by Jess Bryant
“I won’t risk you getting hurt again.”
“You don’t get to decide what I’m willing to risk to be with you, Michael. You’re my mate and my Alpha but I still have a mind of my own and I won’t let you treat me like a pup just because you’re scared I might get hurt. I have to stand up for myself or they’ll never take me seriously.”
He groaned and rolled off of her. She frowned and propped herself up on one arm, watching him. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and let out a long sigh. She could feel the tension bleeding off of him and she hated that they were arguing about this but knew they had to get it settled. She’d put off telling him the truth until he figured it out himself. She wouldn’t sit silently by and let him think he could get away with treating her like a porcelain doll when she was anything but.
She was his mate. She was strong. Even if she wasn’t an Alpha, even if her wolf wasn’t dominant, she could take care of herself and he would have to let her.
“Michael?”
He made a harrumphing noise and she smiled since he couldn’t see her face. He had thrown his arm over his eyes and seemed to be pouting. It was actually kind of cute. Too cute even because she felt the heat in her veins stir again as she looked at him.
He was still naked. All of his smooth, tan skin on display and those rippling muscles bulging. His cock was visible just beneath the sheet he’d pulled up over his lower body. Thick and long, she knew it hit her just right now, stretched her until she fit over him like a glove, like she’d been made for him, and her body ached with a renewed need that she couldn’t ignore.
“Michael.” She eased closer to him and the softness in her voice must have alerted him to her change in mood because he shifted from beneath his arm and blinked at her. She smiled, “Michael, you know I’m right. You know I have to show strength for them to respect me. It’s why you’re not fighting with me.”
“I know I just…” He groaned when she slid a leg over his waist, his hands came down to her hips, holding her just inches above him. He swiped his tongue over his lips and blinked, clearly trying to remember his train of thought, “I just hate the idea of you being hurt. The way I found you, in that basement, Luna I thought you were dead and I can’t… I can’t go through that again.”
“You won’t have to.” She leaned down and brushed her lips over his softly, “I promise.”
He released one of her hips to tangle his fingers in her hair, “You can’t promise that. You don’t know what could happen. A challenge is dangerous and…”
“I’m dangerous.” She cut him off with a nip of her teeth against his jaw, “I’m an Alpha’s mate. I’m your mate and I’m not going to let anyone take you from me either.”
Michael groaned as she dropped her hips and rubbed herself against his thick length. He was hard again already. She moaned at the feel of him. Close, so close, but not where she needed him most. She rolled her hips and earned a string of curses from his lips a second before he flipped them.
He pinned her to the bed and she moaned at the exquisite feel of all that hard, male strength holding her down. She’d known he wouldn’t let her stay on top for long. He was an Alpha male and he needed to dominate. Luckily, she was just submissive enough not to fight him for the top spot, at least not right now. Not when they were still bonding and her wolf hadn’t found the strength to force her way forward to claim him in return. She couldn’t give him that, not on command, not until her wolf was ready. But she could give him this, give them more of this amazing pleasure and connectedness.
“Oh God, Michael…” She groaned as he trailed his lips to her nipple and sucked hard, “I want… I need…”
“I know baby. I know.” He slid his hand between her legs and began to stroke her in a fast, hard rhythm that matched the tugs of his mouth on her breasts.
A keening cry left her as the first shiver wrecked through her, “Michael! Oh God… Is this the heat? I can’t, I can’t get enough of you. More. Please, mate. Give me more.”
He growled at her pleas and adjusted quickly. Moving between her legs he spread her wide open and then drove himself deep. They both cried out. Her body arched and he found her hands, pulling her arms up and stretching her across the bed, holding her down with his weight as his hips began to pump.
“Fuck. Fuck.” He groaned against her neck, his tongue swiping at the mark he’d put there already, “I don’t know, baby. I don’t know if it’s the heat, or the bond or if just the idea of losing you is making me crazy but I don’t think we’re sleeping tonight. I can’t stop. Don’t want to. Want to take you so many times you feel lost without me inside you..”
“Michael.” She groaned as a flash fire in her veins made sweat break out across her body.
“Never going to get tired of you yelling my name like that.” His teeth scratched her neck and she whimpered. “Say it again. Call me yours and I’ll let you come.”
“Mine.” Luna’s voice broke as he slammed into her, jolting the air out of her lungs as their bodies collided, “You’re mine, mate. All mine.”
“Fuck yeah I am.”
He took her mouth in a deep, searing kiss and she broke apart beneath him. He caught her cries and swallowed them as his tongue plundered her mouth and his hips stuttered. She felt him swell inside of her, felt the heat of his climax as he spilled inside of her and her entire body tightened, wanting to hold him there, keep him there, where he belonged.
Michael softened the kiss as his thrusts slowed and their climaxes began to ebb. They were both panting. Covered in sweat. They’d need another shower. But when he brushed her wild curls back from her face and smiled at her with that bright, sparkling, dimple accented smile, she knew they weren’t leaving the bed anytime soon and she didn’t mind staying dirty a while longer.
Not even a little bit.
Chapter 13
Michael lay on his side, watching the way the light played off of Luna’s luminous skin in the morning light. He didn’t know how long he’d been awake. A while, if he was guessing, but he hadn’t forced himself to get up the way he normally would have.
He hadn’t gone to work out. He hadn’t gone to check in with his Enforcers and see what business needed to be handled today. He hadn’t even checked his phone for messages.
He’d simply stayed beside his beautiful mate, watching her sleep, and silently thanking the fates for giving her to him.
He felt… happy. Happier than he could ever remember being. It was a strange feeling for him because he’d always thought that he was happy.
He had a good life. He was a good leader. He’d made the best of a bad situation when he stepped into the role of Alpha and most of the time he enjoyed his position within the pack. He enjoyed his life. He had friends. He had money in the bank and a roof over his head. He had the respect of his people. He’d even gotten his brother back just last week. He’d thought he was happy, until he woke up beside Luna this morning and realized he’d had no idea what happiness truly was.
This. This feeling in his chest of warmth and hope. This was true happiness.
He wanted to reach out and touch her to make sure she was real. She was really here. She was with him. And God, she was so beautiful it made his heart ache.
She’d finished healing overnight. Her cracked lips were full and lush now, rosy and just begging for his kiss. The cut on her forehead was gone, healed completely with no sign it had ever been there. He’d checked and the same was true of the cuts on her hands and her nails. The only visible reminder she would carry on her body of what that bastard had done to her was the gash on her bicep.
It had healed but it had left a scar and he hated that for her. He didn’t want her to carry anything into her future with him from that dark time in her recent past. He thought that maybe, if she wanted him too, he’d mark her over it. He liked the idea of marking her in a place that would be so visible and he loved the idea of covering up that bad memory with a better one.
He reached out and traced it before
he could stop himself and when Luna grumbled and twitched in her sleep he winced. Her dark lashes fluttered and he knew he should feel bad about waking her. But then those dark eyes of hers opened and focused on him, a smile tipped up that full, lush, rosy mouth, and his heart tripped over itself.
“Morning, beautiful.”
“Mmmm….” Luna stretched and rubbed her face against the pillow, “Morning, mate.”
Michael chuckled, “I really, really like that endearment.”
“Do you? I didn’t notice at all last night.” She smirked and the glint in her eye made him grin right back at her.
“God, I love that mouth of yours.” He rolled towards her, pinning her to the bed and kissing her softly, “So sassy, I swear I can taste it.”
Luna moaned and kissed him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his cock hardened just that fast and easily. He wanted her again. He thought he might always want her this way. Wondered if she would be opposed to simply spending the next few years naked in their bed so he could have her anytime he wanted. She licked at his lips and he opened for her, was just moving the sheets out of the way so he could really feel her, when a knock came at the door.
She collapsed back to the bed with a pout, “Noooo.”
Michael chuckled and kissed the end of her cute little nose, “Duty calls.”
“You’re really going to answer it?”
He wanted to give her the answer she wanted. He wanted to ignore it and spend the entire day in bed with her, making love to her, feasting on her. But when the knock came again, harder this time, he knew that he couldn’t ignore it.
He was Pack Alpha. It was his job to take care of things. He’d never gotten a single day all to himself, not since he took over, but they’d given him last night. They’d given him an entire night alone with Luna, to bond and mate, and he couldn’t ignore that gift by ignoring them now.
Whoever was on the other side of the door, they must have a good reason for it.
“I have to. It could be important. “ He began to untangle himself from the sheets and called out louder, for the intruder to hear, “Out in two.”
Luna sat up on her elbows and watched him as he dragged on his clothes. He could feel her gaze eating him up and he grinned as her. She bit her lip and smirked right back, slowly lowering the sheet to below her breasts.
“My mate the tease.” Michael groaned, “I have to go. I’m sorry. Maddox is dead but there are still people out there that might want to hurt you. I can’t rest while that’s the case and you don’t want me to. You want me to make sure our family is safe, right?”
“Yes.” Luna pouted as she pulled the sheet back up over her breasts, “You’re right.”
“I know. You’ll learn. I’m always right.”
She rolled her eyes and he chuckled. He pulled a t-shirt over his head to go with his jeans and then stuffed his feet into his boots. He moved back to the bed as soon as he was done and kissed her softly, lingering over the taste of her lips, wanting to imprint it onto his own so that he would taste her no matter how long business took him away from her today.
He pulled back after a long moment, “Stay here and rest today, okay?”
“I’d like to see my sisters.”
“Of course. I’m sure they’re giving my guys hell wanting to see you too. I’ll let them know you’re up for visitors.”
“Thank you.”
He shook his head, “I told you. No need to thank me. I’ll give you anything you want. Always.”
“Mmmm…. Anything?”
Michael barely escaped her arms as she tried to pull him back into the bed and he laughed as he stumbled towards the door, “Later, baby.”
“Later, mate.” She blew him a kiss.
He was still grinning like a lunatic when he opened the door just wide enough to step out into the hallway. He knew he was, because his brother looked him up and down and then cracked up laughing. Michael shoved him playfully and shut the door behind himself.
Rafe snickered, “Sorry to interrupt.”
“No you’re not.” He grinned back at him.
“Nah, I’m not. You interrupted with me and Zoey so…” Rafe shrugged and Michael laughed again.
“Just returning the favor huh?”
“Something like that.” Rafe nodded and then grew serious, “I didn’t get a chance to say it yesterday but I’m really happy for you, little brother.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
Rafe swiped a hand through his hair and looked sheepish, “You uh… you should know that I’ve met her before, a while back actually.”
Michael’s smile instantly fell and he stepped away from his brother. No, the little voice in the back of his head screamed. No. No. No. It wasn’t possible. Rafe and Luna knew each other? His brother and his mate? He felt his stomach turn as he thought about his own relationship with Zoey. His brother’s mate now. He shook his head.
“No.” He growled, “Rafe, I swear to God if you…”
To his utter shock and amazement, his brother cracked up laughing. It was weird. It sounded a lot like his own laugh, only rusty because Rafe wasn’t one to laugh very often. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard his older brother laugh. Rafe was laughing and it was his expense.
“You’re an asshole.” Michael shoved his brother but Rafe was still laughing when he slammed his shoulder into the wall.
“You should’ve seen your face.” Rafe steadied himself and grinned, flashing dimples, “I can’t wait to tell Zoey how freaked out you were.”
“Fuck. Off.” He tried to contain his own grin and failed miserably.
“Oh, come on, Mike. It’s funny and you know it. You freaked for a second there.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.” His older brother massaged his shoulder, still grinning.
Mike. He also couldn’t remember the last time his brother had called him that. Nobody else had ever shortened his name out of respect for his position and standing in the pack. Only his brothers. Only ever Rafe… and Gabe, and Rafe hadn’t called him that since Gabe died.
He smiled back at his brother now, “Did you need something or did you just come to taunt me and tease me about finding my mate?”
“Oh, no. I came for a reason.” Rafe’s smile fell a little, “The guys are getting a little antsy what with that little one running around the place.”
“Little one?” Michael tilted his head but followed when his brother started down the hallway, “You mean, Nova?”
“Yeah, the youngest one. Turns out, Leo’s been keeping a secret about her all this time. I didn’t know. I don’t think anybody outside the Crescent pack knew, at least until yesterday.”
“Knew what?”
“She’s a Seer.”
Michael stopped walking as the shock of the words hit him, “She’s a what?”
“Yeah. You heard me.”
“Jesus,” He swiped a hand through his hair.
No wonder Maddox had wanted to control that pack and get in with the DeLuca family. Seer’s were extremely rare but a precious gift in a pack. Nova was so young, of course he couldn’t have gone after her directly. It wouldn’t have made sense for him to play the long game like that. So he’d gone after Luna instead and hoped to gain control of her sisters through her submissiveness.
“Yeah, ” Rafe said again, “Turns out, she had a vision that started all this shit with Maddox.”
“What kind of vision?”
“The kind where you show up like a white knight and save Luna and then claim her as your mate and make her your queen.”
“Holy shit.”
Nova had known. He recalled the way she’d backed him up when Leo had denied his bond with Luna. Nova was the one that had said it was true. She was the one that had convinced Leo to calm down and let Michael take care of her. She’d known.
“She saw you taking Luna away and Leo thinks that’s what set Maddox off. He knew he was out of time to g
et her to accept his claim reasonably. He knew he was losing her to you and soon and he snapped I guess.” Rafe shrugged, “I don’t know how it all works but, seems like this was all set in motion long before we knew about it.”
Michael scrubbed his hand over his face again, “That’s crazy.”
“Yep, but that’s not all, she’s been talking about her newest vision and it’s freaking everybody out, yours truly included.”
Michael started walking again, “What’s she saying?”
“Well, for starters… she said Luna isn’t safe yet.”
“Like hell she’s not.” He growled, “She’s here, on Moirae land, in the pack lodge, in my room. She’s the mate of the Pack Alpha. Of course she’s safe. She’s mine.”
Rafe shook his head, “That’s what I said but…”
“Okay. Yeah, you were right to come get me. Let’s go talk to her.”
Chapter 14
Luna stared at herself in the mirror over the dresser. It had been a long time since she saw herself. She’d been thankful for that when she had been locked away in the basement. She hadn’t wanted to see how far she’d fallen. Even last night, when Michael had carried her into the bathroom and they’d showered together, she hadn’t looked in the mirror. She’d been afraid of what she would find. But today, looking at herself she wasn’t sure it would have mattered.
She hardly recognized herself even now.
Her hair was wild. A mass of black curls that framed her face and trailed over her shoulders. She hadn’t worn her hair natural in years. She’d always carefully taken the time to have it processed and straightened. She hadn’t let it go free in a very long time but now she couldn’t help but wonder why that was.
It was beautiful. Michael had told her he thought so too and she beamed at the memory of him playing with the corkscrew curls. He’d said he was obsessed and she’d laughed because he’d said that about just about every inch of her. But just the thought made warmth flood her veins and she knew, without a doubt, that she wouldn’t be sending anyone out to retrieve her supplies to straighten it anytime soon.
