*Maverick*The healer walks around me, a look of concentration on her face before she looks at me and clicks her tongue. My heart falls. Clearly, this physical evaluation is going fucking poorly. And here I thought I was going to be giving the go ahead to make Tate mine tonight. It has been two fucking weeks of not being able to make her mine.No strain on my body, no marking and no fucking sex. Worst fucking rules ever, and here Tatum is all happily complying. I have been a patient man all my life waiting for the day I can fuck my mate whenever I damn well please and yet here I am dying to sink my teeth into her neck and make sure every damn single male in this pack knows she is mine.“Janelle,” I growl at the healer who Artemis sent with us to ensure my healthcare was consistent for optimal healing. She shoots me a glower that says to shut up and wait. “I think your healing has expedited with your new title.” She says, finally standing upright and giving me a satisfied smile. “Your
Tatum sits sobbing in the bed, her eyes locked on mine as I hold the little screaming bundle in my arms. I look down at my sweet, perfect, and very loud son, Maxwell Mason. Tatum rubs her eyes, her chest heaving up and down, and I can’t help but laugh. I know it’s an awful thing to do, especially considering the circumstances, but I can’t help it. Tatum looks beautiful and exhausted. “Babe, go to sleep.” I insist and she shakes her head no.“Why won’t he sleep?” she blubbers. “I am so tired,”“Tater tot.” I say firmly, “Then go to sleep. I’ve got him. He is okay. He just needs a change and a bottle.”“But I should be able to nurse him,” she sobs, looking at her hands in her lap.“Ah.” I sigh. So that’s the actual issue. Tatum’s milk supply has yet to come in and it is the third week. My poor sweet mate wanted nothing more than to be a mother and be a perfect one. And now that she has a baby, she feels like she isn’t enough because she can’t breastfeed him. “Look at me,” I say, walki
Hey!! SO this is ending differently than my usual they are happy for 5-10 chapters! why? Becuase I felt their relationship was developed along the way, showing them over that many chapters again would have felt like filler which i promise never to give you. I have also left a few things open for specultion. There is a reason for that. There is potential for a Clem and Kit story, a shorter one but that won't happen until I get the second book in the Rebel Rising series up and completed.Clem and Kit's story would pick up from the moment she is traded to him for Tatum so we would also get alot of Mav and Tatum in their story as they are important characters in their lives. As always, THANK YOU, for hanging in there with me. This was a fun one to write. I will be doing some editing and such and may add more to give us more details about River and Artemis but they also may have a small novella coming if I feel like their story needs to be told from their POV. Basically, everything
*Tatum*The loud clinking from the kitchen has me creeping out of my bedroom in search of River, my usually quieter roommate. It’s barely six in the morning, far earlier than either of us ever get up, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t happy she wasn’t able to sleep either. She was passed out on the couch last night when I got home from work, so I haven’t had the chance to tell her the good news yet. I have a date. And it’s not just with any ordinary person.I half expect her to freak out when she sees me come around the corner. I was not, however, even remotely prepared for the handsome, well-dressed man leaning against my kitchen counter. Panic creeps up my spine as I blink at him.His dark eyes lift from the cellphone in his hand and a smile grows on his face when he notices me. In an instant he straightens up, places his phone down and saunters over, stuffing his hands in his pressed suit pant pockets.He’s not a stranger. No, this is the very handsome man I’ve been chatting
“Move in? With you…? Before being mates? While you are still seeing other girls?” I ask, my eyes wide with shock. “Yes,” he starts and then stops and sucks in a deep breath. “As you know, I’m rather busy, traveling all the time. So when I have downtime, I like to decompress, relax at home in my pack, in my pack house.”“I guess that’s fair.” I tilt my head, seeing his point.I can imagine traveling all the time leaves little left to be enjoyed except what is missing: home. Not that I know anything about that. Aside from moving from my family home to my apartment in mid city, I’ve traveled to the edge of the pack and back again a few times. I’d like to be sick of traveling. “I am asking a few of you, potential mates, ladies I can see myself wanting to take a relationship further with, to stay with me for a while. To minimize travel and allow you all to get to know me in my natural environment. I’m more than an alpha, and I want you all to see me behind my title.” He clarifies, and m
“Don’t call me that” I frown and turn on my heels, leaving him behind me.“Why not?” He asks my back.“Only my friends call me that.”“We used to be friends,” he retorts, coming into my room behind me and I snort a dry laugh.“Yes, well, used to being the operative words there,”He says nothing as I search my closet. “What are you doing?” River asks, sauntering through the doorway as I grab out my suitcase and plop my new items inside it. I flick my eyes to meet hers, not stopping what I am doing.“I am packing.” I announce with a sigh before spinning away and grabbing a sweater. Then a shudder of excitement ripples through me and I bite my lip, stopping to face her with a smile barely suppressed on my face. Her eyes scan me, trying to decipher how she should react before she grins widely and squeals while jumping up and down. “He invited you?!” Her mouth hangs wide open as I nod my head and giggle. “Holy shit! Of course he did! He would have to be a moron not to.”“Stop it.” I fake
*Maverick*“Let’s get one thing straight.” I say, taking measured strides toward her while she stands firm. “I’m no ghost. I’m as alive as they come, even if I’ve wished not to be.”I reach out and tuck a strand of her silky smooth hair behind her ear, my fingers aching to stroke her cheek. I have no right to do it. It’s completely inappropriate, yet I can’t seem to stop myself. She meets my gaze, her eyes full of fury and confusion as a storm whips around within her. There’s no helping the graze of my thumb on her cheek as I drop my hand and my heart races at the simplest contact. I knew it would be a mistake to be this close to her. Mate bond or not, she has always had a hold over me. “Right.” She scoffs, wiping at her skin where I touched her as if cleaning the stain of me away. My jaw twitches in disappointment, though I understand her hatred for me all too well. She takes a step back from me, turning to face her suitcase. “Ghost or not, we both want the secret of our past kept
We drive in silence for the rest of the trip, Tatum growing more anxious by the minute as she checks her phone, and looks out the window regularly. I find myself looking at her more than I should, my eyes lingering, and I try to convince myself it’s because it’s been so long. Seeing her has brought back many emotions I never dealt with. Memories I buried without so much as thinking I would ever have to face them again. Yeah, that’s all it is. The memories, not the curve of her lips when she smiles anxiously to herself. It’s not the way the light bounces off her perfectly smooth skin or gleams in her hair. No. It’s the memories and once we get there, I won’t have to be troubled to be near her enough to worry about those.“We are here,” I tell her, my eyes connecting with hers as she looks up from her phone and then she glances out the window, perking up. The excitement on her face as we turn into the Fallen Star Pack is contagious, as I struggle to hide my grin and watch the road ahe