Page 32 of New Blood

“Flora, Heath, if you’ll excuse me, I think it is time to start the oath ceremony.”

With a quick nod, he pivoted and walked toward the fireplace where Wendell had placed a small pedestal earlier so that everybody in the room would be able to see him. Jude stepped onto the pedestal and looked at the crowd. His eyes roamed the room until he finally spotted Danielle. She was in the back, standing next to Priscilla, the two of them talking to each other. For a moment, he allowed himself to watch her while she didn’t look in his direction. Just looking at her from a distance, he felt an ache in his solar plexus and a need in his loins.

He’d been with many women in the past to satisfy his elevated sex drive, one every werewolf possessed, and any human could only dream of. But despite his sexual experience, he felt like an uncontrolled randy teenager when he looked at Danielle, barely able to rein in his desire. One day, he wouldn’t be able to restrain himself and would do something stupid, something they both would regret. Well, maybe not regret, but pay for dearly.

He pushed the thoughts away and ripped his gaze from Danielle’s tantalizing sight. Several people had already spotted him, having taken the pedestal and stopped talking. Slowly, the conversations ebbed, and silence descended upon the room.

“Thank you for coming tonight on such short notice,” he started. “I’ve had a chance to speak to a few of you already and hope to talk to the rest of you after the ceremony.”

He made a brief pause and looked at the faces that stared at him in anticipation.

“As you all know by now, William Gallagher has been removed as your alpha and is facing charges of accessory to murder and endangering all werewolves by potentially exposing our existence to human law enforcement. The Werewolf Alliance, which has sent me and my team to bring order back into this pack, takes this behavior very seriously.”

Most pack members looked calm and unaffected. The Gallaghers didn’t share their fellow pack members’ calmness. Their facial expressions were tight and ranged from downright angry—Byron, of course—to ambiguous. Flora’s expression was unreadable, but he hadn’t expected anything less. She was a woman with an iron will and the emotional strength only a mother of headstrong sons could muster.

Eve looked slightly flushed, whether because she had spent the day on the horse farm or because she had consumed several glasses of alcohol, he couldn’t tell. Perhaps it was just the heat in the room that painted her cheeks rosy. In any case, while she was beautiful and her pants and top displayed her alluring figure to its maximum advantage, nothing stirred in him. He couldn’t help instantly comparing her to Danielle. To an outside observer, it would undoubtedly be evident that Eve displayed more physical beauty than Danielle, whose girl-next-door looks might make her appear ordinary. Yet Eve’s model looks couldn’t get anywhere close to the fire that seemed to smolder in Danielle’s eyes. Could only he see this? It had to be, because otherwise Danielle would be beleaguered by every single werewolf in the room, vying for her attention, for a chance to mate with her.

Fuck! He had to stop these thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand.

“The Werewolf Alliance has chosen me to become your new alpha. My duty is to lead this pack for the benefit of all of you, to keep you safe, to make sure this pack continues to prosper, and to lead you by example, protecting us all from exposure to humans. In this task, I need all of you to have my back. An alpha alone cannot prosper without the support of his pack. You, all of you, are this pack, and I need each and every one of you to help me succeed for the good of all. I therefore ask you now, if you have any reason why you can’t support me and be loyal to me like you were loyal to my predecessor. Nobody shall harm you for speaking up. I will respect your decision and give you the time you need to leave without fear of persecution. Speak up now.”

Jude swept his gaze over the crowd and waited. Several seconds passed. Only breathing and the crackling of wood in the fireplace filled the large room. Nobody said a word.

“Good. I’m happy to know that you’re ready to take the oath.”

He glanced at the members of his team and nodded.

“Repeat after me,” Jude started. “In nomine Lupinotuum Societatem…”

The crowd began to repeat his words, his own team speaking with them to help with the Latin words.

Like a chant, the pack members recited the oath word for word, led by Wendell and the others of his team, finally closing in English with one last phrase.

“We vow to be loyal to you, our alpha, Jude Beaumont.”

20

The oath ceremony had lasted only a few minutes, but the eating and drinking had extended past midnight. For all intents and purposes, this was a good omen because it appeared that the pack had accepted Jude. Danielle had taken part in the festivities, but made sure not to run into Jude, always keeping an eye out for where he was so that she could be in a different part of the room. Simply put, it had been exhausting. She was glad when the party finally ended, and she, helped by Priscilla, could roll the food trolley into the kitchen and deal with the leftovers while Heath and Chase cleared the bottles and dishes and dealt with the trash.

Now she stood in her bedroom and looked out into the dark. The moon was waning, but still illuminating the cloudless sky and the tips of the trees. It was the perfect night for a run. She needed it to release the tension that had built up in her body ever since Jude had kissed her. Only dressed in her bathrobe and slippers, she walked downstairs, not bothering to switch on the lights in the corridor. In the mudroom, she hung her robe on a hook and stepped out of her slippers. She opened the door that led outside onto a small covered porch and pulled the door shut behind her.

She inhaled the crisp night air and allowed the wolf inside her to take over. Within seconds, her bones began to shift, breaking and realigning, her skin stretching, while dark-brown fur grew rapidly to cover her naked form. As her body shifted into that of a wolf, her senses sharpened, her hearing, sense of smell, and eyesight taking on the properties of a wolf. There was no pain to shift anymore. She’d done it so many times that it had become second nature, the initial discomfort waning before it could reach the pain sensors in her brain.

She ran across the backyard, her paws connecting with the soft grass, making the run smooth as if she were floating on a cloud. Soon, the surface changed, and she was entering the forest behind the mansion. She raced over leaves, twigs, and moss, making her way through the woods, allowing nature around her to guide her and warn her of any danger. Running as a wolf had never felt as urgent as tonight. She needed to get in touch with her own self to figure out what she truly wanted and what she was willing to give up to get it.

The sounds of the forest drifted to her ears, reminding her of the special relationships wolves had with their environment. She could never live in a city, a tomb of concrete where nature couldn’t survive. Only out here in the wild, she felt one with nature. Only out here, she could distinguish between what was right and what was wrong. Only in the woods, she felt truly safe.

Warmth spread from her heart to her limbs, the much-needed exercise giving her comfort, and she eventually relaxed into a slower run, inhaling more of the crisp night air. With it, a scent she recognized drifted to her. He was here. Close to her. She could smell him, and a second later, she could hear his paws pressing down on twigs and leaves, approaching rapidly. She knew he’d caught her scent when she heard a soft howl, not one that threatened, but one that coaxed.

Her heart thundered in her chest, her animal instinct demanding she answer his call. It was impossible to fight against the urge to invite him closer, to show him that she wanted him. In her human form, her learned behavior would have helped her resist, but the wolf knew no such behavior. It wanted only what nature and its heart demanded. She was in heat, automatically sending out pheromones to attract him. And just like she had no defense against him, she knew that he was in the same situation.

When she finally saw him, his majestic dark mane silhouetted against the moon and the stars, the yearning inside her intensified, making it physically painful for her to deny what she needed. It was more than sexual desire or lust; it was something more primal, something rooted deep in the history of their species.

He approached slowly but with determination, his chocolate-brown eyes pinning her, his ears perked up, his dark fur shining like armor in the moonlight. Another soft howl drifted to her ears, making her stand completely still. She knew the time to flee was long past. The time for surrender was here, though it wasn’t decided yet who would surrender to whom. She knew that in the end it wouldn’t matter, because it would lead to the same outcome: two wolves surrendering to their needs. It was inevitable now. It was fate.

One more step, and he was right in front of her. He rubbed his snout on her neck, and she leaned into him, accepting the tender caress. She inhaled deeply and took his scent into her, its aroma drugging her, making her need for him more urgent. She moved slightly, pressing her snout against his neck, feeling the softness of his fur envelop her like a cocoon. Without her conscious doing, she began to shift. Her bones cracked, her fur receded, her jaw drew back, and her teeth transformed into those of a human. Within seconds, she was back in her human body, naked, but neither scared nor cold.

Fascinated, she watched as the male wolf turned back into Jude. He was all man now, tall and strong, his skin smooth, his muscles defined. His nude body was a sight to behold. She roamed her gaze over him as he stood in front of her now. When her eyes fell on his cock, which stood fully erect, a tiny breath caught in her throat. He was beautiful. She’d never seen a man so well-endowed, so perfect.