Chapter 1
Chapter One
The Great Forest, Alaska
The poor bastard.
Fenris considered his twin with pity and shook his head. No matter how many times he’d urged Anson to leave with him, his brother had sworn he’d convince their uncle—their alpha—to simply let them be.
Fenris knew better. Michael Barton, alpha of the Silver Clan, had a stubborn streak a mile wide. Probably why he and Fenris too often butted heads. Still, Anson should have known better than to wait it out.
Come on, come on, he silently urged, hoping no one spotted him. He’d be damned if he’d agree to this mating nonsense. Finally, Anson turned and looked directly at him. Fenris motioned for his brother to join him until he saw the anger on Anson’s face…directed at him.
“Hell, no. I’m not taking the blame for this.
I warned you Uncle Mike wouldn’t give in.
You’re on your own, bro.” Fenris shot his brother a one-finger salute and ran like hell into the woods before his uncle set the wolves on him.
He’d been planning this escape for days.
Since Anson refused to listen to reason, he’d have to make his own way through that hellish ritual.
With a relieved sigh, Fenris released his hold on his human form and slid into the bones and sinew of a large wolf.
Relishing this bid at freedom, he ran with the Wolf in the Forest—the great spirit that made life possible for his kind.
Faster and lighter, he raced on all fours, scaring rabbits and squirrels from their cover amidst the thick evergreens in the forest.
Fenris ran across rich, black dirt, gnarled tree roots and the occasional poplar leaves drifting to the ground through the late summer air.
Birds cawed and bees buzzed, warning him of trouble just ahead.
Veering away from two bucks fighting for dominance, he settled into an easy pace to loosen his stress and simply enjoy being wolf.
In the distance, he heard booms and snarls, the sounds of sacrifice made and accepted, before the Wolf in the Forest replaced such noise with a swift and invigorating breeze.
He thought of his brother with a wistful fondness.
Wishing you wind-speed, Anson. When I see you again, I have a feeling both of us will be changed.
Caught in the gentle rhythms of the forest, Fenris continued to run. He put as much distance as possible between him and that farce behind him. He still didn’t understand why his uncle thought it best to find him a mate, now.
Hell, Fenris had only just reached his twenty-fifth year. Most males didn’t mate until well after their first or second century of living. Since once mated a wolf couldn’t stray, most wolves did their level best to fuck anything that moved before being tied down to one partner.
He wouldn’t have minded some alone time with Sherri and Sophie again.
The last time he’d played with the pair he’d come all night long.
Sherri had oral skills that put most wolves to shame.
She’d swallowed more than her share, while Sophie played with every part of him she could reach.
The pretty little silver wolf liked it rough, and he’d been hard pressed to hold back.
Thank the Wolf neither of them had been in heat. Oral, anal, they’d gone every which way and left him happy and exhausted. Problem was, his uncle wanted him to settle down. To have pups and ensure that his line continued well into future generations.
Shuddering at the thought of being bound to one wolf forever, Fenris increased his speed. He knew his uncle would be pissed as hell he’d escaped, but he’d deal with the fallout later. After the ceremony concluded, which would give him another ten years before he had to deal with this shit again.
Panting, Fenris slowed down and trotted past a cluster of butterflies dancing on the wind. He could feel the Wolf in the Forest very close and wondered at the spiritual purity in this part of the woods.
Glancing around, he noted a spring and wondered just where the hell he’d gone. He hadn’t been running so long that he’d passed into unfamiliar territory. Yet, nothing around him looked familiar. Odd.
The Silver Clan’s holdings extended for miles.
They’d routed the cats and humans a thousand years ago.
And since they’d defeated the bears, foxes and Red Clan during his uncle’s time as alpha, only silver wolves populated the magical forest in which he’d been raised.
The pesky humans continued to stay away, discouraged from entering thanks to a sorcerer’s spell cast centuries ago, when wolves and magic-users had still been friends.
Thank the Wolf that had ended. Fenris stopped and drank at the spring, rumbling with pleasure as the cold, crisp water soothed his throat.
Without thinking about it, he changed back into his other form.
More cumbersome and not as tolerant of sharp teeth and claws as his wolf form, a man’s body nevertheless afforded some pleasures.
Opposable thumbs were always a plus. And sex as a man trumped sex as a wolf any day of the week.
With a sad glance down at his cock, Fenris promised himself to find a female soon.
It had been too long since his last tumble.
And it would be just the thing to take his mind off his uncle’s other recent demands.
As if Fenris wanted to take charge as the new alpha and deal with the headache of a mate. No, thank you.
He walked down a small hill into the spring’s runoff, a small waterfall that gave him just enough room, and cleaned himself, revitalized by the shock of cold water.
When he stepped out, he shook himself and felt twice as stupid when he only managed to fling a few droplets from his hair and slick body.
Wishing for a towel, he decided to let himself dry off naturally.
As he stood in the calm and listened to the water flow, he noticed the sudden silence around him.
Too quiet. Not good. As if thinking about trouble conjured it, Fenris suddenly found himself surrounded by unfamiliar wolves, a few foxes and one huge-ass grizzly bear.
“Shit.” Several of the wolves had reddish fur. Red wolves encroaching on his clan’s territory? “What the hell are you assholes doing on Silver land?”
He didn’t expect them to answer, nor was he surprised when they suddenly attacked.
Shifting into his wolf, he dodged one set of claws and rammed into another wolf, knocking it back.
Teeth tore into his hind leg before he kicked himself free.
Turning, he met another pair of attackers and narrowly avoided getting his throat ripped out.
With a vicious bite, he ripped into the ear of one wolf and shoved a fox away by gouging down his belly.
Then a large, red wolf hit him in the side and knocked him down. He fought back for a split second before the strangest feeling settled over him. He took the wolf’s scent deep into his lungs and smelled female…and something more.
Animalistic desire knifed through him. Between one heartbeat and the next, his anger turned to lust. He sprang to his feet and shoved the female down.
When she rose, he mounted her, his instinct to mate overriding his senses.
Fenris forgot everything but the need to release deeply inside the quivering wolf beneath him.
Just as he readied to thrust, something knocked him to the ground.
A massive grizzly snarled and razed a blow to his head that stunned him.
Other red wolves turned on him, biting and gouging, until he lay covered in blood.
Still, the desire inside him throbbed, growing with every painful breath he took of that beautiful, red wolf with the strange, yellow eyes.
She barked at the others. Cease. Leave off. This one is mine. Then she pounced and closed her jaws over his throat. Despite the danger of the situation, Fenris sighed with a strange contentment before blackness overtook him.