Night kissed me as he entered me. I sighed, nuzzling his chest as he made slow, sleepy love to me. My eyes drifted closed as I traced the tattoos on his shoulder.“You make me feel so good,” I whispered. “I can’t believe I get to wake up to this every morning.”His answering chuckle rumbled through his chest. “Imagine how lucky I feel,” he said, turning and covering me partially with his body as he caught my mouth with his. His kisses were deep and tender, just like his even strokes.I ran my hands down his back, his hard muscles shifting under my palms. I moved my leg a bit more, and he shifted, rolling fully on top of me. I reveled in the weight of him pushing me into the mattress. His thrusts grew less lazy and more intentional. Each one brought me closer and closer to release, dispersing electric bliss from my core and throughout my body.I gripped his waist, gasping with each deep stroke of his cock. My orgasm swept through me, and I shuddered at the delicious tingling. I licked
“That’s terrible!” I shouldn’t have laughed at young Night and his arachnophobia, but the way he told it, I couldn’t help the giggles. It was no wonder that he and Dom were so close. They’d grown up attached at the hip. “I’m sure you’re not still terrified of the creepy crawlies,” I said. “How did you get over your fear?”“That’s the worst part. Dom’s torture did help me…kind of. I knew the only way to get him to stop was if I stopped reacting to it. At first, I pretended I wasn’t afraid of them anymore, but at some point, the fear actually disappeared. And then he found other ways to fuck with me.”“I guess it all worked out for the better, then.” I rolled onto my back and looked up at the white ceiling. “When I was growing up, my mom was my number-one fan. She was always supportive of me and told me I could do and be anything I wanted…but the one thing she couldn’t support was my dream of being a singer. Apparently, whenever I opened my mouth to sing, I yowled like a cat being elect
I looked at each of them in turn. Ross obviously hadn’t been one of the three to support the summons strategy, and the way Colby shifted uncomfortably in his seat told me that he hadn’t voted for it either. That meant Grant, Dana, and Edward had been in favor of the theatrics.The latter two I understood—they seemed to live to belittle me—but I would have thought Grant was above this sort of pettiness. Plus, he’d seemed supportive of me—or at least of Night—until now. But when I looked at him, his dark brown eyes stared back at me without a hint of regret. It reminded me of what Night had said about his council turning against the original plan to merge the packs. Was my council about to do something similar? And when had I lost Grant’s support? Had I pissed him off in some way?“The reason we’ve called you here today,” Grant began, “is that this arrangement is no longer working for the pack.”“Meaning?”“We have decided to move the alpha challenge up by five days.”I couldn’t have hi
Their minds were made up, and I had no real power to go against them. It occurred to me, too, that this was how Night had been forced to kowtow to his council’s demands. I thought I’d understood what he meant about making hard decisions, but now that I was sitting in the hot seat, I understood the tough position he was in a hell of a lot better. This really, really sucked.But I still had my voice. “I want to make it clear that I think your reasons for voting me out early lack any validity considering the already short length of my term and the climate I was brought into. But you all have made a decision and voted unanimously on it. I have no choice but to accept what you have decided.”Colby cleared his throat again. “Your words have been…um, noted, Alpha Hunter.”“Good.”Grant, recovered from his earlier incredulity, resumed control of the meeting. “I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that we have worked through the details of the challenge ceremony. On the day of the challenge, we wil
“Because I care about you both, and from where I’m standing, it seems like you’re interested in each other, but your relationship is staying in one spot instead of moving forward. I want to give you space, but I’m curious about where you stand.”She didn’t say anything.“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” I said.“No, it’s okay.” She sighed. “I guess I’m not sure. I do like Dom, and I care a lot about him, but after everything that happened when I was kidnapped…” She gave a slight shake of her head. “I don’t think I’m the best person for him. I already feel like I fall short of being a good friend to Bryn or a good sister to you. How can I expect to be a good partner for Dom?”My heart twisted painfully. “Octavia, that’s not true. Dom doesn’t think that about you, and neither do I or Bryn. You’re an amazing person, and anyone with eyes can see that.”She shifted on her branch. “I don’t see that in myself. Not anymore. I don’t think I would be good for Dom as I am now. He
“I guess that’s something you won’t know until it’s staring you in the face, you know? But in the end, it doesn’t matter. Between you and me and everyone else who cares about us, Bryn is protected and supported. We’re not going to let anything happen to her or the baby.”There was resolve in his voice as he spoke. He hadn’t sounded that fired up in a while. Dom was already protective of Bryn, but now that he knew they were blood, his drive to keep her safe must have increased. I couldn’t be happier about that. He was a powerful wolf, and I knew if something happened to me, he would keep Bryn and our pup safe and loved. I had no intention of dying anytime soon, but my beta made me feel more secure.Dom and I watched the training a while longer, and my gaze wandered to Xavier and Lance again.“Any new intel on those two?” I asked.“I’ve got something on Xavier. He has a bad right knee. If you watch him long enough, you’ll see he eventually favors his left leg and overcompensates for it.
It was true. I was five days away from everything I’d spent my life working toward. Soon, we could start building our ideal pack and bring peace. I could deal with the extraneous things, like the Wargs’ council and Troy, once I had everything in my hands. I was too close to let things slip through my fingers again.Chapter 28BrynAfter hugging Dom and kissing Night goodbye, I took the drawings to the elders’ cabin. It was much shorter to walk in a straight line through the forest than follow the compound’s curving path. In about half a mile, the trees would give way to the elders’ cabin, and I decided it was worth being out of public sight for a few minutes if it reduced my travel time.It was shaping up to be a bizarre day, but at least I felt more certain about everything. Night seemed confident that the challenge would work out. I needed to have faith that he knew what he was doing, but I’d never be able to let go of my worry for him.Was this what it had been like for Night to wa
“Have you considered that you might have just gotten lucky?” he asked. “You’re alive today, true, but that doesn’t mean you’ll keep succeeding. You’re making a huge mistake if you think the wolves in this pack won’t turn against you and your mate the minute they have the chance.”“Night is going to be the next alpha. They won’t have a choice but to listen to him.”“It’s never that simple, Bryn. And if your mate is telling you that, he’s either lying to you, or he’s an even bigger idiot than he looks.”My temper spiked again, and my wolf seethed within me. But I caught myself before I exploded again.“If anyone is lying, it’s you. After all, no one knows anything about you. Someone who’s being truthful wouldn’t need to keep so many secrets.”He let out a brief chuckle. “You’ll know who I am when it’s time, but until then, you really should listen to my advice. I say it with your safety and the safety of that little wolf in mind.” He turned from me and started walking away.“Sure you do