The Last Wolf: A Highplains Shifter Erotic Romance (Wolf Fire Book 1) (6 page)

“You set yourself free Hope. I felt you go.” Hakan’s voice was deep, warm and reassuring, he sounded proud of me. He crawled up the pebbled beach and wrapped his arms round me, and together we lay until I fell asleep, my body and brain no longer able to keep up with the momentous events of the day.

I woke in the first light of dawn. The night had stolen the warmth from the stones and I huddled closer to the hot body sleeping next to me. Hakan was lying on his back, his arm around my shoulder, protectively pulling me in. I looked down his impressive body, down over the huge muscles of his chest, rising and falling with each breath he took, down over the ridged expanse of his abdomen, down past the short black hair to where his cock lay heavily against his thigh.

Cock, yes that was certainly the right word for it. Before when I’d talked about male anatomy I’d always used cutesy little words that I had hoped wouldn’t offend anybody, least of all myself. But there was no way what Hakan was packing could be called a pee-pee or a willy. Those words would have diminished it, it just looked too big and powerful to be anything but a cock. It rose and fell slightly with his pulse, and the sight of it both excited me and scared me. I’d never before thought I could be attracted to that part of a man’s anatomy. I wish I’d paid more attention that time when a teenage Cassie had tried to teach me how to give the perfect blowjob. She’d demonstrated on a banana and I’d laughed and told her to stop it, too embarrassed to continue. In that moment, lying by the river, I would have loved nothing more than to have moved my head down and taken him into my mouth, just like Cassie took in the curving yellow fruit, but I didn’t have the faintest clue how to begin pleasuring a man with my mouth, so instead I lay still and listened to the sound of the prairie slowly coming alive around us.

Hakan shifted beside me. “Morning.” He said with a contented sigh. His voice was deep and sleepy.

“Morning” I said, snuggling into his side.

“We should get going.” He said. “I’d like to talk to you about what’s happening, about why that lion attacked us yesterday. It’s going to be quite a lot for you to take in. We might as well do it over fresh cooked breakfast and hot coffee.”

***

The smell of bacon and eggs in the kitchen of the lodge reminded me of just how hungry I actually was. It made me smile to see the huge broad Hakan standing with his pinafore on, spatula in hand, he looked like he was going to a dress-up party but he wore a very serious expression.

“I’m afraid you’ve stumbled into the middle of a very ancient conflict Hope,” he said. “A conflict that has been going on for generations, and may soon be about to end.”

He placed the plate of steaming food in front of me. “The Shifters are dying out. My grandfather told me that when he was young some nights when the pack met there would be groups of Wolf-Folk so large they would cover the plains like buffalo. Now I am the only one left.

“How do you know you are the only one left?” I asked.

“A shifter can always recognise another shifter, we can see through the thin human skin to the animal inside. I haven’t seen another werewolf for more than fifteen years. Things are tough for the Bear-Folk too, they have almost all retreated to the high woodland caves. There are still Lion-Folk in the mountains, and a few on the plains like the one we met yesterday.” He paused and looked directly at me. “Until a few days ago I had thought that there were no Eagle-Folk at all.”

“But why did that lion attack you yesterday, if the shifters are in such trouble then why don’t they stick together?” I asked, taking a sip of coffee, still not entirely convinced that I should believe any of this.

“The lion did not attack me Hope. It attacked you. When you went into town you attracted some unwanted attention. I’m not the only one who could see the fire in your eyes waiting to be released. There are those on the prairies would rather not see your kind back again.”

“My kind?”

“Your kind. The Eagle-Folk. I know that you felt it for a second when you came. You left yourself for a moment, there are huge powers within you Hope, powers that you need to learn to release.”

“I can’t release any more than I did last night with you.” I said.

The big man grinned at me while helping himself to another egg. “Oh I think that you can. It’s like anything else in life. It just takes training, and I’m more than happy to train you.”

What on earth was he on about? Running a marathon takes training, teaching your dog not to go on the carpet takes training, turning into an eagle does not take training – it takes a complete suspension of belief in all the laws of the universe. The man was obviously mad, sexy but mad.

“I don’t know if I can take any more Hakan,” I said. “I have a job to get back to, maybe I should take the bus this afternoon. I really wish you and your people all the best with the were-lions, but it’s not for me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, you certainly know how to get a girl over her breakup, but I’m not an eagle, I’m an account administrator.”

“You wish my people all the best? I have no people! I am my people! That’s why I need you Hope.” He slammed his fist hard against the table, making the cutlery jump. “If you go back now you will never know who you truly are.”

“But I know who I am, I’m Hope Richardson. I work for Devale Corporation, I’ve just taken the lease on a new condo and I go to church every Sunday. I have a life to go back to! So what if I don’t ride motorbikes around or get attacked by mountain lions. It’s truly my life and I’m truly happy with it.”

“Give me a week. Phone your boss or whoever, say you’re ill, your mothers sick, anything, just give me one week with you.”

His eyes burned with violet intensity, the rage that had made him bang the table seemed to have left him, but he stared at me with his jaw set, challenging me to say no. I got the distinct feeling that Hakan, for all his easy-going charm and laid back country manners, was probably a very dangerous man to get on the wrong side of.

He stood up and began to massage my shoulders, his broad hands slipping down onto the swell of my breasts while he gently kissed my neck, I felt the familiar wetness between my legs as he whispered in my ear, “Just one more week.”

I think my body reacted more than my brain, I tipped my head back and with a sigh mouthed “okay.”

Just before lunch I heard the powerful roar of Hakan’s bike tearing along the trail towards town. He had left telling me he had some things to arrange, and that he’d be back the next day. This was not what I signed up for when I left a message with work saying I had a family emergency. I wanted Hakan to take me in his strong arms and carry on our training, not make me lug sticks around in the hot sun with the hippie volunteers. A guy with long curly brown hair sidled up to me.

“Hi, its Hope isn’t it?” He said. I nodded. “I’m Jase,” he continued. “I see you’ve been getting quite close to the mysterious Hakan. He’s quite intense isn’t he?” Again I nodded. Unsure of where this line of questioning was headed.

“I’ve seen he goes off on that big motorbike at all times of the night, and sometimes he’s gone for days at a stretch. Me and the guys,” he gestured to the rest of the ragtag construction crew. “We were wondering, is he a drug dealer?”

The question took me completely by surprise. “What?” I asked, incredulous.

“Well you know, biker, odd hours. He doesn’t seem to care so much about the farm, leaves all that to his manager. We were talking last night and figured he must be up to something. These rural towns have quite a problem with drugs now-a-days, we figured he must be caught up in that somehow.”

“If he is up to anything like that, which I very much doubt, then I’m sure I know nothing about it. I think he just has a lot on his mind. If you really want to know you could always ask him when he gets back.” I said.

“No, no,” Said Jase. “I wouldn’t want to do that. He’s kind of scary. I just thought, you know, well, it’s pretty boring working out here for nothing, some drugs might just be fun.”

I shook my head, “Sorry Jase, can’t help you there at all. But there’s a bar in town you could hitch to if you wanted some fun. I’m sure you could meet some interesting folk.” I tried to stop myself from shuddering, thinking back to the depressed locals and the creepy eyed barman.

“Sure, good idea, thanks Hope. Hey do you want to come with us?”

I shook my head, one trip to Old Reds was probably enough to last me a life time.

The afternoon seemed to drag on forever. The other volunteers excitedly planned their night out as they worked. I wanted to tell them to prepare for disappointment, but it seemed cruel to shatter their expectations when there was so little to look forward to out here. Finally, as the sun was slipping towards the plains I heard the roar of Hakan’s motor bike returning, my body gave a little involuntary thrill of excitement at the sound and I ran towards the spot at the back of the barn where he parked.

“Hey,” I said, bounding up to him. “What were you up to today?”

There was no humour in his face as he spoke. “If it’s okay I’d rather not say.” He said.

I felt slightly deflated at his cold reply, but I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice. “Well I’ve been building a corral. Good honest work for a good honest country girl like me.” I clenched my fist and tried to flex my not very impressive bicep.

Hakan looked unimpressed for a moment, then slowly walked towards me. “You’re a strong, strong woman Hope Richardson.” He said, hamming up is country accent, he walked forward and took me in his big arms. He bent down to kiss me.

“The other volunteers are all heading into town tonight.” I said when our lips had parted. “I thought we might stay here and continue my training.”

He broke into a broad grin. “I think that’s a very good idea.”

***

The fire danced and jumped in front of us as Hakan poured me another bourbon. Sitting inside the glowing circle cast by the fire made the rest of the plains seem somehow darker and less inhabited. I couldn’t see another light for miles. I reached down and threw another log onto the inferno, copying Hakan who couldn’t seem to let the fire rest for more than twenty minutes without stoking it or adding more fuel.

“Why do you take such care over the fire Hakan?” I asked, snuggling in closer to the big man.

“Old shifter law.” He said, staring into the flames.

“What? Old shifter law says you can never, ever, let the fire out, because if you do,” I paused for dramatic effect “You’ll get cold.” I felt Hakan’s body shake as he tried to chuckle at my lame joke. “Oh I forgot your name means fire doesn’t it? Is this some sort of weird naming curse? If you were called Big Jug of Milk would you never be allowed to let the milk run dry in your kitchen?”

He gave another laugh, louder this time. “I’ll thank you not to ridicule my culture, sheesh, white people.” He gently punched my arm. “You’re going to think it’s completely stupid, but during the First Shifter War the
Yee Naaldlooshii
made a sacred law to stop us wiping each other out. The Wolf-People had attacked the Bear-Folk in their camp and slaughtered all the cubs. To stop it happening again, and to make sure that warriors only killed other warriors they forbade any shifter from entering the camp of another until they had first been invited by a member of the camp, after which they were free to come and go as they pleased.”

“So what’s that got to do with the fire?” I didn’t care if what he was saying was complete nonsense, I was just enjoying being near him, feeling the heat from the fire, the bourbon warming me from the inside and his deep rich voice flowing over me.

“The
Yee Naaldlooshii
made a ruling that the size of someone’s camp was the whole area where on a moonless, starless night you could see your hand at arm’s length just by the light of the fire.”

“So the bigger the fire the bigger the safe area.” I said.

“Exactly.” He stood up. “Try it. Walk with your hand out until you can no longer see it, you’ll be surprised at how far you get.”

I did as I was told, walking into the night with my arm stretched out. With the size of the inferno I must have travelled at least forty yards before I could no longer see my hand. Walking back towards the bonfire I quickly calculated the size of the circle formed if the light travelled just as far in all directions. “So the safe area takes in your lodge and the dormitory on this side, and the bank of the river on that side, and even the little ridge over there?” I said.

“That’s right, and inside this circle the only shifter you have to worry about is me.” His face was lit for a second by a flash of lightening from the distant, long promised storm. Hakan waited until the clap of thunder came rolling over us and then sprang for me, almost bowling me over with his force, kissing me passionately. As our lips were locked he slipped first one of the straps from my dress off my shoulder, then the other. With a gentle pull he let my dress fall to the ground, exposing my breasts to the dancing orange light of the fire. He bent his head slowly and kissed down my neck, taking one of my pink nipples into his dark wet mouth. I felt myself melting for him as he knelt in-front of me and pulled aside my panties, pressing his face against me, slowly and deliberately licking me up and down before flicking his tongue out against my sensitive clit.

I gave a yelp of pleasure and twisted my hands in his hair, pulling him away. I was remembering what I had seen by the river bank, his thick heavy cock rising and falling as he slept. I wanted it to be me who pleasured him this time round.

“Wait,” I said, pushing him backwards so that he sat on a log facing the flames. “I want to do you this time,” I paused, “only I’ve never done anything like this before, so if it feels weird...”