What a Wolf Desires (Lux Catena Series Book 1)

by Amy Pennza

  He caught her eye now. His voice floated through her mind. “Bon travail, cousine.” Good job.

  She gave him a trembling smile.

  Dom rounded the corner of the cage and stepped inside. “Word will spread, Max,” he said quietly. “Once people learn what she can do—”

  “I’m not worried, Beta,” Max said. He released Lizette and turned her toward him. Pride shone in his eyes. “We’ll take it one day at a time, won’t we?”

  With Max by her side, she could do anything. “Absolutely.”

  22

  Lizette pulled her sweater over her head and dropped it on the ground next to her jeans and boots. On the horizon, the setting sun blazed bold yellow, its buttery rays splashing the forest in shades of gold.

  She looked across the gorge, where the Lodge’s windows reflected the reds and oranges of the autumn leaves. How could she have ever longed to leave this place? A deep sense of belonging suffused her. Wearing only her bra and panties, she put her arms over her head and stretched. She Turned often these days, but it still helped to work the kinks out before a transformation.

  A sharp whistle sounded from her left. She jerked her head to the side and saw Max emerge stark naked from the trees.

  Whoa. Her heart sped up. Would he ever fail to make her blood sing with lust? Fading sunlight played across the muscles of his chest and arms. With his black hair, patrician nose, and powerful build, he looked like an ancient god come to life.

  She pulled her hair over one shoulder.

  “You always do that,” he said. He stopped a few paces away, the tips of his fangs visible in his grinning mouth.

  “Do what?”

  “Play with your hair when you’re horny.”

  She dropped her hands to her sides. “I do not.”

  He leaned against a nearby tree. His grin broadened. “Do too.” He raised his eyebrows and look down at her crotch. “And you are.”

  Moisture dampened her panties. Damn him. She folded her arms. “I thought you said you wanted to run tonight.”

  He fixated on her breasts, which were currently squeezed together under her crossed forearms. “I might have changed my mind. We haven’t fucked in the forest.” He nailed her with a look. “Yet.”

  “No.” Was that her voice sounding weak and breathless? She swallowed. “We haven’t.”

  “Fucked you just about everywhere else, though.” His eyes glowed with male pride.

  Yes, you have. Images flashed in her mind. In the two weeks since they completed their bond, they’d done little besides eating and sleeping—and they didn’t do much sleeping at all. She woke in his arms and fell asleep with him beside her, usually after an exhausting lovemaking session. He’d fucked her from behind, his powerful hips thrusting against her backside. He’d fucked her in the shower and in the closet. He’d bent her over the bathroom vanity while their eyes locked in the mirror.

  And there was that particularly memorable session in his study. He’d spent the morning laboring over paperwork, so she brought him some lunch.

  He’d looked up as she sat the tray on his desk. “Do you mind closing the door, petite?”

  “Of course not.” She’d walked over and shut the heavy double doors.

  “Lock it.”

  Shivers rippled down her spine. She looked over her shoulder. His tone left no confusion about his intentions. She turned the lock and faced him.

  He crooked his finger. “Come over here.”

  She obeyed. Her cleft leaked warm moisture as she walked around his desk and stood before him.

  He leaned back in his chair. “I can see your nipples through that shirt, petite.” He tsked. “You’re not wearing a bra, are you?”

  “No.”

  “Are you wearing panties?”

  Her sex clenched. “Yes.”

  “Ahh, I’m afraid I don’t believe you.” He tilted his head to the side. “Take off your pants and prove me wrong.”

  As if on autopilot, her hands moved to her waist and slid her yoga pants down her legs. She stepped out of them and straightened, her lace thong damp between her thighs.

  He leaned forward and snagged one thin strip of lace with his fang, his breath hot on her hipbone. Fabric snapped. Holding her gaze, he pinched the string between his thumb and forefinger and tugged. Her panties fluttered to the ground.

  He settled back in position and spread his arms, resting his elbows on the chair’s arms. “Liar,” he said. “You’re not wearing panties.” He steepled his fingers. “The shirt now, bébé.”

  Her pulse thudded in her neck. She grasped the hem, lifted the shirt over her head, and tossed it to the side. Nude now, she forced her hands to stay at her sides. Something about standing naked before him when he was fully clothed made the hot coil of need in her belly wind tighter. More moisture seeped between the lips of her sex.

  “Come closer, petite,” he said, his accent thick.

  She stepped between his legs.

  His hot stare stayed on her sex for a moment, then he reached out and swiped a long finger down her slit. It came away glistening with her juices. Lizette trembled as he sucked the finger into his mouth.

  “You’re always so wet for me, petite.” He traced the same finger, now damp from his mouth, over her swollen clitoris. “So sweet and ready.”

  She widened her stance.

  He chuckled. “What is it you want?”

  “Anything.” The word rushed out of her. She’d do whatever he wanted, just as long as he fucked her.

  The chuckle turned to a throaty growl. He undid his zipper, and his cock sprang free. “Dépêche.” Hurry.

  She mounted him, her knees on either side of his spread thighs. He gripped his cock and guided it inside her in a smooth glide. They both groaned as he filled her, seating himself to the hilt. He gripped her ass with both hands, gently parting her cheeks.

  Even with all the sex they’d had, his cock still stretched her to the point of pain. She rocked her hips, letting her body adjust to his size. The fabric of his pants brushed her bare thighs, underscoring the contrast between her nudity and his clothed state.

  He dropped his head against the chair’s backrest and watched her through slitted eyes. “I won’t last long if you keep doing that.”

  She twined her arms around his neck, putting her breasts inches from his face. “What’s wrong, Alpha? Is your advanced age giving you performance issues?”

  “You’ll pay for that, female.” He bounced her on his lap. The head of his cock bumped her cervix. His expression was hard, but amusement danced in his pale eyes. He bounced her again.

  Fire shot through her clit, and she gasped. “Promise?”

  His smile revealed needle-sharp fangs. “Ouais.”

  An owl hooted, pulling Lizette back to the present. Max still leaned against the tree, but now his erection jutted from his groin. “You sure you still want to take that run?” he asked softly.

  She glanced over her shoulder at the Lodge. She’d grown more accustomed to the werewolf disregard for nudity, but she still drew the line at public sex. She faced Max. “Someone will see.”

  “That’s part of the fun.”

  “The Alpha can’t have sex out in the open. You’re supposed to set a good example for the younger wolves.” She wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince him or herself.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Trust me, if word gets around that you let me fuck you out here, I’ll be a goddamn hero.”

  The threat of laughter made her lips twitch. She really couldn’t sleep with him out here, could she? Her eyes wandered over his chest. Lust rode her hard. She bit her lip. “I don’t know…”

  Victory flared in his eyes. He pushed away from the tree. “Tell you what, petite. Let’s compromise. I’ll Turn and go find us a secluded spot.” He pulled her hips against his and put his forehead on hers. “You Turn and come find me. D’accord?”

  “Okay.”

  He gave her a quick, hard kiss and walked backwards a few paces
. Just before he Turned, he pointed at her. “See? Horny.”

  She froze in the act of playing with a strand of hair that had fallen over her shoulder. She scowled and dropped it. “That does not mean—”

  But he’d already Turned and bounded into the trees.

  She couldn’t keep the grin off her face. He was insufferable, but he wasn’t wrong. Horny seemed to be her permanent state of being. At times her craving for Max frightened her. Oh, she had her ups and downs in the first few days following the completion of the lux catena. Five years of conditioning didn’t just disappear overnight. She’d spent so long carving out her independence, part of her worried her sense of self would get buried under the force of Max’s personality.

  But he seemed determined to make sure it didn’t happen. The day after she Turned Nathan, Max led her down to the garage and pressed a set of keys in her hand.

  “What’s this?” she’d asked.

  “Keys, bébé.”

  “I know they’re keys. What are they—” She followed his outstretched arm to a gleaming white SUV.

  “It’s yours,” he said. “So you can drive down to Albany for classes. If you prefer a car, that’s fine, but I’ll feel better if you have four-wheel drive.”

  Wait, he was okay with her going back to school? “Max, I can’t just commute back and forth. I’ll have to stay overnight—maybe even a few days in a row.”

  He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I know. I was hoping you’d let me tag along.”

  Let him? Maxime Simard didn’t ask permission to do anything. “What about the Lodge? The pack…your responsibilities? You’re the Alpha, you—”

  “That’s why I have a Beta. Dom can handle things while I’m away. College was a while ago for me, but I can help you study.”

  Tears had pricked her eyes. “You’d do that for me?”

  “I’d do anything for you,” he’d said simply. “I love you.”

  Lizette stared at the spot where he’d disappeared into the trees. His gesture had touched her deeply, and they made slow, gentle love that night, but she hadn’t told him she loved him. He’d said it often over the past two weeks, but he didn’t seem to expect her to reciprocate. He never looked upset about it, and he didn’t pressure her in any way, but it had to bother him...didn’t it?

  The lux catena was never far from her mind. She’d spent more time than she cared to admit analyzing her feelings for Max. Did his accent make her toes curl because the bond made it so, or did her ears savor those rolling Rs on their own? When she woke in the morning to find him already up, was the lux catena responsible for her pang of loss? Or was it something more?

  A muffled crack deep in the forest snapped her out of her thoughts. Probably a squirrel. Most wildlife gave the Lodge a wide berth, but squirrels were a lot braver than humans gave them credit for. She stooped, grabbed her sweater, and folded it into a neat square. There was no telling how long she and Max would stay out. If they returned after dark, the temperature could be near freezing. It was much easier—and faster—to dress when her clothes weren’t in a tangled heap.

  As she dropped the folded sweater onto her jeans, a tingle of awareness crept down her spine. She put her hands on her hips. “Are you really that impatient, Maxime?”

  Silence.

  The hair on her nape lifted. “Max?” She whirled in a semicircle, heart pounding. He wouldn’t hide from her like this. She spun toward the Lodge.

  Something hit her shoulders from behind, and she went sprawling, striking her right knee on a tree branch as she fell. A bolt of pain shot up her thigh. Before she could recover, a hard hand tangled in her hair and jerked her to her feet. She drew in a breath to scream. Another hand clamped over her mouth.

  “Quiet, bitch,” a harsh voice growled in her ear.

  Her eyes widened. Aiden? She struggled.

  He yanked on her hair. Tiny explosions of agony fired across her scalp. A whimper escaped her before she could control it.

  “I said quiet,” he hissed.

  The forest, the growling voice, the hard male body at her back—it was all horrifyingly familiar. Her chest heaved. Max was deep in the forest by now. Even with his sensitive ears, he wouldn’t hear Aiden’s low voice or her muffled whimpers.

  Aiden crooned in her ear. “You stupid bitch. You should have stayed away. He gave you a chance to leave, and you came crawling back.”

  She stiffened. What was he talking about? No one in the pack would ever describe her relationship with Max that way. Aiden put his mouth on her neck, and her thoughts fled. His lips moved down the side of her throat in a parody of a caress. Revulsion shivered through her.

  “Look at you now.” His soft laugh made her skin crawl. “I can smell him on you—everyone can. Like a bitch in heat. You know, I always thought you were frigid. I guess it just took one good, hard fucking—” He thrust his hips against her ass, rocking her onto her toes— “to bring you around.”

  With his hand over her mouth, she was forced to breathe through her nose. Her heart beat so fast she felt lightheaded. She couldn’t afford to pass out. Max expected her to meet him. He wouldn’t wait forever. If she could just keep Aiden talking, Max would show up eventually. She forced herself to stand passive in his grip.

  “I guess I should have expected as much,” Aiden said. “Rumor has it your mother was hot for it, too.”

  Lizette exhaled hard against his palm. Her childhood memories might be hazy, but Noémie was still her mother. Anger burned away the edge of her fear. Her gums throbbed as her fangs descended into her mouth.

  “Still,” he continued, “even she had the sense to be loyal to her own kind. She went into hiding rather than stoop to Turning outcasts.”

  If his hand hadn’t been over her mouth, Lizette’s jaw would have dropped. This was about her Gift?

  “I don’t want to kill Max.” Briefly, regret colored Aiden’s voice. Then it turned hard again. “But you’ve given me no choice. You’ve led a great Alpha down a dark path with your so-called Gift.” His snarl made it clear what he thought of her ability.

  Alarm shot through her. Aiden was no match for Max, and he knew it. But there was another way he could get to the Alpha. She pulled at his hand over her mouth.

  He jerked on her hair. “Stop it, or I’ll toss you over right now.”

  She froze. The Lodge loomed in front of her, the drop to the gorge a dozen steps away. Her heart thumped so hard her vision dimmed.

  “That’s better.” He curled his fist into her hair, turning it like a screw. “I just want you to know this isn’t my choice. It’s not even really your fault. You were raised by humans. You don’t really understand us, and you never will. I thought Max would finally accept it once Jonah Hallerton and his latent tracked you down. Instead, he was so blinded by pussy he barely batted an eye at two trespassers invading his territory.”

  No! Protests crowded her throat. She jerked in his grasp, her voice muffled by his hand. Max had been furious about Jonah and Nathan entering the territory without permission. He would have executed both of them without a second thought. But he listened to Jonah’s plea for his brother’s life and sanity.

  A powerful emotion surged in her chest, the feeling so intense she thought she might burst. Tears filled her eyes.

  Max hadn’t allowed her to Turn Nathan because he wanted to win her over or settle a debt. He’d allowed it because it was the right thing to do, because he truly believed latents were equal and worthy. Max was the most powerful Alpha in the country, but he was also a good and honorable man.

  He was her man. And she’d be damned if Aiden would take him from her.

  “There will be others,” Aiden said. “Look how quickly the Hallertons came running when I emailed them. A Bloodsinger isn’t a gift—you’re a liability. And you make Max weak. You make the pack weak, introducing bad blood into the race. If you were smart, you would have disappeared like your parents. You would have done whatever it took to keep defective genes from weakening us.
”

  Lizette’s fangs scraped her bottom teeth. Rage ignited like a match on gasoline. When Jonah attacked her, she’d been helpless—weakened by the strain of her Gift.

  That was then. She wasn’t weak or helpless now.

  Aiden’s grip on her hair was tight, but there was some give in the strands.

  Perfect.

  She jerked her head forward and then slammed the back of her skull into his face. Bone crunched. His hands fell away. She jolted forward and whirled, her back to the gorge. Her skull throbbed where it had connected with his face, but she ignored the pain. She spread her stance, her weight on the balls of her feet. Can’t scream. If she yelled for Max, all Aiden had to do is rush her and shove her over the edge of the gorge. Her death was Max’s death.

  “You fucking bitch!” Aiden held both hands over his nose. Bright red blood trickled between his fingers and down his chin. He lifted one hand away from his face and looked at it before shooting her an accusing glare. “You broke my nose!”

  “It’ll heal.” The sound of her own voice—far too low for a human woman’s—startled her. A howl of challenge gathered in her throat. Turning wasn’t an option. She was still too slow. Her heart thundered in her ears. How could she defeat him? She wasn’t a fighter.

  Although, she’d just broken his nose. Max’s voice rose in her head. “You think females can’t fight?” Her mother had. Max said she’d been famous for it.

  Aiden wiped his hands on his jeans. “Any last words, bitch?”

  A spike of anger made her gums throb as her fangs threatened to descend again. She’d had just about enough of him calling her bitch.

  Maybe I inherited more from Mom than I thought.

  She shuffled backwards. Her stomach dipped like she’d gone over the top of a roller coaster. The drop was still several feet away, but her inner voice of caution urged her to stop backing toward certain death. She ignored it.

  Aiden frowned. “What are you doing?”

  Lizette took two more steps back.