by Kayla Wolf
His surprise was a physical force in her mind—she’d forgotten how strong an Alpha’s presence was, how much control they had over their pack. She could hear the other Fallhurst wolves yelping with surprise as Thomas’s control wavered—and Samuel taking advantage of their distraction to jerk his body free, wrenching himself out of the vulnerable position that had almost been his downfall.
I am your Alpha, she heard, his voice impossibly loud and booming through her skull. No Fallhurst wolf can harm me. She could feel him gathering himself to wrench himself free, and she knew the advantage she had wouldn’t last—that at this moment it was kill or be killed.
I don’t live here anymore.
And she bit down hard, tearing his throat from his body and splattering the street of Fallhurst with Thomas’s life’s blood.
Chapter 14 – Samuel
“Samuel? Are you awake?”
The voice pulled him out of a long, deep sleep, and he came to reluctantly, pulled from the comfort of the darkness. There was something happening, he knew that—something important—something serious—but all he wanted was just a little bit more sleep first…
“Alexander’s back from the meeting.”
He sat bolt upright in bed—then hissed at the stab of pain that pierced through his healing injuries. He heard Jessica make a sound of dismay, and then she was beside him, her hands moving with care over his bandages. He opened his eyes slowly—then cleared his throat, a little embarrassed to be caught so thoroughly asleep. There stood his twin brother, looking down at him with a cold, hard expression that he recognized as the one he wore when he was keeping his feelings to himself for the time being. He glanced over at the doorway—sure enough, Lisa was there, wearing a rather formal high-necked dress and looking worried. She spared him a little smile, though, and a wave of her hand.
“Alexander. Sorry. Hi.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Better.”
“That was quite a flight you made.”
He nodded, a little chagrined. After the battle in Fallhurst, he’d scooped up Jessica and Angela and hurled himself into the sky, not sure if his wings would even hold him. It had been extremely stupid of him, if he was honest—he’d risked passing out mid-flight, killing all three of them with the impact. But it was still safer than staying in Fallhurst with a wolf who’d ripped out the Alpha’s throat in the center of town.
“What happened in Fallhurst after we left?” Jessica asked—he could hear the impatience in her voice, balanced out by the courtesy she knew she owed to the King. Alexander glanced at her.
“They have a new Alpha. A man called Jack.”
“My father,” Jessica breathed, and Samuel reached out to squeeze her hand.
“He doesn’t want war. In exchange for reparations, and the reinstatement of the terms of the truce, he is willing to overlook what happened.”
Jessica sighed. “Reparations. I’m sorry, King Alexander. I—I’ll do what I can to repay you.”
Alexander flicked his hand dismissively. “We have had more wealth than sense for centuries, Jessica. What they asked was a pittance. But I’d advise caution if you and your sister were considering returning home any time soon. Tempers are high. Maybe give it a little while for things to settle down before you go back to the village.”
Samuel looked up at Jessica. Her face was drawn, but she nodded, her jaw set with determination. “That’s fine.”
He still hadn’t had the chance to talk to her properly—to talk through what had happened in Fallhurst, what she’d done to the Alpha. It was a terrible thing, the taking of a life, even the life of someone who’d subjected you to such torment—and even done to protect your own life or the life of someone else. But she seemed to be recovering well. So was Angela—the girl had been a little shell-shocked at first, of course, but she’d bounced back when Helena had shown her to the library. Samuel’s little sister seemed to be getting on very well with Jessica’s little sister, he’d noticed with some amusement.
“I want them to stay here. With us.” Samuel sat up in bed, a little gingerly—but his wounds felt much better today. The exhaustion of the long flight had slowed his healing considerably, but he seemed to be turning the corner. It had been two days or thereabouts since the trip to Fallhurst. Jessica had hardly left his side—she’d almost carried him through the corridors of the dragon palace herself, calling out for help. A strange way for his family to meet her, he had to admit—but they’d responded very well, all things considered. It must have been a little confronting, two strange wolves roaming the hallways of their secret ancestral home, supporting his bloodied form between them.
Alexander turned his gaze on his brother, the golden eyes Samuel so often saw in the mirror narrowing with vexation. “Bold of you to ask for favors.”
“Alexander.” Samuel met his brother’s eyes squarely, his jaw set. Alexander regarded him for a long moment, thoughtful before he spoke.
“Jessica and Angela are refugees from a war our people fought for centuries. We’re responsible for Fallhurst’s insular nature, for their suspicion and distrust of outsiders. The least we could do to make amends is give them safe harbor here as long as they should want to remain.”
Jessica’s eyes widened. “King Alexander—thank you.”
Was that the hint of a smile? “Just Alexander is fine. And you’re welcome. But it has nothing to do with you,” he added warningly, turning his eyes back to Samuel. “You have behaved like a moron. Provoking war with the wolves? Violating the truce? Kidnapping the daughters of the Alpha?”
“They were in danger,” Samuel snapped.
“If it wasn’t for a dozen witnesses stating categorically that it was Jessica who killed the previous Alpha, not you, we’d be preparing for war. As it stands, the wolves’ position is that you acted under your own power and that your actions had nothing to do with the rest of us. You are extremely lucky. And you are on extremely thin ice.”
“Understood.” Samuel tried his best to look contrite.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I have to have an extremely uncomfortable conversation with the dragon Elders. They’re all extremely curious to know why there are wolves in the palace.”
He swept out, his spine stiff and his movements rigid. Samuel groaned, dropping back against the pillow—but Lisa had sidled into the room, and she was grinning. He hadn’t been able to talk to her since they’d returned from Fallhurst.
“Lisa—”
“You did it!” she exulted, after a cautious look over her shoulder to make sure Alexander wasn’t at the door still. “You did so well!”
“Not according to Alexander.”
“Oh, he’ll come around once he’s gotten it out of his system, you know how slow he is,” she said, flicking her hand dismissively. “Angela’s settling in so well—we found her a room close to the library, she’s obsessed with all the history books. It’s so nice to have new people around,” she sighed, grinning up at Jessica. The two had gotten to know each other while Samuel had been recovering, it seemed. “She’s a delight. Definitely worth kidnapping.”
“I wish everyone would stop saying I kidnapped them,” Samuel objected, and Jessica and Lisa giggled.
“I better go—Alexander wants me there for the council meeting. But Jessica—it’s all ready.” Lisa winked at the wolf, then shot out of the room. Samuel looked up at his lover, frowning.
“What did she mean by that?”
Jessica was grinning a little coyly. “Well. I was thinking—you’ve been saying you want some fresh air…”
“Oh, yes. I’m so bored of this room—”
“I thought we could … go on a date.” Jessica was blushing. “Humans do it all the time. You—spend time together, get to know each other. I never really went on a proper one in Fallhurst. Everyone knows each other too well. But I thought we could—”
“A date. I like it.”
It felt good to be on his feet again. A little weak, still, from the blo
od loss and the exertion, but he was able to walk hand-in-hand with Jessica through the corridors. She had inconspicuously picked up a basket on their way out and distracted him with idle chatter before he could ask what was in it. They headed out onto the slopes of the valley, where the mid-afternoon sun was shining brightly. He could hardly believe his life—all the stress and worry of the last week had melted away. Jessica was here, with him—smiling and laughing more than he’d ever seen her, happy now that she and her sister were free. And even though she’d been offered the chance to leave, to take her sister and go anywhere in the world—she’d chosen to stay with him.
Halfway down the steep slope of the valley was a flat rock that jutted out from the side of the hill, smooth and level—it was here that Jessica had been leading him. She deposited the basket on the rock and pulled out a blanket, which she spread across it before inviting him to sit with her. There was a beautiful view from here, down to the river that ran through the valley, and the dense forest that began a few hundred yards from where they were sitting. Jessica opened the basket again—inside was a packed lunch.
“This is amazing,” he said solemnly, taking an enormous bite of the sandwich she offered him—she laughed, her eyes twinkling.
“Angela and I used to go on picnics all the time.”
“It’s great to be out in the fresh air again.” He sighed, leaning back and propping himself up on his elbows. “I don’t think I’ve ever been down this far.”
“Haven’t you lived here forever?”
“I’ve flown over it a million times, but I’ve never—you know, walked here.”
“Well, get used to it. Wolves like walking.” Jessica grinned, giving him a playful little punch on the arm. “Though if you want to go flying sometime, I’d be quite happy to join you.”
“You’re going to stay, then?”
“Yeah. As long as you all will have me.”
“Forever,” he said, simply, and he couldn’t help but catch his breath a little about how easily he’d said that. And she was looking at him, almost incredulously with those beautiful silver eyes, and without even realizing it—“I love you, Jessica.”
For a frozen second, she just stared at him—and his heart sank at the realization that he might have said too much, frightened her, pressured her—but then an unbelievably radiant smile broke out across her face and she flung herself at him, diving into his arms and laughing as the picnic went flying.
“I love you too,” she gasped into his ear, and he kissed her, dizzy all over again with relief and joy and overwhelming happiness. She was kissing him back, hard, and he realized in a giddy rush that they were alone out here, and that there was nothing at all stopping them from doing anything at all that they wanted to do—nothing to stop them, in fact, from doing something that some part of him had been thinking about ever since that first night together in the cave.
He could hear her breath coming faster as his hands roamed across her body, and he sensed—almost telepathically, but not quite—that she was thinking the same thing. They broke apart a little, gasping for breath, and her gleaming eyes met his in the space between them, an unspoken agreement. Then she was on top of him, her hands working furiously on the buttons of his shirt, and he laughed as she flattened him against the rock then recoiled in belated surprise.
“Shit! You’re hurt—are you—”
“I’m fine,” he laughed, sitting up to kiss her again, pressing a line of kisses along her throat. She chuckled, her breath catching as he ghosted across sensitive parts of her neck.
“We have to do this sometime when neither of us is injured,” she muttered, and he laughed, remembering how worried he’d been in the cave when her leg had been injured, how impatiently she had told him not to worry about her. Joy swelled in his chest again. They had all the time in the world.
And so, he was more than happy to take his time. Ignoring her impatient gestures, he kept kissing her throat, his hands roaming across her body, stoking the fire he could feel building in her body. Carefully, he shifted their positions until she was sitting beside him. The breeze was cool on his bare torso, but the pleasant warmth of the sun meant it wasn’t uncomfortable—and though it felt a little strange to be so exposed to the elements, he knew nobody would ever come out this far to find them. They had as much time as they needed. So as the pace between them quickened, and their clothing was steadily scattered across the now rather rumpled picnic blanket, Samuel deliberately held off, moving slowly, relishing Jessica’s impatience. He kissed her throat, the nape of her neck, her shoulders—he explored every inch of her gorgeous body as the sun climbed higher and higher in the sky, their lunch forgotten.
“Samuel,” she growled as he pressed a series of kisses to her hipbones, and he smiled to himself, humming gently and noticing the way she arched her back at the series of vibrations it sent through her body. “Are you going to tease me all day?”
“Thinking about it,” he murmured, kissing his way down her thigh then pausing to fidget at the hem of the panties she was wearing. It was intoxicating, being this close to her, and he wanted nothing more than to tear the rest of her clothing off and take her—but first, he was going to set her whole body on fire with the lightest of touches. He kissed her sex through her underclothes, and she squirmed, gasping, bucked her hips to press herself against him. So he tugged her panties aside and buried his head between her legs. The smell and taste of her were exquisite—he grinned as he felt her bury her hands in his thick hair, guiding him to exactly where she wanted him to go. He took notice of every gesture, every slight correction and whispered instruction—this was something he fully intended to get good at.
It wasn’t long before he could feel her getting close to her climax, and he backed off a little, kissing her inner thighs and laughing at the frustrated sounds she was making, the impatient way she tugged at his hair. His own body had been impatiently demanding he give it some attention almost since Jessica had first kissed him, and as he felt Jessica pull him up towards her, he reached down to free himself from his pants, finally. Jessica kissed him hard, her hands slipping around his waist and then lower to curl around him and he made a choked sound in his throat as she angled their bodies just so and pulled him inside her.
They moved together, finding a rhythm that was just instinctively perfect for them both—and it wasn’t long before he could tell she was getting close. And a good thing, too—he wasn’t sure how long he was going to be able to hold off. Her body felt so good—the smell of her, the soft feeling of her skin, the way her legs were wrapped around his waist, drawing him into her deeper and harder with every thrust—and with a cry that echoed from the steep rocky cliffs of the valley, he felt her clench around him as she climaxed. And not a moment too soon—he buried his face in her throat as he came, too, his body shuddering with the release.
They lay together for a long time—at some point, Jessica must have pulled the picnic blanket up and over them to keep out the chill of the afternoon. There could have been a blizzard, for all Samuel cared—he’d never felt more at peace than he did right now, here in her arms.
“Marry me,” he murmured drowsily into her hair.
She laughed. “What?”
“Marry me. I mean it.”
“We’ve known each other for a week, Samuel.”
“Doesn’t matter. I could know you for a week or a hundred years, won’t change anything. I want to marry you. Next week, three years, a century. Just—sometime.”
“You’re half asleep,” she laughed, and he sat up, shaking the grogginess from his head.
“I mean it. When I say I love you—that’s it, for me. Dragons mate for life. You’re everything, Jessica.”
She was looking at him incredulously—but there was no fear in her eyes, no worry. “You seriously want to marry me? Now?”
“Well, I’d ideally like to get some clothes on first, but if you insist—”
She laughed, hitting him on the shoulder. “I get it.”
“I’m a patient man, though,” he said, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder. “We don’t have to get married until you want us to. I just want you to know what my intentions are.”
“Alright,” she said, after a long silence. He lifted an eyebrow.
“Alright?”
“Alright. Let’s get married.” He stared at her—and her eyes twinkled. “I should probably tell you… Helena’s already planned half the ceremony—”
He groaned, dropping his head back against the rock. “Of course she has. She’s incorrigible.”
Jessica laughed, settling down against his side again. The warmth of her was absolutely wonderful. “She just knows true love when she sees it.”
How could he disagree with that?
Chapter 15 – Jessica
“—and did you know that even dragons think we have a common origin? Obviously, their stories go back way further than ours, the written ones do anyway, but there are a lot of similarities! It’s super interesting, I really want to write up a proper paper on it to share with the Elders and everything, but obviously, they’re still a bit cagey about wolves, after all—”
”Angela, you used to be my quiet little sister,” Jessica said, giving the girl a grin over her shoulder in the mirror. “What happened?”
She knew what happened, of course. They got out of Fallhurst. In the six months it had been since Samuel had flown them both out of there, dripping blood as they made their desperate bid for freedom, Angela had come completely out of her shell. She’d always been bright—but she’d also been frightened. Jessica could see that now—finally saw the reason that Angela had always been so chatty with her but so frozen and silent around their parents. She was afraid. But her fear hadn’t dulled her sparkling intellect or stopped her from being intensely, fiercely interested in everything around her. And now, with the dragons to support her, she’d finally found a hobby that was bringing her new life.