Grant took a deep breath. He still didn’t completely trust his brother. But what choice did he have?
Chapter Eleven
A suite of rooms was waiting for them back at the lodge, now that Grant had Celeste and Jeffrey with him.
Their first night there, Grant never let Celeste and Jeffrey out of his sight. Celeste and Jeffrey slept on a queen-size bed, and when Celeste woke up in the middle of the night, Grant was sitting in a chair, working on his laptop and watching them.
“You can go to sleep,” Celeste called out to him. “We’re in a building full of werewolves. We’re a four-hour helicopter ride from Somerville. I think we’re safe here.”
“Sleep’s over-rated.” Grant winked at her and went back to typing.
“We’ll be fine,” Jeffrey said, turning over on his other side and yawning. “I won’t let anyone take my mom. I’m really good at protecting her.”
Celeste could have sworn that she saw Grant’s eyes welling up. “Yes, you are, little man. You’re braver than a lot of grown-up wolves.”
“I know.” Jeffrey yawned and pulled the pillow over his head.
The next morning, Grant called in Truman and Mandy to stay with Celeste and Jeffrey.
“Play nice with each other,” Grant said to Mandy as he buttoned his shirt.
“Doesn’t he wish.” Mandy was flipping through the latest copy of Cosmopolitan magazine.
Truman shrugged. “She’ll never know what she’s missing.”
“No, I won’t,” Mandy agreed.
“What is he missing?” Jeffrey, still wearing pajamas, sat up in bed, yawning.
Mandy shot Truman a look. “Breakfast,” she said. “They have a great breakfast buffet here. Shall we?”
Grant headed off to the meeting room, where a group of Alphas were waiting.
“Nice of you to drop in,” Anthony Craddock growled irritably. He was a tall, muscular man in his sixties, with silvery hair, ice-blue eyes, and a scarred face that spoke to his combative personality. He was also wealthy and powerful, owning most of the timber business in his area, and numerous smaller packs would fall in line with him.
Ford Blackwood sat next to Cliff and Talbot. Cliff glanced at Grant and shook his head. “We haven’t been able to find anything out,” he said.
Anthony fixed his icy gaze on Grant. “Your son has been running around among humans for the last six years. It’s a miracle he didn’t shift at the wrong time and expose us all. And now a whole gang of humans tries to kidnap him, and they know about us? These stupid news articles aren’t the ones endangering us. You are.”
Grant settled in next to Cliff and tried to keep his temper in check.
“I had no idea my son even existed until last week. As soon as I found out, I took him in. And this human attack is perfect proof of why we need better inter-pack cooperation, and communication, and a database.”
“Because it benefits you personally.” Anthony’s lip curled up in a sneer.
“Not just him,” Talbot said calmly. “There was a group of humans there, threatening to expose our secret, from what I was told.”
Grant nodded. “Yes, that’s correct. We really need this. Right now we’re having to contact every single pack individually, to warn them and to see if they have any useful information to share with us. Even the packs that have representatives here – we’ve had to go around and tell every single pack about it. We can’t even send a group text at this point. It’s incredibly inefficient and time-consuming.”
“You two are awfully chummy. And the timing of this attack was pretty convenient,” Anthony said accusingly.
Grant groaned. This was ridiculous. He didn’t even like Talbot, personally. He just wanted to do whatever he could to keep his people safe – and find the bastards who were after his son.
“Someone attempted to kidnap my child,” he gritted out. “Is it hard for you to understand why I’d want as many allies as I can get right now?”
“I was raised to handle my own problems. I don’t even know this man.” Anthony pointed at Talbot. “Why should I let him have access to all of my pack’s information?”
“There would be three different packs jointly maintaining it, to ensure that no one pack monopolizes the database and abuses it in any way.” Talbot’s tone was sharper now. “Cliff, Ford and I will be working together.”
Anthony folded his arms across his chest. “Maybe you’re all conspiring together. You’ll be able to spy and pry and interfere.”
“Get your head out of your ass, old man!” Ford snapped at him.
“You want to see old? I’ll show you old!” Anthony partially shifted, his jaw shooting out, his eyes glowing with fury. His pack members jumped up, growling threateningly.
There was a long, tense stand-off before Anthony finally stormed out of the room with his pack.
Grant slammed his hand down on the table in frustration. “As long as that idiot refuses to listen to reason, we’re at an impasse,” he said. “He’s got too many packs who will follow his lead. We’ve been here for days and we’re getting nowhere.”
“Alternative suggestion,” Cliff said. “Start setting up a database with all the packs who want to cooperate. Anyone who wants to benefit from the database has to be a member. We withdraw support from any pack that doesn’t belong to the database.”
“Wouldn’t the non-cooperating packs take that as a declaration of war? What about when we need to travel through their territory?” an Alpha named Jacob asked. “What if our pack members get stranded in their territory during a full moon, or we need their help in some other emergency?”
“What about if they need our help?” Grant’s eyes blazed with anger. “We’ve got a mighty big territory. We don’t have to let them travel through, or near it.”
“We might be able to come up with a compromise,” Cliff said. “We get started on the database for those packs that want to join, and hope that the rest of them come around eventually. If any pack wants access to the database – to find mates, Truth-Makers, healers, any other special talents, or criminals – they need to be a member. We still follow the same rules as we’re doing now. We offer emergency aid and support to anyone coming into our territory, whether they join the database or not. I mean, if it’s the full moon and they need a place to change, are we going to deny them and risk having them exposed to humans?”
Talbot and Ford nodded in agreement.
“Let’s get started,” Ford said.
* * * * *
Late that afternoon, Celeste, Jeffrey and Grant sat in a clearing behind the lodge’s main building, with the sun dipping low on the horizon.
Tall, slender trees soared into a sky tinted with oranges and pinks, and the grass where they sat was springy and soft. Just on the edge of hearing, Celeste picked up the babbling of a brook over stones.
“You know what’s not on the menu here, that I really, really want?” Celeste said to Grant and Jeffrey. “Rabbit. I hear there’s a lot of rabbit in those woods back there.” She gestured at the thick forest that rose up in a dense wall a few hundred feet from them.
Jeffrey looked worried. “I don’t know how to catch a rabbit. Are you mad?” he asked Celeste, clenching his fists and looking anxious.
Celeste felt her heart twist. “Of course not!” she said reassuringly. “Maybe I could catch my own rabbits, and cook them for all of us.”
“Ahem. I know a smart, handsome werewolf who is great at catching rabbits,” Grant said.
“Oh, good!” Jeffrey looked relieved. “Who is it?”
Celeste put her hands over her mouth and tried to hide how hard she was laughing.
“Ouch. Me,” Grant said to Jeffrey. “Want me to show you how?”
Jeffrey looked hesitant. “It would make Cel— your mom, happy,” Grant said.
“I guess.” Jeffrey nodded.
He glanced at Celeste.
“Are you afraid I won’t be here when you get back?” she asked.
Jeffrey c
onsidered it. “No. If you left, you wouldn’t get the rabbits.” Then he turned back to look at her. “And you wouldn’t leave me,” he said, in a very quiet voice.
Jeffrey and Grant stripped off their clothes and folded them up, handing them to Celeste. Then they shifted. Jeffrey’s shift was abrupt and energetic, the little boy seeming to explode into a wolf cub. He yapped at Grant to hurry up, bouncing impatiently on his too-big paws, his ears flopping adorably. Grant’s shift was more measured. He stretched luxuriously and allowed fur to roll over his body as his face pushed out into an elegant snout and he fell gracefully to all fours.
Celeste turned away so Jeffrey wouldn’t see the tears streaming down her cheeks.
He was right. She wouldn’t leave him, because it would rip his heart out of his chest.
And her own as well.
She was in all the way, and the thought terrified her.
But she made sure she’d washed her face and screwed on a big smile when they came back an hour later, laughing and triumphant, with half a dozen rabbits.
“Mom! Mom! Me and Dad caught so many rabbits!” Jeffrey cried out, holding one of them up. “We are so good at it! No-one is better than us! We can catch you rabbits every day! Now you never have to leave. ”
He’d called him Dad, and it hadn’t been for the benefit of the CPS worker.
Celeste exchanged looks with Grant, who cleared his throat loudly.
“Something in my eyes,” Grant said in a gruff tone. “Damned allergies.” He blinked very hard, his eyes shiny.
“Do werewolves have allergies?” Celeste wondered as Grant started pulling his clothing on.
“Shut up, that’s what.” Grant looked away. “Me and my boy are going to go field-dress some rabbits.”
Mandy and Truman joined them for dinner, and afterwards, Mandy said, “Hey, I know some cool self-defense moves I want to teach you, so you can be even more bad-ass. Axe! Bad-axe!” she added, as Celeste shot her a look.
“There’s no such thing as bad-axe, and I know what an ass is,” Jeffrey informed her. “It’s what you poop out of. And it’s what you call someone when they act stupid. And also, I know that you really just want to leave my mommy and daddy alone so they can kiss each other.” He stuck his finger in his mouth and pretended to barf.
“You’re not wrong,” Mandy said. “But also I can show you how to make a grown man cry. We can practice on Truman.” She grinned fiercely.
Jeffrey nodded, looking very eager. Truman groaned. “The things I do for lust,” he mouthed at Grant and Celeste, but he followed Mandy and Jeffrey as they walked off.
Grant and Celeste headed back to their suite.
“Mandy is a good friend,” Celeste said. “She’s also hiding something big. But I feel like I can trust her.” She walked over to the window, pulled aside the curtain, and looked out. Jeffrey and Mandy were in a grassy area, pummeling Truman. “Poor guy.”
Grant walked up behind her. “He’s a big boy, he can take it. By the way, you were brilliant,” he said, wrapping his arms around Celeste.
She leaned in to his broad chest and his arms tightened. Despite the attempted kidnapping and the lingering threat to Jeffrey, it felt like the safest place in the world. The steady beating of his heart lulled her, and she felt as though she could stay there forever, secure in his strong arms.
“Thank you for giving me such a lovely evening with my boy. We both needed that.”
He kissed her neck. The sensation of his lips on her skin sent tingles racing through her, making her shiver and press a little closer to him. Until he went on.
“I should say, our boy. And there you go, tensing up again.”
She turned around and looked up at him. “What do you want from me, Grant?” Her voice trembled.
He cupped her chin in his hand. “What do you think I want? I want you to stay with us. I want you to be his mother. I want you to be my mate.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “You barely know me.”
“I know you’re brave and beautiful and wonderful. I know that my wolf recognized you as my mate the first time I ever saw you.” He kissed her lips softly. “But what do you want?”
“I want…” She blinked back tears. “I want Jeffrey to be happy and safe and to know that he’s loved. I want to be there to see him grow up. I want…you. I do, Grant, but I’m terrified. I leave for a living. It’s what I do.”
“I know. And I’m not asking you for a commitment right now. But can you at least agree that you’ll consider what I’m asking of you?”
“Ye-yes.” She sniffled. “Now my nose is red and my eyes are watery.”
“You are beautiful to me.” He scooped her up in his arms. “I’ll show you.”
Chapter Twelve
By the time they reached the bed, her sadness and worry had gone – or at least been locked away in a steel box somewhere at the back of her mind. She was entirely focused on Grant. His lips. His eyes. His unique scent and the growly timbre of his voice that made her hot and bothered and stupid. This beautiful man who wanted to make her his. And maybe that could never be, but she was his right here and right now. And she was going to show him with her body how much she wanted him.
This time she undressed herself, tearing at her clothes, unable to wait to feel his hands on her naked flesh again. Grant was quicker, though. She was down to her panties when he joined her on the bed, stark naked and sporting an enormous erection. It was thick and ruddy, the tip already beaded with pearly precum, and she wanted desperately to taste it, but Grant had other ideas. He growled playfully and grabbed the scrap of fabric, tearing the panties away from her body. The fabric parted with a ripping sound, and Celeste gave a shocked laugh.
“Caveman!” she accused him.
He responded by tumbling her back onto the bed and kissing her ravenously. “I’ll buy you more panties,” he gasped urgently against her mouth before kissing her again. “All the panties you want.”
Celeste ran her fingers down his back, enjoying the sensation of the muscles moving under her touch as he growled again and kissed the side of her neck, grazing her skin with his sharp teeth, his hands full of her breasts and his cock nudging her hip. His urgency was a potent aphrodisiac, making her core clench with desire. It was incredibly erotic that he wanted her so badly.
She wondered if she could come just from kissing and touching his naked body, but she wasn’t going to find out – she wanted him inside her too badly for that. She felt restless and impatient and like she’d die if he didn’t fuck her right now.
She pressed her fingertips into the firm muscles of his ass, giving a little growl of her own, then Grant rolled her onto her stomach, drawing her hair to one side so he could kiss the nape of her neck and trace his tongue down the line of her spine. She moaned at the sensation of his mouth traveling down her back, and caught her breath when he sank his teeth into the globe of her ass.
He slid his arm under her belly and drew her back so she was on all fours, presenting to him like a bitch in heat, which was just the way she felt, like she couldn’t get enough of him.
She felt the blunt head of his cock at her entrance and she pushed back against him, desperate to feel his thick length inside her.
He thrust inside her, bracing her with his forearm so he could get all the way inside her, deep and hard and fast. She groaned and let her head drop forward, fisting the coverlet and concentrating on the sensations that every stroke of his thick cock built inside her.
His chest was hot against her back, and its sprinkling of hair tickled her spine as he screwed her. She could feel his rapid breath against her back as he panted, fighting for breath as his orgasm built.
Grant rolled his hips as he worked his way in and out of her slick, sensitive pussy. She arched her back, angling her hips so he could push deeper, thrust harder, and with every thrust she gave a helpless moan. She was beyond words, beyond thought, focused only on the feelings Grant stirred in her as he pushed inside her again and
again, driven by age-old animal instinct.
He pistoned into her and her hands slipped on the comforter, the motion of his body pushing her down so she was lying flat on the bed, her thighs together, Grant working his cock into the tight space and gasping with effort and arousal as he worked her towards orgasm. With his arms braced on either side of her and his weight on her back, she was effectively trapped, unable to do anything but feel.
She moaned into the comforter, voice hoarse as Grant fucked her towards climax. She trembled beneath him as the heat and pressure mounted in her core, and just as she was on the brink of coming, Grant nudged her legs further apart and used his fingers to rub her clit with hard, rapid strokes that had her coming and coming, a violent orgasm that seemed as if it would never end, wave after wave of soul-wracking pleasure.
As she cried out helplessly, the orgasm rolling on and on, he let his brow drop against her back, groaning against her skin as he came. His cocked kicked inside her, his busy fingers never slowing until they were both trembling and sweat-soaked, gasping for breath and laughing delightedly.
He rolled away from her and drew her into his arms, stroking her damp hair away from her face. He looked down into her face. His pupils were huge in his intoxicating whiskey-colored eyes, his thick, sooty lashes half lowered, and he searched her face as if trying to memorize its every curve and feature. Then he bent his head and kissed her again, slowly and sweetly, with that same focused intensity, as if he wanted to keep every moment with him forever.
Chapter Thirteen
The morning sun that poured through the window had a bright, golden quality. Celeste lay there in an empty bed, eyes half open.
Jeffrey had, amazingly enough, agreed to sleep in the room next door with Mandy. He was entranced with her after having seen her beat the stuffing out of Truman the day before.
The door to the room swung open. Celeste smelled coffee, and she heard Grant padding across the room towards her. He’d brought her coffee in bed. This guy was a keeper.
A Cub For The Billion-were (Alpha Billion-weres Book 2) Page 9