Chapter 21: Willa

Ferrin walked his sister out of the room. She was right when she said I would feel tired. I was exhausted, but I felt good. At least I felt better than I had the past couple days. I pushed myself out of the chair and started moving them back to their place at the table. Ferrin came up behind me and grabbed my waist.

“No, you’re going back to bed,” he said as he pulled the chair from my hands.

“I’m fine, Ferrin,” I protested. I wasn’t ready to go to sleep. I needed to feel like I was doing something.

Ferrin buried his face in my neck, wrapping his arms around my middle. He took a deep breath. “But I’m not,” he said gently. “You scared the hell out of me.”

I leaned against him. “I’m sorry. That’s never happened to me before.”

He nodded, lifting up to kiss me on the temple. “It’s our bond. The stronger it gets, the stronger we both get. I’m so sorry, Willa. I should have seen this coming. I should have known this would happen.”

“You couldn’t have known. This is all new for both of us.” I could hear the pain and the guilt in his voice. I didn’t want him to feel like that.

“It doesn’t matter. Keeping you up here in isolation, that’s not good for any shifter — werewolf or lycan.” He started to walk me toward the bed. “Hopefully, Bekah’s suppression will work. Then we can be out in the open. We won’t have to hide anymore.”

I suddenly felt more awake, and my heart skipped a beat as the realization dawned on me. He wasn’t talking about me going home once I could leave this room. He was talking about me staying here. About us being together. I hadn’t thought of how that would work. I hadn’t thought about starting a new life here. I suppose I didn’t think I would want to.

Did I want to?

Ferrin climbed into the bed behind me and tucked us under the covers. The only source of light was coming from the fireplace. He pulled me against him and cupped my cheek, turning my face to look up into those blue eyes.

“What’s wrong, Willa?” he asked, worry etched across his face.

“Nothing,” I lied, not wanting to hurt him with my doubts.

“Don’t do that,” he said firmly, his tone serious and intense. “Don’t lie to me.”

My brow furrowed. “I hadn’t… I don’t know if I can be a Luna. I didn’t consider staying here. I’ve been so focused on being stuck in this stupid tower and my dad and my friends I just…”

“Hey,” he said, brushing his thumb along my jaw. I could see the hurt in his eyes as my words sank in. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I guess I’ve been a bit selfish. I’ve been worried about keeping you with me and keeping you safe. I didn’t ask what you wanted.

“But I’m asking you now — do you want me or do you want to go home?”

I slid my hand up his arm, resting it on his bare chest. The sound of the fire crackling nearby was the only thing breaking through my thoughts as I felt those familiar tingles everywhere we touched. I realized how intimate this moment was. How right it was. I didn’t know if it should have felt that way, but at that moment, it did. And I wasn’t ready to give that up. I wasn’t ready to give him up.

But I did want to go home. I needed to make sure my dad was okay and that he knew I was safe and fine. And I wanted him to know I’d found my mate. I needed to know that my friends weren’t getting into trouble or being hounded like they used to be when I wasn’t around. I couldn’t just leave them and never look back.

“I want both,” I said firmly.

A smile broke across Ferrin’s face as he drew me tighter against him. “Well…” he drawled. “In that case, what if we paid your dad a visit soon?”

“What?”

“Do you have to stay there?” he asked. “I have no intention of keeping you from your family, Willa. We can visit him, and your friends, whenever you want. And they are always welcome here. So, if I can make that happen, would you consider making a home here — with me?”

I threw my arms around his neck, pushing him back into the bed as my lips fell on his. He chuckled against my kiss, wrapping me in his embrace. I threw my leg over his waist, straddling him as I opened for him. My tongue stroking his. I pulled away after a few moments, very turned on but a little more sober than before.

I pushed up on his chest, pushing my hair back as I sat up. “There are still some things I’m not sure about, Ferrin.”

“I don’t expect you to dive in headfirst, Willa. I promised I would get you answers about your mother, and I’m still pursuing that. I know you can’t fully trust me until I come through on that for you.” He rested his hands on my waist, making circles with his thumbs. “But I think you know I had nothing to do with her death.”

I gave him a soft smile. “Yeah, I think I know that, too. But I still have no idea how to be a Luna.”

He chuckled as he propped himself up on his hands. “Babe, I have no doubt that you will figure it out in no time.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “You are going to make an amazing Luna.”

“Yeah?” I asked. Pride filled my chest with his words as I moved my hands to his shoulders.

He nodded. “Absolutely. And I should know. I’ve spent fifteen years searching for my perfect Luna. I never would have imagined finding her running through the woods in the middle of the night.”

I snorted. “Or that Damen would give her a concussion the moment you saw her.”

A laugh burst from deep in his chest. The sound was amazing, sending a burning sensation through my chest. I pulled him toward me and kissed him, digging my fingers through his hair. His hands slid up my thighs and under my shirt, sending electricity through my body as they traveled up to my waist. His thumbs brushed against the undersides of my bare breasts, making my nipples immediately stand at attention. I groaned as I felt him harden beneath me, my panties dampening with my desire. I rocked my hips against him, pressing my body against his, reveling in the feeling of his defined muscles.

Ferrin growled, and in a split second, he had me flipped onto the bed and pinned under him. My legs wrapped around his waist as he moved against my core, the fabric still between us, adding to the friction that was building against my clit. His mouth went to my neck, making me whimper as he nipped along my flesh. Another growl rumbled from his chest when he reached the curve where my neck met my shoulder.

Suddenly, he rolled off me with a frustrated grunt.

I sat up on my elbows, confusion and worry plaguing my thoughts. “What’s wrong? Did I do something?”

He chuckled, pulling me back against him. “Baby, you did everything. You’re so damn sexy it hurts. But I don’t want you here — like this. Like we’re some kind of dirty secret. But more importantly, you should be resting.”

“Well, I don’t really feel like resting now,” I pouted.

Ferrin gave me a side-eyed look. “No?” He pushed me back over onto my back. “Then I’ll have to do something about that.” His hand slipped under my shirt again, his thumb moving my panties out of the way to press against my clit.

I hissed, grabbing his hand. “Ferrin, it’s fine,” I laughed. “We don’t have to do anything.”

“No, no, no,” he teased, moving against the sensitive spot, soliciting a moan from me as my head fell back. “My mate needs to relax — I’ll help her relax.”

He kissed along my neck up to my ear.

“I may not take you now, but I can still take care of you,” he whispered, pushing two fingers inside of me as he bit the soft skin of my earlobe.

“Ferrin,” I moaned.

“And soon” — he removed his fingers and plunged them back in roughly — “when I do slip my cock into this perfect, tight, wet pussy” — he thrust into me with each word — “I will make sure you scream so loud the whole fucking world will know you’re mine.”

I dug my nails into his arm, his exquisite torture leaving me breathless and desperate for more. I moved my hips, grinding against the hand that was giving me so much pleasure. But suddenly, he was gone.

I whimpered at his absence, looking up as he pulled my panties down my legs. He pushed my thighs apart, bearing me open in the firelight. His eyes flashed yellow in the dim lighting as he began to lick and kiss and bite his way up my leg.

“The first time I’m inside you” — I squealed as he yanked me down the bed by my hips, his face positioned above my entrance — “it will be in our room” — his hands skimmed up my waist, exposing my breasts — “in the bed we’ll share for the rest of our lives.”

“Ferrin, please,” I whined as he blew along my slick folds.  

He returned his thumb to my clit.

“When that time comes, Willa, I’m going to sink my teeth into you. Marking you as you come so hard you’ll be seeing stars as you scream my name.”

His mouth was on me, his tongue deftly taking over for his thumb, stimulating my clit in ways I didn’t know were possible. I was moaning and writhing against his face in seconds. With one hand, he pressed my thigh into the bed while the other snaked up to tweak my nipple. My fingers went to his hair, holding him to me as my release rushed toward me.

He drove his fingers back into my pussy, hurtling me toward the edge, his tongue never ceasing. I cried out, my walls tightening around him, my back arching off the bed as I gripped his hair. A few rough thrusts and I crashed over. My body convulsing with the intensity. Ferrin didn’t stop until the last tremors faded. Lapping up the results of my release while I lay breathless on the tangled sheets.

He finally moved up the bed, capturing my face with a passionate kiss.

“You taste so damn good, baby,” he whispered against my skin. “I could stay down there forever.”

I giggled, thinking he would kill me if he did.

The fatigue from earlier washed over me again, and I was suddenly too tired to move. Ferrin righted my shirt, fixed the covers, and pulled them over us. He dragged me up so my back was against his chest, slipping his arm underneath my neck and lacing his fingers in mine. I rested my hand on the other that was firmly wrapped around me.

“Have I thoroughly tired you out?” Ferrin asked as he buried his face in my hair.

I giggled weakly again, only able to manage a “mhmm” in response.

“Good,” he stated, pride evident in his voice, as it should’ve been. “I’ll always take care of you, Willa.”

With those words, I drifted off to sleep.