by Eva Harper
“I really don’t see how that’s any of your concern.”
“Oh, but it is, dear. A pack needs an heir,” Cordelia mused. “And as much as I dislike you, my son’s pack deserves a proper Luna with a pup in her belly.”
I turned to leave the kitchen, red-faced with embarrassment, but when I turned, Rush was in my way.
“What my mate and I do in our private life is none of your concern. And teasing her about it in her own home is even worse. Mother, do you not remember what it was like to become Dad’s mate? You weren’t even Luna yet, and this pack hated you for years because you were not pregnant with me. Give her some damn respect,” he ground out, staring his mother directly in the eyes. “Am I clear?”
They bowed their heads and murmured, “Yes, Alpha.” Rush nodded happily and put his hand on my shoulder as I left the kitchen.
“I’m sorry about my mother,” he apologized. “She was out of line.”
“I don’t even think she knows where the line is,” I joked. “Or that there even is one.”
Rush laughed loudly, his wide smile warming my cold body. He stopped laughing and looked down at me affectionately. “Would you like to go out with me?” he asked suddenly. I nearly choked on my water as I struggled to find an answer.
“Out?”
“Yes, to dinner. We could go over to town, get some food, take a walk around the park, that sort of thing?” he offered. His boyish charm crowded his features as he waited nervously for my answer.
I grinned on one corner of my mouth and told him yes. He told me to put on warmer clothing since the sun was beginning to set and meet him on the porch.
I went to our room and slipped on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved, white top. Rush was waiting on the porch, hands in his pockets, kicking his shoe against a pillar. He turned as the door opened and stopped moving, shaking his head ever so slightly.
I furrowed my eyebrows and stopped in the doorway.
“I just don’t understand how you can get even prettier every time I see you.” He grinned.
I laughed slightly and closed the door, hiding my blush away from his view.
The ride into town was shorter than I remembered. I was able to appreciate the dark woods and the gradual collection of small shops as we drove further into human territory. My face was nearly glued to the window as I stared at the humans walking down the street, so different from us though we looked similar.
Rush parked the car in front of a small bistro restaurant. We were seated at the window near the corner. We ordered our food and settled into a staunch silence after the waiter left. We both scanned the restaurant, waiting for the other to start a conversation.
“So,” I broke the silence.
“Yes?”
“I don’t really know where I was going with that, it was just really quiet,” I admitted.
“I don’t want things to be awkward between us,” Rush said, reaching across the table for my hand.
“Me either.”
“Can we just forget about the last few days?” he said hopefully. I sighed and looked down, a strand of hair coming loose from behind my ear.
“Rush,” I breathed.
“Just please, give me another chance. I know I can do this right.”
“Okay,” I gave in, keeping my chin high. “But I’m not going to do this over and over again. I know we’re both new to this. I just-”
“I know,” Rush said calmly, agreeing.
When our food came, we both ate quickly. Rush wiped my lip, claiming there was a speck of food, although I knew there wasn’t. He paid and tipped the waiter.
“Do you want to take a walk, let our food settle, before we go home?” he asked, holding the restaurant door open for me. I skimmed past him and grabbed his hand as it swung past me.
“Sure.” I smiled.
The sun had set a few minutes ago, and the hush of sunset still illuminated the town in gold tones. We walked slowly, full from our meal, and wanting to enjoy each other’s presence.
“I’m glad we did this,” I told Rush, looking up sideways at him, watching his stubble covered cheeks fight a blush.
“Me too, Sloane.” He squeezed my hand.
“What do you want to do when we get home?”
“I was thinking,” he started, stopping to chuckle and pull me to a stop. I flew a few inches back and settled in close to him. “I haven’t kissed you in quite some time.”
He let go of my hand brought it up to my neck, settling it in the crook, his thumb holding my cheek. I leaned up to meet his tall stature. The kiss was sweet and faintly reminiscent of our first kiss against the tree.
Rush pushed my back against the dark brick of a building. I pushed his face away, eyes closed, breathing lightly.
“Rush, we’re in public,” I warned.
“And?” He smirked.
“The humans might get jealous,” I whispered jokingly.
He nodded reluctantly and pulled away, grabbing my hand again. We turned from the brick wall to continue our walk but skidded to a stop immediately.
A group of nine or ten men stood on the curb of the street, bunched together. Rush tightened his grip on my hand and pulled me to the opposite side of him, shielding me from them.
“We’ve seen you around here before,” one of the drawled, blowing out a bit of smoke from his cigarette casually. “You tend to stir up trouble every time you’re here. You’re one of those beasts, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rush denied firmly, taking another step. A few of the men broke off from the clump and moved in front of us.
“You’re a pretty big guy,” the man noted. “What do they call that, an Alpha? Yeah, an Alpha male. You run the group here, don’t you?”
Rush resisted growling but didn’t answer.
“We’re just coming back from dinner,” I said in a firm voice. “We’re heading home right now.”
“Back to the den,” one joked.
“Excuse us.” I narrowed my eyes, trying to pull Rush behind me.
The humans came closer.
“Uh, uh, uh,” the man tsk’ed, shaking his head, dropping his cigarette butt on the ground. “We need to have a little talk with your man here, first. You keep those mutts of yours far away from our town, or we’re going to have a problem.”
“Mutts?” Rush ground out from the back of his throat. He dropped my hand and stepped closer to the man. “Those people you’re referring to are not mutts.”
“Ah, so you are one of them,” the man smiled triumphantly. “And this little thing must be your mate? Isn’t that what you call them?”
Rush moved closer to the human, and although the man’s face didn’t falter, he stepped back off the curb as Rush moved towards him.
“You need to leave,” Rush said firmly.
The man looked at his friends, all of them shuffling around us.
“Not just yet,” another man spoke, grabbing my elbow and pulling me towards him. I yanked myself out of his grip and pushed him back, he stumbled more than he thought he would. Another one of them grabbed my arm, and the man next to him grabbed my waist.
“Get the fuck off of me,” I shouted. The man I pushed came and held my other arm and pulled a knife out of his pocket.
“Let her go,” Rush growled, his body shaking, fighting the shift.
“You wolves don’t like silver so much, do you?” the man with the knife asked. “This will remind you to stay the hell away from our families.”
He reached across me and stabbed the knife into my skin below my ribcage and sliced across, the blade wobbling and cutting more into my belly that my ribs like he intended.
The silver burned, more than I thought it would, more than the blade slicing through my skin. I shrieked and bucked against the men, trying to not the shift and propel the knife further into my skin.
I heard the sound of Rush shifting over my screaming. The men dropped me on the ground as Rush’s wolf dove over the small gap b
etween us. He caught one of the humans in his jaw, ripping the man’s arm off in one loud movement. He ended the man’s life quickly and then took two steps towards the man with the knife.
I wasn’t able to see his attack, but I could hear the sound of his blood gurgling out of his throat. Rush shifted back and stalked toward the original man who cowardly tried to run the other way. Rush caught his arm.
“Give this warning to your people, if you ever touch my mate, my family, or my pack again, I’ll do worse damage to your people than you ever thought possible.” Rush snapped the man’s neck quickly and growled a threat to the rest of the humans who were running down the street.
I tried to push myself off the ground with my arms, the cut was trying to heal, but the burn prevented it. Rush knelt down and tore off a piece of my shirt, pressing it firmly to cut.
He lifted me in his arms, quickly bringing me to the car parked down the street.
“Sloane, sweetheart, just stay awake okay? I’m going to get you home and take care of you. Just stay awake, baby,” he spoke frantically.
Injuries to wolves were not usually fatal, especially when they were inflicted by humans, but silver prevented us from healing. More than that, if enough silver got into our bloodstream or lungs, it would be enough to kill us.
“Sweetheart,” Rush begged, pressing the accelerator farther down. “You aren’t allowed to leave me yet. I just got you, you aren’t allowed to leave me, you got that? Goddess, doesn’t this car go any faster? I’ve got you, Sloane, I’ve got you.”
Puncture
The doctor stitched me up when Rush brought me inside. He said the silver alone wasn’t enough to kill me, just weaken me, and slow down my healing process. When a shifter is injured, our bodies tended to heal faster than humans, and even the most detrimental injuries would heal in days.
Silver disrupted that process; it made us susceptible to what the humans called “complications.” The silver could travel within our bodies and hurt other parts of us. Even if the silver didn’t cause complications, the healing time would be multiplied.
Rush refused to let me do anything for days after, even when the pack doctor cleared me. He helped me sit up from the bed, get dressed, wash my hair, and even eat. He was thorough to an obnoxious degree.
Jonah sat at the table, watching Rush break off pieces of a sandwich and hand-feed me. Jonah’s snarky laughter only irritated me more.
“Rush,” I grunted. “I’m fine, I can eat a sandwich by myself.”
Rush growled and stared me in the eyes, forcing me to remain where I was and open my mouth so he could feed me. He settled back into his routine happily and carefully, taking immense caution as he tore the pieces up.
“Aw, he’s so cute,” Jonah cooed, taking a swig of beer, pursing his lips like a pout. “He’s like a mother bird.”
“He’ll kill you,” I said flatly, staring at him as I chewed.
“No, he won’t,” he sang. “My mate would not be pleased with him.”
“You met your mate?” My eyes widened, and I perked up for the first time all day.
“Yes, I did,” Jonah stated proudly. “Her name is Jahida. I’ll bring her by soon, or you both can come by the house.”
“I’d love that,” I yipped. Jonah snickered again and continued drinking his beer.
Rush carried me back upstairs like he had done for the past three days and laid me on the bed. He propped me up on a pillow and handed me the remote.
“Do you need anything else?” he asked, looking at everything I had in reach.
“Lay down with me,” I begged, pushing my lips out slightly.
“I’ve got work to do, sweetheart, but I’ll be back later tonight,” he promised. Rush turned to leave, but I called his name, and he was immediately at my side. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong,” I said, pulling on his shirt. He took the fabric from me and pushed my hands flat on the bad. “I was just thinking.”
“About?” He leaned against the edge of the bed.
“We haven’t marked each other yet,” I said casually. His eyes widened, and he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, it’s silly. I was just talking to Isla the other day, and she asked me if we’d marked each other yet, and it got me thinking.”
His eyes crinkled in happiness as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead. I shivered in pleasure, and he noticed. A lustful look clouded his eyes, and I bit my lip to stop myself from saying anything else.
His scent strengthened as he fought to mark me in that instant. I nuzzled into his right hand as it lifted to bury itself in my hair. He leaned over me with his other arm and kissed me, deeply, slowly.
His tongue brushed against my lip, and I opened slightly. Rush kissed me again, his hand tightening in my hair, pulling at the thick roots. He was trying to control himself, still worried that I was injured.
I lifted both of my arms and curled them around his neck, holding him close to me. He jumped a little in surprise when my left leg hitched around his waist, and his body tumbled onto mine softly.
He parted our lips and opened his eyes, judging my intentions, grazing his teeth over my bottom lip.
“Sloane,” he said huskily.
I pulled his face back to mine, kissing him ravenously. He kissed my cheek, my ear, my neck, the place where his mark would go. My back arched as his teeth toyed with my skin, pulling and teasing it but not marking me. I breathed out in anticipation.
He leaned back once more, looking over my face, checking if I was okay. I nodded so slightly, and he kissed my lips in a fast motion and dove back to the skin on my neck. I tiled my head back, and he relished in the room.
I felt his canines on my skin, and I braced myself for the fast moment of pain before the pleasure I had heard of. His teeth sank into my neck, and I gritted my jaw at the pain. It rivaled the burn of the silver but in a different way, like all the nerves in my body surged at one moment, and I was frozen in the time-lapse.
The pain faded quickly, and the feeling of pleasure and warmth covered the most intimate parts of me. I squirmed under Rush’s body, but his hand gripped my waist and held me in place. His teeth retracted from me, and he licked at the mark, sealing it, cleaning it. His lips caressed his mark on me, and my legs clamped shut.
As quickly as Rush retracted his canines from my neck, mine were diving into his. He handled the pain better than I did and didn’t make a sound when my teeth punctured his skin. It was such a quick moment, but feeling our marks tingle with the connection between us felt like Heaven.
Rush leaned back, smiling wickedly at my flushed skin.
“Gorgeous,” he murmured. “You alright down there?” I nodded, and a squeak of denial erupted from my vice locked lips. His eyebrow hitched. “I can smell you from here. You’re intoxicating.”
“Then help me out.” My playful words ignited a spark under Rush’s hands, and they roamed freely over my body. I didn't intend for anything further to happen, but as his warm, large hands ran over my body, my mind could find no reason to stop.
“Gladly,” he pressed on. He lifted the bottom of my shirt, ducking his head to kiss the skin just above my waist. He continued kissing as he lifted the shirt higher and higher and then eventually off my body.
He stopped to stare at my small breasts before pulling one of them into his mouth. His tongue brushed across my nipple, and heat spread from my stomach to between my legs. His left hand reached up and played with the other, and I closed my eyes.
He kissed down my stomach again, tongue dipping in my belly button, and I fought a laugh. His fingers hooked in the belt loops of my pants.
I lifted my head and saw his teeth unlatch the button and pull the zipper down skillfully, bringing me out of the haze I had fallen into. I sat up on my elbows as he shimmied my pants down my hips.
“Wait,” I breathed out, surprised that the word came out of my mouth.
Rush lifted his head, and his hands steadied. “What’s wrong?” he asked tend
erly, apprehension filled his features.
“I-I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”
Rush’s hands slipped out of my belt loops, and he sat up, nodding his head understandingly, but worry still held in his eyes. He sat beside me, waiting for me to tell him what was wrong. I tried to find the right words, but I just covered my face with my hands.
“Sloane, it’s okay,” he told me, his hand rubbing my shoulder gently.
“No, it’s not,” I whispered, peaking at him. “It’s not okay.”
“Sweetheart, if you aren’t ready-”
“I want to be.”
“I know.” He half-smiled that crooked grin. “We can take this slowly. Hopefully, I can show you the kind of mate I want to be, the kind of mate you deserve, and eventually, we can move forward. Until then, we’ll take this slow. It doesn’t bother me if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I want to be with you,” I told him earnestly.
“You are with me.”
“Okay,” I told him. He squeezed my shoulder again, kissed the side of my head, and rolled off the bed, adjusting his pants as he went. I tugged my pants back up my hips and buttoned them. “Rush?” He stopped and looked back at me, hand on the doorknob. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes.
East Of Us
Jonah brought his mate Jahida over for breakfast a few mornings later. The pack chef, Melrose, prepared a few different items while I sat at the counter peeling and cutting fruit. Melrose tried to take the knife away from me multiple times, but I promised her I needed a distraction.
Rush had been moping around the packhouse for days, trying to figure out some way to make up for his mistakes. I didn’t want to stay mad at him, but the issue was still burned into my memory. There was some small, stubborn part of me that wanted him to make a grand gesture and apologize, and there was another part of me that wanted to move past it.
Jonah’s booming voice called to us from the entrance of the house. I continued peeling apricots for Melrose’s glaze, sliding the fruit in a large bowl in front of me.