Wild Wolf Claiming

chapter 3

Lily

“Lily?” Robbie knocked on the door once more, the sound so faint I shouldn’t have been able to hear it, but I could. I could hear the blood rushing through my veins, the insects inside the walls? Little legs, millions of them, scrambling and moving with purpose.

“Lily? It’s okay. I can hear your heart racing. Don’t be scared. Just let me in. Everything will be all right, I promise.”

No. It wasn’t all right. I wasn’t all right. And he wasn’t going to go away. He wanted to get me naked and I wanted him to do it. That disturbed me more than anything.

I jumped when he tried the doorknob, ran around to the far side of my bed.

“Lily!” he shouted.

I went to the open window, looked out into the darkness. The moon lit up the trees, my side of the dorm backed up to a large open park, and beyond that was national forest. Being on the ground floor, I could see nothing beyond, but knew the forest stretched on for miles. Something was calling me to climb from the window, to go out into the night.

And then I saw the reason. A tall form, his white shirt almost blindingly bright under the light of the moon. I knew who it was, could see him as clearly as if it were broad daylight. My n*****s ached and my c**t throbbed as I took in his dark hair and full lips. He wore the same snug style jeans, but he looked wilder somehow, his hair sticking up as if he’d been running his fingers through it.

I wanted to run my fingers through it. No. Forget that. I just wanted him. All of him.

Kade.

If the choice was stay in my room and try to resist Robert’s advances or do something completely insane? I knew what I had to do.

Putting my hands on the window frame, I shoved the screen out of my way, climbed through the wide opening, took a deep breath and jumped.

Kade

She climbed out the window, her white nightgown all but glowing as it billowed around her thighs. She was running to me, her pace swift, her gait smooth. I met her, wanted to touch, to kiss her, but she didn’t stop, only tugged on my wrist.

“We have to go. Now.”

I heard the frantic energy of her voice, scented her arousal. It was growing stronger which meant her time was upon her. I glanced back at her dorm, saw the silhouette of a figure standing in her window just before we cut into the woods.

“Who is he?”

“Later. I’ll explain, I promise, but we have to go now!”

She was mine, and she was with me so I let it go…for now. We ran then, but I led. I knew the forest, knew it like the back of my hand. Knew where to go to keep her safe.

“We should shift.” Escaping danger in wolf form was safer than in human. Did she not shift? Was she unable? A thought flicked through my brain. Did she even know she was a wolf?

Fuck, that meant—

“Shift what?”

When I didn’t answer, she kept talking.

“He followed me,” she said, her voice coming out in pants. I slowed to match her shorter gait. “He followed me all the way from home.”

“Who is he?” It didn’t really matter, only that it was someone she didn’t want to see. Someone she was afraid of. That she was willing to climb out a window to escape.

“Robert. He followed me from Tennessee and brought two of my Grandad’s goons. They drove all the way from East Springs.”

A wolf—he had to be one—had followed her across the country? It wasn’t much of a surprise. I’d picked up her scent in the woods earlier and it had called to me, all but pulled me to her again like a magnet. It would have been easy for the wolf to follow her, especially if he knew her well. “Two goons?”

She laughed but there was no joy in the sound. “Babysitters. That’s one of the reasons I left.” Her laugh turned to a sigh and she slowed to a stop. “It’s one of the reasons I left home. Ever since my mom died, Grandad has these guys following me around all the time. I mean, yeah, I’m from a small town, but it’s ridiculous. I’m not a three year old. I don’t need a keeper.”

But she did. She just didn’t know it. Not that it mattered. Not anymore. She was mine now. Mine, and if the idiots who followed her tried to take her from me I’d rip out their throats and send them to Lily’s grandfather special delivery.

“They’re your grandfather’s men?”

“Yes.”

“All three of them?”

She bit her lip and looked away, a flush covering her cheeks. “I used to date one of them, but I don’t want him.” Her adorable frown turned confused and when I saw the confusion shift to fear, I pulled her into my arms and held her close, pressed her to me so her wolf would know I was here as she continued. “I never wanted him before. But I think something’s wrong with me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you.” Running my hand up and down her back to soothe her, rage filled me as she melted into my arms. But holding her, being the one she came to felt perfect and so right. I’d been running on instinct until now, a lone wolf serving as enforcer for my alpha. Now? Nothing mattered but her, and everything inside me settled around that truth. She was like gravity. I didn’t question her existence in my life, or her importance. She was just…mine.

How was it that she’d never been told what she was? True that some children didn’t carry enough wolf blood to shift. Those people lived their lives unaware of their genetic history. But Lily was the granddaughter of the Windbourn alpha. The odds of her not becoming a full wolf were—well—next to none. She should have been told.

There would be no place safe for her to hide. The wolves chasing her would be able to scent her. And the one I’d seen in her window? He wanted her for himself. Hell, every unmated male wolf in Black Falls would be able to scent her. None could miss the ripe essence of her, ready to be claimed, f****d and mated.

My balls ached to have her, to make her mine.

Mate, my wolf howled.

Yeah, no one would get her but me. But there was only one way to make sure no other wolf would touch her…ever. Both the Black Falls pack and Lily’s pack from home all followed the same universal laws.

No enforcer entered another pack’s territory without permission.

Which meant my alpha knew the Windbourn wolves were here. Which meant he knew Lily was here. And that was going to work to my advantage. My alpha was not an i***t. And having one of his enforcers mated to a Windbourn would make our pack stronger. I’d get no argument from him on what I planned to do.

Now I just needed to convince my sweet mate.

She trembled in my arms but didn’t pull away. No. Her arms tightened around my waist. “I’m serious, Kade. I think something is wrong with me.”

I pulled her down to sit beside me beneath a tree where the moss was thick and soft. A perfect bed on which to take her. “Tell me,” I said, taking her hand, wanting the connection.

She glanced over her shoulder. “Shouldn’t we keep moving? He’ll follow me. He’s probably following us right now. And he’s not alone.”

“No one will touch you, Lily,” I vowed and I meant it. She searched my gaze for long seconds before settling next to me in an act that made me want to pound my chest with victory. Mine. She was mine. She trusted me. Wanted me. “He can follow all he wants, but he won’t touch you.”

But he would follow. This Robert who had her running scared would not give up. Not that I could blame him or every unmated male in Black Falls. Unless I wanted to fight a half dozen challenges tonight, I had to take her to the Claiming. I had no choice. But first I would listen. “Tell me,” I repeated.

“Robert. He’s from East Springs. We dated. Went out. Whatever.” She picked at the moss, looked up at me through her lashes. Even with the moon hidden by the thick forest, I could see her clearly. Her pale eyes, her round face, full lips. Even the hard points of her n*****s through the thin white nightgown.

My teeth lengthened at the sight, but I pushed my wolf back. I would claim her, but not yet. I had to wait, follow the rules. Protect her with both my body and pack law. I had to wait, but not long. The moon would be at its apex soon. A few hours, and she’d be mine forever.

“He wanted me. He said he’s been waiting for the time to be right.”

A grunt escaped me at that bit of news. I knew exactly what he was waiting for, for Lily to be so out of her mind with lust and need that her wolf would force the woman to accept him. He must want her badly to take such a risk.

Because once the awakening was over and she came back to her senses? Well, no one could control a female werewolf full of rage. She probably would have killed him, and he would have deserved it. Add her blossoming power to the fact that she was a Windbourn and the wolf chasing her had to be out of his mind in love with her, or desperate.

“What did he do? Did he hurt you?” I’d kill him.

“No. But he wanted to come into my room. I don’t even like him, but I…I pushed him away and fled.”

I could scent her arousal, but it was tinged now with fear, with a lingering anger that was bitter on my tongue.

She shrugged. “That’s the gist of it. I’m not really interested in going into detail. But he’s here and based on the things he said, he’s not going to leave.”

I tensed. “What did he say?”

She licked her lips and I stifled a groan. “That he could smell me.” She turned her head and lightly sniffed. No, she had no idea she was a wolf. I sighed quietly, realizing I had to tell her what she was and why Robert was after her. Why I wanted her. Why every f*****g male in the area would want her.

And about the claiming ceremony that would make her mine forever.

“And…and he wanted to… to kiss me and touch me. He promised if I let him in he’d…”

Too well could I imagine what he’d said, and worse, what he’d been thinking. They were the same thoughts I was thinking now. Running my tongue over her flesh, tasting her n*****s before going lower, to her sweet p***y and taking my fill. Hearing her cry out as I made her lose control over and over before burying myself balls deep and making her mine forever. I growled then and Lily startled. Lifting a hand to her face, I couldn’t resist sliding my palm down her cheek to her neck, burying it in her hair. “I’m mad at him, not you. Never you. But you’re mine now, Lily. I won’t let him touch you.”

She blinked slowly, leaning into my touch. I could see her struggle to find words, to battle the sensual needs fighting for command of her mind and body. Her wolf was close, ready to break free and run wild, unless Lily controlled her. If the wolf wasn’t contained, Lily could go mad, or worse. She needed me, would need the dominant nature of my wolf to help her maintain control.

I ached to kiss her, but I didn’t dare. If I started I would never stop. I settled for leaning closer and pressing my forehead to hers. She sighed, the sound soft. “Why is he here, Kade? Why are you here? Why am I running through the forest in my nightgown? Why does my skin…hurt?”

I knew she wanted to ask more. The hunger to be touched would be strong now, making her body ache with need, her skin itself would crave contact. I couldn’t take her, not yet. But I could help, if I was strong enough to resist temptation.

Leaning my back against the tree trunk I pulled her across my lap. The hand in her hair I left in place, wrapped around her neck, and used it to press her cheek to my chest right over my beating heart. Holding her felt natural, right. She settled instantly, curling into my heat as I ran my free hand up and down her spine in what I hoped would be a soothing gesture. I just had to hope she didn’t feel my c**k, thick and hard against her side.

I was a f*****g saint. Here I was petting her when all I wanted was to throw her down on the ground and f**k her raw, fill her with my seed and tie her to me forever. The wolf in me wanted that so much so I had to count to a hundred before I could begin to explain.

“Your family, the Windbourns, has lived in Tennessee for a long time. Hundreds of years.”

She nodded and I was relieved she knew at least this much of her family history. The werewolf migration had occurred even before the Declaration of Independence had been signed.

“They came from a long line of nobles in Europe, a family that was followed by horror stories, curses and legends.”

“How do you know so much about us?” she asked.

“My family is from the same area. And we all suffered the same ancient curse.”