Part Six of Seven
"What was that?" he barely managed to say the words, breathless and frustrated as he ignored her hand, pushing himself to his feet.
"Well, you said you were teaching me about mating and marking. You've done that. You just finished explaining the basics of marking. The male does mark the female, the female does not mark the male. In your pack." He was certain now that he saw her roll her eyes as she turned and began walking back towards the camp with long even strides. "Oh and I believe I understand mating too? That's what we just did. Thank you." He had to stretch his legs to keep up with her, shaking his head in frustration at the explanation she had just given him.
"That isn't exactly how this all works, Nova. We definitely didn't finish-" his voice trailed off.
"Didn't we?" She didn't turn to face him as they walked side by side, but he could see her lips curving in a smile.
"Fuck it, Nova. Mark me."
"But it's not done by your pack?" Her tone was light but he heard the light tone and knew that she was mocking him beneath her laughter.
"Nova." He growled her name as they entered the darkness of the forest, his eyes taking a moment to adjust as she began to skip lightly in front of him, springing ahead a few steps, although clearly not trying this time to escape him. His cock, Hell, his entire body, ached for her now and she was treating this like it was some game.
He let her take the lead, walking slowly, his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the forest, his wolf surging beneath his skin. Still he was surprised when she turned, pressing her back against an old magnolia tree, her arms braced against its thick old branches. Its fragrant flowers had fallen a season ago, but she'd chosen it for its smooth trunk.
"What do you want?" he stopped in front of her and she tilted her head to one side as she stared up into his glowing eyes.
"I see your wolf is close." Most women, even in his own pack, would have trembled, but she took a step forward, lifting her hand to his cheek, and stepping towards him, so that it seemed natural when one of his arms wrapped around her waist, the other tangling in her hair and tugging lightly as he pulled her head back to stare into her eyes.
"Very close." His voice was caught between a murmur and a growl as he pressed against her, catching her between his muscular body and the smooth bark of the tree.
"You said we weren't finished?" her fingers fell from his cheek and she touched the mark on her own neck lightly, her eyes closing for a moment at the sparks that he knew it must be sending through every inch of flesh..
"Not even close, Princess."
"I think we might have been close." She protested as she felt him, hard already, prodding against her still slick entrance. Giving a little moan, she pulled her legs apart and gazed into his eyes as he lifted her, before plunging his long thick cock back into her soaking core.
"I meant what I said," he bent forward, nipping her ear as he hammered into her with smooth, even strokes, his hands cupping her perfectly shaped ass.
"And what was that?" She could hardly get the words out as she bounced up and down on his cock, her breathing uneven as her nails dug into his shoulders.
"Mark me, Baby. Now. You want it and I want it too. Fuck, even my wolf wants it." He tilted his head back, closing his eyes, while drawing her close so that she could easily reach the spot." He slowed his thrusts, so that she could do whatever it was she decided to do, hoping that she hadn't changed her mind. There was a moments silence, and she stilled above him and then all at once he felt a sharp pain just above his collarbone as she sank her teeth deep into the spot, claiming him as her own with a small, satisfied growl, which quickly turned into a moan of pleasure and then a scream.
Through the newly strengthened link he felt her pleasure and his own as the pain was transformed into something far more intense and far better than anything he'd felt in all his life. Wrapping his arms around her, he thrust deep inside of her, his lips crashing into hers, muffling her screams as she responded to his kiss, with kisses of her own, along with small moans and whimpers as the ecstasy finally faded and he lowered her to her feet, catching her when he found that she was unsteady.
"I'm sticky and wet." She complained after a few moments, wrinkling her nose.
"Then we should get you home." He scooped her up in his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the camp before depositing her on the towel that she'd found in the backpack. "Why don't you get dressed. Two of my men brought a car out. It's just in the parking lot closest to the road that leads to the pack. They're still waiting there. I'm going to have them take care of this fire. Because a forest fire is the last thing anyone needs. And I want to get you cleaned up and in my bed, oh I don't know, twelve hours ago."
She rolled her eyes again before looking around for the bikini top and shorts she'd thrown off earlier.
"And tomorrow, or whenever we finally leave my bed, I am going to have to take you shopping for some clothing appropriate for a Luna."
"Well I figured you probably weren't going to want me walking around naked all the time. And it looks like your lot spends more time in your human form than my brother and I ever did."
It was only moments after she had finished tying the bikini string securely at her neck that she heard the crunch of pine needles and leaves and two large men emerged from the forest path she and Clay had come up not ten minutes earlier. Turning her head she realized she recognized one of them, but thankfully the other was unfamiliar. Bending, she picked up the backpack with her scavenged belongings, but her mate was quick to take it from her and sling it over his own shoulder.
It took them fifteen minutes together, arm and arm, to make it to the little red car that was waiting for them in the parking lot. She glanced at it nervously before looking back at him as he opened the door, her nose wrinkling slightly in that way he was already coming to recognize.
"What?" he asked, stifling a laugh. This was not the typical reaction he got when women saw this car. Hell, he only brought it out when he was trying to impress a date.
"It looks loud."
"It will get us home fast." he reassured her, taking her hand and helping her into the passenger seat.
"What is your pack called?" he smiled and shook his head at the question. He was the Alpha in one of the most well known packs on the continent. There wasn't a werewolf alive who didn't know his name and reputation for ruthlessness. Glancing at her he amended the thought. He had thought there wasn't a werewolf alive that didn't know his reputation. And here he was, sitting beside his gorgeous, newly found mate, and she didn't know anything about him. Maybe that was a good thing.
"The Blazing Moon Pack." His eyes were on the road but his hand was resting lightly on her thigh and immediately he felt her stiffen, and heard her heart start to race in her chest. Taking his eyes off the road for a moment he saw that her face was now incredibly pale, her lower lips pinched between her teeth. Maybe she had heard of his reputation.
"We're not all that bad, Princess. And you're our Luna. No one will ever hurt you. I promise." She nodded, but he noticed that her heart was still beating a mile a minute.
"When I was very small I used to know something about the packs and how they were related." Her voice was very soft now, far more submissive then it had been at any time since he'd met her and it put him on guard. Why had she changed so much simply by learning the name of his pack?
"Yes?" he replied, trying to sound encouraging. He was becoming desperate to know why she was so afraid so that he could reassure her.
"Was your pack closely related to the Brittle Moon Pack?" Clay felt another tremor go through her body as she said the other pack's name.
"My uncle's pack? Yes, I guess you could say that we're close. He practically raised me after my parents were killed by rogues." His eyes shifted to her quickly before returning to the road. "He was my mother's brother."
"So his children are your cousins?" The question didn't seem to be meant for his ears, but he heard it and answered it.
"Yes, although again, they're more like my siblings. They're all older than me, by a bit. There's Sorcha, Rowan, and Sawyer, who'll be the next Alpha there when his father finally steps down."
"Sorcha." the whisper was so quiet on Nova's lips that he wasn't sure at first if he'd imagined it.
"I came too close. I never meant to come this way. I must have run much farther than I thought after my brother was killed. He had the maps and I lost my head." She was rambling and her heart was beating faster now as he debated pulling the car off to the side of the road when they were already inside pack lands and so close to his home, or pushing on just a little further and trying to get her inside to calm her down. He could feel her panic through the link, and his wolf was becoming increasingly distressed.
He pulled into his own drive a moment later and quickly threw the car into park, grasping her soft hands in his and meeting her eyes. "Nova. I'm here. You're safe."
It should have worked, he was her mate, but now she looked at him with eyes wide in terror, an expression far worse than he'd seen any other time that he'd faced her before they'd met at the lake.
"Nova. Please." He heard an emotion he didn't recognize in his own voice, a rising concern for her he'd never felt for any other woman that he wasn't related to. When he came around to her door she let him lead her from the car and into the back entrance to his suite at the packhouse. He guided her to the bed and helped her sit, before hurrying in and turning on the water to run a bath. He poured in oils and bubbles, anything soothing that he could think of.
When he returned she was sitting just as he'd left her, staring at the wall, her eyes unfocused. "Here. We both need to get cleaned up. Let's take a quick shower to wash away the beach, and the forest, then we can relax in the bath. And if you want you can tell me what's bothering you so much. Remember. I'm your mate. I'm always on your side."
After quickly rinsing both of them off in the shower and helping her lather her hair she seemed to come alive, asking for her own razor and other toiletries that she suddenly decided she couldn't live another moment without, before sending him on to the bath, and spending a bit of time shaving, and getting brushed up. When she emerged she was calmer, and looked as if she'd spent the day at the spa, instead of an extra fifteen minutes in the shower with items he'd found around his bathroom.
She sunk into the jacuzzi tub, putting a good deal of space between them, which was possible because it was so large, her eyes focused on the bubbles that had quickly accumulated thanks to the jets.
"What are you so afraid of, Baby?" he finally asked, when she hadn't made a sound after ten minutes had passed.
When she finally looked up he saw tears pooling in her eyes. "That you'll reject me. Or banish me. Or kill me. Because that's what your family has done to my family in the past."
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