Marco had been as good as his word. He had rarely left her side. Catherine had basked in his attention. Her emotions had continued to fluctuate wildly. One minute she wanted to escape and to find her sister and the next she wanted to tell Marco everything and beg him to help her.

Through it all he continued to speak of the villa, the business, his past, and his extended family. In some ways he was an open book willing to share anything. But she felt that there was a lot he wasn’t telling her. Things that were important and that she needed to know. He would typically brush off her concerns and then divert her attention with his commanding lovemaking. Whatever fears she might have would be pushed aside the moment Marco began to seduce her—heart, mind, body, and soul.

Catherine felt him nuzzle her. She snuggled back into his body, seeking his warmth. They most often fell asleep either with him spooned around her or with Marco on his back and her being snuggled under his arm with her head on his chest. This morning they were spooned together. It never ceased to amaze her that she had become so used to sleeping with him. Not just having sex with him, but actually sleeping with him.

Catherine smiled. So far she’d been able to avoid a face-down over-his-knee spanking since the train, but had earned the occasional swat here or there. She had put his shirt on one morning and he’d told her to remove it. When she sat down instead, she found herself pulled off the couch, the shirt stripped off of her, and her bottom swatted hard several times. Marco had warned her that if she disobeyed him again, she’d earn herself a true punishment spanking. He seemed to understand that accepting his authority and leadership was new for her and not necessarily a natural fit, but insisted it would come easier for her in time.

“Marco?”

“Yes, my Catherine?”

She smiled. He rarely used her name that the possessive ‘my’ wasn’t in front of it. The thing was it no longer bothered her and in fact now seemed perfectly normal.

“If I am your Catherine, does that make you my Marco?”

He chuckled—the deep rumbling sound she always felt surround her completely.

“But of course. Who else’s Marco would I be?”

She giggled. “Why does that make me so happy to hear you say that?”

“Did you doubt it?”

“I don’t know that I doubted it, but it’s nice to hear you say it.”

“As you no longer seem to object to being my Catherine, I will tell you that I have waited a long, long time for you. I love you, my Catherine. Now and forever.”

Catherine wiggled around in his arms until she was facing him. She searched his face for any sign of deception. There was none.

“You do?”

“Do you doubt me?” he asked softly.

Catherine thought for a moment. “No. No, I don’t. But I do wonder what it is you aren’t telling me.”

“As there are things you have yet to tell me... including, I might add, that you love me too.”

“Are you sure that I do?” she teased gently.

Marco smiled. “Yes, my Catherine. I am sure you do. If you are not ready to say it or even admit it to yourself, I can be patient. But know that all of your secrets are safe with me.”

“But you don’t think that I can be trusted with yours?” she chided.

Marco thought a minute and seemed to make a decision.

“Do you still see me in your dreams?”

“No,” she said. “Ever since the first time we were together you no longer inhabit my dreams, but your buddy the big black wolf is still there. He is usually off on the horizon, but always watching.”

Marco smiled and chuckled again.

“Do you remember the first night we saw each other?”

She nodded.

“You were wearing the red cloak with the hood?”

Again she nodded.

“The very embodiment of little red riding hood.”

“So, what does that make you? The big bad wolf? Because for damn sure you aren’t my ailing grandmother.” She laughed as she said it and then realized Marco wasn’t laughing. She tilted her head and looked at him closely.

Marco kissed the tip of her nose and then each of her eyelids. “I am the one who gobbled you up, am I not?” he teased.

“Marco, don’t tease. What is it?”

“The wolf is a part of me.”

“What do you mean? Like he’s your spirit guide/animal? I didn’t think that was a part of the Italian belief system.”

“I am not pure Italian. The blood of the Romany flows through my veins as well. But no, the wolf is not my spirit guide, but he is a part of me.”

Catherine sat up and looked into his seemingly bottomless eyes.

“I don’t understand.”

Marco sat up and pulled her into his embrace, arranging it so her head was against his chest.

“For thousands of years, there have been two types of humanoid lifeforms inhabiting the earth...”

Catherine pushed off his chest, sitting up again. He allowed her to pull away but not to put any real distance between them.

“What are you saying?”

“What I’m trying to tell you is that humans such as yourself are not the only humanoids who evolved on earth.”

“Of course they are.”

“No, my Catherine. There is another line that can shift between their purely humanoid form and their animal form. In my case, the wolf.”

“That’s fantasy or science fiction... I can never tell the real difference between the two...”

Marco shook his head. “It is neither. It is simply something that my kind have hidden as best we could from your kind. There are those of your kind who have known and in much earlier times, my kind was more widely known and accepted by some.”

“Your kind? What the hell do you mean by that? You’re human. Hell, Marco, I’ve seen you naked. I’ve had my hands on every part of your body. There’s nothing not human about you. I don’t think this is funny.”

“It is not meant to be funny. And I realize it is difficult to understand, but in our human form we are outwardly indistinguishable from humans. But we have the ability to shift to an animal form. In my case, and that of my pack, wolves. The wolf you have always seen with me in your dreams and who now continues to stand vigil is me.”

“That is complete and total bullshit.”

“Catherine, I realize what I’m telling you is difficult to accept, but you mind your language.”

“You want me to believe you have the ability to change into a wolf and you’re worried about my fu... freaking language?”

Marco’s growl had cut off the word she had been about to use and caused her body to shiver in response to him as it always did.

“I will not warn you again, my Catherine. Remember how much you disliked the taste of soap. As I was trying to explain, in ancient times, the ability to shift between human and wolf gave my kind a definitive advantage. We were able to adapt to less hospitable environments. We were also gifted with enhanced genetic immunity, rapid healing ability, and longer life.”

“You want me to believe you can just blink your eyes and you change into a wolf? Or is it more that there’s a full moon and you go through some horrific, painful change where your clothes get torn asunder.”

“None of the above,” he said with a smile. Marco kissed her softly and then got out of bed. “Normally we remove our clothing as it gets in the way, but as I am already naked...”

He moved so that he was positioned between Catherine and the door.

Catherine watched him with a combination of horror and fascination as his body shifted smoothly from that of the man with whom she had experienced the most incredible sex and intense emotions of her life to the black wolf of her dreams. She tried to scream, but no sound came out.

The wolf approached her cautiously. He was larger and appeared to be more powerful than the wolves she had seen in the wild or in the zoo. In fact he was much larger.

“Marco?” she said quietly as she tentatively reached her hand out to him.

The black wolf nuzzled her hand and rubbed his head against it. His eyes never left hers and his tail wagged slowly.

Catherine brought both of her hands up and put them on either side of his head. She lowered her forehead to his and again he rubbed against her.

“It really is you,” she said in a whisper filled with wonder. “Can you understand me?”

She giggled as his tail wagged with more enthusiasm.

“Holy shit!”

The wolf growled.

“Hey! I get a pass on that. It is way outside of the norm for the man you love to change into a wolf. Can you change back that easily? Is it easy? It looked easy. But does it hurt?”

The wolf backed away and she watched again as the wolf became her lover. He smiled at her and then stood to his full height.

She shook her head. “I say again, holy shit.”

“That, my Catherine, is the last pass on your language. And am I?”

She looked at him with confusion.

“The man you love?” he whispered.

She nodded and then started to giggle. “Apparently man and wolf. Okay, that’s going to take some getting used to.”

He drew her out of bed and into his arms. “I didn’t frighten you?”

“Not frightened, but it’s kind of a lot to take in.”

“I know. It’s not an easy subject to approach with someone who has no point of reference. And there are certain ramifications that we will need to discuss.”

“Like are you housebroken?” she giggled again and then started to laugh when he did. “I’m sorry... I’m just not sure what one says in this situation.”

“To answer your questions, yes, I can understand you and we retain all of the information we learn whether as wolf or man. Once you have learned to shift, it is very easy and doesn’t hurt at all.”

“Are there female werewolves? Do you call yourself werewolves?”

“No, primitive man labeled us as such to differentiate and classify us as some kind of demon. We refer to ourselves as wolf shifters or just shifters.”

“Are there other kinds of shifters? Are all shifters male?”

“There are other kinds of shifters—bears, eagles, lions, horses, elk, just about any animal. And not all shifters are male, although for some unknown reason we are seeing fewer and fewer female shifters born.”

“So will your kind become extinct?”

“No, our two species can interbreed and in much earlier times it was far more common. Humans can be turned or changed so that they too become shifters. It is never to be done without their informed consent. Unfortunately there are starting to be some disturbing rumors about missing human females.”

“How does a woman get turned?”

“From a wolf bite or blood transfusion. Our blood or saliva can infect your blood creating a virus that overwrites the human DNA.”

“Oh, my God, did you turn me?”

“What?” he asked angrily.

“Well, God knows I’ve had enough of your saliva from kisses and when you go down on me.”

She felt his anger fade as quickly as it had risen.

He chuckled. “No, my Catherine. It has to be introduced into your bloodstream. I would never turn you without your consent and without you knowing all that it entails.”

Understanding started to dawn. “That’s why you have a mysterious side. That’s why you referred to your family and the people who live at the villa as a pack. Is there a true pack structure?”

“Yes. I am alpha of our pack.”

She giggled and pushed him onto his back, throwing her leg over him to straddle his body.

“Of course you are. You couldn’t be anything but the alpha. So can a woman be the leader of the pack?”

“No. Ours is a male-dominant society. The men are in charge and our women...”

“Get ordered around and spanked when they don’t do as they are told,” she said archly.

“Our women are loved and protected above all else,” he corrected. “But yes, my Catherine, as you have found, they answer to their mate’s authority and when they choose to be naughty, get their pretty bottoms spanked in order to correct the behavior. Do not get comfortable up there, mate. It will be a rare occasion that you find yourself in anything resembling a dominant position with me.”

“I don’t know,” she said, pinning his shoulders to the bed. “I think I’ve got you right where I want you.”

Catherine was shocked at the speed with which he moved and she found herself flat on her back with Marco towering above her.

He chuckled as she struggled and could not get away from him. “Enough, my Catherine. Yield to me and I will release you. Continue to struggle and I will keep you where you are until you do. Continue for too much longer and I will think you need your backside rewarmed to remind you who is dominant between us. You, my beloved, are mate to the alpha of the DeMedici pack. We have held our land and our territory for more than a thousand years. And you, my beautiful, spirited mate, will learn to behave.”

He watched as she balled her fist. He leaned down and kissed her.

He whispered against her lips, “Strike at me again, mate, and I assure you that the spanking you receive will be more painful than all the others.”

Catherine relaxed her fist. “Wouldn’t do me any good anyway, would it?”

“Doubtful. Do you yield?”

“Yes, Marco. I yield... for now.”

He laughed and released her, allowing her up but pulling her into his lap as he too sat up. “Now and forever, my Catherine. Now and forever.”