by Jade Royal
“You can stay, Kyra, but something has to be figured out.” Kellan bit out. Bliss nodded in approval and stood, slowly helping Kyra to her feet. Kellan only watched as his mate helped Kyra back towards the cabin. Rita followed them inside and closed the door. That left him and Jayce alone. Jayce was the first person Kellan told he was leaving. They’d always been good friends despite Kellan drifting from the pack, but as head beta, Jayce had an allegiance towards the alpha that naturally and physically he couldn’t deny, unless Jayce took an oath to another alpha.
“I let you move on, but I didn’t know that meant we’d stop being friends,” Jayce said.
“You know damn well that’s not true,” Kellan said.
“So, why as a matter of fact, how is it that you have a mate, and I wasn’t told? Bet ya’ wasn’t even going to invite me to the mating ceremony either.”
“Quit bitching.” Kellan laughed. “We’re not mated. For the fiftith time, my wolf and I just know that she’s ours. That’s it.”
“So, what ya’ gonna do? We all clearly saw she’s an alpha female, and if you’re her mate, then that makes you the alpha male.” Kellan shook his head.
“I have no pack, Jayce, just three women who needs looking after. No enforcers, no beta, hell, this land I have isn’t fit for a pack, and you know I can’t be an alpha. Not after what I let happen to my mother.”
“You didn’t let it happen to her, Kellan. No one could have fought Maverick in that moment, and I’m afraid that some of the males in the pack will start to use and abuse women like he does.” Kellan shook his head. He really didn’t want the women he grew up around being subjected to that kind of behavior.
“Would they even trust me?” Kellan asked.
“I think they have more reason to than you think,” Jayce said. Fuck. Kellan really didn’t know what to do.
“No one is gonna wanna be in my pack, Jayce. If they did, they would have left with me. Everyone knew I was supposed to become alpha, and they stayed and let Maverick take over.”
“No, Kellan. You left and let Maverick take over.” Jayce backed up. “I have to get back and make sure everyone else is safe. Now that Kyra is in good hands, I can feel relieved.” Kellan backed away also and let his friend go.
Jayce was prepared to leave when that pomegranate smell came back to him. Rita was standing outside again watching them.
“You can always come and see her, you know,” Kellan said. “I wouldn’t restrict that.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Jayce responded. Kellan chuckled.
“I can smell her arousal, and it ain’t towards me.” Jayce snapped his jaws at Kellan.
“Stop smelling her.” Jayce gritted. Kellan nodded.
“That’s what I thought. Come back soon.” Jayce shook his head and put his possessiveness out of his mind, but then, he should have known that’s how his body would have reacted around Rita. Nothing changed.
Chapter Eight
For a couple days, Kellan was sharing his cabin with three other females. Sharing a space with one female was already stressful, but now it was three females, and they were all wolves. Plus, one of them was newly turned. Bliss was adjusting to her new lifestyle, but she didn’t break her silence about what happened to her previously. Kellan didn’t want to get on her case about it, but there were things they needed to discuss. That, plus the full moon was on its way, and he needed to know everything he could so he could help her survive the shift, and if he was going to mate her, he needed to know everything as well. His wolf was getting impatient, which meant that at times, Kellan was a little snappy, but that didn’t stop the pain of needing your mate that coursed through him. He imagined it affected her just as bad especially because everything was supposed to be heightened for her.
“KELLAN!” Kellan dropped the sandwich he was eating that Bliss made for him, when he heard the shrill cry of Kyra. He hopped off the stool he was sitting on in the kitchen and bolted towards the bedroom. That’s where he found Bliss on the ground having what looked like a seizure, but her bones were popping as if her wolf wanted to come out. Kellan was floored. Her eyes turning, and her claws elongating before the full moon was fine, but for her wolf to attempt shifting before the full moon was out of this world. He dropped to her side and grabbed her up. He held her in his arms and tried to look in her eyes. Kellan asserted his dominance with his wolf eyes; she glared back at him with her wolf eyes.
“Stop it.” Kellan demanded the wolf. “You’ll kill her.” The wolf whined and immediately began to back off. No matter what, Kellan could count on the wolf listening to him because they were mates. When she stopped trying to push at Bliss’ skin, she stopped convulsing. It took her a moment before she came to.
“What happened?” she asked, holding onto him.
“I’m not sure, baby, you were just on the floor, and your wolf was trying to come out. Did anything trigger you?”
“What would, what would trigger me?”
“Anger, sadness, fright.”
“Oh.” She sat up and moved away from him. Kellan smelled the coppery scent of blood.
“Baby, where are you bleeding from?” he asked her. She looked all over and then looked away shyly.
“I think my period came,” she said lowly.
“Impossible,” Kellan said. He stood. Without asking her, he picked her up and carried her to the bathroom. He shut them inside and placed her on the counter.
“Let me see.” He ordered her. She closed her legs.
“Kellan, no!” she exclaimed. Kellan rolled his eyes and scoffed.
“What, you wanna do a trade off?” Kellan asked.
“I mean, you can’t just ask a woman to just open her legs and-” Bliss’ mouth dropped open when Kellan pulled the front of his basketball shorts down showing her his dick. Her stomach began to ache again when she saw the thickness of it resting against his thigh. Maverick was a good size, and Bliss thought that was big, but Kellan was larger than Maverick, so what would she even classify him as, but that wasn’t the only thing that shocked her. She was intrigued by the silver loop piercing hanging from his tip.
“That didn’t hurt?” She gasped, leaning forward so she could examine it. She reached her hand out but then drew back.
“You can touch it,” he said. She hesitated, so he took her hand and placed it around his shaft. His body shuddered at her touch. He was fighting the urge to remain calm and not get stiff in her hands. Bliss loved the way he was heavy in her hands. He had thick veins running along his shaft that she wanted to trace with her tongue. She didn’t think as a shifter they’d practice something like circumcision, but he was cut, and his mushroom tip was just as thick as the rest of his damn dick. She played with his piercing.
“It doesn’t hurt at all?” she asked.
“It pinched when it was pierced, but it healed moments later.”
“Why-why would you get it?” Bliss questioned.
“It was a stupid bet. I lost, so I had to get my dick pierced. Long story.” Bliss’ forehead creased.
“Was a female holding you and touching you to pierce it?” She gritted.
“Calm down, sweetheart. She was an old lady. Human at that. I never saw her again.” Kellan pulled his hips back so she’d let go of him, but she didn’t want to.
“You put this thing in women?” she gasped as if she couldn’t believe it. Kellan chuckled.
“Stop making me feel like an alien,” he said. She let go of him so he could tuck himself back in.
“Come on, open up.” Kellan coaxed her.
“But it’s my period, Kellan. I don’t want you to see that.”
“You’re a wolf shifter now, Bliss. Periods don’t happen unless you’re a she-wolf and you hit your age of maturity or when you’re getting ready for your mating cycle. Since you’re newly bitten, the only time you should be seeing blood is when your body is ready to hold pups, and that can’t be possible until your first shift, and you’re not ready for pups yet; I would smel
l it, so there’s another reason you’re bleeding.” Bliss was afraid now that he was laying out the reasons he figured she’d be bleeding.
“I’m not here to hurt you, baby,” he said softly. He pushed up the t-shirt she was wearing and reached for her underwear.
“Lift up your hips, my she-wolf.” Bliss felt herself blush when he called her that. Something about his claim made both her and her animal want to keel over and submit.
The smell of blood overtook Bliss’ sweet and tangy scent of mangos. He pulled her panties down slowly over her hips as she raised them from the counter. His wolf didn’t like it not one bit, and when he got her panties off and looked at them, his wolf further growled. There were clumps of blood clots lining her panties. He threw it away and opened her legs wide. His anger prevented him from seeing any pleasure in her little pink lips. She seemed so small, but like Rita said, she was bruised.
“I have to check you.” He told her. She was unsure, but he kissed her mouth lightly. Her legs relaxed as he placed a finger at her opening. Even though she was relaxed, she winced and hissed as he pushed his finger inside her slowly. He felt her body healing itself which was proof of the blood clots it was spitting out. It told him that her powers were continuing to change her body, but the fact that she had to be healed this way in the first place upset him. Kellan pulled his finger from inside her and washed his hand. Her blood was minimal, but as long as he could smell it, he was concerned.
“You were with a man before I turned you?” he asked. Kellan already knew that answer but he wanted to know if she would lie to him.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Sex always hurt with him?” Bliss nodded.
“He was rough. I thought that was just the way he liked it, but it didn’t suit me at all.”
“You bled often afterwards?” Bliss nodded again.
“He was literally tearing up your insides, baby. Why didn’t you tell him that he was hurting you?” Bliss shrugged.
“Why am I bleeding now?”
“You body is healing. I just really don’t like the fact that you’re torn up inside, Bliss. What the fuck was happening with you and this dude?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she whispered.
“Well, we have to talk about it, baby.”
“Stop calling me that. I’m not your baby.” She snapped closing her legs. To prove a point, Kellan dropped his canines and bit her tenderly on the shoulder. Her wolf immediately submitted, and so did she.
“How can you do that to me?” she asked. Kellan shrugged.
“It’s my charm, I guess.”
“Well, back off. Because you’re not putting that elephant trunk inside of me.” Kellan rolled his eyes.
“I wanna help you heal faster. Had I known you were ripped up like that, I would have done it before.” He spread her legs again and bent over. She gasped in anticipation for something sexual, but instead, he licked the inside of her thigh and bit down hard. She screamed as his canines entered her skin. She jerked but not in pain. After the initial penetration, she felt soothed as if his bite was just what her body needed. Bliss couldn’t help the moan that escaped her lips. She didn’t know what was happening, but she felt that rise in her belly that she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.
“Wait, Kellan, stop!” she screamed, but it was too late. Her body felt like it burst into a million pieces as she came hard. Her release squirted out of her, mixed with blood, but the longer he bit down, the more she creamed and came on herself, and the blood disappeared. When he pulled away, he licked the bite so it healed instantly. Bliss slumped over the counter. She felt so embarrassed. Kellan’s wolf eyes shone bright at the scent of her release. He fucking loved it. He was biting his molars hard, so he didn’t shove his dick inside her. That’s when the pain of not mating came up, because when he walked away from her, his balls were literally going to clench as a way to punish him.
“You okay?” he questioned.
“How’d you do that?” she asked. Kellan shrugged again, but he knew if he bit her in a certain place, her body would react. They were mates. His bite was supposed to cause her pleasure. He looked between her legs and spread her pretty lips. The blood was gone. He left her on the counter and retrieved a wash cloth from the closet so he could clean her up.
“I wonder why this didn’t heal when you were initially bit,” Kellan said.
“Well, I was spotting before. I just didn’t tell you.”
“I would have been able to smell it,” Kellan said. Bliss shrugged.
“Maybe not this time,” she replied. Kellan finished cleaning her up and closed her legs.
“Let me get new panties,” dhe said. Kellan realized he didn’t want her to.
“Yeah, maybe from now on, leave panties off,” he said. She gave him a look.
“Why in the hell would I do that?” she questioned.
“Because I asked you to.” Her wolf shook its head, but it didn’t want to argue with him.
“See, I know my wolf is dominant, I feel it, but you just be saying shit, and she just keels over and listens. I don’t get it.” Kellan felt pride at knowing that.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, my wolf listens to you too, and he’s the one that doesn’t want you to wear panties, because he wants to be able to smell your scent.” Her eyes flashed wolf. He scooped her up off the counter and brought her back to the room. Kyra was still alert waiting for them to return. She was being faithful to the wolf she looked up to. Rita had joined her in the room.
“Is she alright?”
“She’s fine, Kyra,” Kellan said.
“What happened, Bliss? First, you were just sleeping, and then you were trying to shift.” Bliss wiggled out of his hold so she could stand up. Once he let her down, she retreated to the bed and sat with her knees pressed against her chest.
“I was having a nightmare,” she whispered. Her terrible night she should have died haunted her. Sometimes, she was able to just let it go, but there was something about the way Maverick glared at her and still killed her freaked her out, and next thing she knew, her wolf was ready to protect her.
“You have to talk about it.” Kellan told her. “Please.” Bliss shook her head, but she knew she had to come clean.
“My father played match maker and hooked me up with this man that he thought would make me an honest woman. I was in search of a soul mate, so I let my dad do what he had to do, and for my whole life, it was always me and my dad. I trusted him and loved him with every fiber of my being. He introduced me to this man, and I thought he was perfect. He was perfect until the first time we made love.” Kellan felt his claws begin to elongate. Just hearing another man touched his mate was not making him feel good.
“I mean, I think I’m ok when it comes to sex, but he just wanted extra things out of me that I couldn’t give. Like, he wanted to flip me in all these kind of positions, and he was rough as fuck. And I mean, I guess you already pieced that part together, Kellan, by my bleeding. I didn’t know it was just so extensive, but I never orgasmed or felt the pleasure. It was just like since we were together, it was my job to just lay there and take it.” Bliss had to pause. Kellan saw her struggle and realized this was probably hard for her to talk about. He let his claws retreat and went to sit next to her. Feeling his presence, she hurriedly rested her head in his lap. He caressed her on her shoulder.
“The sex was one thing, but then one day, he told me he wanted me to give him a son. I said no. He slapped me. Of course, he convinced me it was a one time thing, and we’d just move on, and we’d have a family. I knew he wasn’t the man I should stay with, but because I wanted the image and because I wanted a family eventually and to be a wife, I just stuck it out. Only, he never stopped hitting me.”
“Oh, my gosh.” Kyra gasped. She held her hand over her heart. Truly, it was heartbreaking.
“I knew I should have left immediately, but I didn’t, so I took birth control so I would never have to have his baby, but e
very time I tried to leave, he would beat me. Finally, I thought I succeeded in leaving, but he caught me.”
“So, you mean to tell me he killed you and tossed your body in the woods?” Kellan asked. Bliss nodded.
“Worst of it all? I told my father, thinking he would save me, but the man simply told me it was all my fault, and I needed to act right, or it would only get worse. Then, before I was stabbed, I heard my father and him talking about some sort of power my father wanted. It was all just weird, but now, look at me. I’m a damn wolf shifter who’s still having nightmares about the abuse.”
“That’s why you were trying to shift,” Rita said. “The nightmare scared you, and your wolf was trying to come to your rescue.” Bliss sighed. Kellan realized that he hadn’t told her about Maverick, and knowing that her father was seeking power, it concerned him. The only power he could get was becoming a wolf.
“When I found you in the woods, Bliss, you smelled like someone I know.”
“I’m positive I did not know any wolves,” she stated sitting up. Kellan turned and looked at her.
“His name is Maverick,” Kellan said. Rita, Kyra, and Bliss all gasped.
“How’d you know his name?” Bliss asked.
“Because he’s a wolf, Bliss. His scent was all over you, and the power your father is talking about is probably the bite. He wants to be a wolf.” Bliss shook her head. So, her father was okay with her dying simply to become a wolf? Tears rolled down her eyes slowly.
“Maverick….” Kyra whispered. Everyone looked at her. “He’s my alpha. The man who tried to kill me for not having his pups.”
“The man who tried raping me when I told him no.” Rita spoke up. Kellan looked around and was struck hard when he saw all three women crying, crying over a man who’d treated them like complete shit, and they were all here, stronger than they thought. Kellan couldn’t allow them to go anywhere else. In reality, Maverick would find them. He was forced to watch his mother raped and killed, and Kellan couldn’t let that happen to anyone else, especially his mate. He made eye contact with each she-wolf.
