by Cara Wylde
“Yes,” she screamed. “Come inside me, come inside me…”
Her whole body was trembling in pleasure. The feeling of being stuffed full, and the idea that his seed was slowly coating her walls, sent her over the edge again. It was almost too much for her to handle. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. The tension on his masculine features had disappeared, having been replaced by pure relaxation and bliss.
When it was finally over, Ryan collapsed on top of her, and Jocelyn wrapped her arms around his neck. They stayed like that, embraced, for a long while.
***
It was getting late, and the cave looked eerie and mysterious as the dark was settling in. The moonlight shined through the ice walls, and the stars looked like glitter on the ceiling. As Jocelyn and Ryan lay in silence on the cold ground, the constellations moved up in the sky as if they were putting on a show just for the two of them.
Josie snuggled closer to her Beta’s chest, breathing in his manly scent. She knew she would never get enough of it. Their bodies fit perfectly against each other, like two pieces of a puzzle that had been lost and had just found their way back to where they belonged. He hugged her tightly, and she sighed in delight.
“I… need to tell you something,” he said.
She looked up at him, her green eyes inviting him to open up to her. She was there to listen.
He chuckled. “Don’t look at me like that. You’re making me nervous.”
She laughed. “You? Nervous? For a Beta, you seemed anything but nervous a few minutes ago.”
He blushed. How was that possible? Ryan could swear it was the first time in his life when he blushed. He hadn’t even thought he was capable of such a thing.
“Well?” Jocelyn encouraged him. “Spit it out.” She had some things to tell him herself, but she welcomed the opportunity to find out what he was thinking first, and then open her own heart. What was she afraid of? She couldn’t tell… She had never been afraid or insecure in her relationships.
“I have wanted you for a long time,” he said. “I don’t know when I fell in love with you, but when I realized it had happened, it was already too late.”
“You never said anything…”
“How could I? You’re my Alpha. When have you ever heard of an Alpha being in a relationship with a Beta?”
“Stupid, unwritten rules,” she mumbled.
It was true, though. Usually, Alphas were looking for something else when they chose their mates. An Alpha male shifter would go for a human female just because she could give him heirs. As for Alpha female shifters… Well, that was a different story. For one, there weren’t many. Jocelyn Blackmane was a huge exception from the “rule”. When her father died, Clan Blackmane was big enough to be divided into three packs, each led by one of his children. Karl, the eldest son, got the Dark Wolves. Max, Jocelyn’s favorite brother, ruled over the Crescents, and that left Josie with her own pack: the Moon Children. This division helped them all organize themselves better. Either way, in the case of an Alpha female, she would usually choose someone of her own status – another Alpha. However, it was still quite difficult for her, as there weren’t many Alpha males who were willing to give up having heirs just because they happened to fall in love with a shifter female instead of a human female. That didn’t leave many options… For many years, Jocelyn had thought she would never find a mate, and had gotten used to the idea that it would all be one-night stands for her.
Unaware of what was going through her head, Ryan went on:
“It might have happened during the Battle at Alma Venus. I thought… I thought I lost you then.”
She smiled and placed her hand on his cheek.
“As I was carrying you back to the school, I refused to imagine my life without you. I was cursing myself for not having protected you better, for not having forced you to stop when you were clearly too tired to keep fighting. I knew it had been your choice and you would have gladly died for your brother and sister-in-law, but that just didn’t seem fair. Don’t get me wrong, I am loyal to Max, too, but I am your Beta. You’re my priority, not the other two Blackmane Alphas. If something had happened to you…” His voice cracked a bit. He drew in a deep breath. “If anything had happened to you, I would have left the clan.”
Jocelyn sat up abruptly.
“Don’t ever say that! Clan Blackmane is your family, with or without me.”
Ryan smoothed down her disheveled hair.
“What am I supposed to do with a family if I lose my world?”
It was Jocelyn’s turn to blush up to the tips of her ears.
He continued: “Besides, if I had lost you, I would have never forgiven myself, nor your brothers. I wouldn’t have been able to look into their eyes, exchange a single word with them, live with them under the same roof.”
She averted her gaze and murmured: “Don’t say that…”
She didn’t know what she had expected him to say when he started talking, but this wasn’t it. She had no idea what to answer to that. Anything she could have come up with would have been petty and meaningless. As an Alpha, all she could do was be there, listen to him, and accept his unconditional loyalty. Jocelyn had the same loyalty from all the other members of her pack, so she should have been used to it by now.
“It doesn’t matter, now,” Ryan said. “You’re here, I’m here… What happened is in the past. But it did make me realize that…”
“What?”
He bit the inside of his cheek before saying the words. Yes, she had given herself to him, and, yes, he felt like there was a chance that she shared his feelings. Still, it made him feel so vulnerable and exposed. Never in his life had he said to anyone the words he was about to say to her now.
“What?” she insisted.
“It made me realize that I love you.”
Her heart skipped more than a few beats. She put a bit of distance between them and drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
“The Battle at Alma Venus was ten years ago,” she reasoned. “You’ve been in love with me for ten years?”
He sat up and faced her. He nodded.
“Wow…”
Jocelyn needed a moment to process the information. For a werewolf, who lived around 500 years, 10 years was not that mind-blowing, but still… Her lips curved into a huge smile.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “You left me speechless.”
“Well, that’s some achievement. I don’t remember you ever being speechless.”
She punched him in the shoulder. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That you’re highly opinionated?”
“Doesn’t sound like a compliment to me.”
They both laughed, but not for long. Another minute, and that heavy silence they had become accustomed to fell between them. Jocelyn knew she had to say something. Even though he didn’t say it, Ryan was waiting. He had just told her that he loved her. That he had been in love with her for ten years. She couldn’t leave him like that.
She looked at her feet and swallowed heavily. Her heart started pounding faster, and heat spread from her chest to her neck, and up to her cheeks. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought she was coming down with a fever. On the other hand, werewolves never got ill…
“Last night I wanted to come to your room,” she said. Maybe that wasn’t what he had expected to hear, but it was better than nothing. It was a good start, anyway. “I have been attracted to you for a while now… I mean, not just attracted…” She bit her lower lip. Why was it so hard to express her feelings? “I would have acted on it long ago, if it had only been attraction.”
He smiled widely. So, it hadn’t been his imagination.
“I thought I caught your scent near my room last night.”
“Oh.”
She took another minute to gather her thoughts and her courage.
“All right, here goes. I’m saying it.”
His black, thick eyebrows rose in confusion. “
Say what?”
Jocelyn fixed him with her green gaze. There was something in her eyes that he hadn’t seen before: fear. It caught him off-guard, and he didn’t know how to behave.
“I love you, too.”
Ryan’s heart jumped in his throat. Even though he wanted to say something, he couldn’t. He gulped down, but the heavy knot was still there. His voice wouldn’t cooperate, either.
Jocelyn changed her position so she was kneeling in front of him, her hands on his cheeks. She traced the scar on his face with her thumb.
“Ryan, I love you. It was hard for me to identify it, to admit it… But it’s true. Last night, I changed my mind and didn’t come to your room because I realized that by telling you how I felt about you, I would take away something very precious, something a human mate could give you: heirs. I didn’t want to force you to choose me over a human mate just because I’m your Alpha.”
He covered her hands with his.
“I don’t want anyone else but you,” he said. “I don’t need a human mate, I don’t need pups. My life is full just because I’m your Beta and I get to spend so much time around you.”
She smiled.
“Besides, I thought I told you yesterday: if I had children, I wouldn’t know how to deal with them.”
“We could… we could adopt.”
“If that’s what you want…”
“If only you want it, too.”
He leaned in and kissed her. “I want anything you want, my love. Just name it, and I’ll bring it at your feet.”
Jocelyn laughed. “Oh, please, don’t bring orphan pups at my feet.”
“I’ll leave them on your doorstep.”
“That is… That sounds just wrong.”
He tackled her to the ground and climbed on top of her.
“Right, wrong… I don’t care. Anything you want, baby, you can have it.”
Jocelyn laughed and started fighting him.
“You know what I want right now?” she asked.
“What?”
“To be one top for once!”
“Aww… Don’t tell me I bruised your ego by taking the lead earlier.”
“That’s not the way to talk to your Alpha!”
She used all the strength in her legs and arms to flip them over, and once she was on top of him, she wasted no time in lowering herself on his hard cock. She moaned at the delicious burn.
Ryan took a hold of her hips, and helped her build a steady rhythm.
“Can I ask you out to dinner again?” he asked.
“What? Now?”
“Why not?”
“Kinda’ busy here.” She started bouncing on his lap faster.
He grunted and forced his voice to sound casual and even.
“Tomorrow night.”
Jocelyn leaned back and used his knees for support. The angle made his massive cock reach deeper inside her pussy.
“All right,” she panted. “It’s a date.”
THE END
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MORE VALENTINE’S DAY NOVELLAS
Are you looking forward to more Valentine’s Day shifter goodness? Then make sure you Subscribe to my Newsletter to be the first to find out about my next releases! They will all be live on Amazon and free in Kindle Unlimited before February 14, 2017.
Coming January 24, 2017:
Kevin is the Beta of the Crescents pack. He never considered taking a mate, until he met Ashley Woods, a sassy, curvaceous beauty who stole his heart. But Ashley is not particularly interested in wolf-shifters. Her life is perfect, and she doesn’t need the complications that come with becoming a shifter bride.
Coming January 27, 2017:
It’s been ten years since Caleb’s girlfriend passed away, but he’s still heartbroken. His newfound feelings for his best friend, Rosanna, don’t make things easier. However, Rosanna is determined to show him he doesn’t have to feel guilty for moving on.
Coming February 3, 2017:
Matt is the Beta of the Dark Wolves pack. When Valentine’s Day catches him without a girlfriend, he does something reckless: he gets a mail-order bride. Shy, curvy Tessa Forbes is everything he ever wanted in a mate, but is he ready to commit to a long-term relationship?
Coming February 10, 2017:
Sexy dragon-shifter Astrid has never thought she would find a mate in her business partner, James Harington. She belongs to the most ancient and noble shifter species on the planet, and he’s only a human. To say they are an unlikely match would be an understatement.
THE ALMA VENUS UNIVERSE
Lovely reader,
The characters you’ve just met in this book, The Beta’s Unlikely Mate, are part of a wider series. The characters you’ll meet in my next Valentine’s Day novellas belong to the same wider universe. If you want to know them better, learn about their background, and meet the other characters mentioned in their stories, then please check out my Alma Venus Shifter-Brides series:
Amazon US | Amazon UK
Free in Kindle Unlimited
Dive into the world of the Alma Venus Shifter-Brides! Get four standalone novels at an incredible price, and enjoy the stories of four beautiful, amazing women who are trying to make their own destiny in a world where humans are an inferior race!
The peace treaty between humans and shape-shifters was signed over a century ago. One of the clauses says that humans must provide shifters with young brides to give them heirs and ensure the perpetuation of their species. Today, all over the world, special boarding schools take girls from orphanages and give them the most exquisite education, preparing them to become brides for the enemy. If a bride reaches the age of 25 and no shifter wants to buy her, then she is given two options: serve in a shifter brothel, or starve on the streets. Society would never accept a bride who failed to accomplish her duties.
Sold to the Alpha – Avelyn is determined to regain her freedom and never marry a shape-shifter. When Alpha wolf Max Blackmane buys her, she uses all the tricks she can come up with to escape. Before she knows it, she falls in love with him. But Max has dark things in his past, dark things he keeps hidden in the dungeons under his castle.
The Hidden Alpha – Amelia has always wanted to marry a wealthy shifter and live a simple, normal life. She is bought by Seth, the Beta of Clan Sylfur, for his fox-shifter Alpha, Blake Sylfur. But her husband ignores her, and Amelia falls in love with Seth. Her betrayal might ruin her forever.
Claimed by the Dragons – Delyse has waited for three years for her Alpha, ancient dragon Eric Drekinn to wake up from his hibernation and claim her. When she finally meets her husband, she’s already in love with his Beta, Viggo. What she doesn’t expect is for the two dragons to agree to share.
Taming the Alpha – Claudia is worried that no shifter will ever want to buy her, and when Karl Blackmane shows up, she wonders if he bought her just because her friend, Avelyn, insisted. All she wants is to make Karl happy, but his dark, twisted past threatens to ruin their marriage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cara Wylde loves to write about strong, feisty women and their hot Alphas who will do anything to make them happy. Her books are filled with romance and just a dash of mystery, suspense, and that eerie atmosphere she fell in love with reading too many gothic novels. With a master's degree in Comparative Literature, she can't help but play with tropes and themes from various genres, trying to come up with fresh perspectives on the paranormal characters her readers love so much. Vampires, shape-shifters, demons, witches... Cara will always make sure they get their own twists.
When she's not writing, Cara is reading, planning her next story, or daydreaming. Her idea of pure heaven is a day filled with nothing but her laptop, a huge coffee pot, relaxing music, and a new, exciting pro
ject.
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