Big City (Box Set)

by Cynthia Sax

  North’s gaze lifted. Although his lips flattened for a mere second before curling upward into a fake smile, it was too late. She’d seen the horror in his eyes.

  Oh, God. Ember backed away as the other wolves pushed forward, crowding around her, their bodies heaving with effort. He didn’t need my help. I lost his love for nothing.

  She turned and ran with her tail between her legs, unable to talk to him, to force a smile and pretend her world hadn’t fallen apart. She couldn’t listen to his lies, hear his insincere assurances that she wasn’t hideous. She was. Mere words wouldn’t change that.

  “Ember!” North called to her, his voice stimulatingly deep. “Stop!”

  Alpha! Her wolf whimpered, yearning to comply, but the woman couldn’t stop. She darted down the alleyway, away from the shame. Heavier steps pounded the pavement behind her. She smelled his musk and the tangy scent of his blood. He was the bigger, stronger wolf, and he was gaining on her.

  North grunted and a heavy weight landed on her back, flattening her to the street. She skidded, her claws raking the hard surface. He closed his jaws around her neck, his grasp on her firm and threatening, his canines pressing against her fur. With one yank, he could break her neck.

  She whimpered, bowing to his dominance, lowering her head in submission. He was alpha, and he was her mate. She couldn’t escape him.

  Shift, mate. His command filled her mind.

  She obeyed, trembling, the pavement cold against her skin, her weaker human form naked and exposed. North growled his approval and shifted, his big body covering hers, his warmth soothing her.

  “Never run from me again.” He clasped her nape with one of his calloused hands, his blood loss slowing, his wounds quickly closing.

  “Everyone saw, North.” She struggled under his weight, wiggling with humiliation. Everyone saw how ugly she was, how marred, how imperfect.

  “And what did everyone see?” He licked her shoulder, his touch soothing her anxious wolf. “A beautiful, powerful she-wolf willing to sacrifice her pride, her life, and everything else she has for her mate? Because that is what I saw.”

  Lies. They had to be lies. She blinked back tears. “My back --”

  “Shows every wolf my bitch is bad-ass.” North nipped her skin, marking her, claiming her. “Kobe thought you’d die from those wounds, did you know that? He underestimated how tough, how strong you are.” Pride laced his words, pride she wanted to believe in. “You’re mine, Ember, and I’ll fight to keep you.”

  “I’m tired of fighting,” she confessed, a wave of bone-deep weariness rolling over her. “And I’m tired of running, but --”

  North bit her hard, the pain sharp. “No buts.” He licked the spot, soothing her with his flat, wet tongue. “If you run, I run.”

  He’d run, leaving all he had built behind. She couldn’t do that to him. “You have a pack here, the pack you always wanted.” He slid his hard cock between her ass cheeks, and she inhaled, her pussy moistening. He wanted her. He had seen her back, and he still wanted her.

  “You’re the pack I always wanted,” he declared. Bare feet smacked against pavement, and North groaned in her ear, the sound vibrating her skin. “Damn it. The cavalry’s coming.”

  “Your pack’s coming,” she corrected, bracing for the comments about her back. They must have noticed. They’ll say something and that would upset North and --

  “Hell, North, that’s not how you treat a beautiful woman,” Bruiser drawled. “You’re squashing her, you brute.”

  Beautiful? Ember looked up at the smiling, naked shifter. He still thinks I’m beautiful?

  “Ember, hon, any time you tire of your Neanderthal there, give me a call.” Bruiser winked, no judgment in his broad face.

  “Or me,” another wolf offered, brazenly leering at her covered body.

  “I’m available.”

  “I have a motorcycle.”

  “She’s mine, so you can all fuck off,” North growled as he supported some of his weight on his forearms, allowing Ember to breathe easier. “Bruiser, grab us some clothes.” He rounded his shoulders, drawing her into his body. “The club has robes,” he explained, brushing his cheek against hers, the stubble on his chin sending shivers down her spine.

  “For the patrons,” Bruiser grumbled as he stomped off, his ass cheeks clenched.

  “Remind me why I wanted a pack?” North turned her to face him. His brown eyes sparkled, laugh lines fanning out at the creases. He was handsome -- and hers.

  Ember cupped his jaw, caressing his skin with her thumbs. His chest rubbed against her nipples and his cock pressed into her stomach, yet a swell of aching tenderness, of deep love, not raging desire, engulfed her. “They’re your pack, North. You’re no longer a stray. You’re no longer alone.”

  “They’re our pack.” North looked into the shadows and swallowed hard. “And yes, I’m no longer alone. I have you, my mate.” He dipped his head and captured her mouth, possessively grinding his flesh against hers until her lips throbbed. “And that’s all I need.”

  Someone sniggered.

  “Fuck.” North groaned, resting his forehead on the curve of her breast. “The rest of them are still here, aren’t they?”

  Ember looked over his shoulder. Four huge, male shifters grinned back at her. “Yes.” She met North’s baleful gaze and laughed, feeling happy and accepted and loved.

  Chapter Five

  Beautiful. North folded his arms and leaned against the wooden frame of the sliding patio doors, content to watch the she-wolf before him. She was as naked as he was, her pert ass facing him, her lithe form bathed in moonlight, green grass peeking between her bare toes.

  Wolves howled from the park, the males from the club, their pack, calling to them. Killer raised his head from his doggy bed, yipped a reply, and flopped back down again on the overstuffed cushion, exhausted from their night spent at the club.

  North felt many things, but not exhaustion. His desire for Ember was insatiable.

  She gathered her long curls in her hands and rested them on her head, exposing her scarred back, a reminder of the long, lonely years they’d spent apart. “Do you want to go for a run?” Ember looked up at the star-filled sky, the huskiness in her voice teasing his wolf.

  “I want to do other things.” He pushed away from the doorframe, his body hardening, the scent of aroused woman and something he couldn’t define filling his nostrils. “Mate things.”

  She dropped her hair, the moonlit tendrils bouncing against her skin. “You aren’t tired of me yet?” Ember turned her head and raised one fine eyebrow, a smile curving her kissable lips. “It’s been how long?”

  “Four months and three days.” He stalked toward her, intent on reinforcing his claim. A wolf couldn’t be too careful, especially with such a beautiful mate. “And I’ll never tire of you.” He slid his hand over her silky soft hair, down the shallow ridges marring her back, and pressed his fingers against her ass cheeks, her curves filling his palm perfectly.

  “Never?” She leaned into his touch, her hair brushing his chest and her warmth encircling him. “What if someone new comes along?”

  North narrowed his eyes, trying to decipher her question. Was she worried about aging? Their kind lived for centuries. “Never.” He sideswiped the issue and curled his hand around her waist, distracting her with his touch. “You’re my mate. I could never love anyone more than I love you.”

  Ember gave him one of the secretive smiles that never failed to drive him wild. “We’ll see about that.” She placed her hand over his, moving him upward until he cupped her breast. He squeezed her flesh, and she moaned, her nipple pebbled, soft yet intriguingly hard, her lush lips parted.

  “I need you, wolf.” North bent his legs behind hers and dragged her downward, forcing her to her hands and knees, her ass in the air. She spread her legs wider, her juices glistening in the darkness, a welcome sign even a human could see, and he stroked her pussy lips, wetting his fingertips.

  Hot
. Moist. Mine. He flared his nostrils, inhaling as much of her distinct aroma as possible, imprinting the fragrance on his soul. She swayed backward as he skimmed his fingers over her, readying her for their joining.

  North licked his lips, enticed by her moisture. “I must taste you.” He leaned forward and swiped her pussy with his tongue, her flavor exploding in his mouth. “Delicious.” He lapped at her pinkness, slurping her slit noisily, and she quivered, the lean muscles in her thighs rippling.

  “North!” she cried out as he flicked her clit. He grinned and nibbled at her pleasure bud, ravishing her relentlessly. Ember pushed back on his face, grinding her scent into his skin. He growled his approval, vibrating his lips against her, and she whimpered, her body trembling to his rhythm.

  North fed upon her, playing with her mouthwatering curves until his balls ached, his cockhead beaded with precum, and he couldn’t wait any longer. “I must have you.” He prodded her pussy with his cock, aligning himself properly, and he sank slowly, sensually, into the hottest, wettest, most perfect pussy a wolf could ever dream of.

  She fit him exactly, his beautiful mate having taken him as her first lover, her last lover, her only lover, a midnight confession that had nearly brought him to his knees. She’d waited for him, her stray, even though she’d never thought to see him again.

  “Mine.” As her pussy lips pressed against his base, he smacked a kiss on her scarred back. He’d protect her. He rocked into her, fucking her shallowly, allowing her to adjust to his invasion, her pussy walls hugging his shaft, squeezing his cockhead.

  Fuck. He closed his eyes, grasping her hips with his big hands. She feels so good. He increased his tempo, driven by her needy cries and his building desires. Too good. Her pussy throbbed around his cock.

  “Ember.” He leaned into her, needing to cover her with his scent, his body, to mark her as his. Bracing himself up with one arm, he wrapped the other around her torso, claiming, cupping, owning one jiggling breast. With every thrust, he rubbed his chest along her spine and slid his mouth over her skin, nipping and licking exposed skin, savoring her taste.

  “North.” She panted, her face raised, moonlight shimmering on the upturned tip of her nose and her full bottom lip. “Need --”

  “You need me.” He rode her vigorously, loving her with everything he had. “All you need is me, beautiful.” He’d give her everything she wanted -- a pack, a home, his heart. She’d want for nothing. No one would hurt her. No one would dare. North growled, his wolf pulling at his restraints.

  Her wolf responded, fur covering her skin, her arms elongating, as she partially shifted, her features a mixture of animal and woman. He kissed her scars, the exposed skin a vivid contrast to her brown fur, the bareness a delight for his senses.

  “Beautiful.” He rumbled his appreciation and allowed his wolf more freedom, shifting to match his mate, his cock growing to fill her larger pussy. He ravished her harder and deeper, his strength magnified, her tolerance for rough, animalistic fucking amplified.

  They rutted with the savagery and the wildness of two untamed beasts, but tempered with the consideration of a man and a woman in love. North angled his thrusts to rub against her clit. Ember clenched down on his shaft with her pussy muscles, the tighter fit turning his grunts into barks of love, devotion, and reverence, his wolf as enraptured by her as his human was.

  He licked her scars, laving her healed wounds with his tongue, enjoying the sensation of his fur-covered chest rubbing against her skin-covered back, a unique mating no other wolf could ever claim.

  Because she was his. His love. His mate.

  “Come for me, Ember.” North grazed his claws over her chest, and she shuddered under him, her pussy constricting around his cock. “Show me you’re my mate.”

  A high-pitched whine rose from her throat. “North?”

  “Mine.” His wolf claimed her. He thrust deep and bit her shoulder, sinking his teeth into fur and flesh.

  “Yours!” she screamed, bucking backward, impaling herself on him, and North bellowed, his control breaking under her unexpected assault. He drove his hips forward, smacking fur against fur, cum spurting hard and fast out of his cock.

  The universe spun around him as he came, the stars and moon streaming together in ribbons of light, the ground tilting under him, and in the center of the chaos was Ember, his rock, solid and true. He clung to her, inhaling her scent, relishing her heat, continuing to hold onto her even as his world righted itself, leveling, and they shifted back to human form.

  “I could never love anyone more than I love you right now,” North murmured into her nape, overwhelmed by his feelings.

  “Us,” she whispered, her voice as light and airy as the night breeze.

  “Us?” He frowned, his mind too fragmented to make sense of her confusing comment.

  “Than you love us.” She took his hand and placed it on her belly.

  He tensed, all of his post-fucking weariness dissipating. It wasn’t. No. It can’t be. Only in my wildest, happiest dreams. “Ember.” His voice broke on her name. “What are you saying?”

  “That in seven months and eleven days” -- she tilted her head, her reddish-brown curls sliding over her skin -- “give or take a couple of days, we’ll have a new addition to our pack.”

  He slipped out of her body and flipped her onto her back. “You’re sure?” North gazed into her big brown eyes, not trusting his ears. I must be dreaming. Strays aren’t this lucky. “Are we… are you?” He couldn’t say it. If it isn’t true… It can’t be true. He studied her stomach. It’s curvier, but that’s because she’s eating better. Isn’t it?

  Ember cupped his cheeks with her soft hands, drawing his gaze upward. “You’re going to be a dad, North,” she said slowly, gently, her expression serious and sincere.

  “A dad,” he repeated, testing the word. “I’m going to be a dad.” He stood, needing to put distance between him and his deepest, dearest wish, the yearning too intense, coloring his judgment. Killer struggled to his feet also, his little body swaying.

  “You’re going to be a mom.” North looked to Ember for confirmation.

  She nodded, her lips twitching, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

  “Because we’re having a baby?” he asked one more time.

  “We’re having a baby,” Ember confirmed, her fingers resting protectively over her stomach, over their unborn baby.

  Our baby. North looked at Killer. The dog tilted his head. Our baby, mine and Ember’s.

  “We’re having a baby!” North yelled into the night sky, unable to contain his joy. He wanted the world to know. He had a pack, a family, a mate, love, everything any wolf could possibly want.

  Because of Ember, because of his mate.

  “Ember, I was wrong.” He took her hands, drunk with happiness. “I didn’t think it possible, but I love you even more.” She smiled at him, his beautiful, pregnant mate, the mother of their future children.

  Our children.

  They won’t ever be alone or unprotected or afraid. I’ll protect them. I’ll keep them safe, and Ember will teach them how to love as she taught me.

  As the happy, wonderful, sparkling feelings bubbled up again, North threw back his head and howled, claiming his bliss. Wolves joined him, and Killer added his song while Ember laughed, gazing up at him with love reflecting in her brown eyes.

  Cynthia Sax

  Cynthia Sax lives in a world where demons aren’t all bad, angels aren’t all good, and magic happens every single day. Although her heroes may not always say, “I love you,” they will do anything for the women they love. They live passionately. They fight fiercely. They love the same women forever.

  Cynthia has loved the same wonderful man forever. Her supportive hubby offers himself up to the joys and pains of research. He receives a daily briefing on what every character is doing. You can also learn what Cynthia Sax’s characters are doing by visiting her website at www.CynthiaSax.com or emailing her directly at Cynthia@CynthiaSa
x.com. Visit changelingpress.com/author.php?uid=133 for more titles by Cynthia.