One True Mate 1: Shifter's Sacrifice

by Lisa Ladew

  Ella hit him in the chest and leaned in close, whispering. “Are you saying I’m aroused?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  She dropped the game. If he could smell it, he knew she was. “Yes. I want you. I seem to always want you no matter how much I have you, no matter how much crap we have to go through.”

  He groaned and leaned into her, kissing her neck again. “I need to take you home.”

  “You need to take me,” she whispered into his ear, reaching down to feel him through his pants. He was hard, huge, and ready against her hand. She loved that she had done that to him with barely a few words.

  “Ella, don’t touch me like that. Not unless you want me to turn you around and take you right here in the tunnels.”

  She looked left, then right. “I don’t see anybody. Take me, but don’t turn me around.” She undid her pants and let them fall to the floor, staring into his eyes. “We’ve been together several times now, and you’ve always taken me from behind. Is that the only way wolven do it?”

  “It’s the only way I’ve ever done it.”

  Ella bit her lip, not wanting to think about him with others. But she could be his first in this manner. The first to look in his face, kiss his lips, as he shuddered out his release. The thought made her feel powerful and she felt her body respond to it and to him.

  She pulled him forward by his pants, undoing them quickly. “Are we safe here?”

  “Yes, no one will come this far. There is no reason to.”

  “Good.” She reached into his pants and pulled him out, running her hands up and down his shaft.

  He threw his head back. “Oh God, Ella.”

  She smiled and stroked him faster. “God?”

  “It’s an expression. You’re making me believe in him.”

  He looked at her and his eyes glowed yellow, making her gasp. A growling came from the back of his throat and he lifted her easily. “You control me, Ella, you know that, right?”

  Ella nodded hesitantly, wondering if that really could be true, if the beast inside him really could be fully controlled. She wrapped her legs around him and urged him on, wanting the wildness, needing the connection with him.

  He thrust into her and she held on to his shoulders, her body shaking with need that had come on quickly and perilously hard. She was close to orgasm already and the sensations that built quickly as he lifted and lowered her and thrust into her overtook her, making her drop her head against the wall and whimper.

  “I believe in heaven too,” Trevor growled into her ear. “You take me there every time you let me inside you.”

  The words swept over Ella and she rocked into him, that one simple movement and his sweet sentiment pushing her over that beautiful edge she had barely had to reach for. Ecstasy flooded through her and she cried out into the darkness, keeping her eyes on him, the echoes coming back to her as Trevor pressed his upper body against hers and moaned out his own release in time with hers.

  Chapter 36

  Trevor stared hard at Ella for a moment, needing some time to catch his breath. That had been intense. They touched foreheads and he could tell she felt as overwhelmed as he did.

  She gathered herself. “Did you mind it?”

  “Taking you while being able to watch your face as you came? I loved it. That’s how we do it from now on.”

  Ella laughed. “You think you’re in charge of an awful lot, don’t you? There’s something to be said for doggy style occasionally.”

  “Doggy?”

  “Wolfy? Wolf-style? I don’t know, what do you call it?”

  Trevor threw back his head and laughed. “We just call it sex. Or mating.” He lowered Ella to the floor, looking around apologetically as he tucked himself back into his pants and snapped them. “I don’t have anything to clean up with.”

  “I’ll live,” she told him, catching his lips for one more kiss. He felt his cock jump and he told it to relax. She pulled back and looked around. “Which tunnel goes to your house?”

  “You want to see my house?” he asked eagerly. He wanted to take her there but hadn’t quite dared until now.

  “Yes.”

  “Come on.” He pulled her back the way they had come, walking more quickly than they had on the way there. His heart was light. She was a one true mate, and even if she hadn’t said she would mate him yet, it would happen. He knew it would.

  He reached out to Trent and Troy, who agreed to meet them in the truck in an hour, after he got them out of the tunnels and talked to Wade one more time.

  An hour and a half later, they slowed to a crawl as Trevor locked eyes with the stone cougar baring its teeth in a perpetual deadly snarl on the country road that led towards his farmhouse.

  He could feel Ella’s eyes on him and the agitation of the wolves in the back seat, but he couldn’t speed up. He had to pay his tribute. After they passed, he noticed a small sign driven into the dirt, but facing the other way. He whipped his head backwards to read it. It hadn’t been there the last time he’d headed in to town from his house, but that had been several days ago.

  Werewolves aren’t always controlled by the moon. Wake up people!

  Trevor pulled over quickly and put the truck in park. “Just a sec,” he said, then jumped out and ran across the street. He pulled the sign out and threw it in the back of his truck, weighting it down with a rock. He would assign an investigation into it to someone when he had a moment to breathe.

  He climbed back in the truck and they were off, pulling down a small dirt road that lead only to his house, his thirty acres where he felt most at home.

  Ella leaned forward as they drove down his long driveway. “Oh, it’s cute. And big. Why do you need so much space?”

  “I needed the acreage. The house didn’t matter to me.” He pointed behind it. “See that tree line there? We run out there every day that we can. It keeps us healthy.”

  “You and Trent and Troy?”

  “Yes.”

  “You run as a wolf?”

  “I do.”

  The scent of vanilla filled the truck and he chuckled.

  “What!” she demanded but by the flush on her cheeks, she knew. He thought it was hot as hell that she was turned on by his true nature. He’d have to shift in front of her as often as possible. Maybe play a few stalking games in the forest, if she was into that kind of thing. He couldn’t wait to find out.

  He stopped the truck near the house and they got out.

  “Why are the windows so big?”

  “I ripped out the old ones and put them in. They pop out completely during the summer. I like to let in as much light and air as possible.”

  She turned toward him. “You did it yourself?”

  “I like to work with my hands.”

  She nodded thoughtfully, then followed him into the house. As soon as she entered, she made a small noise of amazement and turned in a circle, staring up at the ceiling.

  The outside of the house looked very similar to the way it had the day he bought it, but the inside he had completely changed. Rough-hewn logs covered every corner, and the ceiling and walls were lined with thin sticks, giving it a very log-cabin look. All of the furniture was handmade, and even the countertops in the kitchen and the shelves on the wall were made of a luminous and matching hard maple.

  “You did this?”

  Trevor nodded.

  “By yourself?”

  “It’s still a work in progress, but this is what I do if I’m not at work.”

  “Wow,” she breathed. “Can I see the rest of it?”

  Trevor took her through the bottom floor, showing her the bathrooms and the guest bedrooms, then taking her to the other side of the house. “This is Trevor and Troy’s room.”

  “They sleep on actual beds?” Before he could respond she shook her head. “Don’t answer that. Of course they do.”

  “This way. That’s the basement,” he said pointing towards a door in the hallway, “but I don’t ever go down there.”r />
  He led her to the stairway. She ran her hands over his rough banister. “This is gorgeous.”

  Trevor smiled to himself. She was more perfect every minute. At the top of the stairs, first he went left and showed her another bathroom and three more bedrooms he hadn’t done anything with yet, then he pulled her to the master bedroom.

  “Oh wow, this is like heaven.”

  He smiled, remembering saying something similar to her just a couple of hours before. He looked around the room, admiring it with fresh eyes. The entire room was done in dark, rustic oak, the bed left rough and chunky, while the armoire was sleek. A chest covered with deep green pillows sat on one side, and a handmade couch on the other. The walls and ceiling were lined again with twigs, giving the entire room a very outdoor look. On nights when he lay awake, unable to sleep, he could very well imagine he was outside. She crossed to the bed and ran her hands over the detail there. “Careful,” he growled. “Don’t lay down unless you want to stay up here for a while.”

  Vanilla flooded the room, thrilling him. He caught movement out the window and crossed to look out. A car had pulled up at the end of the driveway and parked.

  Ella looked out with him. “Who’s that?”

  “Mac maybe. I’m not sure. Wade said he was sending a crew out to watch over us.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Just a precaution. You’re very precious to us, all of us.”

  Ella sat on the bed and her fingers curled around her lower belly. Trevor watched her closely, Crew’s words flashing through his mind.

  Life begins anew. Love brings two, then four, then six more. Khain’s downfall lives inside her. She will be queen.

  He bit his lip, trying to contain his excitement. Could anyone really know if she were with young already? It had been what, a day at the most? But those words, lives inside her, they struck him hard.

  A realization flashed through him, about one of the prophecies that was supposed to apply to him. It was referred to as the demon death or sometimes, Khain’s downfall. He sat on the bed next to Ella as weakness flooded his legs. Was this his confirmation that it wasn’t about him at all?

  Ella interrupted his thoughts. “How long are they going to watch us?”

  “I don’t know. Until we are properly mated, I’m sure. Maybe longer?”

  She turned to him. “But Trevor, that could be years.”

  Trevor’s chest ached. “Years?”

  “Yes, I mean, we barely know each other. We should do this properly, don’t you think? Date, get to know each other, get engaged, plan a wedding. That all takes time.”

  “You are thinking of human courtship.”

  “Isn’t that how shiften do things?”

  “Not normally. Two shiften who belong together know it at first scent sometimes. At first mating for sure.”

  Ella touched her throat, her graceful fingers trembling. “So you don’t date?”

  “Not much,” he admitted.

  “But Trevor, I don’t─ I don’t love you. I’m sorry.”

  “Another human construct,” he said, but his voice was weak and unsure, as a spiritual knife cut through his heart, leaving it scarred and unsure of its next beat.

  She touched him on the arm. “Do you … love me?”

  Trevor swallowed hard, but couldn’t find a word to say.

  ***

  Troy watched out the window in the falling darkness as a convention of shiften gathered on the front lawn. He counted two felen, a bearen, most of the KSRT, and someone he didn’t recognize. Someone big. He lifted his nose to better sort through the scents.

  If I didn’t know better, I’d swear there was a dragen out there, he told Trent.

  Trent looked away from the documentary Wolf Battlefield to see for himself. He scented also.

  Trevor, what do you know about a dragen on your front lawn?

  Trevor clomped down the stairs heavily, the scent of despair pushing in front of him. Wade’s idea. He can get into the Pravus, supposedly.

  Troy lolled his tongue. Useful ability.

  I thought all the dragen were dead, Trent said.

  Ella came down the stairs after Trevor, her scent was indefinable, a mixture of many things, one of them determination. Troy didn’t like it, especially if it meant what he thought it meant.

  “Dragen? Like a Dragon?”

  Trevor headed into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, talking to Ella as he did so. “Yes, exactly.”

  “I thought you said there were only three shiften. Wolves, bears, and the felons.”

  “Felen. Dragen are somewhat of a mystery. There have never been many of them, but most of the ones that did exist worked alongside the wolven, just never in this country.”

  “And you’re sure Khain never created them? They breathe fire, right? Didn’t you say Khain could make fire from nothing?”

  Troy and Trent exchanged a glance. She was smart.

  “It has been conjectured over the years that Khain had a hand in making dragons, but most of that stopped when news came from the UK of how fiercely they fought against Khain. How one dragen was enough to drive Khain off, when it takes a group of wolven to do it.”

  Ella sat down at the table and accepted the lemonade Trevor brought her with a smile.

  Tell her about foxen, Trent sent in his low rumble.

  Ella smiled as if she loved to hear his voice in her head, and everyone knew how rarely he spoke. “Foxen? Foxes?”

  A snarl entered Trevor’s voice. “Yes, fox shiften. If anyone was created by Khain, it’s them. Sneaky, non-working, lie-to-your face fools. Sometimes they don’t even have a renqua.”

  “But sometimes they do?”

  “Yes. But it’s always faint.”

  “Why don’t you ask Rhen? Or have Wade ask Rhen? Then you would know for sure.”

  Trevor stopped cutting up whatever he was cutting on the counter and went to sit by Ella at the table. “I asked Wade that once and he explained it to me. I’ll try to tell it the way he told it. He said that talking to Rhen or the angels is not like this conversation you and I are having. It’s a steady stream of consciousness that the Citlali can tap into, and the message is always different. No one knows if they are getting a message meant directly for them, or just kind of─ eavesdropping on an internal conversation, or some kind of a dream. No one knows if they would have tapped in a minute later or earlier if the message would have been different. None of the Citlali can sit in repose for prophecy ─ that’s what they call it ─ for long. Wade says to do so for more than a few minutes a week is to invite madness. The energy that comes is so different than what they are used to. So what he was saying is, it’s very difficult to actually ask Rhen a question. If they get enough Citlali together, they sometimes can do so, but still, she rarely will talk directly about Khain. Or the foxen. Wade always said it seemed like she had some kind of block from doing so. Like she’s not allowed. Her messages always come in prophecy form about what the shiften should be doing or not doing, and they always need to be interpreted.”

  “It’s all so complicated,” Ella said.

  Troy had had enough of the conversation. He got off the couch and headed out his wolf door to the front lawn. Maybe things would be more interesting out there. And he’d get to smell a dragen up close. How many wolven could say that?

  Up close though, the dragen didn’t look so good. He was big, but he looked sick and closed in on himself, like he’d shrunk recently. His smell had an undercurrent of something rotten in it. Like he was used up, worn out.

  Mac was sitting on the hood of his car and the dragen was leaning against the side of it. The felen, bearen, and other wolven were congregating in a small group closer to the end of the road. Troy scented the air, separating Mac’s smell from the dragen’s. Mac smelled like fuck-yous and sex, but the dragen smelled like a strange mixture of fire and water, gold and scales, wind and royalty.

  Mac raised a hand to him, then turned it into a one-finger salute. T
roy lifted his leg and shot a stream of piss in the dirt at Mac’s feet, then showed Mac his ass.

  The dragen laughed. “Who’s this?”

  “That’s Troy, Trevor’s brother. Non-shifting.”

  “Nice to meet you Troy, I’m Graeme.”

  Troy turned back around and showed Graeme his teeth. Mac lifted his chin towards the house. “There really a one true mate in there?”

  Troy nodded his head.

  “Lucky bastard,” Mac breathed, spitting on the grass. “So what, now we all pull sentry duty till fuckwad can get it up?”

  “Isn’t he your boss?” Graeme asked.

  “So? He’s still a fuckwad.”

  Graeme shook his head. “Our meeting was short, but I thought he seemed like a decent fellow. For a wolven.” He glanced sideways at Mac when he said it, almost a dare.

  Troy laughed. He was starting to like this Greeme.

  Gray-em, and I’m rather pleased to make your acquaintance, also. Your brother is no nonsense and all about the mission. I like that.

  You speak ruhi, Troy said, sitting down on his haunches.

  I do. Dragens rather prefer it. Our throats get cold with speech.

  Cool.

  Troy saw Mac frowning at the two of them and he grinned and looked at the house. Anything that pissed Mac off was ok with him.

  Chapter 37

  Troy walked back into the house. Night had fallen and no one was saying much outside anymore. Just sitting in their cars, quietly scenting the air.

  Trevor and Ella were at the kitchen table, eating, seemingly recovered from their earlier fight. Trent was on the couch, his eyes closed, but his ears moving, an empty plate on the coffee table in front of him. Troy’s dinner was there. Burgers with a side of salad, not french fries. What the crap? A little splash of mayonnaise was on the corner of his plate and he frowned at it. Disgusting, fatty gel. How Trent ate that crap he didn’t know.

  Ella’s phone buzzed and she looked at it, then an undercurrent of fear and resigned anger filled the room. Like something she’d been dreading had finally happened. She flipped the phone over and didn’t say a word.