The Fourth Mate

Chapter 9: A Caged Animal

Trees flew by in clusters of green and brown with the sun shining on their leaves. They glistened while the breeze whipped them around, giving hints of their softness. It was like nature was inviting Edge to join the beauty and fun it provides instead of driving back to his pack.

His eyes kept flicking towards it every time he passed a group of homes marring the sight. The thirst to just shift and dodge around those trees was becoming hard to resist, but he has honed his urges over the years. He will not embarrass himself, especially in front of his defiant mate.

After their mating spree yesterday, he thought things would have changed. They didn’t. She refused to go with him, which made him want to mate her into submission, again. He wanted to wipe the glare she gave him off her face and change her words to praising him like she had done yesterday. He holds it back, so he does not hurt her. She is still hurting from his forced marking and mating her. She kept up with his pace, though, which is not normal for any she-wolf. Most of them pass out in the middle or at the end of mating with him. She did not. He was intrigued by his sexually charged mate, but, still, his mark had not formed into a mark yet.

He is d***ed by the memory of their mating spree, too. It had his erection pressing against his pants, again. He grits his teeth to tamper it, so he does not make his son uncomfortable, who is in the front seat.

Edge glanced at Andrew, who was looking out the window like he was ready to leap into the woods. He could not blame him. His son is as tense as him. He may just shift so Liken has a chance to sway her, too, and maybe he can convince her to give him a chance.

That’s an idea. A moonlit run. All she-wolves love it, but I think you better check on Lucky. I can feel her better today, and she is not doing so well.

Edge flicked his eyes in the rearview mirror to ensure that his mate was not going to run. He noticed that Lucky had not moved an inch since they left Blue Crescent Pack. She sat between Dorran and Rick with her hands clasped tightly together on her lap. Her legs are closed tightly, too, like it was supporting her body to be erect. Her head did not even turn left or right with her eyes focused out the window, except for the color kept rapidly changing. They went from ice blue to hazel green.

His brow rose slowly, feeling her panic through their bond. He wondered how she could go from calm to panic in an hour. He turned his eyes back to the road, then to Dorran, who looked uncomfortable. He, too, looked like he was ready to jump into the woods with his body practically glued to the door. It was like he could not get far enough away from her, but then, he looked at Rick.

His fingers are drumming on his leg while facing forward with his eyes shifting black then brown slowly. He was ready to get handsy with her, and his wolf was trying to stop him. That made Liken growl in his head, but he shushed him down to breathe in the scent of the car.

He realized the problem, but it was not just with her. His children are extremely uncomfortable between the panic coming from his mate and his arousal. He wanted to curse himself for insisting that they all ride together, but he had them come with him. He did not want to be tempted to make her submit to him like yesterday in Cullen's office. She does not respond well to that kind of tactic, so he is trying another tact.

“Is everything alright, Lucky?” Edge asked as calmly as he could.

“No,” she said with a tremor in her voice.

“Is there anything I or my sons’ can do to help you?” he asked calmly.

“Not unless you can somehow get me shifted before my time so I can run through the woods.”

He heard the longing in her voice and the shakiness that told him she was about to freak out. Her wolf was also whining as she spoke. He understood the feeling as all wolves go through their first car ride. She does not look like she is tolerating it well.

“Why not think about something else?” Dorran growled with his wolf surfacing. “It will take the edge off your wolf.”

“It is not me,” Lucky whimpered. “It is… my wolf. She is anxious for her shift and wants to be free to run through the woods. We are too close to the full moon."

That perked his brow. There are very few special wolves that act like that before and after their shift. They cannot stand being in confined spaces. He would need to look them up again to know which one he was dealing with, but he needed to fix the situation now. She looked ready to snap even from just talking about it.

“Rick,” Edge called sharply as he pulled the Range Rover to the shoulder of the road. “You are taking Andrew’s seat. Andrew, you are driving.”

Edge threw the gear shift into the park, then got out and into the back beside Lucky. He rolled down the window letting fresh air fill the car, which made her eyes turn ice blue. It made him curse in his head, realizing nothing was going to help her right now. She would not open the connection between them so he could help her relax either. So, he knew there was no other option than to pull out the syringe from his suit jacket’s breast pocket.

“Lucky, I can give you something to calm down,” Edge explained gently. "It is a sedative to let you feel relaxed for at least four hours of the trip. I had the doctor give me one before we left the pack, so you do not shift early."

“Will you let me give it to you?”

A whine came from her wolf. He is sure she was whining, too. It made him feel bad for showing it to her, but he was trying to gain her trust. However, if she says no, though, he is going to have Dorran hold her down so they can get peace from her panic. His sons and he would be ready to shift by the third hour if they didn't.

“It is alright, my little flower,” Edge said softly. “It’ll be just a pinch, then you will feel relaxed. No one will hurt you, I promise.”

“Fine,” Lucky breathed as she pushed back her wolf, letting her eyes return to their normal color.

“Turn your head,” he instructed as he readied the liquids in the syringe.

He pushed up the sleeve of her t-shirt, then poked her before her head turned fully towards Dorran. She was hesitant about turning away from him anyway. It did not make him happy that she still did not trust him, but her slight whimper stole his attention to coo at her. He did not like the hurt he gave her and decided to call the doctor later to give him a piece of his mind.

“There,” he said when he was finished. “You should be feeling better.”

Edge felt Lucky’s arm relax and her body lean towards him. He quickly wrapped an arm around her and unbuckled her seatbelt at the same time. She did not say anything about it, which shocked him. He was even more surprised when she draped her legs over his leg, but she had turned her head, showing that she was sleepy. It is another thing on his list to snap at the doctor about. She looks ready to go to sleep when the medicine should not do that.

“You need to trim your beard,” Lucky mumbled before laying her head on his shoulder.

Liken retracted the hair on his face to be smoothed down like he had it some years ago. He did not pay attention to that, though. His eyes were on his mate cuddling up to him with her hand on his chest over his heart. Her head leaned down next to it like she wanted to feel and listen to its steady rhythm, but it was not steady. It was thumping wildly from the sparks and tingles filling his body and the warmth filling him from her contentment. He struggled to ignore his arousal, though, which spiked when she was close.

Then, he felt his need to protect her fill him, making his arm tighten around her little body. He thought of all his enemies, who would want to take her away from him and the one who gave her the potion. It made him want to hunt them down now to give them the perfect life they can have, but he knows that is ludicrous. He will always have enemies coming at him, which will endanger her.

He breathed in her scent, then exhaled, relaxing his body so she could sleep well.

Lucky sighed contentedly, then moved her head to his neck where her wolf started purring its contentment. She must be feeling the bond, too, he thought with hope. More warmth filled his heart, making its beats become harder and faster with this bliss filling him. Peace filled him while sitting with her like that in his gray suit, which should make him uncomfortable. It has been a long time, too, since he did this with any woman, but she is his mate. The woman he is to love and who loves him back... once she feels the bond.

It was Evelegaine, our mate from the seventeenth century. She put us on the right road after you made her suffer because our hearts were broken too much by our pups and mates dying.

Edge said nothing to it. He remembers each lash he gave her and the maniacal laughter that filled him. She took every ounce of pain he inflicted on her, but she would not accept his rejection no matter how much he hurt her. It made him angrier than he had ever been at someone. He could not say she was not a good woman, though. She helped him through everything after he made it up to her and told her the truth. She was the first, who he told about how he was cursed to suffer a long miserable life. It is what the warlock did to him out of jealousy over him flirting with his mate. It did not matter that he did not know she was taken. He wanted to abate the anguish in his heart.

Still, he could not help smiling about how Evelegaine wanted to break it, but the warlock who placed it on him was dead. He made sure of that and that his lineage died, too.

Father, you seem to love Lucky, Rick mind-linked softly.

He looked at his children who were flicking their eyes towards him. Is he in love with her? He did not know. His mind is focused on keeping her safe and enjoying her beauty. He only wanted to feel what this woman was doing to him now.

Liken seems to like her, too, Dorran commented sadly.

What my brothers are trying to say, Andrew interjected. You seem more content than we have seen you with any of our mothers. Even if this is not a mate bond, we will accept her as our stepmother. We hope to see you happy.

Happy?

He wonders if that is what he has been in the last century. This feels different than his other mates, but he is sure it was from not having a mate for so long. However, he has never had a fourth mate during the cycle of the curse. It is strange that the goddess intervened this time. He wonders if she is going to have this woman break it.

Andrew, Lucky will be asleep for four hours. Stop at the nearest restaurant after a couple hours and get her something meaty to eat- a lot of it- and get something chocolaty for her, too. She has a sweet tooth which may keep her from being angry as well as panicky.

Of course, Father.

He found out that she liked sweets when they took a break from their mating spree for lunch and dinner. He had to help her eat at one point, but he loved feeding her while she was half asleep. She came alive when he fed her something with chocolate in it. She looked like she was in heaven with each bite and her wolf surged into her eyes, enjoying the taste, too. He wanted to laugh at how she acted like she had never tasted it before, but his mind had gone south. She kept grabbing his hand so she could keep licking the fork clean of the chocolate, drawing so many thoughts in his mind for her to do to him.

His eyes went back to Lucky lying on him while thinking about it with a smile gliding up his face. He wanted to trace her lips just to remember her kiss. She is affecting him more than he cares to admit, even with her sarcastic sense of humor. He hopes she comes around to be his woman after this.