Chapter 9
NINE
VIVIENNE
That night, I had the dream…but I had it twenty years too late.
I was in the woods, running from something. The moon overhead was full, and its silvery light seemed to ice every branch and tree and blade of grass with frost. But it was summertime—I could smell the night-blooming plants, their sweet scents heavy in the air.
Behind me I heard the long, lonely howl of a wolf. The sound raised the short hairs on the back of my neck, and I started running faster. My heart was pounding in my chest, and my breath was tearing in my throat. I couldn’t let him catch me!
But though I was running as fast as I could, I could hear the wolf gaining on me. The snapping and crackling of the underbrush behind me got louder and so did the howling.
I knew somehow that if the wolf caught me, he would mount me. I couldn’t let that happen…and yet, part of me wanted to stop. To turn and shed my clothes and let it happen.
I could almost feel the huge, hairy beast pushing me to the ground, his thick, throbbing shaft sliding deep into my trembling pussy, thrusting over and over until he filled me with his hot cum.
I knew I shouldn’t want that and yet in the dream, I welcomed the wolf…welcomed him and opened for him as he demanded. I spread my legs for him and gave him everything he wanted and more…
I woke up panting and drenched in sweat. Oh Goddess—I pressed a hand to my chest, feeling my heart drumming frantically. I looked around, almost certain that I would see the wolf from my dream somewhere in my room.
But though I peered into all the dark corners, I saw nothing. The half-full moon was visible in the huge arching window that covered most of one wall of my room. It was bright enough for me to tell I was alone in my bedchamber. No huge, hairy shape was hiding in the shadows—I had nothing to fear.
Or so I told myself.
I slid out of bed, pulling the white nightgown away from my chest. I was sticky with sweat, and I felt like I needed to cool down. I walked to the window and opened one of the panes, letting in the chilly night air.
I stared out into the garden beyond my window.
The moon was only half full, but I knew soon it would be a fat, round disk in the sky.
Soon Kor would be participating in the Alpha Challenge.
Would he win…or would I be married to Harris Murdoch by the end of the month?
Would I have to endure him mounting me, as I had with Carter for so many years?
The thought made me want to vomit. One of the best things about Carter being older than me was that he had eventually stopped breeding me.
For almost three years before his death, he hadn’t been able to mount me and eventually stopped trying.
I had been so grateful when that happened.
I could go to bed without fear that he would come into my room with no warning and go to sleep without being worried that a rough hand would shake me awake and a voice in my ear would say,
“Turn over woman and spread your legs. It’s breeding time.”
Just the memory made my skin crawl. I had never wanted Carter—not even when he was younger.
And as he grew old, he had gotten even more repugnant to me.
It’s hard to describe the revulsion I felt on those nights he woke me for breeding or the relief that came when I knew he physically couldn’t mount me anymore.
But now I had that fear again. I wondered if that was why I’d had the dream. It wasn’t an uncommon dream for female Weres, but they usually only had it before their first Heat Cycle. It was known to be a rite of passage—a harbinger of a female Were’s future and fertility.
My Cycles were far behind me, so why was I having it now?
I had no answer—only the lingering anxiety about my fate and the future.
I took a quick shower and tried to calm down. It took a long time with the steaming water rushing soothingly over my body but at last my heart stopped pounding and I was able to take a deep breath without feeling like someone was sticking a knife in my side.
I put on a fresh nightgown and slipped back into bed. But it was a long time before I could get back to sleep again and I kept thinking I heard a wolf howling somewhere in the forest around the edges of the Manor.
Far away but getting closer by the hour.