Four: Just Keep Running

“I’m driving.”

“But ma’am..”

“No buts, Luke. I’m driving. Think of it this way. Your gun hand will still be free.” He sighed, before nodding in agreement. He wasn’t going to win, and he knew it.

The truth was, his reaction to his wolf was making me nervous. The combination of my succubus freaking out, my wolf feeling cooped up and now him nearly losing control was a recipe for disaster.

He’d never looked that close to losing control before. He might not have been my age, but he was still pushing 200 and he had some of the finest control of his wolf that I’ve ever seen.

And yet he nearly lost control with me pinned in between him and the wall. Figures.

Before we even knew it, we’d pulled up outside the pack house of the local wolves. The current alpha and luna were outside waiting to meet us.

“Ophelia, this is an unexpected visit.” I could feel the power in Edward’s voice as he spoke. Anyone else would have been forced to submit to that power, but the open secret was that my unique genetics meant I was much stronger than him, but had absolutely no desire to challenge him for his position. He knew I’d win if I did make the challenge, so he was perfectly content with our little agreement.

I nodded.

“Luke, good to see you. I hope Ophelia is treating you well,” the luna, Belinda, replied.

Luke smiled, his head bowed.

“How is Nathaniel?” I asked.

He grimaced. “Sleeping off the alcohol. Thank you for bringing him home, I hope he didn’t cause too much trouble.”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle.” I gave him a small smile. “He did start to get close to shifting though, and I would hate to have my security team shoot your son because he’d hurt my patrons.”

He winced again. “I understand. He’s drinking more because he’s stressed.”

“Which, dear, is no excuse for his behaviour,” Belinda interjected. “He needs to cool off before he can start taking on any duties.” Edward’s face was deflated.

The silence was loaded.

“Ed, we need to discuss our arrangement with your son. That’s why he was in my club in the first place, he seems to think when you step down, he can force me out. But that’s a problem for another day, that’s not what we’re here for.”

He sighed. “Agreed. What can we do for you, Ophelia?”

I glanced at Chris, his head now raised again. “We both need to shift and run, somewhere less risky than the city.”

They nodded in tandem. “You’re of course welcome to our forests.”

“Thank you, Ed.”

“I’ll call the patrols, dear. Let them know our Enforcer is going to be running in the woods.”

Probably for the best that they did, I’d rather not have young wolves freaking out about my presence.

We waved our goodbyes, leaving the car on their driveway and heading into the woods. There were handy huts dotted around the pack territory where we could leave clothes so they didn’t get shredded in the shift.

I stripped off quickly, very aware that Luke was watching my every movement.

My wolf didn’t care.

I shifted mid step on the way out of the door, landing on all fours. Luke met my gaze. “I’ll meet you out there,” he said, with a smile.

I turned and ran into the woods, I’d missed this. I’d missed sprinting through the trees, letting my wolf stretch her legs. I slowed, waiting for Luke to catch up by the side of the lake, watching my reflection in the water. My red fur was rippling in the wind, my eyes a deep red that had specks that looked like blood in the moonlight.

My quiet reflection was interrupted by a massive splash. And that splash was Luke’s sandy brown wolf jumping straight into the lake in front of me.

I shook my head, before opening the pack link between us. “I’m going to run. Enjoy your swim!”

“Come on in, the water is lovely!”

“Maybe later, Luke. I need to stretch my legs.”

I turned and ran deeper and deeper into the forest, jumping over fallen trees and sprinting past the wolves on patrol. Every single one of them stopped in their tracks, bowing their heads as I ran past.

My wolf was loving this. She needed this.

As I ran, she calmed. As she calmed, I got better control over my succubus side. Breathing a sigh of relief, I shifted back, and lay in a clearing looking up at the moon. It was peaceful.

A crash through the undergrowth told me I was no longer alone. A scent I knew, but not a truly familiar one.

“Nathaniel. Good to see you again.”

He trotted over and sat beside me, still in wolf form.

He shifted back, his brown fur shrinking away and eyes returning to their normal brown.

He sighed, laying down next to me, watching the moon.

“I hope you’ve sobered up now, Nathaniel.”

My wolf was snarling at him. She might not have had a problem with his dad, but she saw Nathaniel as a threat. She did not like him one bit, not anymore.

He sighed. “What is your problem with me, Ophelia?”

“Let me see. The last time I saw you, you told me you wanted me to be your luna when you took over running the pack. I declined, which you didn’t take very well. Besides, we both know you didn’t want me as your luna, you wanted to control me so I wouldn’t be a threat to your position, because you knew then and you know now that I could take it quite easily if I chose to. Since then, I haven’t seen you for what, fifty years? Tonight, you turned up at my club out of the blue, throwing your weight around and making threats about when your dad steps down. I can’t have that, Nathaniel.”

My wolf was growling at him. “That club is full of humans. If anyone loses control and shifts or hurts any of my patrons, they will get taken out by my security team. You’re lucky you got your shit together and I got you shipped off home before it really went sideways. If you pull that again, I will end up calling your father to tell him I’ve had to kill his son.”

I felt his wolf submit. My wolf was growling, showing her strength. She could not let this stand.

“Why don’t you want the position? You could take my father if you wanted to.”

I shrugged. “I’m happy where I am. However, I did make it very clear to your father when he took over the pack and I’ll make the same thing clear to you when you take over, if any of the wolves start coming to me with concerns about corruption or abuse from the incumbent alpha and luna, I will be forced to act. I have been the enforcer for nearly 250 years, and whilst I do the alpha’s dirty work, my true vow is to the pack, and they have to come first.”

“Now who is throwing their weight around?” Edward had appeared in the woods behind us. Nathaniel jumped up, his head bowing towards his father. “Nathaniel, go home.”

He scrambled off, metaphorical tail between his legs.

“It’s the same thing I said to you, Edward.”

“I remember, Ophelia. I hope it never comes to that.”

“Me too. I’ve had to do it once before, and I’d rather not have to do it again. The first time there was a strong beta ready to step up. I’m not so sure this is the case now.”

“My beta is still in training, Ophelia.”

“Well, fingers crossed I don’t need to follow up on that vow any time soon.”

“Luke, I know you’re there. Come sit down, I was just leaving.” Edward stood and turned away from the clearing. “You know you’re welcome here whenever you need to be, Ophelia. I just pray to the moon goddess that the circumstances are never bad.”

Luke sank down to the ground beside me. He’d shifted back at some point and was laying on the ground in all his naked glory.

Jeez what was wrong with me! I should not be noticing him this much. We’re wolves for fucks sake, nudity is just a fact of life. If you didn’t strip off, you shredded your clothes. When you shifted back, you’d be as naked as the day you were born.

I closed my eyes, relaxing under the moon.

“Ma’am, I…”

“Effie, please. At this point, call me Effie.”

I could hear the slight smile in his voice. “Ma… Effie, I wanted to apologise about what happened earlier, I don’t know…”

I opened my eyes. Apparently at some point he’d moved whilst I was focusing on the sound of the water and he was now leaning over me, hands on either side of my head.

His gaze dropped down to my mouth. “Can I…”

Before he could finish the sentence, I wound my fingers into his hair, pulling him down on top of me. He settled in between my legs, and crashed his mouth into mine, his hands sliding down my sides and around to squeeze my ass.

I instinctively lifted my hips, pressing us together, his erection pressing against my entrance.

I broke the kiss, tilting and lifting my hips to start guiding his tip inside me. He threw his head back, eyes closed, before giving in and pushing all the way inside me with punishing force. He didn’t move yet, just leaned over me trying to catch his breath, buried as deep inside me as he could be. I squirmed around him, having him this deep was enough to drive me crazy. “I won’t last if you do that, Effie,” he groaned into my ear.

“I don’t need you to,” I whispered, “I just need you to fuck me.”

He groaned, lifting up off me, holding his weight on his hands on either side of my head, the only part of our bodies still touching being his cock buried inside me.

“Please, Luke,” I begged. “Fuck me.” Why was I begging? I don’t beg anyone.

“As you command,” he whispered, pulling out of me until just the tip remained.

I moaned at the loss, I felt so empty.

Before I could think about taking back control, he thrust back inside me, hard, and deep, somehow even deeper than before. He stayed buried inside me again, for what felt like an eternity. “Luke…”

“Luke what?” He smirked. “I like it when you beg.”

“Fuck me, please.”

I cried out as he pulled back out again, this time leaving me completely empty. I couldn’t deal with this torture, I needed to take back control. Before I could flip him onto his back, he caught my wrists in his right hand and pinned them above my head. I struggled against him, but I didn’t really want him to stop. Which was new, I never had liked someone else taking charge.

“Luke, please…”

He smirked again, before leaning in and whispering in my ear. “And how precisely do you want me to fuck you?” He started circling his hips so I could feel him rubbing against me.

“I can’t think when you do that,” my voice breathless.

“I know,” he whispered, trailing his lips down my neck, over my collarbone and towards the top of my breasts. I took advantage of his temporary distraction to flip him onto his back.

Before he could try to stop me, I’d guided him back inside me, and was fucking him, hard, fast. He grabbed my hips to stop me moving, and my wolf whined in response. “I’m in charge this time, Effie,” he growled. He stood up with me in his arms, my legs around his waist and his cock still deep inside me. I tried to move against him as he walked, but he held my hips tight so I couldn’t move.

My nails dug into his neck. This was too much, I couldn’t take it anymore. Every muscle was tight waiting for release.

Before I could beg again, I ended up with my back against a tree. He leaned in, meeting me for a hard, aggressive kiss. He had finally started moving, his pace slow, gentle. “Please, faster,” I heard myself beg against his mouth.

He started to pick up speed, thrusting inside me again and again, building up to a punishing pace, never once faltering or losing his rhythm.

I was close. He groaned when he felt my muscles starting to spasm around him. His right hand snaked between us until he could reach my clit, rubbing hard circles around and around until I exploded around him, crying out my pleasure into the night sky.

Only then did he start to lose his rhythm, as he chased down his own release whilst my body still spasmed around him.

He found his release buried as deep inside me as he could be.

We fell to the ground at the base of the tree, still tangled together, with him still inside me.

Our breathing was still erratic when we heard footsteps.

Guess who was back again.

“What do you want, Nathaniel,” I groaned, burying my face in Luke’s neck.

“You.”

Luke tensed beneath me.

“Absolutely not. Go back to the pack house, Nathaniel, before you do something regrettable.”

“No. The full moon is just days away, your wolf is about to go into heat. She called out to me. You would be the perfect luna, we’d be unstoppable.”

“That’s nice. It’s still a no, Nathaniel.”

I untangled myself from Luke, before helping him up.