Axel looks up from his seat at the table. A tray of smoked and dried meat and cheeses rests in front of him, along with two uncapped beers in frosted bottles. His hair is damp, and it hangs in soft curls at his neck. He’s wearing jeans and a skin-tight t-shirt that shows off his rippling muscles. Before I can stop my thoughts, my wolf pushes forward with pride and admiration at the strong, commanding presence of our Alpha.
No, not our Alpha, I remind her. Warrick is our Alpha.
Our mate, then, she argues. But he’s not our mate, either. He’s our captor.
“Have a seat,” Axel says. “I want to talk to you about pack law. As the Alpha and his mate, we’re part of a larger family-the Jacksonville pack. And that pack is part of an even bigger family-the southeast territory. Then there’s the United States, and beyond that, the werewolf race as a whole. There are packs all around the world. Each of those levels within the hierarchy has rules and structures to maintain.”
I take a drink of beer, thinking of the triplets and how much simpler their life is. All these explanations are making my head spin. “Won’t they be mad if they find out I’m your mate again? You said they’d never accept me since I talked to the vampires about y’all.”
“Once you’re my mate, we’ll explain to the pack why it was worth it to give up part of our territory. Together we’ll be the most powerful leaders in
the southeast, and our pack will be stronger and more respected as well. They won’t question it.”
“Except for Ama,” I say. “She’ll question everything.”
A scowl flits across his face, but he continues. “That’s her right as my Second,” he says. “And to be fair, her job as well. If I’m not making decisions for the good of the pack, she has to call me on it. She can even challenge me as Alpha. Besides her, we have warrior wolves who protect the pack in a more physical sense. Our sentinel is Kato. He keeps his eyes and ears open and alerts me of danger to the pack.”
“Like me?” I ask. “Am I a danger?”
“Are you?” Axel asks, his eyes searching me with unusual intensity. “No,” I say, setting down my beer. “I don’t think so.”
“The guardian wolves aren’t yet warriors.” Axel takes a swig of beer. Neither of us are hungry after the hunt, so the food goes untouched. “They help raise our young. Mothers are supreme majesties in the pack. We always watch out for the mothers, since they continue our species.”
“What about lone wolves?” I ask, thinking about Mama. They didn’t watch out for her.
“Usually, they’re younger, dominant males who either challenge the Alpha and lose, in which case they’re automatically cast out of the pack, or who want to start a pack of their own because they’re too dominant to take
command well.” Axel tips back his head and swallows the last of his beer. “Or they take off from another pack for their own reasons and wind up here, wanting to join after realizing the dangers out there for a lone wolf. Watch out for lone wolves, though. They can be feral or overly aggressive if they’re dominant and don’t have a pack to rule.”
I frown at his statement, remembering the scent of a wolf in the woods today where we hunted and later, when we mated. I wonder if that was a lone wolf. And then my thoughts drift in search of Ethan, Callan, and Warrick. They were once part of the Jacksonville pack. Now they choose to live on their own, with only each other to protect. I wonder if that’s why Warrick’s so grumpy-not enough wolves to lead.
God, how I miss them.
“As the Alpha’s mate, you’ll have a very important role, too,” Axel continues. “You will help me lead and use your practical knowledge and calmer temperament to keep order in the pack. We will truly be victorious when we’re together. We can even plan an attack on the bloodsuckers to reclaim our territory. They’ll regret ever fucking with us.”
Axel squeezes his beer bottle so hard I think it might shatter in his hands. I can practically see the steam billowing from his ears.
“So, would I be a warrior or guardian?” I ask. “Or a mother?”
“You’re a submissive wolf,” he says. “That doesn’t mean you’re any less important than the most dominant Alpha. In fact, a pack can’t exist without submissives. Too much dominant energy, and we’d all be fighting and tearing apart each other and the pack. A submissive is a peacekeeper, the glue that holds the pack together and the grease that keeps it running smoothly. The dominant’s first job is to protect the submissives. My most important job is to protect you, because you’ll be the highest-ranking member of the pack aside from me.”
“Oh,” I say slowly. “So that’s why Ama doesn’t like me.”
Axel looks at me a long moment. “Sure,” he says at last, though his tone makes it clear I’m missing something.
“And because she wants you for a mate,” I say.
He picks at the corners of the label with his short fingernails. “Also, I don’t know if you know this, but all pack members live in this neighborhood. It runs up to the edge of the preserve. It’s part of our territory.”
I notice that he didn’t answer the question about Ama, but I know I’m right. After a while, Axel goes out to take care of pack business, but I see Ama on the porch swing, so I know I’m still being guarded. I watch TV until I fall asleep on the couch. When I wake, it’s dark outside the windows, and Axel is lifting me into his arms.
I let him carry me upstairs, cradling me against his muscular chest, and deliver me to my bedroom. There, he straightens the wrinkled blue sheets he covered the bed with and lays me down on the soft mattress, where he proceeds to strip me bare.
I burrow my head into my pillow, ready to slip back into the land of dreams. But Axel has different ideas. He climbs on the bed with me and pulls me into his arms.
“I can’t get enough of you, Luna,” he murmurs into my lilac hair. “I’m a man possessed.”
He begins to kiss my ear, and shivers of pleasure move through me in waves. I lie back, languid and sleepy, while he kisses down my neck. After a while, he scoots down, his fingers skimming over my skin, making goosebumps rise. When his mouth lands on my nipple, sucking and tonguing me, my body comes alive and wetness blooms between my legs. He groans and sucks harder, his fingers teasing as they inch lower. He moves to the other nipple, leaving the first one red and erect, glistening with his saliva.
His hands move over me, stroking and caressing. Then he moves his mouth across my skin, nipping and licking my neck, kissing my mouth, and nibbling my ear lobe. Yet again, I’m on fire, thrumming with a connection that goes far deeper than I like. After a while, he works his way down my
body and settles my legs. His tongue torments me into a frenzy. He’s aroused, too, as evidenced by his rigid shaft, but he does nothing to satisfy himself. This is for me, like he promised before, but I find myself wishing it wasn’t, because I want that deep pounding of his cock that he gave me earlier.
When I explode around his fingers in orgasm, he hums into my pussy. It’s a hum of satisfaction at making me come so quickly. He doesn’t stop, though. He replaces his fingers with his tongue, pushing it inside me and working his fingers over the little bud of pleasure until I explode again. When he’s finally had enough, he lays beside me, nuzzling my neck.
“Your satisfaction is my satisfaction, Luna. I’ll save my orgasms until you forgive me.”
He falls asleep next to me, but I can’t rest easy. I swear I can hear the triplets howling for me in the back of my mind. Longing rips through my heart, tearing me to pieces. I have to go back, to be with the men I love. I’ll never be happy without my three biker lovers. They’re my family, no matter what Axel says.
As soon as Axel’s breathing deepens and his lips softly part, I remove his hand from my belly and slide away from him. I pause, looking at this man who gives me so much pleasure and so many promises. I feel for him, but I don’t belong here.
I dress, tiptoe into the hallway, and make my way downstairs. My heart swells in my chest as I step outside and breathe in the night. It’s time to go home.