Bride to the Alpha (The Wolf's Pet Book Two) (10 page)

And then, when I had gone far enough that I could barely smell the scents of my family’s pack, I began to run.

Chapter Fifteen

As I ran, I began to worry about Alekk. He’d told me he loved me, yes, but why? I was only a young woman, and he was a battle-hardened warrior. There were so many times I’d heard of someone mentioning a one-way Calling. Maybe I’d imagined his reaction. Maybe—

No,
I thought to myself sternly. There was no reason to doubt. And yet I ran faster and faster through the mountains. I didn’t carry much with me, because if I was going to be with Alekk, he would be the one to provide for me now. In all of my races against Blaise and Francis and Ash, I had never run so quickly. The branches seemed to swing out of the way as I leapt through the dense parts of the forest. The pine needles were springy under the frost and the ground seemed to push me forward, urging me on faster, faster.

I’d spent so many days in my pure human form that I’d forgotten how good it felt to fly over the forest ground with my paws barely touching the frost, the wind whipping against my fur. The chill in the air grew colder and colder as I turned up the mountain and began to climb. I breathed hard, but the exercise felt good.

The sun dropped and the moon rose, but I didn’t make camp. I didn’t need to. My whole being urged me on, until I was panting white on top of a snowy landscape, the dark trees rising above me and cutting into the moon with their arcing branches.

The only thing that itched at me, in truth, was the brand on the back of my neck. God, I hoped that I wasn’t making the biggest mistake of my life. Without seeing Alekk for over a week, I’d forgotten how he’d looked at me with a look of desire in his eyes. It was all too easy to imagine that he’d met somebody else, another female from his pack. Leah, maybe. She was so beautiful. Easily twice as beautiful as I was. Why wouldn’t he go back to her, or to the other dozens of women under his rule.

Because he loves you,
said the small voice inside of me.

But that small voice was growing softer and softer, until doubt gnawed at my heart. I ran so fast that my heart was close to bursting, but I finally reached the top of the ridgeline. He’d said he would be there, waiting for me. But there was nothing. I sniffed the air and could not smell his scent.

My heart sank. I stopped, panting, and dropped to the ground. I would rest. Then I would look for him. I would rest for a few minutes, and—

A flash of shadow caught my eye from ahead.

My head snapped up quickly. I could see only his shadow in the bright moonlight—he was coming over the ridgeline. At that moment the wind turned and I sensed his scent.

Alekk
!

The force of him hit me at the same time he came into view, a dark wolf so strong that his pelt seemed to ripple as he moved, every muscle taut and at the ready.

Waiting for you.

It was a thought, but it wasn’t from my own mind. For a moment I was confused, and then I saw Alekk’s tail swish in joy.

I… I could hear him. It was as though he was speaking telepathically to me. It wasn’t words, really, just the sensation that came through. But I was able to sense it myself immediately. He had been waiting, yes.

For me.

He ran forward and stopped just in front of me. I met his body with mine, nuzzling deeply against his side. He pressed his warm nose to mine which was frosted with snow and breathed in. I breathed in, too, the warm richness of his musk enveloping me as we arced our necks into each other.

Then he stepped back, and I could sense his wolf melting away.

Alekk shifted, his dark pelt dissolving into his skin as he rose from the ground. His face flattened, but those eyes… those eyes always stayed the same. The piercing blue of ice reflecting a clear sky.

“Princess,” he said, bowing deeply. The moonlight shone clearly on his scar tissue and for a moment my thoughts moved sideways. A flash of pity, that he was so torn.

He raised his head, and I saw a pain in his face. I realized that he had heard my pity, sensed it somehow. Suddenly I felt as though my throat was thin, collapsing. I breathed in deeply, but every muscle in me tensed taut.

“Shift for me,” he said.

I lifted my snout at his order. His hands were clenched taut at his sides. He was naked, and his scars looked like rivers winding across his skin. He saw my gaze, and stepped closer, so that he was looming over me.

“Shift,” he whispered, and the power in his whisper carried over the soft snow.

I let my wolf side recede. I could sense the emotions that went through him—but above all, was desire.

I gulped back my own sudden rush of desire at the thought. My heart beat fast, and a clench of warmth ached in my core. If he had turned me over and taken me then, I would not have minded.

But I was missing something. I realized that desire swirled around us, but there was…

I blinked.

There was no love.

Doubt stabbed through me, and I stepped back. Instantly I could feel my doubt reflected back at me through Alekk. Doubt and pain both came stinging through my skin and echoed through me, reflecting back and forth like a two mirrors pointed at each other. I pressed my hands to my head as though they could pin down the half-thoughts crashing in hard waves against my mind.

—need to have, need—

—not her—

—not the one—

I gasped with pain. It was exactly as I’d feared. He wasn’t my true mate.

Alekk clapped his hands around my shoulders, straightening me. I tore my hands away from my face and looked him in the eye.

“Be completely human now,” Alekk said. He said it so calmly and surely that it made me mad. How could he stay calm at a time like this? I could
sense
the emotions burning through his body; he couldn’t deny what he was feeling.

“Kinaya! Obey me. Human.”

His hands clutched my shoulders, and his nearness set off a spiraling ribbon of loneliness that tightened around my heart faster and faster. I couldn’t do anything. I had to do something.

“Human
.”

I pulled back into my purebred form, and immediately the pain eased, like a shadow gone from the sky. I could still feel it, a dull murmur in my mind, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been only moments ago.

“What happened?” I asked. My heart was racing, and there was a roar in my ears, even though the trees were still; there was no wind blowing. Then I remembered the feeling that had set off the entire whirlwind.

“You’re not my mate,” I whispered. My eyes lifted to his.

“Kinaya, don’t say that.”

“Isn’t that what you were thinking?”

“No.”

“But I heard—”

“You were doubtful, and you heard doubt. As soon as I felt it from you, doubt came over me. And I thought you had changed your mind, Kinaya. I thought you were coming here to tell me to leave.”

I shook my head slowly.

“Why did we get caught in that…that echo?”

“Why? I can’t say for sure, but I have an idea.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“I think that it’s because we reflect each other so strongly,” he said. “They say that a Calling is like falling into the same step when you’re walking side by side. Right?”

“Right,” I said, frowning. “But that doesn’t mean—”

“It means we’re so close that I feel what you feel, and you feel what I feel. And if you’re afraid and I sense it, I become more fearful.”

“And then I sense it and it grows,” I cut in. “Then we could both go crazy with fear.”

“And if one of us has a strong feeling, well, it makes sense that it would happen quickly.” He looked me in the eyes. “I can still sense your emotions, a bit. Can you sense mine?”

I paused, trying to tell the difference in my mind between his emotions and my own. It was hard at first, but as I focused my attention on them I could see that one of the feelings was fainter, like a layer of transparent fabric draped over my own feelings.

“Yes,” I said. “But…”

I trailed off, not sure if I should bring it up.

“But what?”

“But I couldn’t feel any
love!”
I blurted out stupidly. “I mean, there was desire, yes, but there wasn’t
love!
And if we’re really truly mates, then what do you—”

I stopped talking, my throat suddenly choked up. I didn’t want him to tell me that he didn’t really love me. I didn’t want him to send me away. I don’t know why I pushed so hard. Maybe it was because I saw how much my dad loved my mom. I wanted that, too.

“Kinaya, oh, Princess!”

Alekk bent down in front of me, holding both of my hands in his. I could hear him draw a deep breath, then exhale. After a few seconds, he rose again. He clasped his arms around me and drew me to him. At first I thought he would kiss me, and my lips parted. But he didn’t. Instead, he bowed his head and pressed his forehead to mine.

“Princess
,” he whispered. And then he closed his eyes.

Immediately a bright burst of joy shone through my body, radiating warmth. I couldn’t possibly begin to describe how deeply the sensations went. It was like listening to the deep rich tones of music, the pluck of a guitar and the heart-thudding stomp of a drum. It was like swimming through a warm sky, the very air bubbling and lifting upward. It was like seeing ribboned fireworks of red and orange and gold fly through the sky and light up brighter and brighter.

And then I saw it, heard it, sensed it. A small pinprick of light. Bright like the smell of cinnamon, fresh like pure snow. It glowed inside Alekk’s heart, what I could sense of it. So small. So fragile.

“Love,” I said, my lips parting. “But it’s—”

“It’s there,” he said. “I have not known you long, Princess. And you have not known me long. But it’s only a seed. It will grow.”

All of my doubts shedded away, falling softly like snow onto the already-white ground. Alekk tilted my chin upwards and kissed me.

“And now,” he said, his breath warm on my lips, “we can talk about
desire
.”

Chapter Sixteen

The night of our wedding was cloudless, and as I spoke my vows aloud, I saw the stars reflected in Alekk’s eyes. The candles around us flickered under familiar faces, and I could sense a deep joy in the forest clearing.

“By the light of the moon…”

The moon, which Granny Dee had always called Kar, one of the old gods. The moon that my infant hand pointed at in the evening. The moon that had gone around the earth and stayed unchanged. I knew that I could leave my pack, my territory, because the same moon would still be shining.

“I bond myself to thee…”

I was already bonded, heart and soul. It overfilled my heart with joy to share our bond with both of our packs together. Around us, the candles flickered in a soft wind.

“Alekk, my one true mate, now and forever.”

Alekk. The Scarred Prince.

My
prince. I would be part of his pack, and he would be part of my family.

Alekk looked over at my parents and smiled, and if I didn’t know my dad was blind I could swear he saw, because the corner of his mouths curled up even higher.

“By the light of the moon, I bond myself to thee,”
Alekk repeated. His fingers pressed mine, and I squeezed back. Joy swelled my heart as he spoke the last few words.

“Kinaya, my one true mate, now and forever.”

The candles twinkled in the forest as the wedding guests walked back. There would be a feast tomorrow from noon until night, and dancing, and ale. But tonight we would be left alone.

When everybody had gone, Alekk traced a hand down my arm. I trembled with desire.

“You chased me down once,” he said with a smile, loosening his tie.

“Yes,” I said, remembering how I’d tracked him.

“Now do it again.”

He turned and leapt, shifting in the air as quickly as I’d ever seen. I grinned and bounded after him, leaving my dress behind. I’d be back for it later.

Alekk ran through the forest, deeper into the mountains, and I raced behind him.

By the time he came to a stop, I though my heart was going to explode.

He nuzzled me again, then bit me on the scruff gently.
Mine.

I growled and pushed into him. We tumbled over and rolled across the snow, barking and yipping like pups. Happiness blossomed inside of me. The air was cold and perfect, and I was with my mate!

I leapt to my feet and barked with joy.

Alekk stood up too, this time shifting into human form.

“Come,” he said.

I closed my eyes and thought of the first time Granny Dee had taught me to shift. My bones stretched in my body, my muscles twisting over each other. Not too bad. Like yoga.

Alekk held out a hand to me and I smiled, feeling shy. His grin was devious, and I let out a small shriek as he lifted me up and brought me through a circle of tall pines.

“Here,” he said.

In front of us was the hollow of a huge tree. The smaller trees that surrounded it cloaked it with their branches. There was no snow inside, and stepping onto the springy earth from the frost outside made my feet tingle with warmth.

“Look up,” Alekk said.

I looked up. Stars twinkled through the branches of the surrounding firs as the wind made the treetops sway. It was dark and beautiful.

Alekk’s hand ran up my arm. I arched my head as his lips brushed the side of my neck.

“Oh,” I sighed. “That feels so wonderful.”

I could sense his own joy and desire swirling up, the images and thoughts floating through my very being.

He knelt down, and his arms wrapped tightly around my thighs.

“Ah!” I cried, squirming in his grip. His tongue thrust into me and I nearly fainted with pleasure. My fingers scratched his back as he sucked deeply, sending the pressure inside of me sky-high.

“Oh, God!” I cried out. “Alekk!”

He responded without words. His hands gripped and kneaded my ass as his tongue worked around my folds, licking me where I burned with desire.