Page 7 of An Ancient Bond

Our Alpha

ANNALISE

“So, you and Ida know each other very well, it seems,” Rebin said as we sat on the plush woven rug in front of the small, crackling fireplace. He was wrapped in a white sheet, and nothing else. He looked like a picture I’d once seen in a book about the ancient Greek gods, only he was more handsome. Almost painfully so.

I had a sheet on as well, but I was wrapped like a mummy, hoping to hide my body. My flaws. I ducked my head, knowing he would feel my emotions in our bond, but unable to stop mentally cataloging all the ways I fell short.

Picking up the wide-toothed comb Ida had packed, I started working through my damp, tangled curls carefully, rueful at the number of grass burrs and leaves that were caught in the mess. I hadn’t bothered to oil my curls in… a decade, maybe?

After we’d reached the cabin she’d sent us to—one of the ones reserved for newly mated couples—and eaten the food, we’d talked for an hour, sharing our lives. We did have a lot in common; we both preferred quiet to noise, the wilderness to human-style cities or towns, and the light of the moon to the daylight.

“I, ah, have a job I do for the pack,” I explained. “I carve things for the new pups. Ida is the only one in the pack I’ve spoken to in many years. She trades me the things that make life bearable for a female on her own in the woods, in exchange for my trinkets.”

“I’d like to see your art,” he said quietly. “I have a feeling it’s as beautiful as you.”

My head jerked up, and the comb pulled a tangle so hard, tears sprung to my eyes. “Don’t.”

His brow furrowed. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t call me beautiful. You don’t need to do that.” I swallowed hard. “I won’t reject you, and you obviously won’t reject me, even if you have every reason to. But let’s at least be honest with one another. I know I’m ugly.”

His eyes blazed with blue fire, and a wave of something I was not prepared for washed over me. It was a rush of power that flowed from his wolf, almost like Alpha dominance, but with a soft, gentle insistence rather than the harsh edge of command. It had me flattening my body to the rug, whining softly, begging for his touch.

He set his hand on my head, and I bared my neck to him in submission. “You are no such thing. Your soul shines like a firework in a dark night sky. If it takes our whole lives for me to help you see it, then that’s a task I’m more than willing to undertake. But you will not say such a thing ever again. Understood?”

A deep, unquenchable urge to submit to him filled me, and I found myself agreeing, murmuring, “Yes, yes, yes,” until he shushed me, and began that low, growling purr that seemed to resonate in my soul.

I couldn’t believe it. I was a powerful wolf; I’d had trouble submitting to my own Alpha more than once. I’d fought in the war against the Russians and faced down entire packs of powerful enemies and Enforcers, some wielding magic, and had never felt the need to bow down like I did to this gentle tsunami of… “Love?”

His laugh filled the small cabin. “Yes, please call me your love.”

I understood then that he had no idea how strong he was. But perhaps no one did.

His wolf gazed out of those bright eyes with so much compassion, I felt awe. “All right, love. I won’t say that again. I may not deserve you”—he growled, and I rushed on—“but the moon’s gifts are not to be taken for granted.”

“So, let us enjoy those gifts,” he said, letting his sheet fall. I stood when he did, and let mine go as well, shocked at how quickly his cock sprang from a half-hard state to fully erect.

He did think I was beautiful. There was no way to pretend that he saw me as anything but desirable. I licked my suddenly dry lips, and his cock bobbed, as if it wanted me to taste it. I almost fell to my knees, but he had already cradled my face in his hands and was pressing a gentle, insistent kiss to my lips. I parted them, and he kissed more deeply, his tongue exploring my mouth.

Neither of us was an expert at kissing, that much was clear. I’d only kissed a few other shifters during my travels, long ago. But he mapped my mouth, then my neck and shoulders, as if he was memorizing every place that made me quiver or moan, and then returned to those to show he had paid attention. My nipples, by the time he reached them, were hard as diamonds, and for a moment, I wondered if he was trying to kill me with anticipation as he spent endless minutes tracing every inch of them, sucking and nipping at them.

My core was molten, slickness gathering and wetting my inner thighs when he finally dropped to his knees. He looked as if he were praying; I even heard a short one to the moon before he nuzzled my tight curls and began to explore me with his tongue, searching.

And finding.

I cried out as he found my clit and circled it twice. “There!” He gripped my thighs more firmly, widening my stance. I threaded my fingers through his soft hair, clutching handfuls of it as he began to explore my most intimate places.

He lapped and nibbled at me, tentatively at first, then more intentionally, until I was shaking, my legs almost too weak to stand. He carried me to the bed, spreading me wide and attacking my core with his tongue and mouth, making all the sounds of a starving man at a feast as he drove me up and over my first crest.

“Again,” he demanded, that wave of gentle dominance infusing his voice. “Come again.” He set his thumb to my clit, circling firmly and reigniting the sparks from the last peak, then pressed one finger just inside me.Almost instantly, I came once more, a rush of fluid wetting his hand. “Fuck yes, perfect mate of mine,” he muttered before diving down and licking up my release, like he didn’t want to waste a drop.

His hands moved over my warm skin feverishly, as if he was afraid the feast might be taken from him. His lips and tongue didn’t stop at my core, exploring every intimate inch of my body.

By the time he’d made me come three more times, he was soaked—his face wet and shining, even his hair damp from my juices.

I laughed hysterically, as he batted those long dark lashes at me. “Think you can come again?”

“I want to taste you first,” I insisted, wrapping my legs around him and rolling him over on the wide mattress. “Hold the bed posts.” Mischief lighting his gaze, he obeyed, and I kissed his nose. “Now, don’t let go. I may not be able to command an orgasm out of you, so this might take a while?—”

---