Page 5 of Wolf Caged
I walked faster to keep up with him and fell into step beside him. He angled his head towards me, his smile warm, no trace of unease in his eyes. That agitation I had sensed in him faded as he walked beside me, his grip on my wrist loosening as we reached the threshold of the barn. Warmth swept around me as I crossed it, and not only from the candles set in the centre of each wooden bench table.
A cheer went up as all eyes turned towards us, murmured greetings and hollered welcomes following it, together with a few remarks about how eager we probably were to get to the mating part of the evening. My cheeks heated despite my efforts to keep my embarrassment hidden.
They warmed for a different reason when Lucas looked at me, hunger I had never seen before shining in his eyes.
Fire that scalded me.
I couldn’t pull my eyes away from his as he led me through the room, towards the long table near the back wall. A smile lit up his face as he eased my chair out for me, as I sat in it and he took the seat beside me. It had been a long time since I had seen him this happy, and the thought that it was because of me warmed me right to my soul.
Lucas leaned towards me, draping his arm across the back of my seat, his earthy scent filling my senses as he poured me a glass of chilled white wine. His smile was easy and charming as always, a feat I always marvelled at. I had never met a male who smiled so easily, who could charm all around him as Lucas could, no matter how dire a situation might be. Even when he had been mourning his parents, he had been able to smile just a few short weeks after their deaths. If I lost my parents, I was sure I wouldn’t be able to smile for a full year.
He grazed his fingers down my spine, sending a chill tumbling down it as he pushed the glass towards me.
I almost spilled the wine as I picked it up, fumbling with it as my hands continued to tremble.
He noticed, his focus shifting to my fingers, and then back to my face.
He eased closer, his breath tickling my ear as he whispered, “No need to be so nervous. It’s not as if we haven’t known this moment was coming for years. You really do look beautiful tonight, Saphira.”
He dropped a kiss on my neck and I growled, the rumbling sound slipping from my lips before I could stop it as my instincts roared to life, making me restless with an urge to push and goad him, to tempt him into biting my nape.
Binding us as mates.
His raspy chuckle tickled my senses and my skin, making the hairs on my nape stand on end, hyper-sensitive and aware of how close he was to where I needed him most.
That ache that had been building from the moment I left my pack lands reached a crescendo as I glanced at him, catching his gaze rooted on my nape. His eyes were unfocused, his pupils blown. Was he thinking about marking me too?
I squeezed my thighs together as all that wicked heat pooled there, the ache too strong now, almost overwhelming.
Lucas pulled back and clinked his glass against mine, a mischievous light in his eyes as he said, “Drink. It’ll help with the nerves… and the heat.”
He could sense it. Maybe even smell it on me. I died a little inside, cringing internally at the thought he was deeply aware of how badly I wanted him.
I gulped my wine and the moment I set the glass down, Lucas refilled it. I gulped that too, because it took a lot for a wolf shifter to feel even a mild buzz from alcohol.
I had experimented with it once, when Morden had brought a box of six whiskey bottles back from a trip to Vancouver and we had celebrated his birthday on a bitter November day when the snow had been falling so thickly that we had struggled to get out the door when it was time to head home. Chase had ended up staying over at his place, and I had stumbled back through the snow with Everlee. She had slept in my bed next to me, complaining it was too cold to trek the additional distance to her cabin.
Lucas kissed my shoulder, regaining my attention, and chuckled at something Braxton said to him. The big dark-haired beta rivalled Morden in his height and build, making me feel small as I looked up at him. He ran a hand over his shorn hair and smiled, but no trace of warmth touched his dark eyes. I wasn’t sure Braxton would ever approve of me, but I was determined not to give him any reason to dislike me. I knew how easily one wolf could turn others against a female, even the mate of an alpha, especially when they wielded power in the pack, like Braxton. Wolves listened to their betas as much as their alphas. Even an alpha listened to their beta.
I turned my gaze on Lucas.
Although I was sure he wouldn’t be easily swayed by his cousin.
“Sit. Have some wine with us.” I pinned Braxton with my best smile and gestured to the seat beside me.
Braxton grunted at it and moved on, drifting into the crowd.
“Don’t mind him,” Lucas breathed into the shell of my ear and nipped at my lobe. “He just thinks I’m rushing things.”
I looked at him. “And what do you think? Are you rushing things?”
He shifted closer. “No. I think this is the right time. I don’t want to wait any longer.”
I blushed, the colour climbing my face before I could stop it.
Lucas took my chin between his thumb and forefinger, his smile dazzling. “So innocent. So perfect. You could charm any male with a look… a reaction like that.”
I brushed his hand away. “I don’t want to charmanymale.”
