Page 59 of Fated Exile

There's no reason to worry about it now, so I force myself to dismiss the thought. Roarke speaks the words, his voice loud and clear. "Earth and sky, land and prey, all must come together today. We witness here a bond that forms between two souls that become more. As your alpha, bold and true, I call you here to join as two."

My heart soars, and the stones beneath me begin to softly glow.

A figure steps forward from the darkness, answering their call.

Twenty-Three

Kieran

In my darkest moments, when I gave in to self-pity, self-loathing, and despair, I never would've imagined this would be possible.

The white threads that unspool from Delilah to me make it undeniable.

She's gorgeous in the moonlight, her skin pale and flushed. The dyed maroon of her hair is a dark shadow around her head. Her green eyes reflect the white threads that surge up her naked body, twining around her wrists and ankles, fluttering against her breasts.

And what gorgeous breasts they are. Perky and round, softly falling against her chest. They surge and fall with her quickening breath as I walk towards her, each step I take feeling like a prayer. The hollow of her waist calls to my hands, begging to be gripped tightly, while the swell of her hips dips to the delicious promise between her thighs.

I want to taste her, to smell and lick her, bury myself in her body and listen to her voice cry out as I bring her to climax.

As I get close enough to touch her, I inhale and smell a distinctive, citrus and clove scent hanging on her skin. Roarke was here before me, and I heard him as he made his mark. Even looked over my shoulder, unable to keep my back completely turned for a third round, hungry and aching to know what was happening before me.

Inhaling a second time, I reach up to cup her cheek and wait for the thrum of jealousy to curl through me. It's odd that it isn't there. As I brush my thumb across her lips, thinking of Roarke's mouth on them, I feel a flush of heat in my stomach, and my heart races.

"Our threads lead to the west," Delilah says, casting her eyes towards the elder statue to our right. I glance over and watch it glow brightly with tiny white threads that surge from our bodies to its carved surface. "Elder Peony. The pack's first historian. She represents the past."

A shiver goes through me. "And so do we." I reach out to grab her waist and tug her close to me, my arousal pressing against my pants, hard and waiting from the moment I heard her climax against Roarke's body. "We've been through so much together, and here we stand. It would be easy to deny the past, to run away from it. But the things we've been through are what make us who we are today."

Delilah reaches up to touch my face, her finger sparking energy that skitters around my skin like I'm a live wire. She sounds sad as she says, "I wonder what would've happened if we'd mated that day. I'm sure you think about it all the time. I wouldn't have it any other way, but I'm sorry that you have to share me. I know it must bother you."

I frown, imagining the alternate reality she proposes. It my mind, it's oddly empty and route, missing the turmoil and pain of my recent addiction but also the joy that's been added to my life. While I wouldn't mind avoiding Bastian's complications, getting a break from Finn's jokes, and not dealing with Lance's stubbornness, I have to admit that I'm glad to have them as comrades and friends.

When I think of Roarke's life without Delilah, my heart aches for him. I didn't know at first how he felt for her, but now that I do, I can see all the signs from our childhood. He deserves to have her, and I—I'm less upset at the thought of them together than I could've imagined. Listening to, and watching them, make love has proven that to me.

"It doesn't bother me," I tell her. After a moment I amend that with, "Well, I wish Finn would stop waggling his brows and asking me if I've ever considered experimenting with men, but I know he wouldn't actually push that if it came to it. I'm actually... glad you have other men in your life."

"Really?" She puts her hands on my shoulders and steps closer to me. My cock twitches at the nearness of her body, which smells like sex and my best friend. "I would have thought it would bother you. We were together first, after all, and we've almost done this... so many times. But you had to listen as other men had me."

My voice roughens as I admit, "I watched a little too. Roarke has some... interesting ideas."

Her brows raise, and she smirks a little, pressing her body against my chest. The tightness of my arousal in my pants inches over towards uncomfortable, especially when she rubs her thigh against it, a kittenish expression on her face. "I never would've thought that of you. Didn't he say you two would never—?"

"I've never thought about it," I tell her swiftly, heat pooling in my cheeks. "Or talked to him about it. I don't think he's interested that way. I don't—I don't even know if I am, either. I just... enjoyed hearing him happy."

"Did you now. Interesting." Her voice slides into a teasing tone, and she reaches down to press her fingers beneath the waistband of my pants, white threads surging to follow as her grip pushes further south. "I'll have to keep that in mind in the future. Maybe you two could take turns sharing me... after all, there are things three can do that two can't."

I swallow, a thousand ideas exploding in my mind, even as fear skitters through me. Taking that step with Delilah is one thing—taking it with Roarke could destroy our friendship. Still, I can't say no to it, can't even tell her why it makes heat pool in my abdomen, so I just say, "Let's concentrate on you first."

And I grab onto her waist to kneel before her.

Delilah isn't expecting it. I feel that as I part my lips and press a kiss against her abdomen, just between her thighs, near enough to smell her sex-slicked body. Pressing her thighs apart with my hands, I open my mouth and slide her onto me, pressing my tongue out until I can feel her buckle.

There's a small nub just beneath the tip of my tongue. I look up at her, enjoying the flush of her skin, as I stroke it slowly. She hitches her hips and grinds down onto me, filling me with the taste of her arousal... and the sex that has come before me.

As she slips her hands into my hair and tugs, setting a rhythm and depth, I reach down to unbuckle my waistband. My erection jumps into my hand, as hard as it's ever been, blood pooling in the shaft at the moans Delilah's making. I feel her fingernails lengthen into prickly claw-like lengths against my scalp, and precum spills from the head of my cock, every part of me turned on by how hot she is for me.

When her legs begin to buckle, I reach up with my free hand to catch her, the wolf inside me jumping to the surface and sending strength through my muscles. My wolf feels strong and powerful now, eager to do what I need, no longer tortured and unhappy. He pants with arousal as I tongue inside Delilah's dripping sex, his desire to leave hisownmark behind that of his mate-kins strong enough that my cock jumps.

Because I'm going to come if I stroke myself much more, I move my hand off myself and grab onto Delilah's ass with both palms instead. She leans forward, gripping my head and letting her weight fall onto my arms so she can focus on coming. Her whimper is high-pitched and wolf like, growing as I suck and stroke her, my breath fluttering against her skin.

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