by J. L. Wilder
“She broke up with him, you know.”
“I know and Axe sure is glad.”
Later, Kiedra knew, she’d regret her rash words, but right then, they felt so good. At least until Leslie screamed and barreled into her. The two women slammed into the side of Mamma’s Cadillac, adding yet another dent. Leslie screamed, clawed and tried to bite Kiedra until Alice let out a startled shriek.
“Alpha! What a surprise to see you here.”
Leslie’s weight suddenly lifted from over Kiedra. When she looked up, Roland held Leslie by the scruff of her neck and blouse.
“Did you bite her?” he demanded, shaking Leslie with each word.
Leslie whimpered. “No, Alpha. I would never...”
“I saw the teeth from across the road, Leslie Ross. I have forbidden anyone in our Pack to bite any human. Ever. How dare you defy me!”
Blood dripped down the side of Kiedra’s neck from deep claw marks Leslie had gouged with her nails. Roland saw the blood and shook Leslie even harder.
“Blood! You drew blood, you ignorant little bitch.”
Kiedra waved a hand and tried to get up from the ground. “I’m fine, Roland. Really. We were just having a disagreement. Girl stuff.”
Roland’s look screamed that he didn’t believe her. Kiedra put her hand on his free arm.
“Really. I’m fine. Nothing a little peroxide won’t fix.”
“She deserves the punishment and she’ll get it. I won’t have this in my Pack.”
“Please. For me. I just want to go shopping and go home. Can’t I do that? Please?” Kiedra wiped her hand over the scratches on her neck. Her hand coming away with far less blood than it had the first time. She held the hand out to Roland. “See. It’s already stopping. I’m fine. She’s fine. Let’s all just be fine, okay?”
Roland looked at Kiedra’s neck and frowned. “You’re sure you’re all right? She didn’t bite you?”
“No bites, just a girl fight. And we’ve got it out of our systems, right Leslie?”
Leslie nodded frantically. “Totally out.”
Roland dropped Leslie to the ground where she lay in a heap. He stepped away from her before speaking.
“You will stay away from Kiki, Leslie. And you’ll come to my house tonight so we can discuss your punishment.” Roland held his hand up when Kiedra started to speak. “No. My Pack. My rules.”
Kiedra and Leslie both nodded.
“Good. Now get on with you day and don’t ever let me find you like this again.” Roland looked at Kiedra. “Either of you.”
“Yes, sir,” Kiedra said.
Leslie picked herself up off the ground before murmuring, “Yes, Alpha.” She and Alice pushed a cart to a car down the line from the Cadillac without a single look back.
Kiedra tried to walk past Roland to the store, but he stopped her.
“What started the fight, Kiki?”
“I told you. Girl stuff.”
Roland nodded. “Okay. Is it done? That girl stuff?”
“No, but I’ll keep better hold of my temper in the future.”
“You do that.”
Roland stepped aside to let Kiedra pass.
“And Roland?” She said, stopping and turning back.
“Yes?”
“I’m counting on you to keep my secret the same as you kept Mamma’s. I don’t know what I’m going to do, and I don’t want anyone to pressure me because they found out what she left me.”
“You have my word.”
Kiedra nodded. “Thanks.” She turned and walked into the store, leaving Roland watching as she went.
KIEDRA sat curled into a ball on the end of the sofa in the dark living room. Her head lay against her knees and she rocked just a little. Headlights swept into the room from the driveway, illuminating the blank stare her eyes held. She didn’t move when Axe knocked on the front door, or even when he walked into the house.
“Kiki? Why’s it so dark in here?” Axe’s keys jingled as he shoved them into his front pocket. His arm reached into the darkened living room, sweeping up and down the wall until he found the light switch.
Kiedra turned her face away from the light, the movement drawing Axe’s attention.
“There you are,” he said, crossing the room. “I thought we were having dinner. Did you mean tomorrow?”
Kiedra shook her head, keeping her face buried against her arm. Axe knelt in front of the sofa and lay his hands on hers.
“Tell me what happened,” he said softly.
Kiedra turned her tear-ravaged face to Axe and offered him a wry smile. “Where do you want me to start?”
Axe stood up and pulled her to her feet before reeling her into his arms. “How about here.”
She melted into his body, clinging to him and letting him soothe her. When the tears slowed and then stopped, Kiedra cleared her throat.
“Thanks.”
“Any time.”
Kiedra backed away from him, getting some space for herself so she could fight off the tightness in her chest.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
Axe frowns. “You’re not going to tell me...”
“Not yet. I can’t yet.”
“Okay.” Axe drew the word out, hoping Kiedra would say more, but she held her silence. Axe shrugged. “Sure. I can always eat.”
Kiedra pulled out food and started prepping vegetables and meat. Axe sat at the kitchen table watching her. When she’d put the pork chops in the oven and moved to the sink, Axe stood up.
“Let me wash. That was the deal, right?”
Kiedra nodded and took his seat at the table. Axe started the water and picked up the sponge.
“Ready to tell me what’s going on?”
She sighed. “What are you going to do if you don’t win the Contest?”
Axe stopped washing the dish he held. He looked over his shoulder at Kiedra. “I guess I’ll go back to work and figure out how to live with whoever does win.”
“There isn’t something else you’d rather do? Somewhere you’d rather be?”
He turned off the water and dried his hands on a dish towel before leaning against the counter.
“I mean, sure, who wouldn’t want to travel and see new things, but realistically, where else am I going to go? The Pack is here.”
Axe crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you going to do if I win?”
“Are you going to win?”
Axe thought for a moment. “Yes, I am going to try. This is part of who I am, Kiki. I can’t just throw it and let someone else win because if I win, it means I was the right man for the Pack.”
“I understand,” Kiedra said.
Axe pushed off the counter and crossed to the kitchen table where he squatted down in front of her. “I’m not sure you do. You’ve seen who I’m facing in the Greensward. Do you really think any of them are fit to lead the Pack?”
“Of course not.”
“Then could you really ask me to throw the Contest? To leave the Pack, myself included, at the mercy of one of those jackasses?”
Kiedra shook her head. “No. You’re right. I’d never ask you to throw it. But−”
“I know. Do you believe there’s ever a moment I don’t think of what it means for me to be Alpha? What it means for us?”
She shook her head, slowly, several times. When the tears welled in her eyes, Axe cupped Kiedra’s face in his palms and kissed her. Their tongues twined together, stroking and seeking, playing with one another. Axe ran his hand down the back of Kiedra’s neck, tracing the line of her spine until his hand touched the chair. He pulled her closer, trailing his lips down the side of her neck.
Kiedra’s heart thundered in her chest. Her breath came in short gasps. She knew this was not what she should be doing. She should be putting as much distance between them as she could so she wouldn’t be devastated when he became Alpha and had to choose a mate—who wouldn’t be her.
Axe slipped a hand under Kiedra’s knees and stood, lif
ting her with him. As soon as he was upright, the timer on the stove shrieked. Kiedra giggled when Axe cursed.
“I guess that’s the end of that,” she said.
Axe released her knees and let Kiedra slide down his body to stand on the floor in front of him. She sucked in a breath and cocked an eyebrow at Axe.
“You got bigger all over, naughty boy.”
“Happens when there’s a beautiful woman in my arms.”
“Glad to know I’m so special.”
Kiedra grinned to lessen the weight of her come-back. Axe growled and turned away.
“Turn that damn thing off. I gotta...adjust some things.”
Axe stomped down the hall to the powder room under the front stairs. Kiedra could hear the water running as she pulled the chops from the oven and prepared two plates. When Axe returned, she put him to work.
“Can you set the table, please?” she asked.
He lay silverware and paper napkins at two places on the table while Kiedra brought the food over. Axe held her chair for her and she smiled up at him, still smiling when he took his own seat.
“So what happened with the lawyer today?” he asked after he took the first bite of his pork chop.
Kiedra coughed, choking on her food. Axe was up and slapped her on the back before she could think to draw a breath.
“Hey, are you okay? Do you need the Heimlich? I can do it. I had to learn it at the plant last year.”
She held up a finger to get him to stop talking and took a few small breaths before attempting a deeper one. When she’d finally caught her breath, Kiedra scowled.
“Warn a girl, next time.”
“Sorry. I didn’t think you’d die if I asked how things went. Was it that bad?” Axe looked around the kitchen, a horrified look dawning behind his eyes. “Do you have to move? Did she give the house to someone else?”
“No, nothing like that. The house is mine. Actually, everything is mine.”
“Well, that’s great!”
“Yeah.” Kiedra took another bite of her dinner.
Axe went back to his chair. “Why do you sound so down about this? Isn’t it good news?”
Kiedra put her silverware down on her plate. “It is. Of course, it is. It’s just....”
“Is it the taxes? Do you need help to pay them this year? I don’t have much, but you can have it if it means you can keep the house. Maybe the Pack could help too?”
“Whoa! I don’t need money.”
“Are you sure? Don’t hold back because....”
She put her hand on Axe’s to stop him from talking. “Really. Money is not a problem.”
“Then what’s up?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s just been too much today. The lawyer. The fight with Leslie. Running into−”
“Wait, what fight with Leslie? You didn’t actually fight her, did you?”
“I think I might have broken her nose.”
The bark of laughter from Axe made Kiedra smile for the first time that day. She watched him laugh and something warm opened in her chest. This man—for he was long gone and away from the boy she remembered from their childhood—felt like home. Like she could be happy with him. Happy with him in Whiteridge.
And with that thought, her warm, happy bubble burst. Axe was right. He was going to win the Contest. He had to. He was the only contestant qualified to take over from Roland and care for the Pack. She was going to lose him to the Omega, whomever she was. She wouldn’t get to live happily ever after in Whiteridge. At least not with Axe.
Axe’s laugh cut off. “What happened there, Kiki? One second you’re laughing with me and the next you look like someone ran over your kitten.”
“Just reality crashing in on me.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” She looked at her plate, but couldn’t bring herself to pick up the utensils again. Her eyes stayed on her plate when Axe took her hand.
“Look, I think we’re thinking the same things and if you’re feeling what I am, we’re going to make ourselves crazy.” He ducked his head to catch her gaze and Kiedra slowly lifted her chin.
Axe’s soft smile brought an answer to Kiedra’s lips. “What do you suggest, Obi-wan?”
“Listen you will. Wise I am.”
“That’s Yoda, dork.”
“Yeah, you were the geek, remember?” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “Regardless, I think we should stop thinking about it. Let’s spend time together and forget anything beyond the moment we’re in.”
“Live in the moment, eh?”
“Until the Contest, yes. Afterward, we can worry about the future.”
“What if I want to think forward enough to put this food away and have a future in bed?”
Axe’s eyes bugged a bit. He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair.
“Well, I suppose that’s a bit of forward thinking I can live with,” he croaked.
Kiedra stood and held her hand out to him. “What are you waiting for?”
AXE chased Kiedra up the stairs, following her down the hall to the room she’d used as a child. She pushed the door open, turning her back to the bed so she could watch Axe rush into the room behind her.
“Am I always going to be faster than you?” she asked.
“You want fast or you want good?”
Kiedra’s knees hit the edge of the bed, stopping her. Axe moved in close and put his hands on her hips. He pulled her against his body which let her know he was as ready for this as she was. It no longer mattered that what they were going to do was a bad idea. It was what they needed. Both of them.
Axe’s lips were firm and insistent against hers. Kiedra parted her lips and let his strong tongue duel with hers. He tasted of dinner and home and she smiled against his lips.
“What?”
“Everything about you feels like home,” she said.
He pressed himself more firmly against her. “Everything?”
Kiedra’s head fell back as sensation rushed up from the place where their bodies touched. Her knees went weak and she sat on the bed. Axe followed her down, pressing her further back until he stood between her knees, bent at the waist. He moved his hands from her waist up her sides to her breasts.
“Tell me what you like,” he whispered against Kiedra’s throat.
Her hands roamed restlessly up and down Axe’s back. “I don’t know.”
“Then tell me if you don’t like something.”
He slid his hands down her sides to her waistband and then pushed them under her shirt. His palms were hot against her skin and she felt as though she might melt under them. He pushed her shirt up and she lifted her arms so he could sweep it up and off. Axe leaned down and pressed his lips against the tops of her breasts.
Kiedra arched her back and Axe slipped his hands under her to unhook the bra. He pushed the cups up and off her breasts. Kiedra grabbed the bra and flung it off the bed.
“Shirt, off,” she demanded.
“Yes, ma’am.” He leaned up and pulled the t-shirt off. It joined Kiedra’s shirt and bra on the floor.
She scooted back on the bed and held her arms out to Axe. He took the hint and stretched out beside her on the bed. She lay her hands on his chest and moved them over the defined muscle bands that covered it.
“These weren’t here the last time I saw you without a shirt.”
“Five years in the gym will do that.” Axe smiled as she leaned forward and kissed his chest.
Axe mimicked Kiedra’s movements as they explored each other’s bodies. Their jeans joined the rest of their clothes on the floor and finally, they lay naked together on the bed.
He pushed her back on the bed and began kissing every inch of her body starting with her feet and ankles. Kiedra stretched and sighed. Heat ignited at each spot Axe’s lips paused. Individual spots of warmth joined together into larger and larger swaths until she was certain the next kiss would ignite her whole body in one white-hot flame.
Sh
e gasped when Axe settled over her body. The hard length of him pressed long and firm against her thigh. The warmth of her skin burst into pulsing flames at the silky feel of the head as it brushed against her.
“Are we sure this is what we want?” she whispered.
Axe looked up and locked his gaze to hers.
“It’s definitely what I want, but I won’t do this if you don’t want it.”
“It’s not that,” she said. “I’m asking a lot of you, Axe. We’re defying Roland’s directive. How do you feel about that?”
Axe rolled to his side and propped himself up on an elbow. “I feel just fine about it.” He laughed at the face Kiedra made. “Really.”
“But he could find out...”
Axe sat up and lay a finger against her lips. “Look, this is how I see it. You’re not a part of the Contest. No matter the outcome, you’re not bound by it. If I win, I’m Alpha and what’s Roland going to do? If I lose, who I choose to be with isn’t Pack business.” He kissed her. “Win, win.”
“Win, win?”
“As close to it as we’re going to get in this situation.” Axe lay over Kiedra’s body and her eyes closed. “Any objections?” he asked.
“None.”
With her eyes closed, it was as though she could feel every hair on his body brushing against her. Axe closed his lips over her nipple and her eyes snapped open, filling her vision with the top of his head and the silky hair that lay thick on his skull. She thrust her hands into his hair and tightened her fists. He growled against her breast and she sucked in a gasping breath.
Kiedra pulled his head up and attacked his mouth with her own. She wanted to eat him a bite at a time and she said so. Axe lay back, arms and legs flung wide.
“Have at it,” he said with a smile.
She grinned and knelt between his legs. Her nails scratched down his legs from hip to knees. The wiry hair was so different from the silky hair on his head. She leaned down and set her teeth against the flesh where his leg joined his body. A feral growl erupted from his chest and Kiedra smiled against his flesh.
“Is that a good noise?”
“Yes. God, yes!”
Kiedra nibbled along the crease where his leg and body met. She followed the line up over his hip, licking and biting until she reached his nipple. Her tongue traced a line around it before she latched her lips over it and sucked hard.