Chapter 21
Both men were quiet for a long time. Zev allowed his words to sink in, letting Jonah absorb intellectually what Zev was certain the man’s body already knew innately—that he was not only a man, but also a wolf.
“I’m a shifter?”
Zev nodded.
“And you think this…why?”
“I know this because you shifted last night. When we were together, you shifted and you were beautiful. Damn, Blondie, your wolf is just as gorgeous as your man.”
“I shifted?”
“Yes.”
“Into a wolf?”
“Yes.”
“Last night?”
“Yes.”
“I shifted into a wolf last night?”
“Yes, Jonah. When you add up all three clauses they make a very pretty sentence, and the meaning stays the same.”
“You know what, Zev? Can the sarcasm. My boyfriend just told me that my body turned into a wolf when we had sex. And that’s coming on the tail end of said boyfriend transforming into my childhood pet, or whatever, right in front of me. So cut me some slack here if I’m a little slow in putting the damn pieces together.”
Zev wrapped his arms around Jonah and squeezed him tightly. He leaned down and kissed the beloved man’s forehead, the tip of his nose, and then his full lips. The kiss was sweet and loving, Zev’s lips grabbing on to Jonah’s bottom lip and tugging slightly every so often, his tongue darting out and licking. “’M sorry,” Zev apologized quietly once their mouths separated.
“Yeah, okay.” Jonah lay back down. “So tell me exactly what happened last night.”
Zev’s forehead creased. “You’re taking this remarkably well.”
“Oh, well, you know, it’s just like when I’m watching a movie. Once I suspend disbelief in order to go along with a world where apes can talk, then I’m also willing to believe they took over the earth in the future. Or was it that the humans destroyed themselves and then the apes came into power? Whatever, you get my point.”
“Uh-huh. I get your point. That Statue of Liberty buried in the ocean scene was epic. The remake didn’t even come close to having the same impact. Now do you wanna go back to what we were talkin’ about? ’Cause your analogies are a little too complicated for my simple brain to follow.”
Jonah reached his hand up and smacked Zev in the shoulder.
“You’re brilliant and you know it.”
Zev rubbed his shoulder dramatically.
“That’s not what you’ve been saying to me for the past couple of decades. What? All of a sudden you’re changing your tune?”
Taking Zev’s hand in his, Jonah yanked his man down so they were lying side by side again.
“Yeah, well, a hot night in bed with a guy will do that to you. Suddenly even a bumbling buffoon seems fascinating and intelligent.”
“Last night was hot, huh?” Zev smirked.
“On fire,” Jonah confirmed.
“Smokin’.”
“Explosive.” Jonah continued the game, his lips twitching.
Zev cocked an eyebrow in amusement. “Got another one, Blondie?”
“Nah, I’m all good. Go on and tell me about my miraculous transformation.”
Zev caressed Jonah’s hip and relaxed.
“There’s not much more to say. We were having sex and I felt your wolf calling me. It was like I could sense it, desperately trying to get out. And my wolf responded instinctively to his mate. So I told you to follow me, or maybe I thought it, I dunno. Anyway, I started shifting and you did too.”
“Your mate? Is that, like, wolf-speak for boyfriend?”
“Ah, Jonah,” Zev said huskily. “Don’t you get how much more you are to me than a boyfriend? How much more we are to each other?”
Jonah nodded, then whispered his response. “Sometimes it’s like I can hear you talking in my head. Or like I can feel you or something, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. That’s the mating bond. It’s always been strong with us. Stronger than I’ve ever heard of. And my guess is that because we’ve tied now, it’ll get even stronger. That’s why I was never willing to do this until you were here to stay. Being separated from you all these years was barely tolerable as it was. I didn’t think either of us would be able to survive it once we tied and connected on a deeper level. And that was before I knew you were a shifter.”
“You didn’t know?”
Zev shook his head.
“So you can’t tell when another person is like you?” Jonah asked.
“Actually, I can usually tell when someone’s a shifter. I can smell it. Everyone has a different scent, and I can usually spot a shifter’s scent before I lay eyes on him. But your scent has always been human.” Zev nuzzled into Jonah’s neck. “Delicious and addictive, but human.”
“Maybe you turned me into a shifter. Maybe when we were having sex and you bit me…” Jonah rubbed at the mark on his shoulder and remembered the feeling of Zev’s teeth sinking into him. The memory inspired a shiver through his body and a hardening in his groin.
“No.” Zev was absolutely firm in his response. “You can’t just turn someone into a shifter. That’s, like, a movie thing. We’re a different species, Jonah. Different chromosomes. A bite isn’t gonna change that. Besides, you shifted before I bit you.”
Jonah sighed.
“And you’re sure I smell completely human.”
“Uh-huh. Well, you did, anyway. Now our scents are woven together.”
“What do you mean?”
“When true mates tie together and complete the mating bond, their scents combine.” Zev shook his head. “No, I’m not explaining it the right way, because neither scent disappears. It’s more like the two scents are braided together so you can still tell they’re distinct, but you can only smell them in unison. Like they’re inextricably joined.”
“Okaaay.” Jonah drew out the word. “We’ll have to go back to that one, because I don’t fully get it. But first I need to understand how I can be what you say I am. It doesn’t make sense. Well, it makes less sense than the rest of this, anyway.”
Zev chuckled.
“Well, there’s one explanation that comes to mind. It probably raises more questions than it gives answers, considering the impossibility of interspecies breeding, but…” Zev’s voice trailed off. He looked at Jonah meaningfully.
“You think my mother was like you, don’t you? You think she was a shifter?”
“I think it’s a good possibility. You told me that, in your dreams, your mom was sometimes a wolf, right? Dreams aren’t always just dreams. Sometimes they’re a way for the truth we know innately to come up to the surface of our consciousness.”
“Wow, that’s deep, Pup. I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Keep makin’ jokes, Blondie. Go ahead. I dare ya.”
Jonah rolled over and straddled Zev’s body. He twined their fingers together and pinned both of the bigger man’s hands against the bed.
“Not so tough now, are ya, big guy? Whatcha gonna do to me, huh?”
“I’ll do anything you want, Blondie.” Zev sounded like he was speaking through gravel. “But if you keep grinding your sweet ass against my dick that way, there are some ideas that will definitely need to be addressed before others.”
The arousal wasn’t one-sided, and Jonah found himself panting. His cock was hard, and he felt that moving, clenching feeling inside his body, like he needed to be filled again. Zev pulled his arm free of Jonah’s grip and wrapped a big hand around Jonah’s cock, stroking it gently.
“I love how you feel. So soft, but hard at the same time. Your body turns me on so much. I want you.”
“Ungh. Zev.” Jonah whispered the name reverently. “I want you too, but I…” He swallowed so he could keep talking. “I wanna shift. I wanna see myself as a wolf.”
“Go ahead.”
“But I don’t know how. Tell me how to do it.”
“Explain shifting?” Zev stopped stroking Jonah’s cock and dragged his fingers through his hair. “That’s like telling someone how to swallow or breathe. Your body does it instinctively.”
“Clearly, that’s not true.” Jonah arched his eyebrows meaningfully.
“Fair enough.” Zev grinned. “Umm. Let me think.” He pressed his lips together and his forehead creased in concentration. “Okay, you just sorta relax and think of your wolf form, and then your body changes to match the picture in your mind.”
“But I’ve never seen my wolf form.”
“It shouldn’t matter. It’s like an internal picture, yeah? You feel your wolf inside and you focus on him.”
Jonah closed his eyes and concentrated. He willed his body to relax, willed himself to find that internal wolf. But it wasn’t working. He opened his eyes and looked at Zev imploringly.
“It isn’t working. Are you sure I did this last night? Because I don’t know how. I can’t feel a wolf inside.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Your wolf is there. You just need to recognize him.” Zev chewed on his bottom lip, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I’m not sure why this isn’t working; let’s try a different approach.” He placed a big, warm hand on Jonah’s chest, over his heart. “Can you feel me inside you, Blondie? Can you feel our bond?”
Jonah nodded. Now that he knew it was real, now that his analytical brain wasn’t blocking him from admitting it, that ability to feel Zev was right there. It was just like being aware of his own feelings. That was how connected he was to the other man. It should have been scary, but it wasn’t. It felt right.
“Okay. Close your eyes and concentrate on me. Concentrate on what you can feel inside me and follow that trail, ’kay? Just stay with me.”
Jonah closed his eyes and focused on his boyfriend, his mate. He felt the warmth of that hard body, felt the strength of the man he knew would be by his side forever, felt how deeply he was treasured, how vital he was to Zev. And then he felt something cold and wet on his nose.
He opened his eyes and saw Pup in front of him. The wolf was crouched down and he was nudging his nose against Jonah’s. Jonah reached his hand out to pet the beautiful animal, but instead of fingers, he saw a paw. His own paw. He had a paw.
Startled, Jonah pushed back and looked down his body. There was white fur covering a canine form. Dear God, he’d done it. He was a wolf. He’d transformed into a wolf. Shifted. Whatever.
Jonah jumped off the bed and walked into the closet. He remembered seeing a full-length mirror there earlier. It should have been shocking to see his own coal-colored eyes looking at him from the body of a white wolf, but it wasn’t. It felt right somehow, almost like it was a relief.
Pup walked in, bumped his body against Jonah’s, and mouthed the white wolf’s muzzle. Jonah tossed his head and whimpered before pressing close to his Pup, his Zev. He nibbled on the other wolf’s coat and enjoyed the low rumble he could hear in that large chest.
A big tongue swiped across Jonah’s face, and then Pup walked out of the room, turning amber eyes back to look at Jonah expectantly. Jonah was following his mate before his mind had even processed what was happening. Zev led them through the house and into the mud room, where he pushed open an unlatched ground-level window with his nose and then stepped outside. Jonah was right behind his mate when they left the house, walked off the porch, and ran into the woods.
They’d lost track of time, having spent the day in bed, talking. The sky was now black, the only light coming from the bright moon above. It felt like an adventure, running through the forest with his mate, exploring new smells, seeing nature in a way he’d never imagined—like he was part of it.
Sometimes they’d walk slowly, smelling every tree, seeing every nocturnal creature hiding in the trees or among the shrubs on the ground. But when the mood struck, they’d stop exploring and start running, chasing each other through the forest, pushing their muscles, enjoying the burn. And every so often, Pup would jump on Jonah, tackle him to the ground and roll around with him, nipping at his neck, pushing his snout against him.
The only word to describe their night together in wolf form was fun. Jonah was having the time of his life. He was finally himself, finally free, finally whole.
After spending hours in the woods enjoying their wolf forms, Zev and Jonah made it back to the cabin. They walked in through the window on four legs, but as soon as they were inside, Zev shifted into his human body. Jonah’s reaction was instantaneous as his body instinctively followed his mate’s internal directions, and he found himself back in his familiar skin.
He looked over at Zev’s nude body and groaned. All those rippling muscles, the dark hair on that broad chest, those amber eyes that always looked at him like he was a prize or something. Damn, but Jonah wanted Zev. He wanted the man in a hungry, primal, desperate way that couldn’t be denied. He thought he might actually die if Zev didn’t touch him.
Thankfully he didn’t have to find out, because his mate seemed to be just as aroused. Zev had him backed up against the counter before he could say a word. Those long fingers tangled in his blond hair, that hot mouth chewed on his shoulder, his neck, his ear, and finally covered his mouth, swallowing his whimpers. And all the while, Zev’s big, hard dick was pressed against Jonah’s erection, rubbing and thrusting.
“Can ya go again, Blondie? ’Cause I want inside real bad.”
The hand that wasn’t clutching Jonah’s hair caressed his ass, dipping into the cleft, pressing against the puckered skin. Jonah managed to spin around. He leaned over the counter and reached his hands back to clutch at his own ass, pulling his cheeks apart and exposing his entrance.
“Yeah, we can go again. I need you.”
Zev kissed and nibbled on Jonah’s neck as he ran his large hand over the small of Jonah’s back, across his ass, down his thigh, and to the back of his knee. He bent that knee and pushed it up to the counter, leaving Jonah spread.
“Oh, God, Zev,” Jonah moaned when Zev’s kisses went lower, moving into his cleft.
“Think you’re stretched enough from earlier that you can take me on spit or should we go into the bedroom where we have the slick?”
“It’s good. We don’t need to move. Damn, Zev, please lick me. Wanna feel your tongue pushing into me. Wanna…”
Jonah lost the power of speech when Zev gave him exactly what he wanted. That talented tongue lapped against his cleft, laved his entrance, and penetrated his body with darting swipes. It felt so incredible that Jonah’s entire frame shook, his legs trembled, and he moaned almost continuously.
He didn’t know how long Zev had been working his ass when he felt the man rise. Then a strong arm gripped his shoulder and that thick cock pushed into him with one smooth, steady stroke.
“Oh, you feel so good inside me, Zev. Damn.”
Jonah braced himself with his left elbow on the counter and used his right hand to clutch the edge and meet Zev’s thrusts. The sound of skin slapping against skin harmonized with their almost constant grunts and groans. Jonah could smell their passion, their arousal for each other, and it turned him on even further. He could feel his release in his gut, making every moment even more intense, bringing the pleasure up to fever pitch.
“Yes. Yes. Yes,” Jonah chanted as their bodies moved in concert, Zev’s thick cock dragging in and out of his body.
When Zev wrapped his hand around Jonah’s dick, the reaction was almost instantaneous. Jonah called out Zev’s name and shot so hard that he almost blacked out. And Zev clutched Jonah’s hips tightly and gave two more thrusts before he held his position deep inside, arched his neck, and cried out in pleasure.
The upper portion of Jonah’s body collapsed onto the counter, his cheek resting on the cool granite as his heart rate slowed, and he dragged air into his lungs. Zev’s big frame blanketed him, and he heard his mate sucking in air like it was about to be discontinued.
“Holy shit, it just keeps getting better,” Jonah finally wheezed out.
“Yeah, it does. That’s how it’s supposed to be, Blondie, how it’ll always be with us. I’m gonna make you so happy. I’ll be the best mate you can imagine.”
“You already are, Zev. You’ve made me happier than I could’ve dreamed.”