by S. Young
Her eyes widened. “I am?”
“Fast too.” His grin was smug, pleased.
Thea laughed at his boyishness. “Faster than you.”
“Aye, but not stronger.” He drew her into his body.
She rolled her eyes. “I could still take you.”
“Maybe,” he murmured against her mouth. “But for sure you could take anyone else in the pack. That’s why they were staring at you downstairs. You could lead a pack with the amount of alpha energy pouring off you. I should have known it.”
Thea couldn’t contemplate that. It was still bizarre to her she was now something completely different. What she could think about in relation to it, however, was … “The pack is safe?”
Understanding, Conall nodded. “The Castle Cara explosion has been on national news. It’s been divulged to the media that Ashforth and his son were renting the castle and they and their guests were killed in the explosion. The cause hasn’t been made public but is under investigation. A member of our pack lives in Glasgow and is a policewoman with the criminal investigations department. The pack is not under suspicion. In fact, we’re not even on the radar. They think it might have something to do with one of Ashforth’s business deals. We’re in the clear.”
Exhaling in relief, Thea nodded. “That’s great. But what about the danger I present?”
“James was in contact with the Blackwood Coven while you were going through the transition. They are going to pay us a visit.”
Thea tensed. “That doesn’t sound safe.”
“They’re only sending representatives. And they just want proof you’re a wolf. That people were mistaken about your identity.”
“James lied?”
“He informed them you were a lone wolf. I recognized you as my mate and I was trying to bring you back to the pack when we were accosted by Blackwood and Eirik who was misinformed about you. He told them that Eirik’s demise had nothing to do with us.”
“They believe him?”
“They willnae believe him until they see you shift into a wolf, and we need to give them that for us all to be safe.”
Although Thea nodded, she couldn’t just let that be the end. “I want to find the woman. The psychic from Prague who tried to help me.”
Conall tightened his hold on her. “It could be dangerous if anyone found out we’re poking around in fae business.”
“I know. But I … I don’t know if I can leave her out there, knowing she’s in danger.”
“And what do you plan to do when you find her?”
“Offer her the same chance that’s been given to me.”
Conall frowned. “The bite could kill her.”
Thea understood that. “She deserves the option. It should be her risk to take or not.”
Her mate let out a shuddering exhale. “Fine. But can I ask for at least one month of peace and quiet before you look for her?”
Snuggling into him, resting her head against his warm, hard chest, Thea sighed. “Yes, considering I could sleep for a month.”
He smoothed a hand down her back to cup her ass as he whispered roughly in her ears, “Oh, I intend to keep you far too busy for sleep. Mate.”
Despite her exhaustion, Thea felt a deep ripple of need in her belly as she looked up at him, lips parted.
Conall’s eyes darkened with desire. “I’ll tell everyone to leave, then you can sleep. In the morning, I’ll hold you to that promise in your eyes.”
She was almost a little disappointed at the idea of delaying sex because it had felt like an age since he’d been inside her, but as he led Thea back to the bedroom, the weariness flooded her limbs again, like sand in an hourglass.
Someone had made the bed. The sweat-soaked and torn sheets were gone.
“Callie,” Conall explained. “While we were running.”
“Did I mention I like your sister?” Thea asked as Conall pulled one of his T-shirts down over her.
“Good.” He smiled. “She likes you too.”
That was something at least. Thea still had to convince the rest of the pack she was one of them now. But that was a worry for another day.
Conall helped her into bed, and Thea was out as soon as her head hit the pillow.
She felt the wet heat between her legs, the delicious pressure, drawing her up from sleep. Thea writhed against the feeling, her eyes fluttering open as it intensified. Morning light flooded Conall’s bedroom, spilling over his broad back and his muscular ass.
Thea gasped at finding his head between her thighs, his tongue doing fantastic things to her.
“Conall,” she breathed, pushing against his mouth.
He clamped his hands down on her hips and devoured her, voracious.
The tension built quickly and soon Thea was shuddering against his tongue.
His gray eyes flashed with dark need as he crawled up her body, his fingertips sliding under the T-shirt to remove it. Thea lifted her arms to help him, her heart pounding with anticipation.
It occurred to her as Conall spread her legs to wrap them around his waist, that she was no longer as strong as she had been. As he braced his hands on the pillow at either side of her head and his eyes locked with hers, Thea wondered if it would make a difference.
If she’d be able to keep up with him now.
Conall throbbed between her legs but he didn’t push inside.
Instead, he frowned. “What was that?”
Thea frowned back. “What was what?”
“That little pucker of worry.” He smoothed a finger between her brows. “You had a thought I think I’m not going to like.”
Deciding honesty was the best policy, Thea sighed. “I just realized I’m not as strong anymore.”
“And that applies to what we’re doing how?”
She narrowed her eyes at his obtuseness and flushed. She couldn’t believe he was making her say this out loud. “What if … what if it’s not the same because I’m not as strong?”
Conall seemed stunned by the question. And silent.
Very silent.
Thea’s cheeks burned with embarrassment.
He finally answered, but not with words. He thrust inside her, pleasure shooting down her spine, tightening in her belly, tingling down her legs. Conall wrapped his hands around her wrists, his expression taut with desire as he rocked against her in slow, deep glides that pushed her toward climax.
“Heaven,” he grunted against her lips, “fucking heaven, Thea. That’s all I ever feel when I’m inside you.”
“My love for you is infinite, Thea Quinn.”
Thea gasped, remembering. He’d whispered that in her ear when she was dying.
She pushed against his hold on one of her wrists and he immediately released her, sliding a hand down her chest to caress her breast. Thea reached up to cup his face, smoothing her thumb over the scar on his cheek. “Your love for me is infinite.”
His eyes flashed. “You remember?”
Thea nodded. “I remember. I remember your voice in the dark.”
Conall groaned and kissed her, his thrusts quickening until they were moaning and panting into each other’s mouths. They came together, Thea’s legs tightening around his waist as he relaxed into her, his head buried in her neck.
“Thank you for saving my life, Chief MacLennan.” She smoothed her hands over his wide shoulders.
Conall lifted his head, his expression serious, his gaze making her breath catch. So much love. No one had ever looked at her with such love and adoration. “I would go to the ends of any world to keep you with me … Thea Quinn MacLennan.”
Her heart fluttered. “MacLennan?”
“It’s your name now, if you’ll have it.”
Thea’s answer was to tighten her legs around him, and push up and over, forcing him onto his back so she could straddle him.
She grasped his warm length in her hand, watching his nostrils flare. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he groaned, hardening in her grip.
Oh, but it
was good to be mated to a supernatural.
“It’s a hell yes.” She braced her hands on his shoulders, feeling him pulse where she wanted him most. Thea pushed down on his length to ride him. She rode him with a fierceness that made it feel like their hearts might explode in unison, proving that it wasn’t the strength of her body that made their lovemaking so passionate, but the strength of her love for Conall.
Thea was sure her cry of release and his roar resonated around the entirety of Loch Torridon, announcing her official arrival as the alpha’s mate.
And Thea wasn’t entirely wrong, much to the dismay of Callie MacLennan, in bed with James a few houses away.
“That was something I really didnae need to know about my brother.”
James pulled her into his arms, laughing hard in a complete lack of sympathy.
Callie grumbled, snuggled deeper into his warmth, and covered her ears.
“What are you doing?”
“Preparing for round three.”
The beta shook with renewed laughter. Despite not wanting to hear anymore of her brother’s lovemaking, Callie couldn’t help but smile. Her brother may have tainted her ears but she was alive because of his bonnie mate, and tangled naked in the arms of her soon-to-be husband.
She supposed she couldn’t complain.
However, when the third round of alpha-on-alpha lovemaking could be heard in the distance, complain Callie did, muttering under her breath about her brother’s indecent appetites until James rolled her onto her back and promised he’d make her moan loud enough to drown out the alpha couple.
It was a promise he kept.
34
Butterflies fluttered in Thea’s belly, but it wasn’t fear. It was nervousness and anticipation.
To say Conall was not happy about the recent turn of events was an understatement, but as she met his gaze in the crowd encircling her, he gave her a stoic nod of support.
Inside she knew he was probably desperate to tear Richard Canid’s head off and be done with it.
The murmurings of the gathered Pack MacLennan grew an octave, and they parted as Peter Canid led his son and daughter and three of their warrior wolves through the crowd.
On the opposite bank of Loch Torridon there was a little cove of beach that for some inexplicable reason was host to pure golden sands. This was where Pack MacLennan had congregated to watch their new alpha female challenge Richard Canid.
Thea had only been a werewolf for three days, which was kind of the reason Conall was pissed. But when she’d woken in his arms after a vigorous night of lovemaking in her new existence and her mate had told her he would face Richard Canid in a Challenge, Thea was not happy.
For starters, a Challenge could be anything two dueling wolves wanted it to be. Conall had declared it a fight to the submission or death in wolf form. It wasn’t that she didn’t think her mate could take Richard. It was because she thought he could, and that Richard would be too stubborn to submit. Thea believed Peter Canid a worthy ally for Pack MacLennan, and she didn’t want to ruin that. Mostly, however, she was the one who’d been kidnapped, so why the hell was Conall requesting the Challenge?
“It should be me,” Thea had argued as she followed Conall out of the shower the previous morning. He’d just told her Peter had found his son and returned him to Torridon to face Conall.
Her mate threw her an incredulous look as he pulled on his jeans. “Forget it.”
Indignation had stolen her tongue for a few seconds, long enough for him to stride out of the room with a casual, “Coffee?” over his shoulder.
Coffee?
She hauled one of Conall’s shirts over her head and hurried after him. He was in the kitchen and as soon as she walked into the room, he said without looking up, “I’m not arguing about this, so forget it.”
“Conall, Richard kidnapped me. Not you. Me.”
His eyes flashed with anger. “You’re my mate and my pack member. The offense was against me.”
Okay, no way. Thea’s hands flew to her hips. “Oh, I’m sorry, was it you who felt the agony of Ashforth’s iron concoction being injected into you or the despair of being handed over to your tormentor, all for cash?”
Conall slammed the fridge door shut and whirled to glare at her. “No, but it was me left behind panicking about your whereabouts.” He strode toward her, his furious expression probably menacing to anyone but her. Still it was intimidating enough she had to force herself to stay put as he bristled and towered over her. A bleakness entered his eyes. “It was me who watched Devon Ashforth plunge a fucking iron dagger into your heart. It was me who had to bite you all the while not knowing if it would save you. It was me sitting in a car with my sister, you dying on my back seat, contemplating if I’d be able to fucking go on if the change didn’t work and I lost you. And all of that, Thea love,” he bent his head to whisper angrily against her lips, “happened because Richard Canid kidnapped you.”
Thea stared up at Conall’s anguished expression and knew how it felt to watch that vamp back in Oslo stick the silver blade in his neck. She remembered what it was like to feel her mate’s pulse fade and the terror at the idea of a life without him.
She reached for his face, her fingers caressing his scarred cheek. “You’re right. He did do that to you.”
Thinking that was it, Conall relaxed into her touch, lifted her hand from his cheek, pressed his lips to her wrist, and then turned back to the kitchen to finish making the coffee.
Thea took a deep breath and then exhaled. “But I still think I should be the one to Challenge him.”
Conall’s back was to her but she watched his shoulders tense as he stared at the kitchen cabinet in front of him. “Fucking save me from alpha females,” he muttered.
“I heard that.”
Turning around, it was his turn to sigh as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter. “Fine. Explain.”
She smiled because this was one of the reasons she loved Conall. He might be an alpha, but he was fair-minded, and he didn’t bulldoze people with his opinions or feelings. “Okay, my first reason is pretty basic. I hate the little shit and I want to put him in his place.”
Her mate conceded that with a nod.
“My second reason is that I think the clan needs to know that I’m a worthy addition to your pack. I know you’re alpha and it’s your pack. I don’t expect you to consult me on pack business. I’m new,” she shrugged, “and I get there’s a hierarchy here. But I’m also your mate and I want to share your burdens. I want you to value my opinion.”
“You know I do,” he said, his voice gruff.
She smiled. “Then the pack needs to know that too. They need to know that I’m not your wife. I’m your mate. There’s a difference. I’m here to stay forever. And they need to understand what that means. If I take on Canid in a Challenge, I think that will help pave my way to finding my place among the pack.”
He was silent a second and then he seemed to begrudgingly agree. “You have a natural understanding of pack mentality already, Thea.”
Confident she was making headway, she moved around the island toward him. “My third reason is that if you challenge Richard, you know he won’t back down and you’ll end up killing him, Conall. You’ll want to because I know if he’d done to you what he did to me, I’d want to kill him. The alliance with Peter is too important to jeopardize, and killing Richard will create a barrier between you and his father.”
Pushing off the counter, Conall came to her, encircling her waist to pull her against him. Thea tilted her head back to meet his eyes. “Everything you say is true,” he admitted, “but what you failed to add is that you’ve been a wolf for two days, Thea. Yes, you’re a natural. Brianna said she’s never seen anyone make the change and adjust to it not only physically but mentally as well as you have.” His eyes smiled. “I’m not surprised. You are and will always be the strongest person I’ve ever known.”
She melted against him at the compliment.
“But you’re still new. Too new to jump into a fight as a wolf.”
Understanding his reasoning, even if chafed, Thea agreed but added, “That’s why I’ll fight him as me. In this body. And I won’t kill him, but I’ll put him on his ass and that’ll be it, dealt with.”
His hands flexed on her waist. “Thea love … you’re still fast but you’re not as strong as you were as fae. You havenae fought in this body before.”
“Yeah, but I still remember how to fight.”
“I cannae risk it.”
Her expression turned mulish. “You’re going to let me kick Richard Canid’s ass, Conall. If you don’t, I’m going to think you don’t have much faith in me anymore.”
He released her. “Dinnae. Dinnae try to manipulate me into this.”
Her eyes narrowed. “It’s not a manipulation. It’s truth. How can you possibly expect your pack to accept me as your alpha mate if you don’t even believe I can kick the ass of a weasel like Richard Canid? He’s a beta, for Christ’s sake, and soon to be demoted to enforced omega. Now, I’m not sure what that means, but it definitely sounds like he’ll be pretty low on the totem pole. Are you saying I can’t kick an omega’s ass?”
Conall strode over to the coffee machine and made his coffee. “Were you this bloody cocky as a fae?”
“I didn’t need to be cocky. I was awesome.”
She thought she saw a hint of a smile curling the corner of his mouth. “Well, be that as it may”—he turned to hand her a cup of coffee as he took a sip of his own—“enforced omega means that’s the official status Richard will have in his pack. It doesnae mean he loses the strength of a beta.”
“But I’m an alpha.”
“Aye, but many beta males have beaten alpha females in Challenges. It’s just a scientific fact, Thea, that many men are stronger than women. It’s not a deliberate attempt to keep females down in the ranks.”
Thea curbed the urge to growl. “Did I outrun you yesterday?”
“Aye.”
“Did I keep up when we were tussling?”
“Aye, but I was going easy on you.”
“Ugh, you just love the fact that you’re more powerful than me now.”