Forrest, Dawn - Alphas' Prize [WeresRus] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (27 page)

It was the best night of his long life. After the mating, they tore into the deer, devoured it with ravenous hunger, and then they ran for miles and miles, playing chase, hide and seek, mock stalking and fighting. She was very young and a novice of the change, which was why she’d made a racket when she had attempted to sneak up on Yuri, and why she didn’t realize that she was the one being stalked. They had much to teach her, but that was fine because they had plenty of time, and it would be their pleasure.

Of course, each bout of play fighting ended in mating again, and they took her individually on all fours and then bent over a fallen tree, and the final time together again, front and back, lying on their sides on the forest floor. They ran all the way back to their cabin at The Den, arriving just as the moon disappeared. Her change happened much slower and with more difficulty than theirs, but they used their bond connection to help pull her through it. She slurred her thanks as he picked her up and mumbled that she loved them as he carried her to bed. She was asleep before she hit the sheets.

He looked down on her smooth, now-hairless skin. She was a gift of nature and she was his mate. Yuri stood next to him, and Vlad knew that he was thinking the same thing. Their twin bond seemed to be stronger since their joining. He just hoped that her mom was okay and that Jo would forgive them for not telling her about the danger her mom was in.

Chapter 17

They raced, hunted, and played together with wild abandonment, rejoicing in the liberty of the full moon, free and pure beasts, uninhibited with each other and unconcerned about human affairs. Craving the pulse of their mating bond, they had joined many times. When she bit him, an avalanche of power and energy cascaded through her body and soul, and he roared like the God of thunder. They couldn’t get enough of each other and the connection they shared.

Just before the moonset they came upon her cabin, and exhausted and replete they curled up together on the ground and awaited the change. He morphed quickly, with an ease that she envied. It took her a little longer, but she felt his presence guide her through it, making it a smoother transition than normal. He scooped her up and held her to his firm chest, smooth, naked skin against skin.

“Hi,” she croaked.

He looked at her as if she was their mistress, the moon, personified. A wide smile began on his mouth and ended in his bright, twinkling eyes. It was hard to reconcile that happy visage with the beast that had so recently ripped a throat out, or fucked her to near oblivion.

Mmm, so strong and handsome.
Her sleepy mind blurred her thoughts and impressions of him, but for a certainty she wasn’t disappointed with his physical appearance.

“Hi yourself.” His voice was as deep and soft as a thick duck-down duvet and just as comforting.

Lazily she placed her arms around his neck, and he carried her to the bedroom. There was much she wanted to ask him. Who was this man, and what was his name? Did he know who she was? But her energy was spent, and she was so tired that she needed to rest, to sleep for just a little while. The questions could wait. The answers wouldn’t change that which could never be undone. The mating bond was solid. She sighed with gratitude when he placed her in the big bed and lay down beside her. His naked body curled around hers, enveloping her in his scent and warmth. Yes, just a little nap, and then she would have her answers.

Hours later she awoke with the cold, weak light of day on her face and the smell of bacon teasing her nostrils.
Eh?
Her sleep-sodden thoughts were slow and disjointed. She rolled over and was pleasantly assaulted by the most wonderful smell in the world that lingered on the empty pillow, better even than the aroma of cooking bacon that was poking at her empty belly and making it grumble.
My mate…my mate!
She bolted upright and frantically looked around. Her slow thoughts caught up.
My mate is cooking breakfast.
Could a woman ask for more?

She swung her legs out of bed and shoved her feet into her fleece-lined, comfy boots. Clothes, she needed clothes, but they were in her pack in the next room. She saw a polar-fleece blanket over a chair and wrapped it around her otherwise-naked body. It looked cold outside. The sky had clouded over quickly, and now a few flakes of snow swirled to the ground. It was pleasant to view from the window of a warm, cozy cabin. Thank goodness for LPG heating. Cautiously and with some trepidation she opened the bedroom door.

He was standing by the cooker and turned toward her when she entered the room. So it hadn’t been a dream. Here was her mate, and he was the most gorgeous man she had ever laid her eyes on, tall, dark and handsome with a smile that made her heart and loins flutter.

“Good morning,” he said softly as he switched off the gas and wiped his hands on a dishtowel, not taking his eyes off hers.

He was wearing only loose-fitting sweatpants that seemed to hang precariously low on his muscular hips. If there was an ounce of fat on him, it was hiding well. His long raven-black mane was tied back at the nape. All thoughts of food fled, leaving her hungry only for him.

She grinned at him. “Yes, it is. My name’s Katherine.” She decided to use her real name and not her assumed identity. “Katherine Akara.” She moved farther into the room.

“It is my life’s pleasure to meet you, Katherine, my mate.” No messing around then, direct and straight to the point. “I am Siwilli Hawke, although I prefer Will.”

What?
Her heart clenched as the pain of betrayal lanced through it. She felt the blood drain from her face, along with her happiness. Will Hawke, Prime of the North American Packs?
The lying bastard!
He had assured Joanna that he would not pursue her if he knew of her location, but here he was. She felt sick as she concluded that her mate was the type of man that took what he wanted without consideration for the wants of others. What if she hadn’t been his true-mate? He would have taken her anyway because he was just like all the other stinking Alphas she’d met. Had he somehow led Khan to her?

“Motherfucker.” She gasped as she stumbled backward until she hit the wall. He started to move toward her with a look of concern on his deceitfully beautiful face.

“Stop right there,” she yelled and automatically went to reach for her knife before she remembered that she was naked. She clutched the blanket around her body with one hand and warded him off with the other. “Don’t you come any closer to me.” She wasn’t sure that she could resist him if he did. Even now it was a struggle, but one she was determined to win.

“What is wrong?” he asked. His eyes desperately searched hers for answers.

“Everything, my whole fucking life is wrong,” she dragged in a breath, not wanting to cry in front of him.

“You–you are not pleased with me?”

She could feel and hear that he was very distressed. It was like a physical pain. Perhaps she wasn’t the only one about to lose face. Tears began to stream down her cheeks.

“We trusted you. You gave your word that you would not come here. Obviously you are a man without honor. It’s an old fashioned concept, I know, but one I happen to greatly respect. How can you be my mate? Am I such a bad person?” She wailed, “We’re supposed to be compatible.”
And I still want you, crave your touch…shit.
She growled in anger, frustration, and most of all, disappointment. “Would you have raped me last night? Would you have cared if I wasn’t your true-mate?”

“Katherine, you
are
my mate, and there is no need to fear or cry, let me explain.” He took a step closer.

“I said don’t come any fucking closer.” She sounded almost hysterical, even to her own ears. “You didn’t know that I was your mate until you were here.”

How much worse was it to think that you’d found something that you’d always wanted, to have hope in your heart and to finally relax and let down your guard, only to find yourself deceived. Soiled and spoiled, that was what this mating now was, even though she knew that she was bound to him and would forgive him.

“I had no intention of coming here, but only a few hours before the moonrise I received a call from one of Ashok Khan’s men saying that he was on his way here to get you.”

“H–how did he know where I was?” She fought to keep her voice from quavering.

“Khan tagged your coat with a tracking device.”

She blinked in amazement at the lengths the Indian Prime had gone to.

“Khan was insane, a psychopath. I had a difficult choice to make. I could either stay away and let him have you, or try to stop him but run the very real risk that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from taking you when in beast form. I knew that both you and I would have hated me in the morning, but I couldn’t let that maniac take you away. He planned to kidnap you, smuggle you into India, and breed with you. I promised your daughter that I’d protect you, and this was the only way.”

It seemed a plausible explanation.

“I will speak to my daughter to confirm your story.”

“She doesn’t know, but her mates do.”

“Yeah right, the male mafia, how convenient.”

He moved so fast that before she could blink he had her caged within his frame, hands against the wall on either side of her head, body close but not quite touching. Anyone else she would have head-butted his nose and kneed his groin, but she couldn’t, not to him.
Damn!

“I need not lie to you, Katherine. You are already mine forever, and your body will always crave my touch, but I really am a man of my word. I realize that you do not yet know me, and our bond is new, so I will let it pass this time. In the future, never doubt me. For all of my Packs, all the Weres in America and Canada, and especially for you, my word is the truth, is the law.”

Bloody hell.
In that moment she felt his raw power, a majestic and tangible thing, and knew that he was not suffering from delusions of grandeur. He was stating a steadfast fact.

“I wish for honesty between us always. Loyalty and honor mean a great deal to me, too. We are compatible, and we are now a part of each other. You’re my mate, so you must know I’m sincere.”

She relaxed. He was telling the truth, and she felt like an ass for jumping to the wrong conclusion so quickly.

“I guess I’ve a few trust issues. I’m sorry, and thank you for coming to save me.”

He expelled a breath. “I think we’ve saved each other. I’ve waited a long time for you. You are mine, as I am yours. Nothing in this world is more important to me than you.”

She suddenly realized that for the rest of her life, every pleasure shared with him would be multiplied, all sorrow and pain would be halved. He cupped her face in his hands. This simple touch warmed her heart and stirred her desire.

“We will enjoy getting to know one another. Now, kiss me good morning, mate.”

Breakfast was forgotten as their lips sought each other. What began as a tender exploratory kiss quickly became passionate and urgent. The blanket she had been clutching fell to the floor as she undid his hair tie and dug her fingers through his soft mane to his scalp. He moaned and shoved his pants down past his burgeoning cock as her naked body cleaved to his. His big hands then grabbed her ass and hoisted her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist and rubbed herself along his hard length, coating it with her slick cream.

“Take me, Katherine,” he commanded. Then he shifted her up and lowered her onto his waiting shaft.

Bliss.
They flexed their hips in synchrony.

“How does it feel? From my end it’s like fucking butter in a tight pocket.”

His description was crude yet amusing. He was a talker, and she liked it.

“That explains why I spread easily for you.” She chuckled and groaned, which did strange things to her pelvic muscles stretched tight around his cock, strange but wonderful things.

“For me and only me. Great Spirit, but you feel like heaven and home, woman.” He kissed her neck and found sweet spots to nibble.

“Take me to bed. We should do it at least once on a comfortable surface, don’t you think?”

“No, I don’t think at all, not when I’m inside you. You erase all other thoughts. For the first time in my life I am thinking only with my dick.”

“Well then, you must be a genius.”

He laughed and carried her into the bedroom.

“Let me look at you, my mate,” he said as he laid her down gently on the bed and slipped out of her as he stood back. His gaze sauntered over her body, making a slow, thorough perusal. When his eyes locked on hers, she swallowed a gulp but didn’t look away. There was intense, overwhelming primal power in that stare, but it wasn’t a foreign force to be feared, not by her anyway. She could feel the protective possessiveness of the werewolf before her, and she loved it.

“We rutted all night, and now I’m going to make love to you, Katherine.”

An hour later she lay sprawled across his body, feeling languid, as if her blood had turned to wine. Until now she had never experienced true intimacy, as there had been no sweet, slow loving in her past. It was new and wonderful, and she was in awe of her mate, who was such a dominant creature yet could be a tender and gentle lover.

Will’s breathing hitched, and a rich, deep well of pure and beautiful emotion suddenly overflowed and swamped her. Tears stung her eyes. She quickly glanced at Will and saw that his eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and his teeth bit his bottom lip.