Little Red Riding Witch

019: Promise Me

[Rosalynd]

He is stunning. I was not prepared to see the perfect curve of his bare ass, the rippling muscles of his legs, and his incredibly shaped, delightfully proportioned…shielding my eyes I turn away, hoping he doesn’t notice how embarrassed I am.

“Um…Axel, I…” my voice is shaking. “I know I said I was ready for more of a relationship but this…”

Something warm and slick rubs against the inside of my left wrist and I jump, not sure what I just felt. I feel warmth on my back as another body begins to pant loudly behind me. I turn around slowly. Standing before me is an unusually large, chestnut-colored wolf.

I scream.

The wolf moves closer. I back away. Stumbling over a root, I fall onto my back, all the air knocked out of me as I stare up at the swaying canopy of the trees, unable to move, waiting for my death. As the wolf approaches I close my eyes. Maybe, if I play dead, he’ll leave.

The sound of his padded feat on the loamy soil is barely perceivable as he moves gracefully forward. He begins to sniff me, an oddly erotic feeling, as I feel his breath first on my legs, then on my crotch, my navel, and finally my neck. Something warm washes over my face from my chin to my eyelids and I fight not to scream again.

Opening my eyes, I find myself staring directly into two, large, honey-colored orbs framed in deep auburn fur. There is something familiar about those eyes, something almost human.

I c**k my head to the right, and he mirrors my movement, blinking.

“Axel?”

He howls before licking me again.

I sit up, staring at him in wonder as he transforms back into a man.

I thought my secret was big, but his secret...his secret is enormous.

Stunned, I blink at him, trying hard to keep my eyes on his face.

Reaching out a careful hand, he touches my face. "Rosalynd, say something."

I bite my lip. Where do I even start?

"Please," his thumb caresses away a tear. "Say something, say anything." His soft voice is so vulnerable, so afraid of rejection that my heart breaks a little as I reach out to touch his chest.

"You" I reply as my fingers travel along the contours of his upper body.

"Yes," his voice shakes.

"You are..." I gulp, my heart racing. "You are...beautiful."

He sweeps me into his arms, placing his head on the curve of my neck, he murmurs into my hair. "Thank you. For not being afraid of me." And I can feel his body grow slack, losing all the tension he must have been holding onto as he waited for my response.

"So," my mouth dry, I lick my lips as I ask, "Does this mean you are some kind of werewolf?"

He nods. "An alpha werewolf to be precise."

"What does that mean?" my curiosity piqued not that I'm not quivering in fear. "Alpha?"

"It means I am the leader of the others in my group or pack. My family has led the Eel River Pack for generations. We protect the forest, keeping it safe."

"Are all alpha wolves as beautiful as you are?"

"Beautiful?" his eyebrows shoot up. "Don't you mean handsome, manly, irresistibly charming?"

Bubbling up from the depths of my heart, my laughter breaks the tension and he begins to laugh with me, holding me closer, so tight it almost hurts, as if afraid the other will leave now that all of the secrets have been revealed. for a few minutes until our hearts calm and our breath returns to normal.

"I mean it," I whisper into his hair as we hold on to one another. "You really are beautiful. Thank you for showing me your secret."

"Does he scare you?" his voice is shaking. I hold him tighter, hoping that he can feel all the ways that my feelings have not changed about him.

"He?" I question him, confused. "Isn't the wolf just another part of you?"

"Yes, and no," he answers vaguely. "Conner, my wolf, has a mind of his own. For example," he nibbles gently on my neck, grazing me with his teeth. I shiver again, but not in fear. "Conner wants to mark you here and now and make you ours."

"What does that even mean?" I try to move away but he begins to growl, holding me still.

"Please don't push away," he rumbles, his voice not quite his own. "Conner has ideas, but I'm the one in control, although, if you keep smelling like prey, I might not be able to keep him from doing what he wants."

"And what does he want," I try to keep the fear out of my voice.

"To eat you up, Little Red," he warns. "To show you exactly what it means to be loved by a wolf. Wolves," he sucks on my neck and I feel my blood rising to the surface as my core tightens at his touch. "Wolves mate for life. And with you," he licks his way down my collarbone, making me whimper with a desire so strong it is painful, "he wants everything. Even if you aren't ready. Even if I'm not quite ready for it either."

"And if I try to get away again... if I try to run...?"

"Don't." His voice is flat as he struggles to get away, his hand moving down my waist, pinning me in place.

"But if I did..." I ask again. "What would happen if I were to stand up now, climb out of here, and run away?"

His eyes begin to glow as another voice takes over. His teeth grow sharp, his canines lengthening. "If you run I will chase you. I will hunt you down until I find you, pin you down, and f**k you until you scream my name," his eyes glow brighter, overwhelming my vision. "and when I am done filling you with my seed, planting a pup inside of you, I will bite down on your neck until it draws blood, making it clear to any other who dare claim you that you are mine. MINE!" he howls. My heart begins to pound again, my fear and passion blending. I feel myself grow wet even as I feel the need to flee.

"So don't," he begs again. "Don't run away unless you want me to take you right now. And then, then you would be linked to me forever and I," his voice is strained as he fights to regain control. "I would never forgive myself if I took you by force, made you frightened of me while I claimed you as mine. If you want me, if you want me in that way someday. I want..." he pauses. "I want you to choose me, all of me, and not be forced to be linked to me. I want us to come together happily, with both of us knowing what we are getting ourselves into."

"But I think," his eyes search my face. "That we would both like to get to know each other a bit better before we...make any kind of big decisions."

I nod, blinking back tears I didn't know I had shed.

"If you let me, I would like to court you."

"Court?" I laugh.

"Yes," his grin grows goofy. "Good ol' fashioned dating. We get to know one another slowly. I show you my world, and you let me into yours. No big commitments, yet, just two people who like each other getting to like each other better. I want to show you what it is really like to be with me, to be loved by me."

"Okay, " I smile in agreement.

As if admitting how he feels breaks some kind of spell, he is finally able to get up and move away from me. Walking back to his clothes, he disappears again beneath his layers until he is once again just a man, a kind, sweet caring man, and no longer a creature of legend.

"Promise me," he holds out a hand to help me stand. When I take it without hesitating, without flinching, he smiles warmly, making my heart clench at his rugged beauty. Regardless of how he might see himself, he is a beautiful man.

"Promise that if you ever decide you are ready, that you would like to fully commit, that you will come to me, let me know that what I am sensing is not just in my head."

He waits. When I don't respond he adds. "Alexa and I came together because we felt a pull, but she never really wanted me, never really wanted my mark or our bond, and when she rejected me and our son, it broke everyone's heart." His eyes look down at our clasped hands, his fingers running over my knuckles as he soothes himself. "If I commit to someone again, I want it to be forever, and I want it to be something we both want. So please, promise me that if that moment ever comes, you will tell me."

"But what if I become ready and you are not? What if you reject me?"

He steps forward and captures my chin. Bringing my lips close to his, he whispers into my mouth, "I will never reject you."

And this time he kisses me.