Page 211 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

NIGHT

To my annoyance, Dom was much more laid-back about Tavi’s pregnancy than I’d been with Bryn’s. He was protective of Tavi, of course, making sure she got plenty of rest and wasn’t on her feet longer than necessary. But he wasn’t as intense about it.

It ticked me off because it meant that when Tavi gave birth, I probably wouldn’t get to pay him back for helping Lance tie me to a chair. I was grateful for their help that day—another thing my prick of a beta had been right about—but it was the principle of the thing.

I was sure he could sense my thoughts because all throughout dinner, he had a mischievous look in his eye. It was a look that said, “You’re never going to get your revenge.” It annoyed the hell out of me that he was probably right.

Dinner ended after we had slices of cherry pie and Tavi started to yawn. “Okay, okay,” Dom said. “It’s time for us to turn in.”

“Need help cleaning up?” Bryn asked.

“I’ve got it,” he replied. “But thanks, Bryn.”

“Let us know if you need anything,” I said. “We’re just a phone call away.”

Dom winked.

Thanks to Lance, our phone lines were in perfect order. Whenever Dom needed support and I was too far away to reach, he could just call us. It was a convenience that made keeping track of two packs a hell of a lot easier.

When we left their place, we were greeted with a beautiful night. There was a new moon, which allowed the stars to shine as brightly as possible. August had given us many warm nights, but it was chilly enough that our breath steamed in front of us as Bryn and I walked hand-in-hand.

“Hey, Night?”

“Yes, love?”

“You talk a lot about the hot springs here, but it’s been almost two years, and we haven’t found the time to go.”

I had been ready for bed before, but this suggestion chased the exhaustion away. “You want to go tonight? Seriously?”

She pressed closer to me. Under her blouse, her breasts were soft against my arm. “Why not? Now’s the best time, right? And I don’t have any rituals planned for tomorrow. We could spend some time in the springs, relax, and…talk?”

“Talk, huh?” I squeezed her hand. “I think that that’s the perfect way to end the night. But we should do something else first.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” I grinned. “Since it’s not Ember’s bedtime just yet, mind if we give your mom a call to say goodnight?”

Bryn’s laugh was like music to me. “I knew you were going to say that,” she said. “Of course we can.”

At home, we called Glenda, and she answered after just a few rings. “Hello? Night?”

Bryn gave me a knowing smirk that I pretended not to see.

She liked to tease that Ember had me wrapped around her tiny finger, but she could only take things so far.

I knew she wanted to hear our baby’s voice just as much as I did, and she doted on and spoiled her even more than I did sometimes.

Though she would probably say the opposite.

“Yeah, it’s me. Bryn’s here, too. Is Ember still up?”

“She is! Hold on, I’ll get her from Stan.”

She walked away for just a second, and we knew that she had come back when we heard the rustling, popping noises of Ember playing with the receiver.

“Emmy!” Bryn and I said at once.

She squealed happily in response. “Tsah-ah!” she declared, having recognized our voices right away.

We cooed at her for a few minutes. The way she tried to parrot our words was beyond adorable. She spoke gibberish now, but she’d say her first word in no time, and Bryn was convinced it would be some variation of “daddy.” I hoped every day that she was right.

After we hung up, Bryn and I shifted and went out to run.

I’d always suspected that Bryn was faster than me if she really sprinted, and I was right.

She raced me to the hot springs. Her sleek body darted between the trees with so much grace and speed, she was just a streak of darkness yards ahead of me.

It took so much energy just to keep her in sight, and I was content just to watch her.

Of course, she reached the springs ahead of me. We were both panting, though I was more out of breath. “I thought you were tired,” I said.

“I was.” She wore a wolfish smile. “But I had to leave you in the dust just for fun.”

I shifted and pushed my hair out of my face. “‘Fun,’ she says,” I grumbled.

She laughed and also shifted to her human form.

The sight of her took my breath away. She’d only gotten more beautiful since having Emmy.

Her hair was longer and even curlier, extending all the way down to her upper back, and her petite body was all lean muscle.

It was hard to tell that she’d given birth, aside from the silvery stretchmarks around her breasts and hips.

I loved that she didn’t hide them, and I loved the texture they added to her body.

She held out her hand. “Come to me, handsome.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I went to her, and our fingers intertwined.

There were pools of various sizes. Choosing one of the more intimate ones, we eased into the hot water. I leaned back against the wall of the pool, smoothed by decades and decades of hot water, and Bryn cozied up next to me. She propped her elbows up on the side of the pool.

“You were right, love. This place is gorgeous,” she said.

“I’m glad you think so. I’ve wanted to take you here for so long.”

She turned to me with a coy smile. Nearby, there was a firefly hovering around a small violet flower. It flitted away when she reached for it and plucked it free.

She kissed it and said, “Please, Night, accept this gift.”

She pushed the flower behind my ear. When she had it sitting just right, she sat back to admire her work. I raised a brow, and she made a sound that wasn’t quite a giggle or a snicker.

“Shouldn’t I be the one putting pretty flowers behind your ears?” I asked. “That’s what the men do in your novels, right?”

“Maybe, but who cares?” She scooted closer to me. “I just want to thank you for the view tonight.”

I scanned the area. Around us were the chorus of crickets and the twinkling neon lights of the fireflies. It was just as romantic as rose petals and candles, if not more so.

“I agree,” I said. “It’s best to come out at night to see the forest at its most beautiful.”

“I wasn’t talking about nature.”

Her seductive tone immediately caught my attention. She scooted even closer and slid her hands slowly up my arms to hold my shoulders.

“You see, I’ve got this man here with me. So hot, he’s steaming.”

I wanted to scoff at her silly joke, but her hands caressed down my chest and stomach, and my brain couldn’t form words.

“I brought this man out here because I had something I wanted to tell him, but he’s such a distraction. He’s all broad shoulders, big muscle, and hard…well”—she stopped just short of my cock—“hard everything, I think.”

Instead of telling her how turned on I was, I let my hands show her.

I took her arm and pulled her against me.

She hummed as my hands inched slowly over her smooth body.

I groped every curve and dipped into every valley.

Her legs were spread just enough that I could get my knee between them, propping her up so I could reach her breasts.

Because of the water, her nipples were hot on my tongue. She buried her fingers in my hair as I tugged gently on her nipples with my teeth.

“Night,” she moaned. “My love, my mate…”

And she was mine. I brought her back down for another deep kiss.

Her legs started to wrap around my waist, but when we heard giggling, we stopped to see who was coming.

We spotted a woman and a man sprinting behind the trees.

They had no idea we were there until they emerged stark naked from the tree line. Frankie and Jasper.

Bryn’s surprised gasp gave us away.

“A-Alpha!” Jasper stuttered. He and Frankie immediately turned bright red. “We didn’t expect you and Bryn to be here.”

“We could say the same about you,” I replied flatly.

Frankie turned from us, hiding her face with her hair.

“Don’t worry,” Bryn said as she got out of the pool. “You two can have the spot to yourselves. Night, let’s go inside.”

I sent a quick glare to each of them but didn’t argue with Bryn’s decision. Whether we were out here or inside, I was happy as long as I got to have her.

She giggled as we walked away.

“What are you so happy about?” I asked sulkily. “They interrupted us.”

“I know, but isn’t the whole situation so funny and sweet?” she asked. “Not only has Jasper gotten over me completely, he’s with Frankie. She’s such a catch.”

“I guess it’s a little surprising.” I sighed. “I wouldn’t have thought they would get together. She’s two, maybe three years older than him? Either way, I’m annoyed.”

“Oh, I know,” she agreed. “I always figured Lance would be more her type. But it makes me so giddy, thinking that she had a soft spot for sensitive guys.”

Even my annoyance couldn’t endure her bubbly laughter. She was just too cute. Bryn didn’t stop grinning even after we were in our cabin and closing our bedroom door behind us. She went to the nightstand and grabbed a candle and a match to light it.

That annoyance turned into a different kind of frustration now that we were in the dark.

It was just the two of us in our bedroom on this chilly night, and the hot spring water still glistened on her skin.

Once she lit the candle, I got a better view of the droplets plunging between her breasts and over her stomach until it was lost between the inner curves of her thighs.

She moved her hair over her shoulder as she turned to put the candle on the nightstand, giving me a full view of another drop tracking down her spine.

I moved behind her so quickly, I heard her breath catch. I caught the drop with my lips, then drew my tongue up to collect the droplets that glistened along her spine.

“Oh.” She shivered. “Night.”