Page 36 of The Alpha's Mates

Dropping the pack, I grabbed her with one arm, around the waist and yanked her against my body. Her head came to my shoulder, and despite her curves she still felt delicate in my grasp. Both hands dropped to her hips and I squeezed the flesh there.

Her pupils were blown, lips parted as her breathing sped up. Everything disappeared around us. She was staring up at me like she needed me to continue. As though she were going to perish if I didn’t kiss her.

My head dipped, lips brushing lightly over hers as I spoke, “See? Much smaller than me.” My hands slid down over her full ass and I cupped it in my palms. “Softer.” I sacrificed one hand and brought it up to grip the back of her neck so I could kiss her properly. Our lips rubbed together, something I wished our bodies could be doing, and she opened for me when I licked the seam of her lips. Dipping my tongue into her mouth, I played with hers, drinking in her little pants and moans. “You taste so good.” The words were muffled since I couldn’t bear to break the connection.

The sound of a door slamming had her jerking in my grasp and she broke the spell that was weaving its way around us. She grabbed my wrists, her fingers barely able to circle them. “Please.”

The desire was dampened and now she just looked embarrassed, like she wanted to bolt. Sighing, I released her and watched as she did just that.

“Good job,” Calder muttered from nearby. He shoved off the wall he’d been leaning on.

The sun was starting to rise, sending rays of light streaming over the village. “Why are you skulking around in the shadows?” I asked, irritation taking over. I wasn’t angry at her, just that I’d scared her off. Getting close to our mate was difficult enough. I’d lost my head and taken it further than I planned to.

“Because she would have run even faster if I joined the two of you.” He shot me a smirk.

“Not my fault someone slammed a fucking door.” Rolling my shoulders to release some of the tension, I grabbed the pack I dropped. “Let’s go. Soren’s going to want to get on the road soon.”

“Why do you think I’m here? He sent me to find you.”

We walked to the edge of the forest where our little band of participants were waiting. The omegas, Vera and her mates, and Ruck—the head of our security team—were there to see us off. Soren’s grandfathers would be in charge until we returned, but Ruck and his cadre, along with the other teams who helped watch over the village’s safety would play a huge part in things while we were gone.

“Safe travels,” Ruck told us, bowing his head in respect as we passed.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. We’d known the males here since our birth. Some were older and had seen both Soren’s fathers, and his grandfather’s rule. No one had said a word when the position had been given to Soren. Pack leaders could be challenged at any time. One cadre would fight another for the right to rule the pack. No one had bothered. This was not only Soren’s birthright; he was perfect for the position. Our pack was thriving, as much as was possible, in difficult times.

“We’ll be traveling as quickly as we can,” Soren said as soon as he spotted us. “If you need a break, say something,” hiseyes landed on the two females who were traveling with us, “otherwise we won’t be stopping until dusk.”

It was safest to travel at night. Less chance of running into humans that way, but that wasn’t possible when the journey was going to take as long as it was. Our human halves needed to rest at night. If this trip was only going to take a few days, we could sacrifice some sleep. But it would take a little more than a week and none of us were willing to weaken our mates. We just had to be careful.

We were larger, and more powerful, than humans, but they had numbers on us, sometimes ten or twenty to one. And they had weapons that could defeat us. Weapons given to them by their Goddess. The Sun Goddess was the sister to our very own Moon Goddess and to the Sky Goddess, who belonged to neutrality and never took sides. But for reasons that I couldn’t fathom, the Sun Goddess hated our kind. She’d done everything in her power to ensure that her people survived while we were forced into hiding. Without our Goddess we were losing and we hadn’t even known there’d been a battle to fight until it was too late.

Reese and Emma hugged their friends goodbye, promising them they’d be back soon. My heart warmed watching them interact with the omegas. They were the rocks the rest of the women depended on. It spoke of the integrity and character of my mate that these women trusted her to lead them.

Shucking my clothes, I stuffed them into the bag in front of me, placing Reese’s clothes in as she took them off. My eyes raked over her naked body. As though she could feel my gaze, she glanced over at me. Her cheeks turned a dull red as she caught me staring and she shifted into her wolf form. As soon as I had no more need for opposable thumbs, I shifted. The magic washed over me and I shook out my coat when my four paws hit the dirt.

Grabbing the pack up in my mouth, I waited while the other males did the same. We all had bags containing our supplies, but we left our mates with nothing to carry. All they needed to do was keep up. I had no doubt that Reese would do so easily. It was the beta I wasn’t so sure about.

Griff and Holden would keep close eyes on her and let us know if she needed us to slow our pace. Soren wanted to cover as much ground as possible, but he wasn’t going to run the females into the dirt to spare a day of travel.

Waiting for everyone to pass by, I fell in behind them. The forest was a blur as we ran in formation. Our mates were in the middle with Soren and Calder at the head, and Griff and Holden directly behind them. I was at the rear and it left me staring at the twins’ shaggy tails as we bounded along pathways. I wasn’t about to complain. I was too busy scanning the vegetation around us for threats.

It was rare to see humans this deep into the forest—though we would start seeing their settlements as we approached the plains—but that didn’t mean there weren’t other mountain wolf packs out here. After what happened with the Fenhall Pack, we didn’t want to waste time fending off another attack.

That was the deviousness of the Sun Goddess, her true evil. It wasn’t enough to arm the humans and send them after us. She managed to turn shifters against each other in a mad civil war. Every pack was on defense from every other pack, and all humans. It was a wonder we had survived this long.

My chest was heaving by the time we stopped for our first break of the day. Soren had halted near a crystal stream that brought water down from a glacier high up in the hills. We dumped our packs next to a tree and everyone drank their fill and rested.

In our wolf forms our animals had more control, even though we were keeping a tight rein on ourselves. We couldn’t afford tolet the wolves take over. They would be all too happy to frolic, play, and hunt the days away, stealing precious time from our mission. One of these days we’d allow them full control so they could interact with their mate unencumbered. Now wasn’t that time.

My wolf let out a growl of irritation, but behaved for me. He was me and I was him, so it was no surprise that his control over situations was a vast improvement over our cadre mates’.

I watched as Calder’s wolf shook his head, fighting for dominance as he tried to overtake my friend. Walking over, I bumped his shoulder and was greeted with sharp teeth to my haunches. Chuckling to myself, I left him to his internal battle and went over to check on Reese.

She was lying by the stream in a patch of sunlight. Her gray eyes met mine and her tongue lolled out as she gave me a doggy grin. She was relaxed and looked happy.

Settling my bulk next to her, I kept watch while Soren and Calder ascertained the best route to take. They navigated much better than I did. Not that I couldn’t, but my skills were best used as security. Brute strength was my biggest contributing factor to our group. And my ability to play peacekeeper.

A low agitated voice caught my attention, and I watched with interest as Emma berated Griff. Both were standing across the stream, naked as the day they were born, in their human forms.

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