When I realized I had been pacing my rooms for twenty minutes, I shook my head and made myself stop.
She was my mate. She loved me. And I loved her. She was preparing for her first true duty as Queen, and I was nervous like a puppy at his first Rite. It was stupid.
She still welcomed me every night, and falling into her arms was the highlight of my day. She was going to be beautiful—in the dress I arranged for her.
It was time to put this tension aside and just be together.
So, taking both a metaphorical, and briefly, a literal grip on my balls, I strode out of the room and towards her chambers, nodding to acknowledge a
~ CASIMIR ~I reached for her skirts and she pulled her head back out of the kiss, so I started on her neck again, but she was gasping.“Don’t wrinkle the dress—please, Cazz.”With a guttural growl, I picked her up, dress and all and started carrying her out of the closet towards the bed. Her hands clawed at my hair and she sucked on my neck as I carried her over to the bed, then dropped her ass onto the edge of it.She gave a little squeak of dissatisfaction, but her eyes gleamed as I descended on her, taking her mouth with mine, and her hips in my hands.When I felt the jolt of her need in the bond, I chuckled breathlessly, then grasped her hips and flipped her over, dropping quickly to grab the h
~ JESSE ~“More!” I gasped.Then he gave a moan so primal, the wave of my orgasm threatened to crest. I shuddered, shivered, goosebumps washing down my legs and up my spine.I was crying out, over and over, frantic, shaking, but I could do nothing but move my body to meet him because he had me pinned between his hips and his arm that was still planted on the bed over my shoulder.“Jesse… I need… you…”“Yes, Cazz… yes.”With a tormented cry he unleashed, hammering into me,
~ JESSE ~Standing next to Cazz on that dais at the top of the Audience Chamber, the entire spectacle left me breathless. I felt like I had walked a hundred years back in time… or maybe into a fantasy novel.When we’d first gone to the servants so they could fix my dress, I was mortified. But it struck me that this was going to happen every time. My only options were to get used to it and enjoy myself, or spend a good chunk of my life blushing and stammering.I did not want to be that woman. I wanted them to see my strength. I wanted to be a mate Cazz could be proud of. So, after that initial shaky moment when the servants were smiling a
~ JESSE ~After our lovemaking, while Cazz had helped me straighten my clothes as best I could, he’d hurriedly explained the events of the night.He would address the wolves, welcoming them and reminding them of the historic nature of the occasion, and warn the males on how to address their conflicts when more than one shared an interest in a female. He would give them the date for their return and declaration of mates—another formality, since the pairings would be approved by Cazz and the Alphas of the packs in the week between this rite, and the banquet that closed the Selection for this season. Then there would be the Calling. At least, that’s what I remembered. Cazz hadn’t been entirely clear on the times.“The events will happen as they happen, Jesse. There is no time set, except fo
~ CASIMIR ~Jesse was stunning. So stunning, it was difficult to focus on the traditions playing out in front of us. These Selections were a lot of annoying pomp, but they always served to bring the wider packs together, and cement the links between families.Politically, they allowed those in strength to remind the others why they had been chosen. And within the packlink, they reaffirmed the hierarchy in very clear ways, even as they offered to shift power if the right alliances were made in mate-pairs.Usually, I looked forward to these events. But tonight, my attention kept turning back to my mate who watched everything wide-eyed and whose pulse fluttered with her nerves.I knew she’d been looking forward to this as well—her first true outing as Queen, as s
~ CASIMIR ~‘She calls a lowborn wolf?’‘A prophetess?’‘She has not even finished her apprenticeship!’‘Is this a joke?’‘Does the human think to weaken the bloodlines since she hasn’t been able to bear her own young?’‘Has the King indulged his human—?’‘QUIET, ALL OF YOU,’ I snarled in the link. ‘Your Queen speaks. Listen.’
~ CASIMIR ~‘Call me for my declaration. NOW!’ I hissed at Rake in the link.He blinked, then jerked his head forward, calling for everyone’s attention as Jesse took her place back at my side. She was looking at me uncertainly, reaching for my hand again.And I took it. Damn me, but I took it.Let them make of that what they would.“Our night is almost over,” I barked at them, reminding the Alphas who were looking agitated, like they might actually rush to me now, that this was not the time. The pack was bubbling, no longer hiding their shock and disapproval, openly leaning into each other. The mind links would be awash.
~ JESSE ~There was a strange clenching in my chest at those words from Cazz. He hadn’t shut down in the bond, so I could feel him—angry and apprehensive, and his simmering pride as well. There was a lot of conflict in him, but when I looked at him, all I could see was an utterly self-assured King, eyeing those approaching him as if they were annoyances.I prayed that’s all they could sense, too, though with the wolf scent and bonds… who knew?“Cazz—”“Quiet.” He bit the word off, his eyes never leaving the males moving towards him. “Do not waver. Do not question me. And do. Not. Speak. Not unless you are asked to do so specifically. So help me, Jesse, you have got to let me handle this.”