Mated to the Pack(6)

Something dark within him, smoldering with an old pain, threatened to ignite into a conflagration if not.

As if shaking off somber thoughts, his lovely Cassandra finally turned  and stretched her nose to him. She sniffed for a moment, then suddenly  darted in and nipped him on the shoulder before jumping back. Startled,  he flinched away. She barked out a sudden burst of laughter as she also  seemed to shake off the somberness of her own thoughts, whatever they  might be.

"Okay, then," she said. Abrupt excitement raced through her voice.  "Let's see who's faster. The big, bad alpha, or his wolf mate who wants  to see how fast she can run like this?"

Trevor opened his mouth to reply. He ate dust.

Cassandra had already leapt ahead with a tremendous spring of her hind  legs, launching off the ground with all the power a wolf could muster.  "Race you back to our chambers, alpha. I'm betting I'll win, too."

She yipped howls of delight as she tore off ahead of everyone.

A startled buzz rumbled through the pack trotting behind them, although a  few instinctive yips of delighted response burst out as well. They  approved of her. Their alpha's once-human mate.

"Well?" Cassandra's voice drifted back. "I'll definitely win if you don't start running now!"

Trevor firmly thumped down the maelstrom of emotions that still pushed  at the edges of his mind and heart. Except one. The one that beat out a  fierce rhythm of hopeful, almost giddy elation.

With a mighty spring of his haunches, he leapt after his mate, howling  in pride along with the rest of the pack as they ran through the moonlit  woods with their newest member.





Chapter 5



Cassie only let out her breath when she and Trevor were back in their  room, chambers, whatever, door shut firmly behind them. Okay, she'd been  breathing the whole time, of course. But with all those eyes watching  her, it had been a little difficult.

Running with the pack? Now, that had been awesome. Crazy, wild, totally  awesome. It felt like they'd run for at least an hour, just tearing  around the mountain and the forests. She was so sure in her wolf form,  so certain of every motion and every feeling. Being able to see in the  dark, to leap over logs and plunge down embankments and do it all with  grace, was the best thing she'd ever experienced.

Well-sex with Trevor still held the number one spot of best things ever.  But being a wolf? Yeah. Pretty high up there, too. Running with the  pack was glorious and amazing. It made her feel weirdly at home. It made  everything feel right.

It felt like all the pieces had finally clicked into place, and her life was whole.

"How many pack members are there again?" She looked at Trevor as she  asked. He seemed so calm. So collected. She had just killed another  wolf, she was a wolf herself, and he seemed to take it all in stride.  Steady, focused Trevor. Nothing ruffled him. No wonder he was the alpha.  There'd been something a little funny in his mood earlier, but that had  to be because he was thrilled his bite actually worked.

He was thrilled, right?

Damn. She was still a little less sure when she was human. Well, that  was annoying. Hopefully she'd feel as certain and secure in her human  form, eventually.

Her sexy mate shrugged a shoulder as he turned back to check the door.  Jiggling the handle as if to be sure it was locked, he said in his usual  controlled voice, "There are three hundred wolves in the pack, give or  take. Adding one today, of course."         

     



 

Cassie smiled when he said that. "I still can hardly believe it. I mean,  now that I'm in human form again"-and that had been so easy to slip  back into, as simple as pulling on clothes-"it almost seems like a  dream. But it's real, isn't it?" Twirling around just because she could,  she whispered, "Wow. Seriously, wow. Aren't you excited about it, too?"

Slowly, Trevor turned around to look at her. Tall, so strong she  sometimes wondered if he could bend steel bars in his hands, showing off  that broad, ripped chest that seemed to give her heart  palpitations-mmm. Cassie sighed in pleasure at the sight.

Then she looked at his face. His expression caught her breath and stuffed it back into her chest. Oh, god. Oh, shit.

Still tall, still sexy, still hers. But now also-fragmented. Something  was fighting behind his calm exterior. Something hurting him. His face  shattered her with its pain and something that looked a lot like fear.

She hadn't seen Trevor Reginald look afraid one single time since she'd met him.

"Wh-what's wrong?" was all she could manage to say. Her heart felt like it would jump into her throat and choke her.

Where the hell was her granite man? The face she was so accustomed to  seeing as remote, cold, and sternly held together, was morphing in front  of her eyes into someone else entirely. Someone lost. Someone who still  looked a lot like the severe, relentlessly alpha kind of alpha she knew  he was, but who now also showed a side of him she instantly sensed no  one else ever got to see. Not even Tamsin.

Not even, she suspected, the man himself.

"Tell me," she said, taking a step toward him. "Tell me."

Shaking his head suddenly, hard and fast as if to swipe off cobwebs,  Trevor instead headed toward her and gathered her up in his arms. He  leaned into her for the briefest moment. Then he simply hauled her onto  the huge, soft bed with him, dotting her face and head with kisses, his  hands exploring her body with reverence, as if he'd never touched her  before. Almost like the first time they'd been together. But now there  was a tenderness in it. Almost a desperation.

Like he was afraid she'd just disappear on him, even though she was right there with him.

Turning her over on the bed so she faced him, Trevor extended the hard  length of his body against hers. He gently nipped at the skin on her  neck, causing a shiver to race down her body. Another one followed as he  nipped her again, then nibbled at her ear. His aqua eyes darkened, a  sure sign of his arousal.

Helpless as usual against his erotic onslaught, Cassie moaned. She  wasn't sure what was going on with him, but damn it, this felt too good  for her to want to stop. "More," she said, her voice already going  ragged. How she had the energy after all the running they'd just done,  she didn't know. All she knew was how her body always responded to  Trevor's.

He rumbled against her neck, licking her sensitive skin there. Shivers  raced through her body. The day had been crazy, her body still ached  from her earlier battle, her tough alpha mate seemed to be fighting some  internal battle of his own right now, but she let it go. Trevor's  caresses were just too good to set aside, despite the blazing questions  in her mind.

He rumbled again, the sensation of it vibrating through her. She  imagined his lips doing that on her lips. On her breast. On her stomach.  Best of all, down between her legs, which were already spreading open  for him. Apparently being a wolf shifter now didn't make her one bit  less wanton when it came to her mate. God, no. She wanted him even more.

Cassie let her eyes close as she arched against him. Excitement began to  spiral through her body, eager and demanding. Pulling his head against  hers, she sought his lips with her own.

"Mine," Trevor's voice whispered against her mouth. He slid one hand  down her naked side, curving over one hip and pausing to dip in at the  apex of her thighs. "All mine."

"Yes," she whispered back. Those white hot flames she usually felt at  his touch roared through her, igniting all her senses. All she felt was  an unquenchable desire to be stroked into beautiful oblivion by her  mate.

Pushing her hips down into their huge bed, she urged his fingers to  explore her more in depth. The sensation of his body on hers, all his  naked, hot skin pressed right against hers, made her begin to wiggle  beneath him. She'd given up feeling shy or nervous about her body's  needs. She had needs, and it was a lot more fun to be open about them.

Especially with Trevor. The mate she'd never known she wanted. The mate  who made her flesh tingle and her heart do a little pitter-pat thing.

Mate of my heart, that deep something within her whispered. The something she knew now was her wolf.

Herself.         

     



 

Cassie laced her hands behind Trevor's neck to pull his face to hers.  Kissing him with a greed that was getting stronger, more sure with each  little nuzzle and nibble, she let her feelings bubble up into the moment  and guide her movements.

Trevor pulled back a bit, looking at her with those darkening blue-green  eyes. His black hair was mussed, his expression teetering between  fragmented, hard, and aroused.

Maybe this just meant her granite man was loosening up? Getting gentler for her, the way she was getting stronger for him.

The thought made perfect sense. It flooded through Cassie in a delicious  haze of rightness, of realness. She let one hand loose to slip over to  his face, brushing against his sculpted cheek, touching the corner of  what was usually the hard slash of his mouth. Now, his soft lips kissed  her finger.