The Wolf's Call

"What...the fuck?"

You know that mode your body is sent into when you're in danger? The fight or flight?

No...no, my body chooses to freeze.

Right here, in the middle of the woods. Right here, in front of a steel cage that currently houses the biggest, most ethereal, black wolf I've ever seen in my life.

Well, not that I've ever seen a wolf to begin with.

At my voice, its head peaks up and I'm met with its golden eyes. There's something odd about it though. It looks like it understands my shock and is amused...in a human kind of way.

"Nope," I whisper. "I'm not about to be that horror movie character."

Besides, I may be a little high, and I'm imagining things.

With that, I manage to take a step back, then another, and then finally, I spin around and begin trying to retrace my steps back the way I came.

However, before I'm even ten steps gone, there's this sickening sound that fills the woods. It's like the snapping of a million twigs. No, more like bone.

I turn sharply back to the wolf and to my horror, it's body is contorting in the most disturbing way.

Giant paws turn to human hands and black fur begins to give way to smooth bronze skin.

"I'm sorry, let me just –" it speaks, as it continues to contort.

I'm seconds away from pissing my pants as my body once again, has chosen to freeze instead of getting the fuck out of here.

There's one final snap of a bone and a sigh of relief escapes his throat.

The black wolf in the cage...just turned into a man?

Nah, I'm way higher than I originally thought.

"Well, hello there," he says, his voice smooth, rich and utterly unfazed by the fact that he just shifted from a wolf to a human. "Didn't expect company tonight."

My body heats up instantly, and I begin to sweat even though it's cold out here tonight.

Not because I'm scared, which I obviously am. I mean, I just watched a massive, terrifying beast shift into a very human, very muscular, very naked man.

And, you know, that's a lot.

But it's the voice that gets me.

It's captivating as hell, and I might add, it's the sexiest voice I've ever heard. It isn't that stereotypical deep voice.

No.

It's a charming voice. One that takes me to lalaland.

My curiosity is now piqued, and I'm most definitely that character in every horror movie, as I take a few steps closer to the cage.

He has this lopsided grin on his face, like he isn't trapped and like shifting from a wolf to an attractive man is an everyday adventure.

He sighs dramatically, but the grin never leaves his lips.

My eyes drift, and okay, I'm only human. He's beautiful in a way that feels almost unfair.

His red hair is long and messy but in a way that seems intentional, and his eyes, a stunning, ethereal green that almost glows in the dim light, are locked on mine, far too amused for someone who was a literal animal five seconds ago.

And then there are the tattoos.

Intricate and ancient-looking, they run down his arms, curling up to his neck like some kind of old magic. And, of course, there's the very present fact that he's still naked.

I don't respond. I can't. I'm still staring at him...at his beautiful form, at the grin on his perfect lips that has now reduced to a faint and seductive smirk.

He tilts his head, as if examining me too. I notice he sniffs the air, and there's an emotion that crosses his eyes, but it's too brief for me to name it.

"You're not running," he notes. "That's a good sign."

That jolts me out of my daze. "Who...what...who the hell are you?"

His smirk deepens. "Ah. You must be new to all this." He leans forward, gripping the silver bars, only to hiss and immediately pull back. The skin on his fingers blisters on contact. "Shit. Forgot about that."

I blink several times to convince myself that I'm not dreaming or hallucinating from the amount of 'special' brownies in my system, and that I'm really here.

"You forgot?" I draw out, unsure of whether I'm supposed to be talking to him.

He shrugs. "I was distracted. A pretty girl shows up in the middle of the night, staring at me like she's never seen a naked man before-"

"Oh my God-"

"-and I got a little caught up in the moment," he finishes, unfazed.

I pinch the bridge of my nose in embarrassment, but that doesn't stop my eyes from drifting over his toned body again.

"Let me guess," he continues, stretching out his long legs as much as the cage allows. "You have questions."

"Nah, I'm probably way too high and you're part of my hallucinations."

"High? In the woods?" He chuckles, then he leans further back. "You just might be more interesting than me tonight."

I scowl. "Why are you in there?"

"I thought you didn't have questions?"

I glare at him and his smirk turns into a tired sigh.

"Well since you're asking, some crazy warlock," he says easily, gesturing to the bars. "He trapped me here like a damn zoo exhibit, but I'd really love to get out now."

"And how do I know that you're not the bad guy here? Maybe you're the crazy one and the warlock was doing society a good one by locking you up here.

His eyes darken for a split second, but then they brighten up again. "Okay, maybe I'm the crazy one, but that rascal is never the good guy in any case scenario."

Okay, so that's clearly a sour topic.

I cross my arms. "And what happens if I let you out? You turn back into a wolf and eat me?"

He laughs, and I hate how warm the sound is. "Tempting, but no." He leans forward again, this time careful not to touch the bars. "What's your name?"

"No, no, that's not the right sequence of our conversation," I shake my head and take a step closer to the cage. "What are you exactly?"

His brows crease for a slight moment, but then his smirk returns. "You haven't heard of my kind before?"

"Oh, I have very much heard of your kind, except from movies and smutty novels, which is all fiction by the way."

"Smutty novels? So your kind has sexual fantasies about my kind?"

My body heats up again and I clear my throat. "That wasn't my point."

"What was, then? You shouldn't have mentioned it if it wasn't your–"

"Are you a werewolf?" I cut him off.

His smirk gives way to a grin and he shoves his two thumbs up. "You're smart, I think I'm in love with you."

"Yeah, no."

I don't know how I'm still calm at this point. My mind is working overtime to accept the fact that I'm talking to a man that can change into a wolf.

I know I should run, but my brain doesn't pick up any sign of danger from him. And I have very good instincts, so that means something.

I turn around, taking in the woods around me, suddenly hyper aware in case anyone of his kind might be lurking around somewhere.

After a moment, I turn back to him with a sigh. "Olivia."

It takes him a second to comprehend that I'm giving him my name and once he does, his grin spreads even wider.

"Beautiful name," he says smoothly. "I'm Ezekiel. Also known as Zeke. And now that we're officially friends, how about you do me a solid and let me out? You see, I'm an Alpha. A powerful one, I might add, and it's very undignified to be locked in here like a house dog."

Well, that was pretty straightforward.

I let out a short, humorless laugh. "Yeah, so powerful you got locked up in a cage like a house dog."

"That hurts, Olivia. Deeply." He places a hand over his heart, feigning offense. "I thought we had something special. And besides, I was trapped here with magic, okay? Powerful Alpha isn't immune to magic."

I roll my eyes. "Why can't you let yourself out?"

His expression sobers slightly. He lifts one hand, his fingers hovering just above the silver bars. "You saw that earlier, didn't you? Or are you deliberately trying to make me hurt myself again?"

I raise a questioning brow, and he just sighs.

He presses a fingertip to the metal, and his skin sizzles. I flinch as he pulls back, showing me the fresh burn.

Oh...that's what that was about earlier.

"See? Silver burns us."

I ignore the uneasy twist in my stomach and I shrug.

"Well, I'm not exactly immune to silver myself, so it looks like you're stuck in there, buddy."

He stills. "Wait." His green eyes sharpen as he studies me. "You said what?"

I blink. "What?"

"The silver." His voice drops slightly. "It burns you?"

I shift uncomfortably. "Yeah, so? I'm allergic."

For a brief second, he looks completely thrown. Then, something flickers behind his eyes, something akin to realization.

"What?" I demand. "You're being weird."

Good thing to say, Liv. He's a werewolf, in case you forgot. He is weird.

He hesitates. "Where are you from?"

I frown. "Town?"

He studies me for another long, unsettling moment, then shakes his head. "Never mind. Just...Olivia, I really need you to get me out."

"And why the hell should I?"

His lips quirk up again. "Because I'm charming?"

I let out a dry laugh. "Try again."

He sighs dramatically. "Look, all you have to do is break the latch with a big rock. You don't have to touch the bars since you say you're allergic."

"And then what? You just... walk free?"

"Pretty much," he says. "Unless you want me to owe you a life debt, in which case, I'd be forever in your service, my lady."

I roll my eyes. "You're not a very serious person, I gather?"

He winks. "I'm serious enough to be Alpha."

"Yeah, I totally believe you."

After another long pause, I sigh, scanning the ground for a rock. This is a bad idea. A terrible idea.

But something in me, something I don't understand, is pulling me to do it.

I grab the biggest rock I can find and slam it against the lock.

The metal latch snaps and the door creaks open.

Zeke moves fast. Too fast. He crawls out, rising to his full height, easily a foot taller than me, and stretches his arms over his head with a sigh of relief.

Still naked.

I look away, trying to hide the burn in my face.

Then, suddenly, he's right in front of me, so quick and quiet, I didn't even hear him approach.

My heart leaps in my throat and I'm about to scream out, thinking I trusted him too easily and he's in fact a bad guy.

However, my body turns to jelly as I take in his scent. He smells like honey and I'm suddenly light headed in a good way by the scent.

His gaze darkens as he looks down on me and the teasing in his eyes disappears.

He looks at me like I'm something rare. Something Precious.

And then, in a voice lower, rougher and sexier than before, he says, "Mate."

At that word, something stirs deep inside me. A pull. A connection. Something old.

"Mate."

"Mate."

That next call is mine. I feel the vibrations in my chest. I feel the restlessness of a second consciousness inside me. I feel the strange urge to bite him. Like if I do, the restlessness in me will calm.

"Seven years..." He whispers as he buries his face in the crook of my neck, sniffing me in. "Seven years, I waited for you to come to me."

"Mate," I call again and he pulls away from me slightly and touches my face. My skin tingles at the contact and I reach out touch him as he pulls away from me.

It's like I'm trapped in a haze, because at this point, I want nothing more but to feel his warmth. It's crazy, but I can't explain it.

"Olivia," he whispers, as he tries to pull further away from me.

But I don't listen. Like a moth drawn to a flame, I pull towards him still.

"Olivia," his voice is even softer, but he's stopped moving away from me.

I run my fingers along his tattoos, tracing each intricate mark slowly. He takes in a breath as my fingers trace along his biceps and move to his chest.

I don't know what's wrong with me, but I want to be one with him. It's almost like this new consciousness that has awoken inside of me is controlling my movements.

"Kiss him," the voice in my head whispers and the desire is stirred within me.

I lean closer to him and he loops his arms around me. "Olivia..."

My lips trace his neck as my arms move up to wrap around him. I hear him swallow and for some reason, I'm satisfied by the effect I have on him.

Ever so slowly, my lips make their way from his neck to his bottom lip, and I bite it softly.

He growls as if he's lost all sense of control and before I know it, his lips are aggressively on mine.

We're devouring each other, his tongue tangled in mine and his hands gripping my waist tightly.

My hands are placed in a far less decent location though, as they grope his bare butt. His naked length hardens up and presses on me.

You'd think that'd bring me back to my senses?

Lol.

A rare kind of pleasure shoots through my body and a growl escapes my throat. It's as if something from the inside has taken absolute control of me.

I jump on him, placing my aching core on his erected length. He catches me, grabbing me from behind the thighs and guiding us to rest on the bark of a tree.

"Woah, calm down," he breathlessly chuckles as he pulls away slightly.

"Mine!" I growl, though the voice isn't entirely mine.

My hands slip from his butt to his back, but then they continue to move around his body until they begin to stroke him gently.

"Fuck...Olivia..." He moans, and if I thought his green eyes darkened before, well they darken even more that they're almost black.

In one fluid movement, he rips my clothes off and my bare body is exposed to the cold night air.

He smirks as he begins kissing his way round my chest. His tongue makes contact with a nipple and he teases it.

My back arches, and the humming between my legs becomes painful. He kisses his way up to my neck and then he stops so abruptly.

He tilts my head to the side, and a knowing smile grows on my lips.

"Bite me," I tease. "I know you want to."

He doesn't even waste a second as he dives into my neck, the exact same time I guide his length deep into my wet core.

The pleasure hits all at once and the consciousness inside of me is thrown into a wild frenzy.

"Claim him! Bite him!" It screams, "Mate!"

And that's exactly what I do.

I don't know how, but I bite him. And the second I do, he let's out a loud howl into the night.

Warmth begins to spread through me, and I begin to hear another voice that sounds similar to Zeke's, except it's deeper.

I also begin to feel more responsive to him, as his steady thrusts become even more pleasure filled, I just might loose my mind.

"Ze...ke... fuck..."

His thrust becomes quicker and his growls more possessive. My vision blurs as he hits all of my good spots.

I reach my peak first and he follows shortly after with a howl.

I hear him say something to me, but my consciousness is slipping. The only thing I feel is the satisfaction from our night well spent, and the slight ache in my bones.

I don't even realize when my smooth skin begins to feel a little too much like fur, or the slight discomfort in my bones that eases out and I feel a little too much like I have four legs.

Or when Zeke drops me to the ground and begins to mutter something over and over again.

It sounds like he's talking to someone, but I know it's only the two of us out here. I can feel it, some way, somehow.

The awakened consciousness inside of me lets out a dramatic sigh.

"Finally," it says. "I'm free."

I don't know how long it takes for me to completely slip out of consciousness, but I sense it's a while because another scent interrupts the sweet scent of my mate.

It's not a bad scent. In fact, it smells like rain and musk and it's really nice. But it's interrupting the sweet scent of Zeke.

The honey of life. And that irritates me.

Someone else is here with us now.

The last thing I hear before my consciousness completely slips out is an odd conversation between Zeke and the intruder of my peace.

"A wolf in human territory?"

"Not just a wolf, Roman. She's a Lycan hybrid and I can't shake off the feeling that she's familiar."

"Familiar in what way?" Roman asks.

"Like she's one of us. Like she's–"

"You think she's my granddaughter?"

"That's the only explanation. She does look like Jade and look at her wolf. It's–"

"It's impossible. Jade and Daniel have been dead for twenty years and their daughter died with them."

"Roman?"

"No..."

Their voices fade away into the darkness that takes me.

Cha

"Where the fuck did you run off to last night, Liv?!" August nearly screams as I push my way into the kitchen.

I woke up this morning feeling sore in my muscles, especially the one between my legs. Kind of like I got aggressively fucked last night, and the sweet scent of honey is stuck to my skin.

Well, that could be a probability because all I remember from last night was that my friends and I decided to give into a dare to stay out in the woods till after midnight.

Not just any part of the woods, but the part that was marked out as forbidden from trespassing.

There's an abandoned cabin out there that was burned down some twenty years ago, and it's believed that it's occupants died in the flames.

A few weeks after that incident, a hunter who happened to be stuck in a storm out in that area took shelter in its ruined remains.

He claimed that he was attacked by the ghosts of the cabins' occupants. A man with hair so long and skin so smooth, you won't tell it's a man until he spoke to you, and a woman with obsidian endless pools for eyes.

Many that went to that part of the woods that period reported the same sightings and three people went mysteriously missing.

Our town mayor forbade people from venturing that far into the woods after that, but trust teenagers and college students like us.

Young blood, all for the thrill.

The cabin has become an attractive sight for Halloween pranks and everyone wants to prove their fearlessness by staying in, until after midnight.

Just like my friends and I.

Wait, I was against the idea and I only followed them just in case something went wrong, because they're both idiots.

I also remember that August got so scared, she began eating her moral support brownies. By moral support, I mean brownies baked with...you know what.

Ethan and I had to snag some from her before she over dosed herself and well, my memory is hazy after that.

"Ethan and I were so fucking worried when we noticed you weren't with us anymore."

"Which was when exactly? When your emotional support wore off?" I snap, feeling irritable already.

"No, we weren't too far gone like you," she throws back with an eye roll.

"Oh, I'm sorry for eating your brownies just so I could prevent you from an over dose."

I hustle out a bowl and begin shuffling through the shelves to find the cereal box.

August and I have been roommates since our first year in college. And even before then, we've been friends since our childhood.

Ethan is a little older than us and we only got to be close to him when my brother died when they were in sophomore year and August and I were in our last year of junior high.

Even though I was adopted, my brother Luke, and I were pretty close and he was overprotective of me so much that the only friend of his I could speak to was Ethan, his best friend.

Which is why Ethan took me as his minion when Luke died, and I guess August was part of the package for him.

"You didn't have to eat that much," she mutters as she opens a shelf and grabs the cereal she knows I'm looking for, then hands it over to me.

"You're welcome," I grin sarcastically.

"Olivia!" She groans. "We were scared okay? After what we heard out there and we were high as shit, we run back to town and we don't find you with us...I admit, I was too scared to go back in to look for you, but Ethan went back and he didn't find you."

I pause pouring milk into my bowl and look up at her. "What we heard? What did we hear?"

She looks at me like I've grown two heads, then amusement clouds her features and she bursts into an amused laughing fit.

"Oh...my...gosh. Just how high were you?"

"High enough to make it back in one piece I guess," I shrug as I continue with my milk.

An image flashes through my head, but it's gone before I can even identify what it is. A familiar feeling begins to rouse in my body, like the feeling of hands touching me delicately.

It's nice, but it leaves me with a confusing sense of longing. And I don't know what I'm longing for, or who. Just that I'm slowly becoming aroused and there's this warmth inside of me.

"Livy, God, you sure were baked," August, who is still laughing, says. "Well we heard a wolf, remember? We were in the cabin and we heard a wolf howl? Ethan said they usually move around in packs and we had to leave before they closed in on us. That was scary, honestly. I'm never going into the woods again."

At the mention of a wolf, something tickles my inner senses and blurry images begin to pass in my memory.

Kind of like a dream I can't quite remember.

"So when we didn't see you last night, we feared the worst and would have gone to the sheriff to file a missing person report today. I already called Ethan when I found you asleep in your room this morning."

"So let me get this straight. I was so high, I can't remember hearing the wolf out last night and I someway somehow, made my way through the woods and back here at some point in the night?"

"Yeah."

"As high as I was?"

"There's no other explanation, Liv," she shrugs. "Unless..." Her eyes trail over my body and rests on my neck, then she frowns. "Olivia, what the fuck is that??"

The alarm in her voice sends a mild wave of panic through me and I bring my hand up to my neck. I feel around it until I come across a bumpy area that is so sensitive.

The moment I touch it, something stirs in me, and the feeling of satisfaction creeps through me.

"Why are you smiling? Who bit you?"

August is on me in a second and she's examining my neck.

"Do you remember running into someone last night?"

"Uh...no? I was baked, remember? Even if I did, I don't remember."

She looks panicked as she runs her eyes over me again. "What...what are you...?"

She picks the hem of the oversized hoodie I'm wearing and her panic grows. "This isn't yours."

I look down at the outfit, noticing for the first time that it actually isn't mine, and it doesn't belong to anyone I know well enough to wear their shit.

I want to panic and take it off, but is smells so comforting and addicting, that I know I would feel lost if I take it off.

But I'm a logical person, and so I'm wondering, how the fuck did I get this on? What happened to my clothes? Why am I naked underneath?

August is already on the phone with Ethan, beckoning him to come over as something seriously terrible must have happened to me out in the woods.

Even with all the panic in the air, there's this feeling that whatever happened to me out there was completely what I wanted to happen.

August turns to me again, this time there's tears in her eyes. "Take it off," she commands.

"Huh?"

"Take that fucking thing off, Olivia. I want to see your body."

Weird, but okay.

I zip the hoodie down and I pull it off my body, though not completely. I'm not about to part with the scent of it.

She scans my body and she gasps. "Oh...my..."

I look down at myself and even I am surprised at what I see. Scratch marks that look to be healing decorate my body. They're pink, but they look like they might have been red and swollen at some point.

"Someone had you last night, do you remember who it was?"

The image of a man floats into my head, but it's out before I can even grasp his features. At the memory of him though, my stomach does a flip, and there's this burning sensation on my neck.

It's a good way.

Suddenly, the scent of the hoodie means so much more than the sweet and comforting honey. I just know that it has something to do with the man that I just can't seem to pinpoint.

And I know that whatever happened between us last night was purely consensual. But what happened?

I mean, we had sex. That's pretty much obvious as it makes sense that I woke up feeling sore, and I am in fact still sore.

The marks on my body... including the bite mark on my neck, is also related to him.

Huh. Didn't pin myself for the rough sex type, but oh well, I was high and things happen when you're high.

What I can't wrap my head around, however, is the fact that I might have just had sex with a total and complete stranger, and I don't feel irked about it.

Just what happened?

Was it the influence of the brownies or did something more than that happen? Why don't I remember anything?

The only thing I am certain about is that whatever happened between me and the mystery guy was definitely what I wanted, and I wasn't taken advantage of in anyway.

But August doesn't know that and any minute now, Ethan would be in our dorm, freaking out as much as August is.

Urghhhhh!

I hate when my business has to be out in the open like this. Especially one as embarrassing as the one I'm in now.

Olivia the logical pessimist, just had a one night stand with a random stranger in the woods? Hell nah.

"Mate."

A strong voice in my head suddenly barks out. It's loud, convincing and very possessive. It's almost like I imagined it, especially as my head goes silent after that.

I brush it aside and pull the hoodie back on my body.

"Look, there's no reason to panic okay?" I tell August as she tries to pry the hoodie off me once again and I resist.

"What do you–"

"Yes, I was with someone last night and he brought me back here."

She frowns, then her brows quirk up in that way that I know she doesn't buy what I'm saying for a bit.

Of course she wouldn't. I have never made mention of a guy since after my last break up in our second year. What guy do I mean now?

"Who?"

"Zeke," the voice in my head speaks again, and I say it out without even thinking.

"Zeke? As in the freshman from the biochemistry department?"

There is a Zeke in the biochemistry department??

"No...no, God no. He's not from around here," I clarify, and somehow, it doesn't feel like a lie. There's a satisfied grunt in my head, and I take it that me and my mind are agreeing with that.

"Oh...so he's from...?"

"Out of town, I think. He's a–"

"Mate," my mind interrupts.

"Mate," I repeat out loud, only then realizing how stupid that sounds.

"Mate? He's an Aussie?"

"No," the voice in my head growls. "He's mate."

I believe I'm still a little too high, so I ignore it and agree with August.

"Something like that," I shrug, facing my bowl of now soggy cereals.

I stuff my face with it anyway, turning away from the scrutiny of her gaze.

"And when exactly were you going to tell me about this...Zeke?"

I make a sound and pair it up with a shrug, shoving another spoon of soggy cereals down my throat.

"You know I can tell you're lying, right?"

"I'm not, really."

Another image flashes through my head, and this time it stays.

It's the memory of a man with a lopsided grin. He's staring at me from behind a cage and his beautiful red hair frames his face.

His captivating green eyes are playful and I can tell he's very naked. He's tattooed on his arm and all the way to his neck.

Is that the man I was with last night?

Zeke?

"Ezekiel. Alpha Ezekiel," my mind tells me. "Mate."

The bite mark on my neck flares up again and I suddenly feel sick.

"Uh, are you okay? You're pale all of a sudden," August comments when I turn back to meet her gaze.

"I'm good, Gus. I just need to take a nap."

"Yeah, I can only imagine after you had a really wild night with a Zeke that's from out of town." Her voice is mocking, but there's a curiosity behind it.

"And possibly Aussie" I add.

"Uh huh."

I dump my now empty cereal bowl into the sink and begin heading back to my room. Just as I grab my door handle, the front door to our dorm opens and I hear August talking to someone.

"Livy?" It's Ethan's voice.

I can hear August whispering to him about how I was baked more than they thought last night, and very clearly, might I add. It's almost like I'm in their presence.

I resist the urge to ignore his call, because knowing him, he'd come after me anyway.

Dang it.

"I'm alive, Ethan. Don't sweat it," I say as I turn away from my room door and head out to the little living room.

He has this smile on his face like he's less concerned about how I made it back to town and wants to know something else.

"Zeke, huh?" He teases and I groan, turning full three sixty and heading back to my room.

I hear him bark out a laugh behind me, with August trying to chide him and telling him it's not something to joke about, and that I might have been potentially assaulted.

Oh, God.

How am I even supposed to talk to them about someone I don't even fully remember?