Chapter 7

Tara

I woke up wearing what felt like a fur coat. Confused in my half-asleep state, I looked around and then it all came flooding back to me.

The shift. The Lycan King. His wolf, Koda, who I was fairly certain was the fur coat draped around my naked body at the moment.

Naked? I jumped up, without a thought for the fact that it exposed me even more. Trinity, in a great mood, laughed at my embarrassment.

"Girl, we are always naked after a shift. And you are in front of your mate and no one else. No need for embarrassment."

As if on cue, King Maddoc shifted back into his human form and smiled at me. "Well, hello Tara. We meet again. Times change, yes?" Goddess help me, he was naked too.

Nothing in his smile was mocking and nothing in his eyes made me feel anything but safe, even though he did look me up and down like a piece of juicy steak. I was probably eyeing him the same way.

"Um, hi?" I squeaked out. "Hello, Your Highness."

"Just Mac to you, my dear. No need for my queen to use titles, you’re my equal," he told me. "Your mom said you have anxiety. I want to reassure you now that I intend to take things as slowly as you would like. I am in no rush. I know you are a lot younger than I am…"

Was he—nervous?

I silenced him with a kiss. "Mac it is." I tried to avert my eyes from the rather obvious effect my kiss, and the sparks it created when our lips touched, had on him.

"More like Big Mac," Trinity snorted, and I couldn't help myself. I burst out into laughter that was part joyful and part hysterical. The whole situation, the absurdity of it all—I was his MATE, how was this my life? Was I dreaming?

He watched me, amused, as I laughed until tears rolled out of my eyes. "I'm so sorry. My wolf... she sometimes says the most hilarious things." Trinity preened at the compliment from me.

"Miss Fancy Pants!" I admonished her. She was about as fluffy as could be.

"I heard that!" Trinity told me, feigning offense. It only made me laugh harder.

"Apparently she is impressed with your size." Did those words just come out of my mouth? "I mean, you're so tall."

"That's what you told me all those years ago, when you were playing the piano and I wandered in."

"You remember that?" I was surprised.

"I remember. You were special to me somehow, at the time I didn't really realize it because you were a pup. I just felt very protective over you. Koda told me to make sure you were safe. I added security around your borders. I knew you were among good wolves but I had to be sure." He smiled. "Your music was also beautiful."

"Thank you. I just started playing one day. It just comes to me naturally where the chords are, what notes to play." I heard a rustling in the trees nearby, and Mac looked over and nodded as though there was someone there.

"Just Alexander, my Beta. He dropped off some clothes for us to put on." He jogged over towards where the sound had come from, and Trinity said "Mmmm, look at the buns, perfect for the Big Mac!"

I had actually been admiring them too; the man was gorgeous. Even sexier than I’d imagined. Then Trinity busted out that comment. My wolf was going to be the death of me! I almost peed, laughing and clutching my stomach.

"What did I miss?" He came back, holding out a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans for me. I took them gratefully, and as I was getting dressed I told him that my wolf thought he was quite attractive.

"And why is this so funny? Do you disagree with your wolf?" He actually looked hurt, so I immediately reassured him.

"I wholeheartedly agree with her," I said. "You are perfect. Every she-wolf in the whole Kingdom drools over you. You should have no doubt whatsoever about my attraction to you."

"Then why are you putting clothes on?" Trinity snickered. I took a deep breath.

He smiled, pulling the shirt over his head. He held out his hand.

"Shall we?" I took his hand, and those same tingly sparks nearly made me jump. I tried not to think about the way it would feel if he touched other parts of my body. I tried. I really did.

We started to walk slowly back towards the Pack House. As wolves, it would have taken us far less time. Maybe we both had the thought it would be nice to have some time to get to know each other, before dealing with everyone else.

"So your wolf, she's got a sense of humor?" He asked.

"And then some," I replied. "Remember when she caused me to fall when we were all standing up at your speech? She said you looked good enough to eat and demanded a spoon.” We both laughed.

"It is different, at first, isn't it," he smiled. "My wolf-lycan is pretty chill most of the time. He thinks Trinity is hilarious. He says he hasn't laughed so hard in years because I'm always too serious. I guess he's right, being in charge of so many things is a lot of responsibility."

"You have a wolf and a lycan?" I wasn't sure exactly how that worked.

"My lycan and wolf are the same mind. The lycan part of the mind makes me a little more alert, aware, and sometimes irrational. It’s all about balance, for Lycans. Keeping our tempers in check is challenging, that’s why some werewolves think we are mean and aggressive. Our physical forms are strong, but so is our tendency to speak without thinking." He sighed. "I don’t have the luxury of making mistakes. I learned to control my beast, but it took time.”

"Maybe you should spend more time just running as Koda. I think he would like that. He feels like he only gets out when there is a threat or some stressful situation." I told him honestly. "That's what Trinity said, so I guess she and Koda must have talked a lot."

"They can mind-link, you know, without us being aware of it."

"That's crazy! So they could conspire against us?"

"Oh, Koda would never allow that," he chuckled, as I probably looked even more confused. "Technically yes, they could conspire against us. However, their souls are bound to protect us and it would be hard for them to put us in harm's way. My guess is we would be clued in to the conspiracy."

"I’m pretty sure Trinity could talk him into it.” Damn fluffy wolf.

We walked in silence, briefly, before I decided to take care of the elephant in the room. "So when are we going to mate and mark each other?" The minute the words left my mouth, I wanted to kick myself. I probably sounded like a nymphomaniac.

He froze and gave me this look that was half dangerous, half hopeful, and I loved it. The way his eyes lit up, the way they searched and held mine like a tractor beam. He sat down on the ground and sat me next to him, eyes locked to mine, until I laughed softly.

"Are you laughing at me?" He said in a low voice. "You better not be laughing at me or you will be in trouble."

"Trouble? What do you mean by that?" In my mind that did not sound like a bad thing. All kinds of scenarios raced through my head, and I could feel my cheeks turning red. Desire pooled between my legs, intense desire like nothing I had felt before.

Literally living one of my fantasies, and I really couldn’t help myself. I wanted to make it real. The way his eyes darkened caused a soft, breathy moan to escape my mouth.

"You're not ready for the trouble I could give you." He smirked.

Oh really? He wanted me to be a bad girl? I could get into that.

"You might be surprised. Maybe we should just do it now, in nature, as the Goddess intended.” I smirked back at him. “We’ve done this before, in my dreams.”

Who was this person? Me? What had gotten into me?

Trinity, of course, had an answer for that. “What’s gotten into you isn’t the issue. It’s what needs to get into you.” She snickered. I burst out laughing again. “I’m sorry, my wolf—”

The look in his eyes was like fire. I’d thrown it out there, but what was he going to do with it? I couldn’t wait to find out.