Haven's Wood

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.

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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.

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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"

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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.

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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.

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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.