52 comments/  66281 views/  204 favorites

Haven's Wood

By: notmy_realname



 Hi there, this is my first attempt at writing, I've read a lot of stories on here and decided to try and give something back.

I have written another chapter but would appreciate knowing if it's worth me submitting it, or if I should just stop here.

Comments would be appreciated, especially constructive ones. Thanks

Enjoy 




Natasha had been driving since early that morning and her growling stomach told her it was time to look for a place to stop. She scanned the next road sign she saw for somewhere that sounded interesting. Haven's Wood or Little Snoring were her options.

"Who names a place Little Snoring!" she muttered under her breath and took the turn towards Haven's Wood.

About a mile out of town, the wood it was named for, began to surround her. The trees loomed on either side of the road, growing denser as she drove further in. It seemed so quiet and tranquil with whispers of sunlight breaking through the trees making lazy patterns on the road. Natasha felt herself relaxing as she entered the embrace of the trees. The trouble of the last few months seem much further away

Natasha decided to stop at the local pub and then enquire about a B&B. She hadn't seen one yet, but there was no way a little village like this didn't have a B&B. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Katie was bored. She hated the afternoon shift; the place was always dead. Dean, the manager, had insisted that she be working the bar today, and she just couldn't say no to him.

Katie heard the door open. A girl she'd not seen before walked in, looked around and headed over to the bar. She was dressed in jeans and a baggy t-shirt that did her figure little justice and her long brown hair was pulled back into a scruffy ponytail. Katie found herself drawn to the girl's eyes, they were a deep brown, almost black, with a flash of green.

Katie realised she'd been staring at the girl, and to hide her embarrassment began speaking

"Hi there. I'm Katie. What brings you to Haven's Wood? Been travelling for long? We don't get many tourists here. Can I get you anything? Do want a drink? Are you wearing contact lenses? cos I've never seen eyes like yours before." The questions poured out of Katie's mouth in a seemingly unending torrent.

"KATIE!" a voice interrupted good-naturedly from across the room. "If you want an answer you have to stop talking"

Katie whipped her head around to see Dean, standing by the doors to the kitchen. She cast him a glare, poked her tongue out at him, and then promptly ignored him. Turning back to the travel worn girl she said "Hi! Welcome to Haven's Wood, what can I get you?" 

"I'd love a glass of coke, or Pepsi or whatever it is you have here. I'm Natasha by the way. It's nice to meet you"

Katie quickly sorted the drink and popped it down in front of Natasha. She began her questioning again but a little slower this time, so she was actually able to get some answers. 

xxxxxxxxxxxx

James had been Alpha of the Haven pack for almost 4 centuries. The pack had grown and prospered under his care, something he was very proud of. He lived for the pack, and until recently that had in his heart. Every time one of the young wolves in his pack found their mate he found it harder to be happy for them. Why had Luna made him wait so long for his mate? Where was she?

James shook off his dark thoughts and focused on his plans for the day. He was going into the village to touch base with the pack members who choose to live away from the main compound. He looked forward to these visits as it gave him a chance to check up on his little sister, as the meetings would be in the pub where she worked.

As soon as James entered the pub his wolf stirred. Confused James cast about for any signs of danger that might have alerted his wolf. Finding nothing he shook his head and headed to the kitchen since there was no one behind the bar. Half way across the room he caught a scent, a combination of vanilla and honey, the most intoxicating smell he'd ever encountered. He felt his wolf begin to howl in the back of his mind. 

"Mine"

Dean came back into the bar and saw his alpha, frozen in place, his eyes glowing amber. In a heartbeat James turned on Dean, his growl reverberating around the room. He felt his claws begin to grow and his control slip. There was a male in the room where his mate had been!

Dean saw the aggression in his alpha's face, and felt his warning growl in his bones. He dropped to his knees with the power of it and bared his neck in submission. James's wolf, appeased by this action, withdrew, allowing James to gain some of his control back, but his wolf was not far from the surface.

"Where is she" James demanded.

Dean took a moment to figure out who his alpha was talking about. "Katie, just went over to the B&B, she'll be back in a moment my Alpha"

"No" growled James, "Where is my mate?"

Dean was taken aback, his Alpha's mate? "I don't know who you mean my Alpha"

This was not the right answer. James began to stalk slowly towards Dean his eyes full of menace, the amber glow returning to them. "My mate was here. I can smell her." The door opened "If you touched her I will rip you to pieces. Slowly" 

"I'd rather you didn't rip my mate apart, James, I rather like him the way he is." Katie quickly placed herself between her mate and her brother. "What's going on?" Katie took her brother's hand hoping the contact would calm him. She was relieved to see his eyes begin to return to their natural ice blue.

"I found my mate."

"That's wonderful James!" Katie grinned and threw her arms around her brother the worry of before momentarily forgotten. "Where is she?"

"I don't know!" James cried in frustration. "I scented her in the pub but I don't know where she is. I don't know if she's safe or if there are any males near her" His wolf was threatening to break through at this thought.

"Natasha!" Katie cried suddenly causing James to look in confusion at his little sister. "There was a human in here earlier; she's the only person that's been in the pub today. She must be your mate. I just took her over to the B&B"

James instantly headed for the door

"Wait!" Katie grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?"

"To find my mate"

"What are you planning to do, storm over there and claim her on the spot?" James's wolf liked that idea. "She's human! You have to go slowly, court her."

James knew his sister was right, he wolf wasn't so sure. James thought about what would have happened if his mate had been here when he arrived, if she'd seen him acting this way, she'd be terrified, she wouldn't want to know him. He took a deep breath to calm himself, but this cause him to breath in more of her alluring scent.

Katie punched him in the chest. "You haven't heard a word I've said have you?" His dazed look said it all. "She's coming back here for dinner; you could meet her then, invite her to join you for dinner. It would give you a chance to get to know her. But you need to calm down first, you can't growl at any male that comes near her!"

James smiled at his sister "You're right. I'll go for a run, maybe do some hunting. Do you know when she was going to be here?"

"About 6 o'clock I think" Katie looked over at Dean for confirmation, but he was still on the floor his neck bared in submission. "James would you tell Dean he can ..." But James was gone already

She sighed in exasperation "gone without even a thank you!" 

Dean wrapped his arms around his beloved mate, he span her round and kissed her firmly. "Thank you"

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

James had shifted into his wolf as soon as he was under the cover of the trees. His wolf was big, even by were standards. He was running for all he was worth through the wood, his long black fur streaming in the wind. He hoped that if he exhausted his wolf, it would be easier to control his desire around his mate. He hadn't even seen her yet and all he wanted to do was mount her and claim her, he wanted to feel his mate writhing under his touch begging for more, screaming his name as he plunged ... James stopped himself. Thinking like this was not going to help him.

The wind shifted. The scent of vanilla and honey hit him like an anvil. He froze in his tracks; she was here, in his woods. He knew he had to get away. He turned to head back the way he had come, but his predator's eyes caught movement on the trail. There she was. She was wearing a skirt that flared out past her hips. Her t-shirt clung to her showing the promise of her soft curves. He couldn't tear his eyes away. 

She was running, running away from him. Every instinct in his body urged him forward.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Natasha had decided that if she was going to have dinner at the pub she should do something to earn it. Sitting in a car all day did not count. As soon as she'd dropped her stuff in the room at the B&B Katie had shown her, she changed and headed out on a trail into the woods. The woman who ran the B&B had pointed her towards a path, and had been quite adamant that she not leave it for any reason. Most of the wood was a nature reserve.

The wood was beautiful and the air was clean and fresh. Natasha felt the tranquility return that she'd experience when she first entered the wood in her car. She felt calm. She hadn't felt like this since before her uncle became ill. That had been almost 2 years ago. She pushed those thoughts from her mind, and focused on her running. She let her mind empty as she ran through the woods.

Suddenly she found herself falling! She'd been pushed from behind. Whatever it was that had hit her was falling on top of her bearing her straight to the ground. The wind was knocked from her as she hit the floor, and she felt the weight settle on her shoulders.

She tried to stand. A terrifying growl filled the wood, vibrating through her bones. She froze. The sound vanished. Natasha got the message; whatever had knocked her over didn't want her to move. She felt it's weight shift on her back. She felt the air near her neck move and heard a snuffling sound. It was smelling her. She still didn't know what it was, all she had seen was a flash of black fur, and she was too afraid to move to get a better look. It's mouth was right by her neck and she could do nothing about it.

Something wet touched her check, and she bit back a scream of shock. It had moved it's nose into her face. She could see it now. What she saw was not reassuring. It was a wolf. Scratch that it was a HUGE wolf with lots of sharp teeth that were right by her face.

The wolf moved it's weight off of her, she felt it nudging at her side, at first she didn't know what it wanted, then it dawned on her. The wolf wanted her to turn over. Slowly and carefully she rolled on to her back. The wolf didn't growl at her so she carefully began to sit up. It was sat there, staring at her. It's eyes seemed almost human. It was the most beautiful creature she'd ever seen; clearly a predator, deadly but stunning.

All of a sudden it moved. She braced herself for the worst but it didn't seem to want to hurt her, it was looking at her leg.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

James watched his mate carefully, he felt so proud of her, he would have understood if she had been crying and screaming after what he had done, but there she sat quietly watching him, waiting. His wolf was screaming at him to take her then and there to make her theirs. James knew he couldn't give in as much as he wanted to, but he wasn't sure what he should do.

He scented blood. She was hurt! He moved towards her. She tensed a little as he did but he wasn't put off. He followed the scent and found blood on her knee. She must have scraped it when he took her down. He couldn't leave his mate like this. Before he had really thought about it he began to clean her wound, his tongue dancing over the cut, cleaning it, healing it. He was intoxicated by the taste of her skin; he kept licking even after he was done with her cut his tongue drifting up her thigh. He heard her breath quicken, her heart began to beat faster; her scent was getting stronger.

When the wolf had licked her knee Natasha had felt an unexpected warmth spreading through her from her wound. With every move of his tongue she had felt butterflies in her tummy and a tugging at her core. What was happening! She was getting wet and she didn't know why. 

She felt the wolf begin to move he was licking the inside of her leg and edging further up. She didn't know what to do, she was quickly becoming overwhelmed with arousal. What was wrong with her? She should be terrified not turned on!

As James moved up her leg he realised that she was excited by what he was doing. She was turned on by his licking. His wolf was delighted; their mate knew their touch and yearned for it. 

He continued to lick up her leg, more decisively now, clearly heading for the source of her intoxicating scent.

Natasha's eyes closed as she was awash with desire, her skin was burning with it and she could feel her panties becoming wet, with her arousal. She knew she should stop what was happening but she couldn't think clearly about what she should do.

She felt a moment of panic when she felt the wolf's breath between her thighs. The wolf grabbed her panties in his mouth and ripped them from her body in one swift movement. Before she could protest she felt his tongue on her again. She felt him gently lick from the bottom of her dripping pussy up towards her clit. She almost moaned in frustration when he stopped before reaching it. He repeated the process a little more firmly, letting his tongue slip between her folds before again stopping just short of where she wanted his attention. 

He quickly swiped his tongue over her clit and was rewarded with her hips pushing into his mouth, along with a little gasp. This pushed him over the edge and he plunged his tongue deep into her folds, devouring all the sweet juice he could find.

Natasha was awash in pleasure, she had never felt so good and she could feel an orgasm building, as his tongue thrust into her. The tension was building in her as she approached the peak of her pleasure. She needed more.

James heard her whimper softly as she pushed her hips forward again, he felt a surge of pride that his mate was so taken over by desire for him. He pulled his tongue from her folds and focused on her clit, he began to lash his tongue mercilessly over it.  

With the new sensation Natasha was pushed over the edge. She came, hard. The waves of pleasure washed over her, with more intensity than she had ever felt. As the pleasure began to subside, reality crept back into her mind. What had she done? What was going to happen now?

Her eyes snapped open. He was gone. She was alone, and very confused.

Haven's Wood Ch. 02



 Firstly I just want to say a quick thank you for all the kind comments, I never thought 10 people would even read my story never mind comment on it!

Well here's the second chapter as promised, I hope it doesn't disappoint.

I also want to assure you that I will finish this story – as an avid reader I know what it's like to find a story you enjoy only to be left hanging

NB italics denote thoughts



Natasha stumbled to her feet. She looked around nervously trying to spot if the wolf was still around. She couldn't believe what had just happened. How had she gone from being terrified of being eaten alive by a wolf, to enjoying it! What was wrong with her?

Natasha decided that it would probably be best not to hang around for the wolf to come back, so she started back down the track to the B&B.

She was in the shower when a knock came at the door; she nearly jumped out her skin at the sound. She was a little on edge after her earlier experience. After pulling on a bath robe and grabbing a towel for her dripping hair she opened the door.

"Surprise!" Katie grinned at her.

Natasha stared at Katie in growing confusion as the girl swept past her into the bedroom and plopped herself down on the end of the bed.

"I 'convinced' Dean that he wanted to let me finish my shift early so I thought I'd come over and check you were settled in ok. I thought we could go and grab dinner together. You have got to try the steak at the pub it's the best!" She swiftly added "I hope you don't mind but I invited my brother to join us as well, I think you'll really like him."

"I don't know." murmured Natasha, "I'm not sure that I feel like eating anymore." She continued a little more firmly. "It's really nice of you to come over and check on me though I really appreciate it. You go enjoy dinner with your brother I don't want to be in the way." Natasha pulled the door a little further open as if to suggest that Katie might be about to go through it.

Katie, however, made no move to go through the door. She peered intently at Natasha; something had changed about her since she'd shown her over to the B&B earlier that afternoon. "Natasha, has something happened?" Katie's heightened senses let her detect an increase in Natasha's heart rate at the question. Katie felt the bottom fall out of her stomach. The worst case scenario began to race through her head; if someone had hurt Natasha there was going to be a blood bath. James was hanging on to his wolf by a thread when she'd seen him earlier.

Natasha looked at Katie trying to decide how to respond. Katie looked so worried about her. It was a long time since anyone had cared if she was ok. Before Natasha could think about it too hard she forced herself to start talking.

"Oh it's nothing really Katie, you don't need to look so worried." 

Katie just frowned a little in response to this, but said nothing, just waiting. Natasha sighed in exasperation and pushed the door shut, realising that Katie was going nowhere. She hardly knew the girl but she could tell she was stubborn.

"It really is nothing" Natasha said as she sat herself down the plush chair in the corner of the room. "I decided to go for a run, to stretch my legs after being in the car for so long." She pulled her feet up onto the chair in front of her as she continued talking, hugging her knees to her chest. "I guess there are wolves in these woods."

Katie's eyes widened at this comment; running and wolves can be a dangerous combination.

Natasha eyes were a little unfocussed as she continued as if she was looking at something that wasn't in the room. 

"I'm sure it was my fault. Maybe I was in it's territory or something, but it knocked me over. It sort of inspected me. I must have cut my knee when I fell. I suppose it could smell the blood." 

Katie's eye flicked to Natasha's leg, but it was covered by the bath robe.

"It licked me then it vanished" She finished quickly. It wasn't a lie, but it was all of the truth she could face right now. 

"So as I said it's nothing I'm fine. I must have scared it and it scared me back. Turnabout's fair play I say" She said in a carefree tone that fooled neither of them.

"Can I check if you're knee's alright, I guess you washed it but you don't want to leave anything in there to get infected." Katie asked, ignoring the fact that there was more to this story than Natasha had told her; she obviously didn't want to talk about it.

Natasha slipped her injured leg down onto the floor. Katie crouched on the floor to inspect it. What she saw confirmed that the 'wolf' had been a Were, the cut was healing faster than it normally would have. 

"Just hold still a minute I think I see some dirt." She lent in as if she was looking closely, but she was really trying to see if any scent remained. She caught the faintest whiff of her brother still clinging to Natasha's skin. 

 "What have you done James!"  Natasha sent the thought to James with all the venom she could muster. He didn't reply, but she knew she'd been heard.

"Is something wrong" Natasha asked when she saw a look of anger cross Katie's features.

"Nope looks fine, I just thought there was something in there, but it looks good." Katie swiftly replied, pushing aside her anger at her brother. She sat back down on to the floor with her back against the bed.

"You need to eat something." Katie declared.

Natasha opened her mouth to disagree but before she could get a word out Katie continued right on speaking.

"You've had a scare and you've not eaten, it's no wonder you're feeling out of sorts. I can't leave you here alone, with all the blood loss you could faint any minute!" Katie said earnestly pointing to the almost healed scrape on Natasha's knee.

Natasha smiled at this. 

"I guess I am a little hungry"

Katie pressed her advantage.

"It's settled then. You go dry you hair. I'll find you some clean clothes, and then as soon as you're ready we'll head over to the pub. I'll find a seat in the corner out the way and I'll tell Dean to be on the lookout for wolves." Katie's eyes twinkled at the joke as she said this last bit.

Natasha decided that maybe Katie was right; after all if she stayed here alone she'd just end up playing the whole thing over in her mind again. If she did that, she might have to face the fact that she wasn't scared of the wolf but of the fact that she had enjoyed what it had done to her, and that was just plain wrong.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

James had fled to the pack's compound in the heart of the nature reserve. His wolf didn't understand why they hadn't remained behind to claim their mate, she was obviously willing. James' human side however knew that they had crossed a line, he tried to explain it to his wolf but, his wolf wouldn't listen. James had given up on explaining and had just pushed his wolf down with all his strength so he could think in peace.

On reaching the house he headed straight to his room to find some clothes, since the one's he'd left the house in that morning were in a shredded pile on the edge of the woods. 

James normally just threw on whatever clothes he grabbed first not really caring what he looked like, but now he found himself looking at the options and trying to decide what Natasha might like him in. When he realised what he was doing he growled in frustration and grabbed a beep blue shirt and a pair of jeans.

He'd just gotten dressed when his sister pushed her angry demand at his mind.

 "What have you done James!" 

He sighed and sat down on the bed heavily. He'd really made a mess of things. He had no idea how he was going to tell his mate what he really was now. It would have been hard in the first place, telling a girl he barely knew that he loved her, that they were going to be together for the rest of their lives, and oh by the way I'm a werewolf and can I make you one too. Now he also had to admit that he was the wolf that had taken advantage of her in the woods!

James shook himself to release his tension as if was still in his wolf form. He was never one to brood on a problem he preferred to face his problems head on and just deal with things. He'd find a way to make things right, he had to. He headed out to the garage to grab a car for the drive back into town.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Natasha and Katie had claimed a booth in the corner of the pub. Natasha didn't normally drink but when Katie had placed a glass of red wine down in front of her, she didn't want to be rude. That was her excuse for the first glass, the second round she bought to say thank you to Katie for looking after her. By the third round she'd stopped making excuses.

Katie was doing her best to keep her new friend distracted from her thoughts and to keep her in a good mood. The girls talked about everything and nothing, they were fast becoming good friends. 

Katie kept checking her watch, and Natasha finally asked her about it.

"What's wrong?"

"I was just wondering if James has decided not join us after all" Katie replied "I told him we'd be here at 6 and it's nearly half past now.

"He's probably just running a little late. Why don't you give him a ring and see what he wants to eat, we could always order so the food will be here when he gets here" Natasha suggested. She also wanted to get something to eat, as 2 and a half glasses on an empty stomach was beginning to make her feel a little fuzzy.

"I know he'll want to have the steak, rare. Same as me." Katie thought for a moment. "Ok. Do you mind ordering while step outside to give him a call and tell him to get a move on?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Natasha responded and headed to the bar to place their order.

Dean was behind the bar when she got there and she smiled brightly at him. Natasha had noticed that while Dean responded in a friendly manner, he seemed to be keeping his distance from her at the same time. How odd, she thought to herself.

"You girls aren't ready for another round of drinks already are you?" Dean asked jokingly.

"Not yet. We need something to soak the first rounds up with. Can we get three steaks? Two rare and one medium rare." 

"No problem. Here," Dean tossed her a packet of crisps "To keep the wolves from the door while you wait."

Natasha rolled her eyes at him. Dean and Katie had been constantly throwing in references about wolves all night. She knew they were trying to make her laugh about what had happened, and while she appreciated the thought she really didn't want to address her feelings towards wolves at the moment.

As Natasha was walking back to the booth she passed a couple of guys standing round a tall table. One of them pointed to her crisps.

"How did you get Dean to give those to you, he's so tight he wouldn't give you a light if his house was on fire."

His friend laughed at this and said.

"No, Andy, he just wouldn't give YOU a light. Not since you tried to hit on Katie at Christmas. Don't mind my friend" He said to Natasha, who was smiling at the friendly exchange. "He's just jealous that you've got closer to Katie than he ever will"

The first guy spluttered into his beer at this comment in his haste to deny it. Natasha couldn't help laughing at how red he'd gone.

Suddenly all the humour seemed to crash to the ground. The guys she'd been talking too had turned pale. Their gazes locked on the door. The noise in the room had dimmed. Natasha felt her skin begin to prickle and could almost feel a pair of eyes boring into her back.

"It was nice meeting you lass." The guys muttered "We've got to be leaving now." They backed away from her and quickly ducked towards to second exit at the back of the bar.

The tension in the room eased a little, the chatter picked up again, but Natasha could still feel the eyes on her. She decided she didn't need any more excitement today so she decided to ignore whoever it was and continue back to her booth.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

James had just pulled up at the pub, when he saw Katie come striding out.

"I thought I felt you getting close." She muttered. His sister's ability to locate him had always been an annoyance to James as they grew, and it still continued to annoy him now that they were grown.

"I am not letting you go into that pub until you hear what I have to say." Katie said. Her chin raised her arms folded defiantly across her chest.

"Don't push it Katie, you might be my sister but I'm your alpha." James ground out.

Katie's chin dropped for a moment, but she steeled herself.

"I don't want to know what happened, it's not my business. But I care about Natasha and I think you should know that's she scared right now. I don't know what of but she's not happy and that's your fault. So fix it."

James sighed. He knew she was right. He pulled her into a hug. "I know little sister, and I will." He gave Katie a reassuring squeeze before striding past her into the pub.

As soon as he walked through the door, his nostrils flared, catching the scent of vanilla and honey. He quickly zeroed in his mate. He did not like what he saw. There was a pair of males near HIS mate. They wanted her, but they couldn't have her. 

Before James even thought about it he had started to growl. It was his wolf that was growling really. A deep sound that humans couldn't hear, the males heard it though. They saw who was stood at the door and made a swift retreat. As soon as they backed away James's wolf calmed, satisfied that they knew who Natasha belonged to.

 "She's Mine."  James sent the thought to all the wolves in the pub. Those two words told them all they needed to know. They knew to keep their distance, but now they all wanted to catch a glimpse of their alpha's mate.

His announcement sparked a new burst of conversation and the tension that had built up following his entrance disappeared. James however was oblivious he was staring at his mate, willing her to turn around and see him.

James felt a hand hit the back of his head; he whipped around and saw his sister looking at him, amusedly.

"You're not going to camp out by the door all night are you?" Katie teased "Come on." she called as she brushed past him and headed towards the table.

As Katie headed back to her seat she noticed that Natasha seemed to be staring into an open packet of crisps with great determination, as if she didn't want to notice anything else in the room. Katie couldn't resist, using all her natural stealth she crept silently up behind Katie.

"I'm back." she called right into Natasha's ear.

Natasha jumped so hard that the contents of the crisp packet was sent flying all around her. Katie nearly split her sides laughing at the look on Natasha's face.

"You absolute cow!" Natasha declared, trying not to laugh, and failing miserably; Katie's joy was just too infectious. 

Katie still trying to catch her breath shooed Natasha around the curved seat so she could sit down.

"I must apologise for my sister." A deep voice said, capturing Natasha's attention. 

How she had failed to notice the mountain-like man who was stood by the table she would never know, but there sure was a lot of him to notice. He was at least six foot tall if he was an inch, broad shoulders, and the hint of definition under her shirt that spoke of a man who had muscles because he was active, not because he worked at them. 

Natasha's gaze found it's way to his face, and was instantly captivated by the clearest blue eyes she'd ever seen. She knew without question that these were the eyes that she felt on her before.

"This is James, the brother I told you about." Katie said now that she'd got over the giggles.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." James said as he offered his hand to Natasha.

Natasha reached out to shake his hand. The moment their hands touched she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand-up. She was so surprised by this that it took her a moment to realise that he wasn't shaking her hand, but was instead leaning over it kiss it. When his lips brushed the back of her hand it felt like shivers of lightning were running down her arm.

James was pleased to hear the soft intake of breath when his kissed her hand so was willing to let go of her hand when she pulled it away, although he would have liked to keep hold of it all night given the choice. He slipped into the booth opposite his sister and next to Natasha.

"Our mother tried to raise Katie as a lady." James informed Natasha, a twinkle in his eye. "She was forever having to remind Katie of the way a young lady should behave. 'Young Ladies do not run, they glide gracefully' or 'a proper young lady laughs softly, she does not snort with laughter'. I think my favourite though was on Katie's naming day. 'A proper young lady does not take off her expensive dress in order to wrestle in the mud, especially not if she's going to lose!"

Katie chipped in at this point. 

"I'm still not sure what bothered her more, the fact that I was running around in my petticoats or the fact that I was losing the fight to Jessica, the daughter of mother's friend."

Natasha smiled at the story. The two of them were obviously very close. She did however feel a twinge of jealousy at that. Natasha had no one to reminisce with, no cheery childhood anecdotes, and no family members to speak fondly of.

James noticed a faint hint of sadness behind Natasha's smile and was about to ask her about it, when their food arrived.

"Wow!" was all Natasha could say. The plate that had been put in front of her had the biggest steak she had ever seen, and was loaded with fries, salad, and a pot of barbeque sauce. "If this taste half as good as it looks it'll be the best steak I've ever had!"

Natasha quickly cut into the steak realising just how hungry she was. After all, her crisps had gone on the floor rather than in her stomach!

She put the steak in her mouth and instantly felt the juices running on to her tongue, it was so tender and flavourful, Natasha couldn't supress the moan of pleasure that escaped her as she slid the fork out of her mouth.

"You're right," She said to Katie "Best, steak, ever."

James shifted a little in his seat. Hearing his mate's moan of pleasure around the mouthful of meat had him hard in an instant, he tried to concentrate on what was being said, to keep from imagining what else he would like to see Natasha's lips wrapped around as she made that delightful sound.

"The beef comes from a local farm that James set up a few years ago." Katie was telling Natasha.

"So you're a farmer?" Natasha asked James.

"Not really, I just run a few businesses in the area, and the farm is one of the more recent developments."

"A business tycoon then? Does that mean you sit in a fancy office all day making phone calls?" Katie enquired.

"It's not that fancy. I hate it actually. I'd love to be able to work outdoors all day, but I inherited the business from my father, and the folk in the village depend on me to make sure that everything is running as it should be so that they can all get paid and fed." 

Natasha looked a little confused at this statement.

"Do you mean you own all the businesses here?" Natasha asked incredulously.

"It's not like you think. The village was set up by our ancestors. They wanted to create a self-sufficient community that belonged to everyone. So everyone who lives here has a stake in all the businesses in town, we all work together so that everyone has what they need. I'm the one who makes sure that everything is running as it should and that no one goes without or doesn't pull their weight."

"It almost sounds like you're the head of a family." 

"It's just like that." James enthused, pleased that Natasha seemed to understand. "All the families have been here for a long time, all the children grow up together and we all know each other, so it's like we are one big family."




Haven's Wood Ch. 02



"That must be nice. Having all these people you can depend on, who depend on you in return." Natasha mused wistfully. She turned to ask Katie a question only to find she'd vanished leaving only a bottle of red wine in her place.

"If I didn't know better I'd say she was setting us up on a date." Natasha joked to James.

James could only smile in response. He reached over for the bottle of wine, and poured them each a glass. 

"I could think of no better way to spend an evening than in your company." James breathed.

Natasha stared at him dumbstruck for a moment. Then burst out laughing, amused and embarrassed all at the same time. 

"That's the cheesiest line I've ever heard!" She told him "but thank you for the kind lie." 

She took a gulp of the wine to hide her embarrassment.

James frowned a little at her comment, when she'd put her glass down, her reached over and gently took her chin between his thumb and finger. He turned her face so she was looking into his eyes. 

"I don't lie." He told her softly, but firmly "I think you are a charming, beautiful woman and I cannot tell you how glad I am to have met you." 

Natasha's breath caught in her throat. She knew she was nothing special, but when he said it she could almost believe him. She felt her cheeks start to flush and pulled her head away. She dropped her chin so that her hair fell like a curtain between them. 

James gently brushed her hair back over her shoulder.

"You never need to hide to yourself from me." 

Natasha was overwhelmed. She hardly knew this man and yet she could feel herself being drawn to him, his words soothed her soul while every touch of his hands was stoking the flames building inside her. 

There was something wrong with her she decided, first the wolf and now this, she'd never even had a real boyfriend before now, and yet she knew that if she stayed with this man much longer she was going to cross a very intimate line for the second time that day.

"I'm sorry James, I'm suddenly feeling very tired." She said "I think I drank too much wine." She started to slide out of the booth "I think it's best if I call it a night. Tell Katie I'm sorry." And she left.

James reached out as if to keep her from leaving, but she was gone.



Haven's Wood Ch. 03



Natasha had spent most of the night staring at the ceiling trying to reconcile her thoughts and her feelings. James had her tied up in knots. Just thinking about him made her well up with feelings, she definitely fancied him, he was after all the epitome of male perfection as far as she was concerned, but there was more to it than that. She felt as though she could trust him, as if she was safe with him, as if he would always be there when she needed him. 

When she tried to explain these feelings is when she came up with a real problem. She couldn't. She barely knew the man and yet found herself considering what it might be like to spend her life with him. She considered herself to be a rational person, not prone to flights of fancy, and yet here she was day dreaming like a teenage girl. If she knew his surname she'd probably practicing her signature!

Natasha was completely exasperated with herself, especially as her thoughts hadn't stayed contained to James. She kept replaying her encounter in the woods in her mind. Visions of the large black wolf had plagued her when she had drifted off to sleep. 

The more she thought on it the more she realised how little she had resisted the wolf, she hadn't even tried to stop it. She wished she could tell herself that she had been too afraid to stop it from ravishing her, but she knew that would be a lie. After the initial shock she hadn't been that afraid, mesmerised would be a better description. She had let it do what it had because she had enjoyed it, it had felt right. This thought rocked her to her core.

How could she trust her feelings, trust herself if THAT had felt right?

Natasha decided that her only real option was to leave. She wasn't running away she told herself, she was just leaving. Obviously she had been mistaken in thinking that Haven's Wood would be a place she could relax in. Besides she really should start to look for a new place to settle. She could afford to keep traveling for a couple more weeks, but then she'd need to find a job.

As soon as 7am arrived Natasha had her bag packed and was heading downstairs to checkout, and get out on the road again. She was shocked by what she saw in reception. Behind the reception desk chatting to the manager was James. She had hoped she could leave without seeing him again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

James had been crushed when Natasha had walked out of the pub. He'd tried so hard not to push too fast. As soon as she left he realised that he didn't know what her plans were. She was visiting their little town but hadn't said for how long, where she lived, or where she was headed next.

After seeing his mate leave, the others in the pub knew to leave him alone and give him some space, so he spent the night brooding alone. Eventually he'd shifted so he could sleep under the window of her room outside the B&B. If he couldn't be with her, he could at least watch over her.

When the sun rose, he shifted back, got dressed and headed into the reception of the B&B; he didn't want to risk missing her if she decided to head out early. When he crept in he found Molly, the manager of the B&B setting up for breakfast. Molly, didn't know what to do when her alpha came in and started helping her with the morning set up without saying a word to her. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times trying to think of something to say, she decided that silence was probably the best conversational gambit in this situation.

When they were finished, they headed back to the reception. James in a moment of inspiration asked if Natasha had filled out a details card when she had booked in. James was just handing the card back to Molly when he scented his mate coming down the stairs.

James was delighted to see her. She looked like she'd ben tossing and turning all night. Her long brown hair was tangled and frizzy. James thought she looked adorable, he was imaging how mussed she would look after a night in his bed. His pleasant thoughts shattered when he noticed that she was carrying her bag with her. She was leaving. 

This thought awoke James's wolf. They would NOT let her leave.

As soon as Molly saw the looks between the two she made herself scarce. She did not want to be in that room right now, no matter how good the gossip might have been!

xxxxxxxxxx

Natasha steeled herself. She saw James's face light up when he saw her, and she couldn't fail to notice it drop when he saw her bag. 

"Hi." Natasha awkwardly started. 

"You're leaving." James stated not disguising the hurt and disappointment in his voice.

Natasha felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. She hadn't wanted to hurt him, she was just afraid of getting hurt herself. She didn't know what to do. She could feel her resolve to leave begin to waiver.

Then she felt her anger begin to flare. What right did he have to make her feel guilty, she didn't owe him anything. What was he even doing here? Waiting for her in the lobby of a hotel was a little stalker like. She was about to share her thoughts with him when she felt him taking her bag from her.

"What are you doing?" Natasha demanded, clinging on to her anger, afraid to let go of it lest some other feelings took her over again.

"I'm being a gentleman, and carrying your bag for you." James replied nonplussed by her tone. He did not however head outside to the car park but instead headed into the dining room. Realising she wasn't following him he added "You don't think I'm letting you leave without breakfast do you? It's the most important meal of the day!"

Natasha shook her head feeling completely bemused by his behaviour. She supposed it was only fair to say goodbye properly, rather than skulking off without a word. So she followed him in.

On entering the room, she was hit by the beautiful scent of lilies. James was sat at a table in the middle of the room. In the centre of the table was a stunning glass vase with an arrangement of red and white lilies. Natasha couldn't help that notice that in contrast the other tables had a single small plastic daisy for decoration. 

"Did you put these here?" Natasha asked "I love Lilies." she added quietly.

"Then I'm very glad I picked them." James beamed, very pleased with himself, maybe he could persuade her to stay.

Natasha stood behind her chair, trying to keep some distance between them. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before beginning.

"James, firstly I want to say that I'm sorry about the way I left last night, it was very rude of me and you didn't deserve it. I was feeling overwhelmed. After my experience in the woods, I guess I was feeling a little shaken. And I like you, which is kind of a new thing for me, liking someone."

James was listening intently, watching her lips and her eyes drinking her in as she spoke to him. He felt a rapturous rush of joy when she admitted her interest in him. Then came the word he didn't want to hear.

"But," As Natasha said this, she saw James shake his head, minutely his eyes begging her not to continue.

"But, I'm not sure this is the place, for me. It would be wrong to start something if I'm not going to be staying. It would be too hard for both of us. Besides we hardly know anything about each other. I enjoyed our evening together and I think we should leave it at that. So thank you for the pleasant memories and goodbye."

Natasha felt as though something inside herself was tearing as she said this, but she had to leave. She was reaching for her bag, when James suddenly stood up.

"No." He said resolutely.

James was now stood between Natasha and her bag.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Natasha asked .

"I'm not going to let you leave, especially not when your reasons for doing so are nonsense."

Natasha felt herself getting annoyed, but if she was going to leave she couldn't get drawn into a discussion with him.

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Natasha replied, as she tried to get round him to grab her bag.

As she tried to dodge past him James grabbed her firmly by the shoulders to stop her. 

"I said no." his voice had become dangerously soft. Natasha tried to step back from him but he held on not letting her move.

Natasha looked up into his face as she was about to ask him to let her go, but the words died on her lips when she thought she saw a shimmer of amber pass across his eyes.

James took a breath to calm himself before continuing.

"You say we don't know each other, then let's get to know each other. You're writing this off before you even give it a chance. I know you can feel that there's something special between us. Why are you so eager to throw this away? Give me one good reason and I'll get out of your way. Tell me why you're really running away." James pleaded with her, his emotion raging, from anger to despair and frustration.

Natasha said nothing, her head dropped. She felt tears stinging at her eyes.

James waited growing impatient.

He gave her a little shake "Tell me." he said more gently.

"I'm afraid." She whispered.

"Of what?" James pushed.

"That I could fall in love with you, and then you'll realise that you don't want me, when you find out."

"Find out what?" James asked trying to look into her face, but she continued to avoid his gaze.

"That I'm a freak."

"What do you mean." James asked his confusion mounting.

"I didn't tell Katie everything that happened in the woods." Natasha said haltingly, tears beginning to roll down her face.

Before she could go any further James interrupted, he couldn't bear the pain she was in, that he had caused.

"I know what happened in the woods Natasha. You have nothing to be ashamed of I promise you."

Natasha's head snapped up, her eyes filled with confusion and suspicion.

"What do you mean? Did you follow me? Did you watch what happened? How ... How could you?"

Her cheeks flushed red with shame and embarrassment. How could this man have watched what happened and done nothing, said nothing?

"It's not what you think. I need you to calm down so I can explain it to you."

Natasha wanted to scream at him. Why should she let him explain? What was there to explain? Nothing he could say would make this right. She was about to scream this into his face, when she really looked at him. He seemed to be in turmoil, he was so upset. The moment she realised this, her rage and anger slipped away. She had no idea why but she suddenly wanted to comfort him, tell him it was alright.

"OK." She said softly. 

She took a step backwards and her let her go. She pulled out the chair and sat down. She turned her tear stained face towards him 

"Explain."

"I need you to promise that you will hear me out." James said

Natasha nodded her head mutely. James looked at her intently, as if trying to decide if she was ready. Finally he sighed and began.

"I know what happened with the wolf, because I am the wolf" He paused looking into her eyes, trying to gauge her reaction. But Natasha just looked back at him impassively.

"I'm a werewolf. I have two natures that exist in one body. The reason I did what I did in the woods is because you're my mate. All werewolves have a mate, the one person that is the other half of their soul. 

I picked up your scent in the pub and I knew, before I even saw you that we were meant to be together, that you were mine. My wolf wanted to claim you to let the world know that you belong to us. Katie persuaded me that I should calm down before I met you, so I went for a run.

I didn't know that you would be there, so when I found you and you were running away from me, my instincts took over, I had to chase and catch you. When I realised that you were hurt I couldn't leave you so I healed your wound. That was all I was going to do, but then I smelt your arousal, and I couldn't resist. I'm sorry."

"That's it?" Natasha asked.

James nodded still trying to figure out what she was thinking.

The sound of Natasha's hand connecting with James's face rang around the room.

"How dare you make fun of me like that? Do you think so little of me that I would believe a story like that?" 

Natasha began to rise out of the chair, intending to grab her bag and leave, with no regrets this time.

James however had no intention of letting her leave. He placed himself in front of her one hand on each arm of the chair, preventing her from leaving. His face so close to hers he could feel her breath upon his cheek. 

Natasha stared into his face, and once again thought that she saw a flicker of amber across his eyes. She sat back down into the chair.

"I told you before that I don't lie Natasha." James said through gritted teeth. "I understand that it is a lot to accept and I am sorry to tell you this so soon, but you left me no other choice. I can't live without you."

Natasha was scared, he was sounding more and more like a crazed stalker as the conversation continued. She didn't know what to say.

"OK, this is what we are going to do." James said, in a slightly calmer voice. "You are going to sit in that chair. You are not going to run. You are not going to scream. I am going to show you that I am telling you the truth. Can you do that?"

Natasha nodded her head; she had no idea how he was going to prove that he was in fact a werewolf, she'd just let this play out.

James backed away from her never letting his eyes leave hers. He pulled off his shirt revealing a smooth sculpted chest with a natural six pack. He watched with amusement as Natasha's eyes began to roam over his body. When he started to remove his jeans she began to blush. He'd love to know how far down her blush went. As soon as she realised that there was nothing under his jeans Natasha's eyes snapped up to the ceiling. James found her innocence very alluring.

"Look at me" James growled at her "I want you to watch so you can't say it was a trick"

Natasha dragged her eyes form the ceiling and made sure that they stayed on James's face and nowhere else.

As soon as James was sure that he had her attention he began to shift into his wolf. The air sang with the sound of bones snapping and reforming in a new shape. Black fur sprouted all over his body. His face elongated and his ears began to grow larger. It took less than 20 seconds for James to complete his transformation.

In front of Natasha now stood the wolf that had haunted her dreams last night. He really was a beautiful creature. He stood almost as tall as the table at which she sat. She could tell that his chest was strongly muscled, and his fur looked invitingly soft. She noticed now that he wasn't truly black that there was in fact a splash of white fur along his belly.

James lay down after he had shifted. He flattened his ears and tried to look as non-threatening as is possible for a 60kg wolf. But Natasha didn't look as though she was going to panic. In fact she looked rather calm, to James's surprise.

In fact she suddenly burst out laughing. James sat up and cocked his head at her, confused by her reaction. This gesture just seemed to set her off laughing even more. James waited until she calmed. Then she simply said.

"I guess this is what insanity feels like." 

She began to mutter under her breath "I'm must be hallucinating. I'm going to count to 10 and then this is going to be over." 

Natasha did just that she closed her eyes and began to count. There was still a wolf in front of her when she opened her eyes.

"James?" she asked tentatively.

James slowly nodded his head.

"So this is real? You really are a werewolf"

James nodded again.

Natasha sat submerged in her thoughts. It was just too much, she decided. Either she was losinf her mind, or the man she'd just met was in fact a werewolf. Whichever was the case, she decided that staying here, was not an option.

"You're a werewolf. You asked me to give you a reason for me to leave, I think this is it." Natasha calmly stood up, picked up her bag and began to walk away. She heard whimpering from behind her but forced herself to ignore it. 

She pulled the door to the dining room open, only for it to slam shut again. She was suddenly very aware that James was stood very close behind her. His arms either side of her trapping her.

"I told you I wouldn't let you leave." James whispered right next to her ear.

The sensation of his breath by her ear, and his body so close sent shivers down her spine. Her bag slipped from her fingers thudding to the floor. She turned to face him, her back pressed against the door. His body. His naked body, was so close to hers that she could feel the heat radiating from him. The intensity in his eyes took her breath away.

James leaned closer, so that they were breathing the same air. He ran the back of his finger down the curve of her cheek until he had captured her chin.

"I need you Natasha." he breathed as he gently pulled her face up to meet his kiss. 

His lips brushed against hers, softly at first, just a whisper of a touch. When she didn't pull away he became bolder, pressing a little more firmly, tracing his tongue across the seam of her lips. Natasha felt her senses being assaulted by his presence, all of her being was focussed on the point where their lips met. All rational thought fled her mind. 

She felt the press of his tongue on her lips, and gasped with the pleasure of it. James took this opportunity to plunge his tongue into her mouth. He explored her mouth, claiming it, their tongues dancing together in the passionate exchange.

James's spare hand began to run down her body, teasingly brushing along the side of her chest, down to the curve of her hip, before cupping her ass to gently pull her against his body. He pressed her core against his raging erection.

"Feel what you do to me," he groaned.

His hand slid down from her chin caressing her neck. He followed the hand with his mouth peppering hot wet kisses down her neck, occasionally letting his teeth brush against her fevered skin. His hand continued it's path down, to slip under her shirt. He ran his thumb over a lace clad nipple, drawing a surprised moan from her.

Every touch fanned the fire of lust burning inside her. She tentatively reached her hands out to James. She ran her fingertips over the muscles in his arms running upwards until they were entwined in his hair are he continued to worship her neck.

James's hand dropped from beneath her shirt and began to tug at the buttons on her jeans, so he could slide his hand inside.

Natasha felt a flash of fear lance through her. It snapped her back to reality when she felt his hand on her jeans, this was going too far, too fast. 

She reached down to grab his hand and stop it's advance. When her hand closed around his arm to stop him, she begged softly

"James, please not here, not like this."

James heard her plea, he growled in frustration deep in his chest, she felt the vibration send tingles of sensation through her body. He knew he had to stop but he didn't know if he had the selfcontrol to do so for long.

He pressed his forehead against hers, his breathing ragged.

"I need you to promise that you aren't going to leave, that you're going to give this a chance." he told her.

"Ok." she said shakily

"I need to hear you say it Natasha, my wolf needs to hear it." he insisted

Natasha took a breath "I promise I won't leave right now, that I'll keep an open mind." 

James locked his gaze onto hers, his displeasure at what she had said showing.

"If I promised anymore I'd be lying, and I won't do that." Natasha said with a little more confidence than she really felt.

James looked at her for a moment as if he was searching for answers in her eyes. 

"Fine." He picked up her bag, and headed over to his pile of clothes. He pulled his jeans on with some difficulty as his cock was still hard and throbbing. He didn't even bother with his shirt; he just threw it onto the bag. Then he strode from the room, Natasha's bag in one hand and Natasha's hand firmly held in the other.




Haven's Wood Ch. 03



"Where are we going" Natasha asked, not sure that she was ready for the answer.

"Home."



Haven's Wood Ch. 04



Natasha sat in the car watching the town flick past the window and giving way to the denser woods.

After James had gotten dressed he'd taken Natasha to his Landrover, thrown her bag in the back then bundled her into the passenger seat. He'd gotten in, started driving and not offered a word of explanation.

When they had been in the dining room and he'd been running his hands over her body, she'd been consumed by desire for him. Now sat in the car as he brooded next to her she felt her head clear a little, she began to think about the situation she'd gotten herself into.

She didn't really know what it meant that he was a werewolf. Obviously she couldn't rely on her knowledge of fairy tales to help her through as it didn't seem to matter if the moon was out for him to change. If that wasn't true why should anything else she'd read be true? 

What did he expect of her? He'd said that they were soul mates. That he wouldn't let her leave. She didn't like the idea of being trapped, having her fate tied to someone else. But the idea of a soul mate did appeal someone that would love her and care for her, someone that would support her. Natasha really wanted those things, but she wasn't sure whether the cost would be too high.

As she watched the world fly by she began to question her decision to come with him. While he hadn't really given her much choice she hadn't really put up much of a fight. The problem was that as soon as he got close to her, she couldn't think of anything other than him; how strong he was, how she felt safe with him, how she wanted nothing more than to fall into his arms and let him hold her.

She decided that the only way she could trust her decisions was if she made them away from his intoxicating presence. She needed to keep some space between them, so that she knew her thoughts were her own, not influenced by whatever it was between them.

James had been driving them out of town in the direction of the nature reserve she'd been told to avoid. After about 15 minutes he turned off the road onto a dirt track, which Natasha hadn't even noticed until they were driving down it. 

They were soon out of sight of the main road and truly surrounded by wilderness. Natasha realised just how isolated this place James was taking her to really was. The trees were becoming so dense that little light was reaching the car. Natasha felt the darkness closing in on her and began to feel a sense of panic rising.

James heard Natasha's breathing getting faster and shallow. He glanced over and saw that she had tensed up. He realised how this must seem to her. He'd dragged her into a car, and driven her off, without a word. He'd been too busy trying to calm his wolf and himself to explain to her where they were going. Now they were driving down a dirt track completely hidden from view. She probably though he'd taken her somewhere to kill her!

"Don't worry it opens out again in a moment." James said softly. "We cultivated this stretch of woods to be as uninviting as possible to dissuade people from wandering onto our pack lands."

True to his word the woods began to thin out again, the sunlight pouring back through the canopy, bringing the warmth of the day with it.

Natasha let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding, and allowed herself to relax back into the leather seat. 

"So, is that where we're going? To where your pack lives?" Natasha asked.

"We're going to the main compound, most but not all of the pack lives there. The pack has grown a lot in the last couple of centuries so we gave some of the younger ones a chance to build new homes outside the compound. That's how Haven's wood came about."

Natasha's mind caught on the phrasing 'last couple of centuries' and 'we gave'. She was about to ask about it when the thought went clean out her mind. The reason was that she had spotted a wall. A very high wall that stretched out in both directions as far as she could see and in front of them was a rather imposing gate.

Natasha began to panic as she realised that James wasn't slowing down as they approached the very solid wrought iron gate. Just as she was about to say something the gate swung open. She looked back as they passed through and saw that on the inside of the wall there was a guard post, where the gate must be controlled. She saw a couple of men watching them as they went by. Natasha however watched the gate swing shut behind them.

"James," Natasha began, her voice wavering. "I really don't like being locked in places."

James looked over at her, his brow creased with worry. She really did seem more afraid of that gate then she had been of anything else so far. There was obviously something in her past he needed to know about.

"The gate isn't to lock you in. It's to keep the rest of the world out. It's so that the pack can be a pack in here, it gives us the freedom to be ourselves without worry." James told her gently, hoping to calm her fears.

Natasha nodded her head in response but said nothing.

James let her sit in quiet not knowing how to help. He wanted her to feel safe here, not trapped. There was, however, a nagging thought in the back of his mind that maybe she was right to be afraid. He'd told her that he wouldn't let her leave and now had her in a secure compound with no intention of letting her leave his side. He just knew that he wasn't strong enough to let her go.

James pulled the car up in front of a huge building. It looked like a country manor built by nobility in the 1600s. It looked big enough to house the whole population of the village they had just left twice over and still have room to spare. 

Natasha didn't have long to gawk at the magnificent building because James whipped her out the car. Then took her by the hand and all but pulled her towards the entrance of the building.

James wanted to get Natasha into his suite as quickly as he could he didn't like the fact that there would be so many unmated males around, and he doubted that Natasha would want him to cover her in his scent right now.

One of the lads who worked in the garage stood near the steps up to the door. The poor boy looked torn with indecision. It was his job to collect the keys and park the car in the garage. The problem was that the pack had been warned that James might be a little possessive of his new mate and they should give him plenty of space when he was with her. 

James was so intent on getting Natasha inside that he didn't notice there was a problem until, Natasha tugged on his arm. He turned to look at her confused. She simply pointed at the poor boy, who looked like he'd just been sentenced to death.

James gently looked into the boy's mind and saw the turmoil there.

"Will" he called to the boy. The moment the lad looked over James tossed the car keys to him. The boy's face almost split he was smiling so hard.

"Thank you, Alpha. Is there anything else you need?" The relief in the boy's voice was evident.

"My mate's bag is in the back. Tell Sophia. She'll know what to do with it."

The boy nodded in acknowledgement and raced off to do as his alpha had bidden. 

James turned to Natasha.

"Thank you. You really are wonderful you know." James resisted the urge to kiss Natasha's confused face, and instead resumed his march towards his suite.

Natasha was utterly confused by the whole exchange, and once again had no time to think on it as James was hauling her off into the house again. 

The inside of the house was as magnificent as the outside but lacked the ostentatiousness that Natasha was expecting. It was very grand but somehow felt like a home. It wasn't some noble's posh country home as she had expected, it was far too full of life.

Natasha didn't have much time to appreciate her surroundings as James swept her up the grand curved staircase and through a large pair of double doors at the top of the landing.

As soon as they were through the doors James relaxed. He let go of Natasha's hand so she could look around while he shut the doors behind them.

The rooms they had entered looked like a whole different world to the mansion they had just driven up to. They had entered into a large room that looked like a sitting room and bedroom in one. At the front of the room there were a couple of large, black, L shaped sofas facing a stunning wood burning fireplace, above which hung a large flat screen TV. There were a couple of stairs at the back of the room that led up to the bed. It was a beautiful wooden framed bed with deep blue linen covers. 

There were a couple of other rooms leading off from the main room. Natasha glimpsed what looked like a study through one doorway and a bathroom through another.

Natasha felt a little more relaxed in the suite, it didn't feel quite so overwhelming. With the door shut she could pretend that she was just in a flat somewhere, not a mansion in the middle of a huge estate!

James happily watched Natasha as she looked around his rooms. He felt more at one with his wolf than he had since he'd first caught her scent in the bar. He had his mate where she belonged, safe and with him.

James was pleased to see that the tension that had gripped her since they passed through the gates had all but left her. When he saw her straighten her back and turn to face him he knew the moment of peace was probably over.

"I think it's time we talked." Natasha told him.

James sighed, walked over to one of the sofas and dropped into it.

"Of course, I'm sure you have a lot of questions." James replied before adding, with a devilish twinkle in his eye. "I had hoped that that we'd be doing something a little more fun once I got you all alone in my room, but I guess that can wait, a little while."

Natasha, remembering her vow to keep some space between them positioned herself behind the second sofa, so that it was between the two of them.

A silence descended on the room. James sat watching Natasha, waiting patiently. Natasha looked around the room as she tried to wrestle her thoughts into order.

"I don't even know where to begin!" Natasha finally declared in frustration.

James smiled gently at her. "I'd give you some advice but this is a first for me too."

After another moment of silence Natasha suddenly remembered the odd exchange with the boy when they arrived.

"Why did that boy look so scared of you when we arrived? And why did you thank me?"

James looked a little embarrassed.

"He was scared because he didn't want to approach me when I was with you. Male wolves are a little possessive of our mates, especially before we've claimed them. He was afraid that if he came near I might lose my temper. He also knew that he was expected to get the keys from me so he could do his chores." James paused to look at Natasha hoping not to see fear, or disgust on her face, she just looked thoughtful, so he continued.

"I thanked you because you noticed something that I should have. I should have noticed his fear and I shouldn't have let it happen. It's my job to look after my pack not to scare them, but I was so wrapped up in my need to have you safe that I couldn't see anything else. You did what I should have done. You put aside your own feelings in order to help the pack." James's voice was filled with admiration as he said this.

Natasha shook her head a little at this last comment.

"I just saw a scared boy and reacted, it wasn't anything special." Natasha carried on to her next question before James could disagree with her. "He called you Alpha, is that because you run the pack?"

James didn't miss the fact that she had brushed away what she had done, much as she had brushed away any compliment he'd tried to give her.

"I run the pack because I am an alpha." James replied. Seeing that this confused her even more he tried to explain. "Wolves need structure and we respect strength. Only the strongest is allowed to lead the pack, because only the strongest can protect the pack. Only Alpha wolves, the strongest most dominant wolves can lead a pack. The role we each perform in the pack is based on our abilities and our preferences. We all know where we stand and we all work in different ways to support the pack."

Natasha nodded. 

"I guess there's a logic to that. How long have you been in charge of this pack?" Natasha asked remembering his comment from the car.

"I'm not sure exactly." James hedged, not sure how she'd react when she found out. "A long time."

"How long, is a long time?" Natasha asked her suspicion raised.

"More than three and half centuries." James replied quietly.

"Centuries?" Natasha asked, a little stunned to have her suspicion confirmed.

James nodded.

"Do I want to know how old you are?" Natasha asked.

"Probably not." James chuckled.

Natasha decided he was right she was having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that he was able to turn into a wolf. Adding an age difference counted in centuries probably wouldn't help matters.

"OK, how old do you tell humans you are?" Natasha asked instead.

"I don't, it's not a common question across the business table." James grinned at her.

Natasha smiled and shook her head at him.

"May I ask you a question?" James asked softly.

"Sure, seems only fair." Natasha replied.

James paused for a moment thinking about how to phrase what he wanted to know.

"You said you don't like to be locked in." He waited, knowing that she might not like this line of thought. 

Natasha took a deep breath, before focusing on him.

"That's not a question." She smiled a little sadly as she said this, and then began to pace a little behind the sofa.

James waited.

The silence stretched out between them as Natasha paced.

James continued to wait.

"You're as bad as Katie!" She suddenly exclaimed. "Is this a werewolf thing? Ask a person a question you know they don't want to answer, ignore their attempts to deflect your question, and then just sit in silence until the weight of the question fills the room and they have no choice but to answer!"

James smiled, thinking that Katie would be mortified to learn that Natasha thought they were alike.

Natasha let out a sigh.

"Fine. But before I explain I want some ground rules."

"Go on." James replied, intrigued now.

"I haven't talked about this before, not really. I need you to not interrupt me, not to ask any questions, and to not look at me with pity in your eyes, because I think that would crush me." She looked into James's eyes as if searching for something. Satisfied with what she saw, she took one more deep breath to steel herself before she began.

"I'm only telling you this because, you already told me your secret, so I guess I owe it to you. I also think you deserve to know the truth about me, so you can change your mind about wanting me." 

Natasha looked at James as if daring him to interrupt her. James in response crossed his arms and sat back in his seat, nodding at her to continue.

"When I was nine my mum left me with her brother. She didn't want me anymore. I was too much trouble for her. My uncle was a powerful and wealthy man, and he didn't want me either, I was a burden he never asked for.

When my mother left me with him, I cried. My uncle just took me to a bedroom and locked me in. It was a very nice room. It had a big bed and there was a bay window with a window seat, and there was a bathroom. There were lots of books on the shelves, but nothing else. Nothing for a child. 

He left me there, locked in that room, alone for 3 weeks.

It's not as bad as it sounds, he didn't let starve me or anything. There was a dumb waiter in the room. Meals appeared in it three times a day, really good high class food.

When I realised my mum wasn't coming back I started to read the books in the room, anything to not have to think about how alone I was stuck in that room.

When my uncle came back he found me reading one of the books. It was as though he'd forgotten that I was even there, he almost seemed surprised to see me in his house. I think he was just surprised that the worthless daughter of his brainless sister, could, read.

I asked him when I would be going to school. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He told me that he wouldn't suffer the disgrace of sending a child from his home to some dirty public school. And since my mother had left no money for my upkeep he certainly wasn't going to pay for my education. He told me that if I passed the scholarship exam at a boarding school of his choice I could go there. Otherwise he'd find a job for me so I would be out of his hair; he didn't have time to babysit a whiney little brat.

I passed the exams, to an exclusive school about 3 hours from my Uncle's home. I worked hard, afraid that if I lost my scholarship I'd be thrown out. At school the teachers hated me because of who my uncle was, and during the holiday's I went back to my Uncle's home to be locked in my room out of the way.

When I was eighteen I was accepted to university to study Physics. My uncle had become ill and decided that I could make up for all the money he spent feeding and clothing me by nursing him when I wasn't in my classes. I had to go to a university near his home not the one I'd wanted. 

I'd hoped that university would be my chance to have some freedom but he took that dream from me. I owed him so much that I couldn't refuse to look after him. Besides if I hadn't he would have pulled strings so I couldn't go to any university.

I did manage to finish my degree and get my teaching certificate. I got a job at a local secondary school. I was there for one term. One day just before Christmas, I was called to a meeting with the headmaster. He told me how sad he was that I had to leave them to look after my uncle, and that they'd miss me but I was doing the right thing. 

I knew nothing about it. My uncle had decided that I was the only one he could trust to look after him, and now that I was old enough to have a proper job I should spend my time looking after him, not some dirty children in a dirty school. So he 'fixed it'.

I looked after him every day for almost 2 years. Trapped in that empty house with him, just like when I was child.

When he died, I was relieved. How terrible is that. The only family I had, the only person who was willing to feed and clothe me and I was relieved when he died!

He left me nothing in his will, you know. He gave it all to a business partner. He said that I would just waste it anyway, after all even my brainless mother knew that I wasn't worth keeping.

I scrapped together my savings from the work I did and since then I've been travelling around, enjoying my freedom and looking for somewhere to start again. 

I promised myself that I wouldn't let myself get locked in anywhere again." 

Natasha had told the whole story in an almost monotone voice, her eyes fixed on something in the middle distance. It was as though she was telling a story about someone else.

"So that's my life story. I'm sure you understand that you don't want to be stuck with me now."

"Why do you think I wouldn't want you because of that?" James asked intentionally keeping his voice as devoid of emotion as Natasha's had been.

"Can't you see? My own family didn't want me! The people that are supposed to love you unconditionally saw something so awful in me that they couldn't stand to be around me. I'm worthless and..."

James leapt across the room, interrupting what she was saying. He wrapped his arms around Natasha pulling her tight to his chest and resting his chin on her head.

"You are precious. You are smart, determined and caring. Just because your family couldn't see that doesn't mean that it isn't true. I won't hear anyone talk about you like that not even you."

Natasha weakly tried to push him away.

"You're wrong, you'll realise it eventually and then you won't want me, my own mother didn't want me!" Gone was the emotionless voice of her story telling, as the pain of her past began to overwhelm her.




Haven's Wood Ch. 04



James held her tightly to him, not letting her move away.

"Natasha, I need you. You are everything I have been searching for my whole life. I can't bear the thought of being without you. I will never leave you."

James's words seemed to break something in Natasha, she began to cry, tears streaming down her face, sobs wracking her whole body as she started to cling to him as if were her only lifeline.

James held her in his arms, stroking her hair as she wept. He whispered gentle words into her ears, as she let out her pain. Gradually her sobs began to lessen, until they were little more the soft wet hiccups. 

As Natasha came back to herself she tried to push James away from her again. He wasn't letting go though.

"James please let go, I'm sorry I've got your shirt wet and I'm acting like an idiot." Her voice still a little raw from crying.

James growled gently. Natasha felt the vibration in his chest and looked up at him, no longer trying to push him away.

"Did you just growl at me?" Natasha asked surprised.

"Yes. I don't like it when you say bad things about yourself. And I don't like it when you try to leave my arms either." The devilish twinkle from before reappeared in James's eyes as he added "I have an idea how to stop all this bad behaviour. The next time you say something bad about yourself I'll just have to throw you over my knee and spank you"

Natasha's mouth dropped open. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. She also couldn't believe that the thought of being thrown over his knee had started a warm tingling between her thighs.

James grinned. "That wasn't a no. I'll have to remember that." He gave Natasha an affectionate squeeze and leaned down so his mouth was next to her ear. His breath caressed her skin as he added softy. "I didn't think you were so kinky, this is going to be a lot of fun."

Natasha gasped in indignation and moved to try and slap him playfully. But James was halfway to the bedroom by the time her hand pass through where his face had just been.

"You're going to have to be much faster than that little one" he called playfully. As he disappeared around the corner into his closet.

"I'm not little." Natasha muttered under her breath.

James's excellent hearing picked this up. He was chuckling as he walked back into the room.

"Anyone that fits under my chin is little by my standards." James informed her.

Natasha almost failed to hear this as she was too busy looking at the glorious expanse of chest that was exposed to her. His muscles rippled as he laughed at her, making her fingers itch to touch his skin.

"You're just freakishly big." She sputtered once her mind caught up. "And distractingly undressed!" She added.

"Well you did point out that my shirt had wet patches on it so I thought I'd put a clean one on." James explained as he began to button his shirt. He paused for a moment. "I don't have to put it on though, if you'd like, I'm sure I can distract you even further." He said suggestively.

Natasha turned bright red at the look in his eye.

"I think I'd better wash my face, I'm sure I look awful after all that crying." She said turning towards the bathroom.

She'd barely taken a step when she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist halting her. She felt her side pulled against James's chest. And she felt that vibration from before, when he'd growled at her. Before she knew what was happening she felt his hand swat against her ass. 

"I told you not to say bad things about yourself." He growled softly into her ear.

He gave her a gentle push towards the bathroom, before adding.

"Next time, I will put you over my knee."

Natasha looked back at him a little shocked, before hurrying into the bathroom and closing the door. She leant against the door for the moment to collect her scattered wits before heading to the sink to wash up.



Haven's Wood Ch. 05



 Sorry about the longer gap before this chapter I had a bit of writer's block. 



Natasha leant on the sink and watched the water run around the basin before disappearing down the plug hole. She was having some difficulty marshalling her thoughts. The last couple of days had been something of a rollercoaster ride.

Natasha was feeling a little lost. Things were moving so fast and she felt like she had no control over what was happening to her. She'd never really reached out to anyone before. She was used to being on her own. She had envied other people the closeness that seemed to come so easily to them, that was true but, she didn't really think it was something she would ever have. Yet here she was having poured her heart out to someone, someone who seemed to see something in her, something worthwhile.

Natasha looked up into the mirror and tried to look at herself impartially. She looked at her tumbles of brown curls that fell about her shoulders, and could only think that it needed taming. She scanned her face not seeing anything special. She looked into her eyes, and only saw her uncertainty reflected in them. Natasha shook her head, she wasn't anything special, she didn't think she was disgusting, but she definitely didn't see anything that would spark the longing James held in his eyes when he looked at her.

Natasha let her thoughts drift towards James. Telling him about her past had made her realise some worrying parallels between then and now. She once again seemed to be trapped in an opulent house, only instead of a distant uninterested uncle, she had an intense and possessive ... 

she wasn't sure how to finish that thought. Boyfriend? Kidnapper? Werewolf! Life seemed to have gotten complicated quickly!

Natasha heard voices from the other room so quickly splashed some water on her face. She was looking around for a towel to dry off with, when she really looked at the room for the first time. There was a shower big enough for three people to share, and it looked like it had multiple shower heads. The masterpiece of the room though was a sunken tub. It looked almost big enough to swim in, and upon closer inspection Natasha noticed that there were jets all around it.

Natasha found herself idly wondering how it would feel to luxuriate in that tub, with the jets massaging her. Then the image of James's naked chest popped unbidden into her mind, and her thoughts found their way to wondering how it would feel to run her soapy hand over that chest as they lay in the tub together. 

Natasha was a little worried at the direction her thoughts had taken, it was a nice fantasy, but she wasn't really sure that she was going to be staying long enough to be entertaining those kinds of thoughts. Snapping out of her day dreaming she spotted a towel hanging on the wall, a decadently soft towel, of course. She dried her face and hands, and then headed back into the main room to see who James was talking to.

Natasha opened the door to see Katie telling James off. James looked somewhere between amused and annoyed at his sister. Dean was leaning nonchalantly against the frame of the door, watching the siblings.

Dean spotted a look of concern flash over Natasha's face when she saw the confrontation in the room. Dean caught her eye and grinned at her.

"Don't worry, this is normal." He informed Natasha. "They used to do this almost every week, it's one of the reasons we moved out to the village."

Natasha had been about to reply when she noticed James striding across the room towards her. The moment he reached her he wrapped her in his arms and held her close. Natasha started to step back but stopped when James grumbled at her. However when he started running his hands over every part of her he could reach, she decided that enough was enough. Ignoring his grumble this time she stepped back away from him, exclaiming,

"What are you doing!"

James looked a little embarrassed.

"I wanted to make sure my scent was on you."

Natasha's mouth dropped open. 

"You what?"

Katie interjected at this point.

"He's just being a typical male wolf" She told Natasha with a grin. "We have a much better sense of smell than humans, even when we're in our human form. He wanted to make sure that you smelt like him, so that any other male wolves would know he's interested in you, and if they wanted you they'd have to deal with him."

Natasha was a little taken aback by this. It hadn't really entered her mind that Katie and Dean were also wolves until that moment. It made perfect sense, she just hadn't thought about it.

After a moment of thought Natasha asked.

"So how come I've never seen Dean do that to you? He is your... mate, isn't he?" Natasha was a little unsure that she was using the term correctly.

"Well Dean has claimed me so he isn't worried that another wolf will try and take me away, he is still possessive if another male gets too close though" Katie said this last with an air of long suffering.

Dean huffed at the tone in Katie's voice. 

"I'm not the only one though am I? I'm not the one that started a fight, when the McClannon Pack were visiting!" Dean retorted with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"She was all over you!" Katie said with disgust. "She won't be trying to steal my mate again after that." Katie said with a deep sense of satisfaction.

Natasha smiled at the affectionate exchange. It was obviously a well-worn conversation. She wasn't really focussing on them though as it was the second time she'd heard the phrase 'claimed' and she got the feeling that it must mean something special.

"James." Natasha said, capturing his attention. "What does 'claimed' mean? You said it before as well."

James had been thinking about how to broach this subject with Natasha. He decided that she probably didn't need to know all the details just now; she had enough on her mind already.

"It's a ceremony. The mated pair claim each other in front the pack. They then form a special bond between each other. It's a bit like a wedding I suppose, but 'more'. We don't need to worry about that for a while though." He added reassuringly

Katie gave James a questioning look over Natasha's shoulder at his response.

 She's finding all of this hard enough to deal with as it is. She doesn't need to know that I'm going to chase her down, mount her and then change her. And that the whole pack will be watching when I do.  James sent to his sister as an explanation, never taking his eyes off Natasha.

 You'll have to tell her soon, she deserves to know.  Katie sent back 

"Is everything alright?" Natasha asked. "You looked, I don't know like you weren't there for a moment then. Sorry that probably sounds stupid." 

James looked like a little boy who'd been caught sneaking cookies before dinner. 

"I'm fine. I'm sorry. I guess I forgot to mention something we can do. I wasn't trying to hide it, it just didn't occur to me. This is probably going to sound a little odd though."

"Well now I'm intrigued." Natasha said. "The werewolf I just met wants to tell me something odd he can do." Natasha said her voice full of amused sarcasm.

James chuckled at her comment.

"Fair point. When we're in our wolf form we can communicate by talking directly to each other's minds. Stronger wolves can also project their thoughts when they're in human form. As I am the alpha I have a special connection with the wolves in my pack so I can also, when I choose to, hear their surface thoughts even if they aren't trying to project them."

"So you look guilty because I caught you whispering." Natasha wryly suggested.

James sighed.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to be rude, or make you feel excluded. It's just the way we do things. I was surprised you noticed, most people can't tell."

"Does that mean you can read my mind?" Natasha asked. She was little worried he might have caught some of her more intimate thoughts she'd had in the bathroom.

"No. I can only read thoughts from the members of the pack. Why have you been having some interesting thoughts?" James asked without a hint of innocence in his voice.

"I don't know what you're trying to imply." Natasha replied coolly. Unfortunately the blush creeping up her neck said far more than she wanted.

James grinned, pleased at the obvious sign that she'd been having dirty thoughts about him.

"I don't use it very often. Wolves tend to be honest as a rule, especially in this pack, so I try to avoid invading people's thoughts unless there's a need to do so."

James glanced at his watch 

"Dean and I have some business to take care of." He informed her. "I've arranged for lunch to be brought up here for you and Katie. I'll be back in a couple of hours, I'm sure Katie can keep you occupied until then."

James took Natasha's arm and guided her a little way off to the side.

"I'm sorry to ask you this." James began tentatively. "But I need you to stay in my rooms with Katie until I come back." 

James could feel the tension surge through Natasha as he said this.

"It will only be for a couple of hours, I promise. I don't want you wandering around the compound without me until I've presented you to the pack, which will happen at dinner tonight. Please try and bear with it until then."

Natasha sighed.

"It's not like I have much of choice is it?" She said a little petulantly, while trying to ignore the tears that were threatening to fall.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, then I'll take you out to the gardens. We can have a walk." James said trying to sound cheerful. "I know this isn't ideal but I need to know you're safe and this is the only way I can do that."

Without warning James pulled Natasha into his arms again. He pulled her tight again his chest and leant down to smell her hair, pulling her scent into his lungs as if to take it with him. He resisted his desire to kiss her, knowing that she wasn't ready for such easy intimacy yet.

Natasha was feeling hurt because, not only did he want her stay shut in a room but he was leaving her. She wanted the reassurance of his presence, so didn't push him away when he held onto her, but she wasn't ready to return the affection yet so she just stood there and let him do as he wanted. 

When he leant in and put his face into her hair, his breath brushed past her ear. Her mind flashed up the memory of when he had pressed her against the door and refused to let her leave him. His breath had felt warm on her skin then as well. Just as before she felt lightning running down her spine. Once again his proximity was filling her with longing. The sensation caused her to draw in a breath.

James couldn't help but hear her reaction to him. He tore himself away because he knew that if he didn't his control was going to snap and he would do a lot more than kiss her this time.

"Let's go Dean. I want this done as quickly as possible." He declared as he strode from the room, pulling the door shut behind them as they left.

Natasha felt as if her strings had been cut. It was as though there wasn't as much light in the room anymore, as though the world wasn't quite as real, like something she needed to live had just vanished.

She slumped onto the nearest sofas, tears she didn't even realise she'd shed streaming down her face. Katie knelt on the sofa next to her and pulled her into a hug, almost like a mother comforting a child.

"It's too much." Natasha whispered. "It's just too much."

"What is?" Katie asked gently.

"All these feelings!" Natasha sobbed. "I barely know James, I don't even know if I like him very much at the moment, but I can't stand that he's not here with me. I feel like I'm going crazy. Why do I have to feel like this? Aren't I supposed to have some choice over who I ..." Natasha trailed off, not ready to finish the sentence.

"Who you love." Katie finished softly for her.

Natasha couldn't deny it to herself any longer; she really was falling in love with James. The more time she spent with him the more she felt she understood the concept of a soulmate. 

"It's too fast, isn't love supposed to take time to grow?" Natasha asked.

"Maybe between humans." Katie said thoughtfully. "It's different for us. We know from being pups that one day we'll meet the person we're meant to be with and that we'll love each other unconditionally. Finding your mate is one of the happiest days of a were's life."

"This has been anything but happy!" Natasha exclaimed in frustration, pushing her way out of Katie's arms so that she could pace up and down while she continued.

"I wasn't expecting to magically fall in love. I wasn't even looking for anything like that. I was looking for a place to find a job and make a home. Instead I've been all but kidnapped by a werewolf!" Natasha's frustration was beginning to turn to anger. 

Katie paused a moment before responding.

"The way James brought you here was idiotic and reckless I agree. I was telling him as much earlier" Katie said rolling her eyes at the thought of what her brother had done. Natasha nodded her head in silent agreement.

"But," She continued "I can understand why he did it." She waved her hand at Natasha asking her to wait while she explained. 

"James has been waiting for you his whole life. He expected that when he did find his mate it would be another wolf, and it would be simple. They would simply find each other and then they would be together, for the rest of their lives. Having a human mate is very rare. When Dean and I realised we were mates, the pack celebrated, he claimed me and we were bonded the same night." Katie began to smile as the memory of becoming joined washed over her. 

"Just waiting until that evening felt like torture, we wanted nothing more than to be bonded" Katie continued to explain.

"So," Natasha began, "what you're telling me is that my being human is a disappointment to James. I'm not what he expected. He waited and waited and now he's stuck with a human as a mate."

"No!" Katie exclaimed. "Please don't think that. James loves you. You were made to be together. You're the other half of his soul and nothing else matters. What I'm trying to tell you is that we're not good at being patient. We're part wild animal and wolves no less. Wolves take what they want. Right now James's wolf wants to take you."

Natasha began to blush at this statement.

"I think you may have worded that wrong" Natasha suggested with an embarrassed smile.

Katie grinned wickedly

"No I said exactly what I meant." She declared with a little glee in her voice. "We've very open about sex, and we're very horny creatures." Katie said intentionally provocatively.

Natasha was a little taken aback and her blush deepened.

"What I was trying to tell you before." Katie continued. "Is that part of the reason that James is acting the way he is, is because right now he's really sexually frustrated. We don't wait so long."

Natasha looked at Katie with confusion written all over her face.

"Ok, I'll give you an example. Dean and I first met when his pack came to visit ours. Packs get together every year so that unmated wolves can try and find their mates." Katie added by way of explanation. 

"When I came into the great hall, I instantly caught his scent." Excitement filled Katie's eyes as she remembered. 

"I started to hunt round the room trying to find where the smell was coming from. The trail eventually led me into one of the libraries just off the main room. There was a group of men all stood drinking and chatting. As I stood at the door trying to figure out which one was my mate, I realised he had his back to me. As soon as he caught my scent, he span round and saw me in the door." Katie paused for dramatic effect, obviously enjoying telling the story.

"As soon as our eyes met I knew he was mine. My wolf was howling in my mind that he was ours. So I turned round and walked out the room."

"What!" Natasha exclaimed. "Why would you walk away?"

Katie grinned knowingly.

"So that he'd have to catch me." Katie chuckled before continuing. "I knew he was mine but I want him to prove it to me, prove that he was strong enough. As soon as I left the room I started to run, I had all sorts of plans in mind to lead him around the mansion and back before I let him catch me. I promise you I was looking forward to getting caught." Katie added with a very saucy look in her eyes.

"How far did you get?" Natasha asked, remembering how fast James could move.

"About two steps. Then he tackled me." Katie laughed. "I'll spare you the details, since you blush so easily, but after growling at the few men who hadn't moved out of the way quick enough Dean and I began to get to know one another." Katie explained.

"You don't mean..." Natasha began disbelievingly

Katie just nodded, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"And that's normal?" Natasha asked.

"Sure." Katie replied. "I think there was another couple that found each other that night as well, not that I remember, I was rather distracted for most of the evening."

"Can I ask a personal question?" Natasha ventured a little hesitantly.

"You can ask me anything." Katie replied. "You're my brother's mate, but before that we're friends right? I mean if you don't mind being friends with a werewolf." Katie added the last bit with a bit of worry in her voice, as she remembered that Natasha was still new to the idea.

"Considering the lack of choice I've found available to myself. I hope I'm still allowed to choose my friends." Natasha paused as Katie nodded. "That given then, I'd definitely like to count you as a friend."

Katie burst into a grin and gave Natasha a quick hug, before settling herself back on the sofa.

"Ok, ask away" Katie said.

Natasha looked at her a bit bemused.

"Is the constant hugging a wolf thing, or is it just a family thing? James is forever touching me and hugging me, and I just realised that you do it quite a lot as well." Natasha said almost thinking out loud.

"I've never really thought about it." Katie said. "I guess it's probably a wolf thing. Wolves are really tactile, we like to touch and be close to each other. It's comforting." Katie mused. "I've never really thought about. Was that your idea of personal question?" Katie asked teasingly.

Natasha sighed at her.

"No it was just a thought." Natasha felt her cheeks begin to heat again as she thought how to frame her question. She didn't consider herself prudish but she just didn't have much experience in talking about sex as she hadn't really had many friends over the years.

"Whatever you ask I promise I won't laugh or think you're silly." Katie said reassuringly, as she could see that Natasha seemed to be having trouble finding the words she wanted.

Natasha smiled at her friend with gratitude.

"You said earlier that, weres.. Is that the right term?"

Katie nodded

"That weres are really horny." Natasha paused again

Katied nodded confirmation again.

"Does that mean that you'd slept with someone else before you met Dean?" Natasha asked, hoping that she wasn't going to offend her new friend.

"I don't know about sleeping but I definitely brought guys back to my bed." Katie said without a trace of embarrassment. "When there's a celebration, or a hunt, or any special occasion really there's sex involved. The mated couples are monogamous but unmated wolves do as they like with whoever they like. As I said we're pretty open about sex."

"Oh." Natasha sighed sounding worried.

Katie wrinkled her brow at her a little confused.

"Natasha?" Katie asked gently.

Natasha looked up from the piece of carpet she'd been intently staring at for the last minute or so.

"Are you a virgin?" Katie asked gently.

Natasha's eyes flicked straight back down to the carpet.

"Does James know?" Katie asked even more carefully.




Haven's Wood Ch. 05



Natasha shrugged.

"I didn't tell him." She started. "But, I told him a lot about my past, and he might have been able to figure it out, I suppose."

Katie snorted at this.

"I love my brother but he's not so great at picking up on subtle."

"I guess this might be another disappointment for him then." Natasha muttered bleakly.

"Are you joking?" Katie said in surprise. "He's going to think he's hit the jackpot."

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked once again confused by Katie's response.

"You may have noticed that male wolves are a tiny bit possessive?" 

Natasha smiled at the understatement.

"Well, when James finds out that no one else has ever taken you to bed, well, he's just going to want to lay claim to your body even more."

"Really?" Natasha queried very unsure of what she was being told.

"Trust me." Katie said emphatically. "James is trying to give you time and space, but if you tell him that he may not be able to control himself any longer."

Natasha went a little pale, she wasn't sure she was ready to make that step. She knew that when he was around she felt differently, but at the moment she was just afraid.

"Can I give you some advice?" Katie asked.

"Of course."

"Don't kiss James. Not unless you want to go all the way with him. His wolf is hovering near the surface, and if you initiate anything sexual with him, I don't think he'll be able to hold back. He's better now that you're here, but I wouldn't test him."

It was then that a knock came at the door. Their lunch had arrived.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After leaving his rooms James headed straight to his office, he didn't even check to see if Dean was with him.

He slammed into his office and began to pull out the files that he needed. He threw the paper work on the desk, yanked open a drawer and began searching for his pen. Dean arrived to find James muttering angrily under his breath about things not being where he left them.

Dean watched for a moment, before speaking.

"There's a pen in the holder on the front of the desk."

James looked up, his eyes swirling with amber, just as Dean had suspected they might be.

Dean sighed before bravely asking.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." James declared. "I want to get this done so I can go back to my mate."

Dean slowly walked into the room with his frustrated alpha.

"Katie is suggesting that maybe you give her some time alone with Natasha, she says they have a lot to talk about." Dean said all of this very calmly, as if he were talking to a savage beast.

James sighed with frustration.

"Dean, you and I both know my sister well enough to be certain that she has never 'suggested' anything in her life."

Dean smiled at this.

"You might be right about that, but I think she might be right about Natasha. You're not thinking clearly. It's obvious that your wolf is fighting you for control right now. Maybe a little space will make things easier for Natasha." Dean suggested relying on the fact that his alpha had enough control over his more savage side to listen.

When James didn't respond Dean continued.

"Why don't we get the paperwork done and then go for a run. I haven't been up to the compound for a few months so it would be nice to run through our forests."

James thought for a moment.

"A run might do me good, but I don't want to leave Natasha shut in my rooms for longer than necessary."

"I noticed she was upset when you told her that. I understand not liking being shut in places but her reaction was really intense, especially for a human." Dean said

"When she was a child, her family locked her away, alone, for weeks at a time." James explained, not bothering to disguise the anger he felt at the way she had been treated.

"Why?" Dean asked, appalled. The idea of being shut inside, without anyone for comfort and for so long was absolutely abhorrent to him. His wolf began to whimper in his mind at just the thought of being so alone.

"Not for any good reason as far as I can tell. It's just as well they're gone or I'd hunt them down myself." James seethed. 

"That does explain her reaction after we left." Dean mused to himself.

"What do you mean?" James asked sharply.

Dean realised his alpha had left so quickly that he might not have heard the sound of crying from the room.

"I heard crying." Dean softly stated, expecting anger in response.

James slumped down in his chair. He leant over, elbows on the desk, head in his hands.

"I'm as bad as that godforsaken uncle of hers." He sighed. "Katie was right; I've done this all wrong." 

The two sat in oppressive silence for about 5 minutes each wrapped up in thought. James finally let out a long sigh.

"Well, what's done is done." He said before continuing with determination. "You and I are going to get this paperwork done. Then I'm going to plan a surprise for Natasha. Make sure that everyone knows that the rose garden will be out of bounds for the afternoon and tell the pack to be in the great hall at 7 for the introduction." 

James felt much better now that he had a plan. He knew that he'd made a mistake and he'd just have to do his best to make up for it.

They had just settled down to work when a thought flashed through his mind.

"Dean, If you tell Katie that I said she was right, I may be forced to hurt you"

Dean grinned, pleased to see his alpha in a better mood.

"She won't hear it from me."



Haven's Wood Ch. 06



 Hi folks, sorry this one has also taken some time, unfortunatly I managed to break my wrist so am now typing one handed! 

On the plus side it's a longer chapter like you keep asking for.





Natasha and Katie were sat on the sofas chatting when a knock came at the door. They looked at each other in confusion. James had said they weren't to leave the room as he didn't want Natasha mixing with the pack, so why was a member of the pack here?

Katie motioned to Natasha to stay where she was and headed to the door. Katie was really hoping that it wasn't going to be one of the unmated males, she was sure that James wouldn't react well if they'd disobeyed his orders.

She opened the door, and was confronted by a mountain of clothes, held by the Omega who ran the laundry.

"Sophia?" Katie asked. "Is that you under there? What are you doing here?"

"The Alpha sent me Mistress Katie. Would it be alright if I came in and put these down before I explain?" Sophia asked respectfully.

"Oh! Of course come in" Katie responded after staring blankly at Sophia for a moment. "Since when do you call me Mistress?" Katie asked.

Sophia chuckled as she breezed into the room.

"Well you've been gone so long that I didn't know if you'd finally turned into a proper lady." Sophia teased. "Besides it is your due you are still the highest ranked female, for the time being anyway. I didn't want our guest to think we had no manners."

Sophia had taken her pile of clothes to the bed as she said this.

In response Katie snorted her derision at the statement in the most unladylike manner she could manage. Sophia smiled at Katie's response as if it were exactly what she was expecting.

Sophia walked over to Natasha holding an envelope that had been on top of the pile of clothes. 

"Miss Natasha?" Sophia asked bowing her head a little.

"Err, yes." Natasha replied totally unsure of how to respond to the obvious deference she was being shown.

"The Alpha asked me to give you this." Sophie presented the envelope to Natasha as she spoke.

Natasha took the envelope noticing how thick the paper was; it felt more like fabric then paper. On the front of the envelope was her name written in beautifully flowing script. She turned the envelope over and opened it. Inside was a single piece of paper, of the same high quality as the envelope. This simple note was a beautiful thing to behold. It had been written with a proper ink pen and was in the same script as the envelope. Natasha took a moment to admire it before she began to read.

 My Dearest Natasha

I hope you will do me the honour of accompanying me for a short 

excursion this afternoon. I have asked Sophia to provide you with 

some clean clothes, should you wish to change. I would like to pick

you up at 4, if you accept my invitation.



If you let Katie know your answer she can pass it onto me. I will

be waiting, desperately hoping that you say yes



Eternally Yours 

James Haven 



Whilst Natasha read the note, Sophia had begun to lay the clothes she had brought on the bed so Natasha could have a look at them. Katie, filled with curiosity, was stood in front of Natasha watching her read the letter. Katie watched Natasha read the latter at least twice before her curiosity overwhelmed her.

"So, what does it say?" Katie asked dying to hear the answer.

"I think." Natasha began, not quite believing what she was saying. "That James." She continued. "Is asking me on a date!"

Katie looked at Natasha disbelievingly.

"Could I have a look?" Katie asked, wondering what her brother was up to.

Natasha passed her the letter, feeling bemused about the whole situation. Katie read the letter in a matter of moments. In short order she began giggling.

"What is it that's so funny?" Natasha asked, feeling like she was in the dark yet again.

"The idea of a werewolf going on a date!" Katie replied trying to master her giggling fit. "I mean what's he going to do with you? Take you out for a nice bit of raw deer he just caught."

Natasha couldn't help but pull a face at that suggestion.

"Do you really think that's the kind of thing he has in mind?" Natasha asked Katie a little worried, that she might be laughing because it was the kind of thing James might do.

Katie however was too busy laughing to reassure Natasha, so Natasha looked over to Sophia hoping for some help.

"Do you know what he's planning?" She asked Sophia.

"I'm sorry Miss Natasha but the Alpha didn't tell me his plans" 

Sophia looked over at Katie who was still entertained by the idea of James presenting his human mate with a deer carcass. After shaking her head at Katie who was still trying to catch her breath, she turned to Natasha.

"The Alpha is a gentleman and I'm sure he's not going to take you hunting. As much as it might entertain Katie to think that he would."

Natasha smiled gratefully at Sofia.

"So what's with all these clothes then?" Natasha asked.

"Well." Sophia looked a little embarrassed as she began speaking. "The Alpha asked me to sort out your luggage. Since some of your clothes were dirty I decided to wash them all so that they would be clean for you when you need them. However I haven't had time to finish drying them yet. So I grabbed a selection from the clothes stores. I hope you don't mind."

Natasha looked at the huge array of clothes that was spread out on the bed.

"Why do you have so many clothes just lying around?" Natasha asked in wonderment.

"Well, being a werewolf isn't exactly easy on your clothes." Sophia replied with a wry grin on her face. "So we always have spares in most sizes on hand."

"I don't suppose you also have shoes do you" Natasha asked hopefully.

She'd seen a cute summer dress that she wanted to wear but didn't think it would really go with the walking boots she had on at the moment.

Sophia looked down at Natasha's feet. Instantly understanding she looked back at Natasha's face, smiled, and said:

"Not a problem, just tell me your size and I can grab you pair of sandals."

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a hassle." Said Natasha, feeling a little guilty.

"Miss Natasha you could never be a hassle." Sophie replied. "Making you happy, will make the Alpha happy. He's a good man and he deserves to be happy. He works hard the pack so it's only fair that we work hard for him"

Natasha found it touching that this woman so clearly thought so much of James.

"Well, if you have a pair of size 6 sandals that would be wonderful." Natasha said. She looked over at Katie, before adding. "Are you done laughing yet?"

"Not quite" Katie replied. "I just re-read his letter. Did you notice that he's talking like he's in the 19 hundreds again?" Katie began giggling some more as she said this.

Natasha rolled her eyes at Katie's antics.

"Well when you're done laughing, please tell him ' yes'."

Katie beamed at Natasha before saying.

"I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time."

Natasha scooped up the dress she'd picked and headed to the bathroom to get ready.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

4:10 rolled around and Natasha and Katie were waiting on the sofas in James's room. Sophia had left shortly after returning with Natasha's sandals. Natasha was alternately fiddling with the hem of her dress and glancing at the clock on the wall.

"Do you think he's changed his mind?" Natasha asked Katie, a little worried.

"Probably." Katie replied, as if she believed it.

"You can be really evil sometimes, you know that don't you?" Natasha responded.

Katie simply grinned and stuck her tongue out at her friend. Causing Natasha to grab a nearby pillow and throw it at her face. Katie, being possessed of werewolf reflexes, easily dodged, much to Natasha's annoyance.

Moments later a sharp knock came at the door. Natasha jumped to her feet, but Katie was already at the door. She opened the door and once again descended into giggles. Natasha heard a sigh from the other side of the door that could only belong to one person.

"Katie." She heard James say. "You're not really helping my confidence here."

Katie pulled herself together to reply. "Since when have you lacked confidence?" She smiled at her brother before finishing with. "You just took me by surprise."

Natasha walked over to the door wondering what it was that had set Katie off again. Upon reaching the door she saw James, holding a single red rose and heart-shaped box of chocolates. Natasha's face burst into a smile.

"Please tell me you're not about to start laughing as well." James pleaded. "I don't think I could survive that."

Natasha covered her mouth in an unsuccessful attempt to stifle the giggles that were threatening to break free.

"Too much?" James asked.

Natasha quickly slapped a hand over Katie's mouth before she could respond in an undoubtedly scathing manner.

"I just didn't expect you to bring gifts." Natasha explained.

Katie pulled Natasha's hand down.

"I told you he'd bring you something to eat!" Katie piped in before quickly excusing himself.

"I don't even want to know what that was about." James told Natasha.

"I'm sure she'll explain it to you whether you want her to or not." Katie smiled. "It really was very thoughtful of you to bring me those." She said indicating the flower and the chocolates.

"Oh, yes. Here." James mumbled before offering them to Natasha.

Natasha took the proffered gifts then looked around a little unsure of what to do with them. James saw Natasha's dilemma and began to feel a little foolish.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I guess I didn't really think this through. I just thought it's what you're supposed to do when you picked a girl up to go on a date. I'm afraid this is something of a first for me."

"Well you get full marks for effort so far." Natasha smiled.

Natasha went back into the room and placed the flower and chocolates on the coffee table. She turned back to James and asked.

"So where are we going on this excursion? I'm dying of curiosity."

Natasha waited a moment but when James didn't reply she realised that he was staring intently at her. She looked down at her dress worrying that there might be something wrong with it. Seeing no problem she looked back up at James.

"Do you not like the dress?" Natasha asked worriedly "I didn't know where we'd be going, so I didn't know what to wear. If this isn't okay there are a couple of options still on the bed."

James just smiled at Natasha as she babbled about her clothes.

"The dress is fine." James reassured her "I was just thinking how lucky I am."

Natasha was about to disagree with him, but stopped herself before she did. James was amused to see her internal struggle to not dismiss his complement. While she didn't accept it at least this time she didn't outwardly disagree with him.

"Shall we go then?" James asked offering her his arm.

"Yes, let's." Natasha replied, slipping her arm through his.

James began to lead Natasha through the Manor house that he had rushed her through earlier that Morning. This time he stopped to answer her questions about the portraits and the compound. Natasha learnt that most of the pack didn't actually live in the Manor. It was mostly full of offices, guestrooms (for the pack members who lived in the village), and the rest was communal facilities. There was a dining room big enough for the whole pack, a state-of-the-art gym and several entertainment rooms.

"You still haven't told me where we're going." Natasha pointed out to James as they wandered through the Manor.

"It's a surprise, besides we're nearly there" James told her.

They had gone down a small flight of stairs, a few hundred metres from James's room and were now walking along a little corridor at the back of the house. Just before they reached a pair of French windows, James stopped them.

"Ok. We're here." James said.

He paused a moment, as if unsure of himself. He seemed like he was about to say something, but decided against it. It was the first time Natasha had ever seen James so indecisive. She realised he must be really nervous about what he'd planned.

"James." She said, as she laid a hand on his arm. "I promise I'll like it."

She could feel the tension rush out of him the moment she touched him. She remembered what Katie had told her about wolves liking to touch each other. She also realised that this was probably the first time that she'd been the one to instigate contact between them. It really did seem to calm him down.

James smiled over to Natasha delighted that she cared enough about him to want to comfort him, despite how mad she'd been with him earlier.

"I hope you have fun, I know they will!" He said enigmatically, before throwing the doors open.

They'd gone two steps out the door before they were surrounded by what felt like a sea of puppies. They were all different colours and sizes but they were all trying to rub up against James and Natasha. 

"Are these.." Natasha began, not sure of the words she wanted.

"These are some of the pack's pups, our youngsters." James explained. "As youngsters we spend most of our time as wolves. These guys are all between 4 and 7 years old. I know you used to teach older kids but this was the best I could do. Besides they're much cuter at this age."

The pups' enthusiasm was infectious and she reached out to stroke the nearest puppy, before thinking that maybe she shouldn't. After all she wouldn't stroke a child. She looked askance of James, her hand hovering halfway to the puppy.

The moment her hand stopped, the puppies started crying. James began to laugh.

"You'd better stroke them, before they deafen us. I'm afraid their wolves are pretty dominant at this age. So patience is not one their virtues."

Natasha bent down to stroke them and found herself almost knocked over as they all bounded over to try and get a good sniff of her and to lick her face. James caught her before she toppled over, a worried look on his face.

He growled a reprimand at the puppies. In response the ones who had rushed over at Natasha wiggled onto their bellies and whimpered to seek forgiveness. It suddenly occurred to James that Natasha might not understand why he'd growled at the puppies he didn't want her to think that he was going to hurt them.

When he looked over at Natasha though, she was smiling softly at him.

"It's good to know that some things are the same" She explained when she saw him looking at her.

James simply frowned in even greater confusion at this.

"Children," Natasha continued, "as soon as they get excited they forget everything they've been told."

James chuckled in agreement.

"Do you want to try again?" He asked. "A little slower this time though." He added both saying this, for Natasha, and sending it, to reinforce his point, to the puppies.

"Sure, How about this time I get knelt down first, then they can come and say hello" Natasha suggested.

So that's what they did. Natasha knelt down and the puppies came over a couple at a time to see her. James watched on, knowing that one day she would make a wonderful mother. She had something unique and positive to say to each of the ten puppies. By the time she was done all the puppies were projecting contentment and love for Natasha. James knew just how they felt. 

"Well, now that the introductions are done. I thought we might take them down to lake. Sophia is going to meet us there. She's watching over them for this afternoon, and she'll take over from us when we get there." James explained, motioning over towards the direction of the lake.

"You have a lake?" Natasha asked, impressed. "I'm not sure why that surprises me though considering this place" Natasha added as an afterthought.

"It's not a natural lake" James explained as they began to walk down the path. "We built it a while back, so that we could have a place to swim. We're going to the shallow parts so these guys can practice swimming."

Natasha realised that she was feeling that sense of peace and tranquillity that she'd felt when she'd first arrived in Haven's Wood. Somehow, walking down this path with James and a hoard of baby wolves, felt right. Natasha decided that this time she wasn't going to question how she felt, she was just going to enjoy it.

When they lake came into to sight the puppies began to race off, to see who could be the first into the water. Natasha and James couldn't help but feel the sheer joy the puppies felt as they raced towards the water and threw themselves into it.

One of the youngest puppies though, reached the edge of the water then stopped and started whimpering. He'd put his feet in, and then scamper backwards again. Natasha quickly pulled her sandals off and headed down to the water next to him. She ran her hand over his back before stepping into water, then jumping straight out again.

She glared over at James.

"You could have warned me that it's freezing cold!" She accused.

"They don't seem to mind." James said smiling at her and indicating the puppies splashing around.

She glared at him, with mock annoyance, then gritted her teeth and stepped back into the water. She took a few steps in so that the water was halfway up her calves, before turning around to encourage the puppy to join her.

The puppy took a few steps in, he didn't run back this time, but he didn't look like he was quite sure about the whole thing yet.

James crouched down next to the water and asked the pup,

"If I go in, will you come with me?"

The puppy was so delighted at the idea of being with his Alpha that he agreed instantly with a wag of his tail. James quickly took his shoes off and rolled his trousers up. The whole time he was muttering about how much easier it would be to just change into a wolf.

"Oh no!" Natasha exclaimed when she heard him talking about changing. "If I have to suffer in the cold water so do you."

"I'm sure it's not that bad" James said before stepping in.

He had planned to ignore the cold of the water completely but didn't quite manage to keep the wince from his face when the cold hit him, much to Natasha's satisfaction.

Once James had stepped out to join Natasha, they both gave the pup some encouragement to join them. The pup responded rather more enthusiastically then they had expected, and launched himself into the water, soaking both of them.

As soon as his feet left the floor instinct took over and he swam over to join the rest of the puppies.

James and Natasha looked at each other, and just started laughing. They climbed back out onto the bank and looked over at the puppies who had moved round the edge of the lake a bit and were jumping into the deeper water, then splashing back out again, to jump in all over again.

Natasha noticed for the first time that there was a much bigger wolf lying on the bank by the puppies, watching them.

"Is that Sophia?" she asked James, who confirmed her suspicion with a nod.

She looked back over and saw that the puppies were all nudging at Sophia and whining. Natasha was beginning to wonder what was wrong, when Sophia huffed out a breath, stood up, shook herself off, and then ran and leapt into the water like the puppies had done, much to their delight. She then climbed out and shook water all over the excited puppies before settling down again.

"Come on." James said, distracting her from the frolicking wolves. "Let get you warmed up you're shivering."

Natasha realised that James was right, and that she was rather cold after her soaking. So she gladly followed when he began to lead her away from the water.

"Aren't we going back to the house?" She asked, when she realised they weren't heading back the way they'd come.

"Not just yet." James said with a smile. "I have one more surprise for you. Don't worry though, it comes with a towel."




Haven's Wood Ch. 06



James took her hand and led her away from the lake, along a path that was shrouded by trees. After a couple of minutes of walking the trees opened out and there was a lovely grass clearing. In the centre of the clearing bathed in sunlight was a little gazebo, underneath which there was a small table and two chairs. On the table there was a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket, two champagne flutes, and a vase filled with eleven red roses.

Natasha stopped when she saw what was prepared for them.

"Did you do all this?" She asked.

"I didn't have time to pick up the flowers so Dean did that, but all the rest was me, yes. I hope you like it." James replied.

"It's beautiful, thank you." Natasha said sincerely.

James beamed a response. He went over to the gazebo and picked up a pair of towels that were sitting on top of a cool box. He wrapped one around Natasha's shoulders before using the other one to quickly dry himself. He then took the bottle of champagne popped the cork and poured out two glasses. He offered one glass to Natasha then pulled out a chair for her to sit on.

Natasha smiled and shook her head at the display of chivalry.

"I've never had champagne before." She said with a grin.

"I hope you like it then." James replied.

Natasha took a tentative step, before smiling up at James as the bubbles tickled her tongue.

"It's lovely, thank you." She looked at the flowers before continuing. "Eleven here, plus the one you gave me, so that makes a dozen red roses you bought me, as well as a bottle of champagne. Are you trying to tell me something?" She asked coyly.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted this morning. It was wrong." James simply stated. He brought the second chair over towards hers, and sat down before continuing. "I want you to know that I care about you deeply. Your happiness is very important to me. I want you to be here because you want to be. I hope you'll stay for dinner, but, if after that you want to leave, I won't stop you."

The last statement was clearly very hard for James to say. His eyes briefly flashed amber as he said it. This fact was not missed by Natasha.

"Thank you James. It means a lot that you're giving me that choice." She told him, as she reached out and put her hand on his.

James couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that she hadn't instantly said that she was going to stay, but he knew that it had to be her choice. If he forced her to stay she wouldn't ever really be his. Instead of dwelling on his disappointment James decided that he would just have to convince her to stay by showing her just how cherished she was. 

"Do you like strawberries?" James asked as he headed over to the cool box.

"Sure." Natasha replied.

James then produced a bowl of strawberries for each of them and another filled with whipped cream.

Natasha raised her eyebrows when she saw the whipped cream.

"I hope that's for the strawberries" She said teasingly.

"What else would it be for?" James asked, genuinely confused.

Natasha blushed bright red when she realised he had no idea what she was talking about. She just shook her head in response hoping he'd drop it. James smirked at her response before saying.

"I hope you'll show me what you were thinking of sometime. From the colour of your face, I'm guessing it'd be fun."

The pair settled in to eat their strawberries and sip their champagne, as they watched the sun start to dip towards the horizon. They talked about little things, just getting to know each other better.

James glanced at his watch and saw that it was getting close to the time for them to head back to the Manor.

"I hope you don't mind, but I arranged for the pack to meet us in the Great Hall for dinner. I was hoping that I would be able to introduce you to them."

"What does that involve exactly?" Natasha asked a little nervously.

She was remembering her introduction to the pups earlier that day, and was now having visions of hundreds of adult wolves trying to do the same thing.

"Well," James began, "the pack will all be waiting for us in the Hall. Most people sit with their families for dinner. We'll come in the double doors, and I'll introduce you as my mate. There will probably be a bit of noise and then we'll sit down for dinner with Katie and Dean."

"That's it?" Natasha asked, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"That's it." James confirmed.

"No one's going to try and sniff me?" she asked.

"Not so you'd notice." James replied smiling at her question.

Natasha thought a moment before saying:

"Ok. I can do that. Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Well, I guess that they will all probably be staring and you, a few of the braver ones might come over to say hello after dinner. The whole pack wants to get to know you. They've all been waiting for me to find my mate for a long time." James explained.

"No pressure then?" Natasha asked sarcastically.

"I promise that they'll love you no matter what." James told her, echoing her reassurance from earlier in the day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stood outside the doors to the Grand Hall, Natasha could hear the voices of all the people inside. She was starting to have second thoughts about this. She realised that she'd basically agreed to having dinner with his family, and it was a big family.

James sensed her nervousness. He moved closer to her to give her a quick hug, hoping to reassure her.

"It'll be fine. I promise." He said as he wrapped his arms around her.

Natasha found herself grateful for his touch and lent into his hug loosely wrapping her arms around him. They both sighed in contentment, for the first time they were both holding each other. Natasha rested her head on James chest and was surprised to feel an odd vibration.

"What is that you're doing?" She asked, lifting her head from his chest

"Hmm?" James asked not really wanting her to move and not knowing what she was referring to.

"Your chest is 'rumbling', a bit like when you growl, but not quite." Natasha explained feeling a little silly as she did so.

"It's called murring."James said, rushing over the name quickly. "It's something wolves do when they're with their mates and they're happy"

"So it's a bit like a purr then?" Natahsa asked.

"No. Cat's purr and they'll do it for anyone." James said a little more forcefully than he meant to. He then continued more gently. "Wolves murr, and only for their mates."

Natasha smiled at how easily James had gotten riled up about being compared to a cat. She was about to continue teasing him when the door to the hall cracked open, and Katie's head appeared.

Katie quickly took in the pair holding each other and grinned broadly at them.

"I'm glad you two are getting along, but might I remind you that there's a room full of hungry wolves waiting for you."

James swatted a hand at his sister, as she ducked back round the door, then turned back to Natasha.

"You ready?"

"As I'll ever be." She replied.

James pushed the doors open and led Natasha into the suddenly silent room. The eyes of every person in the very large, very full room were fixed, expectantly on the pair.

"Haven's wood Pack." James declared, his voice resounding around the room. "I present to you Natasha, my mate."

As soon as James finished, the room filled with cheering and shouting. After a couple of moments, from the back of the room, a howl began. It filtered through the room until every member of the pack had joined in.

Natasha looked over to James; he hadn't said anything about howling. James looked as surprised as Natasha was, he also looked overwhelmed as if this was something special.

When the sound died down, James spoke to the room again.

"Thank you. I'm blessed to have such a kind and generous pack. I know that you will all make Natasha feel welcome as she learns our ways and gets used to being part of our family."

The cheering started again as James led Natasha over to a table where Dean and Katie were waiting. Once they were seated the noise died down into chattering.

"Did you organise that?" James asked Dean and Katie, once the room was quiet enough for them to talk.

"Not me" Dean said and looked over at Katie.

"I don't think anyone organised it James, we're just all so happy for you." Katie said.

"Erm" Natasha interjected. "I take it something important just happened?" She asked, hoping that one of them would explain it.

As James was still a little overwhelmed Dean stepped in.

"Wolves only howl as a whole pack like that on special occasions. It mostly only happens when new wolves are being welcomed to the pack. It's a way to bond everyone together and to let the new wolf know that they're part of the pack. When Katie and I were bonded, I joined this pack and was welcomed like that. Well they weren't nearly as loud for me."

Katie smiled at her mate's grumbled comment at the end of his explanation. As Natasha still looked a little confused Katie took over the explanation.

"The pack has decided to accept you as part of the family before you're bonded to James. It's almost unheard of for humans to be accepted so easily. It just shows how much they love James. They don't want anything to stand between you two. It's kind of like they're giving their blessing."

"Welcome to the family." Dean added.

Natasha's mouth fell open a little as the magnitude of what she'd been told sank in. 

"But," she finally sputtered. "They don't even know me. What if they don't like me when they get to know me? They've been waiting for someone special to be James's mate and they're going to be so disappointed when they find out that I'm not anything special!" 

Tears began to sting at Natasha's eyes as she began to panic about letting the pack down. Katie looked over to Dean with concern in her eyes not understanding why Natasha was so upset. Dean having heard about Natasha's past from James thought that it'd be best to give them a moment alone.

"Come on, lets go and grab some food." Dean said as he pulled Katie out of her chair.

James took Natasha's hands and turned her towards him. 

"Stop the right now!" He said sharply catching her attention and stopping her before she continued to work herself up.

"You're part of this family now, whether you like it or not. That means that all the people in this room will support and love you unconditionally. I know you're not used to being part of a real family, but there's no one better at 'family' than wolves. No matter what you choose to do, even if you choose to leave, everyone here will still care for you and there will always be a home here for you. Do you understand?"

Natasha stared at James as he said this to her. She tried to stifle the tears she felt, feeling that she'd cried enough in the last few days to last a lifetime. 

James seeing understanding begin to sink into Natasha's eyes continued, on a slightly different tack this time.

"Now while they might support you unconditionally. I'm a slightly different matter."

Natasha looked at James uncertain as to what he was trying to say to her.

"I love you so much, that I can't let you continue to think so little of yourself. I believe I told you that the next time you put yourself down, I'd put you over my knee."

Natasha began to protest.

"You can't be serious. That was just a joke. You wouldn't..."

James just smiled at her until she trialled off, an evil twinkle in his eye.

"I might be persuaded to hold back under two conditions. 

First, you tell me if you're planning to stay for a while. You haven't told me yet and not knowing is killing me.

Second, you tell me about the whipped cream. 

And if you say anything else bad about yourself then the deal's off."

Natasha flushed at the reminder of her earlier blunder.

"I'll agree to the first condition, but you'll have to earn the second." Natasha replied, deciding that two could play at this game.

James smiled

"Deal."

He waited expectantly. He was fairly sure that she was going to stay but he wouldn't be able to relax until Natasha said the words herself.

"I'll stay. I'm still a little confused about all of this, but I can't deny that I feel something for you, so I want see where it goes."

James could barely contain himself from shouting his happiness from the rooftops, he settled instead for pulling Natasha into his arms and holding her tight. When he felt her rest her head against his chest, he thought he'd explode with joy and when she tilted her head up to look at him he couldn't resist her soft full lips any longer.

He leant down and gently pressed his mouth against hers. He moved slowly afraid that she might pull away at any moment. Instead he felt her lift her head further towards his and her lips part slightly. 

At her silent invitation he traced her lips with his tongue. As the kiss deepened he began to slowly explore her mouth, luxuriating in the sensation of her kissing him back. His hands began to move slowly over her body, the friction of her dress against her skin was adding to the heat that the kiss was causing.

Natasha could feel the now familiar wave of lust begin to sweep through her body. This time she didn't fight it she simply let it wash through her. She began to run her hand over James chest, wanting to feel his skin but only finding his shirt.

In the meantime James' hands had slipped under the hem of Natasha's dress and were sliding up the back of her thighs until he grasped her ass, pulling her firmly against him.

Suddenly, both James and Natasha felt ice cold water pouring over their heads. James whirled on the source of their attack, his eyes almost completely amber. It took Natasha a moment to come to her senses and when she did she didn't like what she saw.

James was stood before her, growling menacingly and appeared to be advancing on Dean, who stood between James and Katie. Katie was stood still, her head bowed and to one side showing her neck to James.

Natasha reached out and put a hand on James's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. The growling however continued.

"What's going on?" She asked as calmly as she could.

James was struggling to control his wolf enough to talk, so Dean did instead.

"Katie poured the pitcher of water over you both, because you didn't answer when we tried to get your attention. She said that you wouldn't want things to keep going, not with an audience."

Natasha turned beet red when she realised what had nearly happened, or more importantly, where it had nearly happened.

"James wasn't pleased." Dean continued. "I won't let him hurt my mate, even if he is my Alpha." He finished, his voice betraying the fact that he knew he wouldn't win if it came down to a fight.

"Don't worry Dean." Natasha said. "James isn't going to hurt anyone."

She kept her hand on James the whole time, but moved herself so that she stood before James and the target of his ire.

"James?" Natasha asked softy. "Are you listening to me?"

James flicked his amber eyes towards Natasha and briefly nodded before looking back over towards Katie and Dean.

"James, Katie was just protecting me. This is my fault. She warned me what would happen if I kissed you, but I did it anyway. If you don't calm down you'll do something that you regret, and I won't be happy with you."

James's was more focussed on Natasha now; the intensity in his eyes however hadn't abated.

"What do you mean? Protecting you?" James asked angrily. "I would never hurt you. You both know that."

"Can I explain this to you in private?" Natasha asked.

"Do you not want this? Do you not want me?" James growled losing what little control he had left, at the thought that Natasha might not want him.

"James, please that's not it at all." Natasha cried.

She took a deep breath and tried to imagine that there wasn't a large audience for what she was about to say.

"James, the reason Katie did what she did is because she knows that I wouldn't want our ... my first time to be so public."

A ripple of shocked gasps and whispers filtered around the room, and all the nearby male wolves wisely moved further away from the commotion.

James whipped his glance around the room, satisfied to see that the only male left in sight was Dean, and even he had backed as close to Katie as he could while still shielding her.

James returned his eyes to Natasha. He placed both hands on her shoulders and spoke softly.

"Are you telling me that you're a virgin?" 

Natasha nodded mutely.

"That means I probably owe my sister an apology and some thanks don't I?" He asked even quieter.

Natasha nodded again.

"You're welcome." Katie said in a stage whisper, a grin on her face, even though she was still stood baring her neck.

If looks could kill James's stare might have wounded Katie, but Dean's would have laid her to rest for sure.

James shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he opened them again the curls of amber had given way to more of his normal blue. He took Natasha's hand and led her from the room. He closed the doors behind them, then let go of Natasha's hand.

"I wanted to try and take things slowly, Natasha, I really did. I knew it would be hard, but right now it feels impossible. All I can think about is taking you up to my bed, throwing you onto it, and making you writhe in pleasure all night long as I make you mine."

Natasha could feel the heat from James's eyes wash over her as he said this and it sent a thrill through her body. She couldn't help but grow excited at his passionate words.

"But." He continued with difficulty. "If you don't want that, I need to know now. I will control myself, somehow."

Natasha looked into James's eyes, and saw the passion he felt for her, but more than that she saw the love and she knew that he would keep her safe and that he wouldn't hurt her.

"James, I want to come upstairs with you, I just hope that I won't disappoint you." She said feeling horribly shy.

A look of relief flashed over James's face, but it was quickly replaced by one of pure carnal hunger.

He held his hand out to Natasha, and when she took it he tugged on her arm, so she fell forward, allowing him to place her over his shoulders.

Natasha let out a little shriek of surprise as he swept her off her feet and headed towards his room. Over his back she saw the doors to the Hall open. Katie and Dean looked worried until they spotted her waving at them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James swept into his room Natasha still over his shoulder, he shut and locked the door behind them before throwing her onto the bed, as he'd promised he would. 

Natasha landed on her back, her hair in disarray around her head, her cheeks flushed. Her dress had ridden up around her legs and now barely covered her panties.

James looked down at her. He looked like a starving man presented with a banquet, he didn't know where to begin.

Natasha propped herself up on her elbows as James looked down at her. She wanted to say something to ease the tension that was building in the room, but the look in James's eyes made her mouth go dry. So when James smiled at her she felt herself relax. That is until she registered what he'd just said to her.

"You broke our deal." He said, far too calmly.

"What?" Natasha asked, trying to figure out what he meant.

"You agreed that if you said anything else negative about yourself that I could put you over my knee and spank you."

Natasha felt her heart rate begin to spike as he said this. She could see from the look in his eye that he was deadly serious, and very excited by the idea. To be quite honest she was rather excited by the idea too.

Natasha slid herself to the edge of the bed, stood up and stepped closer to James. She had no idea what to do next though. James however had no such problem. He tipped her chin up with his finger and leant down to lay a soft, chaste kiss to her lips. 




Haven's Wood Ch. 06



He then sat down on the bed and pulled her over his lap by her hand, so that her face and arms were on the bed. He placed one hand on the small of her back and began to rub his other hand over her ass.

Natasha felt exposed and not a little bit silly. She began to squirm a little on his lap as he caressed her behind.

"If you keep that up I might not be able resist you for very much longer" James groaned.

Natasha stopped moving when she realised what the firmness she could feel underneath her was.

James slid his hand down her legs, and began to run a fingertip up her thigh pulling her dress up as her went. His finger leaving a trail of heat in it's wake. He pulled her dress over her bum exposing her panty clad bottom to his eyes.

When he started to pull her knickers down she unconsciously lifted her hips to help him. He chuckled at her eagerness. He slipped her knickers down her legs so that they feel in a heap on the floor.

Without warning James brought his hand down on to Natasha's ass. It made a stratifying crack as it hit. Natasha jumped, from the surprise more than pain. James delivered three more hits in quick succession, nothing hard enough to really hurt, but enough to start turning her ass a lovely shade of pink.

Each time his hand fell on her ass Natasha felt like a spark of lightning had shot through her core, leaving her tingling with sensation. She was a little disappointed when he stopped so soon and began to caress her heated flesh instead.

As if sensing her disappointment James said.

"Don't worry that was just the warm up."

He raised his hand from her ass and waited a moment, letting the tension build. Then he dropped his hand to her waiting cheeks five more time, each a little harder than the last. The final one was hard enough to make her draw in a sharp breath.

This time Natasha couldn't help but squirm when his hand rubbed over her now bright red cheeks. James let his hand slide between her legs. Natasha froze when she realised where his hand was going.

She held her breath as his fingers edged towards her pussy lips. She couldn't repress the quiet moan that escaped her as his finger traced through her damp folds.

"Hmm, I think you enjoyed that far too much." James said teasingly

To Natasha's disappointment, he stopped his exploration there. Instead he helped her up so that she was sat straddling his lap, one leg on either side of his, her bare pussy pressed against his throbbing erection, still contained in his trousers.

James tangled one hand in the hair at the back of her neck as her pulled her mouth to his so he could explore the wet heat of her mouth again. While they explored each other's mouths, James used his free hand to undo the zip on Natasha's dress.

He broke the kiss so that he could slide the straps of her dress off her shoulders letting it fall to her waist, revealing her lace clad breasts. James peppered kisses over the top of her heaving chest as he undid the clasp of her bra.

Natasha feeling her bra come loose brought her hands to her chest holding her bra in place. Somehow sitting in front of him, seeing him look at her made her feel more vulnerable than when she'd been laid across his knee.

James bit back a moan of frustration as he waited, wanting to give her time, but desperately wanting to hold her breasts in his hands.

"You first" Natasha said, nodding her head towards his shirt.

James chuckled, only too happy to oblige. He all but tore his shirt off sending buttons flying in his haste.

When Natasha still didn't move her hands, James begged.

"Please."

Natasha slowly let her hands drop away and let her bra slip off her arms. The innocence of her actions and her shyness almost sent James over the edge.

James moaned in delight as her beautiful, full breasts came into sight. Within moments he had one breast in his right hand, squeezing and massaging the fullness of her chest, running his fingers around her nipple the gently flicking his thumb over the bud. His left was braced on her lower back pulling her closer to him.

Meanwhile his mouth was worshiping her other breast. He laid kisses around it, before homing in on her nipple his tongue lashing over it and his hot wet mouth sucking.

Natasha was squirming on his lap from the sensations he was giving her. She felt her hips moving in response to his actions.

When he released her breasts momentarily to swap his attentions, she shifted to try and prevent the loss of the feeling he'd been giving her. In doing so she shifted on his lap causing her pussy to rub against the firmness in his trousers. 

It felt so good that she did it again, with intent this time. She soon had them both moaning as she ground herself against him.

James rolled them over so that Natasha was on her back on the bed. He stood by the bed and drank in the sight in front of him. Natasha lay there her dress bunched around her middle her hair in disarray, her chest flushed and heaving with her passion, and the glint of lust in her eyes.

Natasha lay there a little stunned at the sudden loss of sensation. She looked up at James, and for the first time in her life she didn't feel like she needed to hide anything, she wanted him to keep looking at her like he was.

James however had other ideas. He quickly kicked off his shoes and pulled his trousers off, giving Natasha her first glimpse of his impressive erection.

She glanced up at James a little scared by the size of it, but fascinated at the same time. She sat up and tentatively reached her hand towards his cock.

"Can I?" She asked nervously.

James nodded his permission.

Natasha reached out and ran her finger tips along it's length. She jerked her hand back when his cock twitched in response. She glanced up at James, and seeing encouragement in his eyes, she tried again. She gently wrapped her hand around the silken length. Her hand was not quite big enough to go all the way around. 

She softly ran her hand up from the base of his cock to the head, feeling the hardness beneath encased in velvety softness. As her hand reached the head of his cock, she ran her thumb over the tip feeling his precum.

James had closed his eyes, to try and keep control while he let her explore his cock. Her innocent exploration was sorely testing him. When he suddenly felt her tongue run over the head of his cock he nearly lost it then and there.

He groaned at the sensation then swiftly took a step back from Natasha, his breath coming in gasps.

"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong? I didn't hurt you did I?" Natasha said in a panic after he pulled away from her. She'd wanted to know what he tasted like, and thought he'd like it if she used her tongue so was mortified when he jumped away from her. 

"Something wrong! Natasha, if you kept that up I would have cum in moments! I intend to make this last, I told you I want you writhing in pleasure. In fact I want to make you scream my name in pleasure before the night is through."

That said James knelt before the bed between Natasha's thighs. He began by laying gentle kiss on her knee, before trailing more wet kisses up her inside thigh.

Just before he reached his destination he said,

"Now I know you're going to like this."

Natasha took a moment to register what James meant, but then flushed red as the vision of her, on her back, in the woods, with a wolf between her legs flashed before her eyes. She lay back on the bed and covered her eyes as if to banish the vision.

The sensation of James's tongue parting her pussy lips, however was soon all she could think of. He let his tongue lash up and down her moist folds never quite reaching her clit. She began to lift her hips up towards his face desperately needing more, but James wasn't quite ready to relent.

"Please." Natasha whispered.

James began to gently growl as he lapped up her heavenly juices, the vibrations adding to the pleasure that Natasha was feeling, but still not enough to push her over the peak.

"James!" She moaned in frustration.

At hearing his name, James plunged two fingers into her depths, and moved his moth to his clit. He began to suck on her clit, gently grasping it between his teeth and playing it like a musical instrument with his tongue.

The moment Natasha felt his tongue on her clit, she felt herself falling. Waves of pleasure washed over her, each peak a little higher. She felt a short pain as James breached her maidenhead with his fingers but it was quickly washed away on the next wave of pleasure that James was giving.

Just when she thought it was all too much, James stopped his ministrations and allowed her to come down a little.

While Natasha came back to herself, James moved them to the centre of the bed. He positioned himself over her and began planting kisses over her sensitive body. He particularly liked the little mewling sounds she made when he flicked his tongue over her nipples. He knew when she was ready for more when she started moaning and arching into his touch.

He ran his cock through her dripping folds a couple of time before lining himself up at her entrance. James looked into Natasha's eyes waiting for her permission. When she gave him a little nod, he began to gently push into her tight wet folds. Once the head of his cock was in he paused, savouring the sensation of her pussy gripping his cock so tightly.

After a moment he pulled out slightly before pushing deeper in. Natasha had never felt so full, it wasn't painful she just felt stretched. 

James pulled back once more before pushing himself the rest of the way inside. He moaned with satisfaction when he felt himself bottom out. 

James paused a moment to look into Natasha's eyes before beginning to move. He began gently sliding his cock only a little way out before pushing back in to Natasha's hot depths. 

As he began to make longer thrusts Natasha began to move with him. She felt a rush of pleasure every time he thrust deep inside her. She began to push back with more urgency, spurring James to pick up his pace. Soon James was thrusting hard and fast into Natasha's welcoming pussy.

Natasha moaned in frustration when James stopped a moment. He moved her leg over his shoulder. When James began pumping into her again, she could feel how much deeper he was, and she gently moaned his name in appreciation.

James chuckled at her response, and between thrusts he panted.

"Not good enough,

I want to hear you scream"

James took a moment to thrust his wolf, down, before pulling out of Natasha. He flipped her on to her stomach and pulled her hips up.

Natasha glanced over her shoulder at him, laughing at the position he'd picked. A glint of challenge in her eye, she called to him.

"Ok, you're good, but not good enough to make me scream."

She could hear James growl in response to her challenge, and when he plunged into her depths moments later she could feel the vibration through her body. That one thrust was almost enough to pull a scream of pleasure from her lips, but James wasn't done yet. 

He began to thrust hard and fast into Natasha, his grip on her hips tight enough to bruise, not that she cared at that moment. With each thrust his balls smacked against her clit sending waves of pleasure through her.

In a few moment Natasha could feel another orgasm approaching, and it was a big one, each thrust pushed her closer. When James moved his hand to pinch her nipple it sent her over the edge.

Her pussy began to clench around his cock, squeezing it even tighter. Natasha began to scream incoherently in her pleasure. James could feel his own climax approaching. He realised he'd not mentioned his knot to Natasha, but there wasn't much he could do about it, no way was he going to be able to stop now.

Natasha felt something even bigger begin to push inside her. She was too far gone in pleasure to think about it much. When his knot popped inside Natasha, James began to make short fast thrusts, this caused his Knot to rub against her g-spot sparking a fresh orgasm. This one took Natasha by surprise and was the most intense pleasure she'd felt yet.

When Natasha began to tighten around his cock again James could no longer hold back and gave a few last thrusts as his seed filled her. James howled with pleasure that he had taken his mate, and that no other man would ever know the pleasure he'd just experienced.

The pair collapsed on the bed, James curling himself around Natasha, his cock still firmly lodged inside of her.

Natasha felt good, her muscles were sore, and she'd probably be walking funny for a while, but she felt good. She tried to roll over to tell James, when she realised that she was stuck. She reached down and felt the bulge of his knot just inside of her.

"James is there something you need to tell me." She asked.



Haven's Wood Ch. 07



Natasha felt good, her muscles were sore, and she'd probably be walking funny for a while, but she felt good. She tried to roll over to tell James, when she realised that she was stuck. She reached down and felt the bulge of his knot just inside of her.

"James is there something you need to tell me." She asked, a hint of worry creeping though the veil of sleepiness.

James sighed, not wanting to upset the moment, he propped himself up on one elbow so he could look into Natasha's face as he explained. 

He was momentarily distracted by the beautiful sweep of her neck. He ran his finger down from her ear, along her neck and across her shoulder. Natasha shivered slightly under his touch, goosebumps following the wake of his finger.

Pleased by the reaction James lowered his mouth and trailed kisses along the route his finger had just followed. As he laid his kisses on her skin his 5 o'clock shadow tickled along her neck, sending delightful shivers down her spine.

"James." Natasha said, in the best teacher voice she could manage given the situation.

James looked up into her eyes, and could see that she wouldn't be distracted from her question.

"It's called a knot." James said, before lowering his mouth back to her skin.

Natasha wrinkled her brow in thought. When she felt his mouth on her neck again she gently pushed him away, giving him a stern look at the same time.

"Is that like what dogs have?" Natasha asked. 

Getting little response from James, Natasha continued, trying to remember what she'd learnt in biology class.

"With dogs, the male's penis, swells at the base so that the two dogs are locked together. If I remember correctly, it's to improve the chances of the bitch getting pregnant."

The moment Natasha said the word pregnant, she could feel James's chest begin to vibrating intermittently, in the way he had before when he'd told her he was murring.

She narrowed her eyes at him a little, before continuing.

"I take it it's the same with wolves then?" 

James nodded this time.

"Well if you were hoping to get me pregnant you're out of luck." Natasha briskly informed him. "I'm on the pill. Beside don't you think it's a little soon for that? What's more don't you think you should have warned me?"

James sighed, realising that he couldn't remain a bystander in this conversation any longer.

"I'm sorry that I didn't warn you. I forgot about it until it was too late. I've never been with a human before and I forgot that things are a little different." James explained

Natasha looked a little mollified by his apology, but not satisfied yet.

"As far as getting you pregnant goes." James began, unable to resist the urge to smile at the very idea. "I won't deny that I'm looking forward to the day that you are. However I know that you are not in heat, so there was no danger of you getting pregnant."

"Humans don't go into heat" Natasha explained, a little exasperated at his attitude.

"Terminology!" James exclaimed. "The idea is the same." 

James continued before Natasha could ask any more questions. He didn't want to have to explain that he knew she wouldn't become pregnant as long as she was human. This wasn't the time for that conversation.

"Just relax, it will subside in about half an hour, then we can have a soak in the bath."

Natasha liked the sound of floating in the huge tub and having the jets massage her tired muscles.

"I could massage you tired muscles you know." James offered.

"I thought you said you wouldn't look at my thoughts." She said, not pleased at the intrusion.

"I'm sorry, but it's hard to ignore when you push them at me" 

"I don't even know what that means!" Natasha replied exasperated.

Suddenly James's eyes seemed to go out of focus; Natasha recognised the look from before. James's face suddenly went pale, he obviously didn't like what he was being told. After a moment his eyes flashed in irritation, before a hard resolved look settled into them.

Natasha watched the emotions flick over his face, worried about what could be going on that would upset him so.

James let out a long held breath before refocusing his gaze onto Natasha.

"You're going to have to take that bath without me." He said not trying to hide his disappointment. "Mother has just arrived."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Katie and Dean were among the last left in the great hall. After all the drama, the pack had eaten quickly before heading off to gossip about what had transpired.

Dean was furious with Katie, he hated it when she put herself in danger, and the way she had bated James was unforgivable in his eyes. They'd spent so long arguing about it that they're food had gone cold. 

Dean had only dropped the subject when Katie had promised that to make up for it, he could do whatever he liked to her. After that Dean had eaten quickly so that he could take Katie outside for a romp in the woods.

Katie was just finishing up under the impatient eyes of her mate when the doors to the great hall opened. The scent that wafted through them caused Katie to freeze, her fork halfway to her mouth. She snapped her head round to look at the doorway.

In the frame of the big doors stood a woman. She appeared to be in her mid-forties. She was immaculately dressed in a stylish trouser suit, and wore a look on her face that defied anyone to cross her. This was a woman with iron in her bones, and she did not look happy.

Katie dropped her fork and scrambled to her feet.

"Mother! I didn't know you were coming, James didn't mention a thing."

The moment Dean heard Katie say 'Mother' he sat bolt upright as if someone had replaced his spine with an iron rod. He slowly got to his feet and turned to face, his mother. He bowed his head respectfully

"Welcome, Mrs Haven. I'll go and make sure your bags are taken to your room and that everything is ready for you."

Mrs Haven, looked coldy at Dean before responding with ice in her voice.

"I would expect the Omegas to be perfectly capable of preparing my room without a lumbering wolf like you hovering over them Dean. You will, instead, go and fetch my son. Tell him that I expect him in this room within 5 minutes and I will want to meet this human he's brought to the manor."

Dean nodded in ascent and swiftly exited the room. He intentionally avoided looking at Katie knowing that she'd be staring daggers at him for leaving her alone with her mother. He'd decided long ago that he'd rather spend a week placating his mate, than 5 minutes in a room with her mother.

He slipped out the hall and headed to the bottom of the main stairs to have a seat.

 "I really hope I'm not interrupting James, but you need to come down to the hall. Now."  Dean projected as gently as he could.

 "Dean, I'm not coming downstairs anytime soon. What's so great of a problem that you and Katie can't deal with it?"  Came the annoyed response from James.

 "Your Mother is here." 

"SHIT!"  

There was a long pause before either of them spoke.

 "Tell her I'm in the middle of a meeting and I'll be down as soon as I'm done."  James finally sent.

 "She said you had 5 minutes and she expected you to bring Natasha with you."

"Is Katie with her now?"

" Yes."

"Fine, go find somewhere to hide I'll sort it." 

Dean let out a sigh of relief before, hurrying off to find one of the less used entertainment rooms to wait out the storm.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Katie was less than pleased when Dean managed such a quick escape, mostly because she was jealous that it was an option for him. Katie loved her mother dearly, but she was very uncompromising in her views and Katie had found that the less time they spent together the better they got along.

"Do want anything to eat or drink Mother?" Katie asked, hoping to put off the questioning until James arrived.

"I want to know why neither of my children bothered to pick up the phone to call and tell me about what has been going on here."

Katie sat back down at the table.

"It's not my news to tell Mother." She said.

Mrs Haven was not impressed with this response and she didn't bother to hide it. She gracefully sat herself opposite Katie never once compromising her perfect posture.

"You have been around enough male wolves to know that they don't always think with their brains, especially if a pretty girl is involved. I would have expected you to tell me the moment that he started to get involved with anyone, never mind a human."

Katie was already biting her tongue. There was a lot she wanted to say to her mother but, she didn't want to make things harder for James. It was just then that she felt James's presence in her mind.

 "Mother won't let me into her mind. Can you tell her that I will be there as soon as possible, I'm just a little 'tied up' at the moment." 

Katie couldn't help but giggle when she caught James's meaning, earning her another disapproving look from her mother.

"James sends his apologies. He's indisposed at the moment, but will be here as soon as he can." Katie informed her mother with a perfectly straight face.

"In the meantime," She continued, before her mother could interrupt with questions, "why don't I make you a pot of tea? I believe we have some Earl Grey"

"Very well, but do remember to make sure the water is properly boiled before you add the leaves." Her mother responded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When James arrived at the grand hall, he found only his mother and sister, in the cavernous room. The Omegas on cleaning duty for the evening had cleaned up in record time before making themselves scarce.

As soon as he entered the room his Mother fell silent. She didn't bother to turn round to look at him as he walked over.

When he reached the table she pointedly looked at her watch, before taking another sip of tea. James sighed before sitting at the table. He poured himself a cup from the pot on the table. He took a quick sip and smiled appreciatively at his sister.

"How are you Mother?" He asked calmly over the rim of his cup.

"Wondering where I went wrong" She replied equally calmly. "I tried my best to raise the two of you to be good, honest, respectful wolves. Instead I have a pair of ungrateful pups who can't even pick up the phone to call their own mother, and when I come to visit them, I am kept waiting for 20 minutes before my son deigns to greet me!"

"If I had known of your plans I would have been here to greet you. I did try to talk to you when you arrived but you shut me out." James was trying not to let his irritation creep into his voice. "I'm here now though, so what is it that you wanted to say to me?"

"You know perfectly well why I'm here James." His mother snapped, her calm facade evaporating. "I want to meet this 'girl' you brought back to the manor."

"I will happily introduce you to my mate in the morning mother." James gently stressed the word mate.

"Just because you're lusting after this girl does not mean that she is you mate James. She's human. It has been centuries since a wolf found a human mate, why do you think that you would be the one to be different. I know that you're frustrated that you haven't found your mate yet, but that's no reason to settle for the first pair of pretty legs you see. I'm sure there are plenty of women around here that would be willing to help you scratch your 'itch'; you didn't have to resort to a, human. How do you think she's going to react when she realises what we are? The poor girl will be so terrified she won't know what to do. We can't have her screaming the place down, now can we."

James felt his wolf begin to rise to the surface. It was something that rarely happened around his mother. James was often infuriated with her but his wolf always stayed out of it. 

James's eyes began to softly swirl with amber as he replied to his mother.

"She is my mate, Mother. She's mine! You will remember that if you want to meet her and you will be nice to her. If you can't do that then I suggest you leave, permanently."

His mother paused, she'd never seen his wolf challenge her before. She knew that he was a strong Alpha but had never, herself, been on the receiving end of his dominance. She automatically found herself acquiescing to his instructions.

"Of course James. I'm simply concerned for you, you know that. If you think that this girl might be your mate then of course I want to meet her."

James narrowed his eyes at his mother, not missing her implication. He quickly drained his cup before rising.

"Very well then, we will meet you in Father's study at 10 o'clock. Now if you will excuse me, I am needed elsewhere. Thank you for the tea, Katie. It was lovely."

That said he turned and strode from the room. He'd left in a hurry and wanted to get back to Natasha. He hoped that if he got back quickly he could catch her still in the bath.

Katie watched James stride from the room, in no doubt about why he was in such a rush to leave. She turned to her mother and was surprised by how sad she looked.

"She really is his mate Mother. I don't understand why you aren't happy for him."

Mrs Haven slipped her hand over her daughter's and squeezed gently, the gesture filled with affection.

"I know you don't understand my dearest daughter. I hope that you never have to." 

She rose and headed for the door. Just before she walked through she turned back to Katie.

"You'd best get that hulking mate of yours out of hiding. James is going to need him around."

Katie was perplexed by this statement, but decided not to worry about it now. She decided that she was going to get her mate, but certainly not for James.

 "I'll be in the woods, catch me if you can."  She playfully sent to Dean. It had been a long night and they deserved a bit of fun. It sounded like the manor was going to be busy for a while.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James returned to his room to find Natasha sleeping. To his confusion and disappointment though, she seemed to have decided to sleep on the sofa. She'd taken a pillow from the bed and found the spare blanket in the cupboard, then made herself a little nest on the sofa. 

When she'd said she was going to stay he had assumed she would be staying with him, in his bed, where she belonged. He hadn't thought that she'd try and pull away from him again, not right after they'd been so intimate.

He paused a moment. He was the one that had left her. He'd taken her innocence and then the moment he could he'd walked out the room. There was more to it than that but, thinking about it that way he could understand that she'd be feeling less than happy with him. He had the sinking feeling that he'd messed up again.

He stood by the sofa looking down at her sleeping face and tried to decide what to do. She'd probably not be happy if he moved her back to the bed. Not when she clearly didn't want to be there. He, however, didn't want to sleep in his bed alone, not when all he wanted in life was lying here on his sofa. He also didn't want to wake her up. If she was cross with him, he'd rather not make it worse.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Natasha awoke when the early morning sun began to filter through the blinds into her face. Her muscles felt a little sore so she began to stretch herself out on the sofa. She froze when she realised that she couldn't move far because there was something else on the sofa with her. She hastily rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked towards her legs. 

Her sleep addled mind had some difficulty interpreting what she saw. For a moment it looked like a big pile of black clothes, but that didn't make sense. She reached her hand out towards it, to see what it felt like. Her hand paused mid action when the black thing moved.

In amongst all the black there appeared two amber points of light. And a moment later she felt a warm rough tongue graze across her out stretched hand.

A moment of panic washed through her, as she wondered how a dog had gotten into her house. When the last couple of days came rushing back. Not a dog, a wolf she thought to herself, well sort of.

"James" she whispered, confirming the identity of her companion.

The wolf licked her hand again and then turned to rest his head on her legs, watching her.

"You scared the life out of me." She told him.

He blinked silently at her in response, waiting to see what sort of mood she was in.

She studied the wolfy face that was rested on her legs, searching his eyes and was surprised to see that she could 'see' James in those amber depths. Without really thinking about it she began to run her fingers over his head, gently massaging his temples.

"I was really upset with you last night" She told him. "I didn't expect my first time to be so good, but I also didn't expect that the man I slept with would rush off right after we were done." 

She tapped the end of his muzzle with a finger as she said this last bit. A moment later though she went back to rubbing his head, letting her fingers rub circles at the back of his ears.

"It does occur to me though," she mused out loud, "that I also didn't expect to wake up with a wolf."

She sighed before continuing

"And that perhaps it was a little childish of me to come and sleep on the sofa. I should have told you how I felt, rather than 'throwing a tantrum'. If anything like that happens again, I expect more than – 'my mother's here' before you rush out the door."

She paused her hand when she noticed that James's eyes had shut.

"Are you listening to me?" She asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

James's eyes snapped open and he pushed his head into her hand as if to say that she should continue.

"This is really unfair you know, it's very hard to be cross with a wolf!" She exclaimed.

James wagged his tail in response, before curling back up on the sofa.

Natasha extracted herself from the blankets and headed to the bathroom. She relieved herself and washed the sleep out of her eyes. When she came back out to the bedroom James had moved from the sofa, she could hear him in the walk-in closet so stuck her head round the door. She was surprised for a moment when she didn't see a wolf, but an all too appealing, half dressed man. All these changes were going to take some getting used to.

She watched him for a moment as he pulled on a shirt, enjoying the way his muscles rippled as he did so. James glanced over to see her watching him.

"Enjoying the view?" He asked jokingly. 

He was amused to see that she turned bright red when she realised that she'd been caught watching him.

"I was just going to ask you what was happening today, I didn't know if I had time to take a bath or not." She blurted out, feeling a little flustered.

James glanced at his watch and sighed, not wanting to disappoint her.

"I'm afraid that I have promised my mother that I would introduce you to her. We're due to meet her in about 30mins."

"Oh," was all that Natasha could get out. She could feel a knot growing in her stomach.

"I thought you didn't want her to meet me. I mean yesterday you went off to see her without me."

James sighed, and rubbed his hand through the stubble on his chin as he thought about how to explain 'his mother'.

"It's complicated." Was the best he could come up with. "I need to shave and you need to get dressed and then I'll try and explain." As he said this he indicated to the opposite side of the closet.

Natasha looked to where he was pointing and noticed for the first time that half the closet was filled with women's clothes. On closer inspection she realised that some of them were the clothes she had had in her bag, the one that he'd given to Sophia. There were far more clothes there than she had had with her though.




Haven's Wood Ch. 07



"What is all this?" Natasha asked.

"Clothes." James replied, unhelpfully.

Natasha simply scowled at him in response to his flippant remark.

"You didn't seem to have much in your bag so I asked Sophia to make sure you had plenty of choice. We always have spare clothes around but I thought you might like to have some of your own."

"I did have some of my own!" Natasha replied feeling inexplicably annoyed, and stormed out of the closet away from James.

James followed Natasha and gently grabbed her shoulder, turning her, so that she was facing him.

"I've upset you." James said with confusion laced through his voice. "I didn't mean too. I know that women like clothes so I thought that you would like to have more of them, we have plenty, and you said you'd be staying for a while." He paused. "Tell me what I've done wrong, please."

Natasha looked at him feeling bewildered. She grasped for the words to explain why she was so upset about clothes.

"You didn't ask. You must have done this before I even told you that I would stay. It's nice that you thought about it, but you should have asked. It's like you're trying to decide everything for me."

"I'm an alpha wolf." James said as if this was an explanation.

Seeing Natasha's blank expression he tried to explain.

"It's in my nature to control things, to take charge. It's my role in the pack to make the decisions."

"Well I'm not a wolf!" Natasha responded with some heat. "I can make my own decisions."

"You're right." James replied evenly. "I can't promise I'm going to get this right all the time, but I will try and involve you in making decisions when I can. When it affects the pack though I will do what I think is right."

"So you'll let me make a decision when you decide that it's ok? That such a cop out, James!"

"Can we discuss this later? We're supposed to be meeting my mother soon and I'd rather we not be fighting when we do." James responded, wondering how the morning had gotten so out of hand.

"Fine" Natasha tersely responded, before heading into the closet to pick out some clothes.

Natasha heard the sound of a shaver from the bathroom as she started looking for clothes she recognised as her own. As she pulled out some jeans and her favourite top she tried to calm her temper. She told herself that James had the best intentions and it was just a misunderstanding, but she couldn't push aside the nagging doubt that she wasn't going to have the same control over her life that she had become used to.

As she pulled on her clothes she realised that she was probably reacting more harshly than normal because she was terrified about meeting his mother. Nothing he had said had made her feel as though this was going to be an easy meeting. He'd told her that the pack would accept her unconditionally, but somehow she had the impression that that statement did not include his mother.

When she came into the main room James was waiting, she could see the lines of tension in his body that she'd not noticed before. She smiled to herself as she realised that they were both feeling the pressure.

James took her hand and pulled her into his arms. He said nothing for a moment; he simply breathed in her scent and took comfort from her presence. He let her go sooner than he wished to and took a seat on the sofa indicating that she should join him.

"I had hoped I would have more time to prepare you for meeting my mother, but fate had another plan." James began trying not to sounds as worried as he felt.

"My Mother is a difficult woman." He said simply. "I love her dearly and I know she loves me and Katie and the pack, she just doesn't always show it like other people do. She led the pack on her own for a time after Father died and that made her hard, packs are best served by an alpha pair not one on their own." 

Natasha listened watching his face closely.

"She has been worried about my lack of mate and has been trying to introduce me to every female wolf in the country in the hopes of finding my mate. She even started flying them in from all over the world!" 

Natasha couldn't help but smile at the idea that even werewolves could have overbearing mothers.

"Won't she be happy then?" Natahsa asked. "Since you've found ... me." She couldn't quite bring herself to refer to herself as his mate, it still felt too strange and almost presumptuous.

James glanced at his watch before continuing.

"I wish I could explain this properly but I guess I'll have to give you the cliff notes version. She hates tardiness and it would just make a hard situation harder to be late.

Basically mother is 'old fashioned'. She doesn't believe in mixing between humans and weres. We don't often find mates who are humans, which doesn't help matters. She's going to be against us, and it has nothing to do with you it's just the way she is."

"She thinks I'm not good enough for you." Natasha said softly.

James grabbed Natasha's hands and pulled her towards him.

"Don't you ever think that, not for a moment. It's not as simple as that. I told you I'm missing a lot out. Please, just, don't let her get to you. "

James paused a moment to be sure he had her full attention before continuing.

"I love you. You are all that I have ever wanted, and more than I could have hoped for. I need you to believe that."

Natasha looked into James's eyes and for a moment all her doubts were washed away. It felt as though she could feel his love for her, as if it were tangible. She let the feeling wash over her.

Without thinking she leant forward, so her face was by his neck. His shirt was open at the collar, and she could just see the seam of his neck where it met his shoulder. Pushing aside his collar a little she lent in. Her lips pressed against his skin, followed by her tongue and, a moment later her teeth brushed against his skin. She softly squeezed his flesh with her teeth and mouth.

The feeling suddenly vanished, Natasha realised at the same moment that James was holding himself rigidly still, he was barely breathing, but at the same time she could feel him murring with more intensity than she'd felt before. 

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that!" She muttered, as she pulled away.

James grabbed her not letting her pull away from him. She glanced up into his face afraid of what she might see. She wasn't sure how a wolf would respond to being bitten, but she didn't think it was going to be good.

She was therefore rather surprised to see that he was smiling at her, he looked happier than she'd ever seen.

"You felt it." He said softly almost reverently. "You felt our bond." 

Natasha looked at him with confusion; it seemed to be her default mode for the morning!

"I'll explain later, I promise." James said, before kissing her soundly. "We really have to go though."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James led Natasha into a large room that sat in the heart of the manor house. Natasha paused a moment at the threshold to look around the room before James gently tugged her hand to indicate they should go in.

The room was immaculately decorated, everything felt like it belonged in that room, as if it had all been chosen with a singular purpose and intent. The room was clearly designed to be inviting while also creating a clear impression of power and strength. There was a lot of wood in the room and rich earthy tones giving it a very masculine feel. There were many well used tomes on the bookcases lining the walls and there was a magnificent mahogany desk at the head of the room. 

There were several chairs and small sofas arranged by the fire giving a more informal area. It was here that the family were waiting. Katie and Dean were sat on a small loveseat that was facing the door and they stood as soon as Natasha and James entered the room. Katie gave them a warm smile and Dean simply looked relieved.

The other occupant of the room remained sitting. She was positioned with her back to the door and didn't even look to see who had entered. Natasha didn't need to be introduced to know that this must be James's mother. She was making her feelings known without having to say a word.

James gave Natasha a reassuring smile before leading her over to his mother.

"Mother, this is Natasha my mate. Natasha this is my mother Emily Haven."

Emily rose from her seat and turned to look at the couple stood before her. Her eyes raked over the pair of them, lingering pointedly at their entwined fingers. Natasha could almost feel the pressure of her gaze and felt like she had been caught doing something far more intimate than holding hands.

When it became clear that James was not going to relinquish his hold on Natasha's hand, Emily turned her gaze to Natasha and spoke.

"I was beginning to think that you two were never going to arrive."

Natasha glanced towards the clock on the mantle to see how late they were she had thought that they were on time. It was about two minutes past the hour.

"I suppose it's understandable," Emily continued, "that you would be dragging your heels on the way here. It must be daunting to walk through a house full of wolves."

Natasha couldn't miss the implied criticism if she wanted to, but decided not to broach the topic directly.

"I'm sorry if we kept you waiting, I was admiring the painting hanging in the main hall. James says it's one of your favourites. I believe it's a Cézanne isn't it?"

Emily seemed a little surprised by the comment; not that she let much show on her face. James looked at Natasha a little confused as they had come straight down from their room. He had pointed out the painting the previous day when he'd been taking her to meet her pups though.

"The children's father and I bought that painting over a hundred years ago. Jack complained about the price at the time but it really is a stunning piece of work." Emily explained looking quite pleased with herself.

"It is very good." Natasha agreed enthusiastically. "It's one of the best reproductions I've seen." 

Natasha paused a moment to observe this comment sink in. She was interested to note that Emily seemed annoyed rather than surprised; she had obviously known it wasn't an authentic painting but had been happy to pass it off as one.

"I'm so pleased you like it" Emily replied with ice in her tone, before sitting back down.

The three younger wolves all looked at Natasha with new eyes, they hadn't expected that she would give as good as she got, and not in such an unexpected way either. After a moment's pause they all found seats. Katie and Dean returned to their previous positions and James and Natasha took the other sofa facing them.

For the next hour Emily took control of the conversation, she didn't directly address Natasha again; she simply asked questions about the pack. She asked how the new Betas were settling into their roles, if the situation with the training rota had been settled, how the various wolves were coping with a myriad of issues. 

Natasha saw what Emily was doing. She was highlighting how little Natasha knew about James and what it meant to be part of a pack. She was telling her that she didn't belong. James was too caught up in talking about the pack to notice that Natasha was being side lined.

"Well James, you and Dean had better be off you don't want to be late twice in one day." Emily suddenly declared. When he didn't make a move she continued

"It is time for the pack run isn't it? You do still lead it don't you? You know how important it is for the pack."

James sighed.

"They will understand if I'm not with them this one time." James told his mother calmly, glancing in Natasha's direction as he did so.

Despite his calm words Natasha had noticed that James had become a little tense as a result of his mother's comments. She didn't want to be the reason he didn't do what he needed to.

"James," Natahsa said softy, squeezing his arm to get his full attention. "If you need to go, go. I'll be fine."

"There you are, James," Emily leapt in before he could respond. "Even Natasha knows that you can't shirk your responsibilities. Katie and I will keep her company while you're gone."

James shot his mother a withering glare that demanded her silence. He turned back to Natasha and searched her face.

"I don't have to go Natasha, the pack would understand."

"It's fine James, really. I'm a big girl you don't need to look after me every minute of the day." She smiled as she said this, hiding the slight anxiety she felt at being left with his mother.

James lent in and kissed her softly, conveying his love and admiration for her, in that simple gesture.

"Thank you. I won't be long." He stood and said. "Dean, go and get them ready I'll be there in few moments. I'd a like a quick word with you before I leave Mother."

Emily nodded her acquiescence and followed him to the door. The moment the door shut behind the three of them Katie asked.

"How did you know about the painting? I didn't even know, it's always been Mother's pride to have that painting. She shows it to everyone that visits the house."

"My uncle owned the original." Natasha explained simply. Before Katie could ask more questions, Natasha went on to say. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course!" Katie replied

"If a wolf ... What does it mean ...." Natasha was struggling to find the words, to ask about what she had done to James's neck.

"Does biting mean something special to werewolves?" She finally got out, going bright red in the process.

Katie paused, a look of concern flicking across her face.

"Did James bite you?" She asked.

"No!" Natasha quickly replied, turning an even deeper shade of red. 

Katie's reaction to the question worried her. She was getting the impression that it would be bad if James had bitten her, so what did that say about her biting him.

At that moment the door opened and Emily walked back in, effectively ending the conversation.

Emily stood at the door, regarding Natasha with calculating eyes. To Natasha she looked like a gardener with a pair of shears deciding how best to prune a tree. Natasha made a decision in that moment, she was sick of the games that Emily was playing, and she was going to end it. Natasha stood, then with more confidence than she was feeling spoke.

"Emily, it's clear that you have something you want to say to me, so now that James is gone why don't you just say it."

Emily looked a little surprised, as if she hadn't expected Natasha to cut straight to the point. She then raised her chin and replied.

"You should leave. Now. Before you break his heart."

This was not quite what Natasha had expected to hear.

"If you're worried about James's feelings then why do you want me to leave? I can't think of anything that would hurt him more. I care about him I'd never do anything to hurt him."

If Emily were not the perfect lady she would have snorted in derision at Natasha's words.

"You have no idea little girl. He hasn't told you everything about becoming his mate. That's why he took me outside. He didn't want me to let slip his secret."

"Mother!" Katie hissed warningly

Emily didn't even spare Katie a glance.

"You are not strong enough to be his mate. You won't survive what is to come, and when that happens it will kill my son. Better that you leave now, before it's too late."

Natasha listened not only to Emily's words but to her tone. She was surprised by the lack of venom. Emily didn't seem to bear her any ill will. She was talking as if she was simply stating facts. She was simply acting in what she felt was the best interests of her child, and that shook Natasha far more than if Emily's words had been full of bile and vitriol.

"I'm sure James will tell me the truth when he's ready. I don't blame him for wanting to be cautious, I trust him. Perhaps you should do the same. And perhaps I am stronger than you think."

Frustration and Anger clouded Emily's features. She shook her head disbelievingly at Natasha's words.

"You are a fragile little creature." 

Emily began to advance menacingly towards Natasha as she spoke.

"You can't begin to comprehend the gulf between humans and weres. Do you realise that I could snap you neck with one hand?" 

As she said this she brought her hand up to Natasha neck as if to demonstrate.

Natasha heard the words and saw the hand, and felt a moment of fear and panic. Then she reacted. She stepped towards Emily, just to the side of her outstretched hand. She took the arm and turned so her back was to Emily's front, drawing Emily's arm forward as she did. The motion caused Emily's weight to come forwards, making her step, but Natasha's leg prevented her from doing so.

Emily however was a werewolf and was able to react fast enough to step to the side, pulling her arm from Natasha's grip, had she not she would have ended up hitting the floor hard.

Katie had been able to do nothing but watch the scene as it unfolded, she knew her mother would not have hurt Natasha she was simply trying to scare her. Natasha's response though had changed things, she'd challenged Emily's control of the situation and Katie had no idea how her mother would now react.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James was in a hurry and had to keep reminding himself to slow down, so that he didn't leave the rest behind. He was in the woods with most of the pack ranged behind him. All the wolves how didn't have other responsibilities had shifted so they could run through their lands together. 

James normally loved running with his pack like this, it made him feel free yet connected to the pack at the same time. It was a liberating and bonding experience for the whole pack, which was why he had ultimately decided to come today, even if it meant leaving Natasha for a while. Now that he was out in the woods though all he wanted to do was get back to her.

They were just starting to head back when James felt a rush of emotion through his bond to Natasha. He felt an overwhelming burst of fear wash though him. He tried to reach out to her to find out what was going on, and then cursed the fact that she couldn't hear him. After the rush of fear he felt nothing.

James was afraid. He'd left his mate and something had happened to her. Reason abandoned him and began to sprint back towards the compound. He picked the shortest route and ran so fast his fur flew like a banner behind him in the wind. The other members of the pack felt his worry and tried to follow, but he had soon left them far behind him.

He burst into the manor not bothering to shift until he reached the study door. He ripped the door to the room open and came to a dead stop. The room was empty.

He took a moment to calm himself; running around with no direction was not going to help. He reached out to Natasha again trying to establish if she was ok, and where she was. 

He was confused by what he felt. She seemed to be concentrating hard, and he could feel the adrenaline pumping through her still, but the fear and the panic was gone.

Realising that Natasha was unhurt, he was able to think. He grabbed a pair of sports trousers from the cupboard where he kept his spare clothes, then set out following her scent through the manor.

James was surprised to realise that her scent was heading towards the gym. He was more surprised when he realised that practically every wolf that had not been with him in the woods, seemed to be crammed into the entrance way to the gym. 

The crowd was so entranced by what they were watching that he had to growl to get their attention. As soon as they realised who it was trying to get through, they quickly moved out of the way.

"Alpha, she's amazing." One of the young female wolves called to him. "I thought humans were soft and weak but she's holding her own."




Haven's Wood Ch. 07



The comment spurred James to push his way through the crowd with a little more urgency. When he got to the front he saw, his mother and his mate, in the middle of the training mats. They appeared to be wearing training clothes, so must have gotten changed. He had no idea why though.

His mother was circling around Natasha, who was stood in the middle of the mats, Natasha stood lightly on her feet keeping her eyes on her opponent. When Emily lunged towards Natasha, James could instantly tell that she was holding back. His instincts though drove him to intervene, and he began to step towards the pair.

He felt a hand on his chest and heard his sister whisper.

"Just watch, she's fine"

James spared his sister a glance and seeing that she wasn't worried by the situation at all, he relaxed a little. He turned back to the fight in time to see his mother throw a punch at Natasha face. Natasha however deftly dodged inside Emily's guard and sent her flying over her hip to the floor. 

The crowd around him let out a little cheer. All James could do was stare open mouthed at his mate, as she helped his mother to her feet before bowing to her.

James quickly pulled himself together and hurried over to the pair. Emily met him halfway across the mat and spoke so only he could hear.

"She's stronger than expected her to be, but I still fear that she will not survive. I won't stand in the way though, as much as it wounds me to watch this folly."

Emily then turned back to Natasha.

"Thank you for the exercise my dear." Having said this Emily strode out of the gym. 

James looked over at his mate and raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

"It came up that I had studied Jiu Jitsu at university, so your mother invited me to spar with her a little." Natasha explained.

"I'm impressed." James said. "Mother is a skilled fighter; you must be good to be able to throw her."

Natasha shook her head dismissively.

"She wasn't using her full strength or speed, and even then that was the first point I was able to win."

"What rules were you playing?" James asked, beginning to stretch his muscles out.

"You win for a clean hit, throw or submission. James this is not going to be a fair fight. Even if you weren't a werewolf you'd be stronger than me." 

Natasha could see that his mind was set on this.

"I'll be careful." He said. "I'll only use human strength and speed, I promise."

Natasha sighed before shrugging her shoulders.

"I don't stand a chance, but go on then."

James grinned at her as he began to circle her looking for an opening. He threw a few fakes, to try and get her to react. Natasha however didn't take the bait. Her eyes were focussed on the exposed muscles of his chest, by watching the way his muscles rippled she could tell that he wasn't serious in his attacks.

James stepped into his next punch forcing, Natasha to move. Having seen her fight his mother he thought she would step inside and was ready to shift his weight to counter the throw he expected. To his surprise she stepped wide to the side and snapped a powerful kick to where he was stood. 

James moved out of the way of the kick, but only because he moved with the speed he'd said he wouldn't use. Natasha however didn't comment she stayed focussed on the fight. James moved straight into a kick of his own, being careful to hold back this time. He may have over compensated because Natasha easily dodged the kick and had him falling towards the mat.

James was not so easily beaten though. He managed to capture Natasha's arm and bring her down with him, turning so that he landed on his side.

The two grappled on the floor for a few moments, before James managed to pin Natasha beneath him on the mat. After a few moments of struggling to no avail Natasha knew that he had her.

"Do you submit?" James asked.

Natasha pouted at him. She really didn't want to admit that he had bested her. She struggled again for a moment and then stilled. She looked up into his face.

"You know, you have me trapped like this. Wouldn't you like to do something more fun?" 

As Natasha said this she pressed her body up against his and ran her free hand down his side and slipped her finger under the waist band of his trousers. James's wolf had been near the surface since his mad dash through the woods, and rose quickly to her temptation.

Natasha felt him draw in a deep breath, and in that moment his grip on her relaxed just enough. She was able to roll out from under him, taking his arm with her. Before James realised what she had done he felt her weight press down on his back and pain shoot up his arm. Natasha had his arm in lock, and was holding it just tight enough to give him a little pain

"I think maybe you're the one who should submit." Natasha crowed, delighted that her tactic had worked.

Unfortunately for Natasha, her tactic had worked a little too well. James's wolf was in control now, and he had one thing on his mind. The lock Natasha had him in would have worked well on a man but James simply used his strength to pull his arm free from her grip. In a moment he had her on the floor, arms held above her head, his body pressed firmly between her legs.

Natasha tried to struggle but couldn't move him and inch.

"That's cheating!" She exclaimed. "You said you wouldn't do that!"

As she said this she looked up into his eyes and saw that they had turned completely amber, and were filled with lust.

"You cheated first." James said huskily. "Now I believe you promised me some 'fun'. I intend to collect." 

James pressed his lips to Natasha's fiercely and kissed her with such passion that it took her breath away. As he did so he ground his hardness against her core, creating a delicious friction between them. He held both her hands in one of his. Then ran his free hand down her arm, over her heaving chest until it reached the hem of her top. He quickly slid his hand under the fabric and slid it against her heated skin, heading back up towards her breasts.

When Natasha felt his hand under her clothes, she let out a squeak and pulled her head away from his kiss. She realised that he meant to take her here and now, in front of all the watching wolves.

"James!" She panted. "Please stop!"

James paused for a moment. 

"Not here, please." Natasha continued. "There are so many people!"

James chuckled at this. His hand continued his journey, sliding under her bra and began to play with her nipple.

"I don't mind." He said. "You won't even remember that they're there in a moment."

Natasha couldn't stifle the moan that escaped her when his fingers began to circle around her nipple. She was rapidly losing her will to fight.

"James, please. I'm not ready for this!" She begged softly. "Take me somewhere else, I'll make it up to you I promise." 

James stopped. He studied her face, and as he did so Natasha was relieved to see some hints of blue return to his eyes. However her relief was a little shaken when she saw a lascivious smile appear on his face.

He slipped his hand out from her top and ran his thumb over her lips. This action sent a shiver down her spine, and made her unconsciously arch her hips towards him.

"So if I stop and take you somewhere private you'll make it worth my while?" James asked.

Natasha nodded emphatically.

"How?" James asked.

Natasha's mouth went dry. She didn't really know, this was all still very new to her.

"What do you want?" Natasha asked, in little more than a whisper.

James chuckled at her again.

"I want whatever you're willing to offer me." He teased.

James had already decided that he'd take her somewhere so they could be alone. He just wanted to play with her a little first, since she'd started this game.

Natasha flushed bright red as she tried to think what she could offer him. She remembered last night and how he'd reacted when she'd licked him.

"I .. I could, use my mouth." She whispered shyly.

"Where?" James asked a twinkle in his eye.

Natasha looked up into his eyes, and saw that he was daring her to say it. She couldn't let him win. So despite turning an even brighter red, she quietly said

"I could lick, and suck you cock." 

James groaned softy at hearing her words.

"Deal." He said.

In a moment he had pulled her to her feet. He wrapped one arm around her back then swept the other under her legs lifting her into his arms. Faster than her eyes could followed he'd taken her out of the back exit of the gym which backed onto the woods. Once they were out of sight of the buildings James put her down and took a step back. 

Natasha was a little disoriented from the speed at which James had moved and a little surprised to find herself in the woods. She stood open mouthed for a moment as she tried to piece together what had just happened. Her eyes fixed on James. 

He stood before her, in trousers and nothing else. His bare chest was like sin itself and his eyes were filled with fire and barely contained lust. Looking at him took her breath away. Natasha felt suddenly more exposed than she had in front of all those people, because now James's eyes were devouring her whole.

She took a hesitant step towards him, know that he was waiting for her to deliver on her promise. James smiled encouragingly at her but made no other move. She took a breath and gently dropped to her knees in front of him, feeling the damp grass on her knees.

She reached out and grasped the waistband of his trousers and slowly pulled down. She concentrated on pulling them down and tried not to focus on what she was uncovering. Once they were on the floor, James stepped out and stood before her, naked and confident about it.

Natasha slowly let her eyes trail up his legs, taking in the toned muscles and smooth skin, until her eyes came to rest on the large throbbing member before her face. The reached out to grasp hold of it, as she had done before, but was stopped, when James pushed her hand away. She looked up at his face confused by his action.

"You promised me your mouth." James said simply, the huskiness of his voice betraying how turned on he was at seeing her looking up at him through her lashes.

Natasha moved her hands to rest on his thighs instead and then tentatively leant forward. She ran her tongue from the base of his cock right to the head in one go, feeling the hardness of him, and tasting his skin.

Emboldened by the sounds James made, she ran her tongue around the head of his cock, flicking her tongue over the end, tasting his precum. Not being able to use her hands made it difficult to apply pressure with her tongue. Natasha pulled away for a moment, licked her lips, and then wrapped them around the head of his cock.

When James felt the warmth of her mouth engulf his cock, it was all he could do, not to take control. 

"That feels so good Natasha, don't stop." 

Spurred on by his words Natasha began to move her tongue around the head of his cock as she continued to suck. When her tongue danced over the very tip, James's hips jerked forward pushing his cock a little further into her mouth.

Natasha realised that she could take more of his cock than she had, so she leant forward using her hands on his thighs to balance herself. She slowly moved forward until she felt his cock hit the back of her throat, then sucking as hard as she could she slid back down until only the very tip was in her mouth.

Natasha continued to play with his cock, trying moving at different speeds running her tongue over his cock in as many ways as she could think, and trying to draw as many sounds from him as she could.

Natasha's innocent exploration was driving James wild. He finally reached breaking point and brought his hand down to her head, tangling his fingers in her hair. He gently used his hand to guide her motion, encouraging her to make long fast strokes, and resisting the urge to push into her hot tight throat.

When James put his hand in her hair, Natasha panicked for a moment not sure what he was going to do, but she soon realised what he wanted. Relieved that he hadn't taken away her control, Natasha tried to take as much of his length into her as she could, he seemed to like it when his cock hit the back of her mouth, so she took a deep breath and push a little further on the next stroke, she felt the head of his cock just slip into the back of her throat and she swallowed on reflex. 

James nearly lost control when he felt Natasha deep throat him, feeling her swallowing his cock was one of the best things he'd ever felt. He let her do it few more time until it became too much and he pulled her mouth from his cock.

"That was perfect." James told her when she looked up at him. "I think you need a little attention as well though."

He pulled her too her feet and kissed her. His tongue exploring and claimed her mouth. While he claimed her mouth his hands roamed her body. One sought out her nipple to continue from where he'd left off, while the other cupped her ass and pulled her heat against him.

As his fingers flicked over her nipples he could feel her whole body thrumming in time. He knew she was already more than ready for him. The scent of her arousal had been filling the air since she had dropped to her knees in front of him.

James's kissing left her breathless, and his fingers were like magic on her heated skin. Natasha wanted more though; she wanted to feel him thrusting inside of her again. As if he read her thoughts James turned her around, so her back was against him. He took her hands with his and placed them on a tree in front of her so she was bent over at the waist.

His hands ran down her arms along her sides until they reached her waistband. He pulled her trouser and pants down in one swift motion. He then lifted her left leg out before pushing it to the side.

Natasha felt so exposed, with her trousers around one ankle, her legs spread wide and her bare ass exposed to him.

James stepped back for a moment to admire the sight in front of him. When he did Natasha turned to look over her shoulder at him. She looked perfect. Her ass and pussy were exposed, her hair a wild tangle, and her eyes were fogged with lust while still full of innocence. 

James stepped forward, grabbing her hips. He let his cock slide through the folds of her dripping pussy. He slowly, teasingly thrust his hips back and forth, not penetrating her, simply drenching his cock in her heat.

Natasha whimpered in her frustration and tried to push back, so that his cock would finally impale her. She earned a smack on the ass for her troubles. She turned her head again to look at James, and saw mischief dancing in his amber glazed eyes again.

"You'll have to ask nicely if you want something." James told her.

"Please." Natasha instantly begged.

James chuckled.

"Please what?" 

Natasha turned away from him, knowing what he wanted, but being too shy to say it. James responded to her silence by bringing one hand to her clit. He began to run his finger in soft circles around her clit. He only pressed hard enough to tease her not, enough to bring her any satisfaction.

"James, please." Natasha moaned, in response to his new onslaught.

"You just tell me what you want, and I'll give it to." James told her.

"I ... I want you." Natasha whimpered, still struggling to overcome her nerves.

"Not good enough. Tell me exactly what you want me to do." James replied, and slipped his free hand under her shirt to continue tormenting her nipples.

It was all getting to be too much Natasha was overwhelmed with the sensations he was giving her, but none of it was what she wanted. Finally her frustration overwhelmed her upbringing.

"I need your cock James. I need your cock inside me. Please, fuck me!"

James was more than happy to oblige. He lined up his cock and in one smooth thrust drove it deep inside her hot tight depths. Natasha moan in pleasure as his cock filled her aching insides. James pumped his cock into Natasha's welcoming pussy in long rhythmic thrusts. Natasha pushed back to meet him.

As James began to increase his pace Natasha could feel her pleasure building, with every thrust she felt a wave of heat wash over her, the pressure growing inside her until she thought she might burst. Just as she thought she might plunge over the edge, James pulled out.

Natasha spun round in frustration, only to find James pulling her to the ground. They landed with James on his back and Natasha straddling his legs.

"Why did you stop?" She demanded.

"To show you what you did to me in that gym." James told her.

James pulled Natasha's face down to his so he could kiss her. In doing so she slid up his body a little so that her sensitive core dragged across his straining manhood. 

James put his hands on her hips and helped position her over his cock. After a moment of hesitation Natasha let herself sink down onto his cock. In this position he was reaching new places inside her and the peak that had begun to ebb away was soon back. 

Natasha rocked herself on his cock trying to find the best motion. With some guidance from James's hands on her hips she soon found her rhythm and had them both moaning.

When the base of James's cock began to swell, Natasha wasn't sure what to do, and paused her movements. In her moment of hesitation James thrust his hips up, plunging his knot deep inside her. 

The new pressure sent Natasha into overload, and she began to cum, waves of pleasure washing over her. She could feel her pussy milking the hard cock inside her and as James continued to push his hips up into her she could feel him growing bigger. Natasha's orgasm pushed James into his own, and he groaned his completion as his cum pumped deep inside her.

Natasha fell against his chest exhausted and James held her tight. 

Natasha mused to herself as she lay in his arms catching her breath. 'They might have a lot to work out still, but at least the sex was good.'

James caught the stray thought and chuckled in agreement.