Emma had been hiking for about an hour when she found the cave-like tunnel.

Her first thoughts were of bats, snakes and spiders, but her curiosity got the better of her. She grabbed a large, thick, dead branch off of the wooded ground, and started smacking it against the opening of the cave, hoping her noises would drive anything currently inside of it out, while at the same time, scared to death that something would run or fly out at her from all the commotion she was making.

When nothing rushed out aiming for her head, she gingerly stepped inside, bringing the large branch with her for protection.

She was glad it was still daylight, picking her way slowly further and further inside. The cave got darker as she walked deeper, but her eyes adjusted quickly. Just as it started to get too dark for her to continue in safety without some sort of torch or flashlight, she found herself entering a large cavern, which had a crack in the top of the rock ceiling large enough to let a decent amount of daylight into the space.

She looked around, noticing a pile of what looked to be animal furs in the middle of the living room sized space, and every hair on her arms and neck suddenly stood at full attention.

She recognized this place. She knew this place somehow, deep in her bones. Her brain tried to figure out how, as her body just reacted instinctively to what it already knew.

She placed it suddenly. This was the cave with the furs she had seen in her visions. The place where she'd had flashes of herself and Elam locked in a passionate embrace. And more.

A sudden noise behind her, toward the cave's opening, made her heart jump into her throat and her pulse dance wildly in her veins.

She didn't know what, but something was headed in here to join her.

She looked for an escape route, but the way she had come seemed to be the only way in. Or out.

She turned to face the place where the cave closed in to become a tunnel, the dead branch held like a baseball player holds a bat, waiting on a pitch to cross home plate so she could swing hard at whatever was headed her way.

The beautiful auburn red of Elam's wolf form filled the tunnel.

She let the breath she hadn't realized she was holding escape in a heavy sigh, but still remained ready to defend herself.

The wolf's eyes met hers, and if she wasn't mistaken, his gaze held quite a bit of humor as he looked her over, standing there on the defense.

The wolf took a few more steps, clearing the lower ceiling of the tunnel and stepping into the taller cave space before shifting smoothly into the man she'd hoped he was.

Her eyes ran up and down his naked, now human form, appreciation warring with irritation at having been so obviously followed here.

"You shouldn't be here."

"You shouldn't have followed me."

"I didn't follow you. I scented you. You're leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for any wolf to scent. You are coming into heat. It's only a matter of days before..."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Elam sighed, and then spoke again.

"You smell fucking amazing. Like summer. And cinnamon rolls. And bacon. And sex."

He punctuated each statement with a step toward her, drawing closer, his eyes locked on hers.

She backed up a step, instinctively putting space between her and the predatory gaze he pinned her with.

His eyes were focused, determined, and dark with need.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and her suddenly wild, hammering heartbeat. That was a mistake.

The intoxicating scent of him flooded her nose, her brain, with heat. She smelled sweat. Not the stinky, gym socks kind of sweat, but the clean, masculine, outdoorsy kind of sweat. The kind that, when mixed with the smell of wood smoke, and sexy male, and desire, raced straight through a woman's defenses, settling not in her bones, but between her thighs.

She blew a breath out harshly, through her nose, trying to clear her brain of the scent of him.

She pulled her eyes from his, trying not to fall into their depths. She looked everywhere but his eyes, glancing, seeking anything else to concentrate on besides the erotic pull of his primal stare.

Also a mistake, she thought shortly.

Her eyes followed every hard plane of his body, taking in the tight curves of muscle in his biceps, grazing the chiseled lines of his wide chest, and pausing for a few heartbeats on his nipples, which for some reason, she had a sudden urge to flick with the very tip of her tongue.

Her eyes were pulled lower, over the washboard abs, and pointed ever south by the trail of dark hair that ended in a thick nest, surrounding the base of an even thicker, fully erect cock.

She stared eye to eye with the first cock pointed at her that she had ever seen in real life. She'd seen a few cocks around the village, and quite a few sets of breasts as well, since all of the shifters were very comfortable naked, but the cocks had either not been standing at attention, or the ones that had been, hadn't been this close up and aimed directly at her.

She looked it over in fascination, only pulling her eyes from it when it jerked toward her during her examination.

She met Elam's eyes again, finally, wishing like hell she wasn't slowly growing an ever brightening shade of red.

She tried to buy some time, with words.

"What do you mean that I smell like...all those things? And that I'm coming into heat?"

"This is your first cycle here, among others like you. We talked about this. Your hormones are changing, the scent of other wolves is altering your cycle. Remember?"

"Yes."

"You've been irritated. Your patience is thin, you've been restless, yes? Something constantly wearing on you?"

"You've just described everyone in the entire pack, every day, since the challenge."

He laughed at that, agreeing with her with an acknowledging smirk.

"But there is more, with you. Your sense of smell is heightened. I saw you scent me, just now. And those smells I mentioned- cinnamon, and sex. Females in heat have a similar scent, to each other, but also a very distinct scent, to themselves. I followed the scent of your arousal. It is stronger now, both because of the enclosed space of the cave, but also because of my nearness. You want me."

"I want you?" She tried to say it sarcastically, mockingly, but it came out with a needy sigh at the end.

A confirmation instead of a question. An invitation instead of a rebuff.

She watched the reaction to her words in his eyes. His pupils widened, his heated gaze somehow shone even brighter.

She noticed other signs as well. His nostrils flared, as he drew the scent of her in deeper, and his jaw clenched as if he was biting back the words he really wanted to say, measuring them instead, specifically not to spook her.

"Yes. You want me. Badly. Honestly, any wolf would do. As you get closer to your full heat, the need will get stronger. In a few days, it won't matter which wolf was near you, I'm sure you've seen animals in heat before."

Emma was offended, her quiet need flaming instead to indignation.

"I'm not an animal. I've had many 'cycles,' thank you very much, and I've never indiscriminately fucked my way through a wave of horniness. I can take care of myself, not that it's any of your business."

"You've never gone through a cycle in the company of others like you before. Your dad is human, your mother died way before you hit maturity. You have experienced human cycles, not a wolf's."

"So you're saying you guys just fuck like animals? That you're no better than dogs?"

She was trying to piss him off now, attacking as a defense.

He just laughed, taking it in stride.

"Sometimes, yes."

His deep, rumbled acknowledgement threw her. He wasn't ashamed, or even slightly embarrassed.

"Unmated females in heat cause quite a frenzy. Especially because we have so few. The drive, the scent, the need, becomes undeniable. The female is in charge, no one comes near her that she doesn't allow. But sometimes she allows..."

He broke off, searching for the words.

"Sometimes she allows plenty. Again and again. Until she takes a forever mate, of course."

The images in Emma's head as she filled in the blanks he left made the ache between her thighs even heavier.

Staring at a very sexy, very naked Elam, discussing the primal needs of his kind, factually, as if they were discussing the weather, after days of frustration and horniness that she didn't quite understand, was driving her crazy with her own confusing needs.

"Then what happens?"

"When she takes a forever mate? We are monogamous then. Her heat belongs to her mate, and no one else. It is much like in your world, dating versus marriage. Only, we don't cheat. Or divorce. It really is 'til death do us part' for us."

He was standing so close.

She found herself fighting the urge to lean in, to close the narrow gap, to rest her hands on his bare chest, lift herself onto her toes and softly kiss his mouth.

"These feeling will get worse? For me, I mean? In the next few days?"

She asked him the question, dreading the response.

"Yes."

"How do I keep from...?"

She couldn't bring herself to finish the question, but he had no such issues.

"To keep from taking plenty? Again and again?"

She closed her eyes tight at his response. The words teased something primal, deep inside her. She held her breath until she couldn't any more, and let it out in a slow exhale, using every bit of control she still had not to let the air escape in a heated moan.

"Yes."

She heard his soft laugh, and was glad her eyes were still closed tight. She was glad she couldn't see whatever expression he had on his face as he looked at her.

His answer though, made her eyes fly open in surprise.

"I will protect you, of course. We will stay here. I will guard the tunnel, and keep every other wolf at bay until your heat passes. You are to be mine, remember? You have seen the visions yourself. You recognize this place from 'seeing' it, do you not?"

He smiled at the panic in her eyes, trying to reassure her.

"It will take everything I have to resist your begging, your throwing yourself at me, your sight, your smell, but I will resist you, if that is what you want. You are meant to be mine, forever. I won't let any other male get anywhere near you.

I may need to recruit a couple of other females, to help. It will be hard to fight the males off and resist you, otherwise, but I can wait, until you come to me sure. Rational. Undriven by heat. If that is what you want."

She just stared at him, desire raging with rationality already.

She tried to absorb his words. She would want him more? Even more than she did right now? How could that be possible?

It was taking everything she had not to touch him now. It was starting to hurt her not to kiss him, and he was saying this would only get worse?

"Is that what you want?"

He asked the question, but her brain had trouble processing it.

"You know what happens when we touch." He was still talking. "That is the only reason I haven't kissed you again. I have the feeling that a decision like this is something you would rather make rationally, not driven by an animal instinct that you still don't understand. I get that. It is painful to be this close to you, to smell the aroused, heated scent you are giving off, to know you were meant for me, and not kiss you again."

"I have to decide now? All or nothing?" She finally forced the words out, the desire to know stronger than the desire for self-protection.

"I have to decide whether to take you as a mate, forever, barely knowing you, or have you stand guard over me, protecting me from a hoard of wild, sex craved wolves while I throw myself at you, and you and a couple of female wolves protect me from myself? Do I have this right?"

"Basically. There is a third option, though."

"Oh? And what, pray tell, is that?"

"You have a few days until you are mindless with need. Meaning your body won't take over completely just yet. And I can control myself, as well. We could try a little experiment. Another kiss. Here, now. And see what happens."

Her gaze dropped to his lips.

He was smirking, damn him.

Did he really think that one more taste of his kiss would... what? Answer all of her questions? Calm all of her fears? That was insane.

Even as her mind kept up a list of reasons why this was a bad idea, her body didn't seem to be listening.

Her eyes still focused on his full mouth, his annoyingly sexy little smirk, as she leaned in. She raised her lips, tilting her head, until their lips were only separated by the tiniest space. She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent again. She felt his teasing breath on her lips, and parted them in invitation, leaving the last gap for him to close.

She felt his lips press softly against hers, and all was lost.

His mouth started to move against hers, with hers. The soft pressure deepening as they explored each other.

His hands found her face, cupping it gently and holding it still as he deepened the kiss. His tongue slid between her lips, finding hers, and she moaned against it as she tasted him for the first time in weeks. No crowd, no bon fire, just the two of them, alone together.

Her moan triggered something in him. She felt his hands slide further, burying themselves in her hair, tilting her head and pulling her mouth harder against his.

She found his waist with her hands, his skin warm and firm under her palms. The bare skin reminded her that he was naked, and she slid her hands up, needing to explore every inch of the chest she had been fascinated by for weeks.

His chest was as fun to explore as she knew it would be. Her thumbs and fingertips slid over every curve and dip of his muscles, pressing against his warm skin. She slid her hands around, following his rib cage toward his wide back. She felt her way up, over his back muscles, toward his shoulders, and letting her instincts guide her, she clawed her hands so that her nails dug into his skin a bit, and she drug her nails down his back from shoulders to waist.

It was his turn to moan. The hot, animal groan rumbled in his body, thrilling her hands as she felt the vibrations, and driving all sense from her brain as the sexy sound reached her ears.

He left one hand buried in her hair, but he wrapped the other around her waist, pulling their bodies close and allowing no air between them.

She felt the hardness of his naked cock against her stomach, and erotic need flowed through her. She had no time to react to his naked body pressed against her clothed one, though, before he was walking her backward the few steps until her back hit the cave wall and his weight pressed harder against her.

She pulled her arms from around his back, wrapping them around his neck instead, using the leverage to pull his mouth harder down on hers. She rose on her tiptoes, back against the wall, trying to get even closer to him.

He adjusted his grip, bending at the knees for a moment, and standing tall again, pulling her feet off the ground.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, hugging him tighter to her, both with her thighs and her arms as their kiss became less exploratory and more primal.

Her body was rocked with need and she returned every kiss with the same hunger she felt in him. Her brain was half in this moment, and half processing the images she was 'seeing' as they held each other tight.

This time she did 'see' two options, like he had mentioned before.

One scenario showed her letting him guard her through her first heat, here in this cave, but not letting him have her. She flashed on the next few months following that decision. She felt division, and pain, his pack split in two. She saw herself leaving here a year from now, alone, but not happy.

The second scenario played out next to the first. In that one, she mated with Elam, the same hot, torrid scenes she 'saw' before, getting even more detailed. Oh fuck, the sex she saw there was mind-blowing.

She saw only raw passion, at first. But then, as the months played out in her mind, she saw love, and tenderness as well. But there, behind all that, she still saw division, and pain. She still saw his pack divided, split in two, but there was more. There was danger here, in choosing to stay. And something else. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she saw change as well.

A core change to her very soul. Fear, danger, but joy there as well.

The visions played out, finally, leaving her mind and body fully in the moment.

She reveled in the feel of Elam, warm and solid between her legs. She rocked her hips against him, her body seeking out his hard cock, rubbing against it even though she was hidden away from him under jeans and panties.

She unwrapped one arm from around his neck and found the back of his head with her palm, fisting his hair in her grip and tugging as she turned her head. She ripped his mouth from hers, aiming his mouth to her bared neck instead.

Her breath came in gasps as she felt his teeth nip her behind the ear and kiss a trail down her neck.

He held her up with one arm under her ass, and her weight held pinned against the cave wall. He used his now free hand to tug the fabric of her shirt away from her neck, pulling the neck hole wide and exposing one shoulder.

His mouth found the newly bared skin, licking and nipping at her collar bone and shoulder before his hand went seeking the hem of her shirt, and tugging it up to bare her bra.

His hand cupped her breast, his thumb finding and teasing a tight nipple through the thin fabric.

"I need you, Emma."

He moaned the words against the hot skin of her neck as his large hand teased and kneaded her breast.

"I've known since the minute I saw you that you would be mine. You know it, too. You have seen it. Feel how good we are together? I can smell your need. You want me as badly as I want you."

"Elam!"

"Oh fuck. Say it again, Em. I love my name on your lips."

"Elam, I...do want you. But, Elam, I can't think. Not like this. Not while you're doing that. Elam, I've never..."

"You've never what?"

He adjusted her in his grasp, lifting her some, and dipping his head down, seeking out her puckered nipple with his mouth. He bit gently, licking the lace covering her nipple and biting the nub, sending shocks of heat racing through her.

"Oh god, Elam. Do that again."

His rumbled laugh against her skin tickled her. He did what she asked, sucking on her nipple, drawing it deeply into his mouth before releasing it, and then biting the nub again.

"You've never done what, sweet Emma? Never had sex in a cave on furs before?"

"I've never had sex at all before, Elam. Cave or no."

"Mmm, I didn't think I could want you any more than I already did, but fuck, Em. Knowing my forever mate was mine, and only mine, in every way? That just makes me want you more, love."

"Forever mate?"

"Yes. I will not take you without claiming you, Emma. I want all of you. Forever. If I take you, and you walk away from me at the end of your year, you will kill me, claiming or no. Mate or no. This was supposed to be a test. To show you what we could have, together. I know you 'saw' something. I don't know what it was, but what this test has shown me is that I will not be able to control myself during your heat. I can barely control myself now. If you let me guard you during your heat, it will be to mate you. To bite you. To claim you with my mark, like Galen claimed Kate. If that is not what you want, I will send my best females to guard you, here. You will be safe until your heat passes. It will be miserable for you, but it will pass, eventually."

"Elam, I don't know. I want you. Damn, I want you. But..."

"I could try to persuade you. I could lay you down right here, strip you naked, and take some of the edge off, so you can think."

"How would that work?"

Emma could not imagine a scenario in which her getting naked with Elam would allow her to think about anything besides having him inside her.

"I could taste you. I could lick you until you come, that would take the edge off. Some. For a little while. Then you could think. You have a few days before your full heat to decide."

"What about you?"

"It would give me great pleasure to take the edge off your lust, my sweet. Of course, it's purely for selfish reasons. I plan on making you so addicted to me, that you can't imagine not mating with me. It seems naked would be a great way to do that."

He held her gaze, his eyes promising every pleasurable sin, if she'd only give in.

He kissed the very tip of her nose, and smiled.

"Why fight it, love? It's inevitable. You will be mine."

Before she could respond, he dipped his head toward hers again, pressing her lips open and sliding his tongue against hers.

He stopped suddenly, pulling away from their kiss and turning his head to face the cave's entrance.

"What? What is it?" Emma asked, still breathless.

"Not what, who. It's Galen. He's coming."

"Well hell, put me down then."

It was too late, Galen cleared his throat just before stepping into the cave from the tunnel. Damn, he was quiet.

Emma tried to escape Elam and stand, but he held her tight. She settled for tugging her shirt back down instead.

At least she was fully dressed, she thought. It was Elam who was buck assed naked, not that Galen seemed to even notice.

"Good. You are securing a mate? She is coming into her heat, yes?"

"Hello, I'm right here!"

Elam just said, "I'm trying. And yes. Why? What is wrong?"

"It is Thomas, Alpha."