“What do we do now?” she asked.
“You need to stop fighting the mating heat. It’s not healthy. It’s not natural.”
It felt too sudden to go from accepting her fate to fucking in the span of an hour. “You want to claim me right here, right now?” she asked.
“Yes, but there’s no rush. Knowing you accept me as your mate is good enough for me tonight. This is a day I’ve been waiting patiently for.”
She smiled. “You have been patient. I’m sorry for being such a bitch.”
Heather recalled how far he went to impress her, to make her feel included. He didn’t single her out for being vegan. Instead, he bought her things she loved, researched ways to cook for her. There wasn’t a thing he did that went unnoticed by her. He was one in a million and all hers if she could give up her stubbornness.
As soon as she acknowledged the mating bond, her wolf and human selves seemed to instantly be at peace with one another. The war constantly playing inside her settled down to a simmer. She was meant to be with David, she knew that now.
****
David filled gas canisters at the highway truck stop. One of the joys of living off the grid. They ran their property with the help of several generators. He usually hated coming out here, but nothing could get his mood down now. He’d finally made progress with Heather. After months of dealing with her pushing him away, she’d opened up, admitting she felt the mating call.
Now he needed to be sure not to scare her off. To show her he wanted her for life, not just sex. The other night when he’d seen her in the forest, naked and near feral, she’d been a beautiful sight. He loved all those lush curves, so unique amongst she-wolves. There was a depth to her that pulled him in. Every instinct within him told him to claim her, to force her to her knees and take her virginity. But he called on his human side to keep his cool and hold back. Now he was sporting blue balls and anxious to get things moving forward.
She was getting closer to the mating heat. He could feel it. It was more important than ever for her to accept him, but he wouldn’t push her before she was ready.
“You’re cute.”
David turned around, the gas nozzle still in his hand. It was one of the truck-stop whores, and he had no interest. His loyalties were wholly with Heather now.
“Thanks.” He returned to his work. Three more canisters to fill.
“I’d even fuck you for free, big boy.”
She was getting close to him, despite the fact he’d been trying his best to ignore her.
“I’m sure someone else would be interested. I’m not,” he said.
There were plenty of big rigs on the periphery of the truck stop. Many of those men were quick to buy sex. He wasn’t one of them.
“Trust me, you don’t know what you’re missing.”
“He said he’s not interested.”
This time, the new voice caught his wolf’s attention. He returned the nozzle to the machine and turned around. It was Heather. Had she followed him way out here?
Her eyes were glazed over in a subtle yellow, a warning her she-wolf was close to the surface. The mating heat was taking hold and her impulse control would be dangerously poor.
“Why don’t you find your own man,” said the whore.
Heather lunged forward, her claws breaking through her fingertips. David grabbed her around the waist before she could make contact with the human. She thrashed and growled in his arms.
“Heather!”
He hoisted her over his shoulder and dumped her in the passenger seat of his truck, slamming the door closed. Then he finished loading his full and empty canisters into the back of his pick-up truck. The whore had already run off.
Once he boarded the driver’s side seat, she glared at him. “Why were you talking to her?”
“I wasn’t.” He wouldn’t humor her. Wasn’t going to get pulled into her jealous rage.
“I saw you!”
He exhaled but kept his mouth shut. She was exhibiting classic she-wolf traits now. What she needed was to mate, to get rid of the built-up tension inside her. Heather wasn’t like this normally. He knew the sweet, shy girl he’d quietly fallen in love with since she’d shown up.
“Where are you taking me?”
“There’s an abandoned cabin a couple miles up the road. I’m going to bend you over the wooden table, rip off your clothes, and fuck you until the mating heat settles.”
Her mouth opened but no words came out.
He hit the gas, his cock hard just thinking about what he planned to do with his little vegan mate. Tonight, she’d be making an exception and taking ten inches of prime meat.
The gravel sprayed as he turned into the driveway, following it to the back of the abandoned property. Weeping willows and overgrown brush shrouded the old shack from view of the road. He turned off the engine and hopped out of the truck. Only the sound of crickets and cicadas could be heard way out here.