Warrick
I got six dead Swamp rabbits draped over the back of my bike, and I’m eager to share them with the family-until I spot that dickwad Axel, strolling next to Luna like they’re a couple teenagers courting. I fix a steely- eyed glare at him until he and Luna are within a few feet of me.
“You just can’t stay away, can you, puppy-dog?” I growl at him. “Sniffing around here like she’s a bitch in heat. Pathetic.”
I’d rip his throat out if I could walk out of here alive, but I know the pack would kill me and my brothers too if I touched their fucking Alpha. I’m so sick of his ugly mug showing up day and night, mooning over my Luna, it’d almost be worth it.
Luna sidles over to me and gives me a sweet kiss, trying to sooth my temper. I heft the rope-bound dead rabbits from my bike and hold them up like a prize. “See what I caught for you, baby girl?” I say, dismissing Axel from my line of sight. “Your man brought home food to feed the family.”
“Thank you,” she says, her eyes lighting up.
I sling my other arm over her shoulder, effectively pushing Axel out of the way. I sneer at him before speaking. “Food I hunted, not just bought
from the grocery store.”
“That’s great, Warrick,” Luna chirps. “Axel’s joining us, and it looks like you brought home enough for all of us.”
Her statement grinds in my gears. I didn’t spend the whole day in the preserve chasing these dumb bunnies through the marsh only to share my hard work with the likes of Axel. “What a good idea, Luna,” I say, my teeth bared in a snarl at Axel. “Maybe he’ll get it through his head that your ass is mine now, and he’ll stop mooning over you like he’s got a shot.”
I kiss her thoroughly just to rub it in his face. He needs to know he’s never getting her back. When I pull away, Luna giggles breathlessly. I smirk down at her. “You have a good day, baby girl?”
“I did have a good day,” she says, smiling and snuggling into my side, where she’s tucked into the protection of my arm.
“Same here.” I lift the rabbits again and give the bundle of meat a wiggle. “These fuckers are wily.”
“Don’t I know it,” she says. “I caught them for Mama and me when we lived alone. It was more fun catching Key deer with Axel, though.” Her eyes sparkle at the memory, and my wolf growls inside me.
“They’re hardly a sporting challenge,” I say, shooting Axel a superior look. “All Key deer do is huddle together with the rest of the pack like sheep. These little guys give you a run for your money.”
“They’re hardly sheep,” Axel mutters. “We felled a buck. Luna and I worked as a team to take him down.”
I give Luna a little squeeze as we tromp up the porch stairs. Reaching for the door handle, I hold it open her, then slide in front of Axel and release the door, so he has to catch it before it clocks him in the face.
“Callan!” I bellow when I’ve stepped onto Luna’s tiny foyer.
“What’s up?” he calls from the living room. “I’m kicking Ethan’s ass in this game.”
“Get your ass out here and make us some supper,” I growl. “Luna’s invited a guest.”
I tromp into the kitchen and spread the rabbits out on the counter. Then, I head to the fridge and retrieve a cold brew for myself and hold out one to Luna. “Want one?”
“I’m good,” she says as she shuffles toward the counter to start the rabbit prep. “Axel?”
“Sure. I’ll take one.” Axel gives me a cool look, trying to fucking lord his dominance over me in my own mate’s house.
“Nah,” I say, closing the fridge and leaning on the counter. “That’s a waste of good beer.”
I tip back my head and take a few long swallows, watching the priceless look of utter, impotent fury on Axel’s face from the corner of my
eye. Then I step behind Luna and massage the back of her neck with my free hand.
“Mmm. That feels good,” she says, laying the rabbits out.
“Good,” I say, pushing aside her long hair to kiss her neck. “Call it pre- foreplay. It’s to get you ready for foreplay, which is to get you ready for what I’m packing.”
A pretty blush colors her cheeks while Axel’s face grows apoplectic
red.
It makes me want to laugh-it’s so damn easy to get his goat. I head to
the table, sit down, and lean back on the back two legs, enjoying myself immensely. If he’s going to keep harassing my mate after we both told him to shove a dick up his ass, I’ll remind him exactly how thoroughly he fucked up.
Luna opens a drawer and retrieves a shiny cleaver. Placing the first carcass on the cutting board, she chops off all four legs at the ankles, then slices off the tail and the head. Pulling the skin away from the belly, she takes a smaller knife and cuts apart the hide from groin to neck, careful to not pierce the stomach. Now she’s ready to peel away the skin like she’s removing a tight coat from the carcass.
I like watching her. Her focus and skill with a sharp blade make my wolf swell with pride.
Mine.
She carefully guts the rabbit, then removes its liver, which she places on a plate.
“You want the organ meat?” she asks me.
I shoot Axel a grin, and Luna’s eyes fly wide. Maybe she thinks since he’s the Alpha, he should get the organs. But Axel’s status ain’t shit in this house, and he knows it. He’s leaning against the wall all casual-like, but what he sees in here must burn like a brand to his soul.
“Sure, baby girl,” I say. “Bring it to me.”
After presenting the liver to me, Luna affords Axel another glance, this one laced with what looks like sympathy. He doesn’t react, but I know his wolf’s seething inside. What Alpha male in his right mind wouldn’t care when the woman he longs for serves up the best bits to another man? And I’m not just getting the best bits of the rabbit. I get the best bits of her.
“Thanks, darlin’,” I say to her before picking up the raw liver with my fingers and popping it in my mouth. I chew slowly, watching the vein in Axel’s head tick with each heartbeat.
As Luna finishes prepping the carcasses, Callan strides in with a grin on his face. “Now that I’m done kicking Ethan’s ass,” he says, talking about his dumbass video game. “Step aside for the master chef, pet.”
Luna giggles and steps out of the way, taking the entrails to the trash.
“Callan,” Axel says with a nod.
The poor guy’s out of his league here. He must be dying a thousand deaths to witness the easy way all of us interact with Luna.
Callan prepares the rabbit stew and Luna cleans up, the two of them keeping up an easy banter all the while. Ethan joins and makes a salad while I have a cigarette at the table. None of us pay Axel any mind. Luna tries to include him in any conversations, but the rest of us cut him out. No one asked him to be here.
After we’re all seated and the meal is served, we dig in. For a few minutes, none of us speak as we wolf down the food. Axel sets down his spoon halfway through his bowl, like he’s been looking for his balls the whole time. He frowns at Luna and then turns to us.
“I’d like to extend an invitation,” he says. “For you to join the pack.” No one says a word.
My brothers both turn their gazes to me, though. I slurp up a spoonful of soup.
“It’s because I asked him to,” Luna bursts out. “Axel can change pack law. He’s the Alpha. And the pack can offer us protection.”
“We didn’t ask him to change anything,” Ethan says. “We’re fine with the way things stand.”
Callan scratches his beard. “Can’t say we need your protection,” he says to Axel. “We’ve been getting along just fine without y’all for the past ten-plus years.”
Axel blows out a lungful of air. “Yeah, I get that,” he says, looking pissed. “You wouldn’t benefit that much. But think of Luna-the pack can telepathically communicate with her if she’s in trouble. Think of how that might have saved her from nearly dying a couple of weeks ago.”
“I think we managed,” I say, picking up my soup bowl and downing the rest of the contents in a few big swallows. I wipe my mouth on the back of my hand and glare at him.
“You can manage better with the pack, and we all know it,” Axel states, placing his palms on the table. “I won’t beg. But it’s the only way Luna will join. I’m willing to share my pack, the protection it offers, and all that goes along with it for her sake.”
“You just want to fuck her,” Ethan says. Axel’s lips purse, but he keeps his cool.
“You already shared your mate with us,” I say with a grin, enjoying goading the asshole. “It’s a good thing, too, or she’d never know what it was like to be fucked by a real man.”
I pull out my tobacco and start to roll up a cigarette.
“She’s not your mate,” Axel states, his fingers pressing into the table so that the muscles in his forearm bulge.
I light my cigarette and blow a cloud of smoke at him. “She chose me as her mate,” I say. “Now she’s mine.”
“Please don’t fight,” Luna says, her appeasing nature surfacing. “We all share everything. If I join the pack, I want to share that with y’all, too.”
“We don’t share everything,” I growl. “Not with him.”
“But we all share with each other,” Luna says. “Me and you and your brothers. Our own little pack.”
“That’s right.” I crush out my cigarette and grin at her, eyeing her tight little body. “I’m your Alpha and your mate. Your ass is mine now, not his. Which means I can share you however I see fit, with whomever I see fit.”
Luna nods eagerly. “Yes, I’m yours,” she agrees.
I pull her from her chair and onto my lap, hook my hand behind her neck, and lower my mouth to hers. I can’t remember the last time I kissed a woman-it’s been years. I fuck Luna near every night, but kissing isn’t something that interests me. But tonight, I kiss her with fury and longing and lucifer be damned, how she responds. Her little hands grip my arms as I plunge my tongue rhythmically against hers, my cock stiffening under her ass until she’s squirming and panting.