Animal Attraction Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Epilogue

  Bonus Novella!

  Author's Note

  About The Author

  For my fur companion, Cosmo…

  Keeping me company from the very first book I published.

  Copyright © 2021 Nikki Jefford

  Cover design by Najla Qamber

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author. Thank you for respecting the rights of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  chapter one

  ANY TIME THE strong and mighty Kamari howled, every wolf in Glenn Meadows joined his chorus. That afternoon, he strolled by Hailey, who lay on her belly in the open field, surrounded by her female friends. She was soaking the end-of-summer warmth into her fur like it was water and she was preparing for the dry season. Kamari’s acute yellow eyes took her in with a clear sense of ownership that always had Hailey warring between submission and giving the older wolf a healthy reminder that she had the strength to tear open his throat.

  After passing her, Kamari raised his proud head of gray fur and howled. Hailey lifted her snout off the ground and howled along with her group. In the near distance, the rest of the pack could be heard echoing the call. Soon, males were running on four legs into the field and assembling around Kamari.

  The rally turned riotous as the males snarled and bit one another, some jumping onto their hind legs to spar with their opponents.

  Hailey adjusted her seating for a better view, and Hailey’s friend mimicked her movements to take in the show of friendly male rivalry. Mid-ranking members pinned weaker wolves to the ground and nipped at them until hearing a cry of surrender. Kamari chased after Byron, a strong male Hailey had grown up with and shared a fleeting relationship with the summer past. She considered Byron her last fling, an affair they had carried out mostly in human form. Dalliances no longer held appeal for her, though. Hailey was ready to settle down with a mate.

  The two males tore through the meadow. Byron zigzagged through the tall grass, his lips pulled back in a smile as he leapt ahead before Kamari could nip his tail.

  Eventually, Kamari caught the younger male by the hind leg. Byron cried, then flipped over on his back in surrender. Snapping and snarling, Kamari straddled the other male until Byron licked his muzzle, signaling the game was over.

  Kamari had won. His role as the pack’s alpha male had been undisputed ever since Hailey’s parents willingly relinquished the role two moon phases ago. Her brother Hector had never wanted to be alpha, and her father still held on to the hope that he would find a pureblooded female, join her pack, and have a litter of pups.

  What the Glenn Meadows pack needed was an alpha female—a position Hailey felt ready to claim as soon as their soothsayer, Flora, stopped interfering. It was not the way of wolves to consult the alignment of planets and other such nonsense the old woman deemed vital for decisions and matchmaking.

  To Hailey, it was an easy choice. With no pureblooded males around for the claiming, she would choose the next best option—an alpha male.

  She would choose Kamari as her mate.

  The males divided into smaller groups and took off in different directions, some for the forest, others the community center. Hailey yipped at her group to get going and give her privacy with Kamari. The females sprang into action, going after the males.

  That left Hailey and Kamari alone in the field together. The older wolf prowled over and brushed against her side. She stood still while he circled her, sniffing at her rear and rubbing along her lean, powerful body before nuzzling her snout and resting his nose above hers.

  Mine, his actions said.

  Yours, Hailey agreed by allowing his attention.

  She crouched down and slid under his chin, pressing against his chest rough enough to push him back a step. Kamari jumped at her and extended his front paws, holding her down, but not pinning her as he had done with the males.

  Hailey freed herself from his grasp and licked his muzzle. He pushed his head against hers. She pushed back and they kept at their amorous play until Kamari yipped that they should return to the community center.

  Wanting more time with the alpha, Hailey backed against his rear, trying to engage him in further cuddling and play. Her heat was coming, and it was a testament to his self-control that he did not mount her on the spot.

  Kamari barked and started toward their village. He stopped and turned his head to see if she followed. When he saw Hailey still standing in place, he barked louder. She returned his bark and started after him. The alpha male’s commanding disposition was one of his many appealing traits.

  Once Hailey joined him, they ran side by side through a patch of forest into the next meadow. The land sloped upward slightly, with a narrow stream trickling past large stones. An additional area of woods divided the bowl-shaped meadow from another open field. There were many open spaces in Glenn Meadows, the place their pack had settled while Hailey was still a pup, nipping at Hector to get him to play, exploring under her mother’s watchful eye, and marking the territory that was to become her permanent home.

  She had been born a wolf.

  Four legs and fur. A predator. A pureblood. A survivor. Wild.

  Typical wolf shifters, on the other hand, were born in human form—unable to make the transformation into their animal skin until sometime around their twelfth year.

  The urban wolf shifters who had formed a pack with her parents after the pandemic shed their animal forms as though casting off a coat until they were ready to put it back on. Their offspring behaved in a similar manner. They all seemed to identify with their human side first and foremost.

  Not Hailey. Hailey’s wolf was always with her, twitching in her limbs and watching the world through her eyes.

  “More wolf than woman,” her father was always boasting.

  She recognized that same wildness in Kamari, despite his heritage as a shifter from the old human world. His animal instincts were sharp. He spent more time in his wolf form than human. Too bad she would have babies rather than pups with him. Only a pureblooded male, born in his fur form, could give her pups at birth. It was a phenomenon that no one, not even Flora, could explain.

  Whatever the reason, it was time for Hailey to let go of that dream. Babies eventually grew into children, then teenagers. Once they came of age, she would nurture their animal side and teach them everything she knew about surviving in the wild as a wolf.

  The sun slanted through the next grove of woods, late afternoon light pushing through the trees. Kamari and Hailey stopped at the forest’s edge before a blanket of green wild grass spread into the meadow where their pack’s village was built.

  Two sets of deerskin clothing had been left on the ground. Standing beside the skins, the wolves shifted into their human forms simultaneously, grabbing their handmade garments as they straightened out onto two legs. Kamari shook out his pants and fringed leather shirt before putting them on over his thick, muscular legs and broad shoulders.

  Hailey did not mind that he was her father’s age. Kamari was a striking wolf who commanded obedience and respect from the pack. In human form, he was robust with a deep, pleasing voice.

  While the handsome older male secured his pants, Hailey pulled on a fringed skirt that reached her knees before covering her breasts with a tanned skin halter that left her toned midriff exposed. Blonde hair framed Hailey’s cheeks. She never tucked it behind her ears as many females did, especially when flirting with the males. Hailey liked the feel of her hair on her face when she wasn’t in her fur, but she did keep it short—less washing and combing. She had the lightest hair in the pack, which turned almost white during the summer months and fell into supple waves that had all her friends sighing with envy.

  “I think it is time to organize another hunting trip,” Hailey announced.

  Kamari rubbed his fingers along the short bristly growth on his chin. “We’ll take Paxon, Ellis, Skeet, and Byron.”

  “Good choices,” she said, pleased. Hailey lifted her chest, but Kamari’s brown gaze burrowed into her eyes.

  “After the hunt, I wish to claim you as my mate,” Kamari stated.

  Heat flushed over Hailey’s skin
and tingled along the back of her bare neck. Her heart felt lighter inside her chest, like the sun rising at dawn. She blinked several times while her mind rejoiced at the thought of being bonded to this worthy male.

  Kamari stepped in front of her. “Do you want this, Hailey? I know I am older.”

  Hailey’s eyes widened. “I want this. I don’t care about age.” The words gushed out of her mouth like breaths she had been holding. “I don’t want anyone else.”

  Smiling, Kamari brushed back the hair falling over her left cheek. Her white-blonde strands slid through Kamari’s callused fingers, landing right back where they had started.

  “You have such a pretty face,” he said huskily.

  Her heart skittered. They had never been intimate—never even kissed, though their wolves had nuzzled. Hailey wondered if Kamari might kiss her now that they had exchanged promises. He touched her cheek, then took a step back.

  “I will speak to your father.”

  “My parents will support us,” Hailey said.

  “I will speak to him nonetheless.”

  Hailey pursed her lips and glanced across the field.

  “Come,” Kamari said, “the afternoon grows late.”

  They walked side by side barefoot through the grass to their pack’s village, which was surrounded by a wall of thorny branches. Nails protruded from a wooden gate that was guarded at all times. Seeing their approach, Seamus, a shifter in his third decade with shaggy brown hair, pulled open the gate to allow them passage.

  Kamari nodded at him and Seamus nodded back.

  The ground inside was packed dirt, all plant life worn down over the years of their tribe living together in an enclosed space made of crude huts and tents. Within the walls, no shifting was allowed. It was how they kept out rabid wolves and other dangerous beasts. Everyone walked in on two legs, including the chickens that pecked at the earth in every direction. The birds had been introduced over a decade ago when a shifter named Horton stole some from a human’s homestead. A couple of the chickens had escaped several years ago. Hailey still salivated at the taste of those squawking birds when she discovered and devoured them outside the walls of the village. They were supposed to be rounded up and brought back, but she had succumbed to temptation when it came to an opportunity for a fresh kill with new flavor. Hailey believed in rewarding her wolf whenever possible.

  They passed a group of elder women seated on blankets, gossiping while working on garlic braids. Multiple sets of eyes took Hailey and Kamari in. The alpha nodded at the women. They smiled, then turned their attention back to the garlic and conversation. Only one remained silent in their party—Sydney, the girl they had taken in from the Wolf Hollow pack. She weaved the pieces of garlic in her lap while continuing to stare at Hailey. There were members of their village who said the girl gave them the willies, but Hailey merely stared back until Sydney dropped her gaze.

  Hailey and Kamari were nearly at her parents’ hut when a howl raced across the meadows and through the gates, bringing a hush over their village.

  The howl came again. No one answered. It was not one of their own. Hailey cocked her head to the side and listened intently.

  Her parents emerged from their hut. As soon as they saw her, they came over and stared at Hailey expectantly. She blinked once and said, “Werewolf.”

  chapter two

  WITH HER BONE necklace, fringed top, and skirt adorned in fur and feathers, Hailey’s mother, Geraldine, was the image of feminine strength. Unbound, dark blonde hair ended in thick layers that swept over her shoulders. She nodded. “It must be Aden from Wolf Hollow.”

  Hailey’s father, Jefferson, growled. “Nothing good ever comes from Wolf Hollow.”

  Hailey folded her arms. She had to agree with her parents. The visit her brother and cousin had made to their closest neighboring pack had been interrupted when a rabid wolf attacked the territory in broad daylight. According to Alexa, she and Hector had been treated abominably. They had subjected themselves to Wolf Hollow’s odd masked mating dance only to be mocked the following morning for their concerns about safety.

  Hailey pursed her lips, recalling Alexa’s account of the dance. Why would the shifters put a wolf mask over their human faces rather than transform into their true animal forms? It did not make a lick of sense to her.

  Beside her, Kamari had turned to oak. Deep gouges wrinkled his forehead when he frowned.

  Flora had been the next to visit Wolf Hollow after word reached them that the pack’s prize pureblooded male had returned after a three-year absence. Hailey had thought perhaps fate was intervening to provide her with a pureblooded mate who could give her pups and continue her family’s line.

  But even Wolfrik had not passed Flora’s cosmic approval.

  It sounded to Hailey as though the fates did not favor Wolf Hollow.

  “What do you want to bet he brings bad news?” her father asked.

  Bad news or good, the pack’s single females raced from their huts, finger-combing their hair in urgent strokes. Two of the females jogged up to Hailey. Layla tugged her skirt up, showing off lean tanned legs, while Violet pulled her leather halter down to reveal more of her bust.

  “How many males are coming?” Violet asked, breathless from her sprint over.

  Hailey’s frown stretched into a smirk. “Only one. Sorry to disappoint.”

  Violet slapped the heels of her palms over her eyes and groaned.

  “Single? Mated?” Layla bounced on her feet.

  “It’s the werewolf,” Kamari said gruffly.

  Layla stopped springing in place. Her shoulders sagged. “Oh. Why do you think he’s come?”

  “Maybe to take the girl back to her family,” Hailey’s mom suggested.

  Hailey shook her head. “No. She’s with us for good. He’s here with news.”

  Violet stared at Hailey and blinked several times. “How do you do that? You should apprentice with Flora to become a seer.”

  “Not happening,” Hailey said with a vehement shake of her head. “One fortune teller is plenty.”

  Kamari pressed in closer to her while Hailey’s parents nodded their agreement.

  “But who will guide us after Flora joins the spirit pack?” Layla asked.

  Hailey looked at Kamari and grinned. It was on the tip of her tongue to reply, “Your alphas will guide you,” when Aden’s howl came louder and closer.

  Sighing, Hailey started for the gates. “Someone must answer him.”

  “I’ll do it.” Hailey’s mom unfastened her top from her neck mid-stride, then pulled off her skirt, followed by her bone necklace. As she strode past the families and friends emerging from their homes, she let them know who approached.

  After Geraldine cleared the gate, she crouched over the earth and shifted. Her proud, unmistakable call filled the blue sky overhead.

  Hailey looked over to see that her brother Hector had joined their group. Her father caught him up on their imminent visitor.

  “Let us meet him at the gate,” Hailey said.

  Her family and friends fell into step with her. The pack members who had begun crowding at the entrance made room when they saw their approach. Hailey’s mother led Aden in. They were both naked and Hailey was struck by Aden’s hulking form. He seemed bigger than the last time he had come to their village. Such a shame he was a werewolf and not a wolf shifter. Coupling in animal form was not impossible, but the act would prove painful to a wolf. The elders said it was the equivalent of a stallion mounting a pony. Hailey did not appreciate being compared to ponies, but the warning had certainly deterred the single females from offering Aden anything other than friendly conversation during his occasional trips to Glenn Meadows.

  Aden was difficult to read, with his relaxed stride and neutral expression. Beside him, a massive grin had blossomed over her mother’s face. She looked through the crowd and, finding Hailey, met her gaze with a jump of her eyebrows.

  Hailey’s heart skipped a beat, not in the pleasant kind of way but with a feeling of foreboding.

  “You can return to your homes,” Hailey’s mom addressed the pack. “Aden has a proposal to discuss with my family, nothing critical.”

  That only piqued their curiosity further. Packmates continued to linger and stare as Hailey’s mom led Aden over. “Layla. Violet. Go fetch Flora at once.”