Page 61 of Hunted Mate
Callie is in denial. She is treating this as a joke. But when the full moon rises, there will be no more capacity for jokes. She will lose her ability to speak, and her body will undergo a violent, brutal shift from which she will never entirely recover.
I am glad we have the privacy of this room. If I can confine her to it, the whole event might pass without chaos or further bloodshed.
She’s been trying to hold back. I’ve seen the effort. I’ve felt the wildness inside her begging to go free. She’s been all teeth and fury lately. And desire. I’ve avoided making love to her in the true sense, knowing what it could precipitate.
Truthfully, I blame myself for all Calista has become. When I met her, she had never so much as thought of taking a life. But within hours of my true identity being revealed, she was forced into killing. It hasn’t really stopped, and though the lives she has taken have been arguably justified, I fear what she might do when her true animal self takes over. Newly shifted adult females have been known to do terrible things if not properly contained. That’s why the ritual is normally done in a pack environment. When a female is first bred, the mating takes place in a small building or room with the pack close. Not usually in the room, though I have heard of some packs where it is a public affair. Not great if the female in question happens to be shy.
I also feel the moon’s sway, of course. It makes me more than a little on edge. It makes my animal side yearn to emerge. But I control and contain myself because I will need a human mind to navigate all that is going to happen.
“Am I going to turn into a wolf if we fuck?”
She’s bored and trying to provoke me.
“Maybe,” I say. “Mating is risky. Mating on the full moon makes it almost certain that if something is going to happen, it will happen.”
She looks into my eyes, and plays with my shirt nervously. She’s trying to be brave, but I’m glad to see that she does have some concern inside her. It reminds me she’s still human, not just a complete emotionless monster.
“I want to find out if something is going to happen,” she says “I’ve had all these feelings, weird body sensations, aches and stuff. It really hurts sometimes, but I know we can’t exactly get medical help.”
“Calista, I think you will shift when the moon is at her zenith, or close to it,” I tell her. “I’m sorry, but I think it’s inevitable. The way you’re acting, all you’ve been through, the fact that my father would not pay scientists to be ineffective, it all makes me think something will happen.”
“When’s the moon going to be full?”
“In two days, but though there’s a moment where geographically, the moon is at its most full, that doesn’t mean that’s when you’ll shift. It’s already getting full, and it will exert its influence on you until the phase is completely over.”
“You mean I could burst out of my skin at any time?”
“That’s why we are staying in,” I remind her. “This is why we’re not driving anywhere, not running anywhere, and not going out.”
“But it’s daytime. I won’t shift during the day, will I?”
“It’s not worth the risk,” I tell her. “Consider yourself grounded to this room until the full moon is over.”
“Oh, yes, Daddy,” she grins, teasing me. I’m not quite old enough to be her father, but I am certainly older than she is by a good decade, and she needs to be daddied sometimes. There’s anobvious lack of parental influence in her life, but I suppose that is what happens when your parents die when you’re barely a teenager and you are left alone in the world with an inordinate amount of money.
“You know if you so much as leave the room, I will take you over my knee and spank you until you cry,” I tell her.
She grins, and looks more pleased than she probably wants to. Callie responds well to discipline. I know her ass is sore as hell right now, but she is in a very good mood, all things considered.
“What are we going to do to entertain ourselves until then?” she asks with a coy smile. “We might get really bored.”
“I could never be bored with you,” I tell her, reaching for her and pulling her over to me. “Do you want to cuddle and watch a movie, or do you want me to whip your ass?”
She giggles.
I arch a brow.
Interesting. She’s not choosing the movie right away. I know what that means. So I give her what she wants. I pull her over my lap as I’m lying on the bed and give her a light little spanking. I don’t want to hurt her, but I do want to ensure that she knows I’ll give her what she needs, when she needs it.
She was wearing the hotel robe, so I snug it off her and let her lie bare over my lap, giving her a massage and a spanking, and very pleasant intimate attention for the both of us. Her thighs spread quite naturally and submissively for me, and I start to think this might all be settled after all.
Maybe the wildness she displayed when she escaped the laboratory was just in aid of escape and fear. Maybe now thatshe’s with me, she’s not going to be a problem at all. I like that idea. I like that I am settling her, and that she is letting me do it.
“Your butt is still red from last night,” I tell her. “You could be in trouble if you deserve another spanking any time soon. Better behave yourself, hmm?”
“I am trying,” she says, wriggling. “We’re in this super cool city—I love Louisiana. I’ve never been down here before, and I feel like I’ve been missing out my entire life. New York has a kind of magic to it too, you know? But it’s different. Another kind of energy.”
“I do know what you mean,” I say, tapping her butt lightly. “There’s power in these places. There’s power in all sorts of places in this world. If we take my plan, we can visit a number of them. You’ll feel the flow of energy differently in each of those places.”
