Page 12 of Lost and Pound

I wanted to avoid saying I would, wanted to wait and see, but his hot breath nosed over my ear. There, rather than a nip, he nuzzled into the shell and licked before waiting to see myreaction. As I froze, he licked once more. Eventually, I went limp to his licks as they grew more purposeful.I’ll stay.

My back leg kicked, body slackening. Weeks of stress had taken its toll on me, and the oddness of what was happening didn’t faze me as much as the friendly way other wolves came by to sniff and greet me in a polite way while Shilo lavished me with affection.

Good. You belong.With a final lick, Shilo had me limp and complacent.

For the time, Pine Warren would do.

Chapter Seven

Shilo

I’d known he was a striking wolf the moment I saw him in that cage. When I saw him showered with Kenny, I’d seen his paternal side, and how he looked when clean.

Standing among my pack as pups played, scenting his mild interest, my wolf agreed within me that he was ours.My omega.

In a moment, I realized how fortunate I’d been for not entertaining sexual thoughts. He heard me. He heard me and responded.

He had to be mine. A mate, a match, meant for me. He had to stay, and I told him so, my wolf affirming it as we rubbed against one another, trading scents. I buried my thoughts as my wolf repeated one word over and over again.Mine! Mine. Mine, mine, mine!

The scent of the kennels hadn’t completely left him, but beneath it lay the sweet scent of omega, the beautiful scent of a happy omega, one who didn’t fear me. I considered it a mark of pride that none of my pack feared me. So, when Nico ceded to me so easily, without any authority behind my demand, I couldn’t leave any of him ungroomed.

He didn’t have to fuck me. He didn’t have to move into my bedroom or take my bite—he only needed to stay. If he would stay, I could show him I was different. I would be the alpha he needed if only my meager lifestyle could please him.

When I nipped at his ear and allowed the pack to come back, sniffing him in greeting, a territorial urge rose within me. Half of me wanted to chase my own pack members off, but I suppressed the urge. He was mine and nobody could change that, nor would anyone I considered pack put claw or fang against him.

As we always did, we ran together, slipping between the buildings to funnel toward the nature reserve we bordered. Winding through the trees made my heart sing as we howled toward the moon. Nothing else made me feel better.

When an alpha met their ideal mate, that little bit of sigma magic that came from true love and the love of their pack—as my grandfather had taught me—would let the match speak to one another as wolves, making them a formidable pair.

Wolves could speak to one another in the ways of animals, could communicate things as needed, but to hear a voice so clearly…it was preordained. He was the male I never wanted to lose.

He joined me in a howl as we hunted the night prey, chasing the odd rodent about the leaves of the forest floor, the scant few with too little sense to hibernate. Even when we found them, he signaled the pups to come and chase first, enticing them to chase and hunt. So good with pups. Also, I’d never seen someone huff into the tunnels to get the mice to move.

As the night went on and the pups tuckered out, little ones following parents out of the woods, we found ourselves licking one another again, rubbing against each other. Our tails wagged; ears pinned back while we nuzzled until he shifted in a breath.

There, away from others, my flesh manifested as well, and we pressed into one another, lips brushing sweetly until our mouths clashed. He didn’t scent close to a heat, so we’d be safe, not that it mattered. He wasmine. I was certain. We ground our hips together, cocks stiffening and leaking. Nothing in the world mattered more than uniting, more than rutting and knotting.

He whimpered into my mouth as I caged him in with my arms, pushing him into a bed of moss. The chilled weather meant nothing to us as the heat of our bodies reigned supreme. Breath caught in my chest as I restrained my urges long enough to obtain consent. “Nico, you want to? You can say no.”

“Hell yes,” he said in a shaking breath, pulling me in for another kiss.

I had no power over him. He was neither my pack nor my ward. He was free to leave and owed me nothing. When I inhaled deeply, all I scented was arousal, no fear. The stink of fear made me ill, and I had no idea how other alphas tolerated it. I refused to.

Nico didn’t let me stew in my thoughts long before he reached down, wrapping a hand around my leaking cock. “You smell so good, and your wolf is beautiful.”

The compliment went right to my balls, tingles running through my thighs as he stroked. “And yours is gorgeous, too. Arctic mix?”

He squirmed beneath me, irritated by conversation, but humored me all the same with a half-cocked grin and nod. “You too.”

The warm chuckle that died out in my throat went searing hot as he leaned in to lick a stripe up my neck. “My father is half.”

I gasped as he squirmed beneath me, legs spread wide as his thighs hooked over my hips. “No wonder you smell so good.”

Like sought like. He groaned, and I drew my hand down his side, over the ripples of his belly, the cut of his groin. His cock left a slick streak up my arm as I buried my fingers behind his balls and rubbed, seeking his slick hole.

Less for his pleasure than easing my way, I plunged a finger in to test his tightness. With a single stroke, he relaxed, accepting a second finger until I reached that spot. I wasn’t certain I had it until his core tightened and a wounded cry burst free of his lips. His cock jerked between us, and I took advantage of his pliancy, the dripping wetness, his eagerness. I withdrew my fingers and guided my cock home, rocking the tip into him with a hiss of delight.

A gasp of pleasure lifted from his lips as I speared him. Sheathed, I groaned and placed one hand on his shoulder, the other between us to grip his dripping cock.

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