Chapter 8
The Beginning
Best View On The Mountain
Anna Davis watched her mate, Conor Evans, grip the truck’s wheel as they drove down the twisted roads of the Ozark Mountains. Excitement rushed through her the closer they got to the dens. They hadn’t been able to hunt since her culling, and her wolf anxiously yearned to run free. She rubbed her arms as a tremor raised gooseflesh on her skin. Her other self could barely contain the quickening joy coursing through her veins. She’d been caged for too long.
Conor patted her hand. He glanced at her with a flirty smile, and asked, “You okay?”
“I’m perfect,” Anna replied. Since he’d turned Anna into a werewolf, she’d never felt more alive.
Conor chuckled, and the low sexy growl in his voice made her lower parts tighten with need. “Yes, you are.”
He made her giddy like a teenage girl mooning over her first love, and in every way, Conor truly was her first love. She stared at him, admiring the way the sturdy muscles in his arms bunched and flexed as he navigated the rural road. His black hair, just past his ears, framed out his gray-green eyes, the color of rubbed sage. Between his Roman nose and chiseled jawline, he wore his masculinity like a tailored suit. He flicked another glance her way, and his sensual lips quirked at the corners.
Anna might be a woman in her forties, but age didn’t stop her heart or libido from reacting like a kid at a theme park, and hubba, hubba, Conor Evans was the wildest ride. It amazed her every day how much her life had changed since the cull.
She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering how sickly thin she’d gotten from chemotherapy—her hair thin and dull. She’d had a radical hysterectomy, but the cancer had rapidly spread. Initially, she’d said “No,” to Conor and to the cull. The matter should have ended there, but her handsome mate was a stubborn, stubborn man. And she thanked God daily for making Conor such a tenacious SOB.
As if Conor knew she was thinking of him, he reached over and stroked her cheek. Anna sighed happily and leaned into his touch. Becoming his mate had freed her.
Conor had insisted on meeting her grown son Sam. Her man-child had been elated to see his mother healthy again, but he hadn’t been crazy over her “younger” lover. They couldn’t tell Sam about lycanosapiens or the culling yet. Not without permission from the tribal elders. So, for Sam—even though Conor was actually forty years Anna’s senior—his mama was a cougar.
She smiled. He’d have plenty of years to get used to his mom having a love life. And wasn’t that better than the alternative of living without a mother at all? Thanks to Conor she was alive, and she’d be able to watch Sam become a man, find his own love, and hopefully have his own child one day. Conor had given her this gift. She didn’t know how long it would take for Sam to get used to her mate, but thanks to Conor, she had the time to find out.
Lately, Conor had been antsy. She knew her son hadn’t been the only one not thrilled about them being together. Conor’s father had stopped just short of protesting their mating. After all, Conor deserved a mate who would give him a child, but her cancer, while it hadn’t taken her life, had taken her fertility.
But she didn’t want to think of what she couldn’t have. Not now. When Conor had suggested this weekend away, she’d jumped at the idea. He’d promised her some very naughty things, and remembering his words sent a delicious thrill of expectation through her.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Conor said. He reached over and squeezed her thigh.
“It’s not the 1940s anymore, sweetheart,” she said, mock indignant. “It’ll cost you a dollar if you want to know.”
His chuckle was low and sexy. Her desire rose instantly. His effect on her was powerful and palpable.
He raised an eyebrow. “We’re about five miles from the compound, but keep that up, and we’ll make a detour.”
Anna smiled. “A quickie, huh?”
“When have you known me to be quick?”
A drenching heat pooled between her thighs. “Okay,” she said, her voice suddenly husky. “You have a point.”
“Yeah, I have a point.” He cast a quick glance at his lap. His bulging erection stretched the front of his tight jeans.
Anna contemplated popping the buttons open and giving him a blow job, but a car caught up to them on the two-lane road and stayed close on their ass.
“Damn,” Conor said as if he could read her mind. He grabbed her hand and placed it on his groin, rubbing her palm against the swell. “It would have been fun.”
“Less than ten minutes,” she countered, but didn’t move her hand. She loved the way he got hard every time he looked at her. Since becoming a lycanosapien, she’d gained most of her weight back, much to Conor’s pleasure. She squeezed his solid length through the thick material, so rigid and large. “Can you give this thing a little more gas?”
Conor bit back a moan. “Fuck, yes.”
Within minutes, he turned the truck down an unmarked gravel road. The compound was set back in the woods, well out of sight from anyone who might be curious. He parked next to one of the concrete dens and turned off the engine.
“We’re here.”
Anna unbuckled her seatbelt and maneuvered until she straddled his hips. She ground herself against him as she met his hypnotizing gaze. “I can’t get enough of you, Conor Evans. I don’t think I ever will.”
