Bound to My Mate Ch. 11

"Good evening Alpha Latro, she woke up this afternoon, but she's not doing well right now... Yes, sir, I understand, I'm not sure what has her so upset. Would you like to talk to her?" through my fog I realized the phone was being placed at me ear.

"Love, what are you thinking? You know I wouldn't have left if I didn't have to. Please calm down. I'd come back right now if I could. Do you understand?"

"Yes, it all makes perfect sense," I said sarcastically, "but I still miss you and I'm so horny. I just had sex with Katrina. Do you hate me now? Why did you chain me up again?" My emotions were on a roller coaster ride.

He ignored my comment about the chain and focused instead on Katrina. "Relax, you know that's why I left you with her. I know you enjoyed it, didn't you?" he asked, playing with me.

"Not the point," I screamed at the phone, "you keep chaining me up and I didn't do anything wrong this time!" The chain really bothered me. I felt trapped.

"Your wolf is rather unpredictable my love, I didn't want her to go looking for fun while I was gone."

"Where would I possibly go?" I cried, "I'm surrounded by your pack and miles of forest. Please take this thing off my leg. I hate having it on," and I pulled the pity card. "Am I not good enough to be your mate?"

He sighed into the phone and said, "Give Katrina the phone."

I figured he was sick of me. I didn't listen to his conversation with Katrina I just burrowed down in the bed and tried not to concentrate on the heavy weight on my leg. When he got back I was letting wolf out. He needed a good ass kicking for this.

"Seriously, Elizabeth, you better behave. I know you like to push his buttons, but he will lose his mind if something bad happens to you," Katrina said as she unlocked the cuff on my ankle.

Joy overcame me and I hugged her promising to be good and stay put just before sleep took me.

The next several days took on a weird pattern of waking very late in the afternoon, eating, and sleeping. My schedule was like a teenager's again, go to bed at just before dawn and wake in the afternoon.

My sexual appetite had also changed. If it wasn't for Katrina I would have completely lost my mind. She did everything she could to keep the tension from overwhelming me. It was exhausting for both of us.

As I lay partially sated on the bed she crawled beside me panting, "The other Betas would be happy to serve you, Elizabeth. Alpha Latro doesn't mind if you take other women to your bed."

"I know," I told her sadly, "I'm just still getting used to all this and I feel comfortable with you."

She beamed at the compliment and snuggled next to me. I knew she was right, but I knew who I needed. The Beta females were not going to satisfy me, because who I needed wasn't in the den.

I wanted Joel and I wanted him badly. Every time I slept, I dreamed of him. He was in almost every waking thought. I ached for him sexually and otherwise.

It would have been nice to have him close while I went through the beginnings of the change. Occasionally I grew my claws back or a light sprinkling of hair adorned my chest and stomach. The wolf seemed to fade in and out of my conscious mind, like she was testing the waters. I watched myself make the weird changes with trepidation, the end result still freaked me out.

At least I did have some contact with my mate. He would call anytime he got a free minute day or night. I spoke with him whenever I could. My wolf wasn't able to talk and when she was in charge my vocal cords were near frozen. Sometimes I just ended up growling into the phone at him. Those were hardly satisfying conversations.

Growling, for him, was better than nothing. He couldn't hear my thoughts anymore. Until the wolf fully asserted herself, I was a telepathic dead zone.

With all the changes, my life had become rather bizarre and I started to get a little stir crazy. I eyed the forest frequently, but remembered my promise. Besides that someone was always watching me. Joel had left a nearly round the clock guard of female Betas that usually sat with me. It made our rooms seem like a prison cell.

I was surprised when I woke up early one morning and found the bedroom empty. I looked around and didn't see anyone, even Katrina was gone.

The doors to the balcony were open and sun was just peaking into a grey sky. I looked out over the forest and wondered what it would feel like to run through it.

I was on the ground heading for the trees before I realized what was happening. 'No, turn back,' I thought to myself and then realized I wasn't in charge. I had just jumped from a third story balcony without a problem. The wolf was in charge.

My wolf was excited to finally be in the forest. I could feel her stretching out as I ran. Trees sped by me in a blur and I sucked in lung full after lung full of the clean fresh air. In reality all of me felt relaxed and refreshed to be out here.

The rational human part of me still panicked and tried to get through to the wolf. He wasn't in the den. I wasn't supposed to leave. When he found me, he'd put me back on that damned chain.

The wolf ran for miles seemingly unperturbed by my commentary. He could try to put her on a chain, if he dared. She had been kept in that little room for too long. She would go back when she needed to rest, for now she wanted to check out her territory.

I looked down at my feet and they were definitely human, with a small spattering of white wolf fur. I had claws on my hands, but they still looked mostly human. It struck me that I was partially shifted into the wolf woman. How odd I must look. I begged my wolf to watch out for people, they could be dangerous. I felt her agree and we scented the air carefully.

I ran until I couldn't smell the other wolves from the den anymore. I could sense from the wolf she knew exactly how to get back home. A stream babbled across the forest and I stopped and took a long drink from it. A still pool of water sat near the stream and I looked into it. It felt like I was looking through someone else's eyes at my own face.

My eyes glowed golden and thick white hair covered everything. I still had my same jaw line. A muzzle would look better with all the fur. Without further thought a snout started to grow.

It was the oddest sensation as my jaw elongated into that of the wolf. I was so excited and the changes kept happening. Looking into the pool of water beside the stream I saw a wolf's head where mine had been minutes before.

The ears were so much more effective, I could hear much better. The nose had also improved my sense of smell. It wasn't very surprising when I looked down and saw clawed feet covered in fur.

I was shifting and it felt wonderful. Walking around as the wolf woman fit like a second skin. It was like finding a part of myself I'd never really gotten to know before.

I wanted to try out these new attributes and the wolf relaxed in mind to let me experience her the way she had been experiencing me. I wondered about shifting completely, but I was too excited to do that right now. Instead, I scampered around and crawled up a small hill to look at the valley below.

I smelled something tasty and heard a faint fast heartbeat. My stomach growled. I felt the wolf's instincts for hunting in my mind.

Stalking quietly, I came across a rabbit. I was on it like lightening. A quick crunch to the neck and I had a wonderful meal.

Some part of me wondered if I should be grossed out by my appearance and my actions. I wasn't though. I was the wolf and I was happy.

The sun was rising higher in the sky as I bolted through the hills and valleys. I scrambled up trees and over rocks. My legs were powerful and I bounded through the forest with seemingly limitless speed.

As we exercised physically, I started to blend with the wolf. Soon we were thinking in tandem, opening ourselves to each other completely. It was so much more comfortable that way.

I continued to test my strength and was very pleased. My claws were sharp, my legs were powerful, and my reactions were quick. I wasn't going to have to be afraid anymore and for that matter neither was Joel.

I briefly wondered about my mate and why he hadn't sent a search team to come tie me back up. It would be fun testing my brawn against his Betas. Let them try to put me back on that chain now.

As I passed through a dip in the land and started up another rise the scent of male wolf saturated the ground. I was curious. The smells from the den had died out a long time ago. If this was the search party they should have come from the other way and if this wolf was pack they had wandered far.

The scent of female wolf started to mix with the male scent. I sensed sex, pungent fear, and the female's blood. It was a weird combination and not right at all.

Moving quietly through the brush I saw her. Emily, the sweet young girl from the kitchen, tied and unmoving on the ground. She was naked and bleeding from multiple cuts. Her face was bruised and battered. Two wolf men stalked the ground around her circling her like a fresh kill.

I screamed for Joel in my mind while concentrating on the scene before me. I prayed he could hear me in this form. I had shifted; I hoped our bond worked again. I heard one word come back to me like he was whispering it from a distance, 'Run.'

I looked at the carnage before me and knew who these wolves were. They were the last of the renegades, the ones that had taken me twice. Probably the ones responsible for my near poisoning. Now they were hurting a member of the pack, my pack. I wasn't going to run.

I wasn't going to be stupid about it either, I would use stealth and then the wind shifted. Two heads popped up and turned to stare at me. My white coloring did not camouflage me well without snow.

I bared my new teeth and growled. Joel's voice bellowed into my head, 'Run, I will send help to her. Save yourself. RUN.'

Oh, hell no, the wolf and I agreed. 'I am the Alpha here, Emily is my responsibility,' I thought back to him. I had to stay and fight.

'You are an Alpha in title only, mate,' he screamed into my mind, 'you have never fought a werewolf. Turn and run while you still can!'

His assessment was amusing to say the least. I was an Alpha, whether he knew it or not. My wolf seemed quite sure of that.

'You picked me,' I thought back to him, 'you already saw it there.'

'You do not know how to fight a were wolf,' Joel called sounding desperate. 'Run now.'

I would just have to ignore him.

The wolf men came up the hill toward me. I held my ground and growled my displeasure at them. Higher ground was definitely better in a fight, so I stayed and watched them.

I remembered seeing them at the cabin; then I had thought they moved with grace. Through the wolf's eyes their movements seemed choppy and uncoordinated. I chuckled internally at the pathetic show they were putting on for me. It would be their last.

I toyed with the rogues, testing my prowess. It soon became a game; striking out swiftly and then retreating before they could retaliate. They were not organized and did not attack together. It was no wonder they did not fit in well with the pack, they didn't work well as a team. A quick series of swipes from deadly claws ripped the slowest one's head from its body.

The other one completely shifted to his wolf form and came at me. I side stepped faster than he anticipated. A large chunk of his hind leg was removed with a deft move of the wrist. He howled in pain and turned to come at me again.

My aggressor had larger teeth in his form than I had in mine. He came back planning to use them. I felt myself rearranging and landing on all four paws as I shifted completely.

As a human I would have been uncomfortable on four legs, but as a wolf I felt more stable. I braced for the next attack teeth bared.

The grey wolf came at me with malicious intent. I moved with amazing speed to avoid his bite. Circling rapidly my teeth tore into him and his blood coated my tongue. At the same time, I felt a slight pain where he ripped my ear. That concentrated my focus.

The time to play with this idiot was over. It was time to end this. I sought his neck; I longed for the satisfying crunch of breaking those bones.

With the goal firmly in mind I forgot about human civility. I went for the kill without remorse. In the end he never saw the lightening fast move that brought my jaws around his neck. His bones snapped like loose tinder. I rearranged my jaws and the sinew of his throat ripped away. His body fell to the ground unmoving and I celebrated with a long howl to the sky.

'Joel, I won,' I called out to him shaking out my coat.

'There may be others,' he warned.

I listened carefully and scented the area, but I only detected the three wolves I knew about.

'No,' I called back to him, 'it was just them.'

'Walk the perimeter,' he commanded.

I did as he said to keep him happy.

'Just them,' I repeated.

A flood of emotion washed over me, there was his love and overwhelming relief. On another level entirely I was aware of his anger at me for not listening to him. He was beyond incensed. I would have to worry about him later.

Emily moaned softly from the valley floor and I padded silently down to her. I approached Emily slowly, she was injured. Her reactions may be unpredictable.

Sniffing around, I noted her hands were bound with a strong coarse rope; it had cut into her tender skin. Her legs were bound separately on the ground staked far apart leaving her exposed and vulnerable. I whined my displeasure.

Circling up by her head I couldn't see any injury that would be life threatening. She was laying on her chest and I used my nose to check underneath her. Again, nothing life threatening I could detect.

Instinctively I knew how to heal her and with tentative laps of my tongue I worked my way up her legs. Skin closed and bruising lightened with each stroke over her flesh.

When I reached her sensitive areas I had to hold back a growl. She was ripped and torn in both her holes. Used by these wolves until she probably screamed for mercy. Focusing on healing her I licked and cleaned, closing the wounds. I knew the mental wounds would be far deeper.

Continuing up her back I moved my tongue over bruises and bite marks. I was frustrated by the rope on her arms, but in this form I had no hands to remove it. I worked around it as best I could.

Lovingly I ran my tongue over her exposed neck and face. I wanted her to wake up. She moaned a little and moved, wincing as unseen wounds were moved in the dirt under her.

I had to undo the rope and turn her over. I would need hands for that. My experience with shifting forms was limited. I had been so excited at the stream I couldn't really remember what I did to make it happen. I was so keyed up now I couldn't seem to manage it alone.

'Joel, please help me. I don't know how to do this,' I called out to him. I tried to send images of Emily, of her injuries, and of how she was bound. I can't say I really expected a reply.

'You would be safer working slowly with your teeth in the wolf form. Please, continue to be on the alert for other wolves,' he warned.

He sounded monotone in my head. If he was speaking to me in person I got the feeling he would be using that too calm voice I had heard far too often.

To appease him I tried to stay as the wolf, but the frustration of working knots with my teeth was immense. Quite suddenly my human hands reached forward to undo the knots and I found myself kneeling beside Emily. I hadn't really meant to shift, but it had happened.

Emily was soon unbound and rolled over. She left a bloody mess on the ground where she had been laying. I was horrified at the look of her front, bitten and bruised.

My hands grew claws and I felt myself shift back to the wolf woman. It was based on pure anger and adrenaline. I rose up on my legs and howled my frustration over the hills. She was mine to protect. A female in my pack, the evil doers had gotten off too easy.

As I knelt back down I saw two terrified brown eyes staring up at me. I didn't know if I could talk in this form. It seemed it would be difficult with the muzzle, but I had seen Joel do it. At first I tried to speak, but I couldn't quite manage it; the words came out too garbled. Instead I slid my tongue out and ran it across her belly healing a wound.

"Madam Alpha?" she asked reaching out to touch my muzzle.

'Of course she would know how I smelled,' I thought internally.

Tenderly I laved her chest and neck. She lay silently accepting the ministrations tears quietly rolling down her cheeks. When I was done I sat back and looked at her. I wanted desperately to talk to her about what had happened.

The ground came toward me and I watched it, apparently I grew quite a lot when I shifted. My hands shrunk as the fur receded. I sat down heavily beside Emily getting reacquainted with my human body.

Emily sat up beside me tears drying on her cheeks. She took in the scene around us and glanced up at the hill I had come down. The bodies of the two werewolves still lay in mangled piles.

"They are both dead?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, they can't hurt you anymore. Are there others?"

"No one else, just them," she whispered.

I put an arm around her as she pulled her knees up and hugged them. We sat like that for a long while. The sun was getting lower in the sky and a soft breeze was blowing. Except for the carnage, it was a peaceful place.

"Come," I said to her, "we should go back to the den. Your family must be worried."

She got up slowly and we walked up the hill. She took a last look at the piles of bloody flesh as we passed them. I noticed her shudder and my heart ached for her. It would take her a long time to heal from what they had done to her.

We walked as humans, which probably wasn't the quickest way home. I was just too tired to think about shifting again. It seemed to take a lot of energy. I tried to stay alert to our surroundings. I knew Joel had probably sent out a party to come find us. I didn't want to be surprised by them, my wolf had an aggressive streak.

"I put it in your rooms, ma'm," Emily said as we walked along. I assumed I had not heard the first part of the statement because I was too busy listening for approaching wolves.

"Put what?" I asked her keeping my eyes on the walk ahead.

"The poison, ma'm."

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to face her. I felt my wolf start to take over and I didn't want to stop it. Before I knew it I had shifted into the wolf woman and was holding Emily off the ground by her throat. Blood ran in thick rivers from her neck. I was going to tear her to shreds.

Emily did not fight me. She let my claws dig into her neck. In fact, she threw her head back and bared it to me. I dropped her to the ground disgusted. This wasn't a battle, it was an execution and I felt that I was being used.

Something was afoot here and I needed a form that could talk. My frustration at the wolf's inability to communicate was palpable. Emily must have felt it. She cowered in a lump in front of me and bared her neck again.

Fur receded from my limbs and I got my voice back. I was too angry to use it for a moment.

"Why would you do that?" I growled at her.

"Because Tabor asked me to do it," she said without any emotion. "He was the one whose head you removed," she added gesturing back the way we'd come.

"Do you still want me dead?" I asked stoically.

"I never wanted you dead, Madam. I didn't know what was in the bottle. I thought it was something bad. That's why I hid it in the back of the Alpha's cupboard, but you still found it. My life is forfeit. It is yours to take." As she finished her statement she kneeled before me and bared her throat.