Built for Lust
Alice Gaines

All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2010 Alice Gaines

ISBN: 978-1-60521-477-1
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Editor: Crystal Esau
Cover Artist: Angela Knight

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Built for Lust

Alice Gaines

Unwilling to submit to a male of her species, werewolf Cara builds her ideal mate in her lab.

Cara Logan is a lone wolf, literally -- a werewolf female unwilling to submit to either a human or a wolven mate. An expert in electronics and engineering, Cara builds herself a mate she can turn on and off at will. Only somehow, Gray becomes real, and not only can he satisfy her as a wolf, he can shift to human and perform that way, too. Now, she has to accept that she’s mated to a male with a mind of his own, and the two of them have to find their places in her pack.

Chapter One

As lays went, this one wasn’t bad, but Cara Logan wouldn’t write sonnets to his performance any time soon. What was his name? Oh yeah, Jeff. Jeff had a thick tool, and he moved it in a pounding rhythm in and out of her pussy. He’d lasted for a while now and didn’t show any sign of quitting. She ought to love it. She ought to have come two or three times by now.

Straining for more friction, she clamped her inner muscles around him. Good. Good, but she needed better.

“Shit, you make me hot.” He groaned into her ear. “Come for me, baby. I want to feel it.”

For a moment, her mind went off in a wild direction. The forest, the smell of pine, a tendril of musk in the air. A mate nearby, already heated for the rut. The promise of a rough tongue to lap between her legs in greeting.

No, not the wolf, not even in her imagination. She could tame the human. Control him, make him safe. If only she could climax with him.

“I’m going to fuck you hard,” he said. “I’m going to fuck your wet pussy.”

Jeff. Back to reality. This was getting ridiculous. He couldn’t last forever, and when he finished, he’d leave her aroused and empty.

“Me on top,” she ordered.

He didn’t seem to hear but kept driving into her. The poor bastard had lost control and would come any minute.

“Me on top.” She followed that with a low growl.

The sound penetrated even his state of full arousal. He opened his eyes and stared at her. “Hey, what the…”

His distraction allowed her to flip him onto his back in one motion. In another heartbeat, she grasped his cock and lowered herself onto it.

“When I give an order, I mean it,” she snarled.

“Holy shit, you’re… what the hell are you?” he said.

Probably by now, her canines were extended, and her wolven eyes were glowing golden. He’d forget that when he came.

“Shut up and let me ride you,” she said.

“What are you?” he gasped.

“I’m the alpha bitch who’s going to give you the best fucking orgasm of your life.” Enough talk. Clasping his cock with her pussy, she pushed herself up and down, back and forth, taking his rod deep inside her. Instead of fighting her, he thrust upward to meet her, and soon they were going madly at each other. Both lost in their own pleasure, their own rising need. She tweaked her nipples with just the right pressure to send a charge down to her clit.

But, shit, she still wouldn’t come without imagining the wolf inside her. With no choice, she let her fantasy free. She was running through the woods at top speed, every leap and stride creating friction between her legs. Each jostle of her clit sent her closer to orgasm. In the real world, Cara reached to where the human slammed up into her and found the hardened bud. As she stroked it, her vision made her run even harder and faster. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see the trees and ferns swoosh by her. Neither could she stop, because the male would catch her. He’d force himself inside her and claim her. When she howled in orgasm, he’d own her. She couldn’t let that happen, but he was bigger and stronger. And faster. She couldn’t win.

Beneath her, the human male stiffened. He’d empty his lust inside her in a moment. She worked her clit furiously now, rubbing and flicking her fingers over it. At the final moment, the male wolf caught her. Holding her with a bite at the back of her neck, he threw his huge, gray body over her. His cock slammed home just as the climax washed over her. In her fantasy, they howled together, heads thrown back. In reality, only her own song went up, filling the room. The man beneath her grunted and then let out a long “ahhh” as he came. Mission accomplished for both of them, but she still had to fantasize about the wolf to get there.

Jeff relaxed, a silly and very human grin on his face. In a minute, he’d fall asleep. She climbed off him and waited until his breathing went soft before padding, naked, to the bathroom.

After the images of the forest, the light bouncing off the tiles almost blinded her. Somehow, it didn’t seem right that a perfectly ordinary woman’s face looked back at her out of the mirror. Her eyes had gone back to their normal brown, and her canines had shortened to within the range of normal human possibility. Her wolven self remained just below the surface, though. She could easily go outside and shift and search the darkened town for another of her kind. Even if she didn’t find the great gray male, she could find another wolf to take her in the way her body needed. Only then, he’d think he owned her, and he’d track her scent back here and mark the place as his own.

Males. You could reason with the humans -- most of the time, sort of. But only a wolf shifter could fill all your desires. The world sucked sometimes.

The human she’d just had appeared in the doorway. “You left.”

“I thought you were asleep.”

“I should be after that amazing sex.” He walked behind her, pinning her between his body and the sink. “You fucked my brains out.”

“Glad you liked it.”

“Like? Oh, baby.” He ran his hands over her ribs and cupped her breasts. “Thinking about it could make me hard again.”

She rubbed her ass against him but didn’t find a bulge. “I don’t think you’re ready.”

He nibbled at her neck. “Maybe if you sucked on it for a while.”

She turned around and pushed him away. “Look, Jeff…”

“Jim.”

“I’m sorry, Jim.” Now came the difficult part. Telling him to go the hell away. Nicely, of course.

“It was really great. You’re an incredible lover.”

“You inspire me.”

He tried to pull her into his embrace, but she held him off. “I don’t do seconds.”

His smile faltered. “What the hell does that mean?”

“I’m kind of a lone wolf.” Oh boy, was she.

“That howl.” His brows wrinkled. “I remember that now.”

“Anything else?” She held her breath waiting for his answer.

He was silent for a moment. “Only that noise you made when you came. It must have been good for you, or you wouldn’t have let loose with that noise.”

“It was.” She didn’t mention that she wouldn’t have climaxed at all without her fantasy. Some things were private, even if you stood naked in your bathroom with a man you’d just screwed.

“You must want more of that,” he said.

“We met in a club.” She shrugged. “Club rules. You have a good time. You say good-bye. End of story.”

“Yeah, well.” He stepped away from her, dropping his arms. “As brush-offs go, I guess that’s a gentle one.”

“I’m sorry, Jim. I’m not the right woman for you.” Or wolf.

He raised his hands in surrender. “Okay. I’m tail lights. You change your mind, you know what club to look in for me.”

“Thanks.”

She stood, hugging herself while he went back into the bedroom. He moved around in there while he found his clothes and got into them. Without another word, he went into the hallway. When her front door opened and closed, she let out the breath she’d been holding. Still, she went after him to throw the chain lock then turned and leaned against the door.

What a mess. But then, it always was. Either the man making a hasty retreat before she could make demands, not even sticking around long enough to discover she wanted him gone as much as he did. Or occasionally -- like tonight -- when the human wanted more. At least she didn’t have to worry about her safety, as human females did. One wrong step from a man, and she’d tear his throat out.

What a pleasant thought. Still naked, she went into her study and sat down at the computer. With its huge memory, it came up in seconds, her instant message light blinking. Her sister.

“What are you doing up?” she typed in.

“Two o’clock feeding. You?” came the answer.

She stared at the screen for a moment. “My one-night stand just went home” would only get her grief. Oh hell, she could lie with electronic characters without getting caught.

“Couldn’t sleep,” she typed back.

The message light continued blinking. On the other end, her sister would somehow have known she hadn’t told the truth. Ilse’s ESP was a bitch sometimes.

“Come back to the pack,” the message came back finally.

“Too busy,” Cara typed. Another lie. “Gotta go. Long day tomorrow.”

She shut the instant messaging off and for good measure closed her browser. Alone meant alone, including her sister, no matter how much they loved each other.

Instead, she went into the folder called “schematics.” An innocent enough label. Boring, even. Most of the diagrams would mean nothing to a non-engineer. A lay person would recognize the eyes, though, even if she didn’t realize that the processor attached would serve as a cerebral cortex.

Other diagrams clearly showed a skeletal structure. A biologist might recognize it as canine. Still, even the top experts would assume she was building something animatronic -- the sort of machine amusement parks use in their rides. Only, if she did her job right, the automaton would be able to learn and think.

And mate. Most especially, it would be able to mate.

She closed out all the programs and sat staring at her computer wallpaper for a moment. The picture of the gray wolf she’d taken from a conservation website. Huge, sleek, and powerful with haunting silver eyes. The creature of her fantasies. The real wolf was probably dead now, but she wouldn’t have submitted to him, in any case. No, she’d build his living, thinking replica, and he wouldn’t be a creature of her imagination any longer. Smiling, she turned off her computer and went back to bed.

* * *

Standing at the hidden workbench in her lab, Cara ran her fingers through the material that now covered the sleek “muscle” she’d created for her wolf lover. Partly synthetic and partly silk, the fabric mimicked soft fur as best a human creation could hope. In fact, if the wolf’s “body” were the right temperature, it would fool anyone but its creator. A small internal heat source would take care of that little problem, and when the animal was done, she’d have a perfect living model of her dream lover -- right down to the sheen of his fur -- to run with, to curl up with in sleep, and to give her the mating she’d only had in dreams. And then, when she wanted to, she could shut him off.

Stepping back, she took stock of months of work. She might have been looking at the body of a real wolf, except for the cables protruding from his neck. A few yards away on a table sat his head. Empty sockets would soon hold his eyes, and behind that would sit the super-fast minicomputer. The one she’d designed to modify its programs based on experience, in other words, to learn. It had already spent months “looking” at images of forests, complete with prey and other wolves. Other sensors would detect hot and cold, up and down, and especially scents.

When she first powered him up, he’d have more knowledge than a newborn cub. Including how to recognize a female in heat by her perfume. She’d used her own aromas to teach him, of course.

The outer door to her laboratory opened. She’d been so concentrated on the wolf, she only caught it in time to step into the main part of the lab and wave her hand over the controls to shut the most secret part behind her.

When she turned, she didn’t find any of the techs approved to be in this part of R&D. Instead, her sister stood on the threshold, massaging her temples with the tips of her fingers.

“You’re not supposed to be in here,” Cara said. “How did you get the combination?”

Ilse squeezed her eyes shut. “Lower your voice, will you?”

Cara put her fists on her hips. “You used your sight to figure out the lock, didn’t you?”

Groaning, Ilse squeezed the bridge of her nose. “And now, I have the headache to pay for it.”

“Serves you right.” Their entire lives, Cara had been able to tell when Ilse used her inner eye to divine something. She’d always give herself a headache, so she only used it on rare occasions. Something had to be pretty important, or she wouldn’t have done it now.

“Is everything all right with Sam and the kids?” Cara said.

Ilse swiveled one of the office chairs around and sank into it. “Fine.”

“Anything wrong with the rest of the family? Mom?”

“They’re all great. They miss you.”

“I’ll come by.”

“When?” Ilse demanded.

“When I have time.”

Ilse pounded the arm of her chair. “Not good enough. It’s been months. The pack needs you.”

“For what, exactly?” Cara snapped back. “I don’t have any talent to contribute.”

“Of course, you do. You just haven’t discovered it yet.”

“Bullshit.” She’d heard that same sorry line her whole life, and the older she got, the more pity lay behind it. Ilse could divine things. Her mother could light fires with her mind. Even Joe’s wife -- a member of another pack -- was a healer. Everyone was waiting -- and waiting and waiting -- to discover what special ability Cara would develop. Well, she was tired of waiting, and her mother’s constant reassurances didn’t help. The greatest gifts, Mom always told them, took the longest to appear. As in, maybe, never.

“You make miracles in this lab,” Ilse said. “Prosthetic arms that work as well as the real thing. Cochlear implants. Sensors that let blind people walk around safely.”

“That’s mechanics. Engineering. Nothing very special about it.”

“It’s enough that the company gave you this lab, and they protect you from even your family,” Ilse added. “They wouldn’t even let me in to see you.”

“So, you forced your way in.”

“I’m your sister. I needed to see you.”

“Okay.” Cara took a deep breath. “You’ve seen me. Go home and tell them all I’m fine.”

“But you’re not.” Ilse rose and approached her. “Without a mate, you’re nothing.”

“Thanks so much for the support. Now, if you’re done spelling out my inadequacies, I have work to do.”

“What work?”

“Ilse, go home.”

“I want to know what keeps you so busy you can’t visit your own family,” Ilse said.

Cara crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her sister. If either of them got any angrier, they’d both shift and have at it with tooth and claw. They’d end up making enough noise that others would come running only to find two wolves getting into it. Cara could still out-fight her sister, and doing it right now would feel mighty good. It might be worth being discovered.

Before she could make up her mind about shifting, Ilse grabbed her wrist. With wolven speed, she shoved Cara’s hand against the security plate that protected the inner lab, and the door whooshed open.

“Damn you,” Cara shouted. “I didn’t give you permission to go in there.”

“And damn you right back,” Ilse answered. “I’m sick of your secrecy.”

Before Cara could shut the door again, Ilse crossed the threshold. Her eyes went wide when she saw the wolf. “What in hell is this?”

“It’s my science fair project.”

“It’s a wolf.” Ilse’s jaw dropped. “And there… holy shit… its head.”

“It’s not a real wolf. It’s mechanical.”

Ilse turned on her. “You’re building a wolf.”

“A model of a wolf.”

“Oh, no. You don’t make models,” Ilse answered. “You create life.”

“Cut the crap. I don’t do anything like that.”

Ilse pointed at the head. “Are you going to give it a brain?”

“I’m going to give it a central processor.” Connected to sensors finer than she’d ever designed before, but she didn’t have to admit that.

“This isn’t right.”

“Please, spare me the don’t-mess-with-nature lecture.”

“You can’t deal with your own pack -- family who love you -- so you’re building yourself a companion,” Ilse said. “That’s sick.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Are you going to let it fuck you?”

Ilse wouldn’t believe her if she lied, so she kept her mouth shut.

“By everything holy, you’re building yourself a mate,” Ilse shouted.

“All right,” Cara yelled back. “I’m tired of the pack. I’m tired of the rules. I don’t want to submit, and you can’t make me.”

Ilse’s expression turned ice-cold. “We’ll see about that.”

“I’m going to have that combination changed.” Cara pointed toward the outer door. “Don’t break back in here.”

“I won’t have to,” Ilse said. “The pack will find you, and we’ll take that damned machine apart and give you a real mate, whether you want one or not.”

Cara bared her teeth at her sister and snarled in a deep, low warning. Ilse only snapped back and stalked from the room.

Damn it. Cara went to close the door behind Ilse and then pounded her fist into the wall. Damn it all to hell. Her sister hadn’t issued an idle threat. Ilse would call the pack together and tell them all what she was doing. Mom had surrendered more and more of her alpha status to Ilse, along with decision power. The males would get on a testosterone high and would come looking for Gray. They’d destroy him before he’d have a chance at life. They’d probably bring another male to punish her by forcing himself on her and claiming her. All for her own good. Fuck that shit.

She’d have to finish putting Gray together tonight and get him the hell out of here. Once he’d become sentient, they could fight the others off together.

* * *

Cara woke up in the middle of an orgasm. A long, lingering one. Sweet and powerful. She hadn’t even been dreaming.

As soon as she opened her eyes, the cause became clear. A snout was pressed between her legs. It probed and sniffed, pressing the nose against where her clit still throbbed behind the denim of her jeans.

She reached down, her fingers sliding through soft fur, and pushed the beast away. He went off a step and sat on his haunches, staring at her out of silver eyes.

“Gray,” she whispered. “When did I turn you on?”

He didn’t answer, of course. He only looked at her, his head cocked.

She’d worked so late she’d finally fallen asleep hunched in a chair over her computer. The last bit of programming, all the bugs removed. Everything ready for her to send the last command that would bring Gray to life. Had she actually ever executed it?

“Hey, boy, did you smell me?” she asked. “Could you tell I’m female?”

As he studied her, new intelligence entered his gaze. He was learning by the minute, it appeared. No, faster. By the second, by the nanosecond.

“You’re not a boy, though, are you?” she said. “You’re a fine, strapping male.”

He came forward again in slow, fluid movements. Her pussy clenched, remembering the feel of his explorations and needing more from him, so much more. That would have to wait. He had to learn to run. He’d need to try out the powerful legs she’d given him, find his coordination and center of balance. He’d have to be a wolf before he could become her mate.

She password protected her work and powered down her computer then looked at her watch. They still had a little time before sunrise, enough to explore the woods that surrounded the lab compound.

The staff kept long hours, but no one besides Cara spent the whole night here, and no one came in any time near dawn.

They had the whole space to themselves, as they walked along the empty corridors. Gray’s nails made clacking sounds that echoed off the bare walls as they went. He sniffed at each open doorway but didn’t seem to find anything more interesting than the woman leading him. She’d become even more interesting to him once they got outside and she shifted.

The sky was just beginning to lighten along the horizon as she let them out of the building and headed with Gray across the parking lot to the woods beyond. Beneath the trees, the night still reigned. In near total darkness, she kicked out of her shoes and undressed. Gray watched the entire time, his eyes pricks of light that seemed to shine from inside him. She hadn’t built anything within him that should do that, but eventually he’d become more than the sum of his parts. After he’d experienced the world, he’d become his own creature, only subservient to her. Maybe he’d started the process already.

He let out a little whine. Impatience? Disappointment at her human shape? Or maybe, excitement.

She shifted slowly so he could watch. Truth be told, she hadn’t spent much time in her wolven form lately, and the change took some thought. Her body became smaller but more powerful than her human shape. Immediately, her heightened hearing and scent told her what she needed to know about her surroundings. No other humans nearby and no other wolves. Only the sounds of birds stirring and the scent of her mate.

He walked toward her, his head held down. The posture might have been submission but more likely caution. He’d never seen one of his own kind before, and he must have detected her perfume the way she had his.

She held absolutely still, letting him come near. A low rumble from his chest warned that he knew he had the advantage of size and strength. What he didn’t know, though, was that she had more cunning. If she didn’t want him, he wouldn’t have her.

She’d built him for this, though, and if he did things the way she’d programmed, he’d have her before the sun came fully up.

Now near her, he sniffed along her flank, close to her sex. Her musk filled the air around her as the hunger built inside her. When he walked behind her, her legs trembled. For the first time in her life, she was only moments away from her body’s ultimate fulfillment, but if she’d made even one serious mistake in his programming, she’d still go uncompleted.

He pressed his snout in the space between her legs, his breath hot on the sensitive flesh. Then his tongue came out and lapped at her. She jumped at the shock, and her voice came out as a yip of surprise. But, he licked her again -- a long slow pass of his raspy tongue, and her whole body quaked. Yes. Oh, yes!

He could continue now, and he’d make her come, but the full mating ritual demanded the chase. Now that he’d tasted her, he’d follow -- at top speed until he dropped. He had her in his blood.

She bounded away from him. Not far, just enough to let him know he hadn’t won her yet. He stared back at her, silver fury in his eyes. When he stepped in her direction, she leapt again, now well out of his reach unless he agreed to come after her with everything he had. Staring back at him evenly, she waited for some sign that he’d made his decision. After a moment, he crouched. Only a creature perfectly attuned to him could have caught the change in his posture, he did it so subtly. She couldn’t miss the coiled strength, so before he could leap and take her where she stood, she raced off into the underbrush, dashing between ferns that came up to her haunches.

She’d run at full speed before, but never when the heat was fully on her. Her brain tuned out all but the most basic thoughts -- the driving rhythm of her footfalls as she extended her forelegs and then pulled at the ground beneath them, the power of her hind legs pushing her forward. The sound of her breathing and the pounding of her heart. Most of all the tension building in her womb with each jarring motion as her paws hit solid dirt.

Every inch of her sensed the male behind her. Now, he had to find his footing and chase the scent she’d left behind. Soon, he’d have his balance and would hit full speed. She’d need to make evasive movements to make him earn his reward.

Crashing from behind her told her he’d found his stride. When the sound of his breathing came through, too, she stopped abruptly, zigged, and dashed behind a tree. While she headed off in a new direction he came to a stop, hesitated, and then went after her. Those few seconds gave her another lead, and she used it to head down a ravine, skidding much of the way. At the bottom, she leapt from stone to stone across the stream, and went up the other bank.

Closer now, he splashed behind her and grunted as he closed the distance on the upward slope. He’d have her in a moment, and the glorious chase would end. She’d fought surrender all her life, but this time she’d lose. It was almost a shame that she could power down this beast she’d created, but she could bring him to life again whenever she wanted. She owned him, not the other way around.

Just when she couldn’t outrun him any longer, she found another escape. A downed tree, close enough to the ground that she could just fit beneath it, but he’d be too big to follow. She scrambled under it, the bark digging into her back. He’d just managed to nip at her heel, but she pulled her foot away, flattened herself against the ground and watched him.

Growling, he paced the ground in front of the log, while her heart hammered in her chest. His flanks heaved from exertion as he prowled, back and forth, back and forth. What a magnificent animal -- as much and more as her fantasies. Her womb clenched as she caught the scent of his desire. Both of them at fever pitch now, they only needed to conclude the final act of this mating.

She retreated on her belly, turned, and dashed out from under the other side of the tree. Without looking back, she headed at full speed ahead of her. Her perfect sense of him told her he’d bounded over the log in one motion and was bearing down on her. Fine. The time had come.

With her last burst of speed, she cleared some trees and sprinted into a clearing. A meadow of sorts, soft grass springing under the paws. She still ran with everything in her, but not to evade him any longer. With each stride, her excitement mounted. Just a little farther, a few more strides. Make him wild with need so he’d take her hard and fast. Now, now.

With a snarl, he launched himself on top of her, knocking the wind out of her. For a while, they rolled together, limbs tangled, teeth nipping. He ended up on top, nearly smothering her, as he bit down into the fur and flesh at the back of her neck. No more running. Now, he’d put all that ferocity into fucking her.

Acknowledging her master, she pushed herself up to offer him her hindquarters. He rose over her, still holding her neck, and shoved his sex inside her.

Perfect union. Exactly how she’d pictured it, only this time it was real. His muscles really did strain as he thrust himself into her. Her sex really did clamp around him as she climbed toward the pinnacle. There was nothing gentle about this coupling, but neither was there anything tawdry. Pure lust, the way nature had meant it.

Too soon, the orgasm overtook her. If only she could have made the mating last forever. But she’d driven them both too hard. His whole body shook as his movements became frantic. He couldn’t wait, and she’d come with him.

When the explosions started deep inside her, he howled, thrust deeply, and spilled his seed against her womb. Her voice joined his as the moment caught them both up and made them into one being. As they rode their lust to its final conclusion, the sun appeared on the horizon, bathing them it its first rays.

Chapter Two

The brothers showed up before Cara’s scrapes and bruises had had a chance to heal. Her pussy still tingled with the memory of that amazing fuck -- the first she’d had in her wolven form. Joe might miss the change in her, but she’d never been able to hide anything from Peter. What a curse to have one brother with enough authority to get his way with bluster and another who could cajole you into doing what he wanted.

Joe took the lead up the walk to her house, as usual, but Peter’s face held the same look of determination, if not outright anger. They’d come to get their little sister in line, no doubt. Exactly why she’d wanted a mate she could dominate -- so she didn’t have to take orders from some male.

Joe ignored the doorbell in favor of pounding on the door itself. “Open up, Cara. We know you’re in there.”

“Let us in, or we’ll go back to your lab and make them track you down,” Peter added.

She went to the door and yanked it open. “You’ve been to the lab?”

“Nice to see you, little sister.” Joe pushed past her and stalked into the living room.

Before Peter could follow his brother, Cara grabbed his arm. “Have you been to my lab?”

“You haven’t been here for days, and you don’t answer your phone,” Peter answered.

“They didn’t let you into my workspace, did they?” she asked.

“They didn’t have to,” Joe said. “Ilse told us what you’re up to.”

Cara dropped Peter’s arm. “Damned busybody.”

Joe glowered at her. “She’s your sister.”

“She’s a pain in the ass.” Cara pushed by Peter and headed toward the kitchen. Joe stopped her as she went by him, grabbed her collar, and stared at the back of her neck where Gray had bitten her as he mounted her.

“Did you come by that honestly?” he demanded.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Someone marked you,” he answered. “Who?”

“None of your business.”

“We’re concerned about you, Cara,” Peter said.

“Great. A tag team.” She sighed. “He’s the bully, and you’re concerned.”

“You want to call me a bully? Fine.” Joe crossed his arms over his broad chest. With his dark eyes and nearly black hair, he made as impressive a human as he did wolf. Somehow, he’d managed to grow into a solid beast while the rest of the family was slimmer and lighter in coloration.

“What you’re doing is sick,” he went on. “Ilse knows it, we know it, and you would, too, if you ever came out of that damned lab.”

“That’s where I work,” she answered. “That’s how I make my living.”

“Making mechanical rutting machines?” Joe demanded.

“Gray’s not like that,” she said.

Major mistake. The brothers exchanged glances as if they’d diagnosed her and only had to decide what kind of locked ward she needed.

“You gave it a name?” Peter asked softly.

“I don’t have to answer to you two,” she said.

“Sit down, Cara. We need to talk about this.” Peter took a seat on one end of the couch and stared at her until she joined him.

“You’re a skilled engineer, honey.” Peter left the “but” hanging, unspoken.

“Gee, thanks.”

“If you built something…”

“He’s a wolf,” she said. “Not a thing.”

The look shot from Peter to Joe and back again.

“I’m sure he’s very realistic,” Peter said.

Oh, for crying out loud. “Would you just cut the crap?”

“Okay, I will,” Joe answered. “What Peter’s trying to tell you is we’re not going to let our sister fuck some damned machine.”

“You’d rather I keep fucking faceless humans?” she shot back.

“Ah, shit.” Joe raised a hand as if he’d like to hit something, but then, he waved it in a helpless gesture. “You talk to her.”

“That’s what I was trying to do.” Peter turned back to her. “Honey, what you’re doing isn’t healthy.”

She didn’t answer but sat in silence, hugging herself.

“We’re social creatures. We need family around us or we don’t… well… work right.”

“You think I’m crazy,” she said.

“I think you’ve isolated yourself for too long. You’re not seeing things clearly.”

Joe assumed his issuing-orders stance, legs spread, hands on hips. “Come home to the pack and forget all this crap.”

“We all love you,” Peter added.

“I know that.” Love wasn’t the issue, though, although they probably couldn’t see that. They filled their roles well enough. Provider, protector, father -- all that sounded like a lot, but it boiled down to simple things. Life was different for a female, and she didn’t measure up. Not by a long shot.

“I’m better off doing what I do,” she said. “You guys don’t need me for anything.”

Peter put a hand on her shoulder. “That’s not true.”

“Oh, really? What is it I contribute?”

“Well…” Peter hesitated. “Yourself.”

The same lame answer she always got to that question. All three of them knew she couldn’t really fill a role in the pack until she found her own, special way of doing it. She hadn’t discovered it in childhood, when most of the females in her family did. She wasn’t about to discover it now. Her stomach sank. “Right.”

“It’s about your gift again, isn’t it?” Peter said.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t have one,” she answered.

“Yet,” Peter said. “You just haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Ilse could see things when she was ten. Ruth was a healer before Joe married her.” She raised her arms in a helpless gesture. “I’m a little late to still be searching.”

Peter squeezed her shoulder, to reassure her, no doubt. “It doesn’t matter. You’re part of us. We need you.”

“That’s sweet.” She pushed his hand away. “Really. Thanks a lot.”

Peter glared at her. “No need for sarcasm.”

She glared right back. “I disagree. Sarcasm comes in handy sometimes.”

“Enough of this.” Joe reached into his pocket and pulled out his car keys. “You’re coming home with us.”

“I am home.”

“To the family,” he said. “We’ll settle the problem as a pack.”

“No.” She stood and stared back at her elder brother. He couldn’t order her around, and the more he tried, the more convinced she became that she’d selected the right kind of mate for herself.

“Don’t tell me no,” he shouted. “You’ll do as I say.”

“Or what?” she asked.

“I’ll take care of things my own way,” he answered.

“Joe…” Peter warned.

“Don’t try to shut me up,” Joe said. “You agreed to this.”

“What?” she asked. “Agreed to what?”

Joe crossed his arms over his chest. Stubborn bastard. “One way or another, we’re going to get you out of this mess you’ve made.”

“How?” she demanded.

“Never mind how. We’ll do it.”

Shit. That could mean anything. From the look in Joe’s eyes, he’d commit violence if he had to. He sure as hell wouldn’t feel squeamish about destroying what he thought was a machine. He’d destroy Gray, if he got the opportunity.

“I swear, if you touch Gray, you’ll never see me again,” she said.

Peter’s eyes widened. “You can’t mean that, Cara.”

“I do, and the same goes for you if you help him.”

Peter stood and held his arms out toward her, but she gestured him away. “Leave me alone, both of you,” she ordered.

“Cara, come back with us,” Peter said. “This obsession isn’t good for you.”

She just glared at him. How like a male, even a good one, to dictate what was good or bad for her.

“I’m fine,” she answered from between clenched teeth.

“No reasoning with her.” Joe straightened to his full height. “We’ll do it my way.”

“Go to hell,” she said.

Joe’s eyes widened in an expression she’d never seen on him before. Hurt. She’d managed to hurt him? Then, his features hardened.

“See you there,” he said quietly before going to the door and letting himself out. She hugged her ribs again and glared at Peter, daring him to say a word. He didn’t. He went off after his brother.

She closed her eyes for a moment. Shit, what had she done? Maybe she had stayed away from the pack for too long. No matter. She’d better get to the lab and bring Gray home where she could get between him and Joe if she had to.

* * *

When Cara opened the hatch of her car, Gray bounded out and trotted around the front yard, his nose lifted as he took in the scents of suburban America -- newly mown lawn and a hint of auto exhaust.

“Come here, boy,” she called. “In the house.”

His ears twitched in her direction, showing he’d heard her, but he continued his explorations. Maybe he’d taken exception to “boy,” if he understood spoken language. More likely, he didn’t feel like going in and wouldn’t cooperate until he did. He wasn’t a pet dog, after all. The neighbors had better not know that.

He stopped in front of a shrub and lifted his leg, marking his property, no doubt. He didn’t actually have urine for that purpose, but he’d go through the motions because of his programming.

“Gray, come here.” She slapped her thigh. “Now.”

He lowered his leg and stood, studying her as if he couldn’t decide whether he had to obey her or not. He’d better. The last thing anyone needed was a wolf running loose in the neighborhood.

“Gray?” she said. “Please.”

His ears perked up at that, and he trotted in front of her toward the house. The bounce in his step might have been a normal canine trot, or it could reflect his satisfaction that she’d had to ask him nicely to behave himself. They’d see about that. She hadn’t gone to all the trouble of making an android mate only to have to defer to him as if he were the flesh-and-blood version.

When he got to the front door, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at her as if to say, “This was your idea, remember?”

“Watch it, pal,” she said. “I can turn you off whenever I want.”

He huffed. So, she went to him and let them both into the house.

Gray immediately headed into the living room, and when Cara caught up with him, he’d already jumped onto the couch and lay, watching her out of his silver eyes. She’d programmed him to learn, but the sensation that he was assessing her -- weighing her strengths and searching for vulnerabilities -- sent a shiver of dread through her. Or maybe, excitement. How could she not feel pride for having created such a magnificent creature?

“You’re going to have to stay here so I can protect you,” she said.

He hardly moved a muscle -- the perfect picture of ease and confidence. Taking up almost the entire couch, his body dominated the whole room. A large wolf and a beautiful one, he could command most everyone around him. She could still control him, though, and he’d better remember that.

She went to the couch, shoved him aside, and sat down. “Pretty sure of yourself aren’t you?”

He huffed and set his head in her lap. By God, he felt real. How could a synthetic fabric so resemble fur as she burrowed her fingers in it? Where had he learned to close his eyes in what looked like pleasure when she scratched at the back of his ears?

She continued stroking him when she ought to power him down so she could rewrite the programs that made him want to run and explore. He’d have to be a house pet for a while until she figured out how to make the pack accept him. If he went into other yards, he’d get trapped and taken away or worse. She’d have to wait a while until she could run and couple with her wild wolf again.

When she reached for the switch buried in the fur at the back of his neck, he snarled and sat up abruptly.

“Easy, boy,” she said. “I only need to have you quiet for a few minutes. You’ll be back soon.”

He remained rigid, staring at her.

“It’s me, Gray,” she said. “I’m only trying to protect you.”

He snorted, a noise that could turn into a growl if he became more upset.

“Enough nonsense.” She rose and reached toward him.

Before she could get her hand on the switch, he leapt over the back of the couch and went into the kitchen. Damn it all, he was going to make her chase him. She’d better get him under control, now.

By the time she got into the kitchen, he’d propped his front paws on the sink and pulled himself upward. As she watched, he batted at the faucet and turned on the cold water.

“What in hell are you doing?” she cried.

He ignored her, put his snout into the stream, and drank.

“Fuck,” she shouted as she ran to him and turned off the water. “You can’t do that. You’ll short your circuitry.”

He hadn’t, though. He stood there, his eyes nearly at the same level as hers, and gave her a defiant glare. Slowly, she reached around him with both hands, and this time, he stayed where he was and let her explore the back of his neck.

The switch had disappeared. She searched with the tips of her fingers all along from the back of his head down his spine to his shoulders. Nothing greeted her fingers but fur. Real fur, not synthetic. Her hands encountered muscle, not plastic. She was touching a real creature of flesh and blood. Impossible. She’d built a machine, and it… he had come to life.

She dropped her arms and took a step backward. Apparently unimpressed with what had happened to him, Gray turned the water back on and drank.

Of course, he’d be thirsty. She hadn’t given him anything to drink. She hadn’t fed him, either. She opened the fridge and found the steak she’d bought for dinner. After tearing it out of the plastic, she held it toward Gray. He sniffed at it and then snatched it away from her. As he dropped his front paws to the floor, he wolfed the meat down in a few bites.

Amazing. She sank down until she was sitting cross-legged next to him. “You’re alive. How in hell did that happen?”

He licked her face a few times and then allowed her to open his muzzle and look into his mouth and throat. No sign of the steak in there. He’d honestly swallowed it, even though she hadn’t given him a stomach or other internal organs.

Shit. What did she do now? She’d made an electronic wolf for a reason. She had no control over this beast. She’d resisted domination by any male her entire life, and now, she’d mated with a wolf big enough to overpower her and smart enough to know how to use a faucet.

He chose that moment to shove his snout in her crotch and sniff loudly. Her sex responded, clenching at the memory of their mating. Enough of that, and her body would shift whether she wanted to or not. Anyone passing by would hear the snapping and growling that accompanied a wolven mating. She had to use more care than that. He did, too, but as a wild animal, he couldn’t know that.

She couldn’t keep a wolf here, and she sure as hell couldn’t keep him cooped up in her lab. What in hell was she going to do? And, how the fuck had this happened in the first place?

The pack had had something to do with this. They’d threatened to take matters into their own hands. They’d somehow managed to force a real mate on her, after all. How they must be laughing at her expense. How proud Joe must be that he’d brought her to heel after all the years she’d defied him. Bastards. This was her life, and they ought to let her live it.

“They’ve played a nasty trick on you, too, Gray.” She got to her feet. “They didn’t give you any choice.”

He stood there, his ears cocked. With the empathy even domestic dogs had, he sensed her anger, and he tensed, waiting to see what she’d do.

“I’m going to confront them and make them fix whatever they did,” she said. “They’re not getting away with it.”

* * *

The tingling at the back of her neck followed Cara the whole way out of her suburb and onto the country road that led to the pack’s compound. Occasionally, she’d detect movement out of the corner of her eye, but it always disappeared when she turned her head to search for the cause. Now, on what wasn’t much more than a cow path of a dirt road, the woods could hide anything on either side of her SUV. She ought to know. She’d run there, undetected by humans, her entire childhood.

She pulled up in front of Ilse’s house, turned off the engine, and jumped out. Geraniums in window boxes reminded her of how her sister had so completely taken on the feminine role. Husband, children, and her place in the society of wolves. Nice for her. She had no right to foist it on someone else.

Cara strode up to the front door and pushed the bell. She’d let herself inside if no one answered, but Ilse’s husband, Sam, showed up in a few seconds, dressed in the loose robes the family wore to allow them to shift easily. When he opened the door, she pushed her way in.

“Nice to see you, finally,” he said.

“Never mind nice. I came to see my sister.”

“She has one of her headaches,” Sam said. “A bad one.”

“Does she? I think I know the reason.”

“What are you talking about?” he demanded.

“She’s been fucking with my life, and I’m here to make sure this is the last time.” She headed toward the stairs, but Sam caught her arm.

“Don’t go up there. She needs quiet.”

“She needs a lesson in leaving me alone.”

“Cara…”

She shook her arm free of him. “Stay down here if you know what’s good for you.”

Before he could try to stop her again, she climbed the stairs two at a time. Her sister had never done this kind of magic before -- giving an object life -- but maybe with her brothers’ help, she’d figured out a new kind of spell. Whatever she’d done, it had cost her dearly enough to send her to bed. No mere deciphering a combination could do that. She’d have more than a headache when Cara had finished with her.

She continued up the steps as the need to shift built inside her, fueled by anger. Tearing at her sister’s throat would feel more satisfying than words, but she needed an explanation first. How in hell did Ilse think she had the right to meddle in her life like that? What had she done to make Gray real, and what did she plan to do to change him back?

When she got to the master bedroom, she shoved the door open so hard it hit the wall behind her. “What the fuck have you done?”

With the drapes closed, the whole room lay in shadow, but a feminine form lay on the bed. Ilse, all right. She removed a washcloth from her eyes and lifted her head. “Cara?”

“Have you been screwing with anyone else’s business lately?”

“Call me later, okay?”

“We’re going to have this out now.” Cara started in on removing her clothing, because before this was over, they’d have settled things between them, wolf to wolf.

Ilse watched for a moment and then groaned. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Too bad.”

Ilse sat up, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and sat there, her shoulders hunched. “Okay, what is it you think I’ve done?”

“You changed Gray somehow. He’s flesh and blood.”

“Gray?” Ilse’s head snapped up. “You’ve given it a name?”

“Of course, I gave him a name, and he’s not an it any longer, thanks to you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You couldn’t get me to give up Gray yourself, so you sent good cop/bad cop to strong-arm me.”

“They’re your brothers,” Ilse said.

“When they failed, you took matters into your own hands.”

“Don’t shift.” Ilse moaned. “I don’t have the strength for a fight.”

“That’s your own fault, wouldn’t you say?”

“All right.” Ilse rose and pulled her nightgown over her head. Now naked, she could shift while Cara still hadn’t kicked out of her shoes.

Ilse leapt onto Cara, knocking her backward. Now wolf herself, Cara fought back, snapping her teeth at Ilse’s throat. They rolled together for a while, each fighting for dominance. Everyone in the house could probably hear the snarling and yipping, but they’d all have the good sense to stay the hell away. Even Sam.

Finally, Cara had Ilse on her back. If she truly meant to kill her sister, she could do it now by slashing Ilse’s carotid. She paused long enough to let her sister fear she was actually considering it.

“Cara, stop!” a male voice shouted from the doorway. She’d never heard it before but knew it in her heart, anyway. She looked up to find a naked human male on the threshold. A gorgeous specimen with salt-and-pepper hair and silver eyes.

“You heard me,” he said. “Let her go.”

He needn’t have ordered her. With Cara distracted, Ilse had no trouble scampering out from under her. So, she stood, dragging breath into her lungs and stared at the impossible that had become real. Not only was her wolf mate alive, he could turn human as well.

* * *

Gray had watched his mate shift before -- from human to wolf -- so seeing her reverse the process held no real surprises. Her beauty took his breath away, as it always did. Her chestnut hair, hanging in thick curls down her back, matched the color of her fur, and her brown eyes were as deep as a human as a wolf. His human body reacted to her curves -- her small breasts and ample hips -- with force his wolven mind couldn’t have imagined.

Above all, he’d recognize her by her perfume. Though the house held the scent of several wolves, hers overpowered the others, sneaking into his brain and making his already-hard member throb.

When the other female also turned human, the family resemblance jumped out at him. Sisters, pack mates. Both members of his own clan since he’d claimed Cara as his own. He had to defer to her in her own home, but as soon as he got Cara away, he’d mate with her and memorize the taste and feel of her human body.

The other female picked up a robe from the end of the bed and slipped into it. That done, she went to the door, hesitating only long enough to give him permission with her gaze to use the room -- and the woman standing in the center of it -- as he saw fit. When she closed the door behind her, he spread his legs, blocking his mate’s escape. He’d marked her as a wolf. Now, he’d do it as a man.

Cara hugged her ribs and stared at him. “How did you get here?”

“I ran. I found shortcuts through the woods.”

“Why?”

“We’re mated. We belong together.”

“I didn’t design you to shift,” she said.

“Surprise.”

She took a step backward. “What are you going to do?”

“Put my face between your legs.” He took a few steps toward her. “Do you know what your scent is doing to me?”

“This is my sister’s bedroom.”

“She doesn’t care,” he said.

“I do.”

“Don’t lie to me.” He sniffed the air and smiled. “I can smell your heat. You need to mate as much as I do.”

“Let’s go home. We can talk,” she said.

“No amount of talking can take care of me.” Enough playing around. He closed the distance between them and scooped her into his arms. She didn’t put up any resistance. If she’d honestly not wanted the coupling, she could have shifted back into her stronger and more dangerous wolf form. Of course, he could turn wolf himself and take her that way, but he didn’t have to. She’d surrender as a human, and he could slide his human organ into her and feel her wetness close around it.

He tossed her onto the bed and then knelt beside it, between her legs. This close to her sex, her aroma made him dizzy with hunger. Spicy, hot. Aroused female.

She didn’t protest as he grabbed her hips and pulled them up so that he could lap at her pussy. She moaned -- a sweet, low note of approval -- as he feasted on her. All along the lips there, he tasted her, feathering his tongue and then giving her firm strokes. With each pass of his mouth, she grew wetter, and he worked harder to give her more and more. When he hit the hardened nub at the apex of her sex, she shuddered and released a small cry.

This was a different sort of pleasure than he’d taken with her in his wolf form. Instead of the chase, he could win by playing her body. Molding it to his will until she’d beg for more. Sure enough, her fingers went into his hair, the tips digging into his scalp in a silent plea that he not stop. Her breathing turned to gasps as he continued toying with her bud. He owned her, and he wouldn’t disappoint his mate. So, when her cries rose in pitch, he sucked the sensitive flesh into his mouth and worked it with his tongue.

She howled as she came. Not the full-throated release of the wolf, but the sound of a human female pushed to the breaking point and past. He let her finish, still stroking her bud, until she sagged against the bed, her legs spread around him. Only then did he ease the tip of his member between her folds and let her body ready itself for his invasion.

“Now, Gray.” She sighed. “I’m ready.”

Slowly, he pushed his way into her. Though his body ached to take her quickly, rushing to the conclusion, he couldn’t miss the sensation of his human organ entering her one inch at a time. The thing was long and thick, and yet, she took it easily until he was buried deep -- so deep -- inside her body.

For a moment, he stayed where he was, his knees weak with pleasure. She possessed him now. She’d owned him the entire time, even if he only now realized it. Only a foolish male thought he could dominate his mate. The greatest union came with mutual surrender -- exactly what he had inside Cara.

When he moved, she sighed and wrapped her legs around him. Holding her hips, he thrust slowly, sliding almost out and then surging forward. She gripped him, the walls of her sex slick with her musk.

As furious as their wolven coupling was, this was more like a dance. He thrust, she raised her hips to meet him. He groaned, she gave out a long sigh. Her face became a mask of bliss, and she grasped her breasts, kneading them until the nipples stood erect. What a picture. Pure lust, all for him.

Faster now. Damn, but he couldn’t hold back. Harder. The pressure built in his sac. He’d climax soon, and she’d take every bit of his heat. Tipping his head back as he strained against her, he fought for some control. Any way he could to delay the inevitable, to draw out the pleasure for one more moment. One more second. Useless. Too much. Too good.

As his last thread of sanity snapped, she climaxed around his sex, clamping down on his member and then sending spasms along its length. They howled together as he released his seed into her. He came with his whole body, from his toes to his teeth.

Even when it ended -- when he’d given her everything he had and her shouts turned to whimpers -- her muscles still fluttered around him. Aftershocks that testified to their reality. They’d just made magic, created something greater than two people. Or wolves. They’d truly joined and would never be apart again.

Chapter Three

Gray’s mate hardly sat throughout the entire pack meeting. He watched her perch on a chair at the end of the table and then flit here and there. The matriarch, the older alpha female with graying hair and a body softened by time and childbearing, sat quietly as the others talked, but her eyes followed her daughter’s movements. She was worried. About Cara. Cara had a mate now, and he’d take care of things.

“So, Gray, where do you come from,” the mother, Bess, asked. “Who’s your pack?”

“He doesn’t have a pack,” Joe said. As the largest male, this brother had loaned Gray a robe like the others wore. “Cara made him in her lab.”

Bess looked toward his mate, who stood by a window staring out. “Is this true?”

Cara didn’t answer but continued to look outside. Silence fell over the room, even as it was filled with all of Cara’s sibs and their mates. Of the mates, only Ilse’s had spoken since the discussion had started. It was his house, after all.

“Well?” Bess prompted.

“She was making some kind of bionic mate in her lab when I visited,” Ilse said. “It looked like Gray.”

Bess trained her attention on him. “What do you say, young man?”

“I don’t remember anything before the lab,” he answered. “Maybe they’re right.”

Joe gestured toward Gray. “He’s a damned machine.”

“He’s not a machine.” Cara finally turned from the window. “Ilse took care of that.”

“What is she talking about?” Bess demanded.

“She has some crazy idea that I changed Gray from robot to real,” Ilse answered.

“It’s not crazy.” Cara walked to the table and rested her fists on the top, bending toward her sister. “I don’t know how you did it, but you did.”

“I don’t have that kind of power,” Ilse shot back.

“Yeah, sure,” Cara said. “Then, how did you get that headache?”

Bess gasped. “You fought with your sister when she was weak?”

“She deserved it,” Cara answered.

“I got the headache helping the police find a lost boy,” Ilse said. “The creep who had him was evil. It took a lot out of me.”

“Like I believe that,” Cara shouted. “Joe put you up to it. The three of you had it all planned.”

“Sit, Cara,” Gray ordered. “Over here, next to me.”

She stiffened, and her eyes widened. She obviously hadn’t expected him to talk to her that way. Maybe no one else ever had.

Joe’s wife got up from the chair next to Gray, and he stared at his mate, letting her know in no uncertain terms that he’d shift and enforce his will if he had to. He wasn’t just throwing his weight around. For the good of the clan… all of them… she needed to fit in. Everyone had to work to protect their social bonds. Their kind couldn’t survive alone, and the sooner she realized that, the better. He hadn’t been flesh and blood for long, but the pack instinct already ran strong in his blood. Being a lone wolf was no kind of existence for him or Cara.

When no one spoke up to take her side, she took her seat next to him and curled her hands into fists in her lap.

“Thank you, Gray,” Bess said. At that, the muscle jumped in Cara’s jaw again.

“Do you have any insight into how you… well… came to be as you are?” Peter asked.

“For the love of God, you’re not going to accept this abomination into the pack, are you?” Joe shouted.

“If Cara’s mated with him, we have no choice,” Peter answered.

“Have the two of you mated?” Bess asked.

“Judging from the noises from upstairs a few minutes ago, I’d say they have,” Sam answered.

“Damn it.” Joe pounded his fist on the table and shot out of his chair. “Damn it all to hell.”

“He was still robotic when we mated as wolves,” Cara said softly. “At least, I think he was.”

Bess rested her palms on the table and appeared to be lost in thought. The rest of them kept quiet. Even Joe sat when his wife caught his hand and urged him into the chair next to her. For long moments, no one spoke, although Cara appeared ready to burst with anger.

“All right, Gray,” Bess said finally. “Tell us everything you know about where you came from and how you ended up with Cara.”

He took his mate’s hand and eased her fingers between his. “I first came to consciousness in Cara’s lab.”

It hadn’t been the same consciousness he had now or even as a wolf. More like buzzing confusion as his parts -- his body -- acted automatically in response to the environment. He’d had an awareness of Cara, though. She’d seemed a god. She still did, even though she didn’t have his size and strength and he could command her, if only a little.

“I’m not sure when I…” How to find the right word? “…changed. I don’t think it was anything Ilse did. I might have done it myself.”

“Well then, that makes us doubly your pack as you have none of your own,” Bess said.

“Mom, you can’t mean that,” Joe shouted.

“What would you like me to do?” Bess demanded. “Separate them now that they’re mated?”

“Find his off switch or something.”

Cara barked a laugh. “I already tried that.”

“You will show your mate the respect he deserves, young lady,” Bess scolded. “The rest of you… you all wanted her to mate. She has. End of discussion.”

“Thank you,” Gray said.

“Cara, you and Gray will live in your cottage. It’ll be cramped until we can enlarge it for you,” Bess ordered.

“I didn’t agree to that,” Cara said.

“You don’t have to. I’ve decided.” Bess rose from her chair. “Now, I’m going to go play with my grandchildren.”

* * *

In the chaos of her life in the outside world, Cara had forgotten the sense of peace that could settle over her on a warm evening as she sat on her cottage’s small porch and stared out into the redwoods. The serenity wasn’t complete this evening, though, despite the glass of cabernet in her hand. Tonight, she shared the space with Gray, and later, she’d share the smallish bed she used to occupy alone.

He sat in the chair next to hers, his long legs stretched out in front of him. He took to her clan’s traditional clothing as if born to it, although her brother’s robes didn’t quite reach to his ankles as they did on Joe. Imagine that. His size overpowered even that of her big brother. She could hardly have imagined a more magnificent male if she’d tried.

He inhaled deeply and then let the breath out on a sigh. “I don’t know how you could leave this place.”

“You haven’t been here long enough.”

“These woods are stunning. Your family’s welcoming, under the circumstances.” He reached over and covered her hand with his. “We will need to make the cabin bigger, though.”

“We’re not staying here.”

“That’s wrong, and you know it,” he said. “We belong with your… our pack.”

She took a sip of her wine and let it sit on her tongue for a while. In the normal course of things, Gray would be right. Sometimes, she longed for this place and these people/wolves so much she dreamed about running with them. But, every time she visited in hopes she’d fit in, the more her inadequacies became obvious. At first, it had only been her mother’s and sister’s power. Then, Ruth had married Joe, and an outsider fit in better than she did. Then, the grandchildren had come.

“I’ve only just been born or whatever it is I’ve done,” Gray went on. “But, I can feel it. The need to belong. To be part of something bigger.”

“You’re different,” she said.

“How?” he asked. “Talk to me, Cara. I’m your mate.”

That feeling washed over her again -- the one dangerously close to self-pity. Revolting emotion, really. Why should she feel sorry for herself? She had the perfect family and the perfect job. Now, she’d manufactured the perfect mate. “You have to understand my pack. The females all have gifts. Even the ones who marry into the family have to have a special ability.”

“Ilse’s sight?” he said.

“Ruth, Joe’s wife, is a healer. Mom can start fires with her mind.” Cara snapped her fingers. “Poof. Flame.”

“What about the men?”

“All dominant. Prime males,” she answered. “You fit in here better than I do.”

“They all love you. You can see it in their eyes.”

“Even Joe?”

“Especially Joe,” he said. “That’s why he disapproves of me so much.”

“Maybe you’re right, but that doesn’t help.” She set her glass aside, got up, and walked to the railing, gripping it in both fists. The long shadows had turned darker now, creating an early night under the redwoods. It was always cool under the huge trees, and now the breeze raised goose bumps on her skin as the rich scents of the forest floated to her.

Gray came up behind her and rested his hands on her upper arms. The warmth of his body seeped into her back. Tempting, oh so tempting. She could turn and rest against the expanse of his chest. Let him make love to her until she forgot even her own name. In fact, she would later, but her reality would be waiting to confront her in the morning. She couldn’t stay here without knowing every day that, among her pack, she was a charity case.

“You made me,” he said. “Maybe that’s your gift.”

“Engineering. I learned it in college.”

“Has anyone else in your lab ever created something close to my mechanical self?” he asked.

“I’m really good at my job.”

“I’m more than your job,” he said softly.

She turned and stepped away from him. “Fine, then. Maybe you brought yourself to life.”

“Maybe you did it.”

“Oh, no.” She had to laugh at that. “Not me.”

“Why not?”

“Ilse’s the most gifted of us all,” she said. “If she didn’t do it, I sure as hell didn’t.”

“I have more faith in you than that.”

“Look, Gray…”

“Never mind for now. We have better things to do than talk.”

He reached for her, and she went to him, hugging his ribs while she rested her face against his chest and listened to the beat of his heart.

Rubbing her back with the palms of his big hands, he rested his cheek on top of her head. “I love you, Cara.”

Of course, he did. She hadn’t given him any choice in the matter.

“I don’t care what anyone else thinks of you or even what you think of yourself,” he said. “You’re a miracle to me.”

She pulled back and stared up into his face, into those amazing eyes that had haunted her imagination when he’d been nothing more than a picture in a magazine. “I programmed you. You can’t help but think of me that way.”

“It’s more than that.” He spread his palms on either side of her face and tipped her chin up with his thumbs. “I’ve watched you. You can outrun me… almost.”

“I was going as fast as I can, and you hardly broke a sweat.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Wolves don’t sweat.”

“You know what I mean.”

He kissed her then, no more than a gentle sampling of her mouth with his own. As eagerly as he’d devoured her pussy earlier, he’d never kissed her before, and although she couldn’t have known what to expect, she could never have imagined… well… this. As solid and firm as he was everywhere else, his lips felt soft against hers. Urging and seeking rather than demanding. If she’d had an ounce of resistance against this male, this caress would have melted it in the heartbeats it took him to taste her top lip and then brush his tongue over the bottom one. Enchantment. No other word penetrated the fog his kiss had thrown up around her brain. The rustle of the leaves in the forest somehow combined with the sound of her sighs as she answered him back with her own mouth. Surely, no one could withstand this sweetness without surrendering a bit of her soul.

He pulled away after a moment and rested his forehead against hers. “You see? A miracle.”

“Of your own creation.”

“Nope.” He pressed his lips against her jaw and then trailed them up to her temple. “I’m nothing without you.”

His breath in her ear sent such a jolt through her that her knees almost buckled. She let out a gasp of surprise that melted into a sigh of pleasure.

“Do that again,” he murmured.

“What?” Her voice came out as soft as the breeze.

“That little noise.” He breathed hotly into her ear again, and this time, she couldn’t hold back a moan.

“Damn, that makes me hot.” This time, he claimed her mouth with more urgency, parting her lips as he pulled her hard against him. His erect cock pressed against her belly through their robes. So long and thick, it had worked her pussy into a pleasant soreness that afternoon, but that didn’t stop her poor sex from demanding more. Now and most likely later on, too.

His hands went to her buttocks and cupped them as he ground his hips against her. “I can’t seem to stop.”

“Did I ask you to?”

“No matter how much I get of you, I need more.” At that, he pushed her against a post at the corner of the porch and thrust his pelvis up against her. The force of his movements almost forced her feet from the planks, but she clung to his shoulders, digging her fingers into the muscles there to hang on.

“I should be gentle,” he whispered.

“You should be who you are,” she answered. “My male animal.”

“Sit on the railing and open your legs for me.”

“I have another surprise first.” It took all her strength to push him away so she could drop to her knees in front of him. His eyes glowed as if they had a fire behind them as he stared down at her, his chest rising and falling. He watched her, almost like a wary beast. He couldn’t imagine what she planned to do. Good.

After bunching up the fabric of his robe, she found his cock with her free hand. So large, his tool made her fingers appear tiny as they scarcely circled him around the base.

“What are you doing?” he gasped.

“Loving your cock.”

“With your hand?”

“Not exactly.” She licked the length of him from the base to the tip and then circled her tongue around the head. In answer, he sucked in a breath, making a sound like steam escaping.

“You shouldn’t do that,” he said.

“You can’t stop me.”

“Damn it, Cara. I’ll come in your mouth.”

“You won’t do that,” she answered. “You want to fuck me too much.”

“You have a filthy mouth, mate.”

“All the better to eat you with.” This time, she slid her lips over him, sliding them down his shaft as far as they would go. He was far too big for her to swallow him all, so she gripped the rest of him with her fingers and pumped. He seemed to grow larger as she worked, although that could scarcely be possible.

No wonder he’d eaten her so eagerly. Although his musk wasn’t nearly as powerful as her own, he had his own taste -- spice and hot male.

“That’s good.” He groaned again, and his hips moved in a slower version of the thrusts he used in coupling. “I never imagined.”

A note of salt danced on her tongue -- the signal that he couldn’t take much more before he’d have to come. Too soon, as she could do this for hours, worshipping his huge tool with her lips and tongue. He was the bigger and the stronger, but she could overpower him with her sex. She could possess him as much or more than he could take possession of her.

“I feel as if I’m going to explode.” He groaned as his thrusts went deeper and she had to hold him firmly so that he didn’t choke her. “Cara, you’d better… oh… you’d better stop. Now.”

She released him, and in an instant, he’d lifted her under her arms and deposited her on the corner of the railing, the post behind her back. Both of them struggled for a second or two to get her robe up over her hips. When they had, she reached for his member and guided the tip between the lips of her sex. In one fluid move, he drove himself into her, pushing her off the wood until nothing held her upright except for his hands on her buttocks and her arms around his neck. By wrapping her legs around his hips, she pulled him all the way inside her, taking his bulk until it filled her. Impaled all the way to the root of his sex, more fully than she’d managed that afternoon.

She tipped back her head and let loose a throaty groan of possession. Mine. This male is mine.

He was heaven and sin, savagery and a long, slow fuck. As his hips moved, his hands massaged her ass, creating a wave motion -- in, out, up, down. A thorough plundering of her wetness. Each downward motion brought her hardened clit against his pelvis, working double magic, in the deepest part of her and against her most sensitive flesh.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered. “More. Please.”

“Hold tight, baby.” He quickened his movements until the pressure against her nub was constant, the pleasure nearly unbearable.

“I’m going to come,” she said. “Oh, God, now. I’m…” The words ended in a shriek as her pussy went wild in an orgasm that shook her to the roots of her hair. He kept moving the whole time the storm crashed over her. Inside, she grasped at him rhythmically as if the climax would never end.

Even through all that, she felt him tense and heard the roar building in his chest. He jerked upward a few times, so violently she had to clutch his shoulders with all her strength to hang on. At her very core, he released his essence inside her, suspending them both in bliss so profound she went limp with it. He settled her back on the railing just as she would have fallen. His arms still cradling her, she sagged against him and sighed.

“Perfect,” he murmured after a few moments. “Did you feel it?”

“Mmmm,” she answered. “How could I miss it?”

“Not just the orgasm,” he said. “We made a child.”

Her heart thundered in her chest as she sat, leaning into her mate’s big body. A child. The word hardly registered. How could she make a new member of the pack when she hardly understood her own place in the group?

* * *

“Did you think about what I said last night?” Gray asked.

Sitting in the Adirondack chair next to Cara’s, he didn’t turn to face her as he said it, but she could feel his attention focused on her like the beam of a magnifying glass, anyway. For some reason, the whole day he’d watched her all the while pretending not to. The scrutiny gave her an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. Not at all welcomed but not at all unpleasant, either. Much like what he’d said to her the night before.

“We discussed a lot of things,” she answered.

“Anything more important than whether you conceived?” Still, he kept his face forward, his expression neutral.

“Would you like that?” Her voice came out so small, she could hardly hear it.

He finally turned and looked at her. “I can’t imagine anything better.”

“That figures.”

“You don’t want my offspring?”

“It doesn’t matter what I want,” she answered. “It’s going to happen eventually.”

“You could try to sound a little happy. I’m your mate, after all.”

“I’m sorry.” She put her hand on his arm and squeezed. “You deserve better.”

“Don’t you dare start that shit again,” he said.

She stared at him. “You swore. You never swear.”

“I don’t care. That I’m-not-good-enough crap sets me off.”

“It must.”

Before they could get into a full-blown argument, a soccer ball came careening toward them, headed straight for Gray’s head. He caught it before it hit. “Seems like the whole family’s out to get me.”

Joe’s oldest, Tommy, ran over to retrieve the ball, but Gray held it out of his reach. “Is this your weapon, young man?”

“It’s not a weapon,” Tommy answered. “You’re silly.”

Gray leaned over the young one. “You don’t call a big bad wolf silly.”

Tommy stuck out his chest. “I’m a wolf, too.”

“Oh, yeah?” Gray said.

“Yeah,” Tommy answered. “I’ll shift, and you’ll see.”

Cara did her best not to bruise Tommy’s considerable ego by laughing. The child thought he was invincible and stood up to every challenge, whether real or imagined. He’d face down a huge male like Gray if given the opportunity.

“Careful.” Gray chuckled. “Where I come from, even the smallest wolflings are bigger than you.”

“Are not,” Tommy answered.

“Tell us where you come from, Uncle Gray.” That from Ilse’s boy, Ricky, who held his sister, Sally, by the hand. Her thumb firmly in her mouth, Sally stared at her new uncle out of huge, blue eyes, so different from her brother’s brown ones.

“I come from a place very far away.” Gray gestured expansively into the distance. “Not over the first hill or the second one, but lots and lots of hills.”

Cara couldn’t tear her eyes away from her mate and the little audience he’d gathered around him. The children had adored him immediately, and only strict instructions from their parents had kept them from hanging around him every moment.

“What’s it called, that place where you live?” Ricky asked.

“Well, it’s called…” Gray glanced at Cara for help, but she just smiled back at him. He started this. He could finish it without her help.

“It’s called Grayland,” he said finally. “And all the wolves are gray.”

Ricky, the family skeptic, eyed his new uncle with some suspicion. “All of them?”

“It gets boring after a while,” Gray said. “That’s why I found your Aunt Cara.”

“Where was that, Aunt Cara?” Tommy asked.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Under a cabbage leaf.”

Ricky snickered.

“You have to understand that cabbages are as big as houses in Grayland,” Gray added.

“They are?” Sally asked, now having lost interest in her thumb.

“Oh yes,” she answered. “Bigger than my cottage. I saw them myself.”

“You’ve never been to Grayland, Aunt Cara,” Ricky said.

“How do you know where I’ve been, squirt?” she answered.

“There you are, then,” Gray said.

Sally walked up to Gray and rested her hands on his knee. “Tell us more about Grayland.”

He scooped her up and put her in his lap. A few weeks ago, he’d been a collection of parts strewed across the workbench in her lab, and now, he was a nurturing wolf male, and a good one. Something inside her turned warm and gooey. It wouldn’t be so bad to have his child at all.

“Let’s see,” he said. “Where I come from, there are rivers of honey, but we have to leave most of that for the bears.”

“I’d fight the bears for it,” Tommy declared.

“The bears in Grayland are fearsome,” Gray answered. “Heck, even our deer have fangs. They don’t run away. They fight.”

Tommy huffed. “I’m not afraid of a dumb deer.”

“If they don’t get you, one of the birds might.” Gray spread his arms wide and flapped them over the children.

“I saw an eagle once,” Ricky volunteered.

“Our birds are bigger. They’re so big, we call them bonzo birds.”

Cara chuckled and then covered it with a cough.

“The bonzo birds are so big, they block out the sky,” he went on. “They have fangs, too.”

“Birds don’t have teeth,” Ricky said, but he didn’t sound so sure of himself any longer.

“Bonzo birds do. Long, pointy ones,” Gray answered.

“Bonzo bird get me?” Sally asked as she leaned into Gray’s chest.

He closed his arms around her. “No, honey. Bonzo birds don’t chase little girls, only little nasty boys who bother them.”

“I could kill a bonzo bird,” Tommy said.

“Of course, you could.” Gray ruffled the child’s brown hair. “See, Sally? Tommy will protect you.”

“Besides, there aren’t any bonzo birds around here,” Cara added.

“Your pack will always keep you safe, honey.” Gray kissed the top of Sally’s head. “Your grandma, your mom and dad, and all your aunts and uncles and cousins.”

“Doesn’t your pack miss you?” Sally asked.

Gray stared toward Cara over the little girl’s head. This time, she would help him if only she could think of an answer.

“Uncle Gray’s pack wants him to be happy with us,” Ilse said. She’d probably watched the whole display from a distance, and of course, she’d thought of exactly the right thing to say.

“Who wants a run before dinner?” Ilse said.

I-do’s went up all over the place.

“Good,” Ilse said. “We’re all going.”

“Even Grandma?” Tommy asked.

“She needs to run, too,” Ilse answered. “Come on. Everyone.”

The children all took off in the direction of the other adults. Ilse went to follow but then turned back to Cara and Gray. “Everyone,” she said.

* * *

Cara might not realize it, but she held her tail at a flirtatious angle as she ran. Gray deliberately fell behind, even though the pack traveled at a speed slow enough to accommodate the wolflings. Even on their first chase through the woods near her lab, he would have let her stay ahead of him so that he could enjoy the view of her rump as the powerful muscles of her wolven form bunched and extended. Then, his lust had put everything from his mind but catching her and mounting her. Now, after all the times they’d coupled, he could show more patience. Or could he?

Tommy ran at the head of the pack, next to his father, leaving no doubt which male would protect the clan into the next generation. The rest spread out behind, darting between the redwoods and kicking up the remains of fallen needles. The forest floor felt soft with the stuff, and it muted their steps, leaving nothing but the sounds of their heavy breathing to give witness to their passing. Cara belonged to a fortunate pack -- all of them strong and healthy with untouched forest of their own. You could say they were blessed, and now, he was, too.

The matriarch, Bess, caught up to him, signaling behind them with an incline of her head. He glanced back to find Sally struggling to keep up with her short legs. Her pink tongue hung from her mouth as she panted. When Bess stopped and headed back toward her granddaughter, he nodded that he understood. The youngest and the oldest would turn for home, and no doubt a wholesome, hot meal would await the rest of the clan at the compound.

In the moment he’d hesitated, the rest of them had gotten ahead, so he sprinted off after his mate.

Now, she hung behind the others, but not from exhaustion. Swishing her tail seductively, she sent him a clear message. She had a different sort of chase in mind. The knowledge went right to his gut, sending his imagination into overdrive. He hadn’t had much self-awareness the first time they’d mated as wolves. He’d been little more than a machine. Now, he could experience her as a living being. One who had tied himself to her for life or longer. One who loved her more than ought to be possible for a mortal creature.

As he watched her hindquarters, the fever built inside him. Her scent reached to him, pulling him along after her. The clever thing meant to lead him on a chase, obviously, as she sped ahead, launching herself over fallen logs. She leapt higher than she needed to, showing off her strength and grace, dazzling him with her beauty. Fine. Let her tantalize him. She’d pay a price for that when he caught her, and they’d both enjoy the consequences.

On and on they went. Faster now, until blood rushed in his ears. With each bound, the hunger grew stronger until it formed a chant in rhythm with his steps. Want, want, want, want.

He could overpower her if he wanted. He could launch himself on her and sink his teeth into the fur at the back of her neck while he slammed his cock into her. The waiting would make them wild for each other and the eventual rut more intense.

Just when he couldn’t endure another moment, another stride, without burying himself in her, she skirted around a tree into a large ring of redwoods. He plunged after her to find nothing but ferns that reached to his shoulders. Greenery everywhere, but no wolf and no sounds of her running away from the other side. She’d disappeared but somehow had left her scent behind. He breathed it in, and just smelling her almost made him come on the spot. She must be here. He hadn’t chased her all this way, needing her desperately the whole time, only to have her disappear. Not possible.

The ferns next to him shifted, and something wet and scratchy made a long pass over his aching member. He yelped at the shock and nearly lost his balance. Cara had crouched in the greenery around him, and now she was licking him all the way from his balls along his shaft.

Mount, his mind shrieked. Ass. Now.

As if she’d heard him, she rose and presented her hindquarters, lifting her tail out of his way. He climbed onto her, clutching her sides with his paws, and shoved his member into her wetness.

Born or built, he’d been created for this moment. He surged forward, retreated, and then filled her again. His hips kept moving, and he couldn’t have stopped if he wanted to. Her flanks shook as she held herself still for his penetration, and she tipped her head back to let out a cry of delight.

No more chasing. No more coyness or flirtation. This was sex at its most elemental. Cock. Pussy. Giving. Taking.

Shift!

He hadn’t thought that. She must have, and he heard it with a part of his mind she occupied. As her fur disappeared and her limbs grew longer and less muscular, his body mirrored hers, and they changed together. Now human, his hands held the soft skin of her hips and he moved in and out of her slick chamber. He could watch his huge human member, its crimson color signaling how close he’d come to orgasm, as it slid in and out of her wetness. An unbelievable sight. So erotic it burned itself into his mind. She strained backward to meet his thrusts, as eager as he was for the plunder. This magnificent woman wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Now, he could bend and run his hands all over her body. He reached around to fondle her breasts and stroke the nipples into tight peaks.

“Gray!” she shouted. “Oh, don’t stop. Fuck me.”

He moved his hands lower along her body, over her ribs to her belly. When his fingers found the curls that covered her sex, he probed for the lips and parted them. Her clit was stiff and swollen. Easy to find. When he rubbed it, she sucked in a breath, and her whole body trembled.

“God, yes,” she gasped. “I’m going to… oh, don’t stop… I’m going to…”

She shrieked as the orgasm claimed her. Her muscles gripped him, snapping the last shred of his control. He came with her as her sex continued convulsing around his. Hot lust shot from him in waves, and she took it all. They passed life between them. And love. And the promise that they’d never separate, not even in death.

When they’d finished and he had no strength to remain upright, they collapsed together against a blanket of crushed ferns. He did manage to roll them onto their sides and clutch her to him, spoon-fashion. His pulse still thundered in his ears, and from where his hand lay between her breasts his fingers detected the fluttering of her heart. His own heart felt as if it would shatter, and he took an unsteady breath. What he’d found was so precious, so irreplaceable, he’d die if he lost it. So, he’d have to make sure he kept her safe and happy and with him always.

She stretched. “I can’t tell if you’re a better lover as a wolf or a man.”

“We can keep trying both ways until you figure it out.”

“I think you’re right about something.”

He nibbled at her earlobe. “What would that be?”

She lay perfectly still for a moment. “I think I’m pregnant.”

“Cara.” He tugged at her shoulders, urging her to turn, until she faced him and he could stare down into her warm brown eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Not completely.” She bit her lip. “But, I feel… well… different. More complete.”

“Does it feel good?” He held his breath, waiting for her answer.

“Miraculous. Oh, Gray, I love you so much.”

His chest threatened to split open with joy, and maybe -- just maybe -- his vision swam. “You’ve never said that to me before.”

Her eyes widened. “I must have.”

“Nope. I’ve been paying close attention.”

“I’m so stupid sometimes.”

“Never.” He kissed her. Softly, to savor the sweetness of her mouth. After all the passion they’d shared, the gentleness finally sealed the deal. She was his mate, his life. He’d never be parted from her again. Even in death, their souls would remain connected.

When he ended the kiss, lifting his face away from hers, she smiled up at him with such love in her eyes, he nearly did weep. Before he totally lost control of his emotions, she laughed and tugged something from his hair. A twig from the redwood above them, complete with one of the tiny cones that held the huge tree’s seeds.

“We’d better get back before the others come searching for us,” she said.

“And tell them the good news?”

“That I’m pregnant?” she asked.

“They’ll want to know.”

She pushed him aside and sat up. “Not yet.”

“When? You’ll start showing soon.”

“I don’t know.” Her shoulders knotted with tension. “Not now.”

“Cara, why?”

For several moments, she didn’t answer but only stared off into the forest. She finally sighed. “I still don’t feel… I’m not really… I don’t fit in.”

“Because you don’t have a special ability?”

“Well, I don’t,” she muttered.

“You’ve created life.” He draped an arm over her shoulder. “Inside you.”

“Any female can do that,” she answered.

“Only you could make my child,” he said.

“All right.” She put her palm against the side of his face. “We’ll tell them. Just not right now.”

He took her hand and kissed the palm. “I love you, mate.”

Chapter Four

The pounding rattled the window of the cabin door. “Cara? Gray?”

Cara sat up in the small bed she shared with her mate and glanced at the clock. Almost two am. “Coming.”

“Cara?” Ilse’s voice called, even louder. More pounding followed.

“All right. I’m coming.” Cara grabbed a robe just as Gray sat up in bed.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. Ilse sounds upset.”

“I’ll come, too.”

Cara left the bedroom and went to the door. Her sister stood on the other side, and when she opened it, Ilse pushed inside, a huge flashlight in her hand.

“It’s Tommy,” Ilse said. “He’s missing. Hasn’t been in his bed for hours.”

Gray entered, still settling his robe into place. “Any clue where he’s gone?”

“Ricky says he kept talking about Grayland and how he wanted to kill one of those birds and bring it home,” Ilse answered.

“Shit,” Gray cursed. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault,” Ilse answered. “He’s a good kid but headstrong. Hard to control.”

“We’ll get him back,” Gray said.

“You bet we will,” Cara added.

“Not you, Cara,” Gray ordered. “You’re staying here.”

Cara glared at him. “I will not.”

“I won’t have you risking the baby,” he said.

“Baby?” Ilse repeated.

“Cara’s pregnant, and she’s going to stay here and be safe,” he said.

“This is why I built a mechanical mate,” she said. “I am not taking orders from you.”

Ilse glanced from Cara to Gray and back. “Maybe he’s right.”

“Like hell. Tommy’s my nephew. No one can keep me from helping to find him.”

“Cara…” Gray’s voice came out like a snarl.

“I mean it. If you leave me behind I’ll follow.”

“We’ll all go,” Ilse concluded. “But let’s do it.”

Gray wagged a finger toward Cara. “You stay with me.”

“Joe’s organizing everyone,” Ilse said.

Gray nodded and headed outside. When Cara made to follow, Ilse caught her arm. “There’s something I haven’t told the others. I’m sensing Tommy out there, but only weakly.”

“He must have gotten far away,” Cara said.

“Or…” Ilse didn’t have to finish that sentence. They both knew what she meant. Tommy might be hurt, bad enough that his life force was slipping away. If so, they’d have to get to him quickly so his mother could heal him.

“Gray’s right.” Cara squeezed Ilse’s arm. “We’ll find him.”

“Let’s go.”

By the time they joined the group, the others had all shifted. Ilse and Cara shed their clothing and did the same. With Bess watching the two young ones, they had seven adult wolves, strong enough to cover distance quickly and with senses of smell acute enough to pick up Tommy’s scent as they went. Plus, they had Ilse’s ability to detect Tommy from even farther away. If anyone could find the wolfling, they would.

They ran almost silently through the forest. Even on the brightest day, the redwoods cast much of the land into deep shade. After dark, only a patch of moonlight here and there marked their way. Cara’s sensitive ears picked up the sounds of her pack mates and the breathing of Gray beside her as they went. Even after several long minutes, she found no trace of Tommy’s scent, and they seemed no closer to their goal. Though none of them questioned Ilse’s second sight, they could have been going in circles for all Cara could tell. Luckily, the rest didn’t know that Ilse was having trouble sensing Tommy. Worry wouldn’t help. Better they think all was well.

As much as Cara would have denied it, she didn’t have her normal strength and was beginning to tire. Gray slowed his pace to stay with her, and his silver eyes showed concern. Screw that. She wouldn’t let him be right about telling her to stay behind, so she kicked into high gear. Fighting for breath, she surged ahead. She had to prick up her ears to catch the sounds of the rest of the pack in the distance, but eventually, she got close enough to spot them.

The other five stood in a moonlit clearing, their chests heaving as they panted for breath. Ilse’s black fur stood almost on end over her shoulders. A sure sign of extreme upset. Cara trotted up to her, and Ilse’s eyes showed pure terror. She’d lost Tommy -- couldn’t sense him at all -- and there was only one reason for that. The worst had happened.

His mother, Ruth, let loose a terrible howl. A cry of mourning, of a heart tearing apart. Joe snarled at her and prowled back and forth, the way he always did when he couldn’t control something. For a moment, Peter stood with his snout raised, sniffing the air in all directions. Finally, he lowered his head, and his shoulders sagged.

No. This could not be happening. They couldn’t have lost Tommy. The pack’s oldest child, the reason for such celebration at his birth. Old wolves died, not cubs. He was the next generation, their link to the future. They couldn’t go back without him. The death would kill their mother, figuratively if not literally. Cara couldn’t have life inside her body only to lose the first-born and maybe her mother as well.

Desperately, she searched for Tommy’s scent. Even if Ilse’s ability had failed them, the child had to have left some evidence of having come this way.

Now, what had felt like weakness turned to strength as another being inside her -- another new spark of love and life -- united with her. Somehow, she and her cub together searched for Tommy, systematically turning a step at a time as they sampled the air. Gray watched out of silver eyes as she did it, his gaze wary. He couldn’t understand and wouldn’t until he held the child in his arms. Maybe she’d explain later, but for now, her mate’s worry didn’t matter as much as finding her brother’s son.

There! She caught it. Just the faintest whiff, but real. Tommy. No doubt about it. She charged off. Although Gray tried to catch her hind leg in his teeth to stop her, she got away and ran, all the while testing the air for the right direction. Her mate came crashing after her. Fine. He could help, but he couldn’t stop her.

Now, she flew like the wind with no thought or sign of weakness. Her whole life, she hadn’t added anything unique to this pack. She’d been a sister and a daughter but nothing more. Tonight, she’d do what the rest of them couldn’t. Not the healer nor the fire starter nor the visionary could find their wolfling, but she could. She crashed through underbrush but kept going at top speed. She might run smack into a tree with bad luck, but she’d take the bruises and keep going. For once, she had a real purpose, something she needed more than the others. Maybe even more than Tommy.

The scent kept getting clearer. Either her sense had grown stronger, or she was getting closer to the child. Either way, she was headed in the right direction. She pushed on harder, exceeding her own maximum speed. The run took on a life of its own -- forelegs pulling at the ground and then hind legs shoving her forward. She was flying, honest-to-God flying. Dashing from light to dark and then light again. She bounded over a log and entered deeper darkness. Here, she couldn’t make out anything in front of her. Suddenly, the ground slipped out from under her feet. She struggled for balance and lost, rolling and skidding downward.

Ravine. She’d tumbled into a ravine. Tommy had fallen here before her. The knowledge seared into her brain as she continued, rocks scraping against her. Down and down, as if the descent would never end. Gray had been right. She should have stayed behind, and now, her child would suffer if she didn’t die herself.

I’m sorry, she called to him, if only he could hear her. I love you.

She did hit bottom finally, landing on soft redwood duff next to a stream that rustled softly as it went by. She lay perfectly still for a moment, listening to her heartbeat roar in her ears. And to something much softer -- the swell of the other life inside her. Her cub, her baby, her child, was alive and well.

She shifted, clutching her belly, and weeping with relief and joy. “We made it, little one. You and I. We made it.”

Tommy was nearby. She only had to get up and search for him. She rose. “Tommy? Where are you, honey?”

The only answer came from above her as another body crashed down the side of the ravine and came to a stop in front of her. The huge, gray wolf, his eyes shooting silver fire. The fur on his shoulders stood straight up, and he bared his fangs and snarled at her.

“Cut it out, you stupid male,” she said. “I have to find Tommy.”

In an instant, he shifted and stalked up to her, finally grabbing her arm and pulling her against his chest. “What the fuck did you think you were doing?”

She tried to pull her arm back, without success. “Finding my nephew. For once, I could do something none of the rest of them could.”

“I swear to God, Cara, if you ever do anything like that again…” He glared down at her, undiluted fury in his eyes.

She stared back up at him. “You’ll do what?”

“Jesus God, woman, you could have killed yourself.”

“I didn’t, and the baby’s fine, too,” she said. “Instead of talking, why don’t we…”

A scream cut her off. A human, female voice. Ruth, although not like any other sound Cara had ever heard. She pushed by Gray and headed upstream.

It didn’t take Cara long to discover who’d made that ungodly sound. Ruth sat beside the stream, human and naked, in the arms of her husband, who’d also shifted. The other wolves stood by, not moving. Ruth let out another bloodcurdling howl as she stared at something lying on a rock in the water. As Cara got closer, the thing revealed itself to be a small body with black fur like his father’s.

“Tommy,” she cried as she scrambled toward the child. “Oh God, Tommy.”

Her feet slipped as she went, rocks digging into her flesh, but the pain didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except getting to him. If she could hold him, she could make everything all right. He’d wake up from whatever trance he’d fallen into. He might be hurt. Of course, he’d be hurt. That fall was so sharp, and he was so little. But she’d fix him somehow. She hadn’t run so fast and risked so much only to lose him now.

She dropped into the stream beside him, hitting her knee on a rock in the process, and scooped him up into her arms. He was limp, his head hanging backward as she lifted him, and he was cold. But then, he would be cold, wouldn’t he? He was wet, the poor baby.

She held him against her naked chest to warm him and rocked. “There you are, sweetie. We found you. You’re safe now.”

Ruth sobbed loudly and reached her arms out.

“It’s okay, Ruth,” Cara said. “He’ll be all right. He has to be.”

A hand came down on her shoulder. Gray had kneeled next to her in the stream. “Cara, you have to give him to his mother.”

“I can’t.” She leaned toward him to whisper in his ear. “They think he’s dead.”

“Honey, he is.”

She clutched Tommy more tightly. “No.”

“His mother’s a healer. Ilse can sense things,” Gray said. “Look at them. They know the truth.”

“No, it’s not possible.” She scanned the others. Ilse, Sam, and Peter looked utterly defeated, their expressive eyes wide. Ruth’s face was a mask of grief as she continued crying. Joe’s features didn’t move, as if he’d seen something so horrible he’d turned to stone.

“No,” Cara wailed. “I caught his scent when no one else could. I found him. I risked my own baby. He can’t be dead.”

“Give him to me, Cara,” Gray whispered.

“No.” She clutched the child, even as reality penetrated. He wasn’t moving, wasn’t breathing, wasn’t getting warmer.

“Come on, honey.” Gray stroked her face and looked into her eyes.

“No,” she repeated, her voice wavering.

She had to let him go, but her arms wouldn’t release him. When she did, she’d be admitting the very things she couldn’t accept. That an innocent child -- a child who represented the future of the pack -- had died because of recklessness. And more -- the place she’d thought to have found for herself in the pack went with him. She hadn’t found him in time, hadn’t done something wonderful. She brought nothing to her family that someone else couldn’t do.

Gray reached for the small body, this time obviously willing to force her to give it up. Just as her mind told her to accept that terrible truth, some knowledge inside her screamed to wait. And there it was. A thump-thump, distant and weak but real.

“Wait,” she said.

“Listen, honey…”

“No, wait.” Again. Stronger this time. Thump-thump, thump-thump.

“Gray,” she whispered, putting her mouth against his ear again so no one else would hear. “His heart… I think it’s beating.”

“Aww, baby.”

“I mean it. See for yourself.” She handed Tommy to her mate. Already, the boy had some muscle tone and felt warmer. He did, whether anyone believed her or not.

Gray looked skeptical at first, but then, he rested two fingers at the boy’s throat, checking for a pulse. After a moment, his eyes flew open. “Everybody… he’s alive.”

“My baby,” Ruth shouted. She lunged at Gray and carefully took Tommy into her arms. She held him, stroking his face and kissing him. After a moment, Tommy whined -- the sort of pup sounds he’d never let anyone hear now.

The wolves crowded around, sniffing the child. Ilse licked him a few times and then tipped her head back to howl.

Cara would have collapsed into the stream with relief, but Gray caught her and pulled her against his chest. She trembled, her teeth chattering. They were, after all, still kneeling in cold water. Her feet and hands hurt -- probably bleeding -- and she’d have a nice gash in her knee. None of that mattered, of course, but when Gray lifted her in his arms and set her on the bank of the stream, she didn’t fight.

“You all right?” he asked.

“Never been better.” She glanced back at the others. Tommy was squirming in his mother’s arms, and the others looked on as if he were the most miraculous thing on Earth. He probably was.

“I’ll run back and get the four wheel drive,” Gray said.

“Gray.” She kissed him briefly. “You don’t know how to drive.”

“Right.”

Sam separated from the group, nodded toward Gray, and took off in the direction they’d come from.

“Sam’ll do it,” Gray said. “Why don’t we just sit here and enjoy the evening?”

* * *

Back at the compound, Cara didn’t get a hero’s welcome. Anything but. Her mother finished cleaning up and bandaging her cuts and shut her medicine kit with an angry snap. “You’re lucky you weren’t hurt or worse. Much worse.”

“I wasn’t,” Cara answered. “So, you can stop looking at me like that.”

Her mother got up from the low stool she’d used to reach Cara’s feet and arched her back, rubbing her palm along her spine. Quite the display of self-sacrifice for a woman young enough to keep up with her children on a run. It worked, anyway, as a stab of guilt shot through Cara despite herself.

“My daughter acts as if she doesn’t have a brain in her head sometimes,” Bess said. “I expected better of you, Gray.”

“I tried to stop her.” Gray moved closer and draped an arm over Cara. He’d hardly allowed her more than a foot away from him since he’d almost landed on her at the bottom of the ravine.

“When were you two going to tell us about the baby?” her mother demanded.

“As soon as Cara let me,” Gray answered.

Bess tsked. “A fine pair, you two.”

“For crying out loud, Mom, cut her some slack,” Joe snapped from across the room. “She found Tommy.”

The others murmured in agreement. They’d all taken turns thanking her with a hug or a kiss on the cheek. It had felt good, but now, her mother’s disapproval soured her moment of triumph.

“She could have killed herself,” Bess said. “We might have had three lives to mourn.”

“I caught Tommy’s scent. What did you want me to do?” Damn, now she was shouting at her own mother.

“Tell the pack. Operate like a family,” Bess shouted back. “That’s what our kind do.”

“You’re not being fair, Mom,” Peter said calmly.

“What, are you all ganging up on me?” Bess asked.

“It’s not like that,” Ilse answered. “You weren’t there. We were all desperate. Cara found him.”

“You’re damned right I did, and I’d like a little credit for it.” Despite the cuts on her feet and her knee, which hurt like hell, Cara got up and paced the room. “My whole life I’ve amounted to nothing.”

“That’s not true,” Bess said.

“Stop giving me pity points,” Cara shouted. “You’ve done it my whole life. ‘Don’t worry, darling, your gift will come to you.’ ‘We all love you just the way you are’.”

“We do,” Peter said.

“You love me the way you love the little ones. Not as an equal. I’ve never been an equal until tonight.”

“But, sweetie…” her mother tried.

“You see?” Cara crowed. “That’s what I called Tommy tonight. That’s what we all call Sally. When do you call Ilse sweetie? Or Joe?”

“I’m sorry,” Bess said. “I didn’t know it bothered you.”

Damn it all to hell. “It didn’t. It does now. Finally, I did something to fit in with this pack, and you can’t take that away.”

“That isn’t what she meant,” Joe said.

“How do you know what she meant?” She stopped pacing and glared at her brother. “I accomplished something tonight. No one else could find Tommy, but I did. I found him.”

A soft voice came from the hallway that led to the bedrooms. “You did more than that.” Ruth stood there, leaning against the threshold.

Joe went to his wife and tried to pull her into his embrace but Ruth held him off. “No. I have to say this. Tommy was dead when we got to him.”

“What?” Gray said.

“I’m a healer. Tommy was dead,” Ruth repeated.

“That isn’t possible,” Cara said. “You don’t know. You didn’t touch him.”

“I did before you got there,” Ruth replied.

Joe got an arm around Ruth and pulled her against him. “You’re overwrought.”

Ruth looked toward Bess. “You have to believe me. I’m not just a healer. I’m Tommy’s mother.”

Bess searched Cara’s face. “Is this true?”

“It can’t be,” she answered.

“Ruth’s right,” Ilse said. “I could barely detect Tommy when we all started out. I lost him completely just before Cara took off.”

“You’re all out of your minds if you believe that.” Cara glanced around. They all had to be nuts because they were all staring at her as if they’d never seen her before. Except for Gray. His smile was full of pride and love. “Come on. I can’t give people life.”

“You did for me,” her mate said.

“That was a fluke,” she answered.

“Nope.” He got up, went to her, and pulled her into his arms. “Once is a fluke. Twice is proof.”

She rested against her mate’s chest and listened to his heartbeat. Different from the way she’d sensed Tommy’s and much the same. Could what he said be true?

Her mother’s hand stroked her back as it had done so many countless times in her life. “Love gave you the power, Cara. First loving Gray and now Tommy and the baby inside you.”

“Yeah, I guess. Maybe.” She burrowed her nose into Gray’s chest and felt rather than saw the whole pack gather around her. Maybe they’d been right all along. The greatest gifts took the longest to appear.

Alice Gaines

Award winning author Alice Gaines has published several sensuous and erotic works. She prefers stories that stretch the imagination, highlighting the power of love and sex. Alice has a Ph.D. in psychology from U. C. Berkeley and lives in Oakland, California, with her collection of orchids and two pet corn snakes, Casper and Sheikh Yerbouti. Alice loves to get mail at authoralicegaines@yahoo.com. Visit her website at http://home.pacbell.net/halice/. She also sometimes updates her Twitter account (AliceGaines at Twitter) and you can find her on www.goodreads.com.

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