The Mating Game by Lana Ferguson - 13

Holy Twilight knockoff , Batman.

I stumble around on four legs—repeat, four legs —letting out little sounds that only further my panic because they’re not shouts and curses; they’re howls and barks . I stare down at my feet—or rather, paws —flexing my toes in the snow and marveling at how much warmer I feel already. I idly think, I guess fur will do that for you .

“ How do you feel? ”

My eyes snap up to meet those of Hunter’s wolf, and I’m stunned all over again, because I’m aware that he just made a sound that wasn’t at all human, and yet I understood it perfectly.

“ This is so fucking weird .”

Jesus Christ. Apparently, not only do I understand wolf, I speak it too.

Hunter trots over to me, sniffing at my ear, and I wince away self-consciously.

“ What are you doing? ”

“ Just getting your scent ,” he tells me. “ It’s slightly different in this form .”

If I had a nose still and not a fur-covered snout, I would wrinkle it with distaste. “ Does it smell…bad? ”

Hunter makes a low sound in his chest, one that is both human and very much not human all at once. “ It’s definitely not bad .”

I try to steady myself—it’s much harder to stand on four legs than you might think if you’ve never done it before—taking in my surroundings with a sort of clarity that makes me realize my eyes are better now. I can see the tiny flurries of snow as they’re unsettled by the wind. I catch sight of the leaves trembling in the breeze from my peripherals. I can even see the slight flick of Hunter’s tail as he studies me quietly.

“ Well ,” I warble. “ How do I look? ”

His eyes are still the same dark brown that’s almost black, even like this, but they seem sharper somehow, and I guess given what I just observed, that makes sense too. He snuffles at me, making another a low sound, and I understand his words so well he might as well have spoken them.

“ Gorgeous .”

I don’t think wolves can actually blush, but if they could, my face would be on fire.

God. This is so fucking weird.

“ What do we do now? ” I ask.

He gestures with his head over his shoulder, drawing my eyes to the clearing beyond. “ Let’s get you used to four legs .”

“ And how do you propose we do that? ”

I swear, if wolves could smile, he would be grinning maniacally.

“ By seeing whether or not you can catch me .”

And before I can manage a response, he’s kicking up snow as he makes a mad dash out of the clearing, leaving me teetering alone like a baby deer. Talk about throwing a girl in the deep end with no floaties.

I take one step, and then another, putting one paw in front of the other until it comes easier, until the shakiness lessens and my steps seem surer.

Okay , I think. I can do this. I can.

I see Hunter in the distance, perched on a raised boulder and staring down his nose at me almost as if smirking. I dig my claws into the earth beneath the snow, gearing up to try to run.

As I take off in a sprint, following after the sleek, dark gray of his form that stays paces ahead of me, I can’t help but think he’s sort of gorgeous too.

I never do catch him, but I give it my best effort. I reason that he’s had fifteen years or so to get the hang of this, and it’s perfectly fine that I can’t seem to catch up to him after just one day of practice. Even if it does stir my competitive side.

Hunter seems to be enjoying all of it; he makes playful sounds and a noise that’s suspiciously like the wolf equivalent of a laugh when I get close, only for him to bound off in the other direction, and by the end of our little game of tag, I’m about ready to bite him. Which I’m aware is a thought that would have struck me as highly strange only a week ago.

“ This is exhausting ,” I tell him.

He trots slowly back and forth a few paces away, looking like the picture of energy. He doesn’t even seem out of breath, while I’m panting like…well, like a dog.

“ You get used to it ,” he answers.

I make a sound that’s meant to be a snort. “ When? When my fur turns as gray as yours? ”

I ponder that for a moment, wondering if that happens to wolves. I have so much more research to do, clearly.

“ You did good today ,” he says. “ Really. Shifting for the first time is never easy, but you’re already moving like a natural .” He cocks his head. “ How is your sense of smell? ”

“ Well, if the fact that I can tell there’s some sort of animal over there is any indication, I’d say it’s pretty good .”

He flashes me an actual wolfish grin—something I’ve never heard of outside romance novels—yipping in a way that makes me think he’s laughing.

“ Rabbit ,” he tells me. “ If you’re hungry .”

“ I’m not eating a rabbit .” If I could, I would scowl. “ How are you so damn fast anyway? ”

“ Years of practice. You’ll get there .” Another sound that seems suspiciously like a laugh. “ Maybe. Eventually .”

I feel my hackles rise. “ Maybe I’m just warming up .”

“ Sure you are .”

I check the sky where the sun has started to sink, grateful that I told my brothers I wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t mean to stay out this long, but I know they won’t come looking for me since I hinted that it was “female stuff.”

Boys.

I know we should probably head back, but my bruised ego is still sore that I didn’t even come close to catching Hunter. My muscles feel more alive than they ever have, and my body’s so light, it’s almost like it’s poised to take flight. Once you get over the fact that you’ve changed into an actual wolf , it’s pretty amazing, actually.

“ Maybe we should go one more round ,” I muse.

He snuffles. “ Are you that desperate to lose again? ”

“ Who says I’d lose again? ”

“ The other three times you tried .”

I let out a little growl, surprising myself.

Hunter notices. “ Did you just growl at me? ”

“ You’re being smug .”

“ Of course I am ,” he says smugly . “ I’m currently undefeated .”

“ One more time ,” I urge.

His head tilts to look at the sky, noting the same sinking sun I just did. “ It will be dark soon .”

“ You scared, Grandpa? ”

“ Of you? ” He takes a step closer, imposing his full height on me, which is easy, since his wolf is so much larger than mine. “ Hardly .”

“ Then I suggest you run ,” I all but purr, unsure where the sound comes from.

The thrill of the chase has my blood pumping harder, and I can feel a frenetic energy in my limbs urging me to move, to go , and I’m determined to make full use of it.

Hunter stares down at me for a moment more, then surprises me by leaning in close to press his snout right under my ear. I can feel his breath puffing against my fur as he inhales deeply, and when he pulls away, I can feel my legs get shakier.

“ Your scent is off ,” he says.

“ Stop making excuses .”

“ I’m not making excuses, I’m saying that your scent is— ”

I can’t ignore the urge to move any longer, taking off at a full sprint as I bound away from him and call out, “ Fine, you can chase me this time then! ”

I revel in the icy wind that rushes past me as I move as fast as I’m able, the powdery white that kicks up all around me feeling right somehow. Have I ever felt as free as I do right now?

I can hear Hunter behind me, hear him howl his acceptance of my challenge as I continue to run from him, and I can almost sense the way he follows after me. It’s like a disruption in the air, a ripple in the current of my surroundings. Like an old instinct of giving chase, of being hunted .

There’s nothing like it, really.

It doesn’t hit me that I feel strange until I’m weaving between the trees to try to outmaneuver him, but when it does, it spreads like wildfire. I can feel a sort of boiling in my blood, one that makes me hot all over despite the wintery wonderland I’m currently traipsing through. Strangely, it makes me sink deeper into instinct, makes me feel more like a wolf than a person for a handful of moments.

I don’t know what to make of it, but I find that I like it. I like it very much.

Hunter is so close behind that I can practically hear his heartbeat—no, literally, I can hear his heartbeat—but the thought of being captured by him doesn’t upset me, oddly enough. No, as the urges and the heat inside me grow, I find that I want him to catch me. I want him to take me to the ground and prove that he’s stronger, that he’s faster —I want him to—

I yelp when a heavy mass collides with me, the force of it so strong that a sharp tingling sensation spreads through my body, so forceful it feels as if my skin begins to fizz. I roll instinctively against the force of the blow, snarling as a heavy weight moves with me until it settles beneath me.

It takes longer than it should, I think, for me to realize that something is different—my heart is beating so fast in my chest and in my ears that I don’t notice it at first. That I’m looking down at a very human, very naked Hunter currently cradled between my equally human thighs.

I pant as I stare down at him, taking note of his enlarged pupils, his heaving chest—realizing that this urgency I’m feeling…I don’t think it’s only me. Not if the way Hunter is looking at me is any indication.

“You caught me,” I rasp.

I watch his throat bob with a swallow. “I didn’t mean to…pummel you like that. You just—you smell so—”

And for reasons unknown to me, my very being seems to hinge on the end of that sentence.

“I smell so…?”

“You smell like you need me.”

And it doesn’t occur to me until the words leave his mouth that I might . Because all at once—between the urgency and the overwhelming sensation of being completely free for maybe the first time in my entire life—I realize that the throbbing in my skin is even worse between my legs.

I recognize it for what it is—it’s the same sensation that had me begging him to touch me only days ago—but with the way my body is keyed up from our afternoon, I’m more in tune with it this time. It feels less like a siege of my body and more like the way I’ve been feeling all afternoon. Like letting go .

And all at once, I forget why I protested Hunter’s attempt to help in the first place.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I didn’t—”

“I know you didn’t,” he assures me. “I know.”

That same heat ratchets even higher, the throbbing in my core damn near painful. I grit my teeth, shifting slightly and gasping when I feel Hunter hard between my legs.

“Sorry,” he grits out. “I can’t help it.”

I swallow thickly, trying to shift away but only managing to rub against him again, causing us both to groan.

“I could…” He shudders beneath me. “I could help you.”

My skin feels like it gets tighter around my bones as a cramp tears through me. “You…could? Like last time?”

I feel the ghost of his fingertips skirt along my thigh, so warm despite the chill in the air.

“I don’t want to take advantage of you,” he says. “But you could…you could use me.”

I can’t help it; I rock my hips once—just once —gasping when I feel something long and hard between my legs. I realize that I’m absolutely drenched, and there is no way Hunter doesn’t feel it. Not when I’m two steps away from riding him.

“It feels like I’m taking advantage of you ,” I groan.

He shakes his head. “Just because it’s instinct drawing you to me…doesn’t mean I don’t want it.”

Oh. That makes me shiver all over.

“What if we just—” I let out a shuddering breath. “No sex. Just…just touching. Maybe that will…help it not get too complicated.”

I watch his eyes darken even further, the pupils swallowing up his irises until there’s almost nothing left of them.

“You mean”—his nails bite into the softness of my thighs right as his hips tilt to let the hard length of him grind against my aching core—“like this?”

I throw my head back with a gasp, my eyes fluttering shut as sparks course through me. It’s the basest level of satisfaction I’ve ever felt, like a desperate need that’s being met to the fullest. I nod dazedly, chasing after the motion with another rock of my hips.

“Just like that,” I rasp. “Again.”

Even as the fire tears through my body, threatening to consume me, the feel of Hunter beneath me, the clash of his own heat— all of it has me careening into some higher plane where nothing feels real and yet everything feels too real.

We find a rhythm—I rock my hips to meet the rolling of his, each slide of his cock along my slick folds sending sparks across my skin and deep in my belly that take me even higher.

And then he opens his mouth and sends me right into the stratosphere.

“Fuck, look at you ,” he grinds out. “You look so pretty riding me.” His hands curl around to grip my ass, pulling me down harder against his cock until I’m gasping for breath. “That’s it,” he croons. “That’s a good omega. Use me. Take what you need.”

And I do, I fucking do . In a display that is more wanton than anything I’ve done in my entire life, I start to undulate my hips faster and faster, chasing the relief I know he can give me. Like this, I can feel every ridge, every hard inch of him—and every touch only makes me want more. I grind down against him again and again, shutting my eyes tight to focus on the feeling of him, on the raw power he exudes. He’s so big . Everything about him seems to call to this part of me that I never knew existed, almost as if simply being near him forces that part of me to wake up, to take notice of him.

“ Fuck ,” he grunts. “I’m going to come if you keep doing that, Tess.”

I nod frantically, because I want it. I want to know that he’s as lost to this as I am.

“Please,” I manage, my voice no more than a whimper.

“You want my cum?”

I brace myself against his chest, digging my nails into the hard muscle of his pecs until he hisses with it. “ Yes. ”

He grips me tighter, forcing me to roll against him even faster than before, and the delicious friction of his cock sliding along my clit has me shaking, has my entire body strung tight like a bowstring. And it’s so close, it’s right there , and I—

“ Oh .”

My body seizes up even as I quiver with my orgasm, and if I weren’t so far gone, I might be embarrassed by the gush of fluids that escapes me, wetting his pelvis to the point that I can hear the sloppy slide of his cock through my folds.

“Look so pretty when you come,” he says through gritted teeth. “When you make a mess of me. Fuck , I’m gonna—”

I feel a hot splash of fluid as his cock pulses between my legs, and I have an irrational, fleeting thought mourning the fact that he’s not inside me. As if my instincts are angry with me for not keeping his cum for myself. I even have the brief, mortifying urge to reach down and stuff it inside me, one that takes the last remaining bit of my restraint to resist.

And when I come down from the high of it all, it hits me that I’m straddling Hunter, naked, both of us planted in the snow, out in the open where anyone might come across us. Endorphins still flood my system, accompanied by the chill creeping into my flushed body, making me shiver.

I stare down at Hunter with wide eyes, feeling a flush of embarrassment creep into my chest. “I—”

And Hunter, sensing my rising panic, seems to know just what to do.

“Shh.” He gently rubs my thighs, his glazed eyes half covered by heavy lids. “You’re okay. You’re safe. Just let me take care of you.”

He coaxes me down until I’m curled into his chest, his large hands smoothing over each notch in my spine.

“It’s okay,” he coos. “I’ve got you.”

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” I admit, feeling a rush of fear. “What’s happening to me, Hunter?”

“You’re going to be okay,” he urges. “All right? I promise.”

“What if this happens again?”

His hand stills near the base of my spine. “If it happens again…then you’ll let me help you. Okay? It doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s just biology.”

“Biology,” I echo.

“It’s clear that all these new hormones being introduced into your system are triggering these sort of mini…heats. That’s the only explanation for you to smell like heat only to lose it after being…satisfied.”

“Satisfied,” I snort.

“I’m not a doctor,” he chuckles. “But it’s the only thing I can think of.”

“I guess it makes sense,” I sigh.

There’s a beat of silence before: “I don’t think my alpha will allow me to let you suffer, Tess,” he admits quietly. “You’re not the only one affected.”

“Is it wrong to say that makes me feel better?”

He chuckles softly once more. “No. I can’t imagine how scary this is for you.”

“So we’re…friends? Who help each other?”

“Friends,” he agrees. “Who help each other.”

I sigh, relaxing into his hold. “Okay. I can live with that.”

“Good. Now let’s get you back to your clothes before the adrenaline leaves your system and you freeze. Can you change again?”

I nod into his chest, strangely reluctant to let go of him just yet. I know we need to talk about this more, but with his cum drying on my skin and the air growing increasingly more frigid—I don’t think I can manage it right now. Maybe when we’re back in the warm lodge and more…clothed.

I feel his lips at my hair as he murmurs, “Race you back?”

His question eases some of my embarrassment, and my lips curl into a grin.

“I’m going to destroy you.”

He laughs again, giving my ass a soft pat. “Sure you are.”