Nine
Huh. What did you know? Drinking a drop of a werewolf's blood while he drank a drop of yours did forge some sort of link between them.
Arwen could feel him in her head. Not hear his thoughts, just...
feel. It was more intimate than sex, but also...
not. Because she was wrapped in a bunch of bedding, parked on her arse on the grass, and he was a metre away, stripping off his shorts. Not touching her at all.
And yet...when he dropped to all fours, she could almost feel the grass beneath his palms. Smell the stuff as his weight crushed it, growing stronger and stronger as he seemed to blur and then the wolf was there, so close she could reach out and touch him.
Real, as she knew all shifters were, even if she'd never seen one shift until today.
Okay. She could do this. It might take a few tries, but her mother would be so proud if she managed it. The one thing her mother had never been able to do. And if Arwen could shift, then she could heal, and Ravenna wouldn't win.
Arwen took off her borrowed shirt, and her underwear, too, glad the blankets kept the frigid air from her bare skin. Her nipples were chips of ice even with the blankets. At least when she shifted, her fur would keep her warm.
She dropped her nose to the grass beneath her hands and inhaled, just as he had.
Another deep breath, feeling her spine lengthen like the most glorious stretch.
Another inhalation, even stronger now, as she shook off her fears and worries and became the wolf her mother had always wanted.
Arwen shook of the blankets and stepped into the golden afternoon light. She'd never felt so free.
She inhaled the scent of Wolf Man, familiarising herself with it for the first time. Romance talked about heroes smelling of man, but the reality in this form was so complex, so nuanced...Wolf Man smelled of Wolf Man, a unique scent she'd recognise again anywhere. But there were other scents, too.
Something faint but delicious tempted her from beneath the trees. No, in the undergrowth...
Arwen bounded over to the bushes, snuffled at the base of the nearest tree, and then...
SNAP! The scent was in her nostrils, but the taste was also in her mouth as she dropped the small corpse on the ground to see what she'd caught.
Huh. A squirrel. Well, it was definitely dead, now, which made it dinner.
She crunched through her snack, before heading over to the stream to wash it down with some of the cool, clear water.
She'd never realised water had a scent before.
Earthy and crisp, but with a hint of apple.
Weird. She drank some more, and found it even tasted of apple.
Or maybe wolves didn't taste things in the same way humans did?
The squirrel had tasted like rare steak, or at least tartare, which was as she'd expect, but the water...
perhaps there was an apple orchard upstream, and some of the fruit had fallen into the water?
It couldn't have been just one or two apples, though.
It'd have to be a decent chunk of the harvest, for her to be able to taste it this far downstream, where there was no sign of an apple tree, let alone a whole orchard. She'd have to ask Wolf Man.
Of course, in order to do that, she'd have to shift back to human form, which she wasn't sure how to do yet. Wolf Man would know. So she took another long drink from the apple stream, before padding back to Wolf Man. She sat down by his feet and looked up expectantly.
"How are you feeling?"
Amazing. Invigorated. Like she'd just eaten a gourmet meal, instead of a whole squirrel, bones, fur and all.
Suddenly, travelling to the fae realm was less daunting.
She wouldn't need to be as reliant on the hospitality of its people and whatever passed for currency over there.
She could easily shift into her wolf form and hunt for sustenance.
Not to mention sleep in the woods – with her thick fur, she didn't even feel the Scottish winter chill in the air, which she knew from experience could get the better of most down jackets, including the ones that were rated for snow.
Wolf Man must have had plenty of experience reading wolfish expressions, because he grinned. "Nice to know you're feeling better. Do you think your heart is healed, or do you need a bit longer?"
Arwen tilted her head, considering. Her heart wasn't fluttering like it had been before, but perhaps her wolf form wasn't attracted to Wolf Man the same way her human form had been.
As for being out of breath...she took off, racing around the clearing.
Once, twice, three times, until she found herself panting, but she felt fine.
Not lightheaded at all. She let her tongue loll out of her mouth as she grinned up at Wolf Man.
"All right, then. I imagine hearts are harder to heal that a bunch of bites, though, so you'll probably need dinner and some rest. Are you ready to shift back so we can go inside and heat up dinner?" Wolf Man asked.
Arwen nodded.
"Right. Shifting back is usually easier, because you've spent more time in human form than wolf. I usually try to focus on something I want to do that requires human hands or height or something, and the need to stand up. Can you think of something human you need to do?"
Arwen nodded again. Dinner. A warm meal sounded wonderful. Of course, so did the scrabbling in the undergrowth, where a whole smorgasbord of squirrels were waiting to be devoured...
"Okay, if you've got it, how about we do it together. I'll shift to wolf, and then on three we can both shift back together, okay?" Wolf Man crouched down.
Arwen took a deep breath as his muzzle came level with hers.
He was bigger than her, and darker, too, and his scent...
she forgot about the squirrels. Now she wanted to drop down, lift her tail and invite him to mount her.
A little whine escaped before she closed her mouth.
No, she was not going to beg this wolf to fuck her, no matter how hot he smelled.
His paw thumped the ground. Once, twice, three times.
What was she supposed to be thinking about again? His weight holding her down as he took her hard from behind, biting her neck as they reached their peak...
Wolf Man stood on two legs again, high above, his scent easier to resist in this form. He looked disappointed. "Oh. We can try again if you like. Here, you have to focus your thoughts on something that isn't instinct..."
Once. Twice. Three times he shifted from human to wolf to human again, and each time her desire grew stronger. But try as she might, she stayed a wolf.
Wolf Man sighed. "Oh, well. Maybe it's better if you stay as a wolf, and we can try again in the morning.
You can still rest and do dinner, and you'll definitely be healed up by tomorrow.
Come inside. You'll be happy to know that in Tarn Cottage, wolves are definitely allowed to sleep on the beds.
That's why they're all king sized – including the singles upstairs in the loft.
Good thing Sienna gave me enough food for a week – plenty to share.
Wait until you try her Scotch eggs, though I think there's a few pork pies in there, too. "
Wolf Man led the way inside. Arwen followed her nose.