ANNALISE
"My apologies, Xillon. But, I need to dress and get downstairs before dad bursts into flames. You are welcome to come in, if you'd like. We could talk while I'm putting on my clothes. By the way, you look handsome."
And that he does in his black tuxedo with a silver undershirt that brings out the color of his grey eyes exquisitely.
Either I have devised a method to close off his thoughts or he is totally empty of any thought. He sniffs the air and clenches his teeth tightly. I take a look and observe a new door has been inserted and look back at him timidly.
"You replaced my door? Did someone help you? Because I don't understand how you had the time to do the work by yourself." I ask as I open the door and walk inside. He continues to stare quietly. "Xillon, get your ass in here, damn it," I say and yank him inside.
"It smells like sex and Jarek in here. I've suffered enough already. I'm struggling to stay in here right now. Being in the same room with you while you smell of him is too much for me. I'll see you downstairs."
Xillon clutches his chest, sniffles and walks out of the door with his shoulders hunched. I can feel his pain surging via our bond and all I want to do is lay down and bawl my eyes out.
I don't regret giving myself to Jarek. It was the most amazing experience of my life. We are now connected through the mate bond, and the past is behind us. My heart aches for Xillon though, and I must do everything in my power to make things up to him.
I splash on as much makeup as I have time to put on and let my wet tresses hang loosely down my back. Dad is fuming, and I don't have the luxury to dry my hair or do anything else. I pull on some fresh panties, pull the silver gown over my head, spritz on some perfume, and dash out the door.
My eyes widen once I reach the end of the staircase and take my place between Xillon and Jarek. All the senior members, in addition to leaders and upcoming leaders, those having their first shift and their relatives and acquaintances are all here. Even the Omega's that tend to the residence and their families are also present, in addition to the packs high ranking warriors. A shifter ceremony is normally low key, with shifters, loved ones, and family present at the event. Why are the elders here? Something must be going on.
"Now that my daughter has arrived, I have an announcement, everyone. We have a distinguished guest arriving in two days. I cannot divulge who it is for our safety and theirs. Preparation for their arrival will start at first light. That being said, those of you who are here for the shifting ceremony make your way downstairs. The rest of you must take a breather, for the coming days are going to be demanding and depleting." He says waving his hand in the air dismissively.
"So, he isn't upset, then?" I ask Jarek as I grip his and Xillon's hand and pull them towards the shifting ceremonies dungeon.
"He has more urgent matters to contemplate, I imagine." Jarek says and growls at Xillon when he attempts to embrace my shoulders.
"Stop it!" I scream and slap Jarek on the chest. I shove Jarek aside and encircle Xillon with my arms to safeguard him. Jarek snarls again, scowls, and retreats.
"I'll take a shower and clean myself thoroughly and stay with you tonight. If you opt to forgive me, that is. Xillon, I'm deeply sorry for what has transpired. I don't plan to turn down either of you. I understand if you choose to deny me, though. Zane, on the other hand, can rot in hell for all I care."
"What?!"
"Yeah. Zane is my mate as well. You should have heard the musings running through his head when I shifted. They were horrendous. Jarek's weren't all that great either, now that I think about it. But he and I have left the past behind us, so we can move forward."
"You're speaking in riddles, Annalise. I do not know what you are talking about. We'll talk more later. I don't want your father beating our asses for being late."
Zariah and Xena greet me as Xillon and I descend the stairs, hand in hand.
"You look gorgeous, Annalise. As always. Are you sure you have the strength to transform again so soon?" Zariah asks, as she tosses her dusty blonde locks over her shoulder.
"You should rest, Annalise," Xillon says, and pulls me to his side and wraps his arm around me protectively.
"Your brother is right, Zariah. I haven't spoken with Larrisa in hours. I'm convinced she's still resting. This knucklehead had us running all over the forest before commencing the hunt." I said, and Xillon groaned as I ruffled his hair.
"We are just happy that you can attend. We'll have ample opportunity to shift and run together on some other occasion. I'm thrilled we have new blood arriving soon." Xena says.
"Why does it matter, short stuff?" Zane says, walking up and giving Xena a fierce hug and she punches him, making him wince.
Poor girl got the short end of the stick for shifter females, reaching only five feet eight inches. But her height doesn't keep her from whooping Zane's ass, who reaches six foot ten.
If it weren't for his words after my shift, I'd be swooning for sure. He appears strikingly dashing in his black formal wear with a turquoise undershirt that emphasizes his light hazel blue-green eyes. The seamstress did well in perfecting his dress suit so that it molds to his tall, bulky frame. Damn, he's hot. Why does he have to be such an asshole?
He glares at me and leaves Xena to give Xillon a high-five.
'Fucking bitch has bewitched my best buds. I'll do away with her, once and for all.'
"I'd like to see you try, asshole."
Zane scrutinizes me as if he were trying to figure out if he had said that out loud and scowls at me. I quirk my eyebrows and grin. Xillon's questioning gaze as he tries to piece together what I told him earlier with what's currently happening is comical, to put it mildly.
'What the fuck?'
"What the fuck indeed, Zane," I say and yank Xillon away to follow Zariah and Xena to the center of the room.
They strip from their garments and hand them over to their mother's, as all the other guys and girls who are shifting do, and my dad begins the ceremony as he goes into a deep meditation to connect with each person's inner wolf.
"So you can pick up on people's thoughts?" Xillon whisper's silently in my ear. So low that if I weren't a wolf shifter, I wouldn't have heard him.
"Well, yours, Jarek's and Zane's. I haven't been able to hear your thoughts though, since I ran into you upstairs."
"I told you how I was feeling and what I was thinking."
"I know. I believe I'm totally drained in all truthfulness. Thus, my mind-reading abilities are a bit rusty."
"Shhh... It's starting." Xillon says and hugs me tightly to his side.
***
After taking a long hot steamy bath with lavender salts and then washing my hair and body off in the shower, I donned some sleeper shorts and a spaghetti strap shirt and made my way across to Xillon's room. I waited patiently at his door after lightly knocking three times.
'Damn, she's beautiful. I can't believe I am as fortunate as to have Annalise as my mate. I'm the luckiest bastard on earth.'
Xillon grins, grabs my hand and pulls me inside. He's donning a black pair of briefs that hug his dick and balls to perfection. He's well-endowed, more so than Jarek. I wonder if he's hard, or if that's how it is all the time. His dick jumps, and its length grows thicker and longer. I guess he wasn't hard, but he sure is getting that way now.
'Down, boy, not now. You'll have your chance soon, though.'
"To be clear, I heard what you said. Both times."
"Well, I am the luckiest bastard on earth, sweetness. And I am aware you're exhausted. I'll be happy just to have you in my bed tonight."
Xillon grins when I scrunch my face questionably and pulls me towards his bed.
"The timing isn't right, sweetness. But when the time comes, I'll make love to you from dusk till dawn. There's no doubt about that," Xillon says as he crawls onto his king sized bed, gets under the covers and pulls me up and then over beside him. I rest my head on his hard, chiseled chest. His warmth and the zing that goes through my body because of the mate bond has me feeling protected and at peace. He runs his fingers through my hair and kisses my forehead.
"Close your eyes, love. I am aware we have a lot to talk about, and we will. Not at this moment. Understand that I'm not angry. I was, but I'm past that now."
I can sense his serenity through the mate bond and understand that what he is saying is true. I close my eyes and Xillon sends me into a profound dreamless snooze, murmuring tender nothings in my ear.
XILLON
I've never slept so well in my life. Waking up with Annalise's ass firmly rested along my waking erection has me wanting to blast off. Reaching for my cell phone, I glance and see it's only four in the morning. It'll be two hours before Annalise and I are expected to wake.
Pondering Annalise having three fated mates and Zane being one of them leaves me utterly baffled. Not only is this sort of thing unheard of, but she's only sixteen years old and the rest of us are seventeen. As an alpha female, she isn't supposed to find her mate until she is nineteen. None of this makes any sense.
There is also the subject of her wolf. When she transformed, her fur was sky-blue with silver undertones and she had silver wings that spanned out several yards. Beyond being a wolf, what else could she be if she isn't part dragon? She was twice the size of a werewolf shifter. Then she shrunk in size, lost her wings and was suddenly black with grey and brunette undertones. What's up with the silver crescent moon between her eyes? Her wolf is gorgeous no matter what, but...
"Xillon, please go back to sleep. It's too early and your thoughts woke me. I'm just as confused as you are. I don't have any answers for you."
"I'm sorry sweetness. Resume sleeping. I'll be returning soon," I say as I quietly move away from the bed and walk over to the ensuite bathroom to answer nature's call. Upon doing so, I wash my hands and brush my teeth before climbing back into bed and spooning my gorgeous mate.
***
I wake to Annalise, grinding her ass cheeks into my erection. Groaning, I clamp my hands on her hips to still her. "If you keep that up, I won't be able to resist taking you right here, right now."
"I want you to, Xillon. Please. Refrain from making me wait any longer."
"I apologize. This will be over quickly."
"I'm your first?"
"Yes."
"It's okay, Xillon. I don't mind. I'm ready for us to make love."
I stretch to pull a condom from my nightstand, strip myself of my briefs and sheave myself, before pulling Annalise's shirt off and pulling her sleeper shorts down her legs.
I suck her toes into my mouth and revel in the mate bond that sends bursts of electricity through my mouth, down to my cock, making it spasm and jump. My balls tingle and ride up, and it's a sensational feeling. I knew holding out would pay off.
It hasn't been easy because I've had girls clinging to me for the last couple of years. As unbelievable as it may be, I have persistently had admiration for Annalise. Her eyes and wolf ears have continually captivated me. During the past year, she seems to have flourished from gangly to toned and filled out with curves that would drive any man mad.
Annalise sighs as I move over to the other foot, then trail kisses up her legs until I reach her glistening clit and flick the nub with my tongue. I shove a couple of fingers inside her entrance with one hand as I pinch her and fondle her best with the other, all while nipping and sucking her nub.
Her hooded gaze seers into my own as eat and finger fuck her slowly. She nibbles her bottom lip and moans, making my balls and cock throb, threatening to spill inside the condom.
Once I feel her walls closing in on my fingers, my fingers retreat and I trail kisses up her torso before closing my lips to hers and slowly pushing my cock inside her warm, tight heat. She opens to me and I delve my tongue inside, none caring of the morning breath we both share. She tastes amazing regardless. I only hope I do as well.
"I'm going to cum Xillon." Annalise whispers as she bucks her hips to meet my thrusts.
Her heels dig into my ass, and her nails dig into my scalp as her entire body tenses. I swallow her screams of pleasure as her walls catch me in a vice grip and I can feel the warmth of her essence as she erupts.
I try to hold off my impending orgasm, to no avail. I was hoping not to be a minute man, but I'll make it up to her. My balls draw up and moments later, I rest my cock in her cervix. I shake my head to rid myself of the ringing in my ears and the stars blasting off beyond my closed eyelids.
My knot swells and implants itself inside her pubic bone, and I growl into the kiss as I blast off inside the condom. Annalise holds me and runs her fingernails over my scalp tenderly as I gasp for air and nip at her mate mark. I'm thankful that Xavier hasn't woken yet, or I would most likely mark her. Her walls continue to milk me and I've never felt so alive.
"That was wonderful, Xillon. Thank you." Annalise sighs dreamily, as she scrapes her fingernails along my back and the mate bond travels through my body, head to toe.
"I'm sorry."
"For what? That was perfect. We both got what we needed. We have started our day with a bang. Next time, we'll make passionate love from dusk to dawn, as you declared. Don't put yourself down, Xillon. Seriously, making love to you was phenomenal."
DANTE
"Father, are you certain we haven't ever been here before? I know I've voiced this a hundred times since we entered the pack's borders. But I'm experiencing a profound sense of Déjà vu."
"You've never left Scotland, son. It's merely jet lag."
"I'm not sure, father."
"I'm about to give you the boot and make you walk to the pack house, son."
"Go ahead. Some fresh air might do me well."
"There's still a respectful distance ahead of us before we arrive." My mother stated.
"No. Seriously. Let me out."
Father pulls to the side of the road and I pull my backpack that's full of an extra set of clothes, amongst other things, from the seat and slam the door. Titan has been clawing at me to go for a run for three days now. I need to unwind and let him out before members of the Blood Moon Howler Pack bombarded us.
I venture into the woods, shift, and Titan holds my backpack with his teeth.
'Do you smell that?' Titan inquires as he smells the air. 'It smells of watermelons and rain.'
'I suppose it rained.'
'No. It's weak, but I'm certain it's our mate's scent. It gets stronger the deeper into the forest we go.'
'Follow the scent so we can find her then.'
Titan breathes in the earth as we progress deeper into the woods. We reach a cavern and Titan sticks his head in to explore.
'Her smell is potent, but there isn't a soul around.'
'I'll investigate it and shift so that we can sprint to the pack house.'
'Sounds good to me.' Titan says and within minutes I'm back to my human form.
Abruptly, dimness covers me and I am able to see myself confronting a lovely woman who is grinning at me. Her eyes are stunning, shifting from blue to gold to silver. She has long, thick brunette hair and lupine ears. She's tall, toned and wearing a beautiful sundress that forms to her voluptuous curves.
"I'm going to shift so I can return quicker than if we were to walk. Keep this for me and wait for me outside." I say and hand her the backpack that I currently have in my possession, and then the vision fades away and I'm brought back to reality.
'Titan, did you see what just happened?'
'Yes. That woman is our mate.'
'But it was like a memory. I know I've been here before. I'm not delirious.'
'Our mate is at the pack house. Let's find her, then seek answers later.'