The Mating System: A Paranormal Shifter Romance

by Angela Foxxe

  “Alexa,” he said, trying to break the girl from the panic she had gotten into. “It’s me, I’m right here.”

  Antony’s voice soothed her immediately, and Alexa closed her eyes. She focused on breathing through her nose, and calming the rapid beating of her heart. Eventually, she was able to fully relax herself. She trusted Antony, and would trust him with her life. She hardly knew the Alpha, but she knew that he would always be there for her.

  With a groan, when he realized that Alexa was okay again, Antony pushed forward into her mouth. He pressed in hesitantly, a shuddering breath escaping him. Alexa couldn’t take his full length into her mouth, she doubted that there was any wolf alive who could have managed it. What her mouth lacked, her hand made up for, wrapping around the base of Antony’s cock and pumping slowly.

  As if the motion spurred him on, Antony moved his hands to the back of Alexa’s head, tangling his fingers in her long hair and using her mouth for his pleasure. Alexa’s wolf howled in delight, glad to finally be with a male that she approved of, and who was filling her mouth so beautifully. She couldn’t imagine what it would feel like once the two of them had gone further.

  Antony moved in shallow thrusts in Alexa’s mouth, touching the back of her velvety throat with the tip of his cock. The sensation made Alexa gag, but it wasn’t anything that she couldn’t handle. Steadily, she could feel a warm growing inside of her, coiling in her gut.

  It almost became too much to handle, and she slipped her hand down her body and across her bared thighs. Already, she was dripping wet, the thought of Antony using her for his pleasure enticing her more than anything to slip a finger between her legs, her whole body freezing up at the sensation.

  Antony paused as well, thinking that Alexa’s motionlessness had meant he had done something wrong. He pulled out of Alexa’s mouth, worry painted across his face.

  “Alexa?” he asked, running a hand through her hair. “Are you okay?”

  “Just fine,” Alexa breathed, her voice pitching up three times higher than usual.

  Antony noticed the change right away, and his eyes darted along the she-wolf’s arm and to her hand, buried between her thighs. A blush crept up on his cheeks, something Alexa had never seen an Alpha male do. Before long, it was gone, and replaced with an intense look that chilled Alexa to her core.

  She stared up at the male in shock as he grabbed her wrist, and pulled it away.

  “No,” he ordered, furrowing his eyebrows at Alexa. “You’re mine,” he said, a growl seeping into his voice from his wolf threatening to take over and run the show by itself. “You will do what I say, when I say. Right now, that includes touching yourself.”

  Alexa whimpered, letting the submissive half of her shine forward and show to the Alpha. She tilted her head away from him, exposing the expanse of her neck, a gesture that proved her submission to the other wolf. She hated rolling over like this, but for Antony, she would comply.

  A happy rumble echoed in Antony’s chest, and he leaned forward to catch Alexa’s lips in a searing kiss. She missed the feeling between her thighs, the rubbing against the little hidden rosebud that was there, swollen and begging for attention. Antony seemed to know exactly what she wanted, and slipped his hand between her thighs, trailing down over the dark curls that resided there, and pressing between the fleshy lips.

  Alexa gasped aloud, the feeling of Antony’s hand far better than hers had ever been. She threw her head back, severing the kiss, and squirmed beneath Antony.

  “Oh, Antony, oh Alpha, I don’t know how long I can stand this,” she whimpered, her body moving without her consent. Her hips bucked and her back arched, trying desperately to get closer and closer to Antony’s hand, to the warmth and the release that he was promising.

  “Tell me what you want,” Antony growled, low and deep in her ear. “Tell me what you need.” He punctuated the word with a gentle caress over her wet hole, spreading the slick that he found there across the rest of her pleasure spots, teasing and almost tickling with his motions.

  It wasn’t enough to let Alexa come, but it was enough to drive her mad. “I want you,” she panted. “I need you.”

  Antony smirked above her, a dark look that reminded her so much of the other Alphas she had been with before. No doubt all of the pheromones in the air were driving him crazy, pushing him to the edge of insanity. The process seemed to be easier for him than it was for Alexa, who felt as though her spine was going to give way at any moment, and she would collapse into a boneless buddle.

  “Tell me more,” Antony urged. “I want to hear exactly what it is that you need from me.”

  Alexa whimpered as Antony pressed a finger inside of her, circling slowly and using his thumb to rub at her clit, the dual sensations pushing her over the edge. “I need your cock,” she said, all shame she once had, abandoned and thrown to the wind. “I need you inside of me, filling me, giving me your pups. I want pups, I want your pups, and I need your cock.”

  Antony grinned at Alexa, his nostrils flaring as he took in a deep breath of the arousal pouring off the girl. It had been hard to resist up until then, but now he knew that any efforts to control himself would be useless. One hand on his throbbing cock, and the other on Alexa’s hip, fingers still shining with her slick, he pushed into the girl, savoring the friction and the tightness of her body.

  Alexa near screamed when Antony pushed into her, but the noise was silenced by a fiery kiss. Antony claimed each inch of her for himself, making it known that she belonged to him and him alone. Somewhere deep in her, she knew that this time would be the right time. She would have a litter growing in her after lying with Antony, healthy and strong and retaining all of their father’s traits. She would tell them stories of his greatness, his prowess, and his handsome features.

  Her mind went suddenly blank as Antony began to move inside of her, able to feel each inch of his burning-hot cock in her body. He pressed in until his hips were flush against Alexa’s, and he was completely sheathed inside of her. Already, Alexa could feel the swell of his knot, tugging against her rim and begging for the two of them to get on with it, already.

  Antony had his head leaned back, exposing his neck in a vulnerable way. Alexa felt honored that the Alpha had dared to show such weakness around her. He trusted her enough to show his life and blood to the girl, offering it to her greedy claws and hungry fangs. Alexa was unable to entertain the idea for much longer as suddenly, Antony was moving inside of her. His thrusts were sharp, frenzied, and erratic.

  Already the two of them were close to coming. It wasn’t hard after they had formed such a strong bond right away. Alexa let obscene moans and whines pour from her lips, begging the Alpha for more, faster, harder. Antony complied with each of Alexa’s wishes, more than willing to push her to the point of screaming his name over and over again without a hint of shame. The shy wolf who had cried before him had vanished, replaced by a female in what was close enough to heat, needing to be filled and bred until she was sated.

  Alexa could feel her orgasm building tight within her body, tensing her muscles and making her curl her fingers in the dirt. She reached up and grabbed Antony by his shoulder, pulling him down for a kiss that was all teeth and tongues. She had never been kissed so roughly, and the pairing of Antony’s sharp teeth and his hard thrusts broke her barriers, and sent Alexa crumbling.

  With a cry and a jolt of her hips she came, falling loose like a ragdoll underneath Antony. She had never been so spent in her life, but Antony wasn’t done. For a brief moment, he pulled out of the girl, and Alexa groaned. He flipped her over despite her earlier wishes, but his wolf was begging for him to take her like a proper Alpha, to shove her nose into the dirt and make her know her place.

  As soon as she was turned over, Antony pushed inside of her again, and then grabbed her hips. He fucked her with renewed vigor, the sound of their skin slapping together and Alexa’s weary moans no doubt echoing for miles. He could only assume that the escorts from the two packs were
able to hear everything in graphic detail.

  His thrusts became more desperate the closer he came to coming, and with one final, solid pound into the girl, he spilled his seed deep within her body. He sighed in relief, still using Alexa’s body to ride out his orgasm. He groaned and his head dropped forward, able to feel the swell of his knot as it tied them together.

  Alexa wasn’t sure for how long Antony stayed inside of her, or for how long they truly remained knotted together. She wasn’t even sure how many times seed was pumped into her, but a shiver went through her body each time it happened. Exhausted and feeling close to passing out, Alexa closed her eyes. She listened to the sounds of the forest, of Antony’s harsh breathing as he stayed inside of her.

  She wasn’t sure for how long she was able to sleep, but it only seemed like moments after she closed her eyes when she was being roughly shaken. Noemi was there, trying to pull her to her feet.

  “Get up, Alexa,” the Alpha ordered. “It’s time for us to leave.”

  Alexa groaned and stood on wobbly knees, a loose pelt being draped about her body to hide her from the prying eyes of the other wolves. She made two steps forward when realization dawned in her.

  “Wait!” she cried, turning and breaking free of her pack members.

  They snarled and tried to chase after her, but a moment later she was in Antony’s waiting arms. They kissed, their final shared touch, with Alexa pulling away with watering eyes.

  “I love you,” she whispered. “I’ve never loved another alpha all my life, and I never will. I’ll tell my pups about you, I’ll tell them everything they could ever want to know about their handsome, brave father.”

  Antony smiled at her as their kiss broke, the two of them being forcibly dragged apart. He leaned forward, able to catch the girl one last time before she was pulled away for good.

  “Meet me here,” he whispered. “On the next new moon, under the cover of darkness we will see each other again, I promise you.”

  With that, Alexa was ripped away from Antony, dragged by Noemi towards their pack grounds.

  *

  Alexa walked dutifully behind Noemi, looking at the ground with distant eyes. Her mind was on Antony, and the things he had said to her. She didn’t know what to think about anything that happened to her. She had never before enjoyed her time with a male, but after her time with Antony, she could still feel a buzzing in her body.

  She felt alive with energy, as though she could run for miles, climb the tallest mountain, and throw her head back in a joyful howl. A smile crept onto her lips as she thought about it, thinking back on their time.

  A hand traveled to her belly, and she pressed down there, imagining that the swell she could feel was from pups. She knew that it wasn’t true, and there would be no way to tell until at least another month had passed, but she could dream.

  “You seemed to enjoy yourself,” Noemi commented. She fell back to walk alongside Alexa, just as she had earlier that day. “It wasn’t hard to hear you. I’m certain the entire forest did.”

  Alexa blushed a dark red all across her cheeks, her only hope of hiding it being the darkness that the trees threw over their bodies. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “No, don’t apologize,” Noemi said. “I think it’s amazing that you enjoyed it so much. Normally, you’re close to crying after one of these days. I’ve never seen you… glowing.”

  Alexa glanced at her forearm, as though she could see the glow that Noemi was speaking of. Noemi laughed at the action, but didn’t say anything about it. She enjoyed the innocence that Alexa had in her personality, it gave her an extra bit of charm that no other wolf had. Noemi almost admired it, in a way.

  “Do you think that this time will be the time?” Noemi asked. She looked Alexa up and down, a curious expression plastered to her features. “Does it make a difference if you enjoy it or not?”

  “It shouldn’t, or so I’ve heard,” Alexa said.

  The two males who had tagged along with them were falling farther behind, wanting to give the two females room to talk. The last thing they wanted was to overhear a discussion like that.

  “Do you think it does, though?” Noemi asked.

  They were approaching the pack borders, and Alexa knew that soon she would be swept down upon by her fretting mother. No doubt Sabrina would be prepared for a sobbing young wolf, more like a pup than an adult. Alexa couldn’t wait to tell her about Antony, and about how gentle he had been with her. Alexa couldn’t wait to tell her mother the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

  “I think so,” Alexa said. “It shouldn’t, like I said, but I think that it does. It’s almost like I can feel pups now,” she murmured, a tiny smile spreading her lips.

  Noemi frowned slightly, she had absolutely no idea what Alexa was talking about. It would be impossible to feel pups so soon after—surely Alexa had to know that. Noemi didn’t say anything more, instead falling into position in front of Alexa. The two males broke into a swift trot to catch up, lingering behind the two females.

  Another alpha greeted them, checking to make sure that he recognized each face before they were allowed to take one step farther.

  “You know us,” Noemi growled, the hairs on the back of her neck beginning to stand on end.

  “It’s protocol,” the other alpha replied.

  A snarl ripped through Noemi, but they were forced to wait for a few more moments. Across the border, Alexa could see her mother. Sabrina was standing with the twins, one of their hands in each of hers. She looked concerned. Even from so far away, Alexa could tell that her mother was anxious.

  As soon as they were allowed to pass, and their little group disbanded, Alexa ran up to her mother. She was greeted with a friendly nose in her hair, scenting her and making sure that she was safe from harm. Alexa stepped back a moment later, smiling still. Sabrina had clearly noticed the change, and looked Alexa up and down.

  “What happened?” she asked. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m better than ever,” Alexa replied. She dropped down to one knee to embrace her siblings, and then sent them on their way. Yipping joyfully, they ran off to join their friends in a game. “He was so gentle with me.”

  Sabrina smiled fondly at Alexa, and put a hand on her shoulder. “Here, come with me,” she said, guiding Alexa away from the open village center. They walked through the dens, never stopping for long. “What was his name?” Sabrina asked.

  “His name was Antony, and he was so handsome, mother. At first, I was scared, but he showed me that he cared. He wasn’t like the rest of the ones that I’ve been with,” she said. She longed to tell her mother about what Antony had said to her, but her mother was very strict with pack rules. There wasn’t a doubt in Alexa’s mind that Sabrina would tell her to ignore it.

  “He sounds very nice,” Sabrina said with a smile. She glanced at Alexa, who was beaming from ear to ear. “And you look as though you’ve fallen in love.”

  “I think I might have,” Alexa said. Her mother went stiff, but only for a moment. She led Alexa away from a group of alphas that they had been approaching. “Is that strange?” Alexa asked, looking up at her mother.

  “No, it’s not strange,” Sabrina said. She hummed quietly, thinking over what to say to properly express her thoughts. “It’s quite common, actually. I fell in love with your father when we first met.” A wistful sigh passed her lips. “It’s too bad that all of it is so temporary. I can hardly remember his face, and all I have left of him is you.” Sabrina turned to Alexa, looking her over. “You have his eyes,” she whispered.

  *

  “Mother, what if…” Alexa trailed off, and then glanced around them. No wolves were in sight, but that didn’t mean that someone wasn’t close enough to overhear them. She dropped her voice lower, staring down at her toes. “What if it doesn’t have to be temporary?” she whispered.

  Sabrina’s eyes went wide as she stared down at her daughter. She had never heard such words before, and she never w
ould have imagined them from someone like Alexa. “What do you mean?” she asked, although she had a growing suspicion.

  “He wants to meet me,” Alexa said. “At the next available time, as soon as we can. I didn’t agree, but I didn’t say no, either.”

  Sabrina’s head lifted up, and she examined their surroundings. The tips of her ears had turned pointed and furry. She had allowed her wolf to poke through for a few seconds to heighten her senses more than usual. She couldn’t hear or smell anybody around them, but the topic was making her nervous. It was taboo. It was a death sentence.

  “I can’t allow you to do that,” she hissed.

  Alexa’s eyes went wide and her gaze shot to her mother. “It’s not your choice!” Alexa snapped. “I’m an adult, this is something I can decide for myself.”

  Her mother scoffed. It was a short noise, which hurt Alexa more than it should have.

  “You are nothing close to an adult, Alexa,” her mother said. Alexa felt a cold sword of ice press through her chest as she continued to stare unblinking at Sabrina. “You know nothing about what you are saying. Think of your nightmares. Think of the way that wolf runs from the pack, and is torn to pieces by them.”

  “It’s only a dream,” Alexa said, although she knew that it wasn’t. It was far too real to be a simple dream. She couldn’t know where she had picked it up, from a story or from her imagination, but she knew that it was true. “It won’t happen to me.”

  “How do you know that?” her mother asked. Her gaze had gone cold, and she narrowed her eyes at Alexa. “You will die if you try to do this, Alexa. There will be no one there to save you. Did you think about maybe he is trying to trick you?”

  “Why would he do that?” she asked, furrowing her brows.

  “Because it would be all too easy to be gentle and kind with a female, and then throw her to the mercy of the law because she was stupid enough to fall for his trick,” Sabrina snarled. Her voice had turned to a grating quality, her wolf coming through in more than her ears. Her nails were sharper, and her eyes had become a twinkling golden-brown.