Once she was naked, standing before him gloriously naked, he couldn’t help but breathe out a reverent, “Beautiful!”
He’d heard about this. He’d heard the rumors how shifters could become so addicted to their mates that their focus became so zeroed in that it was like they suffered from tunnel vision. He’d scoffed at the stupidity of it at first, but now . . . now, he got it. He’d happily spend the rest of his days locked in this room with this woman, his woman.
He’d removed her clothes gently, but his own were ripped from his body. Partially shifting, he let his wolf’s claws extend. The front of his hiking boots were sliced open before his claws were tearing through the denim covering his legs and shredding the soft cotton of his shirt. In his haste, he’d clawed himself in several places, but it didn’t matter. Claiming Nora is what mattered.
“You hurt yourself,” she admonished with a delicate frown. She reached for one of his wounds, but he caught her hand and lifted it, flattening her palm on his chest just over his heart. A heart that was hammering more frantically than it ever had.
He crowded Nora, so she had no choice but to back up until the back of her knees kissed the mattress. Then, he gently lowered her to the bed.
“I’m gonna be gentle,” he growled, but it sounded like a threat. He knew she understood the strain this slow pace was putting on him when she grinned.
As he crawled up the bed, his hands smoothed up her thighs and spread her legs. Eyes locked on her glistening pussy, his chest rumbled as his body jerked. He wanted to fuck her fast and hard, but he had to go slow. Gaze lifting to hers, he rasped, “I’ve got to mark you, Nora. I have to do it now. I’ll make it good next time. I promise.”
Then he was covering her soft body with his. Breath catching, heart stuttering to a halt, he inhaled the glorious scent of her arousal as the blunt tip of his cock probed for entrance. Fuck, she was so wet that he slid right in, and even that was a test in patience. Clenching his jaw so damn tight that his teeth creaked, he forced himself to go slow. Slowly pushing forward, he buried himself slowly as Nora wrapped her arms around his neck. Her smooth legs lifted, and when her ankles hooked over the back of his knees driving him deeper, War couldn’t contain the growl that wrenched its way up his throat. This was by far the hardest thing he’d ever had to endure in all his years. Sweat dotted his brow as War buried himself until he was fully seated inside Nora’s wet slit, and holy fuck! Holy! Fuck! This was what he’d needed in his life. Her! Only her!
“War,” she breathed at his ear, and he realized he’d stilled, buried deep inside of her. The hard planes of his chest pressed into her soft, full breasts as he panted and fought for control.
“Fuck me,” she demanded, and captured his wrist, lifting his hand to her thigh as she rocked against him. “Fuck me, my king wolf!”
Even a good guy had his limits, and Nora’s words had just pushed him past his.
Abs flexing as he pulled out of her, he lowered his mouth to suck on his mark at her throat as he dipped his dick in and out of her pussy. She was tight and hot and wet and heaven.
Breathing labored, he knew he was already close. Dragging his teeth across Nora’s throat, he felt her channel flutter as her back arched and her breath caught.
“War,” she breathed against his ear.
Mouth moving upward, he nipped at her ear as he slammed into her and held. “I can’t wait to own every inch of you.”
Nora rolled her hips against his.
“I’m gonna fuck every hole in your body,” he threatened. “I’m gonna fill you with my seed!” Pulling out, he drove back in, enjoying her gasp and the way her nails clawed at his back. “I’m gonna come in you so hard.”
“Fuck . . . fuck me,” she panted, and arched beneath him.
A long snarl blasted up his throat, and then all restraint was gone. Hands gripping her hips, he powered into her. Nora hiked her legs up higher on his hips, and he hooked them with his arms and lifted. Looking down, he watched himself fuck into her gloriously weeping slit. It made him harder and had his balls tightening. So damn close.
Dropping his mouth back to her mate mark, he dragged his wicked incisors over the sensitive spot until Nora screamed, “Do it!”
His teeth sank into her just as she cried out and her pussy clamped around the steely length of him.
Sweat slickened arms wrapping around him as tight as they could, Nora screamed, “War!”
Burying himself fully inside her, War froze as his cock erupted. Channel seizing, Nora’s pussy milked him, taking his seed deep inside her womb. It was the most he’d ever come, and as he continued to buck erratically into his mate, emptying himself, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of feral possessiveness and pride. She was his.
Chapter 25
Matese was on patrol in one of the front-facing towers when he heard a commotion down at the front gate. Uncrossing his ankles, he pushed up from where he’d been reclined back in a chair and playing Bejeweled on his phone. Yeah, he was a shit guard, but what did War expect? They were the W fucking G, and nobody with brains in their fucking skull was waltzing up to the Fortress looking for trouble. Sometimes he wished someone would. There was a lot less violence in the War Gods pack, and truth be told, he kinda missed fucking people up on a daily. Standing to his full height, he paced to the curtain wall and leaned over it hoping today he might get his chance.
“Who the fuck are you?” someone barked. He knew it was one of the WG enforcers.
“My name is Briar.”
At the familiar feminine voice, Matese tensed. Inside, his wolf shot to his feet.
It couldn’t be!
“I’m from the Yellowstone pack. My Alpha, Cray, sent me with a message for War.”
Matese’s feet were moving before he even realized it. Hustling down the stairs, he made a bee-line straight for the front gate, but Tallius was already stalking toward it.
Fuck!
“Stand down,” Tallius ordered, and held out an arm. “Ms. . . .”
“Nolay,” Briar answered. “Just call me Briar.”
Matese stalled just on the other side of one of the large stone pillars that towered on either side of the front gate. Stepping back into the shadow of it, he waited.
Tallius stepped back, and then there she was. Stepping through the shadows cast by the front gate, Briar walked out into the mottled sunlight that struggled through the snow-bloated clouds overhead.
It had been months since he’d last seen her, but she looked exactly like he remembered. The wind picked up and whipped her straight black hair into a frenzy. Ducking her head, she didn’t even try to capture her hair or tame it at all, and when the scent of her carried to him, it hit Matese like a fucking sledgehammer. Something about this woman had always riled up his inner wolf, MoFo, and right now MoFo was shredding his insides, demanding he do something, but what?
Tallius led Briar toward the keep, and even though he knew he was well hidden in the shadows and downwind from her, Briar turned her chin and looked over her shoulder right at him. Her skin was pale as ever, and her dove-gray eyes were as soulless as he remembered. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, she never did, and she always looked just as tired as she did right now, but that wasn’t what had MoFo suddenly stilling. No, it was the other side of her face that had both Matese and his beast going cold. Briar’s cheek was puffed up with a long gash along her cheekbone. Her left eye was swollen completely shut, and it was as black as he’d ever seen a shiner be. Obviously, someone had a go at her, and it had to have been bad because unless it happened five minutes ago, she should have already healed from it.
Giving him her typical dead look, Briar tore her good eye from him and followed Tallius inside the keep with hunched shoulders and a bowed head. She looked defeated, and she smelled so fucking sick that it made him want to puke. Yeah, she’d been all wounded-looking and abused at theYellowstone, but all the females had been that way. It’s just how women existed in Cray’s pack, but none of them had been this b
ad. Matese knew because while he’d been there, he’d done all he could to protect them. All of them except Briar. She’d been the only female to avoid him like the plague, and it had pissed him off. For a long time, he’d tried to figure out why she never came to him for protection like the other females had. They’d sought him out covertly, told him of their problems or pointed out whichever Yellowstone male was fucking with them for Matese to handle. But Briar had been different. She’d never come to him, not even once. He didn’t get it. The only thing that made sense to him was that she liked the way things were at the Yellowstone. Some women did. They took comfort in having a place no matter how menial or insignificant it was. Because of her temperament and attitude, Briar had become one of Cray’s favorites. She did a lot for the Alpha, which made Matese like her even less. And her being here now was dredging up all kinds of shit from his past. Shit that he wanted left in his past.
Stepping out of the shadow, he watched Tallius lead her into the keep and then followed. Hopefully, she’d just deliver her goddamn message and leave because as long as she was at the Fortress, Matese was gonna stick close. He didn’t trust Briar Nolay, and her showing up here looking like a kicked puppy wasn’t gonna sway his opinion any. There wasn’t an ounce of sympathy in the man, and MoFo had even less, especially for an Alpha’s pet like her.
***
Leading the Yellowstone emissary into the keep, Tallius reached into his back jeans pocket and pulled out the phone that was vibrating against his ass. Looking at the screen, he frowned at the unknown number. Sliding his thumb across the bottom of the screen to answer, he snapped, “What?”
An equally displeased feminine voice growled, “Piece of shit War Gods Beta, this is Mira Fury.”
Tallius stopped walking.
“Formerly Mira FourClaws, and current Fury pack Beta. My Alpha, Aydin, requests a mutual meet. A Beta mutual meet. Two days from now at the Baldie cabin.”
Shocked into silence, it took him a moment to stutter, “I-I . . . I’ll need to speak with War.”
“Obviously,” she bit out. “I wasn’t expecting you to confirm. Text me back at this number once you speak with your Alpha.”
“I’ll call you once I’ve . . .”
“Text me,” she hissed, cutting him off. “I don’t want to hear any more of your voice than is absolutely fucking necessary!”
He should be offended, pissed even, but the look on Mira’s face the day the WG took down her former pack still haunted him. Guilt wasn’t something he felt often, but every single time he thought about this woman, there it was.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll text when I speak to Wa . . .”
The line went dead and he pulled the phone back to stare down at it.
A Beta mutual meet? Ffffffffuck! He wanted that to happen just as little as Mira apparently did. Rolling his head on his shoulders, he considered trying to manipulate War into sending someone else. Rysik or Rylin, hell, even Matese would be better than Tallius having to go.
“Hmm mmm.”
The clearing of Briar’s throat reminded him that he’d been on a mission. Glancing over his shoulder, he shot her an apologetic look. “Sorry ’bout that. Follow me.” He started walking again and heaved a sigh. For some foolish reason, he thought that once they’d finished their battles and solidified their place at the top of the hierarchy, shit would get easier, but right now was stressful as shit. Today War and Nora were leaving to go retrieve his mother and sister to bring them back to the Fortress, which meant Tallius would be stuck dealing whatever in the hell the Yellowstone emissary behind him wanted. He’d also have to deal with Mira and the Fury pack’s mutual meet request.
Fucking A! Sometimes being pack Beta just didn’t seem to be worth the trouble. It wasn’t lost on him either that Matese was down the hall ghosting him and the new “visitor.” Matese was from the Yellowstone, so maybe he knew the woman. Good. If that was the case, Tallius was gonna dump her off on him and check one thing off his list while he dealt with Mira.
Chapter 26
Lifting Nora up into his jacked-up black Dodge, War swatted her ass and grinned when she yelped. Shooting her a wink when she gave him a mock scowl, he felt his chest swell with that familiar sensation that was all Nora. Over the past week, she’d changed him. From the inside out, he’d turned into a completely different person, and surprisingly he didn’t hate it as much as he thought he would. On the contrary. It was nice just touching Nora and having the opportunity to be uncharacteristically gentle. She’d turned him into a toucher and a listener. He’d grown insanely attentive and protective and he didn’t hate a second of it.
Climbing into the driver’s seat, he beamed when Nora scooted across the bench seat until her hip pressed into his. Throwing an arm over her shoulder, he pulled her in for a hug before pressing his lips to her forehead.
My woman. My mate!
Nora glanced up at him, and her grin faltered as she asked, “You think they’ll like me?”
“Fuck yeah.” He kissed her again, this time claiming her mouth for long minutes before pulling back with one last peck. “They’re gonna love you, just like I do.”
“I hope so,” she muttered, rubbing her hand over his chest before staring across his body and frowning out his window. “Here comes trouble.”
War followed Nora’s eyes and saw his Beta hurrying their way with Reign close behind. Rolling down his window, War barked, “No, Tallius! Whatever the hell it is, no! We’re going to pick up Mama and Peace today, so whatever the fuck you’re trying to dump on me, don’t!”
“We’ve got problems.”
Tallius’s declaration had both War and Nora huffing.
“There’s an emissary here from Cray’s Yellowstone pack with a message.”
Annoyed, War drummed his fingers on the door of his truck. “Who is he and what’s the fucking message?”
“She,” Tallius corrected. “It’s a female.”
“A woman?” Nora looked up at War before leaning across his body and asking Tallius, “Where is she?”
Looking uncomfortable, Tallius rolled his neck before saying, “Matese is guarding her.”
“Matese?” War frowned. His newest pack member had formerly been one of Cray’s, so it made sense. He most likely knew the woman.
“Good!” Nora bit out. “We’ll be back in four days. Have him entertain her until we return.”
Involuntarily, War’s lips curled into an approving grin. He liked it when his mate took command and issued orders. It was sexy as fuck. She was sexy as fuck. But to keep from getting riled up and hauling her back inside, he tore his gaze from her and asked Tallius, “You said problems. What else?”
Tallius fidgeted nervously and looked back at Reign, who stood behind him, arms crossed as he smirked. It had War’s eyes narrowing on them.
“The Fury pack wants a mutual meet,” Tallius said.
Mutual meets were when packs sent just one representative to a neutral location to exchange information or to negotiate a truce with a rival. They were nothing new and certainly didn’t warrant the type of reaction Tallius was having. Unless . . . “An Alpha meet?”
“No,” Tallius shook his head. “Aydin is sending his pack Beta. He’d like you to do the same. The site would be the old cabin up on Baldie. Two days from now.”
War remembered Tallius telling him that Aydin’s Beta was the she-wolf who’d advised her Alpha to go to war against the WG. Watching Tallius closely, War asked, “What’s her name again?”
“Mira.”
Yup, there it was. With his response, Tallius’s cheeks flushed slightly and his Adam’s apple dipped low in his throat as he swallowed hard. War’s Beta had a thing for the Fury Beta. War remembered Tallius saying that Mira had joined the Fury pack after the WG had taken down the FourClaws. What had Tallius called her? That’s right, he’d said she was Feisty! Right then War decided that Tallius could use a little feisty in his life.
“Tell Aydin you’ll be there.”
&n
bsp; Tallius’s expression blanked. “But . . .”
Behind Tallius, Reign crowed, “Told ya he’d make you go.”
“No buts,” War cut him off. “Set it up. See what they want. And treat the woman well. The Fury are allies I wouldn’t mind having.”
“If you won’t be back for four days, and you’re sending me to this meeting, who’s in charge?”
War started backing his truck out of his parking spot. “Reign.”
At that Reign’s expression went comically blank as his arms dropped. “No!”
“No buts.” War grinned, shifting into drive. Leaning out his window, he pointed at Tallius. “Be good to Mira. And tell Matese to treat our guest well.” Then he slid his finger to Reign. “And don’t fuck shit up!”
In the truck as they pulled away from the Fortress, Nora grumbled, “Tallius and Matese might not be the best options for these particular tasks.”
“Tough shit. They’ll have to make it work.” Reclining in his seat, he gripped the steering wheel with both hands. “It’s just four days. I’m sure the boys can handle it.”
Rocks and dry leaves were kicked up as War tore out the front main gate. Rolling up the window, he instantly scented his mate’s trepidation. Without looking, he grabbed her hand and murmured, “They’ll be fine. Matese and Tallius would never disrespect or hurt those women.”
“It’s not the women I’m worried about.”
War shot his mate a surprised look.
“I’ve heard about Mira. She’s one of just a few female Betas. She’s tough as nails, War. And Tallius . . .”
“Can handle her,” he finished. “In case you forgot,” he teased, “he’s Beta to a pretty badass pack himself.” Grabbing her hand, he squeezed it. “He’s tough as nails too, beautiful. Don’t worry about him.” Casting Nora a glance, he saw her cheeks puff up as she blew out a breath.
Spoils of War Page 15