by Lia Davis
She’d never connected with anyone like this. It was almost too much sensation, too much Keegan. Her senses were all over the place, her mind tried to make sense of it. The full on skin contact sparked her psychic gift to life, but a vision didn’t slam into her like with others. No, touching Keegan and being with him like this left her with only pleasure and sensations that left her mindless in a very good way. She didn’t want it to end. Even if it meant she’d go insane with sensory overload.
Keegan slid another finger inside her, drawing a gasp from her. She bucked her hips and fisted the sheets and tried to crawl backward to break the contact, if for only a moment. Keegan grabbed her hips, holding her in place.
God, the man was going to kill her with the desire he ignited inside her. Heat covered her body, and she didn’t know how much more of this slow, pleasurable torture she could take.
He pumped his fingers in and out faster and harder until she screamed his name as an orgasm tore through her.
Panting and unable to move, she watched as Keegan withdrew his fingers and crawled up her body, a grin on his face.
She rolled her eyes and tried not to smile. That was too hard, especially when she’d just had the best orgasm ever. “I can’t move. I’m useless now, and it’s all your fault.”
He chuckled and swiped his tongue over a nipple, drawing another moan from her. “Useless, huh? I could have my way with you, and you can’t do anything about it.”
Good Lord, he didn’t know just how true that was.
He continued his slow, graceful crawl up her torso until his face was level with hers. She cupped his face and pulled him down for a kiss. He growled, which did nothing but excite her even more.
She circled her ankles around the backs of his thighs and tugged him closer until his erection pressed into her through his jeans. She scowled. “Take the jeans off.”
The corners of his mouth lifted in a sensual smile. “Is my submissive giving orders?”
“Yes,” she said, trying to sound firm, but failed. She swore it had sounded firmer in her head.
He leaned down to place his lips on her ear and whispered, “Say please.”
Her heart thumped faster, and heat pooled between her legs. She fought with her cat for a few moments, wanting to be a little defiant. Finally losing to her submissive nature, she purred out her reply. “Please.”
His answer was a devilish smirk that sent a shiver through her. He got off the bed and removed his clothes then settled himself between her legs. Her heart kicked up again, and anticipation ran through her veins, warming her even more and intensifying her need to be possessed by this man.
He pressed his lips to hers in a brief, but soft, kiss as he cradled her head between his hands. “You’re my mate, and the urge to bond with you is too strong.”
It was a warning, and she knew he wouldn’t be able to stop what was second nature to them. She lifted her head and kissed him briefly on the mouth then nipped at his chin. “I’m yours, Keegan. Always.”
His features softened in what she swore was relief, but really what did this gorgeous alpha male have to worry about? Did he actually believe she’d turn him away now?
The male was crazy to think so.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, “You’re mine as I am yours. I’ll wait for you. No matter how long it takes. I’m here when you’re ready to mate.”
He struck so fast and hard she gasped. Pain and pleasure overtook her as his fangs scored her neck at the same time he thrust into her. There was no more rational thought. No worries that Keegan would never claim her, because he did.
In the best possible way.
A fiery sensation raced inside her as well as over her skin. Keegan’s scent intensified, and she inhaled it, loving everything about it, about this male.
She moved against him as he thrust into her over and over, and she waited for panic to set in at the overload of sensations, but the pleasure built until she was consumed by it, unable to think about anything but the way Keegan was loving her.
And he did love her. She felt it now. The tiny threads that had connected them earlier strengthened, forming a bond that would bind them to each other for the rest of their existence.
The mating bond snapped into place at the same time they both cried out in release.
Chapter 14
Addyson eased out of bed, careful not to wake Keegan as she dressed and made her way to the kitchen to make coffee. She leaned against the counter and waited as the coffee pot did its thing. Images of the night before swirled in her head, bringing a smile to her face that she couldn’t get rid of if she wanted. And she didn’t want to, ever.
Keegan had shown her pleasure she’d never known. In fact her skin still tingled from his touch and the way he held her as they slept.
When the coffee pot gurgled the last of the water through the grounds, she fixed a cup and walked outside. Birds chirped happily in the trees, making her smile widened. It was a beautiful morning with clear blue skies and a cool breeze blowing through the trees.
She heard a lazy growl above her. “Morning, Alec.”
His answer was a flick of his tail against the branch he stretched out on. She started to walk into the forest, but stopped when Alec jumped down in front of her, bearing his teeth. Her cat backed away from the Beta and urged her to do the same. But the woman wanted a moment of independence.
“I’m going for a walk. I won’t go too far.” When he didn’t move, she dropped her head. “Please? I need to roam by myself, even if it’s just for a bit.”
He growled again, but stepped aside. She knelt down and ran a hand over his large gold and black head. Times like these were the only time she was able to have contact with others. She didn’t understand it fully, but guessed that the fur acted like a buffer in the same way her gloves did. Another theory was that while in animal form, they were at their purest of hearts, or it could be that her gift just didn’t work on animals. Shifters in animal form included.
“I’ll be careful. Promise. Give me twenty minutes, then you can come look for me. Deal?”
He raised his head and lowered it in a nod then butted his head against her chin. She gave him scratch under the chin and rose to take her walk. All the while she could feel Alec’s gaze on her. She didn’t care. She was going to do this and show herself and her cat that they can go for a short walk on their own, without fear.
It felt great.
A few yards in the heavy wooded area she caught movement from the corner of eye. Her heart stilled for a brief moment and her stomach sank to her knees. Fear laid hot and heavy in her chest. Shit. She should turn back.
Then a woman stepped out from behind a tree and Addyson recognized her instantly.
“Ana,” she breathed.
Ana cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “You look familiar.”
“I’m Addyson. The scribe Felix held captive.”
Ana frowned. “I hate what he’s done. What about the boy? Will, I think that’s his name.”
“He’s safe.”
Ana sighed. “That’s good.” She sniffed the air, then smiled. “You smell like Keegan.”
Addyson relaxed a little. “Come walk with me?”
“Okay.”
They walked in silence for several minutes. It seemed like an hour, but Addyson knew that wasn’t right. Alec hadn’t come after her yet. Then again she didn’t expect the male to wait the full twenty minutes either.
Addyson finally broke the silence. “Were you the one who let Will go?”
Ana laughed. “Yep. How did you know?”
“A guess. I’m good at reading emotions. Did you let Graham go to?”
“Who?”
“The puma Felix had a few months ago.”
Ana shook her head. “That was Sable.”
“Why? I mean, I don’t understand. You both are his daughters. Well, at least Sable is.”
The other female shrugged. “Felix is not well in the head. He’s
mad, if not completely insane. We don’t like what he’s done to the Pack and what he’s still doing. We try to help those we can. The others, the ones who refuse us, are on their own.”
Addyson thought about it for a few moments. It made sense, in a way. She was about to ask another question when Ana grabbed her hand and pulled her into a group of shrubs. Addyson cried out as visions of Ana being held by two mutants while another man whipped her repeatedly. Addyson felt every sting from the leather as it sliced into Ana’s back.
“Addyson!”
She could hear someone calling her name, but couldn’t see anyone through the pain.
“Listen to me. Focus on something. Keegan. Picture Keegan and you, in your mind, then wrap a bubble around the two of two.”
Ana’s voice finally cut through the haze, making the vision fade slightly. Doing as the female said, Addyson imagined standing in Keegan’s arms and wrapped a clear bubble around them, blocking out everything.
Then vision disappeared, leaving behind a peace she’d hadn’t experienced in a very long time. She met Ana’s gaze, and asked, “How?”
“It’s something Sable taught me to keep Felix out of my head. All I have to do is think of my mate, safe in his arms, and wrapped in a bubble, my mind is safe from mind control.”
Addyson smiled wide. The bubble around her mind was holding and was a lot stronger than the one she created with Tanner and Blaine a day ago. Tentatively she touched Ana on the arm. Nothing happen. Excitement shot through her, but quickly faded when she recalled the vision she had.
“Do they...punish you often?”
Ana shot her a quick look of confusion, then dropped her head. “Not if Sable or Kieran is around. Father...Felix orders it when I “step out of line”. It seems lately the smallest things set him off.”
Before Addyson could say another word, Ana grabbed her hand again and pulled her further into woods. Addyson was about to ask what the deal was until the sickly sweet scent of mutants reached her nose.
Ana turned to her and whispered, “You need to get out of here.”
Addyson shook her head. She liked Ana. “Come with me.”
“I can’t. I’ll be okay. Just go.”
Ana gave her a little push toward the opposite direction where they heard the mutants. Addyson stumbled, then turned and ran.
She’d bring back help.
She skidded to a halt when a large mutant stepped into her path. The beast, like the others of his kind, was ugly, something straight out of a horror movie. It made her wonder if the writers of those werewolf movies had actually had a run in with one of Felix’s mutants.
She darted to the left and dodged his arm, but was too slow when he gave chase. The half-man, half-wolf grabbed her from behind, threw her over his shoulder, and carried her back toward where she left Ana. Addyson screamed, praying that Alec ignored her plea for time alone and came looking for her.
****
Keegan woke with a start. He sat straight up in bed and looked around then found the reason he’d woken. Addyson wasn’t there. Stretching out his senses, he tried to find her. If she was in the cave, he’d know it. Cold dread shot up his spine when the only person he sensed inside the cave was Will, sound asleep in his room.
He jumped out of bed and, not brothering with clothes, he rushed to the bedroom door. His phone rang as he reached the hall, causing him to turn around to get it. “Yeah,” he barked into the cell phone.
“Ana is gone.” Kieran’s pissed-off voice, full of alarm, shot through the line.
“So is Addyson.”
Fuck, this wasn’t good. How the hell had she gotten out of the cave undetected?
All of a sudden, like someone flipped a switch, cold fear crawled up his spine. Then Alec broke into his thoughts. “Addyson’s been taken by mutant. I’m on his tail. You need to get here, fast.”
Fuck. Alec didn’t need to tell him where “here” was. Keegan could find the location through the bond with his son, and now through the mating bond with Addyson.
“They’re close to the waterfall.”
Kieran grunted and said, “Why?”
“Don’t know. Alec said a mutant has Addyson. I’m leaving now.” Keegan hung up the phone without another word, dressed, and headed to the underground waterfall.
When he arrived a few feet from the hidden entrance to the waterfall, his heart dropped to his feet. Ana and Alec were engaged in a fight with two mutants. Although Ana was holding her own, Keegan could tell she was distracted. Scanning the area, he found Addyson crouched down behind a large rock.
Ana kept moving closer to the other female as she side kicked one mutant in the chest, knocking him backward a few steps.
“Don’t let them bite you,” Ana warned Alec.
“Yeah, no shit.” Alec shot back and ducked a punch the half-wolf creature threw at him. A split second later the mutant swiped his feet from under him, sending him on his back.
Keegan charged the creature and hit him full force in the stomach. They fell to the ground, and Keegan straddled him and let his claws out. Keegan might not have the Alpha magick, but he still had the ability to hold onto a mid-shift longer than others. He swiped his claw out, scratching the mutant across the face.
He caught the sight of Kieran rushing by to barrel into another mutant who’d joined the party. Next to him, a shot fired, and then blood sprayed over his T-shirt. The mutant under him went limp. Keegan moved his gaze up to see Addyson holding a gun still aimed at the mutant.
Keegan stood, went to her, and took the gun out of her shaking hands. “You okay?”
She nodded then her eyes grew large a split second before both of them were knocked to the ground. Everything happened so fast that Keegan could barely process it. Ana screamed in agony and sank to the ground in front of him, a knife sticking out of her stomach.
****
Ana came awake inside some kind of medical center. At first she wasn’t sure where she was until she caught Keegan’s oak-and-spice scent nearby. Turning her head in the direction of his scent, she saw him sitting in an armchair, head back and eyes closed.
She went to sit up, and a sharp pain shot up her side, making her ease back down in the bed.
“Don’t try to sit.”
Keegan’s sleep-hazed voice made her smile. “Once the Alpha, always the Alpha.”
“I agree.”
She jerked her gaze toward the sound of the voice at the door, where two males entered. One of them was the male she fought the mutants with. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew they were her brothers. Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked them away.
The taller one with midnight-black hair came toward her and held out his hand. “I’m Blaine and this,” he gestured to the other male who approached, “is Alec.”
She shook his hand, and a sense of peace, of home, warmed her heart. “Hi,” she said, not really knowing what to say.
When Blaine pulled his hand back, he stared at her for a short, uncomfortable moment before saying, “You risked your life for Addyson and our father. As I understand it, that is the second time you helped our father out.”
Our father. She knew he’d said the words twice deliberately. She peered over at Keegan, who still had his eyes shut, but she knew he wasn’t asleep. He was listening to every word.
He looked so at ease, as though he had finally found that inner peace.
Studying his strong jaw line and straight black hair, she saw similarities to herself. She had his hair, but her eyes looked more like Blaine’s.
“You and Blaine got your eyes from your mother,” Keegan said without lifting his lashes.
Surprised, she cast a quick glance to Blaine. He smiled and said, “The Elder is telepathic.”
She frowned and looked at her hands in her lap. “A mindbender?”
It was Alec who answered. “No. He can hear your thoughts. Many times it’s not on purpose. He can tune them out but can’t shut off the ability.”
Keegan sat up in his ch
air, drawing her attention back to him. “I do have the ability to alter memories, but not control people’s minds like Felix can do.”
Relief floored her. She could deal with someone hearing her thoughts, but she couldn’t live another day with someone who could control her every action. She speared a glance through the open doorway and caught Kieran walking toward her.
Keegan stood, stretched, and then said, “Blaine, Alec, and I have to go meet with the wolves. I’ll be back to visit soon.”
She nodded and watched the three males walk out of the room and Kieran enter. She smiled at him then frowned at his worried expression. “What is it?”
He came to her and brushed his knuckles down her cheek. “I can only stay for a moment. I should be at the same meeting.”
Her heart shuddered. “Why? What’s going on?”
He sighed and met her gaze. “If I know Keegan, he’s planning on raiding the Onyx den.”
“And you’re just going to tell him where it is? What about Sable and Nigel?”
He leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers. “I warned Sable this would happen. Besides, she placed Nigel in a boarding school two weeks ago and told Felix it was to challenge the boy’s intelligence.”
He fell silent, and she wondered if this was the right thing to do. Yes, she hated Felix and everything he stood for. “Just promise me you won’t tell me how many innocent lives were lost.”
He pressed his lips to her temple and pulled pack. “I promise.”
“Go meet with your Alphas.”
“Ana? This isn’t your fight. You’re where you belong now, with family and a Pack that loves you.”
She nodded, knowing he was right. Yet, she was confused and felt out of place. What if she’d escaped one hell just to enter into another?
Chapter 15
They met in the conference room of the office building where the Alphas conducted official Pack business. Blaine sat at the head of the table. The spot Keegan had sat for as long as he was Alpha. It felt strange to not sit there.
