“Show yourself.” Luther pounded his fist on the table sending his glass of water crashing to the floor.
Arianna’s breath caught in her throat when the brown and black wolf shifted instantly.
It was Devin Caedmon.
Many others gasped in shock, and Arianna covered her mouth with her palm. The sparring wolves followed their leader, shifting into their respective human forms. She recognized Dawson as one of the fighters and his opponent was one of Zeldano’s followers.
“You trespassed,” Luther growled.
“Of course we did,” Devin declared.
“What is your reason for disrupting our ceremony?” Luther’s whole body shook in anger beside her.
Someone pushed their way through the bodies of men. It was though they’d been holding this one back, and had no more strength to do so.
“Arianna Klein.” Jayson came to stand before them all—even the Alpha himself. His hair was wild and his eyes were dark. His chest glowed with a fresh sheen of sweat like he’d run for miles without stopping. The jeans he wore were ripped in several places. “She is mine.”
Arianna’s breath quickened and fogged out in front of her.
‘No. No. You can’t be doing this.’
‘Yes. I will.’
“Yours?” Ivan grumbled. “I have an agreement that says otherwise.”
“Fuck your agreement!” Jayson attempted to rush forward. It took three men to hold him back.
She hated seeing him this way. Beyond control and angry.
“It’s over. Signed and delivered,” Ivan stated.
“This ends tonight. I’m here to claim my mate.”
“You have no right to her. She was promised to me.”
“You’re wrong, Ivan.” Devin came to stand by Jayson side. “There is an agreement on the table, but any of us can challenge you for Arianna at any time.”
“Challenge me?” Ivan laughed. “When you attempted to buy her back, it wasn’t enough. Why do you think you are worthy enough to have her?”
“Arianna is my mate.” Jayson’s eyes widened. “You knew this!”
“A wolf that lets his mate roam unclaimed for decades. A sorry excuse, is it not?” Ivan looked to his crowd of followers for support.
Some of them grumbled in agreement.
“What wolf attempts to buy someone else’s mate? Is that not sorry, or what?”
Ivan growled. “You’re doing Arianna and her father a disgrace. You must not know what they’ve put on the line.”
“I am aware of what’s at stake,” Jayson said between clenched teeth. “It’s why I am here tonight.”
“Then you know reneging means they lose everything.”
“They haven’t reneged, Ivan. As you said, the agreement has been signed. The transaction has been completed. Your union has just been announced as official.”
“Then why are you here?” This time it was Luther who inquired.
“I’m here to challenge you, Ivan. For Arianna.”
Arianna’s breath rushed out of her forcefully. She clutched her chest. “Jayson, don’t.”
“Do you love me, Arianna?” Jayson asked, surprising her.
“Yes, Jayson, I love you.”
“Then let me do this,” he pleaded.
“Ivan.” Arianna turned to face him. “Let me go. Without a fight. I beg you. This would never have been successful. None of it.”
Ivan’s lips trembled, and he seemed to weigh her request.
“Don’t you dare, Ivan,” his father demanded from behind her. “Don’t you dare let her run.”
Arianna turned, her veins nearly bursting with rage. “You! You and my father made this agreement out of greed. You’ve taught your son how to strive off the weaknesses of others. Step down as you have declared and stop talking for your son!”
“Your father never taught you how to speak to your elders.”
“This has nothing to do with you, elder,” Jayson called out from the ground. “Your son should be man enough to have his own voice…or not. Haven’t you taught him that?”
“I accept.” Ivan’s voice echoed across the courtyard.
Silence fell over the crowd and a rush of wind gush passed them all.
“If I win, consider the contract null and void and without penalty on Arianna or her father,” Jayson said.
“And if I win,” Ivan said, “You relinquish complete rights to Arianna, and you are never to see her again.”
“Agreed.” Jayson’s body faded into a translucent haze and then he shifted into wolf form.
Arianna joined the frenzy of bodies as everyone rushed out into the clearing in the forest. Ivan didn’t shift until he and Jayson were circling each other.
When their bodies collided, her stomach contracted in panic. It was a gut-wrenching thing to watch—her mate fighting with the one she was promised to. They were both considerably close in age and size, and as they fought she could tell that neither really had the upper hand.
Jayson pounced on top of Ivan, slamming him into the ground. Ivan snapped at Jayson’s muzzle and tried to throw him off. They rolled across the forest floor in a ball of wrath. A yelp erupted from one their mouths and they both shot up into the air taking fighter’s stance and circling each other. Their muzzles were held open, baring teeth that glistened with saliva.
Ivan lunged for Jayson’s throat. Jayson bucked out of the way just in time to miss the assault, but Ivan’s teeth caught his shoulder instead. Jayson half-growled and half-barked and lunged at Ivan. He slashed Ivan across the face with his paws and Ivan toppled to the ground.
Taking advantage, Jayson held Ivan to the ground with his paws and snapped aggressively toward his throat. Jayson caught a front paw between his muzzle when Ivan took a swing at him. Ivan howled in pain and scurried a safe distance away.
Jayson followed the limping the Ivan, their foggy breaths thick against the night wind as they panted angrily. They circled for what seemed like several minutes before Jayson made the next move.
He pinned Ivan to the spot and buried his teeth into his chest. Ivan choked on his own scream and he struggled against Jayson’s weight. Lunging upward, Ivan kicked Jayson across the ground and then leaped on top of his back. He tore into the meaty flesh between Jayson’s shoulders.
Arianna’s body propelled forward, but someone gripped at her waist. She turned quickly, ready to defend herself. Her fury subsided when she saw that it was another woman. A human Caedmon.
“I know it’s hard, but don’t interfere,” the woman whispered.
Arianna nodded, slowly, and clutched the other woman’s hand for support.
She turned her attention back to the fight and cringed when she spotted the injured Jayson limping on the ground just like his opponent. Biting into her lip hard, she fought the need to speak to him telepathically. He needed all of his strength for the fight with no distractions.
They exchanged a series of hits and slashes across the face and abdomen. A couple of the cuts went deep and both of their furs were soiled in blood.
Once more, their bodies collided and they brawled in the center of the circle for what was too long to bear.
Arianna forced herself to look. She needed to know that Jayson was okay.
Ivan caught Jayson’s hind leg between his teeth and held fast, holding him immobilized. Jayson lowered his body to the ground and his lips flared up against his fangs. His forehead creased in pain.
In one instance, Jayson’s body was on the ground and leg between Ivan’s teeth, and in the next instant he was atop Ivan again with his fangs at his throat. Ivan thrashed under Jayson as Jayson held fast to his throat. It was a death grip, and by the reduction in movement from Ivan, Arianna could tell he was fading fast.
Jayson moved his massive head from side to side, shaking Ivan like a ragdoll. Blood splattered on the forest floor and some of it even splashed on the spectators standing close by.
Jayson growled like a wild beast, holding Ivan’s neck in his mo
uth.
“Stop. Please don’t kill my son.” Luther rushed forward into the circle. “I signed the contract. I can cancel it. Consider the agreement null and void. No penalties.”
Ivan moaned and his hind legs twitched slightly.
Jayson paused and studied Luther with a murderous glare, but he tightened his grip on Ivan’s neck.
“Please!” Luther held up his hand. “I beg you. My son alive is worth more than this contract.”
Arianna’s father came forward out of the crowd. “I agreed to this as well. Consider it null and void.”
Jayson growled and released his hold on Ivan’s throat.
Ivan slumped to the ground and curled up into a bloody fur ball. His body shook uncontrollably, and his father and some of their servants rushed to his side.
Arianna ran to Jayson and threw her arms around his neck, sinking her face into his soft fur. She didn’t care about the dirt and grime. She breathed in his familiar sandalwood scent, never wanting to be apart from him again.
Her tears spilled onto his fur, mixing with his sweat and blood.
‘Don’t ever do that again.’ She hugged him tightly.
‘I feel like saying the same thing to you.’
“Let’s go,” she said aloud this time.
Jayson led the way in wolf form, and the crowds parted as they made way toward the forest. She grasped the fold of extra skin on the wolf’s back, holding tightly and securely to him.
Her father stepped in front of them and Jayson growled.
“Jayson…” she said, trying to calm him.
“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry,” her father whispered, “to both of you.”
Arianna was at a loss for words. She was still angry with his decisions and could not trust him because of how he’d betrayed her. Although, she loved him, it would take a long time to earn her respect again. So, she regarded his statement with a nod, but did not say a word.
Her father moved out of their path.
As wolf and woman, Arianna and Jayson continued on their way.
Devin’s followers disbanded. Many of them had already made it into the forest from where they’d come. Others followed behind them, while some waited at the edge of the forest for them.
Only when they were surrounded by trees and the other members of the Caedmon Pack, did her heart return to normal.
She was safe, and with them was where she belonged.
Chapter Fifteen
It seemed like forever before they reached the comfort of his late father’s old home—the home which Jayson had inherited upon his passing.
His entire body felt like someone had buried him under rocks and buckets of water. He had wanted to collapse and let his wolf rest several times as they journeyed through the forest toward the Caedmon village.
After the battle he’d just been through, weakness was not an option. Against her protest, he’d carried Arianna on his back half of the way. Other’s had offered to the do the same, but he wanted no one touching her.
When they were within the gates of the Truman home, only then did he shift into human form. His muscles morphed painfully as he lifted himself to full standing height.
Arianna walked right into his embrace and palmed the back of his head. She felt like heaven against his bare skin, and he closed his eyes as she showered kisses on his face.
“I missed you,” she whispered.
“I missed you.”
When she’d tricked him and took off on his motorcycle, he’d nearly had a mental breakdown. It had hurt him to know that she’d walk away from him to go to another man. It had taken him hours to find out what had become of her through word of mouth and several more hours to process what he needed to do.
“I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” he said. “Let’s go inside and rest now, and start our new life together.”
She smiled, and he picked her up and carried her into the home.
“I don’t have full-time servants,” he said, kicking the door closed. “I like my privacy, now and then, but if you would like them—”
Arianna kissed him, stopping him in mid-speech. “I’ve known you since you were eighteen. I know you never liked having maids.”
“It’s not all about me anymore. I want to make sure that you are happy.”
“I’m happy right now. If I had nothing else in this world, but you, I’d still be happy.”
Jayson carried her up the staircase and into his bedroom. When he reached the bathroom, he placed her gently on the floor. Somewhere during the journey, she’d lost her shoes. Her feet looked pretty and delicate against the black and white marble design.
Even now, tattered and torn, she wore the gown with regal grace. She was his queen. His mate. She belonged to him.
He turned her around and unfastened the button at the nape of her neck and peeled the gown away from her. Once the dress moved past the expanse of her hips, the flimsy fabric fell to the floor at their feet.
She stood naked before him. Beautiful and irresistible.
Jayson moved in closer to her, cupped the back of her head, and pressed his mouth to her throat. He lifted her chin and sipped at the delicate curvature of her neck and licked at the blood-throbbing veins. His fangs forced themselves through his gums.
He breathed in her scent like a delicious meal he was about to enjoy before leading her backward toward his shower. Leaning over, he managed to turn on the water without leaving her warm embrace.
She unbuckled his jeans and pulled out the belt. He stepped out of them and kicked them to the side. His cock already responded to her. Not fully erect, but damn near there.
Taking slow steps backward, she entered the shower and placed her body under the flow of the water. Just like the gown, the water clung to her body like a curtain. She lifted her face to it and parted her lips slightly. The water washed away the smudges on her skin, leaving behind glistening pellets and plush skin that he knew was delicate to the touch.
He joined her in the shower, lured in by her essence and the need to have her.
Arianna led him to take a seat on the bench, and then she grabbed a sponge and a bottle of soap. After straddling him, she began to smooth the sponge over his weary skin. He closed his eyes and leaned back on the glass. His wolf spirit delved just below the surface, making himself known.
When her palms touched the deep bruise on his shoulder, he flinched as instant heat shot through him. The skin tightened across the wound has her fingers lingered there. As his true mate, she was the only one who could heal him with just one touch.
Arianna worked the sponge and her fingers across his body until all the evidence of battle was covered in suds. She brought the shower head over him, and rinsed him clean.
In the process, he had gained a raging erection. It throbbed at full attention as he remained seated on the bench. She bent before him, and took his big cock in her small hands. Biting into his bottom lip, he braced herself as she teased him with the tip of her tongue. Brown eyes stared up at him, luring him to do much naughtier things with his dick. She dragged her tongue up his column, and then slid her mouth back down again. Her fingers teased his taut sac, causing his rod to tightened and lengthen.
She dug into his thighs with the pads of her fingers and took him deep in her mouth. He groaned and lifted his face to the ceiling. The entire shower stall was fogged with hot steam. The water beat against the tiles and heated up the interior. She suctioned him with her lips, luring a bit of his seed right out of him.
Her lips felt heavenly as they drew him inside her warm mouth. Her palms worked wonders as it pumped him. His cock filled with his seed quickly, fueling the need to release or endure the painstaking erection.
Even when he lifted her head and tried to stop her, she continued pleasuring him.
His orgasm pushed through him, sending his body into intense convulsions. She milked him with both hands, taking his seed into her mouth until he was completely spent.
She helped him down from his orgasm by stroking at his swollen rod with her devilish tongue.
Jayson was still erect with fervent need. Satisfied, but still wanting something.
He stood and lifted her to his feet. His lips meshed with hers and he pushed her pliant body back onto the glass. He let his fingers glide down her body and separated the folds of her sex. She was wet and warm. He could smell the sweet, fragrance of her desire as it mingled with the steam.
He bent to suckle her breasts and she moaned. The tone of it sounded like a harmonious note. He wanted nothing more than to please her into oblivion for that was what satisfied him more than anything else.
Jayson turned her around and pressed his body to her back. His cock slid between the tender globes of her ass. His fingers found her center and played with her needy clit. She spread her legs, literally begging to be fucked.
He always preferred her like that.
…wet with fiery desire…
He kissed her shoulder, sliding his tongue against the nape of her neck. She pushed her tight ass back into pelvis, teasing his rod with her flesh.
“I want to spend an eternity with you and only you.”
“I give myself. Mind, body, soul, and heart. I offer myself to you.”
His fangs dropped to full length and dripped with saliva. He grabbed her about the waist with both hands. She turned until her neck was barred completely to him.
He prepared her for his bite, licking at her neck. The glands of his tongue released the serum that would prime her for his mark.
Jayson took her, biting her at the throat. His fangs pushed through the delicate lining of her skin, marking her inside and out.
Heat folded from within, engulfing him in what he could only explain as his own frenzy. The wolf spirit rippled through him and rejoiced all at the same time. His veins pulsed with icy hot gratification.
She’d accepted him. Finally. She was his forever.
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