by M. L. Briers
“I did. If you have a problem with being alive you can deal with me later. Lay still and heal.”Alex growled down at her gently and she felt his arms tighten around her.
“Where’s Steve?”Sofia felt the flash of panic shot through her. Had they killed him? She knew some of the Lycan way, and retribution was a given within the packs.
“I kind of kicked him into touch…”Julia motioned across the grass to where Steve was still kneeling, his face was in his hands and he was sobbing. “He’s a little sorry for what he did.”Julia teased, but her eyes flicked up towards Alex. There was still no saying that the Alpha wasn’t going to rip Steve’s head off for what had happened, even if he was a little preoccupied right now.
“What do you want me to do with him?”Shaun growled out and saw Alex’s top lip twitch with anger.
“He’s mine to kill.”Alex growled out a warning to his Beta and Shaun nodded, but his eyes flicked towards his mate and the look of horror that washed over her face.
“Alex, please…”Julia ground out. This wasn’t her fault, not this time, she hadn’t asked Steve for help, but still she felt somehow responsible.
“We have laws, Julia…”Alex offered her and she cursed.
“Stupid laws that don’t apply here. He’s family and this was an accident. He didn’t even know the safety wasn’t on.”She saw the flash of anger in the alpha and turned away.
“Alex, you can’t…”Sofia tried to sit up again, but Alex had a vice grip on her and she couldn’t move. “He’s family, and Julia’s right, it was an accident, and he would ever have hurt me deliberately.”The look of pain on her face had nothing to do with her healing wound. The anxiety within her that rolled over him was for her family member, but he couldn’t be so easily swayed.
The urge to kill the man was burning deep within him. If Sofia had died the man would already been dead. If Sofia hadn’t of been lying in his arms healing he would have walked over there and torn him limb from limb by now. How could he bury the anger and the hate he had for the man who had injured his mate, nearly killing her?
“Shaun, get one of the pack to take him to one of the disused cabin and watch him. I need to tend to my mate.”Alex pulled himself to his feet with Sofia still in his arms.
“Alex, please…”Sofia tried again, but Alex just growled down at her gently.
“Not now, Sofia.”Alex cautioned her as he stalked back inside the house with her.
“But, Shaun, it was an accident…”Julia had been following him around from room to room as he tried to escape the conversation that he had already given up on once.
“I know.”Shaun rolled his eyes in his head and dropped down onto the kitchen stool. How many times did he have to hear his mate’s pleas, especially when he already had all the damn facts?
“But, you’re his Beta, you can sway him…”Julia reached for the coffee pot and dropped a fresh mug down in front of him, smiling hopefully, and pouring out a steaming brew.
“This is blackmail I take it?”Shaun chuckled as he motioned to the cup, and she frowned.
“It’s a cup of coffee…”She offered innocently and he shrugged his shoulders.
“Good to know, because blackmail doesn’t work with me…”He narrowed his eyes on her and then raised his brows suggestively. “Unless you have something I want.”He offered teasingly and she huffed at him.
“You’re a pig.”Julia informed him as she stomped over to another stool and dropped down on top of it. Her elbows went to the counter top and she dropped her chin in her hands and sighed. What the hell was she going to tell Jonathon if the Alpha decided to eat his partner?
“I’m just a man…”Shaun offered, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
“Wolf…”She sneered, reminding him that he was far from just a man, as if any of them could forget it.
“That too, but still just a man, with simple needs, and desires…”He teased again and she huffed again.
“I guess neither of us do blackmail then.”She ground out between clenched teeth. Would she mate with him to save Steve’s life? Wouldn’t that act commit her to Shaun for the rest of her life? It was worth it, to save Steve… but there was still no guarantee that the Alpha would listen to Shaun.
“You need to get some sleep.”Shaun offered and she flicked her eyes at him suspiciously, and he held up his hands and chuckled. “Just sleep.” He grinned at her, but she didn’t feel like sleeping, or eating, or grinning, or mating. She needed to know what was going to happen to Steve.
“I don’t want to sleep.”She snapped back and he took a moment to consider it.
“Then we could go mate.”He offered and she gasped her disbelief.
“Pig.”She dropped down from the stool and went to walk away from him, but he turned on the stool and reached for her. Wrapping his hand around her wrist he pulled her towards him, trapping her legs between his as he locked his ankles behind her knees, holding her in place.
“Keep denying to yourself how much you like me, and I’ll keep reminding you just how much you do.”
“Keep telling yourself that, and I’ll keep reminding you just how moronic that makes you.”She sniped back as she splayed her hands against his chest and pushed backwards, but her knees buckled and he grasped her hips, keeping her upright and bringing her closer to him.
“And what makes you think I’m going to let you go?”Shaun teased, and she scowled at him, even though her whole body was more than happy to be where she was. Her insides were doing flip-flops and her sex was already clenching in search of him.
“Because you said I could leave tomorrow and I don’t think you’re a man who breaks his word.”Cheap shot and she knew it, but it seemed to still his mood as he frowned.
He damned himself for ever telling her that. He should never have made that concession, even if it was made in the heat of the moment, it was still binding. If she wanted to leave he had no choice but to let her go.
Shaun released her legs and made sure she was stable on her feet before he dropped his hands to his knees and nodded his head.
“You’re right. I did and I will…”
“And no cheating?”Julia was already backing off, even though her brain and her body were screaming at her, questioning her sanity. The mating pull was getting to be like chickenpox, it was an itch that she so damn well wanted to scratch that it was driving her half mad by not giving in.
“Perish the thought.”Shaun gave her a wolfish grin. Maybe just a little cheating, he thought, because he still had time to make her his.
“How many ways can I say I’m fine, Alex?”Sofia grumbled. She’d been well and truly taken care of by her mate. Showered, dried and treated to the floor show of -which of his enormous t-shirts did she want to wear?- as she sat there on the edge of the bed wrapped in a fluffy towel. Now he was curled around her protectively in the bed, stroking his hands down her back soothingly.
“Just making sure sweetheart. And you have Vamp…”
“Vampire blood in my system, yes so you said about forty million times.”She huffed and he growled down gently at her.
“And you’re still a little shocked…”
“I’m not shocked, I’m miffed, and that’s being polite. Why won’t you answer my question?”Sofia put her hands against his chest and pushed away from him, but only as far as he would let her.
“Sofia…”Alex cautioned and she snorted her contempt for his tone.
“Do not do that. I’m your mate, talk to me, Alex.”Sofia glared at him. She’d had enough of being treated like a china doll. Quinn had healed her, job done, now she needed answers.
“Sofia…”Alex‘s tone didn’t change any and she sighed.
“Is this how it’s going to be between us? Because I don’t like being shut out. And please don’t tell me this is pack business, Alex…”
“You are my pack Sofia. This is personal, he nearly killed you…”That angry growl was back in his tone and she ignored it.
“Accident.”S
he reminded him.
“You could have died…”
“Accident.”Sofia shrugged her shoulders and she heard Alex growl again.
“The fact remains…”
“That it was a damned accident.”If she could have, she would have thrown her arms up in frustration, but she couldn’t, so she chose to roll her eyes instead.
“Will you stop saying that?”Alex shot back, and it was her time to get shirty.
“Sure. When you start listening, I’ll stop having to repeat myself.”
She heard him growl in annoyance. The long breath he pushed down his nose didn’t go amiss with her as she raised her brows and sat there on the moral high ground.
“Females.”He ground out and she snorted her contempt.
“Well, I suppose we can’t all be muscle bound, egocentric, arses, can we?”She muttered, knowing full well he would hear each and every word, and more than happy about that.
“Sofia, I do not want to fight with you…”Alex growled and she snorted again. In her mind she had folded her arms over her chest and was standing there giving him the evil eye. If only she was able to move without fear that she might be hit by a low flying gnat and drop down dead of internal injuries, and of course, come back as a damn vampire… bloody Lycan protective streak…
“No, you want to mate with me, but how likely is that if you kill my friend?”Sofia demanded and Alex growled again.
“What about if I just maim him a little, would you mate with me then?”Alex couldn’t help the chuckle that rolled through him as her head snapped to one side, and she scowled at him, he was playing her.
She went to speak but her jaw just sort of hung there for a long moment, until she mentally slapped herself and snapped it shut again on a small whine of annoyance.
“I hate you.”She bit out finally.
“No, you don’t.”Alex growled gently at her as he rolled her over onto her back and stroked down her cheek with the backs of his fingers.
“You’re not going to hurt him are you?”
“I would have killed him. I maybe should have killed him…”
“But?”
“But, now I’ve had a chance to calm down, and considering it was an accident, and that you are healed, and that two members of my pack would probably never forgive me if I sliced and diced him into tasty sized chunks for the birds to feed on…”Sofia scrunched up her nose at the thought, and he chuckled again. “I suppose I shall be a fair and wise Alpha and not kill him…”
“Not hurt him at all?”
“Even if I could forgo the retribution for his actions, my wolf…”
“What if I can distract your wolf while he makes a quick and speedy getaway?”Sofia stroked her fingertips down his naked chest and heard the low rumble of a growl roll through him.
“You are very distracting…”Alex agreed as he pressed his naked body the length of hers, even through the thin cotton top she was wearing, she could still feel the heat of his skin and the hard press of his arousal, and she flushed from head to toe, wanting him.
“Bond with me…”Sofia ran her hands around to his back, stroking just her fingertips down his spine and felt him shiver with need for her.
“You’d bond with me to save…?”
“No. I was going to bond with you anyway.”She assured him and he couldn’t help but reach out to her emotions to see if she was being deceitful, he found nothing but a little tension and a lot of desire.
‘Shaun?’ Alex didn’t know what his Beta was doing, he hoped he wasn’t interrupting anything, amorous.
‘Yeah, Alex. What’s up?’Shaun didn’t sound annoyed or out of breath, so Alex presumed he was no nearer getting Julia to mate with him.
‘Tell whoever’s looking after Steve to send him on his way, with a warning to get the hell back where he came from and not show his face around town until he’s invited back.’ Alex growled out. He couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed at not being able to at least beat the hell out of him.
‘You have no idea how helpful that is…’ Shaun chuckled and Alex couldn’t help but grin at Sofia.
‘Trust me, I get it.’ Alex assured him. ‘And Shaun. If anyone disturbs me again tonight, I’m going to rip their damn arms off and beat them to death with them.’
‘Understood.’
Alex stroked his fingers back down her cheek and saw her watching him.
“What?”
“You were doing that mind reading thing with your pack…”
“I was speaking with Shaun…”Alex informed her and she waited expectantly. “And yes I told him to let Steve go…”He saw the happiness spark across her face, her eyes all but glowed brighter back at him, and her emotions were all over the place as they crashed over him like waves. “But, he’s to leave town and not come back until I say he can. If I see him…”Alex growled a warning.
“No. He’ll go. I know he will. I’ll speak to Jonathon tomorrow and explain everything. I promise he won’t come back.”Sofia gushed out. “Thank you for listening…”
“I’m always going to listen to you, Sofia, but I might not always agree with what you have to say.”Alex rolled them over in the bed until she was on top of him. He reached up with both hands and stroked her hair back from her face.
“Bond with me, Alex…”
“Not now, now I want to make love to you, sweetheart. I want to savour you and know that I still have you here with me. I thought you were going to die and it scared the hell out of me.”
Alex reached up and kissed her gently, reverently, and then with so much passion that it made her head spin.
Shaun delivered Alex’s message to let Steve go and to warn him to leave quickly and not return, to the Lycan guarding him, before he snapped off his mobile and went in search of Julia.
He followed her scent into the back room and found her curled up against the back cushion of the large sofa. She looked so small and fragile curled into the corner, and he followed her to eyes to the blank television screen as she stared, lost in thought.
Shaun bent down and reached out his hand, stroking his fingers down her cheek and breaking through the turmoil within her mind, as she shivered from his touch, bringing her eyes to his.
“Alex just told me to let Steve go…”He saw her whole demeanour change. It was as if she had felt the sunshine for the very first time, and she came to life in front of his eyes. The worry, the fear, was swept away on a wave of happiness that rushed over her.
“Thank you…”Julia threw herself into his waiting arms and hugged him, and it was all he could do not to groan with his need for her.
“It wasn’t my doing. I think it had something to do with Sofia…”Shaun admitted. Sure, he’d like to take the credit for it, earn brownie points, but he didn’t want to lie to his mate.
“But still, he’s going home…”Julia didn’t give a damn at that moment whose decision it was, who had swayed the vote and saved him being punished for what happened, she was just damn glad that was what was happening.
“He needs to leave and not come back…”Shaun advised her and she pulled back away from him so she could nod her agreement, but the wide grin on her face told him she didn’t care what the terms were.
“I was so scared for him.”She admitted, and Shaun brushed the backs of his fingers down her cheek.
“Alex is a good guy, he’s fair, and he’d do anything to protect Sofia. He couldn’t hurt Steve without hurting her…”Shaun shrugged and Julia frowned.
“You knew this was going to happen.”She accused and he grinned at her.
“I thought, but it could have gone the other way, if Alex wasn’t able to quiet his wolf.”Shaun put his palms against her cheeks and took her in with his eyes.
“Are you ok?”
“I’m so happy…”She giggled. Without even thinking about it she leaned forward and brushed her lips over his, perhaps not her brightest moment as the wave of need and desire for him that washed through her was a heady experience, and she pu
lled back slightly shocked as he watched her try to come to terms with what she was feeling.
CHAPTER TEN
“Easy sweetheart…”Shaun cautioned. He didn’t want her to rush to panic at what she was feeling, and he had some idea by the way his own body had reacted to her touch. Damn, if he didn’t ache for her like he had the flu, every muscle in his body was wound tighter that a spinning top, and that was without his wolf’s rush to eagerness to mate.
‘Mine.’ Yeah, didn’t know that buddy, thanks for sharing. Shaun growled back at his wolf, but he was waiting for his mate’s reaction.
“Shaun…?”Julia’s fingers reached for his top and curled into the fabric. She was fighting a losing battle to push him away, because she was damned well pulling him closer.
Her heart rushed to the finish line without the starter’s pistol even being fired, and she was clenching and releasing her inner muscles around his imaginary penis within her as if her very life depended on it.
“What do you need sweetheart?”Shaun brushed his fingertips over the bare skin of her shoulder and she shivered again. He could scent her arousal, and he knew damn well what she needed…
“You.”She admitted, and it was the best damned word he had ever heard in his life.
Shaun wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her to the edge of the sofa. Her legs fell either side of his hips and he felt her wrap around him, pulling him closer with her feet, and his body could have spontaneously combusted with the fire of need that ripped through him.
He claimed her lips for his own, imprinting the feel of them on his very soul as he demanded entry with his tongue. He needed to taste her, touch her, and be inside her. So many emotions, needs and desires spiralled through him at once that his body was on overload.
When she opened for him his tongue swept in and tasted her for the very first time, and he growled with the pleasure of their tongues dancing, fencing, and teasing. His hands reached for her backside and he slide her off the sofa and down onto his knees as he sat back, and her legs wrapped around his hips.