The Alpha’s Desire 5
Chapter One
A different world went by me as I ran beside Lex as a wolf. A variant of the one I’d once known, not at odds with my previous knowledge but a wonderful and amazing variant of it ripe with vibrant details I’d not known existed with the limits of my human senses. Sight and smell heightened, hearing elevated, even touch with paws and definitely taste all increased, granting me the blessing of almost getting to live in a newer, better universe than before, only compounded by the glory and luxury of this private, secret tropical paradise.
After six months here on the island, I finally experienced the dream of being a werewolf shifter mine elf, magically given the ability to turn by the Royals in a long, lavish ceremony that had lasted hours ending of course with an extravagant party that had flourished late into the night. Laughs, love, food and drink along with ball gowns had flowed after my change, made me feel queen for day, despite the fact I’d already lived like one here each and every day.
One of the many things the ability to shift gave me was that Lex and I were truly mates now, in both forms, human and wolf. So, right now, all seemed right with the world day in and day out. I’d never known such happiness, to have the love of a good man along with every luxury I could imagine and then some along with my heightened awareness of the magnificent scenery around me.
Free, exhilarating, I couldn’t possibly describe what it was like to be living here on this secret island, practicing magic, transforming into a wolf, and sharing it all with the man who was the other half of my soul, the one whose heart beat in time with mine always. If one could imagine what it was like to stand on a rocky bluff, overlooking a seemingly endless ocean, free to howl at the full moon on a clear night with gentle, warm breezes blowing over my powerful form, then maybe, just maybe, they could come a little close to imagining my extraordinary life. From poor orphan to magical werewolf shifter with a Royal bloodline, the leap my life had taken still took my breath away, scrambled my mind, if I thought on it too long. Instead, I just embraced it, every moment, day by day, and minute by minute.
As we took a hairpin turn on the path, our pace was forced to slow a little. Still, having been clocked at highway speeds in my training, even slowing remained overwhelmingly fast. The sheer thrill of it tingled along my hide, only enhancing the magic that let me be this way in the first place. No terrain proved too tough. My large front paws gripped rocks, and steadied my weight no matter the obstacles. With the power in my hind legs, those I couldn’t stand on, I could now leap vast distances even in mid-run. Fallen tree limbs, steep crevices between rock outcrops, were no match for my steady abilities on four feet.
We’d covered every inch of this island several times, easily climbing up bluffs, maneuvering through the caves, unafraid to explore every intricate detail of the place. Parts were open to me that hadn’t been as a human, and each of us were able to be perceived with new attention to design and structure. What I gained from a simple sniff was more than I’d ever been aware of in nature prior. I’d not realized how limited the human body could be until able to exist as another being, another animal altogether.
Privilege didn’t come close to describing this chance at life I’d been given. I realized daily I’d not been born to have this, yet some sort of windfall of fate had bought me the right lottery ticket, and everything had turned on a dime from the minute I’d laid eyes on Lex in that club.
So, how could I not get a little dizzy thinking over the past months of my life, this last one in particular? From standing on the highest peaks, observing the birds, to resting on a beach studying the animals that roamed under the waters, I remained grateful every minute of every day for the experiences I had both as a wolf and as a Royal with magic, not to mention the best role, that of being Lex’s wife and lover.
There had been adjustments. It hadn’t all been fun and games. Adapting took hard work at times not to lose my mind. The first obstacle had been to adjust to my hearing. Being able to hear sounds at over a ten-mile radius could drive one loony deciphering it all until I’d learned to cope. Now, the heightened senses thrilled me. Being able to hear far past what a human can, things like rodents gnawing beneath the underbrush, gave me not only an advantage, but a sense of being one with the world in a way I’d never known possible.
Of course, the sound of tiny bugs scurrying along under the fallen leaves between blades of grass, that had been a real adjustment not to shiver and run. Sometimes what you didn’t know could be a blessing. Now I knew the exact location of a spider on a branch several feet above my head. Even in wolf form, I had no love of the skinny-legged creatures that scampered about unconcerned about my presence though I had to be a thousand times its size.