Chapter 9
It had been a few months since I last smoked wintergreen, so the two hits I took hit me quite hard. I instantly felt giddy, and like any stress related to Jackson and our breakup melted away.
I could tell the wintergreen was making Cain feel stress–free, too, A few times as we were walking down the street, I noticed him flexing his muscles as strangers would approach. I pointed out, and he giggled awkwardly, denying he’d ever do such a thing
Before long, we arrived at After Dark. Again, it was pretty early, so the place was pretty empty. The bartender, a slender female wolf in her mid–20s, did a double–take as we walked in. had been here enough times with Jackson that the bartenders recognized me, and she must have been surprised to see me here with another man. Please don’t make this awkward, I thought to myself.
Cain took my hand and helped me onto the barstool, which I really appreciated since the wintergreen had me feeling a little tipsy. As I sat down, he kissed me on the cheek, and I could feel myself blushing.
“What can I get you?” the bartender asked.
“Blood tea for me. And she’ll have Cain replied, waiting for me to chime in.
“Whiskey sour, please,” I replied. “And can we have a food menu when you get a chance?”
The bartender brought over our drinks and a menu. I glanced down the list of entrees, hoping to still see the squirrel tartare they’d had yesterday. Sadly, it was missing from the menu. I settled on a rare beef salad instead. Cain ordered a turkey burger, after the bartender assured him that it would come on raspberry leaves and not a bun.
“Not bad for a date night meal,” Cain said, biting into his burger
“Is that what this is?” I asked, giggling.
“Well, what else would it be? I mean, maybe last night was a bit of happenstance, but I think we can count this as a real date. Cain explained
I took a bite of my beef. Maybe he was finally about to bring up the mate bond! Maybe Cain was just very traditional and felt like we had to go out on a real date first.
“A date it is, then,” I agreed, smiling at him.
“Not that I’ve had many, but I’d say it’s one of the most spontaneous dates I’ve been on, Cain continued.
I nodded. “How is dating in a pack?” I asked, genuinely curious.
Cain rolled his eyes. “Well, there’s a lot of pressure. I’ve been on few dates here and there, but it always seems to be with someone my father chooses, or someone a friend thinks I’d be interested in.”
I nodded. “I can see that. When I was younger, my mom really wanted me to end up with someone from Fairwood, but once I was dating Jackson, they were okay with it.”
“Jackson is from a different pack, then?” Cain asked, tilting his head to the side.
The idea of talking about my previous relationships with Cain felt a little odd, but if we were indeed going to mate bond. it was probably fam for him to know my history.
your neck okay?” I asked, watching Cain turn his head and rub his neck once again.
“Yeali, erm. It’s line, he stated, turning a little red.
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Chapter 9
“Jackson is actually from Ireland, I continued. “He came here to attend college, and we met our senior year.”
Cain’s eyes opened wide. “I didn’t know there were wolves in Ireland!” he exclaimed.
I instinctively looked around us, hoping nobody had heard us. Then, I remembered we were at After Dark and could speak freely.
“Yes, just one pack, though. The Hedge. They keep to themselves mostly. Jackson’s family was not at all happy that he left.”
Can nodded. “Did you ever travel there” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, I would have loved to, but Jackson really wanted to leave that part of his life behind.”
Cain reached up to rub his neck again, then quickly brought his hand down when he noticed I was watching him
“The two of you have been dating since college then?” Cain asked. tentatively.
“Yep. For five years,” I replied, shaking my head.
That’s a long while
I took another bite of my beef as I considered how to reply. “Yeah. I should have known it wasn’t going to work out. I have no idea why I stayed so long, really. It was clear we weren’t.. bonded.”
I had hoped that bringing up the topic of mate bonding would give Cain a reason to say something about the topic, but instead he changed the conversation.
“Well, there’s something to be said for loyalty. I’ve barely been with a girl more than a few months. Not that I haven’t wanted. to it’s just responsibilities get in the way, you know?”
I nodded. Cain had mentioned he did a lot of fight training with the younger pups, and that did have to be a pretty demanding job.
I finished up my beef, and the bartender returned to clear our plates. She brought me another whiskey sour without me even having to ask. Then, she winked at me and looked at Cain out of the corner of her eye, raising her eyebrows as if to approve of my choice. I looked over at Cain, dark and brooding with his beard and shaggy hair. Who wouldn’t approve? He sure looked like a catch. Now, if only I could get him to acknowledge the mate bond!
As the thought of the mate bond entered my mind, I felt the familiar tug in my neck and back again. Yes, it was still there. It was unmistakable! This had to be the feeling my mother had told me about. So, why wasn’t he feeling it, too? He did keep rubbing his neck. Was that a subtle sign I should be taking more seriously?
I scooted a little closer to Cain on my barstool, and he placed his leg on my thigh. Tingles ran up my spine in response to his touch.
I closed my eyes for a minute and tried to picture Cain training younger wolves to fight. I had never been one for aggression, but for some reason, picturing him in this role really turned me on. He was the exact opposite of Jackson–bold and assertive, whereas Jackson had been so quiet and tame..
-So, tell me more about your work,” I suggested. “You mentioned you train younger wolves?”
Cam nodded. “Yeah, that’s a big piece of it. I’ve always enjoyed being physical, you know? Plus, it’s good to let my wolf side our during work hours. It makes it easier to stay focused otherwise.”
I nodded. “I can see that I guess I’ve just grown accustomed to keeping my wolf pretty tame.”
Cain chuckled and moved towards me. “You weren’t that came st night,” he whispered in my ear, his voice raspy.
I felt desire rusli through my body. Cain kissed me on the cheek and let out a little whimper, a sue sign I was still heavily
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Chapter 9
in heat.
I saw the bartender look at us out of the corner of her eye again
“Can we have the check, please?” Cain asked.
The bartender nodded.
Cain turned towards me, placing his hand gently on my back. “Unless there was something else you wanted?” he offered.
“Only you.” I whispered, hoping my voice would not crack,
Cain paid for our dinner and drinks, and we could barely keep our hands off each other as we made our way out of the bar. It was now dark outside, and there was a distinct chill in the air. Cain wrapped his arms around me as we walked, trying to keep me cozy.
We rounded the corner, and Cain pulled me into an alcove, kissing me passionately as we leaned against the brick wall.
“We have to stop finally whispered. “I don’t trust myself not to transition.
Cain chuckled and pulled away, planting one more gentle kiss on my forehead before taking me by the hand and continuing down the sidewalk. I could feel my tail fighting to emerge as we walked, and I tried my best to think of non–sexual things in order to curtail my urges. Books. Snow, Bacon.
Finally, we reached the Cheshire Hotel, and we scurried past the reception desk and into the stairwell Cain started to kiss me in the stairwell as he had last night, but I resisted, “We have to wait just a few minutes longer. Really, I’m sooo in heat Cain. I just. I swear I won’t be able to keep my tail in.
Cain smirked and continued bounding up the stairs. I watched his muscles ripple as he went, barely able to contain myself
We’d barely shut the door behind us when I finally let loose. I breathed a sigh of relief and passion as I felt my tail emerge and my spine lengthen. As he embraced me, I felt Cain’s body transform as well. I was amazed by how close we felt. Jackson had always preferred to transition in private. He never liked ine to see him in the process. Cain’s confidence was such a turn-
On
Cain stroked my fur with his paws, and I placed my paw gently behind his neck as I began to lick his face. He repositioned my paw somewhat awkwardly, and began licking down my chest. The roughness of his tongue made every nerve ending in my skin ignite.
Just when I thought I wouldn’t be able to hold it in any longer, Cain moved on top of me. His weight felt both comforting and erotic. He let out a loud growl as I licked behind his ear.
Suddenly, we were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Cain jumped up, immediately transitioning back into his human form. I don’t think I’d ever seen someone transition so quickly. “Oh no!” he exclaimed, panicking.
1 willed myself to pull my own tail in, and the rest of my transition followed. “It’s okay,” I whispered. “We’ll lull them away.” Cain looked at me confused. There was another knock at the door. “Everything okay in there?” a loud voice boomed
I closed my eyes and tucked my chin to my chest. Slowly, quietly, I began to hum the familiar tune.
“What are you doing?” Cain whispered hoarsely.
“Shh, you’ll see,” I explained.
I continued to hum, my voire growing louder and louder by the minute. Finally, the room felt like it was beginning to vibrate I stopped humming and listened closely for a moment
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Chapter 9
“Okay, all clear. They’re gone. I told Cain,
Cain was now sitting on the floor, looking utterly confused. “What… what did you just do?” he asked.
“I lulled them.” I explained, a bit shocked that Cain had never heard of this method.
From the look on Cain’s face, it was clear I needed to explain a bit more. “If you hum at just the right pitch, with just the right pattern, you can lull humans into a sort of… hypnosis. They then forget what they are doing, and the last minutes or two of their memory is erased. It’s really helpful if you think a human may have seen you transition or something.”
Cain rose from the floor and stroked my neck. “That’s incredible I had no idea something like that existed.”
I chuckled. “Just one of the cool tricks you learn living among humans.”
Cain transitioned back into his wolf self, and so I did the same. We laid down next to each other on the bed. “You’re incredible. Marlie. So wise,” he continued as he stroked my back with his paw.
It felt good to be appreciated for my talents, as mundane as they might be. I moved closer to Cain, and he began licking my face rather sweetly
Within minutes, we were tangled up with each other again, making passionate, tender love. Last night, we’d been furious in the heat of passion. Tonight, we were gentler and quieter. Cain was a giving lover, really taking his time to ensure my pleasure. When I finally climaxed, he was still stroking my neck and licking my side in the most caring way.
Afterwards, we transitioned back to our human forms and cuddled up on one of the beds. Cain pulled the rest of the wintergreen out of his pocket, and we smoked a little. The great thing about smoking wintergreen as a wolf is that humans don’t recognize the scent as anything nefarious. So, it’s easy to do it in public without calling too much attention to oneself.
We slowly drifted off to sleep, warm with the buzz from the wintergreen. The thought of the mate bond did cross my mind again, but I pushed it away, wanting to simply enjoy these moments for what they were.
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