I squeaked, shuddering as his teeth applied the faintest amount of pressure to the sensitive bud between my legs, his hands gripping me around the waist accompanied by the sharp dig of his fingernails. Another whimper of desire left my throat as I squirmed on the rug, my arms still laying either side of my head where Thorne had pinned them down. At last he straightened up, and with aching slowness his hands left my body to unbutton his jeans, tugging them down and freeing his erect shaft. I longed to reach out and stroke him, take him in my mouth and caress him with my tongue, but I was compelled to submit to him, laying there obediently as I waited for my mate to claim me.
He took hold of both my legs beneath the knee, lifting my thighs and parting them as he moved into position. The length of his shaft brushed up between my glistening folds, coating him with my slick juices as he leant forward, placing his hands on either side of my head as he looked down at me.
"I take you as my mate," he growled, his voice husky and feral.
"I accept you as mine," I gasped, feeling the tip of him press into me.
Thorne took me by the wrists, holding me tight as his hips bucked forward, plunging himself deep with one long stroke, an impassioned roar erupting from his throat. I cried out in sharp ecstasy. The discomfort of his sudden intrusion only lasted a moment before it was replaced by the satisfying tug of his thickness filling me up. He held himself all the way inside, his hips pressing between my legs fiercely hard, the rigid length of his cock twitching and straining within my body.
He let me savour it—or perhaps it was more than that? Was Thorne pacing himself for the sake of being a tender lover, or was he asserting his dominance? Letting me feel him, every inch of him, as he opened me up and claimed my body as his?
I closed my eyes, tilting my head back and exposing my delicate throat to him as I shuddered, squeezing and clenching around his shaft uncontrollably. His stubble scratched across my chin and down my neck, responding to my submissive gesture with another passionate bite that drew a squeak of pleasure from my lungs. My legs curled around his waist, ankles locking together behind his back as he withdrew half way and thrust into me again, deep and hard, the sudden clap of his hips against my body almost painful it was so sudden. His thumbs pressed into the palms of my hands as he held me down, a shock of tight pleasure clutching at my stomach as he thrust again.
This would be no passionate romp, no tender union, no savage and lusty outpouring of emotions. Thorne was going to claim me as his mate; take me in such a way that I would never forget the man I was joined to for the rest of my life. The intensity of his lovemaking frightened me a little, but I was ready and willing to submit to it. Driven my our animal instincts working in harmony with our human desires, this was different than any experience I'd shared with another man before.
His thrusts came faster, but no more gently, and no less deep. I groaned with desire, helpless to do anything other than pull him in with my legs, struggling through the almost unbearably intense sensations as his length stretched me wide and pressed against my back wall with each intrusion.
Thorne gripped my hands tight, his muscular forearms pinning my own against the rug as he bore down on me, his cheek moving up to press against mine as he panted in my ear, his tongue and teeth teasing the lobe.
My wolf craved every powerful thrust, hungry to experience the strength of her mate despite the discomfort it caused—though it wasn't just my wolf, was it? She was me, and I was her. I had always internalised us as two separate entities struggling for control inside my head, the human and the wolf, but we were different sides of the same coin. In these rare moments when both parts of my personality were working in unison, I realised how inseparable they had become from one another.
I sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a trembling sigh as Thorne released my wrists and wrapped his arms around my body, pulling my chest against his. Every part of me wanted this. I stopped trying to maintain the distinction between my wolf's thoughts and my own, letting them blur together in a wonderful, exciting haze of passionate longing that made my heart skip and soar as new feelings and sensations caressed my body and mind.
"Yes," I groaned as Thorne's hips slapped against me, driving his cock all the way to the hilt. My voice had the same rough, husky quality to it as that of my partner, and his hands tightened around my back as he growled in response. If there had been any reluctance or doubt left in either of us, it was gone now. Thorne's thrusts came quicker, harder, hammering into me with feral strength and a tireless pace as his muscles strained in the firelight, my hands sliding across his shoulders and clutching at the back of his neck as he took me with such an urgent need that my body was soon aching.
Sweat glistened on my chest as I arched my back, my fingernails digging into his skin as I struggled to push my hips back against each jarring thrust as hard as I could, desperate to take all of him as deep inside me as possible.
My climax came hot on the heels of Thorne's relentless pace, dragging its way through my body like the hot marks of my nails scratching across my mate's shoulders. I screamed like a wild animal, shuddering and bucking as my muscles convulsed around Thorne's length, his palm pressing against my collarbone to hold me down as I struggled beneath him. My nerves crackled and burned with pleasure, and Thorne grip against my neck fired the sensation to whole new heights. His grasp wasn't desperate, or angry, or even tight. It was steady. Firm but reassuring, holding me still with a confidence that told me he was nowhere near done. It reminded me of all the unbridled power I'd felt in him before, distilled down into one simple, controlled expression of dominance.
"My alpha..." I gasped as the grip of orgasm receded from my muscles, panting hard, my face glistening with perspiration as I gazed into Thorne's eyes with longing. He was an alpha now. I could feel it in him. Pack or no pack, Thorne was a male amongst males. A leader. A victor. And I was the female he had chosen for his mate. I clung to him tight as his grip relaxed, kissing him feverishly, his lips, his neck, his chest, tasting the smoky salt of his sweat on my tongue and feeling the heat of his powerful body radiating against mine.
His hands roved across my skin, sometimes gentle, sometimes firm, squeezing my tender nipples or pressing against my shoulders, cupping my cheek or interlocking his fingers with mine. He kept me on my back, trapped beneath his muscular frame, never breaking his relentless pace as he thrust into me over and over, driving me to the peak of a second climax mere minutes after the first, followed by a third shortly after. I clung to him, blissful exhaustion taking hold of me as my fingers twined through his hair and slid across the glistening muscles of his chest and back. When he held me pinned, my hands unable to reach his delicious body, I clutched at fistfuls of the thick bearskin rug instead, tufts of brown fur straining between my fingers as I shook with pleasure.
It was impossible for me to tell how long Thorne made love to me. It could have been half an hour, or five times that long. His stamina seemed endless, his wolf channelling its energy into endurance rather than aggression. By the time my fifth climax flooded through me I was tender and sore, but Thorne's pace never faltered, and the sensitive heat between my legs never failed to flare back to life again in the wake of every orgasm, driving me on through the exhaustion and the pain until I was groaning and writhing again in the grasp of my lover. I knew I would be aching and stiff long after he was done, but I looked forward to the lingering reminder of his passionate lovemaking. Tonight was a night I was never supposed to forget, and I doubted I ever would.
When I was squirming weakly on the rug, drenched in perspiration, whimpering in the afterglow of yet another climax, Thorne's thrusts finally picked up their pace, becoming shallow and sharp, his expression tightening with anticipation. I was so exhausted I could barely hold on to him any longer, but his impending release gave me one final burst of energy. My thighs tightened around his waist, pulling him in as hard as I could as I gazed into his feral green eyes. He wrapped his arms around me tight, pulling my body agains
t his chest in a crushingly tight grip as he groaned, his heart thudding against mine with every spasm of his hot length inside me, filling me with warmth as he came long and hard, claiming my mouth for one final blazing kiss.
The fire smouldered beside us, dying down to hot coals along with the heat of our passion. Thorne collapsed against me, and I went limp beneath the weight of his heaving body, the pair of us gasping for breath as we clung to one another. My lower belly was filled with a dull ache and the warmth of his climax, my nerves numb with pleasure. Neither of us spoke—I doubted I could. It was several minutes before Thorne lifted himself off me, stroking my cheek and brushing sweaty locks of hair away from my face as he looked down at his new mate.
"Are you alright?" he said softly, the grating husky note receding from his voice.
I nodded, smiling weakly. Every muscle in my body felt raw and frayed, but the pain was good. It let me know I would never forget my mating.
"I'm yours now," I said, taking Thorne's hand and tilting my head to kiss it.
"And I'm yours." He smiled, sliding out of me and resting on an elbow as he shifted his weight off my exhausted body.
I closed my eyes, murmuring in satisfaction as my tired muscles melted into the softness of the rug. "You're going to be a good alpha." I opened my eyes again and looked at Thorne, and for once I didn't see any trace of uncertainty in his gaze.
"I will be, with you."
I slept a pleasant, dreamless sleep in Thorne's arms that night, all of my thoughts and worries blotted out by a rare feeling of complete and utter contentment. When I woke it was still dark, but the fire had burned down to almost nothing while we slept. It must have been close to dawn.
I carefully extracted myself from Thorne's embrace, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I winced with pain as I stood up, wobbling on my feet with a wistful smile as I quickly threw on my gown against the nighttime chill. I was just as sore as I'd predicted, but it was a welcome reminder of Thorne's passion lingering within my body. I knelt down and kissed his cheek before slipping away behind the trees to relieve myself, wondering how we might break the news of our mating to the rest of the Wood Pack.
My senses were so dull that even my wolf failed to notice the pair of glowing eyes watching me until it was too late. I jumped up with a start as the werewolf slunk out of the shadows, moving quickly behind me to block off my path back to the fire. In my daze it took me a moment to recognise the familiar features, my thoughts thick and sluggish in the foggy cloud of sleep as my brain struggled to catch up with what my eyes were seeing.
It was Baya, the mate of Cyan's second-in-command, the senior female of our old pack. I frowned in confusion, fear and uncertainty creeping up on me.
"Why are you... Baya?" I backed away, clutching the branch of a nearby tree as I kept my distance. She shifted into her human form, her expression devoid of any of the warmth I remembered. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but she looked strained, tired, her body tense like a coiled spring.
"Is it true what Cyan told us?" she said, her voice grating. "That you and Thorne attacked him and abandoned the pack?"
"We... no." I shook my head, struggling to clear my thoughts. "It wasn't like that. He wouldn't let us go. I had to fight him off when he tried to stop us."
"Because you disobeyed him? You tried to go back to the city when you were supposed to be out hunting for the pack?"
I bit my lip. What had Cyan told them after he returned? I'd barely spared a minute to think about what life might have been like in our old pack since we'd left, but even if Cyan had told them the truth...
"I know it sounds bad, but I was only trying to visit my family. You know Cyan never let me see them, and I never thought he'd come after us. I didn't mean—"
"This is the Wood Pack's territory." Baya sniffed the air. "Are you with them now instead of us?"
"They're not like our old pack, they're good people, you could join them too!" I blurted out, my apprehension building.
Baya's expression was grave, but her features softened slightly as she looked at me. "You don't just abandon your pack because you like the look of another, Lyssa. You know I always liked you, but Cyan... he might not be the perfect leader, but he's our leader. Without an alpha, we're just a pack of wild animals. We owe him our loyalty, no matter how bad it gets."
I saw the pain in Baya's eyes, and my fear turned to dread. "What's he done? I whispered.
"He sent me here to look for you and Thorne." She shook her head. "He's uprooted the whole pack trying to find you two. At first he was just angry. He wouldn't listen to what anyone said. He kept touching that scar you left on his cheek, going out into the woods by himself trying to find you. After a couple of days he started taking the rest of us with him. And now? He's obsessed."
"It's his instinct." I took a tense breath. "He never could handle anyone disobeying him. Can't you talk him out of it?"
Baya shook her head. "Don't you think we tried?" she said bitterly. "He won't stop till he finds the pair of you, and right now I don't know whether he'll kill you or drag you back to the camp kicking and screaming." She paused. "I have to tell him where you are."
I gave the older woman a pleading look, but her face was grim. Loyalty had always been her instinct, to her mate, her pack, and her alpha. It was a common instinct that ran through the pack mentality of most werewolves, and it was what made a crazed alpha especially dangerous with a group of followers behind him. Would mine and Thorne's old friends really turn against us at Cyan's command? Their human emotions might fight against it, but their animal instincts would be difficult to sway. My thoughts raced.
"Thank you for warning me," I said. "Will you at least give us time to get back to the Wood Pack?"
Baya pressed her lips together, then gave the tiniest of nods. "It's gotten bad, Lyssa. This won't end well if you and Thorne don't come back to him."
"He wouldn't try to challenge the Wood Pack," I said, but as soon as I'd voiced it I began to wonder. Just how would Cyan be willing to go?
"He will now. We ran into a hunting band from the Mine Pack on our way here. Neither of us outnumbered the other, so there wasn't a fight, but Cyan spoke to their alpha."
Fear gnawed at my stomach. I remembered being pursued by the hunting band, their bloodthirsty howls in the distance as they chased us. We'd barely escaped that night.
"They told us to look for you here." Baya paused, her voice grave. "And their alpha said that if we were going to attack the Wood Pack, he'd join us."
"But there's not enough of them, they wouldn't—"
"Not on their own, but with both our packs combined they'd have the numbers. The Mine Pack want this territory, and Cyan wants you."
"How could he agree to something like that?! How could he ever make a deal with the Mine Pack?"
"He's not been the same ever since you left. I don't know how he made a deal with them, but that's the truth of it. If you don't go back to him, he'll fight through anyone that gets in his way till he finds you. He even sent a group to—" She caught herself before going any further. "I've already said too much. You have to come back, then all of this can be over. Nobody else will need to get hurt, and we can go back to how things were before."
I remembered my life under Cyan, his controlling, inflexible rules, the way he'd used me...
My stomach turned at the thought of going back to that after my time spent with the Wood Pack. There was no way Cyan would let Thorne and I be together, even if we were mated now. He'd probably kill Thorne and take me for his own, if he'd become as obsessed as Baya described.
"We can't go back," I said, swallowing the lump in my throat, "not now."
Baya sighed and nodded, stepping aside to let me go. "I understand. You were always stubborn when it came to Cyan. But remember, Lyssa, this is about more than just you and him now. A lot of people are going to get hurt if you do this."
I struggled to find a response, some kind of argument to defend my decision, but my chest ached
painfully, my thoughts wild and panicked. Baya shifted back into her wolf form, giving me a final lingering look before slipping away silently into the trees.
I stood still for a moment, unsure of what to do, and then I was running back to the campfire, falling to my knees beside Thorne and shaking him by the shoulder with trembling hands. I couldn't think. My happy future was coming crashing down around me.
"Thorne, Thorne wake up!" I whispered sharply, on the verge of tears. "We have to go, we have to go now!"
—8—
Challengers
Rowan listened in silence as I told him everything I'd learned from Baya earlier that evening, his fingers steepled below his chin as he stared at the far wall of his cabin. Thorne stood beside me with his arms folded, eyes on the table in front of us, carefully avoiding Rowan's gaze. Though neither said a word, I felt as though the pair of them were dancing around each other, two hostile alphas circling as they sized up their opponents. Thorne was waiting for him to make a misstep so that he could leap to my aid, back up my claims and force Rowan to realise how much of a threat Cyan and his new allies were to the Wood Pack.
The tension in the air was a painful undercurrent to my account of the conversation I'd had with Baya, and for once I wished my new mate would forget his dominant instincts for a moment and let us have a rational conversation about what to do next, without the underlying animosity between him and Rowan getting in the way. Right now we needed to behave like humans, not wolves. We needed to play this smart, and letting our instincts get in the way wasn't going to help anyone. I wished Agatha was here, lending her voice of reason to the discussion. Rowan had yet to say a word, and already I was dreading the outcome.
Wild Instincts - Complete Edition (Werewolf Erotic Romance) Page 19