5

I craved the only comfort I knew would mend me. Teddy knew, too. He wrapped me in his arms. His kisses, though gentle at first, quickly turned desperate.

I let my hands wander down to his shorts, seeking the connection I craved more than anything. He growled, grabbing my hand before I could touch him. "Three more weeks, Loupy. Just three more weeks."

I pulled away as I sat up. "I'm already eighteen. We are just waiting on the moon, and we aren't virgins. Our wolves know it. Mine may kill me in the next three weeks."

Teddy sat up beside me, his breath hot against my neck as he kissed it softly. I felt where Phin had dragged his teeth against my skin under his lips, and it made me shiver. "I'm the macho male here. I'm supposed to be the one humping your leg."

I huffed, glaring at him as he smirked at me. "Instead, you're Mr. Self-Control, and I can't even get you to touch me below the neck."

He reached over and started tracing circles on my stomach. "You know what I mean," he whispered.

I sighed, the sensation both soothing and maddening. "You know what I mean," I parroted back.

He chuckled. "Just think... all of this buildup. It's going to be epic. Tellement épique... Better than anything we've experienced or can even imagine."

I rolled my eyes. "How many girls have you been with, really?"

It was the one question he always danced around. To be fair, I hadn't told him the total truth yet either. The funny thing was, we'd both know the truth the second we were marked. We'd both know now if he'd let me touch the mark when he answered.

He shifted, avoiding my eyes. "Does it matter, Cassy?"

"It does to me."

Sighing, he pulled me closer and rested his forehead against mine. "You're the only one who matters now."

The evasion stung. I wanted to push, but the fear of what he might say held me back. Instead, I wrapped my arms around him. "Three more weeks," I whispered. But my wolf was restless. She just wanted him, and no amount of futile reasons being thrown around to convince me would change that. The anticipation was unbearable.

I pushed myself up. "Why are you so determined to wait? We've already been through so much. Why keep torturing ourselves? We clearly have Leila's blessing, so why wait for the moon? You know I need you, and it isn't just teenage hormones for me. We have three weeks until you can mark me, I get it. But that doesn't stop us from..."

Teddy sat on the edge of the bed and cut me off. "Because I want it to be perfect, love. I want our first time to be as marked mates. I have little to offer you here, so give me this. I just want it to be everything you deserve. I can give you that."

He only started using 'love' instead of his typical pet names when flustered with me. He wasn't going to give me what I needed, so I was going to take what I wanted now.

I crawled over to him, straddling his lap. "I don't care about perfect. I care about you. I care about now." I licked the mark on his neck. "I care about making your body feel like that."

He growled as he rolled his hips against me.

I leaned in, my lips brushing against his ear as I whispered, "You want it. I can feel it. I can feel us. Stop thinking about it and just feel it."

I smiled against his neck as he started grinding against me. I could sense his willpower crumbling as he started sliding his hands up and down my back, his lips moving to my collarbone. I knew the below-the-neck comment would have an effect. I was slowly inching him lower and lower.

Feeling him struggle to hold back only turned me on more. He still avoided touching me anywhere salacious, but I was so lost in the sensations that it didn't matter. Feeling his muscles quiver under the intensity born from the resistance was starting to make me do the same.

He rolled us over on the bed, pressing me into the mattress under the weight of his body. He moved to my neck, nipping where my mark will be.

I arched into him, holding his body against mine, bringing us both off the bed for a second before we landed back down. It forced him to put parts of his body on me that he was desperately trying to keep from direct contact.

I was strong enough for him to notice. I rarely allowed this level of strength to show, not wanting to emasculate him. "See? We aren't doing anything wrong. It feels good. So perfect already."

He groaned. "Cassy, you're making this so hard."

I looked up at him. "That's the point. Stop fighting it. Just be with me. Just feel it. Just feel us."

He tangled his hands in my hair as he rolled us to our sides. It was his one defense when he realized I was starting to overpower him physically. Pulling my hair hurt enough to make me want to stop doing whatever I was doing.

It also seemed to turn him on. Significantly. "Cassy, you have no idea how close I am..."

"Yes, I do. I can feel it. Now, stop fighting it," I urged.

He growled. "You don't play fair."

I smiled against his mark. "Never said I did."

We turned almost frantic, a clash of need and restraint as we wrestled against our desires and bodies betraying us. I could feel him trembling.

He started panting and growling, rolling his hips against mine. I could feel the primal need to claim me taking over his body and mind. He paused, pulling a pillow between us to avoid rubbing against each other too much.

As much as I hated it, I admired his perseverance. The barrier between us was maddening, but I knew it was the only thing keeping us from crossing that final line.

He started speaking in broken French, thick with desire. "Je t'aime, mon loup... trois semaines... c'est tout ce qu'il reste." ("I love you, my wolf... three weeks... that's all that's left.")

I wanted him, needed him, and I wasn't going to stop until he gave in. I dragged my nails down his back.

"You're trying to kill me. Vicieuse, you," he moaned.

I arched into him, my breath hitching. "Good. Now you know how I feel."

He pulled away slightly. "We can't... not yet."

I grabbed his face, pulling him back to me. "It feels so good, right? I just want to feel something other than your tongue inside me," I whispered in his ear as I pushed my thigh into him hard.

He was so hard and reacted so forcefully that I felt him starting to twitch, even through the pillow.

His control finally fractured. The pillow between us became a flimsy barrier, barely able to contain the desire radiating from our bodies. We were everywhere... mouths on necks, ears, his jawline. We couldn't get enough of each other, licking, sucking, and nipping as our bodies moved together.

Taking the hint from earlier, Teddy trailed down to my collarbone again.

It felt good. Too good.

I grabbed his hair, tangling my fingers in the shaggy brown strands.

He growled, "What?" against my skin.

"That's going to make me go... primal on you," I warned. It was my way of saying I was about to overpower him.

As a female alpha, keeping my mate's ego intact was always a delicate balance. Sometimes, I wondered if the Moon Goddess had a sense of humor pairing me with a strong male who wasn't an alpha, or if she knew exactly what she was doing.

Teddy was challenging, but I loved every single thing about him.

He tangled his hands back in my hair as I continued to grind aggressively against him. He could sense my struggle for control and tightened his grip, making me still. "Take your hands out of my hair, and I'll take mine out of yours," he whispered.

I relented, pulling my hands down to his chest, feeling the rapid beat of his heart under my fingertips.

I wandered down to his shorts again, but he grabbed my wrists, stopping me. "Cass, please. We have to wait. I'm begging you, please."

I growled in frustration, pulling my hands free and wrapping my arms around his neck. "Why are you so stubborn? We need this. I need this."

"I want it to be perfect. For both of us." Teddy's eyes were wild with lust as he looked up at me.

I kissed him again. "It will be. Right now. Just let go."

He hesitated and started growling consistently under his breath.

I shifted and started rubbing against him, the friction between us driving us both insane. "Please."

He groaned, his body trembling with the effort to hold back. "Cassy, you don't know what you're asking."

"Yes, I do," I whispered as I licked his mark again.

His accent thickened to the point I could barely understand him anymore. "Je t'aime, mon loup... trois semaines..." ("I love you, my wolf... three weeks...)

His voice was shaky, trying to maintain control as we both continued to grind against the pillow.

His abs flexed and clenched under my fingertips. I dragged my nails over his lower stomach, right in front of the pillow that was supposed to hedge our willpower.

He grabbed the pillow and my hand, pinning them exactly where they were as he cried out.

A guttural moan escaped his lips as he looked up at me while his entire body began to spasm. His eyes were wild as the relief washed over him. He could only maintain that eye contact for a split second before his eyes rolled back and he closed them. His head fell back on the bed as he wriggled in pure ecstasy. He continued to growl and moan as I started to kiss the mark on his neck.

I pushed him over the edge and loved it. It had only happened a couple of times before, him losing control without me even touching him properly. It made me feel powerful. Despite being an alpha, I was still a foot shorter than him, and he could overpower me if he really wanted to. Yet, seeing the effect I had on him drove me wild.

Teddy covered his face, totally mortified. "I can't believe that happened... again."

I smiled. "It's okay, love. I enjoy it."

He sighed as he got up. "I need to shower again real quick."

He shook his head as he headed to the bathroom, giggling from the relief. This was why Teddy was 'the macho male,' and I seemed needy. He got the release, and I didn't.

Teddy whispered through the mind link, "Three more weeks, Loupy."

I parroted back, "Three more weeks," out loud, then added in my mind, "Hurry up. I'm sleepy, and you have a big day tomorrow."

He did. He would finally feel what it felt like to be alpha, even if only temporarily.

As I lay back on the bed, waiting for him, I couldn't help but smile. Our relationship was complicated, filled with anticipation and desire. 

For now, I reveled in the moments we had. Teddy might have been 'Mr. Self-Control,' but I knew that beneath that, his need for me was just as intense as mine for him. And when the time finally came, it would be perfect.

Just as he said.