Dire Wolf Mates - Chapter 44: Chapter 44

“Aunt Patricia, Ariella,” he said, acknowledging the females.
But his gaze never left Sheila. He nodded towards the other hall.
“I had George make up extra rooms. Montgomery here will get you anything you need.”
“But sir,” sputtered the man.
“Roarrrr!”
The sound of Leo loosing his beast’s roar erupted through the hallway. Every Lion in the small space looked to the ground, and Sheila’s heart thumped heavily.
Sexy, powerful, hot male. My mate.
Chip. CHIP. CHIP.
“Thanks.”
Aunt Patricia sniffed and giggled while keeping her eyes averted.
“Well, the sexual tension coming off you two is making my Lioness want to yowl at the moon, so you better get on that. We’ll just head off to bed now, and leave you to it,” Aunt Patricia replied. She winked at Sheila, then sashayed down the hall.
“Mom! Sorry,” Ariella whispered and gave Sheila an apologetic smile before chasing after her mother.
“If that is all, goodnight, sir,” Montgomery said without a glance to Sheila, who at that moment did not give a fuck.
Prince Leo nodded his head and turned around, leaving Sheila no choice but to follow. And follow him she did, noting the hard, straight line of his spine and the ripple of muscles beneath his shirt and slacks as he walked away. She recalled something funny the boys used to say and thought it fitting as she watched his fine ass walking away.
Hate to see you leave, but I love watching you go.
And boy, did she ever. Her little pussycat had quite the gluteus maximus. Sheila licked her lips and closed the door to his bedroom behind her. She watched him as he looked out the terrace doors. A Prince overlooking his Kingdom, but no, there was more to it. Something was bothering him. Something more than her staying out all day.
Right away, she wanted to comfort him, to share in his pain, to take it away, but she paused. Uncertain of the reception she’d receive. Leo opened the sliding door and allowed the evening air to rush inside the room.
It teased her sensitive nose and made her think of youthful days spent on the road. Of course, the air was cleaner here than some places she’d stayed when she was young. Better company too.
Leo moved in that liquid way Cats had about them, jogging her from her reverie, and she watched as he started removing his clothes. She swallowed down her desire for him and simply watched.
This was not a striptease. He was angry and agitated, but she couldn’t help but admire him, anyway. His physique was sublime. The power rolling off him, seductive.
“You know, I never was much for museums, but I swear if I was a painter or sculptor, I’d make works of art around you, Leo Crowley, Prince of the Blue Valley Pride.”
Sheila’s voice had been clear, quiet, and maybe a touch whimsical. She meant every word, too. Knowing full well, he would hear the lie if she’d been fibbing at all, which she was not. He stopped and waited a beat, absorbing the hand she’d just shown him. Leo had taken a gamble by not telling her everything, and she wanted him to know she knew, and she was still here, waiting for him to own it.
This was it, she supposed. The moment of truth. Leo turned to look at her. His eyes glowed with his beast in the darkness of the night that seemed to seep in from the outdoors. He did not try to talk around the truth she’d had to learn on her own. Didn’t apologize yet, either. That made her curious.
“Is that why you left?”
“You mean because you lied?”
“It wasn’t a lie, little Wolf.”
“Lie by omission, officer.”
“I didn’t mention it, because it doesn’t matter,” he stated.
“Well, that one little thing that doesn’t matter to you is the fucking difference between night and day, Leo, You’re a fucking Prince and I’m an ex-biker bartender.”
“You are my mate, Sheila. After last night⁠—”
“No. That was sex. This, this won’t work,” she said, gesturing between them.
Fuck. She was panicking, crying too. Tears streamed down her face. There was a difference between thinking something and saying it aloud. For fuck’s sake, she was no princess. She turned around, wiping her face on the back of her hand as she grabbed her saddle bags.
“I just came back to grab my shit. I won’t be able to stick around to help you do whatever it is you’re doing,” she said casually, trying to play the part.
Fuck. What was she thinking? She’d honestly thought for half a minute that she could do this, but she couldn’t. They were too different. Sheila hated her weakness. She was disgusted at the tears that pricked her eyes. She felt him then at her back, but she refused to face him, refused to let him see her like this.
What the fucking fuck, Sheila? You don’t cry, and you don’t do feelings. Ever.
“Shhh,” his deep gravelly voice touched a chord inside of her and she trembled with it. “Please, Sheila. I’m sorry. I am so sorry. Swear on my life, I was not lying to you. I didn’t think it mattered because I never wanted the throne. I need you Sheila, please. Stay. Don’t cry.”
“I can’t be what you want,” she said and shook her head as pure misery filled her soul.
Sadness on the heels of arousal was fucking draining. She didn’t know what to do. She felt tired, but mostly miserable at the thought of a life without him.
“You are the only thing I want.”
“I should go.”
“Don’t go. Run with me. Now, tonight, please.”
Leo was so vulnerable like this. So honest and unsure, and fuck, it made her fall for him just a little bit more. He wasn’t the cocky Lion tonight. He was just her Leo as he dropped his forehead down till it touched the back of her head and she shivered at the contact.
“Leo—”
“Please, mate.”
Sheila turned at his whispered plea. His amber eyes were so big, so focused on her. It made her feel like she was the only person in the world. The only one who mattered, well, to him, anyway. But how could that be when he was a Prince, and she was a nobody?
“You are not a nobody,” he growled, and she knew she’d spoken aloud by mistake. “You are the most important thing in the whole fucking universe to me, Sheila Rand, Dire Wolf badass, most beautiful woman I have ever seen, sassy, sexy queen. I love everything about you. Now, will you run with me? Please.”
“Okay,” she answered, stunned by his admissions.
Leo smiled then, and it was like the sun coming out after a storm. Sheila’s pulse raced as he backed up one step, and another, until he was a safe enough distance away. She noted the change in his stance, and the scent of ozone fill the air as Leo switched his skin for fur. The transformation was almost instantaneous. His powerful body accepting the shift from man to Lion in the blink of an eye.
“Beautiful,” she whispered, her eyes widened with awe.
Leo stood before her majestic and proud as only a Lion could be. His mane was thick and lush, his entire body covered in golden fur that did nothing to conceal the lines of muscle and strength within him.
“But you’re still just a big ol’ pussy,” she said and grinned at his shocked expression.
With her next breath, Sheila shredded her clothes and swapped skin for fur as she went from woman to Wolf. Together, the Dire Wolf and the Lion stalked through the night into the forest beyond the Palace. Imagining this little slice of heaven tucked away in the beautiful, quiet town of Blue Valley, New Jersey, made Sheila want to laugh.
In her Wolf form, it came out a yip, and the Lion beside her chuffed and swatted her on the rump with his long tail. She growled playfully and followed him down a path. The woods were noisy with new life. The song of Spring filled the air, and Sheila reveled in it. The woods began to thicken around them, and she felt peace the likes of which she had never known. It was a sort of meeting between two worlds. The two of them were so different, and yet, they were fated to be together.
Leo and Sheila ran and stalked each other through the acres of tall grass, and thick copses of trees, to the stream that cut between both lands. As a Dire Wolf, she was huge with reddish fur and long black claws, but Leo was even bigger still. His Lion was the largest she’d ever seen, with a thick, glossy mane of dark gold circling his head like a crown, announcing to one and all that he was meant to rule.
He was gorgeous and lethal, more than capable of protecting even a fierce Dire she-Wolf. The beast approved, and she wanted him to claim her as soon as possible. Sheila’s human side agreed. Her feelings were too strong to deny, and why should she even try to?
They stretched out along the bank after playing like a couple of cubs. Sheila panted with glee, it had felt good to run. They both lapped up some of the cool water before settling beside one another. It was unusual for her to share her space with someone in this shape, but it felt natural and good.
Her Wolf was perfectly at ease with Leo. Like everything was right with the world as long as he was beside her. Then again, she always could see things a little clearer when she wore her fur. Her Pack bonds pulsed dimly and told her she was close to them. In fact, the Pack house lay just beyond the stream and the next stand of pines.
She would always be a Dire Wolf and a member of the DWMC no matter what. She didn’t need Derrick to tell her that, though he had. The Pack house would also be there waiting anytime she needed it. Sheila could stand up and stop this thing with Leo right now. She could walk through those trees and go home, tell Leo to forget it, but that wasn’t what she wanted.
Her eyes found the Lion’s glittering gold stare, and she knew she wouldn’t leave him. Not that night. Not ever. His intense gaze was focused on her, as it always was, but she didn’t feel rushed or trapped. Looking through her she-Wolf’s eyes, Sheila no longer saw things in terms of money, class, or circumstance of birth. She only knew one thing as truth. This Lion was her fated mate, and she wanted to claim and to be claimed by him.
Now.
Her Wolf was ready, and she decided it was about time Sheila did something about it. The full moon shone down on them from high above, and Sheila knew the time was right. Turning to face her Lion, she allowed her Wolf to recede into that plane where her beast rested until called upon, and Sheila found her skin.
Her nudity aside, she was nervous for other reasons. Tremors ran up and down her spine because tonight, she would claim her mate as her own for all time, and with any luck, he was going to claim her right back.
“Leo,” she had just finished his name when he completed his shift.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” he asked, and the concern on his handsome face warmed her.
“I’m fine,” she smiled.
“Then what?”
“I think it’s time we stopped playing around. I think it’s time we mate, for real.”
His entire body vibrated with power. The lines of muscle that corded his tall frame seemed to tremble with barely restrained intensity, and Sheila felt an echoing shiver race through her. She wanted him more than ever. She craved his touch, his kiss, his cock, his bite.
All of them. Now.
“Be sure, Sheila, because I won’t be able to stop once I get my hands on you,” he said.
His words made Sheila bold. She inched closer until all she could see was him. Sheila pressed her naked body to his and reached for his hands. She took them and placed them on her body with more certainty than she’d ever felt in her entire life.
“Who’s asking you to stop?”
Mate.