by Sam Crescent
Ana surprised the hell out of him when she wrapped both her legs around his waist and placed her hand on his chest. “I’m not afraid. The Fates believe I am the mate of the Razorback Demon, and I believe that, too. That must mean that I can take everything you have to give. And that has to mean in the bedroom as well. So, show me, my mate. Show me what it is to be mated to you.”
Demon wanted to slam home into her, pound himself into his mate until he didn’t know where he ended and his mate began. But his beast called for restraint. And didn’t that fucking beat all. His beast, the animal that drove him to fight in order to fulfill this need for power, pain, and violence within him, demanded he be patient with their mate. He insisted Demon show her he could be what she needed.
Breathing deeply, he placed the head of his cock at the hot, wet entrance to her body. Tensing every muscle in his body, he pressed forward. He groaned at the tight fit of her body, and when he came to the barrier he knew to be her innocence, he broke through it in a single steady thrust. Ana tensed beneath him, but never made a sound. Brave mate. He held still within her, allowing her time to grow accustomed to his presence within her body. When he felt her relax against him, he began to move.
Ana jerked at first, and when Demon froze, thinking that perhaps she was still in pain, she surprised him by sliding her hands to his ass and pressing down. “Don’t stop.” She groaned against his neck, grazing her teeth against the sensitive skin. “Move in me, take me, own me.”
Demon growled as he leaned up and began to thrust into her, reveling in the way she moved her hips to meet his thrusts. He maintained a steady, firm rhythm, driving them both toward the edge of their release in a quick yet controlled manner. He knew he wouldn’t be able to hold that tempo for long. His control shattered when Ana gasped and arched beneath him, and he felt the flutter of her pussy around his cock, a sure sign that her release was close.
Dropping his weight down on her, and reaching under her to cup her ass, he began to pound into her. “You are mine, angel. I own you, body and soul, but you own me, too. You fucking own me. Now, come for me, come for me hard.”
Ana’s body rippled around him and she screamed out his name for the second time. Unable to resist the erotic pull of her orgasm, Demon roared her name as loud as he could as he slammed home once more and gave himself over to his own release. He thrust a second time as his body jerked, giving her everything he had to give. On the third thrust, he slumped onto her, drawing in great gulps of air.
He pressed a kiss to her neck, nuzzling against her. “When I can claim you without causing you pain, I will. Here, this is where I am going to claim you. Once this fucking bond to that fucker Ezra is gone, I will claim you here.”
Demon’s beast grunted in pleasure at that thought, and he knew he had never been happier. But that moment was made even better when his mate bit gently on the side of his own neck.
“And I will bite you here,” she whispered breathlessly. “Then all the world will know that you belong to me.”
Demon felt the last part of his black heart, stained with the blood of so many sins, surrender itself to the light that was his mate.
****
Ana woke with a start, wrapped in the arms of her mate. She had no idea what brought her out of the deep sleep she was in, so she lay completely still, listening. Then she heard it. The muted scrape of nails against the wood panels of the deck. Inhaling, she caught the scent that had her filling with fear. The Alpha of the pack had come for her.
She tensed to move to warn her mate, but froze when he tightened his hold on her. He moved silently to press his mouth to her ear. “Took you long enough to wake up.” His voice was calm. “Your fucking Alpha has been walking around outside for the past few minutes, disarming some of my perimeter defenses. Little does the cocky son of a bitch know I disarmed most of more difficult ones yesterday.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I wanted him to actually get to the house. If I had left them armed, he would have been hurt before he got here and then I would have had to go out and hunt the fucker, and I can’t be fucked. Stay here.”
Demon slipped from the bed, and Ana sat up, pulling her hair behind her before grabbing the hair tie on her bedside table and pulling the long strands up into a bun. She stopped when she saw Demon frozen in the act of pulling on a pair of running shorts, his gaze locked to her.
“What?”
Demon grinned. “You have no idea how fucking hot you are. When you arch your back to put your truly amazing hair up, your breasts are thrust forward, and it is all I can do not to fucking jump you right here and now.”
Ana smiled despite the heat she could feel rising in her face. “Save that thought for later. If Ezra is here, he didn’t come alone.”
Demon shrugged as he finished pulling up his shorts. “Don’t fucking care. I want this done. I want you claimed. You’re mine, and he is just one flea-infested, walking-dead wolf shifter standing in my way.”
Ana slipped from the bed and pulled on her discarded t-shirt. “Well, if you are going to face that man, then I am going with you.”
For the first time, Demon looked concerned and he turned to frown at her. “You will stay here.”
Ana felt a surge of strength within her, and she knew she was finding her way to being the more dominant female match to her razorback. She knew she would never become an Alpha, but she felt her confidence building the more time she spent with her Demon.
“Nope.” She pulled on a pair of Demon’s running shorts, but had to roll the waistband a few times in order to keep them on. She was prepared to face the man who had aided in her torment since arriving in her pack, but she sure as hell wasn’t about to do it with her hoo-hoo on display.
“Dammit, Ana.” Demon growled. “I told you to stay here, and you will fucking stay here.”
Translation: I have to protect you, I need you to be safe. I don’t want to scare you.
Ana stepped up to her mate and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his tense frame. “Demon, I told you before. You are my mate. I want everything you have to give, and that includes your boar. You are my razorback and I will stand with you.” She thought about what it was he was about to face and frowned. “Well, how about not quite beside you, but slightly behind you. I know that I am getting a little more confidence, but Ezra scares the shit out of me.”
Demon growled and his eyes shimmered red. Her boar did not like that at all. He grabbed her hand, and pulled her out to the living area. Ezra’s scent intensified.
“Razorback,” Ezra called from outside, his voice filled with rage and contempt. “I accept your challenge. Come out and face me and bring my little pack whore with you!”
Demon grunted a low feral sound, his body tensing before her eyes as his boar pushed forward. Ana pressed her hand against his back to calm him. She stood quietly while he took a deep breath and then moved with him when he opened the door to his house and stepped out onto the verandah.
Ana stayed behind him, but could see Ezra standing in the middle of the clearing in front of the house. He stood naked beneath the full moon, and her wolf whimpered at the dominance that seemed to be rolling off him. It felt stronger than anything she had ever felt from him before.
Demon scented the air, and grunted a disgusted sound. “You have taken lives in your animal form, have you not? You must fear your death at my hand even more than I thought you did, dog.”
Ana’s stomach turned at what that meant. Ezra had to have challenged the more dominant males in the pack in order to have gained as much strength and dominance she could feel from him. He’d killed in his animal form, and he’d taken of their life’s blood until death. He was damned eternally and Ana was shocked he would have taken such a drastic step.
“Come to me, Ana,” Ezra said, dominance dripping from each syllable.
Ana whimpered as her wolf leaped to do as her Alpha demanded. She took a step forward, but was pulled back ag
ainst her mate. Despite her immediate relief at begin held back, her body strained to follow the verbal directions of her Alpha.
“She is mine, pig. There is no bond stronger than that of a submissive wolf to her pack Alpha.”
Ana felt Demon’s growl of rage against her back.
“Fuck that, dog. Ana is mine. My woman. My wolf. My mate. And I will be damned if I allow you to put her between you and me and use her as you have the rest of your pack.”
Demon tensed behind her and she sensed a change wash over him. His body turned rigid, and she felt the harsh hair of his boar forming along his chest, and she knew what he was about to do.
“Do it,” she whispered, tilting her head to the side to make it easier and kept her eyes locked to Ezra’s as Demon leaned in and bit her. She felt the bond between them snap into place, and she rejoiced in the rage that formed on Ezra’s face even as he roared it to the world. She had that brief moment of celebration before the white hot shaft of pain ripped through her. She screamed with the intensity of it.
Vaguely she was aware of Demon’s horror and regret that echoed down their newly formed bond. She gripped his arm where it wrapped around her and anchored herself to her mate as she rode out the pain. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. It felt as if acid traveled through her bloodstream and there was nothing she could do but weather it. She tasted blood in her mouth, and realized that she had bitten her tongue in an attempt to hold back her screams of pain.
The pain ebbed after what felt like a lifetime, but would have only been a few moments. She was slumped against her mate, breathing heavily, and bleeding from her mouth and her neck, but no longer compelled to get to Ezra.
Demon’s continuous growl of anger vibrated through her entire body. “I’m okay, Demon,” she whispered as she pushed to stand on legs that shook. “It’s okay, my love. It’s over.” Demon pressed a kiss to the wound on her neck, and Ana felt the love he had for her shimmer brightly along their connection. “I love that I am bound to you, my razorback. But I find myself sickened by the atrocity that is the Alpha bond that links me to that asshole. Kill him for me.”
Demon grunted, a sound she knew was part man, part boar, and she couldn’t stop the bloodthirsty grin sweeping across her face. Her gaze hadn’t moved from Ezra and she saw the frown that appeared on the Alpha’s face.
Ana pushed herself away from her mate, and moved to stand at the top of the stairs. “I denounce you as my Alpha, and stand by my mate for all time.”
Ezra snarled at her, and cursed incoherently. Ana frowned. Perhaps this was his punishment for what he had done. The quick yet inevitable fall into insanity.
Demon gently pushed her back a little and then leaped down the stairs to the ground. “I can sense that there are a few shifters standing in the edge of the forest. No doubt brought here by your pitiful Alpha to assist in my death if need be. Know this. I am about to end this disgrace of an Alpha you have all pledged to. I am the Razorback Demon and will burn this fucker to the ground before this night is through, but I will not follow his lead and take of his life’s blood. I will send him into the arms of the devil with my own two hands. I will not take Alpha of this pack. You will be rogue.”
Ana knew what that would mean for many of the men from her pack. They would have the freedom to go and do as they please. Something many of them had longed for, but had been unable to achieve under Ezra’s rule. Her mate was smart. He had made his intentions clear to everyone in that clearing and no doubt they were all firmly in his corner.
Chapter Eight
Demon heard the excited murmurs of the shifters within the trees, but he never took his gaze from Ezra. He had no idea how many of his own pack he had drained in order to come at Demon all hyped up and uber dominant like he was, but it had Demon’s stomach turning and his rage building at the thought.
“You killed my brother.” Ezra’s voice was barely recognizable as human.
“I did,” Demon agreed with a nod, “and I enjoyed every fucking minute of it. My boar particularly enjoyed gouging a gaping hole in his stomach.”
That was all it took to drive Ezra to the edge. He roared with rage and then leaped in Demon’s direction, shifting within the blink of an eye mid stride. Demon allowed his boar to rise within him, but held him caged. He allowed Ezra to think he had Demon at a disadvantage, and drew him closer before he embraced the change and allowed his beast full rein.
The giant boar met the oncoming wolf with a grunt, and the two of them began to fight. Demon swung his giant head at the faster shifter, attempting to get to the soft belly of the wolf with one of his massive tusks, but the prick jumped out of range. The wolf leaped around him until he was able to use his speed to get past Demon’s tusks and leap onto his back, biting deep into the flesh and muscle across the back of his neck, no doubt attempting to severe his spinal column.
This was a battle tactic many wolves used on animals, but he should have done his fucking homework. Razorbacks had a large amount of muscle and fat between their skin and their vertebrae around the neck. There was no way in hell Ezra could reach it, despite his strength. Oh, the bite hurt like a bitch, but it wasn’t deadly. Demon bunched the muscles in his neck and then threw his head from side to side as violently as he could, absorbing the pain and throwing the wolf from him. As soon as he was free, he stalked his prey.
The two of them fought back and forth, each of them scoring a few bloody hits against the other. Demon favored his right back leg, his left mangled and bleeding heavily, and there were more than a few long deep gashes along his sides where the wolf had achieved a direct hit against him. Although he hated to admit it, Demon knew he was facing a skilled fighter made even deadlier by the additional strength he had absorbed, but Ezra’s determination and motivation were nowhere near as powerful as Demon’s.
Demon was a patient fighter, he always had been, and Ezra was fighting on pure rage and emotion. A lethal mix that would only make him more prone to making a mistake, and then Demon would capitalize. He wanted this over with as quickly as possible. Demon had hurt his mate and the need to apologize and take care of her was riding him almost as hard as the desire to see this prick bleed out before him.
He watched as Ezra moved to the left, but from the way his muscles tensed, Demon knew he was going to leap right and come at him. A split second after Ezra committed to jumping in from the right, Demon swung his head with a growl of triumph. There was nowhere for the wolf to go. Only death and the giant tusk of an enraged razorback waiting for him. Ezra slammed onto his right tusk and Demon moved his head, making sure to gouge deep and true, ensuring the blow was lethal.
Ezra yelped in pain, the sound of a wolf that knew the end was near, and the cry morphed half way through to that of a man who faced his death. Demon waited, still in his animal form as Ezra bled out fast before his eyes. The two men’s gazes remained locked together, and Demon read the fear shining in Ezra’s eyes. Demon had heard his mate’s approach so didn’t even flinch when she stepped up beside him, her hand reaching out to press against his heaving side.
“There’s my Demon,” she crooned as she soothed the beast, touching him for the first time. “I pledge to you my Alpha.”
Demon jolted as a second bond slammed into place between him and his angel. He grunted and Ana smiled at him. “Yeah, I know, you had the whole go rogue speech down, but I make up my own mind now. I am yours. Completely.”
Demon grunted again when his mate moved to stand closer to the dying wolf, and moved with her so that if by some miracle Ezra could strike out at her, he was there to stop it, but he needn’t have worried. Ezra had already slipped into death. The two of them stood there for a moment and Demon sensed the other shifters in the woods moving away.
It was over. The Eastlands Alpha was dead, his mate was bound to him in all ways, and the Razorback Demon finally had a future to look forward to. Perhaps the Fates weren’t as clueless as he had originally thought.
****
; “You know I never wanted to be your Alpha.” Demon growled against her neck, making her shiver. “I’m your mate.”
Ana reached up to wrap her arms around his shoulders with a sigh. “I know, my love, but I’m yours, and I want you to be mine in all ways possible.”
Demon growled and held her tighter. He pulled back, thrust steadily into her, and the pleasure built within her with every stroke. “I like the sound of that. Does that mean I can give you orders and you have to comply?”
Ana laughed breathlessly. “No, my mate. Orders will never work on the mate of an Alpha.”
Demon pulled back to lean on his elbows, resting his forehead on hers. “What if I asked you nicely and promised to behave?”
Ana giggled, undulating her hips and reveling in his groan of appreciation. “I wouldn’t believe you. Demon by name and Demon by nature, remember?”
Demon laughed, a sound she was coming to crave. “Too true, my mate. Then how about I promise to fuck you the way you like it for the rest of our lives?” Demon began to piston his hips in a rhythm designed to drive her to the edge of sanity in an embarrassingly short amount of time, and she cried out his name. He lifted her legs to wrap them around his hips and she squeezed her internal muscles reflexively, wanting to hold him inside her.
“Fuck! Ana!” Demon roared as his rhythm faltered and he began to pound into her, deep furious thrusts that had her sobbing mindlessly as her orgasm built. Just when she thought she might shatter with the anticipation of what was building, her release rushed over. She screamed Demon’s name as her body began to convulse beneath the waves of pleasure. Before she completely lost her mind to the bliss, she leaned up and bit deep into her mate’s neck, cementing their bond, and completing her claim. She heard Demon’s answering curse as her release and no doubt her claiming bite triggered his own.
