Turning Tables on the Princess

For weeks my she-wolf had been writhing beneath my skin. Stretching it and making it itch everywhere.

I preferred my human form but knew it was unhealthy to never unleash the beast.

But I didn't fully realize the ramifications until I fell asleep in my bed as usual but woke in the bailey, my feet muddied. And I couldn't remember where I'd gone.

Scared to death I crawled from the dirt and looked around. Finding only one disapproving set of eyes.

He was squatted along the wall near me. Nest to the steps of the castle entrance. I leaned up on an elbow and stared at him in horror.

"Did you do this?"

"No." He was sharpening a blade on a wet stone and didn't even bother to look up.

"Can I believe you."

"Yep."

"Then how'd I get out here?"

"If I had to hazard a guess," He lifted the blade and turned it in the dim morning light. Inspecting it. "I'd say you deprived your she-wolf too long of her form. So, she stole it in your sleep."

"No." I breathed. Sitting up and scooting further away from him.

But the reality was I'd heard of such things before. Marta had told me that it could happen.

Even with the Asara Pack, I'd refrained from taking wolf form as often as possible.

"It is not healthy to restrain her like that."

"I'll decide what's healthy for my body." I hissed acidly.

He eyed me askance. "How is that faring for you thus far?"

Not well. I'm out here.

His meaning wasn't lost on me.

But I'd rather rot alive than admit it to him.

His face was hard as he met my look. He stood and strode from the corner.

"What were you doing out here?" I called after him.

"What do you damn well think I was doing, Lara?"

Protecting me?

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do." He resumed walking away. Tossing over his shoulder. "Best be careful letting her wander about at night, Lara. She comes to me, I'm having her."

***

His words had rang ominous in my ear.

Would she seek him out?

As much as I hated it, I needed to be very honest with myself. That meant admitting that when he passed me in the corridors, my eyes followed him. That when he stepped near, I savored his male scent.

I thought he was handsome, and I was drawn to him. Making him far more dangerous than he'd been before.

He makes my she-wolf want free.

But I hated wolves. I wanted no part of a pack or domineering wolves.

And Alaric is certainly that.

But in answer to the question, I asked myself, it was very possible she'd seek him out.

And as much as I feared it, she'd soon prove I was right.

***

It was the dead of night. I could feel my hips writhing with need. My fingers planted inside myself as I unraveled. I didn't even remember putting them there. But as my hand was moved, I felt a large male body sliding over me.

Whispering huskily. "You're mine, She-Wolf. Open for me."

I seemed unable to deny him. My legs opening of their own volition. Without warning he was inside me. Abruptly stretching me. Penetrating deep through the center of my body.

"No..." I whispered. But I was already wet for him. Soaking his staff. And I rolled my hips of their own volition.

He became wild. Fiercely pummeling into me. His powerful ass flexing as he burrowed deeply in as if seeking to plant a seed in soil.

I decided to flee him but when I moved, he pinned my wrists to the bed. Taking me like the animal he was.

And despite his violence, I was panting with pleasure. My legs moving outside his as I was torn between surrender and refusal. But none of my movements slowed him.

He rode into me. His hips driving him into my core. His powerful thighs working methodically as he built the friction around his length. Straining my sensitized walls and making little tremors climb through me. As he came, he threw his head back and unleashed the deep vibrating howl of his beast. Fur rippling over his shoulders and down his back as he mounted me like the beast he was. As if he'd do it over and over.

And never stop.

"No!" I whispered. And when I did, I startled myself awake. Finding myself deep in the servant's quarters. Standing at a door and clawing at it. My nails raking the wood.

"I hear you out there, Lara..." Alaric's husky voice. "Has your she-wolf come to visit?"

***

Note from the author:

Explicit sex. Forced and rough sex. Shape shifting. Vengeance and captivity. Dark erotica.

Can be triggering for some.

***

"Run, Girl! Run!" Marta's voice was echoing in my ears. Her urgency. She had shown me the break in the border wall.

Where I can get through. And I needed out.

I never wanted to be part of this pack. But Edrick, the Asara Pack Alpha, had made me at the get. Despite that I was residing amongst humans. Nearly invisible as what I was. He'd known me as a wolf.

He had his two vicious sons drag me into Asara territory and I was forced to join their pack and become fated to be prey of one of the unbred males because I was considered one of the few 'breedables.'

Females of mating age.

And in this ferocious pack, breedable she-wolves were easy prey for the males that became fiercely lustful under the Mating Moon. Willing to throwdown the nearest she-wolf and rut her into submission to sate their insane drive.

Like the malevolent wolves they are. I had never quite fit in with wolves. And I didn't like their laws for their females.

Submit or be mounted until you do.

I was quite another creature.

***

I wanted out. I had been trying to find a way. And drinking Marta's teas and listening to her ramble about the atrocities the male wolves would commit on a female under the Mating Moon, sometimes to the point of killing them, I'd decided I'd certainly not become one of them.

And the alpha's two sons had been eyeing me for a while now. Following me and sniffing me out more frequently. I'd barely managed to escape indoors under the last two Mating Moons. Just missing their swiping paws trying to snag my clothes.

But the next one is coming soon. Too soon.

Then Lyra Lani matured into a breedable, and Draven had thankfully lost all interest in me. Following her and marking around her hut to indicate she'd soon be the next Alpha's mate.

Draven wants her. Badly.

Now there was a male marking around myhut.

Draven's younger brother, Alaric.

The virile young blonde was built for battle. With tousled hair dusted with darker sun-kissed shades and fierce blue eyes to accompany shoulders as wide as a wall and a chest thick enough, I certainly couldn't reach around him. He was Draven's guard and equally as feral as many of the other males that'd been inaugurated into the strange pack of collected riff raff.

Edrick had done a good job after the wolf plagues. Even I could admit that.

Finding females and hunting them until able to drag them back to join their pack. The Asara wolves.

Only the mated couples with valuable skills were permitted to join the camp. And the males had to be the most brutal and strong of what was out there roaming, to be permitted within the Asara Territory walls.

Protected from the NightHunter Pack's murderous raids.

I was painfully aware there were packs out there worse then the Asara. Problem was, I had no desire to be part of any pack.

Edrick had found the most vicious males to ensure the wall would be protected, and that should anything happen to him, there'd be plenty able to accept the role of Alpha.

Edrick had been confident and wild enough to defend his territory and his sons, when challenged by those he let in. And any would-be challengers were soon banished from the walls to roam again in a world running rampant with plague and in immediate danger of being murdered by either King Detry's wolf-hunting mages.

We all know how black-hearted those were. Barely human.

By the time the King's Guild Commander was done training them, the mages were black-eyed and as ruthless as their mysterious Commander.

The one who exudes the black smoke.

We all knew of him.

And know what he hunts...Us.

***

Or the NightHunter raiding parties.

Or starve. That'd certainly not been my favorite part of being out on my own. Hunting was sparse unless one was willing to risk making a lot of noise or crossing open ground.

And the potential of being killed if they incidentally entered other claimed territories.

Today, was only a few days shy of the Mating Moon. And as I exited my hut this morning, I caught the hint of male marking around my hut and knew that smell.

Alaric.

He was claiming territory.

Then, a mere few hours ago, Alaric had knocked on the door to my hut.

When I'd opened it and saw the determined look on his face, I'd met him head on. Refusing to let him know he intimidated me. I was far too fierce for that.

I cower to no male. Man or wolf.

But Alaric was tall, and fierce, and right now his face was so hard it could've been carved from granite, looking down on me.

As if he doesn't even know how to smile. Or he had some idea I was planning an escape.

His blue eyes set on me like bits of ice. "I'm giving you fair warning, Lara. In a few nights, I'm taking you for mate."

The Hell you are!

"Mating me or taking me as a mate?" I asked wanting to ensure I understood. Stamping down my indignation enough to keep my emotion hidden. I didn't want to tip him off as to the exact lengths I was willing to go to refuse him.

Though there's no chance I was going to comply with either possibility.

"Take you as mine. Mate you and keep you."

"Mark me, you mean?"

"Indeed, I do. And as you know when that fat pink moon rises, we're barely able to control ourselves. I've enough respect for you Girl, to give you fair warning that I've designs on you."

"And if I say no?" I crossed my arms over my chest and took an impudent stance.

Alaric eyed me. Putting his palms against the doorframe purposefully and leaning down to tower over me to invite. "Try."

I intend to do more than try.

"I won't be yours, Alaric."

"We'll see about that." He dropped one hand from the doorframe and caught my bottom jaw. Holding it in place as he examined me. "I want you. And I'm going to have you. One way or another. I merely thought to give you time to come to terms with it." He added as an afterthought. "Before I'm inside you."

"We're not complete animals." I hissed through gritted teeth.

"But we are a pack and we do take mates like the creatures we are...At least those of us willing to admit what we are..."

He often implied I was a fool to prefer human company over pack company.

I'd never been raised with a distinct pack and had learned to blend with humans enough, I found it abhorrent to belong to a pack again.

Or to Alaric. I had better ideas.

I scoffed. Giving him a haughty smirk. "Good luck with that."

"I won't need luck. I'll have you..."

"Which is the only thing I want." He finished.

It was his vow that he'd have me that set me with determination.

He will not. My face hardened. Making me seem far sterner than I usually was.

I'm leaving this damn place before he has the chance.

I knew enough about Alaric to feel intimidated and to know he didn't bluff. He meant what he said.

Then tonight, just as dark was beginning to fall, the camp exploded in chaos.

Draven and Alaric returned from a hunt with Edrick on a makeshift gurney. Bleeding everywhere.

Fury, Edrick's Beta, jogged from his hut and swore at the sight of the Alpha. "I told him I needed to go with you boys. Damn him!"

Fury followed them into Rebekah's hut.

It was one of the only times I ever knew of, that The Healer let males beyond her threshold.

Despite all of Rebekah, efforts, Edrick was soon dead.

Our Alpha was dead.

Killed by the Alpha of the NightHunters and his son.

Edrick had managed to slaughter the Alpha but only to scar the adult son.

The camp was awhirl. People were sobbing. Wolves were howling. And both of his sons were grieving near the fire. Still covered in the blood of their father.

***

I looked at them. Feeling slight guilt at being in the background and wondering if I should do something to help them. When I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I looked behind me and saw Marta there. Her salt and pepper hair a bit wild around her face. "It's time." She whispered.

I looked at everyone around me who seemed crumbled by the loss. I blinked back at Marta.

"Now is the time." She urged, nodding toward the fire where the boys were clearly distracted by their pain. "Draven is Alpha now and both he and Alaric will need to acquire mates very soon. Whose pretty little hole do you think Alaric will be after?"

I eyed her in horror. Already knowing that answer.

Mine.

***

I had a moment's hesitation. Wondering. Do I stay?

"The Mating Moon is upon us in a few night's time. Everyone knows how ruthless our males become during it."

I couldn't argue. I was aware our males were the most virile of the wolves roaming after the plague. Each of them capable of being an alpha in their own wright.

With the aggression, lust and animal natures to match. Even after Alpha Edrick had found me in the woods, I had known I wouldn't stay. They took me kicking and screaming into Asara Territory.

I could hunt. So, I could eat. I didn't need them.

And I'd be no man's victim.

So as soon as they got me in those walls, I was planning a way out.

"Have you missed the way Alaric watches you?" Marta persisted.

I looked at Alaric's profile.

Tall, broad and blonde, I couldn't deny he'd caught my eye more than once over the last year. He was solemn and striking and watched me like he might pounce any moment.

Now he's warned me he's going to.

Though he'd bent to my will at every turn so far. Doing the many things, I'd asked him to.

"Bring me a squirrel to skin", "Bring me cones from the needle trees to scent my hut with cloves.", "I need a dress."

I knew his kindnesses were not based in generosity. He's been planning on mounting me under a Mating Moon.

It was nearly painful under the Moon's sway to not have a female to pound into. The agony of suffering all night with an insatiable lust was pure anguish.

Fortunately, it wasn't as extreme for us females. Though our feminine scent did become stronger. We were more easily aroused but it was our bodies that were primed for sexual bonding. Not our minds.

***

So, despite my remorse for the death of their alpha, Edrick, I came to a decision.

To do as Marta told me.

Edrick was a good man. And he'd taken care of me, despite my resistance.

Kinder than I expected. Kinder than he had to be.

Always looking for the good of the pack.

I found my only friend, the only other female I could tolerate. "Vanna Rae?"

She turned stunned eyes to me. Watching the bloom of havoc in the camp. "Yes?"

"Come here." I caught her arm and tugged her into the shadows next to a hut. Knowing we were near enough the fire that it's crackling might mask some of our words, but far enough away the light couldn't touch us here. "I'm leaving."

"What?" She gripped my upper arms harshly.

"I'm going. Tonight."

"You can't!" She looked back toward the fire worriedly. "They'll kill you for sure!"

"It has to be now. If I make it out, promise me you'll follow. Don't let them get ahold of you. They're absolutely vicious."

She bit her bottom lip and nodded hesitantly. But I was worried. I could see the hollow of fear in her eyes.

She's afraid of everything. But I couldn't say I could blame her. I wasn't sure I'd be any different if I had no memory of what'd happened to me before I arrived here.

Fortunately, I did.

"There's a break in the wall behind a tree in the south wall."

Vanna Rae was whipping her head from me back to the fire as if afraid she might be caught talking to me on the night I made my escape.

Also, a reasonable fear.

But I could tell from the way she was moving and acting that she wasn't listening. She's not hearing a thing I'm saying.

"Don't go." She whispered fearfully. Looking furtively around.

We both knew why.

The Hayden brothers. They're always watching her.

"If you leave, they'll hunt you down."

"They can try." I whispered back. "But I'm very good at fitting in with humans. I'll be hard to track."

"What about Hunter?" She caught my arm and nodded toward one of the Hayden brothers. I couldn't tell which, though she somehow could. I assumed she was talking about Hunter Hayden, the best tracker amongst the pack.

I was worried about him.

Vanna Rae was scared for me.

"If they don't drag me back. You have to try to get away. Don't let them kill you. Or force you."

"Uh-huh."

She could get away too.

Before the Hayden Brothers get her. But I was guessing. I didn't even know for sure if I could get away yet.

I know Hunter can track at a dead run.

I know Draven can run down anything with two or four legs.

I know Vanquish or Jaecar won't be kind if they get ahold of me.

And I know Alaric will be filled with vengeance that I tried to flee him.

The cards were stacked against me.