Page 89 of Wolf's Gambit

Squeezing my eyes closed, I fought to clear my mind. We’d find a way to break it. What I’d told Kezia was true. Most alphas had a true mate. My father didn’t. Or if he had, he killed her like he killed others. That poor excuse of an alpha of the pack at Anterrio had no true mate. I knew it as soon as I met his wife.

But Kezia…

I bowed my head under the spray, my hands flat on the tiles as the water beat down on me.

Kezia was mine.

A flash of her white-blonde hair and ice-blue eyes that regarded me with loathing one moment and burned with lust for me the next crossed my mind.

My cock jerked.

“Even when you’re nowhere near me, you drive me crazy,” I muttered as I grabbed my cock, stroking it slowly. I’d brushed my teeth, but I could still taste her. Her skin was so white, utterly colorless, making her seem sickly, but she was so strong. Healthy. I stroked again. Her hair was thick but as soft as silk. It shouldn’t be possible. She should stink. She should be filthy. I’d kept her in that cell for weeks. Weeks. Yet she was always clean with that scent.

Vanilla and spice. It fit her perfectly—a delicate sweetness with a sharp bite.

Still, she should be weak and broken.

I smiled as my hand worked faster as I thought of her. No, she wasn’t broken. My mate didn’t break. She thrived. She got stronger. So strong inside but so soft to the touch. I thought of her smooth skin and how fragile she felt in my arms, but her will was like iron.

She was perfect for me and so incredibly fucking wrong.

My head tipped back, my hand moving in rapid, smooth motions as I thought of the way her skin tasted, her light pink nipples hard as rocks as I sucked them. The smell of her arousal flooded my memory. I yearned to lick every drop from between her thighs…

“Fuck!”

Panting, I stood in the shower, my head bent, the water cooler now with my hand wrapped around my softening cock as I watched my cum get washed down the drain.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked myself for the hundredth time since I met her. “Fuck, I need to break this bond.”

Finishing my shower, I got dressed quickly, jogging down the stairs to the office, hoping that Royce would keep any comments about me jerking off in the shower to himself.

He was talking with Doc when I entered.

“Took your time,” Royce muttered as I closed the door behind me.

My office was soundproof. I promised my pack an open door and transparency, but I also needed confidentiality to run my pack.

“I have a lot to process.” I didn’t meet his eyes and pretended not to hear his muttered I bet you do. “Tell me more about me triggering her heat,” I said to both as I sat on the couch.

My study was open and welcoming. I wasn’t a prick who sat behind a big fancy desk that created a barrier between him and his pack. I had two soft couches, a nice armchair, a couple of other chairs, and a round coffee table. Along one wall ran a shelf that folded out to a workbench if we needed a workspace. Along the other was a wall of books. Some were about strategy, some were pack history, and some were thrillers and crime novels. I liked to read.

Doc spoke first as I knew he would. “You met Kezia just as she was approaching her first heat, right?” I nodded. “From what you’ve said and what I get from Nikan and Royce, her pack knew her heat was approaching but not when. She met you for the first time when the shaman was to…what was it again?” He turned to look at Royce.

“Lick her blood,” I answered. Seeing Doc’s quizzical stare, I elaborated. “Shamans are supposedly linked to Luna and our wolf spirit. Whether we’re in human form or wolf form, our blood is the same. It connects both forms.”

“Our blood enables us to shift,” Royce spoke up. “It was a complete shitshow the day she went into heat, but when we asked about her, when they realized her brother lost her”—he used air quotes when he said lost—“it seemed she often got tested by the shaman to know if she’d shifted without permission.”

“There is so much to unpack in that,” Doc grumbled. “So this charlatan, sorry, shaman, licks her blood and can tell when a heat is coming?”

“Yes,” Royce and I said together, sharing a grin.

“They thought it could be that week, and then she meets Cannon, and bam…” Royce slapped his hands together. “She goes into heat.”

Doc tilted his head to the side as he considered me. “What did you do?”

“Absolutely nothing,” I told him honestly, remembering her insolence even on the very first day.

“Nikan said you pissed her off,” Royce reminded me.

---