by Kali Argent
He’d seen the cities, especially those in werewolf-controlled territories. Wolves who hadn’t succumbed to their feral state had grouped together, forming large packs across much of the Midwest in a dangerous stretch of territory referred to as Demon Alley. True monsters stalked the night there, and the few humans who managed to survive were chained, starved, and tortured until nothing of them remained.
Deke wouldn’t wish that kind of existence on his worst enemy, but he also didn’t have the resources needed to fight such an enormous battle. The small pack of shifters in Washington would fight with him, but it wouldn’t be enough. Even if he could gain the support of the larger packs that had claimed the forests that stretched from Oregon to northern California, the wolves still outnumbered them two-to-one.
“I believe you,” he said after a pause, “but it doesn’t change anything. You can’t stay.”
“Then I guess we’ve reached an impasse, because I’m not going anywhere.” She crossed her arms in defiance and held his gaze. “I’m not leaving without you, Deke.”
His control snapped, and he launched up from the sofa. “Why do you have to be so fucking stubborn?” he bellowed.
Roux didn’t back down, didn’t even flinch. “Because I fucking love you!” she shouted right back at him.
Deke opened his mouth to yell again, to make her see reason, but stopped when her words finally registered. Their relationship hadn’t always been easy, and at times, he’d thought he’d never hear those words from her. His beautiful, defiant mate with her fiery temper and giving heart—he’d loved her from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her.
She gave him purpose, a new strength he hadn’t known he possessed. Roux challenged him every day, and in turn, she’d taught him patience. Through her eyes, the world looked a little brighter, a little more forgiving, and from this, he’d learned compassion. She pushed him to be better a person, a braver soldier, and every day, he strived to be the kind of man she deserved.
“Say that again.”
Her eyes softened, and the corners of her lips twitched. “I know I’m not the easiest person to live with, but I’m working on it.” Bending her arms, she placed her hands over his where they rested laxly on her shoulders. “You saved me, Deke. Physically, yes, but more than that, too. When we met, I was untrusting, and I didn’t have any idea how to love somebody.”
When she took a breath to continue, Deke interrupted by sliding his fingers into her hair and tilting her head up to deliver a scorching kiss. His heart felt full to bursting, and his head spun a little when she moaned into his mouth. Their tongues twined, sliding together in an intimate duel that left him breathless.
“It feels like I’ve loved you forever, Roux Jennings. I told you once before that you were mine, and I meant it. This is it. Last chance, and after that, there’s no turning back.”
In answer, Roux rose up on her toes to slant their mouths together again. “Of course I love you,” she breathed. “How could I not?”
He’d grown accustomed to the subtle glow of her skin that proclaimed her to be is, the pale blue luminescence that only he could see. Mostly, he didn’t even notice it anymore, but right then, she dazzled him.
His mate. His to love, to cherish, to protect. His entire world, everything he’d ever wanted, right there in his hands, and all he had to do was take it.
Instinct warred with common sense, and before he could stop it, a single word burst through his trembling lips.
“Mine.”
The heat of her gaze enveloped him as he jerked her into his arms, lifting her up and encouraging her legs around his waist. Gripping the back of his neck, she held tight, nipping at his mouth and kissing a trail of liquid fire down the column of his neck.
Growling, he tangled his fingers in her silky hair and ravished her lips, pushing his tongue between her teeth to sweep around the inside of her mouth. Blindly, he carried his mate from the living room, bumped off the walls in the narrow hallway, and finally stumbled into their bedroom.
His eyes shifted, throwing the world into shades of black and gray with hints of yellow. From Roux’s expression, he knew his irises glowed with his need for her, with a passion that was almost feral. It took every ounce of self-control to ease her gently onto the bed and remove her clothes without shredding them into scraps.
When he finished, he stepped back to undress himself, divesting his simple T-shirt and favorite shorts in a matter of seconds. Turning his sights on the female sprawled across the mattress, Deke groaned as he raked his gaze over her supple body, admiring every feminine curve, every shallow dip and flexing muscle.
His heart jackhammered into his throat when she parted her knees, opening her legs to reveal her hairless pussy. His cock hardened painfully when her fingers skimmed over her flat stomach and up her ribcage to cup her full breasts. With her hair spread across the silver pillowcase and the sun spilling over her fair skin, she reminded him of some mythical sea goddess, wild, passionate, and seductive.
Crawling onto the mattress, he settled between her splayed thighs, pushing her legs even wider until her folds parted. The sight of her drenched pussy coupled with her intoxicating scent threw him into a spiral of lust, and his canines burst through his gums to extend below his upper lip.
Thankfully, he had enough presence of mind to prevent his hands from shifting as well, and he traced his forefinger down her center. “Gorgeous,” he murmured. “Absolutely gorgeous.”
Roux squirmed and quivered, rocking her hips toward him in invitation. Too far gone to deny either of them, Deke dipped his head, closing his lips around her swollen clit. He sucked and laved, flicking his tongue across the bundle of nerves in quick, short movements that drove his mate crazy.
Her cries echoed around the room, spurring him on, not that he needed any encouragement. He could taste his mate for hours, days, and never grow tired of it. Her pleasure was his pleasure, and he loved watching her fall apart.
“More,” Roux panted, threading her fingers through his hair to pull him closer as she arched up against his mouth. “Please, Deke.”
Goddess help him, her quiet pleas sent a jolt of electricity straight to his cock. Many women had come and gone from his life over the years, but since he’d met Roux, he couldn’t remember a single one of them. Not their names, their faces, not the sound of their voices. She consumed his entire world, and to know how much she desired him, craved him, made him crazy with need.
Parting her slick folds, he eased one finger into her clenching opening, pumping into her in slow, languid movements. With her legs thrown over his shoulders, he pressed closer, bending her knees back toward her chest to change the angle as he inserted a second finger.
Roux went wild, thrashing beneath him, her head whipping back and forth of the pillow. One hand held a tight grip on his hair while the other raked over his shoulder.
“Deke!” she cried. “Deke, please.”
Lifting his head, he looked into her glazed eyes and purred. “Tell me what you want, kitten.”
“You.”
Deke shook his head and bent once more, closing his lips around her clit. Using his mouth, his hands, his teeth, he pushed her higher, harder, not stopping until she cried out his name again and released a fresh wave of cream into his hand.
“Tell me what you want,” he repeated, but with more gravel in his voice this time.
Still trembling from her release, Roux untangled her hand from his hair and held her arms open in invitation. “You. I want you. I don’t care how, just don’t stop.”
“Good answer,” he murmured, his voice muffled against her soft skin as he kissed his way up her stomach. “I can’t seem to ever get enough of you. I want more. I want everything, kitten. Your body.” He twisted his fingers inside her, eliciting a quiet moan. “Your mind.” Hovering over her, he circled one erect nipple with his tongue before nipping at the hard bud. “But mostly—” He brushed a tender kiss across her sternum in
the space right between her breasts. “—I want your heart.”
Without words, Roux curled her arms around his neck, pulling him into a heated kiss that set his blood boiling and made his dick throb. Pulling his fingers from her entrance, he eased into the cradle of her hips, his aching shaft nestled between her folds. The slick heat that surrounded him pulled a strangled groan from deep in his chest, sending tendrils of ecstasy racing along his spine.
“Want you,” he growled, breaking the kiss to nuzzle against the sensitive skin on her throat. “Open for me, kitten.”
Sliding his mouth lower, he caught her erect nipple between his teeth and tugged. Then he swirled his tongue over the hardened tip to soothe sting. Roux bowed up from the mattress, her head back and her lips parted as her chest heaved with each gasping inhalation. Deke had never seen anything more extraordinary.
With his need growing and his patience waning, he slid an arm beneath her hips and lifted her from the bed, flipping his mate over to press her stomach into the tangled sheets. Kneeling behind her, he held her hips in a bruising grip, guiding her onto her hands and knees before tilting her pert ass into the air.
“Don’t move,” he growled.
With shaking hands, he gripped the base of his cock, guiding the head to her tight entrance. Placing one palm flat against the center of her back, he rocked into her slowly, invading her depths in measured increments. Once seated, with his hips pressed firmly against her rounded backside, he began a slow grind, rolling his hips in sensual waves. Soon, as her cries grew in volume, his pace quickened, until he pounded into her with a punishing rhythm.
Roux met him thrust for thrust, pushing back into him with each demanding plunge. Her silky walls closed around his length, squeezing him, milking him. When his canines lengthened even further, and his mouth began to water, Deke jerked his mate upright, holding her back to his chest as he continued to pump into her.
Her head fell back on his shoulder, and she moaned in a deliciously erotic way when his hands traveled down her stomach, caressing her sweat-dampened skin. Sitting back on his heels, he pulled her into his lap and reached between her spread thighs. He found her clitoris without error, drawing quick, hard circles against the swollen flesh with his middle finger as he continued to thrust up into her.
Roux’s soft cries filled his ears. Her burning skin scorched him, and her fragrance filled him with the scent of only her. Sweet and creamy, her taste still lingered on his tongue. The female enveloped him, overwhelmed his senses, until the only thing that existed was her.
The fire raged out of control, consuming the last shred of his control, and Deke thrust hard and fast, driving into his mate’s drenched core with fast, wild strokes. Their breaths mingled, her moans echoing his growls, and soon, Deke found himself at the precipice of an earth-shattering orgasm.
Gripping a handful of Roux’s hair, he pulled her head back, exposing the slope of her throat. Roux sighed, holding one hand on his hip as she tilted her head further to the side in silent permission. The submissive gesture sent him careening over the edge, and lights exploded behind his closed lids when he pierced her supple skin with his canines.
Roux called out his name, her pussy convulsing around his throbbing dick as she trembled in his arms. Holding her tight to his chest, Deke shuddered through his own orgasm, releasing a volley of seed within her clenching depths. Once he could think straight again, he carefully extracted his fangs from her neck and lapped at the twin marks.
Maneuvering around until he sat with his back against the headboard, he positioned his female in his lap and cradled her close as he drew circles across her damp skin with his fingertips. Already, he could feel their bond growing stronger, cementing into something permanent and unshakeable. Every part of his heart, his soul, filled with love for his mate. He’d do anything for her, be anything she wanted him to be. No matter what it took, he’d never disappoint her, never betray her. He’d never let her down.
Now that he’d claimed her, he couldn’t be away from her. She couldn’t leave, not without him, but the thought of her staying in Trinity Grove ripped a harsh growl from his throat. By any means necessary, he’d protect her.
He’d die for her.
And if he didn’t get them out of the city soon, he might be forced to prove it.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Roux had just stepped out of the shower when the doorbell rang, followed by frantic pounding that seemed to shake the entire house. Deke’s footsteps strode past in the hallway, and she could just make out a few of the curses he mumbled under his breath.
Wrapping herself in the towel, she tiptoed to the bathroom door and cracked it open just an inch, straining to hear the conversation happening in the foyer. From the deep timbre of the voice, she knew their visitor was a man, and she quickly scrolled through the males she knew who would have reason to disturb them on a Saturday afternoon.
Her neck ached pleasantly where Deke had bitten her, but otherwise, she didn’t feel much different. A little more grounded, more centered, and a hell of a lot less chaotic with her emotions, but nothing significant beyond that. His bite definitely hadn’t given her supernatural shifter hearing, because she couldn’t make out anything the men were saying.
Suspicious of their hushed tones, she toweled off quickly and brushed out her wet hair. Dressed in the yoga pants and black sweatshirt she’d brought into the bathroom with her, Roux pulled her shoulders back and marched down the hall to the foyer.
“Cade?”
Of all the people she’d expected to see standing in her house right then, he hadn’t even made the top three. His wide, frantic eyes darted from her to Deke and back again, and his normally fair skin had drained of all color, giving him a sickly gray pallor. Whatever he’d come to tell them, it had to be bad.
“What happened?”
“Stay here,” Deke ordered. “Lock the doors.”
Then he and Cade hurried off, pulling the door closed behind him with a sharp snap that rattled the windows.
She’d made her position clear when it came to taking orders and being left behind. They worked better as a team, and he damn well knew it. Grumbling under her breath, she jogged back to the bedroom, pulled on her socks and sneakers, and dragged the lockbox out from under the bed.
“Damn fool,” she grumbled. “Going off half-cocked. He doesn’t even have a toothpick to protect himself with.”
She pressed her thumb to the biometric scanner and opened the lid of the box. It took her about six seconds to check the clip, insert it into the 9mm handgun, and chamber the first bullet.
“Well, he does have teeth and claws,” a voice said from the doorway.
Still crouched on the floor, Roux pivoted on her knee, sweeping the gun toward the intruder.
Abby yelped and stumbled backward into the doorframe.
“Oh, shit.” Lowering her weapon, Roux jumped to her feet. “Are you insane? What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me like that?”
“I knocked,” Abby responded, her eyes narrowing. “Do you even know how to use that thing?”
Ignoring her, Roux pushed past her and marched down the hall. “Do you know what’s going on?”
“No clue. Cade showed up at my door, just to tell me to stay inside my house, and then he took off like the devil himself was on his heels.”
“Yet, here you are.” Roux smirked. “I knew I liked you.” After pressing the safety on the handgun with her forefinger, Roux tucked it into her waistband at the small of her back. “Where’s Peter?”
“At the bakery. After the girls went missing, he didn’t have the heart to hire a new assistant, so he works the Saturday shift now.” Following her out the front door, Abby pulled it closed behind them and huffed. “You’re going to shoot yourself in the ass.”
“It’s fine.”
Only the guards were permitted to carry weapons inside the city. While she’d rather have the gun in her hand and at the ready, she coul
dn’t risk being caught with it. Not only would it land her in a world of hurt, but as the registered companion of a Coalition captain, she’d land Deke’s ass in hot water as well.
“Roux, maybe Cade was right. Maybe we should stay.”
Pausing in the driveway, Roux turned to face her friend. “Look, you can stay here if you want, but a locked door isn’t going to keep anyone out.” Abby was scared, but Roux had never known her to be stupid. “Something is happening, Barbie. Something bad, maybe worse than anything we’ve seen, and I’m not going to sit around waiting for someone else I love to die.” Looking the woman in the eye, she softened her tone. “Are you with me or not?”
After a short hesitation, Abby sucked in a deep breath, held it for a heartbeat, and released it through her parted lips. “Let’s go.”
Roux led the way through the neighborhood and down the street lined with the newer shops to the city center. This new incident could have easily happened at the Bastille, but her gut had told her to head to the Square. Every time things went sideways, it always seemed to start there.
As suspected, her instincts had been right. Rounding the last corner, she found a small crowd mostly comprised of city guards surrounding the large fountain in the center of the cul-de-sac. Roux couldn’t see around them, over them, or even through them, but they spoke in low, growling voices full of urgency.
“Can you see anything?” Abby asked, pressing against Roux’s back. “What’s going on?”
“Not sure.”
A gap opened in the circle of bodies, giving her a clear view of the crimson water that filled the bottom basin of the fountain. As more of the guards began to stir, she finally saw it. A male body lay in a broken heap on the cobblestone street. The clothes and hair were sodden, the skin pale and wax-like. It took Roux a couple of seconds to realize what she was seeing, but when she did, she slapped her palm over her mouth to muffle her gasp and took a deliberate step back.
