Ultima Trials

Long Ride Back

Camden’s POV

Hayden looked so nervous as she slowly crawled across the bed. Jersey growled in response to his mate advancing towards him. She was on her hands and knees, and the tops of her breasts were on full display for us. As soon as she was close enough, I grabbed her and flipped her onto her back. My body settled between her legs. The warm and delightful scent of her arousal filled my nose, making Jersey crazy as he found my opening and forced himself forward.

Our nose was buried in the crook of Hayden’s neck, that warmth of her body made my c**k twitch in my shorts. I could feel the heat from her core as she got more aroused.

“Mate, what is your wolf’s name?” Jersey asked. His voice was full of lust.

“Mira.”

“May I meet Mira?”

Jersey’s POV

Cam had no idea how much harder it was on me, losing my mate. My sweet Luna. I avoided talking to him because he would know, and he was already going through enough without my emotions. When I first felt my bond break, I wanted to die. I begged and pleaded with Mother to take me home, but that bond was replaced with something else. A parental bond. Even though Mav couldn’t feel his wolf, I could. I heard the whimpers and cries of my pup and I knew that I couldn’t leave him alone. I healed Cam, and though his body was healed, I could do nothing for his mind.

My sole focus was on teaching my son, our son, everything I knew about being a wolf. An Alpha. Cam has no idea that that is how it goes. The bond between the wolf and the pup is established long before the pup is blessed with their wolf. I knew my son's name before he ever spoke a word. Nox. My son’s wolf will be named Nox.

The past four years had been spent talking and teaching my son how to lead without being ruthless, how to be a killer without being a savage. How to be a mate without being a lovesick puppy. Though truthfully, that was difficult for me.

My love for my Luna exceeded my need to please anyone else but her. If she had asked me to paint my toenails, I would have agreed because it put a smile on her face. She was strong and fierce, and I missed her every single day. But I was blessed with another. Mira.

She had a gorgeous coat and had captured my soul. In the first second my eyes met hers.

She laid under me, those beautiful deep pools of gold swimming in curiosity and pain, matched my blue eyes. Cam had never asked what happened to cause such pain in those eyes, but I would make it my life’s mission to see it gone.

“Mira.” I breathed softly as I brushed my finger along her chin.

“Hello, mate.” Her voice was soothing, though humans think our voices are animalistic. What did they expect? We were the animals inside them.

“Jersey, my love.” I kissed the tip of her nose.

Her sweet giggle caused my c**k to twitch in my shorts and I wondered what other sweet noises I could pull from her.

“Would you like my mark, mate? To be claimed by me and Cam? Forever?” my growl had a deeper effect than expected as the beat of her heart increased, and the scent of her arousal grew stronger.

She didn’t speak but simply nodded as she bared her neck to me. She was an Alpha, but I was her mate. The only creature in the world the Alpha would submit to is their mate. No matter the gender or bloodline. An Alpha would bend over backwards and play with a puppy if it meant their mate was happy. It was almost physically impossible for us to harm our mate in any way. Especially after marking them. Their pain was ours and vice versa.

My instincts took over as my canines elongated. I had to push myself from plunging them deep into her beautiful neck and pumping my venom into her. I could see the pulsating vein as it matched her heart and for a second I just watched. My breath began to match hers as I leaned over and my lips met her skin. It was so soft and smooth. Her warmth brought something alive that had died with my Luna.

I lost control as I licked over the marking spot, readying that patch of skin for my teeth, and her body for my venom. After mere seconds, I could taste the metallic iron of her blood and my venom flowed freely as I felt our bond solidify.

Just as I removed my teeth from the soft skin of my mate, my head was jerked to the side and her teeth sunk into my skin.

My growl echoed off the walls and cracked the glass of her window and mirror.

I loved my Jeri, with all of my heart, but her mark paled in comparison to this she-wolf. This Alpha. My body exploded in endorphins, and I felt a high I never thought possible.

It is so rare for an Alpha to mate with an Alpha. Not a she-wolf of Alpha blood, but an Alpha. Of course, her bite would be more powerful. She was powerful. And now she was mine.

Hayden's POV

I had heard of the orgasmic feeling of having your fated mate mark you. This was not that.

This was…… the universe aligning all the happiness you could ever feel and shoving it into your body all at once. Mira absolutely could not resist sinking our teeth into Cam’s neck and pumping our venom into him as we became one.

After my teeth retracted, Cam clung to me as if I was his lifeline, though I thought I would hate it… it wasn’t that bad. I enjoyed the warmth of his body and the safety of his arms. I hadn’t felt safe in years. Not since I had become Alpha.

That was something I was never told. I had given all I could to protect my pack, but I felt empty. I could see how happy my pack was, but I could not join in that happiness. If I gave in, then it would have been the last bit for me. I had always needed a little bit for just me, but now there was so much more than I could have expected. For the first time in my life, I wanted to share everything with Cam. There were things I had kept secret for so long, it had begun to eat at me.

“You hold my heart now.” He breathed as he brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. “You’re beautiful, Hayden.”

I could feel the blush creep up my cheeks to the tip of my nose.

“Marking takes a lot out of you. I know. Get some sleep, and we can maybe have breakfast tomorrow to talk about the convention.” Cam whispered.

I nodded.

He kissed me softly, just barely brushing his lips across mine. As soon as the door closed, my body suddenly got very heavy, and I welcomed sleep.

***********

Every day after Cam and I marked each other, it was nearly impossible to stay far from him. While he kept his patrol schedule, instead of going back to his room, he would sleep in my office. I would sit and write emails and all my other duties while he slept on my lap. Bentley thought it was hilarious to see a 6’7 Alpha male sleeping on a loveseat. That had proved to be a dilemma itself. As Bentley was unmated, Cam’s wolf did not like the amount of time we had to spend together, which of course made Emma feel even more uncomfortable around Cam.

Cam proved to be more helpful than I had wanted to admit. He would give small suggestions for changes we needed to make around the pack. Since he had lived both as an Alpha and an omega, his perspective was insightful. In the days since implementing those changes, I could see how my pack members were happier.

The day of the convention, we were awake at five in the morning, to go over things again. This was the first year that a female Alpha’s mate would be present, and I wanted to make a good impression on her. Apparently, Cam had met his mate, Alex, a few years back not knowing that he was mated into his pack and not born.

“So, tell me about Alpha Alex.” I asked as I grabbed my backpack. Cam had refused to let me carry the suitcases down to the car.

It usually was the Beta’s that came, but since Rich was mated, it would be better to have the mated pair in charge of the pack. Not surprisingly, Cam had a little bit of PTSD about driving, and I just hated it. Bentley would be driving, Mav would be strapped into a carseat, and Cam and I would be sitting on either side of him. We would also have another warrior with us, but I didn’t know which one Bentley had picked. Not even the warriors knew who would be joining us until the morning.

“He’s an Alpha. We’re all pretty much the same, aren’t we? Territorial, dominant, and hate being told what to do.” Cam shrugged.

“But what is he like, like a mated Alpha? Instead of being born into his pack?”

Cam shrugged again, “Believe it or not, we didn’t talk about that. It was mostly about territory lines and allies. That’s the entire point of the convention. Just to make as many allies as you can. Sometimes it’s professional business, and others it’s just pack business. I do know my Dad was his mentor during Alpha training.”

I stared at him. That was all it was? Not some secret underground mission.

Cam chuckled at my thoughts, “From what I’ve heard, all the secret missions come from the Luna room. I guess we’ll find out today.” He kissed my forehead and led me down the stairs.

The car ride was mostly silent. Mav talked a little before falling asleep. Bentley turned on the radio and sang along to some songs. I hadn’t heard it in a while, back when Hunter would get on my nerves and sing as loudly and badly as he possibly could. Though I was only two minutes younger than him, he said it was his right to bother his little sister. Hunter was always taller than most wolves. At sixteen, he was already 6’3. I couldn’t imagine how much taller he would have gotten had he made it to adulthood.

It took almost three hours to get to Silver Star. Cam got tense with each passing mile. Unlike me, he could control his thoughts. Mine mostly centered on getting my land and telling all the other Alphas to shove it up their ass. There was one thought, and I could tell Cam heard it as his eyes flashed black and a low growl came from his chest.

“I’m more than capable of taking care of myself,” he grumbled.

“You’ve only been training and patrolling for three weeks after three years of being dosed with silver and wolfsbane. We don’t have the manpower to fight Noah on his turf. You have to admit that it’s smarter to have Todd with you. I’ll have Bentley with me, so at least..” A deeper growl came from Cam. I knew what it was, but I ignored it. “Please? Just think about it. The meetings start tomorrow. We can talk more about it tonight.”

He didn’t say anything, just glared out the window. We pulled into the gates, and the guard first looked through the back window and his eyes grew much larger.

“Alpha?” He whispered.

“I’m not the Alpha anymore, Jay. I’m just here with my mate.”

“We were told you were dead, Alpha. If we had known you were…” His voice dropped as he looked around.

“Don’t worry about it. Can we go? It’s been a long ride, and I need to get my son out.”

“Son? Alpha Noah told us that you had all perished in the car accident.”

“Well obviously they didn’t, so now may we pass, warrior?” I growled.

Knowing that Noah had told many different lies pissed me off. From the official statement from the Elders, he had challenged Camden for his title and land. Gloria said he forced Luna Isabelle to marry him, earning the right to Alpha. Now this warrior was saying that he told the pack Cam had died.

“Quick question.” I said, “When he told you that Cam had died, what did he say happened to the other ranked members?”

“There was a rogue attack that same night, Luna. We saw the Gamma’s body being dragged by rogues, and the Beta lost his mate and his wolf went mad.” The warrior shrugged.

That’s a little too suspicious.