by Ellis Leigh
The hunters had become the hunted because Luc had lost control.
“Stop,” Levi yelled, running up behind him. “Luc, you have to get control of it.”
“Fuck me, is this how you feel all the time?” Phego looked horrified, clutching his chest like a man about to keel over from a heart attack. “You can’t live like this. No one can live like this.”
It was Deus who stepped forward, though. Deus who grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and got right in his face. Deus who cleared the way for his own thoughts and emotions to shine through the mess from the outside.
“Go,” he said, his voice strong and almost Alpha order-ish. “Go where your wolf needs to be. Get out of here.”
Go. Run. Leave.
So, he did.
Cassiel
The dogs were driving Cassiel crazy.
“What is wrong with you today?” She pushed Moxie—who’d been trying to literally jump into her arms—down for the fifth time. “All of you are acting as if there’s a bear on the porch.”
Cassiel looked out over the woods, the feeling of unease she’d been suffering from most of the day making her wonder if there could be predators in her woods. She doubted it—the most dangerous ones came out at night, and they wouldn’t have hung out all day without attacking. No, this was something else. Something she couldn’t see with her own eyes. Something that needed to go away before her dogs drove themselves over the edge with their anxiety.
She was about to head inside for the night when the dogs all began to bark. All began to stand tall and stiff, looking ready to dive into a fight. Definitely something coming. Something not normal. Cassiel raced to the porch to grab the gun she’d left there and spun around, bringing the weapon to her shoulder. Ready to fire if necessary.
Instead of a bear or wolf appearing from the shadows of the forest, though, it was a man. A particular one…one she’d been thinking about a lot. Luc.
Half dressed, filthy, and looking as if he’d run the entire way from his homestead to hers, he stumbled forward. His steps slow and his feet barely rising from the ground. She’d never seen someone look so exhausted in her life.
Cassiel lowered the gun, taking a single step toward him. Raising her voice as she asked, “Are you okay?”
Obviously tormented and unable or unwilling to make sense of words, Luc shook his head. His breaths exploded from his lips, his arms and legs shaking as he tried to move closer. As he took a single step and nearly fell to his knees. That was enough for Cassiel. She set the gun down and raced for him, catching him under the arm and letting him lean his bulk on her as she directed him toward her cabin.
“It’s okay. Do you have another migraine? It’ll be fine—I’ll take care of you. You’re here now. It’ll all be okay.” Or so she hoped.
The few items of clothing Luc wore were torn apart, aged and worn in a jagged sort of way. And wet. In fact, he was shivering from his damp hair and clothes. Good lord, how long had he been outside? And how did he end up half dressed and soaked? It may have been summer in the range, but that still meant the temperature dropped at night. She doubted it was much more than forty degrees outside—comfortable if dressed appropriately, which Luc was not. And he was wet. For all she knew, he could have frostbite.
Cassiel dragged her friend inside the cabin, moving smoothly into survival mode as she laid him on her bed. Cold and wet were a horrible combination, so she did the first thing she knew she needed to.
She stripped the clothes right off Luc’s body.
The big man didn’t speak, though he grumbled and made sounds like growls as she lifted his legs and tugged the fabric off him. It stuck often enough that she had to touch more of him than he might have liked, had to run her hands over his skin. She tried to keep her thoughts clean, forced herself to remember that something was wrong—he was ill or scared or hunted. He needed help. She tried so very hard to focus on his physical needs instead of her own deepening desires.
“Almost there,” she said as she removed the last piece of clothing from his very muscled body.
Luc lay silent on her bed, naked and shaking, as she raced for a thick piece of fur to wrap him in. The warmth it provided would do him good until she could heat up enough water for a bath. If she could heat up enough water for a man that size to soak in.
“Here.” She tucked another blanket around him and pulled him up to sit on the edge of her bed. “I’ll put some water on the fire. Maybe even a sponge bath would help raise your body temperature. I don’t know.”
But she didn’t get the chance to leave him. He grabbed her hand, whispering words in a language she couldn’t understand. Sounding so heartbroken and tired and just…not himself. Her skin prickled, awareness of how easily he could overpower her if he chose to making her wary. But this was Luc, and she couldn’t see him turning mean. Couldn’t see him doing anything to hurt her. So instead of trying to move away, she stepped closer. Ran her fingers into his hair and tugged his head back until she could look him in the eye.
“What happened to you, Luc?”
He shook his head, mumbling something like “too much,” before he grabbed her and tugged her down on top of him. She ended up straddling his lap, his head on her chest, his cold body warming under her touch. And she did touch. She let herself be held and held him right back, wrapped her body around his and tightened her grip. Because this was her friend, and he needed her. And deep down, she wanted to be needed.
“Shh,” she hushed, running her fingers through his hair. “Warm up with me, then you can talk.”
He held her closer, yanking the blanket from between them. Tugging up the bottom of her shirt until their bellies touched, until they were skin-to-skin and she was dying inside. Her hips moved of their own accord, her body reacting to his. But the moment, the embrace, wasn’t sexual, so she didn’t push things. This wasn’t about lust or desire. This was care—intimacy. This was two people coming together to fulfill a need, so she stilled once more. And she held the large man in her arms. And she closed her eyes as she rocked with him and shared her warmth.
And she found a peace in his arms that she’d never once experienced in her life.
11
Luc awoke to a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time, one that soothed his soul and calmed the inner static that had become his constant companion over the years. That feeling was peace.
Cassiel’s little cabin sat in utter shadow, completely silent other than the sounds of people and dogs breathing in the night. The stillness of the forest outside assisted in blanketing the world in a hush he had never experienced. His head—usually so loud as the emotions and pulses of the world bored down on him—had little more than a whisper of input dancing inside it. Barely anything, really. Such a change, considering he’d run from his pack mere hours ago because the level had been more like a scream. This wasn’t true silence inside his mind—that was something he doubted he would ever find—but it was tolerable. A buzz instead of a chainsaw, a breath instead of a freight train. Totally bearable. What he wouldn’t give to live with that level of sound in his head all the time.
Luc’s wolf stretched inside his mind, luxuriating in their new reality, no matter how short it might be, both man and beast rested and refreshed. And unable to resist the woman underneath them.
Cassiel must have fallen asleep holding Luc, her legs around his hips and his head on her breasts. Her weight rested on one of his hands, his arm tucked underneath her waist. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders as if to hold him closer. Such a comfortable position for Luc, so intimate for both of them to be touching all over. He liked her holding him this way. Enough to move slightly up her body. To take advantage of their position to sniff. To investigate the woman a little more.
And sniff, he did. He downright nuzzled into her neck, breathing her in. Growling softly under his breath as he immersed himself in the scent of her. Warm and bright, like a flower field on a summer day, her unique smell enveloped him in a sense of connection, a feeling
of attraction beyond any he’d ever experienced. But beyond the floral was a scent he knew instinctually. One he’d caught a whiff of before but that was so weak, most of his kind would have missed it.
Wolf. Shifter. Omega.
As his wolf’s growl came from deep within his chest, Cassiel moved slightly, a response to him, it seemed. Her next exhale rumbled a tiny bit, just enough to be heard. So much quieter than his, smoother and frail as well, but the telltale language of their kind was there. Weak but not dead.
The pull Luc had been feeling toward Cassiel increased, sending a vibration skittering up his spine. A feeling of need filling his chest. He sniffed again, scenting everything about her. Bringing her essence deep within himself. Focusing hard on the beast within her. The one he could only barely sense. The animal was weak, insipid and feeble, but there. And it was responding to him. It recognized him as one of its own.
Unable to stop himself, Luc shifted lower, bringing his head back down to Cassiel’s chest. Letting the vibration of his near-constant growl call to the beast within her. The one who had yet to quiet. There was an underlying strength to the animal—a sense of power that had likely been denied. She’d been starved of life, the little wolf. Locked up inside her human form and neglected or forgotten about. Ignored. That sense of power behind her was strong, though. Much like the inherent strength of the women his brothers had mated with. This girl—this wild woman living in the bush of Alaska—was likely an Omega shewolf.
And even more likely his mate.
The very thought of such a thing floored him. He couldn’t have a mate—he’d lived for millennia without one, had traveled the world alone for far longer than he could even remember. But denying his attraction to her was only becoming harder—the fates had tied him to Cassiel, connected them in an unbreakable way. His wolf practically purred for her, even. He would need to figure out how to bring out her own beast, though. How to introduce his woman to his world. Cassiel might not want that, she might—
The woman in question awoke suddenly, her dark eyes finding his immediately. A pulse thumped deep within Luc’s gut, a reminder of their connection. A quiet manifestation of their bond as that stare yanked his wolf to the forefront of his mind. Fuck him, they were mated.
“Are you okay?” Cassiel asked, her voice low and soft. A balm over his abused eardrums—one that was most welcome.
Luc couldn’t help but notice how she didn’t pull away from him. Didn’t try to dislodge his body from how it clutched hers to him. He didn’t either. “I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She inched down a smidge, bringing her hips to rest under his. Her legs bracketing his thighs. Luc responded on pure instinct, rocking slightly. Teasing her body with his just to see how she’d respond. Her breath caught, her eyes staying locked with his. And she moved with him.
“Cassiel.” His whisper sounded like a plea to his own ears, like a needful gasp. And perhaps it had been. The woman in question simply shushed him, bringing a hand to his face to pull him closer. Rolling her hips under his as she tugged him down. As she brushed her soft lips against his. As she made him wait for the taste of her.
“Is this why you came?”
It took Luc a long couple seconds to interpret her words because he hadn’t come yet, but he wanted to. Wanted to bury himself inside her heat and make her howl for him. Wanted to slide in deep and see if their bodies were as meant for each other as he assumed they would be.
But that wasn’t what she meant. “I came because I needed peace, and I can only ever find it around you.”
She stared at him, silent and still. No longer moving. Barely breathing, it seemed. But then she gave in and offered Luc a taste of the heaven he’d never thought he’d experience. “I want to kiss you, Luc.”
His mate, the shewolf the fates deemed perfect for him, wanted her lips on his. Wanted to join with him in a small, physical way. His heart practically jumped out of his chest at the thought. “I want to kiss you too, Cassiel.”
“So, do it.”
“Are you sure?” He rolled forward, his big body more than covering hers. His cock resting just outside of where he wanted it to be. Right up against where he knew he could tease her little body into a mass of nerve endings and pleasure if given the chance. If she consented. “I want to kiss you more than anything, but you may never recover from it.”
Cassiel smiled, one side of her lips lifting a little higher than the other. Sarcastic. “You’re awfully sure of yourself.”
He held her gaze, growing serious. His nose brushing hers. His heart opening in a way it never had before. Mate. His mate. Cassiel was his fated mate.
Nothing would ever matter more to him.
“I know I’ll never recover from your lips on mine, sweet Cassiel. I’ll never stop wanting to taste you once I start.”
She tangled her fingers in his long hair, tugging out the strap he used to tie it back and away from his face. Freeing him in some small, yet not insignificant way. “Then perhaps we shouldn’t kiss.”
“Or maybe we should kiss all the time.”
“Maybe we should try it. Just once. See if it’s as life-altering as you think.”
Luc leaned closer, letting his hips roll into hers, bringing his lips down as slowly as possible. “Are you sure you’re ready?”
She stared up at him, looking so small. Not scared, more anxious. Excited, maybe, but with a hint of nerves added in. Just the same way he felt being wrapped in her arms with her lips millimeters away from his. This was the moment—the second that his entire existence was about to shift. He could feel it coming, and he would not do anything to stop it. In fact, he wanted it. More than anything else in the world.
And apparently, so did Cassiel. “Yes.”
That word, her consent, was all he needed. He dipped down, stealing her lips. Kissing her softly at first as he learned the touch and taste of her. As he sank into the heaven of the intimate act. The darkness of the wild blanketed them, giving them the illusion of total privacy. Giving Luc the sensation that there was nothing else—just her and him and a kiss that set his soul on fire. With his lips on hers, the world fell completely silent inside his mind. Everything going still so he could focus wholly on Cassiel, on his mate.
Bless the fates for such a gift.
Gripping her, sliding his hands down to clutch her ass, Luc tugged Cassiel even closer. Lined her up more just so he could roll his hips into hers and tease the sweet pussy between her thighs. So he could bump her clit with every pass and bring her pleasure.
She jerked and gasped, her hands shaking as she held on tighter, her kisses growing stronger and deeper with every rock of him against her. Cassiel had quickly become a woman on the brink of losing control, and Luc was determined to push her right over the edge and watch her break all over him.
Their kisses turned deeper, the two locked together in a writhing, humping mass of need. Luc had to pull back to take a breath and to regain control of the growl rumbling within him. Just a quick second to swallow down the sound so as not to scare his woman. Just a moment.
But as Luc fought to regain his control, Cassiel made a move to make him lose it. She dropped her head back, arching her back and exposing her neck to him. The animal side of Luc, the one that saw the pose as a submissive gesture, surged forward, instincts taking over. Luc dove in. Nuzzling her, licking up the column as she grew hotter and wetter against his cock. As she responded to every move of his with arousal and desire. As she pushed all of his buttons—the ones belonging to the man and the ones owned by the beast—without even knowing what she was doing to him. How could he resist such perfection? Why would he want to?
Unable to stop himself, Luc bit Cassiel’s neck—softly, a tease instead of a claiming. Cassiel jumped and groaned underneath him, her body going stiff as the new sensation likely flew up her spine. The bite of a human was one thing—the bite of one wolf to another was a totally different experience. He’d heard the stories—knew how mating bites could
drive men and women to the heights of ecstasy—and though he wouldn’t be breaking Cassiel’s smooth, golden skin, he could tease her. He could give her a taste while taking one for himself.
The scent of her wolf grew stronger in the darkness as he moved his body over hers, as he took in the essence of his mate and shared his with her. The connection between them grew stronger, his heart reaching out for hers. Wanting so badly to make her his in every way he could—physically, spiritually, and sensually. Luc focused on the physical, though—on Cassiel’s raspy breaths and the way her hands clutched at him as he kept using his cock against her pussy. On the way she moved with him, her human body responding to his. Her wolf would have to wait—she obviously either didn’t know how to shift or didn’t want to. He would have to get to the bottom of that, but not yet. Right then, he had one mission. A goal he was already working toward.
He needed to make his woman come.
12
Cassiel knew she shouldn’t have started this, shouldn’t have initiated intimacy with Luc after he’d shown up at her cabin the way he had. The man had been a literal mess and, had she been a better person, she would have kept her hands to herself. But if touching him was wrong, she would never want to be right.
“Luc,” Cassiel whispered as the string inside her—the one running from her clit up her spine to the very top of her head—snapped tighter. Every move of this man, every arch and breath and touch, only made her want more. Made her toes curl and her heart pound. He hadn’t even done anything other than dry-hump her, and she was already about to come.
“My sweet Cassiel.” Luc made a sound like a growl, something that burned brightly under Cassiel’s skin. “Be wild with me. Just this once, be wild.”
She wanted to—by the stars, did she want to. And really, there was no reason to deny him. Cassiel nodded, reaching to pull Luc in closer. Mashing her lips to his in a messy, rough kiss as his body continued its assault on hers. He slipped his large, rough hand under her shirt, moving upward slowly. Teasing her with the heat of his touch. And it was hot—so very hot. His entire body burned against hers. She could feel it through her clothes, and she liked it. Enjoyed the way he warmed her.
