The entire time, Reese didn’t move, didn’t speak, only clung.
There were a lot of things I hadn’t told Reese, thinking it wasn’t in his best interest to know, but his reaction to a surprise, to something that could harm me, was unexpected.
Once we were locked in my room, I sat down on the bed and attempted to pry him off me. Instead, he moaned, latching his hot, wet mouth onto my neck and grinding his erection into my stomach. He went from trembling with fear to panting with lust so fast, my head spun.
“Reese,” I muttered, clenching my teeth from the feel of him rubbing against me.
“Fuck me, Alpha,” he whispered against my skin as his nuzzled under my arm. He inhaled sharply. “I need you.”
I shucked my pants, kicking them away from me as Reese lifted on his knees and impaled himself on my cock. I spread my legs wider, letting Reese fuck himself on me. His mouth was open, stormy eyes locked on me as he moaned low in his throat with every thrust. His fingers curled into my shoulder, nails biting into the skin. “Alpha,” he muttered.
“My wolf,” I whispered back, my inner Were right at the surface. With a growl, I wrapped my fingers around his throat and tossed him off me. When he landed on the bed, he flipped onto his stomach, immediately pushing his ass in the air for me. I surged inside, pounding away, knowing the angle to make my little wolf squirm and cry out.
He writhed beneath me, until he came with a shudder. I fucked him through it, savoring his tight heat.
I wrapped my bicep around his throat, so he could turn his head into my arm to sniff. He was high on my scent now, his nostrils wide, his pupils dilated. With a final moan, I slammed into him and came.
He kept his face pressed into my arm, rooting around in my scent. I stayed on top of him, in him, and petted his hair as he worked his way down.
When he calmed down and watched me through slanted, puffy eyes, I unwrapped my arm from around his neck and made my way down his body. I sniffed at his back, the area under his ass, the back of his knees, as he sighed.
When I spread his legs and speared him with two fingers, he flinched, then groaned. Burying my face in the cheeks of his ass, I tongued his hole, cleaning him and savoring the taste of me inside of him.
He made small huffing sounds of happiness, and I continued my tongue bath until the sheet under him was drenched with my saliva.
Only then did I climb back up his body and draw him into my arms, chest to chest.
I thought he might have fallen asleep, but when I glanced down, he was watching me with alert blue eyes. I ran my fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry.”
He blinked. “For what?”
“For not telling you about the Mate Pain.”
“That was kinda shitty of you,” he grumbled.
“Tell me what happened.”
“I was watching a novus girl pick an apple while Bay was talking, then he mentioned that you would be in pain and…” His fingers squeezed my hip. “I freaked out. The thought of you hurting was actually painful for me. I had to get back to you, to end it. So I shifted and ran.”
“I didn’t tell you because it’s not something you need to worry about. I’m in pain when we separate, but you’re never far.”
He was quiet for a while. “And if I die…” He let his voice trail off.
I nodded. “If you die, I die. The pain becomes too much.”
He sucked in a breath. “Well that’s a huge fucking checkmark in the con column for True Mates, don’t you think?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, I guess so. But the pros outweigh the cons.”
“How, though? I don’t feel any different, do you?”
“You think I have to feel different to know that finding you is a pro?”
His mouth gaped open. “Shit, you randomly surprise me by saying nice things.”
I shrugged. He should know by now he made me happy. Sure, any physical side effects of the bond would be welcomed, but for now, I was enjoying Reese himself.
“So if the Mate Pain doesn’t affect me…” he began.
“You’ll be fine as long as I don’t die in a challenge, because then the new alpha will usually kill you just for being my Mate.”
“Thrilling,” he muttered.
“The longer we’re together, the less the pain.”
“So right now it’s strong when we part?”
I shrugged. “It’s not pleasant.”
He ran his tongue over his teeth. “How bad is it? Does it weaken you?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
His eyes clouded. “Bay said you were trying to wean yourself off me.”
“Yes, he’s right.
“Does that mean no more shutting ourselves up here?”
I sighed. “Yeah, that’s what it means. I have to get back to pack business. Handle things.” Gage standing up on the balcony with his supporters flashed through my mind. He was up to something, and he wasn’t being as subtle about it anymore.
Reese lifted himself to a sitting position and grabbed an apple off the table beside our bed. He crunched into it. “So, there are a lot of things you haven’t told me about, and they impact me.”
I didn’t deny that.
Reese chewed and swallowed. “Like Gage.”
I grabbed the apple out of his hand, took a bite, and handed it back to him. He frowned at it, which made me smile as I sat up and leaned against the wall. “Okay what do you want to know about Gage?”
“Bay said you killed his dad.”
I choked on my bit of apple, and thumped my chest. “What the fuck? Bay never could keep his mouth shut.”
“I like him.” Reese tilted his chin up with defiance.
“Everyone does.” I blew out a breath. “Okay, so did Bay tell you what happened to our dad?”
Reese shook his head.
I laughed bitterly. “Right, left that one up to me, huh? Motherfucker.” Talking about this shit always pissed me off. “When I was eight and Bay was six, our mom challenged our dad, who was alpha at the time.”
Reese’s eyes went wide.
“Yeah, she killed him, took over the pack.”
His mouth fell open. “Wha-why?”
“He and his brother—Gage’s dad, Veron—wanted to turn the pack into raiders.”
“Bay mentioned that.”
“Yeah. So my mom had been trying to get our farm and crops going, and she was making headway. They wanted to end all that, turn her pride and joy into another training field. Mom and Dad hated each other anyway. I think she relished ripping his head open.”
I’d seen it all—when her claws held each of his jaws, pulling until she’d torn him apart.
Bay had cried. I’d felt nothing.
“Mom was a great alpha. But Veron plotted for two decades before challenging her. We suspect he used silver to weaken her. She lasted a long time, but eventually he tore her throat out.” Bay had cried as we stood over her body. I’d felt a driving need for revenge.
“I’m sorry,” Reese muttered. “My parents were killed in front of me too. It’s not something you forget.” He handed me the rest of the apple. “Bay said you challenged your uncle.”
“Yeah, right away. Fight lasted twenty seconds. I tore off all his limbs.”
“Fuck.”
“I know it’s easy to forget when we’re talking like this, but I’m an alpha Were, Reese. It’s what I do.”
“I know,” he mumbled, gaze cast down.
I lifted his chin. “But you trust me not to hurt you.”
His eyes searched mine. “I do.”
I let him go, polished off the apple and tossed the core in the trash can. “That was ten years ago. For a while, Gage was respectful. But the last year or so, he’s found some Weres who’ve just had their first muto to look up to him, and I guess he thinks he’s formed a small pack now. His doesn’t hide his contempt for me much anymore.”
“You can beat him in a challenge,” Reese said quickly.
I smiled. “
I can.”
“So why don’t you just provoke him and get it over with?”
“I can’t be a leader that goes picking fights with his pack so they’ll challenge him. It’s what my father did and the pack lived in chaos and fear. I’ll never be that alpha. Gage hasn’t been bold enough yet to directly oppose me. I have my guards watching him.” I reached out and pulled Reese toward me with a firm hand on the back of his neck. “One thing you need to know. Mates are allowed to participate in challenges. If he challenges me, you stay out of it. He’s a Were, and as soon as he sees you enter the circle of the challenge, you’re fair game. I can’t be distracted because I’m worried about you, do you understand?”
“I can’t help you? I’m trained to fight—”
“Are you trained to fight a Were?”
He swallowed and shook his head.
“Right, so let me handle the challenge. That’s an order, okay?”
He didn’t want to agree. I was learning my mate wasn’t the best at hiding his emotions. Finally, he nodded. And I let him go. He slumped back onto the bed. I rose, intent on getting him some food. My hand was on the door when he spoke. “You’re going to get me bacon, right?”
I grinned.
Reese
* * *
I stared at the ceiling for a long time after he left. Selene’s name was a constant echo in my brain. Every bite of food was seasoned with guilt. Every moment of happiness here eventually soured with the reminder that she was still back in hell.
I trusted Dare. If I told him about Selene, he’d find a way to save her. Dare was a great alpha to this pack, but his bond to me was strengthening. At the end of the day, I wasn’t sure which he’d choose as his priority—me or his pack. And I wasn’t sure which one I preferred.
But if I left? He’d be in pain. Constant pain. And that would be an opening for Gage to challenge him.
I rolled over with a groan, fisting my hands in my hair. This wasn’t fucking fair. And this was all on my shoulders. Fuck, if I didn’t die at the hands of some Nowere while trying to save my sister, then maybe I’d simply die of fucking agony over this decision.
I was so dramatic.
When Dare returned with food, I ate without tasting it. He raised an eyebrow at me, and tried to draw me into conversation, but when I was finished, I curled into a ball and closed my eyes.
I had over two weeks until Selene was expected to mate Xan. And I was no closer to figuring out a solution than the day I woke up in the Silver Tip cell.
* * *
Later that day, after we’d eaten some dinner, I was kneeling in front of Dare’s bookcase, scanning the spines of books. I hadn’t seen any since I lived in Astria. Most of the Bluefoot pack couldn’t read or write, which I suspected was a way for Xan to maintain control. Our parents had taught us before the Nowere attack, and I’d continued teaching Jude and Selene when I could.
“We’re trying to build up a library,” Dare said as he watched me from his seat on the bed.
“Really?” I looked at him over my shoulder before resuming my study of the books.
“Yeah, for now, most of the books that document our history are kept here in my room so they aren’t ruined or misplaced. I loan them out sometimes, but I pretty much threaten life and limb if something happens to them.”
I grinned. “That’s the way to treat books.”
“I have pack members who are working on writing children’s books, some fiction, things like that. It meant a lot to my mother for the pack to be educated, and I want to keep that tradition.”
“I wish I could have met your mom.” I stood and stretched my legs, which had cramped because I’d been kneeling so long. “She sounds like my mom.”
Dare stared out the window at the setting sun, his expression solemn. “Mom would have loved you.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. “My mom would have liked you too. I mean, initially she would have been completely terrified, but once she got over the Were thing, she would have loved you.”
Dare’s eyes immediately crinkled in the corners, and he laughed. “Yeah, that might have been a problem at first.” He rose. “Come on, we’re heading out.”
“Out?” I was like a dog, excited every time he let me out of the room.
“Yeah, my guard is waiting for us. It’s time for you to meet them.”
Wait, no, that didn’t sound super fun. “Um, what?”
He opened the door and gestured for me to walk out. “My guard. It’s only four wolves. Don’t be nervous.”
“Uh.”
“Reese, walk,” he ordered.
I wasn’t prepared for this. “You couldn’t have warned me?” I stomped past him in a huff.
He snaked out an arm and clamped a hand on the back of my neck. “I didn’t tell you on purpose because you would have fretted and paced the room for hours. I saved us both some energy.”
He either could read my mind, or just knew me.
As we were heading down the hallway of the fifth floor, Dare said with amusement in his tone, “You know I’m right, and you don’t want to admit it.”
“Shut up,” I muttered.
He laughed.
We walked past G’s apartment and reached the end of the hallway. Dare raised a fist to knock, then paused. “When we get inside, I’ll be explaining some pack business to you. You can ask questions in there. I know you’re going to want to. Okay?”
Fuck, how did he know me so well already? “Yeah, thanks.” I was nervous but also excited. Learning more about how the pack worked could help me figure out a plan to rescue Selene.
Dare knocked once on an unmarked door, then opened it up, walking inside. I followed and shut the door behind me.
The room was about the size of G’s apartment. Standing in its center was a large table made of solid wood with deep grooves. Around the table sat Bay, G, Rua, and a wolf I recognized as the one Bay had been training with.
“You know Bay and G,” Dare said. “You remember Rua, and the last member of the guard is Vaughn.”
While the rest of the Weres were fully clothed, Vaughn wore only a pair of leather pants, his huge bare feet propped up on the table near Bay, who was pinching his nose. “Nice to meet ya, wolf,” Vaughn said. G reached across the table with a massive hand and swiped Vaughn’s feet off the table. “Hey!” Vaughn protested.
G ignored him, Rua snickered, and Bay stuck out his tongue at Vaughn.
Dare rapped the table with his knuckles. “Could we please behave in front of Reese?”
“No point in misleading him,” Bay said with a grin, which softened. “You doing okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, sure. Thanks for the tour this morning. Sorry I freaked out.”
Bay waved a hand. “Nah, you were fine. Dare should have told you, but he sucks at using words.”
Dare heaved a sigh. “Sit down, Reese.”
I took a seat on one of the heavy wooden chairs, while Dare sat down next to me. “This is my guard. But when I say my, I mean they are mine to command, but they don’t guard me, they guard the pack. They are the first line of defense in the case of any sort of threat. They are trained to fight and know pack rules and protocol. They are responsible for punishing any offenses committed by the pack and have the authority to make certain decisions on their own. They are also my council. We meet here biweekly to discuss the pack and make any changes to laws or regulations.”
“The Whitethroat pack had a council of elders who met with the alpha and his family regularly. So is this kind of like that?” I asked.
“Yes, for the most part. We also have elders we consult. Many of them are pack law scholars.”
“And who chose your guard?”
“The pack voted on six Weres they’d like to be in the guard. And I chose four out of that six.”
“Why four?”
“I didn’t want too many voices, and these are the strongest Weres in the pack. They are levelheaded.” Dare glared at Vaughn. “Usually.”
/> “Ah,” I said. “And if you need to vote, then the four of them plus you equals five, so there are no ties.”
Dare grinned. “Exactly.” The guard remained silent during this exchange. Dare said, “Any more questions?”
I shook my head. “Not now.” I shot him a small smile. “Thank you.”
His eyes did that crinkle-at-the-corners thing, which meant the smile he flashed at me was genuine. Then his posture stiffened, and his voice deepened as he addressed his guard.
The four Weres in the room immediately straightened in their seats, full attention on their alpha, even Vaughn. In fact, all humor had vanished from his face. Vaughn seemed to balance on a knife edge. He’d play the joker, but I got the feeling that he didn’t take shit when someone pissed him off.
As if sensing I was watching him, his gaze drifted to me for just a moment. He winked, the corner of his mouth kicking up, before focusing back on Dare.
That wink took me back to when I was beaten and in pain on the floor of the Forum. Vaughn had been the one who’d suggested Dare could “put us to work” and had taken interest in Jude.
At the time, I’d been full-on rage-monster protective, but now that I had a chance to study him, I thought those remarks had been typical Vaughn humor.
My mate called on each Were to make their reports. Rua was in charge of the scouting teams who ventured outside of the compound. She said a Were named Tan was heading out to scout soon. After she finished speaking, Dare held up a finger to his brother, then bent to me. “Do you have any questions?”
Why was my heart melting? “Um, yeah, what do the scouts look for while they’re out?”
Rua answered. “We like to keep track of Nowere packs as best as we can. So the scouts report if they saw any packs, where they saw them, and the pack’s size. We make sure there are no Weres or wolves outside the walls who need protection. We’ll also send messengers to the other packs in the area to keep communication open.”
“Okay, thank you.”
Rua smiled and tossed her braids over her shoulder.
G was next. He was an expert on the novuses’ education and work at the Farm. He spoke softly in that deep voice he had. The care they took in cultivating the young members of the pack reminded me of Astria. My eyes got a little misty.
Daring Fate: Silver Tip Pack series Page 9