Two

Asher

I was currently borrowing Ryker’s makeshift office that he had set up at Ronnie’s house since he was here more often than anywhere else, but my mind was on the wheat blonde-colored she-wolf  who was out in the back yard, enjoying the unseasonably warm day with the little girl who lived here.

I couldn’t get Mari’s stunning hazel eyes, or the freckles I had seen sporadically spread across her face and the rest of her visible skin, to leave my mind long enough to focus on the task I was supposed to be completing, which was pretty damn important.

Roughly shaking my head, I picked up the phone to dial my beta, Nicolai. I had been away from my province for far too long with all the shit happening here in the Southern Territory and the elders fleeing to only Luna knew where.

Nic picked up on the third ring, and he proceeded to give me a detailed account of the happenings in my province.

I felt uneasy about his report regarding the rogues’ strange behavior, it adding to the threat in my mind about what Reese had warned us about with the bears’ movement, and I was nervous in general with my males being scattered so much throughout the territories.

There weren’t many of us left to begin with, but I had to take the risk of spreading security thin back home in order to give my males a chance at finding their soulmates.

Regardless, I was beyond grateful to be granted my own mate, and I would take things as slowly as Mari wanted so long as she didn’t outright reject me. However, my strain increased the longer I was away from my home, and the incessant tugging of our mating bond was driving me crazy.

While I had watched my friends meet their own true mates, I had learned it wouldn’t be an easy feat getting my other half to accept our Moon Goddess’ blessing after all that I’d witnessed.

Hell, Reese was still battling his way into his own mates’ heart, but I was fucking ecstatic I finally had someone to call mine after all the shit we’d been through with the elders and the bears.

At the same time, my lust for my mate only increased as the days ticked by. I could sense she was just as hungry for me, but I also realized part of her shyness was due to her innocence.

I gave her space at first, simply observing her as she interacted with others, and I noticed she was more relaxed when there were only one or two people around, though her whole being lit up when Roxi was in the room.

Man, she’d make an amazing mother someday, and the thought caused my head to jump to what she would look like when she was round with my child.

My wolf was sold on my plan, but I knew it would be a while until my vision became a reality with how skittish my mate was for the time being.

My attention roamed as I kept watch over the girls’ house while Jax and Ryker explored the pack house with their mates, and I landed on the odd event that had occurred with Mari earlier this afternoon as I kept my eyes and ears on high alert.

Roxi had been tottering around the kitchen while my mate fetched her something to drink, but I saw Mari bring the cup to her nose before she added the water and ice.

At first, I’d thought her action was funny, laughing as she handed the toddler her cup, but then she’d meekly defended herself, saying, “I know it seems weird, but it’s a leftover habit from my childhood. My mother was stupid enough to believe no one would know she was drinking alcohol if she poured it into a cup.”

Her voice increased in volume as she persisted, forcing herself to finish gritting out the last of her explanation as I felt every bit the asshole.

“The thing is, she was too wasted most of the time to bother washing it when she was done. She would put it back in the cabinet for someone else to take care of. I got tired of tasting the bitter shit every time I got something to drink.”

I sensed her repressed anger shining through as she spat out the last word, but I also saw the tension in her hunched shoulders as she looked away from me. I replayed our encounter in my head, but I couldn’t understand the nerves I noticed after she finished her speech.

Initially, I believed she might have been worried about me with the threat of the bears when I left to run a circuit around the house, but we weren’t expecting them until tomorrow at the earliest. I had done my best to comfort her before shifting into my wolf, but I knew I hadn’t totally accomplished my goal.

My patrol was more of a formality to make sure everyone remained safe while the others were busy searching, but the elders were a real threat, nevertheless.

Nothing was amiss in my surroundings as my wolf rambled through the trees, but I couldn’t say the same for my mind as I pieced together the hints Mari had given me at last.

I may not be the smartest lupine out of the bunch, but I knew it took a ridiculous amount of alcohol to get a shifter drunk, which meant my mate’s mother wasn’t a shifter at all.

I was beginning to understand Mari’s hesitancy with diving straight into a relationship. She clearly had secrets she was trying to figure out how to share, but Ryker’s voice broke into my thoughts as he cautioned me about the network of tunnels they had discovered beneath the pack house before I could explore this new information.

Refocusing on my task for now, I finished circling the immediate area around the building my mate was in, but I didn’t spend much time in the section that crossed into the town, knowing the hazard wouldn’t come from that direction.

Once I made it back to her house, I shifted long enough to creep inside to let Mari know what was going on, but as I stepped outside, my ears picked up on the evident sounds of fighting in the distance.

I directed Mari to retreat upstairs with the little one who was fortunately still napping, transforming back into my wolf to face the oncoming threat, but I didn’t detect any odors, telling me it was the bears who had decided to attack early.

Knowing Ryker had wolves set up throughout the territory to help defend the land in case of a sudden assault, I forced myself to remain fixed in place as I sounded the alarm through mind link, but I felt better when Remus and another male joined me to form a united front as the first of the bear shifters broke free from the underbrush.

Instantaneously, I launched myself forward, dodging as a huge paw swung in my direction before I used the grizzly’s distraction to gouge my claws into his unprotected chest when he’d reared up on his hind legs.

Remus sidled up, throwing off the brown bear’s attention again, and I seized the opportunity, tearing into his exposed throat before he could recover.

Any shifter who was brave enough to try to make it past our line of defense was promptly shown the other end of our deadly teeth and claws, but I noticed my comrades were not at full strength as the brawl went on.

I overcompensated as a result, taking more damage than I should have as I ensured that neither of my allies sustained life-threatening injuries, but I knew I would heal at a faster rate, so I didn’t let the minor aggravations slow me down.

Needless to say, none of the interlopers lived to see another day, and none of the wounds I’d suffered mattered in the end, happiness flooding my system as I took in Mari’s worried expression fading into relief when I told her the danger was gone a while later.  

I barely resisted the urge to wrap her in my arms as my adrenaline waned, but I was sure she wouldn’t appreciate the gore coating her delicate skin.

Following, I assisted the others with combing through the territory in search of any straggling bears and to help with the cleanup from the aftermath, ending my efforts a few hours later with a steamy shower at my lodge before I returned to Ronnie’s house for my mate.

Nonetheless, my libido sparked to life de novo in Mari’s presence, making it hard to refrain from outright dragging her from the room like the neanderthal I felt like in the moment.

Mercifully, the bulk of the discussion was postponed, and I whisked my other half away before anyone could change their minds, leading her to my temporary residence and locking the door behind us as I shut it tightly once we’d arrived.

Then, I eyed her carefully, looking for any signs of objection as I marched right up into her personal space and sealed my lips over hers.

Her mouthwatering flavor had me groaning, and I couldn’t stop myself from grabbing a handful of her hair to tilt her head in the perfect angle for me to plunder her mouth.

I kept one hand grasping her waist and the other rooted in her tresses as I coaxed my tongue into her mouth, savoring her moan of approval as I gripped her tighter against me, but she pulled her head back after a minute when I hefted her into my arms, striding through the lodge with her secure in my hold.

Still breathing heavily, she had trouble meeting my eyes when she said, “I think we may be moving too fast, Ash.”

I hated how she was afraid to tell me how she felt, but I would continue to work on her expressing herself more in the future.

For tonight, I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before answering, “I don’t expect anything, gorgeous. I just want to hold you while we sleep. I need to feel you safe in my arms after what happened today.”

My explanation seemed to be enough because she didn’t say anything else, letting me carry her to my room while she bit down into her plush lower lip.

I gently set her on the bed, moving back to jerk my T-shirt over my head and taking in my mate’s wide hazel eyes as they freely ogled my muscles, afterward.

I smirked as I unfastened my jeans, my dick hardening further at the gasp she huffed out in response, but I left my undergarments on before crawling into the bed beside her. I noted she’d kicked off her shoes, but that was as far as she’d made it before her concentration zeroed in on my newly revealed skin.

“Wh…What are you doing?” Mari stammered as I observed her rapidly reddening cheeks.

“Sleeping. Normally I don’t wear anything to bed, but I didn’t think you would go for that tonight.” I answered as I pulled the blankets over the lower portion of my body when I realized her gaze hadn’t moved from my erection tenting the fabric since it’d popped up.

I could see she was embarrassed, but I felt fucking fantastic when I had her soft body tight against me a few minutes later, the smell of rainfall permeating the air.

Her natural fragrance was enhanced by her arousal, leaving my wolf and I on edge, but the events of the day speedily caught up to me, pulling me under before I knew it.