Page 221 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

He crouched in front of me and lifted my right leg. The Redwolfs had kept very luxurious, plushy towels. I’d felt them on my skin dozens of times before, but the way Night used it to caress my foot and ankle set my skin on fire.

He rested my foot on his stomach while gently drying my calf, his touch soft but firm as he moved on to my thigh. His jet-black hair fell across his shoulders as he moved on to the other leg. I wanted to brush the lock away, but his touch had put me in a trance.

Taking my hand, he kissed the wetness from each of my fingers, peering up at me through those long dark lashes. I shivered even as tears stung my eyes once again. Did I deserve such tenderness? Did someone like me really deserve a mate as wonderful as Night? My wolf whined at me again for having these thoughts, but the questions lingered.

As if sensing my doubts, Night slid off the towel covering my body and tucked me into bed. He crawled in with me and turned my face to his to kiss me slowly and gently. His touch stroked my neck, my breasts, and down my stomach to the apex between my thighs.

His tongue politely asked for entrance to my mouth, and I obliged him. It immediately stroked across mine. It moved in time with his finger against my clit. I moaned against his mouth as he caressed me. The circling of his finger in my warmth sent delicate, sparkling pleasure across my skin. Each movement told me again and again, “I love you, mate.”

As bliss fluttered through my body and the tears slipped free, I told myself I wouldn’t let my feelings of inadequacy hurt my chances of bringing a healthy baby into the world. I needed to be strong and hold my head as high as I could. Night was chasingmy worries away for now, and I had no doubt they would return, but it was alright. I would try to be brave for him and our baby because my mate was right. The baby was a blessing, one he and I would cherish forever.

85

NIGHT

By the morning of the third day after the ultrasound, Bryn and I were falling into a routine: she’d wake up, I’d rub her back while she was sick in the bathroom, and afterward, I’d bring her tea and plain toast for breakfast. It never felt like enough food to me, but Bryn assured me it was all she could stomach in the morning. Glenda also came by often to check on her.

“How are you, love?” I asked my mate, setting the plate and the tea on her bedside table.

A pale, exhausted face looked back at me. Her silence was more than enough of an answer.

“That great, huh?” I pressed a kiss to her forehead and sat next to her on the bed. “I wanted to talk to you about something, and then I’ll leave you alone to get some more rest.”

She reached for the tea and took a little sip, wincing when she burned her lip. “What is it?”

“Do you want to keep living here when the baby comes, or do you want to have a new cabin for the three of us? In addition to the one we have on Warg territory?”

Her eyebrows rose, and she completely forgot about the tea. “What brought this on?”

“Well, it’s just that I know this place has a lot of bad memories for you—for good fucking reason. And I know you still have nightmares about what happened with Troy. I don’t care if we live here or get a new cabin. What I want is for you to be comfortable in your own home without dealing with trauma every day.”

“But…would you really leave the alpha cabin? I thought you’d want to live here after you won the alpha challenge.”

I shrugged. “Actually, I’ve always kinda wanted to burn this place to the ground.”

She gasped and laughed. “Night! We can’t do that.”

“I know, I know. Destroying the cabin would be a waste of resources and a destruction of history, and all those other reasons Mom gave me to keep the building intact.” Bryn giggled and lightly smacked my chest. The sound of her laughter made my body feel lighter. “Anyway, it’s only a building, Bryn. I just want you to feel comfortable and safe in a place that’s your own. If you decide you want to move, we can use the building for something else. It could be the official meeting room for the council or elders or for pack meetings. Whatever we want.”

Her fingers, hot from the mug of tea, caressed my cheek. I leaned into her touch, my wolf purring in delight.

“I’ll think about it, Night. Thanks for sharing your feelings with me.”

I turned my head to kiss the palm of her hand and enjoyed the goosebumps that trailed up her forearm. “Remember, I’ll be happy with whatever you decide.” I kissed her lips, then got to my feet. If I didn’t leave now, I’d be tempted to crawl back into bed with her, and I had things I needed to do. “I have to go out for a while to see how things are going with Dom and Tavi, but I’ll check in with you after lunch, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I love you, Bryn.”

“Love you, Night.” She blew me a kiss on my way out.

I resumed the search that Tavi had started into the Redwolfs’ stuff. She hadn’t found anything useful during her search, and we had combed through everything we could find. It was worse than looking for a needle in a haystack because at least a needle would stab you when you found it.

I flipped through more documents and found a recorded log of all the wolves that had disappeared or were killed, banished, or imprisoned over the past twenty years. I doubted the account number would be here, but Bryn had asked whether the council knew who was still loyal to the Redwolfs. Finding that account number was important, of course, but these records could point me to someone who might know more about what the Redwolfs were doing with it.

Tavi arrived a short while later. She came into the office, nodded at me, and immediately took up a spot on the floor. I told her I was looking into the records instead of searching for the account number and why.

When I finished explaining, Tavi nodded. “Cool. Hopefully, that’ll give us a better lead than what we have now. I’ll keep looking for the account number.”