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“Yes, with my fangs. It has to be deep for it to take. The thing is, once I do that, you’ll become one of us. A shifter.” He trailed his fingers down her arm and took her hand again, watching her face carefully. “Then we’d consummate our relationship, and the bond would be complete.”
“Oh.” Emotions moved across her face, twisting her mouth and tweaking her eyebrows as she considered everything he’d just revealed to her. “I’d become a wolf?”
“Yes.” He’d paced the room he’d stayed in at the packhouse, trying to decide the best way to describe all of this to her without freaking her out. Stephanie wasn’t a delicate, sensitive woman. She’d gone through veterinary school and dealt with life and death every day. But she’d seen so much in the past week that was completely beyond the scope of her reality. “It would take some adjustment, just as it will for Annie, but it doesn’t mean you can’t still have your practice and live your life the way you want to. Far more shifters are around here than anyone realizes.”
“Yes, and they’re nurses, policemen, and firefighters,” she said with a nervous laugh. “Bennett, I think I’ve been making some assumptions about your life without meaning to. When I found out about you, I thought it was only something you could be born with. Then, when Annie was bitten, I concluded these things could also happen accidentally. Now you’re telling me that some people, ones who’ve been chosen by destiny, have the chance at doing this voluntarily?”
Leave it to her to analyze it in such a way, but she was right. “Yes. Most packs nowadays don’t practice marking, but the Glenwoods have held onto the tradition. It’s a way of being truly bonded with your mate and deepening your feelings for each other.”
She touched his face again, her thumb moving softly over the corner of his mouth. “It’s hard to imagine feeling any more deeply for you than I already do.”
“I know.” Bennett closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. It felt so incredible just to be standing there with her, to know their feelings for each other were strong enough to make it through all the obstacles life and the Bloodmoon Crew had put before them. A deep sense of satisfaction radiated through him, and he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about how much better it could be.
He lifted his head and took her face into his hands, looking deeply into her eyes. “Stephanie, I know this is a lot to think about, but I’d like you to consider it at least. I’m not asking you for an answer, not now and maybe not for a long time. I want you to be sure.”
She leaned into his hand. “I’ve only ever known how to be human. That was all I knew existed, after all. But I can see just how much there is to life as a shifter. You’ve got such a close connection with your pack, and you have all the love and support that goes along with it. I was an outsider experiencing that, and I was still so impressed. Then you’ve got that other side of yourself, the one that knows there’s much more to modern life than just staying inside the same four walls or even the same body form.”
He smiled. She was still very much a human, yet she understood. Maybe it was because of the psychic connection she’d been able to build with the pack during the battle, but she grasped the idea fairly well. There was so much more, of course, but some of it was impossible to describe. It had to be felt and experienced. “Exactly. It’s an exciting life, but I know it’s a lot to ask. Like I said, I just want you to think about it and let me know what you decide.” He turned away from the tree, his fingers still entwined with hers.
Stephanie’s hand pulled back on his, and when he turned, she was still leaning against the tree. “I’ve thought about it.”
An answer that quick had to be bad, but the sunny look on her face gave him hope. “You should give yourself more time.”
“No.” She pulled him back toward her. “I’ve already been thinking about it, maybe since before I even knew about the whole idea. My life as a human has been setting me up for this. I’m fascinated by animals, not only in how to help them medically but in how they communicate. When that mysterious wolf was visiting me back in college, I’d started to realize I had more of a connection with the animal world than any of the other students. I would’ve been laughed right off campus if I’d told anyone I’d had private conversations with a wolf, but I knew I had. It was you, Bennett. Being with you unlocked this thing inside me. I felt that again when we battled the Silvergroves. As long as I had you beside me, I could do all of it. There has to be a reason for that, not the least of which is how much I love you.”
He captured her mouth in his, exploring her velvety lips as he pressed his body against hers. Could she ever possibly know how much all of that meant to him? That he was just as important in her life as she was in his? Bennett pulled back just enough to speak again. “I love you, too. You’re sure?”
“Bennett, it would be an honor to become part of your pack and have my true love by my side the whole time I learned about my new inner wolf. Yes. Now that I know we can, I don’t want to wait any longer.”
His heartbeat pounded in his ears as she readjusted her flannel. There was too much adrenaline running through his system for the sharp pain in his mouth to bother him. Bennett moved forward to hold her between himself and the tree as his vision focused on that delicate curve of flesh.
The bite would come, but first, he traced his lips over that special spot on her shoulder, one that would never be the same again. She wanted him, and she wanted him now. Not just him as a man, but him as a wolf and all that came with it. Bennett had seen the certainty in her eyes and knew she meant everything she said. There could be no bigger turn-on than knowing he would finally, truly, be with his mate.
His gums burned as his fangs descended. He didn’t want to hurt her, but they’d been through so much more pain than this to be together. He opened his mouth and sank his teeth into her flesh.
She held him tightly, a gasp of pain hissing through her teeth as Bennett pressed down harder, ensuring that it was deep enough. Stephanie’s hands tightened around him as the pain moved through her, and then they went slack.
The tree was serving as a support, but Bennett quickly grabbed her arms and looked into her eyes. “Are you all right?”
To his surprise, she was smiling. “Yeah, actually.”
“I hope it didn’t hurt too badly.” He kissed the fresh wound, knowing it would heal quickly but still feeling a twinge of guilt.
“It did, but I know it’s worth it,” she replied, echoing his thoughts from a moment ago. “And this means soon enough, I’ll be able to bite you back.”
Bennett wiggled his eyebrows. “I look forward to it.” He pulled off his jacket and laid it on the soft bed of pine needles that surrounded them. Her flannel appeared in his hand, and he added it to the makeshift pallet. Turning back, he pulled Stephanie into his arms and kissed her deeply. Somehow, this kiss felt different than any of the others. Bennett could feel the connection between them growing stronger already, and he was eager to see just how far they could take it. His arm muscles flexed as he held her tightly against him, knowing he would never have to let her go again. As their tongues twined together, his hands explored the rest of her body. He circled his fingers around her braid and slid down it, feeling each glossy twist of silken hair. His other hand worked down her spine to her lower back, where he scrunched the fabric of her shirt until it loosened from the waistband of her jeans. Her breasts against his chest sent a thrill through his stomach. There were still several layers of clothing between them, but the way she pressed herself against his hardness was enough to drive him wild.
She pulled back and looked up at him with eyes the same tranquil green as the pines around them but full of mischief. Her fingers tugged playfully at the waistband of his jeans. “Just how alone are we out here, anyway?”
“Very,” he replied huskily. “Like there’s no one in the world but the two of us.”
“Good.” With eager hands, she freed him from his clothes. Each garment added to the pile on the ground, making their bed for them as they undressed. The fresh air was cool against his skin, but the heat she created inside him blasted any chill away.
When she’d freed him of his shirt and jeans, Stephanie paused. She took half a step back as her eyes swept admiringly over him. He stood before her in only his boxer briefs, and she slid her hands up the sides of them and then across the front. Her palm enticed him as it lingered over his package. “I like these on you,” she said as she moved up toward the elastic, “but I like them even better off.”
Bennett could hardly control himself once she’d stripped him down. He undressed her quickly, deciding that if they lingered on each other, it would be once they had nothing else standing in their way. Her clothes went into the pile, and Bennett pulled her down onto it with him.
They kissed again, their hands roving and appreciating each other. Her fingers streaked through his hair, and his palms caressed the abundant curves of her backside. Stephanie’s attentions roved down and across his shoulders, her fingertips playing with the muscles she found there. Bennett stroked her arms and glided his hands over her breasts.
