Chasing His Bunny (10 page)

Standing up, Bethany stripped off her
clothes while Bailey watched; the tiny rabbit twitching its nose
and ears and attempting a few hops as she adjusted to her new
body.  Putting her clothes in a neat pile, Bethany took a few
steps back from her sister, feeling the first pangs of envy as she
looked at Bailey's tiny bunny body.  

Closing her eyes, Bethany concentrated
on the thing in her head, which skittered with excitement.  It
pressed forward in her consciousness, pressing against her skin
from the inside, and her body expanded outwards.  Smells
became sharper, sounds became clearer, and her body felt
stronger.  But something was different... something inside of
her... like there was a small additional part of her, a little knot
of foreign feelings that she could sense only dimly...

Something bounced off of her front
paw, and Bethany opened her eyes and looked down at her
sister.  Bailey seemed even smaller now, she wasn't even the
size of Bethany's paw.  Bethany's nose twitched, her whiskers
vibrating in the air.  She felt a moment of envy over her
sister's normal size...

Envy that turned to shock as Bailey
turned and bounded away, so fast that Bethany's eyes couldn't even
track her.  Was that normal for a bunny?  Alarmed at her
sister's fast pace, Bethany sprang after her, her heavy body
crashing through the bushes as she followed her sister's
scent. 

It quickly became clear that Bailey
was much faster than her sister, despite the fact that Bethany was
much larger and her stride much longer than Bailey's.  Trying
to catch up to Bailey was a completely new experience for
Bethany... she was faster than her brothers despite the fact that
they were the same size as her when they shifted.  How could
Bailey be so much smaller but so much faster?

Bethany strained her muscles, trying
to catch up to her sister... it was a good thing she could smell
Bailey, because she sure as heck couldn't see or hear her. 
Bailey was like a tiny, little, ninja bunny!  

When the scent of blood suddenly
filled Bethany's nose, she panicked, kicking her powerful hind legs
with all her might as she burst into a clearing.  In the
center of the clearing was a huge deer on its side, its throat
bloody, its body still warm.  Bethany's beast was salivating
over the sweet, coppery scent, but first she had to...

Holy shitsnacks!

Bailey was the Beast of
Caerbannog!

Her cute, fluffy baby sister was
dripping blood from her tiny mouth, with its tiny sharp teeth, and
gnawing on the deer's corpse like it was one of the knights from
the Monty Python movie.  Not that Bailey was a foul, cruel, or
bad-tempered rodent, but she obviously had a killer instinct by the
vicious way she'd torn out the deer's throat. 

Well... crap.

Bethany had assumed from Bailey's
small stature that she was more like a normal bunny.  That she
wouldn't have the craving for warm blood and fresh meat like
Bethany and the guys did.  That she wouldn't have the fangs
and the sharp teeth.  

Obviously, she was really fucking
wrong!

Sighing internally, Bethany didn't
bother to fight her beast's urge as it giant bunny-hopped its way
over to the fallen deer. Bailey made a nasty little growling noise,
although considering how small she was it wasn't all that
threatening.  Even with the blood coating her fur.  The
noise that Bethany's beast made back was almost amused - after all,
she could squish Bailey just by stepping on her.  Well, maybe
not since Bailey had the armor under her fur, but either way, her
beast obviously didn't see Bailey as a threat.  Which was
good.

The two sisters feasted while Bethany
tried to figure out how she was going to tell her brothers that it
looked like Dr. Montgomery had done something new with
Bailey.

Chapter 5

When Steele picked up
Bethany and Bailey, he was more than a little confused.  Both
of the sisters looked shame-faced and smelled of blood, but his
wolf knew immediately that it wasn't their blood... it smelled like
deer, which wasn’t in their genetic make-up.  Bethany's
emotions were even more closed off than they had been before, like
a hard little knot in his head.  

Bailey looked better though; she was
obviously no longer in pain and she looked like she even had some
energy.  In contrast, his mate looked exhausted, but she still
smiled when she saw him, which made him immediately puff up. 
She might just be too tired to be prickly or defensive, but he'd
take what he could get.

"How was your run?" he
asked, keeping his tone light and casual as they settled in. 
Bethany had sat in the passenger seat, apparently without thinking
about it, which made him want to howl with happiness.  He had
to stifle his instinct to reach out and take her hand - or touch
her at all.  Physical connection would deepen their new bond,
but at the same time he didn't know how she'd take it and he didn't
want her to tell him no. 

"Fine."  Both sisters spoke at
the same time and then exchanged glances, Bethany looking quickly
over her shoulder before snapping her head back to face front.
 

They were hiding
something, but Steele couldn't fathom what.  They knew
everyone around them was a shifter, and yet they seemed
uncomfortable and almost ashamed of what they were... maybe they
just weren't very good at shifting yet?  Or maybe they were
just uncomfortable because it was something unnatural and foreign
to them?  He made a mental note to make sure they saw more of
the others in their shifted forms, to show Bethany and Bailey how
shifters were when their animals took over.  Make them feel
more part of a group and not so alone.  Unfortunately, Eli
hadn't been able to give him any more information about the
siblings - the Bunson brothers hadn't shifted yet, although part of
their training was going to be fighting in their animal forms, so
they would have to eventually.

"That's good," he said
amiably, not pressing the matter further.  Definitely the
right choice as both women relaxed when they realized he wasn't
going to dig for details.  As he drove, Steele told them their
brothers were settled into training camp and said hello.  Not
that he'd been able to speak with them, but the message had been
passed on; which was not something that was normally done, but
everyone felt like the Bunson family was a special case. 
Sympathy and a desire to help were running high throughout the
entire shifter community as their story spread.  

After telling them about
their brothers, Steele pointed out some landmarks and houses along
the streets - including the best place to get ice cream and the
movie theater.  Both sisters kept yawning, although they
assured Steele he wasn't boring.  Obviously, shifting and
running through the woods had worn them out, and, considering the
late hour, they were probably tired anyway.  So it wasn't too
surprising when their eyelids finally drooped, closed, and stayed
shut, heads lolling to the side. 

Now Steele felt comfortable reaching
out and putting his hand on Bethany's knee.  She murmured in
her sleep, a happy sound that made his chest feel warm and
tight.  Just touching her made him feel more at peace and
relaxed; the sense of rightness was overwhelming and his wolf was
rolling around happily in his head.  

He couldn't stop glancing
over at his peacefully sleeping mate; so small and yet so
deliciously curvy, her breasts pressing against her shirt as she
breathed and snuffled, making a noise suspiciously close to a
snore.  In sleep, she looked almost delicate, the force of her
personality and spirit now heavily muted, and Steele felt more
protective than ever.

He still couldn't understand how the
fuck someone could justify experimenting on humans, much less
children... she was still so young looking.  She'd never had
the opportunity to date or have a normal life, and now she never
would.  Even though he felt a little bit of guilt about that,
there was no way in hell he would have been able to tolerate
another male dating her, even before she'd bitten him.
 

Which... they were really
going to have to talk as soon as possible. 

Pulling up to his house, he
scowled.  Now what?  He didn't want to be separated from
his mate, but he doubted she'd be thrilled to find him in her bed
in the morning.  Besides, he wanted her in his bed.   Her
house was just a temporary situation anyway.  

A smile suddenly spread across his
face.

Right, she wouldn't want him in her
bed... or, very possibly, even in her house while she was
asleep.  After all, that was kind of an invasion of privacy,
wasn't it?  It was much better to take both her and her sister
into his house.  Especially because that way he could keep an
eye on both of them.  Make sure there were no ill effects from
Bailey's first change.  

Grinning, he carried Bailey into the
house first and carefully tucked her into the guest bed. 
Since she was still wearing her hospital clothes, they could double
as pajamas.  Her eyelashes fluttered as he pulled the blanket
up to her chin. 

"It's okay Bailey, you're
at my house. Bethany and I will be right upstairs if you need us,
okay?"

"Okay," Bailey agreed sleepily, giving
him a small smile, and snuggling right back into the
sheets. 

Well, that was tacit
permission from one of the sisters.  He would take
it!

Quickly moving outside,
even though he'd been away from his mate for less than two minutes,
Steele felt his entire body relax when he picked Bethany up in his
arms.  She snuggled up against him, although she didn't
wake.  He let out a long breath (that definitely was not a
sigh) as he carefully walked her into the house.  His feisty
mate probably wouldn't be as easily reassured as her sister if she
woke up while he was getting her installed in his bed.

Setting her down gently on
the mattress, he easily pulled off her sundress and tucked her
under the covers.  Glancing around the bedroom, he grabbed his
dirty laundry off the floor and stuffed it into the hamper he kept
next to the bathroom door.  Fortunately, he kept his house
pretty tidy anyway, but he did have a tendency to just let his
clothes drop to the floor when he was in his own room, and they
made it look messier than it was.  The rest of his room looked
okay.

Shedding his clothes, and tossing
those into the hamper as well, Steele carefully slid into bed
beside his mate, curling his large frame around her smaller
one.  Bethany's firm buttocks pressed right up against his
cock, which nestled comfortably between her cheeks.  Well,
maybe comfortably wasn't quite the right word, but he sure as heck
wasn't going to complain.

He had his mate right where she
belonged, and sleeping together like this would only help
strengthen their bond. 

******

Warmth... wonderful, wonderful
warmth... hard warmth... Bethany rubbed her face against the
wonderful, hairy, hard warmth and -

Wait, what?

She jerked back, only to be caught
fast in muscular arms that didn't let her get more than an inch
away.  Of course, it didn't help that her own arms were
wrapped around Mr. Warm-Hard-and-Sexy's body and that their legs
were tangled together.  Even if he hadn't been holding her
tightly, she wouldn't have been able to get very far.
 

"Good morning."
 Hungry, black eyes bore into her, and before she could reply
- or demand to know what the heck he was doing in her bed - his
lips were on hers. 

Bethany clamped hers shut. 
Danger, Will Robinson, danger!  Didn't the man know it was bad
etiquette to french first thing in the morning?!  Was he some
kind of magical being that didn't suffer from morning
breath? 

The fact that she wasn't kissing him
back didn't deter him though, and as his hard cock pressed against
the juncture of her legs, his hands sliding up to her breasts, she
couldn't help but moan... and he immediately took advantage. 
His tongue slid into her mouth, and she was surprised to find that
the little morning breath he did have didn't turn her off - and he
seemed to feel the same.  

Her nipples hardened into sensitive
little nubs as he rolled her onto her back, her legs immediately
spreading.  Bethany was shocked at how aroused she was
already, considering she'd just woken up.  The head of his
cock rubbed up and down her wet slit, making her very aware of how
drenched and needy she was, especially as it pressed against her
swollen clit.  Whimpering, she lifted her hips, trying to
guide him to the entrance of her body, and he immediately took her
invitation.  

The first thrust had her
crying out into his mouth as his cock stretched her nearly virginal
channel.  He wasn't as gentle as he had been last night and it
hurt, but it felt so good at the same time... his cock was hard as
a rock and he was rougher, more urgent.  Dimly, Bethany
remembered something she'd heard in high school, about men and
morning wood.  He thrust again, pressing deeper into her body,
her sensitive tissues spreading further to accommodate him, and
Bethany writhed beneath him.  

Her body was hungry for him, loving
the way his weight felt on top of her, pressing her down into the
mattress, and how he felt inside of her, as though he was filling
her completely.  The pleasure was even more intense than it
had been last night, making her feel a bit wild as she dug her
nails into his skin, her feet digging into the back of his thighs,
trying to drive his thrusts to go faster and deeper.  She
craved the connection she felt, wanting him to sink so deeply into
her that she couldn't tell where he ended and she
began.