Mating the Red Wolf: (Book 10, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas) (8 page)

He was more important than any other man who had wandered into her life, and that scared the hell out of her.  She needed him and needed him to need her.  And she loved him.  Yep, she freely admitted to herself and her wolf that she loved him, and she was freaking scared of either losing him or disappointing him.

Slowly, she allowed Ed to turn her around.  He shook his head as he looked her up and down.

“What?”

He let out a soft chuckle.  “I just can’t believe that you would want to be with me.”

Kim ran her hands up his arms.  “Why wouldn’t I?  What’s so special about me?”

Ed looked at her in disbelief.  “You’re kidding, right?  I have to pinch myself every few seconds to make sure I’m not actually dreaming.  I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve you, but damn, I am thankful.”

Kim looked away in embarrassment.  Plenty of men had told her she was beautiful, usually to get into her pants, but she couldn’t believe that she deserved Ed’s worshipful gaze.  “You think too much of me.”

Gently, Ed cupped her chin and directed her gaze back to his.  “No, I don’t, gorgeous.”

He pressed his lips to hers for a tender kiss.  As she clasped his body to hers, the kiss turned more insistent, and his tongue delved into her mouth, hungrily teasing and tasting her.  He ran his hands over her body, searing a path over her sensitive flesh.  Her body flushed and she quivered in his arms.

Reluctantly he pulled back.  “It’s getting late.”

Kim chewed her lip and her wolf whimpered.  “Don’t go,” she whispered. 

His eyes flickered to the amber of his wolf, but doubt flashed over his face.  “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

She briefly considered that this wasn’t exactly the most romantic setting for their first time together, but she decided she didn’t care.  It didn’t matter where they were - it didn’t make a difference. 
She just wanted to be with her mate.

Kim kissed the corner of his mouth.  “I want you.  I need you… mate.”

Ed let out a throaty growl.   She expected him to rush her, to rip her clothes off and plunge right into her, but he didn’t.  Her legs trembled as Ed took in every inch of her body, as he carefully peeled the clothing from her body, and kissed the skin he unveiled.

Her wolf howled with needy impatience, but Kim tried to ignore the beast.  This passionate and slow rise of her arousal was intoxicating, and part of her wanted it never to end, but her tempestuous wolf would never allow it.  She needed release.

Her breasts heaved as her desire swelled within her.  He was wearing too many clothes, why was he wearing so many clothes?  Her hands excitedly pulled at his shirt and pants.

“Hurry,” she breathed.

He gave her a sensual smile and helped her with his clothes.  Soon enough, they were stood in front of each other, completely naked.  Kim blushed but smiled as she took in his form.  He was beautiful.  Truly, he was.  She’d never thought that about a man.  Hairy, yes.  Rugged, yes.  Beautiful, no. 
But, there was no other word for him.

His lips curled upwards in wolfish smile as he surveyed her naked form.  Unconsciously, she licked her lips as his manhood grew even bigger and seemed to be reaching toward her.  Yep, there was no way she was a disappointment to him.

Ed led her over to the couch and laid her down.  He knelt between her legs and bent down; he swiped his tongue over her honey-drenched slit.  She arched her back and let out an impassioned moan.

Finding her ready for him, he crawled over her body and nestled between her legs.  He ground his sex against her, and she whimpered.

“Are you ready?” he asked hoarsely, desire etched into his face.

“Yes... mate.”

Ed let out a small roar and smoothly pushed inside her.  Her body shuddered at the delicious intruder, and her wolf howled her delight at finally being with their mate.  He kissed her softly and began slowly thrusting in and out.  She threw her arms and legs around him, clutching him to her, never wanting him to leave.

Each time he drove inside her he rubbed against her sweet spot, and she moaned at the divine feeling.  The pressure in her quickly grew, almost spiraling out of control.  He started pistoning in and out of her; he twisted his hips, pressing against her clit.  She tensed and roared as she shattered into a million pieces, and seconds later he let out his own roar and came.

She trembled holding him against her satiated body, and Ed licked and kissed her neck.  Her wolf finally relaxed. 
She’d finally been with her mate, and it was only the beginning.

Chapter Eight

19
th
February

Ed groaned as he listened to his parents, his Alpha and his grandmother. 
They were actually taking the news better than he expected.

If he could go back to the previous evening, he probably wouldn’t have blurted out the fact that they were getting married in the middle of an argument.  But it had seemed like the right moment at the time.  Of course, it hadn’t stopped the argument, merely left everyone speechless for a few minutes before everyone picked up where they left off.  Kim and Ed got out of there as soon as they could, but sadly they couldn’t hide in their rooms forever.  Kim had been pretty pissed, but he had apologized profusely, and she had given in and admitted that everyone would find out eventually anyway.

His mother looked at him imploringly.  “It’s not that I don’t like Kim; she’s a lovely woman, but I just don’t think she’s marriage material.”

Ed cocked his head on one side.  “She’s hardly a wild woman; she has a kid, she’s more grounded than I am.”

Marie, his grandmother, tapped her cane on the floor for attention.  “Speaking of the child, where exactly is the father?  I’m told they are still married.”

“What?” roared his brother, Harold.  “You proposed to someone who’s already married?  What kind of woman gets engaged when she’s already married?”

Ed’s wolf snapped, and he tried to soothe the beast.  “She hasn’t seen him in years.  I already have a private investigator looking for him.  As soon as I find him, he’ll agree to the divorce and Kim will be free.”

His father gave him a shrewd look.  “I take it you’re paying for this private investigator.”

Ed bristled.  “As a matter of fact I am; I hired him before I even proposed to Kim.  She doesn’t know anything about it, and she certainly didn’t ask me to do it for her.”

His father huffed in disbelief.  “And what happens if he won’t agree to the divorce?”

“He owes a ton of child support; he’ll agree, or I’ll take him to court and sue him for the money he owes Kim.” 

Ed had been thinking this through for a while and had even had the divorce papers drawn up in readiness.  Something else he hadn’t mentioned to Kim yet. 
He hoped she wasn’t annoyed at all the secret plans he had been making.

His brother looked at him in exasperation.  “A married, penniless bartender?  Have you even thought about how this will reflect on us?”

Ed let out a hollow chuckle as his wolf grumbled.  “Honestly, no.  Who I marry is nothing to do with any of you.  I’m an adult, and I will marry whoever I want.”

His mother frowned.  “But really, dear, a grey wolf?  There are so many red wolves in our pack who would jump at the chance of mating with you.”

“What does it matter if she’s not a red wolf?  What would it matter is she were human or a raccoon or a bear shifter?”

“Bite your tongue,” chastised his grandmother, “do you really want the rest of the pack running around mating bears and raccoons?”

“Why the hell not?  Kim’s pack welcomes other species, so why shouldn’t ours?” 

His four family members looked at him like he was mad.

“We’re wolves,” said his father in his deepest and most dominant voice.  “We should mate with other wolves.  Our pack has been around for over four hundred years, and we wouldn’t still be here if our pack mates were running around mating with other shifters.”

Ed sighed and looked out the window.  The depressing weather was very fitting – it matched everybody's sour moods.  “Well, things have changed over the last four hundred years.  Shifters are now free to live out in the open, we no longer have to hide and huddle together for fear of being killed, and that means that we should have more freedom.  Freedom to be with the people or grey wolves that we want to be with.”

His mother picked at the hem of her dress.  “Have you considered that she might be marrying you for your money?”

He growled at his mother, flashing his fangs as his wolf leaped up in defense of their mate.  His brother and father growled in response; their Alpha natures forced Ed to back down.

“No, I hadn’t,” he replied tersely, “Kim isn’t like that.  Money isn’t important to either of us.”

His grandmother gave him a smile, one part vicious and two parts triumphant.  “Well then, she’ll have no problem signing a pre-nuptial agreement then, will she?”

“She might not, but I do,” he spat.

“You said yourself that she’s not interested in your money, so she can prove it.”

Ed’s nostrils flared, and he felt the indignation of his animal.  “She doesn’t have to prove anything, least of all to you.  And once again, I don’t need your permission to marry her.”

His father shook his head.  “You’re young, how do you know this isn’t just some stupid crush?  She’s older than you, and already has a child, how do you know she isn’t just looking for someone who can support her and the child?”

“If she just wanted that, there are dozens of men lining up to take the job.  She’s my true mate; I’m sure of it.”

His mother scoffed.  “True mates are overrated, dear.  It’s just a chemical reaction telling your body to mate with a certain person.  It’s poppycock.”

“Whoa, Mom, language.”

She rolled her eyes.  “You should take this seriously.  Numerous friends of mine have been silly enough to fall for the true mate trap, and then found themselves mated to someone who was completely unsuitable.  Do you really want to wake up in ten years time tied down to a woman you have absolutely nothing to talk about with?”

Ed looked between his parents.  He tried to recall hearing them talk to one another and enjoy each other’s company, but he came up short.  Everything he’d ever heard them say was about their kids, social engagements and pack business.  He couldn’t imagine them having a heart to heart about anything.

His mother took his silence as a sign that he was thinking over what she said and plowed on.  “Kim’s quite sweet and, even I have to admit, she’s very attractive.  I can see why you are enamored with her, but really, Edward, the two of you don’t go together.”

His wolf snapped his jaws, and his skin prickled.  It was something he had thought numerous times since they met, but for different reasons.  He’d always been so confident with women and had attracted a lot of women over the years.  He wasn’t one to kiss and tell, but he had no problem sweet talking the ladies.  He’d always had a thing about older women,
probably something to do with his first crush being on their nanny
.  But, the differences between him and Kim were obvious –
the age difference, the height difference, the fact that she was a thousand times more attractive than him…
  At first he’d worried she might have a problem with that, but it had become clear that Kim was more than satisfied with who and what he was. 
Repeatedly satisfied in fact…

Ed smiled drunkenly as lewd thoughts raced through his head.  His brother clicked his fingers in front of Ed’s face, and he scowled.

“We go together just fine, thanks.”

His father raked his hands through his thinning hair.  “If you go through with this you will be thrown out of the pack.”

“It’s not your place to say that,” snapped Harold Jr., the Alpha.

The previous Alpha and the current Alpha, father and son, sneered at each other for a few moments before their father submitted and bared his neck in respect.

Happy that his status as Alpha had been reaffirmed, Harold Jr. opened his mouth to speak but Ed cut him off.

“Don’t bother, I already plan on joining Kim’s pack if they’ll have me.  So before you push me out, I’m leaving.”

His mother looked like she’d eaten something that didn’t agree with her.  “A red wolf in a grey wolf pack?  That isn’t natural.”

“Well, they already have pumas, bears, witches and humans, so I figure I’ll be in good company.” 

Ed had enjoyed their company enough for one morning and decided to go off in search of Kim.  He got up and strode to the door.

His grandmother tapped her cane again.  “If you do this, I’ll cut you off from your allowance, and I'll cut you out of my will.  You know I can!”

He paused with his hand on the handle.  He turned back to his family and gave them a disarming smile.  “You do whatever the hell you want and, by the way, Grandmother, happy birthday.”

Yep, it was his grandmother’s birthday, and this was how she wanted to celebrate it.

*

Kim cringed as she crept out of her room.  Maybe she could make it to the kitchen, swipe some food and then run back to her room. 
Yes, it would be cowardly, but after last night, she wasn’t above being cowardly
.  Her wolf grumbled at her attitude, but Kim didn’t care - it wasn’t the wolf who’d had to face down Ed’s disapproving family last night.  The looks on their faces alone made her shiver.  She didn’t want to remember the things they had said.

She was Ed’s true mate for heaven’s sake!  She wasn’t using him - she loved him!  She shook her head.  Nope, she wasn’t going to think about it.  When she started thinking, she got angry, then she wanted to shift and rip something apart with her claws, then she got sad that they couldn’t see how genuine she was, and then she wanted to just curl up on her bed and cry like a pup. 
It was just easier not to think about it.

Christine had come by earlier and taken Jamie away to play with the boys.  The other she-wolf hadn’t mentioned the previous night, thank god, but she had thrown sympathetic yet pitying looks in her direction.

Lord, why couldn’t Ed have kept his mouth shut?  Everyone had been annoyed at each other and half-drunk already – the news would never have been welcome at that moment!  Plus, she hadn’t even had a chance to explain it to Jamie yet.  Which is why she’d had a quick heart to heart with her daughter that morning.

Jamie, being 5-years-old, had taken it in her stride.  Ed would live at their house, which meant that Ed would be able to play with her more.  It was as simple as that. 
Why couldn’t Ed’s family be that cool about it?

Kim stole down the hallway, eagerly listening out for other family members.  All the pups and Christine were in the games room, which was just a big room containing a pool table and a multitude of board games.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she found herself in the empty kitchen.  Gingerly, she started going through cupboards. 
She kind of felt like an intruder going through someone else’s kitchen
.  Although, judging by everyone’s reactions last night, she was always going to feel like an intruder in this family.

She had woken up that morning thoroughly prepared to go down to breakfast and act civilly, but Christine had informed her that breakfast was off, and everyone was fending for themselves.  Among other reasons, Ethel, the housekeeper and cook, was under the weather, and no one else fancied taking on the job.  That suited Kim down to the ground.  Christine was sorting out food for the kids, but Kim got the impression she wasn’t in the mood to put up with the adults, who were acting like kids. 
Kim thought she might have an ally there.

“You must be feeling pretty pleased with yourself.”

Kim jumped as she was reaching for a box of crackers.  It fell down from the shelf, hit Kim on the head and crashed to the floor, spreading bits of cracker everywhere.

Helena sniggered as Kim pulled bits of cracker out of her hair. 
Damnit!  Why hadn’t she scented Helena coming?
  Her wolf at least had the decency to turn away, shame-faced.

“Did you say something?” asked Kim, stiffly.

“I’m just surprised is all, you’ve known Ed, what?  A couple of months and…”

“Five months,” interrupted Kim irritably.

Helena shrugged.  “Right, five months, and you’re engaged already.  That’s kind of fast.”

Kim felt her beast tense, readying to attack the other female if necessary.  “Not as fast as when you were with Ed.  Of course, your relationship ended pretty quickly too, didn’t it?” said Kim dryly.

The red she-wolf’s jaw ticked before she smiled horribly.  “I made a mistake; I won’t deny that.  Lots of people make mistakes and jump into bed with people who are completely unsuitable for them.  It’s very easy to mistake feelings of lust for love.”  Helena raked her eyes up and down Kim’s body in a slow sweep.

Kim raised an eyebrow.  “I agree, just like it’s very easy to think you love someone when you actually just love their bank balance.”

To Kim’s surprise, Helena just laughed.  “I think Ed’s family will agree with you on that.  You’re what?  A bartender?  I sure hope Ed’s family have no problem with that.”

Kim stood rigidly still as Helena grabbed a drink out the refrigerator and sauntered out the room.  Kim shuddered as her wolf tried to shift and take control.  Who the hell was this she-wolf to talk to them that way?  Kim was twice the wolf she was! 
She should show that damn bitch who the most dominant wolf was!

While she would like nothing more than sink her teeth and claws into Helena, she refrained.  She figured she had enough problems with trying to make Ed’s family accept her without turning the house into a crime scene.