Chapter 13 #2
“Uh… the first one, but I’m not supposed to tell anyone that. Officially, Joshua’s listed as a missing person. Unofficially, he’s never being found.”
I wasn’t sure how Lanche, the sweetest and gentlest person around, would handle knowing my boss had literally killed a man for me. Would he be upset? Would he… report Anton? Shit, he better not. I’d have to talk to him and then to Anton if Lanche decided to call the authorities.
“Good.”
I blinked. Good? What was good?
As if reading my thoughts, Lanche said, “I’m glad he’s dead. If he wasn’t, I would be the one hunting him down and possibly getting arrested for murder.”
My eyebrows rose. “For real?”
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
“But… you’d really… you’re really okay with… everything?”
He nodded. “Sweetheart, I’ve been around for three hundred years. I know there are some people out there who don’t deserve to live. And I’m okay with people like Anton… fixing that.”
My eyebrows rose as I stared at him, letting that sink in.
I supposed it made sense since, like he said, he’d been around for centuries. But… I hadn’t expected that from him at all.
Before I could figure out a way to respond to that, my gums stung and my body ached suddenly.
Shit. The full moon. It was coming.
Jumping to my feet, I rushed around my apartment, making sure all the windows and doors were sealed up tight. I could control myself, but I liked to take the extra precaution, just in case.
“My shift’s coming,” I murmured to Lanche as he stared at me running around like a maniac.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Nothing. Just… stay there on the couch.”
“Okay.”
Once everything was checked and double-checked, I wrung my hands out and began pacing. Waiting.
My muscles were twitchy, my body aching with the need to change.
That was the first sign I was close. Shit.
“Lanche? I’m gonna…” I swallowed thickly, my teeth aching and growing, making my words slurred. “I’m gonna change… any second.”
He remained on the couch where I told him to stay and nodded. “Let me know if you need something.”
I tried to smile at him, but my body clenched, and I knew it was too late to speak to him. Not that I needed anything. Nothing he did would stop this.
With stiff movements, I yanked my pants and boxer briefs off, then managed to get my shirt off just in time.
Bones cracked, and I fell to my hands and knees with a pained grunt.
I hated this part.
Shifters had so much magic in their bodies that their shift didn’t hurt.
Werewolves weren’t so lucky.
We weren’t born with this magic, our bodies weren’t made for shifting, not really. So our change was… painful.
Although, the more I went through it, the better it got. This was nothing compared to that first moon. That had been the most terrifying, horrible, agonizing thing I’d ever experienced.
The pain was likely part of the reason why so many of my kind lost their minds and started running around biting and eating people… and then ending up being put down.
Thank the Mother I’d had someone to help me learn how to control myself.
Another grunt came out of me as the last of the change washed through my body. I shook myself out, fur covering every inch of me. My vision was blurry for a moment, but I didn’t let that panic me—it used to, but I knew it’d come back soon. The mild confusion would pass too.
Thank the Mother of All.
I shook myself out again, blinking and blinking and blinking until fucking finally, my vision steadied. It wasn’t the same in this form. It was actually better, clearer, sharper.
I turned toward a small noise and froze.
There was a man.
A man sitting on my couch.
A small growl came out of my throat, but I cut it off before I could scare the man.
No, not just any man. Not a random man.
He was a yeti. A snow yeti.
He was Lanche.
My Lanche.
My. Lanche.
Mine.
My wolf let out a small whine before I could stop it.
Lanche was mine, every part of me knew it. It was impossible to deny in this form with my wolf at the forefront. My wolf was dying to rub his scent all over him.
My paws were moving before my brain caught up with my actions, and I nearly barreled into him. Luckily, I caught myself before I jumped, but my paws skidded on the hardwood floor, and I slammed right into his legs.
Lanche let out a small, oof, and did his best to catch me.
The second his hands touched my fur, a small but happy whimper came out of me, and my tail started wagging a million miles a minute.
I didn’t think I’d ever wagged my tail in this form.
Ever.
But here we were, tail wagging, butt wiggling, and my wolf trying to climb into Lanche’s lap.
Into my Lanche’s lap.
Lanche let out a laugh and managed to scoop me up so I was sitting on the couch with my front half draped over his lap. I was humongous in this form, but he’d moved me around like I was a little puppy.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Lanche said quietly. “You’re beautiful. Your wolf is gorgeous. I wondered if you’d be the same pretty brownish-black color as your hair. I love it. And you’re so soft. Beautiful.”
My wolf preened and yipped happily.
My Lanche let out another laugh, and he was so damn beautiful in that moment that I couldn’t help but lean in close and swipe my tongue up his cheek. He squawked and snickered, wiping his skin off, but I just went back in and kept licking him.
He tasted yummy.
He tasted like a frosty morning filled with sunshine. I wanted to lap him up.
He tasted like mine.
Mine, mine, mine.
Lanche was mine, he really was. My soul sang with every laugh from his lips, with every brush of his fingertips.
He was mine, and my stubborn ass could finally admit that to myself.
Holy. Shit.
Lanche. Was. Mine.
He was my viramore.
I gave him a few more licks and snuggled in, wishing I could shift back to my human form, wrap my arms around him, and give him a proper kiss… or ten.
“I can’t wait until you can kiss me in your human form, either,” Lanche said, making my eyes go wide as I focused on him. “But I love your wolf too, and I really love holding you like this.”
“Did you just read my mind?” I asked, surprised and hopeful for once.
He smiled at me, big, beautiful, and bright, just like the rest of him. “Yeah, Dain, I did.”
“Holy shit. Really?”
He laughed. “Really.”
“Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap.”
He continued to chuckle and give me some good behind-the-ear scratches.
“That means… that means you really are my viramore.”
He froze and met my eyes. “You… you believe me now?”
I nodded. “Yeah, baby, I do.”
His eyes turned glassy before he hugged me tight and buried his face in my fur.
I nuzzled in, wishing my arms could wrap around him too, but since they couldn’t, I leaned into his embrace, closed my eyes, and hummed.
It sort of sounded like a small growl, but I knew Lanche could tell it was a comforting sound and not a threatening one.
We stayed that way for a long time, and it was so comfortable, I nearly fell asleep.
Usually when I was in my were form, I was a pacing, snarling mess, anxious and waiting for the change back.
But with Lanche’s arms around me and his soft touches caressing my fur, his calm breathing, his beautiful beating heart in my ear, I felt… calm. Peaceful, even.
I didn’t think that was possible during a full moon.
“Hey, sweetheart, do you want to take a nap? We still have a few hours before the sun comes up, and both of us are falling asleep.”
“Sure,” I said sleepily in my head. “I think I’d like that.”
He grinned at me, then surprised me by scooping me into his arms as he stood.
I yelped in surprise but tried not to flail even though I wanted to.
I couldn’t imagine how ridiculous we looked.
I was as big as he was in this form and covered in fur, and he was just carrying me around like I weighed nothing. Yeti strength was something else.
He walked into my bedroom and placed me on the bed. As soon as he let go, I turned around as fast as I could and nipped at his fingers playfully. That asshat had carried me. He deserved a few nips.
He laughed and jumped back, and I moved my feet around on the bed, probably looking like a giant dog dancing, and he laughed harder.
“Oh my, Ice Goddess, you are so stinkin’ adorable.”
I growled at that. I was not adorable. I was fierce and scary.
He snorted. “You’re about as scary as a ladybug.”
I gasped inside my head. How dare he! I growled.
Instead of running away scared like he should be, he stepped closer and buried both hands in my fur. He gently tilted my face up to his, and I let out a tiny growl. He smiled at me and leaned in, placing a soft kiss to my snout.
I meant to growl at him again, I really did, but my body betrayed me and sort of melted down to the comforter. Mother of All, did he have magical kisses or something?
“Nope. No magical kisses. I just really like you. A lot, and I think you might like me too.”
I grumbled at that.
Lanche grinned.
He released me and stepped away, suddenly looking shy. I lay there, staring at him with my chin on my paws, waiting as patiently as I could since he clearly had something important to say.
“Soooo…” he finally drawled out. “Um… would you… could I… um… would it be okay…”
Through this newly forming bond, I said, “It’s okay. You can ask me anything.”
He gave me a nod and a grateful smile before he took a deep breath. “Okay. So… you didn’t seem to mind my, uh, other form the other day.”
Didn’t seem to mind it? I fucking loved it.
His eyes went wide, clearly overhearing my thoughts even though I thought I was keeping them to myself. “Really? You did?”
I nodded. “Very much.”
He blew out a breath, a crooked smile on his lips. “Oh. Um… wow, thank you.” He cleared his throat. “So… would you, um, would you mind if I… uh, shifted? Now? While we take a nap? I didn’t shift today, and I try to shift at least once a day to keep that side at bay and everything.”
I blinked. He wanted to hug my werewolf in his snow yeti form? Fur wrapped around fur. Hell yeah, sign me up. “Do it. I like your yeti form.”
“Oh, thank the Ice Goddess. Okay, um… good. Great. Uh… I guess I’ll just undress here and…” He trailed off as he unbuttoned his jeans as he turned around.
I probably should’ve looked away, but I couldn’t pull my eyes off his back when he yanked his shirt over his head and dropped it to the floor. His back was practically chiseled from stone and so smooth and soft-looking that I wanted to lick it.
Truthfully, I wanted to lick every inch of him.
Lanche shot me a grin over his shoulder, so I assumed he’d heard me, but I was too distracted to look because he pulled his pants and underwear off, and suddenly, I was looking at his bare ass.
His bare, very muscular ass.
I really wished it wasn’t a full moon tonight because I wanted to get my hands on that ass. So badly.
Lanche shot me a grin over his shoulder, and I had a feeling I still wasn’t doing a good job of keeping my thoughts to myself.
This time, I watched his shift. It was smooth and quick, happening between one breath and the next. But it was fascinating seeing the fur grow over his skin as his body put on mass.
And then a snow yeti was standing in my bedroom, staring at me.
I scooted over in the bed. “Come on in, baby.”
The yeti’s lips tilted up in a smile, and even though he was supposed to be a fierce and scary monster, I could never see him that way because he was too damn cute.
Lanche climbed into bed and held his arms out as he lifted the blanket. I didn’t hesitate to snuggle right into his soft, furry body, and he covered us before pulling me closer.
His hug was filled with warmth and affection, and I honestly wasn’t sure I’d ever felt so… loved in my entire life.