Page 54 of Finding Embers and Stars (Twin Flames Duet #1)

Chapter fifty-four

I ’m mesmerized by my beautiful mate. When I whispered in her ear that I wanted to steal her away, the look of shock on her face broke my heart. I hope with time she learns that each of us find her incredibly sexy.

When we got home, I brought Piper straight to my room. I want her scent on my sheets so even if she is with my brothers, I can still bask in her natural aroma.

After stripping us both down to the skin, I shocked her even further by demanding she sit on my face. Once I worked past her hesitations and got her up there, I could have died a happy bear with her flavor on my tongue.

Once she was a withering mess, I laid her back on the bed, hovering over her. She’s such a feast for my eyes, I can’t help the way I pause to absorb every detail of her appearance.

From the way her long blonde hair lays across my pillow, to the blue of her eyes that appear darker than normal with her arousal. To her pale skin covering lush curves. I want to sink into her heat and never leave.

“Walker.” Somehow Piper sounds exasperated while still a bit breathy and turned on. “I can’t say I hate the way you are staring at me as if I’m your next meal, but I would really like it if you would put your big dick to use.”

I shake with laughter at her blunt delivery. Leaning down to kiss the corner of her mouth, I lick my way up her neck and whisper in her ear. “And how exactly would you like me to put it to use?”

Apparently, she’s decided that actions speak louder than words. Piper reaches between us, taking a firm hold on my shaft that makes me hiss. She lines me up with her core, then wraps her legs around my hips and yanks me forward. I’m balls deep in her with that one powerful thrust and we both groan at the pleasure that washes over us.

Pressing my lips to the pulse in her throat, I start to move. Slowly at first, making sure she’s comfortable with the stretch from my size. Holding myself up on one hand, I use the other to touch every part of her I can reach.

Her full breast fills my palm and the moan she lets out when I squeeze the soft flesh makes my cock throb. Running my fingertips across her nipple piercings, I lightly pinch and tug on her nipple.

The answering clench of her pussy around my shaft lets me know she loves the attention. Each thrust brings us closer together, and not just physically. I feel as if our very souls are dancing.

I know she’s been hurt, that there is still a part of herself that she’s holding back. She may not even realize it. In survival situations, you learn to protect yourself. For Piper, that means her heart is her most vulnerable part. With time, I hope she comes to believe that we will guard her softness just as fiercely as she guards herself.

With each nip and kiss I leave along her neck, I feel an answering clench of her nails in my back and her pussy around my cock. My beautiful mate is so responsive.

Lowering my mouth to her nipple once again, I suck the barbell into my mouth. The shudder that rolls through her body nearly sends me over the edge. I fucking love her nipple piercings.

Far sooner than I want, I feel her start to tense as her climax approaches. I try to slow my thrusts, but Piper isn’t a fan of delayed gratification. With a fierce growl, she tightens her legs around me and speeds up.

The tingles along my spine tell me I’m fast approaching the point of no return. Giving up on slowing down, I thrust harder, grinding my hips into hers and the added pressure on her clit sends her over the edge with a scream. As her walls clamp down around me, I let myself go with her over the edge.

I roll us to our sides, intending to go get a cloth to get us cleaned up, but Piper refuses to loosen her grip. “Not yet. I’m not ready to let you go.”

Her soft whisper sounds almost embarrassed. Like she’s afraid to show this softer side of her that wants, or maybe even needs, her mates.

I relax back into the bed, running my hands up and down her spine. The slam of the front door precedes the stomp of feet through the house. “I guess the party's over.” She mumbles against my chest. I can tell that she’s nearly asleep.

Leaning back, I try again to untangle us. “Let me get you cleaned up, then you can go to sleep.” She grumbles, but finally lets me slide out from under her.

She groans and rolls off the bed. “Womaning sucks! Why don’t men have to pee after sex? I just want to lie here and bask in my post sex haze, but noooooo I have to go pee. Because if I don’t, I might end up with a freaking UTI. Then I have to ask Ash or Cobalt to heal me. And let me tell you, after the nipple piercing fiasco, I’m never asking Cobalt to heal me ever again.”

She grumbles all the way to the bathroom, and I can still hear her after she shuts the door. I’m laughing my ass off until her words sink in. “Wait, what nipple piercing fiasco?”

She groans as she comes out of the bathroom. “Fucking shifters and their super hearing.”

I can’t help laughing at my poor mate. “Why haven’t one of you witchy ladies come up with a spell that prevents things like UTIs and STDs?”

Piper stops dead in her tracks and stares at me with her mouth hanging open. She suddenly dives for the clothes we threw around the room, yanking on her panties and my t-shirt.

She runs for the door and as she pulls it open, she shouts, “Sage!”

Once the door is fully open, I see Sage on the other side, her hand still raised as if to knock. “I’m right here. No need to yell, woman.”

Piper just waves her arms around, dancing in place. “Why have we never thought of a spell to prevent UTIs or STDs?”

The look on Sage’s face morphs into the same one that Piper is wearing. “Son of a bitch, that’s fucking brilliant! Why did we never think of that? Hold please, I need to text Shasta right now. I’m so freaking over having to get up to pee right after sex. I want to appreciate the post orgasmic glow, damnit!”

Piper throws her hands up in exasperated excitement. “That’s what I just said!”

Just as she pulls her phone out, all of our phones start to ring and beep. She reads the message and starts cussing. “Fuck! We need to get dressed now. There is a threat at the shelter. One of the goddesses will be here soon to pick us all up.”

She marches down the hall to gather the guys while I scramble to get dressed and Piper runs down the hall to her room for clothes.

We’re all downstairs within four minutes. Just as Jasper walks in to join us, Olive appears in the living room. Without a word we all grab hands and she sparkles us to the shelter.

Our group is the last to arrive. I do a double take when I see the collection of shifters around me. There is a giant rainbow unicorn with fangs that can only be Becca. A bright purple Pallas cat is cuddling with Ridge, so I’m going to assume that it’s Jessie. I shudder and try to take a subtle step away from them, Pallas cats are vicious as fuck, and I would never want to cuddle one.

Maggie is shifted into her white tiger form, while Ash and Lacy both have their angel wings and weapons out and ready. Shasta is shifted into a glowing blue tiger that’s covered in flames. That's... pretty?

I stop dead when Sage jumps on my back and yells. “Shift my trusty bear! Let us ride into battle!”

Liam snickers beside me, catching Sage’s attention.

“Sorry horsey! You’re too tall for me when you’re shifted. I’ve got little legs, and I can’t reach you.” The pout on her face is adorable and I tilt my head to the side to kiss the corner of her mouth.

Piper starts giggling so hard she can barely stand. “Sorry Sagey, you need to be at least five foot eleven to ride that ride.”

Sage rolls her eyes. “Pffftt, I rode that ride this morning thank you very much. Oh my Goddess! Rhoda, why was I never told that a velocicorn was an option?!”

Jumping from my back, she runs to the weirdest creature I have ever seen. It’s a velociraptor, which is odd enough considering that they are extinct. However, it’s the giant sparkly unicorn horn coming out of its forehead that really pushes us into the realm of ‘what the fuckety fuck’. The final piece of this terrifying masterpiece is the bright pink, sparkly tutu around its hips.

Sage stops before Rhoda, carefully dragging a fingertip down her spiral horn. “Please! Please, pleaseeeeeeeeeee can we be twin velocicorns?”

I can hear Rhoda’s laughter float through my mind. “I see all of you judging me! What’s the point of having all these damn goddess powers if I don’t have a little fun with it?” She pauses to rub her nose against Sage’s shoulder. “Yes, my dear, we can be twinsies.”

Everyone laughs and those that haven’t already shift into their battle forms. You would think a velociraptor in a tutu would be the strangest thing in sight, but the three sasquatches that are standing at the front of the group really take the cake.

Hera walks out of the shelter, pulling the door closed behind her. “Everyone is in Hell. I’m headed there myself to help guard. Be safe everyone!” And in a blink, she’s gone.

I shift into my polar bear form and open our mate bonds. “How did they find the shelter? It’s supposed to be hidden.”

A deep sigh rolls through my mind before Silas answers. “The only way is if he got ahold of someone that’s been here. They either flipped or he tortured the location out of them.”

“Wait, how did you hear me? I thought I could only speak to those that are part of our mate bond?”

Giggles fill my mind. “Oops. I forgot to mention that I allowed everyone here to speak mind to mind. It’s safer for us. So, keep your sexy thoughts to yourself, Walker! We don’t need to hear that!”

Olive’s voice fades away and I can only be thankful that I didn’t have any sexy thoughts to send to my mates. That would have been something I’d never have lived down.

Olive walks to the center of our group with Hunter beside her in his Dire wolf form. “They’re close. We need to split up, covering all sides of the shelter. I’m going to be in the darkness, these wolves are covered in shadows and there is a chance I can claim the shadows they hold to save their souls and release the evil.”

She leans down to drop a kiss between Hunter’s ears, whispering something to him before she literally disappears into a black wisp.

We split up as evenly as possible, covering all four sides of the property. Eight of us to each side, with Hunter roving with Olive.

Within seconds of getting into place, wolves start coming out of the woods. I count fifteen on our side and push the thought out to everyone. “Call out numbers for each side. We have fifteen on the left.”

“Twelve in the front.” Becca answers.

“Eighteen in the back.” Zeke’s gruff voice sounds off next.

“Twenty on the right.” Comes from Ash.

“Fuck me, sixty-five wolves? Good thing we’re a bunch of badasses right?” Leave it to Archer to crack a joke.

The first group of wolves charge and Milo reaches out with a lasso of pure ice, yanking several of them off their feet.

Sinking into my polar bear’s instincts, I let him take over. Reaching out with one great front paw, I bat wolf after wolf away from Sage.

Each time a wolf gets knocked off its feet, Nox uses ropes made of clouds to detain them. Within seconds, our side is completely clear with all the wolves tied up.

“Olive, can you pull the shadows from these ones?” I hate to see anyone killed that could possibly be saved.

Rhoda seems to have read my mind. “Everyone, detain if possible. Walker is right, let’s try to save any lives we can. Killing needlessly is what the Alpha Supreme wants, and I refuse to give him that.”

“Damnit Walker! I wanted to see how many wolves I could peg with my horn tonight. Why do you have to kill all the fun?” Becca’s laughter follows her words down the bond, and all I can do is shake my head.

I’m glad we are all on the same side. The thought has barely made it through my brain when I see Nox levitate all fifteen of the wolves near us and move them towards the front of the house. Yeah, I’m really glad that we are all on the same side. The Alpha Supreme doesn’t realize how big the fight he picked actually is.

Once we get there, I see the other three groups each had a butterfly dragon, and all used their telekinesis to move the attacking wolves to the front of the shelter.

It’s a massive pile of writhing wolves as they all try to break free of the magical bindings.

Everyone shifts back to their human form, and we watch as Olive stands in front of the group. She reaches out her hands towards them and slowly at first but gaining speed, the shadows start pulling free of their hosts.

The shadows sink into her chest, and as the last bit disappears, she stumbles. Hunter wraps his arms around her with Lacy and Ben flanking her. She takes a minute to breathe and then lets all the shadows she just collected loose into the sky.

She’s panting by the time it’s done, but bounces back quickly. She leans into Hunter, letting him support her as they walk to the end of our line.

Rhoda steps up beside Olive and they link hands. Together, they send a bolt of twisted light and shadow down the line of wolves until it touches each one of them.

When it’s done, each wolf is marked with either a grey aura, pure black, or the skull that means an instant death sentence.

Rhoda nods to Nox and the ones with the gray aura lose their bindings and climb to their feet.

When she speaks, her voice booms and cracks, making sure everyone hears her words. “Those that are unbound have a choice. You can stay here at the shelter, or you may leave. You were not here of your own free will and will not be punished for the stupidity of your alpha. This is a one-time pardon. Return here intending harm and we will end you.”

The wolves look at each other in confusion, not seeming to know where to go or what to do.

Piper steps out so they can see her. “Do you want to stay? To have a safe place to get back on your feet while we help you find homes and jobs?”

A taller man that seems a bit older than the rest steps forward. “Will you challenge the alpha for leadership? Everyone knows you are the only one that has a chance at beating him.”

Piper nods, “I will. I needed time and a safe place to grow up. The family that stands beside me are the ones that saved me when I fled from my father. When the time is right, I will challenge him.”

He looks around at the rest of the wolves that are unbound, and as one they all nod. When he turns back to Piper, there is a small smile on his face. “We would like to stay here and support you when you challenge him.”

Piper nods, and Lacy guides the group around the side of the building out of the way.

Silas and Felix step forward next and take all those with a black aura to the Darkmoon Prison.

The remaining ten wolves all have skulls on their forehead. Rhoda steps up again, this time with a cloud of sadness surrounding her. “The ten of you are pure evil. There is no hope of bringing your souls back to the light. You will all be put to death.”

Ashley steps up beside Rhoda but pauses when one of the men spits at her feet then sneers towards Sage and Piper. His eyes linger on Sage, the intent behind his look clear.

“It’s good to see you, little hybrid. I’ll never forget how sweet your screams were when Matt was showing you what a real man can do.”

Ash throws her hand out, and a beam of bright light strikes all the wolves meant for death. The one speaking only grunts, but the rest scream in pain.

The chatter box turns to Piper next. “Your daddy has big plans for you. I’m just sorry I won’t be around to get my turn breaking you in. He promised us all a piece of your ass.”

Ash throws out another bolt of light, this one splitting into ten beams that strike each wolf in the heart. Eventually, the screams stop and all that’s left are piles of ashes.

Archer and Rory catch Ash as she starts to fall. Rory sweeps her into his arms and Archer wraps his wings around both of them to take them home.

Olive waves her hand towards the ashes, and wildflowers of all colors and kinds burst into bloom, covering the whole area.

Rhoda steps up to Piper, murmuring something so low that we can’t hear it. Piper nods and Rhoda touches her forehead, a bright flash of light surrounds both of them and then disappears a second later. Once it’s gone, Rhoda kisses Piper’s cheek and steps back.

Olive walks up and places her hand on Piper’s shoulder. They stare into each other's eyes for several minutes, not a word said between them.

Finally, Olive smiles. “It’s time to end this.”