The Wolves of Norcia: Lavender (Book 1)

Las Vegas, Nevada, Fall 2018

She smelled of chocolate, delicious, mouth-watering, decadent chocolate. Gabriel Anderson laughed to himself and wondered if his Wolf should be allergic to her. Yet there he was nudging his nose behind her ear, burrowing his face in her thick chocolate hair, gorging himself in her scent.

The rhythm of the heavy drums was still beating in their chests as the strains of the rock music festival they had just left remained with them. Their breaths were in sync; bodies plastered together, skin skimming against each other as they prolonged the intimate dance.

“Gabriel, please,” she pleaded, her brown eyes staring widely back at him.

He understood exactly what she wanted. Since the start of the evening, they had gone on their natural instincts, as if they had known each other for years.

He sped up his thrusts and went in as deep as he could go, filling her moist heat; eliciting a long moan followed by enthusiastic gasps from her, much like the staccato of beats from the rock music they were immersed in a while ago.

Gabriel’s heartbeat was taking the same hard bass as he pumped into her warmth. His own moans were louder, expressing his pleasure at every moment of their time together, however short it was.

She’s my mate, he thought. Her eyes were the color of molten dark chocolate that just melted his resolve and from the distance of the open-field event, the thousands of people milling in the crowd, he was drawn to one scent and one scent alone – chocolate. His favorite scent.

More than that, he swore she tasted of it too – dark and minty chocolate on her soft lips, sweet fruity chocolate on that notch between her neck and her ear, milk chocolate just under the slope of her breasts, and rich dark chocolate between her thighs. He was drunk on her and yet he wanted more.

Briefly, he wondered if his cock could taste what flavor of chocolate, she was deep in her core, as he plunged long and hard into her heat. It would have been quite the reward after teasing her to open for him. She had been extremely tight, but he had been patient, pushing back his urgent Wolf, and laved at her tender lips to get them to relax for him. Her welcome had been downright exhilarating. It was like coming home.

His heart pounded even more forcefully as he anticipated the age-old determinant when a Wolf finally made love to his mate: for the very first time his cock would extend like that of a baculum, placing him closer to her womb until he released his essence and ensuring the species lived on.

Some have been told of other ways their Wolves would acknowledge their mate, like a change in the colors of their eyes and for the Shifters, the emergence of their coat on some parts of their body. At the very least, his Wolf would surface, and he would feel its urge to claim and mark her.

It did not make an appearance when they first came together but Gabriel was hopeful that this, their third time, his Wolf would come out to claim her.

Underneath him, she strained and arched her back; her breath came in short gasps. She was close. Her channel was closing in on him tighter than it had already been spasms running up and down his own hardness. He was coming in close behind her.

“Gabriel,” she said in between breaths.

“Come for me, Baby,” he said. “I’ve got you.” Damned if he didn’t regret confirming her name before they got naked, but they’d torn off each other’s clothes even before they were completely alone.

Electricity ran through his entire body as soon as they shook hands and introduced each other but for the life of him, all he could remember saying was “Chocolate,” to which she had given a bewildered laugh. That too, had the sense of chocolate somehow, like the river of fondue.

Never mind, he thought, I’ll have to talk to her once we’ve caught our breath.

He will probably get slapped for it, but he was confident he could make it up to her. He would be willing to do anything for her; after all, she was his mate. But for now, she will be Coco in his mind.

Gabriel felt her tighten and quiver around him as she came once again. He kept his thrusts shallow, trying to keep a hold on his release, waiting on the strain that would extend his cock more. Her short nails carved half-moons into his ass as she pulled him tighter against her. Gabriel’s control snapped and he too arched his back as he pumped load after load of hot fluid into her depths.

Despite his satisfaction, his sigh was that of disappointment. No extension. He did not even feel his Wolf surface. Aside from knowing his ability to scent her unique chocolate scent came from his Wolf, Gabriel didn’t feel his other half at all. Damn, he was so sure this time.

“You okay?” his partner’s voice sounded raspy, breathy, and downright seductive. It was a shame. He would have loved to hear that greeting him as he got up every morning.

“Yeah, I’m good, you?” he said, kissing her between her breasts and on the shoulder, in an effort to avoid her eyes, as he rolled onto his back.

He hated that she had to hear his disappointment, but he could not hide it. He was not actively searching for his mate, at least not yet. Any bachelor at thirty-two would not be too excited to settle down, especially when he had numerous projects lined up for his place up in the mountains. Norcia House was far from finished but he fleetingly thought maybe she would welcome collaborating with him to get the place going. Now, that seemed like a far cry.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, rolling over to look at him but he kept his eyes on the elaborate crown moldings on the ceiling.

Damn it! How do I explain it to her? Sorry, my Wolf decided you’re not my mate, so my cock didn’t extend like it’s supposed to, and I guess I’ll see you around? That didn’t quite cut it, he thought.

“Sorry,” he said instead. “Just remembered I had to be somewhere.” Gabriel winced at how lame that sounded as soon as it came out.

“Oh,” she said. It was one short syllable, but it dropped like a boulder in the now quiet room.

Gabriel sat up rushed to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. His baculum would probably have ripped right through it, had it come out. He returned to his side of the bed but kept his eyes lowered and his back to her.

The bed moved behind him and some rustling sounded but he did not make a move to look at her. He was still ashamed of how he handled the situation when they just had a great time together.

“Thanks. I had a nice time,” she whispered as she walked out and shut the hotel room door behind her; the sound hitting him hard on the chest.

Nice? It was one for the books, he said to himself bitterly. He almost got up to follow her, but he kept his head down, part in shame, part in pain.

Fuck! It was amazing! Everything was perfect from the moment their eyes met across the open tent at that rock concert until the time he had her in his arms, naked and breathing the same breath. It was so perfect that he thought she was his mate, but his damned cock did not cooperate.

Gabriel thought back to the many times he had asked his parents about the mating, and the baculum was always the determining factor in claiming one’s mate, whether it was a paired-Wolf or a human-Wolf mating.

He had heard stories of Wolves who had never found their mates but had effectively shed their coats and favored their human sides, allowing them to live and have children with human partners. Apparently, it was agony for one’s Wolf, but it has been done.

Losing his Wolf would undoubtedly mean he would lose his spot as the Alpha but somehow that didn’t pain him quite as much as hearing her leave just moments ago.

Damn it! It was perfect until I thought of the mating, he thought. To hell with it if she’s not my mate, maybe we could still make it work.

He got off his sorry ass and threw his jeans on – because he couldn’t find where any of his other clothes had gone – and rushed to the closed door but was met with an empty hallway.

Fuck! Where had she gone to so fast?

Gabriel ran to the elevators and down to the reception area where about a dozen guests of the popular Vegas hotel stared at his sweaty torso and disheveled hair. He silently thanked the moon goddess - or dea Selene as his family called her - that she hadn’t relinquished the skies to the sun just yet because he must look like a madman at that moment.

At least the lingerers in the lobby, in those wee hours before light, were either still drunk or cleaning up after the drunk. No supposed mate. He hesitantly asked the front desk staff for any sign of her but other than irritated looks, they had nothing else to give him. He ran barefoot onto the sidewalk but found no sign of her.

Gone was the scent, that strong pull of chocolate. What was once a distinct aroma in a field of people at the concert last night was drowned in the scents of the revolving guests and tourists from the popular hotel on the Strip.

His heart thudded heavily in his chest and his head, this time in absolute dread.

She was gone.