The Wolf’s Secret Baby

Chapter One

Ambrosia

I could feel the craving for some hot, unbridled fun churning within me. My mind was a mess, and it was a blessing I wasn’t driving, because the car would have spun out of control. My gaze kept being drawn to him, my body screaming at me to give in to my instincts, my analytical mind nagging at me to remain reserved.

“It’ll be good to get out of the city,” Derren said, his hand languid against the wheel, the wide road stretching before us. There wasn’t another soul in sight. It was the beginning of a long weekend, and I was filled with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. The early evening sky ahead of us was filled with color, as though a fruit had burst and the juice was pouring out. The harsh grey of the city had been left behind, replaced by lush greens and browns, earthy tones that spoke to the instincts inherited from our long-forgotten ancestors.

“I can’t believe this is happening. I finally get a long weekend with Ambrosia Hart,” he added, smirking. His right hand drifted down and settled against my thigh. I tried to relax into the touch. I told myself to stop being so restrained. This was a good thing, a chance for personal growth. It had been too long since I had felt the intimate company of another person, and it was time for that to change. My body needed nourishing. I fed my mind a lot, but my physical desires were often neglected. It was just so difficult to find people on the same wavelength as me. Derren wasn’t either but I had made an exception for him. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a thick head of hair and muscles that looked like they were about to explode. I wanted to get back to nature and embrace something wild, become more like an animal than a human.

As a psychiatrist, this wasn’t the kind of treatment I would usually prescribe, but I was a responsible practitioner and as an expert I thought it was just what I needed. It’s why I insisted we come out here, far away from the prying eyes of the city, a place where the immortality of our wild acts wouldn’t seem so taboo. I cast a side-eyed glance towards him, trying to quell the hesitant feelings within. I wanted to be unbridled but there were still constraints placed upon me. I had been raised to be prim and proper, responsible and respectable. I worked hard to cultivate a successful career and a reputation for being trustworthy. It was hard to leave all of that behind and become someone else.

He squeezed my thigh, and a jolt of arousal shot through me. I breathed slowly, embracing the feeling, trying my best to appreciate it rather than analyze it.

“I don’t know if it’s that much of an accomplishment,” I replied dryly.

“Are you kidding me? I’ve been waiting for this for ages. You know, my buddies said that I should just give up with you, but I knew that you were worth the wait. This weekend is going to be incredible.” He glanced towards me, and I saw the intense desire within his eyes. I turned away from him and looked out of the window, promising myself that I would indulge this different aspect of me.

We pulled up at the old cabin. It had been in my family for generations, although I never managed to come out here as often as I would have liked. It was framed by trees and the sloping ground led to a shimmering lake nearby. There was a pit for a fire.

“Man, this place is amazing,” Derren said as he got out of the car, placing his hands on his hips as he enjoyed the view.

“Yeah, it is. I should come here more often.”

“I’m surprised you don’t live out here. It’s so peaceful. You could be away from the world and all the stupid rules.”

“You think rules are stupid?”

He barked a laugh. “Some of them. I mean, I just think people should be free to pursue what they want. Sometimes I feel as though society is just a way for us to be controlled. You can’t do this; you can’t do that. I feel like I should be allowed to say what and where I drink. People just need to get out of my business, you know?” I looked at him and realized that perhaps I didn’t know Derren as well as I should have.

He hauled the luggage from the car and waltzed inside, expressing his admiration for the interior of the cabin, which was just as enthusiastic as his opinion of the outside. When he found the bedroom, he gave me a lascivious glance.

“We’ll be seeing a lot of this place.” He stepped past me, running a hand along the small of my back. This was a man who was primed with testosterone. It practically seeped out of his pores, and it was the main reason why I had chosen him for this weekend. We spent a little while settling in. Derren set about building a fire while I prepared dinner. It didn’t escape my attention that without realizing it we had settled into the stereotypical gender roles, and I wondered if there was something about being in nature that brought this dynamic about. Hmm, there could be a research paper in that… would people taken out of the city regress to a state of an earlier society? It was a most intriguing prospect, and I intended to give it more thought.

“I wish that we had the opportunity to live out here,” Derren said. “Away from everything.”

“You find the city suffocating?”

“Don’t you?”

I considered the matter and tilted my head from side to side. “I suppose there are times when I would prefer to get away from it all but I feel safer in the city.”

He grunted. “You shouldn’t. The more people there are, the greater chance there is of getting hurt.” Some may have thought of this as an offhand comment, but my training had taught me that there was no such thing. I arched an eyebrow.

“You don’t trust people?”

“I trust people when they give me a reason to trust them.”

“I see, and who taught you that?”

“My dad, not that he intended for me to learn anything.”

“I see. It was a fractious relationship then?”

He looked at me blankly. “I don’t know what that means.”

“You didn’t get along.”

He smiled darkly. “That’s putting it lightly. He didn’t want me. I was a mistake, a burden, and he never shied away from telling me.”

“Was he abusive towards you?”

Derren tensed and his demeanor shifted. There was a coldness to his eyes as he stared at me. Then, realization dawned upon his face. He shook his head and then lifted his finger, wagging it in the air in front of my face.

“Oh no, we’re not doing this. You’re not going to read my mind or any of that crap.”

I refrained from correcting him to the point that I do not read minds but he had a point, I hadn’t come out here to work.

“I’m sorry, it’s hard to switch it off,” I said. Derren shook the sourness from his face and then rose, approaching me. He pulled me up and held me close. His strong arms wrapped around my body.

“I’ll switch it off by turning you on,” he grunted. “I’ve wanted this for a long time. You have no idea how long I’ve thought about it.” Naked desire simmered in his eyes and my lips parted. We had almost reached the point of no return, and I thought I was ready for it, but at the last moment I pulled away. There was something missing. I wasn’t entirely sure what, but I couldn’t be the wild person I wanted to be, at least not yet. Maybe I just needed some alcohol.

I pulled away from him but when I did, I felt his hand grab my arm like a vice. I gasped, wincing. Did he know his own strength?

“Where are you going?” he asked, an edge to his voice.

“Just to get a drink. I want to loosen up.”

“I can get you plenty loose. You don’t need anything apart from me,” he yanked me back towards him. Breath left my throat as I crashed against his chest. Both his hands were pressed into my flesh and there was a dark desire in his eyes. He tucked a few strands of my red hair behind my ear.

“Derren, what are you doing?” I spoke in a frail whisper. His fingers traced a line around my neck.

“I’m doing what you want me to do. It’s why you brought me out here, isn’t it? This place… we’re meant to be wild. I know what women like you want. You’re all so professional. It must be exhausting. You just want to let loose, strip away everything and go wild. You want a man, a real man. Someone who isn’t afraid of the world. Maybe you even want to be punished a little,” his voice dropped an octave, and he tapped my ass, following up with a grab, as though I was there purely for his enjoyment and nothing more.

“Derren!” I slapped his shoulder, trying to push him away. He was so strong I doubt he even felt it. Either way, he seemed to enjoy it.

“That’s it, I like it rough, but are you willing to let me slap you around as well, or are you one of these feminists?” he spat the word like a curse and it was as though a mask had been lifted. How had I gotten things so wrong? How had I misjudged him? I had been so focused on what his body could offer that I never gave enough thought to his personality. I had always brushed him off as being uncouth and raw, a man made for another time. I didn’t realize there was something more sinister lurking beneath the surface. I hadn’t gone on a date with him because I wanted to keep it a secret. I didn’t want people to know that this highly-renowned psychiatrist was actually a sex-starved nymph, and my cravings had been my undoing. Fear trembled in my heart.

“Let go!” I tried to wrench myself away, hoping that this was some misguided joke. I glanced around. We were in the middle of nowhere. There were no cops within reach of a phone (the cell service out here was non-existent), no strangers with their phones at the ready, prepared to intervene. There was only him and me.

“I’m not here to play games, Ambrosia. We both know why you brought me out here, so why are we delaying the inevitable? Let’s just get down to it. I don’t even mind if you’re a little afraid, it makes it all the sweeter and you’ll start to like it soon enough,” he cupped my face in his hand. I gasped and scrambled out of his arms, pushing myself back as I pushed him away. As I did so, I stumbled and fell to my knees. The world rose to meet me. He towered over me, filling my vision, looming as tall as a mountain. There was a perverse, malicious smile on his face, and I couldn’t believe that I had been stupid enough to make myself a victim. He hadn’t wasted any time in showing his true colors.

“That’s where you belong,” he growled.He fumbled with his belt. I looked away, and that’s when I saw them for the first time, two men emerging from the shadows of the forest. They were hulking and raw, bristling with strength. At first, I feared they were going to join in. In my tear-stained vision they looked identical. Derren loosened his grip as he turned to face them.

“Help me, please…” my weak voice trailed away. I was forced to trust these two strangers for help, but were they honestly there to help me, or were they going to join in?

Derren cursed at them and waved them away. He turned his attention back to me. I stared at the strangers, because they were my only hope. They started towards us, swaggering with intent. They were like reflections of each other, with only slight shimmers of differences between them and then something happened that turned my mind inside out and my world upside down. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it at all. The air shimmered around them and there was a crackling sound, as though something was being ripped apart. My mouth hung open in silent shock as I stared at them. Their bodies changed, shifting from a human form to something else, to something… beastly. Thick fur grew from their pores, covering their flesh. Their eyes became beadier, their faces longer until a long snout led to sharp jaws, with fangs that dripped with potent ferocity. They fell forward from two legs to four, the powerful muscles coiled within these bestial forms. They snarled and growled. It was impossible. Had Derren terrified me so much that my mind had cracked and conjured this staggering vision?

“No… no! What is this?” Derren cried out. He could see them too. This was real. They were real. They were animals and I was certain they were here to kill us.