Back From Beyond (Sample)

3. Rogue

Bright sunlight shone through the slits of the vertical blinds in Adeline's room. Popping open a single eyelid, Hunter watched as his mate continued to sleep, oblivious to the bright lights peeking through the windows.

Cupping one of her cheeks with his hand, he felt her lean into it subconsciously as he smiled at her reaction to his touch.

She snuggled further into his chest, effectively severing the attachment with his hand. Pressing a light kiss to her forehead, he pulled her body firm against his once more.

He groaned as one of her legs became entangled in his and brushed up against the throbbing erection he had woken up with. He would need a cold shower if she kept moving in her sleep this way.

Looking over to the alarm clock posted on her bedside table, he saw that it was just after 9:00 AM. He decided to wake up his mate with several sweet kisses to her lips.

Normally Adeline was an early riser, but she had been out late last night and the suddenness of finding her mate patrolling her borders had her mind reeling to the point of exhaustion.

As she lay in that middle state between being awake and asleep, she shifted her leg and heard a low groan. Moments later, light kisses were being peppered on her lips. Her eyes fluttered awake and a soft smile lit upon her face.

"Good morning," she said lazily to her mate who was looking on her in utter adoration.

"Morning, love," he said before dropping another kiss on her lips.

"If I could wake up this way every day, I would take hundreds of naps a year," she said as she stretched her arms a bit. Miraculously, she hadn't shifted much in the night, though her legs had somehow become entwined between his. Moving her leg out from between them, her thigh brushed once again against his erection and he fought with stifling his groan.

As she felt him stiffen even further, she spoke out loud.

"Do you need some help with that?" she asked boldly. Hunter blinked several times, not understanding her at first.

"Uh-what?" he asked, not quite believing what he was hearing.

She cupped his d**k through his boxers, the tip of it poking out the top band like a phallic jack in the box.

"This," She gripped him through the thin boxers that he was threatening to break with his turgid length. Her hand crept through the open flap of the material and she traced a single finger down his length.

She was impressed. If she had to guess, he was at least 9 and a half inches long with a girth of at least 3 inches wide. She said a silent prayer that he wouldn't split her in two when they finally mated.

"f**k," Hunter gritted out as she teased his entire length with a soft finger. "Baby, if you keep doing that, I don't think the coldest shower in the world will help me get it down."

Adeline surprised herself when she dipped her hand into the waistband of his boxers and wrapped her hand around his length. She couldn't get her fingers all the way around him-not by a long shot-but she twisted his shaft as she stroked him slowly, working up and down his full length as he groaned softly in her ear.

"Baby-s**t that feels good," he groaned out at her and she felt herself moisten between her legs.

Adeline could feel the warm drop of pre-c*m at his tip and she placed her thumb on it, swirling it around as his hips started to move of their own accord.

He jerked his hips in her grasp, increasing the friction against his ever stiffening c**k, making him come closer to his completion.

Cursing quietly, Hunter felt as Adeline started to stroke him faster and he could feel his testicles become become tighter against his skin as she pumped up and down his length with more conviction.

"f**k! That's it, Baby! s**t, you're gonna make me come." His breath came out in short panting gasps.

Jerking him even faster, Addie watched as Hunter came apart in her hands, his hips jerking as he painted his stomach in his own fluids. Leaning down over him, she placed a quick, chaste kiss on his lips before hopping out of bed.

"Adeline?" he asked, surprised at her hasty retreat.

She turned around to meet his eyes with a mischievous smirk.

"I couldn't have you going to meet my father with an erection now, could I?" She didn't wait for a response and simply sauntered her way into the bathroom to do her morning ritual.

"s**t," Hunter said under his breath as his laid his head back on the bed and closed his eyes.

******

Corbin was watching the pack warriors train when he felt a presence behind him.

"Sir?"

He turned and saw, not to his surprise, that it was his daughter's mate. He was dressed in some of the Alpha's clothes which were a fair fit, yet a bit tight in the chest.

"Good morning, Hunter. How was your sleep?" He kept the curiosity in his voice to a minimum. He knew that his daughter and he had slept in the same bed, but was anxious to see his reaction. It would be telling if they had done anything he had asked them not to.

"It was fine, Sir. Honestly the best sleep I've had in ages," he replied. Corbin watched him and nodded after a moment. If he and his daughter had done anything, it wasn't much. Or so he sincerely hoped.

"Did you have breakfast yet?" he asked the man.

"Not yet," Hunter admitted. "I was wondering if we could speak first."

Corbin looked back at the boy. Though he was no boy but grown, any wolf nearly half his age would always be considered a youngster in his mind.

"Sure, let's head to the Alpha's office," he said. "It's unoccupied at the moment as the Alpha had to run into town. His daughter-in-mating is expecting and she had a craving for ice cream for breakfast."

"My apologies if I speak out of turn, but shouldn't that be the son's responsibility sir? I know if my mate was expecting, I would be the one heading to the Baskin Robbins at this moment."

"Yes, well his son is in charge of pack warrior training today so the Alpha decided he would go in his stead." Though Corbin was happy to hear that his daughter's mate would take responsibility for her weird cravings if she were to become pregnant with his pup, it put him off a bit that he talked about children so soon. It would be just one more thing to add to his list of things to ask him when they got back to the office.

"I see," Hunter said with a thoughtful expression on his face. "That was kind of him."

"Come on, my boy." Corbin spoke. "Let's have our chat and then eat breakfast before the rest of the pack demolish the kitchen. Pack of savages."

Hunter followed his soon-to-be father-in-law into the house and had to dip his head to make sure not to brush it against the low hanging ceiling fan placed in the middle of the foyer. He followed him as the man walked through to the study near the rear of the house.

Sitting behind the Alpha's desk, Corbin rested his elbows on the desk, steepling his fingers together.

"How many children would you like, Hunter?" Corbett wasn't one to mince words.

"As many as my Luna would grant me," Hunter immediately responded.

"A very noble answer, son, but not what I asked." he said to the younger man.

"Sir?" Hunter looked confounded.

"If you had to choose, how many children would you want?" Corbin asked in a slightly different way to make the question more obvious.

Hunter settled back in the chair across from Adeline's father.

"I supposed I would have to discuss that with my mate, but if it were solely up to me, I would like 3 or 4 pups," he said honestly. "I have 2 siblings and a large extended family. I would love to build on that."

"Are any of your siblings mated?" Corbin asked.

"Not yet, Sir." Hunter wondered when he would get to speak but wasn't rude enough to stop the flow of conversation. "Tristan is in college right now, heading back to Vassar and Cindy is in her first year at FSU."

"Florida? Too hot for my tastes. Makes a wolf with a thick shaggy coat like mine uncomfortable," Corbin stated. He had gone to Florida once on vacation many years ago and hated nearly every moment. It felt like he was swimming in the humidity and his wolf became restless from misuse.

"Cindy often complains of that sir," Hunter admitted with a lopsided grin.

"Where did you go to college?"

"I stayed in-state. UCLA to be precise, though I was living in the Pacific Northwest most of the time I was a student," Hunter explained.

Corbin thought for a minute. He didn't know how to broach many subjects with the boy. Adeline had never really dated, preferring to wait for her mate. He had no experience with boyfriends. In fact, the only man Adeline paid much attention to was her best friend in the pack, a gay man by the name of Clark Brogan.

Corbin thought he had had it easy up to this point. In 21 years of his life he had never had to have 'the talk' with his daughter about being safe with boys. Now he would have to make up for a lifetime of ease with a particularly difficult set of question. Or at least to him. He was never one for much conversation.

"I suppose that you want to take my daughter back to your pack." It was a statement, not a question, though Hunter treated it like one.

"Yes, Sir. I would need my Luna to be by my side," he told him honestly. "I know she is your daughter, but my wolf and I would not be able to function well in our duties as Alpha if she were absent."

"I understand, Son," he told the man. "I was the same way when I met Addie's mother. Even worse when the twins were born."

"Twins?" Hunter looked confused. Addie never mentioned having a sister.

"Addie was a twin. Identical in fact," Corbin explained. "I know you have not known her for more than a few hours so she probably has not had time to mention it. Her twin died after their 17th birthday. Her name was Braelynn. They were very close."

"I can imagine, Sir." Hunter said a bit stunned. "Addie hasn't mentioned her as of yet to me so I will not broach the subject until she feels comfortable enough to open up."

Corbin watched Hunter carefully in all his answers. He seemed to be perfectly honest in them and he felt he was satisfied in the boy's sincerity.

"I like you, Son." Corbin's voice was stern though his words were not. "I give you my blessing and hope you can make her as happy as her mother made me in the few short years we had together as man and wife. But if I so much as hear a whisper of anything untoward from you against her, I will make sure you suffer tenfold for the hurt you caused her."

"I would never hurt your daughter, Sir." Hunter said with a solemn expression. "I would rather cut out my tongue than say a harsh word towards her or tear my arm from my shoulder before I would dare lay a hand on her in anything but a loving manner."

"That's good to hear, Hunter." Corbin's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Though I could have done without the visual you just gave me."

Hunter smiled at him and felt that they had come to an understanding of sorts.

After a few more rounds of questions on Corbin's part, they both left the study after an hour's time in order to invade the kitchen, both their stomachs protesting loudly at the empty voids in them.

They found Adeline talking to another young gentleman. She was chatting with him animatedly in between bites of a sausage egg and biscuit sandwich.

Corbin smirked a little as a growl emitted from Hunter's throat. He knew the boy wouldn't take kindly to another unmated male so close to his mate. If the man only knew what Corbin did, he probably would have blushed crimson.

The conversation stopped as soon as the possessive growl slipped past Hunter's lips. Adeline looked up in surprise, her face mirrored by the young man sitting next to her.

"Hunter, this is Clark-my best friend," she said, walking quickly up to her mate. He was standing rigid, staring at the other man with a scowl on his face. "He's also gay, so unless you want him to get the wrong idea, I would quit staring at him like that."

Hunter's eyebrows shot up and Corbin stifled a laugh at the situation. At least he knew his daughter would be protected by this possessive Alpha-to-be.

"Please to meetcha," Clark said, standing up from his chair. "Addie told me all about you being her mate and as she doesn't have the proper equipment to catch my eye, you can rest assured I won't be taking her from you at any point in the near future. You however, are delish and can warm my bed any time."

Adeline laughed as Clark wiggled his eyebrows and Hunter's red skin darkened even further at the come on.

Hunter was a bit flustered at this turn of events. He apologized and Addie sat him down in the seat next to her before going to grab the food she had prepared for her father and mate.

They were making small talk and had almost finished their food when Corbin locked into place. A hazy expression flooded his face and Addie looked up immediately in alarm. The look on her father's face went from one of curiosity to anger.

"Hunter! Clark!" Corbin barked the orders. "Get Addie upstairs. Patrol has captured a rogue and I don't want him anywhere near my daughter."

After all, his wife had died at the hands of a rogue. He would be damned if his remaining daughter would lose her life to one as well.