Chapter Six
“What the fuck crawled up your ass and died?” Kye asked Noah, seeing as his brother had been moping around for a few days.
“Nothing,” Noah mumbled, tossing his beer bottle into the trash can before turning to leave the kitchen in a hurry. “Just busy.”
“No,” Kye barked, stopping his brother with a hand on his arm. “You are not busy with anything. I know that you’ve been off work for two days and, in those two days, you haven’t left mom’s house. You haven’t even been at the alpha’s house for a meal. Which, by the way, isn’t like you.”
“You need to leave me alone,” Noah barked, jerking his arm away. He could scent the alcohol on his brother, knowing it was more than just beer. His bloodshot eyes told Kye that not only was his brother drowning his sorrows, he wasn’t sleeping, either.
“I’m not going to leave you alone,” Kye replied, dropping the sound of his voice to a whisper. “Is it because mom is gone?”
“You and Talon act like it’s just another day,” Noah roared. “She’s gone and you two are just going on with your life like nothing ever happened!”
“She wanted us to not mourn her,” Kye growled. “It’s not that I don’t miss her, Noah. She was my mother too. I just know that sitting around dwelling on the fact that she isn’t here does us no damn good.”
“Whatever,” he snapped, leaving the room.
Kye let him leave, but knew that it wasn’t over. Noah was the one who loved hard and grieved even harder. He’d done the same when their father was killed several years before. The last thing he wanted to do was tell Talon, but he needed to know that their brother might just go off the deep end once and for all.
Kye sat heavily in the chair at the kitchen table, feelings of worry and dread running through his mind. He was supposed to be an alpha someday. How would he handle his brother’s actions if he was in Talon’s shoes?
Other than beating the shit out of him?
Kye squinted his eyes against the memories of his mother and the love she had for each of them and her pride. As a mate to the alpha, his mother was never thrown off-guard by actions within her pride. She’d taken his father’s side in all things, helping him to guide and nurture her sons and the family of panthers under their care.
“Hey, Kye.” Liberty smiled as she walked into the kitchen. When he looked up, his brother’s mate frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Maybe his answer for help was standing right in front of him.
“Can I talk to you about something?”
“Of course,” she nodded, pulling out the chair next to him, “you know I’m always here for you.”
“I appreciate that.” he sighed with a heavy release. “It’s Noah.”
“He’s not been himself,” she replied. “I’ve noticed it myself.”
“He’s drinking,” Kye paused, “a lot.”
“Tell me what happened,” Liberty ordered, her jaw set.
Kye replayed the conversation that had just happened, telling her that he knew his brother was mourning their mother’s loss to the extreme. “He’s angry and hurt.”
“He is.” Liberty nodded. “We all are, but that’s no excuse to take your anger out on another pride member, especially a blood relative.”
“What should I do?” Kye asked, begging Liberty to guide him.
“First of all,” she began. “We need to talk to Talon. He will want to know what’s going on. After that, we help Noah, and we love him as he struggles with the loss of your mother.”
“I don’t think he’s going to get over this that easily,” Kye worried. “They were really close.”
“I know,” she sniffled, “Victoria was a wonderful mother.”
“You’re not so bad yourself,” he said with a smile. “My brother adores you.”
“Thank you,” she blushed. “Let’s go to Talon’s office and sit down with him. Noah is going to need us.”
Evie leaned against the side of the Guardian dorm, her heart clenching in her chest. Ranger and Hope were mates. She was really happy for them. What had her worried was the fact that Ranger would now be too busy with Hope to train her.
God, she sounded so fucking selfish!
There was a time, early on, where she thought that maybe Ranger was her destined mate. But as time went on, she realized he was just like a brother to her. Maybe it was hero worship? Maybe it was her fucked up head playing tricks on her? Heaven knew that happened a lot.
“Mom’s looking for you,” her brother, John, said as he rounded the corner, freezing when he saw the look on her face. “What’s wrong?
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head as she pushed off the wall. She was getting really tired of people asking her that exact question.
“Where’s Kye? Do I need to find him?”
“I’m fine. I don’t know where Kye is, and I don’t need everyone running for him when they think I’m not okay!” Her temper boiled to the brink. She was so tired of people asking if she needed Kye. She didn’t need Kye to fix her…she needed him to stand beside her as she grew.
A growl sounded from inside the building. Her brother raised a brow, but Evie just shook her head and walked away. Ranger and Hope would be busy for a few days as they mated. She’d have to train on her own.
“Why are you so grumpy?” John pushed as he walked to her side.
“Oh, I have no idea,” she retorted, rolling her eyes so hard she thought they’d get stuck. “I’m going for a run. Tell mom I’ll be home in an hour.”
Before her brother had a chance to say anything else, Evie stripped and tossed her clothes at the base of a tall pine tree, dropping to her knees as the change took over. Her panther looked over its shoulder and sneered at her brother before taking off for the woods at full speed.
Ranger snarled loud as an invisible thread twisted between him and his mate. Hope’s eyes flashed amber as her canines pushed through her gums. Her head tilted back as a rumbling purr bubbled up from her chest.
“Oh, God,” she breathed.
“Mate!” Ranger heard himself snarl as he cupped her face to take her lips, again. Hope tasted of everything he craved. The scent of her desire swirled with the sweat from her workout, and the panther inside him prowled with need to taste every dirty inch of her.
“After this, I’m going to kill you,” Hope barked, her nails digging into his shoulders when Ranger lifted her off the ground so he could wrap her legs around his waist. The sound of the material of his shirt ripping echoed through the training room. Within seconds, Hope had completely destroyed it, tossing the shreds to the ground.
“No, you won’t,” he replied, leaning in to nip at the skin of her neck. His tongue snaked out and lapped at the skin over where he would mark her as his own.
“I can’t let you mark me,” she whispered.
“We cannot fight this, Hope,” Ranger pushed, nipping at her neck again.
“Take me, Ranger,” she cried, tightening her hold around his hips. “I need you inside me, but please do not mark me.”
“I cannot promise that,” he admitted, taking an extended claw and lightly tracing her jaw. “You are mine, Hope. No matter what happens, I will always protect you.”
Before she could protest further, Ranger’s fingers grasped her shorts, twisting them in his fist. The scent of her desire wrapped around them, causing the Guardian to sway from the need to bury himself deep inside her. The sound of material shredding from his extended claws was the only sound for a heartbeat of time. She fumbled with her sports bra, tossing it to the floor.
The moment she was bare, he took her dark nipple into his mouth, moaning at the taste. He was in heaven…completely and utterly in awe of this strong and beautiful female. She was his, and he was hers. His partially shifted tongue licked across her chest, through the valley between her breasts, stopping once he tasted the other side.
She reached for the fly of his jeans, yanking at the button. The zipper was wrenched down and her hand wrapped around his hardness. Ranger gritted his teeth, hoping and praying he wouldn’t lose his control from the feel of her warmth.
“Please,” she panted, leaning forward to nip at his neck.
A vicious snarl fell from his lips as he grasped both of her small hands into one of his, pinning them hard against the wall behind her. His other hand held her by the jaw tightly as he devoured her mouth. Hope let out her own snarl in return, bucking against his hold, but the scent of her pussy told him she was primed and ready.
“You like me being rough?” he purred as he licked the shell of her ear.
“Oh, yes,” she hummed. “Do your worst, Guardian.”
Putting her feet on the floor, Ranger dropped to his knees and gave no warning before he buried his face between her legs, pulling one up over his shoulder. She tasted of honey and the sweat from her workout with the other female. The concoction alone drove his panther mad with need.
Her fingers slid into his hair, and he relished in the feel of her partially shifted nails raking against his scalp. Heat rose around him, his panther prowled, and he used his canines to nip at the tender flesh. A seductive smile caused the corners of his lips to rise right before he kissed a path of heat up over her mound, stopping to nip at her belly, her ribs, and the swell of her breast. He wanted to kiss the scar at her side, but refused to mar their first time with his worry over her injuries.
She hummed at the taste of her desire when he took her lips, swiping the lower one with her tongue. His cock nudged against her heat, finding its own way into her sex like it was destined to be inside her. A breathy curse fell from her lips as his hands wrapped around her ass, lifting her so he could seat her completely.
“So deep,” she whined.
“Am I too much for you, angel?” he snarled against her ear. “You are my mate. So, you better get used to me taking you this way.”
“I like the way you take me,” she growled, her eyes narrowing as she used the wall to balanced herself so she could roll her hips.
Ranger pulled away from her body, turning so he could push Hope to her knees, wrapping a hand around her long ponytail. His cock found its way home as he pulled her back flush with his chest.
“Don’t mark me,” she panted.
“I will mark you,” he argued, thrusting deeper. He felt her body quiver with each thrust. Her desire was thick in the air.
“I’m scared,” she whispered, causing Ranger to freeze. His panther whined loudly in his mind.
“There is no need to be scared,” he reminded her, licking over the spot he would mark to tell all others that she was his. “I promise you that I will protect you and cherish you, Hope Alexander. Our love will strengthen with time. You know this.”
He never stopped in his movements, learning her body by the throaty moans that fell from her lips. He rained kisses down on her jaw, to her lips, and down the column of her neck, waiting for her to say the words he needed to hear.
“My beast needs to mark you,” he begged as his cock found the spot that made his newfound mate purr. “You know this needs to happen.”
“Fuck,” she gasped as he rolled his hips, smiling as she moaned her pleasure.
He licked over the spot again, nipping and teasing her neck. The beast inside him roared to take the female, marking her as his own. The shift was upon him, but he pushed back his beast, telling him to wait until she agreed. “My beast is angry, demanding I make you ours.”
“My beast is growling at me to allow you to mark me, Ranger,” she admitted, begging with the next breath, “Mark me. Just do it.” The pull had to be too much. Hope had to be feeling the need to have his mark, even though she thought it would be one of the worst mistakes of her life. Ranger would never let Hope regret her decision.
“I promise you….everything,” he growled as his teeth sunk into her neck. Hope’s body froze as she climaxed, a gurgled sound bubbled up out of her body as he lapped at the mating mark, sealing it just enough to keep from bleeding too much. The mark would scar, letting all males know she was mated.
Ranger adjusted them both as he laid on his back, pulling his mate against his chest. Hope purred and raised her head. A low growl bubbled up from her chest as she raised up, slinging her leg over his hips and taking his hardness back inside her body. Ranger had to close his eyes from the new position. He wouldn’t last much longer if she kept moving that way.
“Mark me, my mate, so I can fill you with my seed,” he begged. Yes, he fucking begged this female to finish him. His female.
Hope’s head fell back on her shoulders as she rode him, lifting her hips before sliding down on him in a way that had his balls tightening. On the fourth round, he grasped her hips and lifted his pelvis up, slamming his cock inside her. “Mark me!”
Hope’s eyes met his, and her panther was present. She snarled as she fell forward, her teeth hitting the mark on the first try. She climaxed again, whimpering when the shockwave finally subsided. She lazily made a pass with her tongue over the bite to seal the wound. He kept her pinned to his chest by wrapping his arms around her small body when she finally relaxed. His warmth bled into her, causing his mate’s eyes to flutter closed. “Sleep, angel.”
Ranger rolled her carefully to the side. A quick adjustment of his jeans and a blanket from the closet in the corner was all he needed as he wrapped Hope up and made his way to the room he used in the dorm, closing and locking it to keep any of his brothers from entering. It didn’t take him long to become very protective of his newfound mate.