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  “I can show you the scrolls. You might even be able to decipher the language. Is it necessary? Alexandria, look at Stefan. Isn’t he proof enough? You saw me shift from man to wolf and back to man. Look into your heart and deny the truth of what I’m telling you.” Anton stood up and paced restlessly about the room.

  “I know my assault of Stefan, my domination of him, frightened you. I apologize to both of you, but it was necessary. Fear, anger, passion—all those emotions were necessary. I had to find a way to overload both of you at the same time, create such a backlash of emotions that you wouldn’t fight the link. It was the only way I could make you understand. The only way to make you feel your true self.”

  He stopped in front of Stefan. “You wanted what happened today. Wanted me to fuck you, to take the responsibility out of your hands and turn your fantasies into reality. You’ve wanted me all these years, just as I’ve wanted you. I’ve felt your need at night, sensed the passion in your soul on those sleepless nights when you raced through the forest. I wanted to explain, but you had to come to me. Do you understand?”

  Stefan’s shoulders drooped. He sighed audibly and nodded. Anton continued his pacing. Xandi felt Stefan’s acceptance, as well as her own. This was just one more side of the man she loved. Anton turned abruptly, knelt before Stefan and Xandi. Grabbed their hands in his and held them tightly. “You are both Chanku. As am I. We are among the few of a dying race. We must find the others. We must give them their legacy before it’s too late. Please. Rest. Stay with me as my guests, as my brethren. My only family. Learn your heritage and help me save our people.”

  He bent slowly, placed a kiss on each of their hands. His amber eyes glittered with unshed tears, and his voice cracked, overcome with emotion. “Save me as well,” he said, raising his head. “Please. I need you both.”

  Chapter 7

  Xandi heard Stefan’s footsteps just outside the door. He’d been down there with Anton for over two hours now, while she’d spent the time in their room, overwhelmed by the events of the day. She still wasn’t certain how to deal with her conflicted emotions, her attraction to both Stefan and Anton, but she’d sensed Stefan’s need to spend time with the wizard, to find answers for many of the questions she knew he had. How to complete the shift from wolf to human, for one thing. How to master the ability to shift, something Anton obviously did with great ease.

  How to explain the obvious sexual desire coursing between two seemingly heterosexual men.

  Questions she’d never once dreamed of asking, not in her life before Stefan. Questions—and answers—that now deeply affected her. The door opened quietly. “It’s okay,” she said. “I’m awake.” She stepped out of the shadows near the window. Stefan crossed the room quickly and drew her into his arms.

  “I didn’t want to wake you. Damn, Xandi. I am so sorry to have dragged you into all this.”

  “I asked to come, remember? If what Anton says is true, I had to come.” She kissed his throat, the side of his muzzle. She had seen him as a man, not as a beast, from the beginning. If what Anton said were true, it explained so many things—her ready acceptance of a beast as her lover, for one thing. They truly were kindred spirits. “Did Anton answer your questions?” She didn’t add, Did he answer mine? She didn’t need to.

  “The combination of minerals our bodies need to shift has to be a regular part of our diets. We should both be capable of shifting within a few days. I ahead of you, most likely, as I’ve had the stuff before. Anton is an amazing man.”

  “You’re very forgiving.” Xandi slipped away from Stefan’s embrace. “You’ve obviously forgiven Anton for his assault on you. I’m not so certain I can forget what happened this morning.”

  “Are you able to accept what happened?” Stefan ran his hand across the smooth fall of her hair and pushed it behind her shoulder. “Will you accept me?”

  Xandi thought about it, about the throbbing intensity of her reaction to what she would always think of as Anton’s rape of Stefan. She looked at Stefan and blinked back the thick flow of tears, then her words tumbled out, one after the other. “My problem is accepting me.”

  She grabbed his shoulders, holding onto him as if he were a lifeline. Her one remaining grasp on reality changing with each beat of her heart. “Don’t you understand, Stefan? I wanted to be part of it. Oh, God, I thought he was attacking you, and I still wanted both of you inside me. I wanted to feel what you were feeling, to feel Anton fucking me hard and fast, the way he fucked you. I’m aroused now just thinking of it. I can’t get the image out of my mind. It’s like a disgusting porn flick, only I see it through eyes of love, of lust and desire, like I’ve never felt in my life! What’s happened to me, Stefan? Why would I react like this?” She burst into tears, sobbing raggedly. Stefan’s arms held her tight, his breath warm on her cheek, and she wondered if she would ever understand what had happened.

  “Anton explained it, my love. You heard him. It’s our nature. The nature of the Chanku. We are extremely sensual beasts. It explains so much! We are what we will be. You could no more keep from becoming aroused by what you saw than I could control my arousal when Anton penetrated me. I was afraid to tell you, but I’ve wanted him since I first met him, felt drawn to him, but I didn’t understand it. Hell, I’m not gay. Men don’t turn me on. But Anton did, and it scared the shit out of me. I came here knowing full well I was going to get fucked. Anton was right. I wanted him to force me, because I was too afraid of admitting what I wanted.”

  He sighed, and his breath was warm and moist against her neck. “I love you, but there’s another thing you need to know as well. Anton wants you, too. Not as his life mate, but to solidify the bond within the pack. I should be jealous as hell, but I’m not.” He laughed and rubbed his muzzle against the side of her face. “He didn’t expect you. Oliver never suspected you were Chanku. Anton was trying to figure out how to separate us until he met you and recognized your nature. I think you were a shock for him. The choice, of course, will be yours, but you have two men who want to make love to you.”

  He tilted her chin up so that she was forced to look at him. Her body trembled, but there was no fear in her. Not now. Not with Stefan holding her in his arms, telling her with his calm, understanding voice that she would finally, after years of wondering, discover her true nature. She thought of his words, of the deep conviction he shared with her, and realized she accepted the truth.

  Just as she would soon accept Anton.

  Stefan watched as Xandi dug into her rare steak with obvious relish. He’d watched her carefully over the last week, well aware of the subtle alterations taking place within his own body as the added nutrients in his diet wrought the desired changes. Obviously, the minerals worked just as well for Xandi.

  She’d eaten very little meat when they first met. Now she preferred her beef blood rare, just as Anton and Stefan did. She’d taken to long days in the woods, disappearing for hours on end. When she returned to the house, she said little, but it was obvious from the flush to her skin and the sweat soaking her jogging suit that she had run long and hard.

  Both of them had noticed increased perception, better hearing, a more sensitive sense of smell. At night, they’d come together almost frantically, their sexual encounters lasting for hours and leaving the two of them spent and exhausted. There’d been no further mention of Anton joining them, but Stefan knew it was just a matter of time.

  The wizard master had become the proverbial elephant in the parlor, though in this case, Stefan thought of him as the wolf at the bedroom door.

  Waiting. Ever patient.

  Stefan had run out of patience. He was eager to attempt the shift, felt the strength coursing through his veins, and wondered when Anton would say he was ready. Wolf first. Then human. Finally he would once again be human.

  He wondered what Xandi would think when she finally saw the real Stefan Aragat, when she would feel the need to shift as well. Wondered what it would do to the two of them. As a wolf, she w
ould become the leader of this small group. She fought it now, fought the rightful position Anton had explained she would soon hold. A position where even Anton would defer to her needs, her wants.

  Would she still want Stefan? He shifted his gaze away from Xandi and caught Anton watching him. The wizard blinked, then smiled and nodded.

  Stefan felt the stirring in his mind, the tentative thoughts as Anton linked with him.

  You grow stronger every day. I don’t believe Alexandria is ready, but I feel the strength of Chanku running through your body. Tonight. After she sleeps. We would not want to frighten her should you have any problems with the shift.

  Stefan nodded. I agree. I’ll come to you once she’s asleep.

  Xandi seemed distracted tonight. Stefan watched her from his side of the bed as she carefully slipped into her silk gown, turned out the lights and crawled in next to him. She reached for him in the darkness. He wondered if her night vision had grown as acute as his had over the past few days.

  “Yes,” she said, snuggling close against him. “I don’t need the lights at all.” Nor do I need words. I can hear your thoughts, my love. In my mind.

  I wondered. Then that means you’ve kept yours blocked from me. Why?

  Because I’m afraid. I know what you and Anton intend to do tonight. I heard him asking you to meet him after I fall asleep. How am I going to sleep knowing the danger you risk?

  If you’re there, I’m afraid you’ll distract me.

  He ran his tongue slowly along the line of her jaw, showing her exactly the kind of distraction he feared.

  You’re right. I know that. It’s something you have to do alone. Please, Stefan. Distract me more.

  He sat up next to her and slowly removed the gown she’d just slipped on. Her body shimmered golden beneath his enhanced vision, the perfect circles of her nipples and the triangle of dark hair between her legs drawing him like a magnet.

  He leaned over and licked a trail from one taut nipple to the next. Xandi sighed and arched her back. He trailed his fingers along her slightly rounded belly, parted the curls guarding her vagina and dipped one finger inside her moist center. The muscles immediately grabbed him, held his finger inside. He added another finger, slipping very slowly in and out, licking and sucking at first one nipple, then the other.

  She reached for him, but he caught her hand. “No,” he whispered. “This is for you. Only for you. Anton said I would be better prepared if I remained celibate tonight. He didn’t say that applied to you.”

  He opened his thoughts, letting Xandi feel what he felt when he touched her, taste what he tasted as his tongue made a licking, lapping journey across her breasts, along her torso, across first one thigh, then the other, before he settled himself on his knees between her upraised legs.

  Her knees were bent, and he pushed her heels almost back to her buttocks, opening her wet heat to his searching tongue. He knelt there a moment, knowing the night breeze would cool her hot, moist skin, sharing the sensation of need and desire coursing through both their bodies.

  When he knew she could wait no more, he dipped his head and ran his long, canine tongue the full length of her pussy, ending with a tight swirl around her engorged clitoris. She bucked her hips and whimpered when he sat back on his heels. Her hands fisted the cool sheets. She raised her hips, silently begging for more.

  This time he lifted her buttocks in his hands, palming her fleshy cheeks, forcing her legs wider apart until she was completely open to him, her labia red and swollen, her sex weeping with need. His own cock had become a thing apart—hard as stone, thick and erect. He felt it brush against his belly.

  Damn. He wanted nothing more than to plunge into her, to bury himself in all that heat and moist womanly flesh, but on this he would obey the wizard. Instead, he dipped his head between her legs and licked her long and hard, his tongue plunging into her slick vaginal passage, his teeth resting sharply against her clit. He inhaled her scent, the deep musky smell of woman and desire. His cock wept, and his hips thrust shamelessly, but he ignored his own need and feasted on the woman.

  Suddenly her knees pressed against the sides of his head, and she arched against him. He grabbed her buttocks in a bruising grip, kneading the flesh with strong fingers, holding her close against his mouth.

  His tongue plundered her spasming muscles, swept the inner walls of her pussy, lapping and licking through her first orgasm, bringing her almost immediately to a second, higher peak. She cried out, a long, low keening wail. Her entire body went rigid.

  He glanced up to watch her face. Her lips were parted, her eyes tightly shut, her hair plastered in strings about her face and neck. He’d never seen anything more beautiful, more arousing, than Xandi in the throes of her climax. His cock and balls ached, and it was all he could do to control his own longing to mate, to fight the almost overwhelming desire to plunge deep into those hot, wet, ripe tissues.

  He sighed, willing his raging erection to behave itself. He gentled his licking, suckling assault on her pussy, careful to caress her oversensitized clit with the lightest, softest pressure possible. She held her knees tightly against him, then slowly allowed her body to relax. Her legs fell limply away from his head. Her breath came in long, satiated sighs, the aftermath of passion and pleasure.

  Stefan felt her questing thoughts once again, experienced a sense of laughter. When he raised his head, his muzzle soaked with her fluids, she was smiling at him. “I am so thankful Anton only needed you to remain celibate tonight. Thank you, my love.”

  She reached out and touched his brow, swept his hair back over his ears. “Be careful. For me.”

  He covered her body with his and kissed her lightly on the throat, nuzzled her ear, then planted a kiss on her lips. Her tongue came out and licked the side of his mouth, and he sensed her tasting herself. Stefan kissed her once more, then rolled away from her inviting body. It was the hardest thing he’d done in a long time.

  Suddenly all that Anton promised couldn’t compare to the sweet gift of Xandi’s love. “I promise,” he said, dressing quickly. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Wait for me.” He leaned over and kissed her once more, then left their room. When he closed the door behind himself, Stefan felt Xandi’s love surrounding him, protecting him. Smiling, he went to meet the wizard.

  Xandi turned on the faucets in the large shower and stood beneath the pounding water for a long time after Stefan left. She’d learned it was one way to separate herself from the constant barrage of thoughts within the wizard’s home. She doubted either man realized the extent of her mental acuity. After just one day of Anton’s special nutrients in her diet, she’d begun hearing the others’ thoughts. Even Oliver’s mind was an open book.

  She’d learned quickly to block out things she didn’t want to hear, but it was impossible to completely prevent herself from eavesdropping on private mental conversations between the men. She’d already admitted to Stefan that she’d learned tonight he would shift, that Anton would help him. She knew Anton didn’t believe she was ready.

  Xandi hadn’t tried it yet, but there was no doubt in her mind she was ready. Her skin seemed to crawl at times. Her bones felt almost fluid, liquid, until she brought her errant body under control. Only one thing held her back. Her period was due any time, but Anton had told her to expect very little blood.

  Now that her body was becoming more and more Chanku, her reproductive organs would be changing. Instead of shedding the unneeded lining of her uterus, she would be sending out powerful pheromones, making her irresistible to the males. Though reproduction was by choice—the female Chanku must consciously act to release an egg for fertilization while in wolf form—males of the species were attracted by a female in heat much as any canine male is to one of its own breed.

  She understood that shifting for the first time would be easier during her menses because her body’s hormones and basic chemical makeup would be perfectly aligned for the change. But once she gained her lupine form, the men would come
—both of them. They would come for her. Two drop-dead, gorgeous men, unable to fight their need to mate the alpha female.

  She would have the final approval of a mate, but her own lust would be running high and hot. Did she want to risk something she knew to be inevitable? Sex with both Anton and Stefan, whether in human or animal form? Two virile, handsome men intent on giving her pleasure?

  Laughing aloud, Xandi tilted her face up to the stinging spray and let the water cascade over her throat and breasts. She must be mad. She had to be completely insane to think she’d even hesitate over such an amazing possibility.

  Chapter 8

  Stefan stood facing Anton, picturing the sight they must make—two powerfully built men of similar height, one covered completely in a coat of silver-tipped fur, the other sporting the standard male hair growth, on chest, belly, groin, legs. He should have felt uncomfortable, naked, alone with the man who had introduced him to his first homosexual experience, the two of them together in the midst of a small clearing surrounded by towering pines. He should have, but he didn’t. Instead, he was filled with anticipation. Excitement thrummed through his veins, pounded in his chest.

  He’d been erect, his cock as hard as stone since leaving Xandi’s side. When Anton directed him to disrobe, the wizard had glanced at Stefan’s cock and nodded approval. There’d been nothing sexual in his perusal, merely the acknowledgment that Stefan was ready to attempt the shift. Anton’s cock had been only partially tumescent, yet Stefan’s erection was proof his blood was running hot and high, that his entire system was primed and ready to explode.

  Moonlight cut between the trees, bathing the area in a silver glow bisected by stark shadows. Stefan put his clothes aside and followed Anton’s directions, to empty his mind of all thought, to sense the forest around him, to open his mind to Anton’s.