Cursed Wolf

Thorne was too full of energy to return home. He started walking down the street away from the bakery as the coming rain rolled in off the water. He was wearing nothing but a hooded sweatshirt and waterproof sneakers to protect him from the coming storm. He didn’t know where he was going or what he was doing.

He had k!ssed his mate for the very first time, and it had sent his mind into a tailspin. His wolf growled to come out, and Thorne took another dose of potion. He would stay a man. He would be who Heather needed him to be. He wouldn’t allow his animal to dictate his life anymore. He deserved to live, he deserved to love, he deserved the family he’d only dreamed about for so long.

When the sky finally opened and poured down on him, he was high on a hill in a quaint neighborhood. He heard children screech and run indoors as the first heavy raindrops fell from the sky. He pulled his hood up over his head and plunged his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt.

He continued walking, charging up the street, going nowhere as fast as he could. His mind ran in a million different directions, fragmenting and jumping down different thought lines.

He didn’t know who he was or what he was supposed to do. His new identity as a human being living on his own, apart from his brothers—his cologne and his hockey, they were all so new.

The truth was that Thorne was an animal. He knew that he couldn’t deny who he’d been. He ran his hand over his face, wiping away the water. He sniffed the wet air and broke into a jog. He had to bring his wolf into this body. He had to remember what it had been to run free in the wild, to hunt his prey and sleep on the cold forest floor or the rock of the cave.

He wanted his body to feel his wolf as his human legs pumped and flexed. His lungs expanded and contracted, filling with the cool, wet air. He made it to the top of the hill on the corner of the street before it dead ended into a cul-de-sac. There, he stopped and caught his breath.

He had charged several miles at top speed up the hill and his body burned with adrenaline. It felt good. Very good. The best he had felt in a long time.

As he started a jog back down the hill, the parts of himself he’d been trying to separate began to merge into one.

He knew he shouldn’t be ashamed of the animal inside him. He should allow it to drive him to become a better man—who could reach his full potential.

He was soaking wet when he reached the car and was glad he’d gone for leather seats when he slid inside. Back at home, he wiped his plush new seats with a hand towel from the back seat and closed the door. It felt good to take care of his things. To take care of himself.

He returned to his apartment and started a hot shower. Bathing had become one of his favorite things, and he thought about finally sharing the experience with his mate. The vision of her filled his mind and he felt her again in his arms, her soft curves pressed against him. His manh00d flexed and rose. He growled deep in his throat as he grasped himself.

He stroked his thick length, fist pumping. He imagined k!ssing her l!ps, tasting her tongue, stroking her tight bre*asts. Her thick th!ghs spread before him, the pink folds of her pvssy open and moist.

In his mind, he thrust into her, and she arched her back with a needy gr0an. He split her open and her juices poured around his d!ck.

“Take me, my love. I’m yours,” she m****d and l!cked his ear.

He came in a blinding flash of heat, semen gushing in a torrent against the shower wall. His mouth dropped open with release and he gasped, still feeling her in his arms. In his imagination, she k!ssed his cheek, his neck, and fell into his arms, his seed buried deep inside her. She stroked his chest and told him a thousand ways how she loved him.

Thorne let out a light sob as he washed away the last of his sweat and seed. When he stepped out of the shower, he felt renewed. He wanted to talk to her, to tell her how much he wanted her and what he wanted to do to her body. How he wanted to k!ss her and l!ck her and make her come in a thousand ways.

He sat on the couch in his bathrobe and picked up his new tablet. He wondered if there were any hockey teams he could join in the area. Very quickly, he found that there was a college team at the university where Heather worked. He bit his l!p, wondering if he should go to school.

College had always been Felix’s dream. Thorne had wanted to spend his life hunting and fishing and making babies with a beautiful woman. He still wanted the same things, but he knew that he needed a purpose and a profession.

Playing professional hockey would take him away from Heather, and he didn’t want that. He started researching the catalog, trying to find some field of study that seemed interesting. There was a degree in game and wildlife management, and Thorne’s eyes widened with interest.

He had been an avid hunter even before the curse had made him a wolf. He had a deep respect and bond with the prey and the other predators that roamed the wilds.

He read the additional information available on the website about the degree and decided that he would discuss it with Heather tomorrow night. He picked up his phone and sent her a text message.

“Do you want to go to dinner after skating tomorrow?” he asked.

“I’d love that,” Heather said.

Thorne let out a deep, happy sigh. He hoped that after dinner they could come back to his place and enjoy each other’s company in a more intimate environment. He found a fine dining seafood restaurant not far from his apartment.

The air would be clear and warm tomorrow night, so they could walk. He rubbed his chin and wondered if he was being too sly about everything. But if she came back to his apartment and didn’t want to k!ss him, it would be just as enchanting to spend time with her watching something on TV.

Rebecca had told him that many women enjoyed romance and comedy, but Heather said she liked to read thrillers. That’s when he remembered the book that she’d recommended and grabbed it out of the bag on the kitchen counter.

Thorne spent the rest of the day reading on his couch, wearing a set of silky sweats and fluffy socks. He thumbed through the pages, his heart racing with each plot twist. He certainly enjoyed Heather’s taste in fiction.

He had a light dinner of steak and carrots and went to sleep feeling hopeful and calm. He dreamed he was in his wolf form, running through the forest. He smelled the scent of prey on the air and charged into the underbrush. It was a doe, and she fled as he and his brothers gave chase.

Saliva dripped from his fangs and the bloodlust surged within him. They caught the doe and pulled her to the ground. He snapped her neck with his strong jaws and b***d ran over his tongue. When he stood back, ready to take the next bite, the body that lay there was Heather’s. She stared up in shock as her brothers devoured her soft, tender flesh.

Thorne gasped as he sat up in bed, his heart racing. He was still human, as the potion hadn’t worn off yet. Adrenaline surged in his b***d. He jumped to his feet and paced the room. He couldn’t believe what he had just seen. The grotesque guilt sat heavy in his stomach.

He could still taste her b***d on his tongue. How could he bring his damage into her beautiful life? No matter how many books they read in common, no matter how many pleasant lunches they had at the café, he was still a vicious killer at heart. How would he ever be anything else to her?

It was two in the morning, but Thorne couldn’t go back to sleep. He spent the next two hours doing calisthenics. Hundreds of push-ups and sit-ups and squats. He even taught himself to do a handstand against the wall in his bedroom.

When he was done, his body was aching, but it felt so good. He was calm again and ready to face his day. Tonight could make or break the rest of his life. He had to be the best he could be for the woman of his dreams.