Oz rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Buffy. She was sitting on the widow seat in her bedroom. The grey skies behind her seemed to frame her in sadness. He wanted to growl. This was wrong. He knew it was wrong, but he could help her. The choice had to be hers.
"Oz, just tell me." She stood up and grabbed his arm. "If it's something that could hurt you I won't do it. You have to know that."
"I've always known that." He pulled her close, grasping both of her forearms just below the elbow. He smiled when her fingers closed around his. They stood, eye to eye, equals. "I knew it in Sunnydale. It's part of the reason I left. I knew you wouldn't kill me if it came down to it. You'd have twisted yourself into a thousand pieces trying to save me for Willow, so I left to find a way to save myself."
She nodded. Her eyes were the deep, eerie blue of the sky before a big storm hits. The music was playing through him, expressing so much more than feeble words ever could. She bit her lip. He swallowed. Words, they were inadequate. They would fail and she would try to free him. She was always the strong one, but that was at an end.
He let his hands slide up her arms. Her burden, her fate, they were his. He would never leave her. If she chose this half life it would be painful. If she chose to let him go, to fight him, he would be alone and she would die. There was only one solution.
He threaded his fingers into her hair. She rolled her head into his hand, offering him her throat without thought. His body reacted instantly. He yanked her close, kissed her throbbing pulse, and rolled his hips against hers. She whimpered and rocked into him with her own. He pulled his mouth from her neck and held her tightly, panting into her ear.
"I'm sorry, Buffy. I was going to give you a choice, but I can't. You'd try to protect me." He pulled back and looked into her wide eyes. She shook her head.
"I don't understand." Her hands clutched at his shirt.
"You will." He stroked one slightly elongated finger down her cheek. She leaned into his touch. He could smell her, ripe and alive. He stroked her gently. They couldn't wait. He spun her around and pulled her back against his chest. "I love you, Buffy. I have for far longer than I have time to explain."
She shuddered and reached one hand back to tangle in his hair. He spread his fingers out over her womb and pulled her even tighter. His claws were formed and he could feel her trembling through them. He flexed them into the denim of her pants through her wool sweater.
"I need you to say yes, Buffy." His voice was low and gravely as his jaw shifted. "I need you to say it and understand."
"Yes." She pulled away from him, using her strength to gain a few precious inches, and pulled her sweater off over her head. He kissed her bare shoulder and raised his hand to her chest, feeling what he could not see. She was so soft. Her breast filled his palm.
He wanted to fondle her, wanted to make it good for her, but the wolf was drowning him. He nuzzled her neck and shoved her toward the bed. She half fell across it. He clawed at her jeans and she helped him push them down past her knees. He splayed one hand between her shoulder blades and held her down. Buffy arched under the pressure and moaned, writhing on the bed.
"Please, Oz." She bumped back against him and tossed her head. The blonde cascade of her hair across his hand drew his eyes. He turned his hand and wrapped the silken tresses around his fingers. He managed to shift his clothing enough to free his cock.
"Buffy." It was more growl than word. He stepped between her legs and pulled her up against him by her hair. "I love you. Make you mine."
"Yes." The hot scent of her total acceptance hit him.
He nudged his way between her legs and held himself steady. Poised against the wet heat of her, he pulled her head to the side and nuzzled her neck. She relaxed, and he slid a bit further into her folds.
Rubbing his rough cheek along her shoulder, he let the change surge through him a bit more. His senses sharpened. He licked his way along her jaw. Pressing the flat of his tongue her against the frantic throb of her pulse, he closed his eyes. This was his, the life in her was his. He opened his mouth on the back of her neck, his elongated jaw allowing for good purchase.
She clawed at the bed and whimpered. He held her steady with his hands and teeth. He was in command. She shuddered and begged her human words becoming barely recognizable sounds. He bit down and thrust in at the same moment. Her body stretched around him and twisted under him.
He growled and she stilled. This was his. She had to submit. She went limp and he moved, ramming into her. She mewled and arched her back, opening her body further to his assault. He growled around her neck and slid one hand from her hip to the front of her folds. He slid his fingers in feeling his own length sliding in and out. He drew one claw against the swollen pearl and pressed hard. She shuddered and screamed, clawing at the bedding beneath her.
He felt the swirling power flowing up from inside him as she quaked. He released her neck and forced them up onto the bed. He curled behind her as his body swelled. She moaned.
"Oz." She pressed back against him. "What's happening?"
"Claiming." He kissed the shell of her ear. "Lasts for a while. I can't pull out."
"Have you done this before?" She shivered as he pulsed inside her.
"No, this only happens when a wolf is with his mate." He stroked her side, trying to soothe her. "This is a first for me, too."
He jerked inside her, and she grabbed his hand. He could hear her panting. He rubbed his fingers in circles above her womb. It wouldn't be long. Hell, it could be now.
"Can we try this face to face?" She giggled. "I'd love to be kissing you right now."
"Next time." He smiled and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck.
"So, start talking. You said it was my choice, but I'm getting a different view of the decision making process." She tightened her muscles on him and he groaned. Her sweat slicked body slid fractionally away.
He growled as her breath caught.
"Don't hurt yourself, Buffy."
"Oh, god, we really are joined at the hip." She slid back against him. "How long will this last?"
"I've read differing accounts, I think we just have to wait it out." He kissed her shoulder.
"So, quickies are not going to be our thing." She giggled.
"I'm sorry it had to be like this. I would have given you the choice. I planned to do so when we came upstairs, but you would have done the noble thing." He shuddered against her as his body continued to fill hers.
"I thought matings were mutual." Buffy moaned as their joined bodies shifted.
"Yeah, with vampires they are. It takes consent. Wolves are different." He felt the flutter of her body around his and pressed his forehead to her shoulder. "We are alive. It comes with drives. The push to find and secure the best mate is one of the strongest. Force isn't an issue in wolf culture. The wolf picks its mate. My wolf wanted you from the first."
"So, why did you ask me to say yes?"
"I needed it. I knew you would accept me eventually, but I needed it as a man. I needed to know you wanted me." He sighed as his body began to return to normal. "I'm sorry I forced the bond on you. I know you didn't know what was happening between us. Mating is about submission and sharing. You are strong enough to fight me. You could have stopped it, but you accepted me."
He nuzzled his face against her shoulder. It was almost time to face the music, quite literally.
"So, the neck biting is a one time thing?"
"If you want it to be." He rubbed her neck gently, trying to ease any residual soreness. He would miss the primal thrill of the dominant act, but Buffy deserved the right to refuse it. He kissed the nape of her neck and rested his forehead against her golden hair.
Buffy sighed and caressed the back of the hand resting under her navel. A shudder passed through his body at the easy acceptance implied by her touch.
He slid from her body and she sighed. It must have been a relief for her to have it over. He wanted to pull her close and reassure her, but this whole mess was complicated. He could feel her pain as the bond set. He let it flow through him. Her fights were his now, her pains and worries as well.