Her Hidden Beast

KYLIAN

Damp earth.

Fallen leaves.

Small game...rabbit.

Leave it... Don’t get distracted from your quarry, I thought to myself.

More smells. A harmless fox.

The scurry of a chipmunk into a hole.

Ah! There. Got it!

The scent of the stag I’d been hunting for weeks.

I was running in full wolf form through the forests on our vast estate.

Since we took care of the human problem a hundred years ago, the woods have returned to us.

The forests reclaimed the world and were once again safe to hunt in. We were no longer senselessly trapped, maimed, or shot. Killed to be skinned or hung as a trophy on a human’s wall.

Our way of life was again the way it was meant to be.

The scent grew stronger, so I pushed myself to run faster. This one was clever. If he could meet up with a herd, his scent would blend and confuse me, and I would lose him again.

This was the closest I’d ever gotten to him. I slowed my pace to quiet my footfalls as I approached a clearing.

There. Just on the other side.

He was bigger than I thought he would be. His enormous antlers were twisted like a majestic crown above his head. His ears pricked upright, turning to pick up the sound of any danger.

Tricky, tricky.

I crouched low and stayed silent, watching, waiting for my prey to make a mistake.

Just one moment is all I need.

The birds continued their songs above me, not giving away my position, but a squirrel chirped his alarm high up on a branch. His long bushy tail twitched with his chant.

The stag let his guard down, dropping his head into the tall grass to nibble on the green newborn shoots growing close to the earth.

I had my advantage. This was my chance.

I launched myself from the forest’s edge and closed in on the animal before he could lift his head to run.

Game over.

The stag reared back, giving me full advantage for a quick kill.

I leapt the final few yards toward the stag, mouth wide open, teeth extended, reaching, catching a neck firmly in my jaws.

My canines sank into the soft flesh, and I felt the warm liquid from a severed running down my throat as my jaw locked into place.

Lying in the grass with my treasure, I kept the crushing pressure on until the final beats of the stag’s heart. In the distance, the smell of my beta gave him away.

I shifted back to human form and stood naked over my kill, admiring the magnificent animal before me.

Running my fingers through the soft fur, I whispered my gratitude to the beast for the nourishment it would provide my family.

I needed to prepare the carcass to carry it back to the estate. No need to carry a knife. My nails elongated as my hand partially shifted back into a claw, and I began to tear into the stag.

“Vic, you’re just in time to help me carry back my prize,” I said with a huff, as Victor emerged from the woods.

Victor and I grew up together.

He was my second in command but more like a brother to me. With my nine sisters, he was probably the only reason I grew up with my sanity intact.

We’d been together through every milestone, shared every accomplishment, and supported each other through failures and successes.

We’d also been known to cause a little trouble around the estate.

“I’m almost sad to see you brought down that stag. He gave you such a challenge!” Victor said as he closed the distance between us.

He knelt down to inspect the wounds on the animal’s neck. “A clean kill, and you didn’t shred any of the good meat.”

I nodded my agreement while wiping the sweat from my brow with my clean hand. “Yeah, let’s just get him back to be cut up for our dinner tonight.”

We left the entrails for the forest scavengers, and I threw the stag over my shoulder.

We took turns carrying the heavy load back. The morning was still new, and we weren’t too deep in the woods so we planned to be back well before lunch and the afternoon gathering of omega messengers.

The messengers carried information from all over the territory, reporting on everyone’s goings-on.

What the humans were up to, activities of mischievous witches, how many humans the vampires sucked dry last night—we knew everything.

Most of our walk back was in comfortable silence. When we reached the forest’s edge, we found the pants we had stripped out of before shifting and slipped them on.

While most wolves were not bothered by nudity, we tried to maintain some modesty when walking around the estate.

The grounds were alive with our human workers—slaves, in actuality, although we didn’t like to use that word—tending to the vineyard and livestock. The kitchen was busy preparing for the evening festivities.

No doubt my mother had planned yet another dinner to host yet another affluent guest.

“Alpha Kylian, Beta Victor…what have you brought me?” asked Marie, her head bowed low, looking at the ground. She was one of the human slaves who worked as a cook in our kitchens.

Victor rolled his eyes and dropped the stag with a thud onto the table before her. “A stag, Marie. Go ask the butcher to prepare it for tonight’s feast.”

Marie shuddered at the harshness of Victor’s tone.

“Thank you, Marie,” I added to soften the request, earning a look from my beta. “Don’t start,” I muttered.

Although she was a slave, Marie had been with us since I was a child. She would sneak me an extra treat when my parents weren’t looking and always did what was asked of her.

“She wasn’t being disrespectful, Victor. You don’t need to keep the humans in a state of fear at all times, you know,” I said, disappointed at his behavior. “I’m going to go clean up.”

I headed toward the living quarters, and Victor caught up with me with long strides.

“Sorry, Kylian. I forget you have a soft spot for a few of them,” he stated as he popped a grape into his mouth.

I glanced at him and saw he was carrying a giant bowl of grapes.

“Want one?” he asked, offering the bowl.

I grabbed a few grapes, shaking my head at his excess, and padded off to my room, leaving Victor holding his snack.

“I’ll catch up with you at the messenger gathering. I’m taking a nap,” I warned in case he intended to follow me back to my room.

I wasn’t really going to sleep. I just needed some alone time, especially after such an exciting hunt.

I entered my living quarters and locked the door behind me. The main room was large and open, with a large stone fireplace and seating area made of leather and furs from the game we caught.

Nothing went to waste.

The separate bedroom, although large and bright, was only lit by the filtered light from the glass doors of the balcony. It overlooks the vineyard which my family had owned and operated for centuries.

Château Marceau. A vast estate running over acres of fields with hundreds of acres of forests.

No, we didn’t just take it from the humans.

We didn’t have to. It was already ours. We built it from nothing back in the 1400s.

I walked through the bedroom and into the bathroom, turning on the shower to heat the water before getting in.

As I waited, I turned to look at my reflection in the mirror. There was dirt and blood caked to the side of my face and down my neck and chest.

No wonder Marie couldn’t look at me.

I looked like violence...and murder.

I peeled off my sweatpants and stepped into the hot cascade. The water ran red, then brown as the grime washed from my body.

The heat felt good on my aching muscles. The stag was heavy.

I washed the earth and death from my body and out of my long dark brown hair and stood another moment under the water.

My dick twitched to remind me of its neglect. It’d been too long since it had the affections of a woman.

I stroked myself slowly at first, my fingers gliding over the swollen shaft and down to the base. My eyes closed in hopes of imagining what my mate might look like. I hadn’t found her yet.

Strong.

Beautiful.

Mine.

A wolf to match my own. Capable of bringing me to my knees with just a smile. Just a whisper. Just a kiss.

I wanted to smell her. Lose myself in her scent. Take her apart beneath me, only to put her back together and do it all over again.

Feel the soft curves of her body.

Touch every inch of her with my mouth.

I imagined what her mouth might feel like on my cock, instead of me standing here stroking it with my fist. How it would feel if her lips were wrapped around my engorgement.

My strokes reached a desperate pace as I felt my balls tighten and my cock pulsate. My head dropped back as my body fell into the sweet embrace of my orgasm... my seed shooting onto the shower wall.

I put my hands up against the wall and rested my forehead between them, letting the hot water run down my back as I panted out the remaining shivers of my self-given pleasure.

Fuck, I need my woman.