Drew nodded but too fast, like he forced the movement instead of it coming naturally. “And you believed him.”
“He was my Alpha. No one told me I shouldn’t. It all went away. And I got over it. Or, at least I tried to forget. And yet, here it is.”
When he grabbed her to shove her against the wall with his body boxing her in, she stopped breathing. Well, she hadn’t seen that coming.
Drew cupped her chin. “You are my mate. And you never told me. If you had, I would never have let him in.”
“I never thought in a million years I’d have to think about it again. Although I believe I have said, more than once now, that you aren’t being careful about who is getting to return to pack. There might be other Archies.”
He pressed his lips to hers, and she melted had been so wound up, she’d never dreamed she’d want him so soon after telling the story of Archie and his groping hands. Yet, she did. Oh, by everything in her, she wanted Drew.
She tugged at his pants until they dropped around his ankles. His hard cock popped out of his boxers. His need matched her own.
“Drop the towel,” he ordered while he threw off his shirt.
She obeyed then ran her hands over his chest. He was strong, her mate, the leader of them all. With a hoist, he picked her up and guided one of her legs around his waist. She did the same with the other.
“I’m going to take you against the wall, B, unless you tell me not to. Tell me not to if you don’t want it.”
Her mouth went dry. “I always crave you. There’s never a time I’m not ready for it. If you want me, I’m always here.”
“Crazy woman,” he whispered in ear. “Don’t you know you have me by the balls? Lead me around, order me; you’re the only person who can.”
He filled her fast, going balls-deep in seconds. She cried out at his entrance, her head hitting the wall behind her. Usually, she needed a warm-up. Not then. She only required Drew.
“Good?” He breathed heavily. Her mate, he always checked.
“Always with you.”
Drew moved, pressing in and out of her in small jerks. Pushed against the wall, she didn’t have any angle to do more than lean and take his heat, let him love her in the way no one else ever could. The bathroom was quiet except for their breathing and their moans.
“Shit. B.”Drew pressed his head on her shoulder. “You’re mine. My one. My only. My strong woman.”
His words were beautiful nonsense. She ate them up. The pressure inside her body wanted to explode, and she was afraid she might survive the onslaught. Could she shatter completely and still exist when it was over?
Or would she turn into nothing but atoms, a floating stream of pleasure never returning to her body again?
She leaned forward, pressing her nose to the top of his skull. “Drew. I don’t know if I can take this.”
“You can. I’ve got you, mate. I always will. I was born for you.” He growled his last words. “And I’m going to make you come so you remember who you belong to.”
“I always know.” She sighed. “I’ve always been entirely yours.”
Her head was going to explode.
“Trust my love, B. Trust it to catch you.”
Betty lost control, her body spasming as her womb wept the release she needed to survive. Drew’s love enveloped her. Every muscle in her body jolted at the same time. And Drew caught her, not letting her fall.
***
He held her against him in bed, listening to her breathe. She wasn’t asleep, even though her exhaustion ate at him.
Drew rolled over to stroke the slope of B’s nose. “If I ordered you as your Alpha to sleep, would you hate me?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
“That you’re not sleeping? I don’t think it warrants an apology.” He loved the way the quiet moments with his mate felt.
“I’m sorry I never told you about Archie. Until I saw him walking past the square, I had forgotten. Then all the memories came back. And it’s not as though we’ve had a lot of time to talk this year. You came back, and we got busy. To do so was the right thing. Look how great it all is here? Standing around and talking about some deep, dark secrets better left in the dark? I guess it didn’t even occur to me to try.”
Drew pressed his forehead to hers. “You know you’re not fine, right? Burying it the way you did had ramifications you’re going to have to face. I’m not suggesting you do it immediately. Just let it in and know I’ll be here for whatever you need.”
“I do know.” She breathed out. “I’ll go to Sioux Falls. I keep screwing up this week.”
“If you leave me, I will chase you.” The very idea of her going anywhere without him made his wolf rear up to alertness. Drew would hold onto B with both hands and paws if that was what it took.
“I mean for the holiday.”She rolled her eyes. “I’ll come back.”
“No.” Drew brushed the hair out of her eyes. “This is your Alpha speaking. I want you to go to sleep.”
Her lids lowered. “Thank you, Drew.”
***
Drew walked into the clearing outside Ryker’s cabin and wasn’t at all surprised to see the Enforcer standing out waiting for him despite the late hour. The Enforcer had chosen a home in the deepest part of the woods, far from Los Lobos itself. Isolated. Cold. Lonely, Drew sometimes thought. Or it had been until he’d taken Saja as a mate. Still, the Enforcer didn’t return to town. Days like today made him glad. He didn’t want the bastard Ryker took charge of to be anywhere near town.
“Where did you put him?” Drew wanted to get his hands on Archie, to feel his life drain from his body. The man had touched a young B when she’d been too innocent to know how to handle him. His mate would tear a male like him limb-from-limb as the female she’d become. Drew wasn’t killing Archie for her, he was doing it for the B she’d been.
“In the ground.” Ryker didn’t move. Drew had never known anyone as still as the Enforcer.
His words jolted Drew’s brain. “You killed him?”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was going to.”Drew growled. His Wolf wanted to come out and tear at the world. The beast in him didn’t want to be denied.
Ryker stepped forward. “You’re Alpha. If you kill him, it’s revenge. You can’t be Alpha and seek out personal revenge. You can seek revenge for the pack; that’s different. I’m your Enforcer. I seek vengeance on your behalf.”
“I wanted to kill the male who harmed my female.” Drew glared at the wolf, his voice rising. Fury roiled in his veins. Ryker’d had no right to kill Archie. Even if he did…and I wanted him dead and Ryker knew that, too. He didn’t want logic. He wanted blood. Dammit. It was the holidays; they were supposed to be happy wolves. “Why does it have to be complicated?”
Ryker waited a beat before answering. “Because it is.”
And there was the answer. He nodded. “See you tomorrow for the tree lighting.”
“We’ll be there.” Of course they would. Saja was hosting.
“Right.”
For the first time since his screw-up on the mountain, Drew let his wolf loose. They both needed to run, and Drew was afraid he didn’t know from what. With a snarl to the moon, he ran until all four of his legs burned and the sun presented in the sky.
He had a happy pack and, somehow, he needed to be a happy Alpha for them.
Chapter Five
Betty had never been to a tree lighting before. Listening to the humans laugh made her smile and seeing the kids grinning went a long way to wash away the pain from the day before. Not one person had brought the incident with Archie up, and she wondered if it was from Alpha decree.
Wolves didn’t tend to mind their own business. Her head was clearer than it had been in a long time, probably from the thirteen hours she’d slept. Had she ever had so many hours of straight rest before?
“Hi.”Saja joined her. “We went with the wolf, as you can see.�
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She looked up to the top of the glowing tree. “I think he looks great. Long tail, proud stance. Looks like he belongs in Los Lobos.”
Saja smiled. “Thank you. I thought so, too. I tried to compare him to Ryker, but my mate didn’t much care for the description.”
B had so many feelings about Ryker, but they would have to be dealt with another time. Everyone was too happy for sad thoughts. She would give him credit. If he could earn the love of a human as wonderful as Saja, he had to have something going for him.
“Are you doing okay?” Saja whispered, and B resumed her feeling they had been ordered not to discuss the incident from the day before with her. “I mean, I don’t want to interfere. But it seems someone should ask.”
Betty patted Saja’s arm. “I’m well. Very refreshed actually. And it doesn’t matter if you whisper. All it does is make those who weren’t tuning into our conversation suddenly more interested.”
Saja laughed, covering her mouth. “Sometimes I forget.”
“Did you hear that everyone? I’m fine. Get back to your night.”
With a sly look in her eyes, Ryker’s human mate leaned closer and whispered, “Ryker really likes it when I….” The humor etched in the words as much as the action would have firmed the other woman in Betty’s good books if she hadn’t already decided she liked her.
Drew appeared at her side. “All okay?”
Saja smiled and walked off. Betty squeezed Drew’s arm. “Can we go somewhere and talk for a bit?”
“Sure. I have to make a speech. I’ll get it done. Give me a minute.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Speech making? Look at you. I’m so proud.”
He furrowed his brow. “I hope you are. I really hope so.”
Betty walked toward the stage to be closer to where Drew stood. He climbed up the podium and cleared his throat. Seconds later, everyone hushed. The power her mate held would burden another man to the point of not being able to function. Drew shouldered it all.
Including her, and she knew she wasn’t making it easy.
“Hey, everyone.”Drew smiled. “Thanks for being here today. I realize it’s been a strange week, and I’ve been hearing stories about what’s been going on with all of you. I have to say, I’m so enormously proud to be your Alpha right now. It’s a gift. Even if some days I seem cranky, I want you to know there isn’t a morning I don’t open my eyes feeling grateful for all of you.”
A cheer sounded and Drew smiled, letting them go for a moment. A good orator knew his audience. When had Drew picked up this skill?
She grinned.
He held up his hand, and they stopped applauding.
“Starting tonight and over the next few days, we’ll be celebrating here in Los Lobos. Finally, at the end of it, we’re going to have a pack run. Like the old days. Only, this time, our humans come, too. We’ll flank them; we’ll keep them safe. The dominants have already made that happen, and I thank you for your efforts on that, too, gentleman.”
Everyone once again applauded moved slightly until she stood next to Gee. The bear was near the stage but to the left. “They’re eating this up,” he said.
“As they should. That’s my mate up there.”
Drew went on, “On a more serious note, we’ve had some close calls to our borders. I trust you to continue to be as vigilant as you have been and to alert me if you see anything out of the ordinary. Whatever your holiday is this season, or if this is your first one, I wish you a merry, happy, good time. You’re all my family, my pack.”
He was all those things, but, before all of that, he was hers.
She needed to show him how much that meant to her.
***
“Here you are.” Drew walked into his house to find Betty sitting on the orange chair. He couldn’t help his grin. She hated the thing, and yet there she sat, seemingly accepting it as part of her reality.
Or maybe the crazy sex they’d had against it had altered her view a bit.
“Hi.” She stretched out her legs. “I thought you’d be able to find me here. Follow that nose of yours. Great speech, my love. You’re a natural.”
Drew dropped to his knees in front of her. “My least favorite part is the group speeches.”
“No one would ever know.”
He took a deep breath, bringing Betty into his lungs. She was steady tonight; her centered happiness filled him up and some of the tension in his shoulders eased.
Drew rested his head on her knee, and she petted the back of his neck. “You didn’t come home last night after you left. I was asleep but…I knew.”
“I’m sorry. I needed to run. I’d love to run with you after the pack run. Make it a regular thing.”
“I was actually thinking there could be some other things we could do after the run.”
She caught his attention, and he raised his head. “Like what?”
“When you asked me the other day where I would go on a trip, I didn’t respond correctly and if I’m being totally truthful, I lied when I said I didn’t have anywhere I wanted to go.”
“You did? I didn’t smell it.”
She stroked his head again. “A girl has to have some tricks. I got good at it when your father was in charge. Listen, there are places I would like to see. Only we have a very limited amount of time to go. Or not, I guess, if you don’t want to.”
“Explain.” He got off the floor and pulled her to him until they shifted places. He sat on the chair and she on his lap. Sometimes Drew needed to hold his girl. Just. Because. He. Did.
“Have you been to the Pacific Northwest? Seattle? Portland? Bend? I hear it’s really beautiful. You know I don’t really like hot weather. I prefer the cool. Maybe even Alaska.”
Drew could picture her with the mist in her hair and the way the light hit the beach in the early morning. She’d not like the cities. But he’d show them to her.
“Now, tell me why there’s a rush.”
“Because I want to have a pup, a baby. And I want to do it the next time I can. Three months from now, I’ll ovulate. Lately, I’ve been dreaming of babies.”She buried her head in his chest. “Unless you don’t want to or you don’t think I’m ready or you’re ready but don’t think I’d be a very good mother.”
“Stop right there.”
Drew had a lot to process but he couldn’t let B do what she did and misunderstand. The world shifted beneath him. She wanted a baby? The thought had never dawned on him, not once.
“I….”
She raised her eyes to his. “You’re not enthused.”
“I’m shocked.” He stood, setting her back down on the chair. “I realize I get one chance to do this right and, damn it, B, I don’t want to blow it. Are you sure you want to have a baby with me?”
Because she had to be sure. There would be no taking it back once they made the decision. And she might live to believe she’d made a huge mistake. His hands broke out in sweat.
His mate’s face steeled to the unreadable Betty Tao look. She rose. “What?”
“Have you ever given any thought to the blood that runs through my veins? It will someday run in any children I have. Tao blood. Leadership blood. All of that is great.” His chest felt tight. “It’s Magnum’s blood.”
“Drew….”
He shook his head, interrupting her. She needed to hear him. “I get this isn’t what you envisioned. I’m sorry. I have to think…I mean, we could have an evil child. It wouldn’t be your fault; it would be mine.”
She placed her hand on his arm. “You don’t have an evil vein in your body.”
“I do. You should see the daily fight to keep it down. I even had to make Ryker promise to kill me if I turn into Dad.”
B dropped her arm. “I…I didn’t know you did that. How…typical.”She shook her head. “That’s neither here nor there at the moment. You think it’s possible our child could be insane, a megalomaniac, and it would be your fault?”
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br /> “Yes.” Drew could hear the panic in his voice. He hadn’t had a good case of being so freaked out in over a decade. Even with the humans, he’d kept his cool. She wanted a baby? “I mean my grandparents couldn’t have known their son was going to be so awful. Look.” He backed away. “I need out of this house for a bit. I need to think. I am sorry, B. This sucks. I know it does.”
“Tell me one thing.” She looked out the window. “Is this because Archie fondled me when I was a child and you don’t trust me to take care of our baby?”
“No.” He grabbed her shoulders, whirled her around. “Listen to the words I’m saying and smell my truth. This is not about you. You’d be a great mother. But what will you do if he or she starts murdering?”
B stepped back. “I can feel your need to run. Go. We’ll talk later.”
“I ruined a moment you were excited about. I can’t take this back.”
“Drew.” A growl rolled through her voice. “I am fully aware of who you are. I don’t believe for one second you would produce any child who would go on to lay scorch on the Earth. I did, however, know there was a very good chance baby talk would freak you out. Not for the reason it did. I held off talking about it because I didn’t want to freak you out. Go. We have a big day tomorrow. The run and the gift-giving. You need air, and I need you to get some.”
His mate understood him; she always had. What other female would be fine with their mate running out at a moment like the one they were having?
“B—”
She interrupted. “Drew. Go. I’m not going to be patient forever. And you didn’t sleep last night, so do try to get some tonight, if you can. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t be late.”
He didn’t smell any pain coming off B, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t hiding it. “Even if we never have children, we’ll always have each other.”
Wolf's Holiday Page 6
