His Reluctant Luna

Olivia

I was heading for the trees before I realized what was happening.

'No, turn back,' I thought to myself, and then realized I wasn't in charge. The wolf was in charge.

My wolf was showing herself. I could feel her stretching out as I ran. Trees sped by me in a blur, and I sucked in a lung-full of fresh air. I felt powerful.

The rational human part of me still panicked and tried to get through to the wolf. I ran for miles, trying to check out my territory.

I looked down at my feet, and they were still human, with a small spattering of white wolf fur. I had claws on my hands, but they still looked mostly human. It struck me that I was partially shifted into the hybrid wolf woman. And it felt great. I couldn't wait to turn fully.

'Olivia,' Zaiden's voice boomed in my head. My mate was close on my heels, and suddenly, I was overwhelmed by an intense desire. He was supposed to claim me. Why was he late?

Without further delay, my face started to change, and a snout started to grow. It was the oddest sensation as my jaw elongated into that of the wolf. I was so excited and the changes kept happening. The ground was suddenly nearer, and I realized I was running on my hands....no...they were not hands anymore. They had changed into paws. I was a wolf now. I had shifted and it felt wonderful. Walking around as the wolf fit like a second skin. It was like finding a part of myself I'd never really gotten to know before.

My ears were so much more effective, I could hear much better. The nose had also improved my sense of smell. I scampered around and crawled up a small hill to look at the valley below.

I smelled something tasty and heard a faint fast heartbeat. My stomach growled. I felt the wolf's instincts for hunting in my mind.

'Olivia, you are beautiful!' I finally saw my mate Zaiden. His grey wolf stared at me from a distance.

'Mate,' I thought. He instantly heard me.

'We can talk?' I suddenly realized we were talking telepathically.

'Yeah, you can talk to the entire pack actually, but we'll test that later.'

He stalked nearer to me. 'I have never seen a white wolf before. You look lovely.'

I was pleased and held up my paws. He butted my head with his.

'Run with me,' he said.

I couldn't agree more. As we trained physically, I started to blend with the wolf. Soon we were thinking in tandem, opening ourselves to each other completely. It was so much more comfortable that way. I continued to test my strength and was very pleased. My claws were sharp, my legs were powerful, and my reactions were quick. I wasn't going to be afraid anymore.

*******************

Alice

"Come on, Max, is this the best you have?" I said, exasperated into the laptop screen. Remote working had its perks. But it was also frustrating at times like this when my assistant screwed up the design I had been working on.

I was looking at the model of a resort hotel which I had designed for the black stone pack. In all this madness, Lucian barely had the time to work out the details of the hotel which we had decided to build on that land. Hence, I decided to take the initiative and do it myself. He would be thrilled.

"Max, that's not where I want the swimming pool. And we would never get approval for towers that high. I need this to be done before Lucian's birthday!"

Max scratched his head for a few seconds.

"On its madam. Give me some time...."

"How much?"

"About 2 weeks," he replied.

"Alright, Max, you have two weeks," I replied.

It had been three weeks since our conversation and the design was still not ready,

I was literally at my wit's end. This is precisely how Lucian found me, pacing restlessly on the balcony.

"Hey, you look tensed." He commented as he caught my waist.

"Max is driving me crazy, I might have to drop in the office sometime this week. I

have been ignoring work for a long time."

His grasp froze.

"You know that's not possible, Alice, those rogues are still at large."

"But we haven't had any incident in more than a month. You people have flushed

out most of the rogues. I think I can at least visit the office for a few hours."

He seemed to fight within, with himself.

"Is it important?"

"Yes please." I pleaded.

"Alright, but just this once." He sighed.

I threw my arms around him. "Thank you, thank you......"

He laughed and held me tighter, almost picking me off the floor.

"Do I get to drive myself?" I asked, but I already knew the answer.

"No," he said, patting my bottom, "I will accompany you, I have to attend a meeting in the city anyway."

"So you would be following me around everywhere?" I hated when he did that.

"You will have the guards. Everywhere." He grinned.

"I don't like this, but it's no use fighting over it. You won't agree anyway," I muttered, taking out my cellphone from my pockets and calling Max. He didn't pick up, so I texted him, scheduling our meeting for next the day.

****************

Lucian had just repeated his speech for the third time.

"Be Always alert. If something seems wrong, it probably is. Call me or the guards anytime you feel threatened. I will be furious if something happened to you," he said.

I nodded mutely, I was irritated would have been an understatement. He studied me for a minute.

"I assume you are trying to think of more commands?" I asked sarcastically.

"Please take care of yourself, love," he sighed, handing my bag to me.

"Don't worry," I said to him, leaning sideways to kiss him on his lips. "I'll be careful."

I saw guards standing all around the door waiting for me. Four large men would wait all day outside, and there were several wolves employed in the office. What could go wrong?

"Send Max in?" I called my secretary as I walked into my cabin.

"He is not yet in, madam," my secretary replied.

"Really? How irresponsible! We have a meeting in 15 minutes. Send him in as soon as he enters."

I was boiling in anger by the time a young man entered my cabin.

"Max, do you want to get fired......who are you?" I stopped when I saw the stranger. He was a human.

"Max will not be coming, Madam Luna," he said.

I narrowed my eyes, "what did you call me?"

Nobody called me that at the workplace, the wolves who worked for us treated usnoveldrama

as just another human, not Alpha or Luna to maintain discretion.

"Max has been taken by them, and if you want to see him alive. Come with me." He said calmly.

I studied the stranger. He was tall and burly like a bouncer.

"How did you manage to enter my office?" I asked, folding my hand and resting my chin on it.

"I work here," he said with a sly grin.

"Really? I need to speak to human resources. What's going on here?" I was trying

to stall him.

"Look I know everything about you people and I also know that you can talk mentally, but before you do that just look at your phone." He warned.

My phone pinged, and I checked my message which was sent by this stranger, of course. It was a video of a dark room, someone was tied and slumped in a chair right in the middle of a room. It was Max.

'Olivia's vision !' That was the first thought which struck me. I looked up at the

stranger.

"What do you want?"

"Come," He commanded, pushing me toward the emergency exit at the back of my cabin.

'Babe, I am being kidnapped,' I screamed in Lucian's mind.

I could sense his panic.

'Stay with me, babe, tell me where you are.' He replied.

I kept my mind open to Lucian and went willingly, just long enough for the kidnapper to relax. With a quick move, I turned and looped my hand around his neck. I could have snapped it within minutes. I restrained him and called out for

help.

He struggled, but I had him in an iron grip.

The emergency door was yanked open n and the figure converged on us. He moved with lightning speed and backhanded me across my fatally saw stars for a moment. Before I could regain my balance, a large clawed hand grabbed me around the neck and flung me against the nearest wall. The wall cracked and I growled in anger, almost shifting. Something bound my hands and feet.

Silver!

My head hurt and before I knew it I was in the lift headed for the terrace. To my

surprise, there was a chopper. It had been waiting with the motor running. I was deposited in the back. My senses were so jumbled from the series of hits I wasn't sure which direction we started to fly.