Chapter Ten
"And I…well, I am yours. Plain and simple. I'm yours to do with whatever you want."
Those words, spoken in that deep, sure voice, made Hermione grow weak at the knees. She prayed they would hold out.
She felt her face flush, and fought the urge to press her hands to her cheeks. "Well, that's – I mean, I – that is, you – what are – sweet -" She tried to speak but her tongue got in the way as she ended up trying to say several different things at once. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down and think about what she wanted to say.
Oddly enough, or perhaps not oddly at all given the situation, her first urge was to reward his declaration with a thorough kiss. Instead, ignoring the expression of mingled amusement and irritation on Severus's face and the way he rolled his eyes, she tried speaking again. "Well, of all the declarations I might have expected, that certainly wasn't one of them," she breathed, cringing when her voice didn't sound quite as steady as she had hoped it would. "I don't think anyone's ever said anything quite like that to me before, and I find – and this should make you happy, Severus – I find I haven't got the faintest clue how to respond to something like that. Except I think you'd better explain everything to me, including just how your pack came to be."
Sam considered, exchanging a glance with Jake and Paul, who'd managed to pull his gaze away from Luna for just a moment. At last, Sam replied, "Earlier, before bringing you here to see the Cullens, I sent the rest of the pack back to La Push and I sent some of them to go speak to the tribe elders and tell them what happened. I sent a couple others to speak to the other pack imprints as well. After hearing about everything that happened, the elders will want to have a bonfire tomorrow night, which I mentioned. But the reason is that they will want to meet you and Luna and have you hear about the tribe's legends, as well as the origins of the pack and the imprint."
"Oh," she replied. "Can you still give us details about the imprint and what to expect?" she asked after a moment's consideration.
"Yes, but I think that should be done privately, you know, between the wolf and his imprint, rather than both of us together with both of you," he answered slowly. Then he shot a glance at Severus, and added, "And definitely not with him present. Apparently he was somehow able to look in my head earlier and saw my thoughts about the imprint. Did you know he can read minds, too?"
She couldn't help it. She really tried, but she couldn't suppress the bubble of laughter that escaped. "Oh, now I see how Severus seemed to know what was going on with you three before I did. Yes, Sam, I did know he can read minds." She turned to Severus, gesturing for him to take over the explanation.
He did so, an expression of supreme smugness on his face; Sam had a mild urge to hit him. "There is a branch of magic called Occlumency, which enables a witch or wizard who has learned it to block their thoughts from anyone who might try to read them. There is an opposing magic called Legilimency which enables a witch or wizard to enter the mind of another and see their thoughts. I am accomplished at both, and when you were speaking with me earlier after Hermione went back inside, I wished to determine the extent of the truth behind your words, so I employed Legilimency to look inside your mind to see what you were thinking."
"I am accomplished at Occlumency, and my skill in Legilimency is negligible at best, but Severus is a master of both arts," Hermione added. "He taught me. His skill as an Occlumens is unsurpassed. He managed to fool the world's greatest Legilimens into thinking he was a loyal Death Eater for twenty years while all the while working to bring him down."
Furious, Sam growled, "You had no right! You're worse than Cullen, who can't control his ability! But you deliberately poked through my head like it was an open box for anyone to look through! My head is private, stay the fuck out!"
One severe black eyebrow rose forbiddingly, and he crossed his arms over his chest, the folds of his robes draping so that he resembled a large black hawk with its wings folded, piercing glare and all. "When it comes to the wellbeing of either of the two young ladies before you, I have every right," he stated implacably.
Seeing that Sam was still angry and that Severus refused to be moved, Hermione sighed. "Well, it seems like Sam and Paul's intentions, whatever they are, are good. Something tells me that this imprinting won't allow the wolf to harm his imprint." Then she looked from Severus to the wolves, and something occurred to her. His less than stellar manners so far had not been directed a single time toward Jake…who was not imprinted on either Hermione or Luna…but rather toward both Sam and Paul…who were.
She narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "And let's get one thing straight right now. Regardless of the name we put on it, the fact remains that Sam and Paul are now part of Luna's and my life. It seems Luna and I have our soul-mates ready and waiting for us to accept them. But Severus is also a part of our lives. He is our teacher, guide, and friend, and I was starting to see him as the father I no longer have. Please don't begrudge me that."
All three of the males in question looked properly chastised. Sam and Paul mumbled their apologies; Severus hesitated a moment longer, unused to apologizing, but finally he did speak, though haltingly. "Hermione…Luna…forgive me. My rudeness was uncalled for, and I find I rather value your esteem." He turned to the two young men. He seemed to measure their worth with his eyes. "I can see the two of you do as well," he told them at last. He held out a hand. "Shall we call a truce and at least make an attempt at civility?"
Sam and Paul traded glances once more, but they did each shake his hand. "Truce," they replied. He gave them a firm nod of his head in response.
Inside the house, Edward Cullen was murmuring to his family, explaining what was going on within the soundproof bubble outside.
"Sam is explaining the imprint to Luna and Hermione…" he said, trailing off for a moment as he listened. Reluctant admiration entered his gaze. "He's definitely smarter than he lets on – he just told Hermione that Jake will only be a friend, brother, or uncle to Renesmee until she decides otherwise and that Paul will give Luna everything he can while waiting for her to decide what she wants." Surprise entered his eyes, followed by irritation which formed an odd combination with his admiration, which had just strengthened. "And now he's told her that he is hers, plain and simple. Hers to do with whatever she wants."
His statement was followed by pleased murmurs and coos from all three of the dark haired female vampires and impressed expressions on the faces of the other three males. "Damn. Dude knows what he's doing," Emmett said.
Edward continued. "Yes, both Hermione and Luna are taking it quite well. He actually made Hermione stammer and blush. Oh, now she's asked him to explain everything to her, including the origins of the tribe and the legend of the imprint. He's telling her that there will be a bonfire tomorrow night where the elders will explain everything. She asked if they could at least explain the details about the imprint and what to expect, and he said it would be better to do it in private, between each wolf and his imprint rather than all four of them together. And definitely not with Severus present. Apparently he can read minds, as well. It seems he read Sam's mind outside, after Hermione left them and came inside, and saw everything about the imprint. Now Sam's shouting at Severus…ha, he's saying that Severus is worse than me, because I can't control my ability, but he deliberately poked into Sam's mind to read his thoughts. Hm. Severus just replied, saying that when it comes to the well-being of Hermione and Luna, he has every right. He seems to have a lot in common with your father, Bella. He exhibits the same protectiveness, and he definitely has the same ability to intimidate anyone he thinks is out of line. Now she's trying to mediate, saying that the wolves seem to have good intentions and that she doesn't think the imprint will allow them to harm her or Luna. And she says that whether Severus likes it or not, Sam and Paul are a part of their lives now, but that Severus is as well, that he's like the father she no longer has."
He paused to listen for a moment, and then his eyebrows came up in surprise. "And that's that. Just like that, she's gotten them to agree to at least be civil to each other."
The rest of his family all expressed similar surprise; while they didn't know the wizard very well, they were rather more familiar with how hard-headed Sam and Paul could be. That they could be convinced to form such a truce spoke volumes about how much more stubborn Hermione Granger seemed to be.
Before anyone could muse any further on the interactions of the six people outside, the front door to the house opened to reveal both Jacob and Severus Snape. In response to questioning looks from some of the Cullens, Jacob said, "Sam and Paul are still talking to Hermione and Luna. They're going to explain the imprint, separately so that each girl can learn about the imprint from her wolf without outside influence, even from each other. Paul and Sam will try to help each of them understand how the imprint is going to work with each of them specifically." His eyes fell on Edward and narrowed slightly. "And you stay out of it. Mind your own business. Maybe you know everything about my imprinting, and I get why it concerns you, but Sam and Paul should get the chance to explain things to their imprints without everyone else knowing what they're saying the second the words come out."
This, of course, brought Severus's attention to Edward. He crossed his arms as one forbidding black brow rose. "You listened." It wasn't a question.
Edward shrugged. They should have known. "Did you know that I can't hear what goes on in either Hermione's or your head? Only instead of silence like with Bella, I get static. Like a bad radio frequency."
"Occlumency," the wizard replied. "Since you were apparently listening in, you'll remember that both Hermione and I have mastered that particular art of mind-blocking. No one with an ability to read minds will ever be able to pick up a single thought from either one of our brains, particularly since we have both mastered it to a point where having our shields in place is natural and it is taking the shields down that requires concentration."
While Severus was explaining Occlumency to the nosy but well-meaning mind-reader inside, Paul and Sam were leading their imprints off in separate directions. Sam and Hermione headed off towards the trees east of the house, while Paul and Luna walked in an awkward – on a nervous Paul's part, anyway – silence towards the northwest.
Paul was only half paying attention on where he was walking. The other, larger half of his attention rested squarely on the serene face of the blonde angel next to him. And that was indeed what she resembled with her large, crystalline eyes and long blonde curls so fine they resembled spider-silk. What might normally be described as dirty blonde suddenly turned to fine gold that shone in the light of the sun's rays when she stepped into a warm patch of sunlight shining through the trees. The oddest thoughts were crossing his mind, such as how ironic it was for big, bad Paul to imprint on someone so delicate and pure. Perhaps the imprint was intended to teach him gentleness as much as it was intended to protect her.
He was so lost in her almost mystical loveliness that he very nearly didn't realize she was speaking. He shook the spider-silk from his brain and focused more clearly on her. "I'm sorry, Luna, I didn't catch that. What did you say?"
She smiled beatifically at him, and repeated her question. "Would you please show me your wolf, Paul? I've only ever seen Hermione's wolf, and I want to see if yours is anything like hers."
Paul debated with himself. His wolf had practically turned into a spoiled pet dog, sitting up with tail wagging as if being on his best behavior would get him a treat, and was begging him to let him out to play with the pretty, pretty lady. But on the other hand, his wolf was very large and tended to get carried away. He'd die if he hurt her.
Finally, he agreed. "Okay, but let's wait until we're further into the trees. Also, I want you to stand back while I shift. I don't know how it is for Hermione, but our shifting is kind of explosive. If you're too close I could hurt you and that would kill me."
She nodded her head solemnly. The motion drew his attention to the small apple-shaped earrings dangling from her ears, and that in turn drew his attention to the necklace of various fruit- and vegetable-shaped charms around her neck. Deciding to puzzle out the quirks of her taste in jewelry later, he led her further into the forest. Once they were out of sight of the house, he drew her to a stop.
"Stand here. I'm going to walk over there, behind those bushes" he said, pointing to a spot some thirty feet away, "and shift. I need the bushes because we can't shift with our clothes on or they tear. Don't move until I look like I'm settled. In fact, don't move until I look at you first and then start to move toward you. It'll take me a minute to get control over the wolf's form." After a moment, he added, very seriously, "Whatever you do, don't run. That's just going to make the wolf want to chase you. And even if he just wants to play, he could hurt you on accident."
Once she had given her assent, he turned and walked the specified thirty feet, and then turned back to look at her. Once he had ascertained that she didn't look worried, he allowed the shift to ripple over him.
The feeling was indescribable. The closest he could come would be to compare it to stepping inside a cool, air-conditioned house after being out in the hot sun all day long. Or perhaps to sitting before a fire after coming inside from a bitterly cold winter night. He couldn't decide if the sensation was comforting in a cooling, relieving sort of way or in a chest-warming sort of way.
He allowed himself a single joint-popping stretch and a nice big canine yawn before making sure that he was in full control of the wolf. Only then did he allow himself to emerge from the bushes and look at Luna, and was surprised by the awe on her face.
"Oh, Paul, you're beautiful! I'm sure every imprint says it to her wolf, but I can't imagine any wolf being as handsome as you!" she exclaimed.
That almost brought him up short. Well, Paul the wolf was practically preening under her praise, back straight, head held high, and chest puffed out, but Paul the man was actually a bit bashful. He didn't know if that was true. He rather thought Sam's coloring to be the most striking, and for a while had experienced an irrational moment of jealousy, thinking that of course the bad-ass Alpha would also have the most bad-ass coat-color.
As he approached Luna, Paul lowered himself to his belly so that he was crawling toward her, now on a better level with her than before. When he did reach her, his wolf instincts became a little stronger and he started to sniff her, making her giggle. When his nose neared her abdomen, however, there was a subtle change in the smell. While the smell wasn't exactly bad, definitely not like that of the vampires, it still made his wolf uneasy. It was an unnatural smell. He guessed the smell made the wolf particularly antsy because not only was it smelling the offspring of another male, but it was smelling the offspring of a natural enemy. And yet this offspring didn't smell like an enemy.
Curious, Paul touched his nose to Luna's belly and bristled when she gasped, his head snapping about to search for any danger that might threaten his imprint. Puzzled when he saw nothing out of the ordinary, he turned back to look at Luna. There was that expression of awe again. "I think he likes you," she breathed. He cocked his head in question, and she explained, "When your nose touched my belly, there was a warmth that started there and spread to every part of my body, like the kind of warmth you get when you eat hot soup on a cold day, wrapped up in a warm blanket. And he's settled down a bit. Before he was a little restless, and moved around a little, and it was uncomfortable for me. But I think if you're close enough to me to touch me, he's calmer."
Well, now that was definitely something to think about. And probably something to tell Dr. Cullen. And Hermione. And maybe that Snape guy.
"Will you tell me more about the imprint?" she asked presently.
He nodded his head and climbed carefully back to his feet. He disappeared behind the bushes again, and came back out fully dressed.
He led her over to a large fallen tree that was just barely too high for her to climb onto without jumping, and her belly would make that kind of impossible. So he placed his big hands carefully on her waist and lifted her up to sit.
He sat down next to her, unconsciously angling his body toward hers in a gesture that, though it only took a second, told her a great deal about how attentive and protective he would be. "Okay, so, the imprint. Jeez, let's see if I can explain this without screwing it up completely…"
While Paul and Luna sat closely together as he attempted not to screw up his explanation of the imprint, Sam and Hermione had walked a short ways from the house. She noticed after only a moment or two that he was watching her from the corner of his eye, so she turned to face him more fully.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked him.
He stopped for a moment, considering his words. Finally, his face broke into a grin. "Let's run. Let's both shift and run. I can take you up toward the mountains, and we'll be there in no time. You'll love it."
She tilted her head, considering the idea. Finally, though, she made her decision. She turned her body back away from him, but over her shoulder she threw him a smile that damn near stopped his heart. It was the kind of smile that has made a man follow a woman without question for millennia. "Catch me first," she said, and with that, she leapt forward in the most magnificent transformation he'd ever seen.
Sam the man's brain was mostly mush at that moment, his focus still riveted on the image of that come-hither smile. Thus it took Sam the man a moment or two to realize that Sam the wolf was howling at him that his mate was running and that they needed to join the game and catch her now.
Sam the wolf was successful in jolting Sam the man back to reality; he ran a few steps forward, shedding his clothes as he went, before shifting smoothly into the black wolf as he moved. He gave himself a hearty shake before letting out an exhilarated yip and charging after his imprint.
The wolf was perhaps a tad over-zealous; he caught up to her just as they were passing into the foothills leading east that would eventually lead into the mountains. He thought he'd pounce and try to draw her into a game, but was caught completely unawares when instead she whirled and nipped his neck before dancing away again. He was better prepared the second time she tried it. He let her think she was about to get him, but then he reared up last minute and knocked her arse over teakettle. And of course, the white female couldn't just let that go. The next thing either Sam the man or Sam the wolf knew, they were wrestling like pups, causing a ruckus that scared birds from their trees but with their ears up, tails wagging, and teeth covered rather than bared.
The nature of adult canines still getting to know each other being what it was, the play soon turned slightly more serious. Soon their tumbling play turned into a wrestling match for dominance, and playful grunts and yips turned into warning growls and snaps.
Sam the man and Sam the wolf were very much in tune with each other; they were one entity with two sets of instincts that Sam had learned to use together. They still had different interpretations of events, however. Now, Sam the man was noting that his imprint still didn't seem to be completely used to the wolf's body or instincts yet, though she was obviously getting there. Sam the wolf was in his element; he was realizing that his imprint was a fierce fighter who learned quickly and had an indomitable will. She was a perfect match for the Pack's leader, and would make a magnificent Alpha Female.
Eventually the black male managed to gain the upper paw, and in a flash he had her mounted and, just as the first time they had met, bit down gently on the scruff of her neck. Clutching her sides with his paws and maintaining a steady growl rumbling from his chest, the male began to buck his hindquarters into the female's, dry-humping her in a primal display of dominance. He kept it up until she stopped struggling and instead stood there quietly; when a tremor shivered through her body and she began to pant a little, he finally let her go, coming to stand at her side instead.
They touched noses, acknowledging the shift in the dynamic between them. Her ears were lowered, flattened backward against her head a little, her tail hanging low but wagging gently, as she respectfully licked his muzzle. He huffed his acceptance, receiving her attention with his ears forward and his tail arched high and waving gently back and forth.
Finally, the two of them began to run again, this time side by side, as they moved further up into the mountains. Finally, they stopped in a clearing closer to the top and sat down to rest.
Sam wondered if they would be able to communicate with each other while in wolf form as he could with his pack. Tentatively, he directed a thought to her. Hermione?
Hermione, having just laid down, jerked back up at the unexpected voice in her head. What the…? she thought to herself. Looking about, her eyes found Sam and she thought incredulously, Sam?
I guess we can talk to each other after all, he said happily, smug doggy grin and tail wagging and all.
I guess so, she replied, blinking in surprise as she sat back down.
So do you want to talk like this? Or as humans? he asked her as he came to sit down, completely at ease and tail wagging gently, before her.
Human, she replied. I can figure out your facial expressions better.
He cocked his head in a very wolf-like gesture of curiosity. But we're in each other's heads.
We're only talking to each other, she disagreed. I still can't hear what you're thinking. It seems that the kind of communication you and I share is different than what you share with your pack.
Hm. I guess you're right. Well, I guess that's a good thing. The pack mind gets annoying, believe me. I'd rather not be able to see every single thing they're thinking about. They're guys, it doesn't take a genius to know exactly what they think about, he said as he got to his feet.
Hermione cringed mentally as she realized exactly what he meant, but before she could say anything, he looked back at her. I didn't bring clothes, he told her.
If a wolf could smile, he would swear she just did. Don't worry, Sam, I'll make you some clothes. And if a wolf could look mischievous, he would swear she just did. Though I can't promise not to look.
If he'd had anything in his mouth at that moment, he would have choked. As it was, he almost choked on his own tongue as he stared at her in shock and delight.
After all, she continued, a hint of laughter in her tone, I'll need to look in order to know where to point my wand. Wouldn't want to miss you and put clothes on that tree right over there.
So saying, she got to her feet fluidly, and without further comment, she underwent another fantastic transformation as she twirled gracefully, white fur flashing, and shifted even as she spun, so that her shape seemed to spin in on itself. When she stopped, the last things to stop swirling about her now-human form were her hair, which shone in the sun, and the skirt of her white eyelet lace sundress.
Sam felt like he was staring at the human incarnation of the sun, with the way her chestnut curls shone gold in the sun and her eyes sparkled. He and his wolf were so completely lost to her beauty that they forgot that he was supposed to phase back to talk to her. Instead, the huge black wolf gave in to the irrepressible urge to be as close to his imprint as possible; so as not to frighten her or hurt her, he approached her in a rather undignified belly crawl, tail swishing in the grass and a series of whines emerging as he begged her for attention as only a canine can.
She giggled and approached him, reaching out her hands as they reached each other, and she tangled her hands in his silky black fur as he pressed his head into her abdomen, just below her breasts.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Sam, but you're absolutely beautiful," she sighed. Sam instantly experienced a confusion of feelings. The man in him was mildly put off by her use of the word beautiful. He knew what she meant, of course, but that macho side that most men have to some degree felt that "beautiful" was for women. But the wolf in him had melted into a big pile of fluff and cuddles, flopping onto his back to expose his belly, panting and tongue lolling and all, at least mentally. "You make the handsomest canine I've ever seen, and I can't believe how lucky I am to have such a strong, smart, handsome wolf-man. Please, phase back so I can see your face."
He complied instantly, without a thought for the inevitable nudity. If she wanted to see him, who was he to argue?
He got to his feet and backed away from her a little, shifting even as he backed up so that it seemed that when he pushed his torso up into the air, he was pushing himself onto two legs and into his human form. He waited patiently for her to wave her wand and give him clothes, though he couldn't resist standing a little straighter as he realized she was checking him out. Though when he realized where her eyes were lingering, he struggled to control his body's physical response, desperately thinking of something, anything, to keep himself from standing to attention.
Hermione couldn't resist the urge to let her eyes roam all over his nude body, presented proudly before her for her perusal. Had she been presented just twenty-four hours ago with a painting of him standing like this, with their current surroundings, she wouldn't have known him from a tribal god.
And gods, did he look delicious. All long, hard lines and carved muscles, shadows in places she itched to see more closely and in contrast a lust-igniting gleam in a pair of eyes the color of espresso beneath all the foam.
She wanted to kiss his magnificent chest, trace her fingertips along his powerful shoulders and down his strong arms, trail her foot along his calf and up the inside of his leg and see how close he'd let her get to his…ye gods, was that really a part of him?! While she did quite a good job of keeping her eyes from popping wide open, she couldn't quite manage to keep them from lingering there. And so she missed the fact that he was struggling as well, struggling to control his response to her perusal, but of course he failed, and she noticed the twitch of interest. That brought a flood of heat and color to her cheeks. She also couldn't help but feel a thrill of nervous excitement at the thought of him trying to fit that inside her.
Finally, she remembered the reason he'd shifted back. Imprinting. Explanations. Right. She still couldn't believe he was hers, that the gods, or Fate, or his ancestors, or whoever, had picked her for him. Take that, Lavender! she thought in a very rare moment of uncharacteristic juvenility.
Blinking and shaking her head a little, she raised her wand. "Vestiet illum," she said clearly, and as before, he was dressed. Only this time, as she'd put a little more concentration into the spell, as well as less haste, he was dressed a little less haphazardly. This time, while still in a black tee-shirt, it fit his sculpted body better, gently hugging his muscled frame, and he was also in a pair of blue jeans.
Once he was dressed, he led her over to a fallen log at the edge of the clearing, and they sat down. He proceeded to explain everything he knew about the imprint, as well as all the theories that had been put forth by himself, the other imprinted wolves, and the tribal Elders.
The more she heard, the more powerfully her feelings and thoughts contradicted each other. On the one hand, the way he spoke of being bonded to her and giving her his heart, mind, soul, and body, with his deep, slow voice that reminded her of deep blue seas on warm sunny days, made her want to crawl into his lap and hold him close and never let him go. But on the other, she couldn't escape the flip side of what he was saying. She had a choice, but he did not. He would only ever be able to love her, for the rest of his life, and so she knew her choice was starkly simple. Love him…or crush him. And so, though her Gryffindor sensibilities were screaming at the unfairness of his lack of choice and, to a lesser extent, hers, her very un-Gryffindor practical nature knew that there was only one thing to do. Love him. Sure, it might take a while, but she knew she could. And though she couldn't be certain, she had the feeling that, without magic or the imprint, had they ever met as two normal people, they may still have had a good chance of developing a romance.
She realized she'd tuned out his words, simply enjoying the sound of his voice, when she realized she'd missed something about marking. But surely not? Surely he didn't mean he was going to cock a leg and…
"What?" she asked rather brilliantly.
He looked uncertain, as if the topic were something he wanted to talk about but was unsure she would appreciate. "Well, before Renesmee, there has never been a non-Quileute imprint. It takes more than just imprinting to be considered part of the pack, and probably the tribe as well. She's still too young for the mark yet, but Jake will have to do it someday."
"What exactly is the mark, and what does it have to do with me?" she asked.
His black eyes caught her brown ones and held them spellbound. "Well, in order for the elders to recognize you officially as part of the pack and the tribe, I have to mark you. First I have to take you from behind, and then I have to bite your neck while I come inside you."
His words caused a fire to blaze low in her belly, accompanied by a gush of wetness between her thighs so sudden she nearly clamped her legs together in surprise. "Oh," was all she managed to get out at first, and even that was rather faint.
"What -" her voice emerged in a squeak, so she cleared her throat and tried again. "What about con – cont -" she started, but he spoke before she could finish.
"No barriers," he said bluntly. She flushed with a faint, somewhat tremulous "Oh," and pressed her hands to her heated face.
"From what we've seen," he elaborated, "with Jared and Embry, anyway, as Quil's and Jake's imprints are both still too young for the mark, the bond involves a complete merging of the bodies of the wolf and his imprint. If the wolf's…essence…can't merge with his imprint's, then the bond is incomplete. It took Jared and Kim several tries before they realized that they had to nix the condoms. The elders explained, in probably the most awkward meeting the pack has ever had with them, that everything had to be done naturally, and so it was always best to wait for the marking until both the wolf and his imprint were ready for a family."
He fell silent, waiting for her reaction. She was silent for a short while, mulling everything over in her mind. Finally, though, she answered. "Well," she began slowly. "I don't know if I'm ready for a family yet. I think it's smart to wait until we're both ready. But I'm also not sure how my being a witch would affect the magic of the imprint. I've pretty much learned to assume that with magic, you really just have to not assume anything, because pretty much anything is possible. So I wouldn't be surprised if the marking worked even with condoms, or if the magic just destroyed or nullified any form of contraceptive we might try to use. So the most effective way to prevent any surprises would be total abstinence."
His face fell, and she had to suppress the urge to laugh at how much he looked like a little boy that had been told Christmas wouldn't be coming this year. She took his hand in hers and patted the back of it with her other. "But don't worry, I won't make you wait until I'm ready for babies to have sex. I wouldn't do that to you." Under her breath she muttered, "I wouldn't do that to me, either, not with that body waiting for me."
She blushed, mortified to realize he'd heard her, when he chuckled. "Glad to hear it," he said. "Really, it'd be stupid to deny yourself this," he said, indicating himself with a devilish smirk. Said smirk softened, though, into an adorably sweet half smile as he added, "And I'd go insane if you denied me this." So saying, he took her chin in his big hand – rather, his hand was so big it cupped her entire jaw – and turned her head toward him so he could claim her mouth in a very thorough kiss.
Her head spun madly.
The wolf in his head growled triumphantly.
They both lost themselves instantly in the kiss. Within a moment, his tongue was licking her lips, coaxing rather than asking her to open for him; it was inevitable that she would grant him entrance, so why not make her want to rather than ask if it was alright? Then their tongues were wrestling, much as their wolves had done earlier in play.
After a long and very intense bit of snogging, Hermione realized she'd run out of air. She pulled her lips away from his, though since he still held her jaw, she couldn't pull back very far. "Why would I deny you that?" she asked, somewhat dazed.
"Well, you know what they say, kissing leads to other things," he replied in a voice that made her think of the deepest, darkest reaches of the ocean. "And right now," he murmured, letting go of her jaw as he turned more completely toward her and pulled her more firmly against him, large warm hands intimately clasping her ribcage with his thumbs pressing into the sides of her breasts, "right now, I'm incredibly tempted to lay you down right here in this clearing and show you exactly what kinds of things kissing me can lead to."
And of course, that temptation proved overwhelming when his hypersensitive nose caught the scent of her body's response to his words, and had Hermione not been so consumed by sensation at that moment, she would have been completely shocked to find herself on the ground with Sam lying over her with his lips trailing from her lips to her neck and back again, feasting.
And meanwhile, in another clearing far to the west, a silver wolf lay with his giant furry head in the soft lap of an angel, a purr rumbling from his chest as she tangled her fingers in his soft ruff of fur and the sounds of her child's heart beating reached his ear and the sun shone warm and gentle on both their faces.