Wrapping herself in a towel she exited the bathroom. He hadn’t moved since she’d left the bed and she took a moment to admire the perfection of the male form that was Azriel Kane. She knew, because she’d been in his mind and had half of his soul stored in her body, that it bothered him more than just a little that he was the shortest of all of his brothers. She raised an eyebrow and almost laughed at the thought. On the physical scale with ten being total hottie and one being lame, her mate was a twelve. What would he do with two more inches? His lean, hard frame was everything a woman could ask for. Well, at least everything she could ask for and if anyone else tried to make a move on him, she’d rip out her throat.
Dropping her towel to the ground she crept to the bed and gently pulled the covers off Az’s body. He sighed in his sleep but didn’t stir. Reaching down, she cupped him in her hand. She felt his whole body stiffen as she used her other hand to pull down his boxer shorts and with one swift movement take him in her mouth.
Az came awake instantly, groaning, the sound causing her to become instantly wet. “She-wolf, what are you doing?”
“Ssshh.” She informed him, laughter in her voice. “I’m waking you up.”
Inside her, her wolf paced anxiously, loving the new playful side that Leah had just discovered. What could she say? Az brought out the best in her.
He tried to sit up and she pushed him gently back on the bed. Truth be told, he let her push him back down. If he wanted to, he was much stronger than she was. She couldn’t help her small smile. It was a real man who knew when it was time to let his partner be in charge.
Gliding her mouth up and down his hard length, she heard his intake of breath. “Leah, baby, let me touch you.”
She shook her head, not wanting him to take control from her yet. She needed Az; moreover, there was nothing in the world she wanted to do more than she wanted to take him deep inside her mouth at that very moment. His breathing changed, becoming faster. She could feel him becoming harder by the second and the idea that it was she—Leah St. James—making him that way made her even hornier for him.
She moved faster, taking him deep within her throat and pulling out fast until she was all but removed from the tip of his hard erection. At his gasp, she plunged back down, taking the whole of his length into the back of her throat. Over and over she deepened her embrace until she was wild from the experience.
“No, no, Leah, I want to come inside you. I need you desperately.” He tugged at her shoulders.
“Come in my mouth.” She longed for him to. More than she wanted to breathe. “No.” He pulled hard at her shoulders finally dislodging her from her task. “I’m desperate for your warmth. I need to feel your core around me, baby. I need it so damn much.”
Az rolled her beneath him. The feel of his weight above her made her feel small and protected. She loved it. “Az, I want you so bad. I was going to come when you came in my mouth.”
“I’m going to make you come more than once, Leah.” She raised an eyebrow. “Do you promise?”
He growled—the sound all wolf—and plunged inside her. She cried at out at the penetration before gasping and closing her eyes as the sensation of his hard length filling her became all there was in the world. She threw her head back in ecstasy.
“Please, Az, more. Don’t make me beg.”
“What if I want you to beg?” His tone was amused, not mocking and she opened her eyes enjoying the play between them.
“I’ll do anything. Just do it. Please.”
He stopped moving and she opened her eyes to stare into the depths of his brown eyes. “You never have to beg me. I’ll always do whatever you want, when you want it. You’re my everything.”
Reaching up to press her lips to his, she tried to show him with passion what no words could ever adequately illustrate. Azriel Kane was her life force. Not only had he saved her from what was sure to be death but he had reawakened her soul and shown her parts of herself she had never known existed until he presented them to her. She needed to be his mate, his wife, his love, and his destiny. Fate had given her these things. Why was she so lucky?
Lifting her rear end, Az pushed her back up against the headboard plunging in and out of her with such force she wanted to scream from the pleasure. Reaching up she grabbed the top of the burnished wood bed frame that she was afraid wouldn’t survive their sexual assault and braced herself for dear life.
Az flipped her over and she used the chance to grab the headboard even more securely. She pushed herself up on her knees, screaming her pleasure as his thrusts forced her closer and closer to the end of the bed.
“Hold on baby, hold on.” Az’s words seemed far away, so lost in the pleasure his movements created in her body.
“More. Gods, Az, give me more.”
“I want to, she-wolf, I want to so badly. Oh hell, Leah, you’re so tight, baby, you’re killing me.”
And just like that she exploded. The world became a dazzling array of colors and sounds, all of it fueled by Azriel and his love for her. Seconds later he shouted her name, finding his own release. In unison, they both collapsed on the bed, Az falling down next to her.
With her eyes closed, she listened to his breathing or rather to the sound of Az trying to catch his breath.
He laughed and she opened her eyes as he kissed her hard on the mouth. “Are you going to awaken me like that every morning?”
“Who knows? I’m like a whole new person since I got my wolf.”
Az pulled his weight off her body and she felt slightly bereft for the loss of his warmth. Not wanting to let go, she rolled next to him to fit herself in the crook of his arm. “You’re not a ‘new’ person. Your wolf just might be letting you do things you prevented yourself from doing before. It’s kind of easier having them around. They let you know if you’re doing something dumb before you do it. It’s like one more filter from the things we think to the things we actually end up doing.”
Az yawned and she felt a tiny bit guilty about having woken him. “Do you have time to go back to sleep?”
He shook his head. “It was actually a good thing you got me up. I’m leaving for Texas in about three hours.”
She jerked upright. “Don’t even tell me you’re thinking that you can go without me?”
Looking at her sideways, he smiled. “I kind of hoped you might stay here but the truth is I doubted that you’d agree to it, which is why I told Cullen you were probably coming.”
Slightly pacified, she relaxed her back a little bit. Az hadn’t been totally foolish. If he’d told her he expected her to stay there would have been a small war between them.
“What is the plan once we get to Texas?”
“Tristan, who is insisting on coming too, wants to do some recon. It’s beyond time that we knew exactly how large a number Kendrick’s wolf army actually is. Also, he’s determined Rex is going to capture us a witch. Then, he wants me to use my barely functional serum that I whipped up to see if I can stop the wolves from shifting.”
Az closed his eyes at whatever thoughts were bothering him the most. She sighed and reached out to stroke his cheek.
“You know you’re not responsible for all the ills of the world, not even all the problems facing the pack. You had less than twenty-four hours to do the impossible and create a formula to stop what it presumably took Kendrick thirty years to create. I don’t even know when you did this.”
Opening his eyes to look at her he grinned. “After you snuck off like you were escaping a mob scene, I stayed up most of the night and did the best I can. My brother expects miracles. He has no patience for things that take time. With magic, you say a spell and boom you get your result. The things I do, they take time. Unfortunately, lately that is a luxury we never seem to have.”
Using her index finger she jabbed him lightly in the chest. “You’re magic too, Az. If it wasn’t enough that you can shift from wolf to human and back again with just a thought, you can travel through people’s memories.”
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“I still think it’s a bit of an abomination I can do that.” He raised his hand when she would argue. “I’m always going to feel this way. It’ll just have to be one of those things we agree to disagree about. Any more out of body possessions for you?”
She shook her head and shivered at the memory. There had to be a way to stop the ghosts of the Westervelt pack from invading her body any damn time they felt like it. It had only happened twice but she could already see that it was going to be a problem if it just happened whenever and wherever the ghosts felt like it.
“There is something I have to do before we can go to Texas and it’s going to require you finally taking me to that drug store.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Hair dye?” “Exactly.”
Oh good. I just think…well, I think we look ridiculous.
Leah silently laughed at her wolf’s comment. She couldn’t agree more.
“Exactly how many brands of this stuff are there?” Leah watched as Az stared at the back of one of the blonde hair dye boxes. She rolled her eyes and continued to try to decide between chestnut brown and ash brown. The color on the models never matched her own exactly. Also, she kept going back and forth about whether or not she should buy some Kool-Aid and put the red streaks back in or give up her little flair for the dramatic altogether.
Without a sound to warn her, Leah was thrown to the ground, Az’s hard body on top of hers. He placed his mouth against her ear and kissed her cheek as he spoke telepathically in her mind.
We are surrounded on all sides by invisible wolves. She felt her eyes get wide. They can be invisible?
Here they can. On Westervelt they can’t anymore but we’re on the mainland now.
It’s one of the reasons we avoid leaving.
How do you know they’re here?
I can smell them. It’s one of those weird things I can do because my sense of smell is even stronger than most of the pack. It’s slightly acrid and makes my nose itch.
Leah gulped as she realized they were still lying on the floor. That meant that Az thought this situation was going to be very bad. A non-shifter human walked down the aisle staring at them sideways.
Az, there are people here who have nothing to do with this. They could be hurt.
He nodded and swore quietly aloud in her ear. This has the makings of a disaster. We need to get out of this store, draw them away from the people.
She knew what he wasn’t saying. Given the first chance, he would lead them away from her as well. First things first, however, she knew he was right.
A distraction is what is called for. She bit down on her lip. Follow my lead.
Rolling out from beneath him, keeping her hand tightly on the hair dye, as she had no intention of leaving this disaster without it, she jumped up pushing on the hair dye rack behind her.
With one hard shove it fell over into the aisle behind it. Az jumped off the floor. “Leah, what the hell are you doing?”
She spoke softly. “Getting us thrown out.” She winked at him. “Gods damn it, I wanted red hair dye. None of this is red hair dye.” She made sure to keep her voice elevated to the point of almost screeching.
Az looked left and right as the store manager came rushing over. “What exactly is going on here? What have you done?”
She shoved gently on Az’s arm. “Head for the door, Az.”
The store manager was a tall balding man who had done his best to hide that fact by combing over what little hair he had left. “Did you make this mess?”
Stomping hard on his foot, he gasped as let go of her and stepped backwards. “I certainly did and I will do more until you get me what I want and get it right now.”
Turning to Az, Leah noted that the man’s face had turned a shade of red closest resembling a tomato. She hoped he wasn’t going to have a heart attack. “Aren’t you going to do something to control your girlfriend?”
He shook his head, a glint only she could identify as moderate amusement shone in his eyes. They were in serious trouble and Az was doing his best not to laugh at her. Really, between the two of them they were sick in the head. “No, the lady wants her hair dye. I suggest you get whatever color it is that she wants.”
“This is unbelievable. I should have known my day was going to be like this. My horoscope said it was better if I stayed in bed.” He pointed at the door as he grasped Leah’s arm again. “You two are going to have to leave.”
“Get your hands off her.” Az growled in his throat and Leah realized he wasn’t kidding.
“Alright, we’ll leave. We’re going outside.” She tried to speak slowly and clearly remembering vaguely the general sense of confusion she always had when she’d been one of Kendrick’s wolves. It was crazy that she was setting herself up to be attacked but better she and Az than anyone who was ill-prepared to deal with it.
Following Az’s fast pace, she was hustled out the door by the store manager who muttered the entire time. She couldn’t help but notice the extra shove the man gave her through the threshold as he informed them never to grace his store with their presence again. Well, she smiled, maybe that was what she pretended he said. What he’d actually informed them had been so horrendously rude—not that she could blame him—she never wanted to think about it again.
The angry store manager had just stalked away when Az grabbed her, his embrace much gentler. “Listen to me, we need help. We’re hugely outnumbered. There’s no way we’re getting out of here. I can hold them off. You have to go for help.”
He had to be kidding. “There’s no way I’m leaving you.”
His eyes turned wolf, which almost took her breath away. Az always had such good control of himself. He was clearly on the edge and about to lose it. “Listen to me, I can’t protect you and fight them.” She started to argue but he kept going. “I know you think you can help but you can’t. You’ve had no training. It would all be pure instinct for you and that would only get you so far. We’re too far for telepathy. The pack is going to be leaving in one hour for Texas. Get them.” He kissed her hard as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. He might be able to smell them but at that moment she knew they were there too.
“If you want to help me, to save me, get help.” With a gentle shove, he moved her forward. “Run, Leah, like you’ve never done before.”
As she moved she saw in horror that in the light of day, in public, in front of all who could see he shifted into his wolf form launching in the air at an invisible wolf
Seconds later, the other wolf became visible. Like two snarling monsters they fought and tore at each other. Only one of those beasts was the man she loved more than she’d ever believed possible. With tears in her eyes, she did the only thing she could do.
She ran.
12
Still on the street in front of the store, Azriel thanked the gods that magic kept the humans from seeing what happened in front of them. Whatever it was that made it possible for them to be unseen was working overtime right now. It was troubling to him. They could get away with a few minutes of not being detected. But this, this was going on way too long.
How much time had passed? Azriel had no idea. How many wolves had he taken down and how many were still waiting to attack? Those two questions he cared even less about. All he knew was he had to survive. Leah’s life depended on it.
He tore at the exposed throat of the wolf in front of him. His body ached and even with all the magic in the world if he lived through this he was going to hurt later. His wolf growled and surged forward waiting for the next attack. Sniffing the air, he looked left and right but no immediate danger presented itself. This was particularly troubling to Az. They were there…he could feel them. So what were they waiting for and where were the human authorities that should have been called to investigate the fighting wolves? Kendrick, he realized. Kendrick must have done something to give himself an edge. No more would they be able to get away because of the presence of humans arriving. His sire had found a way to keep
the humans from coming near.
His mind couldn’t help asking these questions even as his wolf growled and snarled. This was why he was never the perfect wolf shifter. It was next to impossible to completely turn off his human side even in times of need. Only the one time when he’d run with Leah had he managed to lose himself.
The street was dead silent. No cars travelled down it, no one came out of the stores to see what was going on. Only magic could have caused such an occurrence and it was not anything Az was familiar with.
Just as he’d had the thought his gaze caught movement across the street and as he watched time seemed to slow down. Gods, was it possible? Like a nightmare come to life, the man who had made his very existence hell moved forward to him. Narrowing his eyes, his wolf growled. Az knew it would never be enough to illustrate his true hatred of this momement. Right now the pack might be on its way to Texas but Kendrick Kane was in Maine.
He closed his eyes for two seconds before he opened them. They’d been totally misled. It wasn’t likely St. James had lied to them…not with the drug they’d injected him with. It was far more likely Kendrick had manipulated the whole thing, feeding the Senator wrong information. He’d forgotten how good at this his father really was. Cullen Murphy had mated and gone soft; Tristan’s best Alpha quality was that he was nothing like Kendrick and would never think these things himself; Theo had too much on his plate; Gabriel was losing it; Rex had never known their father, not really…but Azriel should have remembered. He should have known that they never had the advantage, that every single moment of his existence had been a game to Kendrick.
Why should it have stopped now?
Kendrick had taken them all to “become men”. Each one of them when they’d turned twelve had been given their turn. Michael had gone first. It had seemed simple enough. Az hadn’t been alive to see his brothers have their experiences. They’d always seemed so grown up to him, so amazingly capable, the best of the best in terms of shifters, everything he wanted to be that he feared he never actually would be.
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