequented the area.

Why the hell do think your mother was so
keen on you bringing Katie up for a week? She thinks Katie’s a
were, and her grandmother wants grandkids.

Fear spurred him onward. If anything
happened to Katie, he would die. Over the course of his time
knowing her, she’d become his everything. He broke through the
clearing, remembering he was in wolf form and backed up slowly, not
wanting to alarm Katie.

“Hi there.” Katie’s soft voice rode the air.
At first, Alan assumed she was talking to him until he realized her
voice came from the other side of the tent. “You’re a pretty wolf
and very brave.” Traces of her fear reached Alan and made his gut
clench. He also sensed powerful magik. Thoughts of Katie being hurt
left him thinking irrationally.

He shifted quickly into human form, not
caring that he was naked.

“My, my,” a deep male voice said from his
left. He turned to find a naked man who looked to be able to rival
him in a fight, leaning against a tree, smiling. The man’s
shoulder-length black hair hung partially in his face, but didn’t
mask his green eyes, which were currently gazing at Alan’s exposed
cock. “I can see why she’s with you. But,” he stroked his own,
“you’re no match for me.”

Alan stilled, straining to hear what was
going on with Katie. He couldn’t be held responsible for his
actions if she was harmed in any way. Alan knew the beast within
would rise and fight to the death over her.