by Kimber White
“The time came for what?”
“Olivia, your mother knew you were going to find your fate with a wolf. That one day you’d claim one for your own. And she sure as hell knew how tough that would be for everyone. The daughter of Caleb Lord, mixed in with the wolves. That’s about as complicated as it gets. He wouldn’t listen when she told him. Tore through the woods on a rampage like I’d never seen. And she hadn’t even gotten to the part about her own fate. She never could bring herself to tell him that. He took the wolf thing hard enough. Said he’d never let you so much as look as a wolf if he had anything to say about it.”
“He said that to me so many times. God. Pat. The day I came home with Kane, he looked like he wanted to murder me.”
“He tried, honey. Just like all fathers do. He wanted to keep his baby girl safe. He held on so tight it’s only natural you were ready to break free with the first taste of freedom you got. Kane took advantage of that.”
“But, if I’d just listened to my father and stayed away from Kane, none of us would be in this mess.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. Fate has a funny way of tracking you down no matter what you do.”
I squeezed my eyes shut tight. It was impossible. Everything Pat said. It couldn’t be true. And yet. I felt it. And remembered the hurt in my father’s eyes when I told him I thought I might be able to love Kane. God, it must have brought up so much pain for him. Again.
“So, don’t beat yourself up too much for everything that happened with Kane,” Pat said, as if she were the one with some special power to read my mind. “And it sure was a hell of a shitty way to get from point A to point B, but maybe everything that’s happened with Kane is part of your fate too. I mean, it did put you in Alec’s path.”
I felt the world closing in on me again. So much felt out of my control. And yet, it felt true.
“God, my poor father. I have to know exactly what my mother told him. Do you know that?”
“Does it matter?”
“It might. Oh, God. Pat. Alec’s worried my father has made some sort of alliance with Kane against the Wild Lake wolves. He thinks he’s doing it to save my brother and me. Maybe he thinks I am fated to Kane. I need to see him. I need to get through to him.”
She blew out a breath and smoothed a gray hair from her forehead. “You know, sometimes I wonder if my own father should have made a pact with were-gerbils instead. Would have been a hell of a lot less stressful around here.”
I froze for a second, letting the image wash over me. Then, a smile split my face and laughter, pure and genuine, bubbled up inside of me. Pat laughed with me and for at least that moment, it took the pain away.
Chapter Fifteen
The moon rose high and bright, stabbing through a ribbon of clouds. He called to me. Without sound. Without words. But with a throbbing pulse that started low in my belly and made my limbs tingle. A cool breeze blew through the window in my corner bedroom, making the Queen Anne’s lace patterned curtains billow. I wore a thin cotton nightdress Pat had given me. I would have shivered against the cold, but even hundreds of yards away, Alec kept me warm.
In my bare feet, I padded down the stairs, keeping to the wall so the floorboards wouldn’t creak. I ran down the porch steps, heading straight for the barn where I knew he waited. The horses whinnied and pranced in the paddock, announcing my arrival as if he’d enlisted them as co-conspirators. Who knows? Maybe he had.
I pulled the heavy latch back on the barn door and stepped inside. Alec leaned against one of the stalls at the end of the barn feeding hay to one of the gray mares. She crunched it hungrily and gave me a wide-eyed stare. Alec ran a hand down her nose and whispered something into her ear. Maybe my wolf spoke horse because the mare nodded her head up and down then retreated back in the stall to give us privacy.
Alec turned toward me. He was shirtless, in jeans, and water still dripped from the dark ends of his hair, reflecting the moonlight through the windows like diamonds. He’d come from the lake, just like the first night I met him. I walked cautiously toward him, my heart pounding inside me like hammer blows.
“You were gone all day,” I said. “I missed you.”
Alec smiled and held out a hand. I took another tentative step toward him. There was magic in the stars tonight. Touching him would make that magic flare. I knew that in my heart. I’d known it from the moment I woke and felt him out here. He was healed. Strong. For now, Kane was far away and not a threat to me. That would change. It had to. We had a reckoning to face, but for now, there was no one in the world but Alec and me, it seemed.
I crossed my arms in front of me, stopping a few feet from Alec. One of the other horses poked its head out of the nearest stall. I regretted not bringing a treat for him. The horse snorted, flaring its great nostrils, and shot a look to Alec as if to say, “Rookie mistake.” I smiled and looked down at the hay-covered floorboards.
“Olivia.” My name on his lips felt like a promise. My heart soared. I had so much to tell him. My head still swirled from everything Pat told me today. But, I didn’t know where to start. As I looked at Alec, his blue eyes shining like sapphires even though he stood in shadow with the moonlight over his shoulder, no words would come. No words were needed.
“Alec,” I said. Then I stepped into his arms and let the magic in.
I reached up, framing his jaw with my hands. I tilted his head down and went up on my tiptoes. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, then brought his lips down on mine. He kissed me slow and gentle, tracing his tongue around mine. I sank into him, feeling carried away on a blanket of starlight. My blood thrummed in my ears and warmth flooded me, settling in my core then spreading out, leaving a tingling path in its wake.
Alec whispered my name over and over as he kissed me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and slid the other behind my knees, lifting me. I was dizzy. Drunk from his kisses. He laid me down on a bed of hay, spreading a wool blanket beneath us. My hair fanned out around us. He nuzzled my neck, tasting me. Worshiping me with his lips and tongue.
I wound my fingers through his hair, savoring the thick, coarse locks. Then I ran my hands down the curve of his strong shoulders and pulled him even closer. I wanted to feel every inch of him. His jeans and my nightgown got in the way. Alec fumbled with the buttons of my gown. Then, one by one, he opened them, spreading the thin cotton aside. I lay naked from the waist up. My breath hitched as Alec shifted his weight and went up on one elbow. From there, he raked his eyes over me, then trailed one finger from the column of my throat, between my breasts then all the way down to my belly button.
“You’re so beautiful. I want to look at you. All of you.”
Heat thundered through me, settling to a throbbing point between my legs. I grew wet for him. I nodded quickly and helped him pull my nightgown up over my head. He tossed it aside. Alec rose slowly to his feet and started to loosen his belt. I let out a little gasp at the sight of him. Brazen thoughts flooded my mind. His belt. The bulge in his jeans. The lustful flash of silver in his eyes as he peeled off his jeans.
I couldn’t help but stare, and it made me blush. Alec’s thick cock bobbed before me. I’d seen it before. But never like this. Primed and ready, hard and throbbing. Without even thinking, my knees fell to the side. Oh, God, I wanted him. Would do anything for him. And why had I waited so long?
Then Alec knelt before me. If I marveled at the sight of him, he meant to take his time feasting his eyes on me. A hot blush flamed my cheeks as his eyes traveled down. My nipples pebbled just from one look. Alec leaned down and swirled his tongue around one hard bud, making me ache for him even more. Then he gave my other breast the same treatment.
I grew bold. I reached down and closed my fingers around his thick, firm shaft. Alec’s cock jumped in my hand and he let out a groan that sent a shiver of heat straight through me. Then, his hands were everywhere. Tearing through my hair, trailing down the slope of my hip, spreading my legs even wider. He hooked a finger beneath the waistb
and of my panties and started to drag them down.
I groaned and arched my back when he stopped and covered my quivering mound with his palm. “God. Baby. You’re soaked straight through.”
“I want you. Oh. Alec. Please. I don’t want to wait another second.”
He tore my panties and cast them aside, leaving me completely exposed for him.
“Are you sure?” he whispered against my ear. He slid a hand down and worked me, his nimble fingers coaxing my swollen sex to a hard nub.
“God, yes!” I think I said it a thousand times, but I knew what he meant. It had to be my choice. We both knew what was at stake. No matter what happened after this moment, Kane would know I’d been with Alec. Anger pulsed within me along with my lust. I didn’t want to think about Kane. Not for a second. But, as Alec dipped a single finger inside me and made my body shudder, the mark at the base of my neck flared. It was just a faint tremor. Nothing more. But enough to make me remember Kane’s claim. As long as he had one, I’d never be completely free. He could pull me to him. Cause me pain. Hurt the people I loved.
I rejected it. Took control.
Alec meant to take his time, but I didn’t. I wanted no more questions. No hesitation. This was me. Alec was mine.
I shifted my weight and Alec rolled with me. I rose up and straddled him, holding myself poised above him, my thighs shaking. Alec’s wolf eyes flashed and he let out a guttural noise that made my juices flow.
“Yes!” I gasped. I gritted my teeth and gently gripped him, angling him just right. Then, I seated myself, sliding Alec’s full length inside of me all the way to the root.
I cried out, shocked by the size of him. It’s one thing to see it. It’s another thing to feel it widening and filling you from the inside out. He remade me as my walls stretched to accommodate him. I held perfectly still, sinking down to take all of him in as deep as he would go. Alec reached up and took my hands, threading his fingers through mine he held me up. God, he was so thick, so hard. He spread me so wide, inch by inch.
We stayed like that for a moment. I wanted it to be forever. I threw my head back, my hair forming a dark arch. Then, I couldn’t stay still a second longer.
Alec let me set the pace. He dropped one of my hands and steadied me with his hand on my hip. I fucked him rough and hard. Bucking with abandon like some wild, wanton thing. My breasts bounced as my hips swayed. Down and down. Thrust for thrust. Alec threw his head back and let out a growl that shook through me and startled the horses. I didn’t realize until later the level of control it took for Alec to stay mostly still and let me ride him. Every instinct inside of him must have called for him to flip me, claim me, make me submit. And I would have. Oh, I wanted to. But, I needed this more. I needed to set the pace that first time.
And that pace was wild and free. Something broke inside of me. All the months of staying silent. Pretending. Waiting. It all came out in a flood of lust and fury as I fucked Alec and took something of myself back, piece by piece.
I came in thundering waves, crying out from the joy of it. Alec kept his hands on my hips so I stayed seated. I reached back, resting my weight on my palms, I took him that way, letting him fill spaces inside of me I didn’t know I had.
Then, I brought myself up and rested my hands on either side of his head, my hair falling in cascading waves around us. I kissed him. He kissed me back. Soft and gentle at first, then the raw heat took over. I bit his lip. He bit back. Not hard. No pain, but another claiming to punctuate the larger one inside of me.
Finally, Alec couldn’t contain the animal lust inside of him, and I no longer wanted him to. He flipped me gently, bringing me to all fours. He stroked himself behind me as my legs quivered. I wasn’t sure if I even had the strength to take him like this. But, a gentle swat on my ass sent a fresh wave of heat flooding through me. Oh yes, I could take him like this. I wanted it more than anything I could name.
Alec put a gentle hand on my back and nudged me down so I rested my chin on my hands. He slid his knee between my thighs, splaying them even wider. From this angle, with my ass high in the air and my legs spread wide, I felt so exposed, so wanton, so right.
Then Alec speared himself into me. I gasped as I felt him stretch me wide all over again. Heat and pleasure flooded through me then, centered on that single point between my legs. He worked me there with his fingers as he fucked me from behind. I didn’t think I had an ounce left to give, but Alec found it, coaxing orgasm after orgasm out of me as he poured himself inside me deep and strong.
I whispered his name over and over. My hair fell to the side, exposing my neck. I hadn’t meant it. But instinct took over and I reared my head back. I wanted it. The mark flared and Alec’s low growl juddered through me. He wanted it. I felt his lips press against the nape of my neck and everything in me cried out yes! This. Yes. Now.
But, Alec froze. He’d made me a promise. One he meant to keep.
I felt the last, stuttering jump of his cock inside me and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against him, spooning me. He kissed my neck, teasing the edges of my scar. He wanted to remake me there too. And I wanted to let him.
But not yet. Not now. As much as I wanted to give in to this primal passion all the way, Kane had still taken that from me. I wasn’t ready. Alec had helped me take back some of what Kane had stolen, but I wasn’t there yet. Not all the way. I squeezed back the tears and turned to face him.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, feathering soft kisses along his jaw until I found his lips. “I want to. But I’m still not sure. Thank you for being patient with me.”
Alec traced his thumb along my jaw and looked at me with such tenderness, I felt my heart might burst.
“I love you,” he said simply.
Of all the things he could have said, he picked the perfect thing.
“I love you, too.”
The mark didn’t matter. Not now. Alec had claimed my heart, and I had his.
Chapter Sixteen
We woke in a tangle of bedsheets in Pat’s first floor bedroom. I barely remembered how we made it up from the barn. The night was a blur of passion and starlight and I hadn’t wanted it to end. I rested my head against Alec’s shoulder and laced my fingers through his as he kissed the top of my head.
“I hadn’t planned it, you know,” he said.
It made me laugh. “Which part?”
“You. This. I figured I’d be a bachelor wolf my whole life.”
I settled my head back against his chest. I hadn’t meant to grow pensive, but his words struck me. “I hadn’t planned anything. God. I never got the chance.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean at nineteen years old, most girls are heading off to college. Planning their futures. Making their dreams come true. I’ve just been trying to survive.”
Alec shifted, resting on his side. He smoothed a lock of my hair away from my forehead and looked at me. “I wish I’d gotten to you first. Maybe I spent too much time living the bachelor life. It didn’t occur to me to look for anything else. And I liked it. Pack enforcer. It’s never easy, but it’s simple.”
“I wish you’d gotten to me first too.” I bit my lip, hesitating to tell him what Pat told me about my mother. That I was fated to a wolf. If I’d known that years ago, it might have made things even worse when I met Kane. Would I have gone against my instincts and let him mark me more than once? The moment I thought it, I knew the answer was no. Now that I knew what fated mates truly meant, I could never have mistaken the two.
As I leaned up to kiss Alec, I knew in my heart it didn’t matter how I got here. Whether my fate was decided for me before I was born or not, right here, now, in this space, I felt like I was exactly where I belonged.
“You’ve never wanted to be an Alpha?”
Alec shrugged. “I never thought about it. Honestly. Bas is a good leader. A great one, actually. I want you to meet him. Hell, I want you to meet all of the other packs. After everything Kane’s put you throug
h, it’s a wonder you ever came near me. Jesus, Olivia. You’re the bravest woman I know. And you’re worried about what other girls are doing? My God, they can’t hold a candle to you. You’re strong and fierce. Surviving what you have and loving me anyway. You make me want . . .” His voice trailed off, and he brought my hand to his lips. A shudder went through me as he kissed me.
“What? What do you want, my love?”
Alec smiled and leaned toward me. He put a gentle kiss on each of my breasts, sending a shockwave through me and making my sex throb for him all over again. We’d coupled so many times I’d lost count. And yet, I knew I could rise to him again with just that single touch or a look in his eye.
“You make me want to be worthy of you. And you make me ashamed.”
“How?”
“I’ve been selfish my whole life. I’ve taken the easiest path. That doesn’t make brave. It just makes me stubborn.”
It was my turn to smooth a lock of hair from his eyes. My beautiful wolf. I traced the line the white hair at his forehead made and smoothed it back over the crown of his head. I watched the gooseflesh rise on his arm as I did it then leaned over to kiss him.
“What do you want,” he asked. “For you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You can do anything you want. Be anything you want. As soon as we figure out a way to deal with Kane, I’m going to make sure you have all of those chances. I swear to God. I swear to you.”
I could say what was in my heart. Alec. He filled me. Blocked out the sun. Made me ache and hunger in ways I never knew possible. But, I knew what he meant. Between caring for my father, then everything with Kane, I’d stopped dreaming for myself a long time ago.
“I do want to go to school. And I want to travel. See the world. But then I want to come back. Michigan is my heart. Shifters are my heart. I feel like Kane is just the beginning. What we have here in Michigan, in Wild Lake, I know it’s not like that in other parts of the world. It’s not peaceful everywhere. There are a lot more Kanes than I think either of us know. Shifters who want to take over and ruin what you’ve built. So, I want to do something that will benefit the packs and the shifters I love. Study conservation, maybe. Work for the EPA or the forestry service. Maybe the DNR. I think I’d like that a lot.”
