Jordan love’s sweet aroma makes me so fucking hard, I nearly come from the scent alone.Jake groans, his head falling to her shoulder. “Fuck.”Yes. Yes, that’s exactly what I want to do. Fuck Vanessa .But Jake is already inside her, his knot claiming the sweet heaven between her thighs.Kev growls, as do I. Not in anger, but in hunger.Our mate is going into heat. Her gaze is liquid black, her pupils blown so wide I can barely see the whites of her eyes. That didn’t happen last time.Which tells me this is the real deal. She’s about to lose herself to estrus for days, maybe even a week or more.And I cannot fucking wait.“I have to address the pack,” Jake says, sounding agonized by the mere notion of having to leave her in this state.But we just suffered a major loss with Alpha Duncan’s death. And experienced a huge win by taking down Alpha Bryson.Jake doesn’t have a choice. This is where his duty as Pack Alpha will have to come first. “You can make it a quick speech,” I tell him.
Kev Jake is a better wolf than I am.He’s somehow holding himself together for this speech and embracing the pack as though he has all the time in the world.While all I want to do is return to the den and fuck our mate into oblivion.However, it’s Jordan ’s turn. I’m just pissed I couldn’t be there to watch him finally let himself fuck her.“It’s a new era for the Black Mountain Pack,” Jake is saying.“Because we’re finally ready to go home.”Howls echo into the night, the wolves thrilled that we’ve handled the Blood moon Pack once and for all. The Santeetlah Pack is all that’s left. Butwe’ll save them for after Jake ascends.Alpha Bryson became our primary challenge seven years ago. And now he’s dead.A bit anticlimactic for my taste, but that’s Jake ’s way. He’s not the type to prolong torture or make someone suffer. When he has the upperhand, he uses it without remorse.I’m just sad I didn’t have a chance to take the bastard’s head.It would have made for a nice trophy in the de
Vanessa Blood.Sweat.Sex.I’m swimming in a sea of peppermint, ash, copper, and pine. I never want to surface.Swimming. Drowning. Swimming again.But there’s something not quite right. The bed is too lumpy. It’s… imperfect.And I really dislike that sensation. I stir from my cloud of dizzy desire and hit the lump on the bed. It’s soft and plushy and in the wrong place.Growling, I move it to the corner. But then I find another misshapen clump and have to move it, too.Which unearths a third one.And then a fourth. By the the tenth, I’m a snarling mess, ripping apart the bed and everything on it.Clearly, I need to make the bed again.Once I’m satisfied with the mattress and the lack of bumps, I start over. Carefully.I pick up sheets and shirts and jeans and towels and everything I can find, crafting the perfect bed to rest within. My males are here.I feel them watching me.One of them even hands items to me, trying to help. I purr when I like the offering and snarl when I dislike
Jake I love is very particular about her nest.That started around day two of her heat.We’re now on day nine and all of us are exhausted.“I’m not fucking you until you eat that sandwich,” Kev says sternly, making my lips curl. “Now, Vanessa .”She growls at him.He growls back.We’re not in the nest right now, but on the floor beside it. Because we learned on day three that food in the nest creates a furiouslittle Omega. And we’ve not made that mistake since.But she’s still not a fan of eating. She just wants our seed.However, we’ve found withholding sex will eventually make her cooperate. Which Kev is doing now while I check in on island operations.The power and telephone functions were finally fully restored three days ago.Alpha Lance, Alpha Edwin, and Alpha Ion all worked as a team to help clean up the mess Alpha Kin made. Alpha Ebony and Alpha Pan also returned after the burial to assist.And Alpha Dirk oversaw the restoration of telecommunications on his own.I’ve review
Vanessa Energy hums through the air, causing the hairs along my arms to stand on end.But it’s for an entirely different reason today than two months ago.I’m in the same field.Standing in the same place I once kneeled.Only now I’m standing. I’m clothed. And I’m staring directly at the male who once rejected me.Seeing Canton now, I can’t remember why I ever found him attractive.He has nothing on my three mates. He’s a fucking pansy ass, Kev says to us all. Look at him. He’s ready to wet himself just like last time.That pansy ass managed to keep a hold on Vanessa ’s wolf for almost a week, Jake reminds him. Looks can be deceiving.He’s right.I remember feeling Canton’s power.He’s certainly not weak. He took advantage of an untrained shifter, Kev argues. Hardly makeshim strong.Also a fair point. I didn’t know how to control my inner animal and she was pissed at me for denying her all these years. It made her easy tomanipulate.Alpha Crane clears his throat. “Well. We’re here,
6 months ago. Vanessa Energy hums through the air, causing the hairs along my arms to stand on end.Deep breaths, Vanessa , I tell myself. And don’t look up.History is happening all around me as the wolves enter the clearing on both sides. Blood moon and Santeetlah.Two packs of similar origins who have fought for centuries over this land.But today, we’ll join as one.Because of my agreement to mate the Santeetlah Pack Alpha’s son.The other females in my pack are jealous. Our matings are all arranged, and I definitely won this year’s prime candidate a future Alpha.And not just any Alpha, but the Alpha who will lead the union between our packs, with me by his side.I take another deep breath, attempting to calm my inner wolf. Kneeling agitates the animal lurking beneath my skin. I don’t typically submit. But this ceremony requires it.Just as it required me not to truly meet my inner animal until today. Hence her growing excitement.I’ve never been allowed to shift.It’s part of
Vanessa Explain yourself!” Alpha Bryson shouts.I shiver, my focus instantly going to the male I’ve revered all my life. But he’s not looking at me. He’s looking at my father.And my father… is glowering at my cowering mother.“I… I…” she stutters, her skin as pale as my fur. “I didn’t know… I…”“You didn’t know?” my father repeats, his tone holding an edge of fury that I’ve never heard from him before. “How could you not fucking know?”He points in my direction. “She’s a goddamn mutt!”“I thought she was yours,” my mother whispers. “I… You have to believe me. It… He found me… I tried to fight… But I…”Her statements are all garbled. Maybe because I can’t hear beyond the pounding in my ears. Maybe because she can’t seem to explain herself.“I swear, I had no idea,” my father says, his words for Alpha Bryson.“I’ll take whatever punishment you require. This is not a reflection on our pack, it’s a reflection on me and my whore of a wife.”“He raped me!” my mother shouts. “I tried to fi
Kev I fucking hate wearing suits. They’re claustrophobic and suffocate my wolf. And the damn ties make me want to choke something.Not my own neck.Someone else’s neck.Like the human sitting across from me.Fortunately, he’s useful. Unfortunately, he’s the reason I’m in the suit.I wait patiently as he counts the cash in front of me, showing me the bonus he’s giving me for a job well done.He gave me a mark. I carried out the assignment without any inquiries or assistance required. And now I’m being paid for it.“You military-types are unnervingly silent,” he says.I don’t reply. He assumes I’m military because I’m good at what I do. I don’t bother correcting him because I don’t need to explain myself. I’m afreelance assassin. The suit is just my version of a mask.If he saw the claws beneath, there would be questions.And I really fucking hate questions.This guy has several on his mind. I can see them in his dark eyes. But he’s smart enough to keep his mouth shut, instead thankin