Utter shock rushed over Trey as the scene played out before him. Darryl’s hold on Taryn broke as, with a speed that only an extremely experienced shifter should have been able to achieve, she shifted into a creamy-white wolf. She was absolutely beautiful. As a female, her muzzle and forehead were narrower and her neck was thinner than that of males. Her limbs had smoother fur, giving her a more graceful look. All that gorgeous fur looked so unbelievably soft that he couldn’t wait to comb his fingers through it just as he often did with Taryn’s hair.
To his surprise, the she-wolf didn’t take a moment to marvel at finally being free. Oh no, she was only interested in Darryl – who was apparently too stupefied to move. She was on him in a blink, leaping up and snapping her teeth into his…nose…as she knocked him down. Damn, she was just like Taryn – went straight for the nose. No longer paralyzed by shock, it seemed, Darryl began to take his wolf form.
Snapping back into action – Trey shouldn’t be surprised that the crazy bitch was challenging a male wolf – he shifted shape and gave his wolf control again.
The grey wolf rushed at the black wolf that had now flipped over and was growling at his mate. Protectiveness surged through him, serving as an energy boost. She was not to be touched or harmed or threatened. He had to protect her – her and his unborn pup. He barreled into the black wolf, wrenching a yelp from him and sending him sprawling across the forest floor away from the she-wolf.
The black wolf righted himself quickly, his chest heaving, and faced the other. The grey wolf could sense that his opponent was less dominant and less powerful. It wouldn’t bring him any mercy from the grey wolf though – not when he had threatened his mate, not when his scent triggered memories of cruelty and pain being inflicted on a young Trey.
Hackles raised, ears upright, and lips curled back, they circled each other – never moving their eyes from the other. Many other wolves observed, but none of them moved, nor did any battle between themselves. All stood still and quiet as all understood that the outcome of this battle now rested on which of the two Alpha males won the challenge.
Suddenly the grey wolf rushed at his challenger and knocked him onto his side. Growling, he bit down hard on the black wolf’s shoulder, drawing first blood. In retaliation, the black wolf swiped his claws at the other, aiming for his muzzle. The grey wolf was able to dodge the move and then clamped his jaws around the offending leg.
The black wolf yelped – the sound satisfying his attacker and psyching the observing wolves. He raised his head just enough to bite down hard on the grey wolf’s ear. The surprise of it made the grey wolf jerk away while releasing a loud high-pitched bark. Taking advantage of that, the other quickly stood and swiped his paw at the grey wolf. His claw managed to slash his shoulder, and the scent of the grey wolf’s blood flavored the air and had the challenger growling with satisfaction.
Growling with rage, the grey wolf leapt at the other wolf. He wrapped his forepaws around his challenger’s neck and, calling on every ounce of his strength, wrestled him to the ground. Just as the grey wolf wanted, the other was now flat on his back in a vulnerable position that exposed his belly. The black wolf didn’t offer his submission, but continued to growl and snap his teeth, knowing that any offers of submission would be ignored.
In one fluid move, the grey wolf straddled over his challenger, using his forepaws to pin down his shoulders as his back paws slashed open black wolf’s belly. The yelps of pain and the overwhelming scents of fear, blood and defeat that wafted from his challenger didn’t placate the grey wolf or give him any sense of satisfaction. Only one thing would give him that.
He clamped his jaws around the black’s wolf throat, biting down hard into fur and flesh. Blood gushed into his mouth, warm and tasting of victory. It tasted better than the blood of the sandy wolf who had once coveted his mate, and it even tasted better than the blood of the male who had sired him. With a loud growl, the grey wolf twisted his head sharply, ripping out his challenger’s throat. Only then did satisfaction fill him.
The creamy white she-wolf approved of the act. Her mate – strong, dominant, powerful – had defeated the challenger, had eliminated the threat to them and their pack. Slowly she walked to him, pleased at finally being free and being able to have fur-to-fur contact with her mate as she had hungered to do from the second she picked up his scent. She had known he was her mate from the beginning, had always been annoyed with her human side for not recognizing this, for not recognizing the importance of this male to her life and her soul. Apparently sensing her approach, he turned. The dominant, confident Alpha held his tail up high and his ears erect as he covered the short distance between them.
She kept her ears down and fur flat as she licked and nipped at his muzzle in greeting. He pushed at her nose and rubbed his cheek against hers, returning her greeting – a greeting that had been long awaited but not been possible until now. Then they were licking each other’s faces and placing their noses behind the other’s ears to inhale each other’s scent.
A number of wolves suddenly approached, trooping together around their Alpha pair, seeking contact. Pack, the she-wolf knew. They joined her in licking their Alpha’s injuries, giving him the respect and thanks he was due for protecting them. A grey-black wolf with a white undercoat – Beta – threw back his head and released a loud, long howl. The melodic sound rang throughout the forest and mountains, and was answered far and wide as other wolves – both shifters and full-bloods – joined the pack in celebrating their victory.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Three weeks later
“It’s not funny,” said Taryn as she returned to Caleb’s side.
“Of course it’s not funny.”
She scowled at Caleb. He might have been more convincing if he wasn’t grinning. Come on, surely it was unreasonable to need to pee so often – eight times in a one hour period was just ridiculous! She wouldn’t mind so much if she was actually downing several mugs of coffee a day like she usually would, but now that she was pregnant, coffee wasn’t allowed. How humans went through this for a whole nine months she’d never know. Hell, elephants were pregnant for like a year and a half. Seriously, what was up with that?
Nervous and fidgety, she straightened the silky, slim-fitting, knee length dress for like the hundredth time. She wasn’t a fan of dresses and only ever wore them when she was attending a special occasion such as a mating ceremony. As this was her own mating ceremony, she couldn’t exactly wear jeans and a t-shirt. She had wanted to have the ceremony before her belly got too big with the pregnancy. She had no desire to be waddling like a penguin down the ‘aisle’.
Greta had been outraged to hear that Taryn was wearing white as apparently she was too much of a hussy for that. Although the woman had softened slightly to Taryn, it was only very slightly and she still took utter joy in insulting Taryn and being difficult. But then, Taryn took utter joy in returning Greta’s insults with some of her own so that worked out okay.
Taryn would have had the ceremony sooner, but she felt that it was better for everyone to have time to emotionally and physically recover from the battle. No one had let her heal them because she was pregnant – which was both unreasonable and dramatic since it didn’t make any difference at all to her gift. Although there was still a lingering sadness about how they had been betrayed by one of their own, everyone was by now simply relieved and happy about them having won the challenge.