by Teagan Wilde
“Why would you do something like that?” Damon asks, disgusted.
Johnathan picks himself up off the ground. The other packmates have formed a wide arc behind him so he can’t escape. He stares at the ground and doesn’t say anything for a few beats. Damon walks closer, staring him down, and I know Johnathan is feeling his wrath. We are all feeling bits of it, but not like Johnathan is. He clutches his throat and chest.
A few beats later he sucks in a sharp breath as Damon lets up. “Now,” Damon growls and I shiver, once again, from head to toe. My mate is so fucking sexy.
Johnathan looks up; he doesn’t look at Damon but at me. “It was a distraction, the person who was actually supposed to be taken was her.” Damon’s nails lengthen as he starts to lose control. Then Johnathan smiles. “My brother Ken wants me to tell you hi.” He falls to the ground as he starts to shift, and Damon takes a step back. I can’t believe this.
Brantley runs toward me. I just can’t move. Johnathan charges at me, and Damon’s hand flashes out, gripping the wolf by the throat. He lifts the wolf off the ground, and he snaps at Damon, trying to bite his face. “Big fucking mistake,” Damon whispers as he squeezes his throat. I hear pops and cracks and his throat snaps. The wolf goes limp, and Damon throws him to the ground. Johnathan changes back to his human form, dead.
We are all in awe of what happened and in awe of Damon. He just killed Johnathon with one hand. No one will ever underestimate him again. Damon is a kind alpha, but he is not someone to be fucked with—that is for sure.
“Do not ever fucking betray me,” Damon snarls at everyone; then he looks at me. He pulls me into his arms, and we walk together toward the house. I can feel everyone’s eyes on our backs, and I am in pure shock that something like that just happened.
All of this happened because of fucking Ken.
I had forgotten about him. I was just being hopeful, thinking that he would be out of my life. I was wrong, of course.
Damon shuts the door, leaning against it. His body is trembling.
My mate needs me.
I lay my head in the middle of his chest, my hands running up and down his arms. He lays his head on top of mine, breathing in deeply.
“My Moon,” he says, his voice rough and deep with emotion.
“I am yours,” I whisper back. I kiss his chest and just be with him.
Minutes later he finally calms down, and you know what I want right now? I want to take that final step. I look up at him. “I am ready.”
His looks surprised. “Are you sure?”
I nod, a huge smile upon my face. This is what I want. It’s time, and you never know what could happen—shit keeps on hitting the fan.
I need this moment.
He stares at me for a few beats, to make sure I am certain about it. He takes my hand, kissing the back of it, and leads me up the stairs. My heart is pounding so hard, and my poor stomach will never be the same because it’s in knots.
“You know tonight is the full moon,” he says and I stiffen at what this means. I can get pregnant.
“I don’t care.” If I become pregnant, I will be happy. By the way, did I mention that our pregnancies are about half as long as a regular woman’s? We have our babies after five months of pregnancy. “I want a family,” I throw out and he smiles.
“I want a houseful.”
I grin back and we go inside our room. The bed is smack dab in the middle of the room, just waiting to be used. I am more than ready for this. My legs are quivering at the idea of being filled with him and having our baby inside me.
I sit on the bed. “Arms up, Moon,” Damon says, and I do as he asks. He lifts the shirt over my head. I didn’t put on a bra before I ran out of the house. He stares down at me, filled with so much raw emotion. He touches the side of my neck. “I will never understand how someone could try to hurt you, baby.”
I close my eyes, letting his words wash over me, and his hands fall from my face to my legs. Then he grabs the top of my yoga pants. I lift my butt, allowing him to tear them off, and goose bumps break out across my skin the second his eyes fall on all of me.
“Crawl up the bed, Moon.”
Oh god, that voice does amazing things to me. I crawl up the bed as seductively as I can, loving seeing his eyes hooded. Everything that just happened has been forgotten and lifted off his shoulders, which is exactly what I wanted to happen. I lie down on the bed. Damon strips down and I eye every bit of him. Goodness, he is just beautiful. All of that tan skin, that bit of hair that runs down his chest, down his stomach, and into his pants line. His pants come off next, and his dick is just as beautiful as the rest of him. He is quite large. But he was made for me, all of him was.
“Are you sure?” he asks again.
“More than anything,” I tell him breathlessly. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about this, but I am excited too.
“There’s a huge possibility you could get pregnant, Moon,” he says one last time.
“I want this, baby, more than anything.” He tilts his head to the side, just slightly, submitting to me, his mate. This is the only time an alpha would dare do such a thing. He presses his lips to mine, oh so softly, so tenderly. My whole body shivers. His body is so warm, and I can feel his desire for me. Us together is out of this world.
Right now, it hits me that this is happening. I’ve gone through life thinking this day would never come. But it is here, and it’s even better that I hoped.
His left hand moves down my body, and I suck in my stomach instinctively. I am shaking with nerves. I am not scared; I would never, ever fear my mate. That would be impossible for me. His fingers are between my legs, and I suck his bottom lip into my mouth. I open my eyes and he is staring at me, his eyes golden. His wolf is touching the surface. He presses a kiss to my temple, and I smile—I’m so happy. He lifts himself up and crawls down my body, leaving small kisses in his wake.
He looks up at me, and his hands grip my thighs. I bite my lip. I know what he is going to do. He lowers his head, and I throw my head back at the first swipe of his tongue. I grip the sheets at my sides, and my toes are already curling. I have been ready for him. I am ready for him.
Two fingers slowly make their way inside me. It’s a tight fit. I relax my body and allow him to just take care of me.
Submitting fully to my mate, my Alpha.
Minutes, seconds, or hours pass; I have no sense of time. I finally come hard, my whole body shaking with the aftershocks. He crawls up my body and settles onto his elbows by my head. His eyes stare into mine. It’s like he is staring into my soul.
I reach up and touch his jawbone. “You know I love you, right?” I smile.
He closes his eyes, like he is just letting my words wash over him. I can feel him shift between my legs, and I open them wider when I feel the tip touch my entrance.
He finally looks at me. “And I love you too, my Moon, more than life, more than anything in this world. Without you, my life would be meaningless.”
My poor heart feels like it just exploded at his beautiful words. My eyes fill with tears, and Damon twines our fingers together, putting my hands above my head. His lips press against the corners of my eyes; he is kissing away my tears. “I don’t want to hurt you, baby.”
“I will be fine, Pha.”
His eyes stare so deeply into mine it takes away my breath, as he sinks deeper and deeper inside me. I nod and he presses all the way inside me. I tilt my head to the side at the deep, painful ache.
“Baby.” I can hear the pain in his voice, and he presses his head into the crook of my neck. He is deeply affected. In a way, he can feel what I feel.
A minute or so later, the pain finally relents. “I am ready for you to move.”
All I feel right now is being deliciously full, and he slowly and so tenderly pulls out and moves back inside me.
“Oh yeah,” I moan, loving the feeling of being so full of him. He smiles and kisses my lips. In this moment it’s like we move onto
a different plane—we connect with each other on such a deep level. We are here, but we are not. It’s like we are one. I feel what he feels, and he feels what I feel.
This is the most intense experience—every touch and roll of the hips is magnified. Everything is powerful; he is powerful. We are powerful together.
I love him, all of him.
We come together, shaking, holding onto each other. This was everything that I dreamed it could be and so much more. I never imagined the connection we would have, the way it would feel.
I am so blessed.
He presses a kiss to the side of my neck before he slips out of the bed to go into the bathroom. I hear the water turn on and, when he comes back, he places a warm washcloth on me, cleaning me. I didn’t expect this.
“You’re so good to me,” I say softly, overcome with emotion.
He smiles so sweetly back at me. “You’re mine. I take care of what’s mine.”
There goes my poor little heart, exploding once again.
He throws the washcloth toward the bathroom, climbs back into bed with me, and pulls me to his side, cuddling me. We both fall asleep, fully content.
Damon
Sometimes it just takes me by surprise that she is mine. She is sleeping so peacefully in my arms. I love that I can bring her peace and happiness and make her feel safe.
Yesterday, before everything went down with the packmate who betrayed us, I got a distress message from a member of a pack. I was not sure what to do about it. A couple of weeks ago, a bear and wolf couple died in a car accident. They left a baby, a boy. Their pack is wild and vicious. They can snap and kill you just like that. This boy is in danger, and I have a strong feeling the parents did not die in a car crash.
“What has you thinking so hard?” Farren asks, waking up from her sleep.
I tell her about the parents who allegedly died in a car crash, which is very unlikely. It takes a lot to kill a shifter.
“I just fucking can’t think of the baby being brought up in that place. The person taking care of him asked the pack to take him in.”
She gets out of bed. “Get out of bed, we have a baby to get.” She smiles that beautiful smile and goes into the bathroom. I follow her. I am glad she is my mate. One way or another, this baby will be in our pack, even if we have to raise him ourselves.
Farren
He just had to mention a baby. I am ready to go get him. I want the shifter world to be better, and if I can somehow make a baby’s life better, then I will do that. The Brett’s Pack is just bad, full of mean and angry pack members. The women are literally just slaves; they have no life and the men rule the coop.
We are going to be meeting the couple caring for the baby in secret. It’s dangerous for the baby to be there, and it will be hell for him as he gets older. He will probably be bullied relentlessly and eventually killed.
There is a knock at the door. I motion for Brantley and Maverick to come inside. They will be in the vehicle with me and Damon. They don’t know what is going on just yet. Brantley smiles and gives me a side hug. A low growl can be heard across the room.
“What’s going on, Damon?” Maverick asks.
He explains the situation with the baby.
“Alpha, can I suggest something?” Brantley gets out of his chair, looking at both of us.
Damon nods, but Brantley looks so unsure. I touch his back, hoping to give him the strength to do what he needs to do.
“May I take the baby in? Let’s face it—I will never have children of my own since I am gay, and I have always wanted to be a father.”
I never expected that, but I can see Brantley being a great father. I look at Damon, smiling, expressing my full approval. “He is yours,” Damon tells him.
Brantley laughs in disbelief. “Thank you, Alpha. I never expected I would get this chance.”
“Now we must go and get him, we are doing this in secret. He is coming from Brett’s Pack.”
Maverick and Brantley both wince.
Yeah, it’s not going to be easy, but I doubt that the pack will even notice. The baby and his caretakers are probably hiding deep in the woods, away from everyone else in the pack.
“Can someone get the stuff the baby will need while we are gone?” Brantley says. “Just a bed and stuff for tonight? Tomorrow I would like to pick out the rest of the baby’s things myself.” How cute is he? I am very happy for him.
Randall goes shopping for a few things we will need on the way home, including a car seat; then it’s time to leave. “We need to get the show on the road,” Damon tells Brantley. “We have another SUV following us with five pack members.” Brantley grabs the diaper bag and a couple of blankets.
We don’t know much about the baby’s health. Hopefully, he has been treated well since his parents’ death. I would sincerely hate to kill some pack members. No pup should be mistreated.
We file out of the house into a black SUV, and I get in the front with Damon. Maverick and Brantley get into the back seat, with the car seat between them. Damon sticks his hand out the window, motioning for the SUV behind us to follow.
The place we are meeting the baby’s caretakers is a diner about an hour away. It’s in neutral territory, with no pack in the area. The drive there is excruciating. Damon has his hand curled around my thigh, trying to calm my nerves. Brantley is just as nervous as I am. He is in the back seat sorting the diaper bag, making sure everything is in place. He is so cute. Maverick is silent the whole way, and I can tell he is in warrior mode, ready for anything. Damon is doing the same thing. I am just nervous.
Damon pulls up next to the diner. We look through the windows and see a couple with a baby. Damon gets out of the SUV. I stay still because I know better than to get out before he opens the door for me. He is very protective, plus this could be a trap or something.
Brantley comes to my side; Damon is on the other. The other pack members are going to stay in the SUV unless they are needed.
Maverick opens the door and we walk inside the diner. Damon has his hand on the small of my back, walking slightly ahead of me.
The shifters in the diner sit up straighter. The female shifter—I can tell, by her smell, she is a wolf—is holding the baby. Did I mention it’s pretty chilly outside? The baby is wearing only a T-shirt onesie. I look at Brantley, who is staring at the baby. He looks at me, and I can tell he has noticed this too. We shifters do not get cold as easily as humans do, but this is a baby. He is probably around three or four months old. I am itching to snatch him out of the shifter’s arms and run out to the warm SUV.
“Damon,” the male shifter says, and he stands up. “We need to get out of here before the pack notices we are gone. They think the baby died in the car crash with his parents. They intended to sell him to the hyenas.”
Fuck me.
I growl loudly. Nothing pisses me off more than the way pack alphas will do anything to get rid of orphaned children of mixed couples. This happens way too often. It’s fucking sick.
I love being a shifter, but the bad people make it rough on everyone. The lady shifter gets out of the booth and hands me the baby. “Thank you for protecting him,” I tell her.
She smiles sadly. “I just wish this wasn't the way of life there.”
I nod and we watch as they hurry out of the diner. I look at the baby in my arms, who is staring at me. He is a very beautiful little baby; it’s a shame that he lost his parents so early in life. I look at Brantley. “Here, Dad.” He smiles and takes the baby from me. Damon puts his arm around me as we watch their first moments together.
“One day,” Damon whispers in my ear.
Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later.
“Let’s get out of here,” Damon says. I will feel more comfortable on pack grounds; that’s for sure.
Brantley tucks the baby against his chest, and I stand next to him, ready to protect him if it comes to that. Maverick takes Brantley's other side, and Damon is in front of us. My skin is on fire; my
wolf is aching to get out. Damon pushes the door open, and we walk to the SUV. The other pack members are parked right beside us with the window down, and they look at Brantley holding the baby. “Congrats, man!” they call out.
Brantley beams at them. I can feel the pure happiness radiating off him, and my wolf is pleased about that. It is her mission to make her packmates happy.
Damon stops and sniffs the air, growling deep in his chest. I press my hand to the small of his back instinctively. I see five wolves and the body of the male shifter who brought the baby.
“In the vehicle, Brantley,” I urge. They are here for the baby, and I will not allow anyone to take him. He will not be sold into slavery. Brantley looks back and forth between Damon and me and the other packmates.
“Now,” Damon snarls. Brantley gets inside the SUV. The other packmates get out of their SUV, and they stand behind us as we face the five wolves. They killed the couple who brought the baby; the female’s head was almost torn off.
I knew of the horribleness of their pack, but I never expected them to kill the couple for protecting the baby. Children are protected within packs, except the ones with mixed parentage—and that is something I will never fully understand.
All five of the wolves attack without warning. Damon pushes me back, changing into his wolf form as he runs into the fray. One by one, the wolves change, and my hair flies around my face as they run past me. Damon reaches them first, viciously and without mercy tearing into any part of their bodies he can reach.
I am shaking with anger. They dared to hurt one of ours. They hurt the people who helped the baby. Now they attack us? As I shift, I stand by the SUV, growling deeply.” I am not going to allow anyone to get close to Brantley and the baby.
My brother jumps over Damon’s back and tackles a wolf that was trying to sneak up on him. How fucking dare he? That was low. They have no morals.
I start to run in that direction, and Damon sees me. “No.” A huge part of my mind wants to ignore him and the other, as an alpha’s wife, wants to listen to him because I could get him hurt. I sit on the ground, growling. My mate is fighting, and one of the wolves bites him on the back leg. I stand up, ready to defend him if needed.