The Alpha's Curse (Wolf Shifter Pregnancy Romance) (2 page)

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and early the next morning, a big truck arrived hauling her sweet, sweet compost. She hurried out to meet the driver with a big smile on her face. When he got out of the truck and greeted her, she recognized his voice from the phone the day before.

“Avery Miller?” he said.

“That’s me. Looks like you’ve got my compost. I’m so excited. The stuff is like black gold to me.”

“That’s what they all say,” he said.

Avery giggled at that and told him where to empty the dump truck near her fields. When he was done dumping the compost, he drove back to the front of the house to settle up the bill.

“I’m surprised anybody moved out here to the Randolph farm. It’s been vacant for a long time. The family that used to own this place was strange. Didn’t mingle much with local town folk.”

“What happened to the Randolph family?”

“They just up and left one day. There’s been rumors that this place is haunted ever since.”

“Haunted? What makes people say that?”

“Strange things happen around here. Mostly, I think it’s just rumor. Nothing to take seriously. That wasn’t what I needed to warn you about. There have been sightings of a wolf wandering around these parts lately. Something raided my chicken coop a while back. I know it was that wolf. Next time I see that bugger, I’m going to fill its backside with birdshot.”

“You can’t do that. Wolves are endangered in Oregon.”

“I’m not going to have some predator messing around my ranch. My horses are more valuable than any wolf, I’ll tell you that much.”

“Please don’t.”

“I can tell you’re a city girl. Maybe you don’t understand how dangerous these animals really are.”

Avery was getting a little bit tired of these old men underestimating her and thinking she didn’t know anything. She was tempted to tell him off. She had actually seen the wolf the day before in the forest and would never imagine hurting it. In fact, she wanted to get to know it better, strange as that sounded to her own mind.

“Color me warned,” she said sarcastically.

He just squinted at her and gave her a strange look. Avery had to stifle a giggle at his expression. He had no idea what she was talking about. The look on his face was too humorous. She handed him a check with a smile, and he said his farewells.

“You better get yourself a shotgun,” the rancher said, climbing into his dump truck.

“Sure thing,” she said, winking her eye as she made a little gunshot motion with her hand.

He just shook his head and closed the door before turning around and driving away.

Avery wondered if she would have to have these uncomfortable interactions with old white men for the rest of her life. She had to admit to herself, the prospect was a little depressing. But Avery had been proving herself to people who disagreed with her for a long time. Her own family treated her the same way, why not some strangers in a strange town?

As long as she kept herself centered and continued to believe in herself, she knew that everything would turn out just fine. She was living her dream. What could possibly be better than that? She had been working toward it for years and had finally achieved it. Even when you get what you want, there are always some things that come along with it that you don’t. She learned that lesson a long time ago.

Now, with the compost delivered, she could spread it out on her fields and plant her red clover seed. She went out to the tractor that was parked beside the field and began to drag the compost into the soil. When the rich compost was all incorporated into the dark earth of her fields, she opened the thirty-pound bag of red clover seed and began to spread it liberally over the ground.

All five acres would be covered in her red clover cover crop. The roots grow down into the soil and filled it with nitrogen. When she was ready, she would till under portions of clover to add to the earth’s fertility. These were the kinds of methods that were implemented by farmers for many hundreds of years and rarely used anymore in industrial agriculture. Every time she used these old methods, she felt connected to all the farmers who had come before her.

On a quarter of an acre, not planted with clover, she would plant lettuce, kale, and spinach. These would be quick, easy crops that she could grow and bring to market before the rest of the land was prepared.

After she had put down the compost and the clover seed, it was too late in the day to build the raised beds she needed to plant her lettuce seed. It had been a long day, and she was starving. As the sun set over the green hillside, she made her way back into the house and took off her rubber boots.

The little chicks in their cardboard box under the light in the corner of her kitchen counter chirped happily. She looked at them, smiling to herself. Her heart swelled with affection and a strange sense of longing. Her experiences over the last several days had been interesting, to say the least.

First, she had a dream of a strange man who she knew was the love of her life. Then, she saw a lone gray wolf on the hillside that gave her the same feeling.

If Avery hadn’t had a lifetime of emotional and psychological stability, she would think she was cracking up. It was best to just ignore the weird feelings and get on with the work she’d come out here to do. Maybe in a year or two, she’d find a boyfriend to come live with her and help her on the farm. For now, she was a one-woman show, and she was fine with that.

Unfortunately, her emotions were all over the place lately. The feeling of love and longing in her chest was making her a little bit lonely. What was the good of feeling in love if you didn’t have anybody to be in love with?

After Avery had her dinner and made sure the chicks had fresh water, she got into bed and went to sleep. She should have slept heavily, considering her fatigue. Instead, her sleep was full of dreams. Strange, strange dreams.

The man with the out of focus face was back. She could make out the outline of his body, naked and muscular in the moonlight. His strong masculine features were kissed by the moon’s glow when he came to her. His blue eyes shone as his face came into focus. In the dream, Avery felt an overwhelming sense of need. She wanted him. She wanted him to take her and kiss her and make love to her in the rich open soil of her field. She wanted their lovemaking to fertilize the earth and bring life to the land once again.

There was a shadow. A barrier that kept them apart when he came to touch her. He couldn’t close the distance between them. He reached out to her, and she reached out to him, but they could not meet. Darkness fell over the man with the glowing blue eyes, and the shadow enveloped him, hiding him away from her sight. Avery screamed in the night and woke herself up.

She sat up in bed, sweaty. Her heart pounded furiously inside her chest. She put her hand to her breast, trying to calm down. She shook her head, confused. These dreams were getting to her. Maybe it was the loneliness or fatigue or the newness of having all this responsibility, but she knew there was something definitely wrong with her.

In the morning, she resolved to call her mentor and teacher back on the farm where she had been an intern for the last year. Her mentor, Valerie Sloan, was the wisest woman that Avery knew. Not only had she single-handedly built her own organic farm where she taught students every year, but she had been instrumental in changing state laws that made it easier for young people to become organic farmers.

If anybody would understand what Avery was going through, it was Valerie Sloan.

A
very picked
up the rotary phone and dialed Valerie’s number. She hadn’t talked to her for a few weeks and felt it was a good time for a talk. Shouldering the responsibility of a farm was new to Avery, and she needed the older woman’s advice.

The phone rang several times and an intern picked up. “Hello?” said the young woman.

“Hi. Is Valerie around? This is Avery Miller.”

“Yeah. Hold on. She’s outside.”

She heard the sound of the door opening and closing before Valerie’s voice greeted her on the other end of the line. Valerie was breathless and sounded happy.

“Hi,” she said.

“Valerie, how are things on the farm?”

“Fantastic. We just started bringing our early starts into the fields. The weather has been perfect here. How are you? Are you on your land yet?”

“I am. I moved in a few days ago. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh. What’s up?”

“Generally, things are going great. I got the fields plowed and fertilized and seeded.”

“You did that in just a few days?”

“Yes. I also had to clean the whole house on the first day so I could live here.”

“You must be exhausted,” Valerie said thoughtfully.

“I am exhausted and that’s what I wanted to talk to about. I’ve been having strange dreams, and I seem to be unnaturally attached to a wild wolf that lives in the forest behind my farm.”

“There’s a wolf behind your farm?”

“Yes. I’ve seen it. A local rancher told me that it’s been a problem for him. He also said some really strange things about the property.”

“What kind of strange things?”

“He said it was haunted.”

“All old farms are haunted,” Valerie said, laughing. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“I’m not really. But strange things are happening to me. The dreams. The wolf.”

“So you’re having feelings for a wild animal?”

“I don’t know. But I don’t want the rancher to shoot it. Wolves are endangered in Oregon.”

“Just be careful out there. And take it easy on yourself.”

“I will.”

“I think you’re just a little stressed and need a day off. Stop thinking about your to-do list for a day and just do nothing. That’s my honest advice.”

“Thanks, Valerie.”

Avery put the phone back on the receiver and turned toward the kitchen window over the sink. She gazed out into the lush green hillsides beyond her fertile fields. She longed to go back out into the woods and explore. The little creek that came down along the outer perimeter of her land flowed from the hills and she wanted to explore along its border.

She also wanted to see the wolf again, as much as she didn’t want to admit it to herself. She not only felt protective of it, she felt responsible for it.

The rancher from down the road said it had raided a chicken coop. Maybe he was hungry. Avery took the chuck steak she’d just bought at the grocery store and put it into a plastic bag. Feeding the wolf would keep him from needing to kill domesticated livestock.

She put the plastic bag in her backpack and slipped into her waterproof hiking boots and raincoat, with her backpack slung over her shoulders. Outside, the sky had cleared into a pale blue, casting soft yellow light over the rich soil of her fields. She took a deep breath of damp air, watching the daffodils sway gently in the breeze.

Valerie was right. She just needed a day off. Avery took off down the stairs and quickly strode toward the forest along the creek. Water burbled over smooth rocks. Tall grasses bent toward the water. A crow cawed overhead and a wren peeped in the bush. Avery took in the sights and sounds around her, reminding herself to be in the present moment. Everything shone more brightly from a centered place. That’s what her yoga teacher always said.

It was true. Avery was feeling much better already. Whatever the dream or her connection to the wolf meant, she had to go with it. It had something to teach her about herself. She’d always tried to live her life that way. It helped her grow as a person and to succeed when everyone believed she would fail.

When she approached the edge of the forest, where the sword ferns grew large and imposing below the hillside, she sidestepped around the giant fronds. Avoiding blackberry brambles and twisted willow branches, she found an elk and deer trail that would make the going much easier.

The creek fell away, deeper into the ravine. She came to the crest in the hill where the thick canopy and thick tree trunks make the underbrush thin out. Decaying leaves and needles littered the ground between bunches of ivy. Avery had a good view all around her in the forest.

This was a good vantage point for the whole forest. She could see down the hill and into the creek bed below. This would be a good place to leave the meat for the wolf. After sliding the backpack off her shoulders, she opened it up and pulled out the plastic bag. Finding a mossy spot, she deposited the meat and stepped away.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of gray fur ducking between the bushes in the underbrush. Her heart jumped and she took a few steps back. As much as she felt a sense of protectiveness towards the wolf, it was still a wild animal. The warnings of the horse rancher and Valerie played over in her mind. She backed away toward the deer trail and quickly turned around and trotted down the hill.

W
hen Avery reached the barn
, she turned and looked behind her. The underbrush shifted and she met the bright blue eyes of the gray wolf. He stood motionless, his mouth parted slightly, staring at her and tasting the air.

That same strange feeling she’d had before, that she was somehow connected to this wolf, swirled inside her gut. It disturbed her. As much as she wanted to keep the wolf safe, she couldn’t understand exactly why she felt so attached to him. It wasn’t like it was a dog. A pet she’d known for years and loved like family. This was a wild animal who seemed to stalk her whenever she entered the forest.

She broke eye contact and hurried inside. Maybe it would be a good idea to have a shot gun. She didn’t want to hurt the wolf, but now it had been on her land. It could very easily hurt her. She closed the kitchen door and went to look at her little chicks. It seemed like they’d grown in just a couple days. They’d be full grown in a few months and would be ready to lay eggs.

Forgetting about the wolf for now, she spent the rest of the day arranging her belongings in her house so that she felt more at home. Avery put a few paintings on the wall that had been done by a few of her artist friends in college. It really warmed the place up.

She still didn’t have a TV, and the Internet wouldn’t be installed for another week. Without media to entertain her, she sat down in the living room with a cup of tea and a book she’d been reading about inter-planting and intensive gardening. It was a subject she found fascinating. Really a forgotten art. The native Americans used to plant corn, beans, and squash together in one mound. The three sisters. Each plant benefited the other. She wondered how she might further incorporate inter-planting into her own crop rotation.

Spending the day hanging around the house and reading really hit the spot. For dinner, Avery made a beef and vegetable stew. With a full stomach, she put the bowl in the sink and looked out the window at the moon. It was full and casting a bright blue glow over the land. It stirred something inside her. Back in college, and sometimes on the farm, she and some other girls would celebrate the full moon.

The first full moon on her farm, with the magic of spring all around, she wanted to go out into the moonlight and let it bathe her skin. Slipping out of her clothes, she put on a robe and her rubber boots before trotting outside into the cool night air.

Part of her knew it was a little crazy. If someone like the horse rancher or her lawyer brother saw her doing this, they’d think she was a flaky hippy. But it meant a lot to her to connect to life in the way that felt best to her. Avery went down to the creek and dropped out of her robe. The light of the moon in the clear sky illuminated the darkness with its cool glow. The water sparked in the light when it splashed over the exposed rocks in its path.

Avery stepped into the creek, naked as the day she was born. Her small, firm breasts pricked in the cool spring air. She raised her arms skyward then bent to splash the water into the air. Drops slashed on her breasts and trickled down her strong, round tummy. The cool bite of the water made her shiver and laugh.

Offering her blessing to the moon filled her heart with gladness, and she smiled into the heavens. That sharp sense of awe that always followed these rituals overtook her whole body. Unlike the times before, Avery felt herself moved more deeply into the moonlight, more deeply into her sense of awe. The fabric of reality seemed to twist and thin until she could see the other side, into the world of her dreams.

Movement traced in the corner of her eye. Lights and shapes moving in broken fast motion. The wolf was there. She turned to him, knowing she should be scared. The wolf shook and shifted. He grew taller in the blur of darkness and light in front of her. Sleek skin and taut muscles formed, and the face of a man greeted her. Those eyes. Those blue eyes.

The face in her dreams. He offered her his hand from above on the bank of the creek. Avery slipped her fingers into his hand, stepping out of the water. They were both naked. Her skin felt warm even in the cool night air. She looked up into his eyes. They met hers with such intensity, such longing, that Avery was lost in their depths.

“It’s you,” she said. She knew he was both the man from her dreams and the wolf who haunted the hillside.

“It’s you,” he repeated, wrapping his strong arm around her waist.

He pulled her close against his stiffness. Avery gasped. She didn’t know this man. But it didn’t matter. Somehow she did know him. How? She didn’t know. But it all made sense in the blue moonlight. He lifted her off her feet and carried her toward fields where he laid her on a bed of freshly lain straw. It was warm and soft below her. The man lowered himself over her, sniffing the skin of her neck. He grazed her earlobe with his tongue and licked along her jawline.

His hard cock pressed against her clit as his lips met hers. With a hungry breath, his tongue pushed inside her mouth. She met him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Her body was alive with desire. The full moon above washed over her naked skin and illuminated her lover.

He looked at her with his glowing eyes and kissed down her neck, smelling her skin all the way. Sucking her nipples into his mouth, one after the other, he pressed himself harder against her clit, teasing a groan from her mouth. She was slick with need and aching. His lips slid over her tummy and sank between her legs.

Avery ran her fingers through his hair, lost in the moment.

Was it a dream?

Was it reality?

She didn’t know and didn’t care. The man licked up her slit, slowly tasting her cream. She shuddered and moaned, wanting more, deeper, harder, more.

He pressed between her folds and caught her clit, teasing it with a maddeningly slow swirl of his hot tongue. His fingers gripped her hips, and he lapped up her pleasure. Twisting and twirling on her swollen bud. He held her tight, taking over her senses before the deep flood of desire came so close to the edge she could taste it.

He licked down her pussy and pressed his tongue into her core, darting in and out in a quick rhythm. Avery gasped and looked down at him. The man raised his aim and sucked her clit into his mouth, making her come with an explosion of fireworks in her core and in her brain.

He rose over her, licking her breasts and neck. His hard cock rubbed over her slick entrance. She caressed his skin, the brightness and shadows cast over his hard muscles making her need for him surge inside. She wanted to feel him deep in her core. She wanted him all over and everywhere. He ran his hand down her side and cupped her breast, kissing her hard.

The head of his cock pressed her soft folds, sliding into her warm embrace. She moaned into his kiss and he lifted her thigh to press deeper. In a thrust of passion, he was inside, deep inside. Throbbing with need, he made her come again. He gave her a quivering kiss and drew back before driving forward again.

“I’ve waited so long for you, mate,” he whispered.

“This is so good,” she groaned between kisses.

“You will save me,” he said, thrusting his thick cock into her again.

“You’re saving me,” she said.

“I will breed you tonight on this fertile ground. And all will be well.”

She groaned at his words. It was so pagan. So erotic. She scratched her fingers up his back, and he dove into her again and again. He bit into her neck as he released inside her. Avery’s breath caught as she came with him, throbbing from head to toe.

He pulled away and his seed spread over the ground. They held each other in the moonlight, and it felt so right. There was something so close and so connected between them.

Primal.

Pagan.

Otherworldly.

She knew she’d love him for eternity. She didn’t need to know his name. She knew his soul. He was everything. Everything she wanted. Everything she’d waited for. The other half. The twin flame. The soul mate.

His warm hand slid over her naked skin, cupping her breast and caressing her stomach. He kissed her, and she laid in his arms, feeling so protected. Avery had never felt such a sense of belonging in her life. She’d never felt so loved.

It had to be a dream.

That’s all there was to it. This didn’t happen in reality. Was she asleep, realizing it was a dream?

She didn’t know. She didn’t care. Dream or not, she didn’t want it to end. She wanted to lie here with her mate forever. He was everything to her.

The meaning.

The answer.

The energy.

The power.

With him, life was whole in a completely new way.

Her eyes fluttered closed, shutting out the moonlight on his skin. His warm arms held her close as she drifted into the blackness of sleep. So sweet. So right. She never imagined it could be so good. Images of their life. Their children. Their future flitted through her mind before it went blank.