by Alisa Woods
Her heart swelled with his words—what better thing could she ever ask of him than to fight for their love, no matter what?
She wanted him to wrap his arms around her and kiss her… but a rustle of movement around them broke the tiny spot of closeness they had created. People were gathering into clusters larger than the twos and threes from before.
“It’s beginning,” Lucas whispered, then peered back into her eyes.
“The submission ceremony.” Her inner wolf pranced at the thought.
Lucas put his hand to her cheek, softly holding her. “Tell me you’ll be mine once again.”
“I’ll always be yours, Lucas.”
The hunger in his eyes at that moment had her convinced he would kiss her… but instead he stepped back and released her. She instantly missed his touch, but she understood: a few of the pack members and their dates were gathering around them. Lev and Rebecca had brought their secret smiles with them. Samuel from the Christmas party was there, and Mia belatedly realized he was one of Lucas’s new pack members as well. Or soon would be. His date was a pretty blonde girl who was wide-eyed at the whole scene. Mia could only imagine what a non-shifter would think of the submissions about to happen. There was one other wolf who had come to submit to Lucas, but he was new to the office, and she didn’t yet know his name. That made four wolves in Lucas’s pack now, including Mia. Still less than Llyr’s seven, but Lucas was rebuilding. Mia knew it was only a matter of time before he won the loyalty of more wolves than any of the Sparks men.
Closer to the tree, the elder Mr. Sparks had the most pack members gathering around him—about a dozen wolves, some mated, others with their non-shifter dates. Llyr’s pack was a little farther away, grouped in front of his commanding form. Each of the packs had a set of giant white boxes wrapped in red bows place on the snow around them: Lucas’s pack had four, one for each member, including the one Lev had set by Mia and Lucas’s feet. She had no idea what they were for, but she imagined she would find out soon enough.
Mia lifted her gaze only to see Lev had already shifted. His clothes lay in a pile next to him, and his dark brown fur bristled out with the cold. Mia’s eyes widened a little. She hadn’t thought about the lack-of-clothes part of submission. She had submitted to Lucas every month since that first time, but it had always been intimate, in the privacy of his apartment… and followed up with amazing sex.
This was going to be… different, to say the least.
As she watched, Lucas’s other two pack members shifted, gracefully leaving their clothes behind in a heap. Mia turned to find Lucas in wolf form as well: he was standing proud and strong, tail erect, head high, ears forward. A thrill ran through her as his dark wolf-eyes met her gaze. She couldn’t hear his thoughts yet, but she knew they were commanding her to shift. Her inner wolf raged against her skin, wanting out, wanting to join with him… wanting her alpha.
Mia closed her eyes, and she didn’t have to try: all she had to do was let her wolf loose. She shifted in a split-second, her borrowed set of jeans, boots, and fuzzy sweater now in a loose pile on the snow.
Now that she was in wolf form, she could hear all their thoughts. Is it time? Are you ready? I’m ready, are you ready? Damn this snow is cold. Who’s idea was it to do this in December?
Those last thoughts were Lev’s, and they made her smile.
Submit to me, Mia. Lucas’s words rang stronger than the rest, and they melted her like a blast of warmth on cold winter’s day. Her body relaxed into the submission pose without hesitation: forepaws forward, rear end lifted, head bowed. Lastly, completing the position, she tucked her tail down. The magical bond washed over her like a warm blanket covering her head to toe—only it didn’t weigh her down, it lifted her up. Better than any cocoon that she could ever hide in, this soft nest of love opened her heart. She was Lucas’s, and he was hers. With his love holding her up, nothing in the world could tear her down. And that feeling of belonging transcended anything else that might matter in the world. She stayed fixed in the submission position, savoring the bond, knowing it would still be there when she shifted back, but less so: in human form, it would only be a reflection of the bliss she felt at the moment.
One by one, the other wolves submitted to him. She knew they felt a similar kinship, a bond that tied them together, bolstering each… but none was as strong as hers. Lucas had only one mate, and it was her. The pride of that filled her heart to overflowing.
Rise. Lucas’s command meant the submissions were complete, and they were free to shift back to human. Normally that was the best part—the point at which she leaped naked into his arms—but this time she peered behind her to see what the rest of the pack was doing. All three, including Lev, were tugging open their boxes, using their teeth to pull the red ribbons free. Mia swung her gaze back to Lucas, and he was doing the same. Once the box was open, it looked like an entire of warren rabbits had fallen inside. Only when he clamped his jaws around the fur and pulled it free, did she see that it was a coat. Lucas nudged his head into the mass of fur and quickly shifted—a split second later, he was fully human, but still covered in fur. The hooded cloak wrapped around him, hiding his naked body.
Really unfortunate. Although she was glad there was a second cloak that he was picking up and walking over to her. He gently laid it over her, such that she could shift and still maintain some level of modesty. By the time she had done so, he was back with fur boots to match, so her feet wouldn’t freeze in the snow.
She had to admit that the fur coat snuggled against the winter cold had an amazingly luxurious feel. Mia glanced behind her, and all three pack members, including Lev, had donned their coats. Rebecca was busy running their hands through the fur, much to Lev’s delight. Mia chuckled and turned back to Lucas.
He was on one knee before her.
Mia blinked, uncertain what was happening. Then he took her hand in one of his… and in the other, he held a ring.
“Mia Fiore, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” His dark eyes glittered in the moonlight, but his face was solemn and serious.
She couldn’t breathe. He was asking her to marry him. And she couldn’t move or speak. The only thing that had life was her gaze, which bounced between his tightly concerned eyes and a ring that blazed with moonlight. She could barely see it through the glare of a million facets, but it appeared to be an enormous round diamond on a thin platinum band. Lucas waited, his eyes crinkling more with each second that passed without an answer from her, but she was frozen in place.
“For the love of magic,” Lev’s voice came from behind her. “Say yes, Mia!”
She let out a gasp-laugh and covered her mouth with her hand. Her vision was quickly blurring with tears. Lucas’s gaze never left her, never moved one fraction of an inch.
“Yes.” Her voice was a whisper, but Lucas was up off his knees in a flash. He crashed his lips to hers, holding her body tight against him as he wantonly kissed her for everyone to see. She laughed and cried through it and somehow managed to remember to kiss him back.
A roar went up around them, then clapping. Lucas was still kissing her. When he finally pulled back, it was only an inch or two, just enough room to bring her hand up between them and slide the ring on her finger.
She forgot to breathe again. It was insanely gorgeous, but it looked so foreign on her hand—like a glittering raindrop had magically frozen and suspended above her finger. Lucas pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of each of her fingers in turn.
Then he looked in her eyes. “I’ve been waiting for this night for so long,” he whispered, just for her.
“You idiot,” Mia said. The tears were cooling on her cheeks now that they weren’t flowing quite so freely. “Why did you wait? I would have said yes two minutes after we were mated.” But all that time of worry and heart-hurting seemed to blow away in the gentle breeze rustling the trees.
Lucas shrugged and glanced around. Everyone was watching them. He looked back to he
r. “I wanted it to be magical.”
At that instant, the tree lit up, a thousand tiny white lights racing to the top and stealing beauty from the stars in the heavens behind it. Mia reached up to bring him into another kiss, which only pulled more rounds of applause from their onlookers.
Then she whispered, just for him, “It’s absolutely perfect.”
He grinned, and seeing him so happy made her heart ready to burst. He slid his arm around her, holding her fur coat tight against the nakedness of her body underneath, and she couldn’t help wishing they were back in his apartment, rather than in the frozen wilderness, surrounded by a legion of wolves and their mates and girlfriends. Lucas kept his arm around her but opened up their tight embrace for the others who were already tromping across the snow to greet them.
His pack members came first, Samuel and the second one—Mia would have to learn his name if they were going to be pack-mates. She peeked past them to find Lev and then grinned: he was busy kissing Rebecca, something far more important than any congratulations he might have for her and Lucas. Mia beamed at Lucas, and he just shook his head. But there was a smile underneath.
One by one, the rest of the packs came up to shake hands and cheek-kiss Lucas and Mia. The warmest hug came from the elder Mr. Sparks, which made Mia blush, but Lucas’s smile was more than compensation for it. Jeeter and Colin were up next. If her ex-roomie smiled any wider, she would be nothing but teeth.
“You know, you could have told me,” Mia said to her.
“Well, yeah… if I wanted to be your ex best-friend.” Jeeter gave her a huge hug that lifted Mia off her feet and nearly spilled her fur coat open. Which would have been horrific, especially with Colin standing there. But even he seemed genuinely happy for her.
When he bent down to give Mia a kiss on the cheek, he whispered, “Love well, Queen of Wolves.”
That alone would have made tears jump to her eyes, if she wasn’t slowly leaking tears all along. When the last of them came and went, there was one figure standing a short ways away, watching all the bustle.
Her mother.
Mia gasped and looked to Lucas. Had she been there the whole time? Lucas smiled and nodded to Samuel standing nearby. He hustled over and escorted her mother toward them. Mia fought for words, drowning in the fact that her mother was here. Mia had shifted, had submitted to her alpha, and now was dressed in nothing but a fur coat in the middle of the forest… all in front of her mother. Her mind was still spinning when her mom reached them. Mia was especially confused by the smile on her face.
“Mia, honey,” was all her mother said before reaching out to hug Mia. More tears gushed out of her. She didn’t know why or how, but her mom was here, hugging her, and that was all she really needed to know. Everything was going to be all right now—in fact, everything was so right in this moment that no matter what happened going forward, her life would forever be anchored in this moment of love.
But she still wanted to know what had happened.
When her mom pulled back, she had to ask, “Why are you here?”
Her mother glanced at Lucas, and the smile she gave him flat-out stunned Mia.
“Lucas came back after you left. He wanted to make things right, and I…” She looked sheepish for a moment. “I almost threw him out again. But he told me about his plans here tonight, and said he loved you, but that he wouldn’t move forward without my blessing… because he knew it would mean the world to you.” Her mom was tearing up, but Mia was outright crying again. “What more could I want for my baby girl?”
Mia hugged her hard after that, and long. Eventually Mr. Sparks, Lucas’s father, came and escorted her away. Mia watched them head back through the forest, toward the cars, and only then did she realize that most of the party was dissipating. Only not everyone was tromping through the forest in the direction of the parking lot. Couples were peeling off and disappearing into the shadows. Mia glimpsed Lev in his fur coat and Rebecca in her regular one right before they slipped into the darkness.
“Where are they going?” she asked Lucas.
His grin was filled with the kind of heat that made her body tingle under the warm blanket of fur. “There’s one last part of this ceremony. It’s an after party. Of sorts.”
He took her hand and led her across the meadow toward the trees on the far side.
“Is everyone doing this?” Mia asked as Lucas led her into the forest.
He kept marching as he spoke. “Only the couples. Mostly the mated ones, but I’m sure a few of the non-shifter dates are having a very furry Christmas.”
Mia giggled and yet still felt strangely nervous. They were outside. Wouldn’t the others hear them? Or maybe see? Then again, she expected they were all thinking the same thing… and preoccupied at the moment. Plus Mia and Lucas’s little corner of the forest felt like it was a thousand miles from anyone and anywhere else.
Lucas found a fern-filled clearing between the fallen logs and upright trees that hid the stars overhead. He gathered her up in his arms and tugged her to the center. The ferns were springy and came up to her knees. The ground below them was mostly clear of snow, but the myriad leaves of the ferns each had a sparkling patch of white clinging to it.
“Um…” Mia said, wondering how this was going to work.
“Yes, Ms. Fiore?” Lucas asked. He trailed a finger along her collar bone, slowly parting the fur coat she had been holding closed against the elements. A rush of winter air kissed her body through the parting of the fur, tightening her nipples and prickling out flesh all over her body.
Mia gasped in a breath, but the heat flooding between her legs kept her from feeling the cold. Lucas pulled in an appreciative breath between his teeth, cupping her breast in one hand while opening the coat farther with the other.
He bent closer and nuzzled her cheek. “Did you have something you wanted to say?” His fingers grasped her taut nipple and pinched in a way that sent streaks of fire right to her core.
“Um…” She was having a hard time forming coherent thoughts beyond the sensations racing across her body.
His chuckle was deep. “I clearly need to work a little harder if I want you to start praying my name.”
She recovered her wits enough to wind her fingers into his fur coat, which had also fallen open, given his hands were occupied with tormenting her body with pleasure: he had a hand on each breast, alternating soft and hard twists with his thumbs on her nipples. His erection bobbed tantalizingly close to her body, but not touching. And she ached to touch so much more. Her hands skimmed down the fur of his coat. She had every intention of making him just as breathless as she was.
He caught her wrist before she could wrap her fingers around his cock. “Not yet, Miss Mia, or the first time will go far too quick.”
“The first time?” She let him place her hand back on his shoulder then dug her fingers up into his hair. He wasn’t kissing her, and she wanted that to change.
“We’re going to be here a while.” His lips whispered against her neck. “I considered stocking with woods with provisions ahead of time.” One of his hands skimmed her stomach and slipped between her legs.
She gasped at the sudden contact, the insane mixture of heat and cold, friction and a biting draft, all right where she wanted more of everything. But she wasn’t going to make it that easy on him. She slipped her hand beneath his fur, tracing the hard muscled lines of his stomach with her flat palm. She could tell by the hitch in his breathing that she was affecting him with her slow traces across his skin.
“You were awfully confident I was going to say yes, weren’t you?” she whispered as she slowly wound her hand lower. Maybe this time, he wouldn’t stop her.
“I wasn’t going to stop asking until you did.” His fingers teased her entrance, promising more, then retreating. Her entire body was lighting up with the heat of it. She was already breathless, and she wasn’t interested in going slow. She wanted to close the inches that separated them and be joined together like they
were meant to be. Forever.
“Lucas, I want you.” Her breath was a tiny cloud of crystals in the air beside them.
“You can do better than that,” he chastised.
The slow dance of his fingers flirted with the wet heat between her legs. He was slipping the tips of his fingers in and out of her… but nowhere near enough for what she wanted. It was making her insane. She quickly slid her hand down and grasped hold of his cock—it was hot in her hand, silken skin over a hardness she couldn’t wait to have inside her.
He sucked in a breath. “Clearly you aren’t taking instruction well tonight.” He wrested her hand from him again and held her by both wrists away from his body. He let his gaze roam across her skin, and she felt it like a hot brush painting her—it chased away the cold and made her ache even more.
“Are you just going to look?” Mia asked, her chest heaving.
His growl was low, and she could see his cock pulse in response to her words. Good. Maybe she could torment him with her words, if not her hands. All was fair…
“If you don’t want my hands on you, maybe you would like my mouth better?”
He groaned and, in one swift motion, pulled her body tight against him. She was inside the warm harbor of his coat now, hot up against his body. He gathered her hand—the one with his ring—to his lips and dropped a kiss on each finger. Then he released it and slid her fur coat from her shoulders. It fell to the ground behind her.
“On your knees, Ms. Fiore.”
She dropped to the fur blanket that was now below her, eagerly grasping his cock as she went. She took him into her mouth as deeply as she could, gripping the base and readying to have him crying out her name for all the forest to hear… but she only got to taste him for a moment before he laced fingers in her hair and pulled her head away.
None too gently, either. The pull on her scalp pulsed heat to her core.