A Gifted Curse (The Cloven Pack Series: Book One)

by D. Fischer

Cutting her off, I take over the explanation. “Yes, body would be sex. I plan to explore every inch of you and fuck every part of you that’s fuck-able. That’s something you need to be prepared for.” I watch her as she takes a gulp. “Soul would be our truths, secrets, fears, things of that nature, to be thrown on the table for the other see. A mating bond won’t be complete until nothing is left to hold us back from moving forward. In order to do that, we have to trust each other with our soul,” I pause to take her frightened expression into consideration.

  I can tell that is going to be a difficult one for her. She’s lived on her own for so long and has only had to rely on herself, trusting no one. That is going to be a big hump to get over and share with me.

  “And public is the claiming mark. When the time comes, our wolves will know we are ready to commit to each other for life. We claim each other by sinking our teeth into the other’s neck, right here.” I point to the side of my neck.

  Her fear grows further. Terrified that I’ll frighten her off and have her fleeing from the house again, I quickly reassure her, “Don’t be afraid—it won’t hurt. I’ve been told that the bite is so pleasurable that nothing compares. I’ve heard that some even faint because the sensation is just too great.”

  Her fear starts to disappear as that sinks in and she licks her lips. The smell of her arousal begins to swirl around me. Holy shit, it smells good. Brief flashes of fantasies with my face buried between her legs distract me for a moment. I clear my throat, trying to unclog my thoughts. If we keep up this battle of lust between the two of us, it will keep building until the need to have sex becomes painful. I am already beginning to feel the pain, my pants feeling just a tad small at this moment.

  “Are you okay with all this, Kenna? I need to know that this is something you are comfortable with.”

  She shakes her head a little to clear her lustful thoughts. I’m sure she feels it more than I do because of her gift. “Yeah. Sounds a little loopy but if you think about it, it makes sense. If there’s a person destined to be yours, then there would be stages to go through and overcome. I’m not saying I’m going to be any good at it. I’m a freaking mess on a daily basis. But, yes, I’ll try … on one condition.”

  I lift an eyebrow. “What’s your condition?”

  “If a female ever touches you –again—if you ever let another one touch you again—I’ll gut you both like a fish and use your intestines as garland for this year’s Christmas tree.” With that, she nods once and stands, returning to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

  Her attitude and confidence goes straight to my dick. With no relief in sight, I readjust again. It can’t be normal to be hard all the time. I am starting to worry that it will be stuck—permanently erect for the rest of my life.

  A thought crosses my mind that she doesn’t have a toothbrush here and that she will inevitably be using mine. I can’t muster up enough energy to care. She agreed to be my mate. That’s all I can think about.

  Makenna Goldwin

  That evening, I am introduced to everyone in the Pack while sitting at the big table in the Alpha’s formal dining room. Supper seems to be a thing in this Pack and everyone attends. At least we’re allowed to go in our sweat pants. Not that I would have cared if it was intended to be a formal affair. I still would have worn sweat pants.

  I was introduced to the remaining four wolves. Two are the only mated pair in the Pack, Jeremy and Kelsey.

  Kelsey seemed to take over the meal responsibilities, claiming she loves to cook. She is a sweet gal that takes no crap. I make a mental note to get to know her better. She seems happy that I’m here and has kept up most of the conversation as I help her set the table.

  Flint and Dyson are the remaining two. They seem to be best friends, but with the sort of friendship that revolves around constant insults. They have us laughing several times.

  I take note that Jazz, who was briefly introduced to me, is sitting at the end of the table and she doesn’t look pleased about it. Her anger is thick and directed toward me like little daggers of hate.

  Evo sits at the head of the table, I sit at the right of him, and Ben sits at his left. It seems that we are seated according to rank. I take a little satisfaction in noting that Jazz is now at the bottom of the food chain, whether she decided to sit there out of self-preservation, a pity party, or if she was simply demoted. Either way, the bitch is far from me. I am definitely going to be keeping my eye on her. Though she remains silent but fuming, that doesn’t mean she needs to be dismissed as a possible threat to me.

  “You really never knew you were a wolf?” Flint asks as he chucks a piece of his roast at Bre.

  I take note of Flint’s friendly goading of Evo’s sister. He seems to be giving her large amounts of unnecessary attention. It’s more than just a friendly vibe he is giving off, too. However, she doesn’t return those feelings and scowls at Flint instead of turning into a giggling mess that most women resort to when receiving the attention from an attractive male. Any observer would be able to see how much he likes her and how much she finds his child-like behavior annoying. You don’t need to be able to feel their emotions to see that tangled web.

  I’m surprised that none of the unmated males have mates. They’re all extremely attractive. I suppose fate has a hand in that and they just haven’t met her yet.

  Jazz, on the other hand, … a small part of me hopes she’ll never meet hers. I can’t imagine what her other half would be like. Maybe it would make her a better person. After all, her anger directed toward me has no purpose. Evo is my mate, not hers. He is intended for me. She had to have known this day might come. Did she expect me to walk away from him and hand him over to her? Not gonna happen, Barbie.

  “No, I didn’t,” I respond. “I actually thought I was crazy. I had no one there to tell me otherwise, but now that I know, it makes a lot of sense.”

  “Do you know who your parents are?” Dyson asks. “I mean, genetically speaking, they have to both be wolves and a mated pair at that. We can’t have pups without our mate.”

  “You’ll have to ignore Dyson. He’s naturally curious,” Evo says as he chews on a cooked carrot, a smile tugging at his lips. I can tell he is enjoying this. He is learning about me without having to ask any questions. I can also feel his joy at the Pack’s easy acceptance of me, minus one of course. I would have thought that accepting a new member to the Pack wasn’t always the smoothest process.

  Evo told me earlier that when I had my little fit and attacked him for his wrong-doing, they felt a great deal of respect toward me for the challenging act.

  Through the telepathy, they had scolded him and then told him that they respected their Alpha female putting their Alpha male in his place. Evo said it made them feel more secure—that he wouldn’t be able to step a foot out of line. A strong Alpha pair is what’s best for a Pack, he had said.

  I give Evo a small smile, letting him know that I don’t mind, which is true. I am going to be a part of their life, something that I am growing accustomed to, and frankly, a little excited for. If I am planning to form any sort of friendship with them, it is best that they know about me.

  “I don’t have any idea who my parents are. I was found abandoned. After they failed to find them, I was placed in the foster system and bounced around a lot.”

  Dyson leans forward in his chair. “Are foster systems as bad as some say they are? There are so many horror stories about them.”

  Everyone is silent when he asks that question. Evo even stops chewing, wanting to make sure he hears my answer. I can feel their concern, except for Jazz who feels hopeful that I was mistreated and involved in one of these rumored horror stories. It’s touching.

  “Not entirely. I went through a lot of foster homes and I never came across someone who stuck kids in dog crates or anything like that. There’s just not a lot of love in the foster system. Not the kind you would get from loving parents. At least for me, there wasn’t. That really
upset me as a kid since I could feel their emotion and could feel that they didn’t love me like a real parent would. I know now that I craved it because of my wolf nature, but back then, they thought there was something wrong with me and would ship me out to another home when they couldn’t deal with it anymore. I never got put into a foster home that didn’t have a bunch of kids in it, so the foster parents never had much time for me, or my problems.”

  The sound of metal bending fills the room and all our eyes swivel to Evo. Staring straight ahead with a thunderous expression, Evo’s hand holds a bent fork. Worried, I touch his arm.

  Kelsey pipes up, “Don’t worry about him. Mates tend to not do so well when they hear that their mate was mistreated. Isn’t that right, Jeremy?” She looks at her mate’s objecting frown and then elbows him in the ribs before he can open his mouth.

  I laugh a little as they continue to banter back and forth about overreactions to circumstances. It helps ease the tension in the room that is clogged by Evo’s anger and Jazz’s juvenile and petty jealousy.

  We talk about what everyone does for their jobs. It is a relief to see that wolves are able to work outside the Pack. I knew they’d be capable since I did it all my adult life, but it is good to hear that it’s allowed.

  “So, you enjoy being a PI,” Kelsey says. It isn’t a question, but a statement, since we are now talking about what I do for a living. “Does your gift help with that?”

  “Sometimes. Sometimes you just don’t want to know what others are feeling, and sometimes it’s helpful to know what they are feeling. You can learn a lot about someone by how they react to different situations or conversations.” I look pointedly at Jazz and everyone snickers. “Not everyone can adapt well emotionally when the situation calls for it.”

  Jazz turns and glares at me. When I don’t avert my gaze, she lowers her eyes in submission. Roughly scooting back her chair, she stomps her heeled shoes as she leaves the dining room. Everyone rolls their eyes at her dramatic display.

  I turn to Evo. “Speaking of investigations, I still need to follow up on Cassie. We need to retrace her steps, maybe see if we can locate where Chris is. I doubt he will leave the state now that he knows the FBI is watching him like a hawk.”

  “No,” Evo says. It is one, very firm, word.

  “Excuse me? No?” The table grows silent as they look back and forth between the two of us like a ping pong match, slightly amused.

  “Here we go,” Kelsey whispers. I hear Jeremy make an oomph sound as Kelsey elbows him in the ribs to drive home her earlier point.

  “No, as in you will not be hunting down the murderous, woman-abducting Rogue. You’re not going to put yourself in danger like that. I won’t allow it.”

  I pat his shoulder. “You poor thing.” I turn to my snickering Pack. “Who would like to help me hunt down Kenner before he exposes us to a world full of humans?” I ask in the sweetest voice possible as my mate growls next to me.

  Everyone gives wide smiles. I take that to mean two things: one, they are enjoying our spat, and two, I’m positive it won’t be difficult to find volunteers.

  Chapter Nine

  Makenna Goldwin

  We banter and bicker the rest of the meal, through helping Kelsey with clean up—which she gets a huge kick out of and often chimes in to aid me in my argument—and all the way up the stairs to Evo’s room about going after Kenner. We finally agree that we will go after Kenner, but I am in no way going after him without Evo.

  I don’t tell Evo, but I never had any intentions of leaving him behind. I will need help now that I know what I am dealing with. I decide to keep that to myself and watch him squirm about it instead.

  Evo steps in his room and holds the door open for me, but I don’t enter. I stand in the hallway and stare at his bed, then back at him.

  I know if I go into that room we’ll end up having sex. If we lay in the same bed, if we are that intimately close to each other, there’s no way we will wake the next morning without having sex at least once before we are up for the day. If we even make it to morning. The question is, is this a can of worms I’m ready to open?

  Seeing my hesitation, Evo’s eyes search mine. If you’re not comfortable sleeping in the same bed as me, I can sleep in the guest bed down the hall.

  I jump at the telepathy. That is something I am going to have to get used to. I decide to try it out on my own. I’m afraid, I admit.

  Admitting a fear is not easy for me, but I need to be honest with him. I don’t want him feeling like I am rejecting him again because I’m not.

  He comes to me and pulls me into his arms, resting his chin on my head and inhaling my scent deep into his lungs while I do the same. What are you afraid of? I won’t hurt you.

  I’m silent for a few minutes, trying to gather my thoughts as to the exact reason why having sex with Evo is scaring the daylights out of me.

  I’m scared of what it will mean. If we have sex, it will bring us closer. If we have sex, it’ll mean something.

  He stiffens. You don’t trust me. You fear I’ll hurt you.

  “I don’t know you. What am I supposed to think?” I say into his chest. The feeling of his body and his scent are comforting. Like I belong there and this is where I am meant to be.

  “You’re hurt,” I state after feeling his emotion.

  “I am, but I also understand. I’ve done nothing to get to know you. I’ll have to rectify that. I was supposed to take you to breakfast, remember?”

  I smile at the memory. At the time, I was pissed. Now, I find it amusing. Gosh, that memory seems forever ago.

  He tilts my chin up and pecks my lips softly. We pull apart, feeling that spark ignite between us. A hungering need fills my lower half when I feel his arousal slam into me with such force. It is a painful arousal that makes my own body ache. Our breathing becomes quicker and I can’t bring myself to pull away from him.

  He steps away, having more strength than I do. Averting his eyes from mine, he whispers, “I’ll see you in the morning. Let me know if you need anything.”

  He walks around me, careful to avoid touching me, and shuts the door behind him, leaving me a little stunned.

  How could the pull be so strong and leave me so weak? He is stronger than me for pulling away, but he was right to. It is responsible to build a relationship before we complicate it with sex.

  I’m making my way to his closet to find an oversized shirt to sleep in when I hear the door slam open.

  Jumping from the loud noise, I turn so fast I almost lose my balance and see Evo standing in the doorway looking like a predator about to pounce on his prey. Good Lord, he is sexy. The smoldering lust is hitting my skin with such intensity and sending shocks to my sensitive places.

  What the hell, I say telepathically, giving in to our desires and jumping on him. Kissing him, I begin wrapping my arms and legs around his body.

  Cupping my ass to hold me in place, he slams the door shut with his foot and begins walking us to the bed as our kissing becomes more frantic and desperate.

  “Careful, baby. If we go any further, I won’t be able to stop. Having sex will further the mating. You can walk away now or … ” His voice trails off.

  I look up at him, completely determined. “Or you can just cut the shit and get on with it already.”

  I lift my top off just in time before I am slammed into the bed. Evo pulls my sweatpants off in one swift motion. He stands there watching me, taking in every inch of my body.

  His brows furrow but before I can ask him what is wrong or if he’s changed his mind, he leans forward and rips my bra and panties off in one swift motion. Apparently, he didn’t like my underwear in the way of his view. I let out a small yelp when the fabric bit into my skin, but I found that it only heightened my arousal.

  “Holy shit, Kenna,” Evo whispers.

  Perching myself on my elbows, I am just about to ask him if he doesn’t like what he sees when another wave of h
is arousal slams into my body, making me moan. My question is most certainly answered.

  “So fucking beautiful.” He climbs onto the bed, kissing me back into the mattress.

  I begin tugging at the bottom of his shirt, desperate to feel his skin on mine. Noticing my struggle, Evo leans back, removes his shirt, and unbuttons his jeans, pushing them down to his ankles.

  Before he can reach me again, I put my hands on his chest, holding him in place. Running my hands over his massive chest, I feel every curve and every hard plane of muscle. His skin is so soft and flawless.

  He moans when my hands drift down to his underwear, letting my fingers trace the skin along the hem. Using his distraction, I forcefully flip him onto his back.

  Surprise lights his face before it is overtaken by lust, a sexy grin taking its place. It seems my mate likes a fight of dominance. This should be interesting. Most times, I like to be in control during sex, making sure all my needs are cared for.

  Keeping my eyes on his, watching his reaction, I slide his underwear down, deliberately letting my fingers brush across his sensitive skin with slow feather-light touches. A low growl of approval rumbles out of his chest, making a smug smile cross my face. I love how responsive he is to my touch.

  Feeling something brush against my arm, I look down to see his impressive-sized cock flexing and begging for attention. Using my index finger, I lightly swirl it around his balls, moving at an unhurried pace to the tip and then back down again. Over and over, I repeat this assault until his moans are loud and his thighs are quivering.

  I bend forward and swirl my tongue around the tip, receiving a low and long moan for my efforts, and take him into my mouth.

  Unable to control himself, he grabs onto my hair to keep my head in place. Letting him adjust to my torture, I massage his cock with my tongue, swirling. He tastes as amazing as he smells.

  He lifts his head, such heat in his eyes. “You’re a wicked little bitch.”