Wolf or Love

It wasn’t that she had never done it before. It was just that whenever she had done it in the past it had been while she was the dominant figure in

the relationship. Giving a guy a blowjob when she was supposed to be mostly submissive seemed like something else altogether, in which case it surprised her that she was even considering it. Just as it surprised her that as much as the wolves in Mike’s pack were great and as much as she could see herself being happy here if they accepted her, that didn’t make her feel as relieved

and excited as it should. No, because she would miss Gio and his pack. She really had thought she was being careful not to get comfortable in the pack, knowing that her stay would be a short one. But with them being so warm and fun with the exception of a few and seeing her as more than a

healer who was rather inconveniently latent, it was damn hard to keep an emotional distance from these people and the situation itself.

If she was honest with herself which she really didn’t want to be she had also stupidly gotten a little too comfortable in her temporary mating with Gio. His heavy masculinity bounced off the impression of a hard individual, but she had come to see that there was more to him than that. Sure

he could be aggressive, sullen and psychotic, but he had demonstrated that he could also be attentive, reassuring, gentle, and even indulgent or at least he could be with her. Not to mention how his sexual appetites matched her own. Without realising it, she had somehow fallen a little into the fantasy of their mating even though she had resisted the urge to mark him. How shitty was

that.

“It’s almost midnight,” announced Mike as he stood. “Ceremony’s about to start.”

Danica frowned when she noticed how Gio was scowling at the Alpha. Sure Gio was pretty antisocial with ninety nine percent of the population she was working on that with him but when he scowled at someone like that it usually meant they had pissed him off. Having made a mental note to ask Gio about it later, she rose to her feet and pulled him with her to join the loose circle that the pack had made around the mated pair in the clearing. She snuggled back into Gio as he pressed against her back and locked his arms around her. As always, she never felt squashed or suffocated by his huge body. He made her feel safe and protected. At exactly midnight Mike began to speak the ritual words that called to

the full moon to bless the mating. She had been a witness at several of these ceremonies in the past and the intensity of the sacred event never failed to amaze her. Although the ritual words didn’t hold any particular power and the ceremony was a case of the mates demonstrating to each other just how committed they were and wanting to celebrate that, the whole thing still gave her goose bumps and stirred her wolf. What affected Danica most, however, was witnessing the succession of

intense emotions that flittered across the mated pair’s faces. To be loved, adored and worshipped like that by the person you loved in turn had to be the most amazing thing in the world. And it was something she would never have. She only ever experienced the tiniest twinge of jealousy. It was

impossible not to be happy for those people who had found it. For a moment she wondered what it would be like to have that with Gio but quickly

dismissed the dumb thought.

“What do you think they’ll do?” he whispered into her ear.

She knew what he was asking. It was traditional that mates celebrated the ceremony by having sex, and whereas most preferred to do so in the

privacy of their home after the party, there were some who gave in to their exhibitionistic urges and had sex beneath the full moon regardless of who

may be there to watch. She whispered her response. “Well, I only spoke to Sofia a couple of

times but she seems pretty shy so I can’t see her wanting to get down and dirty with her mate in front of everyone. Then again, it’s the quiet ones you have to look out for.” Knowing how dominant and possessive his wolf was, she said, “I don’t have to ask what you’d prefer.”

“Oh?”

“You’d love the idea of everyone watching. You’re quite the exhibitionist, even for a shifter.”

Gio merely shrugged. “We all have our kinks. Want to know what I think? I think you’d like having people watch while I pin you down and fuck you.”

Ignoring the flutter in her stomach, she replied, “Wishful thinking on your part, Gio.”

“You’d like people seeing what a good girl you are for me, how well you take my cock.” And he’d love for others to see it. Not in this place around all these strange wolves he didn’t know or trust, but he couldn’t resist teasing her with the idea.

“Careful, you’re at risk of disappearing”

“So if I slipped my finger inside you right now, you wouldn’t be wet?”

“Nope,” she lied easily.

He inhaled deeply. “I can smell your arousal, Danica. I can sense it. Just to be sure…”

Feeling his hand discretely snaked behind her she hissed, “Gio, don’t you dare.”

“Shh, be still. Unless you want everyone to turn and watch. I don’t mind.” He delved beneath her dress, slid her thong aside and slipped his

finger inside her. He groaned as her muscles tightened around his finger.

“Nice and wet, just like I knew you’d be.”

“Remove your hand right now.”

“This pussy is mine, remember. I get to play with it whenever I want.”

“You -”

“Shh,” he murmured again as he withdrew his finger and wrapped both arms around her middle again. “Do you really think I’d let down my guard

around all these strange wolves when you’re mine to protect? Now, on the other hand, if we’d been on our own territory surrounding by our own pack

well then…” He let the sentence trail and smiled as he sensed her arousal spike. He knew she’d never admit that the idea turned her on.

“And so,” said Mike, “do you, Jesse, and you, Sofia, enter this mating with your body, mind, heart and soul?”

“I do,” they said in unison.

Mike then blessed the mating using a string of Greek words that Gio didn’t have a hope of understanding. He couldn’t help frowning as Sofia

kissed her mate before then biting his unmarked shoulder, branding him for all to see. The one thing that his own little mate had never done though she’d have every right considering how many damn times he had done it to her , was leave her brand on him. Although she had scratched him and nipped him plenty of times, she had never marked him. His wolf keenly felt the absence of that mark; he didn’t understand why she hadn’t branded him.

Neither did Gio.

He knew that she wanted to, knew that her wolf was pushing her to act on the basic urge to mark her male. Danica’s resistance had to be pissing her wolf off and making her feel insecure in the mating. Yet, Danica was fighting her. Much like he’d been fighting his own wolf from the beginning, he mused. So maybe he hadn’t been the only one of them who had been battling

emotions they didn’t understand.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“I was right,” whispered Danica, “she’s too shy to have an audience.

Come on, let’s eat, I’m starving.”

Shoving his thoughts aside, Gio allowed her to lead him to the large table beneath the canopy where a huge feast was set out. Although the

ceremonies were considered to be sacred and solemn, the after-party was always jubilant and lively – the general plan being to dance, eat and get ridiculously drunk. Seen as neither he nor Danica were particularly good at dancing, they stuck to stuffing their faces with food and gulping down plenty of beer , though not too much considering Gio needed to drive them home.

He really didn’t want to like these people who would soon take Danica away from him or at least that was how he saw it but a part of him could admit that they seemed to be pretty okay people. If he was going to lose her to another pack then this was a fairly decent one for her to join. The only wolf he couldn’t be too sure about was her uncle. The tall, bald guy had purposely avoided Gio the entire time they were there. Several times Danica had tried to introduce him, but James always managed to artfully dodge her. Gio didn’t particularly care, though he didn’t like that it was upsetting Danica. That meant that when the party ended at six in the morning and James finally approached him while Danica was saying goodbye to the pups, Gio really wasn’t in the mood to take any shit. And of course James happened to have some shit to throw at him.

“You seem fond of my niece,” said James, squinting, as he crossed his arms over his chest in a very confrontational posture. “And you’re certainly possessive of her. Still, I’m not buying the true mate thing. Nor am I buying that you’ve mated with her because you care for her. Being fond of her and wanting her with you for life are two very different things. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that you got her away from her father who was a bastard to her. My issue is that I’ve heard all about your reputation, Wright, and I promise you now if I find out you’ve got my niece involved in anything dangerous you’ll have me to deal with.”