Rebecca Royce: Wolf's Valentine

"Well, I didn't know you were a wolf, I thought it was some kind of joke or something."

Malcolm's muscles were still tight. He needed to shift so he could give Jana the Valentine's Day gift he really wanted to present her with. However, there was no way he was going to attempt it until he was in peak physical condition. It would be a bad way to begin their life together, disappointing her sexually.

"Come on. Let's run."

She nodded, biting her lower lip. "Turn around."

"What?"

"I've been living like a human for some time now. I'm not used to nudity. Turn around so I'm not embarrassed."

Oh they were going to get her over this one quickly, but for the moment he nodded and looked away, even though he was dying to see her nude form.

Don't upset our mate .

I have no intention of doing so .

Pulling off his pants, he called the shift on himself and let the white light bring on his wolf form. Looking down during the change, he saw Jana's white light emerge and join with his. For a moment, he could see her very soul before it shifted from human to wolf.

She was still in there, as her wolf was always with her when she was human, but the shift did change them.

He whirled around. She stood on all fours in front of him, a small dark brown wolf with white spots decorating her small body.

Good heavens she is tiny .

His wolf couldn't have been more right. He was bigger than most other wolves when he shifted, he'd been told his father was too, but he hadn't anticipated Jana, not overly small in human form, being so miniscule as a wolf.

Letting out a yelp, she ran forward looking over her right shoulder, a grin in her eyes.

Okay, he got it. She wanted to play. He'd have to be careful not to hurt her since she was so fragile. Darting after her, he let out a mock growl and gave chase. Or at least he attempted to.

Whatever Jana lacked in size, she made up for in speed. He'd never seen a wolf move so quickly. Picking up speed, he attempted to catch her but could barely see her form up ahead. Sniffing the air, he had to follow her scent rather than watch her as she looked nothing more than a blur when he could manage to see her in the night.

She howled, a joyful sound, her meaning clear. She had won their little race. Jana must have known what he thought when he saw her size and set out to teach him a lesson.

Well, he'd been taught. He would not make assumptions about her based on size alone.

Finally catching her when she stopped to look at the moon, he rubbed against her, needing to feel her physical presence next to his. He hadn't liked not being able to be with her. He was her mate—even if they hadn't done the ceremony yet—and it was his job to protect and look out for her even if she didn't need it. Moving his body around, he quickly made note that he no longer hurt anywhere. His wounds, which had still burned slightly when he shifted, were completely healed.

His wolf was amazing when it came to fixing physical ailments.

Jana called the shift on herself and he watched as the beauty of the light led her body to realign itself into its human form. Naked and stunning, she looked at him, her hands at her side. In the moonlight, he could see she had one eyebrow raised in amusement.

Sauntering to him, she bent over and scratched between his ears. "Bet you thought you had a slow, small old lady on your hands, didn't you Malcolm?"

Wanting to laugh, he called his own shift enjoying the feel of his humanity coming back. "Never old. I'll admit to underestimating your size. But I've learned my lesson."

Nodding, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rubbed her face back and forth against the dark hairs on his chest. This time when he growled, it wasn't in jest. Here was his mate, he would claim her.

Jana stayed very still as Malcolm's fingers ran down her back and through her long brown hair. His eyes were hungry and sent shivers through her body. This was the mating—this is what she'd dreamed of during her lonely years. Together, they would undertake a ritual not spoken of except between mates.

"You are so beautiful. Looking at you is like having the gates of heaven open for a moment to prove there is eternity."

She reached up to stroke the side of his face and he closed his eyes. Rubbing his whiskers, she stroked him like she had his ears earlier when he'd been a wolf. Shifters loved touch—loved to give it and adored receiving it—and it had been too long since she'd had anyone to share small pleasures like this with. She got the impression from his reactions that Malcolm was as touch starved as she was.

"What happens now?"

Malcolm's eyes flew open and he laughed. "Ha. I don't know about the actual ritual but the rest of it, the mating, I think we both can sort of imagine what that is."

"That we can."

Pulling his head down to hers by the back of his neck, she moaned as his warm lips met hers. Malcolm tasted like the night. Wind-blown and secretive. The longer they embraced the more she noticed the smell of embers on his scent and the ferocity of the woods. He was everything she'd waited for and more.

"You are such a miracle to me. I thought to walk alone through time waiting for my mate, that I was somehow unworthy of finding my other half as I was so small during the destruction and others had waited longer. But there you were standing in that lobby and I knew my soul would never again be empty. An angel had been sent to fill it."

"Oh, Malcolm." Jana rubbed her head against his chest, gently biting him. He pulled her closer. "I was alone long enough for the both of us."

The sadness in his voice made her heart weep, and she wished she could climb inside of him and take away any hurt he had ever endured before they met. What must it have been like? To be raised on Westervelt in the shadow of the destruction? Knowing from early childhood what his father did to his mother? Her own youth had been so joyful, full of pack and easy days.

Back then, Kendrick had seemed like their benevolent leader, the Alpha who would never let them down.

Jana's body felt anxious, warm, uncomfortable, and expectant like she was no longer satisfied in her own skin and needed to join with him to make her whole again. Malcolm's mouth met hers, this time his kiss demanding and declaring ownership. That was fine with Jana, she would be owned by Malcolm, and would own him back in return.

Reaching between them, she ran her hands through the thick, dark hair she'd been teasing since their shift and let herself indulge in the feel of his maleness. His body was so different than hers. Hard in places she was soft and she'd never thought fate would grant her the opportunity to mate.

"When you touch me like that, I want to throw you down on the ground and lose all my good intentions of being gentle and slow."

Jana bit her lower lip. This was fun. "I'm sure you can control yourself, big strong shifter like you."

He growled and bit her shoulder. She shuddered under the very welcome assault.

Inside her wolf howled with pleasure. Malcolm knew how to appeal to her as a woman and a shifter. Both of them were falling for him, hard.

Malcolm traced his finger from her navel up to her neck and she shuddered. Another second of this, and she was going to beg him to make good on his threat of doing it fast and furious. She wasn't sure she could survive slow and easy. Not if what he was doing was what he considered those two words to mean.

Reaching down, she took his strong manhood into her hand and cupped it. He groaned and closed his eyes, laying his head down on her shoulder. She felt his body shake as she rubbed him gently.

"Careful, Jana, I've been hard since I saw you a month ago."