Quiver

29

The howl went up for the hunt to begin and everyone to be present. I shuffled excitedly next to Roman, having been energized from the kiss we had shared moments before the howl. Everyone was buzzing and they all began to spill out the front door to the clearing in the woods. No one seemed nervous like before and it was a great relief to feel to connected with everyone just a day before the invasion. We needed to be connected, as one, like the pack we had been. Only this time it seemed we might be stronger, having overcome my oddity and joining with Elliere and Bree.

I grinned as my happiness seemed to increase even more as I shed my human skin in favor of my Lupus one. I was no longer afraid of the packs reaction and I was finally comfortable in the newer skin I wore. I bounced around on all four paws, bumping into Roman's blue-black form. He nipped at my flank lightly and I turned to see his bright blue eyes shining with amusement, his mouth stretching into a wolfy grin. He was as excited as myself.

I glanced around to his the mixture of Lupus, all bouncing and happy as they mingled with each other. Red wolves, white wolves, brown, black, golden and so many more were before me and I could only imagine what we looked like as we ran together. A whole rainbow of furry wolves moving sleekly through the forest under the moon's guiding light.
My heart beat frantically at the thought and I could barely contain my urges to race into the woods and begin the hunt. If I did that though, Yorik and Annalise would be none too pleased so I waited the five agonizing minutes as the slower members shifted the rest of the way. Once everyone was ready Yorik released his own howl, flashing images of deer and forest into our minds. We all joined in the howl and then we were off.

Paws dug into the pine needled forest floor, tongues lolled out of mouths happily, tails whipped behind bodies and we moved together like water in a stream. It was wonderful to be joined like this again, to feel everyone connected and linked to me. To feel no fear and to feel nature itself with everyone.

Our goal wasn't a run however, it was a hunt. Scents of deer drifted up our nose and while Yorik and Annalise moved forward, the rest of us began to fan out in a line. We all paused at the top of a hill, spotting the deer grazing lazily in the valley below. Yorik flashed a picture of all of us closing in on the deer, meaning we'd have to edge around the deer from on the hill and box them in as we came down to the valley.

It was an easy enough task and we began to spread out, making our way around the rim of the valley. We waited in position until Yorik sent another image through the link and then we rushed down the hill, snarls and snaps escaping our muzzles. The deer were startled and immediately began to bolt, but as they turned to run they found there really wasn't a way out as the rest of the pack came down the other sides.

Shrieks rose into the air as the pack and I took down two deer; one buck and one doe. They weren't the weakest nor were they the strongest in the herd and for once that was okay because we'd need the strength they proved for the upcoming day. The remaining deer scattered and clambered away into the forest, thoroughly spooked while we dug into the raw kill.

**

Bloody, tired and thoroughly aching from our hunt and then victory run for a successful hunt, we wound our way back to the pack house. We were about half way there when Roman nudged me to the side, I shot him a wave of confused feeling, but he trotted off towards the opposite direction of the house and paused, waiting for me to follow. With a light snort, I reluctantly began to follow him as he wove through the trees.

No one questioned where we were going and that made me a tad nervous yet I really did want to know what Roman wanted. We trailed through the forest quite a ways until I began to recognize our familiar spot; the hill. I turned to look at Roman, but he was already shuddering and shaking back to his human form.

I blinked at his nude form as a small smile came over his face from where he sat on his knees.

"Rori, shift," he murmured and so I could speak with him better to figure out what the hell he wanted, I did.

My bones snapped and my fur receded until I was as naked and human as my mate.

"What is it?" I asked, confused as I wandered closer.

He snagged me into his arms the second I got close enough and tugged me down so I was sitting astride his lap. I was about to question what on this Earth he was doing, but his lips claimed my own before I got the chance.

His soft lips became firmer and hotter as he pressed me closer to him so there was no space between my breasts and his chest. I felt desire sweep through me and it wasn't long before our tongues melded together. I felt his erection against my core and I pulled back, panting, to gaze at him.

"Did you bring me out here for this?"

He nodded, blue eyes like flames as they took in my nude form pressed against his own.

"Why?" I asked, a bit incredulously. Roman and I had done a lot of things so far when it came to sex, but in a forest was, well, not something I had considered.

"In the old days it wasn't so uncommon," he said roughly, voice coated with lust.

"These days aren't old, Roman," I whispered, voice beginning to get choked with my own desire.

"No, but there's only one reason we still mate in the forest, under the moon," he said, eyeing me carefully.

I was still confused though and couldn't recall anything in history lessons with Sarah and Holden nor Roman mentioning anything about mating outside either.

Roman sighed, shifting lightly and bumping our hips together and making both of us release a groan. "We shift in the middle, Rori. We mate in our Lupus forms....to conceive."

My eyes went wide then and I tried to pull away from Roman entirely, desire dulling down to a spark instead of a raging inferno. I suddenly remembered someone mentioning to me that Lupus did, indeed, mate in their Lupus forms to concieve pups.

"That's what you want? Now?! You didn't even ask me!" I shrieked, appalled he'd do such a thing and a day before the fight with the Jaecars.

"I didn't ask because I didn't know when I might be able to experience this with you again....after the Jaecars," he whispered, eyes downcast as a lump formed in my throat. He thought one of us or both might not make it out alive.

"But what if we do? You really want to have a child? So soon?" I asked, worriedly.

His brows furrowed and his blue eyes met mine with a fierce fire in them. "Rori, I love you. You are my mate now and you will be for life. Of course I want a child with you. A little bit of both of us together in a tiny little Lupus. It would mean the world to me. And soon? Back in the Elders' time, soul mates would meet and be bound within a day and within weeks conceive a child. This is long in comparison."

I bit my lip as unsureness, anxiety and a bit of excitement rolled through me. I did want a family with Roman and he was right; we were in this for life entirely and it was long in comparison to old times. And as I considered that this may be the only time we may have to mate in Lupus form, I decided to do it. If we survived and I was pregnant then we'd be parents, if not at least we had tried.

My eyes locked with Roman's and I didn't hesitate to claim his lips now or press him back into the forest floor. I didn't hesitate to run my fingers along his bare skin or revel in the feeling of his own fingers on my skin. I wanted this, I didn't care about the outcome. I knew we'd be great parents and if we died in taking down the Jaecars, we'd die knowing we had at least tried.