by Bonnie Vanak
His chest tightened as he kissed her temple.
“I’ve wanted you for a long time, Kara, and this time, I will have you.” He brushed a lock of hair away from her cheek, exposing the scars. “You’re mine and I don’t care if I have to fight every single Lupine in the west. You’re not leaving here.”
The physical pain, hell, he’d endured.
The pain of losing Kara, knowing he’d never see her again, knowing all light and hope had evaporated, had crushed him in ways Alastair Mitchell never could. He’d barely survived the ten days and nights he’d spent in the solitary cell. Dense blackness had wrapped steel fingers around his body, squeezing until he screamed, his throat hoarse, his voice a whimper. The screams were echoes in the past now.
He couldn’t release Kara. If he let her go, he’d lose more than pack respect and loyalty. But what if she wanted to go? He knew he couldn’t keep her against her will.
A soft rapping sounded at the door. Only one reason someone would disturb him now…
Not wishing to awaken her, Ryder eased carefully away from Kara. He found his jeans, slid them on, zipping the fly as he padded to the door.
David stood outside, looking as stoic as ever. Ryder stepped into the hallway, closing the door softly behind him, knowing the male wouldn’t bother him except for an emergency.
“What is it?”
“I set up patrols two hours outside our boundaries as you asked. They reported that Aiden is on his way, in a pick-up truck filled with strong males. They will be here soon.”
He pushed a hand through his mussed hair. “So the cagey bastard isn’t giving me 24 hours. Smart move. I’d have done the same.”
David stole a glance at the bedroom door. “But you have made her your mate…”
“Not fully. She does not yet bear my mating mark.”
“Then sir, Ryder, you must do it soon. You said it yourself, Kara Mitchell is the only female who will unite the pack and stop those who wish to usurp you as the leader. You need her as your mate to secure your political position. This is why you chose to mate with her.”
Ryder narrowed his eyes, troubled by the Lupine’s words. Sex with Kara had been explosive and mind-blowing. He’d wanted her for years. But had he chosen her as a mate because of political reasons?
He loved her.
But did he love the power, the damn pack, more? A bitter laugh rose in his throat. All those years her old man loved his mate more than the pack and Ryder had damned him for it.
Now he understood the heated bonding between mates, and how a mate must come first in a male’s life, even before pack. She must. Because without Kara, he would become an empty shell.
David’s eyes widened and he stepped back. Ryder felt a draft of cool air. Aw shit…
He turned. The door stood wide open, Kara, clad in his thick robe, stared at him with a shocked expression.
She’d overheard everything.
Chapter 9
Ryder used her.
The betrayal shattered her. Kara stared at her lover, whose tightened expression showed the truth of David’s words. He only wanted her as a symbol of her family’s power, to secure his newfound position as alpha. She was a political pawn.
Seeing her expression, David raced down the hallway. She stepped back as Ryder walked into the bedroom and shut the door.
“You don’t want me as your mate. You needed me to keep the peace, to bring the pack together.” She gulped down a breath, feeling rage and grief claw her throat. “You used me as your political pawn. All those words you said to me in bed, to seduce me so you could secure your position as alpha.”
“I did,” he admitted.
“Bastard.”
Ryder’s gaze darkened.
She raced for her clothing and began to dress. “Screw you. You can have the pack, everything. I’m gone.”
His fingers snagged her wrist. “You’re not leaving here.”
“Try to stop me.”
“Come here.” He took a deep breath. “Please.”
She joined him at the mirror, trembling with fury.
“Yes, I used you. But not as a political pawn. I used you because all those things I said are true. You are beautiful, Kara, and you can’t see it. No way in hell am I ever letting you return to Aiden’s ranch. Broken, a shell of yourself. That’s not you.”
“I’m going home.”
“This is your home.” Ryder clasped her chin and forced her to turn to the mirror. “Look at yourself. See yourself through my eyes. You’re not a crumbled female who remained broken by her father. You’re strong, proud and a leader. I need you. I will not let you hide anymore, as Aiden allowed. You need the light, Kara, not the darkness.”
Doubts filled her. He sounded convincing and sincere, but how could she believe him when he’d admitted to using her?
“You need me for the pack. That’s why you wanted to mate me.”
Pressure increased on her jaw as he squeezed his hand slightly. Ryder’s gaze glittered fiercely. “Godsdamnit, I need you for me, Kara. Can’t you see? Do I have to spell it out for you? I love you, damnit!”
An odd fluttering began in her chest. Her gaze collided with his in the mirror. She saw his ruffled, dark hair, damp with sweat, the sleek firmness of his cheeks, the curve of his kiss-swollen mouth. And then she saw his eyes, his beautiful, mesmerizing gaze that caressed her like the touch of his warm hand.
A gaze filled with tenderness and love.
Courage filled her to admit the truth she’d denied herself for so long. Denied herself out of fear of being hurt far more than her father ever hurt her.
“I love you too,” she confessed. “I’ve always loved you and leaving this place tore me apart more than anything my father did to me. But I never thought you could love me because my father made me ugly.”
Ryder bent his head and kissed her temple, his mouth quivering. He settled a warm palm over her beating heart. “You’re beautiful to me, inside and out. You have a gentle heart filled with love and strength and courage and this is what I see every time I look in your eyes. I see a female who will always fight for justice. And you love this pack as much as I do, you’ve cared for them when they were beaten down and you helped them to stand straight and proud.
“You set them on their feet and gave them hope when your father’s cruelties made them believe all hope was lost. And you gave them the glimpse of how rich and wonderful and joyous life could be for all of us. For me. That’s why I fought for alpha, Kara. Not for myself, or even the pack. I fought for that vision you placed in all of us when the nights were so long and desperate, none of us thought we’d make it out alive.”
Kara looked into the mirror again and saw his belief in her strength shining in his eyes. “You really see this when you look at me?”
He gave a crooked grin. “Oh yes. And besides that, you have really nice tits.”
“Ryder!”
“Had to say it…”
“Like it is.”
Ryder gathered her into his arms. “You are beautiful Kara. You always will be to me, even when we’re old and gray and wrinkled. I’ll always see you as the female who captured my heart.”
For a few moments, she rested against him, accepting her place in the pack. In his life. Then Kara lifted her head. “My brother will be here soon.”
Ryder brushed back a lock of hair from her face. “Yes.”
“Nothing will stop him from a pack war.”
His fingers stroked her throat. “One thing will.”
“The mating mark.”
“I must do this, before Aiden arrives. You have to bear my mark that we are bonded. It’s going to hurt, but just for a minute.” A heated intensity filled his gaze as he gathered her hands into his. “But I will not do it without your full consent. Do you agree to this, Kara? Do you wish to be mated to me for life? As much as it would kill me, I—I would let you go.”
She thought about her cold, lonely room back at Aiden’s ranch, and the fresh, new po
ssibilities awaiting her here. She thought about how much Ryder cherished, and loved her. Oh, he admitted he needed her to help rule the pack, but it would be ruling with love and tenderness, not cold indifference.
Kara kissed him, and rubbed her nose against his neck, marking him in her own way, with her scent. “I love you. I will mate with you.”
A low growl of approval rumbled deep in his throat. They disrobed and he led her over to the bed. She lay on her stomach. Twisting her neck, she watched his fangs descend and sharpen. Kara braced herself as Ryder gently turned her head. His warm mouth nuzzled her throat, then he sank his fangs into her neck. Sharp pain flashed through her, along with an erotic throbbing in her loins.
Then he licked the wound, his tongue dragging slowly over her skin. The stinging faded, replaced by growing arousal. Wetness gushed between her legs.
She turned over. Ryder spread her legs wide and knelt between them. The musky scent of her arousal mingled with his sharp male fragrance of spices.
His mouth felt hot and wet as Ryder softly kissed her thighs. Trembling, she watched him lower his head between her legs. He blew a gentle, warm breath against her most intimate flesh, making her tingle with anticipation.
He put his mouth on her and she cried out in shocked pleasure.
Ryder tongued her, delving between her swollen, soaked folds as he buried his head between her legs. The silky hair on his head rubbed against her inner thighs as he slowly dragged his tongue over her clit. Cupping her ass, he rubbed his face against her and hummed deep in his throat, the vibration causing an erotic friction. Kara squirmed, eager for more.
“I love how you taste,” he murmured against her wet flesh. “I will never tire of you, sweeting.”
The flicks of his tongue intensified. A delicious pressure built, making her bottom clench hard, triggering the instinct to move her hips upward.
He squeezed and kneaded her ass as he continued pleasuring her. Kara fisted her hands in the sheets. Tension built higher as he stroked his tongue faster and harder.
And then he gave another flick, and she shattered with a sob. He remained with her, gently soothing her pulsing flesh with tiny kisses, staying with her as the last spasm faded and she lay limp and panting.
Sitting back, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, giving a wolfish grin.
“Turn over,” he said thickly.
Ryder’s darkened gaze met Kara’s. The bed dipped beneath his weight as he settled on it, behind her. The traditional mating stance for Lupines.
Kara climbed onto her hands and knees. The position made her feel exposed, vulnerable and aroused. She glanced over her shoulder. From its nest of thick, dark hair, his long penis thickened. Her core throbbed with need.
“It’s time to consummate our bond, Kara,” he whispered, guiding his engorged shaft between her legs.
Nudging past her soaked folds, he slid the broad head of his cock across her slick cleft. A delicious friction ensued as he repeated the action. Each slow push and drag caused her flesh to pulse in renewed pleasure. Kara gasped. Never had she imagined it would feel this good.
Awakened by the erotic friction, her wolf senses howled.
Guiding his penis against her soaked folds, he shoved hard, grunting with satisfaction as he slid deep inside. Kara pushed back, impatient for more. With a low grunt, Ryder began to hammer hard inside her. His enormous shaft throbbed inside her tight channel, binding them together in the flesh.
Caged by his strong body, she surrendered to sensation. Ryder dug his fingers into her hips as he thrust harder, his thick cock making a wet, sucking sound as he slapped against her. Her breasts bounced and then he reached around her and cupped one, squeezing the taut nipple.
She cried out as he slid his palm over her belly and then much lower, caressing her pulsing clit. With each relentless slide of his penis, she arched her ass upward, eager for more.
Ryder snarled. She felt his engorged penis swell and press against her wet, sensitive tissues. And then his penis suddenly grew thicker, rubbing against nerve endings engorged with blood.
The mating lock between Lupines, ensuring his seed would stay sealed deep inside her.
Awash in sensual pleasure, Kara cried out as an orgasm slammed into her. Ryder snarled and then shouted her name as he spurted deep inside her. For several moments he kept ejaculating, each wash of his hot seed making her come over and over until she felt wrung out. Finally his penis diminished enough and he pulled out.
When she fell exhausted to the bed, he gently rolled them over to the side, stroking her damp hair, sweat dampening their entwined bodies.
They were mated now, for life. And nothing, not even her brother, could tear them apart.
She only hoped Aiden would not tear Ryder apart with his bare hands for daring to abduct her.
Chapter 10
Kara insisted on joining Ryder on the porch, as word came that Aiden’s pickup truck sped toward the ranch.
Silently, they watched the black, beaten truck spit gravel and dirt beneath its tires as it slammed to a stop. Her brother, accompanied by Darius, his pack beta, climbed out. Aiden slammed the door and advanced. Several Lupines she recognized from his ranch vaulted over the truck’s bed, joining their leader.
Kara’s breath hitched in alarm. The strongest males in Ryder’s pack assembled on the porch, silently regarding their former alpha’s heir.
Aiden’s thick ebony hair curled at the collar of his shirt, the sleeves rolled up to display tanned, muscled forearms. Dark stubble shadowed his strong jawline. He stood well over six feet, all muscle and sinew, a Lupine who could bench press a pick-up truck.
Or take on Ryder in a challenge for his former pack and win.
Feeling Ryder grow bristle with tension, Kara put a calming hand on his arm. Hostility crackled in the air as the two powerful males faced each other. Feral anger radiated from both. She could scent it.
“Aiden. Welcome. Ryder has claimed me for his mate.” She squeezed Ryder’s hand and then lifted the long curtain of her hair to display her mate’s bite. “There will be no war, no fighting. Not even a growl. Understand? I will not have the two males I love most in the world at each other’s throats.” She tensed, ready for battle.
Darius chuckled, then pushed Aiden’s arm. “Told you.”
Her brother fisted his hands, glanced at his beta then back at her. “Very well.”
Prepared to argue, she stared at her beloved older brother. “What? It’s that easy?”
Aiden scowled. “Easy? Hell no. I wasn’t about to even listen to what you had to say, but Darius convinced me not to charge here, fangs bared, and attack.”
Ryder relaxed the slightest bit. “You decided to listen to reason.”
“For now. Only because I remembered how Kara felt about you. All she ever did was talk about you.” Aiden’s scowl deepened. “But if you ever hurt her…”
Pushing aside her hand, Ryder climbed down one step. “And if you came back to challenge me for your former pack, you’ve got a fight on your hands, Mitchell. I won’t let it go, and neither will I let Kara go.”
The pair bristled at each other like snarling wolves. Kara waved her hands. “Hello, can we tone down the testosterone just a bit? Civilized, remember?”
“I have no interest in claiming this pack, Carrington. I wanted closure.” Aiden looked at Kara and his expression softened. “And I wanted, more than anything else, for my little sister to be safe, and happy. She deserves nothing less.”
“I am!”
The scowl returned. “You’d better make her happy, and put her needs first. Or I’ll come back here and tear you to pieces.”
“Try it,” Ryder said softly. “I can take you, Mitchell. But I wouldn’t because it would break your sister’s heart if I turned her brother into lunch meat.”
Her stomach tightened. The assembled males shifted their feet, their stances threatening. Kara held her breath as the two leaders glared at each other, any second ready to shift
into wolf.
Then Aiden’s shoulders relaxed the tiniest bit. “Lunch meat? That the best you can do?”
“Over processed and filled with preservatives. What more of an insult do you want?” Ryder descended the steps and held out his hand. Aiden shook it.
Her mate nodded at the restless males, shuffling their boots in the dirt. “Why all the muscle if you didn’t plan an attack?”
A slow smile touched her brother’s mouth. “I planned an attack of labor. Brought them here to work. Figured the place still looks like shit and you could use the extra hands. We’ve got hammers, nails and energy.”
Ryder laughed, turned and barked an order to the males on the porch. They led Aiden’s men in the direction of the barn.
Her mate clapped her brother on the shoulder. “Come in. I’ve saved all your father’s papers for you to go through. There’s forms you need to sign. Legal shit Skins need to turn the ranch over to me. I have enough cash from my land sale to keep your ranch from foreclosure. Long as you’re here, let’s take care of business. Beer?
“Beer, hell yeah. None of that cheap crap Alastair always stocked.”
“Hell no, I have the good stuff.”
They walked away, talking, their stances relaxed. Kara leaned against the door frame with a heavy sigh of relief.
She looked up and saw Darius shaking his head.
Kara raced down the steps. She hugged the Lupine, inhaling his unique scent. Tugging him inside to the living room, she sat down at the sofa, patted the space beside her. “How did you convince Aiden to call off the war?”
He grinned, shoving a hand through his thick, black curls. Mischief danced in his deep blue eyes. “I told him like it is. Said that if he stormed the castle, he’d probably catch the princess in bed in a very compromising position with her new mate. That’s what I’d be doing instead of preparing for battle. Making love is much more pleasurable than making war.”
Kara blushed.
“I think the visual was too much for your brother.”
“Thank you.” Grateful this charming Lupine had diffused Aiden’s anger, she squeezed his hand. “When you’re finished here, will you return to the ranch or go fetch your mate? I know you’ve been dying to see her.”