by B M Griffin
Megan shook off the ache of sadness that was trying to wrap itself around her heart. Jared needed her. Needed her to go back home and prove to him that she wasn’t leaving him, that she never could. If she could stop his heart from breaking, then maybe she could keep hers from completely falling apart. Feeling your own pain always seems like the worst thing until you can literally feel the pain of the person you love most in the world. That pain, it is crippling.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Jared
Jared nearly ran right into Megan when he stepped out of the front door of the house. One second the porch was empty, the next, he was nose to nose with his mate. “Megan,” he choked out. Relief chased by the fear that he’d lost her made it nearly impossible for him to speak the lump in his throat.
“Hey,” she said softly.
Jared threw his arms around her and crushed her body against his. He needed to feel her against him; feel her heart beating, and inhale her intoxicating scent so that he would know he wasn’t imagining her standing before him. When he felt her arms wrap around his waist, he almost collapsed into her. Relief that she was alive and home weighing him down, the forced appearance of strength he’d been putting on falling away. He wasn’t sure how long he stood there holding onto Megan like she was his life-line, but it wasn’t long enough before Shayla snatched Megan away from his hold.
“You asshole!” Shayla yelled. She grabbed Megan’s face between her hands and pulled it close to her own. “Don’t you ever run off alone like that again! I’m your best friend, dammit. If one of us is going to do something idiotic, we are supposed to do it together. Don’t forget that again.”
Megan laughed, and Jared saw a tear slowly slide down her cheek. “You’re right. I just needed some time to think. So much has happened, and it was just really hard for me to accept that I still wasn’t enough to stop people I love from getting hurt, even with the strength of a werewolf, and this whole traveling thing I can do.”
“I get that,” Shayla answered, “but you don’t tell me you are going to hunt down our most dangerous enemy, then disappear and not tell anybody where you are! I thought you’d found Kevin and he’d taken you captive, or worse.”
“Actually,” Megan looked at Jared before she continued, “I did find him.”
“What?” Jared asked. He didn’t mean for it to sound like he was scolding her, but that’s how it came out. The idea of her being anywhere near that demonic bastard sent his heckles up.
Megan rubbed nervously at the back of her neck. “When he wasn’t where we left him in Hell…”
“You went back to Hell … alone!” Jared shouted, cutting her off.
She dropped her hand, the nervous twitch gone and replaced by a stubborn, heated glare aimed right at him. Normally he hated to see that look in her eye because it was usually a prelude to her being pissed at him, but right then he didn’t give a damn if she was mad. So was he.
“Where else did you expect me to start looking for him?” She asked, but it sounded more like an accusation. “It was the last place we saw him, so yeah, I went back to Hell to find the asshole. Now, are you going to let me finish?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes in his direction. He noticed Shayla took a step back and was looking anywhere but at the two of them. Still, he didn’t miss the smirk she was fighting hard to keep under wraps. He was glad somebody was amused at Megan’s constant need to put herself in harm’s way. He didn’t find anything about their current situation funny in the slightest. When he didn’t respond to Megan’s outburst after a couple of minutes, she continued telling them where she’d been.
“Like I was saying, when I didn’t find him right away in Hell, I needed to take some time to think. So much has happened in such a short period of time, and I just wanted a moment alone to clear my head so I went home and laid down for a while. Just before I let exhaustion pull me into a deep sleep, I heard something outside and found one of Jared’s pack members hiding behind the trees in my backyard watching my house. Luckily, I had traveled straight to my bedroom and I hadn’t turned on any lights, so he wasn’t aware that I was even home. I used it to my advantage and used my traveling skill to watch him from afar. That’s what took so long. Apparently, their shifts are really long, but as soon as someone else replaced him I followed him on his way back, and he went into this old, abandoned school. When it became clear he wasn’t coming out, I peeked inside and saw Kevin along with hundreds of his pack members. It was clear they’ve been there a while. There were blow-up mattresses and blankets set up everywhere.”
Jared grew angrier with every new revelation about Megan’s little trip while she was M.I.A., and not just angry with her. “Adam!” he called out to him telepathically. It only took a minute for Adam to come running out to the front porch.
“What’s going on … Megan, you're here!” Adam ran over to Megan and gave her a big bear hug. “We were all so worried. You’ve got to stop disappearing on us like that before you turn all of Jared’s hair gray.”
Megan didn’t have a chance to respond because Jared grabbed Adam by his shoulder and spun him around so they were face to face. Jared’s jaw was clenched so tightly he was surprised his teeth weren’t cracking from the pressure. “She was missing for how many hours, and nobody even thought to check her fucking house! Maybe making you my beta was a mistake after all.”
Adam shoved him hard enough to force him to stumble backward a couple of feet. “I know you’ve been through a lot today, but we all have. I’m not stupid, Jared. Of course, we checked her house, hell, we checked it twice and had someone watching from across the street. Obviously, we checked either before or after she went there, or both, but don’t act like you don’t know me. She saved me from that bastard, too! Finding her and making sure she was safe is the only thing I’ve been focused on since she disappeared in the first place. Do not accuse me of not being diligent!”
Jared ran his hands down his face and tried to calm down. Adam was right and he was being irrational, but his inner wolf didn’t care about keeping his temper under wraps.
“Why don’t we all take a minute to calm down?” Shayla asked. “Everyone is on high alert with all this Kevin stuff. I think we should all go inside, grab a drink or two, and let Megan finish telling us were this building Kevin’s pack is hiding out in is located.”
“I agree with Shayla,” Megan said. “We need to be on the same page so we can plan how we’re going to take these assholes out. I don’t know about you, but I’m already tired of worrying when they are going to show up again.”
“Agreed,” Adam said with a nod.
Jared locked eyes with Megan and let out a long breath. His anger was overthrown by the relief he felt seeing her standing in front of him; as strong and stubborn as ever. “Come on,” he said, “let’s get inside. I need a drink, and you’re right. We need to get ahead of these bastards and finally put an end to their nonsense.”
The four of them headed to the kitchen and Jared grabbed beers for everyone. They sat at the table drinking in silence for several minutes. Jared’s mind was working on overload and it was damn near exhausting. He couldn’t stop thinking about all of the horrible things that could have happened to Megan if she’d been caught at Kevin’s hideout. He should be thanking his lucky stars she came home without a scratch on her, but they weren’t out of the woods yet and all he could think about were all the ways shit could turn bad.
Adam was the first to break the silence. “I don’t think we should wait too long to go after Kevin and his band of jackasses. We have an advantage now, thanks to Megan.”
Jared slid his eyes over to Megan. She didn’t react to Adam’s words, instead, she stared back at Jared stoically and he wasn’t sure how to take that, but he was sure of one thing. “I’m not sure that just knowing where they are hiding out gives us much of an advantage.”
Megan sat up straighter in her chair and put her beer down on the table just a little too hard.
“How is that not an advantage? They won’t be expecting us to show up there, and we will be on top of them before they have a chance to do anything about it.”
“Am I the only one who remembers what happened to them when they went after Kevin?” Jared motioned between Shayla and Adam.
Shayla’s eyes immediately went to Adam and Jared saw the pain in her eyes. “Jared’s got a point. We were helpless against him, and if he could take us down so easily I am afraid to see what he would do to the rest of our pack.”
Megan leaned in toward Shayla. “You aren’t saying that you think we shouldn’t go after them? We might never get a chance like this again.”
Shayla’s eyes fell. “I just don’t know, Megan. Next time we might not be able to save whoever he takes away from us.” She paused and met Megan’s gaze again, “I don’t want to even think about losing any of you.”
“You’re being awfully quiet over there, Adam,” Jared said. “What’s your take on this?”
Adam released a deep breath. “I think that you all make great points. Trust me, I don’t want anyone to have to go through what I did being dragged to Hell by that asshole,” he paused and looked at Shayla with apologetic eyes, “but we can’t let the fear of being captured or killed stop us from doing what we must. If we do nothing then it’s a guarantee that Kevin and his pack are going to keep coming for us.”
“But there has to be something less risky,” Shayla practically shouted at Adam. “We could just leave, make sure nobody can find us.”
Adam shook his head. “No love, we can’t. Kevin’s proved he has unlimited reach. He literally has Hell on his side. If we run, he will just keep finding us.”
Megan nodded eagerly. “Adam is right. Besides, that’s no way to live out our lives. Running away from our enemy, constantly looking over our shoulder, just waiting for him to pop up out of nowhere to take us down.”
Jared heard enough for one night, hell he hadn’t even had a chance to be happy that Megan had come back home. To be glad he’d survived Hell, or celebrate even Adam’s return home. Day after day it seemed like all they were focusing on was everything bad that was happening. Sure, there had been a lot of bad recently, but there had been good too. He just needed a moment to step back and remember the good things before they jumped into another battle. Remember all the reasons it was important to stand up against Kevin’s attacks and fight back.
Jared stood up and the other three quickly looked up at him. “I think we all need to take the night to think all of this over. We don’t need to make any hasty decisions and go after Kevin half-cocked. That in itself is a recipe for disaster. Take tonight to enjoy each other, be thankful that we’re all home and together again. We will revisit this discussion in the morning and make our decisions then.”
Adam and Shayla quickly agreed and left the room hand-in-hand. Jared held his hand out to Megan and she only hesitated for a second before she placed her hand in his. He pulled her up from her seat, and took her wrists in his hands, then moved her arms to wrap them around his waist, and then he brought his hands to her face. “I need time to enjoy the fact that you came back home. When I woke up and Shayla said why you’d left I was so scared.” He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep, cleansing breath. “I just need to be with you tonight, okay.”
Megan reached up on her tiptoes and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “I told you, I’ll always come back to you. Now, let’s go to bed. I missed you too.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Megan
The minute the door closed behind Megan, Jared had her pressed against it and his mouth was on hers, his tongue parting her lips as he devoured her. She forgot everything that was happening outside the room. All that mattered was the two of them. She slid her hands between them and ripped Jared’s shirt, exposing his chest. He groaned when she ran her nails down his chest, then gripped her thighs and brought her legs up to where she immediately wrapped them around his waist. She could feel his hard length pressed against her core, even through her jeans, and moved her hips against him.
“You’re driving me crazy,” Jared said. His voice was extra low, thick with his need, and she loved that she was the one who had done that to him. He walked over to the side of the bed and stood her on her feet. Then he pulled off the remains of his shirt before copying her and ripping her shirt from her body revealing the black lace bra she wore beneath. The material was sheer and her hardened nipples were poking through the holes in the lace material. “Fuck, you’re beautiful,” he groaned.
Jared made quick work of removing the lace material that covered her breasts, and she sighed when he lowered his head to take one of her nipples into his mouth, and she ran her fingers through his hair. When he removed his lips from her skin, she immediately missed the sensation, but he quickly moved his mouth over to her other breast. He was working wonders on her body and she wasn’t even undressed yet.
Like he was reading her mind, Jared ran his hands down her body to the waist of her jeans and had them unbuttoned before he ever pulled his decadent mouth away from her nipple. He dropped down to his knees, pulling her jeans down with him. He didn’t bother pulling her panties down, instead choosing to rip them from her body like they were made of nothing more than a thin sheet of paper. When she felt his tongue on her clit her knees went limp and she fell back onto the bed. Jared didn’t miss a beat. He grabbed her just behind her knees and pulled her forward. Her back hit the mattress, and he pulled until her ass was at the edge the bed, her legs spread wide, and her sex on full display for him.
Jared’s tongue was pure ecstasy. Megan drove her hands into his hair and held him close while he worked his magic on her body. It wasn’t long before she felt pleasure spike throughout her entire body and her hips began to buck against Jared’s mouth. Her climax didn’t just hit her, it exploded from the deepest recesses of her core and all she could feel was a pleasure and she cried out his name through the shock waves jolting her body.
“Jared! Ahh!”
Before her body had a chance to come down from the roller coaster of pleasure she was riding, Jared removed the rest of his clothes, then climbed up her body on the bed. He pushed her further up the bed until she could wrap her legs around his hips, and he kissed her deeply while he drove his hard length into her. The sensation of being filled completely by her mate right after such a powerful orgasm was almost too intense. Megan arched her back, her breasts pressed against Jared’s chest and the friction against her nipples when he moved as he thrust into her felt incredible. Jared buried his face in her neck as his thrusts picked up speed. She wrapped her hands around his biceps, digging her nails into his skin harder with every movement of his hips. Her body began to quiver, and the next time Jared buried himself inside her she erupted.
Jared grunted against her throat, and drove into her once more, hard and deep. “Agh, Megan,” he groaned. She felt his orgasm erupt inside her. He pumped his hips a couple more times, then he kissed her deeply before collapsing on the bed next to her. Megan turned her head to face him and he ran his hand over her face, pushing her hair back behind her ear, then he leaned his head in and gave her a sweet kiss. He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. “I love you, Megs.”
Megan turned so she was on her side facing him, and copied him by cupping his cheek in her hand. She lazily ran her thumb over his bottom lip and he kissed it making her smile. “I love you, too. Very much.”
Jared pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her, and Megan melted into him with her head tucked just under his chin. Wrapped in his warmth, his scent in her nose, it wasn’t long before she felt herself pulled under by the exhaustion of the past few days into a deep sleep.
****
Megan felt a hand running up and down her arm, and she knew the sun was shining brightly in the through the curtains warming her body. She smiled and opened her eyes hoping to find her mate ready for another round of lovemaking, instead Jared was standing by the bed, leaning over her, fully clothe
d.
“Ugh, why are you wearing clothes?” she whined.
Jared chuckled and sat down on the bed beside her. She rolled over to her back so that she could look up at him without putting a crick in her neck. “I stayed in bed as long as I could, but it’s nearly noon and,” he rubbed his belly, “my stomach was growling like a starving hippo.”
Megan arched an eyebrow at him. “I think you mean you were hungry as a horse. That’s what people normally say.”
Jared shook his head. “Nope. I was hungrier than a horse. Had to be the kind of hunger a massive animal like a hippo experience.”
Megan laughed and sat up in the bed, pulling the sheet up with her. “So, did you bring me something to eat?” Jared scrunched up his face and Megan laughed. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“I didn’t eat it all, if that counts.” He stood from the bed. “I’ll bring you some up so you can hang out and relax as long as you want.”
Megan threw the sheet off and climbed out of the bed. She loved the way Jared’s eyes darkened when she was standing in front of him still naked from the night before. “No, I’m awake now. Just let me throw on some clothes and brush my teeth and I’ll come downstairs with you.”
Jared moved in closer and ran the back of his hand down her shoulder to her arm, as his eyes roamed over the curves of her body. “I prefer you like this,” he said in a low, husky tone. “Besides,” he smirked, “I pretty much destroyed your clothes last night, in case you don’t remember.”
She pursed her lips. “Oh, I haven’t forgotten. I’m sure Joanna or Shayla will let me borrow something. You were pretty quick to put clothes on, so it really isn’t fair for me to be the only one still undressed.”