Chapter 111: To Wolf or Not to Wolf?

Jude POV

Her eyes spun in confusion.

"No?"

"You heard me," he growled. "You promised to submit to me in all things."

"I'm also supposed to steer you right! WHY wouldn't you want me to be a wolf? Dane, Patch, and Dirge are patiently waiting for Lilia, Anneliese, and Thessi to finally take the leap. And there's no reason for me not to become one. I'm not pregnant like Lilia and Thessi."

"But don't you see? Those bullies–"

He felt her body stiffen, and she pulled away from him. "What about them?"

"If you become a wolf now, I won't get the chance to prove a point. To prove them bloody wrong, They need to see my witch mate at my side every day. They need to see that witches and shifters, and shifters and other races, can live happily together."

"My being a wolf won't change that!"

He blinked, nonplussed. "Why are you so stubborn about this? You're chasing it like a deer that's escaped and keeps outrunning you."

"If I were a wolf, I'd appreciate sayings like that. I'd KNOW them. Maybe it's just me wanting a complete change in my life. I gave everything to my parents' shop, and I'll still make sure it continues. And I gave everything to my child. Lilia is forever. I love her, and I thank the gods every day I have her. But now … with everything settled between Daxius and me, I'm ready for a complete change of life."

"Being a wolf? That's a complete change. Why do you think Lilia, Anneliese, and Thessi haven't done it yet? Lilia and Anneliese have had years."

She climbed back up on the riverbank and stood alone and dignified, cloaked by the night. "I know. I always wondered about that."

Observing the way she hugged herself, he gave her a little space to process her emotions. "That's because being a wolf is a complete transformation. It affects everything. No more having one foot in both worlds. Talon is the exception–and you see what denying his heritage has done to him. When you're a wolf, it shapes who you are, how you think, how you see the world."

"I know that. It's like magic."

"On a deeper, more primal level," he said softly. "That's why people who don't have their wolves feel incomplete. When Hades stole Cyran's and Naomi's wolf–"

"Please don't remind me, or I'll forget how much we need him," Ravyn growled. 

She seemed irritated with him for more reasons than just mentioning Cyran. She kept throwing him glances, and her smell reeked of feeling neglected. When SHE pulled away from him?

But then, he could have sidestepped the conversation and let them both carry on happily with what they were doing. He could have just agreed to making her a wolf, because people said things and made promises in the grip of passion.

The problem was, he didn't operate that way. 

He'd never had this difficulty with Emer. Or had he? Maybe he'd just forgotten all of those fights. Twenty-plus years of marriage and he forgot all the moments when they both wanted to pull their fur out. Maybe he had made empty promises when they made love, and they both forgot the next day.

Ravyn was clearly different. HE was different when it came to her.

His arms closed around Ravyn's waist, and he nuzzled her, inhaling her scent. "Being a wolf changes who you are. Not your soul or your character, but on a deep level, you're never the same. You need to be ready for it."

He felt her quiver in response. "Maybe I didn't think this through," she admitted. "After all, Lilia and Anneliese have always been more daring than I, and they still haven't made the change. They were pregnant, and it took a while to recover … I don't have that challenge."

Lips close to her delicate, pink ear, he whispered, "Are you sure?"

"Excuse me?"

"You could be carrying my pup. We locked together."

Wild laughter bubbled up. "And how would Lilia, Bram, and Mali react about getting new siblings at this stage in their lives?"

"You underestimate the children we've raised, love. I think they'd be happy for us. Bram seems to have come out of that dark hollow where he lived. He seems at peace."

"I know, but … pregnant?"

"Witches, like shifters, can stay fertile for a long time," he murmured. "When you have your monthly flow, we'll know for sure."

Ravyn became still, a witch statue.

"I didn't … I missed it," she whispered. "I should have had it by now. I put it down to all the stress, and the silver poisoning."

Kissing her temple, he held her close. "That's entirely possible."

For a long moment, she stood quietly. "I'm sure it's just the stress."

But he could feel her mind working. Once she latched onto something, she didn't let go, just as he predicted. He'd planned this. She'd make sure she wasn't carrying his pup, and then maybe she'd reconsider becoming a wolf.

Why did that scare him? Why wouldn't he want Ravyn to be a wolf? Politics be d*mned. 

Maybe he feared change, too, which was absurd. Ravyn would make a beautiful wolf. And if she truly wanted to be one, he wanted her to have what she desired most. Anything to make her smile.

"But I'll go to Azandra and the Wise Women tomorrow," she decided. "Some shifters say becoming a wolf might make pregnancy easier. If that's the case, I'm definitely going to do it."

He kissed her with all the passion he felt inside. "Deal. Now, let's seal this bargain."

* * * * *

Ravyn POV

She'd won a victory–for both of them.

Little sparks of pleasure made her skin come alive again. His lips soft and tender, he explored her soft flesh lovingly. They found the curve of her breast and traced a path of pleasure around that sensitive mound, then trailed caresses to the other breast and explored it, too. She drowned in pleasure at the tantalizing kisses he lavished on her. 

Jude smiled at the way her breath hitched in her throat with each gentle brush of his lips across her skin. He looked up, watching the way her skin tingled and flushed with desire. She could feel that it only fueled and heated his own desire further. Both their bodies felt deliciously slick with sweat. He enveloped her, totally. 

"Beautiful," he murmured. "Like the first blush of dawn. Like the pink moon. You're exquisite. I could spend days just tasting you here, with your greedy little buds begging for my kiss."

No wonder he and Emer had been so happy for over twenty years. As a lover, he was unsurpassed. 

Lying against her dewy skin, his hand slowly rubbed circles and patterns up and down her torso and her stomach, gliding over her ribcage, feeling her heart beating like a drum. 

She leaned down and kissed him, wanting his lips on hers. Passionately, aggressively, his mouth fastened on hers, devouring her. He surged forward, kissing her hungrily. His tongue slid in to caress and play with hers. Digging into her flesh, his fingers pulled her close to him. Feeling her body responding to his touch stoked his desire. His lips moved down to her jawline, making her moan with the exquisite slowness of his exploration.

"Oh, yes. I love the sounds you make," he whispered. "More, please. Let me hear every little noise. Let me hear your pleasure. I like hearing that I please you. I love the screams you make when my mouth is on that pretty little crystal cavern of yours, tasting the sacred spring that flows from it."

His hands drifted down to her crystal cavern, slipping inside her. Panting, Ravyn bucked. The pleasure was exquisite. She tensed and shivered under his touch, and his need flooded her. His eyes smoldered as he stared at her love-drugged face. 

"OH. Yes. Please, Jude," Ravyn moaned.

"Your moans are like a dwarf opera to me, but I want more. I want to hear you scream my name when you come. And I'll be inside you again, feeling all that soft, tight flesh around me. Fenrir's guts, you feel so d*mn good. So perfect. I love being the only one that sees you come apart like this. It's the rarest gift you could give me."

No one ever talked to her like this, so directly, expressing what he wanted in bed. 

He pushed her legs wide open and feasted his eyes on the vision before him. "I love this part of you," he whispered. "I want to see you spread open and vulnerable for me, and then to taste you again. To make up for interrupting–"

"No, I was the one."

"But I argued with you when I was sheathed in heaven," he said with conviction. "I could have waited. I want to taste you again. To make it up to you. If you're truly apologetic, don't deny me that."

He lowered his mouth to her, lavishing attention on her bud, flicking his tongue over her, again and again, until the thunderbolts of pleasure completely melted her bones and she lay on the riverbank, a quivering, sobbing mess.

Holding her, kissing her gently while she came down from the heights, he whispered, "I love seeing you lose yourself in pleasure."

The slightest caress of his lips aroused her all over again. Goddess, she felt insatiable. "Lose yourself in me now. I need you. I want you."

 A shudder and soft gasp went through Jude as he joined with her completely, his body pressing against hers. Clasping her close, he buried his face in the curve of her neck. "My Luna. My perfect witch. Everything about you is pure perfection. Every inch is beautiful."

"I'm yours," she moaned.

"Mine. Mine to love, mine to claim. As precious as a treasure."

His need and arousal grew even more intense, a gathering storm, sweeping both of them up. Those thunderbolts of pleasure shot through her again, her delight doubled by Jude's raw passion and ecstasy. She'd never felt anything like this.

She wanted him to feel it too. All of it, every second.

When she clutched his behind and bit him on the shoulder, he shuddered, emptying himself into her until he had no more to give, and collapsed on top of her while she rode out her own climax.

"You drive a hard bargain," she murmured in his ear. "But I accept. Tomorrow, we'll go see Azandra and Tulaska–and make sure Hades is behaving himself."

Growling, he claimed her again, and she happily surrendered.