Page 6 of The Alpha’s Bounty (Night Grove Falls: The Alphas #2)

FIVE

Cyrus

The first thing I’m aware of when I wake is her .

Warm and soft, every inch of her pressed against me like we were made to fit this way. Which, according to fate, we were.

The second thing I’m aware of is that I’m so hard it hurts.

The heat is low and sharp, coiling in my gut. Not just arousal, though there’s plenty of that, but mating heat . That biological, primal pull that says now , that growls in the back of my head with my bear’s voice.

I breathe her in. She smells like my shirt and soap with something sweeter underneath that’s unique to her . I’ve never smelled anything like it. My bear paces, teeth bared, claws clicking.

Bite her. Mark her. Keep her.

I roll slightly so I can see her face. She’s still asleep, lashes dark against her cheeks, mouth parted enough to tempt a man to lean down and take it in a fierce kiss. My arm tightens around her waist, holding her close.

As if she feels the shift in my breathing, she stirs. Her hips move against me, slow and unknowing. The friction sends a bolt of need through me so fast that I have to grit my teeth.

Her eyes open, still hazy with sleep, and I don’t give myself the chance to think better of it.

I kiss her.

It’s not tentative. Not soft. My mouth claims hers, my tongue sliding in when she gasps, tasting the warm, sleepy sound she makes. She kisses me back instantly, fingers curling in my shirt, pulling me closer like she can’t get enough.

MATE, my bear roars. Mark her now.

Not yet.

Not until the full moon tonight. That’s when the bond will lock in. That’s when I can put my teeth on her skin and know it’s sealed, unbreakable. That’s the rule.

But the rule doesn’t stop the way my body reacts when she shifts against me, pressing her hips forward. The little sound she makes sends tremors along my spine. I growl, deep and low, the sound vibrating through both of us.

“Cyrus…” Her voice is breathless, and it undoes me.

I slide my hand down, grip her hip, and pull her tighter against me. Her head falls back a little, lips parting, and I take the opportunity to trail my mouth along her jaw, down her neck, tasting skin I want to bite so badly that it’s a physical ache.

She’s breathing faster now. “I feel… strange. Like I’m buzzing.”

“It’s the heat,” I rasp. “Mating heat.”

Her pupils are blown wide. “You feel it too?”

I huff out a humorless laugh. “You have no idea.”

I’m balancing on a knife edge, barely holding back from stripping her right here and now. Every brush of her body against mine feels like fuel on a fire I’ve been craving for years. My bear howls, pacing, ready to break every damn rule.

Then my phone rings.

The sound slices through the moment like a blade.

I ignore it, my mouth finding hers again. I slide my hand under her shirt, finding warm skin, and her breath catches. I keep going, kissing her like I can pour all my desire into her mouth, until her body trembles against mine.

She gasps my name, her nails digging into my shoulder. That’s all it takes—I press my palm lower, and she shudders, clinging to me as her moan ripples through me.

The phone rings again.

I growl in frustration, forehead pressed to hers. “If they’re not dying, they’re going to wish they were.”

She huffs out a startled laugh.

I smile as I lean over to snag my phone from the bedside table, answering with a barked, “What?”

Whoever’s on the other end talks fast, telling me I need to head into town.

I cut them off with, “Fine. I’m coming.”

I hang up, toss the phone on the table, and look at Mina. She’s still flushed, breathing a little fast. My bear wants to drag her stay in this bed and finish what we started, but I can’t. Not yet.

My bear disagrees, but I ignore him.

“Come with me.”

She looks wary, but nods. “Where are we going?”

I grab her some clean clothes from my dresser and pass them to her.

Her clothes are dirty from her time on the run.

I planned to wash them today, and order whatever else she might need—a winter jacket, boots, a hat, mittens, and a scarf.

Probably some sweaters. I make a mental note of that as I grab my own clothes from the dresser.

But that will all have to wait for now.

“I need to go into town to handle some pack business,” I explain.

She nods, looking unsure, but choosing to trust me. It makes me feel about ten feet tall. Make me fall in love with her even more.

Mina heads into the bathroom to change, and I pull on my clothes before grabbing her backpack and heading downstairs. I open the washer and go through her things. As I thought, she has far too little to survive the coming winter months.

“There you are,” she says, her eyes darting to her bag.

“I was starting laundry. Thought I’d do yours, too.”

She smiles. “Thanks, but you don’t have to do that. I can do it later.”

“It’s not a bother. We’ll let this run while we go into town.”

I start the washer, then take her hand. “Come on. We’ll grab breakfast in town.”

I lead her out to my truck and help her into the passenger seat.

“You drive? I figured you would shift and run everywhere,” she comments as we head down the road.

“Usually, I do, but it’s chilly this morning, and I didn’t want you to be cold. Plus, my clothes are kind of big on you. You’d be tripping the whole way if we walked.”

She snorts a laugh. “Yeah, good call on that.”

I grab her hand, intertwining our fingers as we make our way into town. The first stop is the bakery. We load up on Adeline’s baked goods. I grab a coffee, and Mina orders a hot chocolate. Then we head to City Hall.

I’d hoped to spend more one-on-one time with my mate today, but I’m stuck putting out fires and handling disputes for most of the day instead.

First on the agenda is a dispute over a property line. I check in with the other Alphas, and we go over a briefing about the cult north of our land. Then I have to break up a fight between some tourists at the bar.

It’s non-stop.

I keep Mina close all day, showing her the main parts of town and introducing her to people without explaining too much while handling my Alpha duties. She’s quiet, but I feel her eyes on me, and the heat between us only grows.

By the time we sit down for dinner at the diner, the mating heat is almost unbearable. I know that Mina feels it, too. She shifts in her seat, crossing and uncrossing her legs, and the scent of her arousal hits me like a punch. My fingers tighten around my fork.

“What is this?” she whispers.

Her hard nipples are clearly outlined beneath my shirt. My bear and I lick our lips.

Fuck.

I glance around to make sure no one can hear us. “It’s the mating heat. I should’ve explained it to you last night.”

“Mating heat?”

I swallow hard. “Yeah. It happens every month on the night of the full moon. Shifters with fated mates feel an intense heat, an overpowering need to be with their mate. Intimately. ”

She clears her throat. “You mean… sexually?”

I nod. “We don’t have to do anything, though. We can wait until you’re ready. I’ll wait as long as you want.”

My bear whines in protest, but I ignore him.

Mina bites her lip. “I’m ready.”

My spine straightens, the chain around my desire snapping like a twig. That’s it. That’s all I can take.

My chair scrapes back loudly enough to make the couple in the next booth glance over. I toss some bills on the table, grab her hand, and haul her to her feet.

Her eyes widen. “Cyrus?—”

My bear roars in my head, drowning out everything else.

“Home,” I growl.

I drag her out into the cold night, not caring who sees, not caring about anything except getting her where I can touch her and never stop.