Page 55 of Wolf's Claimed Mate
“Because I’m curious, and I’ll give you a story afterward if you’d like.”
Thatpiqued my interest. “Deal. But don't squirm.”
I lifted my hips to indicate our groins, flush against one another. She blushed, laughing, and clambered off me so I could focus. Seeing her in my shirt did a hell of a lot for me.
“I was always passive growing up,” I told her. “I did what I was told to do by my father. Even Declan sometimes got a little pushy, realizing how easy it was for me to do something. My mom often didn’t take that approach, though. She would phrase things for me to do as questions, let me pretend I had a choice. All I had to do was perceive that she wanted it done so I’d say yes. That was me starting to present as a beta naturally. I was born to carry the burden of others and I think my father realized that pretty quickly. He was a tough man’s man. He wanted a son who was an alpha.”
I shrugged. “He called me a few names here and there—pussy, coward, inferior, no-good, that sort of thing—but I always brushed it off. Then, his affairs began when I was a teenager. I’d just gone into sophomore year, I was almost sixteen, still going through puberty, so my sort of ‘label’ as a beta didn’t manifest until then. I was friends with Fenrys, Lyna, and Aidan, although Aidan had not long left Silverlake Valley.” Sasha gazed at me like she was listening intently. She played with my hair as I spoke up, and I realized everyone usually waited for me to say something angry or defensive. Nobodytrulylistened to a beta when an alpha was in the room, and I’d harbored bitterness for that, but Sasha looked engaged.
“My loyalty to Fenrys manifested strongly,” I continued. “We’d always talked about forming a pack like his father’s, but I hadn’t realized my place below him until it happened. Hispack formed, I became his beta. His second. I was honored and coveted my role and place to him.” I swallowed. Sasha brushed my face with the back of her knuckles, and I leaned into it. “The more time I spent with Fenrys, the less I had to deal with watching my mom and dad fall apart. The less I had to deal with my brother’s anger about it. The arguments were crazy violent; my mom fought, my dad fought, Dec fought. I was weak; I got out of there as quickly as I could.”
I shifted onto my back, tucking an arm behind my head. Sasha leaned in, still listening, and kissed the underside of my bicep, nosing along my skin. I could smell her arousal spiking as she nosed.
“I left my house when I turned eighteen,” I told her. “Dec was still only fifteen. He saw it as abandonment. I didn’t consider him, I just… left. Fenrys had a place for his pack to go when he officially formed it after his dad passed. I was always there at his side, and never my brother’s. I never visited, not after seeing how Fenrys needed me after his dad’s death, not when I felthome, truly home. But things got lonely at times. My other best friend was gone, Declan was back at my house, and before I knew it, he’d left for Oak Hill. I don’t know if Declan went there in search of Aidan. He knew of him, knew of the town’s views of the Tyrone family, and ditched for his pack. As I did, he found himself a new home, but it resulted in us both icing each other out.”
Sasha nodded, humming in acknowledgment, letting me know she was still listening.
“Now, there’s been too much time and distance between us. I don’t even know what I left him to deal with in that house. All I know is that my parents are divorced, and Declan hasn’t been back to visit either one of them since he left for Oak Hill. Istill visit them, but it’s tense. My mom was tough, but even she said I walked out on them.”
Sasha let out a soft laugh. “I can relate to that,” she muttered. “Do you ever think the others are right, telling you to fight it out?”
“Probably,” I said. “But Dec has words he wants to say, and he won’t let himself be that vulnerable.” I cast her a raised-brow look. “A little like someone else. He hides behind a wall.”
Her cheeks colored, and she kissed me, as if to distract me. She hooked a leg over mine again, parting her legs, letting me feel that she was aroused and ready for me again. Did it mean something that we were both so magnetized to each other?
We couldn’t mate cross-species, but what if it was some other base instinct, attracted to each other?
I kissed her, pulling her back onto my lap properly.
“I believe I owe youthat thingI do with my tongue?” I asked, mimicking her words from before.
She grinned at me, wicked and feline, and licked into my mouth. “Mmhmm. Thank you for being open with me.”
“Thank you for asking,” I said, my hands already on her ass, exposing her, to slide the length of my cock through her folds. She ground her hips languidly over me. “I hope it sated the curiosity.”
“It makes sense why he’s angry,” she said. “And it explains why you’re so defensive about it. I hope he crosses the distance between you bothwithyou.”
“I’m just tired of arguing,” I said. “I miss my brother. Especially now, working with him on this, it makes me realize what I’ve missed out on with him growing up. I’ve reached out a damned lot, but every time he pushes me away. The art sessionwe had was the first time he’s spent more than one minute talking to me, and I ended up punching him.”
“You fought for me twice,” Sasha murmured. Her hips stilled. “He was being shitty about our… Intimate life just to get under your skin. But you fought for respect. You don’t have to always fight for me, you know.”
I smiled at her, snagging her lower lip between my teeth as I slipped my hand down her body. “No, but I would like to, if you’ll let me.”
She swallowed, and instead of answering, she inched further down my body, grasping my cock and stroked it until it was hard. I was meant to be pleasuring her so I knew this was to distract me. But when her lips wrapped around the tip, my mind went blank and all I could think about was thrusting up into her tight heat.
Chapter 23 - Sasha
I couldn’t keep Conall distracted for long, but it was enough to clear my mind and prepare myself.
It’s just sex. That had been a foolish comment to make. I raged against my desires, but even I knew it wasn’t only that. I just couldn’t accept the alternative: I had feelings for Conall. Actual feelings—the sort that made me want to be taken on dates and have flowers bought for me, and to see his stupid grin whenever I opened my apartment door or have him there or when I woke up in the morning.
After he climaxed, I hummed into the top of his thigh, nestling, biting lightly at the skin. The feline in me preened whenever he called me that nickname in the heat of the moment, loved the collar, theownershipit could hint at. That part of me gave into it all while the girl who’d had her heart broken and swore to only ever rely on herself fought against it wildly.
“I’m sorry I hurt you before,” I muttered, not able to look him in the eye. My pride told me to look away, to not see what my stubbornness did to people when they wanted to help me. “It was a stupid comment to make.”
“What, the sex thing?”
I kissed his hip before climbing back up his body. “Yeah, the sex thing. Intimacy scares me. It was why I pushed you away that first time, and told you to leave.Youscare me. I don’t like how you make me feel.”
