Page 12 of Wooded Bliss (Mated to the Monster: Season 3)

THATCHER

It’s only been a few hours since I left Birdie to finish up her day, but I’ve been busy. Some of the things I’ve gotten going won’t produce fruit right away, but they will with a little time. However, there’s one thing I won’t wait to make happen.

I just can’t do it.

When I pull up to Birdie’s place, I grab half of the boxes in my truck and the tape gun. I don’t even get up to the top step of the porch before the door swings open and my mate is looking at me with wide, surprised eyes.

She cocks her head to the side and amusement starts to filter into her gaze, “What do you have there?”

“Boxes.”

The smile on my mate’s face is so damn bright and full of joy that I can’t help myself as I close the distance between us. Not caring at all about the boxes under my arm, I lean over Birdie and kiss her. Her hands grip my shirt, and she presses herself as close to me as she can get.

She looks dazed when I pull back and I can’t even express how much I love the look on her face. I’m going to be the one to put that same look on her face every day for the rest of her life.

“I can see that,” she steps backward into her house and pulls me along for the ride. I follow her without question or hesitation. As if I want to be anywhere else. “Why do you have boxes?”

“We’re going to get started packing you up.”

Birdie’s mouth falls open before she throws her head back and laughs. I love the sound of her laughter; it makes my heart fill full, and I find myself staring at her and soaking up every moment. Fuck, her laugh is wonderful.

“You want me to start packing today?” There’s no derision in her voice, just curiosity, after she’s gotten herself under control. “I thought we’d, you know, make a plan about when I’m moving in and then execute the plan.”

“Nope,” I kiss her forehead as I walk past her deeper into the house and straight into her bedroom, which feels like a good place to start. She walks in behind me and I’m relieved when I look over at her to find her smiling. “I see no reason to make a plan when we can just go to executing the plan.”

“Just like that?”

I stand the boxes against the wall and then put the tape on top of her dresser before closing the distance between us. After cupping her face in my hands, I look deep into her eyes. “I can’t go another night without you in our bed. I know it’s the place where you belong. It’s the home we’re supposed to share.”

“We won’t be able to pack everything up tonight,” she bites her lip, clearly trying to hide her smile even though her voice is filled with amusement.

“I know,” I sigh, “but we can get the process started. I’ll be roping my brothers in to help when it comes to the big stuff. We’ll make room for everything if it’s what you want. It’ll be your home, and you can move things, redecorate, or whatever you want. Anything to make you comfortable in your new home.”

“You’re adorable,” she breathes out.

I narrow my eyes at my mate, but it’s all in jest. “Adorable?”

“Yup,” she pops the p and gives me a sly grin.

“I was hoping for something a little more masculine than adorable,” I pout.

Birdie tips on her tiptoes and kisses the underside of my jaw. I love how much smaller my mate is than me. I hope I can always make her feel safe and protected, like she’s delicate and cherished. The way she fits against me has all my possessive and protective instincts roaring to life inside of me.

“Need to get mate home to our den,” my bear grumbles, reminding me exactly why we’re here.

“She’ll be sleeping in our den tonight and for the rest of our lives,” I promise him.

The satisfied rumble he lets out as he relaxes in the corner of my mind has me grinning down at my perfect mate.

“Like,” she teases me, “sexy? Handsome?” She taps her chin, the corner of her mouth tipping up. “Maybe ridiculous?”

“I’ll show you ridiculous,” I growl, my words filled with tantalizing promise, “when I get you back to our home.”

The way my mate shivers has my cock throbbing behind the fly of my jeans. Now is not the time, but it’s hard to stay on track when she’s standing in front of me and looking at me with desire in her eyes. There’s no reason to waste any time starting the moving process. My mate did agree to move in after all.

Then I’ll be marking her to make her mine permanently.

I can’t fucking wait.

“Okay, my big cuddly teddy bear, I’ll pack up some stuff and we can start on this whole packing and moving thing.”

The growl that comes out of me is partially me and partially my bear. All my mate does is wink at me before she goes to her closet to pull a suitcase out and begins to decide what she wants to take with her tonight.

We work side by side, the anticipation between us growing with every breath we take. I’m fucking giddy with the knowledge that tonight is the start of the rest of our lives. We’ll be sleeping in our bed, in our den, from now on.

I’m not the only one giddy. My bear has practically rolled over on his back with a huge toothy grin on his face. He is kind of a big teddy bear for our mate, but I can’t exactly blame him.

When we fill up my truck and her van, I stand back with my hands on my hips while a feeling of accomplishment fills me. It’s not everything, not by a long shot, but it’s a start. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more satisfied in my life.

I know the feeling will only grow when Birdie is fully moved into our den. The grin my mate shoots me is tired but filled with the same satisfaction which has settled deep in my chest.

“I think this is about all we can fit and take over tonight,” she speaks my thoughts out loud, her voice tired.

As much as I don’t want to be away from her, I know she has to drive her van to our home. She’ll need it tomorrow. While I would have no problem driving her to work, my woman may need to make deliveries, and I’ll never do anything to take her independence away.

I pull a keychain out of my pocket and hold it out for Birdie. It holds a key to our house and a small bear figurine.

Birdie grins and murmurs, “It looks just like your bear.”

My bear puffs up with pride and chuffs happily. He’s been bugging me to spend more time with our mate. It won’t happen tonight after doing all this extra work, but I’ll make sure it happens soon.

“Let’s go home,” I gently lead her out of the door while planting a kiss on the top of her head.

Her big blue eyes meet mine and her voice goes husky, “Will you be marking me tonight?”

I let out low groan, “Oh, little one, I’ll be marking you and, Goddess willing, I’ll be planting my cub inside of you.”

She lets out a squeak, “Cub?”

I make a humming sound, watching my mate’s reaction closely. Sure, she looks stunned at first but then a slow smile creeps across her face. My dick is more than ready to turn my promise into reality. Even if I don’t put my cub in her tonight, we’ll have a damn good time trying.

Birdie will make the best mom and it’s been way too long since we had cubs running around the forest surrounding the Bosch pack lands. The woods deserve to be explored and enjoyed in a way that only kids can.

She doesn’t say anything as I help her into her van and kiss her forehead. I think she’s in a daze, but I don’t have a problem giving her a few minutes to process my declaration. She’ll have the time it takes for us to get home.

I follow her closely, needing to make sure she’s safe as we head away from Whispering Pines and deeper into the woods. The moment we pull up in front of our cabin, I leap out of my truck and stalk toward my woman.

After wrenching the door open, I pull her out of the van and throw her over my shoulder. The shriek and giggle that comes out of her makes me chuckle under my breath. I land a solid slap on her perfectly round ass as I make my way into our house.

She’s going to be what makes this a home. I can’t fucking wait.

“I’ll carry everything in later,” I growl, “but I need to fuck you in our bed and mark you as mine.”

“Yes,” she mewls, and it has my control unraveling very fucking quickly.

It takes far too long for our clothes to fall to the floor, but then I have her naked and laid out on our bed. When I stand up and look down at her, I have to take a moment and simply appreciate that this is my life.

Taking a deep breath, I let reality settle deep into my soul. It’s hard to believe there was a time, not long ago, when I had convinced myself that I didn’t want this. Now, imagining this life without her feels desolate.

After shucking my clothes, I crawl over my mate’s body. As I go, I kiss, nip, and lick her skin. The way she shifts her hips and moves her body while not knowing where my mouth is going to land next is sexy as hell.

I can’t take my eyes off my mate. She’s so damn gorgeous. Gratefulness doesn’t even cover what I feel when I look at her.

As I hover over her, our lips almost touching, I growl, “I’m going to plant my cub in you tonight, my mate.”

Her body arches and our skin touches, sending tingles all over our bodies and making us both groan at the same time. My woman’s blue eyes are filled with heat as she looks up at me.

“I can’t wait to be pregnant with your cub,” her voice is husky and almost sends me right over the edge.

My lip curls back, exposing my teeth which I know have grown as my gums tingle and my bear tries to take over. I hold him back, never wanting to hurt our mate and knowing my bear doesn’t want to either.

As the head of my cock makes contact with the slick lips of her pussy, my woman sucks in a breath and spreads her legs even wider for me. I bury my face in her neck and jolt slightly as she reaches between us and wraps her fingers around my length. When she notches me at her entrance, I plunge forward and bury myself to the hilt with one thrust.

Even though I desperately want to pound into my mate, I force myself to hold still and allow her a moment to adjust to my size. When her hips wiggle underneath me and her hands slide down my back to grip my ass, I know she’s ready.

Then her walls squeeze my length, and my control flies out the fucking window.

My pace is relentless as I pull back and then fill her again. Over and over, her moans, yelps, and pleas get louder with each movement. I clench my jaw, trying to hold back my release.

“Mark mate,” my bear growls, his focus all on Birdie and how fucking amazing she feels.

“I’m going to plant my cub in you, little one,” I growl the words.

My bear snarls in my mind at the thought of our mate being pregnant with our cub. He wants it just as bad as I do, if not more. The rumble of pleasure he lets out vibrates through my chest where I can feel Birdie’s hard nipples digging into my skin.

I slam into her and rotate my hips just right and, her pussy clamps down on my length as she lets out a shriek. When she arches her back and exposes her neck, I don’t hesitate.

The moment I strike, my teeth sinking into her marking spot, her orgasm turns into two and I plant myself as deep inside my woman as I can and come hard. I send a little prayer up to the Moon Goddess with every jet of cum that fills my mate.

With any luck we’ll be welcoming the first cub to the Bosch pack in far too long. We have a chance to rebuild. We probably won’t ever be what we were before, but, maybe, we can be something better.

After licking my bite, I kiss her hard. She wraps herself around me and holds me to her as tightly as she can. I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything better than being this connected with her.

Mated.

Marked.

Soon, I’ll ask her to marry me because I want my little one tied to me in as many ways as possible. I don’t think it’ll ever be enough.

As I start to harden again, I pull out gently and grip Birdie’s hips before flipping her over on her hands and knees. Once she’s in position, I plunge back inside of her tight, slick heat.

Leaning over her body, framing her body with mine, I growl against the shell of her ear, “I’m not nearly done with you yet, mate.”

The way she pushes back against my thrusts tells me she’s not done with me either. I wouldn’t have it any other way.