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CHAOS RULED IN THE cabin.
“Go!”
Noelle snapped into action, as Warren jumped on Derek's back. She got to the door, then, at the last second, turned to see Derek's teeth sink into Warren's shoulder.
Never leave a man behind. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, she worked the weak floorboard underneath her feet until it came free. Derek turned to her. His eyes were yellow and his mouth gaped open exposing menacing teeth. He was so fast. With one leap he'd tackled her to the ground. Oh, we were not having a repeat of the morning's shenanigans. Noelle felt around for the flimsy wood.
God forgive me.
She swung the board. The wound in her shoulder ached in protest. Crack. The wood connected with Derek's side. He howled, but didn't turn away. She was cornered behind the door. Warren was alert and had Derek trapped in an armbar. His eyes turned yellow and when she blinked again he was a wolf. Holy mother of God.
Any lingering doubts she'd had about the day's events disappeared. These were people. These were animals. One of them was her son. Even in wolf form, it was easy to tell the two apart. Derek was smaller and unsteady on four legs. The fur on his face and back was black, while his belly and legs were light brown resembling an oversized German Shepherd.
On the other hand, Warren was much bigger. His entire body had brownish-red fur like the hair on his head except for a patch of white around his nose.
Against a man, wolf Derek might have stood a chance. When Warren turned wolf, the fight was over in seconds. After a couple of rough bites to his hindquarters and a swat to the nose, Derek cowered in submission.
Warren padded over to her, sniffed her bloodied hands and shoulder. He howled twice, then laid down at her feet licking blood off his fur.
A few moments later, Matt and a short blonde rushed into the cabin. Matt stood guard by the door while the woman offered her a hand up. Noelle tried to stand, but her feet gave out from under her.
The woman smiled. “That's okay. I'll do the heavy lifting.” Her voice was muddled as if she spoke underwater.
As if she weighed no more than a pallet of pillows, the blonde woman swooped Noelle into her arms and carried her out the cabin like the muscled men on the cover of one of Ma's bodice rippers.
Noelle tried to ask about Derek, Warren, and whatever the hell else was happening, but the woman acted like she didn't even hear her.
* * *
AFTER SWITCHING BACK to human form, Warren couldn't help grinning from ear to ear. Sure, it started out as a total clusterfuck, but lookit his boy now. Everything that could have gone wrong, did and yet Derek was still alive. He must have gotten it from his mother.
His joy was short lived as Jake's silhouette appeared in the doorway. With a sour look on her face, she tapped a sneakered foot against the floorboards.
“The boy?”
Warren jerked his head to a darkened corner where Derek laid silent, obedient, watching. “The hard part is over. I'll work with him on changing back.”
“No, you won't.” She left her shoes at the door, then entered the cabin shedding her tank top.
Warren widened his eyes in surprise. The one who helped you transition to wolf always helped you go back to human. He grunted softly.
“You've done enough. I'll stay with the boy. You and Matt are in charge until tomorrow night. Don't bother me.” Jake finished stripping without another word.
Warren left, closing the door. More wolves had arrived since he'd been locked in the cabin with Derek and Noelle. A barrage of emotions hit him each with a different, powerful scent. Too much. He needed to clear his head.
Before he got to the main house, Stace approached him with a face full of accusation.
“This is how you welcome new members to the pack?” she signed. A series of well-timed grunts and gestures not included in the official American Sign Language dictionary accompanied her words. “She's tough and mostly unharmed. Good thing too. Reggie is stuck at work in Queens. Won't be up until morning. Lola's caring for an old one who can't make it to the compound. What if she was hurt worse?”
“I understand,” Warren signed. “I'm sorry to put you in such a bad spot.” His hands moved slowly, body hunched over. These tired bones had been at it since dawn and he'd only had a coffee.
Stace enveloped him in a much needed hug. Their wolves connected and shared sympathetic snorts and whines. When they separated he was still tired, but in much better spirits.
“I'll bring you some food. Meanwhile, you should see her. She was worried about you.”
Stace kept going toward the cabin. Warren caught up with her, tapping her on the shoulder, then shaking his head. “Don't. She's pissed. Doesn't want to see anyone.”
Stace threw up her hands, then used a vulgar sign that needed no translation. She fell in beside him as he headed for the main house.
“Hunter's Moon is supposed to be fun. Food. Games. Chasing stuff. What's going on? Everyone is stressed out.”
“A lot. Derek, the new wolf we didn't know about until Thursday, just transitioned. The Balt are having a holiday and more of them will be around than the usual two.”
“Oh, that's all we need. Those animals.”
Stace excused herself to join the kitchen crew. There were only a handful of people prepping veggies. By morning, Luna's staff would arrive, turning the kitchen into a hive of mixing, sautéing, baking, and roasting. A visiting Nuru led the group in an enthusiastically off key version of Jay-Z's “Empire State of Mind”.
Stacey had put Noelle in a small room at the end of the hall on the third floor. It was simply furnished with a bed, night table, and standing fan.
Noelle was asleep on her side. Her curly brown hair spilled over her shoulders in a dark wave. It was as beautiful in real life as he had imagined. A light sheet covered her body, but did nothing to hide the sweet curve of her hips and gentle swell of her breasts. She was beautiful. Adding to her beauty was strength. In the past twenty-four hours, everything she had known about her life had been turned upside down. She fought him in the beginning, but in the cocoon he sensed a new acceptance and understanding. She was human, but part of her was becoming a wolf.
Wasn't easy to have a relationship with a human. They didn't live as long as wolves. There was day to day stuff humans just didn't get.
The tightening in his groin didn't care. Warren slid under the sheet and curled his body around hers. He laid a hand on her hip. A vision of thrusting into her from behind while holding on to those wide hips stiffened his already hardened cock. Nope. That wouldn't do. Time to go run.
He shifted to leave the bed, but Noelle's hand on his thigh stopped him.
“Don't go,” she said in a husky whisper. Sweet Mother Moon. Her eyes were open, inviting him to drown in her dark gaze.
Warren laid back down. “Feeling better?”
“Much. How's Derek?”
“Jake is watching him.”
“She's pissed with me.”
“She's pissed with me too.”
“What did you do?”
He sighed. “Everything wrong. I hurt you. I injured Derek. I–”
Soft, thick lips met his and he immediately forgot the rest of his rant. Gentle hands cupped his face and he leaned in, savoring her kiss.
He touched his tongue to her lips and she parted them, inviting him inside. Aching to touch the body beneath him, he pulled the sheet aside then ran a hand along Noelle's side. Sweet Mother Moon. She had the body of a goddess. Soft and round in all the right places. She wrapped a hand around his neck pulling him closer.
It was agony to pull away from such sweetness, but better treats awaited. He kissed along her jawline to her ear. Nibbled it a bit. A sensual moan rewarded him. Traveling lower with the tip of his tongue, he traced down her neck to the well of her shoulder. He worked at her neck, nibbling and licking until she writhed under him clutching at his back with needy hands.
“No, no, my sweet,” he whispered against her ear. “I want to savor you.”
* * *
SHE FELT HIM BEFORE he walked in the room. Maybe it was being around all these wolf people, but all of her senses had ratcheted up to eleven. Things she hadn't noticed before became sharpened. The earthy scent of the forest no fancy candle company could replicate. The softness of the well-worn sheets. The heat of a naked Warren curled against her.
This was nothing like being naked with under a heap of blankets, her son sprouting fur and fangs. He'd been right, of course. There was nothing sexual about the transition ritual. It was a scary, unpredictable event that nothing in her thirty-nine years could ever have prepared her for.
A few moments later, Warren shifted and moved to get out of bed.
“Don't go,” she said reaching for him.
She looked at him with new eyes, eyes sensitive needs. The man was tired, worried and painfully turned on. She couldn't do anything about Derek or Jake or anything wolf related, but she could do something about his hard-on.
Ignoring the fast fading pain in her shoulder, Noelle reached for Warren bringing their lips together in a kiss. He responded with enthusiasm removing the sheet while deepening the kiss.
He hit the sweet spot right behind her ear and her nipples hardened into pebbles. His mouth continued torturing her neck with heated kisses and the occasional nip.
Ay, Dios mio! How she wanted this man. Her hands developed minds of their own, caressing his back and urging him toward her breasts.
He was having none of it. Once done with one side of her neck he attacked the other. He reached around his back and somehow got both her hands in one of his above her head.
Helpless in her desire, she rolled her hips and thrust up toward him, a tempting offer of desperation.
He rumbled low in his throat as he took a nipple into his mouth. A gush of wetness between her legs. A whimper. Please take me.
His hand moved between her thighs, stroking her with slow, torturous caresses until he reached her aching clit. A desperate moan broken by a punishing kiss, Warren took her mouth hard and demanding like she knew he would take her body. He rolled his hips against her, teasing his length against her heat. She bucked back. The raw, animal sound he made struck her to the core. Wanton need consumed her and she spread her legs offering what she knew he couldn't resist.
“Sweet Mother Moon,” he growled.
Noelle gasped, back arched as he plunged inside her, filling her. Holy shit. Hot, burning kisses along her neck fed the growing flame within. All thoughts of the extraordinary day floated away. Warren savored her, devoured her, ravished her with his mouth and cock. How long since she'd been loved this way? Too long. Noelle bucked her hips against him desperate to have him all. He teased her, pulling out and rubbing the tip along her clit. The devilish look in his eyes made her even wetter. When she thought she couldn't take it any more he delved into her all over again, each thrust taking her higher.
The first orgasm hit her slow, sleepy, washing over her like a soft breeze. While she coasted in bliss, he picked up the pace moving faster, harder, reigniting the flame within.
“You're a goddess,” he said with a breathy sigh. “I love to see you come.”
“Am I now?” She wiggled her hips beneath him. “Show me how you worship me.”
With eyes full of mischief, he slid down her body. Tongue and fingers worked her intimate flesh, building a need so intense she begged for release. He obeyed his goddess. Once. Twice. She lost count. He worshipped at the temple between her thighs until she couldn't bear his touch.
“Are you satisfied, my goddess?”
What a loaded question. He'd given her more pleasure than any man had before, but it wasn't enough. “I think we should do it again. Just in case.” She rolled onto her hands and knees. Spread her legs. Met his eyes over her shoulder. Warren growled, a deep rumble from the back of his throat. Her body ached for him again.
He took her hard and fast this time. His orgasm was loud, raw, exciting. The heady musk of sex filled her nostrils as he hardened again without leaving her heat. The more she had him, the more she wanted him. Noelle lost herself in ecstasy as she and Warren became a singular being, the most dedicated devotee to goddess of pleasure.