Prey 24

The moon sent silver beams angling through the trees to the dark forest floor. The breathless hush of the night was broken by the sound of a distant wolf's cry, long and keening. A small white shape flashed through the moonbeams and was gone, the waving of one fern frond the only tell that something had passed, the dry leaves hardly stirring in its wake.

Oh god, oh god, oh god.

Fear and adrenaline surged through Arden's body, filling his mind with white noise, making it impossible to think of anything other than

run

, and

escape.

His back moved like spring steel, small paws barley touching the ground before it was stretching his body long again, covering as much ground as he could in a single pace.

The wolf called again, noticeably louder, closer. How could he move so

quickly?

Arden had thought that ten minutes start would have been plenty of advantage, maybe even too much--but Derrick had assured him it was not. The breath panted in and out of Arden's narrow snout, a mixture of exertion and dread. Sure, this had all been Arden's idea, but... he hadn't expected it to be this

terrifying

.

Another howl rang out, so close that Arden could hardly tell which direction it came from, the eerie, quavering song seeming to wrap around him from all directions. The sudden nearness gave Arden an unexpected burst of speed and he leapt forward, leaves slapped across his face as he dove under a bramble thicket. Large ears flattened against his skull, furry belly flat to the earth for an instant before he was through and stretched full out again. He had left behind several long, silver tail hairs on the thorns, but he had not even felt their loss.

Up ahead he could see a dim golden glow faintly liming the tree trunks. He was almost back to the cottage! The glow was the light of the lantern they had left burning. Arden has not even realized he was so close, having lost all sense of time and space in his terror. Derrick was right on his tail, but maybe those brambles had given him a chance: Derrick was far too big to go under it as Arden had--he would have to go around.

Trees rushed past on either side of him, then opened up to reveal the cottage sitting in its clearing ahead, the golden lanternlight a welcoming beacon. Arden's breath sobbed in relief at the sight, then some sixth sense made him skid to a halt, white paws digging into the soft forest loam. He gave a sudden tremendous leap sideways with all four feet, his tail twisting in the air for balance, as a shadow that was not a shadow lunged at him.

The light had blinded him, almost made him miss the predator lying in wait just when he thought he had reached safety. Arden's leap had carried him out of distance, and the two canine forms were still, staring toward eachother in the darkness, one small and white and trembling, the other large and obscured in shadow. The scarlet glow of two eyes was the only feature Arden could clearly make out.

He suddenly realized that he had not heard the wolf-cry for several minutes; Derrick must have passed him entirely, surging ahead to set this ambush. By sheerest luck the ambush had failed, but now Arden was frozen, his pursuer between him and his only sanctuary. His narrow chest heaved, and his slender legs shook with fatigue; he wasn't certain he had the strength to continue his flight, even if he had known which way to run.

Tired of waiting, the dark shape took a step closer, a low growl rumbling his chest, the sanguine eyes trailing light with each motion of his large head. The darkness of the night made him appear pure black, his shape lost in shadow, amorphous. Arden still didn't know precisely what Derrick

was

; he was unlike any other shape-shifter Arden had known, and the other man did not like to talk about his past. This had never seemed like much of a problem to Arden, but now he wondered if he had made a huge mistake.

The wolf stalked a step closer, and Arden could stand it no longer. He broke and fled to the left, jinking in a desperate attempt to evade the menacing form in front of him. The shadow lunged, and Arden felt terror shoot through him as teeth closed around his neck.

Arden landed flat on his back in the golden light of the clearing, long black jaws clamped over his throat. In animal-form, Derrick out-massed Arden several times over. Instinctively, Arden shifted to human-form so that he would not be so very small, but he immediately regretted it: his fox-form may have been small, but a thick ruff of fur protected his neck--his human form had nothing between his tender skin and Derrick's long, snarling teeth.

"D-D-Derrick! It's me, Arden!" It took several attempts to get his voice working, but when he did the wolf gripping his throat only growled and squeezed his jaws slightly tighter.

"Shit, shit," Arden sobbed under his breath. "

Derrick

! It's me, you've won! You've fucking won, alright?" He was babbling, frantic, chest heaving under Derrick's weight. It was all he could to to keep himself from struggling to get away, but he had to avoid further triggering the wolf's prey drive at any cost.

The outline of the wolf suddenly blurred, dark smoke gathering around him for a few moments before it rippled clear to reveal the form of a man crouched over Arden in its place. Arden shakily let his breath out, but didn't move: the man's teeth were still at his throat, and they were still sharp.

Then the mouth moved toward his ear. "Tsk tsk, Ari," Derrick murmured, deep and low, "since when do you use such foul language?" Arden could hear the curve of a smile in his voice.

Arden felt himself relaxing as tension was slowly replaced with shaky relief. "Since you scared the shit out of me, you bastard." He could not control the tremor in is voice, his breathing still uneven. It felt extremely good to hear Derrick's voice sounding so familiar... and sane.

Derrick suddenly raised himself up so that he was leaning over Arden, knees straddling his narrow hips, hands planted on either side of his head. Arden looked up at him, going still again as Derrick stared intently back, not saying a word. Derrick's scent was all around him, mixed with the clean sweat of their recent exertion... and some other note Arden did not recognize. It almost smelled like hot metal.

Derrick suddenly leaned down and kissed him deeply, his breath and tongue hot against Arden's lips. Arden's dick throbbed, and it was then he realized that he was already halfway to being hard.

After a long moment Derrick broke the kiss, and Arden gasped in a shaky gulp of air. "The cottage is right there," he said breathlessly, gesturing vaguely, "we could go to the bed--"

Derrick growled and pressed his hands over Arden's wrists, pushing him back against the ground with his weight. His golden eyes definitely held a red light in their depths.

"O-or we could stay h-here," Arden said with a small nervous laugh. "The moss is nice..."

Derrick leaned forward as though to kiss him again, and Arden's lips parted in involuntary anticipation. But Derrick's mouth bypassed Arden's lips and fell on his jawline, nibbling his way up toward his ear. An uncontrollable shiver shook its way through Arden's body as Derrick's hot mouth closed on the soft curve.

Suddenly Derrick bit down, teeth sinking into the sensitive flesh--not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough to

hurt

. Arden's human ears puffed away in a shocked burst of silver mist, two large, triangular fox ears materializing from the top of his head in the same instant with a distant sound like jingling bells.

Arden stared at Derrick, blue eyes wide with shock and indignation. "You did that on purpose!" he accused.

Derrick's only reply was a feral grin, revealing teeth that were larger and much sharper than was usual for his human-form. In fact... now that Arden was looking, there were other things that were different as well. True, Derrick's human-form was both taller and broader than Arden's, but surely he had never been

this

much bigger?

Just then, Arden became aware of something long and hot lying against his abdomen--just how scattered was his mind that he had not noticed it before then? He lifted his head awkwardly, looking down past Derrick's bare chest to see a thick, dark-pink cock lying between his legs. His own dick pulsed suddenly at the sight. The head was resting on Arden's stomach, and at the base, pushing against his thighs, was a prominent knot.

A knot?

Arden thought in confusion, glancing up at Derrick's face, who was watching him. Had he not entirely changed back from wolf-form? But no--everything about him was slightly bigger than in either his human or wolf form. Well--Arden swallowed nervously--some things were rather more than

slightly

bigger.... No, this was something else, a third form Arden had never seen before.

Apparently deciding Arden had stared long enough, Derrick leaned back slightly and hooked his fingers into the open collar of Arden's shirt, tugging downward. Arden started, staring at Derrick's hand: his fingers were no longer fingers, but rather long black claws, their form slightly nebulous, the same dark color as the smoke that accompanied his transformations. There was nothing nebulous about the ends, however, which hardened into wicked-looking points.

Derrick tugged more insistently, the cloth threatening to tear. Arden released a shaky breath and let the shirt dissipate into mist; he had manifested the clothes automatically when shifting to human-form in Derrick's jaws, but they offered no real protection, less even than actual clothing would have.

Arden gasped and squirmed as Derrick's sharp claw-tips ran lightly down his chest and across is belly. He was now fully erect, cock tenting his loose trousers. Before Derrick could even touch them, Arden let the trousers dissipate as well, leaving himself entirely exposed.

Derrick's hungry smile sent shivers running through Arden's body. With no preamble, Derrick bent forward and lowered his mouth around Arden's cock. Arden winced in sudden discomfort--the inside of Derrick's mouth was

hot

, like the hottest hot-spring, just this side of unbearable.

What...?

Arden wondered in confusion. How could a creature possible contain that much heat and still live?

Derrick glanced up at him, dark hair falling over one golden-red eye as he stroked the length of Arden's shaft with his slick tongue, and Arden's discomfort dissolved into need. A low moan escaped his lips as he dug his fingers into Derrick's hair; his back arched, involuntarily pushing himself deeper into the burning depths of Derrick's mouth.

Derrick withdrew slightly, teasing him. His breath sucked in and huffed out around Arden's shaft, the contrast between the heat of his mouth and the cool night air setting Arden's senses aflame. Derrick's lips and tongue caressed the head and worked up and down the length, occasionally taking the whole thing deep into the hot, wet tightness of his throat. Every so often Derrick would growl and bite down, using just the barest brush of teeth to drive Arden wild with alarmed arousal.

Suddenly Derrick withdrew entirely, and Arden felt himself being flipped over, onto hands and knees. A large, clawed hand came down on his head and neck, pushing his chest down to the ground. Arden squirmed, ass in the air, instinctively trying to escape the weight that held him pressed into the moss. Sharp claw-tips traced through his hair and across the skin of his scalp, making his eyelids flutter in bliss.

Arden knew what was coming next, but it was still a shock when a burning heat suddenly pressed up between his asscheeks, causing him to freeze. Arden reminded himself to breath as the head of Derrick's cock probed at his ass. It was nearly as hot as his mouth, the heat of it almost enough to make Arden flinch away.

Arden made a sound that was somewhere between a moan and a growl as the first inch pushed inside his body. He was glad that they had worked to prepare him earlier that night, before they had left the cottage to start this little game. Derrick had used what to Arden had seemed a ridiculous amount of lube, but it was obvious that Derrick had known something he had not. Arden was grateful for it now, as he could feel the burning shaft sliding on the lube still inside him. He wasn't sure how much benefit he would get from all that stretching they had done, however: he didn't think his ass had ever been clenched as tightly as it had been that night.

Derrick pulled out, and then thrust slowly in again, deeper, pushing all thoughts out of Arden's head. Arden's breaths came in gasps and whining moans as Derrick worked gently but insistently, entering him inch by inch. Arden shuddered under the weight that pressed him down, having no choice but to kneel there and take it--and not wanting any other choice.

A large, warm hand suddenly wrapped around Arden's rigid dick, causing him to jump and accidentally slide another impossibly-thick inch into his own ass. The hand began to stroke up and down as the last of Derrick's shaft made its way inside him, the bulge of the knot pressing up against his quivering asshole.

Arden could only breath in panting gasps as the hot shaft began to slide in and out of him, slowly at first, and then faster, more urgent. Sweat had broken out on his skin, from the heat of the man above him, the hot hand surrounding his manhood, his own rhythmic movements of pleasure, the burning impossibility inside him.

As their breathing grew ragged, Arden felt the familiar pressure building in his groin. He was so close. Then Derrick abruptly leaned down and bit him on the back of the neck. Arden's body arched in shock, all his muscles clenching involuntarily, jerking him back from the edge. The crest of the spasm passed, his muscles starting to release, and he felt Derrick press hard against him, the bulge of the knot beginning to open his ass wider than it had ever gone. Arden gave a cry that was half sob, half moan, and pushed back against the pressure. He wanted it--he

needed

it inside him.

The knot at last cleared his entrance and slid deeper into his yielding guts. Arden writhed as he was impaled, filled to the breaking point. The thought and feel of that massive cock entirely inside him was almost enough to make him cum right then. And then it began to move.

Derrick seemed aware that Arden was at his absolute limit, at first barely pulsing his dick back and forth inside him, but even so it sent pleasure surging through Arden's body. Dirt gritted against his teeth as he moaned into the moss, mouth open, legs shaking with the overwhelming sensation.

As Arden's body adjusted to accommodate him, Derrick gradually increased the speed and amplitude of his motion. He pulled back, the knot tugging at Arden's asshole, spreading it until he was sure it would pop free, before thrusting back in as deeply as he could go. Arden could feel the stretched plane of his belly bulging with each impossibly-deep thrust. He no longer recognized the sounds that were coming out of his mouth: they could easily have been mistaken for pain, but what he felt was ecstasy.

Suddenly Arden's toes clenched, his fingers digging deep into the moss. His dick tensed in Derrick's hand, a strangled scream forcing its way through his straining throat as he came explosively. A few moments later he felt Derrick come deep within him, like magma flooding his entrails, the burst of heat and pressure making him feel dizzy as wave after wave of pleasure rhythmically shook his body.

The aftershocks went on for what felt like minutes, but as Arden gradually came down, the pressure in his ass became more and more unbearable. He sensed that it could quickly become excruciating, now that his arousal was spent.

Oh gods,

he thought,

am I going to have to wait for the knot to go down?? I don't think I can--

Just as Arden was beginning to panic, he felt Derrick shift inside him, the pressure suddenly easing, the weight on his back lessening. Derrick's now human-sized dick slid out easily as he rolled off Arden's back to lay beside him. Arden collapsed to the ground in relief, eyes closed, face in the moss, utterly spent.

After several minutes, Arden recovered enough to roll onto his side. He opened his eyes to see Derrick watching him, head propped up on one bent hand.

"Hey there," Derrick said, amusement in his low voice. "Did you have fun?"

Arden squeezed his eyes closed. "

Gods

, Derrick," he managed, his voice full of emotion.

Derrick's amused expression deepened: he knew that tone. "How are you feeling?"

"...This night was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me," Arden mumbled into the moss.

Derrick waited, watching him with those steady, golden eyes.

"And I loved every minute of it," Arden admitted in a low voice. Bright blue flashed as he glanced up at Derrick with a sheepish smile. "Thank you."

Derrick returned the smile as he reached out and smoothed Arden's white hair out of his face. Arden tilted his head and leaned into the caress as Derrick's hand continued over the top of his head, rubbing across his soft ears. The hand came to rest on his cheek, and Derrick leaned his forehead against Arden's as they lay side-by-side on the ground. "You're welcome," he said, their breath mingling.

Then Derrick kissed him on the forehead and gathered his feet under himself to rise. Arden was gratified to see that it was with less than his usual grace: Derrick had to run hard to outpace him.

"Lets get you cleaned up," Derrick said, and Arden suddenly realized he was smeared with dirt, leaves and bits of torn up moss sticking damply to his pale skin and in his hair. Derrick bent down and swooped Arden up into a princess carry. Arden made a dismayed noise of protest as the movement pushed a slippery mix of cum and lube out past his loose entrance. It oozed warmly down his buttcrack, dripping in viscous strands toward the ground.

Derrick gave a huff of amusement. "Better here than on the floor inside," he said philosophically. Arden flushed faintly, but rested his cheek against Derricks broad chest and made no comment as he allowed himself to be carried into the cottage.

***

Later that night, Derrick nuzzled his face into the nape of Arden's neck as they lay together in bed. He breathed in through his nose, inhaling the clean scent. "Mmm, Ari," he murmured.

Arden hunched his shoulders and burrowed his back more closely against Derrick's chest, a shiver running from somewhere deep in his gut up to his ears and scalp. Despite his exhaustion, he felt his groin tighten. "Neither of us is every going to get any sleep if you keep doing that," he grumbled.

Derrick chuckled into his damp hair, his warm breath raising goosebumps on the back of Arden's neck. He lightly ran his fingertips across the smooth skin of Arden's side, slowing as they traced over his stomach, nearing the drawstring of his pants...

Arden shivered at the teasing caress, the goosebumps spreading down his spine to all four limbs. His body reacted to the touch, to the nearness of Derrick's teeth to his neck, awakening interest where Arden had been sure there could be none. His heartbeat quickened at the memory of sharp claw-tips running across that same skin, and he was actually considering if there was any way he would have the strength to take Derrick up on his suggestion, when he realized that his lover's hand had stopped moving. Arden waited for several long heartbeats before he heard a noise like a soft sigh behind him, followed by another one a short time later.

After all that, had Derrick just fallen asleep? Arden snorted affectionately, the anticipation easing out of him. Derrick had not let on, but Arden was sure the evening had exhausted him as well.