“It would totally suck to be in a fight with you…it’d be unfair.” She thought of how he’d sent energy and killed those in the courtyard during Arianna’s short reign of terror. He’d pinned her sons to the wall without touching them or moving. When Tyrese and Asia were kidnapped, he sent a wind and tore down the building around them. And now he sent protection to his team on another continent. No fighting him wouldn’t be fair; he’d look like a bully. No one respected bullies.
“No… it wouldn’t be fair. But I would let you win.” He tapped her nose.
Jasmine’s hands still tingled from the energy, she turned in his arms. Warm skin tugged at her core. His palm ran across her breast and squeezed. Her womb clenched in answer.
“You’re hot, hotter than normal… you need to burn off some…energy?” She whispered, catching the flame of his desire.
“Always hot for you. Are you well? Can you receive me?” His thumb rubbed across her clit and played in the moisture from between her legs.
“Yes.” She breathed out the answer. Her cycle stopped the day of the ceremony and there had been nothing since then. Nothing but a deep need to be with her man again.
“Good.” He didn’t pick her up. Didn’t take her to the bed. Instead, he lifted her slightly. “Unsnap my pants.” Her fingers raced to obey the dark command. She didn’t stop at unsnapping his jeans; she reached in and pulled out her treat.
His face looked tortured as she stroked his thickness. “I want this, wolfie.” She looked up at him through her lashes. “I missed you.”
“Is it me you missed?”
“Of course, baby. This…” She squeezed his dick. “Is you. And it’s mine.” He loved when she said things like that; it made him hotter than a blacksmith’s fire. His eyes blazed green as he lifted her and then cursed.
“Damn-it, you aren’t naked. I asked you not to wear underwear,” he growled.
“Yeah, you asked, I said no. Being bare-assed is your thing, baby, not mine. I wear dresses, and I stoop to play with my kids.” She threw her leg over his and pulled off the thong.
He snorted, picked her up and entered her.
“Yesssss,” she moaned her pleasure at being connected with him again. Her world righted and she held on as he lifted her up and down on his stiff rod. “That’s it baby…that’s it,” she crooned as the pressure inside built and the itch intensified. They had to make this quick because people were waiting for them. Knowing she wouldn’t have time to shower and that his scent would be all over her, freed her. She growled, grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled his mouth to hers. His thrusts went deeper.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and leaned back so he would hit her spot on each thrust; it worked better than she hoped. Silas slammed her down harder and faster on his dick. She screamed his name as her orgasm burst and shattered. Her legs shook from the force of her release. It took a moment for her to breathe. His roar nearly deafened her. He held her so tight against his chest, trembling as he shot his seed into her. Neither spoke. Instead, she lay the side of her face against him, listening to his racing heartbeat. Pleased she affected him in this manner, she stroked his back.
“Love you, Wolfie.”
“Love you, Sweet Bitch.” He smacked her ass. “Take my appointments this morning; I need to check on the global financial situation. Shouldn’t take too long, but it might.”
And we’re back to business, she thought missing their quiet time already. “Okay. I need a quick shower and before you get pissed, I am not sitting in a meeting with a wet spot looking like I pee’d on myself.”
He sighed and then placed a kiss on her lips. “Still love you.”
“You should.”
He laughed and lifted her off his lap, pulled his pants up and left the room. She groaned, aching in places that should be illegal to ache and headed for the door. Glancing both ways down the empty hall, she ran around the corner and up the stairs to their suite. When Silas made love to her in public places, like the living area, where anyone could walk in, but of course they never did, her inner person seemed more primal. Their lovemaking was more exciting. She closed the bedroom door on that train of thought and hit the shower.
Jasmine ran her hand through her hair, hoping it looked less frazzled than she felt as she walked to the first appointment with Maheegan. She had Hank bring the gift the artist created to the den so it would be available and they’d chat until Silas could join them.
The older woman sat gracefully on the gold brocade wingback chair with a regal air. In a different era, she would be serving tea in dainty cups with cucumber sandwiches. Jasmine inhaled, released it slowly, tried to smile but her face hurt. She was sure her face looked crooked, but she stuck out her hand in greeting.
Maheegan stood; a genuine smile of pleasure lit her face. She took Jasmine’s hand and held it for a moment before release. “Thank you and La Patron for seeing me so soon after the ceremonies. I thought you would be sleeping late. I am honored to be here.”
Jasmine’s sleep had been interrupted by Tyrone telling her Silas needed her and that she had to come immediately. She had jumped out of bed and ran to the office, Tyrone entered a few seconds later and handed her a robe. Silas had given her a brief outline of everything that happened to that point, apologized for doubting her, and explained what he needed. She told him of Asia’s communications and from the point she hadn’t left his side until thirty minutes ago.
“Thank you for coming, I have heard a lot of great things about your work and am looking forward to seeing your art. Silas said it is a portrait…of him and me?” He had been vague in his descriptions, to be fair he was saving her son at the time.
“Yes. My Alpha…Alpha Edon, asked me to create a gift from our pack. He gave me a picture of you. You are so beautiful it was an honor to draw your likeness on canvas. I hope you like it.”
Jasmine appreciated the older woman’s open and honest way of speaking and hoped they could become friends. Maheegan was strong, powerful and influential in her own right. Plus she was the first to openly welcome Jasmine into the pack.
“Thank you. Silas may be a while; he is clearing up a few things. We can wait to unveil the art, but he said you were the historian for the pack? What does that mean?”
“My role has changed over the years because of technology. I no longer record births, deaths, matings, that type of thing. All of my records have been placed in La Patron’s database. Some of that included an accounting of our beginning as a national pack. Our nation grew alongside the States, since we started around the same time.”
Jasmine blinked. Whoa. “The wolf nation and the United States? Are you saying you’ve been around that long?” She knew Silas was over three hundred and that there were breeders a hundred years old, but she never put those facts in the same context with American history.
“Yes. When La Patron came to this continent, it was new, wild and raw. The full-bloods here lived off the land and hated the new settlers. There was no law and no widespread manner of communications; otherwise our people would’ve been exposed to the world. The Goddess in her wisdom realized this land needed to be controlled and sent a leader.”
Enthralled, Jasmine leaned forward. She and Silas had touched on his early beginnings, but she never had an opportunity to hear the full story. “So she sent Silas to bring order into chaos. I can see him doing that.”
“Yes. Later he told me his main objective was to keep our world separate and apart from humans. They were never to know we were real. His secondary task was to make sure we thrived and grew as a nation. It was a daunting task, none of the Alphas wanted to follow an unknown. He fought many battles, shed a lot of blood, but he protected us. He only needed to defeat the top guy, and then train him to lead the others the way he wanted them led. He offered his support and protected the Alpha. That had never happened before.”
“No?”
“Never. Whenever called upon, he came. Like a father, he made sure the least of us had food
and a safe place to bear our young. In the beginning he fought more full-bloods than humans.”
Jasmine frowned, not liking the sound of this. “But if he helped…why fight?”
An inner light lit Maheegan’s face. “Because we are wolves…respect, positions of power and leadership are earned. And those positions are constantly tested, we respect strength above all. He had to prove he was worthy to lead, worthy to be followed, worthy to be Alpha.”
“But why does he still need to do that, after all these years?”
“Because we are wolves with pack mentality. We only follow the strongest because he will assist in the kill, bring down the biggest deer to feed the pack. New wolves always come along who do not believe the stories about La Patron’s exploits, and there are many, so they challenge him.” She shrugged. “It is the nature of the wolf to test and then submit.”
“Okay…so Silas came to the States and started kicking ass to settle disputes?”
“No…he kicked ass so he could discover the best of the pack and that was not always the current Alpha. I remember when he left the northeastern quadrant of the country and trekked west. Settlers had decided the west was the place to go and were being murdered by full-bloods. That had to stop. He ingratiated himself with a few Indian tribes who had no love of the travelers and when he left to bring order to the wolves, the Indians began attacking the settlers. This threw the human trackers off the scent of full-bloods.”
Jasmine’s stomach clenched. “He sent native Americans after the settlers? They killed so many.”
“Both sides killed. Both sides lied. Both sides broke promises. The Indians would have gotten involved anyway.” She waved away Jasmine’s concern. “But it always goes back to his primary objective. If humans were moving into areas where full-bloods roamed, there was a chance of exposure and he could not allow that.”
Impressed and sympathetic over what appeared to be a gargantuan task, Jasmine nodded. How had Silas accomplished what he had in such a short time? The wolf nation was organized, profitable, and growing. It was mind boggling when she stopped to think of it.
“We have been blessed that the Goddess sent a wolf with a sincere desire for his pack to be the best. I’m not saying he didn’t make mistakes, who doesn’t? But he is smart and was a quick learner.”
“Yes, he is,” Jasmine agreed. A curl of prided slid through her.
“For instance, instead of fighting against growth he encourages it, always has, even in the beginning. When the early settlers formed territories, La Patron used the territorial names and boundaries for our packs. An Alpha was assigned that area, kept the secret of our kind, made sure everyone’s needs in his area were met and reported to La Patron. It took decades, but he was undeterred. When states were formed, the blueprints were already in place, it was a natural progression to expand the Alpha’s territories. Some had to move, but they were trained and ready to grow with the country. It was a brilliant strategy.”
Speechless, Jasmine nodded. Her mate constantly surprised her. Instead of fighting a growing nation, he embraced it and saved his people. He made them a force to be reckoned with.
Maheegan rubbed her forehead. “As the country turned to technology and moved to the cities, La Patron decreed the necessity for education and co-mingling with humans. This was met with resistance; even his staunchest supporters wanted no dealings with humans.” She glanced at Jasmine and smiled.
“Believe me I know how he felt about us, he never bit his tongue. He’s changed how he thinks…somewhat,” Jasmine said with feeling. Their beginning had been turbulent by everyone’s standards.
“Yes, but at the time none of us could see the future. The very idea of intermingling after he had worked so hard to keep us from doing that… just seemed wrong.”
“I see, makes sense that you’d be confused.”
“Yes, that is until La Patron addressed the nation. He wrote an explanation and sent it to every Alpha to read to everyone in their pack. I still remember the facial expressions that chased across Alpha Edon’s face as he called us all together and read this multi-page document. By the time he finished, his smile was so big, and the cheers in the room were so loud, I couldn’t think.” She laughed, it was obvious she thought of that day decades ago.
“Cheered? The people agreed?” She couldn’t imagine Silas explaining himself to anyone in such detail, but he had proven he would do whatever he thought necessary to get the job done.
Maheegan nodded. “Did we ever… the plan was brilliant in its simplicity. You see, La Patron had seen what happened to the Indians and refused to allow anyone to take our land or rights from us. The only way to do that was to be as good or better. To quote a biblical passage, to be among them, but not like them. To make that a reality, education was critical. He needed the best minds in top places to pull our nation upward. It was a brilliant call to serve our nation and when we saw it in that light we answered with howls of appreciation.”
Jasmine stood and rubbed her arms from the sudden chill. “You live amongst us and we have no idea. I had no idea, now that I know I wonder why I never picked up any signs. I mean, my sons lived with me, and I didn’t know they were wolves.”
“La Patron’s primary objective is drilled into every wolf from the time of their birth. Humans must never know… the penalty is death. Their father taught them as his father taught him. It is the way we remain safe.”
“I know and now that I have more children I am grateful that the secret protects them.” She didn’t know why it bothered her that a species existed so close and she had been blind to them but it did. She frowned and turned. “Are there other…entities?” She asked, wondering if vampires or fairies or gnomes or goblins were real. Angels and demons, oh yeah, she knew about them, but what about the others.
Maheegan hesitated and then straightened. “I have never seen a fairy or gnome or goblin, I don’t know if they are myths or real. But vampires… yes they exist and not in the romantic novels way either.” The older woman shivered.
Okay…vampires…blood drinkers were real in this world…no way. “You have seen… actually seen one?”
“Yes, decades ago.” Her voice trembled and Jasmine rushed to her side.
“That’s okay, I apologize. I didn’t mean to disturb memories better left alone. Here…” she handed the older woman a glass of water from the pitcher on the table. “Drink this; Silas is still busy, so let’s unwrap the picture.” She waited for the color to return to her guests cheeks and released a pent up breath when they pinkened.
“I apologize, Mistress Jasmine, you may ask anything of me and I will answer. That was a difficult time for me. I… I lost my lover during that trip. But I would love to have your opinion on the portrait as well.”
Jasmine took the olive branch and changed the conversation. “Good, I’m excited to own a Maheegan painting.”
The older woman blushed with a wide smile. “The honor is all mine, Mistress.”
Smiling, Jasmine pulled the cover off the large canvas and gasped. Silas’ wolf was magnificent. She could not tear her eyes away from his compelling eyes. Perhaps seeing the wolf on Silas’ chest and the power that it consumed or the vampire discussion created the impression that his eyes captured her will, but she couldn’t look away.
“Mistress…” The apprehension that vibrated through that one word reached through the hypnotic haze and tugged at her.
She struggled to turn from the portrait and inhaled. It hadn’t occurred to her that she hadn’t been breathing until that moment. “Yes?” she said weakly. Her heart ran circles in her chest, beating faster than ever before. The wolf in the picture drew her gaze; she couldn’t not look at him.
“Jasmine,” Silas called through their link. She latched onto his strength and inhaled deeply. It did no good; her heart continued its sprint, going faster than before. “I’m on my way.” She lacked the strength to say anything, but she needed him desperately.
“I will cover it. I can tel
l it distresses you,” Maheegan said, her voice calm, but pain and shame screamed in Jasmine’s ear.
With great effort, she swallowed and whispered. “No. Please leave it.”
Maheegan stopped and stared at her.
Silas walked into the den and took her into his arms. He asked no questions; instead he rubbed short circles on her back until her breathing normalized. “You are accepting my wolf. It is natural, he is pleased that he affects you the same as I do as a man. It’s okay… you need to spend more time with him, that will ease you.”
When her world stopped spinning, her heartbeat slowed. His explanation made sense. She pushed against his chest knowing she owed Maheegan an explanation. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed the slumped shoulders and downcast eyes of this proud woman. Her chest ached over something she couldn’t explain, but she would try.
“The portrait is…breathtaking,” she said glancing at the wolf and then at Maheegan. The woman’s doubtful gaze spurred Jasmine on. “I have not seen my mate like this, not really…seeing him, so tall, proud and strong affected me. Seeing his wolf, my mate… touched something in me that I hadn’t known was there.”
Silas’ arm remained around her waist as he stared at the portrait.
“I see,” Maheegan said. “La Patron is powerful; my goal was to capture that on canvas so that anyone who sees it will know he is not one they should cross.”
Jasmine’s hand rested on his chest. “You achieved that and more. Are you really that big when you shift?” She glanced up at him.
He bent and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I will show you later and you can decide how…big I am.”
Her face warmed.
Maheegan smiled.
“What is that on my mate’s thigh?”
Jasmine looked at the mark. She had been so taken with him she had not paid attention to her image. The mark seemed familiar; she stepped closer and missed a lot of the conversation in the room.
The longer she stared at the mark, the more she was sure she had seen it before. Then it hit her. “This is the mark that was on David after… after you fed him your blood.”
BirthSign (La Patron, The Alpha's Alpha) Page 15
