by Ellis Leigh
Deus grunted and turned, but not before giving Phego one last shot. “You’re not going to go inside and watch the beauty of a new life being brought into the world?”
“Not until it’s mine.” Phego shifted and raced toward the back of the house, ready to defend his mate. Ready to destroy any threat to her.
Ready to give his heart to a woman for the first and last time of his life.
Epilogue
The seaside cabin sat on the edge of a grass-covered cliff, the building small and quaint in that way mostly only seen in movies. Michaela had come to love the old, charming building. The matching one a hundred yards away at the edge of the woods was just as cute, even more so with its gray cedar shingles and deep blue trim. But that cabin, the one that was usually home to her and Phego, sat empty. Michaela’s mate had been pulled away on a mission, and the silence of her home was too much to bear some days. Which was why she sat at Ariel’s cabin watching the waves crash against the rocks farther down the coast and rocking the bassinet of a tiny wolf shifter she’d help bring into the world.
That and the fact that Phego had made her move in with Ariel, Thaus, and the baby while he was gone.
“What time will they be back?” Ariel asked as she ripped open another box.
Michaela turned away from the window and grabbed the last of the books off the counter, heading to the bookshelf in the corner. “Soon. Phego promised he’d be here before sunset.”
“And if he’s late?”
“He won’t be.” Michaela smiled as Ariel laughed, both knowing exactly how true those words were. Being late wouldn’t happen. Her mate had made her a promise, and if there was one thing Michaela had learned about him in the two months they’d been mated, it was that Phego didn’t break his word. Ever. He was the most trustworthy person she’d ever met.
Ariel stopped by the bassinet in the corner to tuck a blanket around her sleeping son before crossing back to the stack of boxes they were going through. Moving sucked—it sucked more with a newborn in tow. Unpacking had taken both couples far longer than they’d planned, though not for the same reasons. Michaela didn’t have a little baby to watch over.
She had a mate who couldn’t keep his hands, mouth, and cock to himself. Thank the fates for that. Four days without his touch was too much. She wanted him home. Immediately.
“I can’t believe he had a mission so soon,” Ariel said as she reached to set a book on a high shelf.
“He’s investigating the possibility of more Dire Wolves with Deus. It wasn’t so much a mission, more of a recon thing,” Thaus said as he slipped into the room from the back door. Ariel squeaked and dropped the book, running toward her mate as if she hadn’t seen him less than an hour before. Thaus met her in the middle of the room, the two grinning and coming together in an embrace that was just this side of PG-rated. Michaela didn’t mind, though. She was sure she and Phego were the same. Or they would be once he made it home to her.
“Recon schmechon,” Michaela said, turning her back on the couple to place a few more books on the shelves. “Luc called and told him to go do stuff. Therefore, it’s a mission. One I can’t wait to be over so I can have Phego back with me.”
Thaus chuckled. “You sick of staying with us already?”
“Yes.” Michaela turned and grinned, softening her words. “But only because I want my mate with me in our little home. Plus, you three deserve your privacy.”
The buzz of his phone had Thaus looking down, distracted. “Yeah, well, we appreciate that, but Phego would kill me if I let anything happen to you. You’re stuck with us until this is over.”
“I know,” Michaela said with a sigh. “I just miss him, I guess.”
“Well, you won’t have to miss him for long.” Thaus tucked his phone back into his pocket. “They’ve crossed the state line.”
Michaela grinned, practically bouncing on her toes. “How far is that from here?”
“An hour…maybe.” He growled and grabbed Ariel again, rocking her back and forth. “Though if he’s anything like me after a mission, he’ll be hauling ass to get to his mate, so it could be less.”
Michaela dropped the last of the books on the shelf and headed for the door. “Gotta go. I want to take a shower before he gets here.”
Thaus laughed. “He won’t care if you’re dirty.”
“Maybe not, but I will,” Michaela called just before she raced outside. Before she could make it back to her cabin, before she could even cross the field between the two, she spotted the shadow of a wolf on the far hill running toward their little cliffside homes.
And running fast.
Michaela shivered, arousal blooming within her. She knew that shape, sensed her mate, felt the connection between them pull tight as she watched the beast running full tilt for her. Phego was home.
As the sun turned the sky cotton-candy pink, Phego’s wolf hit the edge of their property. Michaela waited, anxious but nervous, too. Needful but trying to hold herself back. Phego shifted human once he was about ten yards away, running right to Michaela and picking her up in his arms as he hurried toward the cabin.
“You could have walked,” Michaela said, though the way she clung to him, the way she wrapped her body around his, belied her words. She hadn’t wanted him to walk. Hell, anything to get him home faster. Thankfully, he understood.
“And miss an extra minute with you?” Phego yanked on her shirt as they crossed the threshold into their house, ripping the fabric in two before moving his hands to tug her skirt from her body. “Not a chance.”
Michaela helped him rid her of her clothes, thankful he was already naked. “I’m glad you’re early. I missed you.”
“Missed you more.” Phego bit her neck, a reminder of the mating mark there. As always, he continued licking, kissing, and sucking along her shoulder to the spot where his claw marks glowed pale against her dark skin. It was his way of apologizing, his penance for hurting her, he liked to say. She didn’t care about the marks. She just wanted him touching her.
“I was going to shower,” she said, moaning as he rubbed a knuckle against her clit. She was so wet, so ready for him.
Phego grunted and lifted her back into his arms. “I like you dirty.”
Michaela chuckled, tightening her legs around his hips and rocking her hips so she could rub against his cock. So she could be the one to tease him for once. “Any trouble while you were gone?”
Phego groaned, spinning to press her back against a wall and dragging his cock along her pussy. Bumping her clit on every pass and grinning when she jerked. “None. You?”
Michaela shook her head, sighing when he finally thrust inside. “Fuck, I needed this. Needed you.”
“I know, baby. I can feel it. You’re so fucking wet for me.” Phego pushed harder, slid deeper. Pressing her into the wall with every thrust. “Thaus keep an eye on you?”
How he could keep up such a conversation, she had no idea. “Yes, but his aren’t the eyes I want looking my way.”
Phego growled, pinching her nipple as he held her ass in one hand. “No?”
“No.” Michaela bumped her head against the wall as he grew more wild. As he grunted through every push, slamming her hips into the wall. As he lost control and gave her what she wanted. “Fuck, I need to come.”
“I know, mate. I feel it.” He slid his hand between them, pressing his thumb against her clit as he filled her over and over again. “We need a bed. Did we get a bed while I was gone?”
“Yes,” she hissed, so close to coming she could barely find her words. “It’s here, but I haven’t slept in it yet.”
He snarled and pulled her away from the wall, carrying her into their bedroom where a perfectly huge, pristinely made white bed took up most of the space.
“Nice,” he said as he laid her out before him. “I want to fuck you in our bed.”
“Come,” she said, pulling him down on top of her, spreading her legs wide so he could slide back inside as she sank into the beddi
ng. “Come inside me, mate. I want to feel you. I want to be yours.”
Phego plowed her into the mattress, losing all rhythm as he snarled and snapped at her neck. That was Michaela’s favorite side to her mate, the animalistic one. The out of control lover who would do anything for his mate. The side no one but she ever got to see.
Her Phego.
The state they lived in didn’t matter, the house they chose didn’t either. So long as they were together, so long as she could feel his skin against hers and taste his kiss, they’d be okay. No matter how many Dire Wolves were out in the world. She was safe with her mate, and he was safe with her. Always.
Thank you for reading about Phego and Michaela. Hopefully, you loved their story as much as I did. Please think about posting a review to help other readers who may be looking for a story just like this one. Reviews help readers and authors in many ways, so thank you in advance for leaving one!
If you’d like to know more about Deus, check out SAVAGE SECURITY.
Also by Ellis Leigh
Feral Breed Motorcycle Club
Wolf shifters, motorcycles, witches, and a threat lurking in the shadows.
Novels
Claiming His Fate
Claiming His Need
Claiming His Witch
Claiming His Beauty
Claiming His Fire
Claiming His Desire
Collections
Claiming Their Forever: A Collection of Shorts
Feral Breed Followings
Stand-alone stories of characters first met in the Feral Breed Motorcycle Club series. Featuring cage fighters, dragon shifters, second chances, and young love.
Claiming His Chance
Claiming His Prize
The Gathering Tales
Come and enjoy tales from the biggest shifter event of the year as wolves from around the country fall in lust, in love, and in fate at The Gathering.
Killian and Lyra
Gideon and Kalie
Blasius, Dante, and Moira
Homecoming
Also available in one convenient anthology in both electronic and paperback formats.
The Gathering Tales
The Devil’s Dires
There’s no escaping a Dire Wolf on the hunt…
Savage Surrender
Savage Sanctuary
Savage Seduction
Savage Silence
Savage Sacrifice
Motor City Alien Mail Order Brides
Where the men aren’t human and the women are uninformed.
Cutlass
Hudson
Maverick
Stand-Alone Romance
Bearly Dreaming: A Southern Shifters Worlds Novella
Masterson: A Vampire Sons Story
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About the Author
A storyteller from the time she could talk, USA Today bestselling author Ellis Leigh grew up among family legends of hauntings, psychics, and love spanning decades. Those stories didn’t always have the happiest of endings, so they inspired her to write about real life, real love, and the difficulties therein. From farmers to werewolves, store clerks to witches—if there’s love to be found, she’ll write about it. Ellis lives in the Chicago area with her husband, daughters, and two tiny fish that take up way too much of her time.
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