by Lisa Ladew
Harlan went straight to Leilani, ignoring Jaggar’s snarl of warning.
“Leilani, it’s Harlan. Will you dance with me?” he said, almost growling his words.
Jaggar amped up, snarling, growling, teeth sharpening and growing. He swiped once at Harlan. Harlan pulled back but otherwise ignored him, leaning toward Leilani so he could hear what she was saying.
“Ah, no thank you.” She smiled sunnily at him. “But thank you for asking.”
Jaggar let go of Leilani and pushed up into Harlan’s face, the features of the beast making Jaggar’s face elongate, then sharpen. The wet-flesh, kill-you-now noise coming from his throat made Eventine slightly sick to her stomach.
“Holy shit,” Mac said from behind her. “His fucking eyes are changing color.”
Eventine held up a hand to him. “Harlan’s got this. Nobody step in unless he calls you.
“Or he’s unconscious,” Rogue said.
Harlan bumped Jaggar in the chest with his own chest, like they were on the football field. “Come on, Jag, you know the wolf code. Unless your teeth have been in her skin, she’s fair fucking game.”
Whoa. Eventine snarled, her fangs growing in her mouth. She exerted her human will, controlling Butterfly, but barely. They both knew what Harlan was doing, she’d put him up to it, but his words and his tone were messing with her and Butterfly on so many levels.
Strain lines showed around Leilani’s mouth. Her hand crept to her temple. Silver flashed through the thick lenses of the sunglasses.
“Jaggar,” Rogue snapped. “Leilani needs you.”
For a moment, Eventine thought Jaggar wasn’t going to respond, that instead he was going to rip into her mate, for a second time.
43 – To Me
Leilani grabbed at Jaggar, sick to her stomach at what was going on. She didn’t understand any of it, but the silver was back, the clock was back, and oh it just wanted to travel, to take her somewhere, to take her anywhere. She put her hand to her head, tried so hard to keep herself in one place.
Jaggar growled so loud it hurt her ears. She almost collapsed. “Leilani needs you-” someone was saying. Her head. The silver—
I love you, she chanted in her own mind. That would be her mantra. I love you, Jaggar. The silver abated somewhat.
I love you, she sent to her mate in ruhi. I’m sorry I didn’t say it before. I love you and I’m behind you no matter what you decide. But if you aren’t going to claim me, take us home.
He was there, his arms around her, his lips on her neck. Then his teeth grazed her sensitive skin there. “Oh!” She cried out lightly at the thrill of the sensation. Her knees wobbled beneath her.
“I can’t wait that long,” he rasped into her ear, slinging a strong arm under her knees, picking her up, almost running with her in his arms.
Her core swelled at the heat in his voice. He turned left, then right, and then he balanced her on his hip so he could open a door and usher them inside.
Her breathing came faster as he put her down and locked the door.
“Where are we?” she whispered.
“In an office at the back of a hallway.” His voice was quiet, still, and dangerous-sounding, like he was planning something and just barely holding himself back from it to answer her question. “There’s empty desks and curtains on the windows. No one can see us.”
Leilani squeezed her eyes shut, willing that silver to fade. She didn’t want to see the clock, or the hands that wanted to spin, or one sliver of silver light. She didn’t want to see at all. She didn’t need to see to receive what her mate was about to give to her by taking from her.
The silver light faded. The clock on the wall trembled, but did not fade, but she could look away from it. She did so, leaving herself to the senses of her body. The effort it took was monumental, but worth it. She would have this moment to herself, with no silver light between them.
She zeroed in on the connection between her body and her mate. He held onto her left hand, just barely, by the pinky and ring finger. He moved around her, so that his front pressed up against her back. He moved her hand the opposite way so she twisted her body toward the wall next to the closed door they’d just come in. He put her hand on the wall and pressed it lightly. “Don’t move this hand,” he said.
She sucked in a breath at the command in his voice. Good lord, had he been hiding this part of him from her? She wanted what was about to happen utterly, and now she wanted it more, wanted only to hand herself over to this male in every way possible.
“Ok,” she said, barely able to hear herself. He pulled his hand away, running it feather-light down her forearm, then her triceps, and down her back, until it reached the zipper on her dress. His other hand grasped her right hand and placed it on the wall. “This one, too,” he rasped. He put his hands next to hers on the wall, and covered her body, pressing her belly against the wall with his hips.
“I can’t be gentle when I do this,” he said into her ear, his voice laced with the tightest control.
“I’m glad,” she said fiercely, dropping her cheek to the wall. Her body trembled with hot anticipation.
I can’t pull out, either, he said in ruhi.
“I want your young,” she said simply, plainly. The statement echoed slightly, making her think the room knew how important it was to both of them.
“What did I do right to deserve you?” he said, and then the growling started. Leilani reached behind herself and slid the zipper to her dress down quickly, flicking off the shoulder straps and dropping the dress to the floor. She kicked it away before Jaggar could destroy it. He could destroy anything else of hers he wanted, but not this dress, not what she was wearing the night he claimed her.
She wore nothing underneath.
The growling faltered, stumbled, then turned into the snarl of a jungle cat that scared Leilani for just a moment. Then her mate was there, his hands and his mouth on her, his hard cock pressing at her from behind. Yes. She opened to him.
He bit her from behind at the same time as he entered her from behind and she might have cried out, she didn’t know. Pleasure spread through her, so much it almost disconnected her from him. Her body clenched and her orgasm started, collapsing her against the wall. Jaggar was there. “I’ve got you,” he whispered into her ear.
***
Jaggar caught his mate and held her against him, his teeth still buried in her flesh. Her hot wet heat clenched him, demanding an orgasm from him, demanding he surrender his full self to her. He could deny her nothing. His cock jumped inside her, spilling heat and seed. He could no more pull out of her than he could not love her, and that was impossible. She was perfect for him.
Energetic angel wings erupted from her back, sealing them together in pleasure, lifting them both off the floor, leaving them nothing left to fight.
In the moment, he felt the true pulse of his mate’s immense power, the notion of her being fragile being pushed completely out of his head by its opposite. She was stronger than he would ever be.
Still his teeth were buried in her, still, their bodies were locked together. They came down slowly, and when his feet touched the ground, Tabias left him.
***
Leilani’s head lolled back as the all-consuming bliss of being claimed rocked through her. It came in such thick waves she didn’t know where her mate ended and where she began, where one orgasm stopped and the other started.
Pleasure and something more filled her. Power, maybe. A burning spread through the bite mark, into her body and mind, and she arched backwards, confused for a moment. Eventine had said it would not hurt at all.
Then her chest filled with strength and the clock in her mind flared the brightest silver yet. A feline snarl filled the world and made her cry out, then arch backwards. Her mate pulled out of her like he’d been pushed. He fell backwards on the floor, his head thunking like a melon, sending her into a panic, but she couldn’t turn around, couldn’t move, could not even get her back straight.
Tabias, to me.
The voice was strong and clear and filled the room. The catamount. Inside Leilani’s head, something shifted and the silver fell away from her mind completely.
Leilani didn’t dare move. She didn’t dare breathe. The moment was surreal and long-lasting and she might have thought she was dead if she didn’t need to check on-
“Jaggar,” she cried, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, not daring to open them. She scooted over the floor, feeling for him. There he was, big and on his back, unmoving, but breathing.
She kept her eyes shut and touched her head gently, probing for pain there. “Tabias?” she whispered.
“He’s gone,” Jaggar said, his voice ragged and worn down.
“Oh!” Shock made Leilani’s eyes fly open. Walls. Chairs. Floor. Not a thread of silver. Her gorgeous, gorgeous mate, staring at her with narrowed eyes and his hand on his forehead. He didn’t have a line down his face. They locked eyes. She laughed once, a barking laugh that hurt her throat, and then she cried, big bawling sobs that prostrated her on the floor.
“Tabias,” she said, the word clogging in her throat. “What did he do, Jaggar? Is he dead?”
Jaggar didn’t answer. He only put a hand on the back of her neck, rubbing it lightly.
He pulled her close, his body tense. “Yeager is talking to me. My… my wolf, Yeager. He says Tabias volunteered to do it, for me and you both. He took your… your clock to the meadow, and he’ll stay there now, with the catamount.”
Leilani clutched her mate to her chest, so happy, and so sad at the same time. Why did there always have to be a sacrifice?
No sacrifice, Lele. You will see Tabias again. He has much work in the meadow.
But her mate…
Her mate’s body changed under her fingers, filling out, thickening and twisting, until she felt thick, vibrant fur instead of bare flesh.
Yeager, the handsome gray timber wolf, scrambled to his feet, bent his head, and licked her face.
44 – In Typical VF Fashion
Eventine danced with her mate to Ignition by R. Kelly, under the fake trees and the white, twinkling lights. He twirled her awkwardly and she laughed. They didn’t dance together, never had before that day, but they could. They should learn.
On one side of her, Crew and Dahlia were slow-dancing, or rather kissing while they rocked back and forth. Beckett was showing Cerise a two-step. Mac and Rogue were in a dark corner, hurling insults at Beckett while he flipped them off behind Cerise’s back. Everyone else had left, except for Leilani and Jaggar, who were in the back, hopefully with lots of biting happening.
The energy in the room… changed. Crew bent at the knees and picked Dahlia up, heading straight out the door with her. Beckett pushed Cerise up against a wall, biting at her neck once, then picking her up and following Crew, while Cerise urged him to hurry. Mac and Rogue headed for the bathroom, shedding clothes as they went.
“Something I should know?” Eventine said.
“They always do this,” Harlan told her, like it was no big deal. “A new one gets claimed and the rest of them disappear for a couple of days.”
“He did it?” Eventine asked, thrilled for him, for both of them. She stared into the hallway Jaggar had disappeared down with Leilani in his arms.
“Looks like it,” Harlan said, slow-dancing with her in his arms. “I want to disappear with you for a couple of days,” he drawled.
Eventine shook her head. “Burton…” she said.
Harlan shrugged. Laughed. Shrugged again. “He’s got Rhen.”
“I can’t believe you said that,” Eventine told her mate.
He looked at her and squinted. “Come on, you set me up for it. I thought you wanted me to say it.” She shook her head. He smiled softly at her and kissed her on the tip of her nose. “Sorry. He’ll be fine. I already asked Trevor if he could stay a couple days in Trent’s room. He loves those pups so much. If he doesn’t want to, I’ll get Canyon and Timber to hang out with him. They always keep him entertained.”
Eventine went on alert before she knew why she was doing so, before Butterfly filtered the message of a new scent: an unfamiliar wolfen in the building. Harlan pulled away from her, also ready for anything. Before they could shift and investigate, a gray timber wolf bounded out of the back, ears perked, teeth flashing.
Jaggar, Eventine thought, not knowing how it happened, but accepting it at once. Leilani came running behind the new wolf, her dress not zipped, her feet bare, a huge smile on her face and her eyes clear and focused, overshooting the doorway in her enthusiasm and almost running into the far wall. No silver.
The grey wolf leapt hard, from too far away, but he still hit Harlan in the chest, knocking him over with a joyful wolf noise between a snarl and a bark. Harlan shouted as he went over, but by the time he hit the ground, he was Nowl, his clothes shredded beneath him.
Nowl bit down hard on Jaggar’s wolf, tearing at the fur at his throat, pulling him down, a noise almost like a laugh coming from him, if wolves could laugh. The two friends rolled on the tiled floor, under the glittered Enchanted Forest trees, biting at each other, until Nowl broke away and ran so fast he looked in danger of popping a wheelie. Jaggar’s wolf followed.
Eventine made her way to where Leilani was and pulled her friend into a hug, feeling so warm inside. Somehow, Leilani and Jaggar had gotten it all. They got the happy ending. They got the fairy-tale. They got everything.
She didn’t know how it happened, but she knew why it happened.
They deserved it.
<<<<<<< <3 >>>>>>
XO - Notes From Lisa xxoo
There will probably be an extended epilogue. Maybe a sexy one. So if you want it, make sure you are on my email list. I can’t guarantee it will be ready as soon as this publishes, but if you get my emails, you will see it eventually. Email [email protected] if you haven’t seen it a week after release. Either I need a kick in the ass or you missed an email.
SO! This was fun. And sweet like honey. Lol. I’ll say again that I did not quite have the skills to pull off OTM7 in a non-painful-to-read way lol (although I certainly appreciate all the notes from everyone who loved it), but I learned so much with that book that I hope this (also very complex book) is an easier read. It was a lot of fun to write. A lot of work also.
Let me say right now. TRENT IS FINE. <3 Let me also say, Troy is … lol. Troy is… I hope you can handle him being a little goofy at first, lol, because impulse control is not something he’s got a lot of right now.
Now. Let’s talk about Canyon and Timber. OMG fun. I love them. Canyon might be my all time favorite male I ever write. We’ll see. I like the silent type lol. Timber is fun, too, but I’m super dramatic, so his drama would just get in the way of my drama and it wouldn’t work. And he talks too much.
Troy’s story is next and he’s already feeding it to me. Yum. After Troy… I’m not entirely sure since it keeps changing. Trent might be after him. Sebastian is last. Canyon and Timber are in there somewhere.
My life. Dun dun dunnnn. Kidding. I am still loving Oregon. I had a bit of a rough time from … oh, about October till now (April 12, 2018) because I moved and I had too much on my plate already (self-imposed) and blah ugh and taxes and house repairs and drama and oh my goodness. I think I’m over all of that, I’m uber-focused now, and looking forward to a fun summer and lots of OTM and SOF.
Have you read the OTM kindle world books? Kindle worlds are Amazon-sanctioned fan fiction… kind of. Other authors writing stories within the OTM universe and using OTM characters as adjuncts to new stories or sometimes as more of a fan-fiction story. <3 <3 Lots of good stuff in there, including a foxen story, and a Mac and Bru story.
Grace is about halfway done with Switch of Fate 3 (RIOT!!!
– cover model is Jonny James!) She’s got some sexy stuff cooking.
I have NOT A CLUE when Troy will be done. I know a bit of his story, and I am a pretty quick plotter these days, so 1 + 1 equals I-still-have-no-idea. Sorry! I will post on insta and fb and my newsletter when I do have an idea. So follow me if you have to know!
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secret Facebook groups: Spoiler Group (‘Dew Crew) and BBB (books babes and badasses, semi-naughty, women-only group)
If you are still reading, then you are a die-hard lol. So tell me (email me at [email protected]) … Did the gift(s) in the meadow give away the ending? Did you see the ending coming? Thanks <3