"Don't know how you do it, I love the way I lose it everytime. What's even better is knowing that forever you're all mine. The closer you get the more my body aches. One little stare from you is all it takes. I melt everytime you look at me that way. It never fails, anytime, anyplace. This burn in me is the coolest thing I've ever felt. I melt." Rascal Flatts 'I melt'

“Dinner?” Dawn asked with a frown.

“Yes.” Grange replied as he grabbed a handful of freshly baked dough balls rolled in cinnamon and sugar.

“Stop that!” Dawn scolded as she swatted at his hand. “I have a big order for those and I’ll never get it done if you don’t keep your furry paws out of them.” Grange grinned.

“Sorry.” he replied, though he didn’t look sorry as he shoved them into his mouth.

“And you want to take me to dinner? How can you be hungry when you’ve been here every hour on the hour eating all my merchandise?”

“I have to make sure you’re staying off that foot.” he countered.

“She’s staying off it, Grange. I’ve been doing the running and Nickolai has been doing the cooking.” Trig assured him as he came out of the kitchen with flour smeared across his nose.

“A big change from the work I did in my last pack.” Nickolai admitted with just the slightest hint of amusement in his voice.

“Grange, it’s been three days since I hurt my ankle. It’s actually feeling nearly completely better.”

“Which only shows that I was right in keeping you off of it.” Grange replied and Dawn rolled her eyes. “And I promise you that I am hungry enough to eat dinner. It’s part of being a wolf, we eat a lot.”

“Dinner at the diner? I’ve never seen you eat at the diner.” Dawn stated with a frown.

“I don’t usually.” Grange admitted. The scents were overwhelming in the diner and he usually chose to eat his meals elsewhere.

“I think he’s trying to do ‘normal’ things with you so you don’t feel so overwhelmed.” Trig whispered and Grange’s eyes narrowed as he glared at the pup.

“Why don’t I go to the diner, order us something to eat and we can go have a picnic somewhere away from town?” Dawn asked as she laid her hand on Grange’s bare forearm. As always she was amazed by the amount of heat he put off. “I don’t want you to make yourself uncomfortable simply to spend time with me.” she added.

“Can we come on the picnic?” Trig asked happily as he shoved a cookie into his mouth.

“No.” Both Grange and Dawn snapped in unison.

“I think that was a negative.” Nickolai stated before going back into the kitchen.

“They will help you close up and I’ll be back in an hour.” Grange said, turning his attention back to Dawn. She nodded and then stopped breathing when he moved in and let his lips dance across her cheek, coming to a rest on her ear. “It will be nice to have you alone.” he whispered and while Dawn was still busy trying to get her mouth and brain to function together once more, Grange slipped from the bakery.

She was only faintly aware of Trig chuckling quietly as he walked back into the kitchen to help Nickolai clean up.

Dawn was equally pleased to finally have time alone with Grange. The last three days since coming to terms with what he was and accepting him in her life had been great. She had had plenty of time to adjust and think about the future but she hadn’t had any time alone with Grange.

He didn’t want her staying at his cabin because of what the townsfolk would say and whenever they were in town, Trig and Nickolai were always somewhere near by. Days of rain and her own injured ankle had kept him from whisking her away into the woods but now her ankle was feeling much better, the weather had cleared and she was finally going to spend some time alone with her… man? Beau? Mate? She wasn’t sure what label to assign to him.

She smiled as she stood up and began emptying out her cash register.

She was going to finally be spending some time alone with her wolf.

***

It’s beautiful out here today.” Dawn said with a sigh as she and Grange rode side by side on his horses through the woods.

“Yes it is.” Grange replied, though his eyes were on the way the sunlight shone off her hair instead of on their surroundings.

He loved having her out here in the wilderness with him. This was where Grange felt most comfortable and to have her here with him simply served to make it feel even more like home.

“Let me know if your ankle begins to hurt too badly.” he warned her and she smiled over at him, causing that deep dimple in her cheek to show.

“My ankle is fine, Grange.” she assured him. He knew she wasn’t telling the complete truth because he saw the way she kept shifting her leg but he wasn’t going to argue with her. She was a grown woman after all and didn’t like to have anyone question her capability to take care of herself. Grange was actually surprised that she hadn’t rebelled against having Trig keep an eye on her while Grange had been keeping his distance and he figured it was because, regardless of how much she insisted Trig drove her crazy, Dawn actually liked the hyperactive pup.

“So where were you born, Grange?” Dawn asked as they rode comfortably side by side. Grange scratched at a bug biting his arm and guided his horse around a large oak.

“Georgia a long time ago.”

“How old are you?”

“Fifty. Give or take a year or two.” Dawn’s eyes widened.

“You don’t look fifty.” she stated matter of factly.

“I haven’t aged much since I was turned thirty years ago. A little but not much. Werewolves live a long long time.”

“How long?” Dawn asked and Grange scratched at his hair.

“I can’t say for sure. Forever maybe. The one that turned me was nearly five centuries old and still very strong and powerful. Though most don’t live that long because it’s a dangerous life.”

“So when you turn me, I’ll stop aging?” Grange felt his heart begin to pound against his ribs when she said ‘when he turned her' instead of ‘if he turned her.’ He was glad that he had decided to have patience with her, she was coming around much more quickly than he had thought she would.

“For the most part, yes. You’ll age so slowly that you won’t notice it. The wolf that turned me did not look like he would be nearly five centuries old. He looked like a healthy, fit thirty-five year old man.”

“Well I guess virtual agelessness might make the fleas worth it.” Dawn stated teasingly and Grange barked with laughter.

“We don’t have fleas!” he assured her, though was fighting the urge to scratch at his head. It wasn’t fleas, it was habit, but he knew what her reaction would be.

“That’s what Trig keeps telling me.” she replied.

“Yes he told me about your list.” Grange informed her. “My positives and negatives.”

“He did?” Dawn squeaked as she blushed bright red and became very interested in her mares dark brown mane.

“Yes he did.” Grange replied with amusement. “The positive side was a big boost to my self esteem. Not so much the negatives.” he added with a frown.

“Well, I wrote that the first night I knew what you were. My opinion may have changed since then. I may no longer consider you being a wolf to be a negative.”

“Really?” Grange asked, knowing that she was teasing him. Dawn nodded and winked over at him.

“I had a lot of fun being carried through the forest on wolf back.” Grange gave her that lopsided grin and ran his hand through his hair. Dawn felt her heart beat just a little faster. She heard Grange’s stomach growl and laughed lightly.

“This looks like a good place for a picnic. It sounds as if your stomach is contemplating whether or not it wants to eat your backbone.”

“What backbone?” Grange asked with a wince as his stomach growled again, more loudly.

They brought their horses to a stop and while Grange hooked the reins over a low hanging pine bough, Dawn laid out a blanket beneath the shade of a large oak. She opened the basket that she had packed and began to lay out their dinner of fried chicken, fresh baked rolls and beans.

“That looks good.” Grange stated as he sat down cross legged, across from her on the blanket. “But I smell more than that.” he added as he tried to peek in the basket.

“Curse you and your werewolf nose.” Dawn mumbled as she swatted him away from the basket. “I made Apple dumplings for us to share but they were supposed to be a surprise.”

Grange’s mouth began to water instantly and he smiled at her. She was an amazing woman. A huge shock had just been issued to her days ago, a huge burden laid on her shoulders, and yet still she was carrying on and had even made his favorite dessert.

“You made those in an hour?” he asked and she shook her head.

“No. I started them this morning. I was going to make sure we got some time alone today to enjoy them before you ever came and suggested we go to dinner.”

“Really?” Grange grinned as he let his eyes travel over her. The lush curves of her body were covered in a light blue dress that he could tell was new. The fabric was soft and almost dainty. The neckline was lower than he had seen her wear before and it drew his attention to the pale, freckled skin of her collarbones and chest. The cap sleeves also awarded him a fine view of her smooth shoulders.

He knew the sleeves weren’t the style that most ladies wore, neither were they something that Dawn normally wore and he realized that she had worn that for him. Desire flooded his senses and he quickly tried to swallow it back down as he picked up a piece of chicken and tore off a bite.

“What about the other negative on that list?” he asked after he swallowed it down. Dawn frowned as she tried to remember what her list had said and then the word murderer flashed through her mind.

She bit her lip and shook her head.

“I don’t think you’re a murderer, Grange.” she promised. He looked out into the woods and picked at his chicken.

“I have killed. I will kill again. This is my territory and I will not allow anyone to kill innocents when they come here.”

“I understand.” Dawn replied with a nod and Grange couldn’t smell any hint of dishonesty in the air as she spoke. “But you won’t be able to stay here forever will you? People already whisper about the fact that you haven’t aged, surely that will become more than whispers after a few more years.” Grange sighed.

“You’re right. But I’m expanding. I plan on staking most of the far northwest as mine. That will give the pack plenty of towns to call home and places to live so that not so much attention is drawn to us.”

“Aren’t you just asking for trouble by doing that?” Dawn asked skeptically and Grange shrugged.

“It has to be done. I am an alpha with a pack and I need a territory. A few square miles just won’t do. I’m thinking closer to one or two thousand square miles.”

“Really?!” Dawn exclaimed as she tried to get a grasp on just how vast an area that would really be.

“Yes. I never wanted to be an alpha but now that I’ve become one I want to ensure that my pack is well supplied with land, places to rotate between, animals to hunt and room to run. Those things are important to a pack. None of this land out here is claimed so I may as well claim it.”

“Can you handle the backlash, Grange?” Dawn asked with trepidation. “I don’t want….” she stopped talking and stared down at the blanket they were sitting on. She couldn’t explain, or put into words, the terror and fear she felt at the thought of something happening to Grange.

He reached out and took her hand in his, stroking her wrist gently with his thumb. She forced herself to look into his blue eyes and she saw the intensity of what he felt for her looking back into her own. Dawn knew that no other woman in the history of the world had ever been looked at quite like that.

“I can handle myself.” he assured her. “And so can Nickolai. Trig can as well, even if it might not seem like it at times. And nothing will happen to you either.” he vowed. “I will guard and protect you with my life.”

“Just because I’m your mate?” Dawn asked, wondering why that thought bothered her. A small smile curved Grange’s lips and his hand released her wrist and moved to her cheek as he scooted across the blanket and closed the distance between them.

“That.” he replied, his gruff voice washing over her. “And because I love you.” Dawns heart skidded to a stop behind her ribs and her jaw dropped at his admission. She saw him swallow hard and search her face.

“Say something.” he whispered after several moments of silence. Grange might be able to smell fear, pain and nervousness on someone when they were near him but he was no mind reader and love was something he couldn’t sense. Did she love him? Or had he only imagined that look in her eyes and what all the little things she did for him meant?

“I… I love you too.” she managed to say around her heart which was up in her throat. Dawn had barely finished speaking before Grange acted.

His hand slipped to the back of her head, sinking into her hair and he pulled her closer. His lips burned a path over her ear, across her cheek before finally landing on her lips.

The breath seemed to be sucked straight from Dawn’s lungs as his hungry mouth seared her own. Dawn had never been kissed and she had certainly never expected for her first kiss to be like this. All fiery, hot possessiveness.

She offered no resistance when he nipped roughly at her lip and his tongue demanded entrance to her mouth. Instead she matched his intensity, dueling her tongue against his own.

Suddenly his mouth left hers and his lips began working their way down her neck and over her collarbones. Heating her skin and marking her with scorching brands that only her heart could see. Dawn felt as if her body was on fire. His every move increasing the passion and pleasure she was feeling.

When Grange’s lips moved back to hers she lost all sense of time and reality. There was only this place. All that was real in the world was this moment. Dawn was only faintly aware of his movements as he removed her from her clothes, laying her down and sliding her from her dress, petticoats, chemise and even her boots.

She thought for sure the forest would erupt in flames as his hungry eyes, filled with golden embers and they and his mouth took in every inch of her. Memorizing the sight and taste of each curve of her body as his deep growls of appreciation filled the quiet forest air.

Dawn had had no idea that a mans rough, calloused hands could feel so soft against her. She realized that at some point during his assault on her body and senses he had removed his own clothes and her eyes roamed over his body appreciatively. She saw several scars she’d never before noticed and wondered absently what had caused them.

Grange braced his long, hard body over hers and Dawn knew what was about to happen. She may not have had any experience herself but she had been raised by her brother and he had been a fan of the fairer sex and his exploits had been well documented.

Grange looked into her eyes and Dawn could see that he looked almost as if he were in pain. His eyes were a wild mix of blue and gold and his jaw was tight. Concern filled her.

“Are you okay?” she managed to whisper, though how she found enough air to do so with his thumb stroking her swollen nipple, she had no idea. Grange nodded.

“I’ll be just fine, Dawn. I’ll try to go easy.”

“I don’t want easy, Grange… I want you to let go.” she replied as she grabbed the back of his head and then pulled his mouth down to hers.

She heard him growl and then she felt him enter her. There was a moment of sharp pain but it was quickly replaced with a throbbing kind of delicious pleasure when he began to move swiftly.

Dawn clung to him, reveling in each new sensation he created within her body and then she found herself calling out his name as suddenly the building pressure and pleasure seemed to snap and she was blinded by a bright white sensation that rendered all her other senses useless.

She was aware of the snarl that came from deep within Grange as his body stiffened and then he fell limply to the side and pulled her body against him, wrapping her safe within his strong arms. The heat here was nearly unbearable but Dawn never wanted to leave his embrace.

“That was……..” she couldn’t seem to find the word and so she simply stopped speaking and sighed as she snuggled closer to him, burying her face in his sweat slicked, broad chest and breathing him in. She felt a rumble beneath her cheek as he chuckled.

“Agreed.” was all he said. Dawn stayed right like that, feeling more content, more satisfied, more limp and tingly, than she had ever felt before in her life. Then her own stomach growled and instantly Grange was pulling away from her and pushing a piece of chicken under her nose.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she slowly convinced her body that it wanted to sit up.

“You’re hungry. You should have eaten….” Then Grange smelled the blood, he looked at her thighs and saw it there and he swallowed hard with guilt. “I was too rough..”

“If that was too rough then that’s how I always want it.” Dawn replied and then she blushed at her own brazen comment. She took the chicken while he smiled proudly. She took a bite and chewed it slowly as she watched him shoveling bite after bite of apple dumplings.

“Hey, save some for me.” she scolded and he grinned sheepishly and removed his hand from the last one. Dawn looked at the blanket they were sitting on and realized with a shock that there were tears in it.

“What happened to the blanket?” she exclaimed. Grange rubbed the back of his neck.

“I may have gripped it a little hard.” he admitted. She flushed and bit her lip as she looked away from him quickly.

“Your eyes were turning gold you know.” she informed him.

“Yes. That was the wolf.” he replied. Dawn tossed her empty chicken bone into the woods and smiled when Grange held the apple dumpling to her lips. She took a bite and then looked down at herself. She had never sat naked like this with anyone. She was surprised that she didn’t feel as awkward and shy as she had thought she would feel. It felt natural somehow to be this way with Grange.

“How will I become a wolf?” she asked. She looked up just in time to catch Grange’s eyes flashing with gold.

“When I mark you.” he replied, and she was sure she heard desire once again in his deep, gruff voice.

“You didn’t mark me?” she asked with a frown. She knew for sure that he had certainly changed her body. She would never be the same after the way he had touched her, the way he had loved her.

“No… To mark you I have to bite you.”

“Bite me?” Dawn gasped. She saw him nod and she swallowed hard. “Will it hurt?” she whispered with trepidation.

“For a moment it may.” he admitted, hoping that wouldn’t make her question whether or not she wanted him to mark her. “When you are ready I will do it, but I will wait until we are making love and then the pain will only be dull and it won’t last long.”

“And then I’ll be a wolf?” Dawn asked, feeling more than a little excitement at the thought. Others may think it was odd to suddenly want to be a werewolf but now that she had accepted that that is what her life would be she was eager to get it started. She wanted to be what Grange needed her to be. His alpha female. His mate in every way.

“Yes.” he replied, smiling at her excitement. It certainly took a weight off of his shoulders to know that she wanted to be changed. It also made the wolf in him scream to be let out. The wolf wanted to mark her. The wolf was angry that he hadn’t marked her as they’d made love.

But Grange had been afraid to let himself lose that much control. He had already been too rough with her for her first time and if he had allowed himself to bite her it would only have been worse. That and tomorrow was the first night of the full moon, which meant all werewolves had to shift. Grange hadn’t wanted to put Dawn through that so soon after being changed.

He saw her coming closer and then he felt her soft lips caressing his shoulder.

“I’m ready if you are.” she admitted. The sun was nearly set and the shadows were growing. Grange felt himself quickly losing control as her tiny hands danced across his chest. He swallowed hard, jerked himself away from her and rose to his feet, finding his pants and stepping into them quickly.

“What are you doing?” Dawn asked with disappointment and hurt.

“We cannot do that again right now, Dawn.” he said gently as he picked up her underclothes and motioned for her to come to him. She stood and he slowly helped her begin to dress.

“Why?” Dawn questioned. “I want to become your mate in everyway, Grange.” Grange felt his chest tighten as he looked down into her blue eyes. He caressed her cheek gently with his hand and then kissed her brow.

“And you will, I promise you that, but you are sore, or will be, from what we’ve already done and I will not hurt you further.” Dawn sighed as he buttoned up the bodice of her dress. She knew he was right. She was sore, but it was the good type of sore. The type of sore she would have no problem getting used to.

“I love you, Grange Michaels.” she whispered as she threw her arms around his neck. Grange wrapped her tightly in his arms and kissed her hair.

“And I love you.”

As they made their way back to town, Dawn asked him about his scars.

“I have no idea where most of them came from.” he admitted. “Fights over the years I suppose. I have always been running other wolves off of my territory. Them and vampires, the occasional demon, other shifters that aren’t wolves….”

“Why am I actually surprised to hear that more than just werewolves exist?” Dawn asked with a frown.

“There’s much more out there.” Grange replied. “But you do not have to worry. I will protect you from all of it.” he assured her. Dawn smiled.

“What about that one big one on your arm? I’ve noticed it before now but never asked.” Grange looked down at the raised pale scar that marred his forearm.

“I got this the night I escaped from the wolf that changed me. He found me one night, drunk and acting stupid in the alley behind a saloon. I was going to prove my manliness to a bar maid but he showed up and took me away. I wasn’t like this then. Back then I was skinny, barely twenty and had no sense of self worth or value. I was not a man. I was pathetic.”

“I have a hard time believing that.” Dawn said gently and Grange shrugged.

“Whether you believe it or not does not change the fact that it is the truth. The man drugged me once we were a short distance from the saloon and I woke up in a stone cell. It was dark and damp and I was scared. I remember that I cried like a baby when he came to see me. He was tall, strong and the scariest thing I had ever seen in my life. He bit me and then the torture began.

“I was his pet. His play thing. He would torture me himself some days and then some days it was his pack members or friends of other types that had their fun. I grew stronger, though I hid that the best I could from them.

“Two months after he changed me, he came to visit. He was about to begin, I saw him choosing a whip to beat me with and I decided that enough was enough. I broke my chains, killed him and made my escape, though I had to kill many more to get out alive. I came west, learning skills and fighting to stay alive. I settled down here five years later. This scar is the only reminder of that time that I have and it was caused by my chains when I ripped my arm from them.”

“You’ve never told me any of that before…” Dawn whispered. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“It made me strong and it taught me a lot. I am grateful for it, as strange as that may sound.”

“I’m glad you killed him. He deserved it.” Dawn stated as she looked at the forest ahead of them. Grange smiled.

“I would have to agree.”

***

When they made it back into town, Grange took his time kissing her goodnight outside of her bakery. Dawn was angry when she felt him stiffen and growl before releasing her as Trig walked up to them.

It was clear that Trig had been at the saloon and had consumed a fair amount of whiskey while he’d been visiting. He looked from Dawn to Grange, his nostrils flared and then he grinned, quite stupidly in Dawn’s opinion.

“Have a good time?” he asked. Grange growled again and his hand fell sharply across the back of Trig’s head.

“You’ve been drinking.” he scolded. Trig nodded.

“Yes and you’ve been……” He was cut off when Nickolai came out of the bakery.

“Is it always going to be like this? Are we always going to be surrounded?” Dawn demanded of Grange and he shook his head.

“No.” he assured her, but at the same time as he spoke so did Trig.

“Yep.” Dawn shook her head, pinched her nose between her fingers and looked up at Grange.

“I’m tired.”

“Sleep well, love. I’ll see you tomorrow.” he replied. Dawn kissed his cheek, sent a glare at Trig and then stepped around Nickolai who stopped her just before she shut the door in his face.

“There is warm bath water waiting for you upstairs.” he informed her. “I thought you might enjoy a bath and it would be good to soak your ankle after your excursion this evening.” Dawn blushed red, mumbled a thank-you and then closed the door, realizing that her ankle was indeed sore, but certainly not the only sore part to her body.

“Sir, feel free to tell me to mind my business….” Nickolai started once Dawn was gone.

“Mind your business.” Grange snapped as he turned and began to tie the reins of Dawn’s horse to his own. He had used his own horses for their ride so neither would spook at his scent.

He began to lead both horses down the nearly empty street and he realized that Nickolai wasn’t going to mind his own business as he followed after him. Trig had gone back to the saloon.

“I am glad that you and Dawn have settled all your differences and taken your places beside one another, however I couldn’t help but notice that while you were out today, and clearly had the perfect opportunity, you did not mark her. She is still very much unchanged.”

“Of course she is.” Grange grumbled.

“Sir, it is unwise to leave her in that state much longer. She is weak and the slightest thing could end her life.”

“I am aware of that.” Grange snapped as he turned on Nickolai and the man took a step back and lowered his head. “I could not very well change her tonight when tomorrow night is the first night of the full moon and we will have to shift. She will need time to adjust before being forced into a shift.”

“Of course. You’re right.” Nickolai agreed. “Sorry I questioned you.” Grange just shook his head and shoved his hand through his hair.

“We will be gone for two night starting tomorrow.” he informed Nickolai. “I do not want to leave Dawn alone but since I will be marking her soon I need to start setting the boundaries of my territory. Eventually I would like to expand it for several thousand square miles but we will mark it bit by bit. I will not leave Dawn long enough to do it all at once and I will not take her on a journey like that until I know she is well adjusted to her new abilities.”

“Of course.” Nickolai replied. He understood the alpha’s position. He had a mate to think about and the mates safety would always come before anything else. It had to be that way. The alpha female was vital to the survival of Grange’s bloodline.

“I want you to keep an eye on Dawn tonight. Trig is obviously in no position to do so. Tell him to stay at the hotel tonight, or the brothel if he prefers but I do not want him near Dawn in the state he is in.”

“He would never hurt her.” Nickolai said in defense of the young and somewhat dimwitted pup. Grange grinned and laughed lightly.

“Yes I know, but it’s not her safety I’m worried about.” he replied. A rare smile graced Nickolai’s face.

“Ah, yes, the young pup does know how to push her buttons.”

“Exactly.”