Walker's Run (9 page)

“I-I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Braedyn saw the slight flicker of fear in her eyes and knew his eyes had flashed golden. His jaw twitched with the struggle of the wolf within. The bite hadn’t been painful, in truth the small nick had already healed, but he could still feel the pressure of her teeth as they’d bitten into him. It had only fueled his desire for her that much more. He strove to be gentle, but Casey made it difficult when she kissed him like that.

He leaned forward, kissing her with all the passion she’d just shown him. Casey’s body melted against the press of his. Braedyn knew his weight made it difficult for her to move, her hips raised in attempt to force his entry like the night before, but he was having none of it. Braedyn needed to prove he was in control. Seeing and feeling her frustration, he couldn’t help but grin when another growl rolled from deep within her. The shewolf expressed her clear agitation.

A rumble of laughter came from him. He felt her wolf surging to the surface to protect her and take charge of matters.

Casey growled again and raised her hips while pressing against his chest with far more force than he realized was in her possession.

“Braedyn.” Her husky tone was a warning when she looked in his eyes. “Please...don’t torture me like this. I can’t control her much longer.” Her breath labored from his weight and the struggle to keep the beast from the surface. He could sense her fear, not of him, but herself.

With a quick writhe of his hips, he buried himself in her. Her cry of pleasure mixed with pain sent shivers through him. Her nails dug into his shoulders and trailed down his back. Fueling his pace, his wolf surged forward to greet hers. Their bodies locked in frenzied motion, searching for the same goal.

* * * *

Casey took his furious, pounding strokes in stride, and raised her hips to his, seeking more. The groans and moans coming from them, both worried and fed her desire. The most amazing pleasure she’d ever felt built within her. The fire inside made the small hairs on her body stand on end. His touch left trails of goosebumps on her skin. His kisses made her tremble in anticipation for more.

“Oh...God...” she gasped, her muscles lost control, and her back arched when the powerful orgasm took its hold. Her hips slammed into his with the same ferocious force, and then her body went rigid. She could almost feel her eyes roll back in her head, toes curling, nails tearing into his skin.

Unbidden, a howl escape her lips while the pleasure, unbelievably, burned brighter within.

It was over with one final thrust, Braedyn buried himself in her. He shuddered, a feral sounding growl echoed his torrential release.

They both lay panting, trying to catch their breath. She gave a small laugh of relief when he raised his head and looked in her eyes. The corner of his mouth lifted in a grin matching the merriment in his eyes. Braedyn’s kiss was gentle. He propped on his forearms to give her room to breathe.

“Wow.”

“I agree,” he panted back, and she giggled again.

“You need to eat and rest.”

“I’m afraid to,” Casey admitted, fearing her coming change. She didn’t want to feel anything but his body against hers and the pleasure he’d brought.

“I know.” He slipped onto his side next to her.

She rolled onto her side, back to him.

He curled up, wrapping himself around her, holding her close. Casey drew comfort from him and took in their mingled scent. Her eyes drifted closed while she snuggled against him.

* * * *

Braedyn tried to soothe her. The bonding of their wolves was now complete, their choice for a second tryst had sealed it. He could only pray their human souls had, too.

Closing his eyes, he breathed her in again and tightened his grip around her. Trying to keep his emotions in check, he dreaded losing Casey if she chose different.

Swallowing back the tide that threatened to overwhelm him, he closed his eyes to rest with her a little longer.

* * * *

Casey woke when Braedyn slipped back into the tent. For once, it had been a dreamless sleep. The gray cast to the sky made her unable to tell the time.

“It’s just passed noon,” he said setting a plate of food down for them to enjoy.

His familiar scent of leather and snow comforted her, she sat up and pulled the wool blanket around her bare shoulders.

The wolf inside was sleeping, resting for the impending transformation. It was a relief to have full control of her own emotions for the moment. Sighing, Casey looked at Braedyn, seeing the hope in his eyes that their joining had bonded them to one another. She felt at ease with him and thoroughly enjoyed what he’d done to her body.

It wasn’t merely physical, it was like he’d managed to reach her soul as well. There was no denying she was more than comfortable with him. With issues of commitment in her past, she worried about hurting him when he so wanted this to work. He had waited for her so long...

A moment later, his expression clouded, and Casey found she couldn’t read him any longer. She sensed he played the inscrutable alpha very well in his pack.

The warmth they’d shared earlier seemed to have left them both colder than the weather outside. Indecision hung in the air like a weight between them.

“I-I’ve never been good at relationships,” she admitted, glancing down at her hands.

Braedyn cleared his throat and settled next to her on the air mattress. “Neither have I. You need to know that if we don’t bond you’ll be up for grabs so to speak within the pack. The single males will come and try to woo you. You’ll have free will, of course, to choose whomever you wish. Every male is searching for their life mate.” He looked away from her and picked at the food, like he no longer had an appetite. “It’s one of the reasons why I haven’t tried to take you there today. You also need your rest before your transformation tonight. Then there’s my selfish desire to keep you to myself. To convince you I’m the better choice.”

Casey felt herself warm at his words and watched him push the food around the plate. She reached over and took his hand in hers. “How could you possibly think another male could grasp my attention more than you have?” She laughed despite her worries. “I’ve been fascinated by you for so long. You are the wolf I’ve searched this forest for everytime I’ve come home.”

Hope returned to his eyes. “There are ways to bind us without fear of the other wolves trying to step in.”

“How?”

“A hand-fasting.”

Casey shot him a blank look. From countless stories she’d read and some studying, she’d learned it was an ancient form of commitment, aging far back into the old Celtic and the more modern Neo-Pagans, where they would live together for a year and a day as a married couple to find out if it was what they really wanted.

“Really? Those are still used?”

Braedyn smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not been used for a long time, but yes. It gives us the chance to get to know one another without the worries. Would that make you feel better?”

She moistened her lips and looked down at their joined hands. “There's more to that agreement though. It would be a year away from my career...” She took a deep breath and looked down at their hands.
Actually, a year away sounds awful good.

“I don’t want to take you away from your life.” He tried to pull his hand from her, but she held tight. His gaze held a pained expression when she looked into them.

“You were right. I came out here to get my thoughts together. I’ve watched far too many young girls fall victim to their fame and fortune, puking into buckets while the make-up artists carefully apply their makeup so I can take these great shots.” Casey shook her head. “I just can’t do it anymore. I can’t watch these girls destroy themselves for the entertainment of others. It disgusts me. When I took that job, I degraded myself and became one of those hungry hounds, worse even than the paparazzi.”

“So you'd be willing to give it all up—”

“There’s no giving up. I just can’t do it anymore. I’ve made more than enough money over the last few years, I can take a year or so off with no worries.”

“I've enough money, and you’ll have no want for anything.”

Casey smiled, hearing the undeniable hope returning to his voice. “My father taught me to be self-sufficient. It will take me some time to get to where I could become dependant on you fully.”

She felt his wolf excitedly leap at her words. Slipping into his arms, she laid her head on his shoulder. Casey felt better about making up her mind. There was no better place to be than with the one person who could teach her to handle the changes to come. Someone who understood it all and wanted to be part of it.

Casey ate though she didn’t have much of an appetite. Braedyn had warned her the transformations required a lot of energy regardless of how hungry she was. Plain and simple, she needed to eat. If not the wolf would be forced to hunt. The urge sometimes became all consuming which could lead to dire consequences if they weren’t snowed in or were closer to a well populated area.

“What should I expect?” Feeling her anxiety grow, Casey watched the sun angle behind the trees. The wolf inside was beginning to wake.

He frowned, looking into the fire. “There’s a chance you won’t remember much of it. You’ll have the lingering affects of pain and exhaustion. Your skin and muscles will be tender for days. The more shifts you make the better it will get, but it’s always there. You have to find a way to channel the discomfort. The two better ways are to ground yourself, letting it flow from your body or...you let it send you into a rage.”

She watched, filled with anxiety, the sun continue its descent. A vibration began to tingle in her muscles, pressing into her bones. It gained enough intensity she didn’t just feel it, but could hear it too.

“I’m scared.” Her voice was a mere whisper, and she leaned into him, burying her face in his shoulder.

“I know.” His arms slipped around her. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Tears burned her eyes when she looked up at him. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“We are far away. There is also the added benefit of being snowed in. Things will be fine. You’ll have little control over your wolf for this three day period, that’s when most attacks happen. Those who have had no training and no one with them to protect them have problems. I am with you, Casey. You have no need to worry.”

Gentle emotion showed in his eyes. She felt his rough cheek brush against hers. He nuzzled her. Sensing him on a new level through her wolf, she felt him try to reassure her.

Casey could feel her muscles tensing as the sun sunk lower in the sky. His body tensed, too. Her jaw clenched when the vibration began to intensify, preventing her teeth from chattering.

“You can’t fight it. If you try it will only be that much more painful.”

She groaned, opening and closing her hands, feeling the pain thrumming through her.

“It begins with a dull ache in your hands and feet and radiates inward. A vibration that gains strength.”

“There’s no way to stop this?” Tears streaked down her weather pinkened cheeks. She watched his brows furrow.

His expression was solemn, and he shook his head. “No. Only death.”

Casey’s heart thundered in her chest as realization hit home. Death was her only way out. “I don’t want to die.”

His arms tightened around her. “Then you won’t.”

“I can’t be cruel.”

“Then you won’t be. Your wolf is not so different from you,” he murmured. His warm lips kissed away her tears.

“You’ll feel the same things and possibly in the same way. Sometimes she’ll have a stronger reaction, other times you will. You’ll draw your strengths from each other on how to handle situations whether you are in human or wolf form.”

The snow had stopped. Dusk was nearly over and the moon had risen. The purples and pinks of the setting sun cast brilliant light and blue/black shadows across the landscape. The time was nearly upon them. She felt her eyesight sharpen. The wolf began her ascension.

Casey pulled away when the pain struck her like a lightening bolt. Every muscle in her entire body clenched. Braedyn had said there would be pain...she’d no idea how much.

Pulling her knees to her chest, she hugged them and pinched her eyes shut. She rolled off the log, her muscles seizing. Clenching her teeth again, this time to avoid biting her tongue, Casey felt the wolf rushing to the surface; excited yet anxious. This confused her, making her wonder if the wolf was afraid of the impending shift.

The fire inside threatened to burst her skin into flames. Her muscles expanded and contracted, causing her to flail like having an epileptic fit. She could hear the inhuman shrieks and wails of torture coming from her, yet they sounded far away.

Oh...God, the pain...

The clothes on her body tightened, threatening to choke her, and then shredded when her body expanded. Rolling onto her belly, Casey felt the cold snow on her raw and naked body, but it did nothing to put out the fire she felt all over. Opening her eyes, she watched with horrid fascination as her arms bulged and contorted. A howl of agony and fear escaped her. With a grimace, she bore her face into the snow, praying for some sort of respite.

The cold wind felt like needles piercing her skin. Trying to bite down on the pain, Casey felt the wolf take control, telling her to relax. Closing her eyes, she gave up her fight, relinquishing the authority over her body. The misery began to ease, but only a little. With the dreadful sounds of her bones cracking, the transformation neared the end. Her stomach roiled, threatening to unleash the meal Braedyn had forced her to eat.

Lying in the snow, panting, and thanking God that the pain had begun to subside, she heard footsteps, and turned to see Braedyn kneel down. When she tried to speak, Casey found the mouth she now had, couldn’t form words.

A keening whine escaped her as she looked in his pale eyes.

“You are as beautiful as I thought you might be, my silver wolf,” Braedyn whispered, wanting to touch her soft fur, but knowing the pain of the change was still with her. He didn’t want to cause her any more agony than she already felt.