by Christa Wick
Esme nodded, Dana's assent signaled only by a small drop in his gaze. When he lifted it, he looked at the dark sky through the windows. His hand sought his mate's, his long, thick fingers curling around Esme's and giving a squeeze.
"We need to go," he said. "I have to talk with the other clan leaders about this."
A wave of anxiety rolled off Iris and flashed in her eyes. Cade saw it the instant before Iris pushed it down.
"Just one more question." The barely noticeable pleading tone in Iris's voice suggested to Cade that she wanted to manufacture as many questions as would keep Dana and Esme there the entire night. "Have any of the other witches been able to locate the cubs?"
Esme shook her head. "They've found latents, but I'm the only one who has found any cubs."
"So all the cubs are here?" Iris asked.
"No, just most of them," Esme answered. "There are three in California and five in Washington State. Maybe if I went--"
Dana stopped his mate with a low growl. She dropped her head, her lips tightly sealed but her eyebrows shooting high in visible frustration. Cade had heard the argument between them more than once. Dana was willing to let Esme go to other clan lands, but not without him and not while he had just stepped into Jack Cooper's place as clan leader.
"Who knows how many cubs are being left unprotected on the streets." Esme lifted her head and looked straight at Iris. "I'd like to teach you to cast -- and soon."
When Iris hesitated to respond, Cade snorted. "Neither wolf nor witch, is that your story?"
She shot him a glance that would have withered his bones and burned his balls to bacon crisps if she weren't his mate. Instead, the look only made him want her more, especially her submission. He pushed his wolf at her, saw the slight flaring of her nostrils and rapid dilation of her pupils in response. Her lips parted. She snapped them shut before she shot a second glance -- this one at Esme.
"I thought the potion..." Iris frowned. "I mean, he's not supposed to be able..."
Cade gave another little push, this one carnal, and watched in satisfaction as Iris's cheeks turned pink.
Esme gave the coffee table a shove in his direction with her foot. She raised a finger, the blue glow at its tip an order for him to behave. Turning to Iris, she tried to explain. "His drinking it only hides you from him, not the other way around."
Iris rolled her lips, her brow furrowing as she processed the information. "Then I should drink some, too."
Cade snorted before the full import of her request sank in. Sure, the request was an admission that feeling him had an effect on her she didn't want, but if Esme relented, he might never get Iris back.
"You said in the van you've never shifted. The potion won't work on you if that's true." She paused, her gaze probing Iris for any hint of a lie. After another long second, she shrugged her shoulders. "We could try more wards or silver, but I doubt it will work. The whole time I blocked Dana from sensing my latency, I could still sense his presence when he was nearby."
Cade suppressed a flash of surprise. Esme had just lied. He knew that the charms she fashioned for the wolves to shield them when they left clan lands had at least muted Dana’s presence around Esme, if not hidden it entirely.
"But you're a latent..." Iris started, then snapped her mouth shut.
Cade's brows lifted. He could feel his eyes burning, the question at the tip of his tongue too searingly hot to be held back. "You mean she's not a wolf like you?"
A fresh layer of pink colored Iris's cheeks. Rising, Cade walked to the front door and opened it. He looked at Dana, knowing the tender-hearted witch was ready to cave and offer Iris relief if any was available -- particularly by forcing him to take the potion she had just dumped or making him wear the damn wards the wolves used when they went off clan lands.
He looked at Dana, hoping for an unexpected ally in getting Esme to leave. "You said you needed to call the other clan leaders?"
Dana nodded, but Cade hadn't moved quickly enough to get them out. Esme dipped her head to capture Iris's attention. When the she-wolf looked at her, Esme softly smiled.
"I can consult with some of the other healers--"
"No." Iris dismissively chopped her hand in the air, the motion almost violent. Another roll of her lips and she closed her eyes. "Please, don't spend the time on my account. There are bigger problems to deal with than Cade being a pain in the ass."
Grinning ear to ear, Cade pulled the front door open a little wider.
Chapter Seven
Iris bolted upright in bed. It took a full two seconds for her nose to remind her that she was in Esme Foster's former house, the scent of the woman faintly clinging to the room despite the fresh linen and the witch's extended absence. Iris's ears were less than helpful, the familiar screams of her nightmare chasing her from sleep to wakefulness so that she didn’t know which sounds were phantoms and which were real.
She forced her heart to slow. The retreating pound of bloodsurf assured her that the screams were only old memories. Collapsing against the mattress, she fought to keep her eyes open as she silently cursed her acquiescing to Cade guarding her. With Esme's potion in him, he had undoubtedly slept like a newborn wolf while she had tossed restlessly after their late night turn in, alternately haunted by old nightmares and fresh images of Cade and the wolf he had become.
More than images, she had sensed him every time she woke -- with more than just her nose or ears. She could feel him, feel the rhythm of him deep in sleep, sense the flow of blood through his body, especially that last hour before dawn when there had been a thick surge low to his groin, her own flesh burning with awareness as he blithely continued sleeping.
Nightmares forgotten, Iris pushed a hand between her legs and pressed. The sensation too sweet, she knew no amount of pressure would make the need go away. She would have to push through it. She absolutely would not allow herself to stroke it away. Even if the potion muted Cade’s ability to smell and feel her, she doubted it had done anything to dampen his sense of hearing. The tension she needed to relieve with a few quick swipes of a finger up and down her clit would go unabated.
Otherwise, he would hear it and assume the strokes were inspired by his presence. He'd be right, too. She had known something was changing in her body, even if she disagreed with Cade's assessment that she was a wolf in heat. She couldn't argue that her moods recently had become more volatile. Her already sharp senses had intensified, as well. But none of that had translated to arousal until she had sniffed Cade at the strip club yesterday.
Only fear and a long ago nightmare kept her from helping Cade strip the clothes from her body in the van. Her sex had clenched with an urgent need at the thought of him entering her -- even with his driver a mere two feet from them.
Growling, Iris turned onto her side, blinking as the early morning light burned a halo around the edge of the bedroom's dark curtains. Her ears pricked at the sound of water and the groaning of the old cabin's pipes.
She frowned. Had the water been running all along? If not, when had it started?
"Getting sloppy, North."
She should have heard the water when it started or realized it was running when she first woke. Her senses should have told her not only how many people were in the house, but where each one was positioned. Their mood, whether they had consumed alcohol or any other intoxicant, if they were sick, terrified or angry. Thinking of her almost former lover, she hadn't been able to sense beyond the bedroom in which she had spent the night.
Cade definitely made her sloppy.
She forced a smirk from the right side of her mouth as an unbidden thought unfolded.
Sloppy in more ways than one, girlie.
Lips vibrating with a snarl, Iris told her brain to shut the fuck up. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she swiveled until her feet touched the floor. She glanced at the dresser opposite the bed and the mirror atop it. She looked a mess, but she really shouldn't care. She wanted Cade to drop this "mate" bullshit. The worse she look
ed, the sooner he'd move on.
A small grin cracked the surface of her face. A nagging harpy at the bathroom door telling him to get his ass out before all the hot water was gone might nudge him a little further away. Smiling more broadly, she untangled the covers from her waist, stood and grabbed the bathroom supplies Esme had pulled from the closet and the duffel of clothes the little she-wolf had dropped off at Cade's.
Slinging the bag over her shoulder, Iris started down the hall toward the house's only bathroom. She stopped in front of the door and raised her hand to knock. Before she could land the first sharp rap of her knuckles against the wood, her knees went weak. The bag fell to the floor.
What was happening to her senses and what in the hell was Cade doing in there?
Heart racing, she braced one hand against the wall to keep from joining the bag on the floor as the sensation of an orgasm ripped through her.
Not her orgasm, but Cade’s.
The bastard was taking care of himself in the shower, stroking, squeezing...
She closed her eyes just to have them shocked open a second later when the bathroom door flew open. Cade stood in front of her, no more than a towel around his waist and the water still running in the shower behind him.
Her gaze glossed over his fierce expression to take in the broad, powerful chest and dark, wet hair matting against his skin. Her attention dipped to where his hips narrowed, the hair thinning to a line that traveled below the towel.
Two pearls of liquid stood out on his muscled abdomen.
Realizing the liquid wasn’t water, her mouth flooded with lust. Unthinking, she swiped a finger against one bead and brought it to her lips. Her already shaky legs began to collapse, her body sinking slowly toward the ground until Cade wrapped his arms around her.
The water coating his skin penetrated her nightgown as he growled at her. "You don’t get to run after doing that, baby."
"Doing what?" Iris looked up, genuinely confused as all the blood left her brain.
"Taste me," he rasped.
Still holding her upright, Cade walked them into her bedroom. In a haze, she felt her legs move with him, the hard bulge of his cock, his body heat through the towel, and her wet clothes sucking at her skin. He pushed her onto the bed, the towel falling from his hips as he bent over her.
Looking between their bodies, she caught her first glimpse of his cock. His whole body was powerful. The thick shaft with a head the size of a doorknob was no exception. More of his cum leaked from the small slit, the stream too steady for beads to fully form. She pressed against his chest as she rolled her lips in indecision. Something clawed inside her, wanting out. She shook her head, but could see he was too far gone to accept any weak protest she might make.
Cade pushed her gown up. His fingers curled around the gusset of her panties and then he ripped them from her. His fingers slid between her labia, scooped the wet evidence of her arousal and brought it to his mouth. He tasted her, just as she had tasted him. With her juices clinging to his hand, he captured her head and then his cock shoved into her hard and fast.
The knot formed immediately, stretching the flesh just inside her pussy. She opened her mouth to suck in burning air. He sealed his lips over hers, his tongue invading with the same force as his cock. Both hands wound through her hair, holding her in place as he kissed and fucked.
His mouth moved to her neck. She felt the threat of fangs against her skin. A moan, her own, brought tears to her eyes.
"Shh, love." He tried to kiss her again but she averted her face.
Her lips quivered as she fought against her body’s growing response. Her breath came in short pants, the air passing her lips blue with witch light.
Cade kissed along her throat and the top of her shoulder. "Let go, Iris."
His words confused her. She was fighting like hell not to wrap her arms and legs around him, to lift when he dipped, to throw herself against him like the surf at high tide when his hips slowed to tease her cunt with soft little rolls.
She wasn’t holding on.
There was nothing to let go of.
He pulled back, the knot near the base of his cock ensuring he wouldn't slip out of her but allowing him to sit on his haunches. He wrapped her thighs around his hips and stared down at her exposed labia and clit. His thumb landed gently on her flesh where the silver ring pierced the thick hood.
His tongue came out to play against his top lip. He met her gaze, his thumb stroking lightly against the clit ring and the tender spine of need it penetrated.
"All night long I dreamt of touching you, my mouth here..." He pushed harder against the sensitive nodule and its metal ornament. The pleasure his touch created forced her hips up. His cock tugged inside her, the knot refusing to yield its position.
She brought her arms up to cover her face. She didn’t want Cade to see her coming even if the play of witch light over her convulsing body gave her away.
"You can’t hide, baby." He rubbed harder, the resulting jerks more violent as her pussy coiled around his cock. "Neither can your wolf. I see her -- I've always seen her."
Still shielding her face, she shook her head. She had no wolf, the witch light proved as much. Whatever she was, it was neither wolf nor human. Her ability to sense like a wolf and heal like one came from her magic. That left her a freak among mankind, the wolves and even the witches.
Cade exhaled, his whole body growing still. She couldn’t subside. Her hips moved in a small circle, all the motion in the room hers. She wiggled, dipped, rode his cock and the thumb he still held against her clit. The knot and fat head stretched her cunt with each thrust she forced against him. She could feel their round, unyielding mass crowding and stroking as a wave of release thundered through her.
"Enough!" Cade barked. He pushed forward, sinking deep into her. His hands wrapped around her wrists to force her arms above her head. He stared into her eyes, his wolf glowing in his gaze as he began to make shallow pumps against her mound. "You’re going to look at me the next time you come."
She tried to shut her eyes but his growl forced them wide.
"I can see her hiding inside you."
She shook her head. There was no wolf inside her. If there was one, then Iris had stayed away from her pack -- from her mate -- for more than a decade with no reason. She hadn't been beside her grandmother as the woman died. All those years would have been wasted.
"Baby, she wants to howl." He kissed her and this time she didn’t seek to evade his lips. She groaned down his throat as fresh tension built between her thighs.
He sank deep, the pressure of his thick shaft making her eyes roll up. His back contorted in a way only shifters could move. Feeling the knot in his cock swell bigger, Iris cried out. She knew what came next, needed him out of her but her body wouldn’t cooperate. She arched against him, her moans urging him on, her whimpers a plea for him to release inside her.
Cade bit lightly at her lips, his tongue curling along their underside between nips. He grew still. His broad chest rose and fell in deep breaths. She opened her eyes, stared into his. Just as when he had frozen earlier, Iris couldn’t stop moving against Cade’s body. Her cunt hugged his cock, sucked and squeezed at the head and knot, coiled around the heavy shaft and twisted greedily at his flesh.
Her body at the edge of another release, she saw more of Cade’s wolf crowd his gaze, the eyes almost glowing silver as his body pulled even with hers in pleasure. She exhaled witch light, he breathed it in, and then they exploded together. She felt the hard jerks of his cock as his seed spurted into her, felt the knot pulse in time with each jerk, momentarily losing volume before inflating fuller, stretching her a little more, making her already snug cunt caress him even tighter.
Cade buried his face against her throat, his muffled words incomprehensible but his tone loving and sated. Tears sprang to her eyes as she waited for him to deflate. She wanted to believe that something had changed, but she was no more a wolf than when she had first erupted from sl
eep that morning. And no matter what Cade believed, no matter how many shifters took these "latents" Esme had talked about as mates, the clan wouldn’t accept her.
They'd had eighteen years to accept her. They never had. She had been shunned by all but her grandmother and Cade, their lives made more dangerous because they cared about her, wanted to keep her safe. Had she been born a few generations before, she wouldn’t have lived past puberty, when it first became clear she couldn’t shift.
Still knotted inside Iris, Cade lifted his head from her shoulder. His hands gently brushed the strands of hair that veiled her face. Seeing the remains of the tears that had escaped Iris, he thumbed one away and pushed further inside her as his mouth sought to keep the next tear from forming.
"It’s okay, baby," he told her in a raw whisper. "Your wolf will come out next time."
All the warmth lingering in her body fled as Cade spoke. His last sentence confirmed that nothing had changed. Cade would always be looking for her wolf, expecting it each time and disappointed each time, even if he didn’t show it and never spoke a word of admonition. He didn’t want a latent or a witch. He wanted a wolf.
She shook her head, her gaze warily glued to his face. "No, it won’t."
"Maybe not with all this silver on." He moved to kiss her as he spoke, but Iris evaded his mouth. Realizing something wasn’t right, he looked at her and tried to decipher the growing distance in her eyes.
Turning her head, she stared at the curtains, the sunlight still smothered by the heavy fabric at all but the edges.
"It won’t," she repeated. "I’m not like you. I’m not an animal."
Chapter Eight
Sitting in the living room of Esme's cabin, Iris read through Oscar’s case file. Across from her, she could feel Dana Gladwin watching, his energy restless and tense. He had arrived less than ten minutes after Cade abruptly took off, no doubt summoned by Cade to make sure Iris didn't run off and risk exposing the clan.
Frowning, she tried to focus on the file in front of her and forget how Cade had instantly deflated at her words. No longer knotted inside her, he had immediately pulled out and stormed from the room. Two minutes later, the front door slammed shut. The sound of the shower left running in the bathroom mocked her and forced her from bed.