Gabrielle Demonico (20 page)

“
Wow.” She said softly.

“
But, for some unknown reason, my uncle wanted to revert back to the old ways. And so shortly after taking control, he reinstituted arranged pair bonding. As my brother and I reached maturity, we discussed it and knew that it wasn’t what we wanted for ourselves. But we also knew that in order to change things, one of us would have to challenge for pack leadership.”

She leaned in towards him and said, “
Well, that should be easy for you. I would imagine that your uncle is too old to withstand a challenge from you or Theo.”

“
True, but becoming pack leader is about more than physical strength. It’s complicated…but at the end of the day, the challenge wasn’t worth it to us. We are too grateful to our uncle for what he’s done for us. So rather than disrupt the harmony of the pack for our own selfish ends, we decided that it was best to just move on.”

“
But, isn’t
that
selfish as well?” she asked.

“
What?”

“
Leaving the pack to find your mate?” she said.

“
To a lesser degree, yes. It is. But it is our hope that someday we may return to the pack and serve it. However, for now, this is the path we have chosen. If we’d stayed, we would have been a burden to the pack and subsequently, the mates that were selected for us.”

She nodded and said, “
I understand. Well if that’s the case, then I’m sure that your uncle appreciates your decision.”

He exhaled and said, “
I wish that was true.”

“
What do you mean?” she asked.

The car had come to rest at a traffic light. He pa
used briefly before turning his head in her direction. Finally he exhaled deeply and confessed, “We are on the run Jessi.”

Shocked, she leaned away from him and said, “
On the run? From who?”

“
Well, we are being hunted by several betas sent out by him to track us down. They are known as
crait seekers
.” He replied.

Confused, she asked, “
I don’t understand. Why would they track you down? I thought you were being
respectful
to your uncle.”

Daryn released his foot from the brake and as the car began to move thro
ugh the intersection he said, “We believe that we
are
. But at the same time, we
have
violated the pack leader’s will and so we must be judged before the pack. That is, if they can catch us before we find our truemate. If we are able to find her before our pack brothers find us, then my uncle’s orders cannot be carried out.”

“
Why?” she asked.

“
Because the truemate bond is the highest calling in our nature. It cannot be violated under any circumstances. We have kin to the west which is where we were headed when we arrived here. We’d hoped to find her among them since it’s probably out last opportunity. If we fail and are captured… well, I won’t get into what might happen…”

“
You mean…
death?
” she asked glumly.

“
It’s not important. I’m sorry… Listen, I’ve troubled you enough with our woes. You’ve had a rough night yourself and I don’t want to burden you.”

Jessi unconsciously reached towards him. She placed her hand on his forearm and said, “
It’s okay. I don’t mind Daryn. I’m just sorry that you have to go through all of that.”

She could sense that her touch affected him although that hadn
’t been her intent. She felt genuine sadness for him,
for them
, and it hurt her heart to see anyone suffer over something that seemed so central to happiness in life - namely, the choice of determining one’s mate.

He turned towards her, smiled softly and said, “
Thanks Jessi. That’s very sweet of you to say. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever talked about that with anyone other than Theo. Even though I’ve only known you for a very short time, I feel like I can trust you.”

“
Thank you.” She replied.

After a few minutes of silence Daryn and Jessi arrived back at the parking lot to her apartment complex. He pulled the car in and she directed him towards the back of the development w
here she lived.

“
Right here is fine.” She said pointing towards the next open spot on the left.

“
Gotcha.” He said as he parked the vehicle.

As he turned off the ignition, Jessi sat still for a moment. It wasn
’t a conscious decision. She just felt the need to clear her head before getting out.

Daryn removed the keys from the ignition and said, “
Jessi? Are you alright?”

“
Yes, I’m okay. I guess I’m still a little shaken from earlier. If it wasn’t for you and Theo showing up, I don’t what would have happened.” She then turned to him and with a sarcastic tone said, “It
almost
makes me grateful enough to forgive you for being late…”

A sheepish grin came across Daryn
’s face and he replied, “Yeah, sorry about that one. Better late than never though? Right? Can you forgive me this once?”

She squinted at him and replied, “
I guess. But just this once.”

As she finished speaking, his cell phone started vibrating. She reached in her purse and grabbed her apartment keys as he
checked it. Looking down at the soft blue glow of the screen he said, “It’s Theo. Looks like he just got back to Kim’s house. He said he’d be leaving there in a few minutes. How far is that from here?”

“
Kim’s?” she asked.

“
Yeah.” He replied.

“
About twenty or twenty five minutes.”

He smiled softly and said, “
Alright then, I have some time to kill before he arrives. Come on, I’ll walk you to your place.”

“
Okay.” She replied.

They got out of the car, crossed the parking lot and headed towards the entrance for
her building. As they walked, Daryn asked, “How long have you been living here?”

As Jessi started to respond, she began to remove the light jacket she was wearing. In mid-stride she turned to answer to his question but as she did, her foot twisted on the
edge of the sidewalk. With her arms still trapped in the jacket’s sleeves, she suddenly lost her balance and was headed for a direct impact of face to pavement.

She shrieked helplessly as she started to fall. But just before she collided with cement, Daryn
snatched her and pulled her up with a force she’d never felt before. She felt as light as a feather in his arms and before she realized it, he’d spun her upright directly in front of him.

Jessi was still trying to catch her breath when he said quietly, “
You know, that’s the
second time
I’ve saved you tonight. I’m beginning to wonder how you are going to repay all of that kindness.”

Jessi
’s breath caught in her throat. She stammered, “I…”

Somewhere inside her instincts had told her he wasn
’t human. But she’d never scented his kind so his identity had eluded her. She simply had no frame of reference. But now, as he hovered close, she knew that there would never be any way for her to forget it.

There was nothing about her that should have appealed to him. Not
her bear and certainly not her shape - none of it. But the way he held her in his protective embrace caused her mind to entertain the possibility that maybe he was,
if only for that moment.

He drew his head closer to hers. His eyes narrowed and she could f
eel the energy rise between the narrow space that separated them. Subtly, he moistened his lips and said, “Yes, I think I know
exactly
how you should square things up with me.”

Hypnotized by his proximity she gazed into his eyes and asked, “
You do?”

He nod
ded and then his mouth collided into hers. As they met, she groaned deeply against his lips. His wolf pushed her lush flesh against the apartment building’s exterior wall as he positioned himself to take maximum advantage of the moment.

Her arms snaked upw
ards around his broad shoulders and he reached down towards her plush hips in return. Her wild nature began to claw at her insides as his animal beckoned it ever closer to the surface. Jessi could feel her heart thump like a primal tribal drumbeat as their tongues danced and flicked. This was unlike any mere kiss she’d ever experienced. It was as if he was claiming under the fading light of a half moon sky while she willingly went along.

As he leaned into her, his body felt like living stone. It was a stark
contrast to her tender softness and the duality of it was not lost on her, in spite of the headiness of the moment. No part of him hinted of anything other than unrestrained desire for the curvy young bear and in that instant, she felt like she’d won love’s greatest lottery.

His tongue slipped in and out of her eager orifice and as it did, visions of it exploring her elsewhere filled her mind. The heat between her legs was evidence of this strong need and she didn
’t know how much longer her resistance would hold.

Her mind flowered with thoughts of him between her thick thighs. There he lapped at her essence and summoned her deepest, most controlled urges. She wanted to let go of them, surrender to the emotion of release and drift away into the brilliant a
byss of passion.

His strong pelvis was pressed hard against her soft shape. Things shouldn
’t go too much further out in the open and should they wind up inside her apartment, well, there was no telling how far things
wouldn’t go
.

Jessi
’s mind had nearly stopped caring when an unexpected vibration against her pussy nearly sent her straight to climax. She gasped momentarily and they broke free from one another. She looked down to see him reaching for his pants… and sadly, his cell phone.

He pulled it out, loo
ked down at it and said, “It’s Theo. He’s just about here.”

He quickly stuffed it back into his pocket and leaned his thick frame against her once more. The feel of his weight against her comforted her for some reason and she felt as if she couldn
’t get him near enough. As he hugged her close she cooed, “Mmmm…”

They lingered there in silence for a moment savoring the excitement of newfound passion until at last, they separated.

As he pulled away she said, “I know this is last minute but would you and Theo like to come to my parent’s home tomorrow afternoon for a barbeque. It’s the least I could do to repay you for what you did tonight.”

He seemed a bit surprised by the invitation but replied, “
Yes, uhhm, definitely. That sounds great. Are you sure that’s okay with your folks?”

The truth was that Jessi didn
’t think it would be - at least not with her mother. She was very protective of her daughters. Jessi’s Dad on the other hand was very accepting of most anyone unless they crossed him. Getting on a bear’s bad side was never a good idea.

Lying, she replied, “
Yeah, it’ll be fine. We have plenty of food for everyone.”

He smiled and said, “
Okay, terrific. I’ll let Theo know. What time should we come by?”

“
I’ll text you tomorrow with a time and directions.” She said.

“
Okay… until tomorrow then.” He said.

“
Okay. Tomorrow…” She replied.

He placed his hand on her upper arm and left her with a single, perfectly wet kiss on the cheek. She smiled as they separated from one another and she watched him walk away until
he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.

***

Jessi opened the door to her parents’ home and headed into the kitchen. She turned the corner to see her mother and sister busily working away.

“
Where is everyone?” Jessi asked as she slung her purse over a kitchen chair.

With a knife in her left hand, her mother placed her right hand on her hip. She waved the knife in small circles in the direction of the rear of the house and said, “
They are all in the backyard already. I thought you were coming early. We could have used your help in the kitchen, Jessica.”

She plopped down on a stool and said, “
I’m sorry Mom, I had a late night.”

“
So I heard…” her mother said as she went back to chopping.

Megan
’s eyes darted toward Jessi.

“
What!??” Jessi exclaimed. “You
told her
, Megan?”

Megan replied quickly and said, “
I was worried about you Jessi!”