Page 21 of The Alpha’s Seer (The Shifters of Stormhollow #1)

Chapter Twenty-One

CALIX

My poor fucking mate.

We're in my truck, staring at the lake by my packhouse in silence, much like most of the journey home.

I try to imagine how she must feel, but I struggle—emotions don't affect me as much as they do her, being human and all.

But my heart aches for her because she's lost her parents, and now she's here with me away from her only remaining family; her head must be fucking whirring.

She's staring straight ahead, taking deep breaths. The moonlight shines on her skin, making it almost glitter. I swear the Moon Goddess is pushing us closer; I can't stand even the distance of her being on the next seat to me.

I want her on my lap.

But my needs come after hers right now, so I curse my hard dick and bite my fist, imagining I'm marking her instead.

Fucking hell—I've got to explain that too.

I need a drink.

“Are you okay?” Blair's voice cuts through my thoughts, and I answer her with a nod. She tilts her head, a smile lifting the corners of her mouth. “Why are you biting yourself?”

I flex my fingers and sigh. “I'm worried about you.”

“I can tell,” Blair says softly. “I feel strangely calm, but I know I should be running around screaming, you know?” She chuckles, and I smile faintly.

I do know. That reaction would probably make more sense, too.

“But maybe it is what it is, Calix.”

The way she says my name—Goddess above us. I can't cope with her throaty voice or her scent. She's driving me insane, and she's not even aware. She's not even trying.

Fuck.

I focus on her and clear my throat. “So I can tell you what I know about Seers—it's not much, but it may help.”

“Luna Marie explained a bit,” Blair comments, crossing her arms. “We call them psychics. People who can see the future, hear things, and know things they shouldn't. That kind of thing.”

I nod, waiting for her to continue.

“It's helpful in a pack because the Seer can help warn them if danger is coming, but that also makes them valuable.”

I clench my jaw as she says what worries me the most.

“We're rare. Seers, I mean.”

Her wide eyes find mine, and when I nod, she bites her lip. I try not to react, but I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes.

If I don't fuck this woman soon, I'm going to explode. Fucking explode.

“You are rare anyway, Blair, without being a fucking Seer.”

She stares at me, her gaze suddenly heated. “What does ‘marking me’ mean?”

I scrub my face and groan.

I can't dance around this. May as well just say it.

“Well, it's where we fuck, and I mark you with my teeth.”

Way to go, hero.

Blair swallows—well, gulps—then says, “And then?”

“And then?” I laugh harshly. “Then the mating bond begins.”

“Does it hurt?” She tilts her head and stares at me with her big fucking eyes, and I can't help but tease her.

“The fucking?”

She blushes violently, and it makes me feel like a demon, but I love seeing her cheeks flush for me.

“The—the biting,” Blair whispers, leaning closer. “Does it hurt?”

“Yes,” I admit to her, scanning memories of countless females screaming in agony while being marked by their mates. “But it goes away, eventually.”

“So does a broken arm,” Blair mumbles. “I still wouldn't want one.”

She’s got a point.

I sigh and stare at the lake. It's calm at night, and I've spent many evenings in its healing water, forgetting the world above me as I swam beneath it, my lungs burning for air. Still, I can swim longer underwater than a human, like Blair.

Goddess, she's so vulnerable.

And now she's a Seer.

“Would it kill me?”

I turn my attention to her and shake my head. “No.”

“You're positive?” Blair rasps, and I frown. “You're positive I'll survive?”

“Blair, you don’t know what you’re asking me to do. Once I’ve done this, that’s it. I need you to be sure that this is what you want. I’m not marking you until you’re sure.”

The pain at the words leaving my lips makes my wolf howl, and I grit my teeth, my fingers tight around the steering wheel. I can't mark her. She's too special—too fragile. The pack needs her—I need her.

“The mating bond will expire if we don’t, right?” Blair leans over and gazes into my eyes, her lips parting to let out her sweet breath.

I want to eat it. Inhale it. Make it a part of me.

“Yes,” I grit out, stroking her cheek. “But I can't force you to do something that will change your life forever, Blair.”

“Force?” Blair scoffs, her brow furrowing. “Who said anything about force, Calix?”

I smirk. “Well, I don't see you naked, sugar.”

My dick is solid, ready to sink into her at any moment, but I'm trying to remain as gentlemanly as possible. My wolf wants her, though. The carnal need to fuck her is becoming impossible to live with.

Blair's fingers go still at her chin; she takes a breath that isn't quite a tremor. For the first time, she doesn't look like the frightened girl from the street—she's thinking.

“I should be terrified,” she says, voice tight but steady, “but when I'm with you… it feels different. I'm not cornered. I'm not powerless.”

She swallows and looks down for a second, like she's listening to something only she can hear. “My sight keeps tugging at me, Calix. It says this matters—that you matter. And if I can’t trust you yet, I have to trust myself. I have to trust the gift.”

I grit my teeth because I know what it costs her to say that. She isn’t handing me blind trust—she’s staking it on the one thing she can’t ignore. “Then trust it—and let me prove it right.”

She blinks, then, as if the weight of her confession is too much to sit in, she flips the script with a smirk, daring me to rise to it.

“If I'm not marked,” Blair says sweetly, tapping her chin. “Does that mean I'm available to other wolves?”

I don't know what she is expecting to gain with that comment, but I doubt it's my hand around her throat, dragging her onto my lap as she gasps.

I slam her onto me, my hands digging into her hips, forcing her to feel my dick against her sweet cunt.

She rolls her hips, and I almost rip her clothes from her body.

“You're not fucking available to anyone,” I snarl, snatching her shirt from her body.

Blair yelps as her tits are exposed, and I waste no time in dragging her nipple into my mouth, devouring it before moving on to the other.

“Calix,” Blair moans, her mouth crushing mine as our tongues fight furiously for dominance.

Does she really think she's going to win?

I pull on her pants, the button flying off as I almost rip them in two.

“Wait!” Blair panics, wriggling her hips so she can get one leg out.

I yank it from her slender leg and drag her back to me, aware only the thinnest fabric stands between my dick and its dessert. Her arousal hits me hard; the musky scent of her cunt is enough to drive me insane.

“Can you smell me?” Blair gasps as I slap her ass, pinching it hard until she yelps.

“Yes,” I growl, getting pissed off with the tight space. But Blair isn't content with me tearing her clothes off and grinding against me.

“Can the other wolves?”

Her eyes glint as she smirks, and I throw open the truck door, hauling her over my shoulder as I do. There are wolves on patrol not far from here, but I don't give a fuck. Let them hear her screams as I remind her who she belongs to.

Let's see if she's still smirking in a minute.