by Knight, Gwen
So, instead, War captured her mouth in a searing kiss. She eagerly opened her mouth, and as he slipped his tongue between her lips, he also eased a finger into her slick pussy. He moved the two in tandem, crooking his finger ever so slightly. He knew the second he hit the right spot when her breath hitched, and her fingers dug into his shoulders.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” he grunted while fucking her with her fingers. “Keep coming for me.”
It’d never been this way with another woman. He craved her pleasure like a drug. And it seemed she wanted the same. Her hand closed around his cock, and she started slowly working him over. But he refused to let it distract him. War sped up his ministrations, content only when she broke for the third time. She cried out against his mouth, her hand stalling as she basked in her third climax.
War grinned, then without warning, grabbed her hips and wrapped her legs around his waist. A breathless second later, and he sheathed himself within her. Emma sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes widening as he filled her. For a moment, the two paused and stared at each other, realizing the gravity of this moment. Soon, they would be mates.
With a small smile, War carried her into the bedroom, still wrapped inside her. He slowly lowered himself down onto the bed, then flipped them over until she lay on her back.
“You didn’t let me play at all,” she playfully pouted.
War nipped at her bottom lip. “Plenty of time for that later, love. Tonight is about you and our mating.”
She nodded. “Will it hurt?”
“I will do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t.”
Before she could respond, he started to move, gliding effortlessly in and out. Emma’s back arched off the bed, and she flattened her palms against the headboard. Her eyes fluttered shut as he moved within her, her bottom lip rolling between her teeth. War took in all of it. The sight of her flushed cheeks, the feel of her body contracting around him, the scent of her potent desire. Everything was so perfect.
Ecstasy mounted within him, teasing him with his own climax. But he wasn’t ready yet. And neither was she. The mating ceremony consisted of a love bite, a small nip of his teeth against her throat. A mark for all other werewolves to know she belonged to him and he to her. Most did the deed during the final orgasm. But he wanted to build it up, to bring her to the precipice before sinking his teeth into her.
He brought his thumb to her clit and slowly worked her into a frenzy. Her lashes fluttered against her cheeks as she moaned. It wouldn’t be long now. Heat flushed her cheeks, and her whole body had tightened beneath him.
Now.
He buried his head against her throat and thrust wildly. Emma’s orgasm was so intense, her inner walls clamped down around his cock, and that was all it took. Ecstasy overcame him, and without hesitation, he sank his teeth into her neck as he emptied himself into her.
Emma didn’t even flinch. She was the perfect woman for him.
With a pleased sigh, War rolled onto his side and gathered Emma into his arms. She gave a happy little moan and rested her head against his arm, her neck on display. War leaned down and kissed her throat, right beneath the mark. It would heal quickly, thanks to their connection. But from here on out, they would be forever joined as one. All that remained was a small ceremony before his pack to cement herself as their female alpha.
“Any regrets?” Emma asked as she ran her fingers over his arms.
“Never,” he growled, a hint of his wolf deepening his voice. “You’re my mate and the woman I love. I could never regret being with you.”
“Good,” she whispered. “Because I think you’re stuck with me now.”
“Oh, but what a way to live,” he murmured. “With you by my side, I know anything is possible.”
She nodded, but War noted a strange expression cross her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just thinking about Taylor.”
“Did the afterglow fade that quickly?” he teased. “Because I can bring it back, if that’s what you need.”
Emma chuckled, and the sound convinced him that everything would be fine. She was all he needed.
“He’s going to find us, eventually. Luna helped me escape, so he doesn’t have any clue about our home here. But one day, he’ll find us. The forest isn’t endless.”
“And on that day, we’ll be ready,” War told her. “I’m not worried.”
“I am,” she confessed, her fingers twining with his. “I can’t lose you, War.”
“Nothing will ever take you away from me. I swear.”
She rolled over in his arms and brushed a light kiss against his mouth. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Grinning, War deepened the kiss and grabbed a palmful of her ass. This was their moment. The last thing he wanted was to waste time thinking about General Taylor. As far as War was concerned, Taylor was a dead man. He just didn’t know it yet.
But for now, Emma took precedence. The day would come where he and Taylor would square off, and on that day, War would be the last man standing.
He damn well guaranteed it.
Epilogue
Snow paced the outer edge of the pack, his gaze locked on the couple standing in the middle of the yard. The moonlight shimmered over them, as though blessing their union. A union a long time coming. Snow remembered the day they’d first attempted to perform the ceremony. Such a beautiful day. Until that damned witch arrived, eager and hungry for revenge on their alpha—all because he’d found his true mate.
But their time had finally arrived. The circumstances were far from ideal, but that hardly mattered right now. He envied the two of them, the way they stared at one another, their eyes full of love and promise. Now that he’d had a taste of what it meant to have a mate, he wanted that. Hell, he yearned for it. But Luna was one cool customer. Instead of delighting in the knowledge that she’d found her mate, the blasted woman had slammed on the brakes and erected one heck of a wall. He’d break it down, though, even if he had to tear it apart brick by brick. The gorgeous, curvy woman was his. And he refused to lose her. Refused to find himself trapped as a wolf again. She’d gifted him his freedom. He refused to squander it.
The sound of voices drew Snow’s attention back to the ceremony. The pack elders encircled War and Emma, their amber gazes locked on the couple. War gazed at his mate with what Snow could only describe as utter adoration and caressed the subtle mark imprinted on her neck.
“Emma Davis,” he said, his voice deep and rumbling with his wolf. “I pledge myself to you. I vow to always protect you with my life, and I vow to put you first above all else. You are my best friend, my lover, my soulmate, and I will cherish you until the end of days.”
Tears welled in their new female alpha’s eyes. Even Snow felt a lump in his throat. He’d never openly admit it, but these ceremonies always hit him right in the feels. It was so humbling to see someone as powerful as their alpha give himself completely to another.
Emma repeated the same vows with shining eyes. Snow had never doubted their commitment to one another, and he still didn’t. Against all odds, the two had somehow survived an apocalypse and found each other again. It almost made him believe there was something at work here. Call it fate, destiny, whatever. It gave him hope. The chances of his mate being Emma’s best friend was astronomical. Something or someone was certainly watching over them.
The second Emma finished her vows, the pack erupted in a chorus of howls, celebrating their alpha’s new mate. Snow clapped as his gaze strayed across the clearing. Luna stood off to the side, a gleeful smile curving her gorgeous face. Her focus was locked on her best friend, and Snow took advantage of the distraction to study his mate. He found every little thing about her appealing, but he found her mouth absolutely captivating. The thought of claiming her lips made his heart skip a beat.
Sensing his attention, Luna shot him a glance. Heat spread across her cheeks and she ducked her gaze, hiding her face behind a curtain of hair. She didn’t come off as the
shy sort to him, but perhaps she was put off by the thought of him. He didn’t like that one bit.
But now wasn’t the time.
Today was about his alpha and Emma becoming an official mated pair.
Striding forward, Snow approached the couple and offered his hand. “Congratulations.”
War clapped his palm and drew Snow in for a manly hug. “Thank you. And if I didn’t say it before, congratulations to you two.”
“Not yet,” Snow said. “She won’t even talk to me right now.”
“Give it time,” Emma offered. “She’ll come around. I did.”
Snow grinned at his new alpha female. Even without sunlight, she radiated beauty. Incandescent moonlight bathed over her, turning her blond hair almost silver.
Before Snow could respond, the entire pack suddenly went on alert. Tension zipped through the wolves as they turned as one toward the tree line. Snow and War moved with them. There, beneath the quiet hush of the wind and the swaying of the trees, came the slightest whisper of sound.
Footsteps in leaves.
“Movement to the west,” Ice reported.
Emma gasped, her shoulder brushing against Snow’s as she reached for War’s hand. “What was that?”
“You’re my mate now,” War told her quietly. “Part of the fun is being able to communicate with the pack.”
“Taylor’s men,” Ash, their best tracker, commented. “I hear three, maybe four.”
“A scouting party,” Snow grunted. “Easily handled.”
“Let’s go,” War said.
Snow turned to him with wide eyes. “You sure you want to come with?”
“I’m the alpha. I go where I want.”
“But you just—”
“It’s fine,” Emma murmured. “Luna and I will stay here where it’s safe. And now that I can hear you guys, I’ll know if something’s wrong.”
War leaned in and swept his new mate up into his arms and kissed her deeply. Snow turned away, even though he ached to do the same with Luna.
Once they parted, War removed his pants and shirt and handed them to Emma. Then he and Snow took off toward the scouting party. It wasn’t long before Snow felt that familiar ache creep through his body. Thirty feet seemed to be the physical distance they could place between themselves and their mates before the shift overtook them. He succumbed to the pain and allowed his body to melt into wolf form. It didn’t take long to complete the change. Shaking out his fur, he snuck a glance at his alpha and froze.
War still stood in human form.
Impossible.
They’d tested this condition. Again and again. Thirty feet and they shifted. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
Snow turned back to the homestead to find Emma standing silently by the front door, gripping the handle in shock. She stared at War, mouth agape.
“What the hell?” War scowled at his hands.
Snow lowered his nose to the ground and snuffled, but everything smelled the same. War simply wasn’t in wolf form.
“Let’s keep going,” Snow suggested. “Maybe there’s a glitch.”
War cast him a sideways glare, but without a word, they trotted another ten feet. Then twenty. Thirty. When the shift never overcame him, War cursed and spun back to the homestead. They couldn’t even see the house through the trees anymore.
“Is everything all right?” Emma’s voice breezed through their minds.
“Not sure yet,” War responded.
“Can you shift on your own?” Snow asked.
War’s eyes fluttered shut and he drew a deep breath. There wasn’t even the slightest hesitation. The second he initiated the change, his body began contorting until nothing remained but a giant wolf. Snow could scent his alpha’s relief.
“I don’t understand…” Snow murmured.
War stood silently, his keen gaze locked on his paws. Snow could hear his thoughts racing as he pondered the possibilities. But it wasn’t until he landed on the mating ceremony that his head snapped up.
“The mating ceremony,” Snow repeated.
“It has to be. The only reason we changed in the first place was because we’d found our mates. Maybe completing the ceremony frees us from the curse entirely.”
Hope sprang anew in Snow’s chest. Could this be possible? Had they found their cure? It wasn’t perfect, considering the circumstances, but no wolf would ever reject the idea of finding their mate. The only problem was finding all of them.
“This is insane,” Snow said.
War nodded, his ears flattening as he thought about Zara. “I initially thought killing her would be the only way to free us.”
“Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean we should let her go. Not every wolf has a mate out there. We need to permanently break the curse. Which means…”
“Which means tracking her down,” War finished.
“In the meantime, though, we have a loophole.”
“One we can confirm when you and Luna complete the process.”
“If,” Snow supplied.
War’s lips curled into a grin. “Not if, my friend. When. I have complete faith in you.”
Snow gave himself a thorough shake, then pointed his head south. “Come on, your wolves are waiting.”
Not that they needed them. From the sounds of it, Ash and his party had already handled the four trespassers. A quick and merciless attack that now left Taylor short a few men. Couldn’t complain about that.
War trotted next to Snow, his mind still wandering. Snow couldn’t hate him for being free of this wretched curse, but he certainly envied him. Freedom lingered just out of reach, in the hands of a woman who wanted nothing to do with him.
Hunkering down, he galloped next to War and focused on the task at hand: showing Luna they were fated to be together.
He felt it deep in his bones. She was his. And he would do whatever it took to prove that to her, even if that meant infiltrating the fort to rescue her mother.
* * *
Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed War and Emma’s story! For information on Snow and Luna’s book, sign up for our newsletters (links below).
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About Author R.E. Butler
A Midwesterner by birth, R.E. spent much of her childhood rewriting her favorite books to include herself as the main character. Later, she graduated on to writing her own books after "retiring" from her day job as a secretary to become a stay-at-home mom.
When not playing with her kids, wrestling her dogs out the door, or cooking dinner for her family, you'll find her typing furiously and growling obscenities to the characters on the screen.
Her best-selling series The Wolf's Mate, Wiccan-Were-Bear, The Necklace Chronicles, Hyena Heat, Wilde Creek, Were Zoo, Saber Chronicles, Arctic Shifters, Vampire Beloved, and Ashland Pride are available now.
She hopes you enjoy her writing and she would love to hear from you. Drop an email to [email protected] or follow her blog on her website where you can also find a list of her books. Happy Reading!
About Gwen Knight
Before tackling writing professionally, Gwen Knight graduated university with a degree in archaeology and geography. But after a few years of digging up artifacts and mapping them out, she decided to follow her next passion into publishing. Now, she lives in Jasper, Alberta with her husband and son. You can subscribe to her newsletter here. Check out her website to drop her a comment or check out all her available books!
For more information:
www.gwenknight.ca
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