Page 6

She accepts the glass of water, but instead of drinking it, she smells it.

“I wouldn’t poison you,” I assure.

She gives me a sad smile. “I wanted to poison you.”

“Did you actually want to?”

She shakes her head. “No.”

“Thought you had to is more like it. Drink it. I promise it’s okay.”

She shakily puts the glass to her lips and drinks from it. She keeps drinking until she finishes it, so I take the glass from her and I’m about to settle in and hold her again when she timidly asks to use the bathroom. I gesture to the door in the corner of the bedroom and watch her tiptoe there as if she’s afraid to wake a sleeping monster.

When she comes back, I’m pacing. Torn. Because I have questions and she’s afraid to talk. I have urges, too, though I sense that handling this less than delicately will risk inflicting damage that might not be easy to undo.

I had a front-row seat to the damage the rut caused Ivy Savage, and while my mate is shifter instead of human, I already know she’s not like the shifters I’ve grown up with.

I’ve met plenty of she-shifters from other packs between college years back along with working with many other packs in consultancy or mediation situations and I learned long ago that while most packs operate with a similar set of laws and structures, there are packs that are dysfunctional.

Some of the packs I’ve encountered have fucked-up alphas who treat their pack members, particularly women, as lower-class citizens. I need to know where she’s from so I can figure out what the deal is. Why we’re being targeted and how we’ll cut this shit off.

This isn’t the first time another pack alpha has set his sights on us for one reason or another. But it’s the first time in a long while. First time for me and my council.

At the sight of her timid body language as she sees me pacing, I stop in front of her, put my hands on her shoulders and give them a gentle squeeze.

“I need your fear scent gone,” I tell her, leaning in to look deep into her eyes. “It’s fucking with me. With my wolf.”

“I…” she lets that hang, looking lost.

“Can’t help it. You don’t know me. You’ve had a rough day,” I finish for her.

She nods just a little before she moistens her lips with her tongue. This is a direct hit to my groin, which is already aching. Though I’ve stopped pacing, it feels like my wolf hasn’t.

I cup her face with my palm. “The fastest way to get it gone is to claim you. Make you mine officially. Mating you will help. You’ll settle.”

She looks terrified. But she forces a swallow down and nods, eyes dropping.

Looking like she’s resigned herself to something distasteful, she takes a step back, looks at my bed, then swallows hard again before shakily climbing up onto her knees and crawling a few paces toward the headboard. My eyes track her movement as she bends forward, balancing on elbows, palms, and knees.

I blink a couple times as I process. She’s gotten into this pose and is waiting for me to mount her. She waits, eyes scrunched shut and her fear scent, which has now notched even higher, is so potently present in this room my gut churns. I’m on the verge of puking from how ill it makes me that she feels like this about me claiming her.

The t-shirt she’s wearing has ridden up so I’ve got a good view of her sweet little ass. I’m not taking it in the way I would under normal circumstances because I’m thinking this must be a position she’s assumed in the past, waiting for someone to fuck her and get it over with. I push away my anger, my urge to question her, my innate desire to find and destroy whoever is responsible.

It takes three inhales and exhales before I can speak.

My voice comes out gruff.

“Stacy.”

She squeezes her eyes shut tighter and tilts her head, showing me her throat.

For fuck’s sake... submitting. This is wrong. All wrong.

She shuffles and moves her knees apart, as if I’ve said her name because I want more access.

“No, mate. Not like this,” I rasp, moving up to the head of the bed and sitting beside her so I can see her face. “Give me your hand, sweetheart.”

She slowly complies and as soon as I’ve got her hand in mine, I tug. “Come up here.”

She doesn’t move, so I pull her up into my arms and lay back, arranging her warm, trembling body on top of mine. I cradle her head to my chest and stroke her hair. My body temperature rises some more, giving her what she currently needs. Warmth. Comfort. I’m beyond ready to make this timid, pretty woman mine, but I know I’ll cause damage if I do it while she’s like this.

I put my lips to the ridge of her ear. “I won’t take you for our first time together like that. Not with you feeling this way.” I stroke her hair. “I promise you, you don’t need to be afraid of me, Stacy. You’re gonna be mine. My wife. My most treasured belonging. I don’t want to claim you the first time, the time that connects us to one another permanently, with you full of fear.”

She doesn’t get me. Doesn’t seem to get this , though she should because she should’ve grown up learning all this would be.

“Eyes on mine, Blossom,” I request gently.

She looks up into my eyes. Hers are confused.

I hold her gaze for a minute. “Settle down, sweetheart.”

“What should I do instead?” she finally asks, awkwardly.

“You just want it over with,” I say.

She doesn’t deny it; it’s written all over her face and her entire body language speaks volumes. I’m very good at de-escalating situations, helping folks calm down, but that’s not working here and now. And I need it to work.

“Bracing for it to be over with isn’t how it is with your mate. Especially not since your fated mate is me. No, babe. When I take you, my goal is for it to be so good you’ll be ready to beg me for more instead of bracing like something bad’s about to happen.”

Her forehead crinkles, she looks away, and I know she doesn’t know what to make of me.

“Lie here for a while with me. We’ll take things slow,” I whisper and press my lips to her forehead briefly. “Where’s your pack?”

“I’m not allowed to tell you,” she says.

She’ll tell me. Maybe not yet, but she will tell me.

“So, you do have a pack?” I prompt.

“Yes.”

“And you understand what happens when an alpha identifies his fated mate.”

She stiffens. “Not really.”

“Not really?” I prod.

“I know what you want from me if that’s what you’re asking.”

“And what do you think I want from you?”

“To fuck me.”

I groan with the ache in my groin. “Fuck yeah, I do, but that’s not all. If you’re in a pack, how do you not know much about an alpha’s fated mate and her place in his life?”

“I understand the concept of it. Heard stories when I was younger. My, um… our uh… alpha doesn’t have a mate. He says it’s a myth. So did our previous alpha.”

“Ah. Now we’re getting somewhere. What do you know about the supposed myth of the mate bond?”

“Not much… really. I mean, it’s obvious that there’s sex involved. There’s always sex involved between males and females. But one male, one female until the end of life, my…” she clears her throat, “my alpha says an alpha isn’t built that way.”

“First, he’s no longer your alpha. I am .”

She nibbles on her thumbnail nervously, averting her gaze.

“And you’ve had sex before?”

“You already asked that.”

“I’m making sure I didn’t misunderstand. Eyes on me, please.”

Her gaze returns. “I have. Yes.”

“More than once?”

She drops her gaze again. This is obviously out of habit.

“Yes.”

I suppress the urge to growl.

“Do you have a family?”

She stiffens. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“Forget questions for now, though you’re eventually gonna need to talk to me about all of it. I won’t bombard you more right now. For now, how about I treat you like you know nothing about pack structure since our structure here is obviously different from what you know?”

She’s trembling less. I stroke her back and her hair as I resume talking.

“An unmated alpha can have as much sex as he wants with as many females as he chooses, but that only happens until he catches the scent of his fated mate.”

“I’ve heard that much.”

“So, you do get it.”

“He doesn’t believe in it so it’s not something that’s part of pack life for us. I remember some of it from when I was younger, when our pack was larger.”

“He doesn’t believe in it because he hasn’t scented his mate yet. Once he does, that’ll change. He’ll have one mate for life.”

Her expression shows she’s skeptical.

“Betas and omegas usually mate for life as well. Family structure is important to wolf shifters.”

“Not to everyone,” she says softly.

“Not in your pack?”

She shrugs.

I frown. “It’s important here. We take care of our own. Take our relationship with our mates seriously. The bond is sacred. Not the case in your old pack, obviously.”

“Not lately, no. It used to be like that, sort of, I guess. Before.”

I wait for her to expand on that. She doesn’t, and I told her I wouldn’t bombard her with questions, so I continue explaining, “You’ll soon see how it’s supposed to be. Obviously, betas breed without limitations and make up the majority of every pack.”

“Yes,” she agrees.

“And you probably know omega males have difficulty breeding, omega females being the opposite – they often have multiple births, go into heat more often, right?”

“Um… I didn’t really know that.”

There’s a good chance she’s omega. It’s what my nose is suggesting, but time will tell.

“Alpha males only breed with their fated mate unless she’s infertile or dies, then he’ll be able to breed with an alternate female.”

I can see her mind working, but she says nothing.

“His body chemistry will change if he mates and hasn’t gotten pups out of it within a year or two of his first knot and his knot will no longer function in a way that prevents him from impregnating a female other than his mate. An alpha won’t want to take another mate. Some will still refuse to do it even if their mate isn’t fertile, especially these days since there are alternatives.”

“I’m not fertile,” she says softly, sadly. “I already know this. I think it’s because of our water.”

“Not likely,” I correct. “You’re fated to be mine so nobody can sire pups on you besides me. I can’t sire them on anyone but you.”

She looks both surprised and skeptical.

“I bought this place planning on a big family,” I say, caressing her face, feeling my heart lighten at what looks like hope flaring in her eyes. “And that’s not just up to fate nowadays. Science has come a long way with infertility in wolf shifters so it’s not hopeless for those with issues. But no reason to believe you’re gonna have a problem. Your pack numbers dwindling?”

Her teeth sink into her lip as she stares at me.

We’ll talk about that later. I continue with, “Alphas are meant to keep growing the pack so why would fate choose you for me without giving you the ability to sire pups for me? This isn’t regular shifter biology; this is a large and important pack that I was meant to help lead – it’s intentional. This area is very magical, very fate-driven.”

She takes a big breath and her body relaxes. My body is anything but relaxed. I want to feel her. Touch her everywhere. Make her neck and back arch with pleasure. I want to bury my tongue between her legs. Make her come. Then fit between her legs and bury myself in her. Feel my knot for the first time in my life as her legs bracket my hips, as her mouth pleads for more. I want all this fiercely. But nurture takes priority, and I feel like I’ve made progress with communication at least, so it’s a start.

“So, when an alpha catches his fated mate’s scent, other females cease to exist for him in a sexual way. Sex with anyone but her won’t even be much of a memory because they say it doesn’t compare. And I’m looking forward to basking in the truth of that with you.”

Her eyes travel my face but there’s still fear in the air.

“This pack operates differently than what happens with single alpha packs, Stacy. Instead of one alpha running the show, the council allows us to share the load, take care of one another. So one alpha doesn’t have to manage that on his own. It’s never a burden because you’re not alone.”

“I knew that part,” she says softly.

“Seven are chosen not just through battles, though there is a physical element, but more it’s a process that helps the pack see who the best candidates are. And beyond council alphas, the rest of the pack isn’t just betas and omegas. Someone in your pack would lose alpha traits after losing a battle to be alpha. Doesn’t work that way here with the magic of the area. Shifters with alpha traits are still welcome, retain their traits, and they also help us look after our pack. In fact, some say they think they’re stronger for it, because we don’t squash their ambitions.”

“My pack’s alpha wouldn’t stand for that. He rules everything and everyone. Ambition? That’s a four-letter word where I’m from.”

“The magic of this region as well as the way our pack was formed works to make it possible for more than one alpha to rule. Everyone in this pack has a voice. Young, old. Alpha, beta, omega. We support and nurture everybody who needs it. Males who aren’t appointed to council and feel the strong desire to form their own packs can go do that. We don’t see them as a threat. Those who want an active role here and demonstrate the ability to help us benefit the entire pack are offered a role that they’ll excel in.”

“This village is beautiful … it seems wealthy. I’m not sure how you support yourselves so well.”

She winces like she’s spoken out of turn.

“We do what we want or need to do. Some have mainstream jobs. Some do things for the village or run their own business. We have farmers and tradespeople that work locally. A few have out of town jobs like trucking, fishing, oil field, and some commute to the nearest town for office or retail jobs. Most of us are comfortable. But as a pack, we make sure anyone struggling won’t ever go without.”

“They pay a nice tribute to you, I’m sure.”

“Tribute?”

“The tribute people in your pack pay the um… alphas. I wondered if you all shared their tributes or if they have to pay the seven of you all individually.”

“No. None of that,” I tell her. “Nobody pays a tribute.”

She frowns. “What do you do to support yourself? How … I mean… this house is beautiful. I… sorry, it’s none of my business.” She looks contrite.

“Of course it’s your business. Pack members don’t pay a tribute to us. Ever. That said, if the pack or the village needs something, our people gladly step up with money or with labor.”

“Oh.”

She doesn’t look convinced.

“Me and another council co-alpha Jason Creed, Jase, we own some real estate together. We have a couple small apartment buildings and triplexes in Drowsy Hollow and some student housing for the university an hour away as well as just bought a strip mall in town with apartments on top. Earn decent rental income. I jump on bigger jobs for Savage Construction doing electrician work mostly; went to school for that. The council makes money from a few things like consulting for other packs. We’ve got skillsets that come in handy.”

“Oh.”

“Sometimes it earns for us; other times we do it just to help when a pack doesn’t have the means.”

“That’s… wow,” she says, biting her lip and twining her fingers nervously. Her heartbeat picks up speed.

“Joel’s a whiz with technology and investments. He grows our money for us, though I could probably live off the rental income alone at this point and be comfortable enough. But I like keeping busy. I’ll provide you with a comfortable life, Stacy. And our kids.”

She rapidly blinks like she’s having difficulty processing this.

“If you have something you like to do, you can do it.”

Her eyes widen. “You allow females to work, like… outside the pack? If I wanted to keep my job at the diner?”

“Why wouldn’t we? I mean, each couple decides how they want to handle their family. You don’t wanna work and prefer to stay home and raise our kids, you can do that. You wanna work, it’s your choice. We’ll be a team, talk about big decisions for our family before we make those decisions. Our village has a school and a daycare for the little ones since some of the women work outside the village. You like diner work, Roxy’s might want your help right here in the village. But you don’t need a job unless you want one.”

She blinks again with more surprise.

“We’ll figure all that out. But anyway, we all have our thing on the council. Riley and Mase handle Rye’s construction company. Mase is an architect, and he’s really helped put Savage Construction on the map beyond this local area. Joel runs everyone’s investments like I said. He also has some e-commerce sites. Big into tech. Linc does bounty hunting and private investigations and hops onto jobs as a carpenter with Savage Construction sometimes. Jase does carpentry, too. Sometimes Linc gets bigger or complex investigations jobs and pulls one or more of us in to help him, too.”

“What about Tyson?” she asks and does this like she already knows.

“Ty just joined the pack. Long story there. He’s still figuring things out. I’ll tell you all you wanna know, but we won’t fit everything in tonight.”

“And he’ll recover from… today, you said?”

“You didn’t hit anything vital, but he did lose a lot of blood.”

She clutches her throat, going a little green.

“He hit his head when the shot took him down so knocked him unconscious. When he woke he shifted, and spit the bullet out. He’s fine.”

“I coated the bullet in a tincture I made with the herbs I put on the pies,” she admits. “I didn’t know if it’d work to disable him from shifting. That’s what it’s supposed to do.”

“It didn’t,” I say. “All alphas are strong and resilient, but council alphas have extra mojo. Lorenzo had a rough time but he’s all good now. Don’t know if it would’ve hit him as hard if this had been five years ago. Gus and Cade felt it, but it didn’t last too long. They’re fine. As for Tyson, Ty’s the strongest of the pack. Should shit the rest of us to say it, but it doesn’t.” I shrug. “He’s supposed to be what he is to us. If we were a lone alpha pack, it’d be him at the top. We thought we lost him, but fate brought him back. Anyone from the Savage genetic line has exceptional strength.”

“You’re telling me a lot about your pack when I don’t deserve to know anything.”

“Yeah, you do deserve to know, sweetheart, because it’s your pack now, too.”

“I don’t understand why you’re being nice to me. This doesn’t… make sense.”

“Because…” I take her hand and press my lips to her palm before I say, “Even if you think you came here to do harm, it’s clear what you’re really here for is to become mine.”

“But you don’t have to be nice to me in order to fuck me and sire pups on me. If that’s even possible. The pups I mean.”

This surprises me. And angers me. Because it shows why she wanted this over with. Why she trembled so badly waiting for me to just do it. Someone who’s had her hasn’t been nice about it. My blood is nearly boiling.

“Looks like you’re gonna need to forget all the wrong shit you learned in that pack and learn the way an alpha treats his mate, learn the way alphas take care of their people. Mating you is about a lot more than fucking you, Stacy.”

I’m being aggressive because I’m pissed off, but it’s got her shaking again, so I reel it in.

“It was clear you were forced to do it the minute I caught you and you burst into tears. Those weren’t tears at getting caught, they were tears of remorse and fear. I knew immediately it wasn’t an act. You were forced into it for a reason, though. Not with whatever is being held over your head. It’s so you could meet me. So that I could catch your scent and know who you are to me.”

She stares, not saying anything.

“The seven Arcana Falls pack council alphas are born over a twelve-month period and have always mated consecutively in birth order. I knew it was my turn coming up, just didn’t know how long of a wait I’d have because of extenuating circumstances with Riley, our third born. Also didn’t know if I’d get a human, a witch, or some other supernatural species.”

She tilts her head with question.

I explain, “Ty’s mate is human. So’s Mase’s. They both mated recently.”

She looks surprised. “Humans? I thought I smelled humans here. Outside that barn.”

“Yeah, we’ve got some humans here. You smell them, do you?” They’re not close enough for an average shifter to recognize that scent.

She nods. “I have a strong nose.”

“Got a few humans and half-humans in the pack. Mase and Ty’s mates… they’re sisters, recently joined, but while they’re human, they’ve got some Fae blood way back in their family line. Their story is a whole twisted tale because of some interference by witches. But then Riley’s mate is one of those witches and it turns out she’s my cousin on my mother’s side and part of the coven that formed this pack.”

“Sorry, but um… Fae? Fae exist?”

“Apparently they do, though rumor has it they don’t show up too often. Never met one myself, but I’ve heard stories. Rumor has it they cause havoc whenever they do show up.”

“I’ve heard terrible stories about Fae. But my brother said he’s pretty sure they’re just rumors made up by witches.”

“Not made up.”

“And you said your cousin is a witch? Which coven?”

“Young coven. Why? You have a connection? Tell me a Young witch didn’t give you those potions…”

She shakes her head and bites her lip. “Not Young, no.”

My shoulders relax. “A different coven?”

She nods.

I keep talking. “Haven’t met many from my biological mother’s side of the family yet, but I have talked to a few of them on the phone. My cousin just got here tonight to face her mate. Another long story. Too much info tonight might make your head spin. But yeah, giving you the gist so you know your mate isn’t just one of the seven Arcana Falls council super alphas, I’ve also got blood of the Young Coven. This means our kids will have witch blood in them, too.”

She blinks dazedly for a minute.

“You okay?” I ask. “Got questions? Ask.”

She snaps out of it. “You use magic? Make potions?”

“Don’t know much about it but suspect I’ll find out about that side of my DNA soon enough based on the series of events around here lately.”

She yawns and covers her mouth. “Excuse me. Sorry.”

“Information overload. Just wanted to help you relax. See I’ve bored you halfway to sleeping. Brought your blood pressure down, didn’t I?”

“I’m not bored. I just… I didn’t sleep last night.”

I’m not surprised she didn’t sleep with what she had to do today.

“Want something to eat before we get some rest?”

She gives me a perplexed look. “Rest? Uh… not gonna do the other thing?”

I smile and twirl a lock of her hair around my finger. “Giving you time here, Stacy. I can see you need it. Figure we’ll crash early and tomorrow’s a new day.”

“I’m not hungry,” she says.

But her stomach rumbled, giving away the truth.

“Your belly is sayin’ different.”

“I can’t eat when I’m stressed out. It’ll just come straight back up.”

I touch my lips to her forehead, breathing in her scent, feeling her tense up just a little again. “Last thing I want is to keep stressin’ you out. I’ll give you what you need. We’ll get some rest.”

While I know what I need, I also know it’s better to wait. Everything in me tells me that not only is she mine, but also that she needs me to take it slower than I want.

I’m eager to learn her story, to find out who told her to shoot at us and poison our pack. And why. I suspect since she clearly comes from a fucked-up pack it’s likely her alpha looking to take us out. It’s possible it’s just simple greed at play. Her comments about wealth, paying tributes, plus how it sounds like her pack numbers are dwindling has me leaning in that direction.

I know there’s a lot to unpack with this girl. But we’ve got a lifetime ahead of us and though I’d love to show her how good it’ll be with us, she’s afraid of me, she’s traumatized, and a mate’s wellbeing is an alpha’s top priority so it’s down to nurture coming before primal nature that I have the ability to wait. Not long, but I’m thinking for her sake I can keep it at bay for the night.