by Sophie Stern
I need her to come undone for me.
“Come for me, Scarlett,” I command, sucking her clit into my mouth. I suck hard, pushing her over the edge. Her hips grind into my face and I slide my hands to her ass, gripping her tightly, pulling her closer.
I need her closer.
She rides out the orgasm and I keep licking her clit, making it last as long as possible. Suddenly, the sensations are overwhelming and she pulls me up toward her.
“Nash,” she whispers.
I kiss her, claiming her mouth. I know she can taste herself on my lips, but she doesn’t mind. She shouldn’t. She’s fucking gorgeous, amazing. I love her sweet scent and the way she tastes on my mouth.
“I need you inside me,” she whispers.
How can I say no to that? Gliding up over her body, I part her legs with my knee and position myself between her soft thighs. My cock nudges her entrance, but I don’t take her just yet. No, I want to savor this moment. I want to make it last as long as possible.
The last few weeks have been hard on both of us. Hell, our entire relationship has been hard on all of us. The trauma of losing her grandmother may have propelled Red to me, but I don’t want that to be what our relationship is based on. I don’t want us to be together because she was sad and I was there. I want our relationship to be based on the fact that we can’t live without each other, that Red needs me just as much as I need her, that she craves me the same way I crave her.
Sliding my cock through her soft juices, I drag it up to her clit and swirl around.
“Nash,” she groans again, and it’s all I can do to keep my coming all over her soft belly.
I lean forward, my elbows on either side of her, and I kiss her.
“Mine,” I growl, a fierce possessiveness welling up inside of me.
Her eyes go wide, but Red nods. She nods and leans up, kissing my mouth softly, tenderly.
“Only yours. Always yours, Nash. Always.”
I thrust into her, biting her neck as I do. I can’t help myself. She calls to my inner-wolf and makes me feel so damn alive. Free. Red makes me feel so many different things that without her by my side, my life would be boring, dull.
Before she came into my life, that’s exactly what my world was like.
Before she waltzed into that little cabin and made herself at home in my space, I wasn’t truly living. I was existing, but that was it. I was managing to get by. I was sitting around waiting for something to happen.
Then she happened.
Thrusting harder, faster, I pump into Red’s sweet body, loving the flush that’s spread over her face. She’s going to come again for me. I need her to. Before I fill her with my seed, I need to feel her pussy pulsing over my cock.
Quickly, I flip her over so she’s on all fours, then I position myself behind her and plunge my dick into her tight channel.
“Nash,” she cries out. “Please!” I reach around and rub her clit softly, quickly, until she comes undone around me. She pushes back onto me as the orgasm crashes over her body and I come, too, whispering her name, pulling her hair.
Exhausted, we collapse next to each other on the bed. Her back is to my front and I just hold her, tracing lines over her body, rubbing her breasts, pinching her nipples. She’s so sweet like this, so perfect. When we’re wrapped up together, it’s like our own secret world that no one else can reach. No one can touch us here. No one can bother us when we’re one like this.
“You’re mine, baby,” I murmur.
“Always yours, Nash. Always yours.”
Her voice is a soft whisper and as she starts to fall asleep in my arms, I stroke Red’s hair softly, playing with her dark curls. I don’t know how I’d be able to handle the pack without her by my side. She’s everything to me.
Her breathing deepens and when she’s asleep, I quietly climb out of bed and go to the table. Paperwork is waiting for me. Ryder notified me earlier that there have been some discrepancies in the pack finances, so I have to go over everything with a fine-tooth comb and figure out exactly what the problems are.
His previous assessment that someone wants to harm the pack seems to be true, unfortunately. Although the pack, as a whole, has become more unified, strange things still seem to happen at random. A bunch of meat went missing after a hunt the other day and now there are strange withdrawals from one of our bank accounts.
I don’t know who would want to hurt the pack, but I plan to find out.
With a sigh, I reach for the paperwork and grab a highlighter. It’s time to get to the bottom of this.
***
Over the next few days, things settle into a new normal at the cave. The pack grows more unified as we continue to spend time together hunting and running. Tessa calms down and backs off of Red, which I’m grateful for. Soon the tension I’ve felt since taking over the pack begins to dissipate and I’m able to relax just a little.
It’s early morning about a month after I’ve taken control of the pack when Ryder and I decide to go on a run together. There are just two weeks left until Red and I have our mating ceremony and I’m anxious to run off some of the stress surrounding the planning.
Ryder and I don’t have a lot of time together, so we’re grateful for the chance to spend a morning bonding, running. Maybe we’ll hunt or just swim. I’m not sure. I just know that Ryder is one of my oldest friends, but something has been troubling him and I intend to find out what.
We leave Thorn in charge of the pack. The big guy can handle things without us. Then Ryder and I take off. Just outside the cave, we shift into our wolf forms and begin to run. There’s a light breeze in the clearing and I revel in the way the air rushes over my fur, then I move.
We race over rocks and under fallen trees, over creeks and around corners. My wolf feels satisfied like this. I feel good, strong. I feel in control. We aren’t talking right now, but we don’t have to. It’s enough to just be with my brother. Ryder always has my back and when we’re together, I can relax. For a little while, I don’t have to be the pack leader. I can just be the kid who grew up in a pack where he didn’t really belong and who still doesn’t really belong. I can just have fun.
Ryder and I race around for about half an hour before we stop. We both catch the scent at the same time. He cocks his head at me as he slows, and I nod, silently acknowledging what we’re about to do. There’s a deer nearby. It’s probably a big one, judging by the animal’s scent. I’m starving and I get the feeling Ryder is, too, so silently, we turn toward the smell.
Swiftly, carefully, we hunt our prey. We know that at the end of all this, there will be a delicious meal waiting for us. All the tension drains from my body as I relax at the thought of getting to eat fresh meat.
Ryder and I stalk the deer, carefully and quietly approaching the scent of the creature. I feel young again at this moment, ready for anything, reaching for the world at my fingertips. My stomach growls in anticipation and I begin to salivate, thinking of how good this meat is going to taste.
A lot may have changed over the years, but as the deer comes into focus and Ryder quietly circles around to the other side, I realize some things, namely my love for my brothers, will never change.
With a sharp nod of his head, Ryder motions for me that its time.
Together we go for the kill.
***
When Ryder and I finish, we go for a swim in a nearby swimming hole, then dry off in the sun on a couple of boulders.
“Did you find out what happened to the money?” He asks, and I shake my head.
“It’s been bothering me. I would have pegged Tessa as wanting the pack to fail. She’s the obvious choice. She really got screwed when Jeffrey died.”
“If he was even going to take her as a mate,” Ryder says.
“Well, yeah. He wasn’t exactly the most honest guy, was he? I wouldn’t be surprised if he only said that to get something from her.” The promises sound eerily similar to the ones he made to my cousin, Elise, before her death.
She fully believed Jeffrey wanted to marry her, to keep her forever. As it turns out, the only thing Jeffrey wanted to keep was the pack. Even that he’d been willing to sacrifice if it meant gaining more power. I shake with anger as I remember the way he wanted to betray our fellow pack, Nightfall. Jeffrey wanted to take over their pack and destroy it.
The pack Alpha, Jordan, never would have let him, but both sides would have lost good wolves in the process.
“Is there anyone else who has a grudge against you?” Ryder asks. “Anyone from your childhood?”
“No. All Jeffrey’s guys are dead or gone.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of,” Ryder sighs. “We don’t have anything conclusive to say who’s been stealing or messing with our stuff. I would suspect a rival pack, but we don’t have any.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it,” I assure him. “Things just might take a little time.”
“Yeah, but that’s time we don’t have,” Ryder comments.
“What do you mean?”
“Look, Nash, I don’t want to be up in your business, but I think things have been a lot harder on Red than you know.”
“Scarlett’s strong,” I protest. “She can get through anything.”
“I don’t doubt she’s strong, Nash, but the single females have really bonded against her in many ways. Some of them are coming around, but a lot of them hate her guts.”
“Why?” The thought infuriates me. “Because she’s human?”
“Because she’s your human. Surely you know how handsome you are, big guy.”
“I know no such thing.”
“Yeah, right. I remember all the girls in the pack when you hit your teenage years and had your first shift.”
“They did go a little crazy, I suppose.”
“A little?” He raises his eyebrows. “Allison Martin told her grandmother she was going to marry you the second you came of age.”
“She did, didn’t she?” I laugh at the memory. “Yeah, I suppose a lot of them wanted to get with me. You too, though, if I remember correctly.”
“Nash,” Ryder says seriously. “What if those desires didn’t stop when we came of age?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if those same unmated females still want you? Do you really think they’d let a little thing like your chosen mate get in the way?”
The thought makes my blood run cold.
Six
Red
“What’s wrong?” I ask when I step into Aunt Germaine’s room, but she’s shaking her head, staring at a pile of fabric. I was supposed to meet her here for a final fitting for my dress, but I can tell right away that there’s a problem.
That’s when it hits me.
It’s not a pile of fabric she’s staring at: it’s the remains of my dress. I walk forward slowly, not wanting to believe what I’m seeing. It looks like someone took a knife – or their claws – to my dress. What was once a beautiful gown is now nothing but a pile of scraps. Blue and white lace is piled up on the table and she begins trying to sort the pieces of fabric, but I can already tell it’s too late.
There’s no saving the dress.
“It’s okay,” I place a gentle hand on her shoulder. When Germaine turns around, her eyes are full of unshed tears. They shoot straight to my heart, making me wish I could take this pain away from her, making me wish I could somehow make her not feel so sad, so hurt.
“It’s not okay, honey. None of this is okay.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.” She looks confused as she stares at the dress, and I wonder who could have done this. Who would want to ruin my wedding day? Tessa has backed off and hasn’t given me a hard time in weeks. None of the other wolves have, either. In fact, they seem to be purposely keeping their distance from me, which I don’t mind.
“Who would do this? Is there any chance it was an accident?”
“There’s no chance of that, honey. Look at this.” She holds up a piece of the lace the runs her finger down a jagged tear. “Claws. Someone came in here with their claws out and wanted to send a real message.”
“They don’t want me marrying their Alpha,” I say dryly.
It’s the understatement of the century. No matter what I do, I’m never going to be a wolf. Even though the last few weeks have been fine, that’s all they’ve been: fine. No one has given me a hard time, but no one has really talked to me, either.
Most of the wolves simply ignore me.
“They’ll warm up,” Aunt Germaine says, and I can tell she really believes what she’s saying, but I don’t know if I can believe it. Maybe Nash really would be better off without me. It’s not my first time thinking this way, but as I look at my ruined dress, I can’t help but focusing on that thought.
Maybe I should just leave.
Nash would never admit he wants a wolf bride. He would fight for me to the death. I know that, but he needs this pack. The pack is his family. Maybe he needs them more than he needs me. Maybe I should walk away and give him the pack, let him live with the ones who need him more than I do.
We met under weird circumstances, I know. Maybe that’s why we’re struggling now. I know I can’t say anything to Nash about the dress because he’ll be upset. He’ll talk to the pack and they’ll resent me even more for being a nasty little tattle-tell.
I won’t give them the satisfaction.
“We can make another dress,” Aunt Germaine says, and I nod numbly.
“Yeah. I’ll come back tomorrow, okay? We can talk about it then. I think I just want to be alone right now, though.”
She looks at me knowingly and for a brief second, I hate the way Germaine can see straight through me.
“It’ll get better,” she offers helpfully.
“Will it?” I ask before I can stop myself.
“Sit,” she points at a chair, and I collapse in it.
“The pack hates me.”
“They just don’t like change.”
“They think he’s better off without me.”
“They don’t like anything new or unusual, honey.”
She heads into the corner while I sulk in my seat, then returns with two cups of tea. I take mine and gingerly sip it.
“Did you know my husband was human?” She asks and I spit my tea out.
“What?”
“He was. A woodsman,” she adds, as if she’s imparting a huge secret, and in some ways, she is.
“I had no idea.”
“Most of the pack doesn’t remember him. Those who do remember him don’t realize he wasn’t a shifter.”
“But can’t you guys smell if someone is human.”
“Yes, but we were together so often my scent covered him. The only thing the other shifters could smell was me.”
“So you’re saying that when you and he, um, were ‘together,’” I begin.
“Sexually,” she adds helpfully.
“Right. When you were together sexually,” I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with Nash’s aunt. Could I be any more embarrassed? “You basically scent-marked him?”
“Mmhmm.”
“So you think, what? That Nash and I should have more sex?” I blush. We have sex a lot already. At least, I think we do. The problem is that although the pack has returned to normal, basically, we still struggle to find time to ourselves. There’s still a lot that seems to conspire to keep us apart.
Often, we don’t get to be alone until the end of the day and by that point, we’re both so exhausted we can’t think straight. I’ve been running the children’s care center in the caves and Nash is always so busy with pack business that we hardly have time to ourselves.
Maybe there’s something to what she’s saying, though.
“I don’t think they’re going to forget I’m not a wolf.”
“But they might mind a lot less if you don’t smell so human.”
“Maybe.”
“It’s worth a try. You h
ave nothing to lose.”
“Hmm.” I give her my mug and stand up. “I should go.”
“Think about what I said.”
“I will.”
I head back into the hallway and walk down to the children’s center. It’s time for my shift playing with the little cubs. When I reach the care center, I’m greeted by eight little wolf cubs who pile on me.
“Red!” They all shout, and I’m overwhelmed. It’s hard for me not to feel overcome with joy and contentment when they greet me like this. It’s been so long since I felt loved like this.
“About time you showed up,” Ali says glumly from the corner. She’s glaring at me, but a quick look at the clock shows I’m precisely on time, if not a little early.
“Rough morning?” I ask cheerfully, trying to diffuse the situation.
“Anna threw up, so I called her mother. Leslie was late, but showed up about twenty minutes ago. She’s over there napping,” Ali points to a corner where the 4-year-old cub is curled up in a pile of pillows. She’s fast asleep.
“Were her parents up late fighting again?” I ask with a frown. Leslie has been having trouble sleeping at night. She told us her folks have been arguing. One of the reasons we offer childcare for the pack now is so that couples have time to work on their relationships. It worries me that they’re still arguing all the time. Maybe I should ask Nash to talk with them. We have many wolves who are trained professionals in various fields. Maybe someone would be willing to offer marriage counseling for wolf mates who are struggling.
“Yeah,” Ali’s face softens as she looks at the little girl. “I feel sad for her.”
“It’s a hard place to be in,” I murmur, remembering my mother’s own marriage struggles. While she and my dad stayed married, they had trouble for many years. As a kid, I’d lay awake listening to them argue late into the night. I always worried I’d wake up and my dad would be gone.
I always worried I’d never see him again.
“Um,” I clear my throat, trying to come back to the present. “What about the other kids?”
