seven
Norah stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel. Her body rebelled at the movement.Guess that’s what you get for sexing it up for the last two days, Norah.She blushed thinking about all the ways that she and Lukyan had made love. Even more embarrassing was the lack of reserve she had shown. She fanned her heated face with the towel.I told him to slap his balls against my clit!Never before had Norah been so free and unreserved with a man. She smiled. Lukyan seemed pretty unreserved, too. She had no way of knowing for certain, but Norah suspected that he had never lost his poise with anyone but her.
As she patted herself dry her mind drifted to thoughts of the last time the two of them had sex. Like all the other times, she awoke in a normal haze of lust and pain, but unlike before, lovemaking with Lukyan would not ease the terrible agony that she experienced. Lukyan seemed to understand what was happening, though. He picked her body up and carried her out the front door. He placed her on the stairs of the porch before he crouched in front of her. Norah shook and writhed in pain. He put his big hands on her cheeks and forced her to look at him.
“Look at me, Norah. I know you're in pain honey, but you have to focus. Your wolf needs to mate with my wolf. We can’t create a shifter child without both the wolf and human mating. It’s the only way to end your pain."
Norah tossed her head from side to side as she rocked against the overwhelming pain. “It will hurt too much.”
“Your wolf will help you.” His hands caressed her cheeks as his beautiful green eyes encouraged her to shift.
“How?” She said the words on a gasp.
“See yourself as a wolf. She’ll know what to do for you.”
Norah closed her eyes and began to imagine her wolf. Eventually, she felt her body start to contort. The first time she shifted it was slow and painful. The wolf took mercy on her this time and emerged quickly from her human form. When she looked up through her new eyes she saw her mate’s golden wolf standing next to her.
The mating had been swift and fierce, as she imagined it was for all wolves. Norah tried to think through the feelings she had experienced but found it too difficult to explain even to herself. Lukyan had said that he was one with his wolf but they were separate from each other as well. He was all wolf and all human. Norah felt the same. She knew what she was doing when she was a wolf, but she had little control over her actions. What the wolf wanted it got, at least when Norah was inside and the beast was exposed.
As soon as the wolves finished their mating, the heat ended and Norah felt the need leave her body. It gave her both relief and sadness. She would not miss the pain, but she would miss the time alone with Lukyan. She still knew so little about him. She had agreed to start a new life with Lukyan, but she didn’t really know what that meant. Lukyan had told her that as soon as she was in wolf form she would feel the connection between them, and he had been right. Immediately she felt a tug of attraction for him that was more than the connection she had as a human. It was more than desire or lust, it was the snapping together of two puzzle pieces. They simply fit.
Norah walked to the window and watched for her mate. He had left over forty minutes ago for the resort, to gather food and supplies for the two of them. It had been days since she had eaten. Her stomach roared its protest at the reminder. She had not noticed her hunger during her heat, but once it had lifted she was suddenly ravenous. She offered to go with him, but he didn't want her to struggle with the snowdrifts. He decided it would be much faster and more efficient if he went back in his wolf form, changed into his clothes at the resort, ordered food, and came on a snowmobile. Norah thought it was sweet the way that he always wanted to take care of her.
Norah heard the snowmobiles before she saw them. They zipped over the hill, allowing her to see that there were five traveling in a staggered line. She didn't need her wolf's eyes to know that her mate was in the front. Even her human eyes, and heart if she was being honest, could have easily picked him out of the crowd from five hundred feet away.
She waited until the five shifters arrived and parked their snowmobiles before she opened the door to greet them. Even though she was only in a short sleeve shirt and a pair of sweatpants she stepped out onto the snowy porch. It really was amazing how easily her body adapted to the cold now that she had completed her transition.
Lukyan flashed her a smile as he shut off the engine. His friends quickly shut down their machines and climbed off their seats. Norah watched as Dimitris escorted his mate through the deep snow drifts to the porch, while the men gathered a seemingly unending quantity of food from the sled hitched to the back of Lukyan’s machine.
Two sacks of food in each hand, Lukyan gestured to his mate. “Everyone, I’d like to officially introduce you to my mate, Norah.”
“Hi.” She intended the greeting for everyone, but her eyes remained on Lukyan. “I wasn't expecting all of you." She could feel her cheeks flush a deep crimson, suddenly embarrassed to share the small cabin with her mate’s friends.His pack. Our pack.She sniffed. The smell of her heat was still thick in the air. After Lukyan left for the resort, Norah had placed their bed sheets in the washing machine before she stepped in the shower. Still, the small cabin was filled with the smell of sex.
“We brought enough food to feed a small army. If you are as hungry as I am, we’ll need it.” Cate extended her hand to Norah with a warm smile.
Norah sniffed once more. She was relieved when the smell of roast beef and mashed potatoes, her favorites, filled her nose. Her stomach growled again. She clutched it, embarrassed.
“I think her belly is agreeing with you, Cate.” Norah felt her face flame again at the teasing.
Lukyan growled. “Don’t tease my mate, Alek. I don’t like it.”
Norah placed her hand on Lukyan’s forearm. His muscles jumped under her touch. “I don’t mind it. It’s just embarrassing to hear my stomach growl so loudly.” She could feel his arm relax against her hand.
“Then let’s get you fed.” He ushered her into the house in front of the others. The smell of their sex was even stronger inside the door. They could fill the room with roast beef and it wouldn’t be enough to cover it. Norah ducked her head and prayed that no one would say anything.
Norah pushed back the plate and scooted away from the table. “I’m stuffed!”
“But you didn’t even have dessert!” Norah let out a short laugh at the look of astonishment Cate gave her. “This is my second supper tonight and I’m still not full.”
“I don’t know where you’re putting it all, Cate. I feel like I’ve just swallowed a bowling ball.”
Alek chuckled, “Not a bowling ball, just Lukyan.” Lukyan growled. Norah reached out and put her hand on his forearm. His muscles jumped below her fingers.
Between bites of roast beef, Cate added, “You’re probably wise to stop eating now. I’ll keep eating until I’m ready to burst, which is going to make my transition later tonight so much harder.”
“Transition? Tonight?” Norah sent a confused look to Lukyan. The look he gave her left no doubt that she had definitely missed out on some vital information.
Cate swallowed her roast and stabbed at another bite. “For your mating ceremony. Lukyan said you guys are going to redo it.”
