Beside me, Nash held a sleepy Titus. “The Blanks never let the Shorttail near us. I thought they were just part of his pack.”
“Hell no,” Cora spat.
“Where did he get this obsession with immunity?” I asked.
“He knew something,” Nash said. “Cora said I could maybe study the labs where they kept the needles and other supplies they used for the experiments. Someday. I just…can’t do it now. I’m too raw and I want to focus on Titus. And I’m not sure the reason behind the Alpha’s mission matters. He only succeeded in making some of us un-immune. He was more obsessed with breeding us.”
“It’s sealed for now,” Cora said. “Preserved. When you want to come back, just say the word. And I can’t say enough that I’m sorry.”
Nash had said that sometimes the guards would mention fighting off raiders, and after talking to Cora, he now realized the guards were referring to the times the Shorttail tried to rise up. He’d never known the truth until now.
“We were all victims,” Nash said softly. “I don’t blame you, because you tried and suffered too. I blame no one but the Alpha and the Blanks. That’s it. And even now…” He shrugged. “I let go of it all. I’ll mourn Hannah, and we’ll take in any of the freed Weres who want to leave, but I can’t dwell on what they did to me. I did it for too long, and it nearly cost me everything.” He glanced at me, and I swallowed around the lump forming in my throat.
The Were he’d been when we were teenagers was a distant memory, and the Were I’d imagined him to be was a fantasy. The Were he was now was reality, and it was a reality I cherished, I adored, and I loved. He was everything I knew he could be. And the way he looked at his son took my breath away.
We hadn’t talked about how our lives would be back home. Every night, we’d crawl into bed, Titus between us, exhausted as hell. We were scheduled to leave tomorrow, and then there’d be no more avoiding it.
“We have trade agreements with packs around us,” Dare said. “We’d be happy to set one up with you. Can’t ever have too many friends in these times.”
Cora smiled at Dare, which she did a lot. She’d taken to him immediately, as he had to her. Some sort of Alpha thing, I figured, a common bond over what it meant to be a leader. “We’d be happy to do that. Maybe I can send a pack member over once we get more established.”
“We’d welcome them as a guest in our home,” Dare said.
“It’s settled then.” Cora leaned back, and Ree settled on her shoulder.
We drank and conversed long into the night, until many of us were falling asleep at the table. Nash shoved me toward the small hut where we were staying and said he would be along soon.
I stumbled inside, stripping off my clothes and falling into the bed. About five minutes later, the door opened and closed. I yawned, listening for Titus’s babbling. A body slid into the bed beside me and I held out my arms for the baby to be settled between us.
Except Nash didn’t plop a squirmy blond bundle under my arm. Instead, his lips connected with my neck, and his hand grabbed my ass.
“Okay, I’m awake now,” I mumbled.
“You better be.” His voice was husky, and my dick was into it.
“Where’s the baby?”
“With Ree.”
“Really?”
He cupped the back of my head. “Haven’t been alone with you since I woke up. Need you, Bay.”
Those words echoed how I felt about him. It’d been too long, and so much had happened since he’d last touched me. We had to ground each other, and this was how we did it. I nuzzled into him, inhaling deeply and lapping at his pecs and nipples. I nearly whimpered. “Need you too, Nash.”
His gentle hand instantly turned into a strong grip on my hair. “Tell me again.”
He pulled back my head, straining my neck. I arched into him, my dick rock hard at his rough handling. This was what I needed. Days of being responsible, taking care of a child, worrying about Nash’s health. I needed him to make me forget for a bit. Remind me where I belonged. “I need you, Nash. So bad. I’ve missed you.”
His kiss was punishing and claiming, the alpha in him pouring everything into me as he licked inside my mouth. He rolled me onto my back, and I spread my legs as he slipped between them. Our hard dicks slid together, slick with pre-come, smearing all over our stomachs.
He ground into me, and I arched my back, needing to be closer as my hole clenched with need. “Nash,” I choked out, never tired of saying his name. “Please fuck me.”
His one hand tangled in the hair on top of my head, and the other gripped my chin, so I couldn’t look anywhere but at him. I didn’t want to. His blue eyes were swirling, and his teeth had elongated, but he was still my Nash. “You deserve me,” he gritted out, his voice a rasp. “And I deserve you.”
I couldn’t nod. All I could do was lick my lips and whisper. “Yes. Yes.”
His hips churned against mine, and then I felt the hot, stiff length of his cock pressing against my hole. He never let go of my head, not as he breached my hole, not as he took his time entering me slowly, inch by claiming inch. I was his, and he was mine, and we’d weathered more than most beings should.
Didn’t matter though, we’d done it.
He felt bigger than he ever had, and I blinked at the pain, even though I was slick with arousal. His eyes softened a bit when he noticed. “You okay?”
“Yes, I need this,” I pleaded, wanting the burn, the pain. I didn’t want this to be fast, I wanted to feel it all, every fucking second.
Nash licked at my cheeks, and that was when I realized I was crying. He continued to lap at my face as he buried himself completely inside of me. He stayed motionless for a while, sucking on my lips, kissing my eyelids, never once letting me move my head. I was immobilized beneath Nash, and I’d never been this happy anywhere else.
He began to move, slowly at first, just a rock of his hips, and I let my hands fall back over my head. My eyes fell to half-mast as Nash fucked into me, gaining speed as his dick swelled.
I grunted with the force of his thrusts, and when he hit that bundle of nerves inside me, I hollered. My body was on fire from the inside out, and Nash was only fanning the flames. He was oxygen and I was the match. I wondered how we didn’t combust.
“Every day,” he whispered, teeth still out. “Every day, I’ll remind you that you’re mine, and that I’m yours. We’ll never forget again, never part. Don’t want to do it again. Can’t.”
“That’s what I want,” I choked out, as my eyes rolled. He was nailing me over and over. He knew it too, because his grin turned wicked as he angled his hips perfectly.
“I want to see you shoot, Bay. Can you do that for me?” He let go of my chin and reached between us, gripping my cock tightly and beginning to stroke. “That what you need?”
My vision was fucking shorting out, and my spine was in a permanent lock on arch. My legs were trembling, body rocking as Nash fucked harder and harder, his fist working me in an expert grip and twist.
I couldn’t speak, could only open my mouth in a silent scream as my balls pulled up and I shot all over my stomach, chest, and neck.
“Oh fuck,” Nash said, his hips seizing as I felt him swell impossibly large, then pulse inside me. Only then did he collapse onto my chest and kiss me.
I couldn’t really move my arms, but I kissed him back, my lips and tongue saying what I couldn’t, what I was too exhausted to say.
When he pulled back, the gleam in his eye told me he wasn’t done with me. At least as he moved down my body, his teeth were back to human, and his eyes were bright blue again. He started at my neck, cleaning up the come from my skin, then down to my chest, where he swirled his tongue over my nipples.
I closed my eyes and focused on the sensation of his tongue, simultaneously soft and rough, cleaning me and pleasuring me all at the same time. When he got to my dick, he placed the half-hard shaft into his mouth and sucked. I moaned long and low, the sensation almost too much on
my sensitive dick, but I didn’t want him to stop. When he reached my balls, I was in a trance, my body sinking in the sheets even as he swirled his fingers through the wetness leaking from my hole.
“Nash,” I murmured, still not opening my eyes. Something pressed against my lips, and I opened them immediately. Fingers slipped inside. Wet with slick and come. I sucked and licked them clean, then waited as his fingers swiped at my hole, then returned to my mouth.
Then his tongue joined the action, and we kissed around his come-soaked fingers, savoring the taste of us.
I finally opened my eyes when I felt a gentle hand on my cheek. The way Nash looked at me…my heart beat double time, and my entire body felt wrapped in a blanket.
“Everything that happened to us was worth it to get here,” he whispered.
I pressed on his lips, wet and red from our kisses. “Everything,” I echoed.
He smiled at me, and then tugged me against him, my back to his front. I was half asleep when he said softly, “We’ll have to find a sitter every now and then back home. Need my Bay time.”
I smiled into the darkness. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem. So it’ll be the three of us, huh?”
He didn’t speak for a moment. “Is that okay? How you are with Titus…”
I waited for him to finish his sentence but he didn’t. “What? What were you going to say?”
He sighed. “Didn’t think it was possible to love you more, not until you walked in with my son in a sling on your chest.”
“He’s ours now. I promised Hannah.”
He squeezed me and pressed a kiss to the back of my head. “He is.”
His words replayed in my head, so even when his soft snores reached my ears, I still wasn’t sleep.
I got out of bed, and ten minutes later, returned with a sleeping Titus. I placed him between next to Nash, and in their sleep, the two rolled into each other, Titus nuzzling against his father, Nash’s arm cradling the baby protectively.
Then I slipped in behind Titus. Our family complete, I finally slept.
Epilogue
Nash
Jude was obsessed with Titus. The werewolf doted on the baby; he even liked to change his diapers. At the moment, Jude, Selene and her mate Hans were pretending to race Titus as he crawled across the grass. We’d only been home a week, and my son had already begun to crawl.
My heart nearly burst as his giggles rang throughout the air. Jude and Selene pretended to be injured, so Titus beat them to the imaginary finish line. They held up his little arms and cheered.
“Hey,” Bay said quietly, brushing my cheek. We sat in the grass along the wall, enjoying the sun and peace.
“What?” I turned to him, blinking. “Again?”
He smiled at me indulgently and held up a wet thumb. “Yeah.”
I didn’t even bother brushing away the tears. This had been happening the last couple of days. I’d cry without warning, like my body had been storing up tears for all those years I’d kept myself stone-faced for the Blanks. Now that I knew I was safe, they poured out of the overflowing well inside me.
Bay never said much, just brushed away the tears and stayed by my side.
I tried not to think about what Titus’s life would have been like had I not gone back. He was such a happy baby, and the Silver Tip pack doted on him. Jude constantly asked to babysit him, and sometimes I felt like I had to pry my own son from Jude’s arms.
“Hey, Selene!” I called.
She glanced up at me in the middle of tickling Titus. “Yeah?”
“Why don’t you bring him over here. He’s going to be hungry in about a minute and that kid’ll turn on a dime and scream soon.”
She picked him up and jogged over to me, Jude and Hans at her heels. “Here you go. I think his diaper needs changed too.”
“I’ll do it!” Jude piped up.
“It’s all right.” Bay picked up Titus and wrinkled his nose. “We have to head in anyway to get his bottle.”
Jude pouted just as G strolled over. The wolf turned to his mate with his hands on his hips. “I want one.”
G stared at him in alarm. “What do you want?”
“A baby.”
“Um.”
“Maybe if you try really hard, you can get me pregnant.”
G’s eyes bulged. “Jude, that’s not… that’s not how this works. That’s now how any of this works.”
Selene stood by quietly, her gaze still on Titus. Hans wrapped his arm around her and whispered in her ear. Her hand fluttered at her belly before dropping at her side. She met my eyes and her cheeks pinked slightly.
I didn’t say anything, because if she had news, it was hers to share, but Bay, being Bay, must have been watching her like I was, and blurted out, “Selene, are you pregnant?”
Her head jerked to him, and she narrowed her eyes just as Jude rounded on her. “What?”
She glanced around frantically. “Where’s Reese…?”
Jude poked her in the shoulder. “Selene!”
She stomped her foot. “Yes, okay? I’m expecting a baby—well, actually, babies according to the healer—so you’ll be surrounded by them soon, are you happy?”
Jude screamed. An actual scream that had Reese sprinting out of the Hive like his clothes were on fire.
“What’s going on?” his bellow echoed off the walls.
I glared at Bay. “Look what you did!”
“What did I do?” He widened his eyes innocently.
I gestured to the scene taking place in front of us. A panicked Reese who skidded to a halt in front of his siblings. G trying to calm Jude’s excited shouts. Hans trying to comfort both Selene and Reese.
Bay pointed at them. “That’s not my fault.”
“You’re pregnant with twins?” Reese screeched.
I threw up my hands. “That’s kind of your fault.”
Now Dare was outside, sensing the distress in his mate. He marched over to the group, immediately drawing Reese into his arms, who was too worked up to be pacified.
Then Titus started to cry, as we’d waited too long to feed him. I was going to blame that on Bay too.
We left the group, knowing Bay and I would find another time to congratulate Selene and Hans. For now, Titus had to eat, and babies didn’t wait for anything.
Cati met us at the door of the Hive, bottle in hand, as well as a stack of clean diapers. Bay took the bundle and kissed her cheek. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”
She shrugged. “I like it.” She stroked Titus’s cheek even as he raged. “And he’s just so darn cute.”
Bay stuck the bottle in Titus’s mouth and he began to suck immediately. We had several females in the pack who were still nursing their babies, so they provided Titus’s milk. Cati set up the schedule on who’d express to provide us extra milk, and we weren’t sure what we’d do without her. Titus ate some solids, but not nearly enough to sustain him.
We’d brought some of the Blanks prisoners home with us, the ones who’d preferred to leave the compound where they’d been held. Dare set them up in apartments—some preferred to be alone, others together, and a couple wanted to live with a current member of the pack. Not all had ventured down to the main hub of the Hive yet. I knew from experience it’d take time to acclimate to regular pack life. I met with each of them twice a week, checking to make sure they were doing okay, eating enough, getting exercise. I felt responsible for them, and whether they chose to stay or move on, I hoped they were happy.
Behind us, Mav sat at a table near the kitchen, his tongue poking out of his mouth as he drew with the chalk Bay had brought home. Dare had found him a stone tablet, and he could write and erase the chalk to his heart’s desire. Cati was thrilled, and I’d enjoyed sitting with him teaching him math. “How’s he doing?”
“Great!” Cati said. “Moving to multiplication now, thanks to you.”
I smiled at that, pride filling me. I’d already spoken to G about teaching the novuses. It was fulfil
ling, quiet work. No danger, no fuss. Just me and a novus and numbers and letters. I could handle that.
“I’m glad to hear it. And you? You’re doing okay?”
She cocked her head at me, brows dipping for a second, like the question surprised her. Her mouth opened, then she closed it and heaved a sigh. Her gaze drifted away from me, settling on one spot, then another. I tracked where she was looking.
Vaughn stood along the far wall, talking with Dal, and by the door of the Hive, Pace stood, watching us. I wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be here, but Dare was still working with him on the trade agreements, and Reese seemed loath to let his friend go.
When I glanced at him, he started, then ducked outside.
Cati’s eyes dropped to the ground. “I’m okay. Just…” She laughed, but it was heavy. “Busy is all. Busy.”
I wasn’t sure what to say—whatever was going on seemed over my head and not within my capabilities to deal with. “You ever need help with Mav, let Bay and I know. He loves Titus.”
She winked at me. “Of course.” With a gesture behind her, she added, “Going to get back to teaching Mav. I’ll have Titus’s next bottle when you need it.”
“You’re a goddess, Cati.” She winked at me, then turned with a flare of her skirt.
When I found Bay near the kitchens, he was childless. I held out my arms with a questioning look.
He shrugged. “Jude.”
“Figures.
“You know I love Titus, and I’d give my life for his cute squishy cheeks, but taking care of a baby is hard. So when Jude gets all paternal, I hand the kid over.”
He grinned at me. Since we’d gotten back, I swore Bay looked five years younger. Whenever I told him that, he said his skincare was love and my come. I told him he was ridiculous. I reached out and grabbed his hip, tugging him to me. He wrapped his arms around my neck and sniffed into me. I inhaled too. Fuck, he smelled good. “Since we have some time now…” His hips jerked into mine, and his hard length brushed my own.
Chasing Destiny (Silver Tip Pack Book 2) Page 19
