A Pack Forms Chapter 18
Luke
Eli broke the silence and asked him a question. She was so serious. He could feel it in her.
“Are you a wizard? Am I under a spell? Does it wear off?”
He wanted to laugh, but what he had to tell her was so important he was afraid to do so. He needed her to take him seriously.
Did she truly hope it would wear off? He ground his teeth. He had to maintain his calm.
“No, I’m not a wizard. You aren’t under a spell, so it won’t wear off. What I did was permanent. It fades with distance between us, though. It only feels so intense to you now, because of your proximity to me, and because it’s novel to you and has your concentration. You can push it to the back of your mind, and it will feel like a bright memory you enjoy and recall often. It will never cause you any pain.”
He gave her the information he learned, but he left out the part about how she shouldn’t be able to feel his emotions.
The fox and his mate had a genuine bond. Fox had met his mate, fell for her, and had tried to link with her. It had taken him multiple attempts to get it right. He had known only a little about it. He had discovered the connection between climax, eye contact, and love that linked the two parties emotionally.
When Fox had turned his mate into a fox, she could sense him the same as he could her. Eventually, they marked each other by biting one another with their fangs at the neck and sharing blood while they were joined as one.
Fox said the bonding process was violent, but the result was touch-telepathy. When he held hands with his mate, they could speak directly into each other’s minds.
Eli was quiet for a long time. He knew she was thinking. He was waiting for her, but he did not rush her. Luke hoped she accepted this as her new normal. He was desperate for her to want to be in his world.
He would settle for any reaction from her except a flight reaction. When she finally spoke, it was to ask another question. He took that for progress.
“Did you know I’d feel you, too?” She whispered the question as if she, too, was afraid to break the sense of calm.
Honesty was still his best option, so he answered her.
“No, I expected to feel you only. I was just as surprised as you were to learn that it worked both ways.”
She nodded her acceptance of that fact as she had felt his surprise and confusion. She knew he was telling the truth.
He felt the jealousy roll off of her in waves. Luke knew what her next question was going to be, and he smiled at the fact she seemed so intense in her jealousy. He knew without a doubt her feelings were mirrors of his own, and she felt the same possessiveness he did.
“Do you do this with every woman you sleep with? Have you practiced it often?”
The bite in her voice told him she would accept only the whole truth from him. He could feel that all her hackles were up. His lady didn’t share well. He smiled.
“I’m not an innocent man, Eli, and I’ve been with other women, but no one in over two years. I’ve never established a link with any other woman. Not for lack of trying, but it only works on a lifemate.” He answered her as honestly as he could and held his breath, waiting for her reaction.
“Eli, you’re the first, and only, and now my last,” he finally said when it seemed as if she wouldn’t speak with him again.
As soon as that statement was hanging in the air between them, her jealousy slipped away, replaced by white-hot, possessive territorialism. The intensity of her possessiveness struck him hard through their link. It was fierce and pure.
She decided he was hers. He could feel it in her, and it was beautiful and passionate and sexy as hell. It was so strong he wanted to be possessed by her. His direwolf wanted to submit to his alpha female.
Luke had to focus hard to maintain control of his body because his cock got the wrong idea about that sentiment from her.
He couldn’t deny he was hers. He’d been hers for a while, and he had no desire to be anywhere else or be with anybody else.
No other woman would ever do because Eli was it. She was his queen.
She turned in his arms to face him.
“How… I mean, you’re not a wizard… I don’t understand how this is even possible.”
Her olive eyes gazed straight into his soul, trying to understand.
“You, Eli, are my lifemate. I thought it was so before last night, but I had no proof. As I feel about you, I have never felt about anyone else. I told you the truth last night. You completely blindsided me. When we made love last night, I wanted to establish the link so I could be certain. It was selfish of me.”
Luke trailed off, trying to understand how things went so crazy off the rails.
“It wasn’t supposed to work this way. It was only supposed to be one-sided. I had no intention of frightening you or harming you.” She believed him. He spoke the truth, and he knew she could sense it in him.
Then she asked he had dreaded but knew had to come. “If you aren’t a wizard, what are you? I mean, how did you… what did you call it?... How did you link us?” She finally got past her hesitancy and unfamiliarity.
Luke looked at her and decided that it was now or never. She would have to have the entire story. She had to know him.
There was no going back and she would either accept him, or she would run. If Eli ran, he knew she would never return. He was all in at that point because he either won it all, or he lost it all forever.
“I need to show you something,” he whispered.
He helped her sit up with her back against the pillows by the headboard. Luke tucked the covers around her and climbed off of the bed.
He went to stand in front of the bedroom door on the opposite side of the room from her. He locked the door behind him without looking, while he stretched a bit, just in case.
It had been years since he did it slowly. Usually, the trace happened as fast as he thought it, but he felt she needed to see it to believe it.
She was looking at him expectantly, waiting. He wanted her to stay calm, and he had to make sure she stayed safe.
“What you’re about to see isn’t a magic trick, but it’s my secret. Will you swear it to me you will keep it?”
They would lock her away if she started telling people and she wouldn’t be safe. He needed her to promise him.
“I promise, no matter what I see. I’ll keep your secret,” she answered him. He could feel her conviction through the link.
“I promise I won’t harm you. You’re precious to me. You are everything. I want you to know all of me. No secrets, okay? I won’t come near you unless you ask me. I can understand you, but I can’t speak to you.”
Eli looked puzzled, but she nodded. She was ready.
He sucked in a breath and focused on a slow shift. Light rippled over his body, and he slipped into his direwolf form. When the transformation was complete, he stood still. Slow seemed the best.
Luke was far larger than an ordinary wolf. He was taller than a great Dane and heavier-bodied than a mastiff. He had extra-long canines that peaked out below his upper lip.
He was covered in chocolate brown fur. It was a shade darker, nearly black, in the ruff around his neck.
His gigantic wolf’s paws had long, sharp black claws. He still had the same green eyes, but they were ringed with gold.
His ears tilted forwards, listening intently to Eli. He could hear her heart beating faster.
All of his senses were sharper. He could taste her scent in the air, the shade in summer. She smelled good to him.
Eli drew in a sharp breath and brought her knees up to her chest, making herself tiny. Luke waited and pushed calm acceptance through the link to her.
For several long moments, she stared at him. Slowly, he turned in place so she could see all of him. When he faced her again, he sat on his haunches panting lightly with his tongue hanging out in a dog-like smile.
Luke stared back at her, tilting his head from side to side, trying to understand from her emotions what she was thinking. After a few more minutes of silence, he laid down with his head on his paws.
He feared she didn’t like him, that she would reject him out of fear. He would lose his mate. His soul cried, and his canine self whined low and mournful.
After a few minutes, she eased over to the side of the bed and sat on the edge. She whispered a broken request, “Luke… can I… will you let me… I… want to pet you.”
Her words were like music to his ears.
She wanted to touch him in his direwolf form. Luke couldn’t have been happier. He howled and then grinned at her, mouth open, tongue lolling out.
He stood up and slowly padded toward her. His tail waved high over his back like a triumphant flag. He eased his enormous head onto the bed next to her thigh. He tilted his triangle-shaped eyes up to look at her.
Eli slowly lowered her small hand to the top of his head and began stroking his fur. He huffed out his pleasure. His eyes slipped closed as she scratched behind his ears.
“You’re magnificent,” she breathed.
Luke thought he could have died happy. He stepped back from her a few paces and traced at normal speed, which was at the speed of light.
Thank you for your support! Welcome to the dream… Sincerely, -OK
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