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Chapter 17

Tannin

THE SUN WAS JUST CRESTINGover the mountains, its soft golden light catching in the locks of Aliya’s hair that were strewn messily across the pillow beneath her head.

She was so beautiful.

I’d been awake for at least an hour, and I couldn’t get enough of staring at her face as she slept, memorizing every line, angle and curve.

Last night had been wild. The memory of the three of us together was a struggle for me to get straight in my head. Not because it had been awkward or weird, but because it had felt soright.

Before our escapade in this room, seeing Jax touch her was a strain on me, and the very idea of her sucking his dick would have driven me to chop it off.

But the two of us working together to claim her changed everything, and watching her suck him while I took her from behind was the most incredible thing I’d ever experienced. I would never forget the muffled sound of her filled mouth as my thrusts made her come.

Jax and I naturally fell into a rhythm with her, neither one of us competing over her but rather teaming up to please her. I didn’t even mind that he’d taken the lead, that our pack mentality had trickled into this unique romantic union. He was my Alpha, and I had to admit, at least to myself, that I kind of enjoyed him telling me what to do with her.

Especially since he’d let me be the first to claim her pussy. Plus, I think she liked his dominance, too.

Just thinking about sex with Aliya made my erect cock twitch. I was so tempted to crawl beneath the covers and wake her up with my tongue between her legs once more, but I couldn’t bring myself to disturb the peace of her slumber. And, if I were being honest, I couldn’t keep my fears of the pack’s arrival from creeping into my mind and making me sick with dread.

What was going to happen when they got here? How were we going to protect her?

Jax rolled over on Aliya’s other side to face me, his eyes open as if he’d been awake for a while, as well.

“Hey,” he whispered.

“Hey,” I whispered back.

He held my gaze for a moment, and he seemed just as conflicted as I felt. “Can’t sleep?”

“I can’t stop worrying about what’s coming,” I confessed.

He gingerly propped his head on his bent arm on the pillow, careful not to unsettle Aliya. I rolled onto my side and did the same. Aliya stirred slightly, so we waited silently for a few heartbeats to make sure she was still asleep before continuing.

“Now that we have officially claimed her as our mate, the pack will have to concede to our union,” he whispered, though he couldn’t hide his doubt from me.

“She’s not a black wolf,” I countered. “Our laws won’t apply to her.”

“Anyone who mates with a black wolf becomes a member of the pack by default,” he stated, as if quoting some ancient text I’d never seen.

“Even the Varinyan princess?” I asked. “You know as well as I do that they’ll want her head on a pike.”

His jaw ticked. “I am their Alpha. My word is law, and they will recognize her as a member of the pack if I command it so.”

I raised a dubious eyebrow at him. “Are you certain of that?”

“Let anyone who disagrees challenge my role,” he said. “I will destroy them.”

I sighed at his tedious ego. “One or two, perhaps. But more than that will be outraged by her continued existence. You really think you can fend off the entire pack?”

His gaze fell on her face, and his features softened. “I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”

I chewed on my bottom lip, debating whether to ask the question on my mind. “What if that means siding against the pack?”

“It won’t come to that,” he snapped in a harsh whisper.

“But what if it does?” I insisted.