Caleb slammed his locker a bit too hard, and his new locker buddy jumped. A freshman kid, all limbs and no muscle yet. Caleb winked at him with a smile, and the boy smiled nervously back before Caleb stalked away, a glower returning to his face as he headed down the hall.
Senior year. Over three years of following this path and everyone still seemed to think he might want to stop and talk to them. Get out of my way. But he stopped and chatted, forcing himself to be friendly. Playing the stupid game.
“You still going out with that college girl? Christine, right?”
“Yep,” Caleb answered.
“Ever gonna bring her to one of the games?”
“She doesn’t want to hang out with high schoolers.” Caleb caught a scent and lifted his eyes to scan the crowd, stopping abruptly when he found it. The other boy turned his head.
“Whoa, is the new kid really hitting on your sister? Guess he hasn’t met you yet.”
Caleb barely heard him, stalking forward and ignoring any further attempts to engage him in conversation.
Nat stood at her locker dressed in a knee length flowing pink dress cut a little too low on breasts that had filled out a good bit in the last few years. She’d paired it with the tan leather flats she wore with everything in the warmer months and no jewelry. Her long brown hair flowed down her back in waves to her waist, and only the faintest hint of makeup touched her face.
She was holding her books in one arm and twinkling up at a poofy haired guy in skinny jeans and glasses leaning against the lockers beside her. There was barely enough room between them for Caleb to slam his shoulder against the cold metal and smile down at the guy while Nat jumped back with a yelp.
“And who are you?” Caleb asked with narrowed eyes.
The kid didn’t seem to catch on to the threat but just raised a brow.
“This is my friend Ethan,” Nat said, glaring at Caleb and trying to move around him. He bumped her books with his elbow hard enough to dislodge them, and she nearly growled at him as she bent to pick them up.
His suppressed grin quickly turned to a menacing look when the boy bent with her. Or it should have been menacing. Ethan must be slow.
“This must be the brother you were telling me about.”
Even the kid’s voice grated on his nerves. Pompous little shit. Caleb glanced down at Nat to raise a brow, but she didn’t lift her eyes, and he narrowed his when she instead smiled at Ethan for handing her a book.
“Why are you even bothering me?” she said. “We were just going to the music room so I can grab a bag for the food drive.”
“Great! I’ll walk you!”
“I don’t need to be walked like a child!”
“Then I guess Ethan won’t be needed here,” he smiled smoothly, his arms crossed while he stared at the boy.
Ethan looked at Nat, and she rolled her eyes as they stood.
“I’ll catch you tomorrow, Ethan. Sorry about this.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to it. My sister is a bit of a bully, too.”
Caleb frowned. He was not a bully. But his frown turned into a glare when the boy looked him up and down.
“At least she’s off to college this year. Too bad it looks like your brother was held back.”
Caleb almost admired his audacity. Even if he weren’t a wolf, he’d hardly have to blow on the kid to make him fall over. But Ethan talked like he was every bit of Caleb’s 6’3” of muscle—instead of 5’9” or so of skin and bones. Okay, maybe a bit of muscle, but seriously, did the guy have a death wish?
Nat shoved her books in his arms with a glare, distracting him. And saving him from having to think of a retort. Usually glaring and flexing was all that was required.
“If you’re going to harass me, you can carry these!”
Caleb bit the inside of his cheek while she said goodbye to Ethan, feeling like he needed to say something to establish his dominance again. But he didn’t like being accused of being a bully.
Nat turned back to him once more once Ethan walked away.
“There. Are you happy?”
She didn’t lower her voice, and he raised his brow.
“I’m just being a good brother! Ready?” He inclined his head toward the music room, and Nat crossed her arms in a huff, walking beside him down the hall.
The lights were off when they arrived but the back door was open to the outside, presumably for students to come in freely to grab one of the school sponsored bags stacked in a pile on the floor. A closed, windowed door on the left led to a smaller room the music teacher used to store more valuable equipment, and Caleb picked the lock—a skill he’d learned rather quickly once Nat had told him he couldn’t just go around killing people to solve his problems—and dragged her inside.
The books fell on the floor as he shoved the door closed and pulled her into his arms along the wall, crushing her lips under his.
“You’re going to shift,” she murmured, but her hands slid up under his shirt anyway, gliding over the lines of his muscles, and he gripped her harder, the pain in his stomach an almost constant ache. But this always made it so much sharper.
“I’m not going to shift,” he muttered, lifting her dress and dragging down her panties, capturing her groan in his mouth. He dropped to his knees and pulled her skirt up, pressing her against the wall, his hands cupping her breasts while they held up her dress, to bury his tongue between her smooth, wet folds.
Her sharp intake of air stabbed into him, but he resisted the pain, pressing into her the way he knew she liked while she cradled his head in her hands, moaning.
“You’re going to shift!”
His tongue searched until it found the hard nub, licking and flicking until she was moving her hips helplessly into him. The scent was overwhelming, the exquisite softness surrounding him, her cries…
He tore his clothes off a second before he shifted, trying desperately to push back between her legs as she fell to her knees with a whimper, pushing him away.
“Caleb…” she whined, wrapping her arms around his neck. She groaned into his fur, and he whined, trying to push her back.
“Shh…someone might hear you.” She pet him, her hands sliding deep into his fur, and the urge he’d had for the past year to turn her around grew again. He nudged her, hard, but she gripped his fur.
“Will you stop!” she hissed. “You know I’m not doing that!”
His growl turned into a yelp when she yanked his fur.
“And you can stop growling at me!” Her scowl quickly turned into a whine again. “I’m so wet now…”
Caleb pushed her back into the wall hard, trying once more to reach between her legs, his tongue just slipping between her thighs while she fought to keep him away.
“Caleb, I swear, I will actually start going out with other boys if you don’t stop!”
His small yap echoed in the small room as he jerked back, frustration causing him to jerk his head back and forth while he backed away—and ran into something.
The sound of cymbals crashing down had Nat desperately reaching for them, and footsteps sounded out in the room.
“Someone in there? Natty…?”
Preston. Of course. No matter how hard Caleb had tried, he just wouldn’t let go, always lurking around, watching. Nat had made Caleb invent fake girlfriends over the years, saying it would look too weird for him to never be dating anyone, but he hadn’t thought Preston would buy it after the kiss he’d hoped he’d seen. But either he hadn’t seen or he’d dismissed it as brotherly, because Preston hadn’t gone away.
And now Caleb and Nat had a routine in public, one that had started to frustrate the fuck out of him: fight. It’s not that it wasn’t fun. It’s that it was too fun. And the pain got worse every year.
“Stay over there,” Nat whispered to him, cracking the door open to lean out.
Caleb stared at her hips, her small and gently rounded cheeks mesmerizing him while she talked to Preston. He didn’t even think. He just needed to taste her again.
His muzzle lifted the hem of her skirt, and she froze when his tongue lapped up the inside of her leg. His center burned, the sensation driving away every thought with each slow lick that inched higher and higher along her inner thigh.
She was squirming slightly, the movement hiding and exposing her beautiful, soft lips. He’d tried to reach them for so long like this, and she always kept him just out of reach. He needed this. He hungered for this—he hungered for her.
His tongue spread as wide as he could make it, slowly lapping her from front to back, the barest hint of her hard nub gliding under the sensitive flat surface. Her voice sounded choked while she talked to Preston, and Caleb continued lapping in slow, hard strokes. He began letting his tongue curve inward, slipping between her lips at last, and he forced himself not to make a sound as the burning in his body blazed into a roaring fire.
His tongue slipped into her more deeply, and he pushed closer, feeling her jerk while she held herself still. Deeper. More.
And it slipped inside her. A fierce burst of air came from his lungs as he plunged his tongue as deeply as he could go. Her thighs shook around his head, her body flowing into his mouth, and he reached into her, wanting to be inside her. To be a part of her.
His hips began moving and a whine grew in his throat that he wouldn’t release. She had to stay like this. She had to keep letting him do this.
He pulled back out and returned to the hard knot between her lips, pressing and gliding his tongue against it, over and over, as his hips continued moving helplessly. Her thighs were gripping his head like a vice, but she was so small compared to him. So soft. And he pressed harder.
The scent overwhelmed him as her body began to spasm, and he licked more furiously, holding her up with his muzzle when her knees gave out. It wasn’t enough. He needed so much more. His center was on fire, hotter than he’d ever felt before. He needed more.
He yanked his head out from underneath her skirt and started to lift his front legs to wrap around her hips when she turned and shut the door.
“Get…your clothes…back…on…” she choked out between ragged breaths, her face as red as he’d ever seen it. When he tried to move close to her she hit his nose—hard—grabbing his fur when he yelped and started to back away.
“Do not run into anything else!”
She grabbed her underwear and pulled them on quickly, avoiding looking at him while he sat back, his center consuming him too deeply to risk moving toward her now. So he simply watched her, a soft whine coming from his throat. Not bothering to grab her books, she pulled the door open just enough to slip out, locking it before closing it behind her.
Caleb’s eyes fell at last to see an impossibly long, thick, pink protrusion with thin curly veins extending from his center. He blinked down at it. It was huge. He’d never seen more than a pink tip peeking out before. The little pointed tip that looked so different from the head of his human cock, with its little opening at the edge pointing down instead of in the middle. And there was an enormous bulb at the base. The knot.
He had a cock. A working cock. This is what was supposed to go inside the female.
He looked up at the door, the fire at his center blinding him until all he could see was a set of milky white thighs and glistening, ruby lips.
He could put this in Nat.
“Nat, get in the car….”
Caleb forced himself to hang on to his temper, but ditching him to walk home with Preston?
“You’re holding up traffic,” she bit out, not even bothering to look at him. Preston eyed him a bit warily, but he stayed by Nat’s side—where he’d gotten a little too comfortable over the years.
“I’m going to park in the middle of the road in a minute if you don’t get in here,” he snapped back.
He had bought the car two years before, and he drove it to school every day instead of walking so he could keep his hands on Nat. Which he couldn’t do if she wasn’t in it.
“I swear, Nat, if you make me late and Christine breaks up with me, I’m going to make sure everyone knows why.”
Her head jerked towards him, her eyes stormy, but she reached for the door handle when he pulled to a stop.
“See you later, Preston,” she muttered, plopping down in the seat and hugging her books to her chest.
“Seatbelt.”
She glared at him again as he sat back, waiting, horns blaring behind them. But she yanked the belt across her body, shifting the books away from her just enough to secure it before hugging them to her once again and staring out the window mutinously.
Caleb pulled away from the curb at last, not wanting to look at her now. The shift was too close to the surface. He kept his eyes on the road, fighting back the urge while his stomach twisted in pain. Fighting back the images of tearing Nat’s dress off and pushing her down on all fours to mount her…
His grip tightened on the steering wheel hard enough to risk breaking it, and he focused on breathing. Calm down. They’d be home soon enough. Where he could drag her back in the room and force her to accept him, force her to—
What the fuck was wrong with him! Caleb’s heart raced, and he turned farther away from Nat, fear pulling at his brow. This was Nat! He knew what she’d been through. Jesus.
He ran a hand through his hair and saw Nat glance at him out of the corner of his eye. Tension gripped him, worried she might speak. Worried she might reach out. He needed to go for a run. A long, wild run. It had been quite a while since he’d done it, as the only thing he seemed to want to do anymore in wolf form was breathe in Nat…lick Nat…
He bit his fist hard enough to draw blood, furiously trying to get himself back under control. This should be easy by now. He’d made her cum before—it was always intoxicating. It always made him want more.
But this was the first time he’d realized he could have more. The first time he’d brought her to that point as a wolf.
Caleb parked quickly and threw the car door open, gulping in air as quietly as possible. His entire body went rigid when she stormed by him and her scent flew into his nostrils. He shouldn’t follow her inside. He should just go. Just run to the woods.
His feet seemed to have a mind of their own, though, and he’d walked through the door almost before he knew it. Her mother was gone for the moment, probably getting a ‘prescription’ filled. Men didn’t come around anymore now that Caleb was here. He stared down the hall where Nat had disappeared into their room. Just leave. Go for a run. She doesn’t want to see you right now anyhow.
But he walked down the hall, a heavy heat settling on him as he approached the closed door. Standing and staring down at the handle, he swallowed before leaning his head against the rough wood.
“Nat?” His voice was quiet. Gentle.
That wasn’t what he felt right now at all.
A deep line formed between his brow. It was his job to protect her. He was the only one she had.
“Nat, I’m going to go for run,” he said more firmly. “And…I might sleep outside tonight. Don’t wait up.”
Breathing a bit more comfortably, he stepped back, proud of himself. He was just turning to go when she yanked the door open, her eyes blazing.
“Are you kidding me! You’re going to do that and not even apologize? Just run away?”
His lips parted as he stared at her. She was so fucking beautiful like this. Sparks in her eyes, hair flowing wild down her back, cheeks flushed, breasts heaving…
Caleb stepped back, the pain clawing at his insides, and turned quickly for the door. He had to get out of there.
“Oh no you don’t!” Nat grabbed his arm, and his body seized up at her touch, the sharpness stealing his breath for a moment. “I had to stand there and talk—talk, Caleb! While you were…were…you never should have done that!” she exploded, moving around to face him.
Protect her. Caleb fought to hold onto that thought while every instinct he had was urging him to do something very different.
“Nat, I can’t talk right now,” he said hoarsely, pulling away. When she tried to pull him back with a sharp protest, he jerked out of her grasp and actually ran for the door.
Get out get out get out. He should never have followed her in. This wasn’t safe. She wasn’t safe.
He tore out of the house, heading toward the woods while she ran after him, her voice a little less angry and bit more concerned now.
He could have run. Making it to the line of the trees and tearing off his clothes to shift would have been a simple thing to do before she could catch up. But he just walked, letting her follow him, the pain growing with every step he took.
Go back, Nat. But he didn’t say it out loud this time. His body was on fire, tightening in anticipation as he approached the trees. Just a little longer. Hang on a little longer.
And then he was past the line and tearing off his clothes.
“Don’t you dare…shift without…telling me…what’s going on!” she huffed, running in right behind him.
Caleb knew he should run. He should shift and run and not be close to her until he had this under control.
But his shirt fell from his hands on the forest floor and his fingers went to unsnap his jeans. He turned slowly, a heat in his eyes beyond anything he’d felt before.
“Nat…you shouldn’t be here right now. It’s not safe.” His voice was the barest whisper as he kicked off his shoes and tugged his jeans down. After all this time, she still blushed and turned away when he got naked. Only this time when she turned away, he didn’t want her to face him. He wanted her to stay just like that. Don’t move, Nat…
A stillness came over him, the pain in his gut more severe than it had ever been. But he only stepped forward, heat radiating from his body so strongly it warmed the very air he stepped through. Until he stood directly behind her, his eyes heavy, falling down her body. He stepped forward the final step, and she gasped as his arms went around her.
“Nat…” he whispered, inhaling the sweet, musky scent that followed his touch, his body on fire now from the pain. “I tried to fight this…but I can’t…”
His lips played with her neck while his hands came up to cup her breasts, and she grabbed his wrists.
“Caleb, you can’t possibly think I’m going to let you touch me right now,” she said, her voice sounding a bit strangled.
Holding back from the shift was like holding himself over a fire and letting it burn him. But he knew if he changed, it would be all over. Whatever remained of his sanity would disappear, and the wolf in him would take over completely.
“Nat,” he breathed against her neck, his tongue feeling her and sending shivers through her body. “I need you to get on your hands and knees for me.”
Her body went rigid, but he only pressed his hands into her breasts more fully, molding her body to his, scarcely aware of anything but the heat and the pain and the relief he knew he could find at last. Relief that only waited on her.
“I need you on the ground, spreading your legs for me,” he breathed into her unsteadily, his lips caressing her skin. “Because I’m going to mount you. I’m going to push myself inside you…push my knot inside you until you can’t get away. Until you’re tied to me and there’s nothing you can do to escape. And I’m going to hold you there while I fill you with every last bit of my cum—with everything I’ve wanted to give you for years,” he whispered, a hand sliding down her body to press between her legs, driving the material of her skirt in between her thighs, feeling how wet she was, feeling her clench around him.
And he almost shifted. Almost fell over the edge to liberate himself at last in her body and take everything he had wanted for so long.
Until she spoke, dousing the fire that called to him with three simple, horrified words.
“That’s gross, Caleb!”
Gross. She thought he was gross. His body. What he wanted. Who he was.
Caleb threw the football a little too hard, and his teammate doubled over, coughing and falling to his knees. The whistle blew, and he tore the helmet from his head, Nat’s words from the previous week still going round and round in his mind.
He’d been sleeping outside since then, under the trailer where he could still keep an eye on things, although Nat thought he was out running in the woods. As if after watching over her every night for over three years he was suddenly going to just abandon her.
The hinges on the door to the locker room protested when he yanked the door open. Well, she could just think that. Why not. She didn’t want him. He was repulsive to her. What did she care where he went?
Ethan glanced up when Caleb slammed his helmet on a bench, his cocky little smirk just the excuse Caleb needed.
“You have something to say?”
The smaller boy did not look like a football player, but Caleb had to admit he held his own on the field. Not that he would admit it to the little shit. He wanted him to stay away. Caleb’s hands were already full dealing with Preston—he didn’t need another fanboy of Nat’s thinking he had any place in her life.
“Why don’t you ask me when you’re off your period.”
Caleb raised a brow, stepping closer to where Ethan stood folding the shirt he’d been wearing carefully and putting it in his bag. He paused for a moment at Caleb’s approach, looking him up and down in a quick glance, before returning to his task with a dismissive little laugh. Caleb shoved him back against the locker with a hand on his chest.
“You talk big for such a little guy.”
Ethan raised a bored brow.
“If we’re doing this, mind if I remove my glasses? They’re just for aesthetics, but they were expensive frames, and I’d hate for them to get damaged while I’m teaching you a lesson.”
Caleb snorted. Seriously, the kid had balls. Or mental issues. And if Caleb weren’t spoiling for a fight, he might have laughed for real.
But he wanted to hit something, and the snooty priss with his snide remarks was a perfect candidate.
The locker room had filled around them, but the boys all remained silent, every eye on the two of them. Caleb felt a bit guilty. The kid was small. This wouldn’t have been a fair fight even if Caleb weren’t a wolf. Well, he’d just compensate. Maybe only fight with one hand or something and be really careful with his punches.
But he found himself at a bit of a loss once Ethan placed his glasses on his folded shirt and stood back up. Fuck. Was he supposed to just start hitting now? That seemed fairly unsportsmanlike. Nobody else had ever taken it this far. Caleb didn’t actually know what to do in a human fight.
He was trying to figure out a way to get back out of the whole thing when Ethan’s fist connected with his jaw. Hard.
He stumbled back in surprise. It hadn’t really hurt, but if he were nothing more than human, he’d have been on the floor. His brow pulling together mirrored Ethan’s a split second before Ethan hit him again, harder.
He saw that one coming, but he didn’t try blocking it, curious to feel it again. To see if it really had been as strong as he’d thought.
It was, and Caleb rubbed his jaw for a moment, assessing the increasingly confused Ethan before finally throwing a punch himself. Not too hard but harder than he’d initially intended.
Ethan’s head snapped back, hitting the locker behind him, and he blinked rapidly…an instant before launching himself at Caleb in a rage.
They tumbled to the ground, Ethan jabbing him over and over while Caleb tried to subdue him. But Ethan’s fists were making contact painfully, and Caleb’s own anger grew again until he forgot he was supposed to be pulling his punches. Forgot he was only trying to work off a little steam. He cared only about making the smaller male submit. To acknowledge his superior strength.
His hand slipped past the boy’s defenses to grab his throat and slam him down on the ground while Ethan struggled fruitlessly to break his hold. Caleb lifted him by the neck only to slam him down again and again, the scent of blood assailing his nostrils and driving him on.
He barely noticed all the hands trying to pull him off. He wouldn’t stop. Not until the boy yielded. Over and over he slammed his head against the hard floor, his hand crushing his throat, watching the boy’s eyes. Waiting.
Until at last he saw it. The defiance evaporated and the lashes lowered. The kicks and desperate hits stopped. And Caleb stopped as well, his hand still locked on the boy’s throat.
Blood splatters dotted the floor around Ethan’s head, but he didn’t appear to be suffering, and Caleb at last became aware of their teammates’ worried exclamations.
“I’m fine,” Ethan choked out when Caleb’s grip relaxed. Ethan’s eyes lifted to his again, this time with more caution. Conversation went on around them, but their eyes stayed locked together.
Finally, Caleb stood and reached out a hand, pulling Ethan to his feet.
“Holy shit, dude, you’re bleeding everywhere!”
Ethan reached a hand back with a frown, feeling the back of his head.
“Head wounds always bleed more. It’s just a small cut.”
Ethan raised his eyes to Caleb’s once more, a question in them.
“Get dressed. We’ll talk.”
Giving him an order felt as natural as breathing, and Ethan nodded.
A few minutes later they were walking out of the boys’ locker together with a few more cuts and bruises than they’d had walking in, eyeing each other thoughtfully.
“Are you what I think you are?” Caleb asked.
Ethan exhaled slowly.
“Well, that depends on how much you know. But…” Hesitation touched his eyes briefly before he sighed. “I think I might be your future brother-in-law.”
Caleb grabbed Ethan’s shirt with both fists, his eyes blazing.
“You will stay away from Nat.”
Ethan stared up at him with confused eyes, his lips parting for moment before giving a small laugh.
“No—no, I meant…I meant my sister. I mean, I can’t be sure, but I think you might be her mate. He had a different name, but I’m guessing your parents might have changed your name to hide you from my dad. Lone wolves are too rare for this to be a coincidence, and there aren’t any other packs in this area.”
Caleb’s anger disappeared, and a confused chaos of emotions took its place. Shock and exhilaration at the sudden confirmation there were other wolves. A gut wrenching longing to hear more about his parents. Utter confusion about a mate.
“You knew my parents?”
Ethan shook his head as Caleb released his shirt.
“Not me. I was too young. But I’ve heard the stories growing up. They…died about twelve or thirteen years ago?” When Caleb’s nod confirmed it, Ethan nodded. “Well that cinches it then. You’re him. My dad moved us to this area to look for you after he finally tracked your parents down and found out about the accident. He moved my sister from school to school to try to detect you, but obviously…no luck.”
Detect him?
“Was there some sort of…arranged marriage my parents didn’t want or something?” Did they do that in packs?
Ethan laughed again, the sound more shocked than anything.
“It’s so weird to meet a wolf who doesn’t know…who hasn’t had to think about it every day of their lives,” he said, more to himself than to Caleb. But he shook his head. “When we’re pups, we’re taken to a type of annual conference to find our mate. The mate bond is a…physical bond. You just feel it. You know.”
Caleb frowned, a deep line between his brow.
“Your parents met my dad there after you and Vick—Victoria, my sister—found each other. You were both around 2 or so. I guess she smacked you, and you shifted and pinned her. My dad says that was the first and last time anyone ever got the better of her. Your parents were supposed to stay in contact, but after they flew back home, they just disappeared. He hasn’t been…happy about it.”
Caleb could feel himself getting angry again. This was bullshit. He knew who his mate was, and she was probably waiting for him in the car right now, wondering what the hell he was doing. Not that she would ask. She’d just stare out the window and ignore him like she had every day since last week. Maybe he’d been ignoring her, too, but it was her fault.
He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly desperate to get back to her.
“I have to go. Nat’s probably waiting in the car, and it’s hot out.”
“I can’t believe she’s a wolf. She isn’t anything like any female wolf I’ve ever seen. I’m guessing your parents never even took her to the conference…? Does she know her mate?”
Caleb glared at him.
“I told you—stay away from Nat.”
Again Ethan’s eyes widened in shock, and he gave a little laugh.
“No—I’m not…I have a mate,” he reassured him, and Caleb frowned.
“Then why are you always hanging around her?”
Ethan’s eyes fell.
“She’s just a nice person. I’m new.” He shrugged but wouldn’t meet Caleb’s gaze, and Caleb narrowed his eyes suspiciously. But Nat was waiting so this would have to wait for another day.
“We’ll talk about this later,” he said, and Ethan studied the ground. Caleb barely caught his murmur as he turned to go.
“My dad isn’t going to believe I actually did something right for once.”
Caleb jerked to a halt and looked back.
“Ethan. Do not say a word about this. This is between you and me only.”
The smaller boy stared at him helplessly before answering.
“He’s the alpha. I’ve never been able to hide things from him. Successfully,” he finished lamely.
Caleb could have growled in frustration. He didn’t want anyone intruding in his life. He didn’t want anyone—and especially, especially, any other wolf—coming near his Nat.
And he sure as hell didn’t want anyone trying to force some supposed mate on him when he already had one.
Turning without another word, he broke into a run towards the parking lot. Yes, he had his mate. Forever.
He just had to convince her to let him mate with her.
