As amazing as making love and marking Chloe felt, Animkii was disappointed that he didn't witness any of her memories or the fact that she didn't mark him as well. Her mark not healing immediately was also alarming and not normal.
He should have seen this coming. Her mate was still alive out there. They'd never be able to seal the matebond. Never be able to have pups.
He took her virtue from her and claimed her as his when she was never his to begin with. Her inability to claim him was proof of that fact.
They got back to the pickup truck and darkness had enveloped the land. He had thought about showing her all the progress that had been done with the construction earlier, but now it was too late.
He opened the door for her but before she climbed up into the truck, she touched his arm, drawing his eyes down to meet hers.
"You were my first love too," she whispered. "You still are. You'll always be my first choice, not second-best."
Pulling her in for a hug, he kissed her forehead. "I've always prayed that you'd be my mate. I don't know why you weren't and why Madison was given to me if her fate was to die young. But I'm thankful to have you now. I just hope we've done the right thing and you don't regret choosing me later."
She shook her head lightly and looked up to meet his eyes. "I would never regret choosing you. You've been in my heart for as long as I can remember. I don't know how I would cope without you in it."
Her soft words wrapped around his heart like velvet. He bent down and kissed her, savoring her for a minute of tenderness before helping her up into the truck.
He held her hand as they drove back to the mainland down south. When they arrived, he sent a text to her father to let him know that she would be spending the night with him and then turned his phone off. If her parents objected, they'd have to come and tear Chloe away, but he didn't think they would. Cameron knew of Animkii's intentions and most likely had an idea of what Chloe wanted. They would go over tomorrow and discuss anything they wanted to talk about, as well as speak to his own parents about arranging Chloe's Luna Welcoming Ceremony. The pack deserved to know as soon as possible who their next Luna would be.
He parked the truck in the garage and they held hands as they strolled to the dormitory.
He couldn't wait to arrange to have their own cabin until he had finished building their house in the midland.
There was a slight nervousness in her movements as they entered the dorm, but she held her head high. Few would have noticed, but he could tell. He could always tell with her.
Most of the wolves living in the dormitory had gone to their rooms by then but some still lingered in the lounge to the left of the staircase, talking boisterously amongst themselves, oblivious of their arrival.
With her hand still in his, he led her up to the third floor, where his room was with the other single males—a normal room like all the rest. The bathrooms were in the middle of the hallway with one room dedicated to toilets and urinals and another room next to it with shower stalls. There was usually almost always someone in the shower at this time of the night. He peeked into both the rooms and, seeing that both were empty, let Chloe in to do her business while he stood outside. When she was done, he grabbed one of his towels and his toiletries, not caring that they were somewhat masculine in scent. Clean was clean. She could grab her things tomorrow when they went to her house.
A crooked grin tugged on her lips. One he hadn't seen since they were pups and about to get into some mischief. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him in, giggling.
He couldn't help but grin as he locked the door behind them (which he knew he wasn't supposed to do since both the shower and toilet rooms were communal) and let her tow him toward the stall farthest from the door. They shed their clothes as they went, and locked the stall door behind them. Even though the stalls were narrow, they were big enough for both of them to move freely around, taking turns lathering each other with soap and washing their hair between heated kisses.
She must have taken off the bandage he had applied to her shoulder when she went into the other room to use the toilet. It was gone, revealing scabbed over teeth marks with underlying bruises, but if it caused her any pain, she didn't show it.
Her skin was silky soft against his. He loved the feel of it, the smell of it, and the taste of it. He loved the way his cock felt between her thighs and butt cheeks. He loved caressing and holding her breasts in his hands and flicking his tongue over the hardened tips of them. He loved hearing her moan.
They snickered when someone knocked on the door, demanding to be let in. They were done getting clean by then and he picked her up and thrust into her against the wall. She cried out in pleasure, causing the banging to grow louder. He pounded into her harder, making her howl over the banging until the banging stopped and a minute later they climaxed, panting hard, and grinning.
She unwrapped her legs around his waist and he eased her down until her feet were firmly planted on the wet floor, sliding himself out of her in the process. He gazed into her hooded eyes as steam continued to waft lazily up around them.
"I want the whole building to know their Alpha has found his Luna," he uttered as he caressed her jaw and tilted her head up for a kiss.
Heat rose to her cheeks, turning them a soft shade of red. She raked her teeth over her bottom lip as her eyes dared to meet his. "Is that what you had planned in bringing me here?"
He smirked. "It was one of many options, yes."
Cleaning himself under the stream of water, he leaned close to her and rubbed his fingers between her legs with his other hand as she rolled her head back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Once they were clean again, he caught her dilated eyes with his before he turned off the shower.
"Let's not disappoint them then," she uttered.
A growl of unquenched hunger rose up within him before he turned off the shower and rubbed her down with his towel. They only had the one since she pulled him in. He dried her off first, then himself before handing her the wet towel to wrap about her chest. A possessiveness overcame him and he didn't want anyone seeing what was his.
He unlocked the door and peered out into the hallway before ushering her out. They hurried to his room and as soon as he closed and locked the door behind them, she dropped the towel to the floor and he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to his bed.
They made love for hours, stopping for thirty-minute intervals to catch their breaths and refuel before their cuddling would grow heated again.
After their second round, he opened his window to let in some fresh air. He knew the wind would carry the sounds of their lovemaking as well, but he didn't care how many they disturbed now that it was after midnight. Others did it, why couldn't he? He had every right to announce to the pack the arrival of their new Luna. And he made sure he gave Chloe all the pleasure he could muster to make her howl.
***
He didn't know when they finally fell asleep, but he thanked the Goddess that it was Sunday and there was no rush to get up in the morning. Breakfast was never served on the weekends because not enough wolves bothered to get up early unless they had to go out on patrol. Most opted to hunt in that case. Lunch was served an hour earlier though, starting with breakfast essentials for anyone who wanted it while the main dishes cooked in the kitchen.
Animkii woke and had to bolt to the door to empty his bladder. After he was done, he peeked down the hallway and saw a few doors open, meaning the wolf inside was present and welcoming company if anyone passed by. The doors around his room were shut. He bet those wolves were still sleeping—not that he could blame them.
He slunk into the shower room and heaved a sigh of relief when he found his clothes still in there. The jokers in the pack would have loved to have gotten their hands on those and do something embarrassing with them. Or maybe they wouldn't? Maybe they'd know better not to mess with their Alpha and Luna the night they consummated their relationship?
Whatever the case, he grabbed his clothes and returned to his room, fully aware that he was still strutting around naked.
Returning to his room, he saw Chloe stirring in bed. He dropped the dirty clothes into his laundry hamper and walked over to her side of the bed to rub her back. "Hey. Good morning."
She moaned before rolling onto her back, her boobs on full display before she tugged the blanket up to her chin. She squinted up at him as her eyes adjusted to the light. "Morning," she mumbled as she glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table. "I mean, afternoon."
He glanced at the time, noting that it was indeed shortly after noon, before returning his attention to her. "Sleep well?"
She snorted, her face breaking out in a huge grin. "Once you finally let me, I did."
He smirked. "I recall you climbing on top of me twice."
Her grin broadened as her eyes scanned down his bare chest to his morning wood. "I didn't hear any complaints about that."
"Nope, but your confidence was super sexy. You made me cum so hard." He'd never forget the sight of her cumming as she rode him hard, her boobs bouncing. Damn...
Her grin turned cheeky. "And I'll make you cum again but first, I need to use the washroom and eat something. I'm starving."
He stood up and went to his dresser to pull out some clean clothes. "Same."
"I should shower too..." she murmured, sitting up and letting the blankets pool around her waist.
He tried not to stare at her when he turned around to hand her one of his shirts. He'd spent years trying not to imagine what her boobs looked like and now that he finally saw them, he couldn't help staring with his mouth hanging off its hinges. She raised her eyebrows at him. Was he salivating?
"Uh..."
She kicked the covers off as she climbed off the bed. "I mean, I don't mind being covered in your scent and all, but after last night, I don't think I need to be any louder by offending their noses as well. Plus we're going to meet our parents later too, right? And Ann and Oliver definitely don't need to be exposed to all that."
She took the shirt from his hands and all he could do was stand there and gape at her until she pulled the shirt over her head. Smirking, she patted his cheek, snapping him out of his stupor. "There, see? No more distractions." She looked around him at his dresser and his room in general. "Got another towel? Or is the tent you're pitching supposed to be it?"
His balls clenched at the playful mention of his full-blown erection as a low primal growl rumbled from his chest.
Grabbing a pair of clean boxers from his drawer, he stepped around his bed to his storage closet where there were two more towels stacked there. He grabbed both and handed her one. "If you want to get clean, you better hurry before I come in there."
Barking out in laughter, she darted to the door. "Give me a minute to pee first!"
An urge to run after her twitched his muscles, bringing his wolf to the forefront.
He would have that female and bend her over before she could even get that T-shirt off.
He sprinted to the door with his towel in hand, prepared to catch her the moment she entered the shower room and take her, regardless of whether or not they were alone in there.
They needed their own place—and fast.
***
Brunch was full of awkward stares from others as they entered the cafeteria, Chloe in his clothes that nearly swallowed her up. They piled food onto their plates and took their seats off to the side, all the while their movements were watched in complete silence.
Afterward, they headed to Chloe's parents' house and invited his family to join them. Everyone was happy with the news and Animkii's mother immediately set to work on arranging the Luna Welcoming Ceremony next weekend while his father arranged to have someone clean one of the guest houses for them to stay in. Anwaatin was thrilled and followed Chloe up to her room so she could change into her own clothes, demanding to know all the details before they returned, dressed with her hair pulled back in a French braid.
They spent an hour or two relaxing and chatting together while the smaller pups played an outdoor game. Sam, Mik, and their daughter came over in the late afternoon to join them since they were close with both families as well. They fired up the grill and prepared a feast to celebrate, not only their union but in discovering and accepting themselves as well. They knew it had been a tough journey, but the initial hard step had been taken and now it was time to train and take over the pack.
Chloe's mom looked a little tearful when Chloe excused herself after dinner to pack some of her clothes with some essentials to take with her to the cabin they'd be staying at now. Her father was equally sad to see her go, Animkii could tell, but he tried to cover it up. She was still close, just not under their roof anymore. It was time to let her go so she could make her own destiny.
Darkness was creeping up when the cleaner came by to give them the keys to their cabin, which would be their home for the next few weeks. Animkii would get their house move-in ready as soon as he could. He couldn't wait to show Chloe. She had no idea.
They kissed the cheeks of their families goodbye before heading out to their cabin—a different one from the one he and Madison stayed in at the other end of the valley. He thanked his father for that.
He slung Chloe's duffle bag of clothes over his shoulder and they strode across the darkened valley to their cabin. He decided to pack some of his own things tomorrow before going to the midland construction site to begin his day. For now, he wanted a nice, quiet evening with his mate—and if they broke the bed, then so be it.
---- Author's Note ----
Next chapter will be up on the 10th or you can get the next 8 installments now on Inkitt! Link is in my profile.
Copyright Jo Lee Hunt ( Joflower ) 2020-2022