Kenna
Evander’s mouth crashes against mine. The roar of the waterfall behind us fades to nothing but a gentle hum as the sound of his pleasure–a low, guttural growl–fills my ears and blur my senses.
We’re both stark naked and slightly sweaty from shifting. There’s nothing between us now–nothing stopping us from just being with each other.
He picks me up and kneels with me in his lap, his hands on my hips to hold me in place.
“You’re so beautiful when you shift,” he whispers, nipping the shell of my ear. “Like a pure, moonless night.”
His kisses dust over my jaw and neck, igniting a fire in my body I never want to stanch. I wiggle my hips, grinding against him, making mewling, desperate sounds of desire as his skin brushes over mine.
I’m aching for him. Every touch and smooth, heat-filled word out of his mouth sends me into a frenzy.
I’m having a hard time calming down and being in the moment right now. All I want is him inside of me. I want him rough and demanding. I want him to bite me–to mark me–again and again.
He lets out a low chuckle when I bite down on his shoulder in emphasis. “We’ll play later,” he says softly, his voice low and full of desire. “You’re worked up from shifting. It’s a natural response–”
I bite down harder, and he winces. “Kenna,” he groans, clutching my hips a little harder. The head of his cock presses against my entrance, but he holds me in place, refusing to allow me to slide onto him like I want to.
“Please, Evander?” I whimper, giving him my best doe-eyes.
It doesn't work on him.
He smirks, kissing me slowly, taking his sweet time.
All while I beg and pant and desperately try to chase any friction while he teases me with his cock.
“You’re so wet,” he says, sliding me over his shaft. He lets out a very satisfied groan.
“Please?” I beg again, on the verge of biting him once more. I don’t know what’s gotten into me, but if he doesn’t give me what I want now, I might cry.
I’ve never felt like this before. It’s hard to describe, really. It’s like all of my senses are honed on him and what he can do to me, the pleasure he can give, and how it feels to have him dominating me in every way.
This, I realize, is a mate thing.
Right now, my wolf powers are still in total control.
I can feel the mate bond at its full strength.
How do people live like this? Doesn’t it get in the way of their daily lives?
I sink my nails into his back as he rocks his hips against mine.
“I can’t take it anymore,” I whisper. “I need you.”
He kisses me again, harder this time, and I match his energy. His tongue swirls over mine, drawing out a moan from my lips as he clutches me to his chest. But then he pulls away and flips me over so quickly I let out a sharp yelp.
“On your knees, mate.”
My heart rate skyrockets. I obey, my gaze fixed on the crystalline floor that bites into my knees as I kneel with my back to him.
I feel him rise up behind me, his hand on the small of my back as he pushes me forward to rest my weight on my elbows.
I am totally exposed to him at this angle. His hands clutch my hips, squeezing. “Good girl.”
My breath comes in a rush as I lean down further until my breasts graze the ground. One of his hands gathers my hair, twisting it tight. The other smooths over the globes of my ass in a gentle caress.
I slowly look at him over my shoulder and my heart skips a beat.
He doesn’t meet my eyes. He’s transfixed–looking at me, my body, like he’s in a trance.
His gaze lowers to mine. His eyes are cloudy with desire and darker than I’ve ever seen them, but the corner of his mouth twitches into a dark, ruthless smile.
“Please?” I mouth, shaking with anticipation.
His lips part as he grazes the head of his cock over my pussy once, twice, then sinks into me in a single, hard thrust.
This is what he’s always wanted but could never voice. My complete submission.
I’m more than willing to give it to him.
“Gods,” he growls, closing his eyes as he thrusts into me, his dick stretching me to the point I’m dizzy with pleasure. He hits that spot that makes me start babbling incoherently, and the echoes of my pleasure bounce off the walls, mingling with the sound of his thighs hitting the back of mine.
His grip on my hair is tight enough to sting but the pain only makes this sweeter. I close my eyes, moaning his name.
It’s a white-hot kind of pleasure I’m unprepared for. My body shakes, and I start to lower myself until my belly hits the cold, slightly damp crystal floor.
He follows, lost in his own pleasure, until he’s covering me with his body and pumping into me fast and hard.
“You feel so good,” he rasps against my ear, groaning and cursing. “Fuck, Kenna, I’m not going to last much longer–”
With gritted teeth, he pulls out, flips me over onto my back, and enters me again before I have a chance to catch up to his movements. He grips the back of my thigh, drawing my knee up to give him deeper access, and buries his face between my breasts.
“Evander!” I scream, choking on his name as a climax builds at a rate I hadn’t been expecting. My entire body is on fire–my muscles so tight I can barely breathe.
His tongue darts over my left nipple before he sucks it into his mouth, grazing the tender skin with his teeth.
I let out my breath in a hiss and wrap my arms around his neck, canting my hips to meet him thrust for thrust.
“I’m–I’m going to come–” I manage to say, breathless, closing my eyes as that delicious tension snaps, and my climax ripples through my body like a rogue wave breaking against the shore.
He gasps, wrapping an arm around me to push me into his chest, and in one final thrust, he completely unravels at the same moment I do.
His slow, rhythmic thrusts fill me with warmth. My muscles spasm, squeezing him tight.
He looks down at me as if in a haze. We lay like that for several seconds–panting–trying to catch our breath.
But then he kisses me so tenderly tears prickle along my lower lashes. I run my hand up his neck, into his hair.
“I love you,” he whispers against my lips.
“I love you,” I tell him, meaning every word.
I feel it in my soul. I can feel the fine threads of our bond humming with delight.
My mate.
I found him, after all this time.
I’ll never get over it, I’m sure.
We spend the next hours lying in each other's arms talking about everything and nothing at all.
When the sun begins to rise, we shift, and make our way home.
We change back into our clothes beneath the willow and return to the castle as the first rays of morning sun dust over the rooftops.
Together, we fetch Brie from the nursing mother who’s been pumping milk and breastfeeding her at night and take her to the informal dining room on the second floor.
Evander mind-links with his parents to meet him there, as do I, and as we sit down to eat, they all join us for a quiet, slightly tense forced-breakfast.
But I’m sitting next to Evander, my knee resting against his thigh under the table. He’s holding Brie in his arms while she sleeps with her chubby cheek squished against his arm.
When he speaks, or laughs, she smiles.
My heart has never been so full.
But our perfect night and near-perfect morning couldn’t be all rainbows and sunshine.
“The Ghosts are required at the barracks,” Dad says from the head of the table where he’s been sulking all breakfast. “Alpha Sydney is preparing to return to Crescent Falls with his warriors to begin the search for the Draven woman, Gabriel’s sister.”
I glance at Evander, then my mom, taking Brie in my arms. She blinks up at me, frowning a bit when she realizes Evander isn’t holding her anymore.
“Not Gabriel’s sister.” Mom clears her throat and looks directly at me. “We have a meeting with Alpha Jaxon and his son using the mirror in half an hour.”
“I thought we weren’t using the mirror anymore?” I sit up a little straighter.
“I made a deal with Atticus,” she begins, her eyes sweeping the table. I notice Amanda looking down at her plate, her expression unreadable. “He let me go in exchange for our help finding his daughter… Gabriel is his nephew.”
I look at Evander. In the days since Mom’s return, I’ve only heard parts of the truth, I realize. Now, I’m getting the full story. She tells me what she learned when she was held hostage.
“Atticus is imprisoned in Tarsian, in Alpha Jaxon’s pack,” Mom concludes. “Kenna, I want you to come to this meeting with me.”
“I will,” I say, my head spinning.
Mary, the maid, meekly slides through the door at the edge of the room. She blushes when all eyes turn on her. “Uhm, I’m very sorry, Your Majesties. I’m here to put the baby down for her nap.”
“Oh,” I murmur, wondering how much time I’ve lost track of after sitting here listening to my mom tell me about Gabriel, his parentage, his use of ancient relics to suck powers from people, and our plan moving forward.
Even Evander is quiet and lost in thought as Mary approaches the table. I stand, laying a fussy Brie in her arms. “Put her down in my room, please. I’ll be there in about an hour.”
Mary nods and walks away with Brie. Evander tracks her movements before rising, followed by Granger, and then my dad.
Evander squeezes my shoulder and leans down, whispering, “I’ll see you later this evening.”
“Okay,” I reply, but an uneasy feeling tightens my chest as he walks away with the rest of the men.
Amanda mentions something about needing to meet with the wives of the warriors who lost their lives during the battle and excuses herself, leaving me and my mother alone.
I hate using the mirror. Sure, it’s an easy way to communicate with our family across the border, but talking to Alpha Jaxon and his son and heir, Cole, is never fun.
Cole is handsome but cold and just as stern and emotionless as his father.
I stand in Mom’s office, just behind her, listening to them argue about what’s to be done, how many warriors to add to their armies, and how to stop the Draven Coven from breaching the border into Crescent Falls.
All the while, I find myself staring Cole down. He’s my age, maybe a few years older. One day, he’ll be King of Tarsian while I’ll be Queen of Eastonia. One day, we’ll have to be allies.
He sneers at me. I sneer back.
“Atticus is not available,” Alpha Jaxon says shortly. “He’s losing his mind, I’m afraid.”
“What do you mean?” Mom asks skeptically.
“Our healers believe he might have been slowly poisoned, likely with nothing more than wolfsbane, but he’s detoxing, essentially, and having hallucinations.”
“Alert me when he’s well again,” Mom grumbles, waving a hand in dismissal. “I expected something like this. Atticus might be male, but he has witch powers. It’s likely Gabriel was poisoning him to keep him subdued.”
Jaxon nods, and without further conversation, his image in the mirror disappears.
I shiver involuntarily. “I really don’t like him.”
“I don’t mind Jaxon,” Mom smirks. “Cole, on the other hand, is a dickhead.”
I snort a laugh and follow her out of her office, but I expect her to turn to her own quarters, or, better yet, go back into the depths of the castle to continue her duties as queen for the day, but she follows me instead.
“What are you doing?” I ask. I’m anxious to get back to Brie. That meeting took longer than I expected, and there’s still so much to do today.
“I have some time before I meet with the mystics we have under lock and key in Old Moonrise,” she says with a shrug. “I thought I’d spend some time with you and Brie for a little while, if that’s okay. Your grandma Isla wants to meet her soon.”
“You told her?”
“She sensed something new was happening within the family,” Mom smiles. “I didn’t really have to tell her much about it. She’s very excited to meet your daughter.”
A weight lifts off my chest. At least Mom is on board with this.
But that nagging, uncomfortable feeling hits me again when we walk through my quarters. No maid met us at the door. It’s silent in here, actually, save for a soft breeze coming through an… open window in my bedroom.
I halt as unease crushes me from the inside out.
Brie’s bassinet is empty.
A crimson stain… blood. There’s a trail of blood leading from the bassinet to the window where–where the balcony is–
Mom’s powers burst to life as she shoves me behind her.
Mary is lying lifeless on the balcony, Brie’s blanket clutched in her arms.