Taken In by the Pack: Second Chances (15 page)

I began to relax as others trickled out of the forest in ones and twos.

❖ ❖ ❖

As I watched the wolves emerging and heading towards me and the fire, I noticed that several of them appeared to be streaked with dark stains, especially on their faces. After a moment, I realized with some horror that it was blood. Had there been a fight? Had another pack attacked them?

My adrenaline began to spike again, making my heart race and my hands tremble; the wildly swinging ups and downs were making me queasy. I wrapped my arms around myself, biting my lip as I waited.

A large clump of wolves became visible then, but the way they moved seemed strange; they were pressed in tightly together, several of them scooting along almost sideways, others moving completely backwards. I watched in confusion; this did not seem like normal behavior.

It was some time, with very little in the way of progress by the group, before I realized what was happening. They were working together to drag something out of the woods and towards the fire.

I stood up on the log to try and get a better look, but whatever it was, was unrecognizable from this distance. It was large, and dark, and obviously very heavy, but that was all I could make out. At least it clearly wasn’t a wolf, the bulk of the torso was much too large. To my relief, I did spot the larger cream-colored Bryson-wolf among them.

The first of the wolves were reaching the fire, and they began to pace around it and me, yipping what I thought must be encouragement to the cluster dragging the large thing. I wondered briefly why they weren’t helping out, but then realized than the ring of wolves doing the dragging was pressed so tightly together than no more of them could have squeezed in to get a grip on the burdensome load.

I waited impatiently, but their progress was so slow, and I was anxious to see what they had. I hopped down off the log and made my way over to them; I went slowly to make sure I didn’t startle anyone. I certainly didn’t want to end my evening with a wolf bite; not least of all because how do you even explain that?

There were a few low growls as I approached, so I didn’t push my luck; I circled to try and get a better angle instead of coming too close. As I drew around to the side, a small gap formed between two of the wolves as they tugged, and I saw large tusks coming from an even larger snout. It was a wild hog! A huge one, by the looks of it.

“Oh!” I exclaimed, covering my open mouth with my fingertips, vaguely horrified.
They took down a boar? But they could have been hurt, killed even!
I felt my eyes fill with tears, silly as that was now after the fact. I wished I’d taken a head count before they left, so I could have known if anyone was missing.

Where’s Miss Madge?

As if my thought had been a summons, I felt a soft weight pressing into the side of my thigh, and looked down. There was the steely-grey wolf with the snowy face. I smiled brightly, and stroked the top of her head and her ears; it was an almost instinctive motion, and I didn’t even think about how insulting or condescending it might be perceived as until later. Fortunately, Madge didn’t seem to mind. Her tongue lolled out to the side, panting softly.

I murmured to her in a teasing stage whisper, “Did they really just take that beast down, or did they kill it earlier with guns and are just dragging it out here to prank me?”

She looked up at me, bluish-green eyes seeming to sparkle with humor, and she snapped her jaws pointedly in the direction of the boar.

“Huh. Really? That’s… that’s really something.” Star orator tonight, that was me.

❖ ❖ ❖

They were about halfway across the meadow to the fire, when the big honey-and-cream wolf that I was coming to adore left off the tugging efforts, and padded towards me and Madge. His tongue lolled to one side, his mouth split wide in what could only be described as a canine grin. He was dappled and streaked with blood, but if any of it was his, it was minor enough that it didn’t affect his movements. I relaxed somewhat on seeing his easy, cheerful lope.

As he came within three or four feet of me, he threw his head back, and
howled
. I knew that wolf howls were quite loud, they had to be to cover the distances needed for them to be effective. I had never realized, however, just
how
loud, especially only feet away from you. I squeaked and covered my ears with my hands, though I laughed at the same time.

Almost in unison, all the other wolves stopped what they were doing, and answered his howl; it was like an entire symphony of one instrument. It was a triumphant sound, full of exultation and joy. And, it was so loud, I could feel my whole body vibrating from it, as though I were a tuning fork that had been struck.
Maybe it has to do with more than just the volume, too.

I had to admit, I was feeling more and more connected to the pack, driven by and drawn to them. It was as if they had some sort of a shared mind that I was beginning to tap into, overlaid on top my own mind, affecting my thoughts and emotions. It was a very strange sensation, so hard to comprehend, let alone describe. The idea of them knowing my inner self that intimately was frightening, even repulsive; but on the other hand, the idea of that level of belonging, of togetherness, was incredibly alluring.

When the wild howling finally died down, I removed my hands from my ears, still grinning like a fool. This was so. . . Exhilarating. Enthralling. Magical. Words were just so inadequate. But I was excited, and I found that I was, in the end, quite glad that Bryson had talked me into being here. Not to mention that, clearly, I would not be spending the whole night by myself next to a fire.

I knelt down next to the wolf-who-was-Bryson, and without thinking about it, I threw my arms around his neck and shoulders, burying my face into the thick ruff of fur at his neck. The scent of him was wild and clean, like the deep forest after a rain, with an underlying muskiness that was pleasant rather than off-putting.

The texture of his fur was rather surprising, as well. The outer hairs were almost like little wires they were so coarse and stiff, but as I dug my fingers into the thick coat, underneath those guard hairs was a silky, almost cloudlike softness, that literally took my breath away. I nuzzled in closer, delighted and relaxed.

“Thank you, Bryson. Thank you for convincing me to come tonight,” I murmured softly into the fur.

The wolf swung his big head around, and nuzzled the side of my face gently, before giving it a soft lick. Then, with what seemed to be reluctance, he pulled out of my embrace, pacing tall and proud, towards the pack and their prize, nearly to the fire now.

❖ ❖ ❖

When they reached the fire and released their burden, the wolves backed away, allowing Bryson-the-wolf at it unimpeded. He stepped up, standing with his forepaws on the massive creature, and let out another exultant howl. I didn’t need to be a wolf to recognize the declaration of victory and pride. They had faced and defeated a mighty beast, with no losses, and few injuries — I had seen one wolf badly limping, assisted by another, and a few others that favored a leg or licked a wound periodically.

When the exultant cry faded, quite a few of the wolves began to shimmer and distort, and I turned my gaze away. I was sure I’d get used to it eventually, but in the meantime I didn’t want to lose my dinner and embarrass myself. When I no longer felt the odd humming sensation, I looked up again, and I could feel my cheeks heat. Of course, none of them were clothed, and none of them seemed to be intending to change that fact.

Well, okay then. Apparently I need to learn to get used to nudity.
It was no longer an ‘if’ in my mind. I wasn’t going anywhere, unless I was sorely mistaken about Bryson’s intentions. This was all too amazing to just turn my back on. I could not begin to imagine what had driven my father from this sense of belonging, and sheer joy in life.

The pack members who had returned to human form were joking and laughing and generally roughhousing and cutting up. Even most of those who were still in their wolf forms seemed playful as puppies for the most part, chasing each other around, wrestling together, or playing tug with scraps of the boar’s hide. I saw a few dart off into the woods again in two or threes, but not many.

Bryson held his pose atop their kill for several minutes, letting them blow off steam I assumed, let them come down from the adrenaline high. I drifted over closer to him, and he glanced back at me, his tail swaying slowly from side to side. I smiled in return.

Eventually, he backed away from the boar a bit, and began to shift back human. I forced myself to watch this time; it made me queasy to watch, but I needed to start getting used to it. His transformation seemed to be a signal, and those who had already changed back to human tried to pull themselves together and calm down. They began gathering various tools, then set to work on the huge carcass, butchering it properly.

Although I was trying very hard to ignore the nudity, to be as nonchalant as everyone else was, I couldn’t help looking over Bryson. He really was perfect, every inch of him. Now that I was paying attention instead of just staring in awe, I noticed he had a number of scars, mostly on his torso, particularly his shoulders. I am sure to most people who saw them, they would look like knife scars or something similar; knowing what I knew, though, I was fairly sure they were mostly a combination of teeth and claw marks. They didn’t detract from his gorgeousness, however; if anything, they just made him sexier, with that faint air of danger.

As my eyes swept downward, they got stuck on one particular area.
Holy effing eff…
He was more than a little excited after their hunt, and it showed. I was completely captivated; my mind just ground to a halt, like a bird hypnotized by a cobra. Eventually, I managed to shake it off, becoming aware of the present again. I also became aware that he was looking at me with a mischievous little grin — he’d noticed my staring.
Shit.

At least he looked delighted by my rapt attention, instead of angry. I felt like my cheeks had caught fire.

It didn’t take me long before I realized that not only were the lot of them naked, Bryson was by far not the only one who was… excited… by their hunt. I tried my best to ignore it, but it was entirely bizarre for someone who had never seen a naked man in the flesh prior to the day before. My heart felt like it was going to pound its way right out of my chest, and I was short of breath.

I couldn’t seem to find any place safe to look. I couldn’t watch the butchers working on the boar; there was something disturbingly obscene about naked men crouching and straining and getting progressively covered in blood. The fire itself was hardly better; those who weren’t working on the carcass were gathered there, and many of them were being some degree of intimate. No one was outright having sex, at least, but there was plenty of kissing and flirting and teasing going on.

I finally settled on watching a handful of those who had stayed wolves chasing and playing at the far end of the meadow. I imagined their activities were probably equivalent to those in human form by the fire, but at least it didn’t feel so uncomfortable to me.

❖ ❖ ❖

I was startled some minutes later by a slender hand on my arm; I yipped in surprise, jumping slightly, and turned to look. It was Miss Madge, and she was, mercifully, clothed. I smiled warmly to her. “Have a good hunt?”

She chuckled softly, shaking her head. “I’m too old to actively join the hunts anymore. I just wander the forest and enjoy the night while the youngsters do all the heavy lifting.” She winked at me.

I laughed softly. “Sounds like you have the better end of that deal.”

She smiled and lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “I doubt most of the young males would agree with you on that. I think they would happily do this every night if they could.”

I glanced back over my shoulder at the rowdy group and snickered softly. “I don’t doubt you’re right. Is it always like this?”

“Not always,” she said with a soft smile. “Even with the careful management and cultivation here, something as challenging as a boar is a rare treat. This is a special celebration.”

“A celebration? Why?”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “You, of course. Any time there is a newcomer in the pack, we celebrate. The fact that you may become the Alpha’s mate, well, that just takes things to a whole new level.”

I blinked, and I could feel my cheeks heating up again. “His… mate?” I could barely force the words out past the sudden lump in my throat. I could feel my pulse racing again. “What— I mean, he hasn’t—” I was starting to babble, so I stopped myself and took a deep breath, trying to organize my thoughts into coherent sentences. “Is that what he wants from me? To be his — mate?”