The Hungry Wolf Ch. 05

Charlie stepped into the treatment room and Anna closed the door behind her. She saw Damien, his ibrido, laid out on a long exam table. Hoarse howls were coming from his throat, the sound breaking Charlie's heart.

"Hey cowboy," she said softly, smiling at him when he turned his head to look at her. She stepped up next to the table and winced when she saw the deep lacerations that went from his right shoulder to his abdomen, the wounds flayed open deep enough to see the muscle underneath, the surrounding fur matted down with his blood. "Oh, Damien," she said, turning her gaze back to his face. She reached forward to stroke him, her hand repeatedly caressing him from his muzzle to his ear as he hooked his left arm around her. She looked into his eyes – those warm dark pools that she trusted – and smiled, feeling him relax beneath her.

"That's great, Charlie. Just keep him calm like that while we finish, okay?" Anna said, grabbing a bottle of saline. "He may growl at what I'm doing but he won't hurt you."

"I know," Charlie said, keeping her eyes locked on his. He whimpered a bit as Anna started cleaning the wounds at his abdomen. One of the orderlies brought a stool over for Charlie, but Damien wouldn't let go of her. "I'm fine, Damien. Fine." He whimpered again, pulling her closer and straining forward.

"He wants to scent you, Charlie. Lean over and let him so he stays laying back, please" Anna directed from his right side.

"Alright." Charlie leaned over and let Damien nuzzle her neck for a moment before pulling back a bit and looking at him again. She could see he was fighting the effects of the sedation. "Let Anna finish. I'm fine." He gave a whimper and pulled her tighter to him again. "I'm not going anywhere, cowboy. You can't get rid of me this easily." He chuffed at that, and she smiled at him, stroking his cheek. She could feel him start to give up the fight against the anesthesia. "Go ahead and sleep, cowboy. I promise I will be right here when you wake up." He struggled to stay awake a little longer, but finally his eyes closed and his grip around her waist loosened. "Can I get that stool now?" she asked.

"Right behind you, Ms.Bell," the orderly said, pushing the stool gently against the back of her legs.

"Thanks." She pulled it closer and hopped on it, holding Damien's left hand in her lap. She watched Anna working on his wounds, which already seemed to be knitting together. "Why is he like this and not, uh, human?"

"He shifted to this shape when the cougar attacked, and this is the easiest one to work with."

"It is?"

"Uh huh. I mean, we all heal quickly in all our shapes, but the ibrido is the easiest one to work with."

"Why?"

"Well, we are most unstable when injured in our human shape. If we need to be restrained and we change, which happens a lot when we're injured due to the unpredictable way sedation can affect us, we have a good chance of injuring ourselves further as well as anyone around us. And in our wolf shape there is entirely too much fur." She was finished cleaning the wounds and had started dressing them lightly.
Charlie giggled at that, the sound making Damien stir a little. "Shhh," she whispered, leaning over and stroking his head.

"Nearly done," Anna said, lightly pressing gauze against the wounds on his abdomen.

"This was done by one cougar?"

"Yep. She must have caught him completely off guard to have gotten such a good swipe at him."

"Is that common?"

"Not really, no. Every once in a while some cattle will get attacked. It's rare. Even more rare for one of us to be attacked." She sighed, done tending to Damien and looked over at Charlie. "But it does happen." She walked around the table and stood in front of her. "Now, let me see your foot."

"What? Why?"

"You have a cut on it."

"I do?"

"You do. A pretty good one judging by the fact it is still bleeding a bit."

Charlie looked down and gave a small gasp at the blood beneath her stool. "I don't feel a thing. Isn't that odd?"

"Not really. It's adrenaline." Anna squat down in front of Charlie and picked up her foot, looking at the bottom. "It's not too deep, so I don't think you'll need stitches."

"That's a relief," Charlie said as an orderly brought a basin, some saline, gauze and butterfly bandages over to Anna. "So...are you an MD or a, uh..."

"I'm an MD and a vet, actually," she said, smiling at Charlie's hesitancy.

"I didn't want to insult you or anything," Charlie said, feeling a bit ridiculous.

"You didn't. And it's a valid question." She smiled at the woman sitting on the stool. Being next to her mate's ibrido made her look even smaller, and Anna wondered just how the mating was going to go between such a big wolf and a small human.

"So you went to medical school and vet school?"

"I did."

"That must have taken a long time," Charlie said as Anna put on some fresh gloves.

"Not in relation to how long we live, no." She knelt in front of Charlie, picking up her foot and moving it over the basin. "I'm just going to clean it and put some butterfly closures on it, okay?" Charlie nodded and braced herself against the sting. "So tell me, why do you call him cowboy?" she asked as she sprayed saline into the cut.

"The first time I met him, I called him cowboy, and he got all uppity over it."

"Uppity?"

"Yeah. Offended. Said he's a rancher, not a cowboy." She paused, hissing a bit and watching the bloodied and dirty water fall into the basin under her foot. "I teased him about it and he was so damn cute that the nickname just kind of stuck – ow ow ow – and I think he actually likes it. Crap that stung, Anna."

"That was the worst of it, Charlie. I'm going to bandage it now."

"Alright." She watched as Anna dried off and then applied the closures to her now throbbing foot.

"Stay off it as much as you can until it heals." She handed the basin and remaining supplies to the orderly and stood up. "You can ask Damien to help you with the healing."

"How?"

"He can lick the cut when he is his wolf. It won't make it go away but it will accelerate the healing process."

"What?" Charlie asked with a shell-shocked look on her face.

"All wolves can do that. This way we can all help with the young when they get injured, since they don't heal as quickly as mature wolves." She looked at Charlie's face and laughed. "It gets to feel more normal the more you're around it." She walked over to the sink and washed her hands.

"Good gravy I hope so," Charlie said, smiling at Anna.

"We'll leave you two be. He should be waking up again in the next hour or so. Just poke your head out the door and give a holler if you need anything."

"Okay. Thanks, Anna."

"Thank you, Charlie," Anna said she as walked out.

The orderlies followed her out, leaving Charlie alone with a sleeping Damien. She smoothed back the fur of his face and watched him sleep. The adrenaline that had brought her this far left as suddenly as it had arrived, and she was exhausted. She laid his left arm across her lap, crossed her arms on the table next to him and put her head down on top of them, turning to the side so she could watch him sleep. His deep, even breathing lulled her and she was soon dozing at his side.

She woke with a start at the feel of fingers combing through her hair and sat up quickly. "Damien," she sighed as her eyes fell on the man sitting up on the table in front of her. "You're awake."

"Yes." He watched her closely, feeling decidedly nervous as her eyes traced the pink and puckered skin where his wounds were. The gauze pads Anna had put in place had fallen away, but dried blood remained caked on the healthy skin surrounding the new scars.

"You're alright." She looked up at his face as he nodded and burst into tears, hurling herself onto the table to straddle his lap and throw her arms around his neck. "I thought I lost you before I had a chance to tell you I love you. Don't you ever fucking do that to me again, Damien. Ever," she sobbed into his neck as he put his arms around her and pressed her closer to him.

"I'm sorry, dolcezza." He kissed her hair as relief flooded him and her sobs tapered off to sniffles and hiccups. "Wait. Wait – did you just tell me you love me?" She sat up and looked at him, nodding. A small smile lifted the corners of his mouth as his arms relaxed. He slid his hands down to hold her ass. "Tell me again."

"I love you," she whispered, running her hands through his hair.

"Again." He squeezed her bottom.

"I love you," she breathed, her eyes shining.

"Again."

"Damien!" she laughed.

"I have waited more than a century to hear those words. Tell me again."

She gave him a soft kiss before whispering against his lips. "I love you." He groaned and kissed her, hard, his tongue demanding entry into her mouth as his arms wrapped around her again. She laughed, opening her mouth to him, recoiling a bit at the bitter aftertaste of the sedative in his mouth before ignoring it and letting him plunder. "I love you. I love you. I love you," Charlie giggled as he kissed and nuzzled up and down her neck. She could feel his hard cock pressed against her thigh and dropped a hand down to caress him.

"Charlotte," he moaned into her skin. He raised his head to look at her. She gave him a wicked smile as she wiped the drops of come from the tip of his cock with her finger and brought it to her mouth, deliberately licking it off. She felt his cock twitch against her.

"Lay back, cowboy."

"But-" he began.

"Lay back," she repeated, pressing her palm against his chest. "Please."

He smiled and laid back down, dangling his legs on either side of the table at her nudging. She knelt between his thighs, one hand wrapped securely around his sex, tightening and loosening her fist as she pumped up and down. She propped herself up with her other hand to bite, lick and suck at his nipples.

"Charlotte," he moaned again. His hips began moving in tandem rhythm with her fist.

"Hmmm?" she said against his skin as she began kissing her way down his torso. She came to the shiny scar tissue that ran across his abdomen and she kissed it gently. He jumped at the contact and gave a shaky laugh. She smiled against his skin as she continued kissing down his body, swirling her tongue around his belly button before trailing it through the hair that led from his naval to his sex.

Charlie raised her head and scooted herself down the table a bit, smiling shyly at Damien. She stroked him a few more times, watching the head of his cock pop in and out of his foreskin. Having never seen an uncircumcised penis before, she was self-conscious. "Damien," she whispered, her cheeks starting to turn pink, "what do I-"

"Just gently pull it back," he said, lifting his head to watch her. He put his right hand behind his head as she lowered her mouth towards his cock, easing the foreskin down with her hand and then swirling her tongue around the tip, her eyes on his to make sure she didn't hurt him. He groaned as she sucked the head into her mouth, her tongue flicking at the tip as her fist pulsed around the base, seeming a little tentative about what she was doing at first. Not that Damien found anything lacking in her execution.

"Dolcezza," he groaned, laying his head back and closing his eyes. If he watched her take him into her mouth it would be over too quickly.

Charlie began to suck his cock in earnest, her head bobbing up and down, each time taking in a little more, while her hand stroked what her mouth couldn't take. She was worried, having not given a blow job in years, that she would not be very good at it, but his moans and the gentle thrusts of his hips encouraged her. She pulled her mouth off his cock and moved to his balls, running her tongue over them while her fist kept up the hand job. She sucked his left testicle into her mouth, thoroughly worshipping it with her lips and tongue before letting it go and giving his right one its due.

"Fuck! Charlie...please," Damien groaned, and she could feel his balls draw up against his body. She licked the seam of his sac before dancing her tongue along the underside of his cock to the tip. She licked up the come that had leaked there and flicked her tongue at his opening. "Please," he groaned again, lifting his head and fisting his left hand in her hair. She smiled, holding his gaze as she sucked him into her mouth. He moved his right hand to lift the rest of her hair, keeping it off her face so he could watch. She took him down her throat, swallowing past the gag reflex, her throat spasming against the head and he started to move his hips more forcefully. "Oh gods, yes. That's it. That's it. Suck me hard, dolcezza..." he moaned as his cock twitched and swelled in her mouth, dancing on that razor's edge between tension and release. She moaned in response to his words, the vibrations of her throat around him pushing him to his climax and he came into her mouth, spurting down her throat as she sucked and swallowed it down, relishing the lemony-salty tang of him. She kept him in her mouth as he softened, sucking and tonguing him until he pulled her off.

He sat up and wrapped his arms around her, pressing her to him and keeping her immobile as he kissed her all over her face and neck. "I love you, Charlotte. I love you," he kept murmuring, making her giggle under the onslaught.

"I love you, Damien," she managed to squeak out. He relaxed his arms and she sat back on her heels, fingers lightly tracing over the new scar tissue on his chest. "You're really alright?" she asked quietly, smiling when he nodded. "Never again, cowboy. Okay?" she whispered.

"I will do my best, my love." He kissed her deeply, groaning at the faint taste of himself. "Let's go home."

"Can you? You don't need to stay overnight or anything?" she asked, surprised.

"I'm fine, my love," he said, caressing her cheek. "Besides, nothing could keep me from taking my beautiful mate home and ravishing every inch of her." He let go of her, scooting himself up and off the head of the table. He came around to where she still knelt and held his hand out to her.

"Um...you're naked."

"Yes I am. Clothes don't make it through our changing." His brow creased thoughtfully for a moment. "Those were my favorite boots, too," he added with a sigh.

"I know, but...so you're just going to walk back naked?" she asked, her cheeks getting pink.

"Nudity is accepted here," he said with a gentle laugh. "We often find ourselves nude after we change shapes unexpectedly, Charlie. No one pays any attention to it or thinks it odd. In fact, often times people will opt to attend ceremonies and parties nude because they don't want to be bothered with worrying about their clothes."

"Really?"

"Really." He smiled at her blush. "Come on. All this talk about being naked has made me desperate to have you that way and at my mercy." He stepped up to her and grabbed her head, kissing her roughly.

"Yeah. I could go for that," she said breathily when he let go of her, making him laugh. She slid off the table and winced when her right foot hit the ground. "Ow. Shit."

"What is it?"

"I cut my foot is all. I'll be okay in a few days." She took his hand and pulled him towards the door, limping a bit. "Come on."

"No. That won't do at all." He smiled at her as he picked her up, making her wrap her legs around his waist and link her arms behind his neck. His hands cradled her bottom as he started out of the medical center.

"Really? I mean, Icanwalk. Don't you think this is overkill?" she asked, squealing when he pinched her butt.

"Hush, my love." He kissed her forehead.

"Thank you, Anna," he said, walking past her and giving her a nod.

"Any time, my friend. Although I do request you don't make a habit out of it." Charlie laughed at that, burying her face in Damien's neck. "Bye, Charlie," Anna called as Damien carried her out of the building. Charlie waved, blushing furiously against Damien.

"You know, it's all I can do to not throw you down and fuck you right here," Damien said as they crossed the gravel path towards the main house. "The more you nuzzle my neck and writhe against me, the harder it is to wait until I get you home."

"Damien!" Charlie laughed, raising her head to look at him. "There is another option, you know."

"Oh really?" he asked, walking through the front door of the main house. "And what would that be?"

"You could let me walk instead of carrying me like a child or some kind of prize."

'We will be occupied for the next few days. Please see to it we are not disturbed,' Damien sent to his brother and Eva as he started up the stairs.

"Hmmm," he said, stopping their ascent and giving her a sultry smile. "Youaremy prize, aren't you? My prize catch. Maybe I should throw you over my shoulder."

"Don't you da- hey!" Charlie squealed as Damien effortlessly shifted her, lifting her over his left shoulder. He clamped his arm down across her hips to anchor her to him.

"Yes. I think I like this much better, my love," he laughed, resuming their climb.

'You got it,' Darian sent back, sensing his brother's happiness and relief.

Charlie laughed, looking down at Damien's ass as he carried her. Her hair hung down and bounced against it as they moved. "You know, I think I could get used to this, too," she teased, moving her head a bit to make her hair brush across his butt as he carried her into the apartment and closed the door behind them. He considered locking it, but thought better of it. They would likely need food brought to them as he didn't plan on letting her leave any time soon.

Hell, he didn't plan on letting her get dressed any time soon.

He had every intention of taking her upstairs – he really did – and slowly making love to every inch of her, but veered to the brown sectional in the great room when she dragged her nails up his ass to his back. He carefully dropped her onto the sofa and stood next to her, looking down. The laughter that had begun when she landed on the cushions died in her throat when she saw the way his cock stood out, hard again, and the look in his eyes. She brought her knees up and together in an instinctual defensive posture.

He looked at her as if he were a hunter and she his prey.

"Take off your clothes." It wasn't a request, it was a command, his gentle teasing tone from just minutes ago long gone. He climbed on the couch, kneeling at her feet and stroking his cock. Charlie blushed, her eyes riveted to the movement of his hand, and Damien wondered at her ability to be both experienced and naive, tough and soft. She quickly pulled her t-shirt over her head and dropped it on the floor next to her. Her bra followed in short order and she glanced up at his face, shivering a bit at the look in his eyes. "Cold?" he asked with a smirk, catching her body's reaction.

She arched her eyebrow at his arrogant tone and smirked right back. "Why? Do you think you could warm me up?"

Damien reached his free hand around her legs and unbuttoned her shorts, tugging them down just a bit, exposing the top of her plain white cotton panties. "I think I can do better than just warm, my love. I think I can make you hot," he whispered, running his fingertips on top of the waistband of her panties. "Take these off." Charlie raised her hips and slipped her shorts and panties off in one motion, dropping them on the floor next to her t-shirt and bra.

"I can smell your arousal, my love," Damien said, leaning forward and grabbing her feet, moving them to either side of his thighs. She pressed her knees together and he laughed, parting them easily with his hands. He inhaled deeply, his brow furrowing as his nostrils flared. "And blood. Why do I smell your blood?"

"You can smell that?" Charlie gasped, propping herself up on her elbows.