by Susan Bliler
One hand on her hip, holding her in place, the other massaging her breast, he pinched her nipple and Alise seized, her mouth shooting open on a soundless cry a second before she gasped, “Chief!” The sweet, addictive taste of her on his tongue was nothing compared to the way her pussy tightened around him. She called forth his own orgasm, and he detonated, a roar leaving his throat even as he kept his teeth buried in her neck.
Alise arched violently, rounded ask finding his as she gasped, “Chief?”
Yeah, a wolf shifters cock swelled when they climaxed with their mate, and fuck it was good. She was good. Hips still rolling as he rode out their orgasm, he could feel the wet heat that seeped from between Grace’s legs, coating his thighs. She smelled so damn sweet that he made a mental note to taste her next time, but for now, it was done. Alise was marked, claimed, and mated. She was his!
After long minutes, his hips stilled, and Alise went lax in his arms.
Reluctant to pull from her body, he forced himself to do it. Climbing from the bed, he padded barefoot to the ensuite and cleaned himself before coming back with a warm, damp cloth for Alise.
She reached for the cloth, but he pushed her hands away and gripped an ankle. Pulling her legs apart, he cleaned her inner thighs and smirked at the blush that took her cheeks. “No sense in hiding from me now, sweetheart. Before this night is over, I plan on knowing every inch of your body. You’ll know mine to.”
Standing, he was taking the cloth back to the bathroom when Alise’s question halted him. “Then what?”
There was something about the way she said it though that had him turning to look back at her. Just as he did, she angled her face away from him, but not before he saw the shimmer in her eyes.
Christ! Tossing the cloth onto the bathroom floor, he turned and went back to the bed. Standing over it, he couldn’t help the arousal that coursed through him as he stared at Alise in her post-sex state. She was glorious. Hair tousled, pink nipples still erect, lips swollen—both sets—she looked like a goddess. It had him getting hard again, but he ignored it. For now.
“What do you mean?”
Alise pulled the sheets over her, earning herself a snarl as she covered herself up to her breasts, tucking the material beneath her arms. “Just because we had sex doesn’t change how I feel or what I need.”
His eyes narrowed on her as trepidation stole through him. “Meaning?”
“I told you, I’m not gonna beg you to love me, Chief.”
“You don’t have to beg.” He answered immediately, climbing onto the bed and settling his big body over hers. “I already do.”
Whatever Alise been expecting Chief to say, it wasn’t the words he offered.
“You don’t have to beg me, Alessandra,” he explained. “You just have to let me?”
Brows spearing down, she shook her head in confusion. “What?”
“It means I already love you. I’m not gonna lie to you and say it was instantaneous, but it was damn near. I’ve loved you from that second day. When you told me you weren’t soft that you weren’t a hummingbird. When you tried to convince me that you weren’t feminine enough for a man like me.”
“You couldn’t have loved me then. You’ve done nothing but push me away since that day.”
“I was wrong,” he breathed against her throat. “So fucking wrong.” He nibbled her skin and sent a wave of goosebumps raising all along her skin. “You’re no hummingbird. You are that fucking phoenix you told me about.” One hand settled right between her shoulder blades and pulled her closer to him as he dipped his head, lips kissing and teeth nipping a trail down over her collar bone where he stopped at the sheets that were covering her. With a snarl, he gripped the material and ripped it down. A groan left him as her bare skin was exposed. Between her les, she felt the hard bar of his erection jerk as he lowered his head and took a peaked nipple into his mouth. It had honey weeping from her slit as her body prepared itself to be taken by him again.
Swirling his tongue around the bud, he suckled a moment before pulling back and breathing against her skin, “My goddess, my phoenix!” Staring at her he vowed, “I’m keeping you, Alessandra Crane, I’m making you mine, and you’re gonna mark me and make me yours. And, if you’re ever ready, if you want it, I’ll help you make the change. But only if you want it!” Cupping her cheek, his eyes misted over with an emotion he’d only ever share with her as he told her solemnly, “I love you.”
Biting her bottom lip, Alise nodded, unable to speak at first before she was able to choke out, “I-I’d like that.”
Expression going hard, Chief studied her before asking in disbelief, “You would?”
Lifting a hand, she smoothed it down his jaw. “I want all of you, but more importantly, I want you to know that I’m not going anywhere. If becoming like you proves it, then that’s what I’ll do.”
“I don’t want you proving anything to me, Alessandra. You don’t have to!”
She flashed a watery smile as a tear slipped free. “I want to. I wanna be yours in every way I can. Human, wolf, it doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.” Wrapping a hand around the back of her neck, he pulled her to him so that they were nose to nose. “I want human you. I need you to give me time to prove myself, okay?”
She chuffed a laugh and nodded, “Okay.”
“This ain’t about you giving yourself to me fully, sweetheart. For now, let me give myself to you.”
“I’d love that,” she breathed against his lips. They stayed that way a long time before Alise finally asked, “You know what else I’d love?”
“Hmm?”
“Food!”
With a chuckle, Chief kissed her lips before pulling back, “You got it, sweetheart.” He waggled his brows as he got up. “You’re gonna need your strength for tonight.” Shoving his legs into his jeans, he buttoned them and turned for the door before stopping and looking back at her, his expression gone serious. “I mean it, Alise. Anything you want, from here on out. Anything you want.”
Epilogue
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Speaking into the phone, Monroe didn’t even tense at Dell BlackBird’s vicious tone as he shot back, “I’m not calling to update you on Chief and Alise to please you, Monroe. I’m calling to tell you that they’ve cemented their claiming and have gone to her place in Great Falls to start their lives. I’m letting you know because I’m placing them both under my pack’s protection. I’m claiming them. They will be left alone to sort their shit out. I’m not asking. I’m telling.”
Shoulders raising and falling on a bored sigh, Monroe shot Jenny a look where she sat on a couch in his office and waited for his call to end.
“Fine,” Monroe clipped out. “Whatever. I got what I needed from them. Bigger fish to fry and all. Give them both my regards.”
Hanging up before Dell could respond, Monroe dropped his phone on his desk and took up pacing. Arms crossing, one bent finger pressed into his lips as his brows furrowed in contemplation. Stopping abruptly, he turned to frown at Jenny. “You’re sure? Absolutely positive?”
Shrugging up one shoulder, Jenny sighed and slid tired eyes from Monroe to his angel, Eden. “I’ve run the tests two dozen times. There’s nothing. It’s like she’s a ghost; a genetic anomaly. Not only can I not pinpoint any potential mate, I can’t even determine her damn blood type. Nothing shows up. Nothing at all. Hell, I’d get more intel testing tap water. It’s like Sha RedCloud doesn’t even exist.”
“She exists.” King Mulholland spoke from where he was perched on Monroe’s desk, strong fingers curled around the edge.
“She’s under surveillance, right?” Eden’s dark eyes rounded in hope. “Maybe if we watch her long enough, something will give.”
Monroe’s gaze slid to his mate, and with a tweak of his lips, he lowered his arms and closed the space between them, pulling her head into his chest before he brushed a kiss to her forehead and sighed. He didn’t know if watching Sha and waiting for
answers would work. Worse, they didn’t have the luxury of the time it’d require.
“We’ll figure it out,” he promised knowing it was the truth. It had to be the truth because if RedKnife was right, hell was coming for them, for all of them, and Sha was the key. Eyes narrowing on RedKnife, Monroe demanded, “What do you know?”
Stoic as ever, RedKnife stood near the door, expression impassive. “Who’s doing surveillance?”
Monroe looked to King who answered, “I’ve got a team of four switching shifts. Banta and Ash split the day shifts and Lok and Bodi cover the two night-shifts.”
With a slow shake of his head, RedKnife looked from King to Monroe and ordered, “Get rid of them all.”
Brows winging up in question, Monroe waited for an explanation.
“Haka,” RedKnife answered abruptly. “Put Haka on her twenty-four seven.”
“Haka?” Eden asked excitedly as her head jerked up from Monroe’s chest and stepped away from him. “Is it him? Is he the one?”
RedKnife’s response was immediate. “I’m not positive, Domina. But he was in my vision. He was with Sha. Every time. He was there.”
“It’ll have to do.” Monroe looked at King, lips thinning into a grim line. “Make it happen. Today.”
Shoving off the desk, King headed for the door. “On it.”
“And King,” Eden’s words halted him. “Don’t tell Haka. If he’s looking for a mate, we don’t want to get his hopes up. And if he’s not, we don’t want him running. We can’t afford it, not right now.”
King replied, “Yes, Domina.”
It was just Monroe, Eden, Jenny, and RedKnife in the room and none of them spoke for long minutes. All lost in their own thoughts and fears of what was to come.
“We could run,” Eden said into the quiet, eyes shooting to Monroe. “We could go into hiding.”
It was RedKnife who answered, his tone hard, his eyes flashing as he fumed, “No, Domina. There’ll be no running.”
Monroe’s tone was equally firm as he declared, “There’ll be no hiding. We face what’s coming head on.” He shifted his gaze to Jenny. “Give Haka the injection to reverse the delay. In fact, I think it’s time we give it to everyone.” He looked at Eden with a rueful smile. It’s the one thing she’ been asking him for. She wanted the injections given to each Walker to delay their affliction reversed. She’d wanted it from the second she’d found out what Jenny had done, but Monroe had stalled. He too wanted to investigate just how deeply the affliction ran. He needed to know if it could be deferred permanently or if mother nature was strong enough to override the drugs. The days of watching, and waiting, and playing God with his Walkers and their mates was over. There were more pressing matters at hand. “How long before it takes effect? If Sha is Haka’s, I need to know ASAP.”
Jenny shrugged with a tired sigh. “It varies. For some, the affliction has been stronger than in others. Recker’s injection has taken the longest so far to kick in. It could be the same for Haka, there’s just no way to know.”
“And now you pay,” Eden hissed furiously. “Finally, all your meddling in your Walkers’ affliction comes back to bite you both in the eyes.” Her angry eyes darted between Monroe and Jenny. “This is what I feared. This is why I asked you to stop! Now we’re all at risk!”
She was right. He should have known better. He should have stayed the hell out of things that he had no business meddling in, but admitting that now did little to aid their cause.
Turning from Eden, Monroe jerked his chin at Jenny. “Go. Get it done, and keep me updated.” Looking at RedKnife, he ordered, “I want a second surveillance team on Haka.”
“Monroe!” Eden fumed.
Without looking at his angel, he explained. “We need to know if and when he’s afflicted. And if he suspects something, I won’t have him running. It’d help if you could get close to him,” he told RedKnife. “Find out how he feels about the affliction, about mating.”
RedKnife nodded silently before turning and holding the door open for Jenny who exited with him.
Alone, Eden heaved a sigh that ended with slumped shoulders and a defeated look.
Monroe hated more than anything the weariness evident now on his angel’s face. It gutted him that he was responsible for it. For years she’d warned him that his blind eye into Jenny’s injections that delayed the affliction would come back to haunt him. He’d been too curious, too power hungry to know if there was a way to use the injections or the delay to his advantage. Scrubbing a hand down his face, he fought down the surge of regret that flooded him.
“It’s going to be okay,” he promised. “I’ll never let anything happen to you…” He’d been about to tag on “or our children” but Eden cut him off with a snarled, “You think I give a fuck about me?” Tears were filling her eyes now as her face darkened in helpless fury. Jamming a finger at the window, she quaked, “We’re responsible for them! All of them! We invited them here! Told them it was a safe haven, a place they could finally breathe, a place to build a family, a place to have chil-children.”
Her voice broke on the last word, and when Monroe took a step toward her, she held up a hand and glared at him with a defiant shake of her head as one lone tear slipped free and slid down her cheek. “It changes today,” she declared. Turning to fully face him, she squared her shoulders, lifted her trembling chin and fisted her hands at her sides. “Today, my love, I Eden StoneCrow, vow no more. You and Jenny are done. I’m dismissing my passive role as Skin Walker Domina. From this second forward, I will know what happens in every single aspect of this estate, and I will have a say in it. And if you ever deny me a request where the betterment of our people is concerned, or if I even have an inkling that you’re hiding something from me, I’ll take the children, and I’ll walk. And you know I’m good for it!”
He swallowed hard at the punch of lust that tore through him at her show of dominance. It had his mouth going dry and his dick going hard. He didn’t deserve her, he knew it. Here she was standing before what most deemed was the most dangerous Skin Walker in existence and threatening him with his heart and his home. She was claiming his people as her own and doing what he should have done from the start, she was looking out for them.
Nodding his head by way of agreement, he had to clench his jaw against a grin of pride when Eden’s eyes narrowed on him.
“Oh no. I’m not asking for approval.” Her body leaned slightly forward as she clipped out, “I’m telling you!” In a classic Dominant move, she turned and gave him her back, tossing over her shoulder as she exited the office, “Ring the bells and let my Walkers know…mama’s home!”
Books in the Skin Walkers series:
Book 1—SW: King
Book 2—SW: RedKnife
Book 3—SW: Bishop
Book 4—SW: Mason (not yet published)
Book 5—SW: Conn
Book 6—SW: Leto
Book 7—SW: Monroe
Book 8—SW: Gauge
Book 9—SW: York
Book 10—SW: Remy
Book 11—SW: Taken
Book 12—SW: Angel Lost
Book 13—SW: Baymac
Book 14—SW: Bellis
Book 15—SW: Tyce
Book 16—SW: Marko
Book 17—SW: Recker
Book 18—SW: James
Book 19—SW: Chief