by J. L. Wilder
Hell, I’m practically losing my mind for him as it is.
He stopped running suddenly, pulling her to a stop beside him. She looked around. It was a part of the forest she knew well enough, but they were miles away from the cave.
She didn’t ask. She didn’t care. She just wanted.
He lifted her up so high that her waist was at the level of his head, and then she felt the rough scrape of tree bark at her back. A moment later, she was seated in a tree, in the fork where two branches split to form a Y shape, a good five feet off the ground.
She stared at him. What was this?
He stood back and looked at her, appraising, evaluating, almost as if he was seeing her for the first time.
“Marco,” she said. Didn’t he understand how desperate she was—how desperate he had made her, when he had grabbed her that way in the clearing, when he had let her feel his desire for her? Didn’t he understand that she needed him now, that that was the whole reason she had run away with him?
He smiled at her but said nothing.
“Marco, please.” She started to climb down out of the tree.
He shook his head. “Stay right there,” he said.
She was stunned. It was an order. Her alphas almost never gave her orders. Only when they were concerned for her safety.
Or, very occasionally, her pleasure.
She couldn’t catch her breath. Her dress was wet where it fell between her legs. She pressed her thighs together, trying to create friction, trying to give herself some relief.
Marco saw what she was doing. “Stop that,” he said quietly.
Another order. She stopped, aching.
He stepped forward, wrapped his hands gently around her ankles, and lifted her legs, forcing her knees to bend, placing her feet flat on each of the two branches that stretched out before her. He lifted the hem of her skirt up over her knees, leaving her bare and exposed.
“I thought you were naked under there,” he breathed, his gaze fixated between her legs.
The wind gusted, teasing her. Her legs twitched. She curled her toes, gripping the tree branches, forcing herself to hold her legs apart for Marco. This was what he wanted. She would give her alpha what he wanted, even though it was torturing her.
He looked up at her. “You want to touch yourself, don’t you?” he asked.
Was he going to let her? “Please,” she begged, feeling herself grow wetter. Right now, it felt as though just a few brushes of her fingertips might bring her to orgasm. She ached for relief.
“You can touch your nipples,” he said. “Will that help?”
It wasn’t what she wanted most, but fuck, it was something. She cupped her breasts and circled her nipples with her thumbs, then pinched them erect. Her body flooded with sensation. She had always been extremely sensitive here, and she knew she could come this way if she needed to, but it wasn’t what she wanted. It wasn’t enough.
She gritted her teeth and lowered her hands back to the tree beneath her.
Marco was watching. “No?” he asked.
“I don’t want to come like that,” she said. “It won’t be satisfying.”
He grinned. “I know,” he said.
“You’re trying to kill me.”
“I’m not,” he said.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
He reached forward, resting the palm of his hand between her legs. Too gentle to give her any friction, any relief, but she felt herself throbbing against him all the same.
“I want to see you as desperate as I am,” he said quietly.
“Marco, fuck, I’ve never wanted it more in my life,” she said quietly. “I don’t know how I’m not screaming right now.”
He stepped closer. Looking down, she could see that his eyes were dilated. “You smell intoxicating,” he said quietly. “Fuck, do you know how good you smell?”
His mouth was hanging open now. He was inches away from her. If she moved her hips even a little, she would have the relief she craved.
But he had ordered her not to move. It was as if a weight was holding her in place, preventing her from sliding forward.
“Marco,” she breathed. “Please. Please.”
He looked up at her, the expression on his face that of a hungry wolf, and at that moment, she knew he was more animal than man.
And she loved it.
The moment his tongue finally pressed against her was exquisite. It was rough and strong, and he drew soft circles before sealing his lips against her and beginning to suck. Two fingers found their way into her body, then three, fucking her and stroking her insides.
She sobbed with relief and pleasure.
Marco pressed himself in closer to her and sucked harder. It occurred to her to wonder whether he had known this was here—this tree with a seat at the perfect height for him to do this—and whether he had been saving it for a special occasion. Could they have just gotten lucky today? Or had he been planning to perch her up here, to get at her in this way?
The thought was driven out of her head as he removed his fingers from inside her and slid his tongue slowly down. Then he was licking his way into her, licking her from the inside, and now Sophie did let out a scream. She felt herself contracting around him, the orgasm that had been lurking finally breaking over her.
He withdrew, lifted her carefully down from the tree, pulled her into his arms, and lowered her directly onto his cock.
She was too worn out from what she had just experienced to do anything more than cling to him. She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and her arms around his shoulders, letting him do the work, letting him hitch his strong hips back and forth and bounce her body up and down. She couldn’t catch her breath. He was so big inside her. It felt so good to be with him like this.
He found her lips and kissed her, and she could taste herself in his mouth. The thought of it sent a jolt through her body, and a moment later, she was coming again, shaking in his arms.
He still wasn’t finished. He lowered her onto the ground, not separating his body from hers even for a moment, and fucked her hard. She clawed into the dirt, lifting her hips to meet his, stars exploding behind her closed eyes.
The third time she came, she felt him come with her.
She was too exhausted to get to her feet, her muscles too shaky to walk. He seemed to understand. He lifted her easily into his arms and set off at a slow walk through the forest. She leaned against his broad chest, taking comfort from his strength. After a while, her head began to clear, and she realized they were going back to the cave.
She looked up at him. “How long have you been planning that?” she asked.
“I wasn’t,” he said. “I swear. “It just happened. Was it good for you?”
“Don’t ask silly questions.”
Marco laughed. “Maybe we should make that our spot,” he said. “We don’t need to tell the others about it. We could just meet there from time to time.”
“Sounds good to me,” she said. “I think I can walk now, by the way.”
He eased her down onto her feet, keeping one arm wrapped around her. “Take it easy,” he said. “Don’t try to do too much too fast.”
Sophie grinned up at him. “Do you think you fucked me so hard that I forgot how to walk?”
“You did forget how to walk,” he pointed out. “I’ve been carrying you for fifteen minutes.”
“Don’t get so full of yourself,” she said, swatting his arm.
The cave came into view in the distance. Sophie began to jog, and after a moment, Marco came up beside her. “What’s the hurry?” he asked her.
“I’m hungry,” she said.
“You’re hungry? You just had a big turkey buffet breakfast!”
“Yeah, well, I burned off all of those calories,” she said, laughing. “Which you must have known would happen, or you wouldn’t have specifically arranged to feed me up like that.”
“It’s a celebration,” Marco protested. “A celebration c
alls for a feast. No one was trying to feed you up.”
“Yeah, well, right now, I could go for some jerky,” she said. “Unless you packed up any of that turkey to bring back to the cave with us.”
“I should have,” he said. “But my mind was on other things when we left the clearing, to be honest with you. I’m surprised I remembered to bring my shoes.”
Sophie laughed. Marco was usually so serious. Of all her alphas, he was the one who was most often lost in thought, planning for the future and worrying about potential threats to the family. It was always good to see Marco cut loose and enjoy himself.
The day was warm and humid, even though it was early autumn, so it was a relief to return to the relative cool of the cave. Sophie went straight to the back and flopped down in the nest of blankets, staring up at the high rock ceiling overhead.
Marco chuckled. “I thought you wanted something to eat,” he said.
“I’m tired.”
He came over to her with a few strips of jerky in hand and passed them to her. “You’ve got to keep your energy up,” he said. “You’re probably eating for two now.”
“Two?” She raised her eyebrows.
“An expression.”
“Because you know I’m probably eating for, like, eleven or something.” She rested her hand on her stomach, marveling at how ordinary her body felt, even now, when it was likely that something extraordinary was taking place within. “Do you really think I’m pregnant already?” she asked.
“I’d say almost definitely yes,” Marco said. “You’ve probably been pregnant since the night you spent with Burton. That was the whole point, after all.”
“If it didn’t work, will we do another mating ceremony?” she asked.
“It worked,” Marco said confidently. “You’re an omega. How could it not work? Of course it worked.”
She nodded, frowning. She wished she had the faith in her body that her alphas seemed to have. It was hard to believe that she could already be pregnant, that she had only to wait, and in a few months, her body would begin to grow again, the way it had with her last children. It felt as if more effort must be required on her part to achieve that kind of result.
I wasn’t trying last time. That’s why this felt so different. Last time, her pregnancy had taken all of them by surprise. It had been a welcome and wonderful surprise, but it hadn’t been something they were expecting. It hadn’t been something they would have felt the lack of if it hadn’t happened.
But it was different now. If Sophie didn’t get pregnant by the end of this ceremony, she would feel at fault somehow. She would feel as if she had failed them.
Calm down, she told herself firmly. It’ll happen. It’s what your body was made for, after all.
But it was so hard to think of herself that way.
Being an omega had meant something different for the bulk of her life. When she had lived below the Arctic Circle, when she had belonged to Josh’s pack, being the pack’s omega had meant that she was the lowest on the totem pole, the one who could be pushed around. It had meant that all the men, including the betas, felt free to leer at her or even to grab her as she walked by. It had meant that she was intended, one day, to belong to Josh for him to use however he liked.
She had never seen it as a good thing.
Then she had come north and met the men who had become her alphas, who had formed her new pack. And everything was different now. They would never treat her the way Josh and his pack had. They revered her. And being their omega meant that she was useful and important, that she was the one with the power to help the family grow.
She knew she had that power. She had seen it at the birth of her first litter of children. But it was still difficult to believe sometimes.
Marco took a seat beside her, biting into his own strip of jerky. “This stuff’s good,” he commented. “Pretty fresh.”
“Cam made it,” Sophie said. “He’s been experimenting with different meats to see what dries the best.”
“What’s this?” Marco asked, holding it up.
“Trout,” she said.
He stared. “Cam made jerky out of fish?”
“They do it in Scandinavia,” Sophie pointed out. “Besides, it worked.”
“Yeah, it did,” Marco allowed. “I’m just impressed that the kid even thought of it.”
“He’s getting good at living wild,” Sophie said. “I thought it would take him longer to find his feet than it has, but he’s really turning out to be a good addition to our pack, even though he isn’t a fighter.”
Marco nodded. “Everyone’s valuable,” he said.
“Ryker’s been talking about bringing more betas into the pack,” Sophie said.
“We’ve all been talking about that,” Marco said.
“You think it’s a good idea too?”
“The bears are gone,” Marco said. “The whole northern territory can be ours now. There’s no reason for any division between wolves. Yes, I think it’s best if we find as many pack members as we can, and do whatever we can to unite amongst ourselves.”
Chapter Six
BURTON
Cam ducked out of the tent and made his way over to the bonfire, where Burton sat watching the flames lick higher and higher. “Okay,” he said. “All the babies are asleep.”
“Even Caleb?” Burton asked, vaguely surprised that it had been so easy to get his oldest son to go down for the night. Every other evening of the campout, Caleb had been up much later than any of the others.
“Finally wore himself out, I guess,” Cam said, taking a seat beside Burton.
“Who’s with them now?” Burton asked.
“Petra,” Cam said. “She’s a little worn out too lately.”
“Is she sick?” Burton asked.
“Nah,” Cam said. “She’s all right. Just working a lot harder than she normally would. You know how it is. Usually, she stays in the cave most of the day—we both do—or we do a bit of fishing or berry picking by the river. You alphas, and Robby and Chrissy, do all the hunting and perimeter patrolling.”
“There are more than enough of us to handle those jobs,” Burton said.
“I know,” Cam assured him. “But Petra’s been feeling like she wants to get involved lately. That’s why she’s been tagging along with Robby and Chrissy more while we’ve been camping out.” He shrugged. “I think she might be afraid to talk to you and the other alphas about changing her role in the pack.”
Burton surveyed Cam. Talk about changing your role. Cam was probably the best example of that sort of thing. When he had come to them, he had been practically silent, afraid to talk, content to let his sister speak for him. Now he was as vocal as anyone else in the family. Burton could see that he’d really allowed himself to become comfortable here.
It was fascinating to watch the way his family had evolved over such a short span of time.
But then, I guess in the eyes of the other alphas, I’ve probably changed more than anyone.
If that was what they thought, Burton would have had to concede that they had a point. His life had been wildly different before he had come to the pack. He’d been living completely on his own, struggling to survive, racing to avoid the threat of the wild bears with whom he had shared the woods back then.
It had been a hard life. He had had to fight for everything. Every ounce of safety. Every scrap of food.
And when he had smelled fresh meat one night, he hadn’t been able to resist its appeal.
It had seemed at the time that Ryker and Marco would never forgive him for the sin of trying to steal from their cave. Only Sophie had understood that he had been nearly starving. Only she had pleaded with the others to spare him, to try to forgive him.
It had complicated all their lives when he had imprinted on her. He had never wanted to be part of a pack. He had liked the fact that he was independent. Living on his own had been his preference, even though it had been hard.
But from the moment he’d laid
eyes on Sophie, leaving her behind had ceased to be an option. She had become the center of his universe, much more important to him than food had ever been.
It had taken the others a while to accept him, to adjust to his presence, but Sophie had loved him immediately. She had never questioned that he belonged among the pack.
Maybe that was why Burton had been the first to accept the betas when they had crossed paths. He was the one who had invited them into the pack, without waiting to see what Ryker and Marco thought of it. He knew they had been upset about his impetuous choice at the time, but now it was hard to imagine life without his betas. They belonged every bit as much as Burton himself did.
Cam moved closer to the fire and began to add tinder. “Are we expecting Sophie back soon?” he asked.
“Pretty soon, I’d guess,” Burton said, though he wouldn’t have been surprised if Marco had been dragging his feet on bringing her back to the clearing. If he had been the last one to be with her, he probably would have made the most of every moment.
“It’s nice that we got a clear night,” Cam said. “If it was raining again, we wouldn’t be able to have this fire, and there’s something really celebratory about it.”
Burton nodded. The fire had grown steadily higher over the course of the past few days. There had always been someone awake to watch over it, even in the middle of the night. Now that they’d reached the final night of the mating ceremony, the fire was tall enough and bright enough to light up the whole clearing, and when a log snapped, it could be heard from a long way away.
We would never have been able to do this when the bears were around. It would have been far too dangerous. The fire would have lured them in, given them information about the wolves’ presence. Burton thought back to his early days with the pack and the way they’d stuck to the cave at all times, only daring to go out by the light of day to hunt and fish, and always in pairs, making sure no one was ever on their own.
And Sophie never went out at all.
Sophie had spent all her time in the cave, always with someone to watch her back, and even with all those precautions, she had still been kidnapped by the bears.
