by R. E. Butler
About everything.
“I don’t need any more time,” she said. “But I do have one request.”
“Name it.” His voice was gruff, laced with the authority of his position as alpha. She knew she could name anything and he’d go to any lengths to provide it for her. It was a heady thought.
“Ask me to be your mate.”
Chapter Ten
Wrath looked down at his beloved true mate, the female of his dreams, the keeper of his heart. The red tattoo was bright against her skin, a reflection of their bond.
He unlaced the fingers of one hand and cupped her face. “When you first came to me in the dreams, I thought I was going crazy. I wanted you so desperately even though I didn’t fully understand what it meant because of my youth. The first time we made love in our dreams, do you remember what I asked you afterward?”
She blinked slowly, and a small smile curved her lips. “You asked if I’d spend the rest of my life with you.”
“And you said...”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t ask you to be my mate because I didn’t know if I’d ever meet you in real life. I was afraid if I asked you to be my mate in the dreams, that I’d bind you to me. That I might keep you from being happy wherever you were, because you promised yourself to me.”
“I understand,” she said. “We always talked about the fact we were true mates, but I did wonder why you never asked. I figured you just didn’t need to ask because we both knew it. Now that we’re together, though, I’d like it to be real.”
He dropped to one knee and kissed her knuckles. “Trinity, will you be my mate? Will you join me in the mating bed to consummate our joining? And then in six nights, when the full moon is high in the sky, will you mate with me officially?”
“I will. I can’t think of anything better than being your mate.”
He let out a happy growl and rose to his feet, pulling her close for a kiss. “While it’s the most wonderful thing for us to be mates, what I’m planning next will top that. Again and again.”
“Take me to bed, Wrath,” she whispered. Her eyes were bright with emotion, and the sweet scent of her arousal bloomed.
They’d made love in their dreams numerous times. He considered her his first, even though they’d only been together in their dreams. He’d never wanted anyone but her, and he knew she felt the same.
Swinging her up into his arms, he carried her to the center of the bed and laid her down, spanning his fingers across her neck. He could feel the thrum of her pulse as it beat steadily. She curled her hands around his biceps and gave him a sweet, expectant smile.
Lowering his head, he kissed her once, and then a second time, growling happily when she parted her lips and let him delve his tongue inside. Part of him—the snarling, horny wolf—wanted to strip her bare and fuck her so good and so hard that neither of them would be able to move afterward. But the other part of him—the honorable, thankful male—wanted to take his time. This first time—the first in-person real time—was essential. They were starting their mating off tonight, and he wanted to ensure she was well loved to the best of his abilities. He was nervous and excited, and so damn thankful to have her in his bed that he couldn’t think straight.
As their kiss deepened, he let his fingers slide from her throat to her shoulder, skimming lightly down the front of the top she wore. Delving under the hem, he caressed her stomach, smiling inwardly when he felt her muscle twitch with the soft touches. He eased away from her enticing lips and pushed her top up, and she took the unspoken cue and pulled it up over her head. The shirt went airborne, and he grinned at her eagerness. Her breasts were tipped with pink nipples. He caught one between his lips and flicked his tongue over it, then gently sucked it into his mouth. She gasped and slipped her hands into his hair, fisting the strands as he licked and sucked her nipple to tight perfection. Then he kissed across the valley between her breasts and tended to the other. He loved hearing her soft gasps and sweet moans as he played with her, until she writhed under him with needy groans.
He kissed down the center of her body and licked a slow circle around her navel. Curling his fingers into the soft material of her shorts, he drew them down her legs, sitting up and watching as she was laid bare before him. His mouth watered at the sight of her curves, all soft and perfect, her skin flushed with passion. He pushed her legs apart and slipped between her spread thighs. She was shaved bare, the soft lips of her sex parting as he used his thumb and middle finger to spread her open. Her core was pink and glistening, her clit begging for his touch.
He glanced up the length of her body and met her gaze, her eyes filled with trust and passion.
Easing forward, he inhaled her sweet scent and licked a line from her entrance to her clit and down again, delving into her core and lapping at her heat. He alternated between her core and her bud, licking and playing and driving her wild. He knew she was close to coming when her thighs tightened against his head and she was clenching the two fingers he’d slipped inside her.
He curled his fingers and rubbed along her walls as he flicked his tongue rapidly over her clit. He felt the moment she fell over into pleasure, her pussy gripping his fingers and her clit swelling under his tongue. She arched under him, her hands twisting in his hair, and cried out his name.
Crawling up her body, he planted heated kisses along the way, stopping when he reached her throat to give her a little love bite. Her legs curled over his hips, and her arms wrapped around his neck. His cock pressed to her heat and enveloped him as he pushed inside, taking her lips in a claiming kiss as he thrust all the way in. When their bodies connected completely, when they were as tightly wed together as two people could be, he felt their bond as true mates strengthen, their hearts aligning as their bodies came together.
She tilted her hips and sucked on his bottom lip, and he grinned. He pulled from her body and slowly pressed in, loving the way she felt in his arms. He kissed her again and began to move, thrusting into her with increasing speed until she wrenched from his lips with a moan, her nails scraping down his back. They moved together like they’d done a hundred times in their dreams, but it was a thousand times better because it was real. Nothing was as good as Trinity sprawled out under him, her body tightening as he drove them both to the height of passion.
Her hands gripped his shoulders and she met his thrusts, tilting her hips and changing the angle of their bodies, until every drive into her made her pussy grip him tight. He surged forward, bracing himself against the rough wall with one hand as he fucked her hard and fast. She cried out as passion overtook her, her pussy locking down on him.
His whole body reacted to the sight of her bliss. His fangs throbbed in his gums, and he wanted so badly to bite her, but he pushed the thought from his head and let go instead, following her into bliss and howling his pleasure to the ceiling.
They held each other tightly as heat and passion washed over them, catching their breaths, coming down from the heavens and landing right where they were destined to always end up—in each other’s arms. Wrath dropped to the bed with a contented groan and pulled her against him. She shivered, and he reached for the blankets that had been shoved aside during the throes of passion and covered her. They lay in silence for a few moments, and then she wiggled around to face him and snuggle into his embrace.
He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes, thanking his lucky stars she was in his arms.
“I thought you might bite me,” she said with a rough voice.
“I wanted to, trust me,” he said. “But it’s important for my wolf that we do things properly. The pack would understand if we didn’t wait, but it’s important to them, too. This is a new chapter for our pack.”
“Because of me?” She tipped her face up to look at him.
“Yes. Because for the first time, the alpha’s found his true mate before he turned thirty.”
“I wish there wasn’t a ticking clock for wolves to find their true mates. It’s scary to thi
nk that if Isolde hadn’t decided to cast a spell for your true mate, that you and I might never have found each other in real life.”
He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I don’t even want to think about how things might have stayed the same for us if she hadn’t interfered. You might have had to watch Cael put me down in a couple years.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and hugged him tightly. “That would have destroyed me.”
He inhaled her sweet scent, and his wolf made a happy humming sound.
Her hold relaxed a little, and she nuzzled his throat. “Are you okay now?”
“What do you mean?”
She leaned back enough to look into his eyes. “We’re not fully mated. Are you still feeling blood lust?”
“My wolf is content with you in our arms and knowing that we’ll be mating on the full moon. I think the blood lust calmed the moment you were in my bed and the mating tattoos appeared. I felt different when I woke up.”
“Good. If you were feeling crazed, I’d hate for you to struggle because we’re waiting to be mated officially until the full moon.”
He cupped her shoulder, his fingers spanning the tattoo. “You know we’re technically mated, right? The tattoo is binding on its own. You and I are mates, and the fact that we just blew each other’s minds is icing on the cake. I don’t have to bite you to calm the blood lust or bind you to me. You’re already mine. The tattoo is proof.”
“You know what else is proof?”
“What, sweetheart?”
“I feel so close to you now. I loved you before I came here. I mean, how could I not? We’ve been dreaming about each other for twelve years. But I love you truly now. All the way to the center of my being.”
His wolf wanted to howl. “I love you, too. You’re everything to me, Trinity.”
She covered her mouth as she yawned and gave him a sleepy smile.
“Tired, love?” he asked, brushing his lips over hers.
“I’m a little afraid to sleep, honestly.”
“Oh?” he asked.
“What if something goes wrong and I wind up back in my world?”
“That’s not going to happen. Isolde said you’re here for seven days. She wouldn’t lie, she has no reason to.” He kissed her again and let out a little growl. “You’re not going anywhere, and neither am I. You’re mine and I’m yours, and nothing in your world or mine is going to change that.” He’d never been surer of anything in his life. Trinity was in his arms, and she was going to stay there. Forever.
She let out a deep sigh and nodded. “Thank you for being so sweet and kind to me.”
“How else would I be, Trinity? You’re my true mate. The other half of my soul. Nothing else is as important to me as your happiness and safety.”
“I’m definitely happiest with you.”
She drifted to sleep, her breathing slowing and evening out. Wrath had never witnessed anything so significant as his true mate falling asleep in his arms. She trusted him, loved him, and he was humbled.
And damn happy.
While he was exhausted, he could hear his pack milling around in the gathering room, and he knew they were waiting to talk to him. He pressed a light kiss to Trinity’s forehead, then he slipped from the bed, donning trousers and hurrying to meet with them.
The gathering room was the first room inside the mile-long tunnel underground, which ended in a cavern used for storage. From the gathering room to the storage room, there were eight natural caverns that included the bathing room. Wrath had his own cavern. The remaining caverns were shared among the pack, who outfitted them to their liking with sleeping pallets and clothing cabinets.
Eleven pairs of eyes stared at him when he walked into the gathering room. There was silence for a moment, and then Cael said, “I brought the males in from patrol for a quick conversation.”
“What’s on your mind?” Wrath asked.
They seated themselves on various chairs, pieces they’d stolen from human settlements over the years. Wrath sat on a chair that creaked under his weight.
Trick cleared his throat. “We want to know what Trinity’s staying with us means for our people.”
Wrath frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Are we... still going to be going after the purebreds and expanding our territory?”
Wrath settled back in the chair and rubbed his chin. “No. Part of what drove me to conquer and destroy was my wolf’s unhappiness. I had Trinity in my dreams but not my arms. It was hell. And every year it got worse. Our territory is good the way it is. We have fertile hunting grounds, we’re easily defensible, and we now have Mytan to help keep our land safe. Once the purebreds realize we’re not coming after them, we’ll be able to live peaceably—everyone in their own territory.”
“You don’t think they’ll come after us?” Cael asked.
“We’re the ones who always went on the offense,” Wrath pointed out.
“That’s true,” Jet said. “We were the ones who provoked.”
“What about retaliation?” Trick asked. “We did take Veltris’s mate, and she was harmed in the process.”
Wrath hated that the human female was hurt during the abduction and her escape attempts, but he’d admired her spirit. He considered reaching out to Veltris to apologize and broker a peace treaty between their people, but he wasn’t sure now was the time.
“We know that Veltris was planning to discuss a group pack effort with other alphas who we’ve harmed in the past. We’ll continue our patrols, and we’ll keep our ears to the ground. Even though the humans won’t know what’s going on with the packs, they will be aware of strangers passing through their settlements. That would alert us to any gatherings.”
“I don’t think the alphas will get together, even to come against us,” Cael said.
“Why not?” Creek asked.
“Because even if it would be in their best interest to take us out, the alphas of the packs within a few hundred miles of our area are too stubborn to yield to Veltris. From what Isolde and Trinity said, Veltris wants the packs to create one army, which means one leader. You can bet that because it’s Veltris’s idea, he’d want to be the main leader, and I can’t think of any of the alphas who’d be willing to bend the knee to him. It would weaken their status as alpha to their own people.”
Creek looked at Wrath. “Would you?”
“Would I what?”
“If there was a common enemy, would you acquiesce to another alpha?”
Before Trinity, he would have said hell no. But now that he had her safety to consider, his perspective had changed. “Honestly, it depends on what the threat is. If it was an active threat against our pack and Trinity, then I’d do anything in my power to make sure we were all safe, even if it meant letting another alpha lead us for a time. But the difference here is that we’re not going to be attacking the packs anymore, we’re not going to mount missions to drive them away from their territory to take it or abduct anyone to further our own cause. When things are quiet from us for a while, the alphas will see that things have changed and won’t see us as a threat any more than they do the other purebred packs.”
When Wrath had first come across a purebred pack after he’d shifted for the first time and been looking for a home, they’d driven him out. He remembered the alpha telling him that pack territory was precious and would be protected at any cost. He was told that he might not understand this because he was a hybrid, but unless he was a pack member, he’d never be allowed in any other pack’s territory. And because he wasn’t a purebred, he’d never be accepted. If he tried to infiltrate their ranks, he’d be killed, plain and simple.
He’d taken that lesson—which had come with a severe beating that left him in pain for a few days as he healed—and decided to find his own territory. He’d gone back to the tunnel and the caverns, waiting and watching to see if anyone came to claim it, but no one had. Partly, he’d suspected, because it wasn’t far from Mytan’s territory, and while it
was good hunting grounds, it was also near a human settlement and vampire territory. Purebreds steered clear of both groups as much as possible, dealing with them only as needed for supplies.
“So what now?” Rook asked.
Wrath blew out a breath. “I’m not sure, actually. For the last twelve years or so, all I’ve wanted to do was conquer, drive out the other alphas and secure our borders until we were the largest, most feared pack on the continent. I made a name for myself—for us—through bloodshed. I thought nothing of destroying anything I came across.” He looked at the males who’d been his family all these years. “I want for all of you to find your true mates and to know happiness the way I now do. I’m not sure how we’ll accomplish that, but I believe it will happen, that we won’t lose our people to blood lust anymore.”
He wasn’t sure why he believed that now, but he did. Trinity felt like a catalyst for the hybrids, and he knew her presence was going to bring a change to their people that would have far-reaching effects.
“We’d all love to find our true mates,” Cael said. “But I question whether we could actually have twelve soulmates in our cavern? That would make twenty-four people living in very tight quarters, and considering that you’re the only one with a private room...” His voice dropped off, and Wrath nodded in understanding.
Suddenly, Wrath could see what their future would be. Instead of being intent on the destruction of others, they’d be builders and makers.
“We need homes,” he said. “Real ones. I’m certain I’m not alone in wishing we didn’t live underground. It has its benefits, but privacy is not among them. Let’s meet after breakfast and make some plans.”
“We could live in real houses?” Creek asked, his eyes wide.
Wrath nodded and rose to his feet. “I think it’s an excellent way for us to move forward. When I found the caverns, I stayed in them because I was alone and only felt safe when I was fully hidden. It became our pack’s living quarters because it was the safest place for us. Each time we added a new member to our ranks, either the vampires or the purebreds would come after that wolf, with the intention of taking him and the rest of us out. We never set up real homes above ground because we were too busy fighting. But after Veltris and his pack entered our tunnel and took his mate, I’ve been wondering if we needed to do something different about our living arrangements. Aboveground homes would allow us to fortify our territory in a way that we can’t when we’re underground and unable to see what’s going on at the ground level.”