Reclaiming the Wolf (Cascade Shifters Book 1) (21 page)

Sy took one of her hands and brought to his lips. “They’re waiting for your Kaya, just as I am.”

If it were anyone else with her in this room, she’d hold back her tears and put on a brave face. But this was Sylas, her cougar-shifter and future mate, and she would never hide anything from him. Ever.

A tear rolled down her cheek. Sy wiped it away and said, “What’s wrong, love? Tell me.”

She gave a rather undignified sniffle. “Don’t worry; I’m just happy.”

He kissed her hand again and said, “If you’re happy now, just wait until you’re better.”

“What are you talking about?”

He grinned, a twinkle in his eye. “You’ll see.” She opened her mouth, but Sy shook his head and said, “No. Get some rest, love. I want you to get your strength back as soon as possible. In addition to my surprise, I want to call in my favors to devour you in my bed. The sooner the better.”

While her body was too weak for sex right now, his promise brought forth images in her mind of them naked and tangled in her bed.

Sylas naked and hers? That sounded like a perfect future. “I look forward to it, my mate-to-be. I have a few tricks I want to try with you while we’re both naked.”

She’d said the words “mate-to-be” casually to test out the waters, but Sy’s grin told her everything she needed to know about whether his feelings remained the same as before. He said, “You haven’t technically asked me, oh, great clan leader. Shifter tradition requires the clan leader to ask for a mating, but when you’re ready, I’m pretty sure I’ll say yes.”

At the laughter in his eyes, Kaya wanted to throw a pillow at him. However, since that would take too much energy, she said, “Give me a kiss and then go annoy someone else for a while.”

He laughed. Then he leaned down and gave her a slow, lingering kiss. Her breath had to be awful, but judging by the way his tongue swept into her mouth in a sign of possession, he didn’t seem to mind.

It made her love him all the more.

Sy broke the kiss and stroked her hair. “Get well, Kaya. We have two weeks until the celebration with the DarkStalker cougars, so get your ass well by then.”

She wanted to ask about the celebration, but it was getting harder and harder to keep her eyes open. Part of the reason she’d won the clan vote to be leader three years ago was because she accepted her limitations rather than tried to hide them. Well, most of the time, anyway.

This was one of those times, so she nodded and said, “Sounds good.”

Sy stood up and started humming an old shifter tune, one used to lull children to sleep. It was ridiculous for him to use it on her, a grown adult, but she learned something new about him—Sy could sing, and his voice was warm and soothing. Before she was aware of what was happening, she drifted off into unconsciousness.

Chapter Eighteen

Two weeks later, Kaya was in her office filling out some paperwork to solidify the new terms with Markgen. Since working with another company meant starting the clinical trials all over again, which would lose them both a lot of money, she’d given Markgen’s CEO a list of demands that needed to be met in order for her to stay and continue the trials. While not happy about working with the company, at least they were doing a thorough investigation into what had happened. Markgen’s CEO had assured her that any employee who had helped Dr. Smith would be turned over to the authorities.

Her wolf thought that was too light a sentence, but Kaya was doing the best she could for her clans’ survival.

There was a knock on her door and she pushed her paperwork to the side. She wasn’t expecting anyone, but her pack was just starting to recover from the sickness and loss and they knew she was always available. “Come in.”

Sy peeked his head into her office and her wolf, who had been dozing while she’d done the tedious human stuff, perked up. They had both missed him, even if they’d seen him only a few hours ago.

Sy raised his brows and said, “Is there anything you absolutely must get done before tonight, or can you spare the next two hours?”

She had a feeling she knew what he was asking. After all, her doctor had only cleared her for good health this morning.

Which meant she was allowed to have sex again.

Not that having Sylas Murray spooned around her at night for the last two weeks hadn’t been fabulous, but she’d missed his hands caressing her skin, his tongue lapping between her legs, and, of course, his cock pounding into her from behind.

Remembering the last time he’d done those three things, her wolf urged her to stop with the human stuff and go to their cougar. They needed his touch. He would make them feel better.

Yes, but let’s make him work for it.
The wolf sulked, but understood she wanted to play with their soon-to-be-mate.

She shook her head and said, “No, I don’t have anything that can’t wait. Come in and tell me what’s up.”

Grinning, Sy stepped into her office. As she always did when she saw him, she gave his tall, muscled body a sweep with her eyes, but she stopped at his t-shirt and burst out laughing.

Sylas Murray, badass cougar-shifter extraordinaire, was wearing an “I Heart Wolves” t-shirt.

She finally got her laughter under control and said, “I’m surprised you wore that thing voluntarily. We haven’t had a chance to do our rematch, which means you never lost our bet.”

Sy shrugged. “Wearing an ‘I Heart Wolves’ t-shirt has brought some smiles and laughter. I figured what the hell. It would probably help the clan with both their sadness from the last few weeks as well as help ease the clan’s nerves about this afternoon’s celebration.”

Some of her good cheer faded, but not all. The ten deaths from the virus had hit GreyFire hard. The clan was starting to recover and get back on their feet, but it would take some time. In another week, she could probably tell Kian that his cougar-shifters could go back home.

Well, except for Sylas, of course. She was keeping him.

She smiled and said, “The celebration will go fine. I don’t know what the hell they’re so worried about, especially after everything the cougars did to help us.” She leaned forward on her desk and raised an eyebrow. “So, tell me why your sexy self is in my office?”

Light danced in his eyes. “Now that you’re well, I can finally give you my surprise.”

“You mean the one you’ve been taunting me with for the past two weeks?”

He grinned. “That’s the one.”

He walked over to her desk and sat on the edge. Then he took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Ta-da, here it is.”

She took the rumpled piece of paper that looked as if he’d been carrying it around in his pocket for some time. As she unfolded it, she glanced up at him and said, “There had better be something pretty damn fantastic on this piece of paper to merit all of your hinting about it.”

He made a motion with his hand for her to look at it. She glanced down and saw it was a letter. Curious to see what it said, she read it:

Dearest Kaya:

I’ve spent the last few weeks, or should I say, years, trying to find a word to describe how sorry I am for abandoning you at our mating ceremony ten years ago. But one doesn’t exist. I was a coward, plain and simple. Your uncle threatened to attack Clan DarkStalker if I went through with our mating, and rather than consult you and my clan leader for help, I took the out to join the army.

Not that I’m trying to pass the blame on to your uncle. Ultimately, it was my choices that hurt you. I can’t even imagine what it must’ve been like for you to stand alone among a clan of wolf-shifters who had warned you against me from the beginning. Their smugness alone must’ve crushed your heart.

But all of that is in the past and as much as I might want to, I can’t change it. Instead, what I can do is focus on the future.

If you would take a chance on me and allow me to have your heart again, I will never, ever abandon you. I tried to show you how much I wanted to make this work by managing our clan—yes, our clan—to the best of my ability while you were sick. This may not be enough to convince you that I mean to stay forever this time, no matter what challenges we face, but I will do whatever it takes, Kaya, because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.

Love,

Sylas Horatio Murray

Her heart was now pounding inside her chest. Sylas wanted to stay with her forever.

Kaya blinked back the tears that threatened to fall and looked up into Sy’s eyes. The look there was vulnerable. The fact that the cocky, self-assured cougar-shifter was nervous made her soften even more.

She had a feeling he’d written the letter to give her a taste of what he’d sent before, a decade ago. But her disappointment and heartbreak concerning the cougar-shifter was in the past. Kaya, too, could only focus on the future.

And she knew what she wanted.

She stood up and walked around her desk to stand between Sy’s legs. She looped her hands around his neck and stared him dead in the eye. She had a question she needed to ask. “Sylas Horatio Murray, will you do me the honor of becoming my mate?”

His eyes flashed to a deeper cougar green and back before he growled, “Yes” and took her lips in a possessive kiss.

~~~

Every muscle in Sy’s body tensed as he watched Kaya read his letter. He’d written dozens of drafts, but he’d decided that this was the best he could do while still remaining himself. He only hoped she agreed.

As the seconds ticked by, Sy tried to think of how else he could prove he wouldn’t abandon her ever again when Kaya looked up.

And the woman looked about ready to cry.

His cougar growled, not liking to see their wolf upset. But as she stood up and walked over to stand in between his legs, hope surged in his heart. Maybe her tears were of joy and not because his letter had brought up their rocky past.

Kaya looped her arms around his neck and it took everything he had not to pull her close for a kiss. This was too important. He needed to know how she responded.

She ran her fingers along the back of his neck and said, “Sylas Horatio Murray, will you do me the honor of becoming my mate?”

Time stilled for a second as he processed her words. Despite everything that happened, she still wanted him.

Joy surged through his body and he wanted—no, needed—to kiss her. He whispered, “Yes,” before lowering his head for a kiss.

He didn’t try to be gentle. With Kaya healthy, it was time to release the rougher side of him.

Sy thrust his tongue into her mouth. As he twined his tongue with hers, she fisted his hair. Suddenly, kissing her wasn’t enough and he hauled her body up against his, the softness of her breasts and the sharp points of her nipples making his cock as hard as steel.

Claim her. She is ours
, his cougar growled.

Sy agreed. He broke their kiss, nipped Kaya’s bottom lip, and said, “Take off your shirt.”

There were times to tease and dawdle, but this was not one of them and Kaya understood that. She lifted her shirt over her head as he tore off his own.

He ran his hands up her ribcage, over her beautiful bronze skin, and traced the edge of her black and white bra. He’d have to ask her to wear this one again. It somehow managed to both highlighted her strength while also making her extremely feminine.

That fit his wolf to a T.

For now, however, he wanted to see more of her. He pulled down the cups of her bra to expose her high, small breasts. Her dark nipples were already hard, and he tugged each of them in turn.

Kaya sucked in a breath and he looked up into her eyes. “Are you wet for me, love? Or do you need some more encouragement?”

“I’m always wet for you, Sylas. Now take off your pants.”

He smiled at her bossy tone. He smacked her ass and pushed her away so he could shed the rest of his clothes.

By the time he’d shucked his shoes, socks, and pants—he’d been optimistic and gone commando—Kaya was standing naked and rolling one of her nipples between her thumb and forefinger, a sexy smile on her face.

Take her.

Sy didn’t need any more encouragement. He stalked over to Kaya and backed her against the wall. She put her hands on his chest, but he took her wrists and pinned them over her head.

Her breath was hot on his chin as she leaned her hips against his cock. Sy kept her hands pinned with one hand and moved a hand down her smooth stomach until he reached between her legs. As he ran his fingers through her folds, he growled at how wet she was.

Kaya murmured, “Is that the best you can do?”

He’d planned on fucking her with his tongue, but at her goading, he took her hard little clit between his fingers and pinched. Hard.

Kaya moaned and arched her back. He could tell she wanted more, but he released her clit and nuzzled her neck. “I see you didn’t learn anything back in the cave.” He nipped her neck and licked his bite with his tongue. “I think it’s time to show you once and for all that your pussy belongs to me and only me.”

~~~