Primal Promise

Eighteen

Two hours later, she pulled up at the filling station just outside the resort. It wouldn't matter to the authorities that she'd returned it with a full tank, but it would act as a consolation to her own guilt. 

 She'd not eaten in the truck, hadn't adjusted the radio, rolled down the windows, or in any way left it different than when she'd first climbed in, excepting that when she climbed out again, it would be seventy miles away from where they'd left it parked last.

When she'd pulled into the station, she'd driven right past the Howlock Mountain Trailhead, the memory of that night still sharp. Amidst the soft whooshing of gas into the tank and the morning birds' songs, her mind drifted back. 

 She had been terrified, naturally. Not only the near-rape, but the fact she'd thought herself crazy even thinking it. 'A werewolf attack'? Tell that to the cops and see what would happen. So she'd kept telling herself it was just a man. Nothing more.  She wasn't  crazy though. It had been what she'd thought, but now she had met the man behind the monster.

Jameson, who had been so generous and protective and kind to her. It had been in service of his own agenda, yes, but if she accepted the skinwalker stuff, she had to accept it all. The whole truth had made the attack something infinitely sadder. He hadn't been in control. While that wasn't an excuse for what he'd done, for good or ill, it did temper it somewhat. 

Strip away the man, and the rest was just an animal who didn't understand human morality. Wasn't it like demanding the arrest of a corgi for humping your leg because you didn't give verbal consent?

The loud THUNK of the gas pump shutting off because the tank was filled snapped her out of her reverie.  The attendant paid, she set off on the last short leg of her journey. Another glance sent to the trail where she'd been attacked. Hindsight allowed her to see the apology in so many of Jameson's actions. She told herself that he was, as he ought to be, ashamed of what he'd done. That alone had been responsible for his kind actions since. "No." She sighed as she shook her head, talking to herself. "Face it." The truth was so much worse than that.

He sincerely believed he was bound to her by some weird ancient thing she couldn't understand.  The whole family did! The idea that they were destined to be mated forever was ... ludicrous! That wasn't how life worked.  Love was a temporary illusion so people would let their guard down and get close enough to make babies.   

The feeling called 'love' lasted only so the man stuck around long enough for the baby to pass infancy.  Men didn't love you forever. They were hard-wired to stick around for three years at best, then go plant their seed in another and start the countdown again.  It was a remnant of caveman DNA.  Spread out your genetics to ensure the survival of them into the future.   

Wolves mate for life. The fact was something she knew wasn't quite true, but it was a closer definition of it than most humans could aspire to. Unwittingly her thoughts went back to that night in May. Despite the obvious anger and fear she'd felt at the time, the feeling of his fur wasn't particularly disgusting. He was very soft. Well, except where he wasn't. The strength of his hands and the ... other bits...She slammed her hand down on the steering wheel, frowning. She was not going to consider his... wolf wang!

Now, of course, that's exactly where her mind went no matter how she tried to concentrate on anything else. Could he only do it 'doggy style', or was it possible to have other positions?  How much was human and how much was canine?  Would someone have to come hit them with a hose so he didn't drag her all over the yard? By the time she pulled up at the far edge of the resort, she was fully ready to stick her head in a blender if it meant that she'd stop considering the logistics of copulating with a lycanthrope!