He steeled himself, and with the greatest difficulty, he pulled away.
“Come on. Time to get up,” he said with an amazing calmness to his voice. “I'd better be going,” he added in quiet self-disbelief, getting up quickly and putting on his jeans and t-shirt.
She had an odd look on her face, as though she couldn't believe he was doing it either. “I guess you should,” she said, turning the annoying alarm off at last.
He walked to the door and turned, a question burning on the tip of his tongue.
“Tell me something... How far were you prepared to let me go?” he asked with a wry smile.
“Not very far. But don't worry, you passed the test,” she replied cryptically, with a cute little smile.
He chuckled to himself as he made his way back to his room. So... She was testing him, was she? He wondered how many more tests he had to pass before she accepted the offer of being his mate.
He returned to the Ranch-house at the end of the day with a deep sense of contentment. Maddy was more than enthusiastic in her new role. She enjoyed being around the horses, and that was plain to see. Everything about them seemed to make her smile and him too. How anyone could get so much pleasure out of de-stoning their hooves was a complete mystery to him. And fuck, if he hadn't been grinning like an idiot most of the time! He was rather ashamed of himself. What a softy he had suddenly become.
The plus side of her enthusiastic first day was that things where cleaner and neater than they'd ever been. He'd complimented the work she'd done so often that it had become embarrassing and she'd told him to shut up, that it was her job now and she liked to do her job well.
He'd laughed at that. How different to Mia she was! She expected profuse thanks for every little deed she performed. He breathed a sigh of relief that he was actually working with a kindred spirit for once.
Over dinner he suggested they all take a break the next afternoon and take a trip to town for a Big Betty Burger, the biggest burgers known to man or wolf, and a drink or ten. A long overdue and celebratory visit to Ted's bar was in order. They did this as often as they could in summer, clients permitting, because in winter the likelihood of heavy snowfall meant town visits had to be planned more carefully, and were only made for collecting essential supplies, using the motor sleds and tow tubs.
Despite being wolves, they couldn't travel through six foot high snowdrifts, especially when they were drunken wolves, so that type of outing was rare in wintertime.
They all loved to unwind at Ted's where they could mix with the local characters, and there were certainly a few of those. Hopefully, the perpetually unpleasant and somewhat mad Mayor Bill wouldn't show, or his snotty wife, Sergeant Philomena or 'Filomountie', as they had nicknamed her, due to her love of pastries and her large size.
Aden didn't want any scenes. He wanted to enjoy himself and his pack to do likewise.
He liked to shoot pool and was good at it, practising a lot on the ranch table. But in town there was always someone to pick up his challenge, and have a little wager, which made it more than fun. He liked the competition. And of course there was the drink. They could all drink as much as they liked, and boy, did they! Then whoever drew the short straw could drive the trashed lot of them back, which would, of course, be him, because he didn't ever drink much. He couldn't control and lead if he was three sheets to the wind, could he? And he needed to be extra sharp around Maddy just now. Get her out of the bar if things started happening. He had a feeling her rush would begin soon. She'd said she'd neither felt nor seen any body transformation in the last twenty four hours and that usually meant the rush was coming and could be very strong.
The first rush.
The initial full transformation into a wolf.
He was quite excited for her and for himself. How he wanted to see her animal side.
It was unstoppable and fast, and usually a touch painful. In fact the rush was the reason he had suggested staying with her at night time. He didn't want her to be alone when it happened. He remembered his own all too well, and the shock of its intensity, even to this day.
Hopefully the bar outing wouldn't be the place it started, but he was prepared for that, if it was. He could remove her immediately and take her to the lock-ups. Then he'd return for her later, when they left for the ranch. She could only pace around inside there and wouldn't come to any harm.
His bar suggestion was greeted with a warm and cheering response. He didn't mind leaving the ranch unoccupied for a few hours. It was literally in the middle of nowhere, and Rebel and Fire were exceptionally efficient guard dogs. It was very convenient being able to communicate with dogs so fluently. They knew the dog and human equivalent of hundreds of words, even some full sentences. He could explain that they were to patrol the ranch for the whole afternoon, no napping on the job, and they would carry out his orders to a T.