by Cali Mann
When we reached a clearing, my wolf said we had gone far enough, and I dropped her in the center of a pile of leaves. Snorting at the rising dust, wolf and I sniffed her from head to toe.
“What are you doing, Lucan?” she asked shakily.
I howled. The sound was wrong from my human mouth, too shrill, but wolf knew we needed our human form to mate. I pulled off my shirt and undid my pants, dropping them to the ground and kicking off my shoes.
Sasha scooted backward across the dry leaves. “Wait a minute. You’re hot as hell, but we have to be rational about this.”
I stalked after her, naked and growling. Her honeysuckle scent was heavy on the breeze.
Her eyes trailed up and down my naked form, and she licked her lips.
I leaped forward, pinning her to the earth. My mouth came down on hers. This kiss wasn’t like the time in the hall; it was punishing, brutal. She’d betrayed me, and I was going to take what was mine.
Sasha wriggled under me at first, then she softened, wrapping her arms around me.
I scented fear . . . and arousal. I peered into her eyes. The fear wasn’t of me, it was of mating. My wolf huffed. Good. This is right. She is mine.
Grasping the edges of her shirt, I ripped it open, and she gasped. Then I kissed down her neck and chest, flicking open the hooks of her front-closing bra. Taking her breasts in my hands, I ran my tongue over her nipple, and she groaned.
Unbuttoning her jeans, I slid my hand under her underwear and circled her sensitive nub. I looked up and watched the dance of emotions cross her face: pleasure, worry, fear, excitement. “I’m going to fuck you,” I said, my voice deep with feeling.
Her eyes darted around. “You can’t. We’ll be mated.”
I yanked her pants down over her hips, and she lifted them to aid me. Then I pressed my fingers into her wetness, and she bucked. “I’m going to claim you.”
“I’ve already—”
Sniffing, I grinned. “I will be the first of your mates.” I removed the rest of her clothing so that she lay naked on the bed of leaves.
“Lucan,” she said, her voice pleading while her nipples peaked under my gaze. “You don’t have to do this.”
I let my eyes take in every bit of her creamy skin. “I told you what I am going to do, little girl.”
“Fuck,” she said, struggling to sit up and move away. She got to her feet and leaned against the tree.
Reaching out, I grabbed her and yanked her to me, skin to skin. Her eyes were wild, but she melted against me. I stroked back her hair, gazing into the azure depths of her eyes, and I whispered, “Do you want me to stop?”
Her breath caught in her throat, and a war raged across her face.
I cupped her ass and lifted her. Her legs encircled me, and my cock pressed against her. I grunted, my wolf pulsating within me. “Last chance, Sasha,” I forced out. “Say no.”
Her breath hot against my face, she gasped, “I want you.”
My wolf whooped within, and I smiled. Bracing her against the tree, I slid inside one slow inch at a time. Her hands gripped my bicep, her nails biting into my skin and her eyes closed. Time seemed suspended as I held her, my cock filling her completely, and waited for her to adjust to my size.
Her eyelids fluttered, and she squeezed me. I grunted. We began to move, faster and faster, with hard, battering thrusts. We couldn’t get close enough, wanting to lose ourselves inside the other person. My earth roaring up to meet hers. My wolf calling out to the wolf within her.
No give and take in this dance, we both took from each other, merging into one being. Faster and faster I plunged, taking her to the very edge of the cliff, my fingers digging into her ass. Until we plunged into orgasm together. She cried out, clenching me, and I came, joining her in bliss.
27
Sasha
I lay on a bed of leaves, sore and sweaty. Lucan lay on top of me, his arms wrapped around me. All I could smell was sex and dry leaves. Making no effort to move, I stared up at the blue sky, visible between the tree branches.
What had we done? I wasn’t supposed to mate anyone, let alone Lucan Masters, alpha of his pack. What did that even mean, anyway? How many of them were there? Was I now a queen? I snorted.
He grunted, opening his eyes. “What’s so funny?”
“What’s an alpha’s mate called?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“My queen.” He closed his eyes.
I shoved his shoulder. “No, really?”
He sat up slowly and gazed down at me. “You’re an alpha and my mate. Do you need more?”
His eyes were dark and hungry, and his cock hardened against my leg. The words meant did I need a title, but the gaze said something else entirely. My breath caught in my throat. I had never been fucked so thoroughly in my life, but when he asked if I wanted more, all I could think was, Yes!
Sliding his fingers down my body, he stroked every scratch and mark the brush and his hands had made. I trembled under his touch, aching for him. My eyes ran over his muscled shoulders and caught on the emerging vine-shaped colors there. It was even more beautiful than the drawn one Drew had. I reached toward it, and he bent his shoulder so I could trace it with my fingers.
“We’re really fucking mated.”
He beamed. “We are.”
I bit my lip. “This is really going to fuck things up for you.”
Lucan shook his head. “It was meant to be. The wolf wouldn’t let me deny it anymore.”
“I’ll need other mates to stay sane,” I said.
His eyes glowed, more yellow than brown. “But I am first. I am alpha.”
I frowned. “Is that why you did this? Because of Drew’s mark?”
Lucan grunted. “Wolf was pissed you let him take you.”
“But it was a fake,” I muttered.
“I know that now.” He chuckled and trailed his fingers across my stomach. He slid them between my legs and swirled them around my sensitive nub.
My head fell back, and I moaned.
Teasing me, he stroked and played until my breath came in gasps. Then he pushed me over the edge, and I flew apart. His touch was my only tether to the world. I didn’t care about any of my problems or anybody else, just that little motion.
Then he positioned himself between my legs, replacing his fingers with the warm heat of his body. Lifting my hips, he plowed into me, and I cried out. He filled me more completely than anyone I’d ever been with before, and I wrapped my legs around him, wanting more. I was wet and ready, so he took up the rhythm.
We united as one, our wolves growling within us, and carried each other to even greater heights. The explosion made me arch my head back, my vision blurring, and he came with me, hard and fast.
Afterward, I stroked my fingers along his jaw and the small beard that grew there, marveling at this man who had claimed me.
* * *
It wasn’t until we started trekking back toward campus that the shock of what we’d done hit me. Lucan and I had mated. There wasn’t any hiding it. Even if I hadn’t worn his shirt, because he’d destroyed mine, the proof ran across his naked shoulders. I gazed at his tattoo as he hiked ahead of me. Each vine and leaf was like a nail in my coffin.
There was no way they’d let me stay at Thornbriar Academy after this. I’d mated one of the golden boys. His uncle was on the Council.
I stumbled over a root, and Lucan swung around, catching me easily. His green eyes, with their flecks of gold, skimmed over me, checking for injury.
“I’m fine,” I said, even though I wasn’t. Worry thrummed through me. How was I going to protect my brother? Chuck would come after him now. He’d see this as a failure. He’d think I was just trying to save myself, mating to keep sane. I was fucked. My core ached, and I winced. I hadn’t meant physically, but I’d been well and truly fucked there too.
I twisted the long ends of Lucan’s shirt, wrapping and unwrapping my hands, as we walked up the long yard to campus. The sun was high in the sky and b
eat down on us as we climbed. Shading my eyes, I gazed at the back porch and froze. Stretched along it were five or six people, watching us approach. Nancy I recognized.
“What the fuck?” I muttered.
Lucan reached back and grabbed my hand, pulling me forward, next to him. He smiled. “It’s just the pack come to welcome you.”
I scanned their faces. They looked anything but welcoming. “I don’t think they’re happy.”
He growled, low in his throat. “They will accept you.”
I shrugged. “I don’t think that’s the kind of thing that can be commanded.”
“You are my mate.” He squeezed my hand. “They will give you the respect you deserve.”
When we reached the porch, the pack stepped forward. There were six of them: three women and three guys.
Nancy, with her brown curls tied up in a ponytail and her hands on her hips, stepped forward. Fury raced across her face. “What have you done to our alpha?”
Lucan snarled beside me.
I reached out to stop him, but my hand caught only air.
He had already bounded up the stairs and grabbed her by the neck, holding her firmly. She twisted and whimpered as he stared down at her.
“No one does anything to me, Nancy,” he said. The pure venom in his voice made my skin prickle.
“But what were you doing with her?” she asked plaintively.
“Not that it’s any of your business”—his eyes met the gaze of each pack member—“but I was fucking my mate.”
He must have squeezed her neck even more tightly because Nancy gasped.
“Do any of you have a problem with that?”
Their gazes darted from him to me and back again, but each one said ‘no’ and bowed their head.
Lucan turned back to Nancy. “Do you have a problem with that, bitch?”
She tried to shake her head, but he held her too tightly. Her lips looked bluish, even in the bright sunlight, and her arms flailed.
Moving up beside them, I put my hand on his arm. “Lucan, honey,” I said as calmingly as I could. “She can’t answer if she can’t breathe.”
He opened his fingers, and Nancy fell to the stone patio, choking and gasping. His chin lifted as he watched her try to recover, and none of the other pack members moved.
Fuck. These shifters were vicious.
Nancy lay on the porch, her head near Lucan’s feet. Color was returning to her face, and she’d stopped gasping.
Leaning down, Lucan peered at her. “Do you accept my mate?”
“Yes,” she sputtered.
“Good.” He smiled and waved forth the others. “Come and greet your new alpha.”
The others moved forward, heads bowed, and Lucan introduced them. To be honest, they were kind of a blur. Was that how the pack alpha always treated them? Violent and abusive just because they disagreed? It seemed insane. I wasn’t my mother. I didn’t tolerate aggressive men, especially when that violence had no point. I didn’t think force was the way to develop any friendly feelings. They’d hate and resent me even more now.
I looked away, anywhere but at this display before me, and saw Drew standing by the door. He met my eyes, and I swallowed. I moved toward him, and Lucan reached out a hand.
“I’ll be right back,” I said.
He looked past me to where Drew lingered in the doorway, but he nodded.
I blinked. Fuck. This whole mating business was not going to be cool.
28
Drew
My heart bottomed out somewhere around my knees as I watched Sasha come toward me. Shirtless Lucan over there made it clear what she’d done, but I didn’t know why. We’d had a plan. It was going to work. Why had she thrown me over for that asshole wolf?
She stood in front of me, leaves sticking out of her hair and looking well and truly fucked.
“Drew,” she began.
“Why’d you do it?” I asked, squeezing my hands into fists. I wanted to march right over there and punch his lights out. But what good would it do? They were already mated, and Sasha needed four mates to stay sane. I just wished she hadn’t chosen that jerk to be one of them.
She sighed. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“He fucking raped you?” I started forward, fury flowing through me.
Her hand came down on my bare arm. I just wanted to pull her close and hold her.
“No, Drew, nothing like that.” She gave a rueful smile. “Your tattoo freaked him out, and he stole me away like a caveman.”
“Why him and not me?” My voice was low and strained. Because this was the real question. I’d asked her to choose me, and she hadn’t.
“I couldn’t fight it.” Her eyes dropped to the floor, and her cheeks pinked.
My mouth twisted. “Guess I’m just not that irresistible.”
She shook her head. “I don’t mean it like that.”
“Then what did you mean, Sasha?” I growled. “Do I mean anything at all to you?”
Her eyes flashed back up to my face. “I just wanted to protect you.”
I snorted. “Protect me by fucking some other guy.”
“Drew—”
Cutting my hand through the air, I turned away from her. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“Hear what?”
I glanced back. “How much you care for me when really you were just dicking me around.”
She snarled, every bit the wolf.
“Go fuck your real boyfriend. I’m done playing house.” I stormed back into the building, putting as much space between us as I could. She’d been fucking using me until something better came along. I’d been the star with my fake tattoo, and now I wasn’t worth anything.
I slammed my fist against the stone wall and yelled. I’d offered to mate her, to throw away my whole future, and she’d chosen him.
29
Sasha
After Drew stomped off, I glanced back at Lucan and his fawning pack. I didn’t want to be here, doing this. But I couldn’t follow Drew. Entering the building, I turned the opposite way and headed toward the stairwell. Cal had said there were pools down this way, and right now I just needed to be somewhere else.
The stone steps echoed under my feet, but at the bottom, I entered a cavern strung with electric lights and almost entirely occupied by a water-filled pool. I sat down at the edge and pulled off my socks and shoes. I dipped a toe in and sighed audibly. The water was warm and soothing—just what I needed.
I glanced around, but I seemed to be alone. Standing, I quickly stripped off the rest of my clothes and dived in. Extra grateful for the public school swim lessons, I crisscrossed the pool. All my achy bits gave themselves up to the warm water. When I tired, I floated on my back and closed my eyes.
Chuck was going to kill me. I’d done exactly what I’d said I wasn’t going to do. I’d mated a guy from a prominent family. Lucan’s fucking uncle was on the Council. How could I be so freaking stupid?
And Drew was pissed at me. He must have figured I’d used him to get to Lucan, but it hadn’t been like that at all. I did like Drew a lot. Probably more at this point than Lucan. Which was why I couldn’t mate him. It would put him in the same position that Lucan was in: a prominent family member mated to a no-good spirit shifter.
Fuck. What was I going to do?
I needed to find some way to un-mate Lucan. Was that even possible? Could I turn back time? What good was all this magic shifter stuff if I couldn’t get it to do the really important jobs like fix my fuck ups? I sighed.
Worst of all, Chuck was going to kill Alex. How could I protect him? Was there some way for Lucan to do it? He had all these pack members—what else were they good for?
My thoughts were interrupted by a loud whoop, and my eyes snapped open. Cal grinned at me from the side of the pool, and behind him stood Flint, grim as ever.
“Hey, babe,” Cal said, yanking on his tee-shirt. “Mind if I join you?”
I chuckled and swam to the edge of the pool. As I clim
bed out buck-naked and walked over to my clothes, I said, “Sorry Cal. I don’t have time for you today.”
His face fell like he’d just been denied a puppy, but his eyes followed my every move. Despite his stiff posture, Flint’s did, too. Boys always loved a good show.
I pulled on Lucan’s shirt and my jeans and tucked my undies in my rear pocket. Walking by Flint, I tapped him on the nose. “Sorry, lover boy. You either.”
He scowled.
Putting a little extra sashay into my step, I left the boys behind and headed upstairs. Lucan and I had been in the woods most of the morning—it must have been nearly lunchtime. I didn’t really have any desire to go to the dining hall, but I was starved, and I wasn’t going to make it on another stolen yogurt from the triplets.
I sighed and headed toward the hall.
The dining hall was quieter than I expected, but the roast beef sandwiches and corn on the cob smelled delicious. I loaded a plate and turned to go.
“Hey Sasha,” a subdued voice said behind me.
“What is it, Nancy?” I asked.
She held out my backpack. “You left this outside history this morning. I thought you might want it.”
I blinked. She was actually being nice to me? This was what an alpha’s power did, but was it really what I wanted? I’d rather she ranted and raved at me. I took the backpack. “Thanks.”
She turned to go.
“Nancy,” I said. “You don’t have to be nice to me just ‘cause Lucan said so.”
She spun, her eyes glowing angrily. “You don’t know what it means to be part of a pack. We look out for one another.” She shrugged her shoulders. “And we do what the alpha says.”
My brow furrowed. “Even when he smacks you down?”
Her gaze was steady. “I deserved it. I disrespected him and his mate.”
It didn’t make any sense to me. Sure, team up, look out for one another, but why should the alpha have all the power? Maybe I was too used to relying only on myself and too disgusted by them letting him abuse them, but it seemed ridiculous to me.
