Seth

The moon hung full in the night sky above us, as Jane walked towards me. We were in my backyard—which was now ours, as was everything else in my life. Jared was standing at my side, with our packmates surrounding us. Her tan skin looked darker than usual against the stark white material of her dress. A week had passed since I’d driven to the city, skeptical of what the matchmaker could accomplish for me, but the proof of her skills was right there in front of me. My beautiful mate, proudly showing off my mark on her neck and smiling widely as she kept her twinkling green eyes locked on my face.

I wasn’t sure if I could wait the few minutes until our mating ceremony was set to begin. I was practically vibrating with impatience.

“You can chill the fuck out now. She’s close enough that you’ll be able catch her if she changes her mind and tries to get away before the blessing.”

Jared knew me well, and he had a great sense of timing. After everything Jane had gone through, I wanted today to be perfect for her. The last thing I wanted was for her to sense my tension as she joined me. I’d hate for her to think, for even a second, that it might be due to anything other than the sense of urgency driving me. His joke was just what I needed to relax and enjoy the moment, causing me to smile wide as Jane joined us.

She linked her hand in mine and beamed a smile of her own at me before she looked up at the sky and squinted her eyes. “I don’t know. Are you sure it’s a full moon? It looks like it might need another day to me.”

Jared barely managed to stifle his chuckle. “You just had to push his buttons after I got him all settled down.”

Jane sent me a saucy wink as her laughter rang in my ears. “Of course I did. I needed to make sure he was all riled up so he’d be ready for the challenge of chasing after me.”

I sent a look Jared’s way, and he nodded to confirm that he’d talked to my packmates after our conversation this morning. Jane had lived as a lone wolf for more than two years. She hadn’t been truly linked to a pack in all that time, but once I claimed her she was going to officially become a part of mine. Although they welcomed her with open arms, it would take a little while before my mate got used to pack rituals again.

The claiming was for our wolves... and for our pack. When she and I had talked about it last night, I’d noticed how quiet she became when we got to the part about what would happen after I gave chase and caught her. It tended to get very animalistic, with the pack bearing witness to the connection between the newly mated couple. It had struck me that she wasn’t ready for that level of closeness to my pack yet. So I’d used my reputation for being a greedy bastard to my advantage and ensured that we’d have an added degree of privacy tonight.

“I’m more than ready, baby.” I dipped my head low and whispered in her ear, “Take the path to the left. If you’re fast enough, I won’t be able to catch you until we get to the waterfall.”

Her smile grew bigger as she grasped my meaning. “Thank you for understanding me so well I didn’t even have to say a word,” she whispered back

As we turned towards Jared, my hand wrapped around Jane’s, I felt about ten feet tall. As my beta, he was stepping in to perform the blessing since I couldn’t do it myself as the alpha. I dipped my head, indicating that we were ready and he could begin. Jared being Jared, he didn’t waste a minute. His voice rang loud and clear in the night air, “Seinen Gefährten zu finden ist ein Geschenk. Ich bin glücklich die Verbindung meines Bruders heute segnen zu dürfen.”

I felt a reverberation of power pulsing through me as my pack members repeated Jared’s words and blessed our claiming. Heat raced up my arm, where Jane’s hand was clenched in mine. There was only one more thing to do to further strengthen our connection.

“Run.”

I didn’t even get the first letter out before she let go and sprinted away, in the direction I’d told her to take. I gave her a two-minute head start and then took chase, hot on her heels and urging her on with howls ripped from my throat. When I reached the lake, the breath seized in my chest at the sight that greeted me. Jane’s naked body was barely visible through the waterfall.

I ripped off my clothes and dove into the lake instead of running around it. When I popped out of the water on the other side of the fall, Jane was waiting for me. She was sitting on the ledge with her legs dangling in the water, and I pulled her in with me. Her tits pressed against my chest, her pebbled nipples poking out and begging for my attention.

“Lean back, baby.”

The water made it easier to hold her high while she did as I directed. I bent my head and licked at her nipples, enjoying the way she moaned and thrust her chest up to make it easier for me to nibble and suck at her tits.

“Mine,” I rasped, more beast than man, my wolf driving me to finish making her ours.

“Yours,” she agreed. Then she lifted up to score her nails along my back and nibble on my neck. “Just like you’re mine.”

“Need you from behind.”

I couldn’t even speak in full sentences, that’s how hard the need was beating down on me. I almost howled in relief when she twisted in my arms. With one arm banded around her chest, I held her in place as she floated in the water. My feet were firmly planted on the bottom of the lake, and I thanked fuck for the shallowness of the water this close to the ledge.

I widened her thighs as I settled her on top of me and drove my cock deep inside with one powerful thrust. Even with the buoyancy of the water, my muscles strained as I pounded into her willing body. My thrusts were deep and powerful, my balls slapping against her ass each time I pumped my hips.

“Please, please, please,” she chanted, her pussy fluttering around my cock.

“Now, Jane,” I commanded, licking at the mark I’d branded her with.

Her body jerked, and her pussy clamped down on me. Her spasms sent me over the edge too, my hot come filling her to overflowing. With the water pounding down behind us, it felt like we were the only two people in the world. We were closer than we’d ever been, our hearts beating as one with an unbreakable bond between us.

“Love you, baby,” I growled into her ear. “So damn much.”

She swiveled in my arms, wrapping her body tightly around mine. “I love you, too, Seth.”

I’d accomplished a lot in my life—becoming the alpha of my pack, joining the shifter council, and ascending to the role as their head. But none of it compared to what I’d gained that day, my fully claimed mate.