Page 10

Ledger

I slam the door behind me, fed up with all the bullshit. Every single person that gave my mate a sidelong glance on our way down here, and each person glowering like they were considering me a threat that needs to be neutralized, has every one of my instincts on high alert.

Fighting back murder, I bury my face in the crook of my mate’s neck and suck down a ragged inhale. “I hate this. For all we know, they’re going to try to trap us down here so we can never leave.”

She makes a soothing sound in the back of her throat, humming as she works my hair band out and runs her fingers through the untamed length of my hair.

My wolf surges to the surface, her soft touches stoking the wild aggression coursing through my veins.

Fueling the frantic need to protect the one soft, sweet thing in our lives.

I can feel the moment that mad desperation takes on a feral edge that blackens the edges of my vision, pushing me dangerously close to a rut.

Fuck fuck fuck.

Not now.

Not here .

“Ledger?” she asks, concerned.

An aggressive haze settles over my vision.

Everything suddenly feels like a threat; especially the other men in this room.

But I’m able to curb that enough to realize that it’s the strangers that are the bigger threat, and I need to lock this place down before I lose myself entirely.

Holding my mate possessively against my side, I use my free hand to drag the pitiful excuse for furniture in front of the main door, my brain stuck on a loop of ‘not safe.’

The white haired one frowns at me and extends his arms. “Why don’t I take her while you do…

whatever the fuck you’re doing?” My snarl is ripped from the depths of my soul, the vicious sound bouncing around the stone walls.

His hands fly up in surrender. “Fuck, fine, you psycho. Make it harder on yourself, see if I care.”

Everybody’s trying to take my mate from me. They don’t understand that she’s mine .

Knot.

Rut.

Claim.

The words run on a loop like a mantra driving my actions, making sure this place is safe enough I can lose myself to my instincts. Enough awareness left to know what’s happening, yet unable to stop it. The tighter I try to hold onto my control, the faster it shreds.

I keep one ear tuned to the others in the room currently murmuring nonsense while I focus on barring the door and securing the apartment enough to calm my nerves. Chair wedged beneath the handle and couch behind to brace for impact, I test the effectiveness, pleased when it barely budges.

I’m even more pleased when I see the bottle of super glue peeking out of the auburn-haired one’s pocket.

Stealing it without remorse, I empty the contents on the door lock, ensuring it won’t be easily picked.

I’d hear someone tampering with the mechanism, attempting to break in.

No matter how distracted I am, that will be noticeable.

And when we need to leave, I can just rip the door off the hinges. Problem solved.

Am I willing to bet my mate’s life on it though?

Frowning, I ignore the annoyed squawks and smacks at my side and drag my mate into the kitchen with me, rummaging around until I find the silverware and a few canned goods. I make quick work of balancing all of them on the teetering pile bracing the door, instincts settling a titch at the sight.

If someone breaks in, I’ll have enough time to protect her. They won’t be able to catch us off guard again. Won’t be able to take her.

“Should we knock him out and get her out of here?” one of the other males suggests, and I clutch her tighter to my chest, my furious snarl shutting that stupid idea down quickly.

The white haired one and demon with the scarred face tense, squaring up like they’re preparing to launch an attack. To steal my mate from me.

Over their dead fucking bodies.

“Maybe if Bellamy borrows his wolf, it might be enough to snap him out of it,” my mate suggests, and I’m drawn to her sweet voice, nuzzling the side of her face.

The mage shoots her down. “It’s not solely the wolf, it’s his own instincts, ingrained in Ledger’s DNA. This level of possessiveness is always there, even if he can’t shift. And for all we know, it’d just send Bellamy into a rut too if he tried. But he’d be stuck as a wolf humping the furniture.”

Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed like he couldn’t care less about what’s happening, the demon flippantly suggests, “So I take her out of here until he calms down. He’ll burn himself out eventually.”

My eye twitches, and I’m lunging for him before I really even register it, wrapping a hand around his neck and squeezing. “Touch her and I’ll tear your throat out.”

The demon raises an unamused eyebrow, pressing a knife firmly against my wrist. “Try it and lose the hand. Ever may think your alpha bullshit is a turn on, but it doesn’t do it for me. Sorry.”

A sweet voice interjects, getting everyone to stand down. “I’m… okay with it. Ledger isn’t going to hurt me. Heck, it might even calm him down more if you guys were to leave-”

“Not just no, but hell no,” the tattooed one interrupts with a scowl.

The mage sheepishly rubs the back of his neck, avoiding her gaze. “You want to ride out his rut with him, that’s your choice, but somebody needs to stand guard in case he goes too far and hurts you, or you change your mind at any point.”

All of the men share a loaded look.

“I’m sure as hell not leaving,” the mimic bites out. “I’m the only one that can strip his powers if he starts hulking out.”

The one with auburn hair argues, “You’re underestimating how much bonding Ever leveled up my abilities, not to mention I’ve got the best shot of getting through to him next to her. He won’t see me as much of a threat since we’ve lived together for years and he already sees me as pack.”

They all look at the aloof demon who snorts. “It’s cute you think me leaving was even an option.”

I’m over this. Too much talking.

Baring my teeth, I debate the merits of killing them. A small voice in the back of my mind nags at me that I don’t need to; I just need them to shut the fuck up.

My mate places a hand on my arm, gently guiding me towards a doorway. “They aren’t going to take me away from you.”

A low growl immediately starts up in my chest at her words, and she runs a hand up to hover over my heart.

“They’re all going to stay to watch your back so the only thing you have to worry about is me.

They’ll watch the door; protect us while you claim me.

That’s what you want, right? To finish cementing the bond and drown me in your scent so everybody knows I’m yours? ”

Oh. Oh I like that idea.

My wolf is practically feral for it.

From one beat to the next, I have her thrown down on the bed, grab the collar of her shirt, and rip. Finally, blessedly, she’s bare beneath me.

Her indignant protest is cut off the moment I shove my tongue between her legs. With every swipe of my tongue, her thighs fall further open, spread wide on the bed for me like an offering. I don’t even hesitate.

I devour.

Nothing, and I mean nothing tastes better than your mate’s arousal. If I thought I was mad before, I was a fool. As soon as her taste hits my tongue, I lose the ability to think about anything beyond my desperate need for more.

Once she’s a sopping wet, begging mess writhing beneath me, I shuck my pants and line myself up at her entrance, running the head of my cock between her legs twice and reveling in her every twitch as I tease her clit.

Unable to hold back, I thrust in shallow strokes, driving deeper with every snap of my hips.

As she cries out, the other males in the room take a collective step forward, and I snarl a warning.

A soft hand cups my jaw. “Hey, it’s okay. They’re your bondmates, remember? Pack.”

Pack.

It’s like everything suddenly clicks into place and a feeling of rightness settles over my shoulders. Threats only to everyone outside of our pack. Men that love our mate as much as I do, that’ll help keep her safe and give her everything she needs. Take care of her so she’ll never want to leave.

It’s so obvious now. The better we make her feel, the more she’ll want to stay.

I snap my hips harder, the tingle of a power boost racing up my spine like a hundred shots of adrenaline, and it only serves to amp up my already crazed wolf. This type of power will absolutely go to my head.

More power equals more attractive to my mate.

A sliver of awareness snakes through my defenses and I groan, loving the way my mate strangles my cock.

“Suck on her tits,” I bark at Myles, thrusting deeper and debating the merits of a pack versus killing all her suitors to keep her for myself when she feels this fucking good.

“You,” I snap at the white haired one. “Take her mouth.”

Neither of them hesitate, Bellamy wrapping his tattooed fingers around her neck to take control of their kiss. “What do you say, beautiful? Can I fuck this pretty throat? Imagine how feral it’ll make your shifter to see you pinned between us, knowing you can’t escape.”

Violet irises disappear much to my lament as my mate closes her eyes on a ragged moan, Myles working her nipples and sucking on her perfect tits. “ Please.”

Bell frees himself and runs the tip of his cock across her lips. “Open up for me, pretty girl. Let me see if my wet dreams come anything close to the real thing.”

She parts her lips, and watching him sink between them drives my instincts wild.

Don’t want anyone else to touch her. Want to watch her stuffed full.

The sound of her choking as she struggles to swallow down Bellamy’s cock while she’s stretched out on mine has me losing my shit, driving into her harder, faster. Reveling in every bruise my fingers leave behind as I fuck her senseless until she’s too sated to so much as dream of leaving me.

Pinning her between us where she belongs.

“That’s it, sunshine. Fuck, look at you, stuffed full.” I wrap my hand around her throat. “Shit, I can feel him against my palm. You like that, beautiful? One mate fucking your throat nice and deep while the other claims your perfect pussy?”

She moans, the vibrations causing Bell to loose a series of expletives before I can feel his cock kick, spilling down our mate’s throat as she writhes beneath us.

As she settles, she takes the worst of my crazed instincts with her. Even with the power boost in full effect and my nerve endings feeling like they’re on fire, every hitch of breath and rock of her hips my mate makes has me coming a little more back to myself.

Myles groans, stroking his cock while working one of her nipples. “That’s it, gorgeous, take every last drop they’re willing to give you.”

Seeing him on the verge of coming, I bark, “On her tits,” while my knot throbs as I tease it against her cunt.

He does so with a tortured groan, ropes of cum painting our mate’s chest and sating the feral edge a bit more, our scent absolutely drowning her.

I run my thumb through the sticky mess, circling her nipple with my bondmate’s cum.

Movement in my periphery has my head snapping over to find Arson sitting in the corner, watching over our mate while jerking himself off.

The only door is barred by his shadows, ensuring that no one is getting in this room without him knowing.

While I curse myself for getting so caught up in my mate I let my guard down, there’s comfort in knowing he stayed level-headed and watched my back so I could let my control slip.

I dip my head in thanks, trusting him to watch for threats and turn my focus back on the only thing that matters.

Her.

“Fuck, baby, look at you taking my knot so perfectly.”

I watch obsessively as the lips of her pussy spread over the top, stretching farther with every thrust that teases my knot against her entrance.

“You’re going to take it all, aren’t you?

Let me fill you up and stretch you out on my knot until you come so hard, you won’t ever go back to lesser males.

You’ll understand just how fucking good we can make you feel and you’ll stay with us forever.

Begging for our fingers and our cocks. My knot. Knowing how perfectly we fit together.”

Her hips stutter in her rocking against me. “Fuck, yes please, all of that.”

Jaw clenched, I grip her waist and jerk her against me, finally, blessedly locking my knot inside of her where it belongs.

She thrashes against me as I roar, knot expanding and pressing against her walls as she slicks my cock with her release, both begging for more, and crying out that it’s too much.

“Ssh, that’s it, sunshine,” I coax, helping her rock against me as she rides through the aftershocks of her orgasm. “Take what you need.”

With a few more snaps of her hips, she stills, a breathy sigh escaping her lips as I lose it and my cock kicks inside of her with my release, letting her ride out the tail end of her orgasm as she milks my cock for every. Last. Drop.

Gonna smell like me forever.

As we collapse together, the others settling around us in the bed to touch our mate and settle their own possessive impulses, all I can feel is relief. Because now she carries my scent permanently. She smells like pack. Ours. But most importantly?

Mine.