“What Allyson is trying to say, son, is I want to behead your brother.” Jack pushes his glasses up his nose and stares daggers at me through the thick black rims. “I buried his corpse in the forest last time. He showed no sign of life, but obviously—I should have been more thorough.”
“Jack,” Allyson scolds, grabbing his arm.
“You’re asking my permission to mutilate my brother’s corpse?” I ask as I turn toward the small hill of fur that is Jacob’s remains.
Allyson squeezes my arm, giving me a sympathetic look with her big brown eyes. Just like her daughter, she has no issue with keeping my gaze. “Distasteful as it is, yes, that’s what we’re asking. I abhor violence— as do my husband and children, which I think you know—but we need to put Jacob Knight to rest forever. If he comes back, I think we all know who he'll immediately target.”
Why is it so hard for me to say yes? My brother was an abusive sociopath. Everyone I truly care about suffered at Jacob’s hands. Jacob is already dead. Yet, misery clogs my throat, and I can’t find my voice.
It makes absolutely no sense.
“I remember you as a small wolf,” Allyson says. “The sun rose when your brother did. It’s easy to idealize those who hurt us, to believe there’s something in us that causes their cruelty—”
“Ensuring Jacob’s death is the only logical course of action,” I say, hearing the ice in my tone but not able to control it. Ice is better than fire. “I, of course, consent.”
Allyson tilts her head, her lip trembling. “Sweetheart, you can have some time to—”
“Allyson, we need to drop it,” Jack says, giving me a nod of respect I probably don’t deserve. “We’ll wait until after the ascension. You don’t need to be here.”
“I think we both know all of us need to be here for it—except Aaron. He’ll be alright without seeing it.” It’s probably fortunate, then, that Aaron is disappearing down the road with Prince Macklin and Oxonos.
Scarlet crosses the distance slowly toward us, her thumbs hooked in her pockets. Zeezee and Darrel follow in Scarlet’s wake. Zeezee wears an expression like she couldn’t be more bored, though three long, angry gashes split her cheek and blood stains down her shirt.
Inhaling deeply, Scarlet lets out a slow breath. “I—guess I’m ready for this – if you’re ready to bequeath the alphahood to me, Dad.”
“I’m ready,” Jack says.
Zeezee rolls her eyes. “You two are so full of shit.”
Allyson pats her younger daughter’s shoulder. “Let them pretend we haven’t figured it out, angel. It’s important to them.”
Scarlet looks between her mother and sister, mouth slightly agape, but quickly returns her focus to her father.
Thunder rips through the air, and a drop of cold water splashes onto my healing shoulder.
Now it rains.
“We better get this over with.” Jack Riley sets his hands on Scarlet’s head. “My darling girl, I bequeath you the standing of alpha of the Six Rivers werewolf pack. I couldn’t put the pack in better or more deserving hands.
Scarlet closes her eyes at that, as if she doesn’t quite believe it.
On impulse, I lay a hand on Scarlet’s shoulder. “The San Francisco pack pledges to support your reign.”
“As does my pack,” Darrel says, laying his hand on Scarlet’s other shoulder.
Allyson grabs Scarlet’s hand. “We, the pack, witness this ascension. I pledge my loyalty.”
Zeezee lowers her head, dark hair falling over her face. “I pledge my loyalty to my alpha.”
When Scarlet lifts her head, her green eyes shine. “I accept my role as alpha.”
It doesn’t take long for Scarlet’s wolves to arrive, heeding the newly ascended alpha’s call. Many change into wolves for the journey, ranging from cubs to full grown and stalky. Others arrive in cars and trucks, most older vehicles with varying amounts of damage. The old and very young disembark, looking to where Scarlet stands with her family, me, and Darrel surrounding her.
“Alpha,” ripples around the crowd as heads bow to their new queen. “Alpha.”
Many eyes flick to Jacob’s bloody corpse, but no one speaks a word except, “Alpha.”
“As beta, I name Allyson, Jack, and Zeezee Riley,” Scarlet says, her voice echoing around the clearing. “They proved their loyalty and valor today, fighting Jacob Knight as he attempted to retake the Six Rivers Pack. All other positions must be earned.”
Most of the wolves look to Jacob’s corpse now, their eyes glowing.
She gestures to the woods. “We will bury him here—and hopefully, finally, find peace. We will have trade again, legitimate trade. And we will support one another, as we always have. Our pack bonds will be strong again. As for Jacob’s remains...” Scarlet looks between Darrel and me, asking silent permission. The message in her eyes is that she won’t call for her wolves to find their peace at our expense.
Am I okay with the pack ensuring Jacob is truly dead? Deep down, I know I am. I need it as much as they do. Perhaps there will always be a small part of me that wanted my older brother to approve of me. But if Jacob lived a thousand years, he’d never approve of anyone. He’d never love me either.
I know that.
My brother is dead.
He needs to be dead.
And I need to let go of what was never there to begin with.
I nod, and Darrel echoes the movement, seeming to have waited for my acquiescence before giving his.
At Scarlet’s word, her pack tears Jacob Knight’s corpse apart, digs two holes, and buries him in pieces.
Chapter Thirty-four
Darrel
The rain has managed to soak me through by the time the last wolves depart. Fat drops splatter on the mounds of dirt that cover the pieces of my eldest brother’s body. Truth be told, I’d stopped thinking of Jacob Knight as a brother the very first time he’d thrown a closed fisted punch at Lance. Lance had been five at the time and lost consciousness for a full minute.
I watch as the last of the cars pull away, leaving me alone with Scarlet, but we don’t follow. We both just stare off at the dark woods. She’d refused to take my jacket, and the rain has made the material of her shirt completely transparent.
I wrap my arm over Scarlet’s shoulders. “We should probably get back and shower.”
Turning into me, Scarlet pushes wet hair out of her eyes, looking so damn sexy, I can barely believe it. She tilts her head to the side. “I bet you’re not in the mood now to fulfill our earlier promise to each other.”
It takes me a moment to remember what our promises had been. Our passionate kissing felt like days ago instead of just hours.
“It’s not that I don’t want to fulfill what I said and more, but night is going to be falling in an hour or two, and we’re soaked. Maybe if it was August instead of December,” I muse with a grin.
Reaching up, she cups my cheek. “All right. Whatever you want to do, I’m fine with.”
Damn.
I know what I want to do, but there are quite a few reasons why I shouldn’t just do whatever I want. First, it’s probably Aaron’s turn to guard Scarlet. Second, it won’t be good for either of us to be lying on the cold, wet forest floor even if we can keep each other warm.
“There is… an outpost my pack uses when in Heartland,” I find myself saying. “But it’s almost an hour and a half away, and the roads on the way there might be wet. Come nightfall, it could even freeze. It’s a bad idea.”
Scarlet presses into me further, hugging me under my leather jacket. “The rain might just be hanging around the coasts.” The smile she aims at me is just a little bit naughty. “And there’s probably about an hour and a half until sunset—not that I’m trying to convince you to do anything you don’t want to.”
“Coastal rain, huh?” I cup my hand around her cheek. “I guess there’s no harm in driving up and seeing if the roads are dry.”
Knowing I’m probably going to get hell for it,
I text Aaron that Scarlet and I are going to spend the night together and we’ll see him in the morning. My phone immediately lights up with a text, but I turn it off without reading the message. Tucking the phone in my pocket, I insist Scarlet wraps herself in my leather jacket before we put on our helmets and ride east.
I reason with myself that if the roads are wet up past Blue Lake, we’ll turn back, but as Scarlet has predicted, the rain clouds cling to the coast.
We arrive as the sun sets, pulling up to the A-frame cabin my packmates use if they want to hunt or patrol deep in Heartland. Thankfully, no one else from my pack had that idea—though this time of year, long hunts are seldom. Typing in a code, we enter through the garage and close out the cold behind us.
Scarlet disembarks first, pulling off her helmet and turning to me. I can just barely see her outline in the darkness.
“No reception or anything out here; just us,” I say.
“Sounds perfect.”
Yes, it does.
The house is frigid, the air a little stale from disuse. The first thing I do is open a few windows and build up a fire while Scarlet looks through the cupboards.
“I’m totally going to raid your stores here,” she says as she pulls down boxes of pasta and jars of sauce.
“There should be meatballs in the freezer.”
She spins, eyes wide. “Are you serious? You can’t be serious.”
I can’t help smiling at her delight and cross over to make sure we actually do have meatballs. Pulling out a big bag of frozen beef, I lift my brows.
“Yes.” She draws out the word, hugging me and a package of meat. “I actually couldn’t think of anything more perfect right now—except maybe a shower.”
“You want to take a shower while I cook?” I ask.
“Or…” she bites her lip, “we could take a quick one together before we make dinner. I just feel so filthy.”
I know exactly what she means. I’m ready to put today behind us as much as she probably is, and that means washing away the blood and filth from the fight.
The house is made up of one main room and a loft taking up half the second story. It isn’t a big house, but the loft stretches out just wide enough to hold a king-sized bed and full-sized bathroom. After climbing the stairs, I turn on the shower and test the temperature before turning back to Scarlet.
Why do I feel flutters of nervousness in my belly? I’m a grown-ass man, not a teenage boy. But as Scarlet peels off my jacket and lays it on the bed, adrenaline floods my system. It feels like I’m going to jump off a high bridge, not make love to a beautiful woman.
But unlike jumping off a high bridge –which, as a werewolf, I’d likely survive unchanged, I know there will be no going back after this night.
A true Mate Mark isn’t like a tattoo, you can’t have it removed.
When Scarlet reaches for her hem, I push all those thoughts away, returning to the moment and the woman before me. “Can I do that?”
“If I can do yours,” she says through a smile as she runs her fingers up my front.
I raise my hands, letting her pull my shirt over my head. Her hands go to my fly next, unzipping carefully before she pulls my heavy, damp jeans down. She crouches down with my jeans, helping me pull the material all the way off. Still kneeling, her hands move to the hem of my boxers, and her green eyes look up as if for permission.
I nod, shallowly, holding my breath a little as I do.
Scarlet slides my boxers off, and her eyes widen as she looks at my quickly hardening length. Her gaze meets mine, looking both fascinated and a little alarmed.
“It’s so—”
“Scarlet, we don’t have to do anything at all,” I rush to assure her. “No matter what, I’ll just be happy to be here with you.” I crouch across from her. “Let’s hop in the shower and wash off so we can go eat.”
I try to push away the immediate disappointment that hits me. My size is a big part of the reason I never have casual sex. For me, sex requires being very careful and having my partner truly trust me.
We stand together, and Scarlet lifts her arms so I can pull off her shirt and sports bra. Her full breasts bounce out as if they’re happy to finally be unconfined.
She arches closer to me as I reach for her fly, her hands going around the back of my shoulders. “I want to.”
I look up slowly, meeting her gaze. “Want to?”
“Have sex with you,” she whispers, sounding a little nervous. A blush spreads over her cheeks. “It’s just…this is my third time, and I didn’t know they could be that big.”
“Let’s shower off first, then see how things go.” Unbuttoning her pants, I slip the stiff jeans over her hips and help her out completely.
We take turns washing each other, working up a soapy lather. Scarlet massages her fingers slowly through my beard, taking extra care, and I can’t help remarking, “I think you like my beard.”
“What gives you that idea?” she asks as she goes to her tiptoes to kiss along my jawline.
I take care, washing over her round, perfect breasts but make sure to use the same care when washing her stomach, hips, and legs. Skin tingling and smelling of citrus and mint, we climb out of the shower and towel each other off.
Scarlet leans into my chest as wisps of steam rise from our skin. “I barely know you, but I’m already pretty sure you'd be very easy to fall in love with, Darrel Knight.”
I cup her chin and lift her face to look up at me. “And with you, it would be effortless.”
“Come here,” she says, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the bed, which is conveniently just outside the bathroom.
“Don’t you want to eat?” I ask, but I find my own hunger vanishing as I follow her onto the bed.
She rolls on top of me, her wet hair trailing over my hot skin. Scarlet runs a finger softly over my chest, sending little tingles of pleasure into my skin. “Let’s just wait for five more minutes?”
“Only five?” I ask.
“I just want to kiss you again.”
Leaning down, her soft lips push into mine. She crawls over me, straddling my hips as she takes my lower lip between hers and sucks. I kiss her hungrily, savoring the taste and feel of her tongue on mine.
She begins rocking her hips, up and down against me.
Gasping, I wrap my hands around her hips. “Whoa, there.”
Scarlet’s eyes meet mine, glowing with her desire. “Too much?” The desire cools as worry creeps into her expression. “Am I pushing you too fast? I’m really inexperienced at all this, and I don’t want to pressure you into anything you’re not ready for.”
I press my forehead into hers, chuckling softly. “If you want to have sex, Scarlet, you just have to be really ready for me, and we have to take this slow.”
Her breath hitches as she settles back onto me. “Okay.”
I rub my cheek along the side of her neck, making her shiver. “You have to be honest with me on what you want and what you don’t—otherwise, this won’t work.”
“Okay, but…to be upfront with you, I don’t really know that much about what I like,” she says as she smiles down at me.
“Well…” I roll her onto her back, kneel between her legs, and lean over her. “Why don’t we find out together?” Reaching over, I cup one of Scarlet’s soft, round breasts in my hand, lean down, and circle her nipple with my tongue.
She inhales sharply as the air fills with the sweet honey scent of her arousal. “Yes…that feels good.”
I hum before moving to her other breast and making slow circles around the bud with my tongue. She arches up into me, her sex moving against mine.
Not yet...not even close.
My mouth moves down her body, kissing and licking a line from her breast, over her stomach, and across her pelvic bone to the dip between her thighs. She gasps in ragged breaths, whispering that this is what she wants. The words become incoherent moans as my lips close over her. She tastes even sweeter than she smells, and my to
ngue starts to tingle as I roll it in circles over her clit. I slip a finger into her, then two. She squeezes against me as I push them in and out. Scarlet cries out, clenching my fingers and telling me what she really likes.
My whole body thrums in response to her pleasure, and my cock grows so hard, it’s almost painful.
“I’m going to…” She cuts off in a long moan.
My tongue and fingers keep a constant pressure while she moans and writhes through her orgasm. The sight and sound of her pleasure is so fucking hot that my cock throbs with anticipation.
She collapses, looking at me with half-lidded eyes before reaching down and squeezing my shoulders. “Come here.”
My heartbeat races as I crawl up over her. Hands going to either side of her head, I hover there with my face inches from hers. I want to take her so badly, right this second, but I know we have to do this in the right way or not at all.
Her hands come up between us and caress down my chest and sides. She bites her lip as her green eyes stare up into mine. “Darrel? Do you want to do this?”
“Fuck yeah, I do, baby, but we have to go slow,” I say it for myself as much as for her. When I’m positioned between her legs, I lean down and kiss her gently.
Her soft lips move over mine as her arms wrap around my back and tug me closer.
I resist for one moment more. “If it hurts, you tell me.”
When she nods, I push just a little way into her. Gasping, she clenches around me, so tight that pleasure pulsates up my length and through my whole body. I slip deeper, inch by inch, as her lips tremble. When she squeezes around me, I think I might pass out right there from the intense sensation that crashes through my whole body.
Scarlet’s fingers squeeze into my back. She whispers my name over and over, and it’s the most erotic sound I’ve ever heard in my life.
“You want me, baby?” I ask her, suddenly needing to hear her say it.
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