Authors: Sky Winters
"That's not going to happen," Tristen said reluctantly. It seemed her picked up on her discomfort easily, and sympathized with it. "You're with the pack, and you've been with the pack since you bonded with Will. Now that we've found you and you're back with us, we're not letting you go again."
"Then don't make me go back with Derek," she said. "Let me go back to my apartment to be on my own. He isn't the one I want."
Beautiful blonde hair, slender ethereal features, soulful eyes. Tristen wasn't as powerful or as strong willed as Derek was, but there was something charming and personable about him. Stella pursed her lips and observed his from where she lay.
"You made your choice." Tristen settled on the edge of the bed, looking her over. Regret. Genuine regret pulled his features taut.
"I want to change my choice," Stella said. "I didn't think on it long enough. I regret what I've done."
The situation was less than ideal for any of them, she knew, but this was the rest of her life they were playing with.
"What are you saying?" he asked. "Last night you chose Derek. All of us could... Smell it. You can't just go against that."
"Why not? It's an easy mistake to fix. We could fix it right now."
Maybe it was a desperate fix, but the bad boy she'd had fun with last night wasn't the right man to take care of her heart. Tristen, gorgeous and yet sensitive, was a far better fit for the long term.
Tristen's eyes flicked down her covered body briefly, then up to her eyes. Hesitance.
"Derek's the alpha now," he muttered, "you shouldn't try to go against him."
"
We
shouldn't try to go against him," Stella said. She sat up, the blankets falling from her shoulders and down to her lap to expose her bare chest. Modest, supple breasts hung pert for Tristen to ogle.
"We," he uttered, breathless. The idea had struck him hard and left him bothered, and Stella could almost smell the lust on the air. Tristen was interested in her, and she was interested in him. It wasn't just a tactic to break the bond she'd forged with Derek, but a sincere interest in the quiet, younger version of the alpha she'd christened.
"We," Stella confirmed. She smoothed her hand over the quilt beside her, inviting him. "Come here. I changed my mind, and I can't bear the thought of giving myself to Derek forever."
A canine whine hitched at the top of Tristen's throat, needy and yet reluctant. Breaking the alpha's trust went against the nature of the pack, but Tristen's desire fought his instinct and better judgment. He kicked off his shoes and turned to crawl across the bed, the movement languid but loaded with desire, until he'd straddled her legs and they were face to face. Tristen's face bore features similar to Derek's, and even without being told as much, Stella knew they had to be brothers. They were far too similar in looks for it to be a coincidence, although their personalities were as different as could be.
"I shouldn't," Tristen whispered. The tips of their noses brushed, providing a soft intimacy that warmed her heart and filled the hole that Derek's cold treatment had torn through her soul. His words told her one thing, but his actions told another. Tristen did want it, but he didn't want to admit it.
"The alpha female's word is absolute," Stella whispered back. With a slight turn of her head she let the tip of the nose trail down the length of his, allowing their lips to brush. Where Derek had smelled of smoke and tobacco, Tristen smelled of the woods and days spent beneath the sun. And he was gorgeous. "And I've changed my mind. You're the one I want to care for me."
There were no more words. Their lips met, soft and hesitant at first, but then harder and needier. Stella's hand rose to the back of Tristen's neck to run up and tangle in his blonde hair as the passion mounted between them. One of his palms, once flat against the bed, rose to cup and caress her breast. Touching her was something Derek had never thought to do — he had been selfish in his desires.
As they kissed, Tristen pulled the sheets back to expose the length of her body. The hand at her breast dipped down to run along the slender curve between her side and her hip, and traced over the small, soft curve of her stomach. His touch brought her alive as Will's touch always had, almost like magic. Stella could not resist a tiny moan.
"Do you know," Tristen murmured as their lips parted, "about the bond shared between true mates?"
Stella's mind felt clouded by fog. Tristen's touch left her wanting more, but also had her feeling wonderful. The way he touched her made her feel appreciated and cared for, and after the impersonal treatment Derek had given her the night before, it was a welcome relief.
"No," she whispered, then caught his lips for another quick kiss. Will hadn't told her anything of werewolves, and what Derek had told her was the bare bones, barely enough for her to wet her toes in the knowledge of the supernatural. There was more to learn, and Stella felt like she'd be learning for a long time to come.
"True mates," Tristen whispered, "happen to meet each other rarely, but when they touch, they know right away. Just a finger traced across the skin feels electric."
To punctuate his sentence, Tristen ghosted his index finger across her naked thigh. The touch rode up like sparks across her skin and made her heart flutter with desire. Not since Will had she felt this way. Will had made her heart shudder with delight until the very end, and his touch had lit her soul on fire every time. True mates, a voice in the back of her mind whispered to her, speaking the truth. Will had been her true mate. But now Tristen's touch elicited the same sensations, and Stella felt her cheeks grow pink with flushed arousal.
"And has anyone ever had two true mates before?" Stella murmured, butterflies rising from her stomach to lift her words and spirits.
"The soul can love more than once," Tristen confirmed. "No one's love will be the same, but the feelings are just as valid. I know that you loved Will, but from the moment I saw you on Derek's bike, I thought there was something special about you, but I got too tongue tied to say anything, and Derek wasn't helping things."
The confession was mild and gradual, but it felt right. Stella found herself smiling.
"This is all really sudden." Her hand trailed down the back of his neck at to his shoulder, the same delightful sensation rising from her digit and up her arm. How wonderful it was to feel like this again. "But I feel it, too. After what happened with Derek, I knew I'd made a mistake. And I promise that I'm going to fix it. I'm not letting myself down again, not after how I've let myself down this past year."
Tristen's smile was worth whatever suffering or struggle she'd have to go through to set things right. If she really was the alpha female, Stella knew she had power. Just how much power she had was to be determined in the hours to follow, but for right now, what she wanted was to solidify her bond with Tristen.
"I trust you," he told her, "just as Will trusted you. He wouldn't have picked you if you didn't have a good head on your shoulders. I know we'll make it out okay."
And with his assurance, Tristen brought their lips together once more. Even after the brief amount of time they'd spent talking, Stella found she missed his touch. Now they would not split again.
Piece by piece, Tristen's clothes met the floor. His chest was smooth and flat, but not as firm or muscular as Derek's. His body lean and agile, but not built for absolute power. And when his pants and boxers descended, and she was treated to a view of what lay beneath...
Some things ran in the family.
Tristen was thick, and the slit of his cock dripped just as Derek's had. Sex between them would be messy, and she knew he'd leave her dripping with his secretions once she'd driven him to orgasm. And this morning, she was going to treat his body to pleasures untold. Sex with the chemistry they had was going to be fantastic, and Stella anticipated a future filled with it.
Union between them was effortless. Already her body had begun to respond to his, anticipating his every move. Amongst long limbs and soft caresses, Tristen found his way between her legs. And then, Tristen was inside of her.
After sex with Derek the night before, Stella was sore, but stretched. Tristen fit tight, but he did not wreck her as Derek had. Instead, there was a tender quality to the joining of their bodies that she couldn't get enough of. Tristen ravaged her, and yet she felt as though he did not take her for granted. A deeper connection ran between them than an exchange of power and fluids.
What started as slow and passionate evolved into something faster and closer to animalistic. The wolf began to stir inside of him, and a possessive growl rumbled in his throat and rattled her lips as they kissed. In and out, over and over, he worked himself inside of her, and when orgasm hit, it hit hard. Stella cried out into the empty house as she clenched down around him, and as she dove into the pleasure he had shared with her, he found his release as well. Hot cum, intimate instead of taboo, filled her and marked her with his scent.
Mates.
But this time, Stella did not regret her choice.
There was still a lot of strife to face that she'd brought onto herself, but all was not lost yet. And as Tristen settled at her side and showered her with soft kisses and gentle affections during the afterglow of their sex, she knew she had not chosen poorly this time around. What she'd found was worth fighting for. Stella would set her life right — she owed it to herself, and she owed it to him.
Chapter Six
The howl of the wind deafened Stella and sent her hair whipping back as they sped from the pack's farmland hideaway and towards the city. Tristen's lithe body sat in front of her, and she gripped him from behind so as not to fall off. His bike was identical to Derek's, but already Stella felt different. Raw excitement and the thrill of the unknown had faded, and now Stella felt secure and appreciated. The affection Tristen had shown her trumped Derek's wild streak, and she knew she'd made the right choice for her. The right choice for all of them.
Tristen rode just as aggressively as Derek did, but he did it with an ease that made the ride seem safe. The bike cut through the streets and wove around cars and other obstacles like water around pebbles down a stream.
Finally, Tristen skidded to a stop in front of an old apartment building. A crumbling facade and old window frames betrayed its age, and Stella thought that it seemed familiar. Then again, she'd been all over the city with Will. Before it had seemed like innocent wanderlust, but now she knew the true reason for his interest in every nook and cranny — it was his territory, and he was keeping it safe.
Stella's hand slipped into Tristen's, and he led her up the old staircase inside the lobby and to the fourth floor. Three sharp knocks on the door saw it opened by a young man with brown hair and a long nose, who looked over them both with a somber expression. Scent spoke for them, she guessed. There was no hiding a bond from wolves.
The walls of the apartment had been knocked down to create one large, open space joined through a large archway with the next unit, which was similarly opened. A den. And the men who visited there treated it as a home away from home.
And there, amongst a cluster of couches and chairs, most torn to shreds, sat Derek. When he lifted his eyes to look at them as they entered, Stella thought he might bare his teeth and attack. Had Tristen entered on his own, she was sure he would have. Her presence kept him in check.
"What the
fuck
is happening," Derek hissed from where he sat. His arms were draped over the back of the couch, legs spread. The man oozed authority and power, and Stella would have trembled had she not already faced death down just the day before. It was time to stop being afraid. Now she shared Tristen's heart after such a long time mourning Will's loss, and she was ready to move on and be happy.