Authors: Summer Cooper
S
he needed
to go after him. Casey snatched up the shotgun and pounded down the stairs. She didn’t care how tough he said bears were—one bear against dozens of wolves were bad odds. So he needed help. She pulled on her shoes hurriedly, fingers trembling on the laces, then paused.
Was this the craziest idea she’d ever had?
Yes.
But he didn’t have anyone to help him. Her stomach twisted. She knew beyond a doubt that those wolves weren’t normal—they were like him, maybe. Shape-shifters or something. All those thoughts she’d had of the wolves creeping up the stairs towards her…those had been real, only it was him they were looking for. She couldn’t let him stay out there alone.
Or possibly she was going insane. She sank her head into her hands. She had just seen a man transform into a bear. That meant she should be going to the hospital, not wandering into the forest with a shotgun. She was clearly still drunk. Or maybe she was dreaming. She reached out with her bare foot and kicked the corner of the table.
“Ow!” Not dreaming, then. Muttering, Casey pulled on the second shoe.
She shouldn’t do this. A bear against that many wolves were terrible odds, but how much was Casey going to help, really? She had twelve rounds. Even if she was a perfect shot, that wasn’t going to take down all of the wolves—and, she thought with a chill, it wasn’t likely she’d have enough time to get twelve shots off before they got to her. She was going to get torn apart by rabid wolves if she went out there.
Unless she wasn’t, because part of her brain was still insisting that this had to be a hallucination. Men did not turn into bears. That was something out of popular movies, or science fiction, or something. Superheroes. She wasn’t twelve anymore, pretending she could fly or be invisible. Magic didn’t exist. She put down the gun and was just staring at her hands, trying to decide whether she should even attempt to drive into town, when a howl sounded from the woods.
That was it. Maybe it
was
a hallucination. But if it wasn’t? Then Nathaniel needed her help. And if it was, then those wolves were totally normal and they were going to stay well clear of her. Casey slipped the extra rounds into her pocket and started running, because now that she’d decided to go into the woods, the same part of her brain that had been calling her crazy was now screaming at her to turn around and go back.
Like hell.
Casey crashed into the trees, looking around. She wasn’t exactly a master tracker, but it didn’t take much expertise to see where they’d gone; there was a trail of crushed plants a few feet wide, leading into the forest. Swallowing hard, she chambered the weapon and set off. She needed to move as quietly as she could, and not let herself get exhausted.
The growl was low, almost inaudible, but enough to make the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Her conscious mind might not have noticed, but her instincts were screaming at her to run. Turning, Casey brought the gun up partway…and took an involuntary step back.
The bear towered over her, black in contrast to Nathaniel’s brown. It thudded down onto four paws and snarled, pacing sideways. She stumbled back as it advanced, courage fleeing…
Never run away from a bear.
It was herding her back to the house, she realized. She looked behind her, then at the bear. The howls nearby increased, and its head turned. When it looked back, Casey had put down the gun. Her hands were up, and her brain was telling her not to be so damned stupid, but she could not—she could
not
—let Nathaniel stay out here alone.
“I’m here for Nathaniel,” she said quietly. She swore she could see the same intelligence in this bear’s eyes. “He was hurt, and he stayed with me at the cabin last night. But the wolves found him, and I need to go help.” There was a pause, and Casey felt tears flood her eyes. “Look, I know what he is. I saw. But he’s all alone. I promise I won’t hurt you. I just need to get past.”
The bear roared and tossed its head…and shrank rapidly, into a man with blond hair and the cheekbones of a Greek God. Like Nathaniel, he was one of the most beautiful men she’d ever seen in her life. And like Nathaniel, he was wounded. Now that fur wasn’t covering him, she could see bruises and healing puncture wounds on his arms and legs.
“It was a wolf bite,” Casey said slowly. “On his leg.”
“You’re telling me Nathaniel’s alive?”
Another howl sounded, and Casey wanted to snarl in frustration.
“He was a few minutes ago. Please, we have to go help him.”
“How many wolves did you see?”
“Twenty five, at least.”
“Any black, or all grey and white?”
“All grey and white. Look—”
“Was there one that was all white?”
“…No,” Casey said, thinking about it.
“Then we’ve got a fighting chance. Get back to the cabin, I’ll take care of this.”
“I’m coming with you,” Casey said stubbornly.
“You’re not prepared for this,” he told her. “And Nathaniel would probably kill me if I let you go into danger.”
“Look, you can let me come with you, in which case I might take down a few of those wolves, or you can leave me here, in which case I’ll just follow you on my own.”
He stared at her, and she stared back, stubbornly.
“I’ll climb up a tree,” Casey offered.
“
Fine.
Get on my back when I transform.”
It was a tricky process, and there was nothing to hold onto when she got up there. When he took off, it was all she could do not to scream. She dug her fingers into his fur, hoping she wasn’t hurting him, and lay low to avoid branches as he crashed through the undergrowth.
The sounds of the fight were terrifying. Roars sounded, followed by snarls and yelps. Howls came from the woods ahead, and there were screams of pain. No birds sang here, and there was not the faintest hint of movement from squirrels or mice. Everything had fled this supernatural battle, and Casey was trying to keep from wishing she’d done the same.
When the bear stopped at a tree and tossed his head, she hopped off and scrambled up, the bark rough on her hands. She loved climbing trees as a child. Her muscles, unused to this now, were burning; Casey gritted her teeth and promised every deity she could think of that she would stay in much better shape if she got through this.
When she turned to look, she gasped. The fight raging below was a vicious tangle of brown and grey and white and black. Casey swallowed and took aim, looking down the sights at a wolf that was clearly planning to dive back into the fray.
The sound of the gunshot stopped the fight for a moment, and a few wolves turned on her, snarling. Casey gave a silent prayer, reloaded the gun, and took aim again. Another shot, well away from Nathaniel and his friend. She missed, and swore.
But there was hope. The wolves, now with three enemies instead of one, were beginning to fall as they milled about. Another bear crashed out of the undergrowth, its brown coat peppered with grey, and Casey just managed to avoid pulling the trigger. Another bullet, another wolf. The new bear roared at her and she waved, tentatively. Hopefully he understood.
Hopefully he couldn’t climb trees.
She reloaded and shot, reloaded and shot. Time seemed to disappear, and even the pain was fading as the shotgun slammed back against her shoulder. Adrenaline was thrumming in her blood. They were so close to winning—
She almost missed the white wolf. It was creeping through the forest nearby, drawing close to the fight with its lips drawn back in a snarl. She had only one shot left. Casey loaded the gun quietly, took aim…
The shot blew the wolf over sideways, and she screamed. The other wolves looked around, howling, and Casey screamed all the more as the wolf dragged itself upright. Its head swung around and its pale eyes fixed on her for a long moment. Then it charged out of the bushes, making directly for Nathaniel.
If she had not shot it, Casey shuddered to think how the fight would have gone. Even wounded, bleeding heavily, the white wolf was a terror to behold. Its jaws fastened around fur, black and brown, and the bears roared in pain as they converged on it. Snarls rang through the air, and the snapping of teeth. But at last the wolf faltered, and Casey hid her face as Nathaniel reared, great paws swiping down. There was a howl, a scream…and the rest of the wolves fled into the forest.
Casey scrambled down from the tree and ran, catching Nathaniel as he transformed and stumbled into her arms. His face had gone grey with pain, and there were new marks on his arms and legs.
“You came for me,” he whispered.
“Of course I did. I couldn’t let you fight alone.”
He smiled tiredly. “Loyalty,” he whispered. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and drew her close for a kiss.
“
H
e’s not really a
king
,” James said thoughtfully. “We don’t have kings.”
“So, what then? Alpha?”
“That’s a wolf term.” His look was warning.
“Well, what would you call him?” Casey looked over to where Nathaniel was in close conference with Victor, an older man with a grizzled beard.
“Mostly, we just call him Nathaniel. Everyone knows who he is.” James took a sip of beer and cracked his neck.
“Who was the white wolf?”
“Old enemy.” James shrugged. “It’s…difficult to explain.”
“You just don’t want to tell me, because you don’t want me spilling all your secrets.”
“That, too,” he admitted.
“I’m not going to.” Casey grinned at his dubious look. “I mean, come on—I tell my family and friends I saw three men turn into bears and fight a pack of thirty wolves, and I shot a few wolves. I don’t even have a scratch. They’re going to lock me up and make sure I never have a shotgun again.”
“You make a good point.” James settled back in his chair. “We’re just told…never to let anyone know. We grow up learning to hide what we are.”
“So are you humans who transform into bears, or bears who transform into humans?”
“Both? I don’t know. I guess we’re human. We’re always born human, and then we learn to control the transformations. I
hated
learning to walk as a human, I still remember that. It’s so much easier with four legs than two.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” Casey took a sip of beer. “So there’s…a whole world out there of people like you.”
“Shifters. Yep.” He looked up. “Nathaniel’s coming to talk to you. I’ll go check on the burgers.”
“How are you?” Nathaniel asked as he arrived.
“I’m going to have a pretty righteous bruise from the shotgun, but otherwise okay.” Casey smiled up at him. “How are
you
?”
“I’ll be all right. You got all of the major things.” He gave a rueful smile at his arms; peppered with Band-Aids. “And as you saw, I heal quickly.”
“Ridiculously quickly,” Casey agreed. “So…what happened out there?”
“You remember all that stuff your dad told you about wolves? Well, it’s usually true…but lately, around here; the wolves are getting bolder. Every year, a few more farmers were reporting livestock gone, people were reporting that they lost their pets, kids were saying they saw wolves in the woods.” He sighed and rubbed his head. “Well, that wolf you saw, the white one—he wasn’t just a shifter; he was a mage, too. He was doing something to the native wolves around here, changing them and their instincts. And he was part of the spell, there was no undoing it without him agreeing to, or dying. We told him what he was doing wasn’t natural, that we’d stop him if he didn’t stop it on his own. And he’s been out for us ever since. Today, he thought he’d caught me alone. And he sent real wolves, not shifters, to make a point.” He sighed heavily. “They didn’t have to die.”
“I’m sorry,” Casey murmured.
“It’s not your fault. They’d been turned into monsters. Nothing anyone did would have kept them from attacking. But maybe…maybe the ones that are left will turn back into what they were.” He looked over at her, draining the last of his beer. “Thank you for coming out there. I hoped you wouldn’t, but it was a close fight, even with James and Victor. If you hadn’t been there; I don’t know what would have happened.”
“I’m glad you’re safe.” Casey leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs, letting her eyes drift over the muscles in his arms and across his chest.
He noticed, and his eyes darkened with desire.
“Come with me.”
“But James—”
“Come on.” He pulled her into the house and up the stairs, stripping off his shirt when they reached the landing and pinning her against the wall. One kiss and her knees went weak. “So, one thing to know about shifters…”
“Yes?” His fingers were undoing the buttons on her shirt, and hers were tangling with his belt buckle.
“They have
exceptionally
good hearing.” He smiled down at her. “So you’re going to need to be very quiet.” His eyes locked on hers and his smile grew as he trailed a finger down between her legs, watching her bite her lip to keep from gasping. “Good.”
He picked her up and tossed her onto the bed, dragging her shorts off and smiling appreciatively at the lacey thong she was wearing.
“
Very
nice.”
“Your turn.” She shrugged out of her shirt and watched hungrily as he slipped off his pants and briefs, and bit her lip when she saw him at last. “Also, uh…very nice.”
“You should be naked,” he said lazily. He watched as her panties and bra came off, smiling, and then he crawled onto the bed with her, kissing her as his fingers slid between her legs again. She arched when he parted her. His thumb found her clit and stroked it gently, and his fingers slipped easily inside.
“So wet already.”
Casey bit back a moan.
“Good girl.” But he shifted, kissing down her torso and along the curve of her hip, tracing it with his lips and tongue before bending to put his head between her legs.
“Oh, no fair.” She whimpered when his tongue parted her. He was kissing, licking, stroking as his fingers thrust into her, and she bit down on her own fingers to keep from moaning again.
“Tell me what you want, Casey. Tell me what you want me to do to you.”
“Please don’t stop,” she whispered, her back arched. She was not going to be able to stay quiet much longer if he kept going like this.
He must have known it, too, because his fingers withdrew and his lips trailed up. His kisses traced around the curve of her breast, and his tongue flicked at her nipple. When she gasped aloud, his hand came down over her mouth.
“I think you might be quieter with something in your mouth,” he suggested. His grin turned into a gasp of his own when her hands found him, and he lay back as she moved.
She licked up the length of him, circling the tip with her tongue and kissing it before taking him in her mouth. She couldn’t close to fit the length of him, but she took him as deep as she could, tongue and lips working, little moans starting in her throat when she saw him clench his hands to stay silent.
When she straddled him, he held himself rigid while she sank down onto his cock. His eyes were open to slits, and he looked pleased to see her gasp at the size of him. She moved her hips cautiously, and he groaned as she rode him, his hands clenching around her ass.
“More.” A command, and she felt herself clench around him at the sound of it.
“Yes…sir.”
He growled at that and flipped her over, pinning her hands over her head as he drove into her. Casey bit her lip to muffle her cries. He was driving deep, grinding his hips against her so that she shivered with pleasure, and she was writhing, moving her hips to beg for more. It would never be enough, she was sure. She wanted more of him; she wanted him to ride her hard. She wanted to make him come.
“Turn over,” he whispered in her ear.
“Yes, sir.”
“You keep doing that,” he muttered, “and I will be very tempted to make you scream my name.”
“Mmm.” Casey settled on her stomach and lifted her hips. She bit her lips when he slipped his fingers inside her, parting her for his cock.
He fucked her slowly, just like he’d promised earlier, and Casey felt herself melting at each stroke. She was pressing her hips back. His hand covered her mouth, and she could hear his harsh breathing in her ear. Each thrust was slow, and she whimpered against his fingers when he withdrew.
Slowly, so slowly she could barely be sure of it, his pace increased. He drove harder, faster into her, and Casey spread her legs to let him go deeper. She could feel her pleasure rising, urgency building each time he thrust into her, and from his faint growl in her ear, she knew he felt the same.
It seemed forever that her pleasure built, but they both tipped over the edge unexpectedly, in a moment. His lips found hers as she came, and pleasure spiraled outwards, making her mind go blank as she spasmed around him. Their hips were still moving, greedy for more even as they reached their climax.
When the world came back to normal, Casey heard him laugh, low in his throat.
“Perfect,” he murmured. He rolled away, and then held out his arms so she could nestle against him.
“Perfect,” she agreed.
The End