Page 21 of New Blood (Werewolf Alliance #1)

T he 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.

She lifted her eyes to meet his and saw the fire there, glowing in his irises. Without a word, she got on her knees before him, not because he was her alpha, or because she wanted to submit to him, but because she wanted to explore him, to taste every inch of him.

She wrapped her hand around his cock, and heard him suck in a breath as if steeling himself for what her touch would do to him. For a moment, she lifted her eyes and caught him watching her, lust blazing from his eyes. She licked over the thick tip of his erection, reveling in his male taste.

“Fuck!”

At his curse, pride swelled in her chest. It made her feel powerful to know that she could make a man like Jude lose control.

It was a feeling she’d never felt before.

Eager to pleasure him, she put her lips around his cock and slid down on him, taking him into her mouth as far as she could, while she held on to his root. She felt him shudder.

Jude felt his knees wobble for an instant and placed his hands on Danielle’s shoulders, steadying himself.

He hadn’t expected this—Danielle sucking him without warning—though he should have.

She was in heat. He’d smelled it from far away when he’d been running in the woods, clearing his head after the oath ceremony.

He hadn’t expected her to be out running as well.

But when he’d picked up the telltale scent of a werewolf female in heat and recognized that it was Danielle, he hadn’t been able to restrain himself and had followed her trail.

The moment she’d shifted, he knew that they would make love here in the woods, away from the Gallagher mansion, away from prying eyes and listening ears. Away from duty and responsibility. But he hadn’t thought that Danielle would make the first step.

Fuck! The way she was sucking his cock, running her tongue along its hyper-sensitive underside, and using her hand around the base to control his movements, she was driving him insane with lust. If she continued like that, he’d come in under a minute, shooting his seed into her gorgeous mouth that cradled him in warmth and wetness.

He’d been hard the moment he’d picked up her scent.

He’d heard other male werewolves talk about what it was like to know that one’s mate was in heat, what it did to the male, how uncontrollable it made him that he would throw all caution to the wind, ignore all dangers, and simply go after the woman who was his.

He’d always thought that the stories were pure exaggeration, but he’d been wrong.

There was no drive more powerful than that of making love to a woman in heat.

It was no wonder that werewolf couples often produced a large litter of pups. He understood that now.

Danielle was sucking him with such skill, such passion that he knew he’d lose control any second. But he didn’t want to come in her mouth; he didn’t want to be a selfish lover. He would never forgive himself.

With his last ounce of self-control, he pushed her shoulders back and pulled himself out of her mouth.

“Enough!” he said on a shaky breath.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide, her lips glistening.

He’d never seen a more tantalizing sight.

He pulled her up to him and pressed his lips to hers without a word.

Despite what she’d done to him so skillfully, her lips tasted of innocence.

As he delved into her mouth and danced with her tongue, he pressed her to his body, her soft breasts aligning with his hard muscles, his hard-on pressing into her stomach.

The contact of skin-on-skin made his entire body tingle with excitement.

He let one hand slide down to palm her ass, while he used his other to cup the back of her head to deepen the kiss.