Snow Wolf: Wolves of Willow Bend (Book 9) (14 page)

If he’d been human, he might have paused to kiss her for the intelligence in her action. His wolf ignored the side of him turning into a blithering idiot, his ears focused on where he’d heard the movement.

A whisper of snow, followed by stillness too unnatural to be an accident. Whatever waited for them was downwind, which meant either it heard them or scented him. Increasing his speed, he shifted his angle sharply and Dove stayed with him. They flew through the woods, curving so close to the trees, he left strands of his fur behind. The deliberateness would spread his scent in wider distribution.

These were his woods. He’d marked them many times. During the roaming months, his pack rarely troubled him when he vanished into the woods or along his part of the tundra. He went there for solitude, and now he intended to share it with Dove. Whatever interloper thought to make itself at home would be sorely disabused of the notion.

A change in the wind brought him the scent of wolf. Not one of his. Flashes from Amaruq and of his fallen pack members in Tikaani raced through his mind kindling rage. The wolf didn’t belong in the Yukon. His anger fueled him, adrenaline flooding his body and he ramped his pace, the sharp turns and winding path he ran through the woods leaving the trees almost a blur.

His target heard them, his own paws scrabbling as the bastard raced away. Diesel filled his lungs with the scent of the intruder. Dove stayed with him, her compact body moving with a grace as she came alongside him, though she never went for the lead. No sense in hiding their numbers. Three miles vanished beneath their feet as they pursued, and he cut in front of Dove when he spotted their prey waiting for them in the deepest shadows of a grove of tightly woven trees.

The wolf leapt forward and Diesel crashed into him at speed. They went down in a tangle of raking claws and snapping jaws. Dove jumped over him, landing on the bastard’s back and her teeth sank into the thicker muscle at the back of the wolf’s neck.

Nearly a match for him in size, the invader was a dark gray, nearly invisible against the dark. Locked in combat, he dug his back feet into his opponent’s belly, spilling blood.

The gray reared back and Dove jumped free, neatly avoiding the tree the male had tried to slam her into. Diesel bared his teeth as he closed on the other. Dove angled across him, her head beneath his at his throat and she echoed his snarl.

Outnumbered, the gray eyed them then lunged for Dove. If the gray counted on using his larger size and considerable jaw strength to harm the smaller female, he was gravely mistaken. Dove went low and Diesel leapt, going over her to slam into the gray and he closed his jaws over the bastard’s nape.

With one vicious shake, he slammed the other into a tree, then a second one before flinging him away. The wolf rolled, halting to shake his head dazed, but Diesel gave him no quarter. The invader initiated the call for death when he ventured into his lands and signed his death warrant by trying to take out Dove.

His mate-to-be didn’t slow. She raked her claws over the downed wolf’s face, splitting it open and spilling more blood. When the beast lumbered up, Diesel struck and tore out his throat.

The wolf gurgled, then toppled onto his side.

Dead.

Throwing his head back, Diesel howled in triumph.

R
iding the high of victory
, he swung around to check his mate. She didn’t stare at him, but instead faced the darkness, her nose lifted and her ears flicking back and forth.

Guarding him.

Pride swelled within him and he checked his kill once, verifying the death before he went to her. She withstood his inspection well then lapped at his muzzle, the rasp of her tongue against his fur grounding him. He rubbed against her then she repeated the move, circling him once and rubbing along each of his sides then his flank.

Belatedly, he realized she inspected him for injury. She found one, one his hip and nuzzled at it. He wanted to snap at her that he was fine, but when was the last time someone took such care in checking him over? She had not a scratch on her, and more than proved her skill in fighting alongside him. When she reached his neck, he lowered his head a fraction so she could sniff him.

Taking advantage of the position, he filled his lungs with her sweet scent. The roses he’d tasted in the cabin were still present, as was snow and wood—and him. Beneath it all was a layer of concern and undiluted joy.

She cared. The confirmation acted like a panacea to his soul, quieting the rage the invader’s presence had provoked. His Sentries called to him as they raced through the woods, tracking them. Answering their call, he flicked his ears to listen for any other sounds which didn’t belong.

A split second before Grinder arrived, Diesel swung to face his Sentries. Dove took her cue from him and as she had when they fought the invader. She settled in at his side, her head below his throat. He’d never cared to have any wolf there, not even Amara. Though she’d never tried—in similar circumstances, she’d stayed utterly out of the battle.

She hadn’t even liked hunting.

Dismissing thoughts of her from his mind, he focused on his wolves. The same two he’d sent to deal with Yury accompanied Grinder. They must have completed their tasks and returned to Tikaani.

With a toss of his head, he ordered them to the body. A part of him wanted to steal away with Dove, celebrate their victory together with a hunt or better…in his bed. Those needs would have to wait. Verification of the assailant was paramount. If any more of those fuckers roamed his territory, he would call open season on them and send the pack on a real hunt.

Grinder snapped an order at the other two and the three worked in concert to lift the fallen wolf. Dove started forward as though to help, but in this, Diesel blocked her. The three were used to working together, and she didn’t know them well enough yet.

He also didn’t want any of the unmated males that close to her. Possessiveness swarmed through him, a primitive desire so fierce he didn’t even try to explain it away or make an excuse. Though she didn’t press the issue, she did snarl at him. The baring of teeth reminded him of his earlier promise.

Nuzzling muzzle, he licked the sharp canines she displayed even as he curved around her. Having his Sentries at his back didn’t bother him in the slightest. After a moment, his Dove relented with her snarl and nipped his jaw.

Amused at how quickly she forgave his demand, he checked on his wolves. They worked together to carry the oversized beast on a more direct trajectory for Tikaani. Dove settled in at his side, neither trailing nor moving ahead, although he caught her checking their flank nearly as often as he did.

His Sentries gained speed as they matched pace, the perfection in their steps another source of pride for him. Grinder led the Sentries, and he’d done a damn fine job with their training. If Dove wanted to continue on her Hunter path, he would discuss Grinder taking her on as his direct apprentice. Fluff, though nearly as skilled as Grinder, was nowhere near as good of a teacher.

Filing the idea away, he listened to his wolves sound off as another Sentry sent up a call. His howl would have warned them of potential threats and drawn outliers closer to Tikaani once more. The Sentries would have divided and went off in quadrant searches.

They knew their job. He checked the internal compass alerting him to his pack. The first week of any winter roam involved a lot of time spent among his people, renewing bonds and reconnecting. No one else had fallen to the intruder, so either he’d been skirting the Sentries or he’d deliberately lain in wait for Diesel.

Foolish maneuver, whatever his goal.

At the edge of Tikaani, Grinder changed direction for the riverbed rather than the town. Dove danced along the edges as Diesel showed her a better spot to descend to the frozen landscape below. A hint of her blood touched the air and he swung around to study her, halting his progress entirely. She bumped into him then stopped.

Droplets on the snow had him ducking his head to her paws. She lifted one after the other for him when he released a sub vocal sound. Her right rear paw bled sluggishly.

Too long on the brutal cold, and his gut instinct was to send her inside. He fought the more primal urge and raised his head to meet her gaze, ears forward he whuffed.

She twisted and lifted her paw to inspect. Smart wolf, she didn’t lick at it. The moisture on the open wound might do more harm than good at their temperatures. Lowering her leg, she took a step, then another. Rather than give him an outright refusal or turn away to head to Tikaani, she tested her balance and her paw against the icier snow.

No pain discolored her scent, but she lifted her paw nearly as soon as she put it down. Another step and she raised it again. A low growl hummed in the back of his throat, but she brushed her nose against his muzzle. A request. Slanting a look to where his Sentries waited with the body, he judged the time since the beast’s death and the length of their travel.

If the man didn’t transform within the next fifteen minutes, he would take Dove back to the sanctuary. He could always return or have Grinder photograph the body. Bumping his head to her side, he granted her the privilege she requested. With careful steps, she finished her descent, careful to keep her right rear paw elevated.

Some wolves looked ungainly when they navigated on three legs, not Dove. No, she made it seem like a graceful series of leaps and bounds. She paused a couple of feet from the body, and Diesel settled in to sit next to her. When she leaned into him, he soaked in the contact but didn’t relax his vigilance.

The Sentries took up cardinal positions opposite his stance at Dove’s side. The wolves correctly assumed he could guardian her flank, so they handled the other possible approaches.

One minute before he prepared to herd Dove inside, the corpse began to relax into his human form. She seemed to anticipate his need and rose to hold her own weight so he could stand. Instead of approaching with him, she waited as he studied the body. The tattoos told him the wolf came from the same clan as Yury, but this was no foot soldier. He had the markings of a lieutenant.

It was this wolf Yury had sought to protect with his refusal to answer, and evasiveness. The lieutenant also confirmed that it wasn’t only strays wandering into his territory, but a coordinated strike.

If there was one, there could be a second.

Straightening, he snapped a look toward Grinder then began his own shift. The Sentry hit his feet a few scant seconds after Diesel. Their skin steamed in the cold, but the banked fuel of his rage kept Diesel from even feeling it.

“Be ready to double security, reach out to our Sentries throughout Alaska and those down in Vancouver.” He had wolves everywhere. His Dove limped over to him, and Diesel sank his hand into the fur at her nape. Then he released the call—it would summon his wolves.

An Alpha’s call was a provocative talent, limited to those who were bound to him by blood, birth, and choice. His Sentries went to their bellies even as Grinder knelt. At his side, Dove leaned into his thigh and he kept her on her feet as he sent the pulse along the connections tying him to his wolves. He wanted them all in. Tikaani’s sanctuary would soon be filled to the brim and family reunions not expected for another few weeks would populate it with joy.

Then they would steel themselves for war.

P
rior to the
conflict in the woods, Ranae would never have considered herself an adrenaline junkie. Still, the battle with the Russian wolf left her feeling more buzzed than afraid. Diesel’s acceptance of her decision to remain despite the slice to her paw elevated the sense of exhilaration cascading through her. So much so that when he gripped her scruff and issued the Alpha call, she wanted to throw her head back and howl in answer.

Together, they loped back to Tikaani as his Sentries diverted to rounding up the pack or deal with the body. Once back inside the cabin, she continued to vibrate like a tuning fork to an internal hum only she could hear.

It took her longer than him to shift once they were inside the warming antechamber. The wolf was truly incredible. His shifts seemed as natural and easy as hers and he’d shifted twice as much as her in a relatively short amount of time. As soon as she hit her feet, she turned and threw her arms around him.

He accepted the embrace, the contact of her naked breasts to his chest electrifying her senses. Beyond the initial lust lay something much deeper. She pressed her face to his throat, drawing in his scent. He hit the wall behind her, and then he dug his fingers into her hips, keeping her fast to him. The heavy weight of his engorged cock pressed against her belly. Shuddering, she drew in a ragged breath even as he fisted her hair and eased her head back so he could meet her gaze.

Submission to the desire blazing in his brilliant blue eyes lay on the tip of her tongue, but he closed his mouth over hers. The savage hunger in his kiss fed both her need for contact even as it stoked a hotter fire within her.

Scraping her teeth over his lower lip, she pulled back from the exchange and stared at him. The same incandescent fire she’d glimpsed in his eyes from the battle burned in them as he locked gazes with her. “I want you,” she admitted, unabashed at the very real passion leaving her pussy damp and her internal muscles clenching. She wanted to climb him until his cock rimmed her entrance and she could slide down on him.

As though reading her mind, he lifted her hips and pressed her against the wall, his hungry mouth descending to take hers again. She fisted his hair, straining for contact as she wrapped her legs around his hips. He nibbled a path down her jaw, even as his hands massaged her ass.

The room flooded with the scent of male desire and aggression, the provocative nature clogging her lungs. She wanted to drown in it. He slid a hand along her side then cupped her breast. Arching at the contact, she gasped as he pinched the peaked nipple with deliberate force. Pain accented her pleasure and she almost forgot to breathe when the stiff, erect length of his cock rubbed along her slick labia. The bare brush of force against her clit sent a riot of sensation to pulse along her nerve system.

He lifted her higher and she wanted to whimper as the friction stroked her up his length to the tip. She wrapped her legs around his sides. Liquid warmth escaped her and she squeezed as he rubbed the ridges of his abdomen against her—the contact a tease, amping her excitement while not delivering the pleasure she craved.

His tongue traced over the rapid beat of her pulse at her throat. The precarious nature of her position struck her even as he sucked lightly on the skin. All he had to do was sink his teeth in, lower her to his cock, and she would explode.

Instead of feeding her the carnal fantasy, he licked and sucked a path down to her breasts. She wanted to protest, but his mouth locked over one pebbled nipple and her mind blanked. The hard suction seemed to connect with her clit, and she throbbed with renewed need. He teased her with vicious accuracy, then switched his attention to her neglected breast.

His hands seemed to be everywhere, massaging her breast, stroking her side, gripping her ass and the sensory overload pummeled her.

“Diesel,” she managed to squeeze out past the hisses and gasps as he seemed to devour her.

“I want to play with you,” he growled. The dark declaration damn near proved to be her undoing.

“I need you.” The admission burst from her on a cry as he lowered her a fraction. She felt the head of his cock press against her entrance. She wanted to play with him too—to touch and stroke the engorged member with its thick ropey vein running along the underside.

She wanted to lick him, taste his essence, and sip at the combination of salty and sweet. The first press of his head stretching her had her scratching at his shoulders as she opened her mouth to cry out. He swooped in, capturing her with another fierce kiss.

His tongue thrust in to tangle with hers as he slammed home. She locked her thighs, trying desperately to pull him deeper. The sensation was so fucking incredible, she stopped thinking and let him drive the rhythm, even as she moaned into his mouth.

When he braced her back on the wall and sucked her lower lip out in a mind-bending scrape of teeth and tongue, she trembled on the verge of orgasm.

He held her there, teetering, then whispered. “Open your eyes, Dove.”

Desperate for him, she obeyed without question. He drew out of her, then thrust home again and she cried out.

“Eyes open,” he snapped, and she forced herself to meet his gaze. Wolf and man stared at her, their passion a wildfire in her veins. “Tell me what you want, Dove.”

“You,” she admitted. “I need you.”

“You have me,” he said through clenched teeth. His hips began a slow, grinding piston that drove him in and out of her at an agonizingly delicious rate. She wanted to weep. She tried to drag him in faster, but he was stronger and held her to the pace he’d set. “I am going to bite you.”

Her inner walls spasmed as he dragged his cock out.

“I want you to bite me.”

Her mind seemed to blank for a moment, and she dug her nails into his shoulders, uncertain of whether she wanted to pull him closer or push him away. He was driving her absolutely mad.

“You’re not ready for me to claim you,” he said, his breath a whisper against her lips as he nudged her nose with his. “Trust me?”

He could—she knew it and so did he. He could press the issue while the raw sensuality between them overwhelmed her. Even as her body demanded she give into him, fulfill the intensely sexual craving, her mind resisted. She was a Hunter of Willow Bend, but it wasn’t her pack she thought of or anyone else. The mingled scent of their lust in her nostrils, her body and arms full of Diesel—all she wanted was him.

“Yes,” she confessed. “I trust you.”

“Then hold onto me, Dove, and we’ll answer this need.” It was the last words he spoke, his mouth claiming hers once more as his body began to pound into her. The rugged thrust of his cock against her sensitive flesh consumed her. The sound of their bodies slapping together, the feel of his chest against her breasts, the taste of him on her lips and she lost all reason.

The fast, furious nature of their coupling left her damn near mindless. When his teeth sank into her shoulder, she pitched over the edge and sank her teeth into him, desperate to hold onto him. Her orgasm seemed to stretch out as pure heat ballooned inside of her and then she shattered.

His raw snarl as he shouted his own release was the last thing she heard.

T
he strength
of his orgasm left Diesel shaking with pleasure. Dove clung to him, almost boneless. The rapid race of her heart and the ragged nature of her breathing filled him with another primitive kind of pride. From her kiss-swollen lips, to her disheveled hair, to the ruddy red flush on her skin—he’d done that to her.

Her internal muscles flexed and closed on him, spasms which seemed to jerk through his over-sensitized cock, but he didn’t pull out. No, he needed the overload, the contact—the intimate connection. Taking her for the run, he hadn’t anticipated a battle or the violent need for coupling they’d both experience afterward. Thank all that was holy, he’d secured the doors when she’d embraced him.

Not claiming her had been the most difficult moment he’d ever experienced. The bites brought them close, but without the mutual decision—it wouldn’t take. Patience, he reminded himself. Glancing down at her still closed eyes, he had to smile. Bliss radiated from her, as aftershocks ricocheted through his system. Still, he’d marked her and pounded his scent into her. She’d left fresh scratches on his back and a deep bite on his shoulder. The pain had edged his pleasure to perfection.

The thought had his cock stirring with the very real need to play with her. Rolling his hips, he ground himself very firmly against her clit. Her gray-green eyes opened, gold bleeding into them as her wolf stared at him—as drunk on him as he was on her.

“You will sleep in my bed tonight.” He gave voice to the demand of his wolf.

She merely smiled then slowly raised her hand to rest against his throat. Though her grip was gentle, she pressed her fingers to a point of vulnerability. “Who gets to be the wolf?”

A chuckle rippled through him and he kissed her again, putting his hand to her throat and mirroring the gesture. Trust. He’d asked if she trusted him and she’d given it to him. He would nurture the precious gift for what it was. The lazy stroke of her tongue along his teased him, and it was with reluctance that he broke the kiss. The perfume of their lust filled the antechamber. All the wolves he’d summoned home would pass through there and every single one would know she belonged with him.

It was utter self-indulgence to thrill at the thought, but who cared? It could only be better if she’d welcomed his claim and he’d asserted himself as her mate. Still, it had been a spare amount of days, and she’d already accepted him into her body. They would dance. They would play.

She could run.

He would most assuredly chase.

After one, long slow kiss he made himself ease from her body. They both hissed at the loss of contact then her gaze collided with his, a smile on her lips and in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Oh, you’re more than welcome, Dove.” He pressed a kiss to the wound on her shoulder then lapped at it to ease the sting. The sharp slice of his teeth had imprinted the mark deep. She would wear it for days.

It wasn’t a mating mark, but it settled his wolf in profound ways.

“Thank you,” he said against her skin, another kiss to the unmarked skin of her left shoulder. When he took her again, he would bite her there. So many sweet places he could graze with his teeth.

He would find them all.

Only when she was steady on her feet, did he release her. She had the look of a woman thoroughly used and loved. It suited her wildness to perfection. Catching her fingers in his, he raised her hand to his mouth. Awareness of their mingling fluid trickling along her leg sent another possessive wave through him.

“You were exquisite out there today,” he said before pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “Perfection on the hunt.”

“You were pretty badass yourself.” The ease with which she delivered the compliment did wonders for his ego. “Thank you for trusting me.”

“How could I not?” He had no words to express the depth of his admiration for her. Though young and untried, she possessed a rare gift. She complemented him in so many ways. Wolves he’d known for years could not fight alongside him with such effortless ease.

“We have to walk now, don’t we?” she said by way of reply.

“I will carry you, if you like.” He couldn’t help it, he still held her hand and threaded their fingers together. Though slenderer than his blunter, squared digits, she possessed real strength.

Her form showed pure athleticism, yet another testament to her strength and training. She carried nothing spare and, while her curves were soft, they only enhanced her femininity.

“I can walk.” Her free hand closed over his gradually thickening length. The heat sent electricity scorching along his nerves. The tender squeeze she gave him had him closing a hand on her breast. “I just wanted to feel you,” she told him. “In my hand…maybe later, in my mouth.”

The admission sent his blood flow south, and he grew steadily more erect against the slow cupping stroke of her hand on him. “You can have me wherever you want me, Dove.” Since two could play at that game, he circled her pebbling nipple with his thumb. “I want you on your knees before me, my mouth buried against your cunt as you come so I can taste you. The I want to slide into you as you orgasm, and fuck you all over again.”

Her pupils dilated. “This is a dangerous game.”

“But very fun.” He nipped her lower lip. “I promise.”

“Do we have to go in right away?” She glanced down at his cock in her hand and she licked her lips.

“No,” he whispered. The pack needed time and, even if they didn’t, they would wait for him. Hunger flared through him anew, but when she tried to drop down to her knees, he caught her. “This time, Dove, we do it the way I want.” He spun her and put her hands on the wall. Bracing her there, he nuzzled the shell of her ear. “I will touch, and play. You will grip the wall.”

She shuddered, and he scented the freshness of her arousal. His cock seemed to pulse in time with his heartbeat. Despite his declaration of play. He simply wanted to slam home inside of her and take her until she couldn’t forget him.

Ever.

Closing his mouth over the mark he’d already made on her shoulder, he fisted his cock. After nudging her thighs apart, he began to torment them both by running his cock against her nether lips. Every push and pull was pure, sensual torture.

Palms flat on the wall, Dove arched her head and the action bared her throat. He played with her breasts, teasing, tweaking her nipples, caressing them even as he continued to mime pushing into her. When she locked her thighs together, trapping his cock against her in a fierce grip, he growled.

This time he nipped her throat, then moved his mouth to her wound-free shoulder. “Bad wolf.”

Not remotely cowed, she laughed and thrust her ass against him. The action elongated her body and gave him the perfect view of her pert nipples and enveloped his cock the promise of her heat. “Will you punish me?”

“I should…” But who was he kidding? They were both so hungry for each other. He could virtually taste her need, and his rose within him, a wild beast desperate for satisfaction. “I will—later.” He pressed her thighs apart, strength on strength, then settled his cock at her entrance before he thrust home without further preamble.