Mated To The Alpha Of The North
Chapter 47

Willow

I could not help but notice that our return trip to the lodge had taken longer than the initial journey into town, and I had a sneaking suspicion that my slower pace was the cause of the increased length.

We had not talked much on the walk home. My mind was too fried at the moment to focus enough to keep up a line of conversation, and I was too busy trying to figure out what this subtle pull in my chest was that I continued to feel rising stronger as we advanced towards our final destination. It was like there was a siren, luring me ever closer, and I could not resist the intoxicating feeling.

However, all at once, the tugging sensation seemed to increase in intensity, nearly suffocating me with the impulse to rush forward to something heretofore unknown.

Jax’s personal fragrance had stayed with me throughout the day, but the potency of it had naturally faded with the passing of time. Yet somehow, I caught a whiff of an undiluted dose of aromatic coffee and fresh cut grass, the smell filling my nostrils and driving my wolf insane with need for our mate.

I was just barely able to prevent my wolf from breaking free and rushing forward. She had grown much stronger, and I was struggling to control her sudden bids for dominance, not having much practice doing so in the recent past. Something I would definitely be changing in the near future.

I looked up from my musing as Ronnie scoffed under her breath, “Really, Jax? You could not wait ten more minutes until we got there?”

I was confused at first, but my eyes swiftly darted around the trees surrounding us, clearing up any misperceptions when I noticed Jax’s large, gray wolf loping towards us from the distance. He was weaving around the low-hanging branches and moving at a rapid clip.

Without stopping, he bounded right up to me and gave me a wet, sloppy k**s spanning the whole left side of my face before he backed off slightly to allow me room to breathe.

I wiped the saliva off my face using the hem of his green shirt that I had borrowed earlier, letting a small laugh escape. I would have been angry, but I probably would have done the same thing had I been in his place.

My wolf was itching to come out and join our mate, but I shoved her to the back of my mind for now, locking the door tight. She did not like being confined and unable to express herself, but I did not like her communicating her desires without any input from me.

As I turned my attention back towards Ronnie, I could not help but observe that I also felt relief at Jax’s presence, the minor aches that had accumulated over the course of the day had seemed to fade in his proximity, and I noticed that the pull that I had felt had also disappeared with his arrival, taking my weariness with it as it went.

Ronnie was shaking her head at Jax’s antics, but I took note of the small smile that had graced her face, and as her eyes connected with mine, she started speaking, “You seem to be in capable hands now, so I will leave you two be and see you later! Have fun, Willow.” She finished with a wink, and then she was gone in a flash, spinning in place and retreating the opposite way we had been traveling without another word.

Well, I guess I had no excuse now not to join Jax, not that I was really looking for one anyway, but I had appreciated making my wolf squirm for the extended amount of time. She grumbled in the back of my head, but she at least seemed semi-repentant now, finally understanding that she had crossed a line.

Jax’s wolf let out a loud yip to attract my attention then, causing me to glance in his direction where I saw him playfully wagging his tail, just like a common dog.

It was kind of perplexing, seeing a massive wolf behaving like a tame house pet, though I had a feeling the performance only extended as far as I was concerned. I giggled a bit at the comparison that popped into my mind, but I also felt the true significance of the moment, as well.

Before I could think too much about it, I began shedding my layers of clothes until I was completely bare before my mate. I had closed my eyes while I had undressed, but I took a deep breath and opened them fully, taking in the hungry look that consumed the enormous wolf’s eyes.

However, I did not allow his heated expression to deter my next deed, centering my thoughts before I closed my eyes once more and allowed my wolf to break free of my human skin.

She instantly seized control, more than ready to stretch her legs again, and then the accompanying pain of transformation began, my skin stretching as my bones reshaped themselves and fur shielded the entire surface of my body.

The agony that I had experienced when I had shifted previously with Jax was still present, but it was a more manageable ache that lasted a shorter period of time as my shift progressed at a closer to average speed this time around.

When I opened my eyes again, I was on four legs, and I could immediately discern the difference in my wolf’s and my senses. Jax’s powerful aroma permeated the air so that I could almost taste the pungent roasted coffee on the tip of my tongue with each inhale.

My wolf exploded forward in a mass of teeth and claws, attempting to tackle Jax’s huge wolf, but was, predictably, overpowered rather quickly due to her much smaller stature, despite him obviously taking it easy on us.

She did not seem to mind though, swiftly shaking off her defeat before shooting off in a new direction, but I could guess where she was heading. It was not long before I could hear the sound of Jax’s wolf thundering through the forest behind us, gaining ground faster than anticipated.

The trees were languidly beginning to thin, just giving way to the slight opening that led to our spot, and my wolf put on an abrupt burst of speed, determined to reach her goal before Jax could catch up with us.

We had just broken through the last line of Willow trees that ringed our small meadow when Jax’s wolf overtook us, but I perceived how he prevented me from crashing into the ground roughly, taking the brunt of the impact himself.

We wrestled as wolves for a while, though not nearly long enough in my wolf’s eyes. After we had worn ourselves out, we collapsed near the same fallen tree that we had eaten at before. My wolf was content, more than happy to spend the rest of the day dozing away with Jax.

Nevertheless, I was cognizant enough to remember that we did not have the luxury of spending all day frolicking around and slumbering with our mate in wolf form, as tempting as the image proved to be.

As I was about to nudge Jax, he beat me to the punch, rolling over and butting his head up against my shoulder. When he saw that he had my attention, he nodded his head in the direction of what I believed was his lodge, but I would not have guaranteed it if pressed.

It was extremely inconvenient to continuously not be able to communicate while we were wolves, something that I was seriously considering changing in the near future, but for now, I gathered enough of his meaning to comprehend what he was wanting me to do.

My wolf proceeded to stretch out her legs before sprinting across the brief gap in the trees and hurriedly dodging any obstructions that blocked our path as we raced back to the lodge, though she was not really trying for outstripping our mate this time.

He easily caught up, matching my stride and gradually steering me in the direction he wanted me to go in. I had a feeling that despite his limited experience in this particular province, he probably still had more than my miniscule amount.

We had been running leisurely for several minutes, so I was surprised when he unexpectedly surged forward, nipping my flank and urging me faster. Again, this is where the mind link would come in handy, but for now, something was obviously wrong and the only way to find out just how wrong was to wait until we could shift back into human form.

Sensing the urgency of the matter, I called on my reserve strength, pushing my wolf to move even faster than her already quick pace.