Werewulf Journals 3: Hungry Pleasures (27 page)

Brandon ducked his head. “Yeah.”

“So was I. Delin wasn’t, but it’s been years since he’s been allowed off pack lands and no pack bitch would tolerate him near her. He’s horny, hungry, and he can smell dinner perpetually out of reach.”

“What do you mean?”

Now it was Ruff’s turn to eye Brandon askance. “You gonna tell me you didn’t

recognize the scent?”

“What scent?”

148

Camille Anthony

“The breed -- Pavel’s lady, cub. She’s an unmated breed, but if this afternoon is

anything to go by, she won’t be for long. Her scent’s been driving most of us insane with lust, but none of us is stupid enough to challenge that wulf for his bitch. I don’t know why he hasn’t marked her because I know he’s fucked her -- she’s inundated with his musk.” The usually laid-back wulf ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling the ordered locks. “I wish he’d hurry up -- piss or get off the pot -- because she’s pumping out some of the strongest

‘fuck me’ pheromones ever to singe my nostrils.”

Brandon laughed nervously. “That’s why I was so jittery around her. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, but I thought it was because she is so beautiful. Her color is so rich and dark and those curves…” he sighed. “Man, Pavel is a lucky dog.”

Ruff smirked. “I don’t know why you’re going on about her when your pack bitch is

darker and rounder than she is. Weren’t you at the wedding earlier this season?”

Brandon gave him a shocked glare. “Man, if you think I raised my eyes above knee high at that ceremony, you’re on the good stuff. Hunter let all us know in no uncertain terms what he’d do to the wulf that even dared meet her eyes. I know what her ankles looked like, wrapped around his hips while he was mating her, but that’s about it.”

Ruff looked pensive. “Pavel hasn’t said anything. That’s what makes this situation so volatile. Maybe he doesn’t plan to mate her permanently. If not, that means she’ll be up for grabs when he’s finished with her.”

Brandon knew better. “Don’t count on that, dude. I saw how he was with her. I don’t

know what he’s waiting for, but that’s a mated pair if I’ve ever seen one.”

A dejected sigh was Ruff’s answer. “Yeah, you’re most likely right. Not saying I agree with him, but sometimes I can feel Delin’s pain. Human females are nice when there’s a famine, but we can never let loose with them. We must always be aware of how fragile they are…how easily they break. We can’t even do midchange on them and a fuck’s just not a fuck without a little claw and fang, know what I mean?”

Brandon glanced over at Rosemary, recalling how gentle he thought he’d been and still she’d panted under him, grunting at the strength of his thrusts and whimpering how hard he’d fucked her. Afterwards, she’d claimed to like it, but now he wondered. Had he hurt her?

Had she only pretended to enjoy being with him so as not to hurt his feelings? He hoped not.

He wanted to give her in return the same pleasure she gave to him…

Ruff’s hand fell on his shoulder, bringing his attention back to the present. “Dude,

you’re stressing too much. Dwelling on it isn’t going to make it any easier. Let’s collect our clients and get them headed to their appointments. We can talk in private while they’re eating dinner. I want to run something by you…something I think Pavel should be made

aware of.”

Werewulf Journals 3: Hungry Pleasures

149

Sperm Cocktail

Pavel laughed himself weak. Goddess, but this woman brought him more joy than he

could hold inside. She twisted his guts into knots, too, but that was to be expected. Bitches had been doing the same to their hapless mates since time immemorial.

“No, my heart, you won’t turn into a wulf. I’m not contagious and I don’t have a

disease. I used the word werewolf because it was the closest to what I knew you’d

understand.”

Kaila relaxed against the mattress. “You mean you lied? But I saw you turn into a

wolf…”

“You saw me take on fur form.” Knowing his duty to his new mate, Pavel reached

between her legs and scooped up a dollop of their comingled juices. The emotions that tangled his heart as he brought it to his mark on her neck could not be described in human words. Never had he felt so connected to another. Not even his close relationship with Rickard during those dark and desperate years could compare to the maelstrom of feelings bombarding him right now.

He winced, euphoria popping like an overblown bubblegum wad when she jerked and

screamed. “Ow, goddamn it!” Glaring at him, she slapped a hand against the bite mark on her neck. “What the hell did you smear on that bite? Sucker burns like a mother!”

“Some of my sperm,” he answered, pulling her hand away. “It sets the mark so all

others will know I’ve claimed you as mine. Leave it alone. It has healing properties and will make sure there’s no infection. It will stop hurting in a minute,” he added when she

continued to frown at him.

“You could warn a person, you know.”

What he knew was she wasn’t really angry at him. “I would never hurt you unless it

was absolutely necessary.” He held out his arms. “Come cuddle. I have a lot to tell you.”

150

Camille Anthony

Both her brows lifted. “More stuff? I don’t think I can handle anything else right now, Pavel.”

He drew her into his arms and settled down beside her. “I want you to know

everything about me. I want to tell you of my past, what I want for us in the

future…everything.”

She nodded, settling the covers about them. “Start with the part about me not turning into a werewolf.”

The chuckle that escaped surprised him. He had never laughed so much until Kaila. It

felt good. “I’m a wulf, honey, spelled W-U-L-F. Before our breeding program, we had only two forms: the fighting one and our four-legged one. We gained our skin form, the shape I’m in now, by splicing human DNA into our genetic codex. We are an alien race that crash-landed here on Earth. I say alien, but in truth, we have almost as much right to the planet as humans. We helped your ancestors tame fire. In fact, we taught the Chinese writing.”

“Oh, you did not!” Kaila slapped his shoulder, her twinkling brown eyes filled with

mirth. “Next you’ll be saying your people were responsible for civilizing the planet…”

He didn’t say anything, just lay beside her and watched the mirth give way to wonder.

“You are shitting me!”

“No. I would never claim you humans did nothing to help yourselves along, but my

people had a large hand in seeing things didn’t go to hell in a hand basket. After all, Earth was the only planet we had.”

Kaila let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t want a history report, interesting as it might be. Get to the good stuff. Like, how have you guys been here all along and we humans never caught on?”

“A wulf who can’t maintain skin form will find him or herself confined to pack lands.

From a cub, we’re taught the discipline of maintaining our skin form, developing the mental muscle so it becomes a thing of visceral control, much like breathing. Secrecy from humanity continues to be our shield -- protection for both species. A wulf endangering the status quo commits the gravest crime against the pack -- one still punishable by death.”

Kaila looked skeptical. “You mean in all that time, no one twigged? That is so bogus.”

“Well, some have caught on…sort of. Look at all the stories of werewolves and things

that go bump in the night,” he pointed out dryly. “Your ancestors knew plenty. They knew enough to come in when the sun set. Why do you think Ben Franklin shared his studies on the phases of the moon like he did?”

“You are NOT going to tell me Ben Franklin was a wulf!”

Pavel grinned. “Okay. Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

“Pavel!”

Werewulf Journals 3: Hungry Pleasures

151

But he was one of us. It has always been our policy to have men close to those in

power, if not the one wielding said power. Ben was a great wulf, a wonderful statesman for both our people.

He watched Kaila’s eyes widen as she realized he hadn’t opened his mouth while

speaking to her. Her voice shook as she asked, “How did you do that? Make me hear you without having your mouth moving.”

I’ve bitten you, shared DNA with you more than once. We’re mated. Wulf pairs are

telepathic, sharing that connection within our dens. Alphas can speak to multiple wulves, but most wulves can only communicate between their mates and cubs and other close family members.

You did it again! I was watching! You didn’t

r

throw you voice or anything like that.

You’re talking in my head!

Yes, and you’re talking in mine.

“I am not!”

“You did. Just now. Don’t worry, sweetness,” he soothed, brushing her hair back from

her forehead before laying back down and propping his head on his crossed hands, “it will get easier the longer you do it.”

“This is too freaky!”

“It’s simply the way we talk intimately.” He shifted uneasily, wishing he hadn’t

promised her total honesty. “The way you’re responding to mindspeak, thinking it’s…freaky as you say, makes me hesitate to tell you about your true nature…”

“What are you talking about, wolf-boy?”

He could feel her sharpened gaze boring into him, smell her confusion and growing

trepidation. Pavel sighed. He had a feeling his next confession was going to be almost as difficult as coming out to her as a wulf. How do you tell a woman she’s part alien without her laughing in your face?

“You’re a breed female, Kaila. One of the prized rare humans born with modified wulf

DNA, capable of bearing wulf young.” He chanced a glance up and over to find Kaila sitting up beside him, face blank with shock, disbelief, and growing anger.

“My mother and father were deeply in love. When she died, my dad almost crawled

into the coffin with her. The only reason he didn’t was because he’d promised to finish raising us four children. She never cheated on him a day in her life, wasn’t capable of thinking it.”

“Sweetheart --!”

“No!” She slapped her hands over her ears. “There’s nothing you can say that will make me believe you. I’ll put up with a lot, but don’t ever even hint at that again!”

Kaila…baby, I’m not saying your mother was unfaithful. I think she was a breed, or

your father is. One of them passed the gene to you.

152

Camille Anthony

“You’re doing that mind thing again. Stop it.”

Her accusatory tone made his lips curl up in a fond smile. “You wouldn’t listen to me any other way. Besides, it’s a natural way to communicate between mates…get used to it.

Now, are you ready to hear me out?”

She gave a curt nod.

“Okay. We were an Armada -- ten ships, each holding five thousand soldiers, scientists and officials -- sent as troop reinforcements for a war that had dragged on centuries, as well as the honor guard and personal bodyguards for the provisional government. History says a traitor in our midst sabotaged the navigation system and homing beacon, before sending us millions of parsecs off course. We ended up here, on Earth, castaways with no way home.

Our leaders and scientists knew we were doomed as a species if we couldn’t find a way to propagate ourselves, but there were so few females available. We were warriors, not family groups, and the female officers and scientists were quickly claimed by the Alphas among us, leaving the majority sexually deprived. The hungrier they became, the greater grew the risk of rebellion.”

“My god, it sounds like a George Lucas film.”

“It does, but this was no movie, and the danger to this new world’s original inhabitants was very real. You’ve seen my true shape. Can you imagine intelligent wolves rampaging among the primitive peoples, eating and fucking at will?”

“Fucking?” She raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Pavel sat up and turned toward her. Some things had to be said face-to-face, couldn’t be said in words. “There were no wolves on Earth when we crash-landed. Our first breeding program involved us mating with the native wild dogs. The result was the animals you know as wolves. But that program was abandoned when we found the offspring, though enhanced with some of our attributes, remained only borderline sentient. We found humans closer to what we wanted, but feared our genetic makeup were too dissimilar.”

Kaila chewed on her bottom lip. “I can understand that…I guess…but if you guys only

had your battle form -- which I haven’t seen, by the way -- and your animal form, how could you mate with human women?”

“Involuntarily…on both sides, I’m afraid. Simply, my ancestors raped the primitive

women, hoping their seed would take. Most times it did not. On the rare occasions it did, often the child died during infancy. And the women almost always died during delivery.”

“Your ancestors don’t sound too nice.”

Pavel shrugged. “They weren’t. They were desperate creatures trying to ensure our

species’ survival. For all they knew, the war we had been headed toward ended in total annihilation of both sides, leaving us the only wulves in existence.”

“Well, you’re still here, so they obviously found a solution.”

Werewulf Journals 3: Hungry Pleasures

153

“Yes, they did. The new breeding program was designed to be long-term, to provide

mates generations into the future. Our scientists found a way to modify our volunteers by capturing humans and extracting their DNA, injecting both the wulf and the human with the mixed cocktail. If they survived the atomic and molecular tampering, they were tagged, bred, and released back into the human population.”

“But how did that help the males who had no mates?”

Pavel switched to mindspeak. Please don’t be angry when I tell you. Remember, it was

eons ago. Our people were barbaric and ruthless; they had no mercy for those weaker than themselves and they saw the human race as inferior.

Kaila ran her hand down his cheek, offering sympathy. “Just say it, Pavel. I’m not going to judge you by what your five times removed ancestors did. If I took that angle, I’d have no white friends and my life would be barren, indeed.”