Page 126 of The Wolves of Forest Grove

The magic of the other races could hold no sway over me. I couldn’t be compelled by a vampire. Or bespelled by a witch. When I became alpha of the pack, those abilities became shared by all who blooded in.

We didn’t even realize it’d happened until someone got really hurt.

She was a relatively new wolf. Just changed a few months before, a victim of one of the shifters I cut loose when I took over.

She wasn’t healing quickly enough on her own, and like the pack had done on many occasions before, we took her to Stella, the witch who lived alone at the edge of town, and offered her money or favors in exchange for her help.

Only, Stella couldn’t heal her. Just like she couldn’t heal me. The girl’s body rejected the potions. Repelled her cast spells.

The girl died on her table.

It was a good thing we’d realized the change soon after I became alpha or we would’ve had a boon of shifter babies running rampant on our territory.

We were back to good old human methods of birth control now, the pill in particular being the only usable kind since we could no longer take the once monthly witchy alternative the pack had used for generations prior.

So as a whole, we all agreed the perks outweighed the pitfalls. There was a reason we were more careful now. Careful who we allowed to join. Careful who we allowed to be cut loose.

Stella would keep quiet; I didn’t think she even spoke to other people, mortal or immortal, but if the vampires or witches found out…

Well, our pack agreed that in this case, different was good, but the others wouldn’t see it that way. Shifters who were immune to their magic? Immune to compulsion? There was a good chance they’d want us gone.

Which was precisely why I didn’t want a fucking high and mighty alchemist prick running around my town asking questions.

“Hey,” Jared said, dragging me back to the present. I flinched as his hand pressed to my lower back and a worried crease formed between his brows. “What’s up?”

Before I could come up with a reply, Clay stood with a grunt, downing the rest of his beer in one long swallow before tossing the cup into a bin. “I’m heading out for patrol,” he announced, his cold blue eyes alighting on Jared’s hand on my waist as he passed.

“Be careful,” I blurted before I could stop the words from coming out, earning myself a raised brow and a smirk from the big oaf before he gave his head a shake.

He curled two fingers at Charity behind me. “Let’s move.”

Charity groaned as she passed. “Rest in peace legs,” she muttered to herself, making Layla laugh and Jared and me grin.

We had to switch out who had to run patrol with Clay every night because he set a punishing pace and refused to slow down, expecting everyone to keep up no matter how much their bodies protested.

I was the only one he didn’t enjoy running with, because I was the only one who could beat his ass in speed and strength.

Thank you twin soul.

Once Clay and Charity vanished into the tree line, I sagged against Jared, giving in to the comfort of his touch. He brushed a hand down my back, and I nuzzled into his neck, breathing in his scent of smooth cedar and musk.

“Take me to bed,” I whispered into the hollow beneath his chin. As alpha, there was always something I was worried about. New builds at pack camp, keeping everyone fed and happy, maintaining all three rings of our territory at all times.

And now a stupid motherfucking witch.

I sighed, needing the one thing that always worked to ease the tension and send me sailing off into a solid sleep.

Jared shuddered at my light touch on his chest, catching my hand before I could trail it too low and pressing it against his lips.

“Your wish is my command,” he replied in a husky whisper against my fingertips, making my belly squeeze.

I let out a little yelp as he swung me up into his arms, his eyes brightening with the presence of his wolf. I could feel it rumbling against the cage of his chest, a low growl that was echoed within me as he carried me away from the bonfire to a chorus of hoots and hollers.

Nothing was private here. Did you know arousal has a very distinct scent? Different for both males and females, but once I learned to identify it, I could see what they were talking about. And right now? I was sure I reeked of it.

Jared spirited me through the cabin and upstairs with ease, kicking the bedroom door shut behind him.

I reached for him, but he was already there, dipping his head low to steal a kiss from my lips as he lowered me to the rumpled blankets. His hands moved to my hips, and I lifted for him, letting him hook his fingers into the loops of my jeans to drag them off.

The kiss broke as he tugged my shirt over my head, and he laid a trail of hot kisses down my neck, brushing the inside curves of my breasts as he moved lower.

His touch sent shivers skating over my skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake as I moaned, digging my hands into his soft hair, needing something to hold on to.

My wolf prowled within, her eagerness to be joined with her mate so strong it made my head spin as Jared gripped me by my thighs. He pulled them apart, lowering himself to his knees on the floor at the edge of the bed.

“Jared.” I gasped as he pressed his lips to my inner thigh, driving me wild with anticipation as he teased my panties away from the heat of my sex.

I released his hair, reaching for something else to hold on to as he settled his mouth over my sex, making my hips buck as his tongue slid over my clit. My hands fisted in the sheets, my nails elongating in a way that I knew would leave holes in them, but I didn’t care.

Jared’s tongue drove all impeaching thoughts from my mind, and when his fingers dug into the muscle of my thighs, holding me open even as I tried to squirm, I knew I was nearing the edge.

So close.

So close.

Jared’s tongue slowed, bringing me back from the edge and making me cry out. In one swift movement, he lifted my hips, rising from his knees and thrusting until the length of him was buried deep in my throbbing sex.

“Fuck!” I shouted, stars bursting against the dark curtain of my eyelids as I reveled in the glorious fullness of having him seated inside me.

I wrapped my legs around his hips, locking him to me as he began to thrust against me. He groaned at his own ecstasy as my sex clenched around him, and the small sound only drove me wilder. Frantically, I moved my hips, meeting him stroke for stroke as he pumped into me.

When he added his fingers to the mix, rubbing my clit as he gripped me hard with his other hand to hold me in place, I knew I was a goner.

“That’s it,” he panted in the dark, his eyes glowing a steady, scorching amber in the dark. “Come for me, Allie.”

Knowing he was close to his own release shoved me over the edge, and I went with him, plummeting into oblivion as he fell over me.

We howled our release in a tangle of shuddering limbs.

In that moment, there was nothing but me and Jared.

No problems to solve. No witches to burn. Just us. Just this moment.

He cuddled me to his heaving chest, kissing me on the forehead as he drew the sheet up around my back. “I love you,” he breathed into my hair, making a new warmth grow in my chest. I squeezed him tight.

“I think you’re pretty cool, too,” I muttered, eyes growing heavy already. His chest shook with quiet laughter, and I smiled, feeling more at peace than I had in days.

I pressed a sleepy kiss to his chest. “Love you more.”