Just a Wolf

Amelia

“We’ve pretty much got the whole thing planned out,” Darlene says, leafing through the pages and pages of notes that we’ve both taken, and organized into a binder. “I can’t think of anything we’ve forgotten. Now we just have to put it all together.”

I lean back into the couch cushions. What a marathon! We’ve been incredibly productive today, and I feel really good about how the plans for the Alpha and Luna mating ceremony have come together. “Just?” I ask. “Now we have to do all this actual work that we’ve created for ourselves!”

She grins. “Well, by splitting it up we can get everything done. Some of us are going back to Dark Woods tomorrow, for Christmas, and while I’m there I’ll take care of all the invitations and everything on our end. We’ll be back in the morning on the 26th.”

My heart drops a little, and she obviously sees that. “Oh, don’t worry, we’re not taking Dominic. No way would I separate the two of you right now. I still don’t know how you’re managing being separated at all, but I am sure that it would be terrible for you both if you were that far apart for a couple of days. You need to be able to spend as much time together as possible until you have completed your mating.”

Phew! “Oh, okay, thank you.” I was panicking just a little, I realize, my heart had started racing, and I stroke my fingers across my throat. It helps me calm down quickly, and I’m able to re-focus. “Tomorrow I’ll visit all the vendors. Most of them are in Arcata, we have a lot of our pack businesses based out of there, so I’ll be able to get the invitations and supplies on order before Christmas. That should give them enough time to get everything ready.”

She smiles and nods, closing the notebook. “I have an idea. How about we ask Dominic to drive you to Arcata for your errands tomorrow?”

My mouth drops open. I try to speak, but it doesn’t work. She chuckles a little. “Then, take Christmas off, Amelia. You need to spend time with Dom.” She quirks her head at me. “And, I assume, introduce him to your family?”

Oh! I start feeling a little panicky again. “I, uh, I don’t know what to tell them,” I fret.

“I have no idea,” Darlene says, “but I am confident that you’ll think of something. If you’re determined to keep your secret until after the Alpha mating ceremony, I suppose you could just introduce him as your boyfriend?”

Ay ay ay. My Dad might fall for that, but my Mom? She’s a wolf too. And I’m the worst liar ever.

Well, I’ll think about that later. For now, I just can’t wait to see Dominic.

Dominic

I wonder where she’ll be when we get back to River Moon. Still meeting with Luna Darlene? Already having dinner? Back in her room? Somewhere else working? I’m trying to strategize, figure out what to do when we get back. I’ll have to drop off Alpha and Beta and Evan at the front of the packhouse, then take the car back to the garage. Then I guess I’ll start with the back stairway to her room. If she’s not there, next I’ll….

Alpha Ross interrupts my stream of thought as I am pulling in to the long drive in front of River Moon’s packhouse. “We’re going to have a joint pack meeting in the cafeteria before dinner. Meet you all there in half an hour.”

Oh. Damn, I’ll bet I won’t get a chance to see Amelia before the meeting then. Sigh.

But wait! As I pull the car around, there she is! Standing next to Luna Darlene, waiting for us as we arrive, right where she was when she watched as I left this morning. Just seeing her, even before I stop the car, my inner wolf is already purring, my heart feels full, my buzzing mind feels more at peace than it has all day. Her little not-mark on my throat is tingling, and I’m not even touching it.

I know what is about to happen. Alpha Ross is going to jump out and grab Luna Darlene for a huge kiss, and I am going to want to do the same with Amelia, and I can’t.

OMG this waiting is going to kill me. But I’ll wait for her. As long as we can do the waiting together.

Exactly as I expected, Ross and Darlene are on the curb sucking face the second the car stops. I’m sitting in the driver’s seat, waiting for Beta Nolan and Evan to get out so that I can take the car back to the garage, but I’m staring at Amelia, and she’s staring at me, and it is taking everything in me to not jump out of this car and tackle her right in front of everybody.

My hands are clenched on the steering wheel. The back doors open, and then close again, and I put the car back into gear to drive off, but Ross leans back from his Luna and gestures over at me. I roll down the window to hear what he wants. “Hang on,” he says, “apparently you have an assignment.”

Luna Darlene smiles at Amelia, and says, “Why don’t you hop in and tell Dominic about his duties for tomorrow while he parks the car. Then we’ll see you at the meeting in a few minutes.”

My Impossible Girl nods pertly at my Luna, and comes over to hop into the front passenger seat with me, and I know that the trip back to the garage is going to be the most distracting drive I have ever taken. She is wearing that sexy elf getup, the short little red skirt with her gorgeous legs in white tights underneath, and how am I going to keep my hands on the steering wheel and not on her?

Aaaand… boner time!

Amelia

I manage to keep my hands off of him as he drives. And I can tell he is trying to do the same, because I see that he keeps looking at my legs. Like, staring, back and forth between my legs and the road.

“This is another first time,” I tell him.

“Um, what?” he asks, his eyes leaving my knees and coming to my face.

“Everything we do is a first time. This is our first car ride together.”

He grins at me. “Are you keeping track?”

“Yes,” I say, seriously, “I want to keep track of everything. I want to enjoy everything. I want to remember everything.”

I think he’s speechless. “That’s, uh, wow,” he manages, and then his gaze drifts back down over my shirt, my skirt, and lands again on my legs. It makes me self-conscious, and nervous, and excited, to know that he is looking at me that way.

I’m starting to think that guys are different, that their priorities are more physical. He seemed so deep when he told me that he wouldn’t mark me until we had both decided it, and so I know how much he thinks about what is happening. But I also wonder if his body is guiding him along as much as his mind, as much as his heart.

I hope he isn’t, I don’t know, like, suffering. I’m pretty sure that our experiment is still working. I haven’t had the stinging pain in my heart since he nearly marked me, and I know that it worked for him too. But I think this is something else. He told me that he wanted me, but that he would wait as long as I needed. I’m slowly getting used to the idea of being more physical with him, but I am starting to think that taking it slow is hurting him. I kind of wish that I understood what exactly it is like for him. His equipment is so… different from mine.

But, I have to remind myself, we both have minds, and hearts, and feelings, and wolves. I think what I have to do is just be open with him, and ask him to be open with me. I want to understand what he’s feeling, and help him, and above all I don’t want him to be in pain.

Judging from his clenched knuckles and set jaw, I’m worried that he is.