Racing The Alpha (Dirt Track Dogs #1) by P. Jameson Page A

in. It feels…”
    “Right. It feels right.”
    She nodded.
    “There’s something else.”
    “What?”
    Drake took a deep breath, skimming his fingers over her ribs.
    “You’re what we call a shade. It means you’ve never shifted to your wolf form. Your animal’s been trapped inside you for far too long, starved of attention. The reason you’ve been feeling so erratic is because your wolf wants out.”
    “I don’t know how to do that. Doesn’t it just… happen?”
    Drake shook his head. “Not for some. You should’ve shifted around puberty. But you were raised away from a pack, raised as a human. I’m sure your father didn’t have the slightest idea how to nurture your animal.”
    Ella stiffened, but he put a finger to her lips.
    “I can see that he did his best. That he loved you with every ounce of himself. I know because he gave you your history in stories. He gave you all he knew to give. He just didn’t know how to help you change.”
    Ella’s throat closed up with sudden grief. Poor daddy. He’d been mated to a wereshifter. If he’d felt anything for her mother like she felt for Drake… losing her must have been pure hell. Maybe they were together somewhere now. Loving each other again.
    Drake caught a tear as it flowed free of her eyelid to slip down her cheek.
    “I think he’d be happy I found you,” she said.
    He pressed his forehead to hers, breathing deep. Ella let the comfort of his embrace burn away some of her grief.
    “Tell me how to free my animal.”
    He pulled back to look into her eyes. “Well, I… have an idea.”
    “Yeah?”
    “When we shift, it’s like an explosion. It’s sudden, a burst of mutation that happens in a blink. But so much happens within and without. You go from feeling like a human—human emotions, tastes, urges—to feeling like an animal, with different emotions, tastes, and urges. But the one thing that stays the same in both forms... is pleasure.” His eyes grew dark and just that simple word from his mouth set her on fire again.
    “But you said we can’t—”
    “I can’t mark you. Not yet. But I never said I wouldn’t pleasure you until you came undone.” His voice was a deep thrum against her chest. “I want to make you lose control.”
    Her throaty moan said what her mouth couldn’t: yes, a million times, yes.
    “I want you here, in my bed. Sweet and slow. On the couch, fast and hard. The fucking kitchen table. In the shower, wet and wild. I want you everywhere, in every way. But tonight…” He brushed her hair back from her face. “We need to be outside in the open air. Because baby, tonight you’re going to let go. You’re going to be free.”
    She was going to turn. Somewhere in the depths of her soul, it sounded so right. She needed this. But she was also scared.
    “What if I turn and then can’t change back?”
    Drake shook his head. “That won’t happen.”
    “How do you know?”
    “Because, just like you can’t survive without changing to your wolf form, you also can’t not be in your human form. You need both. Your animal will recognize this, and you’ll turn back. Besides, I’ll be with you. When you shift, so will I.”
    Ella swallowed. She wanted this quarrelling within her to stop. She wanted to be one with her animal. She felt it was necessary in order for her to heal. In order for her to live her life to the fullest. Like daddy would’ve wanted.
    She took a deep breath. Time to take care of shit.
    Stretching up on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips against Drake’s, tasting his green-apple flavor. The gum he liked to chew.
    She giggled, but his snarled growl let her know he meant business.
    With his mouth fused to hers, he reached behind her to open the door. Then he broke contact, lifting her carefully into his arms. She started to protest, but he didn’t seem to be struggling with her weight at all.
    Keeping his eyes glued to hers, he carried her down the steps and across the driveway, winding between trees