Ryan withdrew his fingers, released her, and tapped her hip. “Roll over.” As soon as she lay on her stomach, he pulled her to her knees. “Keep your head down.” He lunged deep, grunting as her pussy clenched him tight and fluttered around him. “So fucking wet. Good. I need my cock to be slick so I slide in here”—he pressed the tip of his finger into her ass—“nice and easy.”
She tensed. “What?”
“You knew this was coming, Kenna. You knew I’d want to claim you everywhere.”
Well, yeah, she’d expected him to do this at some point. Male shifters always claimed their mates in every way possible. Still, she—
“You want this.” If he thought for even one second that she didn’t, he’d wait. Ryan fucked her slow and hard as he again worked two fingers inside her ass. He scissored them, stretching her enough that he soon had a third finger inside. She pushed back into every thrust. “That’s it.”
“Ryan, I’m close.”
“I know.” He fucked her faster, deeper; barely resisting the craving to bury himself deep into her pussy and explode—she was just so hot and wet. “Come,” he growled. She threw her head back and choked out a scream as her back arched and her pussy clamped and contracted around him. Fighting the urge to come, he withdrew from her pussy and replaced his fingers with the head of his cock.
Makenna’s eyes snapped open at the feel of his cock pushing into her ass. The pressure and the burn of his size stretching her made her squirm.
He gave her ass a sharp slap. “Be still. Just push out as I push in. That’s it, like that.” He slowly sank into her, gritting his teeth against the temptation to pound hard and fast. “Tight,” he hissed. So tight she was strangling his cock, but it felt too fucking good. They both sighed when he was finally balls deep. “You okay?”
“Sort of.” She was full. Maybe too full for this to be fun. But then, as he slowly pulled back and smoothly plunged back in, she gasped as all kinds of nerve endings sparked to life. “Again.” Friction built inside her as he kept each thrust slow and easy, which was very unlike Ryan. “More.” His pace barely altered. “I’m not delicate,” she snapped.
“No, but you’re mine. And I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You’re not. I need more.”
Taking her at her word, Ryan hardened his thrusts as he pumped in and out of her. He branded her with every plunge of his cock, loving the moans and gasps she fed him. Fuck, he wouldn’t last much longer. He needed to shoot deep in her ass, claiming it as surely as he’d claimed her pussy and her mouth.
Raking a hand in her hair, Ryan yanked her head back and pounded harder. “Make me come, Kenna. Do it now.” For a second time that night, she screamed as she gave him what he wanted. He plunged deep and held himself rigid as he came so fucking hard that he was surprised he didn’t see stars.
Afterward, as he pressed kisses along her spine, a sudden pressure built in his chest and his head seemed to throb. “Do you feel it?”
Glancing at him over her shoulder, she nodded. “What is it?”
“You know.” Pulling out of her, Ryan scooped her up and took her into the bathroom. As they stood under the hot spray of the shower, he said, “The bond won’t let you hold back much longer.” It was too strong. Probably because, as a couple, they were strong. Makenna might have initially doubted his commitment, but not anymore. Like she’d told him, he had all of her. She had all of him. Mating bond or not, Ryan doubted he’d survive losing her. Even if he did, he’d be a husk. Empty. Useless. Going through the motions but not living.
Unlike the time he’d escaped from captivity, he didn’t think his pack would get him through it. There would be no chance of him healing. He wouldn’t want to heal. Everything would be fucking pointless without her—this quirky little person who made him want to smile on a daily basis, who never made him feel like he lacked or needed to change.
Makenna curled her arms around him. “Why are you sad?” The emotion trickled through her veins.
“You’ll be in danger. I hate that.”
“So will you. I hate that.”
“You’re not going to stay behind, are you?” It wasn’t a question; it was a resigned statement.
She licked at his claiming mark. “I can’t.” She couldn’t wave him off as he walked into certain danger. Hell, no. Seeing he was about to argue, she said, “When I was twelve, I watched my mom walk out of our little apartment to pick up some groceries. And I waited for her to come back. And I kept waiting. And waiting. And waiting. There was nothing else I could do. She’d once made me promise that if she was ever late, I wouldn’t go searching for her. So I didn’t. Two days later, there was a knock at the door. And I knew before I even opened it that it wasn’t her and that I was never going to see her again. Don’t ask me to wait like that again for someone I care about to come back to me. Don’t do that.”
Fuck. Ryan tightened his arms around her. “Why do you hold shit in?” It frustrated him that she’d give the people she cared for anything they needed, but she very rarely shared her pain with them.
“You do it too.”
Okay, that was a fair point. He gripped her chin and snared her gaze. “You don’t leave my side during the battle. You have to stay with me at all times.” If he couldn’t see her with his own eyes and know that she was safe, he wouldn’t be able to focus.
“I have no objection to that.” It meant she could watch his back. “You don’t need to worry so hard, you know. My wolf’s a badass. Why is that funny?”
“I’m not laughing.”
His expression hadn’t even changed, but . . . “I can feel your amusement, White Fang. My wolf is not impressed.” She was very much offended.
“I’m not denying that she’s tough. But she’s streetwise tough, not battle tough.”
“There’s a difference?”
“Yes. Street fights are over fairly quickly and require a minimum amount of strategy. Battles go on for longer and require a lot of strategy. Not to mention stamina and endurance. No matter how tired you are, you can’t afford to drop your guard or lose concentration. And your wolf . . .” He struggled for a nice way to say it. As he had no tact at all, it wasn’t easy. “She’s not very focused. She’s easily distracted.” No, Makenna didn’t like that comment one little bit. He quickly added, “Not in a bad way, but . . . like a cat.”
“A cat?”
Ryan inwardly winced. He was just making this worse. “You know: show her something shiny and she forgets that she’s supposed to—ow!” He rubbed at the spot where a sprinkle of chest hair had once been. “That hurt.”
“Good. Oh, and when my wolf saves your ass tomorrow, you will publicly apologize for comparing her to a cat.”
The certainty in her voice made him blink. “She’s going to save my ass?”
“Yes.”
“You know this how?”
“I have a feeling.”
Ryan closed his eyes. Insane. On the upside, there was never a dull moment with his mate. “Let’s just get out of the damn shower and sleep.”
“Always so grouchy.”
Whatever.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
For the second time in two days, Makenna was in Trey’s crowded office. He was discussing battle tactics with Taryn, his Betas and enforcers, the Mercury Alphas and Betas, and via teleconference the other Alphas who would join them against Remy.
As Makenna listened carefully, she became increasingly aware of just how right Ryan was. There was a lot of strategy involved in battles. It was all completely foreign to her, and she was totally out of her element. Still, that didn’t mean she would be anywhere other than at her mate’s side when the danger came.
The door opened and Grace entered with a tray of coffee. Ryan handed one to Makenna as he said, “You sure you want to be part of this battle tomorrow?” He understood why it would drive her crazy to stay behind, and he couldn’t ask it of her now that he knew the source of her determination. Still, both he and his wolf hop
ed that she’d change her mind. Makenna just stared at Ryan.
Jaime grinned. “Wow, you’ve got Ryan’s serial killer look totally down.” That made all the females chuckle. “You gotta teach it to me.”
“Stop trying to talk her out of fighting, Ryan,” complained Taryn. “She’s not helpless. There might be a lot of them, but there’s a lot of us too. And we have the advantage of knowing every inch of this land. They don’t.”
Makenna smiled, thankful for Taryn’s vote of confidence. But her smile faded when an unexpected wolf walked inside. “Zac, what are you doing in here, sweetie?”
Zac rolled back his shoulders and planted his feet. “I want to be part of the battle.”
Ryan had half expected this to happen. The teenager had pride, guts, and a need to face his demons. “Zac—”
“I know what you’re going to say. I’m just a kid and I don’t have any real training. But it’s my fault they’re coming—”
“Nobody put a gun to their head and forced them to make these plans,” said Dante.
Ryan grunted his agreement. “You are not responsible for their choices.”
“I should have stood up to the Alpha a long time ago,” Zac gritted out. “I didn’t.”
Grace put a supportive hand on his shoulder. “What could you have done, Zac? He’s bigger and stronger than you, through no fault of your own.”
Makenna nodded. “You did the smart thing. You got away. I’ve told you before, it takes guts to run. A lot of people don’t try because they’re too scared to get caught. You’re not weak, but you’re not strong enough to hold your own against these assholes. That’s shitty, but it’s the truth.”
Ryan grunted. He couldn’t have said it better himself.
Zac rubbed a palm on his thigh. “I don’t like that everyone is risking their lives while I hide here.”
Dominic hung his arm around Zac’s shoulders. “There’s no shame in hiding if it’s the smart thing to do. Do you judge Grace, Lydia, Hope, and Riley for staying behind?”
“No, of course not.”
“They’re not staying because they don’t have guts,” added Tao. “They’re doing it because they know their strengths don’t lie in fighting. But they can keep the kids calm and safe, so that’s what they’re going to do.”
Zac snorted. “Riley’s a fighter.”
“Which is why it’s torture for her to stay,” began Taryn, “but she knows Dexter and Savannah are so attached to her that they’d try to follow her. Staying is the smart thing to do, so she’s doing the smart thing. You need to do that too.”
His shoulders sagged. “I just hate that I’ve brought trouble here.”
“They are bringing trouble here,” corrected Trick. “Not you.”
“You have no reason to feel so guilty,” said Ally. “The fault belongs only to them. They’ve made the decision to come here and—” Ally broke off with a gasp. Her eyes turned white, and, shit, it was the freakiest thing Makenna had ever seen. Her wolf’s hackles rose and her ears pricked up.
Shaya went to their Beta female’s side. “Shit, she’s having a vision.”
Derren drew his mate to him, rubbing a hand over her back. She didn’t move or speak. It was like she wasn’t even with them. It seemed to take forever before she snapped out of it with a low gasp.
Derren cupped her face. “Baby, you okay?”
She nodded, blinking a few times.
“That vision was longer than your usual ones,” said Roni.
Trey sidled up to her, arms folded. “What did you see?”
“It was two visions—one right after the other.” Ally swallowed, her eyebrows drawing together.
Just the look in the Seer’s eyes was enough to make anxiety curdle in Makenna’s stomach and cause the hairs on her arms and nape to rise.
“Something’s changed,” said Ally. “Something’s twisted everything and changed the plans. The York Pack . . . I saw them here. They’re coming now. And they’re bringing at least a hundred wolves with them.”
The news hit the room like a bomb. Trey went rigid. “You’re certain?”
“In the vision, we were all wearing exactly what we’re wearing now.”
Curses rang throughout the room, and then everyone was talking at once. The Alphas communicating via teleconference said they’d leave immediately with their wolves and head for Phoenix Pack territory. Similarly, Nick called his brother to summon him and his other enforcers.
“Wait!” shouted Ally, once again gaining everyone’s attention. “There was something else. A second vision. I saw Remy. But I didn’t see him here.”
Marcus frowned. “Then where?”
Ally looked at Makenna. “He wants the children back. He thinks the council brought them to the shelter.”
Makenna felt the blood drain from her face as an ice-cold dread flooded every vein. Her hand flew to her stomach, which suddenly felt rock hard. Her heart was racing so fast she was surprised it didn’t explode. She turned to Ryan. “I have to get there. I have to get there now.”
Ally grabbed her wrist. “Wait, you have to listen to me. You can’t barge in there; you have to be very careful how you proceed. Remy . . . I was in his head for a minute—that doesn’t happen a lot in a vision. When it does, it’s plain horrible.”
Derren grimaced. “In his head?”
“He’s not rational right now,” said Ally. “In a strange, twisted way, having the children around kept him stable. He’s known sickness and depravity at the hands of his mother. But the children . . . they’re so innocent, so pure and unthreatening, and he’s drawn to that. They keep away all the shame and guilt he feels even though he can’t accept that he’s a victim. He doesn’t seem to realize what he’s become. He just knows he needs them close. He’ll do whatever he has to do to get them back, and he’s convinced they’re at the shelter, that Dawn’s keeping them from him.”
Makenna raked a shaking hand through her hair. “They’re not there; I have no idea where they are.”
“We know that,” said Taryn. “But will he believe that?”
Ally gave a sad shake of her head. “I really don’t think so. Like I said, he isn’t thinking rationally. He wants the children and the shelter. He blames Dawn for everything that’s gone wrong.”
“I’ll call her.” Makenna moved to the corner of the room to make the call.
Zac hurried to Ryan. “You’ll go to the shelter and help them, right?”
Feeling torn, Ryan clenched his fists. “I promised I’d protect you from your old pack.”
“Dude, Dawn and Madisyn are more important to me than that. There will be hundreds of people here to side with our pack soon. No one’s guarding the shelter because they all wanted to hear Trey’s plans and thought Remy would come here.” Zac licked his lips. “You can’t let Makenna go alone. She will if she has to.”
Knowing Zac was right, Ryan looked at Ally. “How many wolves did Remy have with him?”
“There were around twelve that I could see. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t more.”
Makenna returned to Ryan. “Neither Dawn nor Madisyn are answering their phone. How long do we have before Remy arrives at the shelter?” she asked Ally.
The Seer shrugged. “Sometimes I have a vision seconds before it happens, sometimes it’s longer.”
Which meant there was a very strong possibility that Remy was already at the shelter. Fuck. Makenna turned back to Ryan. “I can’t wait any longer.” Her wolf was just as frantic as she was.
Taryn nodded. “You need to go. But not alone. The shelter’s under our protection. Fucking nobody gets to harm a single person in it.”
Dante stepped forward. “Jaime and I will come with you.”
“If you’re going to need to sneak inside, we’re the best people to have with you,” said Jaime. “We’re almost as good as Ryan.”
“Good idea,” said Taryn. She turned to Makenna and Ryan. “I’m sorry, but I can’t afford to spare more people right now.�
�� The Alpha female was right; at that moment, the pack was vulnerable against all of the wolves that would soon attack. “I’ll send others to the shelter when reinforcements arrive.”
Makenna gave Zac a hug and then followed Ryan, Dante, and Jaime out of the office. Minutes later, they were in the Chevy, and Ryan was speeding to the shelter. Makenna repeatedly tried to contact Dawn, Madisyn, and Colton, but she couldn’t get through to anyone.
“Fuck. No one’s answering their cells, the reception phone, or the one in Dawn’s office.” Which meant something was very seriously wrong, and it was more than likely that Remy was already in the building. Her wolf paced, anxious and filled with the same bubbling fury that was building in Makenna.
“The shelter still has wards that keep out threats, right?” asked Dante from the backseat, to which she nodded. “How could Remy have got past them?”
Makenna shrugged, rubbing at her wrists. “He could have hired a witch to unravel them.” He’d known about the wards from his failed attempts to enter the building; he’d felt the magick there, just as Ryan had.
“Is there any way inside the shelter other than the front, back, or side doors?”
“Yes. There is an emergency exit for people who need to make a quick getaway.”
“Then that’s how we’ll get inside,” said Ryan.
“We’ll need to enter the territory through the forest behind the shelter,” Makenna told him.
“Does Dawn have a drill for situations like this?” asked Jaime, linking hands with her mate.
“Yes,” replied Makenna. “The witch I hired told me that if anyone tried to disable the wards, an alarm would be sounded. Most of the residents know to grab any children and get to the bunker below the building.”
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