by Sayde Grace
Looking back at her from the doorway, he tried to fight off the resemblance he now saw between her and Velham. Jasper loved her more than life, but it bothered some part within him that her father was Dane Velham. The man was a monster, and everything that came from him was a monster too. Everything except Sidda. No, she was a strong, perfect wolf. The pack would have a problem at first adjusting to her being their female Alpha, but he’d make sure everyone, including Vivian, knew he’d chosen Sidda as his mate.
He shut the door and went to the large family room. Cole stood, racking the balls on the pool table.
“Wanna try it out? Sidda’s taught me a few tricks.” Cole waggled his eyebrows.
Anger roared in Jasper’s head. “Cole, I know there has never been any feelings between you and Sidda besides brother and sister love, but my beast is wanting to kill you. I think it might be a good idea to stop trying to provoke me.”
“Nah. You deserve it and much more. If you had any damn clue how many nights I heard her crying in her room because she missed you, you’d understand. To me, you deserved to come home to see her with another man.”
Jasper growled and stepped toward his best friend. “Brother, you are close to getting yourself hurt. Do not challenge me.”
“I’m not one of your fucking wolves to command. Sidda is a sister to me, and you hurt her. I should have flown to Romania and kicked your ass for all the pain you caused her.” Cole slammed the pool stick down.
“You’re right.” Jasper’s eyes stung with the pain of what he’d done to Sidda, but he wasn’t going to let Cole push him. “You’re not one of my wolves. If you were, I’d have you on the fucking ground with my teeth in your throat.”
“Fuck you, man. I’ve talked you up for years because I knew y’all were right for each other. That someday you’d come back to her and give her everything. That is the only reason I’ve never said anything to her about your piece of ass you had trotting around behind you in Romania.”
Jasper stumbled during his approach to Cole. “What?” His heart hammered in his chest.
“You didn’t think I knew? I heard her once. She was talking to someone else while you were talking to me. I heard her say she’d been staying with you. If Sidda ever knew, she’d never speak to you again. She waited her whole life for you, and you couldn’t wait for her. I wanted to tell her to stop waiting, to hate you, but I couldn’t because she loves you. Don’t ask me to do anything else for you. I can’t.”
Cole turned and stomped out of the room. He was wrong. Jasper had never had anyone else. Vivian wasn’t his piece of ass, but he knew that just like Cole, Sidda wouldn’t understand what had happened. He cursed himself for never explaining to either one of them what and who Vivian was. Hell, he’d been shocked to find out that the pack’s Visioner’s daughter was still alive. The girl that he had been prophesied to mate with. Scarlett Dowery, the pack’s Visioner had told them all that Jasper Gandillion was to mate with her daughter. That had been just weeks before Scarlett had gone missing. Since the time Jasper and his family had gone to the cabin to wait out the Pack War he hadn’t seen or heard from Vivian Dowery, until Romania. She’d been living with pack members, hiding from Dane Velham. He ran a hand down his face. Cole wouldn’t say anything and hopefully would keep his temper under control until Jasper could explain it all to them. If not, Jasper knew he’d have one hell of a mess on his hands.
* * * *
Sidda moaned, slowly opening her eyes. She blinked. The ceiling above her was tongue-and-groove wood. The smooth sheets under her skin were way too soft and silky for a hospital. She groaned. Damn, she’d been in the hospital.
Shaking her head, she sat up. She didn’t have a freakin’ clue where…
“Son of a bitch. I’m gonna kill his ass.” She snatched the deep blue sheet off.
Her feet hit the cold hardwood floor, and she took a second to look down. She was dressed, kinda. Jasper’s tee shirt would have to do for this ass whippin’.
The room, a silver almost grey color, would have relaxed her if she hadn’t been so pissed. She grabbed the bronze doorknob, jerked it open, and found herself in the largest family room she’d ever been in. It was at least a thousand square feet, with two large fireplaces, bookshelves along every wall, a pool table, a foosball table, and three large sofas. One held the mutt who’d kidnapped her.
“Watch that tongue, babe.”
She glared at him. Inside, she was boiling with anger. “You son of a bitch. I can’t believe you kidnapped me! I told you I didn’t want to come here. I don’t even know where here is, but I wanted to go home.”
She grabbed a lamp from the table and slung it at him. He easily ducked. But she still felt a little better. The lamp crashed into the wall near an arched opening.
Cole stuck his head inside the room. “Damn, your eyes are hunter orange. That means you’re pissed huh?” He popped a grape into his mouth.
“No shit! Of course, I’m pissed!”
She stepped forward, and her foot caught on a large red and gold rug. She stumbled to a huge overstuffed leather sofa. Gripping the back of it, she straightened. The voice of her beast told her to back down, to leave her Alpha alone, but she couldn’t. He’d really overdone it this time.
“Cole, if I were you, I’d back the hell out of this room and not come back. I’m going to kick his ass for this.”
She ground her teeth when Jasper threw his head back and laughed. “Jasper,” she growled. She stopped mid-step. She’d growled? Shit.
“Hmmm, sexy. I like your growl. Now come here and let me make sure you’re all right.” He smiled, his dimple shining.
“You kidnapped me. You made me pass out somehow, and you didn’t even let me have a chance to talk to my mom. Do you know how many questions I have? I can’t believe you’d do this to me.” She stepped closer.
“Believe it. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and protected. Even if it means using my powers as Alpha to put you into an unconscious state.”
She opened her mouth to argue with him. She wanted to badly. Yet what was there to argue about? She knew he spoke the complete and utter truth. He’d always been overly protective and overly male. Damn him.
“And it’s not kidnapping if I took you home. This is our home. You love Atlanta. You went to college here.” He rose from the couch. “Come here. Let me make sure you’re okay.” He held out a hand.
In a last ditch effort to show him she couldn’t be ordered around, she glared at him. “Screw you.” She grabbed a book from the large wooden end table, reared back, and slung it at his head. This time it made contact.
He stumbled a few feet backward. His eyes glazed over and then burned bright orange. “You will pay for that later. I am going to chain you to the bed and spank your pretty ass for it.” He growled, low and deep.
Sidda cocked her hip out, seething with anger. She picked up the basket full of decorative ceramic balls from the side table and chunked them all at him. “Where’s my mom, jackass? I have questions. And where’s the doc?”
“They’re here, and we will talk to them in a few minutes. First bring your gorgeous self here and let me see that you’re okay.” His tone changed from angry to pure pissed. “Sidda, so help me if you don’t get over here now, I will come and make you.”
If his smell hadn’t changed to sulfur, she might have denied him. More than likely if she hadn’t been just a bit afraid of his wolf she would have flipped him off and stormed away. But she couldn’t deny him. Not only did she fear him a little when he got like this, but he was everything to her. No matter how much that fact scared her.
Her footsteps echoed on the hardwood floors, breaking the silence in the room. She glanced to the doorway, Cole had left them alone.
Jasper’s hands reached out to her, wrapped around her waist, and tugged. “I can’t be sorry for bringing you here, but I am sorry you feel uncomfortable. I’d wanted to wait. To spend some time at the cabin.” His gaze swept the large living room
. “I’m not sure about this place either, but it is the Blue Moon Pack’s home. The surviving pack members will hear of my arrival and come back.”
“And so will Velham. You’re making yourself an easy target.” She ran her hand down his bare chest.
“No, I’m making myself known. I can’t protect you the way I want from the cabin or your mom’s house. Here I can. I even had the blue sheets put on the bed just for you.” He cupped the back of her neck to skim her lips with his.
“Why?” Sidda pulled back away from him. No good reason for having blue sheets for her came to mind.
“When we went to the mall to get you and Cole stuff for college, you picked up some sheets just like that, but none of us could afford it. I want to give you everything you ever dreamed of having. And I can.”
She looked into his eyes. Chocolate mixed with green. She loved that color. Her heart beat a little faster. The voice inside her begged to be closer to him. The soft feminine voice wanted to be near his wolf, to feel his power, to let him protect them. But the part of her brain that still thought of everything in human terms knew it couldn’t work that way. He had to protect himself first and foremost. If something happened to him, she wouldn’t make it, but if something happened to her, he’d be strong for his pack and survive.
”Surviving isn’t living.” His lips crushed down on hers.
His mouth on hers was all that mattered. His tongue slipped between her lips to tangle with hers. She opened, letting him take control of the lip-bruising kiss.
He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, his tongue running ever so gently across it before he nibbled once. She moaned, and then he stroked the roof of her mouth. She went limp, her mind stopped working, and all she could do was give herself over to the man she’d been in love with since she was a child—her wolf. The tingle of the touch shot lust through her body to pool heat between her legs.
She struggled to breathe. Pulling away from him, she gulped in air. His mark flared red, crimson red. Intrigued, she pressed her lips to it.
“Oh shit.” His body leaned away from her. His foot caught on the rug, and he fell backward onto the couch with her nearly on top of him.
She smiled. The beast in her screamed to straddle him and ride him hard. The her part happened to be thinking the same thing. His warm skin quaked under her palms. Her legs straddled his, the harsh denim from his jeans rubbed roughly against her bare legs. But the jean-clad hard-on pressing up to her pussy had her burning with desire.
But she wasn’t done exploring his mark. She rubbed her body across his as she leaned down to his neck. He sucked in a breath. Hands gripped her waist roughly. The mark so red, so beautiful begged to be tasted.
“Jesus, she’s gonna kill me. I’m going to explode in my fucking pants. Oh god, why didn’t I tell her in high school? Oh shit.”
She grinded against him. “Because you were a fool. Just think if you’d told me in high school, we could have been doing this for years. I would have even gone with you to Romania. We wouldn’t have had to wait.”
“Babe, shit. I can’t hold back.” He grunted.
She winked at him. Her hand slipped between them, and catching his zipper with her fingers, she dragged it over his hard-on.
“Babe?” Panic and lust rolled off of him.
“Lie still. I may have to pay for hitting you with the book, but you have to pay for kidnapping me.” She pulled his dick from his jeans. The zipper touched the tender skin. “It’s going to hurt, but I think you’ll forget about the pain soon enough.”
His eyes went huge. He grabbed her wrists, trying to stop her, but she already had his thick throbbing cock ready.
“Your mom’s here. I don’t really want her to see me fucking you.”
Sidda pulled her underwear to the side, pushing her body against his. She slid her wet pussy over his cock. He clenched his teeth and grasped her waist to try and hold her still.
“You won’t be fucking me. I’ll be fucking you.” She pushed his cock inside her. The complete ecstasy of having him deep inside caused her head to roll back, and she closed her eyes.
His cock stretched and filled her. Fingers felt good, but his cock was a hundred times better. Below her he growled. She opened her eyes to see him biting his lower lip. His eyes were closed, but his mind wasn’t.
“Bite, mark. No, can’t. Oh shit, need.”
Her beast ached to have his teeth on her, biting her. She balked at first. But the urge to have him doing it grew stronger. She leaned forward, his cock sliding in and out of her, and turned her head. Her exposed neck thrust toward his face when he grabbed her. Her breath caught, because to feel him bite her would send her over the edge. His teeth scraped against her neck. The mark on the opposite side throbbed.
“Bite. Mark. Mine.”
He growled. She pushed herself harder down onto his cock while the rough denim rasped her thighs. She leaned her head back, closing her eyes, trying to distinguish the pain/pleasure the metal zipper caused as it brushed against her nether folds. He thrust up into her, taking away any chance of thought. His hips arched off the couch to push all of himself inside her. He stroked deep. Her clit ground against his body.
“Jasper…I’m two seconds…away…Mark m…” His teeth clamped onto her neck. “Oh god…so…good.” She closed her eyes. White flashes of light exploded behind her eyelids. A passion to have more flooded her while her voice shook the walls with screams of pleasure. The ecstasy continued until she couldn’t distinguish her pleasure from Jasper’s. And she didn’t give a shit either. His pleasure fueled hers and vice versa.
His cock twitched, still buried deep within her body. The new bite on her neck stung, but didn’t really hurt. His tongue licked the stinging flesh.
His hand stroked her back. “It should heal within minutes. Only the Marking Bite shows the teeth marks.”
She smiled against his bare chest. The hair rasped slightly on her cheek. “Oh yeah? How do you know?”
His body stiffened slightly under hers. She looked up to see his jaw clenched and the peaceful set of his eyes gone. His eyebrows drew into a tight frown. He kissed her head and shrugged. “I’m not real sure. Seems like someone told me once.”
She didn’t understand what his worried expression was from and tried to focus on his thoughts, but her brain was nothing more than a pile of lust mush. “Well, honestly I don’t think I’d mind a bit if you marked me each time. The intensity of it…”
He rose, pulling her with him. She stared at him, wondering what in the hell he was doing. Then she heard the footsteps. They hit the hardwood floor heavy, but still sounded a good ways away.
“How big is this house? And is my hearing ever gonna go back to normal?” she whispered, more to herself than to him.
The rawness of everything had begun to work on her nerves. She couldn’t turn off the hyped-up hearing, smelling, and seeing. She’d liked being human, a lot. But the intenseness of sex with Jasper now made up for the extra stuff.
Jasper eased out of her, giving her a chance to pull the underwear back to place. His cum and her cream pooled together on her inner thigh. The cream was a shining sign to anyone who looked close at her thigh of their earlier “argument.”
“If that’s how you argue, let’s argue again in an hour and then all night.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Maybe later, but we need to talk about me being a wolf. Does the whisper ever go away?”
Jasper shook his head. “No, but it’s a part of you. I’ve never been without my wolf, so I don’t know what being alone in my mind is like.”
Dr. Thomas strode into the room. “Well, I’m glad to see you’re up and feeling well.”
“I’m glad you two didn’t destroy the room. This place is badass.” Cole flopped down on the couch. His eyes raked her bare legs all the way up to the hem of the shirt.
She pulled the tee down to her upper thigh. Jasper growled while grabbing a blanket to lay over her lap. Cole laughed, but his tone wasn’
t the same teasing tone it had been years ago. Jasper clenched his mouth shut, praying Cole would hold his tongue until he could explain everything.
“Being in Romania has made you harsh, man. If you only knew how much of her hot little body I’d seen at the apartment over the years.” Cole laughed, his eyes flashed with challenge.
Jasper’s wolf surged to the top, wanting to take Cole to the ground. Anger roared in his head. He struggled to keep his vision clear. Beside him, bones creaked and popped.
“Jasper, I think you’re triggering my wolf. My eyes are blurry.” Sidda blinked at him.
“Sorry. Cole’s gonna have to stop talking that way though. I can’t help getting pissed as hell.”
“Well, you could have…”
Come home, called, or asked me to visit. Jasper finished her sentence in his head. He knew exactly what she would say, and all of it was true.
Jasper gritted his teeth. “I know. Now, drop it. Focus on calm things. Like the mountain, or the beach, the sounds of nature. Anything that will calm you down.”
He grinned as warmth seeped over him, relaxing his body and mind. “Good, I can feel you calming down. It’s even making my wolf stop wanting to kill Cole.” He picked up her hand to kiss the palm.
He sat silently, listening to her breathing. Her heart beat strong and steady. He focused on the beat. The soft fast thumping rhythm silenced the beast in him. He glanced over at Cole, and for an instant, his wolf surged up again, but then it passed. Whatever calming techniques Sidda had done for herself had controlled his wolf too.
Soft footsteps made them look at the doorway. In the doorway, Sidda’s mother stood, chewing the nails on one hand. Her eyes widened, and her head bowed so that her jet black hair covered most of her face. Jasper squeezed Sidda’s hand, hoping she’d go easy on Angela. The woman had taken care of her, raised her, and, above all, loved her.