Wild Instincts: Part 1 (Werewolf Erotic Romance) (2 page)

The first clear thought
I could manage was to thank god that werewolves had a hard time
getting pregnant. The afterglow of pleasure still caressed my body,
but I'd regained enough control to push Cyan off and roll out from
under him. I sat up shakily, feeling empty without my alpha inside
me any more. The sticky warmth of his semen dribbled from between
my legs, and I quickly tugged my clothes back into place to cover
my shame.

"Done already?" Cyan
purred, propping himself up on an elbow. "Most females would be
honoured to share their alpha's tent for a night. You don't always
have to run away so soon."

"Yeah,
thanks
." I said,
hoping the sarcasm came through. My throat felt dry and husky. I
could barely remember anything from the past few minutes with any
clarity, but I knew I must have been howling my lungs out by the
end. I was sore too, and the bite marks on my neck suddenly ached,
when before they'd driven me wild with lust. And could I blame
Cyan, really? He'd given me everything I'd wanted. Everything
I'd
needed
. If it hadn't been now
it would've been in a couple of days time, when my wolf woke up of
her own accord and started to hunger for a mate again. But I
couldn't help feeling used. I hated Cyan for taking advantage of my
instincts, and myself for not being able to control them. The smell
of sex and my alpha's body was suddenly nauseating, and without
another word I picked up my jacket and hurried out of the
tent.

I made straight for the
trees, hoping nobody was around to witness my shameful departure.
The soreness between my legs made me wince as I walked, but I just
wanted to get away. The second I was past the ring of tents I
shifted into my wolf and bounded into the trees, intent on putting
as much distance between myself and the camp as I could.

It
felt good to run. The freedom of the cool night air running through
my fur and the damp soil beneath my paws reinvigorated me. The
pitch black forest came alive with movement the second I saw it
through my animal eyes. A tapestry of scents laced the air, guiding
me this way and that with the smell of a dozen different animals
and a hundred different plants. It reminded me that, no matter how
difficult the human in me had it, this was what made it all
worthwhile. I'd never trade my wolf for anything in the world. It
was only a temporary respite though. I knew before long my thoughts
would return to Cyan, and I'd have to return to the camp before
morning. What had happened between us tonight wasn't anything new,
but that still didn't make it easy. At one time or another most of
the males in the pack had mated with me. Either at their own
insistence, mine, or Cyan's. I would always need a male to take
care of my desires every time they flared up, and with precious few
females in the pack I was hardly short of suitors. I'd almost grown
accustomed to it, but whenever Cyan made an example of me like
this, used my instinct against me to prove a point, it made me
painfully aware of how the others must see me. Even though we were
werewolves, living outside the boundaries of human society, none of
us could forget our old sensibilities entirely. My family would
have been appalled by my situation.
I
would have been appalled by it a year ago. But a lot had
happened since I'd been bitten, and I was learning to
adapt.

I hoped I was
learning.

After a half hour of
running I picked up the scent of another werewolf leading away from
camp. It was definitely one of my own pack, but I couldn't put a
name to the scent. That was strange. I knew most of them well by
now. Curious, I snuffled my way along the bank of a trickling
stream and followed the scent deeper into the woods. I didn't know
why I was following it, but it tickled my brain and piqued my
interest in a strange way that all new things seemed to when I was
a wolf. Before long I picked out a distant flicker of firelight
between the trees up ahead. Even more strange. There was a
perfectly good fire back at our camp. The woods were a place to run
free in your wolf form, and wolves didn't build fires. As I
approached the flames the scent became thicker and more distinct.
It belonged to Hawthorne, a quiet male who'd barely spoken two
words to me since I'd joined the pack. Even though he was low down
in the hierarchy the others seemed to respect him, but I got a
slightly hostile from this particular werewolf. I crouched in the
shadows near the edge of the small camp, taking in every detail
with my night eyes. He had his own lean-to set up with a blanket
and a sleeping roll, and above the fire hung a steaming copper
kettle. Hawthorne was sitting in his human form watching the blaze.
I tried to creep closer, unable to escape my curiosity. A heavy
twig snapped beneath my front paw. His shining green eyes glanced
up, and I let out an internal sigh. I took my human form again and
stepped into the firelight.

"Lyssa," he said with
surprise, "I didn't expect you."

"I'll bet." I stepped
over to the fire. Well, I was here now. I might as well satisfy my
curiosity. "What's all this?" I gestured at his makeshift camp.

"You mean why am I out
here and not cosying up in my own tent?" His tone was cool, but it
wasn't hostile. I took that to mean I hadn't interrupted some
deeply personal ritual of his. "Mostly because I'd prefer not to
listen to Cyan doing what he does to you all night. But if you're
here, I suppose it's safe to go back."

"At least you're not
the one he's doing it to." I growled a little more defensively than
I'd intended. I thought I saw the hint of a smile appear on
Hawthorne's lips.

"I suppose not. He
isn't the most inspiring leader, is he?" He said.

"I hate him." I
glowered and sat down on the other side of the fire, wincing as the
tenderness between my legs flared up again. I needed to vent. Maybe
venting to Hawthorne was a stupid idea, but I knew speaking my mind
to anyone else would work its way back to Cyan eventually. Then I
could look forward to another humiliating evening in his tent as
punishment.

"Are you alright?" My
new companion asked when he saw me wince.

"Fine. It's just..." I
looked away, shaking my head. "He goes hard on me."

Hawthorne nodded and
dipped a hand into his bedroll, taking out a handful of dried herbs
and crumbling them into the kettle.

"What're those?" I
asked.

"Just something I
picked up in the woods. It'll make you feel better. Sorry I don't
have any Anacin, normal painkillers don't work so well on
werewolves."

"Is that what Cyan has
you do? Find plants that work on us?"

"One of the things." He
left it at that. I chewed my lip waiting for the tea to boil,
fiddling with my pendant as the nighttime chill crept across my
back. I missed my coat of fur. When the kettle started to bubble
Hawthorne hooked it off the heat and filled two plain wooden cups,
passing one over to me. I nodded my thanks and took a careful sip.
After burning my tongue, I decided to leave the cup warming my
hands for the time being.

"Why were you arguing
with him anyway?" Hawthorne said. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I asked to go visit my
family for a few days, he said no. They still think I'm living on
the other side of the country."

"You know he never lets
anyone disappear for long without a good reason."

"I
know,"
I huffed, "I just
can't stand him being in charge all the time. Dictating everything
for us, making us do whatever he wants. No one ever stands up to
him. Other alphas protect their packs, he just uses us."

Hawthorne waited
patiently for me to finish. I had a lot more I could say about
Cyan, but I held it in for now. I knew most of my frustration was
directed at myself for being unable to resist our alpha in the
first place. I took a deep breath.

"So you don't like Cyan
either, Thorn?"

"Does anyone really
like him?" He sighed. "He's our leader, he doesn't have to be
liked. And unless someone feels like challenging him, I don't think
we'll be getting a new alpha any time soon."

I scowled, knowing he
was right. The only way Cyan would step down would be if someone
made him. His instinct wouldn't let him otherwise. "So you came all
the way out here just to avoid... us?"

"I don't like what he
does with you."

I suddenly realised
that Thorn was one of the few males who'd never made a move on me.
In fact, he was the only one without a mate who hadn't. Did he find
me offensive somehow? I felt flames of anger licking up inside
me.

"Someone has to do it."
I said pointedly.

"Alright then, not
what
he
does, but the way he does it."

The flames flickered
out. "You and me both."

We sat quietly for a
while sipping our tea. The soreness between my legs was already
starting to fade as the special herbs took effect. Hawthorne seemed
happy to indulge my company, but he didn't seem any more talkative
than usual.

"So why aren't you in
your wolf form?" I asked to break the silence, "you wouldn't need a
fire or a campsite then. You'd be safer, too."

When Thorn's eyes
flicked up to meet mine I realised I already knew the reason why.
There was only one reason you went out alone in the woods at night
without a coat of fur and a pair of sharp teeth.

"The same reason you
avoid your wolf around other people."

I swallowed and looked
down into my tea. In your wolf form your instinct was more intense
than usual. More difficult to fight. I didn't like to risk it
around the other males, so I kept to the woods as much as I could.
I didn't know what Thorn's instinct was, but he was out here by
himself to try and quiet it. I suddenly felt like an intruder,
waltzing in on my fellow pack member's quiet time. How would I feel
if another male approached me in the woods when I was trying to
avoid thinking about my instinct?

"Sorry." I said
lamely.

"Don't be. It's not
like you're going to pounce on me, are you?"

"I'm fine for a while
after... mating." I felt myself flush. It was common knowledge to
the pack, but I felt uncomfortable talking about it with Hawthorne.
Part of me craved to know what his instinct was, but I knew how I'd
feel if our positions were reversed. If there was one topic I
didn't want to discuss in depth with strangers, it was my
uncontrollable desires.

"Go on, ask." He said
wearily, draining his cup.

"What?"

"Ask me about my
instinct. I can tell you're dying to."

I was put out for a
moment, unsure of how to respond. "Well... fine! What is it
then?"

Hawthorne closed his
eyes and laid back on the bedroll, running a hand through his
chestnut hair. It was the same colour as mine.

"You know how you were
when the pack first found you?" He began.

"Yes," I nodded, "I was completely wild looking for a mate. I
can't remember much of it, but they said I'd been half-crazy until
they... they calmed me down." I didn't want to say
until
Cyan dragged me back to his tent and fucked me
.

Hawthorne nodded. "The
first night I turned I was looking for a mate as well. I found one,
after I'd worked myself up into a frenzy. She wasn't lucky enough
to have her pack around to help her," he paused, "I ended up
hurting her very badly." He waited, letting me absorb it. I knew I
could get aggressive at times when my instinct was flaring up, but
from the gravity in Hawthorne's voice this sounded even worse.

"Is it that bad?" I
asked.

"Why do you think I'm
so low down in the hierarchy?"

I hadn't thought about
that before. Hawthorne was almost as big as Cyan, large and
muscular, an excellent hunter, and handy with plants as well, it
seemed. A wolf like him should have been his alpha's number one,
but instead Thorn was relegated to somewhere near the bottom of the
pack, like me. Neither of us got the pick of the food, our
belongings were old and poorly made, and our voices counted for
less amongst the pack.

"So I
go crazy without a mate, and you go crazy
with
one?" I said.

"That's why I don't
like to hang around while you're in Cyan's tent."

"And it's why you've
never asked to come into mine." I sipped my tea, feeling a strange
bond of companionship with my quiet partner. All this time I'd
never realised there was someone else in the pack so similar to me.
Why hadn't he confided in me before? Or maybe that would only have
made things worse. The best way to avoid your instinct was often to
try and ignore it. "Let me know the next time you're coming out
here, okay?"

"Okay." Thorn said.

"It sounds like we both
need a place we can get away from the pack for a while, away from
those kinds of distractions."

He gave me a murmur of
agreement, and I began to get up to leave.

"Stay tonight," he sat
up suddenly, "we don't have to be back till morning."

"Won't I distract
you?"

"Not if you promise not
to." He smiled. I returned the grin and sat back down.

"I promise. Toss me a
blanket?"

Thorn extracted a
blanket from his bedroll and sent it my way, and I curled up
between the roots of a tree across from him. It would be nice to
sleep in the company of someone else for once, without the rest of
the pack and Cyan nearby.

"Sweet dreams wolfie."
Thorn said, and I let my eyes droop shut in the comfort of his
company.

I felt his hands
tracing the curves of my body. His soft green eyes glowed in the
dark, his warm mouth inviting me in as I kissed it. The weight of
Hawthorne's body pressed down on mine, holding me helpless with my
wrists pinned against the carpet of dead leaves. There was no
reluctance like there was with Cyan, I was giving myself up to him
eagerly. Even as I saw the dangerous glint in his eyes I was
pressing my hips up against him, whimpering as I begged him to take
me. My body heaved against his bare chest, feeling the contours of
his muscular form caress me. His knees trapped my legs against the
ground, dominating me, claiming me. I could hear the uncompromising
growl of desire deep in his throat, reverberating through his chest
and making me quiver in anticipation. I longed to feel him inside
me. I wanted him to take me over and over again. I would be his
mate, his submissive wolfess. There was no anger or shame, only
passionate desire, and even as his lips drew back from his teeth
and fangs began to sprout from the wolf's muzzle I couldn't muster
the energy to resist. Not until the fangs latched on to my neck and
sunk into my skin.