“Yes,” I begged, “more.”
I didn’t know where any of this was coming from, and I didn’t care.
He moved his hips slowly at first, almost lazily, watching my reactions as he filled me. Each time it was a little easier to handle, and each time, he thrust a little faster.
I held onto the sheets like my life depended on it, and I loved every minute of it.
My body was hot and tingly, and building to something big, something bigger than before. It reached from my fingers to my toes, and tingled on my tongue.
With each thrust, he moved his fingers over my clit, charging my nerves with the surge of pressure. I was being wound up, and I didn’t know how I was going to make it back down.
Thorn curled his body over me, the hair of his chest scratching softly against my back. He laced his fingers with mine and touched his lips to my ear. “Come for me.”
It was as if I’d been waiting for his command. And my body obeyed.
Everything tightened, from my pussy to my chest, all the way down to the tips of my toes. And the release, it was everything. He held me to him, his cock buried deep. I could feel him pulse inside of me. This time, we came together.
Just as every muscle had tightened, every single one relaxed.
I was a puddle of satiated mush, content and ready to sleep.
Chapter 11
Thorn
I didn’t sleep. With my arm draped over Briar’s stomach, I lay still beside her and watched her rest. The buzz of alcohol faded away, and all that was left was clarity. Clarity and regret.
Early morning light broke through the curtains, casting Briar in a soft glow. With her eyes shut and her lips slightly parted, she appeared at peace. Her red hair was wild, her breasts bare. My dick was hard, and had been for hours. I needed more of her, all of her, over and over again.
I shouldn’t have touched her. I shouldn’t have kissed her. I should have kept my distance.
I couldn’t resist her.
There was a freckle just below her right nipple, and a splash along her collarbone, like color had been sprinkled over her fair skin. I wanted to kiss each and every one, and commit them to memory.
She wasn’t mated. I should have rejoiced, but only the wolf inside me did. The animal in me was content to have pleased our mate. She wasn’t taken, but she had not yet chosen me.
I’d known she was my mate from the moment I laid eyes on her. After being inside of her...there was no turning back.
If she chose another, it would break me.
I pulled my gaze away and closed my eyes, but I didn’t dare to move my arm. I wanted her to rest as long as she could.
A bang told me the door had been thrown open.
I rushed out of bed and pulled on the pants I’d worn the day before.
“Thorn. Come, it is time to eat.” Hale’s voice bellowed through the small space.
I hurried out to meet him.
“You look like hell.” He slapped me on the back. “We’ve all had nights of too much wine. Gather your mate. The two of you must join us for breakfast.”
Briar’s soft voice made me turn. She said, “We’re not mates.”
Her words stung, making my chest clench like a fist.
She was standing in the doorway completely dressed, and she tossed me my shirt.
Hale grinned and his brows lifted to the ceiling. “A strong woman who knows how to have a good time, and isn’t mated?”
Mine.
Pissed at the situation, I stepped into his line of sight and scowled. My words came out bitter and sharp, and carried the weight of my station. “We’ll be there soon.”
Hale cocked his head to the side, raised his hands in defense, and smiled.
“Wait.” Briar narrowed her eyes. “You said we had to wait until morning. We feasted. We spent the night. Now I’d like to make my request.”
Hale looked her up and down, crossed his arms, and nodded. “Very well.”
She licked her lips and balled her hands into fists, but she didn’t get quiet, and her voice didn’t grow higher. “My people suffer an affliction.”
Hale nodded. “The blight.”
Blight.
It had to be a coincidence...didn’t it? “Blight” was what Lord Celedon had called the disease that had spread over the island’s vegetation. But he had cured the blight.
Briar looked down at her hands. This time when she spoke, her voice grew softer. “Blight…so you know it?”
“I do.” Hale frowned. “Black spots that spread over the body.”
Briar nodded and exhaled slowly.
“Can you heal the afflicted?” I asked, though the look on his face told me he couldn’t.
“Me? No.” Hale shook his head. “Give me a jug of water, and I’ll freeze it. But only Ruarc has the power to cure disease.”
The air changed. It was Briar. It was the vacuum where her hope had been. An ache formed in my chest over my heart.
“The Guardian of Water himself?” Her voice was so quiet I almost didn’t hear her.
“Would you speak to your guardian on our behalf?” I asked.
Hale furrowed his brow, then smiled and smacked my shoulder. “Anything for you, brother. But I cannot promise he will help.”
“Of course,” I said.
Briar’s silence was deafening.
She said nothing at breakfast. She said nothing as we left. She said nothing until we were well away from Cascade Village.
We began our journey in human form. Briar was miles away in her own head, dejected the way she had been the night I’d left her to sleep on my balcony in the trees. I wanted to take her pain away, but there was nothing I could do but be there for her when she was ready to talk.
After a time, she said, “It was all a waste.”
“What was?” I asked.
“Seeking the bears. If any of the guardians cared about my people’s plight, we’d have seen that it was so before.”
“Hale has the Guardian of Water’s ear. Our case will be heard.”
“Hope is a dangerous thing.”
When it came to Briar, hope was all I had.
I reached into my pocket and picked a stone by feel. It was sea glass I’d found a few days prior by the shore. I rolled the smooth surface across my palm.
“Thank you for taking me. No matter what happens now, I appreciate everything you’ve done for my people.” She glanced at me before turning her attention back to the jungle path.
“I did it for you,” I said. “Not for your people as a whole, but because you asked me to.”
I could feel her gaze on me, so I looked over to her as we walked. Her expression changed, then changed again. It was as if she couldn’t figure out what to say. That was fine. I knew what I needed to say, and I needed her to hear it.
“Even if last night meant nothing to you, it meant the world to me.” I stopped walking.
She stopped too. Her cheeks were bright red, and she chewed on her lip. Her heartbeat fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings.
My breathing quickened as I watched her. “I am certain, Briar, that you are my mate.”
Open and for the first time in my life completely terrified, I waited for her to say something. Anything.
Briar was silent.
Chapter 12
Briar
Mates.
There was that word again.
It was loaded with more meaning than I was ready to contemplate.
As many times as Thorn had told me that I was alpha, I’d denied it. Maybe he was right, and I was alpha of what remained of my tribe. That still didn’t make me—a coyote—worthy of a chosen warrior. This was just the hangover talking, or sustained drunkenness. Yep, that made more sense than the possibility of his words being true.
There was no need to say anything, because this wasn’t real.
Thorn would say he had a headache and tell me everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours was a blur. Until then, I needed to
move. I needed this interaction to be over.
So I started walking.
I expected Thorn to press me, for him to be pissed. But he was quiet, and somehow that made me feel worse.
He kept pace by my side, close enough for me to feel him on every inch of my skin, far enough to leave me bereft.
My brain filled the silence with noise. It pulled all my worries to the forefront, like it so often did in the middle of the night when I was trying to sleep.
Images of Thorn’s bare torso filled my head, and with them the memory of what it had felt like to have him inside of me. It was the best night of my life. It was a mistake. It wasn’t real.
I remembered my brother in a locked room below the ground, and the affliction that was slowly devouring him. And I remembered the others who were depending on me. When I was supposed to be seeking help for them, I’d been enjoying myself. While they waited, I was drinking and having sex.
The sooner we returned, the better. Maybe we could both pretend none of this had ever happened.
That was for the best.
I glanced over at Thorn. He was pulling the air above his hand as he walked. It was the same motion he had done before when he’d transformed the stone I held in my pocket. Curious, I wanted to watch. But I forced myself to look away.
He grabbed my wrist, startling me.
We stopped walking. My nerves fired under his touch, spreading a tingle of awareness up my arm. We were too close, too far apart. My heartbeat filled the quiet, and my breathing quickened.
He was staring into the distance, and put a finger up to his lips. I followed his gaze and listened. At first I didn’t see anything. I didn’t hear anything either, only the thrum of my pulse.
Thorn slid his fingers down my wrist and took my hand. He started walking, this time faster than before.
The flutter of excitement I felt morphed to concern. I looked around, searching for what was wrong. I wanted to ask, but he’d gestured for me to stay quiet.
Hurried steps turned to running between tree trunks and ducking under low-hanging limbs. Behind us, vines grew up from the ground, unnaturally fast. Thorn—this was the power of the Warrior of Land.
Was it a fathach snake behind us? Were we being chased?
My heart raced and my stomach clenched wondering what was next. Should we shift? Why hadn’t Thorn shifted?
And just as fast as he’d started this whole thing, Thorn stopped. I jolted to a halt beside him.
He pulled his shirt up over his head, and I stared, forgetting everything else—almost.
“We should shift.” He slipped off his shoes.
“What’s wrong? What is it?”
His brows knitted together and his voice was taut. “We’re being followed.”
“Bears?” That didn’t make sense. What reason would they have to follow us?
He shook his head.
“You go first,” he said. “Keep running and don’t stop.”
“You want me to leave you?” I couldn’t believe it. After all his talk of me being an alpha, he expected me to ditch him as soon as there was some sort of danger. We were in this together, no matter what.
His hazel eyes glistened and his jaw tightened. “I want to protect you.”
Oh.
My cheeks heated and I turned around, peeling my eyes from his perfect form. I stripped my clothes and shifted into my coyote. When I turned my head, I saw Thorn as a wolf. It wasn’t the first time, but the sense of awe I felt was no less than it had been before.
He was huge, larger than any coyote, larger than any other wolf I’d ever seen. His thick fur was a dark shade of gray. And just like his human form, his presence dominated, commanding all to submit.
He lifted his nose to the air, then leveled his gaze at me and spoke in the shifter tongue. “I think we’ve lost them.”
“Them who? Who are we running from?”
“We run from no one,” Thorn said. “But we choose our ground. Stay close to me.”
I watched as he stalked back the way we had come, his clothes gathered in his mouth. He held his head low, ready to strike. I snapped up my dress and shoes and followed.
Before long, I caught a familiar scent. Coyotes.
Had Willow and some of the others followed us all the way to the bear village? No, that didn’t make any sense. They were locked down by the wolves. I shivered despite the warm air.
Thorn dropped his clothes. “They’re gone.”
Who? Why?
I was more agitated than ever, and wanted nothing more than to return to Lycaon to check on my people.
Thorn picked his clothes up and headed once more in the direction of his village.
Lost in thought, I followed. Silence carried us through the hours, and the weight of the reality that lay ahead was heavy. The distance between us grew with every step closer to Lycaon.
When we finally reached the wall of the village, the gates opened.
A flash of white light told me Thorn was shifting, but I didn’t wait to see what he would say. I told myself I was just going to check on my people. But the truth was I ran from Thorn, from my feelings, and from the night we’d shared.
Chapter 13
Thorn
Until Briar, I didn’t open up, and I didn’t let people close. She had taken my heart and crushed it. This was why it was better to keep a distance.
Was it unfair to expect her to reciprocate my feelings? Even if it was, she should have said something. I didn’t want it to bother me, but it did.
I’d thought there was no chance for there to be an us. I’d thought she’d already chosen a mate. But she hadn’t. And then she’d let me touch her.
She’d asked me to spend the night with her. She’d let me be inside of her.
I’d thought my desire for her had been strong before. Now it was unbearable, a suffocating cord around my chest, tightening more the further she pulled away.
I threw on my clothes as I barreled toward Forrest’s place.
Part of me hoped he’d push me. Tension boiled through my veins, and I was ready to burst.
He met me halfway and stopped in the street. There was a strange look on his face. It took me a moment to read his stance and expression.
Apprehension. I must have looked as agitated as I felt.
“Report,” I commanded.
“No issues while you were gone,” he said. “They haven’t caused trouble...yet. But they’re coyotes. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Let them roam the village.”
“Thorn—” Forrest’s eyes narrowed and he paused, crossing his arms over his chest. “I can see it in your eyes.” His nostrils flared. “Her scent is all over you. You want to mate her?”
Wrong thing to say.
I took a step closer. Challenge me.
“The female’s clouding your senses. Ditch her before you do something you’ll regret.”
I grabbed the collar of his shirt.
A grin spread across his face, and his lip twitched over his lengthening canines. “Hit me,” he growled. “Show your people what kind of alpha you are.”
Like a branch of a gum tree, I snapped back, realizing exactly what I was doing. I let go of his shirt and blew out a calming breath. My fists were clenched so hard they shook.
Forrest was right. Briar’s rejection was impairing my judgement. I hardly recognized myself.
“Tell the others that the coyotes are free to roam.” I turned and didn’t wait for him to respond.
Distraction would be good for me. There were other tasks to be done, but all I wanted to do was find Briar. I ran my hands over my face, scrubbing away what I could of my frustration.
I tracked down Dahlia next, and ordered her to allow Briar to see Flint if she came to the tunnel door. Dahlia nodded her understanding, and I continued on my way.
I walked the village, using my magic to nurture the trees and the gardens. I spoke to those who approached me in passing. The sharpness that had spurred me set
tled into a dull ache beneath my breastbone.
Love makes you mad. Before Briar, I hadn’t truly understood. Now I knew better. It was true, but also an understatement. Love changed everything. It was the lens through which I viewed the world. There was no going back.
It was time. When I returned home and reached for the handle of my front door, I could feel that she was here.
It wasn’t too late to turn around, but I couldn’t avoid her forever. And I wanted to be with her, even when it was difficult. When we argued or she pulled away, my feelings didn’t change.
I stepped inside and followed the soft sounds of Briar’s voice to the bottom of the vine ladder. She was up in the tree, likely looking over the village as she had when I’d first brought her to my home. This was the sanctuary I’d given to her when she’d panicked.
It was hers to keep, as long as she wanted it.
I was being too hard on her. How could I expect her to see me when she had so much else on her mind? Her brother, her people—putting them first was what made her the alpha that she was, and the woman who I had fallen for so completely.
Time was something I could afford. Forever doesn’t happen in one day, no matter how much I wanted it to.
I listened to her voice, to the whispers that rose and fell in melodic rhythm. Her words were so soft I couldn’t make what she was saying, but I could feel the anguish in her song, and I hurt for her.
I pulled the sea stone from my pocket, the translucent aquamarine glass I had started transforming on our walk through the forest, and pulled the invisible magical strings that manipulated the structure of the stone.
The sea glass morphed into four fragile legs, a long tail, and the lithe form of graceful predator. The tiny coyote held her head high. Her gaze would never be down and avoidant, never be lost in the stars, but set straight ahead facing the truth of the world. The statue was a glimpse of what I saw in Briar, and what drew me to her more than anything else.
I knew Briar needed her space. I set the blue coyote at the base of the ladder, a gift for her to find later, and I left to walk once more among my people.
Wolf Warrior of Land (Alphas & Alchemy: Elemental Shifters Book 2) Page 7