Claiming His Need (17 page)

“You want to know the words I’ve said?” I asked with a laugh.

“Yes, I do believe I need to know exactly how naughty your language can be, young Kaija, Omega of the Wariksen pack.”

My smile faltered at the reminder of the possibility of losing my place in the pack, but I shook off the dread weighing me down and kissed my mate once more. Lightly, delicately. And then I slid my lips over his scruff-covered cheek to whisper in his ear.

“I have been known to say ‘fuck’ a time or two.”

Gates growled and rolled, pulling me underneath him and pressing his hips into mine. He was hard…so hard all over. From the muscles in his arms to the planes of his chest to the erection that lay between us as he ran his nose up my neck.

“Say it again.”

I dropped my head back as his teeth met my skin, a shiver working its way down my spine.

“Fuck.”

My breathy whisper was met with the rolling of Gates’ hips, his hard and hot pushing perfectly against my soft and wet. There was nothing between us but the belief we needed someone else’s approval before we could progress to what we both wanted. And that belief was fading with every pass of the head of his dick over my clit.

I groaned and canted my hips as his tongue trailed along my throat. “Please.”

Instead of my request bringing more from Gates, it resulted in his stopping the movement of his hips and pushing away from me.

“We can’t.” He swallowed hard. I stared at him, unsure of why we had to stop.

“You’re my mate. I want you, and my heat has passed. We can.”

He huffed a laugh and sat back on his calves as he ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck, princess. I want you, too.”

I sat up. His eyes fell to my naked breasts and he groaned.

“If you want me and I want you, why can’t we be together?”

Gates yanked the sheet from around his legs and draped it over my shoulders.
 

“Because we’ve waited this long, and I want to do things right for once.” He gave me a soft kiss, a simple press of his lips, before he jumped out of bed. “I’m going to take care of what business I need to. You”—he looked me over, lust and desire so plain in his eyes and the upward curve of his erection—“would probably feel better after a hot shower.”

I pouted as he yanked his jeans over his hips and grabbed his shirt. “You could always join me, you know.”

Gates chuckled as he settled the black fabric over his chest and reached for the leather vest he always wore, the one that identified him as a Feral Breed member. “I don’t think I could keep my promise if I were to see you naked and wet. Again.”

He winked at me as I blushed, remembering the night of my bath. That was less than forty-eight hours ago, and yet it felt as if a lifetime had passed.
 

Gates strode across the room to lean over me. His fingers grasped the edge of the sheet, pulling it down as he stared into my eyes.
 

“You are the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen in this very long life of mine.” He rubbed his nose along my cheek, and then rested his forehead against mine as his eyes trailed down my body. “So beautiful and sweet. You deserve better than me, but the fates have given you to me as a gift, and I fully intend to treat you with all the love and respect I can offer. So let me do things the right way. I promise, it’ll be worth your while.”

I nodded once before pressing my lips to his one final time. “Then go, mate. Do what you need to, but be quick.”

He pulled away, his eyes intense, before grinning and racing for the door. “I can be a lot of things for you, princess. Quick will never be one of them.”

An hour later, after a long shower and a meal, I walked the camp toward where our funeral pyres were burning. The fire was a necessity—no humans could find our bodies. There would be too much danger of someone discovering the secret. Normally we burned one body at a time and mourned the loss to our pack. But as I approached the field where multiple fires raged, a sense of celebration was in the air.
 

Men danced with their mates, children ran around the edges of the field, catching fireflies and whooping with delight, and in the far corner, the Feral Breed boys stood in a group, laughing and talking with a few pack members.
 

I checked over the group, looking for Gates, but he was nowhere to be seen. The Breed all tended to dress the same—jeans, black boots, black leather vest with Breed logo on the back thrown over a dark T-shirt. All of them were attractive men, but none could compare to my mate. Who was definitely not among their group. He was near, though. I could feel him. I just couldn’t see him.

I strolled through the field, smiling as my packmates greeted me. The evening was so surreal. I was being smiled at and hugged for participating in the deaths of other shifters. And though I knew in my head that their deaths were the only thing that saved me and my pack from further danger, my heart rejected the idea that they’d earned their fate. No one was irredeemable.
 

As I weaved through a group of human mates chatting near a low fire, my father whistled loudly from the far end of the field.

“I understand my daughter is well enough to join us in celebration of the defeat of our enemy.”

I smiled as I came around the final fire. My father stood facing his pack, tall and regal as ever with his white hair and beard practically glowing in the dusky evening light. He met my gaze and gave me a wink before addressing the pack.

“Yesterday, the fates bestowed their graces upon us in battle, and we as a pack walked away hearty and whole. Those who were injured are healing, a true blessing from the gods. Tonight, as we release the bad energies from pack land, we shall celebrate one more blessing.”

He turned to face west. I mimicked his position, staring into the trees still glowing with the setting sun. But then a shadow appeared, growing larger with every second, moving toward us.
 

“Welcome to our land,” my father intoned, arms in the air. “We are the noble shifter brothers who came to these shores centuries ago. Our ancestors are the blessed white wolves of Finland, the honored protectors of ancient tribesmen who lived along the shores of the many lakes of our home country. We are family and friends, mates and neighbors. We are the Valkoisus pack.”
 

I took a deep breath as excitement bloomed in my stomach. I knew those words. They were said every time a mate was brought into the pack. The seconds seemed to stretch on forever as my impatience to hear the next part of the speech grew. For the next few words would tell me whether the person coming was human or wolf. Whether the shadow in the woods was my Gates or someone else.
 

“Wolf brother—”

My heart exploded into a gallop. The shadow was a male shifter. This was it. My mate had finally come for me, and our Rites of Klunzad would begin within a few moments.

“—you have come to request one of our packsisters as your eternal mate.”

My breaths came fast and hard as my head began to swim. I stretched onto my toes to see over the shoulder of the woman standing in front of me, but to no avail. The shadow remained a shadow.
 

“You have made your interest clear and shown your respect of our ancient ways. I welcome you onto Valkoisus pack land. Please come forward, offer yourself to your chosen mate, and let her choose her future.”

The crowd parted as the shadow emerged from the tree line. Tall and strong, Gates strode across the field, the black cloak he wore fanning out around him. His eyes locked on mine as he drew closer, serious and intense. I could barely breathe, couldn’t stop my body from shaking in anticipation of this moment.
 

I’d waited years to be joined with my fated mate. And right then, I knew the wait had been worth it. Because in the end, I would get Gates. And he was worth any wait the universe chose to throw my way.

When he reached the center of the circle formed by my packmates, Gates stopped and removed his hood. His gaze stayed locked on mine even as he began his part of the ceremony.

“My name is Lorenzo Martinez de Caballero, Gatekeeper of the Feral Breed. I offer blessings and thanks to the Valkoisus pack. I have come this evening with the approval of your Alpha to request a joining with my fated mate. Her spirit speaks to me, and her soul is entwined with mine. I offer myself to Kaija Wariksen, Omega of the Valkoisus pack, as mate, lover, and protector.”

As was tradition, he kneeled and sat back on his heels. It was my turn. I could refuse him; it was my right. But mate refusals among shifters were practically unheard of. And by the soft upturn of Gates’ lips, he knew my decision before I began my way through the crowd toward him.

“You have chosen me, Lorenzo Martinez de Caballero?”

“Yes.”

I smiled as I stopped directly in front of him. “You request my companionship, my love, and my attention?”

“Yes.” He grinned back, his face level with my breasts.

I placed my hands on his shoulders. “You will fight for me and with me to protect our family, our pack, and our breed?”

“Yes.” His hands gripped my hips and pulled me closer. I leaned over and licked my lips before placing them against his ear.

“You desire my flesh.”

He shivered under my hands and gave me a throaty, “Yes.”

I pulled away, meeting his gaze once more. “And will you join with me in the ways of a man and a woman? Will you mate with me? Will you complete our bond with the mating bite?”

Gates’ eyes practically glowed with the fire of his lust. When he spoke his reply, his voice was strong and loud, without a hint of question.

“Hell yes.”

I grinned. “Then I accept your request, sir.”

He was off his knees and had me in his arms before I could breathe. His lips crashed into mine, tongues sliding together as we held each other tight. My legs wrapped around his hips, and his hands slid to cup my ass as I sank into his hold.
 

“Easy, kids.” My father’s voice interrupted our moment of rejoicing, and we broke apart, grinning.
 

“You are my mate now,” I whispered as he placed his forehead against mine.

“I’ve been your mate from the first moment I saw you in that cave. And I’ll be your mate until my final breath.” He squeezed my ass as he pulled me tighter against the erection trapped between us.

I clawed at his back and moaned. “Such a smooth talker.”

“I do try.” He grinned and kissed me again.

“And so we have a new mated pair!” My father’s booming voice interrupted our moment again, and I laughed as Gates finally let me stand once more.

“Daughter mine, I wish you nothing but happiness in your mating. May you and Lorenzo be blessed with a union spanning centuries. Lorenzo”—he grasped Gates’ hand and tugged him closer—“take care of my baby, or I will hunt you down and sell your pelt to the highest bidder.”

The Feral Breed brothers laughed loudly. Even Gates himself had a bigger grin on his face.

“Yes, sir.”

My father nodded then turned back to the pack around us.

“Come!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “Let us escort these two to the blessed cabin so they can begin their Rites of Klunzad.”

Every wolf in the field yipped in cheer, a cacophony of sound amplified by the roaring flames behind us. I stepped forward to hug my parents before returning to Gates’ side. When I looked up, he was watching me, a heated look in his eyes. I blushed and grinned as Gates smirked. Everyone knew what the Rites cabin was—a place to safely complete your mating away from the distractions of the rest of the pack. It was private, secluded, and perfect for a few days getting to know someone you would be tied to for the rest of your life.
 

Gates pulled me into his arms, a final embrace before we made the two-mile trek to the cabin. “I promised I would come for you, and I am a man of my word.”
 

I nuzzled deeper into his neck, my body responding to the vibrations of his voice. His hand ran down my hair, sliding along the silky waves and pressing into my back. The touch was soothing, but my body craved more. More contact, more pressure, more skin. Both sides of me, human and wolf, were crazy to get our mate alone. To care for him, clean him, and check his wounds so we could help him heal. It was a desperate need, one that had me breathing hard and shivering as I fought against it.

He ran his nose along my jaw and behind my ear, scenting me, making my head drop back in the pleasure of his touch. I moaned, soft and long, as he dropped a kiss on my neck.

“Come.” Gates pulled me along, following the flow of packmates as they escorted us to the cabin. “Let us start our bonding period.”

Three days. We would have three days alone to complete our bond. As I clung to his hand and followed him toward the path leading farther into the north woods, I knew those three days would never be enough.

Kaija’s pack led the way to the Rites cabin, singing and laughing as they meandered down the wooded trail. In eras past, mating and claiming was done outdoors, the participants shifting from wolf and back multiple times over the course of three days. As cultures evolved, small structures were built to offer the newly mated couple privacy and protection from the elements.
 

I always found it a bit odd, the idea of building a house specifically for a newly mated couple to have sex in. Some Rites cabins were actually used for other reasons—small weddings, sometimes childbirth depending upon setup, time away when the pack dynamic grated on the human need for solitude.
 

But in the end, it was a structure built so couples like us could have sex without the rest of the pack listening in.
 

Odd indeed.

“It’s right around the bend.” Kaija glanced at me, the candlelight giving her a golden glow that nearly made me stumble. She was so stunningly beautiful. From her plump lips to her ample breasts, her big eyes to her rounded hips. A curvaceous, luscious example of everything a woman should be.