15
“
W
ell, that could have gone a little better.” Alex held Annie’s hand as the two of them left her parents’ house and walked toward the edge of the woods. He had no destination in mind beyond getting far away from her father’s angry stare and cutting words, just slipping away from the compound to be alone with Annie. He wondered if Lily’s cottage might be empty and then decided it was damned time for him to build his own house.
He’d need one when he took Annie as his mate, because there was no way he was ever giving her up, but he wished he knew what she was thinking. She’d locked everything down when her dad started in on all the reasons why Alex wasn’t a suitable partner for her. She hadn’t agreed with anything Tinker said, but she hadn’t defended Alex, either.
Of course, she’d never let go of his hand the entire time they were at the house. That had to mean something. He glanced her way and said, “Your dad’s never going to look beyond the fact I was a jerk when I was a pup.”
Annie wrapped her hands around his arm and hugged him against herself. “You were never a jerk. You were a pain in the butt for the adults at times, but never because you were a jerk.”
He turned and raised his eyebrows. “Thank you. I think.”
She punched his arm. “You know what I mean. You were a cutup and always thinking out of the box, but you weren’t a bully, and you never, ever did anything to make anyone feel bad.” She giggled, adding, “Though I imagine you gave the older generation a few extra gray hairs.”
“My father said he never felt his age until I turned into an eagle and flew up into a tree out in the yard to get a kite that got caught in the branches. I was about six, and that was the first time he saw me shift, even though Lily and I had been shifting for months already.” He chuckled softly. “I think that was about the same time Lily was taking her historic walk on the astral, meeting up with all the Chanku ancients. Goddess, but I hate to think what my kids will be like.”
“I think that’s the problem, you know.” She stopped and gazed up at him, and Alex felt it like a punch to the gut. She was breathtaking and wonderful—and everything he’d ever wanted.
And he wanted those kids of his with her. No one else.
Unfortunately, her father had said and done just about everything he could to discourage Annie from loving him. “What? Beyond the fact Tinker would like to strangle me.”
“Oh, he doesn’t want to strangle you,” she said, but her eyes twinkled. “He merely wants you to move far away, preferably to another country, until he can find what he considers a suitable mate for his poor, pathetic, not-so-bright daughter.”
He looped his arms over her shoulders. “What daughter would that be? Because there’s nothing pathetic about you, and you’re one of the smartest women I know.”
“Ya think?”
He shrugged. “Of course I do. You love me, don’t you?”
She nodded, but there was no sense of laughter when she said, “Yes, Alex. I love you more than I can say. So much it’s sort of scary, to have this much feeling about someone. It makes me feel afraid and vulnerable.”
He took her hands in his. “But why? You have to know I love you. That I will do whatever it takes to convince your parents I’m the right man for you.” He leaned close and kissed her. Her lips were full and soft and whispered against his, promising so much more. He lost himself in her taste, her textures, the fullness of her love. It wasn’t easy to end the kiss, but he did.
“You do think I’m the right man, don’t you?”
Dear Goddess . . .
“Of course I do, but that doesn’t make this any less terrifying.”
“Because of what your dad said?”
She wrapped her arms around him and held him close, but she had a huge grin on her face. “Goddess, no. I hope you realize the only reason I didn’t argue with him is because he wasn’t in the mood to listen. I would have been wasting my breath, along with arguments I may need to use later.” She laughed. “Alex, don’t worry. He wants everyone to think he’s big and scary, but my father is an absolute softy. He loves me and he worries, just as you will worry when we have our own young. Mom will talk him around. She loves you, Alex. She always has.”
She paused a moment and glanced toward the dark forest. He heard her sigh, but she kept her gaze locked on the woods. “I’m afraid, Alex, because I never had this much to lose.”
“I don’t understand. You’re certainly not going to lose me.”
She shrugged. “Tell my neurotic brain that. You, me . . . us. This is something I’ve fantasized about from the time I was little. You loving me is the most wonderful, most terrifying thing that’s ever happened to me.”
He loved her so much he ached. He wanted to howl, to thank Eve for putting this woman in his sights, but all he said was, “Run with me, Annie.”
They were at the edge of the forest near a well-beaten path. Someone had nailed hooks to a big pine where they could hang their clothing, and within minutes Alex had his jeans and shirt hanging beside Annie’s shorts and tank top.
And damn, but he was hard even before their run. He wondered how that would translate to the usual sexual rush after their shift, but decided he’d just have to wait and find out.
Annie shifted and was off like a shot, her gray fur with the black tips rippling like burnished silver in the filtered sunlight. Alex followed close behind as she quickly slipped off the main trail and headed for a smaller track winding down through the lower valley. He wondered if it was a conscious choice, to run in the opposite direction from the Xenakis property, and applauded her thinking.
That was the last thing they needed, especially when his thoughts were all caught up in Annie and not particularly attuned to the world around them.
Normally, when he ran as a wolf, he was enthralled by his wolven senses. As a human he was gregarious and outgoing, but when he shifted, Alex had always preferred the solitude of the forest, even when running with packmates. He kept his thoughts within and used the time as a wolf to connect with those parts of him the world never saw. It was something he’d not grown tired of—the increased sensitivity to scent and sound, the change in visual input and the way his muscles worked, his tendons and sinews stretching, tightening, powering this four-legged form.
He could easily take almost any shape, but the wolf would always be his favorite, this powerful predator with the strength of the pack empowering his heart and soul. But last night he’d discovered he no longer cared to run as a lone wolf.
Running with Annie McClintock beat running alone all to hell and back. He wanted her. Not just for now, but forever, and damn her father for thinking he wasn’t worthy. What man would love Annie more? Would fight harder to keep her safe? Would protect her and stand beside her for as long as they both should live?
His thoughts made him think of wedding vows, the words running over and over through his head as his big paws tore up the trail. He watched the gorgeous bitch who led him, caught in the graceful stretch of sinew and muscle as her body streaked along the narrow trail. And when she turned off the trail and cut through a thick swath of bracken ferns and low-lying shrubs, he knew exactly what she wanted.
It was the same thing he yearned for. No doubts. None.
He felt it in the determined glance she cast over her shoulder, in the ripe scent of her lust. She wanted him. Wanted him in the way of wolves, now. Today, beneath a bright summer’s sun. It wasn’t the full moon he’d envisioned for their mating, but it didn’t matter. Annie mattered. What she wanted, when she wanted. As long as she wanted him, any time was perfect.
Sooner rather than later.
He burst through the undergrowth and saw her standing at full alert with one paw raised, her ears pricked forward. A brilliant shaft of sunlight filtering through thick alder trees bathed her in light as if she stood upon a stage. The soft song of a rushing creek fed by snowmelt was her accompaniment. Ferns covering the banks, thick and lush with new growth, created a perfect setting for the beautiful female waiting for him.
The words came to him then. The vow that had filled his mind as he ran, and he said them now, placing his heart in her hands, shivering inside with fear that she might change her mind.
I want you, Annie. Not just for now, but forever. No man can possibly love you more. No man will fight harder to keep you safe. No other will protect you and stand beside you, ready to give his life the way I would freely give mine. Anne Marie McClintock, I know this truth—you are my one, true mate. The one destined for me. The one I’ve searched for without realizing it was you all along. Take me as your partner, your lover, the one to give you children if we should be so blessed. I promise to stand beside you and keep you safe for as long we both shall live. I swear by our goddess, always to be there for you. Will you honor me by becoming my mate?
She stepped close to him, touched his nose with hers.
Alex, you have always been mine, deep in the most secret places of my heart. I have loved you and wanted you, have dreamed of walking by your side as your mate. You are the only man alive who can make my dreams come true. I would be honored to join with you. Here, now, with our goddess as our witness. I love you, Alexander Anton Aragat. I will be yours for all time.
There were no words left to speak. He, a man who always had a glib comment or a sarcastic comeback, was speechless. He stared into Annie’s sparkling amber eyes and felt a sense of wonder, of fate settling into place in a way he’d never before experienced.
This was as it was meant to be. Here. Now. Just the two of them making this life affirming, life altering decision. He brushed her shoulders with his paw, almost expecting her to run, to lead him on a merry chase before she allowed him to catch her, but she merely turned her back to him, tilted her head, and gazed steadily at him over her left shoulder.
No games, Alex. I’ve told you I love you, that I want you. I don’t intend to run from you. Not now.
Her soft laughter filtered through his mind.
That doesn’t mean, however, that I won’t give you a run for your money later, or that I will always agree with you. I am my mother’s daughter, and she is a strong woman.
Left unspoken was the truth, that if Lisa McClintock could control her big mate, she must be one of the most powerful bitches in the entire pack. Tinker was a force of nature, and it was well known his mate was the true leader in that family unit.
Alex yipped and rubbed his muzzle over her back, loving her all the more.
I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy whatever battles we face, Annie.
She’d actually fantasized about this moment, knowing it would only ever be fantasy because Alex loved Lily and the two would one day mate forever.
But Lily loved Sebastian, and Alex loved her, which was why this act, this perfect moment, took on a dreamlike quality, a living, waking dream with a man who had always been bigger than life in her imagination. Yet, in reality, she’d discovered that Alex was more than she’d expected, much better than her dreams.
He was a selfless, generous lover, funny and sweet and so caring that his love for her made her ache. Now, as his paw brushed her shoulder, as his teeth gently nipped the thick ruff of fur at her neck and then his powerful jaws clamped down and held her, she braced her legs and prepared for his weight.
Inside, her heart was singing, the feelings and words and a lifetime of yearning all tumbled together, and everything was Alex Aragat. He came down on her so carefully, easing his body gently over hers that she was unprepared for the strength of his thrust once he was in position. The sharp, quick slide of his wolven penis into her tight channel; the speed as he filled her deep, again as he withdrew and was back again, thrusting so fast this mating was unlike any sex she could imagine in human form.
Her mind wanted to dissect and compartmentalize everything that happened, but the wolf in her took control, her instincts so sharp and powerful that she gave into the act itself, the amazing act of mating in her wolven form.
And in doing so, she gave everything over to Alex.
She felt her climax building, rushing her toward completion. His front legs clasped her back and the sharp nails dug into her sides. He filled her, harder, deeper, with such pistonlike power her front legs collapsed and she went to her knees. Panic edged her conscious mind, a fear of this man she loved as his stronger body overpowered hers. His wolven cock suddenly swelled inside her and she knew this was the moment, this indescribable link when they tied and she accepted the mating bond.
They would be bound for all time.
For all time, Annie. You and me. For all time.
His voice calmed her as his thick knot filled her tight sheath and his thrusts slowed. She felt the steady, rhythmic pulse of his ejaculation, and something more. Something intrinsic to the Chanku mating as their minds found that perfect synchronicity and linked.
She didn’t remember falling, but she and Alex lay together, bodies tied, eyes half lidded, as she fell deeper and deeper into his mind. Like a movie in highest definition showing every detail, she saw his first shift when he was barely five and listened while he agreed with Lily that no, this was probably not something they should share with their parents. Then she experienced his first sexual explorations with Lily, two bright and precocious kids on the cusp of their teen years, touching and learning with the innocence of the young.
She’d expected jealousy, yet felt none. Instead she felt honored to learn this about two people she loved without reservation, knowing their love was as constant and strong now as it had been when they were children—the love of true friends who were also lovers, yet not fated to love as mates.
His life spilled into hers, and she felt her life flowing into Alex. She knew he recognized how she’d always been there, on the periphery of everything he did, a silent yet steadfast admirer of a young man still finding his way.