“Larsen is the one who gives you nightmares?”
“Yeah. He was pretty aggressive before Ryka got us out of there.”
He wanted to ask what she meant by aggressive, and then he wanted to ask exactly how aggressive this Larsen had gotten. Instead, he asked, “You have the nightmares often?”
“No. Usually I’m good, but tonight someone…”
Her words died off, and Lux sat up in bed. “Someone what? Is one of my brothers messing with you, Seven?”
She sat up too, holding out her hands in a placating gesture. “No! Gosh, no! It was a door. Someone slammed a door, and Larsen was always slamming doors. I dreaded hearing it because if he left his room and a door slammed I was always terrified that he was coming to mess with me. I never slept those nights.” She shook her head. “Sorry. It was just a door slam. No one’s messing with me. Your brothers have been really great, actually.”
Lux relaxed back into the pillows, pulling Seven into him. “You’d tell me if someone did mess with you, right? Or if something was bothering you, or if there was something I could do to make things easier for you?”
When she replied, there was a smile in her words. “Yes. I’d tell you.”
They sat in silence a few moments before she asked, “You know, this feels almost too good to be true.”
“Hmm?”
“You. Us. You know, if you’re feeling obligated in any way to...”
“Hush, woman. Nothing I say or do is false where you’re concerned. I wouldn’t do that to you. Hell, I wouldn’t do that to myself.”
“Do mates work the same with mountain lions as they do with wolves?”
“What do you mean?”
“We don’t know anything about mountain lions. We don’t know how matings work for your kind.”
That was a startling revelation, one he bet Wren and Liddick would like to be clued in on. If their females knew that this was it for the Prime brothers, then they might be more inclined to trust Wren, Liddick, and Lux.
“Yes. We mate for life just like wolves. There’s no denying it. We’d gladly die now for you girls. No going back, beautiful. You’re my one.”
She made a happy little sound, and Wren felt feral possession surge to the fore when his mate curled up tight against him and fell asleep in his arms, the way he’d been dreaming of for years.
Chapter 16
Seven jerked awake when the bed beneath her dipped and she felt Lux’s warmth leave her. “Hey?” she whispered in the dark. “Are you okay? Where are you going?” It took her eyes a second to adjust, and when they did, they saw Lux looking back at her with guilt on his face.
“Sorry, beautiful, thought you were out cold. I was just going to head downstairs. Leave you alone so you can get some rest. I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m sorry.”
Confusion filled her. “But…you don’t want to stay with me?”
Sighing out a harsh breath, Lux settled on the side of the bed. “Hell yes, I wanna stay with you, but my lion’s having a little trouble.”
She eyed him worriedly. “What kind of trouble. Did I do something?” She looked down. “Was I hogging the blankets or taking up too much of your side?”
“No, Seven.” He chuckled but it sounded forced. “Nothing like that. I’m…” He looked away and when he looked back at her she swore he was blushing. “You were sleeping, but your wolf is wide awake. She’s been rubbing up against me all night, and I can’t…” He quieted, then tried again. “The scent of you, the feel of you is driving me insane. I gotta get away from you before I do something you’re not ready for.”
Her eyes dipped to his lap and she saw the way his boxers were tented with his erection. He wanted her. “Why…why do you think I’m not ready? Shouldn’t you ask me, instead of just assuming?”
At her words, his brows shot up and his mouth fell open. He recovered quickly though. “Seven,” he started shaking his head. “We can’t…”
Without hesitation, she pulled his shirt over her head and let it fall to the floor. “I choose, Lux. It’s my say. And I choose you.”
“Fuck, woman!” He buried a hand in his hair, tearing his eyes from her body. “Please don’t say shit like that right now. I’m holding on by a fucking thread here.”
She was bolstered by his reaction, proud that she could make this powerful lion shifter so weak. Climbing to her knees, she inched across the bed, placing a hand on the smooth muscle of this back. He shivered hard and she grinned before pressing her body against his. Her breasts mashed against his back as she curled her arms around his neck and kissed his jaw. “You said there was no going back. You said I was your one.”
His body was taut as a bowstring and he nodded tightly as a growl slipped past his lips.
Her whisper was just a breath against his throat as she challenged, “Prove it.”
And that was it. He turned so fast he blurred, and then she was in his arms. His chest was rumbling against hers as he kissed her hard, his tongue delving into her mouth when she opened for him. Her wolf was excited, rolling and yipping in anticipation. When Lux leaned her back and covered her body with his, she sighed into their kiss. This was what she wanted. She was choosing her mate, not having a male force anything on her.
As if reading her thoughts, Lux broke their kiss, his breathing hard as he said, “We can stop anytime. Tell me if we’re going too fast.”
She leaned forward and claimed his mouth again, the scent of her pheromones mixing with the heady aroma of his arousal. Lux growled into her mouth again, then his hands fisted in the boxers at her hips and she heard the material rend. Now, the only thing separating her wet slit from the hard length of him was the thin material of the boxers he wore.
“Ffffffuck.” she tilted her head back and let him kiss and nip at her throat. Her body arched and she begged. “More. Need more, Lux. Need you.” She smiled when his eyes rolled closed.
***
It was official, Seven was trying to kill him. Lux knew the noble thing would be to get out of the bed right now and give Seven more time. She’d had a nightmare earlier, and probably wasn’t thinking straight, but with her naked body all mashed up against him, and making demands like she was, well fuck. Just FUCK!
Lux pulled back briefly to tear off his own boxers, and when he covered Seven again, they were all skin-on-skin, nothing between them now. The scent of her was filling his head and making his balls swell. He needed to be inside her like he needed to breathe, and if she didn’t stop right this damn second…
Seven lifted her knees, parting her thighs wider, and his cock brushed against her slick entrance. Too much! Too late! Gripping her hips, he slid into her. He knew she was ready for him, the scent of her wet heat threatening to drown him. Seven arched and gasped. and just when he was going to ask if she was okay, she ground her hips against his and demanded, “More!”
Goddamn, needy little mate. He couldn’t deny her. He pulled back and thrust into her again as she groaned out a, “Yes”. Then he started working his length into her, trailing kisses to her neck where he sucked hard, needing to put a mark on her. She groaned, raking his back with her sharp little nails. His lion loved it. He wanted her mark, no matter how small. Frantic now, his hips worked faster. He bucked into her as she mewled and made sexy little sounds that mingled with the wet sounds of their lovemaking. This was bliss! Pulling back, his stomach flexed as he put space between their bodies to watch where they were joined. He nearly came from the sight alone, but he couldn’t. Not before he satisfied his mate. This was his claiming, and he was going to do it right. Hooking one of her knees, he lifted until he bumped her clit with each drive of his hips as he stroked into her.
“Lux!” She moaned his name, and it sounded like heaven.
When she started chanting it over and over, he knew she was close and he thrust faster and deeper. When she exploded around him, her channel seizing on the length of him, he threw back his head with a roar and detonated inside her. Muscles tense, dick pulsing a
s he emptied himself, he tried to calm his breathing as his mate smoothed her hands over his chest, up over his shoulders, and around his neck, pulling him in for a sensual kiss. “Mine,” she breathed against his lips and he affirmed with his own, “Mine.”
It was official. Seven was his, and now nothing on earth would stop him from keeping her. Nothing!
Chapter 17
The week had been stressful, and Ryka was wrung out. Her emotions were all over the place, and the weight of everything was growing exhausting. Seven and Lux had taken their relationship to the next level, while Ash and Liddick were still at each other’s throats one minute and looking at each other affectionately the next. As for her and Wren? They vacillated between comfortable conversation and heavy argument about what was best for her girls and his pride. It irked her that he’d said he’d give them time to adjust, then just kept right on pushing for Ryka to make a final decision about her pack’s future. In one breath, Wren argued that she shouldn’t make the decision for them, and the next—when it suited his needs—he argued that she, as Phena, should decide their fate. It didn’t work like that, and she knew he was just as frustrated as she was, but the more they argued the more her girls grew unsettled. Their back-and-forth wasn’t helping anyone.
Preparing dinner, her nerves were frayed as she maneuvered the kitchen, trying to avoid Wren’s big body after he’d volunteered to help her while he’d told the rest of the pack to relax. It’d rained the three previous days, so now that the rain had stopped, both his pack and hers were outside enjoying the sun that had finally poked through the clouds and was gifting them a rare, warm fall day.
“What did all that time in the wild teach you? About leading, I mean?”
Wren had been telling her of his past life, when he’d roamed British Columbia with three other Alphas. They’d shirked their responsibilities and had given themselves to their animals.
“It taught me that an Apex is best when his people barely know he exists. He shouldn’t have to throw his weight around or hold it up for people to see. If he’s doing it right, he shouldn’t have to hold it at all. Much like the truth, it’ll defend itself.”
His words irked her, because she knew he was right. Still, she’d been trying to bring the conversation around to the fact that he’d dodged the responsibility he had to his pack for a long time. He had no right to be giving her crap for not forcing her girls into giving him a final decision on staying or not. Hell, he acted like he couldn’t breathe without the knowledge, and it shouldn’t matter right now anyway. The girls were getting really comfortable here. The guys had even taken them to town to buy clothes and other things women needed to survive. The girls had chores now, just like the guys, and things were running fairly smoothly aside from the tension between herself and Wren.
Shit! She pulled the last steak off the grill too late, staring down at the burned meat in disgust. Still, she plopped it onto the foiled cookie sheet with the others and made her way inside. Wren turned off the propane to the grill and hurried to open the door for her.
“Thanks,” she muttered.
Inside, the table was already set, so Ryka circled the table, forking steaks and placing them on plates. For reasons unknown to her, she speared the largest, best cooked steak and settled it on Wren’s plate. When she glanced at him, he smirked at her and then went right back to placing ears of corn on the cob onto each plate.
Serving herself last, she took the empty cookie sheet and set it on the kitchen island. When she turned, Wren was watching her with that calculating look he wore so often when studying her.
“What?”
“I’m not surprised at that,” he jerked his head toward her plate, and Ryka looked down in confusion. “You gave all the best cuts of meat to me and our pack. Kept the worst piece for yourself.”
Her cheeks reddened as she studied the other plates and then her own. “I like my meat a little charred,” she lied. Charred hell, it was almost burnt to an inedible crisp.
“You’ve been doing that a lot since you got here. Sacrificing for them, for me.” He crossed to the table and speared the blackened slab of meat with a fork before crossing to the sink and opening the cupboard beneath to toss the blackened steak in the wastebasket.
“Hey!” Ryka complained. “That’s wasteful!”
Wren just smiled as he crossed to the fridge and pulled open the double doors, taking out a packet of T-bones. “You know, you keep trying to push me away, but little things like this only make me want you more.”
“I don’t need that.” She looked at the pack of steaks in his hands before glancing at the closed cupboard hiding the trash can. “I would have eaten that.”
“It’s your job to care for the pack, but it’s my job to care for you.” He grabbed a knife out of the wooden butcher block on the counter and cut the pack of meat open. “No mate of mine is going to go without for the sake of my pack, and certainly not for my sake.”
He exited the back door while Ryka mulled his words. She hated when he said shit like that because it tethered her wolf to him. Huffing, she pulled a twelve-pack of beer from the fridge and set it on the table before grabbing a couple of bottles of sauce from the door of the fridge. She dug around in the cabinets until she found the salt and pepper, all the while wondering at how Wren now referred to them collectively as a pack and not a pride. They’d been a pride before the girls had arrived, and now they were a pack. She wondered as she worked if he called them a pack just so the girls would feel welcome. If so, it was pretty damn considerate.
By the time she was finished setting the table, Wren was entering the back door with a plate of decadent smelling T-bone. The pack filtered in behind him.
“Smells good, Phena!” Kenna kissed her on the cheek as she passed.
“Yeah,” Ash agreed, walking in front of a clearly smitten Liddick. “I’m starving.”
Ryka took her seat beside Wren’s empty one at the head of the table. The seating arrangement had changed over the week, and after the dust had settled, she’d been placed near the head of the table at Wren’s right. Seven and Lux were now inseparable, as were Ash and Liddick, although Ryka knew they hadn’t yet cemented their relationship. Ash was still wary, but she permitted Liddick’s attention now. Kenna sat between Cason and Jesup, and she adored the attention from both males who were constantly watching over her.
“For my queen,” Wren speared a massive T-bone and settled it on her plate. It took up the whole plate, and her mouth fell open as she stared at it.
Ryka snapped her teeth together, and the pack smiled as they settled into their seats. My queen. He’d been calling her that for the better part of three days, and she didn’t know if she should object or just let it ride. Honestly, the endearment did funny things to her belly and it didn’t really bother her.
“Lux and I bought a game in town. We should play it after dinner.” Seven offered.
Jesup moaned, but Cason clapped his hands once and pointed at Seven, never one to miss an opportunity. “Is it teams or one-on-one?”
Seven eyed the table. “We could do two teams.”
“Yes!” Cason eyed the table. “Boys versus girls! Losers rake the yard!”
Ash snorted. “Bullshit! Losers do dishes for a week.”
Wren smiled as he settled into his seat. “How about losers rake and do dishes for a week?”
“Sold!” Cason clapped his hands again then lifted his fork before stilling, his eyes turning to Seven. “Uhhh, guess I shoulda asked, but what’s the game?”
“It’s fun, and easy. You get a card, and have to get your teammates to guess the word at the top of the card without saying any of the words on the bottom of the card.”
Cason beamed. “You ladies are going down!” Without looking, he snagged a roll off his plate and ripped off a bite, stopping chewing mid-bite when Wren growled.
“First bite without thanks. Cason, you have the prayer.”
Cason’s shoulders slumped, but he bowed his head, swa
llowed his food, and waited for his pack to follow suit. “Grandfather, thank you for the food before us, the pack beside us, and the love among us. When Wren came back, we thought our pack was whole, and then you gifted us the females. Now. Now, we are whole, and we are grateful. Amen.”
A murmur of “amens” sounded around the table, but Ryka could only choke the word out as emotion clogged her throat. Cason’s prayer rocked her. No one had ever been grateful for her or her girls. Being here now, feeling safe in Wren’s pack and knowing her sisters were happy was…well, it was finally enough, and she wanted to look at him and tell him they were all staying for good. It’s not what a good Phena would do though. A good Phena would look at their situation from all angles, without being selfish and thinking of her own wants. It wasn’t just her girls. She had to think about Wren’s pride too, and whether anyone wanted to admit it, Marill and his pack would be coming for Ryka and the girls.
As she swiped a tear away, Wren noticed and rubbed a hand soothingly over her knuckles with a, “Good prayer, Case. Good prayer.”
The pack ate while conversing in hushed tones. Cason was getting as much detail about the game from Seven as he could, no doubt in hopes of getting a leg up somehow. Ash and Liddick teased Jesup. Kenna was regaling Wren with how Jesup had taken her to the lake and let her pick herbs, and had promised he’d see about tilling an area for a garden next spring. And just like that, happiness settled into Ryka’s bones. Warm and unfamiliar, she embraced it until her heart started racing. Was there harm in absorbing this happiness? Should she fight it?
Wren’s gaze left Kenna’s as she continued to ramble on. When he looked at Ryka, his eyes narrowed and he tensed as if he expected her to jump up and bolt at any second. She was seriously considering it.
Staring at him, Ryka’s heart squeezed at the potential of what she had here with him. She and her girls were warm, fed, and protected. Safe! The word blew across her mind and she shivered with the realization that this was the first time in as long as she could remember that she felt not just safe, but actually content. The worry for her girls that had always plagued her, always gnawed at her incessantly, had finally quieted. Right now, the warm glow of the conversation, the food, the home, the camaraderie, it enveloped her. It felt right. Wren felt right. This felt like home, and she wanted with all of her soul to give them a chance, but she wondered if her wolf was confused. She wondered if she were confused. Was she considering making a bad choice because it was a better option than where she’d come from? Was her wolf pushing her to keep her pack here because she wanted Wren? She wanted Wren! The thought was startling, and suddenly her palms were sweating.
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