The Circle Ch. 01

The natural woods of Austin were beautiful, even at night. Wind whipping past my face, I ran faster, laughing to myself as I neared a wall of stone, worn by years of running water. I took the turn away from the wall as fast as I'd approached it, my toes finding purchase in the mix of dirt and leaves beneath them.

Cutting it a little close, Fi.

I glanced to my right, continuing to run, my heart pounding. Through the trees I could see Margot, almost to my pace, weaving between boulders that littered the forest floor.

It's almost time to call it a night, I shot back.

The idea made me sad - but she was right. We'd been at it for nearly an hour, bounding through the high acreage on the outskirts of the city. Before I had a chance, a howl escaped her lips, and seconds later several others returned. She looked at me, dark eyes flashing in the night, and took a sharp turn towards our meeting house.

I need a drink.

It was Beth this time, and I heard the rest of the Circle laugh. Margot responded.

The sooner we shift back, the sooner we get tacos and tequila.

She was right. It was nearing 2 a.m. and while the bars were long closed, we had tequila waiting for us at the house when we returned with food.

Ten minutes later we were gathering in front of the quaint studio the Circle had placed on the property years ago. Letting out an exhausted huff, Beth was the first to shift, followed by Margot and Poppy. Each one of their elongated wolfish figures transformed into a strong, glowing woman - one of the few gifts of the were genes that each of us inherited.

This was my inner Circle. The women I trusted most to shift with me - to run with me - to advise me. And as Alpha of the Austin pack, or Circle, as we called ourselves, I needed women like this by my side.

I was the last to phase back into my human self, shaking off the loss of the warmth my amber fur provided and hop-skipping into the studio to grab my clothes.

"We really need to put a patio heater out here or something," Poppy muttered to herself as they followed me into the small space. Inside, the wood floors creaked when we made our way to the hanging rack in the corner where our clothes were stored. Beth pulled her phone out of her jeans and made a sour face.

"Fuck, Wes can't get Isaiah back to bed," she said with a snarl. "So much for tequila." She gave us an apologetic look, slipping her pants on. She looked down at her bare breasts, swollen and nearly covered by her blue-tipped hair, and sighed. "I think I need to pump, anyways." Leaning back over, she pulled her pump out of her bag and sat down on the couch next to her.

"Next time," I cooed, touching her on the shoulder as I pulled my bra on, one strap at a time. Beth, with her newborn twins at home, was the maternal one of our group. Her advice always came with compassion and empathy - if not with a sailor's mouth, as well. I turned to Poppy and Margot while they both dressed. "Still up for a little fun?" Beth pouted beside me.

"Fucking always," Poppy replied with a laugh, flipping her long, strawberry blonde hair upside down and twisting it into a messy knot. In expensive leggings and a sports bra that bore her company logo, Prowl Yoga, she was the athleisure-dream of every influencer online.

If only I could wear that to work, I thought to myself. Kind of hard to wear a sports bra to court.

Thirty minutes later, we were sitting at my kitchen island, tequila shots in one hand, limes in the other.

"Ready?" Poppy asked, giving Margot and I a playful glance. Sophia, my sleek, dark faced Belgian Malinois sat at my feet, snoozing. I nodded and held my shot up in the air. They clinked theirs into mine, then onto the bar, and we gulped them down with a suck on the lime slices. The familiar burn hit the back of my throat and my lips puckered as I noticed a dribble of alcohol down my chest.

"Damn it," I coughed, "You'd think after 30 I'd have figured out how to take a shot. Margot used one manicured finger to wipe it off, licking the finger with a sultry look at me with her brown eyes before snorting and turning to the plate of tacos in front of her. "You know, I don't think I included that in the job description when I hired you as my Beta." She laughed again, speaking through a mouth full of brisket and tortilla.

"Like you had a choice in the matter." I rolled my eyes, picking up a piece of shrimp from my plate. Smelling it, Sophia sat up suddenly and looked at me expectantly. While weres couldn't communicate with dogs, it didn't take a genius to figure out that she wanted it. So, I shared.

Margot was right. It wasn't like I'd had a choice. We had been best friends since middle school - both the only females weres in our grade, facing both puberty and being a teenage werewolf together.

As the latest female in a long line of Alphas, I was already destined to lead our Circle at that age. Austin was a matriarchal pack we called a Circle, led by female Alphas, like myself. And while Margot's family wasn't incredibly involved in Circle leadership, by the time we'd graduated and moved on to college, we knew we were the team meant to lead together.

When my grandmother, Amelia, stepped down eight years ago, wishing to enjoy her old age and life after retirement from her regular job by doing whatever she damn well pleased, instead of managing the Circle, it was expected for me to become Alpha. And I did. Eight years later, Circle investments were doing well enough to ensure social safety nets for our members, host regular events and make charitable donations. Morale was high. In-fighting was low, not that it had ever been a problem, with a culture that promoted support and connectedness rather than ego and abrasive competition.

And while I lived in the Alpha house, one of the many properties we owned, most of which were rented out below market rates to our members, everything else I had, I'd worked for on my own.

Margot had always been the looker of our duo - petit, beautiful dark skin, with black, glassy hair. But that came with challenges of her own. In the human world, she had to overcome misogynistic (and racist) stereotypes to get to where she was; emergency attending at one of the best hospitals in the country. She was whip-smart, and still managed to keep my head on straight, despite all of her other responsibilities.

I, on the other hand, have scared people my entire life. Something about the intimidating nature of Alphas has always put humans around me off. Most weres were also intimidated by me, but more out of respect and at this point, admiration, than actual fear. Tall, loud, quick tempered and fiercely protective of our Circle, I was everything my male Alpha counterparts around the world were - but more. I had fought tooth and nail, all pun intended, to be one of the fastest rising civil lawyers in Austin. Full ride to college, same for law school, and as a senior attorney in my firm at 35, my opinion should have had equal weight to the men around me in my work life. But, it didn't. So I gained the reputation, once again, as the ball-busting bitch with a sweet ass. Which is why, tequila shots.

My phone pinging brought me out of my contemplation, and I looked down at the screen as I took another bite of my food. Poppy was pouring another round of shots.

Charlie

You still up?

Rolled my eyes, leaning over to show Margot the screen.

"OOH," she said, taking the shot Poppy handed her and picking up a lime from the cutting board in front of her. "Looks like we need to beeline home, Pops." Poppy tilted her head as she handed me the other shot. "Fiona has a call for her booty." She reached behind and slapped my ass, and I laughed, holding the shot in the air.

"To booty calls!" I toasted.

"To booty calls!" they called back, and we took our last shot of the night.

Margot had a shift the next night, so she was headed home to sleep until well after lunch. Her partner, Gregory, was an orthopedic surgeon at the same hospital, so oftentimes, they crossed paths at work more than they did at home. Poppy, on the other hand, had a sunrise salutation in three hours, but our regular all-nighters in wolf form left us all well practiced for days with little to no sleep.

By the time Charlie got there, I'd changed into something a little sexier, and when he texted here - true 21st century male behavior, even as a wolf - I opened the door with a smirk.

Charlie was one of the few men in the Circle that wasn't intimidated as much by me. Probably because, at the sheer size of him, he wasn't really intimidated by anyone. With a boyish grin and a bodybuilders frame, Charlie was a little more brawn than he was brain, but that was ok. He provided for easy conversation, and a fantastic time in bed.

He gave me a look up and down and a low rumble escaped his lips. I laughed, grabbing him by the bro tank and pulling him inside, then aggressively against the wall next to the door as I shut it with the other hand.

With a dark chuckle, he brought his head down to mine - something not a lot of men could muster well, since I stood at 5'11 - and gave me a possessive kiss that I'd most definitely needed after the exhilarating run we'd had tonight.

I laced my hand into his brassy hair and pulled at it, making his head tilt back with a moan, kissing down the side of his muscular jaw and to his neck.

"What did you have in mind for tonight?" he asked, his breathing already quickening.

"You know," I said, grazing a bulging vein in his neck with the tips of my canines, which were starting to elongate as my hormones raged. "I think I'll let you decide how you'd like to please your Alpha."

His chest rumbled with a laugh, and he moved his hand from my waist to the strap of my satin pajama top, pushing it down my shoulder.

"I can think of a few things that'll keep us up till sunrise," he mused, and without warning, laced his hands under my ass, wrapping my legs around his midsection as he carried me towards the spiral staircase. I squealed, girlish and giddy, excited about the few hours I had with him before getting ready for work.

Charlie wasn't serious. We weren't serious. But I trusted him. His great aunt was in my grandmother's inner Circle, and we'd known each other since long before developing into who - and what - we were now. Faster. Stronger. Hotter. He kept me this strong, and he got the personal pleasure of sleeping with the Alpha.

Even more so than humans, wolves are driven by their carnal desires. Especially around the full moon. Hormones raging for every wolf, the safest partnership to ride out the storm of sexual desire is often one of our own. However, there are those of us who do choose to find human companions. To each their own, I guess, but in 35 years I'd only known a handful of humans who could keep up with us, in so many ways.

Some of us mated for life. Some found it easier to drift, with a deeper connection to the Circle at large than one individual, and that was ok. Especially being female-led, the Circle was particularly open about desire, about safety, and about connectedness.

Finding a safe harbor in Charlie, especially since becoming alpha, was a relief in a lot of ways. There was no expectation of a relationship - of mating, especially - just access to a safe release of sexual tension, and a male who wasn't afraid to tell their Alpha if, honestly, an outfit was too sexy for work, because sometimes it was hard to tell.

With my legs firmly around him, Charlie carried me swiftly up the stairs while I continued on his neck. He grabbed my ass tighter, and I felt the fabric of my shorts tighten. I lifted my head from his neck.

"Don't you dare," I started, and then kissed his neck again, "rip," kiss, "these," kiss, "pants," kiss. "I just bought them."

"Yes, Madame Alpha," he said with a smirk, looking down at me with his lustful green eyes as he pushed the door to my room open. I grabbed his hair, pulling it one more time, and his eyes flashed brighter - a sign of animal urges coming out to play.

"Say it again," I demanded, and he lay me down on the duvet, crawling on top of me while I tugged his tank off with top speed. He pulled my shirt over my head.

"Yes," he repeated, nipping at my neck, "Madame," he moved down to my chest, kissing one nipple, "Alpha." He kissed the other, teasing it with his elongated teeth. I felt the familiar warmth of arousal move down my body, making me clench my thighs involuntarily. "Ah, ah, ah," he playfully chastised, shaking his head. He moved his face down to my stomach, kissing and licking, dipping his tongue into my belly button. I squirmed and laced my fingers into his hair, nudging his head further down as his hand moved to my knee, pushing my legs apart.

"Is this what you want, Fiona?" he breathed into my thigh. In a swift motion he had my shorts down and on the floor. Charlie took a deep, animalistic sniff, probably smelling my arousal. He grinned.

He knew damn well what I wanted.

"Absofuckinglutely," I moaned. In a second, he had moved his head to nuzzle against me, his tongue immediately finding my clit. I gripped the duvet as he worked his magic, my muscles spamming with pleasure as he licked over and over again. "Shit," I cried, losing myself in this.

These moments, these times where I didn't have to worry about anyone else - no responsibilities - no duties - not an alpha or a lawyer - were the closest thing I could get to heaven. Just a hunk, between my legs, making me shake all over.

While one hand gripped my thigh tightly, the other traced its way up my leg and up the lips of my most intimate parts. Slowly, he worked his fingers through the folds until suddenly, they filled me up, making me growl in pleasure.

Charlie made eye contact with me from between my legs, his gaze filled with desire and self-satisfaction. He knew what it meant to be with me. To be with his Alpha like this. The ego boost that came with my finding pleasure in this connection, while only sexual in nature.

And it made him that much more eager to make me scream.

"Are you gonna cum for me, Fi?" he questioned, taking a break from assaulting me with his tongue, but never letting up with his hand.

"I'm close," I groaned, pushing his head back down to my sex. "Now, don't stop." The last part came out as an order, but I didn't care. I was spiraling. Forgetting the world around me. Focusing on this moment. This feeling.

A shaking orgasm ripped through me and I pulled him up from between my legs with a forceful tug, smashing his lips into mine as his hand moved to rub my clit through the end. I could taste myself on him. I moaned into his mouth, grinding my hips into his hand as the last few jolts of electricity flew through my body.

Finally, I released what I then realized was a vice grip on the back of his neck, and retracted the long nails I didn't even notice come out.

"Whoops," I said with a feigned concern in my voice. He smiled and leaned down to give me another kiss before standing up.

"Guess I'm just that good," he replied haughtily. I rolled my eyes, pushing my way up on my bed so I was leaning against the padded headboard. Charlie leaned down, and in one motion had his boxers and shorts around his ankles, taking them and throwing them on the chair in the corner of the room. His erect member sprung forward, but before I had a chance to admire, he turned and walked towards my bathroom to wash his hands. "Isn't that new attorney starting tomorrow," he said, and my brain struggled to realize what he was talking about. I was in sexy time mode, not work mode, and I needed a second for the gears in my brain to shift.

"Yeah," I said, half interested, trailing my fingers over my chest and stomach, trying to keep my buzz going. "Not super excited about it. It was so last minute, and on a Friday before a three day weekend?" I shrugged as he turned back to me, wiping his clean hands on a fresh towel and placing it on the counter. "I just hope he's half as good as Oscar says he is." The idea of the senior partner at my firm was just about the least sexy thing I could think of, so I refocused on scene in front of me: a naked, erect man walking around my bedroom.

"I think we can figure out how to blow off steam over the holiday," Charlie said in a sing song voice, and I laughed, sitting up on my knees in the bed as he met me at the end of the bed.

"I was thinking the same thing." A weekend of sex? Yes, please. "After the Equinox meeting Saturday," I added thoughtfully, and without thinking, my hand moved down his stomach and straight onto his dick. He sucked in a breath. "Can't be neglecting my duties, now can I?" I smirked to myself as his chest rumbled, head back, eyes closed.

Wordlessly I pushed him back on the bed, and his eyes opened to watch me climb on top of him, his tip just barely cradled between me. He gave me a wicked grin.

"Ready for another?" he asked, shifting below me, trying to position himself at my opening. I swiveled my hips, and his eyes flashed again as I slowly lowered myself onto him, both of us groaning together as we found our rhythm.

We'd never really gone to sleep when the alarm on my phone sounded the next morning. Several orgasms each and a few games of Netflix roulette later, we both sat at my kitchen counter, eating breakfast to replenish the energy we'd spent together.

"Well," I said, looking at my phone. "I should probably go get ready." Charlie held his hand out for my plate as I scraped the last few bites of egg into my mouth.

"My first training session isn't until ten," he replied, taking the plate and turning on the sink. "You go get ready, I'll get this cleaned up." He gestured to the dishes from breakfast behind him, waiting to be put in the dishwasher.

"Why, Mr. Beaumont," I teased, feigning a thick, southern accent and standing from the barstool. "Keep that up and you might just be Omega material." He made eye contact with me, and for a second, we stared, before he let out a snort.

Omega. As if.

The mythical, perfect mate some Alphas are lucky enough to find has never been something I'd taken seriously. It had been a running joke in our inner Circle - something I took lightly because it was so rare. Everyone Alpha in our Circle had found a mate, sure. As an Alpha, it was generally expected that you mated to continue the bloodline. As female Alphas, we had a little more reason to wait, to find someone more mature, who was thinking with more than just their dick and their ego, in an effort to maintain our power rather than relinquish it to a mate.

Omegas were left for the history books and the rumor mills.

"Joke's on you," Charlie said, rinsing off my plate. "I'm mostly staying to cuddle with Sophia." From her spot on the couch, Sophia lifted her head at the sound of her name, pausing the absolute wreckage she was causing to an antler below her paws. I shrugged and walked by her, giving her a good girl scratch on the head before walking up the stairs. My phone gave a ping.

TIME SENSITIVE PACK UPDATE

The email subject made me pause. That's how I wanted to start my morning. I opened the notification and read as I made my way into my bathroom, sitting down at the vanity bench.

Good morning Alpha Parker,

We recently received notice that a member of the North Texas pack will be relocating to your territory in the next few days.

Once we have verified the contact information of this new member, we will forward it to you, along with any relevant documentation we deem necessary.

Hoping you are well,

Argon Maxwell

Director, Southern District

Lunar League North America

Cool, I thought to myself. Just what I needed this week. Relocations were incredibly rare for us - while we went away for college, maybe training, weres typically stayed close to home, to their packs, not just out of tradition, but out of safety. Growing up in pack life, or in Circle life for us, meant unspoken bonds with the people who saw you at your strongest - and most vulnerable. Rebuilding those bonds with a new community could take a lifetime.