Sorcha's Wolf

by Billi Jean

  “The creature was a snow demon, or more precisely, it is now. At one time it was the spirit of this season, in all its joy, but with the disappearance of so much of its land, it has turned sullen, feeding off the life force of the unsuspecting.”

  Alex growled and pointed at where Sorcha had disappeared. “Sorcha is in danger, damn it, I don’t need a history lesson! Just get her the fuck out of there!”

  Moon gripped his arm. “We will, Alex, we will. She won’t perish from the world this way, I assure you.”

  His heart settled to a slow run instead of the gallop it had started since he’d first watched Sorcha pulled down the mountain by the snow. “Aye, tell me what I should do.”

  “We will find the creature and bring it to our lands, allowing it the peace it needs.” Gregory stepped around him, the Fay, including Moon, following. He watched as Agni’s attention centred on Moon, his eyes sharply accessing. Pieces of a puzzle fell into place. Agni was the reason she’d hidden away in the Fay realm. She’d always been close with the fire demon as a child, he recalled. Had Agni always known she was his? Had she left knowing he was her mate? She’d been so young, was that possible?

  Agni sensed his look and turned, his face hardening, but not in rage. This time he looked resolute as he walked by, a few steps behind Moon. He might be determined, Alex guessed, but Moon was strong, and if the demon had wronged her, he might have hell to pay before he ever got another chance at her.

  “We go in here,” Gregory called.

  Alex rushed to Gregory’s side, confused by his words. The Fay was ancient, even if they looked the same age, he made Alex feel young by comparison, but this? This wasn’t what he’d expected. “Go down where?”

  The Fay nearest him started singing in a low, solemn tone, reminding him of the druids from ages past. Slowly under their feet, the stone began to tremble and a crevice opened revealing a downward shaft of earth littered with more white. Moon jumped into the chasm, raising her arms and singing to the Earth—or so it appeared. The snow lifted, blew aside to clear a path for her as she walked. Two more Fay followed. He heard Agni grumble something to Gregory about Bethany not needing to go first. Gregory laughed lightly and responded that Moon always did as she chose.

  Ahead of him, the Fay slowed and parted revealing Moon motioning him closer. “Sorcha lies ahead. She’s unharmed, but tread carefully while we deal with the creature.” As she spoke, she drew her longbow and arrow. Pride filled his chest at her strength.

  “You make your pack proud, Moon.” He gripped her arm and moved ahead of her, keeping his back to the tunnel wall. Two feet in he spotted Sorcha huddled on her side, her knees drawn to her chin, her body covered in a light dusting of white. Heart in his throat, he raced to her, not breathing until he curled her in his arms and felt the warmth of her breath against his cheek.

  “Sweet Danu, lass, you scare the hell out of me.”

  He didn’t expect her to respond, figuring her silence for unconsciousness, but she burrowed against his neck and murmured, “I’m not trying to.”

  His heart felt too big for his chest as he hugged her tighter. “Aye, I dinna doubt that. Let’s get you out of here, eh?”

  “Aye, out of here, Alex. I’m freezing.” She was too. There were crystals of ice on her eyelashes. More snow had settled inside her open jacket, not melting against her pale skin.

  “Go, Alex, we can do the rest. Call us again if you have need,” Bethany said from where she led the others down a side passage. Agni gave him a frown and stepped closer.

  “Sorcha, you are good?” Agni asked.

  She nodded, but also whispered, “Yes, just freezing.”

  Agni met his eyes. “Markee has explained the plan. It might work. See that it does and that Sorcha doesn’t suffer again, wolf.”

  Sorcha tightened her freezing cold fingers on his neck, stopping Alex from responding the way he’d like. Instead, he took off, fearing Sorcha’s icy chill as much as he’d feared her heat. How many times would she come to harm in his care?

  “I have to give you the antidote soon,” he said.

  “I know, but first warm me, Alex.”

  “Aye, I will.”

  She settled in his arms then, trusting him to see to her, as she let herself drift into sleep. He would have panicked, but Gregory simply shook his head at his concern.

  “She sleeps from the ice and snow. More than likely he buried her alive, and until we came, she would have been without much oxygen.”

  Alex’s heart felt like it tripped and stuttered at that.

  “Warm her, see she rests, and she will be fine,” Gregory said, frowning at her in a way that made Alex want to ask what was wrong. “This potion, it is strong. Do you believe she can break it in time to save you both?”

  Markee shifted from foot to foot next to him. Alex shot him a look, but Markee shrugged and frowned.

  “Markee did not have to tell me your plans for revenge, Alex. You must ask yourself if the past is worth the price of your future.” Gregory nodded to Sorcha. His grey eyes focused on her for a bit of time before he said, “She is fine, Alex. Simply care for her.”

  Alex tightened his arms around her, suddenly feeling as if he’d swallowed glass.

  “I should go. Agni should not be left down there, eh?” Gregory asked, slapping him on the back. “He’s not known for his patience.”

  With that, the Fay stepped into the hole, murmuring something as he walked, and the opening closed with a loud crack.

  “Shit!” Markee stepped back as if he might step on the Fay by mistake. “What was that about Agni? We need him, right? Why did he stay down there? He agreed to your plan, just as you said he would.”

  “There’s no time for that now, Markee. Gregory will see that Agni gets out safely. Go scout ahead and then give me three days with Sorcha before you come.”

  Markee rubbed a hand through his short hair silently. “It’s still a crazy plan, Alex. Even with Agni on board, it’s still nuts.”

  “It’s the only one we have. He wants her. There’s not a chance I will let him live now.”

  Against his throat, Sorcha murmured his name.

  Retribution wasn’t the only reason for wanting Zith’s blood on his blade. This witch, so light and soft in his arms, now drove him.

  The real fight, he knew, had just begun, and Alex planned on winning.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Alex shifted deep inside Sorcha, making her gasp into the bedding and claw at the sheets in an attempt to gain a breath past the pleasure smothering her. “Oh, Alex.”

  “Aye, witch, just once more, eh?” He thrust his hips forward, filling and stretching her with his thick erection until she felt his sac rest against her sensitive flesh. It was so erotic, so sexy feeling him like that, she shivered, aching for the orgasm he was withholding.

  “Alex, stop torturing me!”

  He chuckled low in his throat and nipped her along her shoulder blade. The hot rush of pleasure that caused almost shoved her over. Behind her like this, his big thighs on either side of her hips, his arms resting near her head, he dominated her. The feeling drove her nuts, and Alex, the cunning wolf, knew it. He flexed his shaft and managed to hit every spot he’d discovered these last three days of bliss.

  “Oh, goddess, Alex!”

  “Ah, torture. That would be you”—he dipped his sweaty head and brushed his unshaven jaw along her cheek—“bathing for me, eh?”

  She smiled and snuggled against his jaw. Micro bursts of heat simmered along every nerve ending, but Alex, teasing her so tenderly, as if he’d only just learnt how, made her squirm with happiness. “You asked me to. This is torture. I want—oh, Alex!”

  He rammed forward then, cutting off her oxygen. Immediately he started smooth movements, rocking her up and down his heavy flesh just with the command of his hips. Each collision of their bodies and glide of his cock inside her channel pinned her down, unable to move for fear of losing the bursts of pleasure.

  �
�Aye, so warm, so damn soft and wet for me, eh?” he whispered heavily in her ear.

  “Alex!” She arched her ass higher, when he simply bore down on her, tormenting her with his straining erection.

  “Aye, woman, this, this is what you want, eh?” He squeezed her hips and shoved her forward with the next roll of his hips. She clawed the sheets, overwhelmed by his heavy strokes and the hot weight of him pressing her down. She wanted to watch him, see his tight ass flex and his back arch with each wonderful pump of his hips, but there was no mirror. Even if she had one, she thought as he nipped at her shoulder, she couldn’t find the power to move with the pleasure building inside her. He positioned one hand under her and found her clit, cupping her mound and sliding his fingers along her in the way he’d learnt she loved.

  “Come, come, come for me,” he chanted and his harsh breath mixed with the urgency in his flexing body until she crashed over the edge, clinging to the arm he had positioned by her head. He cursed, and suddenly tugged her to her hands and knees. He began a hard and fast smack of his body to hers until with a ragged yell of her name he came. Right when she felt as if she’d floated off into space, he pulled them to their sides and bit her.

  “Alex!” Another orgasm burst like a wild fire, sweeping her up with spinning, tightening spirals. She could feel his canines breaking the skin, the hot bite so sexy she moaned his name as his hard shaft continued to fill her.

  He broke off with a loud groan at the end of one more lunge. “Ah, yeah, witch. I love that, Sorcha. How wet you get for me, woman.”

  She grumbled a laugh into his arm. Witch. Woman. Sorcha. The man made her weep from orgasms that should be illegal, but his love words, endearments, needed work. But to be fair, she didn’t call him anything but Alex. After so long loving him and not being able to say it, or express it, now all she wanted was to hear his name on her lips and know he was hers.

  “Ah, gods, I don’t want to move,” he murmured against her shoulder.

  “Don’t.” She snuggled her butt closer to his body, smiling in his arm when he gave her a lusty growl.

  “Aye? Stay like this, eh?” he asked, flexing his body so his cock pressed deeper.

  “Why not?” She knew why not, and suddenly the butterflies, the ones that had been missing for the last three days took flight in her stomach. They had to go face Zith today. “We should wash and go.”

  Instead of answering her, he tightened his embrace. “What do you want from me, Sorcha? Do you want me to let you go? Leave this chance at ending the man that took my family from me?”

  She shivered at the cold, ruthless quality of his voice, understanding now that the colder Alex became the more emotions he tried to shut down. She wiggled until he let her turn in his arms. She stopped him when he tried to move away simply by touching his face. “No, Alex, of course I don’t want that. If we can, we beat him, if we can’t though I want you to promise me you’ll go when I ask.”

  His face tightened, she felt it under her fingers, and her heart leapt with worry and panic. Alex, unlike her, had never run from what he wanted.

  “Did you know, witch, did you know who I was before I kidnapped you? Is that why my name fell so readily from your lips?” He gently traced a finger over her bottom lip, before caressing his knuckles over her cheek.

  She didn’t answer. How could she? What could she say? That she’d met him once before, ages past, and he’d stared at her, until she’d seen the disgust colour his face and he’d turned away, pushing through the crowded market to get away from her. She’d died a little that day. At seventeen, she’d felt her heart turn cold and her dreams burn to ash.

  Why had he done that? She knew him so much more now, knew his expressions, knew him to be brave and fierce, but not cruel. Bossy. Pushy, every bit a man’s man. Dominant in bed and earthy with his lusts, but never harmful, never intentionally mean.

  “Did you know me? Before? Did you know me here, in Scotland?”

  He frowned and scanned her face as if seeing it for the first time.

  When he didn’t speak, she broke eye contact with him to trail her fingers over his chest. Maybe he’d simply not really seen her.

  “Alex! Open the damn door goddamn it!” Pounding followed the rough yell, nearly scaring her to death.

  “Sonofabitch, damn pup doesn’t have good timing, eh? Up, witch, seems we have company.”

  “Company?” she asked faintly, watching him gather her clothes off a chair and toss them to her.

  “Aye, Markee,” he grumbled to her, then turned to yell, “Hold your damn horses!”

  Sorcha breathed in deeply and got up, brushing aside her desire to hear Alex’s reply for her need to be presentable in front of Markee. Presentable. Her hair was in tangles, the curls a riot around her face all the way to her hips. She’d not bathed until this morning when Alex had teased her into stripping for him. She’d teased him back by soaping every inch of her body in the big wooden tub he’d procured for them from who knew where.

  “You look lovely. Just dress quickly, he’s in a fine fit.” Alex brushed his hand along her back, a bare ghost of a caress, but her body, so tuned to his, warmed, and he grunted. “Damn, he better have a good excuse for being here. The plan was to meet at the mountain.”

  “He’s probably worried. You heard Agni—”

  Alex bent and placed a finger against her lips. He really, really didn’t like Agni.

  “Shh, dress.” With an arrogant smile, he cupped her breast, wincing once before kissing the tip and lifting his head to stare at her.

  “I thought you wanted me dressed,” she murmured.

  “I need you dressed, I don’t want you to. Do it. Gods, you tempt me.” He backed off and rubbed his neck, watching her intently enough that she grew nervous just putting her panties on, let alone her snug jeans and bra. When she clipped the tiny clasp closed, he gusted out a sigh.

  “I liked you stripping better, but damn, woman, I like to watch you move.”

  “Alex, you’re impossible.” She would have said more, but Markee must have waited long enough because he started banging again.

  “Dammit, Alex, open up now! Bloody hell I’ve—”

  “Markee, will you just be patient while I get my clothes on!” she yelled.

  At the sound of her voice, Markee stopped banging and quiet fell over the cabin. From outside, they both heard the hushed, “Aye, then, I’ll wait.”

  Alex grinned and winked at her, but sauntered to the door. He waited until she’d got her sweater on then nodded to her feet. He didn’t open the door, but stood there, while she put on her socks and boots. She should be embarrassed. His scent covered her. She had several new bite marks, even pink patches from where his rough stubble had burnt her, but instead of feeling even the slightest bit embarrassed, she felt so well loved, she couldn’t stop smiling. Even with the unanswered questions between them, hope still bubbled up for the first time in such a long, long time, she simply felt good.

  Alex examined her once more, then with a grin, he turned to open the door. “Well, what is it then?” he demanded.

  Markee stood there, his head slightly down, his shoulders slumped, but when Alex spoke, he looked up.

  She gasped and Alex cursed. Markee sported an evil bruise along his cheek and jaw and a slice along the side of his face, a black eye and his nose looked recently broken.

  “Aye, dinna worry over me, Alex, I’ll be fine,” he muttered.

  “Oh, goddess, who did that to you?” Sorcha asked, already moving towards him.

  “Don’task, I’d rather no’ discuss it,” he mumbled his words, the rough accent she didn’t remember him having sounded slurred.

  “What happened to you, man?” Alex pulled him in and shut the door.

  “You happened to me. Didn’t I tell you they’d find out? Didn’t I tell you that there would be trouble? Didn’t I warn you—?”

  “Are you telling me someone did this to you to get information?” Alex demanded. He grabbed Markee by
the coat sleeve and hauled him into a chair. “What have I always said to you—?”

  “No, this dinna happen over this—shit. Trouble wanted to strip my hide, but she didnae do this. The damn bar fight last night did this—or, eh, possibly this morning.” He shoved his hair back and eased into the chair until he could rest his head on the back of it. “Waiting on you, I got a wee bit bored and then that damn nosey demon and his drink. Ah, the man can drink.”

  “You’re drunk!” Alex exclaimed.

  Sorcha giggled at Alex’s outraged tone and he spared her a glare.

  “What? It’s funny! Are you drunk, Markee?”

  “Hell yeah, crazy bastard stole you, a witch—excuse me, I mean you, Sorcha, and traipses off after some warlock like he can defeat a magic user? Ha, like hell man, I cannae defeat Hunter in Pac Man and you want to go after some evil bastard and do you take a witch with you—sorry, Sorcha—with you to use her powers? Hell no! Bloody bastard’s blackmailing me, too. How the hell do you plan on defeating him, tell me that!”

  Well, that was something. She covered her mouth to keep in a laugh, but Alex gave her another stern look and folded his arms across his broad chest. “Do you both think I’m an idiot?”

  She froze but couldn’t stop her smile from growing. She shook her head quickly, at his deeper frown. “Of course not.”

  “Damn straight we do!” Markee yelled, slamming his fist down. His nose had already straightened and the bruise on his jaw wasn’t as dark already. His Lykae healing seemed to work even when drunk.

  “Witch, I don’t like it when you lie,” Alex said silkily.

  She swung her head around and met his intense look. “Maybe I fibbed, not actually lied. I mean, I don’t think you’re an idiot,” she offered, nervously stepping back when he dropped his arms and stalked towards her. “You must have a good plan.”

  “I must have a good plan.” He tilted his head and stopped hedging her in.

  “Yes, I knew you had something.” Just not what. “What is it?”

  “You. I have you.”