Endangered Species

My mind was reeling. A Goddess I didn’t believe in paired me with Scary Naked Guy, putting an irresistible attraction between us. “This mating pull you talked about just now. We will both feel it?”

She nodded. “Humans don’t feel it at the same intensity. I’ve heard it described as lust, infatuation, then love. You feel comfortable and loved in his presence, and kissing and touching are more intense than any in your experience. You start craving his presence, his scent, his touch.”

“And for him?”

“It’s the same, but worse. Cole is suffering right now. His wolf wants to be here with you, not out there running the collection details. The closer he gets to you, the stronger the urges become. He has to know you are safe, and he’ll want to take care of you. He will want to be nearby always, touching you, preferably, and he will feed and care for you. All these things will help calm his wolf until you accept him as a mate.”

Uh-huh. I hope Melanie was ready for disappointment. “Hypothetically, if I accepted him, what would happen next?”

“He would claim and mate you. The claim is a bite on the neck and shoulder. It proclaims your mated status to other wolves, and your scent will incorporate a bit of his. His claiming bite will start the change in you. Over about three days, you’ll get a high fever and painful body changes before you finally shift to your wolf form. If you survive, you’ll be one of us.”

“If?”

“Not everyone makes it. The change is physically grueling, and some give up along the way. You are young and strong, and you’ll have my brother with you to help you through. I’m curious what your wolf will be. I’m betting you’ll be a match for him, not Beta level or lower. That’s his big worry, you know. Cole believes a human mate will weaken his bloodline and not be worthy of his station. He’s also worried you won’t survive the change if he bites you.”

“And he doesn’t have a choice, now that he’s found me.”

Melanie shrugged her shoulders. “Like most men, he wants the reward without the risk. He thinks he can keep you human and get you to have his pups. He wouldn’t claim or make you the Pack Luna, but it doesn’t risk you dying in the change.”

“So he wants me as a breeder? His captive mistress to pop out babies while he does whatever he wants.” I shook my head. “I can guarantee THAT won’t happen. I’d rip his balls off first.”

Melanie giggled. “See? You’re halfway to being Luna already. You have to stand by his side, not behind him. That means you don’t take any shit from him.”

I smirked, thinking of the booby-traps I’d left. “Cole has no fucking IDEA who he is messing with.”

“You’re a babe, and you’re not going to sit there and wait for him to make up his mind. You already put him on his ass once, and you’ll make it a challenge. You’ll run, and he’ll chase. When he catches you, he won’t be able to hold back from biting you.”

I wasn’t liking where this conversation was going. Melanie made it seem like I had no choice but to accept the mating. “What if I say no? CAN I say no?”

“You can reject him. He can’t stop you from rejecting him as your mate or force you to make the change. To turn a human without permission is punishable by death under our laws.”

“How do I reject him?”

“Just like that. You say your name and tell him you reject him as a mate. The mating pull will go away for you.”

Easy peasy. “Good. I’ll take care of that as soon as Cole comes back.”

Her shoulders slumped, and she reached for my hand. “It’s not that simple, Angela. Nothing ever is.”

“What? I tell him to fuck off, he doesn’t want me around, and I leave. I’m not a clingy ex-girlfriend. He can bang any bitch he wants when I’m gone.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way. You reject him, but his pull towards you doesn’t go away unless he rejects you back. He doesn’t have to do that, and he won’t.” She sat back and put her hands on her lap. “A rejected wolf slowly dies, and the human side dies with it. Better to keep his bond with you and keep you close. You see, you’re still a breeder. You’re still the only one he can get an erection with, and you are the one he’s supposed to have children with. He will keep you here where he can use you to give him the children the Goddess means him to have.”

I gulped. “Your brother would rape me?”

“His wolf would not allow that, but he could look at you and smell you while he jacks off into a cup. Other wolves would secure you with your head down and inject Cole’s sperm into you when we smell you are fertile. You’d probably give him more children this way than if you took the change.”

I had a feeling they’d cleared the shelves of turkey basters. “Why is that?”

“Werewolves live much longer than humans, but our fertility is lower. A healthy human is fertile every month; a healthy woman like you could give birth to a child a year for decades. A werewolf female is fertile every three to twenty years. If you have children five years apart, you’re lucky. Our parents were together for almost forty years, but Mom only caught with us.”

Something clicked as I listened to her. I looked down at my tattoo in shock. “Breeders. That’s why you’re collecting women! You can’t rape them because your men can’t get it up if she's not your mate. You’re going to use artificial insemination to impregnate them!”

Her eyes widened for a second, realizing I had figured it out before she could break it to me gently. “Yes. You’ve seen what it is like out there, haven’t you?” I nodded; it was horrible. “Cole realized that humans were doomed; their technology didn’t work, they died in the sun or above ground, and their society had collapsed into anarchy. In another week, all but a tiny fraction of the human race will still be alive, and we can’t save them.”

“Why not? The people in this base were doing fine until you killed them!”

“Humans are ill-prepared for the world we are in now. Werewolves live longer, heal faster, can see at night, have hunting and tracking skills, and have strong social ties. In a year, the only humans left alive will be in our breeder program.”

“Your livestock,” I said derisively.

“The survivors,” she retorted. “Using breeders is the final part of Cole’s long-term plan. In the near term, we’ve secured an underground home and the weapons to defend it. We are gathering enough supplies to last until we can restart fishing, farming, and livestock. We are not just going to survive this shit, Angela. Our Pack is going to THRIVE in it. Yes, we will have breeders. Yes, like ranchers, we’ll collect the semen of high-ranking mated wolves and use it to get the females pregnant. The human women will get to deliver and raise werewolf children that grow and strengthen the Pack. In exchange, we will keep the women safe and healthy.”

It was monstrous, and I told her that. She wasn’t swayed at all by my words. “What should we have done, Angela? Should we have killed them ALL?”

“You shouldn’t have killed anyone! You should have stayed in your holes and left my people ALONE!”

She shook her head. “If we did that, everyone would die. I know you don’t understand, but you will. What we are doing is the best long-term solution available. It may not seem like it now, but you are one lucky girl, Angela. You have a future that few others can hope for.”

“Get. Out.” I was pissed off, and my hand was touching the knife under the table.

Melanie stood up, hands back. “Think about what you’ve seen and what I’ve said, Angela. Don’t make a decision you can’t take back.”

“Just go,” I said as she moved to the door. She didn’t turn her back to me as she opened the door and left. I heard the lock click, and I was alone again.

A young girl dropped off dinner on a paper plate with plastic silverware. She didn’t say anything before she left. I ate and crawled into bed at ten, wondering when my Scary Alpha Guy would arrive.

I awoke when the door opened, but I pretended to be asleep. Cole walked into the bedroom, stopping by the bed. I could almost feel him staring at me, and something inside me reacted to his presence. I could feel my body preparing for sex, and I couldn’t stop it. He let out a low growl, telling me he smelled it.

Cole sat on the edge of the bed, removing his boots and shirt. I peeked at the mirror over the dresser as he walked to the closet door to put them away. Four things happened in quick succession.

The shaving cream bomb went off, shooting a high-velocity stream of white into Cole’s face and chest.

The door fell off the hinges and clattered to the floor.

Cole used his shirt to cover the can, ripping it off the wall and running into the bathroom with it.

And I laughed so hard that I fell out of bed.