Her Pack

by Candace Wondrak

  Maia squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. She turned her body, inching closer to him. She nuzzled against him, pressing her face to his chest, her right hand grasping the side of his shirt, balling it up. Her sudden closeness caused his skin to flush. Before he could stop himself, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him harder, and breathed in her scent.

  She still smelled like his damned shampoo.

  Which, he would argue until death, was not dandruff shampoo. It said so on the fucking bottle. Anyone with eyes would see it. But that was beside the point. Alarick returned his mind to the shifter in his arms, to the way she clung to him.

  He hated that she was so upset, but at the same time, holding her felt right. His inner wolf was placated because she was so near, even though she was unclaimed.

  “I hate that I dream of him,” Maia whispered.

  If his inner wolf was placated before, it most definitely didn’t remain so after hearing that. Alarick had to pause to keep himself from growling, for hearing that she was dreaming of someone—of a man—was the absolute last thing he wanted to hear, and he had to remind himself that she was unclaimed, she wasn’t with whomever he was…she was with him, a packmember.

  Still, he found himself asking, “Who?”

  Maia didn’t answer straight away. She took her time to mutter into his chest, “An asshole. He was…supposed to be my future mate. One of them.” She acted as if she was going to say more, but she quieted, perhaps fearing the repercussions of such an admission.

  Did she think Alarick was going to get angry? Okay, well, his wolf might’ve, but mainly out of jealousy, and what anger he did feel was not geared at her; it was thrown at whoever the wolf was. He would not let himself show his anger. He had to focus on the compassion he felt, for it was there, buried between the jealousy and the wolfish rage.

  “You were promised to a wolf?” Alarick asked.

  Maia nodded against him.

  “And you ran because…”

  “He was an asshole,” she finished for him, pulling her head out of the crook of his chest, moving to stare at him. Maia waited for him to say something, like she thought he’d toss her out or something.

  She ran from a future mate? Alarick, knowing that she was able to keep her wolf in check, was not surprised that she did, if he was an asshole like she said. And he trusted her; he knew she wouldn’t claim his asshole-ness if it wasn’t true.

  Besides that, he couldn’t be angry because her running away had brought her to him, to his pack. Alarick wouldn’t change it for anything.

  “Will he come after you?” Alarick must not have said what Maia had expected, for her eyes widened. It made sense, though. Female shifters were so rare; losing one was unthinkable. If Maia had been his promised mate and she ran away, he most definitely would’ve gone after her. But then again, if it had been Alarick she was promised to, she probably wouldn’t have run away from the start.

  He liked to think of himself as only a small asshole, and only when the situation called for it.

  “I…” Maia stumbled over her words, something that was wholly unlike her, “I don’t know. Maybe.” She let out a soft sigh; Alarick could feel the exhale on his neck, for while she no longer was pressed against his chest, she still laid less than a foot from him. “If you want me to go, I get it. If…if I was followed, I’m putting you all at risk, which is something I would never want.”

  Alarick gazed steadily at her. So she ran, and her old pack might be on her trail. Probably was, since she was such a beautiful female wolf. Anyone with any bit of brains would want her back, though maybe her old pack wasn’t necessarily one of the ones with brains behind it. More brawn, probably, which was how wolves usually were.

  What stunned him the most was how she’d said she didn’t want to put Alarick and his little pack at risk. It meant that she cared for them, at least in some way. It was more than he ever hoped for, more than he thought he’d get from her in this short time. Maia might not have admitted her feelings to him, but Alarick knew they were there. It was only a matter of bringing them out.

  That, and dealing with the trackers that might be coming after her. But they’d deal with that when and if it came to it. For now, Alarick had to reassure her that nothing had changed, she was still welcome and part of their pack, and they would do anything to protect her.

  “Maia,” he whispered, holding himself back from reaching to her face. How badly he wanted to cup her cheek, run his thumb over her skin as he assured her, but he didn’t. He wouldn’t, until he knew she would not run from him like she’d run from her other pack. He would not be an asshole like her last promised mate. He would wait. He’d wait an eternity if he had to.

  God, Alarick prayed, he hoped it wouldn’t be an eternity.

  “I don’t want you to leave,” he said. “I would never ask for you to go. You are a part of this pack now. You are one of us, and no matter what storm might follow you, we will stand behind you, with you, beside you. No wolf is ever left behind. I know you are tough, I know you can handle yourself, I know you’re capable on your own, if the prairie dog diet you were on says anything.”

  Maia’s lips curled into a smile despite the sadness in her gaze.

  “I know all that. But let me tell you something you might not know. You might be a stranger, but from the moment I saw you in that diner, I knew you were one of us. Not just a wolf, but you were meant to be here, with us. And please don’t think I mean as our mate. We are not animals, and we will never hurt you, never go against your trust. You are safe with us, Maia. We will do anything to protect you.”

  She closed her eyes, still smiling as she muttered, “You are too intense right now.”

  “I don’t think I know how not to be intense, especially after I find out the wolf I like is on the run from her old pack because her promised mate was a dick—” Alarick realized his mistake too late.

  Just after he’d gone on and on about how they were one, how she was part of the pack and not their mate, he went and slipped up. Said the wolf I like. Alarick didn’t want any pressure on her, so he didn’t want to say anything remotely close to that. What the hell was he thinking?

  He wasn’t. He was just talking, trying to comfort her when comforting was one of the last things he was good at.

  Fortunately for him, it didn’t look as if Maia wanted to slowly back off the bed and run away with a dramatic leap through the window. Her head remained on the pillow beside him, her eyes locked on his. “The wolf you like?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “It just slipped out. I won’t—” His words, whatever the hell he was going to say, caught in his throat when she brought a hand to his chest, running it along his collarbone. Her touch elicited a thousand things inside him, all of them warm and hot and completely inappropriate.

  “What if I said I kind of like you, too?” Maia whispered, her question sounding far more innocent than it was, especially with how she trailed her fingers along his chest.

  There was a tightening in his chest as he said, “Don’t tease me like this.”

  Her eyebrows came together, as if she was confused. Maia scooted closer to him, pressing the front of her body against his of her own accord, gazing up at him and saying, “I…I’m not teasing. Not joking. Not even a little. The more I’m around you, the more I feel for you.”

  His heart beat so fast he could hear it in his ears. Had he fallen asleep when he wasn’t paying attention? Was this a dream? He was, for once, nervous to say anything, to shatter the moment and break the connection that he felt. “And your wolf?” Alarick already knew how his wolf felt. His would be more than happy to have her as his mate.

  “Right now, let’s not bring our wolves into the equation,” she spoke.

  So she wasn’t ready to admit their wolves’ connection, but she was ready to admit a more human, physical connection? Alarick did not want to jinx anything, but he couldn’t exactly tell her no, either. He wasn’t a madman.
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  “Right now,” she said again, “I just want you.”

  Alarick knew he should probably give her space, tell her that they could continue this discussion when it was light out and she wasn’t recovering from a nightmare of her douchey ex, but he couldn’t. What he’d said before, that he was not a weak man, well…it wasn’t true.

  He was weak when it came to one thing.

  Maia.

  Chapter Twenty-One – Maia

  What in the world was she doing? Maia asked herself this about a thousand times as she pressed herself against Alarick, ran her hand up his arm. She thought about stopping once, and only when Alarick had brought up their wolves.

  She didn’t want to think about their wolves right now. She only wanted him.

  And, judging from the almost instant erection pressing against her midsection, Maia knew he wanted her, too.

  “Maia,” he whispered her name softly, delicately, as if the word might break on his tongue, “you know how to drive a man crazy, don’t you?”

  “Only as crazy as I am,” she said, her hand resting on the back of his neck. Maia felt him hold her, a warm, strong hand pressed on her lower back. Not once had she ever felt so wanton, so free. Screw the wolves.

  It was the human’s time to get nasty.

  Before she could change her mind—before she could overthink it and realize what a bad idea it was to get involved with this pack—Maia brought her lips to his, tasting him, nipping and licking. It was almost a relief to get the pent-up energy out, to finally know what he tasted like. She’d have major stubble burn on her chin and her cheeks, but she didn’t care. Not one bit as she trailed her lips along his jaw, enjoying the way his chest rumbled and how his grip on her lower back tightened.

  Returning to his mouth, Maia slipped her tongue inside, playful in how it met his. Never once breaking their lip lock, she pushed him over, getting him to his back and crawling onto his chest to straddle him.

  Oh, yes. Now it was way too late to turn back. There was no stopping now. Whatever was going to happen between them would happen, one way or another. Maia only hoped that they could both keep their wolves at bay, because she was not ready to become anyone’s lifelong mate. She wasn’t ready to be claimed like that.

  His hands, those rough, ridiculously warm hands, found their way beneath the hem of her dress, bunching the fabric up further until they rested comfortably on her ass. Her hair fell around his face, and when she went to his neck, trailing her lips and her tongue to its crook, he tensed below her.

  “What am I going to do with you?” Alarick said, his voice husky and ragged in all the right ways.

  “I can think of a few things,” she murmured, nipping at his earlobe. Almost immediately, he bucked below her, grinding his hardness against her. Maia wanted to rub herself against him, but first, their clothes would have to disappear or at the very least get out of the damned way. She went to reach behind her back for her dress’s zipper (she’d become quite proficient at undoing it herself after running away) but the man beneath her had other ideas.

  Alarick sat, his breath hot on her face as he reached around, swatted her hand away and murmured, “Let me.” He slowly took his time in unzipping her dress, his lips moving along her shoulders, stubble scratching her skin. Maia shivered, a tingling sensation crawling up her spine as the cool air of the house met with her bare back.

  Never had she been like this before. Zak had tried to get certain things out of her, had expected her to freely give them, but Maia had never let herself go quite like this. This was…this was indescribably amazing. Every touch, each kiss lit her world aflame, made her wolf itch to escape.

  Not on this night, she told her inner wolf. Tonight was all about the human side of things. Skin on skin instead of fur on fur. This was not a claiming, not technically. They’d have to be in their wolf forms for that. This was just a release, all hot and sexy and needful.

  At least, it’s what Maia told herself. If this meant more…

  She’d deal with it later.

  As her dress fell around her waist, her chest completely bare to the man before her, Maia felt herself grow even more excited. If she’d planned on stopping, well, it was far too late for that, now.

  The look on Alarick’s face was one of hunger, one of total and utter desire after he’d pulled back from kissing her shoulders to view her exposed chest. Her nipples were two hardened points, and apparently extremely sensitive, she found out when he ran his hands along her. Alarick’s mouth lowered to her chest, his hand massaging the other as he took a nipple into his mouth, his tongue toying with her as only a master could. Flicking, twirling, tweaking. A bit of grazing of his teeth but nothing too rough.

  Her thighs clenched, her hips rocked once. Maia’s dress still hung around her waist, and her panties still clung to her hungry sex. God, she needed to be free of her clothes—and then she had to help Alarick with his. It was only fair, right?

  Alarick must’ve sensed her eagerness, for he tore his mouth from her nipple as he murmured, “Let’s get you out of those clothes.” He would get no argument from her, and she crawled onto the bed beside him, off his lap, which allowed him to tug on both the dress and her panties, tossing them on the floor in a bundle of forgotten fabric.

  He started to crawl over her, his stare devouring her. Maia set a hand on his chest before he could come down on her, before their lips met again, stopping him to ask, “What about yours?” It wouldn’t be fair if she was the only naked party, would it? Granted, she’d seen every bit of him before they ran, so it wasn’t as if anything would be a surprise.

  Still, getting to see Alarick naked and being able to run her hands along every inch of him were two totally different things. Seeing and touching were both well and good, but there was nothing better than touching, especially when the man in question was Alarick.

  God, she had it bad for the man, didn’t she?

  “I think,” Alarick said, pressing his chest down, his strength undeniable. Her hand gave way easily. She might’ve been strong compared to human standards, but against another wolf—an alpha, no less—her muscles were useless. “All the attention should be on you,” he finished, kissing her neck. He moved his head between her breasts, hands roaming all along her body, now unfettered by any and all clothing. His touch sent fires coursing through her, waves of pleasure that made her moan.

  When his hands found their way between her thighs, when they forced her legs open and spread them wide, Maia’s eyes closed and she could no longer watch. Watching was too much when coupled with trying to focus on how good he made her feel.

  And that was really, really good. So good the room faded away, the entire world faded to black. All the problems in her life vanished when he touched her. What did she run from? What had she done? Maia wouldn’t be able to say. She wouldn’t be able to say much other than oh, God and yes.

  Alarick’s fingers slid against her, his blue eyes almost black in the night, gliding along the folds of skin between her legs. She was already slick with desire, a wetness that came specifically from wanting him. Maia was splayed on the bed, her legs spread, her arms held by her head. Every few moments she let out a soft moan she could not stifle, not while his fingers worked her like that.

  His fingers alone were about to bring her to her precipice, but she couldn’t have that. Not yet. She wanted him inside of her. “Stop,” she whispered, though it was breathy and almost embarrassing, because it was clear that stopping was the last thing her body wanted him to do. “I think it’s time to take off your clothes and join me on the bed, alpha.”

  Alarick probably wanted to argue, say that she needed more attention on her, but she would have none of it. If she didn’t get that cock inside of her, she’d explode…or something. At least die from wanting. But the man argued not a word as he worked to rid his body of his shirt and then his pants, lastly his boxers. His cock stood ready, hard and straight. Combined with his glorious muscles, it was one of the sexiest sights Maia
had ever seen.

  Not like she often got herself into messes like this, but still. So sexy. So hot it hurt her eyes.

  Alarick once more crawled over her, but this time it meant more, simply because he was now as naked as she was. He looked ready to continue showering her body with attention and affection, which was all fine and dandy, but right now, Maia didn’t want the sweet, slow and tender lead up. Right now she just wanted to be fucked.

  She wanted to be fucked like an animal.

  Hmm. Maybe it was her wolf showing. Maybe she’d been good for too long. Either way, she wanted to let go, and judging from Alarick’s dick, he was more than willing to help her let go. They’d find their release together.

  “I want you inside,” Maia said, doing her best to order around the handsome alpha above her.

  Alarick said nothing as he reached down between them and positioned himself, the tip of his dick pressing against the crease of her opening. Just when Maia was about to tell him to get inside already, his hips moved, pushing the entire length of his cock inside her in one smooth motion.

  She let out a cry of surprise, of pleasure. It felt better than Maia had ever thought it would, but maybe it only felt so good because she was with Alarick and not some other wolf. Alarick wasn’t only handsome. He was kind, strong, smart enough to know how to handle her. He was not the typical wolf, and most definitely not the typical alpha male.

  He was…amazing.

  Alarick rested his arms around her head, using them to prop himself up. His eyes took on a glimmer in the darkness, reflecting as wolves’ eyes did, as he gazed down at her, his cock as far deep inside of her as it could go. “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispered, his breathing ragged. The look he gave her then, as if he was claiming her mind, body, and soul, caused Maia to turn her head to side and sigh.

  At this point, if he commanded her to change into a wolf so their beasts could mate, so she could become his claimed mate, Maia was unsure if she would have the strength, the willpower to refuse him. Hopefully he wouldn’t ask.