Page 5 of Shifted Existence

Bailey woke the next morning in a sweat and feeling as if she had not slept at all. The hunt would start today, and if her dream had been some kind of portent, she knew she must avoid being caught at all costs. She would not be a slave to an alpha male wolf-shifter. Bailey thought she would rather die than be possessed by the wolf she’d seen in the lake. But she had no plans to die. She would survive another hunt and then maybe try to make it out of the Pictured Rocks wilderness area and find a home far, far away from any of their preferred hunting grounds.

CHAPTER3

Eclipse Province

Talon couldn’t remember the last time he hadn’t slept well. Normally he was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, but last night he had been restless. After waking, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, sitting up and shaking his head to try and clear some of the fogginess from the dreams of the night before. All night, he had dreamt of nothing but walking into his tent and finding her there, poking around in his things.

Each time, she tried to run from him, but each time he caught her, stripping her naked and hauling her over his lap as he sat on the edge of the bed. Twisting and squirming did her no good and only served to inflame his lust. As alpha, the disciplining of she-wolves had fallen to him. Never in his life had he felt even an inkling of arousal.

Until now.

Her proximity and writhing on his cock did little to ease his need. Now he wanted to paint her ass red and then put her on all fours so he could take her hips in his hands and mount her from behind to fuck her hard. Securing her on his lap, he raised his hand and brought it crashing down on her upturned rump. She cursed and fought but it did her no good as he was far stronger and experienced with the disciplining of recalcitrant females.

“You cannot get away from me. The sooner you learn to submit to me, the easier it will go for you,” he rumbled in an effort to make her see reason.

“Bastard,” she said, flailing her arms and legs as she tried to hit or kick anything close.

How had he ever thought women of the Conquered Realm were weak and had no fire? His mate had both in abundance. She would need to learn, however, that he and he alone ruled her. Her naked body squirmed and arched in a failed attempt to avoid his firm grip and the stinging blows of the swats he landed on her ass.

He was fairly certain she’d never been disciplined, and almost certainly she’d never been spanked. Her lovely, ivory colored skin had quickly turned pink as he ratcheted up the intensity and speed of his swats. At some point, men of the Conquered Realm had given up their authority and allowed their females to twist in the wind without any kind of guidance or support. It was no wonder to Talon that at first, they fought like wildcats, but within short order they gave over and reveled in the love and concern bestowed on them by their mates.

She had a fiery temperament and was strong willed, but he was alpha, and he would dominate his fated mate. He could feel both desire and defiance as she struggled beneath his hand raining hellfire down across her ass. His mate danced on the razor’s edge of discipline and desire. She needed both and he could provide what she needed, but first she needed to yield and understand that she answered to his authority.

Talon held her securely in place as he spanked her rounded buttocks from ivory to an ever-deepening pink. Her hips and her well-spanked bottom were heated to the touch and had colored to the loveliest shade of red. Seeing her naked body, feeling it as it ramped up in arousal, only inflamed his own lust and caused his rampant cock to grow that much harder.

She had evaded him until now, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her, he assumed, and she’d snuck into the village to see what she could find. He splayed his fingers so that as he smacked her backside, he could feel the wet folds of her sex. She was ripe and ready for him, and he meant to make use of her natural lubrication to ease his large staff into her wet sheath, fucking his way in until he was deep inside her.

His mate was even more beautiful without her clothes on, and the scent of her arousal had assailed his senses. Inhaling her sweet scent, Talon changed up his spanking, allowing each connection of his palm to her ass to linger a moment longer. He knew that the sting he had been inflicting on her delicate flesh was now spreading and morphing into a growing need to be possessed by him. The harder and faster he swatted her, the more her arousal grew.

Talon continued to bring his hand down over and over, connecting with the full, fleshy part of her backside and watching as both color and heat blossomed. When she gave up trying to evade him and instead tried to protect her naked and vulnerable ass, he merely grasped both of her wrists in his hand and continued to rain down his discipline.

“Stop… please, stop.”

Talon stopped and rested one hand on her heated backside as he allowed the other to rub the small of her back to soothe and quiet her. His cock throbbed hard beneath her, and he slid his hand between her legs. A simple growl when she tried to avoid his touch convinced her to relax and allow him the access he was due as her mate.

“That’s better,” he purred. “I would far rather use my hands to pleasure you than to punish, but I can give you both to whatever extent it takes to settle you.”

She didn’t make a sound, but it didn’t matter. Her arousal was at a peak, and she would be his. He slid her from his lap and guided her onto her back in the middle of his bed. Divesting himself of his own clothing, he used his weight to pin her beneath him. He rumbled to her repeatedly to soothe her fears, kissing her with devastating passion and feeling her melt beneath him before taking her stiffened nipples into his mouth and suckling. She moaned and writhed beneath him, arching her back and pushing her nipple more deeply into his mouth as he trailed his hand down her body and found her swollen clit. Another time he would make a meal of her, but this first time was about marking and knotting her. She was his and she would learn from the beginning that he ruled absolutely.

Pulling her legs apart, he settled himself between them, taking a place he intended to occupy often. His cock zeroed in on its target and he pushed into her slick, wet heat with one long, hard surge forward. She grasped his biceps and came as he drove deep inside.

Standing, he walked to the water basin and made a quick wash of his body. No doubt he would be hot and sweaty by the time he found her. If she behaved, perhaps he would carry in one of the large copper tubs and fill it for her with heated and scented water. If she had been feral, he would guess that she hadn’t had a nice soak in warm water in a while. Perhaps they’d share the tub, and he could begin his seduction.

He dressed in doeskin breeches, wrapped moccasin boots, and a loose-fitting shirt. It would protect him from the elements but allow him to be cool and comfortable while he hunted her down. Bows and swords were not allowed in the hunt, but any number of knives could be taken. Talon had one slipped into the top of his right boot, one hidden beneath his shirt at the small of his back, and one easily visible at his waist.

He approached the departure site. The mages of their world had been able to perfect the opening of stable wormholes within their own reality that did not degrade their DNA and made transportation over long distances easier and faster.

“I’ll be damned,” breathed Artemis as he approached.

The normally soft-spoken omega’s words caused Blitz to turn around and shake his head. “I’ll second that. You’re going on the Hunt.”

“I am,” answered Talon.

“You said you wouldn’t go,” said Blitz.

“I said I wouldn’t go unless I heard the call of my fated mate,” responded Talon.

“And did you?” asked Artemis with a kind of awe in his voice.

---