Tara didn’t know what else to do. She was already alone with him, and her safety didn’t change if they weren’t alone. He could kill her for any reason, the same as punished for any reason. The way of it didn’t matter either. He would then talk about mates and submissives. Tara really needed a visual aid to keep track of it all. She now avoided looking too closely at anything he said or did. Her main thoughts now were to keep him happy and go with whatever the flow was at the time. It was pure and simple survival on her part. He held her hand and guided her along the corridor to the elevator. This time, they went up. The building didn’t look this large, but that’s because it went several floors into the ground. It meant the pack, and the club were far more secure from any type of attacks. His commute to work was a simple one, and it didn’t matter whether it was pack or club business. With both dealt with in the same space. When they finally
Finally, the Alpha let her be. He went into his office to do something and left her alone in the apartment. She wasn’t used to having such a large space to live in, having spent years in the rundown motel. She wasn’t sure what he expected her to do with her time beyond staring out the window. Was she supposed to cook and clean for him? Is that why he wanted her here? The space looked like it would need constant care to keep clean and looking like it did now. Unless he was never here to make a mess of it. When she started taking stalk of the kitchen, she soon realized she was out of her league there. It was one thing to heat a can of soup. But the refrigerator looked like the grocery store’s entire produce section was crammed in there. Tara wasn’t a cook, she’d never learned. There wasn’t time or money to take fancy classes and her mother wasn’t much of a cook herself, if Tara remembered correctly. Then there was the issue of not having access to a kitchen, e
Cal entered the living room and was hit with the enjoyable scent of Tara’s need. It didn’t take him long to have her ready for fucking. His plan to have her addicted to sex with him was working better than he hoped. Now he could explore her skills and teach her how to please him. Cal also wanted to know her tolerance for pleasure. He knew she enjoyed their time together as he parted her pussy lips, and she was weeping to be fucked. Swollen and lubricated, he toyed with her to match her want to her need. She liked her breasts roughly played with, and she loved being stretched by his fingers. Soon enough, he could play for hours with her. But right now he needed that tight cunt stretched on his cock and giving him a good squeeze. Cal knew he wasn’t playing fair. She’d orgasm in no time, and he’d get to tease her further into mindless release as he made her orgasm three more times as a punishment. She would lose herself in her multiple releases. He’d commanded her to
The shock of his bite as Tara orgasmed had her reacting on autopilot. She bit the closest object. Tara expected it to be part of the sofa. But to her utter horror, it was the tattooed arm of the wolf who’d sealed her fate with his. If his bite hadn’t put her in a place where she’d never return from, then her biting him was the last nail in her coffin. Cal grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head back. She could see her blood coating his mouth, like his must coat hers. She could taste it, and it was an experience she’d never felt before. The pain now was all but gone. However, his knot and desire to fuck were still in full gear. Even now as he ravaged her mouth, with the taste of their blood mingling on her lips. He made her aware of every shot of his load into by pressing his knot into her. Her body thrilled at it, eager for every scrap of attention, even as Tara’s mind blanked out with the rush of pheromones and pleasure. She’d been craving more of
“Sit still, it’s almost cleaned up. With a bath you won’t need to get a dressing wet. There now into the tub with you. I want you to relax while we talk.” Cal was happy with how accepting she was of her training. That training had only started. What he didn’t like was the surfacing of what was clearly past traumas. He thought she was the quiet sort. Now, with one comment, it called everything into question. Tara slipped into the water until only her head and shoulders showed, with the stark white gauze bandage. Her hair fell mostly behind her and over the edge of the bath. Cal stepped into the bath with her, but sat on the edge of the bath and watched her. “What do you not understand about this situation?” Tara didn’t say anything right away. She mulled over her thoughts in her head before anything came out of her mouth. Cal believed at first, she did that because she feared the situation; she was in with him. Now, however, he susp
Cal woke up around mid-day which wasn’t unusual, nor was his phone ringing on the nightstand beside him. What was unusual was the warm body beside him. This was the second time he’d fallen asleep with Tara beside him. Which did good things for his mood. What killed his mood was the call from Jaxon. There were developments, and they needed Cal in the club’s office to deal with it. The issues were piling up, and Jaxon needed him. “Hey, it’s time to get up. I need to get into the club’s office. You’re coming with me.” Tara moaned as she tried to resist him and continue sleeping. “Nope, you’re getting up. It’s bad enough that we missed training this morning. That will be corrected tomorrow. Come on, there’s no rest for the wicked.” “I’m not wicked.” Tara’s muffled voice came from deep within the pillow she had her face buried in. “You’re getting up and that’s that.” Cal left the bed and took the covers with him. More because he wanted
Cal led them to his club office to find Jaxon and Rachel pacing within. The club was busy with the cleaning crew. That was a necessary job in this line of work and it took a lot of hands and time. “Alright, what couldn’t wait a couple of hours before I got down here?” “Well, right now we have a human detective wanting to have a meeting with you about issues in the neighbourhood. Before you ask, he won’t tell me anything when I asked. He’ll only speak to you. Then we have a surprise meeting of the council and they expressed the need that everyone make an appearance.” “Alright, great. Now where’s the urgent issue that has you dragging me from my bed early?” “I’ve not got that far yet. We have a team of NARC enforcers sitting in the neutral zone demanding that they get permission to enter our territory and meet with you about several issues. Or and this is a quote, don’t shoot the messenger. They come in and clean up without your permission.”
Their meeting went on and Tara was now firmly entrenched in her belief that her silence equalled her survival. Cal wasn’t as sure about, the things happening around him. He wasn’t questioning his decisions, but he was questioning the information his people were receiving. He got back to the NARC enforcers on his border. He’d meet with them before Tara’s appointments. Whatever had them knocking on his door without a word of warning from their superiors had Cal concerned. In today’s climate, he needed to know as much as he could. Since biting Tara, Cal found he was feeling something off. It was like he could feel her emotions, and they weren’t what Cal expected them to be. They weren’t as simple as he’d expected. As soon as he thought he grasped her mood, it shifted, or he’d misread her mood. He was struggling with this concept of feeling her emotions. It wasn’t something he’d ever heard of happening. Which led him to question if he was imagining the e
One Year Later —Tara sat out on the poach behind the packhouse with a laptop open to a spreadsheet. She and Emily were working out the next year’s budget and the projects they’d tackle.With Emily looking after the club while they were up here. It was interesting, to say the least.Tara gave birth on schedule. It was about the only thing that was on schedule these days, and Cal was sitting on a blanket on the grass with one-year-old Natalie Nichols. The apple of her daddy’s eye. She had him wrapped around her little finger and he’d have it no other way.Eddie and his Lycan girlfriend were now running the kitchens here for Rachel. They’d mated and, well… Tara expected to hear that they’d have pups soon enough.Jaxon, well, he was back in the city. Tara wasn’t sure what was happening with him. Cal wouldn’t speak of it. But Jaxon took a leave of absence from his position for a bit. Tara wasn’t receiving the full story. But as far as she could tell. Jaxon may have two mates. One wasn’t d
Five Months Later —Tara felt like the size of a house. She propped her ankles up on her desk and she had to eat her fries with no salt. It wasn’t the same, nothing tasted the same. The poking from inside was regular now and she couldn’t wait for the last six weeks to go by. She’d been six weeks pregnant when her symptoms started and since then, if it wasn’t one symptom, it was another. Tara would be more than happy for these little monsters to enter the world.Cal was everywhere and nowhere, it seemed. He told her to clear her calendar today because he wanted to show her their new territory. The thought of trudging out there was exhausting to her. But she’d do it because he was just so insistent. He promised they’d stay the night out there and come back the next day at a leisurely pace.“You ready to go?”“Yes, I just don’t understand why we have to do this now. When all I want to do is take a nap.”“You can nap in the vehicle on the way. Don’t worry, I’ve packed everything we need a
Tara could feel the ball of conflicting emotions rolling about in her head and her belly. She had a new life inside her. No matter what, she’d never be alone again. But how did she explain all of this to them when the time came?How should she explain this to Cal? He had to be expecting this. Look at the second floor. She didn’t like it necessarily. Their pups living completely separately from us with someone else looking after them. Why hadn’t they spoken about this before?Tara’s eyes closed as the elevator dinged and opened. She’d not thought that it was important before this because she wasn’t pregnant, and they didn’t have any pups. Now she thought of it.This morning, Cal was gone before she got out of bed. This was a day she didn’t train, because there were other things she needed to get done. Which, of course, didn’t get done? A few steps brought her to Cal’s office over the club.She knocked and entered when she received the okay to enter. Tara lucked out because Cal was alon
David Monroe struggle with the enforcer training. His heart wasn’t in it and his skills lay in other places, but everyone lumped him in with the other male Lycans because he was a Lycan. He’d exhausted almost every avenue trying to explain to them he’d rather be patching people up and treating pups with fevers. While he was moping during a break, his phone rang, and it surprised him to see that Emily’s name came up on his phone. “Hello, Emily. What’s wrong? Why are you calling?” He couldn’t think of a reason she could be calling him for, but any chance he got to speak with her was better than nothing. “I’ll tell you, but you have to be very careful with what you say. No one can know why you’re about to be ordered to the Luna’s office. What we need you to do, is slip out of the packhouse. If anyone asks, you’re running an errand for the Luna. That’s it nothing more. What you need to do is go to the closest pharmacy and pick up a pregnancy kit. Come back here
Again, Tara was up late the next morning. Cal was determined he wouldn’t let her feel like he neglected anything about her. From sympathizing with her, to how her emotions were toward absolutely everything, and he didn’t forget to include planning their future together.Well, he talked, and she mostly listened. What he said wasn’t bad. Tara didn’t have a problem with any of his ideas. She didn’t have much to add or at this time have an emotional connection to any of it.Now, though, Tara needed to get her day going, and she felt like something that had been dredged from a swampy pond. It took only minutes for Emily, her newest staff member, to realize there was something wrong with Tara.“If we had a cat, I’d say you look like the latest thing it dragged home. When will we see you going to a healer?” Emily eagerly asked Tara as she returned from her latest flight to the bathroom. Tara looked at her with an expression of exhaustion.“I’m fine and I’m not planning ongoing to see one.” S
“Stone dear, you know I love you. I’m your mate and partner in life. I have always advised you about everything honestly and in your best interest.” Elaine still quietly sat in the sitting room and calmly spoke to Stone. The others had slowly filtered out to go on with their day or to watch their guests leave. “Of course you are, and you have.” Stone looked out the window and watched the vehicles leave. Elaine could see he was distracted by what was going on and his own thoughts. “Then why are you being an ass and not listening to anything I say now?” She let her irritation slip into her voice and she dryly responded to him. Her annoyance was obvious. Stone’s instincts instantly alerted him to the fact that not all was good between himself and his mate. Over the years, that instinct helped him avoid many different disasters from exploding in his face when it came to their relationship. “I’m listening Ellie. I’ve always listened.” “Then explain to me if you listened to me, then why
No one said much of anything on the way home. The privacy divider between the front of the vehicle and the back raised then never went down. Cal pulled Tara to him and sat her in his lap. He didn’t do anything more but let her soak up his warmth and strength. He buried his head into her neck and hair. The smell of the wool sweater mixed with the natural spice of her scent. He instantly felt his aggressive feelings smooth out and gentle. It’d been difficult watching her get so wound up from it all. Tara sat there, and all but purred. As their vehicle made slow progress through traffic, it’s darkened windows gave them the privacy that Cal didn’t care, Tara turned and straddled his lap instead. She didn’t do anything more than that. But his body felt her skirt hike up and he groaned, knowing how naughty she was instinctively gravitating to for comfort. That wasn’t what their mating would ever be based on. He’d never satisfy his needs while she was seek
Kole wanted to get back to the gathering as quickly as possible. He didn’t want any misunderstandings between anyone, let alone the two packs. There was no way he’d explain to the pack that their beloved elder and ex-alpha alienated his first born grand pup with blind stubbornness, hateful questions, and fear. That wouldn’t be happening today or any day. Kole wouldn’t risk fighting with Cal. How would it look when the Council of Alphas met? His father always forgot about that. Though the council of alphas didn’t exist during his time in control of the pack. He’d been a forward thinker of his time and moved his pack to a territory that was being noticed by the local humans. It meant he could settle their businesses in, and those humans would see those businesses as founding members of the business community. “Let’s go back down now and please be nice to her. She’s so much like Heather and you wouldn’t talk to Heather that way. Just apologize and let mother do
“That’s my third pup there and his mate. Your uncle, Stephen, and his mate, Ariel. Their grown pups, Erin, and Eric. That about covers your living family here, dear. Everyone sit please. Stone has created enough excitement and drama for one day. She has a sweet soul. Stephen, treat her like you would your sister and don’t act like your father if you know what’s good for you. As for the doghouse, it’s an old guard shack that’s been turned into a bunkhouse for single wolves who, for one reason or another, don’t want to make the trip all the way back to their homes to sleep. It’s affectionately called the doghouse because often there’s trouble between the few mated wolves that stay there.” “Oh, good grief. That’s horrible.” “Oh, don’t think your grandfather hasn’t stayed there a time or two. Though these days he’s more likely to use a guest apartment.” Tara looked over the tissue at Elaine with a shocked expression. “You’re joking.” “No, I’m n