Bite!

Dawn came and the sum rose. Eammon woke first. He was surprised to find a smaller, warmer hand enclosed in his. He took it without thinking about it. Brought it up to his mouth and kissed it. It just seemed so natural. Sadly, today he'd have to tell her.

Rhiannon blushed deeply and gave Eammon a small smile from her spot on the sand.

Eammon smiled back. Shit it was time to make or break. He'd have to tell her his secret now.

"What's wrong Eammon?" questioned Rhiannon. Eammon wondered how Rhiannon knew something was wrong. He hadn't even told her yet.

"Your smile isn't meeting your eyes. Something is the matter, what is it?" questioned Rhiannon. Yesterday, was amazing for her. Rhiannon was worried Eammon had not enjoyed it. What was wrong? What had she done wrong? What could she do better? Eammon had said he was a wanderer. Did he just wander from town to town and fuck women. That would figure and be her luck Good things never panned out for her...so why should this?. As Rhiannon stared into Eammon's possessive eyes she wondered how could she make him stay?

"Rhiannon, do you remember the dark secret you said everyone had. Well, this is mine, this has nothing and everything to do with you. Just trust me? All I need is five minutes of your trust. Alright?" begged Eammon. He was betting everything and hoped it panned out. "Please trust me?" he whispered again. With that Eammon morphed into the amber wolf that he was.

"What the fuck?" questioned Rhiannon as she stood to her feet. "What the fuck? Eammon?" questioned Rhiannon as she made her way up the beach to the highway.

"You're like some werewolf? Your dark secret is that you're a werewolf. I don't know what's going on or what you mean by that but it's WAY to fucked up for me. First, you fuck me and now you tell me this? What the HELL is wrong with you? What kind of man...no you're not a man...what kind of creature are you?" yelled Rhiannon. She was struggling to put on her clothes. She was determined not to let this man...no this creature, she told herself anywhere near her.

"Rhiannon...just wait...let's talk for a minute." begged Eammon as he walked towards the woods that Rhiannon was struggling to navigate.

Something deep within Rhiannon called for her to stay, if only for a second. That was when he common sense kicked in. This "thing" had fucked her. What emotions could a wolf have for her? Did werewolves even feel? If they did feel could they love?

Eammon was getting closer. She fled down the highway. Rhiannon hit a patch of black ice. She fell. Desperate to put as much distance between Eammon and herself, Rhiannon quickly sprang back to her feet, bleeding with scabbed knees and arms. Despite her injuries she still fled from Eammon as fast as she could.

Eammon was left alone on the beach. "Shit fuck, fuck shit, I'm an asshole. A creature to be cast from society." Those thoughts kept playing through Eammon's mind. He knew Rhiannon was right about everything. He'd been dishonest with her. He'd taken advantage of her. He'd used her. Still, beneath all of that he loved her. Fuck! How could he make her understand?

Eammon remembered the magical enchantment that had consumed them the night before. How they had loved at the beach. How all of nature seemed to be at his will. For one night the stars had alined for them. Even if it was only for a night. What order he give the cosmos now if he could? What was his dearest wish? As Eammon stood on the sand looking at Rhiannon's disappearing form, he realized that all he wanted was Rhiannon.

Eammon walked back solitary into Sheep's Cove. Storm clouds were forming on the horizon and a cold wind was picking up. For now, it would be enough to live in the same town as her. Perhaps, she'd accept him?. Maybe?. There was always hope? Not knowing where to go, and knowing he couldn't go back to Rhiannon's apartment. Eammon went to the only place in Sheep's Cove that was open. The bar where Rhiannon worked. Eammon walked quietly in.

"What can I get you?" Rhiannon spat in anger as she came up to his table. She was staring daggers at him. Eammon knew whatever deep emotions that had passed between them was gone. Still he wanted to be with Rhiannon. It didn't matter if she hated him. She could do that for now.

"Uhmm...I'll just have a Coke." he said. Rhiannon rolled her eyes, poured him the Coke and set it down next to him. She walked briskly away. Eammon spent the rest of the day, in the bar, watching Rhiannon. He fiercely loathed all the male customers she served. Rhiannon was his. They had no claim to her!

All day Rhiannon fiercely glared at Eammon. How dare he come in here to her place of work! He'd used her just like her former husband had used her!. Everyone in her life teased and maligned her. Still as he sat there, her heart almost stopped beating when Eammon looked at her. He was wonderful. He was something she couldn't describe. It was more than him being handsome. The core of her very being longed for Eammon.

Rhiannon got off work. Eammon had been watching her all day. She hated it. She loved it. Rhiannon left the bar and Eammon followed her out. The storm had arrived and it was snowing and the wind had picked up. She looked at Eamon, he was just standing there. He didn't have a coat. Eammon needed someone to look after him. She was supposed to be his landlady. His roommate. His whatever. Rhiannon hated herself. She rolled down her window.

"Where are you staying tonight?" Rhiannon questioned Eammon. She tried to tell herself she didn't care. He'd been an asshole to her and deserved to suffer. Still, for some reason, she cared. She was concerned about him?

Eammon gave her a little shrug. He didn't know. He would be warm out in nature as a wolf but Rhiannon didn't know this.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." said Eammon to Rhiannon. Secretly, he was happy she was worried about him.

Later Rhiannon didn't know why she did it. She threw open her car door. "Get in the goddamn car, dumb ass. It's snowing and cold. You're coming back to my apartment. " Eammon got into the car and Rhiannon drove back to her apartment. When the couple got in, Rhiannon immediately turned on him.

"I'm NOT cooking you anything. You're still sleeping on the pullout cot. I don't know what you were trying to do by pulling that whole I'm a werewolf stunt with me. But, there you go. God, it makes me so mad. God! You'll probably transform into a wolf again if I ask you. SUCH a stupid pickup line after you've already taken advantage of me." yelled Rhiannon. She knew she was babbling but she was livid.

"Do you want me to turn into a wolf again?" questioned Eammon. Was she coming to terms with what he was? Eammon hoped so.

"Whatever...it's not like werewolves are real. It was a trick of the light or something. I've been working so hard. I think I'm having a nervous breakdown. I Haven't had a break since high school. I got to get away from this place. My apartment, my job....everything sucks here." Rhiannon complained to herself.

Eammon transformed into his wolf. There he was big and there in front of Rhiannon.

Rhiannon froze mid-pace and looked at him. "Oh God, it WAS real. It IS real. I didn't imagine it." she shouted. She collapsed to the ground and started crying. Deep heavy heaves. Eammon couldn't stand to see his beloved in such a state. So he morphed back into a man. Rhiannon sobbed brokenly, but he held her close, rocking her, running his fingers through her long hair. At long last, she stilled calmed by his embrace.

Eammon wasn't good at expressing how he felt after all he'd never had anyone to express them too. But, as he held her, he spoke. "Believe it or not, Rhiannon, your company scares me a little too. I've been on my own...for so long...too long. It's nice to be with someone and have a friend even if she doesn't like me so much right now." Eammon hooked Rhiannon's hair behind her ear and patted her on the shoulder.

An image floated through Rhiannon's mind. A wolf alone pack-less. Howling bitterly at the moon, longing only for companionship. That wolf turned into Eammon, his head in his hands sobbing in despair from lack of love. The image was so powerful that she felt her heart couldn't bear it. The wolf in her vision let out an unearthly wail of unfathomable loss. It was the kind of loss that she couldn't let anyone suffer.

Rhiannon picked herself up. She wasn't about to tell Eammon about her vision of the lone wolf. "Okay, okay, FUCK, okay. FUCK" she ranted to no one in particular.

"You can stay here again tonight. I have no clue what we're going to do then. But, it's cold and you're here. Just don't expect to sleep with me." Rhiannon shoved her way out of Eammon tight embrace and went to her bedroom.

Eammon let Rhiannon go. He was staying, at least for the night. He could prove his love to her. They could be together a bit longer. Soon Rhiannon would realize they were meant to be together. Soon. Eammon sighed and leaned against the door, he watched Rhiannon protectively as she slept. They were true mates after all.

The next morning, Eammon watched as Rhiannon had her Cheerios and coffee. Rhianon still glared at him. She didn't invite him to stay but she didn't kick him out either. Rhiannon's indecision was a good thing. Eammon watched as Rhiannon put her bowl in the sink and drove off to work without saying a word.

It was Valentine's Day weekend. Rhiannon hated all the cheap glittery hearts, doves and paper roses she had to put up at the diner. What did it all mean? It was all just meaningless shit. Yet, Valentine's Day was torture for Rhiannon. She watched couple after couple come into the bar. They kissed, batted their eyes at one another and made-out in the booths. Rhianon loathed them for their superficial love.

All that occupied Rhiannon's mind was Eammon. She thought back to that day on the beach. Eammon had worshiped her body. He had treated her better than she deserved. No man, no person, had ever treated her like that. Rhiannon knew she was the center of his universe. Sure he was a werewolf but at least he had told her his dark secret. Rhiannon knew she was everything to him. If she was honest, he was everything to her. They were a couple. Strong as steel. How could she want anything more than that?

"Waitress, my sweetheart and I will share a Strawberry Margarita. I hate them but anything for my honey-boo on Valentine's Day." laughed a customer as he kissed the woman next to him on the cheek.

Suddenly, it all became too real for Rhiannon. She looked around the bar again, at all the tawdry chintzy Valentine's decorations. All of this was crap and ultimately meant nothing. Back at her apartment, hopefully still waiting for her, Rhiannon had the real thing.

"I quit." she said to no one in particular. "I quit and now I have to go." With that statement, Rhiannon left the diner. Hoping against hope that Eammon was still there she rapidly drove back to her apartment. Hoping it wasn't to late, she threw open the door. To find, Eammon vacuuming.

"Oh..uhmm Hi? I wasn't expecting you till this afternoon. Is everything okay?" questioned Eammon. He wondered why Rhiannon was home. What had happened to her?

"Yes!" stated Rhiannon as she walked into her apartment.

"Yes, to what?" questioned Eammon. He was confused about what was going on. What had brought Rhiannon home?

"Yes, to me being your roommate, girlfriend, true mate or whatever stupid label you want to put on us. Just yes! You big dumb were-wolf." said Rhiannon as she threw her arms around Eammon and kissed him.

"But what about your--" questioned Eammon. He wanted to ask about all her attachments to Sheep's Cove. People she knew. Her job. Mortal things.

As if she knew his worries, Rhiannon gently put a finger to Eammon's lips. "None of that matters. I don't care about you being a werewolf. It's just a little problem you have. All I want is you, Eammon. If you'll still have me."

Eammon nodded, not believing what he had longed for was coming true. He had a true mate. He had a true mate. He HAD a true mate. He drew Rhiannon into a deeper embrace and kissed her.

Later that night, naked and entangled in her beloved's arms, Rhiannon woke up. She realized that Eammon's eyes were boring into hers. Rhiannon noticed they were dark again, and full of fiery energy. It was a different sort of darkness, and she belatedly recognized it as lust, though not before the gaze had sufficiently seared her insides. She turned her eyes away, unable to stand that look for long. No one had ever looked at her like that.

Eammon looked at her like she belonged to him. When he looked at her that way she knew she was his and his alone. Rhiannon was embarrassed to admit to herself that she liked that look. She liked knowing she was his and his alone. Eammon had said that she was his. His true mate. The one he'd searched for all his life.

Wanting only his love, Eammon's hips slowly rose to meet Rhiannon's waiting pussy. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he reached out and stroked her hair, threading his fingers through it. Eammon caressed her face and kissed her. An electric pulse went through Rhiannon.At long last, Rhiannon realized that this must be what true love feels like. She loved Eammon and knew he loved her.

The next morning, Rhiannon and Eammon got in her car and left Sheep's Cove. It was wildly impractical. It didn't make any sense. They belonged to no pack or town. They had no family or obligations. Yet, their plan was perfect. Rhiannon and Eammon only had each other. That was all they needed.

Months later, Eammon proudly looked at Rhiannon. She lay upon the cabin floor, a beautiful amber wolf. Rhiannon stayed that way lately. It was just easier. Her belly was swollen. Eammon knew Rhiannon had four or five pups in her womb. Soon they would have a pack. They would have a family at last. Eammon and Rhiannon couldn't be happier.