The Wolf Of Penshaw Lake
Chapter 18

Mason could hear her heart skip a beat at his confession. He shook his head and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath in. If he wasn’t careful, he was about to ruin everything he had built with her.

Why had he said that? Why did he admit that he was looking for the one?

Returning to the booth with two drinks in hand, he could see the glistening sheen of watery eyes and immediately felt his fists clench around the glasses, threatening to send shards of glass flying in all directions. He placed them down quickly, breathing deeply through his nose as he sat back down opposite her. She sent him a smile, but it did nothing to calm his racing heart. Had he upset her somehow? Scared her away? Mason’s stomach twisted, making him feel nauseous.

Mason went to speak, when the singer in the corner of the bar began to sing an acoustic version of a popular pop song. Surprisingly, Sophie brightened up as she heard the lyrics and she turned around in her seat to get a better view.

“Do you like this song?” Mason asked, glad that she no longer looked as though she was about to burst into tears.

“So am I, Ava Max,” she explained. “It...um...I relate to it and I, well, Iloveher.”

She turned around with a bright smile that made Mason fall even more impossibly in love with her. The soulmate bond was one thing, but even without it, Mason thought he would fall for her like no other. He listened carefully to the lyrics of the song, wondering how this song about ‘misfits’ and ‘outcasts’ could possibly relate to the beautiful brunette sitting across from him.

Sophie took a sip from her drink and Mason mirrored her actions, taking a refreshingly, long drink from the sharp whiskey in his glass.

“Careful,” he heard her jokingly chastise. “I don’t think I’ve got the strength to carry you out of here!”

Mason laughed, “I don’t get drunk very easily. I should be the one to tell you that considering your gin is going down like water.”

Mason watched as her cheeks flushed pink and smirked to himself, it gave him pleasure knowing he could incite such a reaction from her. He turned his attention to the singer before his animalistic thoughts came to a head and he devoured her right on the table in front of everybody.

“She’s good right?” Sophie spoke up and he could feel her eyes on him, as though she was studying him.

“Yes she is. Tell me, any hidden talents?” Mason asked, sitting back in the booth, resting one arm on the top of his seat at shoulder length and the other arm twirling the empty whiskey glass in his hand.

He cocked his head to the side, observing her like a animal would do to its prey, as she tucked her hair behind her ears and fumbled with the question as though she didn’t know how to answer.

“Not really, I’m not what you would call talented.”

Another hearty gulp of gin.

“I dabbled in a few things in school, but nothing ever seemed to stick.”

The gin was gone.

She giggled and Mason raised his eyebrows, he could see the slight sheen to her skin, the flushed cheeks and animated hands and he could tell that the alcohol was getting to her.

“I did try dancing and gymnastics, but I was too clumsy for my good. What about you?”

Mason leaned forwards, involuntarily drinking in her scent. It was heavenly to him, like exotic fruit. All mango, passionfruit and grapefruit. He gripped the table edge, feeling the wood begin to splinter beneath his fingers.

“I like to run,” he breathed to her.

Maybe the alcohol was getting to him.

“I can see that,” She flirted, looking at him up and down and he could feel his jeans tighten as he grit his teeth together. He could see her eyes undressing him and he cursed the heavens. She had no idea the impact that she had on him, it was like her voice alone was enough to undo him.

“Don’t start,” He teased playfully, but a new scent invading his nostrils turned his eyes dark and threatened to let his canines loose from his gums. “Do you want another drink?” He asked, trying to make his voice sound human, but it came out like a strangled growl. Inside he was praying she would say no, so that he could grab her outside and make her wish that she had kept her mouth shut.

“I don’t think so...”

Mason grabbed her hand from across the booth, as she quickly picked up her jacket. He stopped quickly at the bar to toss a card at the barman.

“On this,” He grunted. “I’ll get it tomorrow.”

With as much strength as he could muster to stop himself from turning, Mason all but dragged Sophie out of the bar and towards his car. She pulled against his hand and stopped moving, confusion etching across her features.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, “Why are you so eager to leave?”

Mason stalked towards her, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her tightly to his chest.

“Because if you didn’t stop looking at me with those eyes I would have to take you right there in front of everybody,” he growled.

He could hear Sophie’s heart speed up, a mixture of fear and arousal coating her tropical scent. He closed his eyes, feeling the lycan side of him surface and it was taking every inch of control in his body to stop from letting the wolf out. She looked at him with wide doe eyes, soft, full lips parting in a breath and he took the moment to lean down and kiss her.

Just like that.

A breathy gasp from Sophie’s lips were it all it took to send fiery heat through Mason’s blood. He felt the warm, tickling sensation of her fingers drifting up his chest and looping around his neck, knotting in the thick tendrils of his hair. As she pulled against the strands, Mason couldn’t help but let out a low growl that had been building in the back of his throat. She tasted of raspberries, like a cocktail of heaven that he could never get enough of. His fingers gripped her waist as he took a step back to spin her around and press her against the car.

Barely aware of their surroundings, Mason lifted her leg around his thigh, drifting his fingers across the smooth, bare skin sending goosebumps erupting throughout her whole body. He let her take a breath, as he dropped his kisses from the delicious cavern that was her mouth, down towards her neck where he took advantage of the supple, sensitive skin. His teeth grazed her skin and although he knew it was dangerous, Mason couldn’t stop. He could feel her pulse beneath his lips; racing like a gazelle trying to escape the lion.

It was addictive.

“Mason,” She moaned.

Mason gripped her tighter, continuing his passionate attack against her skin.

“Mason!” This time, her voice was clearer and her hands were no longer knotted in the depths of his hair. They were pushing against his chest, trying to get him to stop.

Mason pulled away, letting her leg drop back to the ground, he didn’t fail to notice the red marks where his fingers had seized her leg and held it hostage against him. She was panting, her chest heaving like a damsel in a romance novel. Her eyes were glazed with lust and another emotion that looked surprisingly like embarrassment.

She wasn’t embarrassed of him? Right?

“What is wrong?” He asked.

“We are in a car park,” She hissed. “I’m pretty sure people came here to eat, not get a free sex show.”

Mason grinned, although the idea of anybody seeing her naked but him sent displeasure down his spine, he revelled in the fact that he undoubtedly made such agravitationalimpact on her.

“Then let’s go somewhere that nobody can see us.”

A frown marred her beautiful features and he could no longer see the lust within her chocolate eyes. He wished he had the ability to read her thoughts, because although he could read body language like a book, hers was foreign to him and took him much longer to decipher than he cared to admit to himself. She hugged herself and turned away from him, slamming her book closed.

“I’m cold,” she whispered. “Can we head back?”

Mason just nodded, her sudden change in attitude sent his wolf whirling. One moment she was burning brighter than the sun, the next frostier than those first moments of dawn on a winter’s day. She slipped quietly into the car, hugging her jacket against her. She stared out the car’s window, as though the road ahead was the most interesting thing she had seen all day, but Mason knew that she was just trying to avoid his gaze.

Mason drove back silently, feeling furious at himself for letting the situation get out of control. Female wolves weren’t bothered about human customs; sex was an integral part of the werewolf community and a female wolf would be proud to show herself off.

But Sophie wasn’t a wolf. Mason had to remember that. She was a human. Delicate, fragile...unaware. She had no idea what she truly did to him and all Mason wanted to do was tell her.

Tell her.

Fuck her.

Make her his.

Mason gripped the steering wheel tightly, unaware that he was slowly building speed. He focused on his breathing, but he could feel his eyes darken. His gums ached painfully as he tried to keep his canines from appearing. He kept his hands fisted tightly against the wheel, knowing that at any second his claws would rip from his nails and dig into his hands. The fur was already threatening to begin sprouting from his skin. He needed to control the change.

He had to.

“Talk to me,” he whispered, hardly unable to choke out the words. “Anything, please.”

Sophie turned to him and gulped lightly. She had no idea what was happening and Mason was trying his hardest to keep her in the dark just a little longer, if he revealed he was a lycan now...he could terrify her for good.

“Um,” She pressed a button on the car to replace a specific music channel. A soothing classical sound drifted into the car and into Mason’s ears. The lilting melody began to calm him as he focused on nothing but the music.

“It’s Johann Strauss. But I forget the name of the piece.”

“You know your way around classical,” Mason said, his voice sounding more like his own.

“I used to listen to it a lot when studying. That and musical theatre,” She admitted with a little laugh. “Don’t tell the girls, it’s a bit of guilty pleasure.”

Mason felt a sense of warmth flood through him at the notion that she trusted him with that knowledge.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

Mason turned to her with a smile, “Now I am.”

With a slight pout, Sophie accepted the answer, but Mason knew that she wouldn’t let it go that easily. Hopefully, by the time she asked again, Mason would be able to tell her everything. He often thought about how he would tell her. A book about his kind? Showing her his lycan side? This was a first in his family, a first in his pack for a long time. There was no-one around he could ask for help.

This was something he and Sophie would have to figure out together.