by T. Cobbin
He’d filled out muscle wise quite a bit since the last time she’d seen him. He had a fine dusting of hair on his chest, and his skin was gloriously tanned. His dark brown hair had grown to his shoulders, and he had a fingertip-length beard. She briefly wondered if it would tickle her skin when he kissed her again.
“Well!” Timmy demanded. “Are you going to finish the challenge, or do I go to the elders and get this all void now?” A sly smile lifted his lips.
Raven knew if the elders were to void the incomplete challenge, Timmy could escape with only some pack community service for his attempted rape. Duke looked over her head and snarled, showing his teeth. Raven lifted a hand and placed it in the center of his chest. Duke stared down at her, and his shoulder slumped in defeat.
“You two get out,” Duke ordered Timmy’s friends. “And you turn around,” he growled at Timmy.
“But—” Timmy protested as his friends scattered from the cabin, leaving him behind.
“I don’t intend to let you see any more of my mate’s naked skin ever again. I definitely don’t intend for her first time to be ruined with your eyes on her,” Duke spat.
“She isn’t your mate yet, beta,” Timmy growled, his emphasis on the word beta showing his disrespect.
After a few reluctant, silent seconds, Timmy turned around, his arms folding over his chest. Raven turned to look up at Duke’s face. She could see his unwillingness to begin the mating with another male in the room. It’s for the pack. She tried to mentally reassure him with her eyes. His conflicted emotions filled her mind.
“It’s always been you,” she whispered and received a tiny lift of his lips.
He bent and placed his arms under her legs and back and lifted her up against his chest. Taking a step toward the bed, he placed her gently down on it.
“At least the sheets seem to be clean.” She tried to insert a little humor into the situation.
He paused over the top of her, and again she could see and feel his loathing at the situation. She placed a hand on his face and stroked along his cheek, running a finger through his beard. It was softer than it looked. Bit by bit, she could feel him relax. He bowed his head, and his lips danced briefly over hers as he kissed her. She closed her eyes and reveled in the taste of Duke, the man she’d dreamed about since she was sixteen.
Slowly, as his lips moved over hers, his tongue did too, begging for entrance. Opening, she gave him the freedom to delve inside. She couldn’t help the moan as his silky tongue slid along hers. She forgot all about Timmy being in the room; it was just her and Duke. He made love to her mouth with his lips and tongue, causing her body to light up with desire. So many nights she had dreamed about being with him, wondering what it would be like. Finally, here she was, making him her alpha.
Chapter 3
Never in his wildest dreams did Duke imagine this day turning out as it had. He paced his cabin impatiently, wishing for time to speed up. Although sad about the events that were bringing Raven home, he couldn’t wait to see her.
He peered at the clock again. Only five minutes had passed since he’d last looked. Forty-five minutes to go. Not being able to wait around any longer, he exited his cabin and began the trek through the woods to the place he’d left her four years ago.
Over the years Duke had written to Raven every single day, and he had put his heart in each email. She had wanted to Skype a few times, but her father had warned Duke that actually seeing him could make her too homesick, and she might want to come back. So he had denied her request, like her father had also done.
Theodore hadn’t been doing too well this last week. He’d hardly come out of his cabin, or his bed. Finding him this morning, cold, Duke had dreaded the phone call he’d have to make to Raven. But she already knew. Now here she was, on her way home to take up the alpha female spot.
Calling a pack meeting, he’d informed them of their alpha’s death, then told them that Raven was on her way home to take up the position. Duke could only read his people’s faces and scent their emotions, unlike the alpha who could mentally feel them. He sensed sorrow at their alpha’s death, but also pleasure that Raven was coming home with the prospect that she might mate.
Throughout the day Duke had worked with the elders on organizing Theodore’s funeral before heading back to his cabin to wait until, finally, he could pick up the young woman he’d left his heart to. In all the years Raven had been away, Duke had not once taken a woman to his bed. The thought of being with anyone else didn’t appeal to him.
Different scenarios had gone constantly around in his mind for the last four years. What if she chose another? What if she found someone while she was away? What if she came home… Even now as he walked to pick her up, the same things went around in his mind.
The sudden sweet scent of roses and honey had all his thoughts flying away. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Yes! Raven. She was there, home. Early. Immediately, he knew that she was near. Opening his eyes, he broke into a run, scenting the air as he went. Her scent drifted on the wind, getting stronger with each step he took.
He came to a stop when he saw a pink suitcase and several bags laying on the ground unattended. This was where much of Raven’s scent came from, but she was nowhere around. Where was she?
“Raven!” he yelled. “Raven!”
Nothing. Only tweeting birds and the wind rustling the trees could be heard. Fear struck Duke’s heart hard. No one would hurt her, right? But then there were some of the pack who were mated, that were disgruntled they couldn’t have pups. No. Surely not.
Duke bent low and sniffed around. He could smell three faint male odors. In his human form, he had better senses than a non-shifter human, but as a wolf he’d be able to identify the males quickly if he knew them.
He remembered Raven had a thing for paranormal romance books. She and Duke had shared emails about some of the things that had been written. Stuff like the wolf inside a shifter being a sentient being, a person with two souls inside their mind. It was weird to think of him, or any other of his pack, sharing their mind with another. No, real life for them wasn’t like that. The wolf side of them wasn’t sentient; it didn’t talk to them or instantly recognize their mate. The ability for the Ash Tails to shift was magic. When they were pups in school, the tale of how the Ash Tail Pack began was often told.
A skilled male human hunter was out hunting one day and came across a pure white female wolf. Seeing the wolf, he thought the pelt would look good on his floor. Targeting the female, he was startled when the wolf turned to look at him. Sorrowful sky blue eyes pierced his soul, and he found he was unable to pull the trigger. The female wolf, who scented the male, found his aroma to be appealing and didn’t want to harm him. But she didn’t want him to kill her either. She silently begged the goddess to stop the male hunting any of her kind ever again. Her wish was granted in the most unique way. Before her eyes, the male shifted into a black wolf with a white tip on his tail. The female wolf also found herself shifting into human form. It was said the two fell in love and mated. Their pups were born able to shift into both human and wolf form. Thus, The Ash Tails were born.
A sense of foreboding had Duke pulling at his shirt. The sound of ripping material and the occasional button hitting a tree or something hard. His jeans were next. He didn’t give a shit about his clothes, which lay in rags at his feet, he needed to get to Raven. Finding the dormant wolf inside of him, Duke allowed his body to shift. Faster than thought, he stood on the ground on four paws. It didn’t hurt, it just…happened.
Duke lowered his snout to the ground and inhaled deeply. He knew the male scents straight off. Timmy Johnson and his cronies, Buddy and Frank. Duke had heard through the pack that Timmy had been bragging he’d be the next alpha once Raven returned. He should have taken it seriously instead of thinking the male was just nuts.
There was also the scent of fear; the burning sensation it caused prickled his nose hairs as he inhaled. Snorting, Duke followed the trail of four
scents. Raven’s sweet scent grew stronger, along with the scent of fear. Mixed in with that was the scent of excitement and lust. What with Raven’s bags being left on the ground and with the growing scent of desire, Duke placed more power in his legs and ran faster. He focused on blocking out all other scents: the Welsh woods surrounding him, the fresh mud, the trees. None of it deterred him from where he was running. Nothing about this situation felt right at all.
The sight of a small cabin had Duke pausing to a crawl. Sniffing around, he knew four people were inside, one of them being Raven. A brief scream ripped through the air. Shifting to his human half, Duke charged at the door.
What Duke saw when the front door flew open had anger boiling in his blood. He wanted to rip each of the three male’s throats out and watch them die. Timmy was on the bed, his cock mere inches away from Raven. It made Duke feel sick. He had to get Timmy the hell away from Raven and find out if she was okay. Duke knew all of his pack members but some of them, like Timmy and his cronies, Duke knew a lot more. These males had been trouble for a while. Although since Buddy had mated, he’d been a lot quieter; more of a family man than a thug like the other two.
Calling on everything he knew about them, Duke threw a challenge into the air, making sure he worded it just right. “Shouldn’t she get to choose?” he asked calmly. “How about I challenge you?”
“A challenge?” Timmy asked.
“Yes. If she chooses you, I leave the pack calm and quiet and let you lead. If she chooses anyone else but you, I get to hand you your arse before expelling you from the pack. Unless she chooses me, whereas you will have time to gather your shit and walk off pack land on your own two feet. Without a beating.”
If Duke could find a way to beat Timmy’s arse and get away with it, he would. With the amount of anger Duke had riled up inside of him, the male would be left with numerous broken bones. Duke was surprised when the male accepted his challenge. He was dismayed though when Timmy said he wanted witnesses to the mating. The thought of Timmy laying his filthy eyes on Raven’s naked body again made Duke feel physically sick.
As soon as Timmy accepted Duke’s challenge, both Buddy and Frank’s hands released Raven. He watched in pride as she jumped off the bed, wrapped as fast as she could in a sheet, and stood in front of him, her back to his chest.
“You thick fuckers,” she screamed at the men. “You actually think I would choose any of you after you tried to fucking rape me?” She turned toward Timmy. “You really thought that if you mated me—by force—and made yourself alpha of the pack, that they would follow you. How dumb are you? Even the fucking elders wouldn’t agree.”
Timmy growled low and moved into an attack stance. His fangs elongated, slipping over his lower lip. The other two men followed suit. Duke was ready. His stance changed, his fangs elongated in his mouth too.
“Complete his challenge.” Timmy nodded to Duke with a snarl on his face. “Make your choice, female,” he ordered, staring back at Raven.
Duke wanted to rip off the male’s head for talking to Raven that way. No one should ever speak to his female like that. Alpha female or not.
“Duke. I choose Duke, you dumb arse.”
Duke’s heart soared. He knew without a doubt Raven wouldn’t choose the other men in the room, but hearing his name, he couldn’t help but feel he’d won a battle.
After finally getting rid of two of the males, Duke had to put up with Timmy’s presence. The male wasn’t watching, but he was listening, which still didn’t sit well with Duke at all. Just thinking of Timmy standing at the end of the bed caused a deep, menacing growl to vibrate from Duke’s chest.
“Hey, I’m here. I’m with you.” Raven’s eyes pleaded along with her voice.
“But this wasn’t how I planned…wanted…” Duke sighed. He had planned to date her, woo her, be with her in his bed. That was if she wanted him. She hadn’t even seen her father or buried him yet. Guilt swam through Duke once again.
“You planned on taking me to bed then?” A smile lit up her face. It was the second time she’d tried to add humor into the situation.
Duke tugged at the sheet still wrapped around her and climbed underneath it with her. His body felt hard over her softness. His cock was rigid and had been since he’d shifted back to his human form. The excitement of a fight had raised his adrenaline enough for him to have a boner. But he didn’t see disgust in Raven’s eyes. They reflected nothing but passion back at him.
Her body had changed in the four years since he’d seen her. She had curves in all the right places. Her breasts would sit just right in his large hands. Her nipples were as hard as pellets next to his skin. He could feel the beat of her heart against his chest. The smile on her face said she was happy to be lying underneath him. The scent of her arousal sang to him. But he had planned on slowly investigating her body, not just…this.
“I didn’t imagine this day going this way.” He sighed. “Your father…” What would her father be thinking if he could see this? Guilt pulled at his heart.
“My father knew how you felt. I can feel it too now. The passion and love you have inside of you, for me, it is amazing to feel. Share the leadership with me, Duke. Let us be one, a united front, a pair, for the pack.”
He heard the plea in her voice, saw the love she showed on her face for him. She was begging him for something that he’d wanted for such a long time.
He leaned down and kissed her plump lips again, running his tongue over them, tasting her sweet flavor. He kissed behind her ear and down her neck. “Turn over,” he ordered.
She couldn’t move until he lifted his body off her, so he raised up, kneeling, still straddling her legs. Grabbing hold of the sheet, he held it up to hide her body. His erection bobbed against his stomach. Oh goddess, her arse was so…peachy; he wanted to bite it. He caught the smile on her face before she turned over. Laying the sheet over them again, he grabbed a pillow and shoved it under her hips, raising her backside up. Laying over her back, he kissed and nibbled around her neck. His cock jerked as it rested on her butt cheeks.
The thought of filling her with himself, the tightness of her pussy with it being her first time, almost had him coming on the spot. But he couldn’t do that to her, not with another pair of eyes and ears in the room. Duke could scent the male’s nasty pheromones getting stronger. He wanted so badly to whisper into her ear, to make her understand what he was about to do, but he couldn’t. Even being on the other side of the room, Timmy might hear.
With a heavy sigh, he half-shifted his fingers into wolf paws on his right hand.
“Hold on, princess,” he whispered.
* * * *
Pain sliced through Raven’s right side, causing her to cry out.
What was Duke doing? This had nothing to do with sex or mating her. His cock rested between her butt cheeks, he hadn’t even entered her. All he’d done was stick his claws into her side.
“Shit, that hurts,” she cried, her voice full of panic. “Stop,” she pleaded.
Duke kissed her ear and pulled his claws from her skin. “I’m so sorry,” he chanted over and over again.
A chuckle from behind them had both their heads twisting to stare at Timmy. Reality dawned a little, but then so did worry. Had Duke just faked a mating because of Timmy, or because he didn’t really want her?
“It’s done,” Duke barked. “Get out!”
Timmy stared at them both. “I want to see.”
“You want to see what?” Duke bellowed.
Raven’s heart thundered inside her chest. Shit! She could feel Duke’s muscles tense as if he was going to climb off her. She was ready to get off this bed and charge the male herself. She wanted to kill Timmy on the spot.
“I want to see her mark.” The male grinned.
Oh, by the goddess, this male was pushing his luck or he was just plain perverted.
“Use your nose. Scent the fresh blood, then get out. If you make me come over there, I will kill you,” Duke warned.
Timmy raised his nose in the air and sniffed. His lip lifted on one side in a sneer.
“The challenge is fulfilled,” Duke rumbled, his voice all gravelly because of his wolf.
“You probably have a few hours to get off pack land before I leave this bed and speak to the males of the pack,” Raven added.
Timmy growled, and disgust showed on his face. “Can you sense what I feel right now, Alpha?” he taunted before slowly leaving through the cabin door.
Raven didn’t have to search for his emotions, not only did the aroma of his emotions fill the air with their putrid scent, but they were written all over his face. Anger, jealousy, frustration. There was also the look of revenge too.
“What—” Raven started to question, but Duke held his finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet, then jumped from the bed.
Rushing to the cabin window, he watched silently as the three males went on their way. Raven quickly sat up and covered herself with the sheet, but not before looking at her side where Duke’s claws had dug into her skin. The four pinpricks were red and swollen, but already healing, thanks to her shifter abilities. She suddenly felt embarrassed to be naked in front of Duke, the man she’d idolized for years. When Duke fully turned toward her, she couldn’t find the words to ask why.
With a couple of strides, Duke was across the cabin. He lifted Raven with ease and sat her on his lap.
“Why, Duke? Why didn’t you seal the deal?” she finally managed to ask.
“Seal the deal?” He chuckled before a serious expression covered his face. “I couldn’t do it to you. Not in front of his eyes and filthy mind.”
He cupped her jaw, and his forefinger stroked across her cheek and then over her lips. She understood what he was saying, but more importantly, she was relieved he still wanted her.
“But what if Timmy finds out that you didn’t finish the challenge?”
“No one will ever know but us,” Duke said sincerely and kissed her neck.
