by Treva Harte
He waited, forcing himself not to rush to the final conclusion. God, just the anticipation was almost enough to make him come. He licked his lips. When she reached out to flick the piercing in his nipple, he opened his mouth to soundlessly scream. He was beyond having enough air in his lungs to make noise.
“I wondered about your earring.” She could still talk, though her voice sounded thick. He could almost listen through the blood pounding in his ears. “I see you didn’t give up all your piercings.”
She twisted the bar in his nipple sharply this time. The sensation zinged through his body and shot to his cock.
“Jesus God, have mercy!” He managed words at last. “If you don’t, I swear I’ll split you in half.”
“Why do you think I’m doing this? Do it. Damn it, you wolf, do it. Hard.”
He bared his teeth. “Wait. A minute.”
He wasn’t sure if he was ordering or pleading and it didn’t matter. He paused, letting the sweat trickle down his spine while he savored. Virgin smell. Virgin feel. Sex. Lin. It was all Lin.
She half-whimpered, half-snarled.
That sound was too much for whatever self-control he had left. Lowell surged upward with all his strength, the last of Lin’s virginity gone with his thrust. She was so wet—with blood and sweat and excitement. And, finally, with his sperm. He wondered how drenched she was with his mark. His mating with her. His cum shot up from the base of his balls and spurted deep, deep inside her. Deeper than he’d ever been with anyone .
He didn’t howl now. He roared, letting the world know as his whole body—his whole world—was rocked apart.
SHE OPENED HER eyes, still panting. Dear Lord. If that was human sex with Lowell, what was the change going to be like?
“On your knees,” Lowell snarled.
Oh, man. She was going to find out. She could feel the shift before she saw it and began to shake. Now. More of Lowell’s words came out in a half-growl that she couldn’t understand. She didn’t need to hear the words when instinct told her what came next. She raised her rear up, obediently, crouched on all fours, completely vulnerable to whatever Lowell wanted next. Had she thought she wanted this?
God, yes. Despite the fear as she craned her neck to watch his face turn, his body transform. Hair. Teeth. Snarls. She wanted it. He was an animal, but he was her animal. Red heat rushed through her again, just when she’d thought there was nothing left after that last mind shattering orgasm. Her whole body burned.
The door opened.
The pack was there, answering Lowell’s howl.
And her mind blurred even as her senses grew keener.
She knew, she knew. It had never happened for her before, but she was changing. The prickling through her body was different, but somehow right. The mingled scents of excitement and curiosity and mating…thank heaven, Lowell’s warm scent was strongest…sharpened.
She was were at last. Fur covered what had been her arms. And she was covered not just by fur but by another strong were body. She was being penetrated by a firm, hard were cock. Her mate. Her alpha. The friction increased, first slowly, then faster. Faster yet. It burned, hot and fierce. It would burn her up.
Lin howled, too. And the door crashed completely open to let the pack pour inside.
Bodies crowded near them, but all she was aware of was the plunge of Lowell’s cock inside her. The howls and yips shivered through her, adding to the bubbling lust and savage need slicing through her.
When she felt semen spatter over her fur, she raised her head up and rejoiced. Loudly. Something this powerful deserved recognition. The pack was here and they had responded to the strength of Lowell’s and her mating. Her mind swirled again, just barely capable of recognizing motion and pleasure and the erotic pain of a jaw gripping her by the ruff.
“Mine.” She heard the possessiveness in Lowell’s howl, dominating the rest of the pack’s noise.
And then the crimsoned sheen of her orgasm blinded her and the rise of her pounding blood deafened her as she shattered in front of them all.
Chapter Three
“You bastard! You couldn’t wait, could you?”
“Wait? When does an alpha wait to claim what’s his?” Despite mouthing an automatic response to the challenge, Lowell fought back the lash of guilt. He should have taken it slower. Should have…should have done something different.
Wolves took their mates without waiting for permission—in fact, often they kidnapped a female from another pack. Hell, they killed for the chance at a female. But he knew this pack. Even more important, he’d been one of them and sworn to defend the members of Lin’s family—to defend Lin—long ago. He should have respected her family more. He just didn’t know how to honor her family if he kept Lin. And damn it, he intended to keep her.
“She just turned eighteen today. Her mother has been sick with worry.”
Leila. Worried.
Jesus, no wonder he had let Lin twist him around her finger and make him ignore calling earlier. Now that he’d gone and done the right thing, everything in him was getting turned inside out. Old feelings somehow twisted and bled into the new. The smug joy of finally possessing his mate was being overbalanced by old guilt. Lowell felt his smile stiffen. He was much more familiar with the lash of guilt than the strokes of happiness.
But then Lin sat up in bed, lush curves spilling out of cool cotton sheets, her red hair trailing over his skin as she leaned over him to take the phone.
Lowell’s dark emotions paused, trembling. My God, she was so beautiful. So alive. No one could be ashamed of wanting Lin. The shame would be in ignoring her.
“It’s Daddy, isn’t it?” She smiled at him and everything settled down again. Lowell wanted to rest his face against that smile and absorb it. He wanted to crawl over her and lick the hair tousled around her face. Dear Lord, the spicy, sexed smell of her made him itchy. “Give up the phone, Lowell. I’ll talk to him. I can make it right.”
He licked the sweet spot behind her ear as he obeyed her and watched his woman quiver. If anyone could make it right, it was Lin. His world already felt steadied. Centered. Focused. He had a pack and a mate. This was what he’d wanted all his life, even before he could put a name to his longings.
“Daddy? I love you. I’m so happy, Daddy.” Lin curled her body up against Lowell and he let her warmth melt the last vestiges of cold fear inside. She was happy with him. “I want to come and show my mate off…No, don’t growl at me. I do. I will.”
Was Dek making threats to his mate? Lowell bared his teeth.
“And don’t you growl, either, Lowell.” She pursed her lips at him in what could be a kiss or a pout. “Of course we’ll come by. It’s my birthday, right? We can all be sociable.”
Have two packs meet? At a civilized family birthday party? What did she think they were—humans? Lowell almost laughed, but he knew Lin would take that as encouragement.
“No,” he mouthed.
She made a face at him.
“At eight. Just in time for cake. Can I talk to Mom, too? Oh. Tonight, then. Love you both.”
She clicked the phone down and bared her teeth back at him. And, God help him, he wanted to fall back down onto the bed, throat and belly exposed, and let her take a bite.
“Lowell, I can’t ignore my family. I’m not made that way. They’d probably come after us both if I did, because they’d know I had been kidnapped.” She crawled on his lap and nuzzled. “This way will be better. Trust me.”
It was an accident that she was on top of him. She was being affectionate and sweet, not demanding and sexy. But his cock stirred, just as if they hadn’t been making love all night. His hips arched, bucked against her.
Just like that, her gentle nose to throat nuzzle changed. She placed her jaw over his jugular, her teeth against the pulse of his neck. When she nipped, the blood raced to his cock and balls so fast, he thought he might faint, as if he were some stupid Victorian maiden in a story.
“Hours. I had no idea wolves could screw for
hours.” Lin grumbled the words against his throat, the puffs of air tickling sensitive nerves. “And I had no idea you could get it up so many times as a human.”
“Complaining?”
“Praising. Now lay back and let me show you what we both want. Don’t move unless I say so. You owe me for that last hour session. I think I may be a little sore. I want you feeling the same twinges I have.”
She knew. She had to know what he was like. His cock was already leaking at the promise of what she might do. She crouched over him, like he was captured prey, and he sucked in a breath.
Lin wasn’t ashamed or turned off or scornful. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she turned to bite his shoulder.
“Mine.”
“Yours.” He said it like a vow.
He wanted her to use him, to dominate him, to enslave him even more. Seeing her snap at him as she mounted him enthralled him. But she wanted it just as much and that made the deep, hot, dark desire surge higher.
He might be twisted, but she didn’t care. He might be wrong, but she’d encourage it.
Jesus fuck. He’d stumbled across the one female in the world who was weak enough, strong enough, bad enough, good enough to be his mate.
She ground down, hard, pushing tight against his hips, so closely fitted against his cock that he could feel the pulsing in her veins, the hardness of her swollen clit, the wetness inside her channel.
He raised himself onto his elbows and sucked her nipples, already tight and ready. He whimpered, like he was a pup again, while he was waiting for…
She squeezed, milking his cock, her thighs gripping him, and, just like that, he came. Climaxed with racking, hard shudders as the blinding hot shots of cum poured through him. He couldn’t wait, couldn’t hold off.
But when he heard her triumphant cry, he knew she hadn’t, either.
She collapsed on top of him as he sank against the bed, panting. Her hot body, the weight of her, pressed snugly against him and he wanted to do it all over again.
Perfect. She was perfect. How had a nasty little fuck like him found someone so perfect?
* * * *
“Would you like to come along?” Lin looked at the two behemoths in front of her.
A long, deadly silence followed.
“No.” The one Lowell had called Slick spoke up at last.
She decided to overlook the silence and the curt answer. For now. “You’re welcome. My daddy would never do anything…inhospitable…to my pack mates. Lowell might enjoy the company.”
“Lowell, he can go,” the other one said. “Maybe he can handle another pack. But we’d be trouble.”
“You’d make trouble for my old pack?” Lin raised her eyebrows and sharpened her tone. Whatever their problem was, she wasn’t going to let that go.
Slick smiled, all teeth and glittering eyes. “We’re always trouble.”
“Well, sounds to me like someone needs to sit you down and teach you to do more than make trouble.” She eyed them thoughtfully. “Tomorrow we’ll start working on that. Maybe a few etiquette lessons. Maybe some face smacking. Whatever gets the job done.”
“What the fuck?” The smaller one gaped at her.
Lin fought a giggle at how she’d stopped their threat posture. She wondered what they’d do if she asked them to do something outrageous. The temptation to try itched at her, but she knew that wasn’t being fair. Alphas shouldn’t take advantage.
“Are you terrorizing the pack again, Lin?” Lowell was at her elbow, arriving so softly she hadn’t even realized he’d come up behind her. His breath tickled her ear, just the way it did when they made love. “Be nice.”
“Well, I could try nice, just for a change.” Lin tucked her arm into his elbow and snuggled closer to him. It was just like a married couple.
She fought showing another little burst of pleasure. Alphas didn’t go around presenting their emotions to everyone. At least, not in this pack and not these alphas.
The others had already stiffened and lost their befuddled look with Lowell’s arrival. She’d have to work on them when they were alone and more easily surprised. She would also have to figure out just why Lowell hadn’t developed more rapport with his own pack.
Sheesh. There was a lot of work for her to do here.
“THANK YOU, LEILA.” Lowell took the plate carefully and placed it just as carefully on the table. Lin almost smiled, even while she felt suspiciously like sniffling with tears. The earnest politeness in Lowell’s tone was almost too much.
He was trying so hard. He was such a sweetheart. And he was so afraid things would go wrong with her family.
She knew it. She was starting to feel his emotions like they were her own. The only thing she didn’t understand was why he felt like he was so—so imperfect. He was good, smart, capable, and damn amazing in bed. Lowell was frighteningly right for her. He was troubled when she was sure, reliable when she felt weak. Ying and yang, just like mates should be.
But doubt nagged at him. She would bet her first-born that Daddy never felt that way and Daddy was the only other alpha she knew. Alphas were difficult enough when they thought they were always right. But they might be even worse when they weren’t sure.
Damn it, whatever was happening inside him, she wasn’t going to put up with it. She’d make him feel right. As right as she knew he was.
She reached out to cup the small of Lowell’s back, letting her fingers dangle innocently down, almost to the crack of his ass. A millimeter more and it wouldn’t be quite so innocent. He tensed for a moment, then relaxed and accepted her touch. She could do that to him. For him. Once again she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Power seemed to spill effortlessly out of her. She was born to be this way, be with Lowell, to be-finally—her adult self.
“So tell us about your family, dear. How do you like them?” Her mother was smiling at her, but Lin could see the tightness at the edge of her smile. She knew her mother too well.
Her family. Her pack. This family circle wasn’t her pack any longer. The closeness she had to them now had to be replaced. She was bound elsewhere, to weres who didn’t know her the way this family did. She was a part of a pack who maybe didn’t even want her around. Some of the bright, perfect bubble inside her deflated just a little bit.
“We’re still getting used to each other.” Lin figured that was safe to say.
“They’re going to love her.” Lowell chimed in. “She’s exactly what we’ve needed.”
“No doubt.”
Lin winced at the brittleness in her mother’s overly bright tone. All right, Mom was unhappy—maybe angry that her baby was gone forever. But there was something more here.
She discounted Grey’s silence. That was just how he always was. Rossi wasn’t around to sneer or snigger since he’d been banned from the party for losing her yesterday. If it had been up to her, she’d have given him a reward.
Obviously the rest of the party-goers didn’t feel the same way. But what was behind the grimness of Dad’s mouth and her mother’s tapping fingers? Lin turned to Lowell. The same wrongness was there, behind his quick politeness. Yes, he’d been eager to please all night. Just a little too eager. A little too omega. That wasn’t Lowell anymore.
Something was off here.
The three most important people in her world all thought Lowell was wrong for her. Or maybe they thought she was wrong for Lowell. Why?
“So when are you coming back, Linnie?” Rome asked. “We miss you.”
The room got even quieter, if that was possible.
Trust her little brother to ask the worst possible question at the worst possible time. Romulus had a talent for it, even when he wasn’t trying to be a pain.
“I’m not.”
“Not ever?” Rome’s eyes got big. Lin braced herself. Her brother’s innocent look meant trouble.
“Just to visit.”
“I get her room!” her brother yelled to her parents. “Hers is a lot bigger.”
The noise c
overed the awkwardness. Gave Lin a chance to think. The only problem was, she wasn’t sure she really wanted to.
Small talk. Chatter. That’s what was needed.
“I am home, little brother. My own home. And I think I’m going to like the new boys a lot.” That might be pushing it, since she hardly knew them. And what did it say about her that she still hadn’t asked what the real names of their betas were? They’d done some damn intimate things together and she had no idea what their names were. That was just wrong. She should know. As Mom might say, becoming were was one thing, but being just plain rude was another.
The unhappiness in the room didn’t ease with her words. No one said anything, which was almost unprecedented. Lin studied the other adults while she ducked her head to eat cake. What problems could they have with her mate? All right, maybe Lowell was a little bit older than her. Actually he was closer to Dad and Mom’s age—
A bad thought hit. A thought that almost made her gag up the sweet icing on her birthday cake.
Pack mates did all kinds of things together. Intimate things. And Lowell had been part of this pack. Her mind filled with images she didn’t want.
Somewhere in her head she heard the sound of a loud pop as her happy bubble burst completely.
Maybe she was imagining things. Lowell looked at her, then away. Maybe she wasn’t.
FUCK THIS. OLD habits and emotions be damned. He wasn’t low man in the pack anymore and he wasn’t going to act that way. He didn’t have to be ashamed of anything. Not of being at the bottom of this particular pack once. He wasn’t any longer. He didn’t have to go sniffing after whatever the others in the pack chose to leave him. He was allowed to take a mate for himself now.
And who wouldn’t take Lin as a mate if given the chance? If the alpha was strong and smart enough to hold onto a prize like her, he’d be insane not to. If he wasn’t alpha enough now—and he’d had a long time to become used to that role—he’d learn to be better. He’d make himself good enough for her.
He was keeping her, no matter who wanted him warned off.
He could feel the trouble roiling inside her, her emotions reflecting his. He didn’t want their newly forming bond to create unhappiness in her. She wasn’t meant for unhappiness. Lin shone. She had when he met her and she’d been almost dancing when they got here tonight. He wanted her to be happy, to stay just as bright as she deserved to be.