Renegade Wolf Ch. 02

She was attracted to him, Gabby thought, as she walked through the garden looking for weeds.

It wasn't just that Dominic was handsome, and he was at that. But his personality was attractive. He had a natural allure. It had been a month since she had found him. He was still very weak, but he was starting to get restless. She could tell. He would look at maps and stare out the window speculatively, longingly. He would look at her strangely from time to time, when she walked in to give him his food or to simply sit with him. She didn't understand those looks, but didn't ask him about them either.

Then the day came that she figured out what he was.

It happened on the day before the full moon. She woke up to the noise of screaming and was instantly reminded of the day she had been led to him by his cries. She barreled from her room, toward his. But when she opened his door she froze.

On his bed was a roiling mass of blankets, fur, and claws. At first she thought some kind of animal had attacked him, but then she realized there was only one thing in the bed...and it was Dominic. But it wasn't Dominic. He was straining and snarling. She could hear joints popping and the sound of snapping making her wince. After what seemed like forever, while she stood in the doorway, the movement stopped. He lay in his bed panting and then, as though sensing that she was there, his eyes opened and moved to her.

She gasped. His eyes were the same – a brownish yellow. But his face...it had changed. He no longer looked much like a man, but more like a beast. His nose had lengthened and formed a long muzzle, sharp pointed ears turned this way and that, and his entire body was covered in fur with the ragged remains of clothing on him still. But he didn't look like a true wolf. He looked as though he was in the between stages of wolf and man. A hybrid.

He whined softly and she started, moving back. But then something in his eyes stopped her. His eyes were filled with pain. She hesitated a moment and then slowly, walked forward. He watched her, with no expression on his lupine face. She held out her hand and he stared at it for a moment before leaning his head into it and sighing. She relaxed and then sat down on his bed, stroking him. She thought maybe she was in shock. A werewolf? But werewolves didn't exist. Everybody knew that. But when she looked at him, she couldn't deny the truth. He wasn't fully human, that was for sure.

After allowing her to stroke him for a while, he gave a jaw-breaking yawn and lay back down, his frame so much bigger now, that he nearly didn't fit. She watched his eyes slit and then lay down beside him. He seemed startled for a moment and then hummed his acceptance. She smiled and drifted into sleep, feeling his fur and body heat warm at her back.

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She continued to surprise him. He would never have shown her his lycanthrope form had he any choice. But before he had been able to get outside to change, it had overtaken him. And it was horrible. Usually his change was instantaneous and only slightly uncomfortable. But this, this had been excruciating. He winced just thinking about it. His sickness must've affected his change. And he shuddered because it would happen again for another two nights.

He looked down at the woman sleeping peacefully next to him. She hadn't woken when the moon had disappeared and he had turned back. It had been a lot smoother than turning into his lycan form, so he hadn't woken her.

He remembered her running into his room, but he had been in so much pain that he hadn't looked at her. Not until it was over. The look in her eyes had been frightened and he couldn't blame her. Even his brother wolves would've winced at the painful change. But just as she had begun to leave, she had stopped. She seemed to have realized that he needed somebody, anybody to be with him. To comfort him. And she had. He could still feel her soft hand stroking his fur.

She stirred and then cuddled back to him. Her soft body molding into his muscular one. He groaned softly at the feel of her buttocks bumping into him. It had been a long time since he had had a woman. And he was deeply tempted by this one. But lycans rarely slept with humans. Humans were weaker and they didn't seem to appreciate it when lycans would lose control and bite and claw during climax.

Sighing, Dominic relaxed back into the bedcovers. Not being able to help himself, he buried his face into her long, blond hair and let himself sleep.

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Gabby woke up the next morning feeling warmer and cozier than she generally did. She lay for a moment, relaxed, enjoying the sensation. Then she remembered what was different. She was in Dominic's bed. And Dominic was apparently a werewolf. She shot upright and looked around.

He wasn't there.

She leapt out of bed, thinking maybe he had decided to leave now that she knew his secret. His sheets were still slightly warm though, so he couldn't have been gone long. She ran out of the room and toward the kitchen where she could hear voices and the smell of cooking bacon. She barreled into the kitchen about to ask her aunt if she had seen Dominic when she noticed him.

He was cooking and chatting with her uncle. And he was wearing an apron. Her mouth gaped open and she stared.

"Are you alright, dear?" her aunt asked, concerned. And Dominic and her uncle turned to look at her as well. She swallowed.

"I-I'm fine, aunt." She said, stammering. Dominic grinned, apparently reading her thoughts and she blushed. She noticed her aunt and uncle exchange a look.

"Hungry?" Dominic asked her and she managed a faint smile. He seemed a lot better today, she thought. He was still a sickly pale, but it was good to see him on his feet. Perhaps thinking the same thing, her aunt went to take over and ordered him to sit down and rest.

"We're going to an auction today," said her aunt, "We'll be gone all day, so you two will have to make dinner. There's steak in the oven." Gabby looked over at Dominic who was licking his lips and she rolled her eyes. It seemed easier to joke about him being a wolf in the daylight.

After her aunt and uncle had left for the auction she went to his room and looked in. He was there, sketching. He looked up as she walked in and his lips twitched. He knew what was coming.

"So," She said, feeling a little awkward, "What was that last night?" He sighed and put down his drawing. He turned to her.

"I'm a lycanthrope." He stated abruptly. "A werewolf."

"Is that why you wouldn't tell me why you were actually in our woods?" She asked, biting her lip.

"Part of the reason." He said, watching her bite her lip with an odd look in his eyes.

"Are you running from other werewolves then?"

He looked back at her eyes and there was a line between his brows.

"Yes, but I'm not sure they were responsible for that – thing – that attacked me."

"You don't know what it was either then?" She asked, surprised. He shook his head.

"I thought it was a wolf at first, but," he shuddered, "It was too tentacle-y. It could've been demon..." She frowned.

"I didn't see any tentacles." And then she realize what he had said, "Demons?!" He shrugged.

"Perhaps because you're a human. And yes, demons. Did you think werewolves were the only imaginary creature that was real?"

"I don't know," She said, staring at him, "I'm still trying to get my head around you being a werewolf." He grinned.

"You'll get used to it."

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She was taking it very well, he thought. She would ask him the occasional question, but she was surprisingly calm about it. Her aunt and uncle seemed a bit confused at her change in mood, but didn't comment on it.

He was becoming increasingly restless. He needed to get moving or the Achai would catch up with him. They already had been close and on the rare days that he went outside, he could smell their traces. It made him nervous.

He told Gabby that he needed to go the Chicago. He would be safe there. She didn't seem too happy about the news, but she helped him chart out a route anyways.

He was becoming more and more attracted to her. The way her hips moved when she walked in front of him and the habit she had of biting her lip when she was thinking. She didn't seem to realize how alluring she was. That he was tempted to lick her neck or slide his hand down her side. I have to get out of here, he thought, she's driving me crazy.

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He was going to leave. The thought made her want to cry. She had never felt so close to anyone. Not since her parent's had died and she had never had many close friends.

She would watch him when he wasn't looking. He was so very handsome. Every time he looked at her, she felt an answering response twinge from her center. She would catch herself looking at his hands and daydreaming about how they would feel on her body, caressing. Sometimes she thought he looked at her the same way, but when she couldn't be certain. But she didn't have time to think on it. Because before long, the Achai came.

Dominic had told her about the Achai. They were a well-known and ancient pack of lycanthropes. A pack that demanded respect from all others. Like all werewolf packs theirs was a migrating one. And Dominic had had the misfortune of raising their ire. But he hadn't told her what he had done, even when she asked. He had already been on his way to Chicago, he said, where his pack lived or had lived, for it had been a few years since he had seen them. They thought he was dead. He winced when he had told her that, and although she waited for him to clarify, he hadn't told her anything more.

It was only a matter of time, he said, before the Achai found him.

And he was right.

They came about a week after Gabby had found out about Dominic being a werewolf. They had been looking at a map and he was re-examining his route when his head shot up.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Achai." And with that, he shot off to the kitchen and pulled out some of the lethal looking steak knives.

"I have to go now." He said. And he looked at her. Before she knew what had happened, he had gathered her into his arms and kissed her. Hard. After a moment's hesitation, she threaded her fingers into his hair and kissed him back. He made what sounded like a snarl in his throat and turned his head to the side deepening his embrace. His hands slid down her body and he grabbed her buttocks pulling her in closer to his hard body. He could feel her nipples hardening as they pressed against his chest and he broke away from her mouth. He nibbled down her throat and she gasped, gripping his shoulders for support. Then he shoved her away, gasping raggedly.

"If I keep on like this, the Achai will catch us in bed." He growled. And she watched as he grabbed up his maps and the backpack they had already packed with essentials for him.

"What about me?" She asked, biting her lip.

"What about you?" He said, "You'll be safe here, I'm going to lure them away." And with a swift hard kiss that sent her reeling, he stalked to the door and out of the house.

She stood there for a few minutes, and then hurried to the window, trying to catch a glimpse of him. But there was nothing. She was thankful her aunt and uncle weren't there to ask too many questions. They had gone to town, a good hour's drive away.

Suddenly, she heard howling and her head jerked. A chorus of wailing coming from the forest. Shivering, she backed away and into something hard and unbending. A chest.

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He melded into the woods like a shadow. His sickness wasn't entirely gone, but he was strong enough now that he would have no problem getting away from the Achai, no matter how good their trackers were. He looked back over his shoulder at the house. He needed to get her out of his system. Hopefully, time away would do just that.

He heard howling begin and stopped. It was unusual for wolves to howl like that unless it was under a full moon, during a pack ceremony. It generally meant that blood was about to be spilled. He furrowed his brows. Generally human or were- blood.

"Fuck." He said, and spun back around heading toward the house.

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