by Jess Bryant
The wound had healed overnight but she would bear his mark for a lifetime. The semi-circle imprint of his teeth in her flesh glistened silver-white in the morning light. And just like that, he was hard and his teeth ached to bite her all over again. Everywhere. So no matter what she wore, everyone would know she belonged to him.
“Good morning.” She grinned as she moved towards her.
His eyebrows twitched upward, “Is it?”
“Of course it is.” Zoey pranced over to him and didn’t stop until her body was right up against his, she tiptoed up and brushed her lips over his as she wound her arms around his neck, “Would have been better if you were still in bed with me though.”
He groaned as her soft body brushed his and her taste ignited his system. Sweet, sexy little mate. He could feel desire pulsing off of her as clearly as he could feel his own. She wanted him again. Still. And he could only hope always.
Rafe forgot all about breakfast and feasted on her mouth instead. He cupped her ass and dragged her up his body. Zoey wound her legs around his waist and moaned into his mouth. Two steps and he had her on the counter-top, a second after that he had his hand down the front of her shorts and they both groaned.
Wet. She was so fucking wet for him. Already. Wanted him. Needed him.
“Rafe.” Zoey tilted her head back and arched her hips up into his touch as he stroked through her folds.
“Love it when you say my name like that.” He groaned against her neck as he kissed her everywhere he could reach. She’d showered before coming out of the bedroom and she didn’t smell like him anymore. That was something he had to fix. Now. “Say it again and I’ll let you come.”
“Rafe!” She cried out as he found her entrance and plunged a finger deep, pulled it out and inserted a second, curling them until he found the spot that made her shake and moan, “Rafe, please.”
“Anything you want. Always. You just tell me and it’s yours.” He rotated his fingers until he could get a third inside her and pumped them in and out while he thumbed her swollen clit, “Tell me, baby.”
“Make me come. Please, Rafe, make me come.” Zoey gasped out hoarsely and then screamed his name as he pinched her clit and she fell over the edge into her orgasm, “Rafe!”
She screamed his name so loud he was certain the other wolves could hear her in town and damn if that didn’t fill him with a sense of pride. He wanted them to know she was his. Wanted the world to know that he was the one that could give her this pleasure.
Zoey collapsed against him as the tide ebbed, “Oh my God…”
“Mmm, good morning.” He smirked as he pulled his fingers from her panties and raised them to his lips. She watched, glassy eyes wide, as he licked them clean. Her eyes riveted on his mouth he felt another surge through their connection, knew exactly what she was thinking, “You want another good morning kiss, baby?”
Zoey bit her lip, feigning shyness, as her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink but she nodded and damn if that wasn’t his undoing. She was his. His mate. Perfect for him in every way. Rafe took her mouth again boldly, swiping his tongue deep so she could taste herself on him just as he’d tasted her last night. She moaned and kissed him back until the buzzer on the oven went off and he reluctantly had to pull away.
“Wha…”
He kissed the end of her adorably confused nose, “Hold that thought, babe. The biscuits are burning.”
She eyed him as he turned and pulled on an oven mitt and then pulled a pan of fresh baked biscuits out and put them on the counter to cool, “You cooked breakfast?”
“Yeah.”
“You know how to cook?”
He snorted, “Of course I know how to cook. I’ve been on my own for years. What’d you think? I was out there running wild chasing down rabbits and squirrels for dinner?”
She rolled her eyes, “No. I just… I don’t know. Never mind. Forget it. The food smells fantastic.”
“Thank you.” He moved back between her legs since she hadn’t moved from the counter and offered her a piece of bacon, “I figured you’d wake up hungry. Just didn’t know if it would be for me or for food.”
“Maybe a little bit of both.” She grinned at him as she took a bite of the bacon he offered and then closed her eyes and moaned.
The situation in his pants became nearly unbearable when she made that sound, “That good huh?”
Her lashes fluttered open, “Not as good as the orgasm but close.”
“Close huh?” He chuckled at her teasing and pushed the plate of bacon aside, “Guess I’ll just have to do better this time.”
“Mmm, sausage too huh? I’m such a lucky girl.”
He barked out a laugh at her sass, “What you’re gonna get is bent over that counter and fucked, little mate.”
Her eyes glittered as if he’d made it a dare, “Do your worst, big bad wolf.”
“Never.” Rafe wrapped a hand in her luscious copper colored locks and pulled her mouth to within an inch of his, “You only ever get my best.”
He took her mouth again and she wrapped her arms around his neck. God, he could get used to this. Waking up next to her. Teasing and playing. Fucking her senseless. She wasn’t the lucky one. He was.
She reached down to unbutton his jeans at the same time there was a loud slamming of a car door. Zoey jerked backwards so hard she slammed her head into the cabinets. She cursed and Rafe growled at the intrusion. He cupped her head softly and she winced when he touched the knot that was already beginning to form.
“You okay?”
“Fan-freaking-tastic.” She whined.
“It’s not cut. Just a bump. It’ll heal quickly.”
“Says the werewolf with enhanced genetics.”
He raised an eyebrow, “Zo, babe, maybe you hit your head harder than I thought. You do remember what we did last night right?”
She rolled her eyes at him again, “How could I forget? You put a wolf in me.” She wagged her brows and then frowned and rubbed her head, “It was just a reflex.”
He understood then as she sat rubbing her bruised skull. She’d been human all her life but since the age of ten she’d lived amongst shifters. Whenever they got hurt, they shook it off because bruises healed in minutes and breaks in mere hours. She’d probably had a hundred skinned knees and busted lips and she’d had to wait for her human body to heal her while everyone around her went on with their lives like nothing had ever happened.
His poor little mate had been hurt and he hadn’t been there to protect her.
This time the intruder pounded on the door and Rafe barely contained a vicious growl. He wanted to ignore it. Wanted to go back to his nice morning with his mate. Wanted more orgasms and bacon and eggs. But he knew there was no putting this off and honestly, he didn’t want to.
He wanted Michael to see them like this. Wanted him to scent what they’d done last night. See what they’d just been doing. He wanted his brother to understand that their scents were mixed now, that they were mated, and that there was no use fighting. He wanted Michael to go away and leave them alone for the next twenty-four hours to twenty years but since that wasn’t a possibility he would take this.
Zoey frowned, “Who the hell is at the door?”
Rafe frowned right back at her, “You don’t know?”
“I mean. I can guess.” She sighed heavily and her shoulders sagged.
“You can guess?” He tilted his head confusedly, “You mean, your wolf doesn’t sense him?”
She shrugged and shook her head. Rafe scratched his jaw. That was weird. Zoey was a member of the Moirae pack. She had been since she was a kid, human or not. Her wolf, even newborn, was automatically a part of the Moirae pack, which meant she should have been able to sense her Pack Alpha.
Unless… Rafe scowled at the idea. Unless Michael wasn’t her Pack Alpha. Unless he’d somehow created his own pack with her since he was a born Alpha too.
The banging on the door came again and this time Michael growled throug
h it, “Open the damn door. I know you’re in there. I scented you from a mile away.”
Rafe almost smiled at that. Almost. He liked that his brother had caught their scents already. Michael knew what it meant. Zoey was his. He also liked the idea that if Michael had been close enough to scent them earlier that he’d probably also heard Zoey coming from Rafe’s touch.
Maybe that made him an asshole. He didn’t much care. He wanted, and needed, as much evidence as he could get that Zoey belonged with him so Michael couldn’t take her away.
But he didn’t smile because Zoey pushed him back and jumped off the counter, landing on her feet and straightening her clothes, “I’ll talk to him.”
“Like hell you will.” Rafe growled.
“He’s my best friend.”
“And he’s my brother, so what?” Rafe scoffed, “You’re not going out there.”
The banging on the door came again, “So help me Rafe, don’t make me knock this door down. Get your ass out here. Now!”
Zoey started to step around him but Rafe caught her by the arm, “Stay.”
“I’m not a dog.” She growled at him and he could sense her wolf it was so close to the surface and angry.
Rafe softened his stance and cupped her cheeks, “I know you’re not a dog, Zoey. You’re a wolf. My wolf. My mate. You’re mine to protect so you’re going to stay inside and let me deal with Michael.”
“The only one that needs protecting from Michael is you.”
“Please just stay here. I need to talk to my brother and I can’t do that if I’m worrying about you getting in the middle of us.”
“I wouldn’t…”
“Please?”
Zoey sighed and nodded, noticeably unhappy about it though. He kissed her forehead when she huffed at him but since her wolf wasn’t showing through anymore he decided it was safe to step away from her.
His own wolf was pacing under his skin. He didn’t like the idea of another male being anywhere near his mate. Not right now. Not when the bond wasn’t solid and that wouldn’t happen until the wolf got his chance with her tonight during the full moon.
Rafe opened the door and found his brother standing on the other side looking pissed off and more than a little disheveled. Michael’s eyes flashed gold at the sight of him and Rafe let his own wolf flash back at him. If Michael had come looking for a fight, Rafe would give him one.
He hadn’t fought for the pack or for his right to stay but he would fight for Zoey, for his mate, even with the only brother he had left.
Chapter 15
“Michael.” He stepped outside rather than inviting his brother in.
“Rafe.”
He raised an eyebrow when his brother refused to step back and give him room. Tension swelled in the small space between them. Two born Alphas going head to head and refusing to be the one to give first. As the younger, it should have been Michael that blinked but Rafe had given the pack to his brother. This was his land. Besides, Rafe knew Zoey wouldn’t like it much if they came to blows so he did something he’d never thought he would do.
He lowered his eyes first.
Michael stepped back and he glanced up quickly enough to catch the look of shock that flashed on his brother’s face before he masked it. Michael studied him momentarily and then he too looked away. Two Alphas that couldn’t look each other in the eyes. Two brothers that couldn’t find the words to mend all that had been broken.
Rafe cleared his throat, “Why don’t we have a seat and talk?”
He motioned to the patio set on the other end of the porch. The one he figured Michael had bought and put out here. For him and Zoey. Rafe stepped past his brother, giving him his back to show he wasn’t scared of an attack. For all that Michael had given Zoey, this was what Rafe could start with.
Michael didn’t say a word, simply stomped over and dropped himself into one of the chairs.
Rafe glared at the man standing a hundred yards from the house between two cars. On the left was a silver Jeep. On the right, a jacked-up truck. The man glared right back at Rafe and crossed his arms over his chest.
He dropped into the chair nearest the door, “Was the Enforcer really necessary?”
Michael shot a look over his shoulder and shrugged, “He drove my truck out for me so I’d have a ride back. I drove Zo’s Jeep. I thought she’d want it so she could get back to town.”
“She’s not going anywhere.” Rafe growled a warning.
Michael only leaned back in his chair and scrubbed a hand over his face, “I didn’t mean today. Just… whenever.” He shifted again, clearly uncomfortable, “I’m not stupid. Far from it. I know it’s too late to stop you. I just have one question for you now.”
“Okay.”
“Are you staying?”
Rafe flinched at the question, “What?”
“Are you staying? Here. In Noir. Are you coming home to the pack? Because she’s pack. She’s family. She’s my family. And whatever life you’ve been living out there on your own, you can’t drag her away from the only home and family that she has.”
Rafe stared at his brother for a long moment, trying to figure out where they’d gone so wrong. It was his fault. He knew. He had left without any explanation. He’d stayed gone because he’d thought it was for the best. Not just for him but for Michael too. Now that he was back, now that he had Zoey to think of, he knew just how badly he’d screwed up.
He’d left his brother behind. He’d been so messed up about losing his family that he hadn’t given much thought to the family he had left. Michael. He’d left behind a scared teenage boy to run a pack all by himself after burying his parents and older brother.
What the hell had he been thinking? The truth was. He hadn’t. His wolf had been crazed and feral. He’d been in shock and grief. And he’d run. He’d run away thinking it would solve his problems but it had only created more.
It had created this rift between him and his brother that he wasn’t sure anything could bridge, but he had to try. Not just for Zoey’s sake. For his and for Michael’s too.
Rafe dropped his head into his hands and his wolf whined, “I’m so sorry, Michael.”
Nothing but silence greeted his apology. He’d expected that. In the face of everything, all the years and time he’d stayed away, it wasn’t much. Not nearly enough.
“I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I left you behind. I was… so messed up. I wasn’t thinking straight. Hell, I still don’t think straight most days. My wolf is feral. Practically uncontrollable. But I always thought when I got my shit back together I’d come home. I just… I never got it together.”
He glanced up and saw that Michael’s jaw was twitching. He was grinding his teeth together. He was also staring off into space instead of looking at Rafe and he felt the refusal to even acknowledge him like a punch in the gut. Even if he deserved it.
“So,” Michael finally gritted out, “You came back for a reason. You said on the phone there was an issue I needed to know about. What was it?”
“Michael…”
“No.” His brother snapped his eyes back to him and they glowed gold again, “No. We’re not talking about her. Not yet. Right now, you tell me why you came back to my pack, to my land, to talk to me. You didn’t come back for her so you don’t get to talk to me about her. Not yet.”
Rafe’s wolf bristled at every word. He wanted to bare his teeth. He wanted to remind Michael that he was the elder, that he was the rightful Pack Alpha. But he didn’t. Because he didn’t want to be Pack Alpha. Had never wanted it. Michael was better at it than he ever could have been and the proof was right there in his statement.
Michael loved Zoey, in one way or another he always had. He’d called her his family. But before dealing with her, Michael had to know what the threat to the pack as a whole was, the one Rafe had come home to talk to him about.
Pack first, that was Michael. Rafe was the selfish one. He’d thought only of himself when he left. Now he had Zoey and he was thin
king only of the two of them. Of keeping her for himself. But he had to talk to Michael first, put things right, or as right as they could ever be between them at this point.
“It’s Leo. He’s in trouble. He asked me to get the Moirae pack involved but that’s not my place. I told him the best I could do is talk to you.”
Michael’s lips set into a thin line, “Leo DeLuca?”
Rafe nodded.
“He’s Crescent pack, right?”
“Yeah. He said he’d have come to you himself but he’s afraid it’ll only cause more trouble for his family if he’s seen meeting with you. Their new Pack Alpha is bad news and Leo thinks once he’s done tearing their pack apart, he’ll come for the Moirae pack. Something about you providing refuge for the wolves that have left the Crescent.”
“I knew there was something going on in the Crescent pack. We’ve been getting a lot of transfers from there in the past couple of months. I’ve asked why but they all say the same thing, disagreements with new leadership.” Michael scrubbed his jaw again, “It’s a new guy. Maddox something. I’ve been meaning to check it out but the diplomacy of it all is… tricky. I can’t just walk onto their land and accuse their Pack Alpha of something no matter what I think he’s doing.”
“What do you think he’s doing?”
“Abusing his power.”
Rafe nodded when he realized he and his brother were on the same page, “Leo fled or he swears he’d be dead right now. The guy challenged Leo’s dad when he was ill knowing he couldn’t take him at full strength. Killed the Alpha, killed his wife and took Leo’s siblings as hostages.”
Michael gaped at him, “Hostages? For what? What’s he asking for?”
“He wants Leo dead too. He’s the last male in his line. The DeLuca lineage would die with Leo and the Alpha can set up his own as a new dynasty. He says he’ll let the younger sisters go if Leo gives himself up…”
“But?”
“But...” Rafe nodded when his brother caught onto where he was going, “He won’t let the oldest sister go. He wants her for himself. Leo says he always has. He thinks she was part of his grab for power all along. That claiming her would unite the pack behind him even after the terrible things he’s done.”
