Chapter 491: Wolf race

"Why are we here?" Viola asked, as Sebastian set her down, keeping a hand around her waist to steady her, as though afraid she’d fall if he let go.

She’d rested against him the entire walk out of the building with her eyes closed, and the walk coupled with cool breeze outside had nearly lulled her to sleep, until he announced they’d arrived and she opened her eyes to the forested edge of Silver at the back of the city, where werewolves used the woods to hunt and run in their wolf forms.

She turned to look at him and found him already pulling off his shirt as he said, "My wolf wants to meet yours. I want us to go up that cliff I once took you to, but we’ll race there."

Even before Viola could reply, her wolf surged up in excitement at the suggestion, and she could almost feel her wagging her tail. "What about your meeting?" She asked, as he tossed his shirt aside so he could put it back on after transforming later.

"I’ll get to it right after this, but for now, I think it’s time we let our wolves meet each other, don’t you? Are you feeling up to it?" He stopped unbuttoning his trousers to turn to her, reaching out to cup her neck with one hand and tucking strands of wind-blown hair behind her ear with the other.

Muffin had been sulking, and Viola hadn’t been feeling well either, and the best remedy for both was to run in their other forms, letting the exertion restore some of their energy.

If it meant borrowing a few minutes from his work schedule to help her feel recharged, so be it, Sebastian would let Muffin out. Beyond that, he genuinely wanted to see his wife in her other form as he hadn’t gotten to see her well yesterday, though if she wasn’t up for it, he’d never push her.

Viola smiled. "I’d love that. I’ve always dreamed of running through these woods someday, with my wolf." She said, excitement creeping into her voice as she began undoing her clothes, but Sebastian placed his hand over hers.

"Allow me." And then he began helping her out of the yellow house dress she wore.

Viola couldn’t help but think they’d spent an awful lot of the last twenty-four hours undressing each other. When her dress fell away, she was left in just her bra and panties, and the breeze suddenly felt chilly against her bare skin, prompting her to turn to her husband, only to find him standing there, staring down at her stomach.

Viola pursed her lips and followed his gaze to the small bump below her abdomen, and self-consciously placed her hand over it. "I didn’t even notice it growing, until yesterday."

She watched his expression turn sober as he stepped forward and pressed his own hand over hers, against her belly. "Will the sickness get worse, the more it grows?" He asked quietly, worry plain in his silver eyes.

Every werewolf knew that when two Alpha werewolves conceived, pregnancy tended to be harder on the female the further along she got, especially without knowing yet if she carried twins, since the odds ran high. Sebastian wanted children with her, but watching her throw up for the first time that morning had given him a hard reality check about just how much pregnancy could take out of her.

She had looked like she would throw up her entire stomach and had looked so sick for a moment. Something like that was bound to happen again.

He didn’t want his wife suffering for any reason, not if he could help it, and if there was any way to shoulder more of the struggle himself so she could bear less, he would do it without hesitation.

Viola smiled up at him. "I’m ready for whatever struggles come, as long as I have you beside me. I won’t sugarcoat it, there will be plenty of hard days the further along I get, but I know you’ll be there to support me, and our baby will be here before we know it. Now stop looking like you’re about to faint from worry, and let’s have our race." She said, injecting some humor to ease his mind.

Viola already understood what she was getting into with this pregnancy, and though everything she’d read about it had scared her at first, she felt stronger with him beside her, even more so now that she was no longer wolfless, with the strength to heal from whatever damage giving birth might do to her body afterward.

Sebastian traced her cheek, looking down at her with a love and respect that made her flush. "I am the luckiest man alive, to have you. You know that?" He told her, then leaned down to press a gentle kiss to her forehead before stepping back. "Go ahead and shift, sweetheart. I want to see you before I take my own form. I need to make sure your bones are adjusting properly and that you’re not pushing yourself too hard."

Viola, who’d shifted once already and knew the pain of it, swallowed hard. It was said that the more one shifted, the more the bones adjusted to it, but she needed no one to tell her that Sebastian was trying to help ease her through this.

She suddenly felt nervous, almost as though she were about to be seen naked for the first time by him, since this would be his first time meeting her wolf, who was a little bit difficult to keep down sometimes.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and heard Sebastian say, "Take your time. To make it hurt less, try to shift all at once, rather than letting it happen limb by limb."

Viola peeked at him from beneath her lashes. "Any advice on how to do that?"

Sebastian smiled. "Picture butterflies flying around you, then hand your wolf the reins while you do it. Don’t think about the shifting itself at all. When I first shifted, I used to picture water flowing through a creek."

He instructed her, and Viola couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at her lips. He still remembered how much she loved butterflies. Of all the things he could have told her to picture, he had remembered that little detail about her and used it to help her now. The thought warmed something inside her.

She followed his instructions, picturing colorful butterflies, and before she knew it, felt her body flowing smoothly through the change, the pain barely half of what she’d felt the first time. The shift was complete in no time, and her body settled into its wolf form, pulsing with her aura.

Sebastian, who’d been watching, took an involuntary step back as she transformed, staring at his wife with fascination at how graceful she looked.

Though her wolf wasn’t as large as his, she was still bigger than the average female wolf, with a powerful, well-built frame that carried an undeniable presence. Her coat gleamed beneath the light, every movement revealing the strength packed beneath her fur. The crescent mark rested visibly on her shoulder, glowing against her coat even though it had yet to appear on her human skin.

Unlike his wolf, whose presence carried a chilling aura, hers radiated a fierce, almost scorching heat. Anyone standing before her would feel it rolling off her body and would probably be sweating buckets within moments.

There was something wild and alluring about her that made it difficult to look away. She was magnificently beautiful, and Sebastian couldn’t help but stare at her with fascinated pride. She was his woman, his mate, and he would have loved nothing more than to show her off to the entire pack and the whole world.