The Alpha's Mate

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, though she wasn’t sure who she was most sorry for; Marshall for losing his love or herself for being such a poor potential replacement. She let go of his hand.

  Marshall turned her to face him. He stroked his thumbs across her cheeks to wipe away the tears she hadn’t known were there.

  “Lizzie, they told you Lisa died in an accident. They didn’t tell you that she died running away. The truth is I wanted to bed her. I didn’t really love her and Lisa wanted to be the Alpha’s Mate more than she wanted to be my mate. Only she didn’t understand what that entailed. The Alpha’s Mate shares the mantle. I told her, but she wasn’t listening. She saw it as a position, not a responsibility. She grew to hate the pack. And me. And finally she ran.”

  Elizabeth put her hands to Marshall’s face just as his were on hers. “Oh, Marshall, it wasn’t your fault. You were young and so was she. You didn’t kill her. It was an accident.”

  He pulled one hand away from her and held it out where they both could see. “It was my responsibility. I knew I could control the Alpha’s touch, but I didn’t.”

  “Fine,” she said as fiercely as her pounding heart would allow, “I’ll convict you of being young and horny, but don’t ask me to condemn you for her death. It was an accident. Not. Your. Fault.”

  He went on as if he hadn’t heard her. “I promised myself I would never make the same mistake again. I won’t mate with a woman I don’t love no matter how much I want her, no matter how much the pack needs her.”

  “With age comes wisdom.” She wondered how she could smile when her heart was breaking into a million pieces

  Chapter 33

  “She’d have to understand that she’d belong to the pack as well as to me,” he said looking into her eyes.

  A piece of her heart slid back into place. “That stands to reason. The woman who loved you would have to love the pack. Even the ones she didn’t particularly like.”

  “She’d have to understand about sharing the mantle. She wouldn’t feel it as strongly as the Alpha, but she’d still feel their sorrow and their pain.”

  Another piece tumbled back. “She’d feel their joy as well.”

  “She’d feel them sicken and die.”

  “She’d feel new life being born.”

  “She’ll feel their anger and their pettiness.”

  “Or their happiness and kindness.”

  “Sometimes you’ll feel their hatred.”

  All the pieces of her heart came crashing together. She could barely speak. “Mostly I’ll feel their love.”

  “They’ll pester you endlessly,” he said. He was trying very hard to remain serious, but his smile gave him away. “Your business won’t be your own.”

  “That won’t be new. It’s been that way since I got here,” she laughed.

  “They’ll treat your house as if it’s their own, in and out at all hours.”

  “Then you better put a strong lock on the bedroom door. I have my limits.”

  Marshall’s hands slipped under her baggy shirt as he captured her waist. He lifted and twirled her until she was dizzy with joy.

  “Tell me you’ll be my mate, Lizzie Reynolds,” he shouted.

  “I will not,” she shouted back loud enough to be heard above his laughter.

  Elizabeth had all she could do to keep from giggling like a silly girl at the shocked look on his face. He abruptly stopped whirling and set her down. She put her hands on her hips.

  “Don’t know how it works where you come from, Chief Goodman, but around here, a man usually does the askin’ before the woman begins the tellin’.”

  She screeched as she hit the water and thus got a mouthful before flailing to the surface.

  “You didn’t even ask if I could swim!” she sputtered and shook her wet hair from her face. She popped the sneakers off and threw them to the shore.

  “Not deep enough to be a worry,” Marshall said.

  He’d already stripped off his shirt and shoes and was working at the buckle of his belt. Elizabeth watched him strip down to nothing, enjoying the magnificent display. He made a shallow dive and came up beside her.

  She gave him a little shove. “How come you get to take your clothes off before getting wet?”

  “That’s your punishment for scaring the shit out of me.”

  She sniffed loudly. “Funny, I can’t smell anything,” she mocked.

  That earned her another dunking when Marshall grabbed her legs out from under her. She felt his hands at her waist and thought he was rescuing her, but pulling her head above the surface was only a byproduct of removing her shirt.

  “Hey!”

  “There’s no pleasing the woman,” he laughed as he threw it onto the rocks. “First she complains about having her clothes on and now she complains when I’m trying to get them off.”

  The water came to just under her breasts and they bobbed like apples in a basin. Embarrassed, she ducked down until the water was up to her neck.

  “Too late for modesty,” he laughed and lifted her up. “Have you forgotten that I’ve already seen all there is to see of the lovely Miss Lizzie.”

  She couldn’t help but think of Lisa, long and lithe. “That was in the dark,” she whispered. The sun hovered over the tops of the trees. There was still plenty of light.

  “It wasn’t all that dark and hasn’t anyone told you that we wolvers see better at night than any cat?” He waded toward the rock ledge and sat her on it. He must have seen the worry on her face, because he took her firmly by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Lizzie, your softness brings me comfort and your curves bring me pleasure. There is no other woman I’d rather be with than you.”

  Elizabeth sighed with pleasure. She wasn’t sure why Marshall thought Charles was the charming one. Marshall had a way of saying things that made you believe.

  He pushed her gently down against the rock. “Lie back so I can get these jeans off you.” He tugged at the wet denim.

  “I can undress myself, you know. I’ve been doing it for quite some time now.” She wiggled her hips to help the jeans along.

  “I’ve no doubt you have and one of these days I’m going to lay back in the grass with my hands behind my head and watch you do a hootchie-cootch just for me.” He raised his eyebrows when she giggled. “But for now, it’s like Christmas morning and I want to see what Santa left me under all that wrapping.” He tossed the jeans to the side. “Well will you looky here, bright green like the apples my mama used to use to make her pies.” He ran his thumbs around the legs and fingered the lace panels at the sides. “See what I mean, just like Christmas.”

  Marshall slipped them off her legs and squeezed the water out of them over her belly and breasts.

  “It’s cold,” she squealed.

  He grabbed her hands and pulled her up and into the water. “Then let’s warm you up.”

  She was already warming up. It was only her skin that was cold. He pulled her out into deeper water, closer to where it bubbled at the center. The water grew warmer as they neared it.

  “Why is the water so warm?” she asked. She had her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck.

  “I don’t know. It’s the wrong part of the country for hot springs. The Alpha used to bring us here once or twice a year. He always said it was the mountain that kept the water warm.”

  “The magic,” she said. “It’s the magic of the mountain.”

  “You don’t believe in magic.”

  He laid back and brought her on top of him, kneading her ass and forcing her into his erection. She arched back in an attempt to increase the pressure and smiled when she felt his breath hitch and his stomach muscles contract.

  “How could I not believe in magic after knowing you?”

  “Then be my mate and we‘ll make magic together.”

  His kissed her then and she was surprised the water didn’t boil. His mouth plundered hers without mercy and she had no choice but to respon
d to his tongue’s demands. She opened to him, tongues dueling, teeth clashing. She couldn’t get enough of him. She ran her hands over his arms and back and buttocks, amazed all over again at the power and strength of him. It wasn’t the Alpha’s touch. She hadn’t felt it since meeting him by the pool. The fire between them was theirs alone; his way of showing he loved her and insuring that she loved him. She loved him all the more for it.

  She broke away from the blazing kiss and laughing, swam to the other side of the pool.

  “Hey! I thought you couldn’t swim.”

  “I said you didn’t ask,” she laughed, “And you haven’t asked me this time either.”

  He dove at her, but she evaded him and when he came up for air, she dove for him. She wrapped her arms around his thighs and took him in her mouth. She heard his muffled curse above her, but it sounded more surprised than angry.

  This was something else she’d never done and she found it fascinating, though difficult because she couldn’t breathe. Marshall solved that problem by floating on his back. He braced his arms on the rock ledge.

  She left him long enough to ask, “Am I doing this right?”

  His eyes rolled up and he groaned with pleasure.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” She swirled her tongue around the tip and wiggled her tongue in the tiny slit. Marshall stiffened and would have sunk below the surface had she not grabbed his ass and held him aloft. His reaction gave her such a sense of power.

  Swirling her tongue around the head once more, she drew him in, savoring at the velvety smoothness of him. Warmth spread through her. The electric tingle was back and she knew it was because Marshall was losing control. She felt the sexual current run down through her center to settle between her legs.

  She gripped his ass, fingers digging into his muscled cheeks and drew him deeper and deeper into her throat. Her hips were moving in rhythm with her mouth. She doubled her efforts and when at last he came, she almost came with him.

  He pulled her up to rest upon his chest and idly ran his fingers over her wet head. They floated silently for a few minutes, half in, half out of the water and then he raised her fingers to his lips.

  “We’ve been in here too long. We’re turning into prunes.”

  “I like prunes,” Elizabeth said and snuggled closer to him.

  “And if we don’t get out of here soon, that’s all you’re going to get to eat,” he chuckled and shifted his hips against her.

  She blushed at his reference and looked up at him shyly. “Did you like it?”

  “You have to ask?”

  He rolled her over and lifted her to the ledge. The stone was cold against her bottom and the night air was cool. Marshall climbed up beside her and lifted her to her feet. He held her close to him and rubbed away the goosebumps on her arms and back.

  Elizabeth rested her forehead against his chest, looked down at the very thing they were talking about and grinned. It certainly wasn’t pruney now.

  “I guess not.” She looked up into his eyes. “Thank you.”

  “I think you’ve got this backwards, Lizzie. I should be thanking you.”

  He lifted her in his arms and carried her toward a corner of the glade. In the dim light, she could see a circle of stones with wood laid out for a fire.

  “My clothes!” She wasn’t looking forward to walking back down the mountain in wet jeans.

  “Let’s get you settled first.”

  He sat her down on two sleeping bags zipped together to form one bed.

  “You knew I was coming,” she accused as he wrapped a blanket around her. It wasn’t thick and scratchy like the first one he’d wrapped her in. It was old and soft and well-worn. Comforting.

  “I didn’t know, but hope springs eternal.” He kissed the top of her head. “And this man was truly blessed.”

  He started the fire and spread her clothes out to dry, then sat beside her sharing her blanket and watching the flames.

  “Marshall?”

  “Yes, love?”

  “When I said thank you before, I meant thank you for not using the Alpha’s touch.” She gave a self-satisfied little snicker and molded herself to his side. “I know you lost it for a minute there, but you let this be my choice, our choice,” she corrected, “And I needed that.”

  “Me, too,” he whispered. “We both needed to know what was real.”

  “Marshall?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “The Alpha’s touch, does it fade away? After you’re mated, I mean.”

  “No, it lasts forever.”

  He shifted her onto his lap and she rested her head against his shoulder.

  “Good,” she whispered, “But not for tonight.”

  “No, love, not for tonight.”

  When the fire burned low and they were nestled together in their double bag, they made love again. It was different this time, soft and gentle and loving. They took their time slowly exploring each other with hands and mouths, learning the landscapes of each other’s body. There was none of the desperate urgency of their previous couplings. It was understood that things between them were settled now. There was no rush. They had the rest of their lives together.

  When Marshall finally entered her, Elizabeth yielded to him with a soft cry, not from exploding passion, but from the sweetness of it. He shifted his body over her and adjusted her hips beneath him until he found the place that gave them both the most pleasure. His tenderness and caring brought tears. He noticed and kissed them from the corners of her eyes before they could fall.

  The pressure began to build within her and his strokes kept pace with her demands, increasing in speed and depth, building and building and building until a quaking shudder ran through her, less explosive than the others, filled with more love than passion and somehow just as wondrous.

  Marshall was reaching his own peak and she moved her hips more forcefully against him, consciously tightening herself around him. She watched his face tighten almost with a look of pain and then she felt him; felt him explode inside her and it triggered another small spasm of her own.

  He collapsed against her and she held him to her breast. And she whispered a prayer of thanks. Some might say it was wrong to pray at such a moment, but she didn’t think God would mind. She’d been given something beautiful, something precious, something she never thought she’d find and she was so very grateful.

  They slept, spooned together with her head pillowed on his arm, his hand resting on her breast. His other arm was wrapped possessively over her hip and abdomen. Twice, she awoke and thought he might be uncomfortable with his arm trapped beneath her neck, but when she tried to move, he tightened around her and held her still.

  She listened to the gentle rustling sounds around her. She watched the sparkling stars and the moon, almost full, in the clear night sky. In the cocoon of the sleeping bag, with Marshall’s arms wrapped around her and his chest rising and falling at her back, she wondered what it was she’d ever held against camping

  Chapter 34

  Uncovered and chilled, Elizabeth awoke in the predawn light with Marshall’s erection poking her rear. When she wriggled back against it, she heard his soft laugh. He rolled her to her knees and positioned her with her butt in the air and her head on the sleeping bag. He covered her body with his, braced himself on one arm and wrapped the other around her. His fingers began to gently play at the juncture of her legs and her still swollen clit responded immediately.

  “Will you marry me, Lizzie Reynolds?” he whispered in her ear, “Will you join my pack and become my Alpha’s Mate?”

  “Well,” she thought, “There’ll be no story of How Daddy Proposed for our children.” His fingers became more insistent and she whimpered a little. “I will, Marshall Goodman, of course I will. I’ve been waiting for you to ask. Oh!”

  She gasped as he slid two fingers into her and her hips began to move to their rhythm. She moaned for the loss when he withdrew them and then sighed with pleasure at the feel of his throbbin
g erection at her opening. He entered her and held her still.

  “This is how I’ll take you on the night of the full moon.” He spoke with his lips against her back. “There’ll be a party, a frolic, with lots of music and dancing. Food and drinking, too. At the rising of the moon, you’ll run and I’ll chase you and the pack will chase me. When I catch you, I’ll take you under the full moon.”

  Elizabeth stiffened. “The pack won’t…”

  “No,” he laughed. “They’ll disappear as soon as you’re caught, although I have to warn you, they’ll be disappointed if you make it too easy. It’s all symbolic.” He moved against her until she relaxed.

  “Symbolic of what?” She reached around and smacked his leg. “Stop that. I need to concentrate.”

  He chuckled and stopped although he didn’t release her and she still felt the pulsating throb between her legs. She felt him sigh against her back.

  “In the old days, Mates were often taken against their will. It was their one chance to escape, though I doubt any of them did. The pack followed where the Alpha led and they watched the taking.”

  “That’s barbarous!”

  “They were barbarous times. It wasn’t uncommon for humans to take unwilling women and to provide witnesses to testify that the woman was no longer a virgin. Wolvers weren’t alone in their barbarity.”

  He started moving against her again and her hips rose to meet him.

  “Is there more?” she squeaked. “Because I won’t be listening if you keep this up.”

  “Only a little.”

  He brought his mouth to a spot low on her neck right above the collar bone. She felt the Alpha’s touch zinging through her body. Marshall pumped harder and faster. She was suddenly breathing hard.

  “As you reach your peak…” As she was doing now, now, now! “I’ll bite you.”