Chapter 16
STARLIGHT
“I’m free!”
White as snow, the fur rippled over my skin as I exploded out of Natalia’s body, jumping clear across the room while my bones shifted, breaking, and reforming to build my formidable she-wolf form.
Hannes whirled around when I landed on all fours on the other side of the great hall, an adorable wolfish smile beginning to stretch his lips with the sight of me…
Until I jumped him.
“Mine!”
His joyous laughter echoed through the silent hall when he fell back with me on top of him. I licked his neck and face, static to finally be with my mate.
“Starlight, stop!” he gasped between bouts of laughter, but he didn’t try to push me off him, he welcomed me.
Looking into my eyes when I finally listened, his hands cradled each side of my head, lovingly caressing my jaw and neck before lowering and sinking into my fur to return the tickling attack.
“No!” I squealed, wiggling on top of him before he, too, exploded out of his human skin.
Hannes’s wolf formed way faster than I had, so effortlessly that if I blinked, I would have missed it. Luckily, I didn’t.
Standing, I got the pleasure of seeing his beautiful mix of white and a sprinkling of soft brown fur spread instantly over his body as he grew into his massive, sexy-ass wolf.
Yeah, I totally needed to practice shifting more.
“Mate…” I called, feeling him so strongly in our wolf forms.
Hannes jumped on me too, taking me to the floor again and rolling us until he was on top of me. His gaze captured mine as he glanced down at me, stealing my breath.
“Mate,” he answered mentally, and I gasped.
“I knew you were still in our mind!”
“It’s our ReinheitWolfe pack link. You belong in it thanks to your father’s heritage. You are one of us.”
Shit. For the first time ever, I had no words.
“My entire life I thought pack links weren’t real…” I confessed, feeling so happy. “Our wolf pack couldn’t communicate—”
“That was never your pack,” he growled, offended.
“The RavenWolves envy the power our race has. They were born from human wannabes cursed through a witch’s black magic and blood sacrifice.
It’s the reason they don’t carry the Moon Goddess’s light or the color of the earth she loves on their fur. They are not real shifters.”
“Oooh…”
My thoughts dwindled when Hannes’s wolf leaned into me, nuzzling both sides of my neck and scenting me.
Oh shit. I was done.
Heat swelled through my being, its aroma bursting through my pores and making his nostrils flare as he took in my mating scent. I was so fucking ready, and he knew it.
That brilliant smile of his translated into his wolf, showing me perfect canines with which to hunt and provide for me and our future pups. Yes, I was ready.
“Time for that run.”
“What?” I blinked, watching him jump off me and run away.
Not wasting a single second, I rolled to my feet and went after him, noticing him stop by the large double doors at the back of the hall, and press a lever on the floor with his paw. The doors opened for us.
“Come on, hurry!” he called, urging me to reach him.
We crossed into the courtyard, the chilly air of the German Alps immediately surrounding us as we ran toward the forest.
Snow and earth burst into the air with each strike of our paws as we left the meticulously maintained gardens and entered the forest. Every inch of me came alive when the breeze caressed my fur, my lungs filling with the purest air I’d ever breathed.
What felt like raw energy rushed through my muscles. I felt alive.
A husky laughing sound left Hannes’s chest while we ran, reverberating through the pine tree-filled terrain, and I joined him in careless laughter as joy filled my soul.
Our speed increased as we headed toward the curve in the mountain, the path taking us to the next unending peak. Hours or even days could have passed while we ran side-by-side along the snowcapped mountain range, guided by nothing but the Goddess’s moonlight and our instinct.
We also could have been going in circles for all I knew, but it was still glorious.
I’d never felt so free.
So authentically me…
Like a true Wolf Shifter.
Before I knew it, I became lost in the vast countryside and the overwhelming feeling of happiness that inundated my heart in this place. I didn’t know how to explain it, but this was home.
I was finally home.
“Follow me!” Hannes kicked up speed, taking the spot before me, and heading toward a dip in the terrain ahead of us.
We descended the mountain until the glow of the Moon Goddess became impossibly bright over the earth, and my heart jumped in my chest. “A lake!”
It was an honest to the Goddess lake and Natasha had never swam in one before today.
She’d been in the water of the small beach back on her mom’s island, but she was too busy making out with André to swim.
Faster and faster my paws struck the earth, the excitement overpowering any logic as I ran past Hannes, straight for the water.
“Wait, Starlight! It’s too cold!”
His warning came too late, I’d already lunged myself into the air.
The prickling of the icy waters engulfed my skin when I plunged into it, becoming almost painful as the water rose over my head swiftly, and I began to sink to the bottom.
Then my own words came back. “We had never swam in one before today…”
Oh shit. Were wolves supposed to know how to swim?
My four legs began to move awkwardly, but somehow, I was still sinking.
How deep was this fucking lake?!
Air bubbles left my muzzle as I lifted my head and tried to paddle harder, said bubbles popping against literal shards of ice that had broken off the surface with my dive.
A second later, the sound of another body crashing into the ice-covered surface echoed through the water, and sharp teeth grabbed onto the fur on the back of my neck, pulling me out of the lake.
Much like the sound of Hannes rescuing me, his growl reverberated through the forest, all Alpha and pissed off at my impulsiveness after he lay me on the ground.
Standing on all fours, I shook the droplets off me, ignoring his scowl, but tiny pieces of ice stuck to my fur here and there, making my attempt to shake them off too painful.
Huffing, Hannes shook his body dry and came to my side, bumping me onto the dry patch of grass under the giant tree that protected it from the snow.
I was about to curse him the fuck out for pushing me down, but he nuzzled my neck again and then began to lick the ice off my fur. His mouth spread his delicious warmth all over me, making me shudder.
His wolf was grooming me.
Hell yes!
Well, I wasn’t going to complain now…
With great care, his tongue moved over my sides to my back and down my spine as he cleaned me, spreading the most incredible feeling of longing through me until I was trembling.
It was weird to exist somewhere between a woman and a wolf.
Part of me knew he was just taking care of me, his mate, but on the other hand…
Mother, may I?
Hannes’s attention dipped to my lower back until the wildest heat spread through me, arousal making me blind and exuding from my pores. Unashamedly, I lifted my tail, exposing myself to him… He was my mate, after all, and we wolves didn’t play all those human games.
A whimper suddenly escaped me, and true shock rendered me frozen in place.
Holy shit. Did he just lick my ass?!
His wolf’s face suddenly appeared above me, and his ocean-blue eyes sparkled hungrily under the full moon when he held my gaze, pining me down with his massive body. The strong scent of Alpha entered my nostrils before he rolled our bodies, laying behind me.
Awe, cuddling time. Big spoon, little spoon.
Leaning down, he clamped his teeth over the side of my neck and my eyes widened. That was a claiming bite.
Not cuddling. I repeat, not cuddling!
With his canines firmly on my neck, Hannes’s wolf shifted his weight behind me, and I truly felt him, pleasure and relief coursing through my body.
“Mine,” he growled, canines piercing my neck when the wolf finally claimed me as his.
Hell yes!