I inhaled deeply, taking in her sweet scent. It invaded my nose and made my body relax in content. She smelled so intoxicating, so welcoming. "Laura," I purred, her name rolling off my tongue thick like honey, "of course, she can live here if you wish to care for her. I would have been surprised if your... motherly instinct made any other decision."
"My instincts have nothing to do with me being a good Luna, if that's what your implying," she spoke quickly.
I stopped my smile from showing. "Of course not."
We were so close now that our noses were almost touching. If I were to lean forward a little more I could press my lips to hers.
Before I could do so, a high pitched scream came from the kitchen, followed by my mother yelling for us. I pushed away from the table and rose at the same time Laura did, causing our chests to collide and her hands to grab my upper arms to steady herself.
I almost let out a victory cheer when I saw the slightest tinge of red growing in her cheeks. She liked our closeness. Maybe my progress from this morning wasn't ruined by Donatella, maybe I was getting through to her.
She pushed passed me and sprinted to the kitchen, me following close behind. Rina pointed at the ground behind the island counter and when we rounded the corner, I could understand her terrified face. On the floor lay Mellie, curled up in foetal position, whimpering loudly in pain. Had my mother dropped her?
By the way Laura reacted, I knew it was something else. She ushered Mira and Connor over to Rina. "Go with Rina, she'll look after you for a while, okay?"
She placed a kiss on both of their foreheads. Mira began crying. "Is she going to be okay?"
"She'll be fine, don't worry. I'll take care of her and come right back to you, okay?"
When the kids were out of the room, she dropped to her knees next to Mellie, rubbing a comforting hand over her back. "Mellie? Can you hear me?"
A whimper erupted from the child again. "What's happening? It hurts, Laura! Please, make it stop! Make it stop."
"I know, sweetie, but you have to hold on a little longer. Your wolf is coming out."
I suddenly understood. Mellie was becoming in sync with her wolf. Werewolves didn't come in contact with their wolf until they were around the age of ten or eleven. Connor had begun shifting at the age of nine since he had Alpha blood in his system, meaning he matured quicker. The binding between the wolf and the human was a painful process. It begun as a throbbing sensation in the head, where their minds began to diffuse, and then turned into an aching throughout the whole body, when the wolf's soul joined the human's. The last stage of the transformation was when the human shifted for the first time.
"She's too young to mature though," I whispered.
Laura looked up at me with sad eyes. "Sometimes intense grief can trigger for an early maturation. Jewel's death must have set it off," she breathed lightly so Mellie wouldn't hear.
The little girl let out a loud scream, clawing at her stomach. "Make it stop! Please, make it stop!"
Her pain and raw voice made me wince. Antal was whimpering in my head, but he knew I couldn't do anything to ease her pain. She had to go through the transformation to relieve it and that was something I couldn't help her with. All I could do was sit and watch.
Laura seemed to have other ideas though. She rose to her feet and began stripping off her shirt, revealing a black sports bra that pushed her breasts higher up her chest. My mouth fell open as I took in her bare stomach. When she began to pull her pants down, I inhaled deeply, probably looking like a dying fish. "What are you doing?"
She seemed to have remembered I was in the room, but it didn't stop her from removing her yoga leggings. "Amaranth, my wolf, can help her. She can ease the pain with her closeness."
She discarded her bra and I swallowed painfully. Her pink areolas stood erect and hard, taunting me. How I was able to think about pushing my face into her bust during such a serious moment baffled me. All I could think about was taking those buds in my mouth and making Laura moan my name.
My arousal only got worse when she took of her panties. My eyes betrayed me and I stared at the junction between her legs. She was completely bare and only the faintest piece of her folds showed between her lower lips. She's probably never been touched. I couldn't smell any male on her and it made me and my wolf purr in pleasure. We would hopefully be the first to touch her anywhere intimately.
Laura crouched down my Mellie, stroking her head again. Suddenly her eyes flew up to me, looking bewildered. "Why are you aroused? Donatella isn't here."
I stepped behind the island counter to arrange my nether regions discreetly. "I think by now you should have figured out it isn't her I want, Laura. I didn't want her that day you first smelled my arousal when she was here, and I most certainly don't want her now."
Laura rolled her eyes and shocked me when she humorously said, "You're acting like as though you've never seen a naked female before. You smell like a horny teenager."
I felt like it too. Before I could retort anything, she began shifting. It only took her a few seconds and I was in awe of how quickly her wolf could come forward. Even I couldn't shift that quickly.
I was even more winded by the sight of her wolf. Although I had seen it before, it felt surreal to stand in it presence. Its white fur was immaculate, its blue eyes seemed to gleam even in the dim kitchen light. It had an adorable little black nose, which it licked while looking up at me.
"Beautiful," I exhaled. I watched as the wolf curled up around the squirming child. Immediately, Mellie's whimpers weaken and she snuggled into the warmth of the wolf's belly.
I sit down on the tile floor next to them, watching Laura's wolf in wonder. For a wolf, it was quite large, about the same size as a Gamma or a Beta. Its fur was thick and looked soft, its tail thick like a chimney brush. It had cute black pads on the soles of its paws.
Amaranth. The name suited the wolf. It fitted perfectly to my Mate, practically resembling Laura as an animal. The same motherly nature was clearly a strong characteristic in the wolf as well. Its body was curled around Mellie like a cocoon, its head resting by the girl's face, tenderly licking up the loose tears. It used its tail as a kind of blanket, encasing Mellie in warmth.
My heart went out for the little girl. The first transformation was the most painful and the next two or three following wouldn't be agony-free either. It would take a few moons before her transformations sped up and the pain of bones breaking and skin stretching ceased to hurt as badly. From under the tail covering her, I could see Mellie's nails had already lengthened, small patches of fur covering her body. I could only ask the Goddess to not stretch the process out for hours.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It seemed my prayers were heard. After sitting on the ground for two hours, Mellie had finally fully shifted. Her wolf was tiny, like her, with big black eyes and a sand-coloured pelt. Whimpering, the pup pressed its head further into Amaranth's pelt and I watched as the white wolf licked the youngster between the ears, cleaning it.
