Seth

I’d had my mate under my roof for the past three days, and they were the best of my life. My pack had given us the time to ourselves with Jared running interference whenever an issue came up, just like he did when I was away on council business. I was damn lucky to have him as my second, and he had no problem making sure I knew it once I came up for air again.

“Is it safe to come in?” he asked when I opened the front door for him. “Or are you and your lovely mate still busy?”

“Yeah, you can come in. Jane’s sleeping.”

“Wore her out, huh?” He wagged his eyebrows. “There goes my chance to see her running around naked. Has she even bothered to unpack her clothes? I’m sure she hasn’t really needed them yet.”

“Jared,” I sighed in exasperation. I walked into the living room with my beta following right behind me.

“I figured now’s the time to push the envelope with you since I’ve earned a ton of brownie points by taking care of business while you’ve been holed up in here with your mate.” He offered me an exaggerated pout. “You ready to get back in the saddle—the alpha one, that is? The extra duties have been hell on my social life.”

“Maybe you need to take a trip to the city to meet with the matchmaker. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about your social life because you’d have your own damn mate to keep you busy.”

“I just might do that,” he drawled. “Now that I’ve seen what she can do. You make an excellent guinea pig.”

“Fuck you, too.”

He roared with laughter. “Shut up. You couldn’t possibly have anything to complain about.”

A shit-eating grin spread across my face. “I’m a lucky man.”

“That you are.” He turned serious. “No joke. I’m thrilled for you, Seth. You’ve more than earned your happiness. With all the shit that’s been swirling around with the decision you made to give a seat on the council to a witch, it’s the perfect time for you to have the ultimate peace that comes from having your mate at your side.”

“I won’t lie. It’s good to have her under my roof. Damn good,” I exhaled. “But there’s still some shit that I need to figure out with Jane.”

His jaw dropped open. “What shit? It seemed to me that she was settling in nicely.”

“She is, but her former alpha and beta have a fuck of a lot to answer for.” I shared the basics of Jane’s story with him, feeling a large amount of satisfaction in the anger emanating from him by the time I was done.

“We need to go take care of that shit sooner rather than later. Get it over and done with so it can’t come back to bite you, or Jane, in the ass later. ‘Cause you know when it would happen; right when you’ve got your hands full with council business and can’t give those bastards the kind of attention they deserve.”

“Fuck, you’re right,” I groaned.

“Right about what?” Jane asked as she walked into the room.

She flashed Jared a small smile before bending to plant a kiss on my cheek. I pulled her onto my lap and tightened my arms around her waist. She tilted her head up, and I claimed her lips. I dimly heard Jared clearing his throat and tore my lips from Jane’s.

“I’ll just be going now; give you two a little bit of privacy since you’ve barely had any at all over the last few days.” Sarcastic humor was thick in his voice.

“Sorry,” Jane laughed. “I forgot we weren’t alone for a second there. I’m used to it being just the two of us.”

“No worries.” He smiled at her, but then his gaze shifted to me and turned serious. “I think Seth has something he wants to discuss with you anyway.”

I felt Jane’s body stiffen and I glared at him, even though I knew he was right. She waited until the door shut behind Jared before she twisted in my arms, her pretty green eyes narrowed as she stared up at me.

“What was your conversation with Jared about when I walked in? It looked pretty serious. Is it the same thing you need to discuss with me?”

“Yeah, baby. It is.” I slid my palms up her neck and gripped her face in my hands. “We were talking about your old pack. About how I have some unfinished business with the alpha and beta that I really shouldn’t put off because, life being what it is, odds are good that it’d pop up at the worst possible time otherwise.”

She froze, holding herself perfectly still like a hunted animal. Her wolf flashed in her green eyes, and her nails dug into my arms. “What do you mean?”

“I need to confront them about what they did to you. Make sure they know that it’s not acceptable. That as your mate, I won’t stand for how they abandoned you in your time of need. And I also want to make it extremely clear that you’re untouchable. That if your alpha didn’t shun you, they might as well pretend like he did because they don’t exist in your world anymore, and they’d have to deal with me if they ever tried to approach you.”

“Whoa,” she breathed, eyes wide. The fear was wiped clean from her face. “That’s what you want to tell them?”

“Absolutely, baby.”

“I’ve spent so much time terrified by what would happen if I ever went back. If I ever saw anyone from my pack again.”

“Your old pack,” I corrected.

“Yeah.” She beamed at me. “I have you, and I have our pack now. They don’t have any power over me anymore. With you by my side, I guess I might be okay with the idea.”

“Then I should probably also tell you that my wolf wants a piece of both their asses and doesn’t plan on leaving without getting it.”

Her wolf flashed in her eyes again, but for a completely different reason this time. “Damn, that’s hot as hell.”

“It is, huh?”

“Mmmhmm.” She grinned at me mischievously. “Maybe you’d like to get a piece of mine first?”

Before what she’d said registered, she jumped off my lap and raced towards our bedroom. It didn’t take me long to chase after her, not after she’d thrown down the gauntlet the way she’d just done. She’d moved quickly, leaving a trail of her clothes on the floor in her wake. As soon as I saw her shirt flying over her head, I followed suit and started stripping my clothes off as I ran. By the time I dove for the mattress, we were both naked.

Wrapping my hand around the back of her head, I captured her lips in a deep kiss while running my palm up her inner thigh. When I reached the center, my finger slid through her wetness, and I groaned into her mouth.

“So wet for me, baby. Are you excited by the idea of me sinking my cock in your tight, little back hole?”

“Yes,” she hissed as I ran my finger up her slit to tease her clit. Grasping the cheeks of her ass and lifting her up off the mattress, I buried my face in her pussy. I plunged my tongue inside and moaned as her flavor burst across my tongue.

“Ride my face, baby. Use me to get yourself off.”

Her hips circled as she ground against my mouth while I licked, sucked, and nibbled at her. She shuddered each time I pulled my tongue from her tightness and ran it up her center to flick at her clit. When I felt her body tensing up, I sank two fingers inside while I focused all of the attention from my mouth on her sensitive little nub. It was exactly what she needed to send her over the edge, shouting my name.

As soon as she was coming, I flipped her over to her stomach, keeping my thumb on her clit, circling it. I gathered some of her wetness on my fingers and moved them to her ass to tease the rim. When she widened her legs, urging me on, I slowly worked a finger into her small hole. She arched her back to ease my entry, and I knew she wanted this as much as I did.

Once I was able to slide one finger inside more easily, I added a second. With my body curled over hers, I licked and nibbled at her neck as I whispered in her ear, “I can’t wait to get in here. To take the one part of you I haven’t had.”

She turned her head to the side on the pillow, and I caught the flash of her wolf in her eyes as she looked at me. “Do it. Now.”

I pulled my fingers from her body and lined my cock up. She tensed as the head started to push into her ass. “Relax, baby. I’ll make it feel so damn good for you,” I promised.

“I know you will.”

There was so much trust in her voice. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to earn it, but I swore right then to never take it for granted. When her body loosened, I gripped her hips and pulled her back onto me. She gasped, even as she pushed against me. I let her control the pace, while I struggled to hold on to my control. She moved slowly, working my cock deeper into her ass inch by inch.

Once I slid deep, I held still and waited for her to adjust. When she wiggled her ass at me, I took that as my signal to move. Thrusting slowly, I reached around her body to tweak her clit. I worked her body, determined to make her come. At the edge of my control, I bit down on her shoulder, right over my mating mark. It set her off, and she screamed out her orgasm just as I stiffened inside her and filled her ass with my hot come. As I gently pulled out and rolled to the side, I was filled with a boundless sense of satisfaction. Every inch of my beautiful mate’s body was mine. All mine.