Chapter Fifteen
“We’re an endangered species,” Alder said once he’d let him go. “Humans are pure evil, and you’d gladly allow them to replace us by mating with one?”
“She’s not evil.”
“Look around you,” Alder said. “Or are you in ignorant bliss living out here in this forest? If you haven’t noticed, they’re killing the trees, the air, and the water every single day.”
Wilder took a breath because he couldn’t disagree. He’d felt the same way before Poppy showed up. But those that didn’t change went extinct. And you couldn’t ignore the mating call once it happened. It was something that chose you whether you liked it or not.
“I’m not saying humans are good. Most are not. But you can’t force your beliefs on other shifters.” He paused. “Are you mated?”
Alder furrowed his brow. “I have no plans to mate. My job is to protect our race from dilution.”
“And who the fuck put you in charge?”
“My parents were killed the same as yours. Only I see the injustice in that, and you don’t.”
Before Poppy came into his life, he was much the same as Alder. He hated humans and what they were doing to the world and the animals around him. But he didn’t make it his personal mission to police all shifters.
“If I don’t breed my mate, I won’t have offspring. At least now there will be more shifters in the world. That’s more than you plan to do.”
“Not shifters. Half-breed freaks diluting our race. You’re allowing humans to take us over on an existential level, to end us completely.”
Wilder crossed his arms. “You’re unmated, so you wouldn’t understand. If the mating call brought you a human, you’d be busy fucking her right now.”
Alder laughed. “That would never happen.”
He wasn’t sure he’d be able to talk any sense into the other bear shifter. His views were extreme and rooted deep. Wilder needed answers.
“And if it did, what would happen? Do you even know? Can shifters and humans breed safely?”
Alder smirked, enjoying his discomfort.
“Is it growing within her now?”
“Answer my question,” Wilder said.
The other man clasped his hands behind his back and paced the area slowly. “How was your adolescence? Uneventful?” He scoffed. “Imagine that for your own children. Maybe worse as they’ll have human weakness from their mother.”
Wilder shook his head. “Stop bullshitting with me. Do you know of other mixed matings or not?”
“All I know is that your choices go directly against my beliefs. We’re shifters, protecters of the land. A unique, endangered species forced to live in the shadows due to humankind. You’ll have us fade into oblivion.”
“Fuck this,” Wilder said. “You’re of no use to me.” He was going to shift and return to Poppy. As much as he wanted answers he couldn’t get from his own kin, it wasn’t going to happen with Alder.
“Wait,” Alder said. “Just pray your child is born in human form, otherwise your mate won’t survive the birth.”
Then he shifted and bound into the forest before Wilder could ask the million follow-up questions in his mind.
How could he ensure the baby would be in human form at the time of birth?
He was born as a cub but his parents were purebred shifters.
He had no clue if their child would be born in skin or fur.
He couldn’t lose his mate, couldn’t live without his Poppy.
“Don’t come near my land again,” he called out after the bear. “Next time I won’t be so forgiving.”
Was Alder crazy enough to kill his child if it were born alive? Would Wilder have to be on guard of their little piece of paradise forever?
He hadn’t told Poppy she was with child yet. If she couldn’t stay pregnant safely, he didn’t want her to get excited. Wilder wished he had more information, more security that she’d survive the pregnancy.
He returned to the house. Poppy was around the back watering the garden.
She looked adorable in the simple floral dress she’d made herself from old fabric in the house.
He watched her for a while, as he often did.
She fascinated him. Her passion. Her gentleness.
She’d make an excellent mother, and if their cub acted up and she couldn’t handle it, they’d have a father who’d set them straight.
Wilder remembered how she’d offered him her camera. It was symbolic showing she chose him over everything else, even her passion. He could never take that away from her. He wanted her to take her photos, to capture nature and beauty behind her lens.
“I know you’re there,” she said without turning around. Her tone was playful.
“I have a beautiful view.”
She snorted. “I’m getting fatter every day being here. I think it’s your honey.”
“You look perfect. All I can think about is fucking you.”
This time she turned her head around. “You’re impossible.”
“It’s true.”
She stood up, dusting her hands off on her dress. Her blonde hair was loose and tousled. She looked like an angel.
“I watered the vegetables, pulled the weeds, fed the dogs, and I checked on the bees, but I can only do so much there without getting bitten.”
He got out of his crouch, rising to his full height. “Let’s see if the honey is ready.”
They both walked over to the hives, the sun shining and birds singing, and Wilder carefully pulled out one frame ripe and dripping with honey. His bear roared within him at the sight.
“Wow, it’s so beautiful and dark. Too bad we couldn’t sell it,” she said.
“Sell it?” he snapped. “Then there’d be less for us.
Here, take a taste.” He dipped one finger into the amber honey and offered it to her.
She held his wrist and wrapped her lips around his finger all the way to his first knuckle, then slowly pulled back.
His cock immediately hardened in his pants.
She maintained eye contact with him the entire time. The little human was playing with fire.
“So good,” she whispered.
He licked his lips which suddenly felt way too dry. “More?”
“I wonder what else we could dip in honey.”
He imagined her pussy covered in honey, a personal fantasy. The fact she was pushing that line with him right now was surreal.
“Anything you want,” he said.
She bit her lip. “You know what, you always give me pleasure. It’s my turn to give it to you.” Poppy ran her hand over the front of his pants and the hard erection.
She unzipped him and dropped down to her knees. His cock bobbed in front of her once released. He hissed through his teeth when she grabbed it by the base.
“Poppy...”
“The honey. We need lots of honey.”
This was crazy but also the best thing that ever happened to him. How did he get so lucky? Wilder used the honey from the frame and let it run from base to tip along his cock. Poppy’s lively tongue traced along his length, gathering the sticky sweetness.
When she wrapped her mouth around his thick head, he couldn’t help but growl. He set the frame haphazardly back on the hive and held her head as she bobbed up and down his cock. His eyes lolled back in his head from the pleasure.
She made mewling sounds and used her tongue in wicked ways. His little human was driving him wild, his balls pulling up tight and pre-cum slipping out the tip.
Poppy wanted to pleasure him for a change, but she didn’t realize just how much he loved living between her legs.
He wasn’t a man. He was a beast. Right now, he didn’t want to come down her pretty little throat.
He wanted the taste of honey and pussy on his tongue and his dick driving deep inside of her.
He tugged her hair back, her mouth coming off him with a pop. Her eyes were half-mast, her lips swollen and sticky from the honey.
“My turn.”
He grabbed one of the patchwork quilts that were drying in the sun on the clothesline. It was warm and dry. Wilder folded it in half on the grass and pointed to it.
“Dress off. Lay down and spread your legs nice and wide for me.”
“But—”
“Now, Poppy. My bear wants to eat your honeyed pussy.”
Her eyes widened, maybe half believing him. She pulled off her dress and stepped out of her panties. As she settled down on the soft blanket, she bent her knees up but didn’t open them.
He leaned over, forcing her legs apart, her pussy wet and glistening in the sunlight. Wilder got the honey frame and let the fresh honey drop down, dripping along her big tits, down her stomach, and pooling on her ripe pussy.
The sight was the ultimate temptation for a bear shifter.
He gritted his teeth, his control wavering.
He bent down, crawling over her, starting with her breasts.
Wilder alternated suckling her perky nipples and lapping at the honey.
He kept moving south, enjoying the journey down.
He indulged on her lush curves, over her soft stomach and hips until he reached the apex of her thighs.
“I’m going to eat you, Poppy. I’m not stopping until you’ve scared away every bird in this forest.” Then he covered her pussy with his mouth, lapping, sucking, and flicking until she did just that.
****
Wilder had been acting off the past couple of days. She just knew something was on his mind, but he refused to admit anything. Was he worried about that bear shifter? Poachers? Their future?
There was so much she wanted to learn about him. As the reality settled in more and more each day, she was becoming more fascinated with the fact he was only part human.
“You know that thing you like doing to me?” she asked.
He was sitting on the front wooden porch, taking a break from chopping firewood. She sat beside him.
“Which thing?”
“Your mouth and my private areas.”
He smiled.
“Well, I’m going to have to cut you off.”
Now he frowned, twisting around to face her, looking like a little boy deprived of his favorite toy. “Why? Don’t you like it?”
“I love it, Wilder. But I don’t know how else to get you to talk to me. Really talk to me.”
He exhaled.
“I’m just worried,” he said.
“About the bear?”
“No, about you.”
“Me?” That was the last thing she expected to hear.
He took her hands in his, looking oddly solemn. “Poppy, you’re pregnant.”
“What? I am? How do you know?”
“I just know,” he said. “We can sense these things.”
She was taken aback by the news. Why hadn’t he told her sooner? This was the last thing she thought was on his mind. Why wasn’t he happier? Was this a good or bad thing?
Poppy never expected to become a mother, but the thought wasn’t awful, it was beautiful. She’d love to have a baby with Wilder, her one true love. They could have a simple, perfect life out here in the wilderness. Wasn’t building a family the ultimate goal?
“And you’re not happy about the news?”
“Poppy, nothing could make me happier, but Alder told me he’d be back if I bred a human. I don’t want him coming back to hurt either of you.”
She thought about it. If she was already pregnant, they’d figure things out. There were no other options. She’d protect her baby to her last breath, and she knew Wilder would do the same.
“We’ll deal with anything that happens. I’m not going to live in fear,” she said.
“There’s more.”
“Okay...”
“I don’t know anything about mixed species matings. I’m not a human male, Poppy. I don’t want to put you at risk.”
“A little late now. I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant if we weren’t compatible,” she said. “Isn’t that how nature works? Everything will be fine.”
She put her hand over her lower stomach. This was all unbelievable. The thought of a little life, half Wilder and half her, growing inside of her was a miracle. He’d be an amazing father, she had no doubt about it. Calm, patient, strong, and capable.
“We don’t know that,” he said. “I can’t risk losing you.” He cupped her cheek and kissed her forehead. “You’re all I have.”
“I love you, Wilder. We’ll be a real family. You, me, the baby, and the dogs.” She put her hand over his. “Have a little faith.”