SUMMARY:Unfortunately, in this day and age it has been outlawed for pack wolves to mate with human women.Worse yet. Females being born to the packs are becoming increasingly rare.Further concerning, is the Full Moon's arrival. The Mating Moon.The males are strong, aggressive and they want to breed the perilously few females.I've stayed from the limelight by hiding in my Grandmama's hut at night and sneaking out to hunt only during the day.Avoiding most of them.The only one that really knows about me is our young Alpha.He's caught my scent.And I know his. He's been marking around my hut and scratching at the door at night. He wants to possess me.And what he wants he gets.I'm fast. But he is notorious for his speed and brutality.Where can I run when everywhere in the village and woods the males are in rut?I've no choice but to run. And nowhere to run to.TEASER:"Between that and your woman's scent," He pointed at my groin. "I can find you anywhere. I'll have more of you an
1350It was relatively well-known what the fate of the breedable females was in our pack. I was the oldest of the breedables so I understood it better than the younger ones.I’ve been avoiding the males during the Mating Moon longer than the rest. I did understand the expansion of the pack was essential and that mates were what would provide the next generation.The same plague that was killing humans had mutated and affected the packs. Very few were able to stay together but mothers and daughters refused to leave their young and their families leading to mostly the males who were bold enough to venture off alone until much of the plague had waned off. This left a population of males much more prevalent than females.She-wolves are now one of the rarest commodities. I had been mentoring Samantha that eventually she would have to let one of the males mate her but the brutality of the males under the Mating Moon was well-known. The elder she-wolves told tales cautioning of it.And in tr
Even as I thought it I looked up and saw him crossing the camp purposefully toward us as though summoned by our thoughts.He has a tendency to do that.Marta lifted the hood of her cloak and dropped to a knee in deference as the elders of the pack were expected to.Well I’m not expected to. I leapt to my feet instead. Sending the wooden cup containing my tea sloshing to the ground near the fire. And turned to bolt but as fast as he was notorious for, he was at my elbow.“Where are you going, Lyra Lani?”“I-I…”He tilted his head and gave me a waiting look.A wave of power washed over me. It reminded me of exactly why he was alpha. His strength, speed and magic were well-known. I suspected it was why we had so few challengers dare to arrive at our walls.He was definitely a force to reckon with.I didn’t want to reckon with him at all.His sheer size was enough to disconcert me. Though far from massive, he was tall and lean and somehow still more imposing then men far bigger.I looked
The Mating Moon was on the rise. In just a few days’ time the males would be wild with the need to mate. Driven by sexual hunger to take rather than ask.And there were perilously few females in our pack. I was more than beginning to worry.Draven’s words echoed in my mind. This year he would claim me as his.I hadn’t told a soul, not even Marta. I know what she’ll say.She’ll tell me to submit to him.But truthfully, Draven terrified me. He was utterly in control of everything. Emanating strength and dominance. And here I was…just me. I tried to help the lost in the pack and stay from view.I didn’t even know why he’d set his sights on me.But every day he was getting more doggedly determined.***Tonight I had waited for dawn when I knew most of the wolves were in. Since we were mostly nocturnal, most preferred the night. Only Jaecar and the Hayden brothers who did the night watch were about during the day.And none of them are a threat to me.They all already had their mates picked
It was one night until the eve of the Mating Moon and I was drying bits of fruit and gorging myself on the food in my hut and ensuring I’d have everything I needed to survive the night hidden.Now I was working on weaving a basket I could keep it all in when I heard the knock on the door and nearly let the whole thing unravel.Marta? Sometimes Marta would come to my hut late in the evening to have tea next to the fire with me.The young males didn’t bother her since she was already mated and an elder.But as I put my hand on the handle I could feel the waves of power rolling through the door.“Go away Draven…” I took a step back.“Open the door, Lyra Lani.” He coaxed.I shook my head and retreated further.“Don’t make me kick it down.” He crooned before his voice hardened to a snapping order. “Open the door.”Without any real conscious thought I lunged forward to toss it open. Instinctively obeying my alpha.He didn’t hesitate to duck the frame and step inside.Making me retreat backw
“Please go, Draven.” I tried to sound stern. Staring up at him dominating my hut with his oversized presence.He crossed the room in two long steps and knocked the chair aside with one swing of his hand. Leaving me vulnerable and trapped in the corner between the wall and the table.My eyes skid sideways as I debated trying to slide down the wall past him. He’s too close.He’s going to have me here. Just like he just said he would. I was starting to sweat in my panic.He sniffed. “You smell good. Sweet like the first morning of spring.”He slammed his hands to the wall on each side of me which made me jump.My eyes immediately falling to the floor next to me as I struggled to ignore his presence.Far too close!His earthen scent filling my nostrils and making something low in my belly tighten. Heat and power rolled off him in waves that made me want to shrink into the wall.He growled and molded his body against me. Planting his knee between mine and against the wall so he was flush a
I watched the other women. They lurked around the fire. Two liked the Mating Moon and were slinking about. Rubbing their shoulders on the trees. Knowing in a few hours their scent would drive the males wild. Two others were like me. They hid. Samantha had the Border Guard, Jaecar help her fortify her hut, and she'd lock herself in under the Mating Moon. Like she does every year. I wished I had a friend to help me do something similar. But I trusted none of the males enough to allow them to help me. Besides...I rather thought she was a fool. Samantha. It hadn't dawned on her the way Jaecar, the Border Guard, looked at her. He'll be having a taste of her soon enough. I'd seen other males look at she-wolves they intended to breed, just the same way Jaecar looked at her... And though he'd been kind to her for years, helping her isolate in her tiny stronghold, I suspected he'd built himself a back way in. And one day, one day, she'd learn she shouldn't have trusted him. Though I
"Now would you little Lyra Lani?" A smile twitched the corner of his mouth.Telling me what answer I should give.But something else attracted my attention."How’d you know I’d be out here?" I barely whispered."You're one of fifteen females in my pack, only seven of which are breedable. And you're by far the most beautiful." He chuckled. "I'm always painfully aware of where you are."“That’s how you found me out bathing.”“Correction.” He lifted a finger. “I was already out here when you came out to bathe. And for the record,” He leaned close to whisper near my ear. “it wasn’t the first time.”***I reared back in shock. Meeting his dark laughing eyes. Such a strange shade of gray blue that they seemed nearly black in dim lighting."I have a lover!" I blurted out.I didn’t. But it seemed the right thing to say to perhaps dissuade him."But not a mate?" He released one of my arms to straighten his head at me, giving me a sideways look. Challenging me to continueHe doesn't believe me.