Wolf Bonded (Wolfish 1)

“This is my favorite library in the house,” he says, stepping away while I find my footing again. We’re alone here. Alone, I realize, for quite possibly the first time ever.

“You have more than one library in this place?”

“Yeah,” he laughs. “I think there were five last time I looked. Romulus is something of a collector.”

“And why’s this one your favorite?”

“Because it has a lot of our history in here.” Kaleb reaches for a large book on one of the higher shelves. Its binding is laced with leather cording, the cover a surprising shade of teal. “This one,” he says, “is all about our rituals and ceremonies, like the one coming up.”

I look at him inquisitively and he turns to face me with the open book in his hand.

“There’s a very important ritual that happens when a shifter joins with a new pack. The one joining the pack must swear his or her fealty to the alliance and agree to abide by their rules. In exchange, the new shifter gains the protection of the pack and doesn’t have to be worried about being hunted down by rival packs.”

“It sounds a lot like gangs,” I say.

Kaleb laughs, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes this time. “I guess I could see the resemblance. But it’s not really like we choose to be shifters. I was born this way, whether I wanted to be or not.”

“And do you?” I ask. For some reason I feel myself getting breathless.

“Do I what?” he asks.

“Want to be a shifter.”

“Do you want to be a human?” he asks, then suddenly looks away and keeps going before I have the chance to answer. I don’t mind … because I don’t know what I’d have answered.

Do I want to be a human?

It’s not exactly a question I ever thought I’d have to ask myself.

“Being a shifter …” Kaleb says, his voice taking on an enraptured quality, “I can’t imagine being anything else. I’m stronger, faster, and have keener senses than most things walking this planet.”

With each word, his voice grows more impassioned. His eyes are alight, his feet growing restless and causing him to pace in front of the books along the walls.

“I can feel the wet earth beneath my paws as I run through the forest, or breeze blowing through each strand of fur on my back. I can tear something apart with my bare teeth if I want to or hear the whispers of nature than humans don’t even know exist.”

Kaleb steps close to me, and for the first time I realize just how fast my heart has started to beat. “I can also live life as a man, and enjoy every pleasure that humans do, without the effects of aging quickly or being fragile against illness.”

Just when I think he’s going to reach out to me, he snaps the book closed in his hand and reaches his arm up to place it on the shelf above me. The movement causes his body to lean up against mine, pressing me into the bookcase.

He leaves his hand on the high shelf and places his other hand on the shelf next to me, creating a cage of his body around mine as he stands against me and looks down at my face.

“Being a shifter is being both man and beast. I can live as man and beast, and more importantly …” his voice trails off, thick and heavy with heat, “I can make love as both a man and a beast.”

And with that, I can’t control myself any longer. I tilt my chin up to kiss him and put both of my hands on his torso to pull him into me. He kisses me back as I urge my body against his, and all I can think about is what it would be like to be with him.

“I want you,” he whispers between our ragged breaths, “so badly, you have no idea.”

It’s my turn for my breath to hitch.

“Oh … I think I do.”

“Kaleb!” Romulus’ voice breaks through the delirium that I’m falling into.

Kaleb turns around and snarls at his father, his eyes turning a burning shade of orange. It’s like he reacted without thinking. I’ve never seen any of the boys lash out at Romulus or Lydia before, and the sudden and unexpectedness of it makes me stumble back and out of Kaleb’s grasp.

Kaleb, meanwhile, stands stock still. Romulus stares him down for a moment until Marlowe shows up in the doorway behind him and places a steady hand on his father’s shoulder. It isn’t until Marlowe meet’s Kaleb’s stare that the youngest finally seems to snap out of his trance. He shakes his head as if he is shaking off his emotions like a coat of fallen snow.

He glances over at me, and unless I’m seeing things, I think his face has turned red from embarrassment.