Say My Name

by R K Knightly

  Blinking, Liam thought quickly about it. It would free Elle from Jeremiah, take care of his Luna problem, make the pack stronger, and solidify the protection orders on her. It was a win-win. If Elle was on board, at least.

  And, Liam had to admit, he did want her as his. Badly.

  "And what if I did?" Liam asked, deciding to play his cards close to his vest for the moment.

  "You'd never get away with it." Jeremiah sounded certain. "You would have to attend The Claiming with her and be paired up from there. And you couldn't guarantee she wouldn't be claimed by another."

  The man sounded so sure of himself, it was all Liam could do not to laugh at him.

  "You forget that my father is an Elder," Liam said. "I could call in a few favors, have them make an exception. They would do it once I let them know what she has gone through as your mate. The doctor who treated her and the wolves who found her would have my back. You'd be lucky to keep your pack by the time I was through with you."

  Liam could almost see the wheels turning through Jeremiah's thick skull. While the Elders usually didn't intercede between the packs unless it was absolutely necessary, they would take the information Liam gave them and could have Blackriver watched, infiltrated – possibly disbanded. It was known to have happened before. Not in a while, but it had occurred.

  "Fuck!" Jeremiah roared. Liam's lips curved upward slightly. "You better watch yourself, Liam. Watch your fucking back good."

  "I plan to," Liam said smugly, tasting the bittersweet victory of his win over the man. "I know you better than you think, Jeremiah. I know your strengths, your weaknesses. I know when to push and when to pull. I also know that this won't be that last time I see your ugly face. But the next time I do, it may very well be with a marked Luna who could have been yours but wanted – and deserved – so much better."

  Without another word, Liam grabbed his envelope and stalked to the door. He heard the sound of glass shattering just before the door slammed shut behind him.

  ∞∞∞

  Liam stopped at the store after dropping off the checks in the first blue USPS mailbox he saw. They stank of Jeremiah's greasy paws, and he was glad to be rid of them. He picked up the groceries they needed at the house, feeling, all the while, like he was being watched. He knew it was only his own damned anxiety working itself out, but he still took it to heart and warned Blake of his meeting with Jeremiah. Patrol was alerted, though that was only as a precaution. He knew Jeremiah would bide his time and work out a plan. It wasn't the last they'd hear of him, though.

  What worried him most was talking to Elle. He didn't want to scare her with the news that Jeremiah now knew where she was. She had promised she wouldn't run, but she was selfless and would do anything to keep Plumbrook from having to face outside adversaries. Especially ones she had brought almost to their door.

  Liam tried to think of the most sensitive way to break the news to her. He wasn't well-versed with delicate, and thought that maybe having another female with her might help. Colleen was too brash though, and she was the only other she-wolf that Elle truly trusted, aside from Dr. D'Amato maybe.

  "Fuck," he muttered to himself as he got into his car. "Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!"

  He slammed his hands against the steering column, the material of it groaning beneath his clenching fingers. His forehead met with the wheel as he breathed in deeply. All the adrenaline from his meeting with Jeremiah had worn off long ago, and all the worry was setting in now.

  If Liam had been as selfless as Elle, he would have found another pack, far away, that would accept the would-be Luna and have them protect her. It would come with a risk, but it would keep her far away from Jeremiah’s greasy mitts. Across country, if need be. But...he couldn't find it in himself to do that. She was barely comfortable in Plumbrook and was only just learning to speak again. Was becoming whole again.

  He turned on the car, pressing the button to start it and peeling away from the store, gravel bits flying everywhere in his wake.

  ∞∞∞

  Elle listened as Colleen nattered on about seemingly nothing. She was more interested in the music coming from the iPod she had set up on the mantle of the fireplace. She was glad it was a working fireplace. There was nothing homier than having a working flu during the cold winter months. And it made her think of her old home at Blackriver. The one her parents still lived in.

  "Are you listening to me?" Colleen asked, ripping Elle from her thoughts.

  "No." She had less of a stutter. She was getting better quickly, and that made her smile.

  Colleen laughed.

  "Well, I have to admire your honesty, even though I've been trying to get you to pay attention for the past half hour," Colleen said, teasingly.

  "S-sorry," Elle replied with a smile. "Wh-what were you...s-s-saying?"

  Okay, any phrase or sentence longer than three words was still a trial, but it was a distinct improvement.

  "That guy Jason at the bonfire," Colleen started to say. "He's been asking about you, wondering how you were doing."

  "He was nice," Elle said with a shrug.

  "And very interested in getting to know you better," Colleen continued. She watched as Elle's nose crinkled.

  "He's a g-good f-friend," Elle stated.

  "You're not interested?"

  Elle shook her head.

  "Is there anyone else that catches your eye then?" Colleen asked, digging.

  Elle wasn't good with lying, so she simply stayed quiet.

  "Your silence is all the confirmation I need," Colleen stated, smiling. "Who is it? Is he cute?"

  Elle's face flushed, and she wiped the sweat from her brow. Maybe Colleen would think all that red on her face was from doing chores. It was not necessarily hot out as it was still fall, but working around the house could cause her to sweat just as easily in the mid-'70s as it did in the dead of summer.

  Colleen continued to bother her about who she might be interested in until Elle's face was fire-truck red and she was stuttering worse than ever.

  Someone save me, she thought moments before the front door opened and a harried-looking Liam strode into the house with purpose.

  ∞∞∞

  The longer Liam drove, the faster he pushed the car. He knew Jeremiah's game, how the man thought out his battle plans carefully before deciding on a course of action. Just like his father. He had been the same way when he was younger. He had plotted, from beginning to end, working out the discrepancies, the risks, the possible outcomes of every move. Jeremiah was a force to be reckoned with when he was plotting something.

  It only made Liam more anxious, more eager to get home. Make sure everything was okay – that Elle was okay.

  Because he had made up his mind. He wanted her as his Luna. And he hoped she was agreeable to it. Otherwise, it would be difficult to keep her safe, even with the pack protection. If she was his Luna, the pack would be sworn to protect her by default, just as they were sworn to protect their leader, their Alpha.

  The drive home seemed to stretch on for eons. He tried getting in touch with Blake or Colleen through the mindlink, but they were both turned off. He'd have to fucking speak to them about that, but until then, he let his heart beat an unsteady pattern in his chest, his blood racing through his veins. With worry. And it was probably only going to be the start of it.

  He knew no matter what, the true bond of a mate never faded, not at least until that mate died or marked another, but he knew for certain that that would never affect Elle. Not his Elle. She would never go back to Jeremiah, of that he was certain.

  Unless...

  Unless it was between giving herself back to him and saving his pack. Then...then she might.

  Fuck.

  She wouldn't.

  She couldn't.

  And she damned well shouldn't.

  The next ten minutes drew out like he figured the last minutes of a man's life would on death row. Agonizingly slowly, he would imagine.

  He finally skidded to a
stop in front of his home and launched himself from the car like his ass was lit on fire. He ran up the steps to his door and opened it quickly, not caring if the wall behind where the door slammed cracked or splintered.

  "Elle." His voice came out in a relieved, raspy sigh. She was safe. For now, at least.

  He knew Colleen was in the room, could smell her, sense her, but his eyes were only on Elle. Red-faced and slightly sweaty. Colleen was there in the background, suddenly talking to him. He paid no attention to the words. They were garbage. Unnecessary noise as far as he was concerned.

  Jeremiah knows you're here.

  The only way you're safe is with me.

  Be my Luna, please.

  A dozen other starting sentences bounced around in his mind, Colleen's voice playing a grating counterpoint to his thoughts. He wanted to silence her in some way so he could think and not have to focus on drowning her mindless drivel out. There was only one way to do that.

  Slowly, his feet moved forward. Once. Twice. Again and again until he was walking over to Elle's small figure as it stood in the doorway of the kitchen, a confused expression etched on her face.

  "Wha-"

  "Don't," Liam said, his forefinger coming up to her lips to stop her words. "Don't say anything."

  Then his lips were on hers, warm and inviting. They moved against hers slowly and he heard Colleen shriek for a moment and then fall silent.

  Finally.

  But it wouldn't have mattered. The only thing he could really hear was his own blood pounding in his head. A dull roar that kept everything out but what he was feeling. And it was a lot. Emotions long since buried stirred deep inside him. Deep, deeper until all he could feel was her lips on his, his hands cradling her cheeks as her mouth slowly opened for him.

  His tongue slid slowly inside, touching hers. She tasted citrusy, like lemonade, and smelled like heaven. As always. He could also smell his own familiar musk on her, and his chest seemed to vibrate with a groan. He liked his scent on her, that deep, woodsy sandalwood.

  His tongue stroked hers gently and she gave a soft moan of her own, her hands coming up to rest on his chest. They stayed there, not pushing him away, but not pulling him closer either. Almost tentative.

  His hands skimmed her jaw line and then through her hair where they stayed knotted in her dark brown locks.

  Liam didn't want to stop kissing her, but he knew Colleen was still in the room, probably orgasmic with glee, the fucking meddler.

  Slowly, he pulled away, his eyes searching for any signs of trepidation in Elle's. They were wide, but not scared, not uncertain. He didn't even blink as he spoke out loud.

  "Get out, Colleen," he said, the command stern but somehow still gentle. "I need to speak with Elle. Alone."

  He didn't even listen as she spoke while getting up from the couch she was splayed out on. He waited for the door to swing shut behind her before rising to his full height above Elle.

  "I have news," he told her. "And a plan. I need to know if you're...amenable to it."

  She nodded go ahead before taking an audible breath and swallowing over the lump of nerves in her throat.

  Chapter 15

  One of Liam's hands moved from Elle's face to her waist. Then the other. Only seconds had passed, and the only things that had changed were their positions and the look in Liam's eyes.

  Uncertainty. Fear. And...something else entirely.

  "I met with Jeremiah this morning."

  Elle flinched, attempted to step backward, but Liam's hands only pulled her closer to him.

  "I was trying to find out whether or not he would be coming back around this way to search the perimeter," Liam explained. "I figured it might have had something to do with you – was almost positive. I was right."

  Elle's face crumpled, mouth opening wide to say something.

  "Go," she rasped. "I...have to...go."

  Liam stood firm. "You promised me you wouldn't run," Liam reminded her sternly, a determined gleam in his eyes.

  Elle shook her head. "He'll find me."

  "He already knows you're here," Liam said softly.

  Another flinch, and panic filled Elle's eyes. Her legs felt weak, like sun-warmed rubber.

  "He could smell you on the checks I went to mail this morning. He was...livid. Demanded I give you back like you were some toy I had stolen from him," Liam said.

  Elle started to squirm away from him, shaking her head.

  No. She couldn't go back...could she?

  "I have a plan, though, that will make sure he can never hurt you again."

  Elle stilled, her eyes wary and confused, but hope lit a faraway ember in her eyes. It was buried deep, deep in them, but it was there. The smallest trace of longing filtered through.

  "He can't take you if you are marked by another," Liam ventured, his voice low and almost luminous. "If you were to be claimed by another wolf, he would have no right to you at all."

  Liam watched Elle as she grew even more confused, her large eyes blinking back up at him.

  "For this to work, for you to be free of him, I would have to mark you." Elle's breath caught, and she stopped breathing. "You would be my Luna and mate. He would have no right to you and the whole pack would be behind you. I have already put a protection order on you. Our mating would only reinforce that order."

  "We...w-we would-"

  Liam just nodded his head, cutting her off. "I'd be lying if I said that if this situation wasn't hanging over our heads I wouldn't have wanted this, but even if you had come onto my land with no baggage, I would still have wanted you for myself."

  One of his hands moved slowly up on her back, splaying out possessively on the fabric between her shoulders. It stayed there, steady and unmovable.

  "Tell me you don't want this, don't want me, and I'll find some other way," Liam said. "You'll still have my protection and the pack's, but I will find something else we can do to keep him from getting to you. I know people and have friends in high places. I can make something happen."

  There was a trace of sadness in his voice, and the uncertainty in it unlocked something in Elle's throat.

  "Are...you certain...you want me?" she asked, as if dubious of his claims.

  He smiled gently, his hand rubbing up and down on her back, the one at her waist moving around to the small of it and holding her in place.

  "Very much so. Elle, since the first night you were in my home, I knew there was something different about you. At first, I couldn't place what it was. It took me only a few days to realize that you were different. Quiet but brave, abused yet still strong. Next to my closest friends here, I trust you more than anyone. It's not common for me to become close with strangers or for me to trust someone I haven't known for the majority of my life. But I know your secrets as you know mine. I thought it would hurt to tell you, but I only felt...relief. You didn't judge me, didn't show pity. You understood, and that's what I needed."

  "Not your fault." Now Elle sounded stern, and Liam fought back a smile.

  "It doesn't make me feel any less like blaming myself for not seeing what could have happened sooner." They both knew they were talking about his deceased mate and the guilt he still harbored. "It gets...easier after a while, but the guilt still gnaws at me from time to time."

  His hands came back up to cup her cheeks, and her eyes fluttered closed for a moment, enjoying the tender caress before she opened them back up. Her gaze didn't falter this time.

  "Okay," she simply stated.

  "Okay you'll let me mark you? Become my mate?" he asked. His eyes lit up, a steelier grey than the usual startling blue they normally were.

  "Yes, I'll do it," she said, a small smile spilling onto her face.

  "And you're certain?" he asked, looking into each of her eyes like he was searching for a deeper answer there. "You won't back down? Once I mark you, you will go into heat within a few days. Will that be a long enough time to come to terms with this? With us? Once you are marked, you will sleep in my
bed with me. I won't force anything, but I won't be able to be away from you either."

  Elle nodded slowly. That was what she had expected from her first mate. "I'm certain," she told him.

  Then, her legs flew out from under her as she yipped, and she was being pulled up into a bridal carry as Liam walked them both swiftly toward the stairs.

  "W-where are we g-going?" she asked, blinking in surprise.

  "To my room," Liam told her, voice firm. "I wish to mark you now since you are so sure. You will bleed some, and I don't think standing in the kitchen with your shirt off is how you'd want to do this."

  It...made sense. It was just so sudden.

  Elle's heart began to beat double-time in her chest. It suddenly felt like what should have when she had waited to be marked by her true mate, though obviously, that was not the case. This was a twist. No true mate bond, but there were indeed feelings there, even if she had tried to bury them deep.

  Once they were in his room, he sat her down on the edge of the bed, his hands at the hem of her shirt. Liam was looking at her with an are you still sure about this look on his face. Elle simply nodded and blinked as her t-shirt was whipped over her head and she was suddenly sitting there in only a bra and shorts. Her arms immediately went to cover her small chest.

  "Don't," he told her softly. "You are perfect no matter what size you are, though you are filling out nicely now that you are being fed well." He leaned in and his lips found her ear, nipping the lobe and sending an enticing shiver down her spine. He pecked at her neck slowly and dragged his tongue down to the crease where her neck and shoulder met. The perfect spot. He sat down beside her.

  "Are you ready?" he asked between kissing and licking at the spot he desperately wanted to sink his teeth into.

  "Y-yes." It wasn't a stutter from her damaged vocal cords, but one of desperate, overwhelming desire.

  His teeth sank into her skin, just hard enough to pinch at the flesh, but not hard enough yet to mark her. He groaned as his tongue flicked out against her skin to taste her. It was salty, yet sweet underneath.