Axel
Luna’s denial crushes my lungs so hard I can’t take a breath. After she answers, she scurries away from the table and races upstairs, as if she can’t bear to see my face. I pace the floor, prowling through the house that should be ours to fill with children and nice things, but instead is a lonely, dusty bachelor pad without Luna.
At last, I climb the stairs to the second floor and knock on the door of the room I prepared for her. I’m met with stony silence. At least I know she’s still in there because even a wolf can’t jump from the second-floor window without being injured in the fall. I can hear her on the other side of the door, anyway, can smell her and sense her presence just out of reach. Her wolf calls to mine, and my wolf roars for me to tear down the door and go to her, claim her fully this time. I fucked her during our mate bonding, but I never came, and my wolf is tormented with the memory that our claiming was never completed. He wants Luna, wants to claim every part of her to the depths of our wolf spirits.
Today, it took every ounce of willpower I possess to let her come on my cock without fucking her into the ground the way I wanted. But I had to
gain her compliance, and pleasure is the only offer she’s responded to so far. I had to show her that I can control her pleasure without forcing her submission. I want it given willingly.
Fuck, what I wouldn’t give to ravish her sweet little body, though, now so much more womanly and appealing than when we found her in the swamp, half-starved and on her own.
When she refuses to open the door, I plod back downstairs. I’ve got to do something to get out of my head and end the torment she’s filled me with. I grab my phone and tap in Ama’s number.
“Yes, boss?” she says on the third ring.
“I need you to watch my house and keep an eye on Luna,” I say. The pack is about to rebel over my reckless decision to get her back, and I’m not about to lose her already. I have to convince her that this is where she belongs and convince them that she’s worth what I gave up.
“Do I have permission to kill her if needed?” Ama asks with a sassy tone to her voice.
“No, you don’t have permission to fucking kill her. You’re not to harm a hair on her head.”
“You’re the boss,” she says, then hangs up.
A few minutes later, Ama strolls in, not bothering to knock. She flashes me a simpering gaze, then sidles up next to me. “What’s wrong, Alpha?
Trouble in paradise?”
“Nothing I can’t handle,” I snap, not wanting to involve her in my personal life. She’s already wormed her way into it more than I like. Appeasing my Second helps keep her happy, which helps keep the pack running smoothly, but Ama pushes my boundaries every chance she gets.
“You shouldn’t have brought her back,” she says. “But you know that, don’t you?”
“It’s already been done.”
“Let me stand by your side,” she says. “If you gave it a shot, you’d see how good we can be together. How well we can rule. Luna’s nothing but a whelp. She’ll never understand pack politics.” Her palm lands on my bicep, and she scratches her nails gently against my skin, giving me an inviting look. I know she’s down to fuck, that she’s hoping I’ll give in when I get too frustrated, the way I have before. She doesn’t seem to understand that’s all it will ever be.
“You’re not to talk about my mate disparagingly,” I say, brushing her hand from my arm. I slide past her and grab my keys from the hook next to the door. “Stay here until I get back. Do not leave under any circumstances. If Luna needs something, get it for her. She’s allowed anything she wants, but don’t let her leave. If she tries, contact me through our pack bond. I’ll be back soon.”
Ama glowers at me, but I don’t care. She, Luna, and everyone I know will be better off if I run this out of my system.
I drive like the Devil’s on my tail, heading to Creebay Preserve. Once there, I park, shift into my wolfskin, and head into the swamp. Anything but centered, I only chase instead of catching this evening. I already ate, so I don’t need to catch anything. I just need to hunt, to run and feel the wind in my fur, my powerful body racing through the preserve. When I’m utterly and thoroughly exhausted, I head back to the truck, shift to my human form, and drive back home.
On the drive back, I can’t stop thinking of Luna. She’s taken up space in every cell in my body. I can still taste the sweet nectar of her cum when I knelt over her today, and she lay there unashamed, with her legs spread while I took in the sight of her glorious, well-pleased body lying limp before me. With every breath I inhale, I breathe her into me. Every exhale, I try to let her go. The constant, maddening push and pull is driving me mad.
I’m furious I gave away so much land to get her back, and now it’s all for nothing. Her rejection lances my heart like a blunt arrow-tip, shredding my muscles and organs as it burrows its way through my chest. What do I have left? We have only a bit more than half the land we had yesterday, and I have nothing to show for it. I gave away pack territory without consulting
the pack, and I got nothing in return for the sacrifice. This impulsive, selfish decision will carry severe consequences.
When I arrive back at the house, I’m almost as twisted up again as I was when I left.
Ama is sprawled across my sofa, staring at the television with a bored expression on her face. “Hey, Axel,” she says, picking up the remote and shutting the TV off.
“Any sign of Luna?” I say, hanging my keys on the hook.
“I heard the toilet flush about an hour ago, and then she must have gone to bed, because I haven’t heard a peep out of her since.” She swings her legs from the coffee table and rises to her feet. “Am I dismissed now?”
“Yes. Thank you for caring for Luna.”
“I don’t give a fuck about her,” she says, fishing her keys from the pocket of her shorts. “I only did it for you.”
“Thanks again,” I say.
“Anything for you,” Ama coos, stepping in to wrap her arms around me. I start to detach myself, but I’ve been such as asshole since I lost Luna that I should probably start making amends. So, I submit to her embrace- until she starts grinding her body against mine like she’s trying to see if she can get me hard.
I untangle myself from her and step back, putting a healthy amount of distance between us.
“I’m with Luna,” I remind her.
With a huff, she whirls around and storms out.
I don’t have time for her ridiculous infatuation, so I lock the door and head upstairs to shower. I’m in the middle of rinsing off when the lights blink out. From the darkness outside the small window, I know it’s another blackout, something that happens on the regular in these parts. Probably another powerline swallowed into a sinkhole.
With a sigh, I finish rinsing off in the dark and climb out of the shower. We’ll be left to wait in the dark until the city decides to restore the grid. I towel off and then remember what Ama said-that she hadn’t heard a noise from Luna in hours.