Wolf Tales II (4 page)

She’d learned quickly to block out things she didn’t want to hear, but it was impossible to completely prevent herself from eavesdropping on private mental conversations between the men. She’d already admitted to Stefan that she’d learned tonight he would shift, that Anton would help him. She knew Anton didn’t believe she was ready.

Xandi hadn’t tried it yet, but there was no doubt in her mind she was ready. Her skin seemed to crawl at times. Her bones felt almost fluid, liquid, until she brought her errant body under control. Only one thing held her back. Her period was due any time, but Anton had told her to expect very little blood.

Now that her body was becoming more and more
Chanku
, her reproductive organs would be changing. Instead of shedding the unneeded lining of her uterus, she would be sending out powerful pheromones, making her irresistible to the males. Though reproduction was by choice -- the female
Chanku
must consciously act to release an egg for fertilization while in wolf form -- males of the species were attracted by a female in heat, much as any canine male would be to one of its own breed.

She understood that shifting for the first time would be easier during this time because her body’s hormones and basic chemical make up would be perfectly aligned for the change, but once she gained her lupine form, the men would come -- both of them. They would come for her. Two drop-dead, gorgeous men, unable to fight their need to mate the Alpha female.

She would have the final approval of a mate, but her own lust would be running high and hot. Did she want to risk something she knew to be inevitable? Sex with both Anton and Stefan, whether in human or animal form? Two virile, handsome men, intent on giving her pleasure?

Laughing aloud, Xandi tilted her face up to the stinging spray and let the water cascade over her throat and breasts. She must be mad. She had to be completely insane, to think she’d even hesitate over such an amazing possibility.

Chapter 4

Stefan stood facing Anton, picturing the sight they must make -- two powerfully built men of similar height, one covered completely in a coat of silver tipped fur, the other sporting the standard male hair-growth pattern -- chest, belly, groin, legs. He should have felt uncomfortable, naked, alone with the man who had introduced him to his first homosexual experience, the two of them together in the midst of a small clearing surrounded by towering pines -- he should have been, but he wasn’t. Instead, he was filled with anticipation. Excitement thrummed through his veins, pounded in his chest.

He’d been erect, his cock as hard as stone since leaving Xandi’s side. When Anton directed him to disrobe, the wizard had glanced at Stefan’s cock and nodded approval. There’d been nothing sexual in his perusal, merely the acknowledgment that Stefan was ready to attempt the shift. Anton’s cock had been only partially tumescent, yet Stefan’s erection was proof his blood was running hot and high, that his entire system was primed and ready to explode.

Moonlight cut between the trees, bathing the area in a silver glow bisected with stark shadows. Stefan put his clothes aside and followed Anton’s directions, to empty his mind of all thought, to sense the forest around him, to open his mind to Anton’s.

I want you to join me, to be a part of my thoughts when I make the shift. Feel what I feel, sense what I do. Then do exactly the same. Don’t fight the sensation. You will feel vertigo, a massive distortion of perception as your body adjusts. It’s normal. Remember -- do exactly as I do.

Anton’s words sounded loud and clear in his mind. Stefan nodded his agreement. His breath caught in his throat. There was something totally elemental about this moment, this sharing with the man he’d grown to love.

He felt Anton’s hands resting lightly on his shoulders. Stefan reached out and placed his own palms against Anton’s warm flesh.

Close your eyes. Concentrate on what I feel. What my body does.

Stefan’s fingers trembled against Anton’s shoulders. He sighed, took another deep breath. Opened his mind, forced his body to relax.

Felt Anton begin to shift.

* * *

Naked, Xandi watched the two men from her hiding place in the thick ferns that grew beside the small meadow. Her enhanced night vision made the moonlit meadow as bright as day. Her perceptive mind picked up Anton’s thoughts as if he spoke aloud.

She closed her eyes and felt the changes within Anton’s body as well as Stefan’s, then mimicked them with her own. Her limbs turned loose and fluid, her muscles lost their tone,
her
bones no longer shaped her frame. It felt like it took hours, but lasted mere seconds, the subtle changes blossoming, racing through veins and arteries, crossing synapses, altering flesh and bone in a million different ways, re-patterning her body, her blood, her very brain.

Disoriented, she shook her head, suddenly aware she viewed the ground beneath her long muzzle. Sitting back on her haunches, Xandi held one large paw up to her face, inspecting the thick toenails, the dark pads. Her coloring was not the same as Stefan’s. The fur covering her body was a deep russet, the same shade as her own hair. She stared at her foot for a long time, mesmerized by the difference from its human counterpart, then realized the night around her had come alive with sound and movement and life. She blinked, turned her head, aware her long ears shifted to catch the sounds from the meadow.

Moving with quiet stealth, she rose slowly to her feet and peered through the shrubbery. Two dark wolves stood nose to tail in the midst of the meadow, sniffing one another like a couple of large dogs. She would have laughed if she hadn’t felt the urge to join them. Stefan’s identity was obvious, the silver tips of his fur already familiar to her, the wolven head essentially unchanged.

Anton was black all over. Only his eyes gleamed amber in the moonlight. He raised his nose and sniffed the air, turning to stare directly at Xandi. She held perfectly still, well aware her scent could give her away. She’d taken the gamble, hoped that her period would wait until tomorrow. She hadn’t considered the fact her scent might already be loaded with the pheromones Anton had warned her about.

She drew back into the shrubbery, hoping to remain hidden. Stefan still seemed unaware of her presence, but Anton knew. His voice came into her mind, his thoughts directed solely at Xandi.

Are you sure this is what you want? You have put yourself at great risk,
Alexandria
. I sense your heat is only hours away. It will be hard enough for us to control our lusts in human form. Impossible as wolves.

Xandi took a deep breath and stepped out of the thick overgrowth.
Let me run with you tonight. I promise to shift back before it’s too late. Please?

Xandi?
Stefan’s hackles rose. He stepped between her and Anton.

It’s okay, my love. I couldn’t wait.
She opened her mouth, her long tongue lolling out in her closest approximation of a flirtatious grin.
I want to run with the wolves tonight.

She turned and dashed into the forest, her tail waving high as a flag. Anton and Stefan raced close behind. Leading the two males, running through the thick woods with her senses alive and her instincts more powerful than she’d imagined, Xandi finally knew the true meaning of freedom.

* * *

There was nothing sexual in their run through the dense forest, but it was by far the most sensual thing Xandi had ever experienced. Racing with forelegs outstretched, ears flattened against her skull, nostrils flaring to catch the myriad scents surrounding her, she felt as if this amazing body were one huge nerve ending, sensitive to any and everything she passed.

The steady sounds of Stefan on her right and Anton on her left, the two huge males keeping pace with her smaller, fleeter body, gave her a sense of power she’d not felt before. Her perception of all around her was different, no longer quite so human, though she realized her humanity still ruled her thoughts. Her lungs drew in huge drafts of air, her eyes saw through the moonlit night as if it were high noon, and her long legs were powerful enough to leap small streams, bound over fallen logs, even outdistance the two larger wolves pacing her.

They ran for hours, covered miles. At one point they chased a rabbit into the ground, finally giving up on the terrified creature when it cowered beneath a huge fallen tree, out of their reach. Laughing, tongues lolling, the three spun away as if losing the race had been their plan all along, but Xandi knew she would have killed the tiny creature without a second thought. She’d salivated during the hunt, snapping ferociously at Stefan when he’d gotten between her and her prey.

For a brief moment she wondered how her human self would be affected by the changes wrought in her tonight, but the worry fled on the night wind, fled with the sheer exuberance, the complete exhilaration she felt in this amazing body.

Snapping joyfully at Anton’s flank, she sped off ahead of the two males through the thick woods. They followed close behind, one on either side. It wasn’t until the sky began to lighten on the eastern horizon that Anton turned their mad run through the forest back in the direction of his home.

Exhausted now, feet no longer so swift, breathing not as smooth and effortless, Xandi padded along behind the two males. Only Anton’s tail was still held high. Stefan’s drooped down behind him, as did Xandi’s. Even with the long runs she’d taken over the past days, she had to admit her conditioning needed improvement.

They reached the broad lawn behind Anton’s home just as the sun crested the mountains to the east. Exhausted, legs quivering and tongue lolling, Xandi collapsed in the cool grass with Stefan close beside her. They lay close together, panting, eyes half closed, as the morning unfolded. Xandi wondered if Stefan relived the hours past. Finally she sent a questioning thought his way.

He answered her almost immediately.
My God! Did you ever imagine…

Never, not in my wildest dreams. Anton?
She looked around, searching for the wizard, but he was nowhere to be seen.
I wonder where he’s gone?

He’ll be back, you know. He wants you.

I know. How do you really feel about that?
Xandi leaned closer and nuzzled Stefan’s muzzle.
You know I want both of you, don’t you? Is that so wrong?

Before Stefan could answer, Anton the man, no longer a wolf, walked down the front stairs. He’d obviously showered and shaved. Dressed in a pair of black jeans and a snug tee shirt, his feet bare, his long hair hanging loosely behind him, he looked relaxed and at home.

Xandi suddenly felt sweaty and dirty, almost embarrassed by her wolven form. Stefan sat up on his haunches, obviously wondering what Anton intended.

“It’s time for you both to shift back to your human form. I think you’re capable of doing it without my help.” He nodded first to Stefan, then to Xandi. “Can you reverse the process?”

Xandi went into her mind, realized she could sense her humanity as an image that drew her out of her wolven body. She was hardly aware of the vertigo this time, merely a change in perception as her vision shifted from that of the wolf to a woman’s.

Stefan watched her, and she sensed his mind following her patterns. His bestial body seemed to waver, to shift. The silver-tipped fur disappeared, the face altered and adjusted, and for the first time Xandi saw Stefan, the man, standing before her.

Naked, without the fur covering his body, he was more beautiful than anything she could imagine. Strong and muscular, his lean chest powerfully sculpted with a mat of silver-tipped hair stretching between his flat, copper colored nipples, muscles rippling across his abdomen -- he had the body of an athlete in his prime.

His face, though… she reached up and touched the side of his face, running her fingers along his jaw line, tracing his full, sensual lips, threading through the long hair hanging to his shoulders. Black, shot through with silver, thick and straight, it framed his face perfectly. She’d never seen his face, only vaguely recalled what he looked like from his publicity shots while he was still performing as Aragat the Magician.

There was something familiar, though, something that made her turn and stare at Anton. The resemblance was extraordinary. “You could be brothers,” she said. “You look so much alike.”

Anton shook his head. “No. Possibly distant cousins, but I’ve checked our lineage. The resemblance is purely coincidental.” He nodded at both of them, smiling. “Bathe, dress,
join
me for breakfast. We have much to discuss.” He bent close and lifted Xandi’s chin in his lean fingers, stared into her eyes for a long moment, then leaned closer and kissed her.

Though she’d expected something like this, she was startled by her body’s reaction, the immediate shock of desire that settled in the pit of her stomach, swirled about until it settled in her pussy, deep in the heart of her sex.

He backed away, stared at her for a long moment, then turned and went back into the house. Almost afraid to look at Stefan, Xandi finally turned toward him.

He was smiling. His look was tender, his head tilted to one side, his amber eyes glowing in the morning light.

Feeling lighter than she could remember, Xandi kissed Stefan on the lips, then led him up the stairs to their room.