Chapter Five
Fresh salmon and the other tempting scents of the kitchen invaded his sleep. Grant hadn’t smelled the kitchen from his bed since he’d moved into his own rooms in his late teens. His mother worked in the mess hall and they had lived in the pod near the center of the den, close to her work. As a scout, he had taken rooms closer to one of the entrances. It made sense. The omegas were placed in the center of the den for their protection. Guardians, sentinels, and scouts, the strongest of the pack, were equally divided so every entrance was protected at any given time.
Hunger pains grumbled through him. Stretching, he took in the strange, nearly empty space. Nothing about the room told him where he was. No furniture, nothing personal. Even the blankets he lay upon were oddly void of any scent but him. He shifted from bear form and memories flooded him. Morgan being attacked by a bison, his injuries, and, finally, his feasting on her like she was his last meal.
He stumbled to his feet and checked his side to find a long, ugly red scar, but he appeared to have no other injuries. He turned and twisted. The clothes he’d removed the night before were gone; a set of clean garments lay neatly over the back of the single chair. He had to have been in a deep healing sleep to have missed someone entering. Still groggy, he pulled the pants on and opened the door, walking barefoot down the series of corridors to his room. The door stood wide. Most of his sleuth left their rooms open when they weren’t in residence, and Morgan had followed suit. Even their alpha left his rooms open as there was nothing that was his that did not belong to the group as a whole.
He stopped an omega passing, arms loaded with laundry. “Jovie, where is my mate?”
“She left.” Jovie glanced up at him in wide-eyed surprise.
He squeezed the woman’s arm. “What?”
“Relax, Grant. She left with Asha to get her things and bring them back here.” She pried his grip from her biceps. “They tried to wake you, but you weren’t budging. Brutus suggested she needed protection, but until she has completed the mating, a male guardian would cause ripples. Until she marks you, don’t forget, she is open to other unmated males.”
Another good reason Brutus was their alpha. He never stopped thinking through scenarios, and the easygoing façade lured enemies into a false sense of security. His people trusted him and would lay down their lives for him.
“May I make a suggestion?” Jovie asked, her gaze on the floor.
Grant inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly. If Jovie stepped out of her shell to suggest anything, he needed to listen. “Of course.”
“Your rooms work well for you. But...”
“Go on.”
“They are hideously ugly. I think you might have the ugliest rooms in the cave.”
Laughter bubbled out of him. “Would you like to help me?”
“Oh please. I can pull some things from the storage room, and perhaps I can talk with Morgan about what she wants. Of course, if she wants to decorate, I will step back.” The last words were spoken so softly, had Grant not had great hearing, he would have missed them.
“We’ll ask her, but I’m sure she’ll want your help. She has so much to take in.” He didn’t have any doubt she would mark him tonight. After yesterday, it had become inevitable. “Why don’t you go ahead and pull things you think she might like?”
“Thank you.” When Jovie smiled, the world lit up.
By the time he sensed his mate’s presence again, he had bathed, eaten, and Jovie had begun cheering up his sitting space. He met Morgan at the cave entrance. As she approached, his chest filled with pride. Her eyes met his, and she dropped her bag and ran. Ran as if they had been apart for months, not hours. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
“Will it always be this hard to be away from you?” she asked into the crook of his neck.
“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “I don’t think so. Quinn goes to work for hours at a time.”
“Once you complete the mating, your soul will be at peace and not as panicked about losing your one,” Asha said walking past them. “I’ll put your things in your rooms.”
“Can we take a walk outside? I’m not quite ready to descend into the caves.” She darted a look toward the opening.
“Of course. Lead the way.”
They walked in silence until they came to a walking trail a couple of hundred yards from the cave. “It’s amazing how concealed the entrances are. I could walk up on them and never know.”
“It’s for everyone’s safety. We have to protect our people, but we don’t want humans getting hurt either. There is always someone standing guard, both inside the cave and outside.”
“Is someone watching us now?”
“No.” He reached for her hand, needing the contact. “The guardians are there to protect those of our group who can’t protect themselves.”
“The omegas. Asha mentioned the hierarchy of the group.”
“Yes, they are easy targets for those wanting to hurt us.” He helped her over a fallen log before stepping over it himself.
She paused turning to peer back the way they’d come. He could almost see the cogwheels of her brain clicking around. “How are you powering the cave?”
His little scientist finally got around to asking that question. He’d expected it last night but seeing a shape shifter trumped mundane concerns. “There is a bit of collaboration between all the shifters in the park. The bison discovered a way of harnessing the power of the geysers, but they didn’t know how to implement their ideas. So the bears came in and traded their abilities for the bison’s brains.”
“You harness the geysers? But what about all the dangerous gases?”
“We dealt with those issues when we first started pumping the steam through the caves. Trust me, the first couple of years were not ideal. We dealt with scalding water and dangerous CO2 gas. But we have been working with it for decades and, although we don’t take it for granted, we do have safeguards in place. For instance, detectors in the caves. Perhaps you can think of new ways to keep us all safe once you get settled.”
“It really is a cool place to live.” She wrapped her arms around him and buried her head into his chest, but pink colored her cheeks.
“Why are you blushing?”
“I want to thank you,” she said into his chest.
“Thank me? For what?”
“For—last night. For…oh god.” She blew out a breath as if unable to get the words out. “For taking care of certain things.”
He lifted her chin and studied her expression then guided her to the fallen log and settled her on his lap where she could see him without straining her neck. “By ‘certain things’ do you mean your pleasure?”
“Yes.”
“You never need to thank me for taking care of your needs. It is my number one responsibility.”
“I’m ready.”
Something within him became whole, the empty place filled by her. The world stopped spinning for a moment. He had never been so thankful to be sitting in his life. His future washed over him like a refreshing waterfall. “You’re sure? There is no divorce to unlink what we will do.”
“I am more sure about this than anything in my life. And you’re asking, after waiting so long for me to come into your life, shows me you do place my needs first. Not many would have delayed the mating not once but twice.”
“I needed you to be ready. It needed to come from you.” He cupped her face, brushing the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. “For my kind, this is instantaneous. We find our mate, she marks her man then they get to know one another. But you needed more, I watched the issues Quinn had adjusting and hoped I could ease yours.”
“Asha said you don’t particularly like humans.”
Life would be so much easier if the women in his life would keep their mouths shut. “I don’t like humans who don’t use their brains. Those who seek only the perfect picture with their selfie stick. They don’t care if a bear or bison might be euthanized due to an attack. They just want a post on social media that will get them the most likes.”
“Before me, were there any humans you liked?”
“Quinn.”
Morgan rolled her eyes. “She is your beta and a ranger.”
“I do like the rangers.” When she cast him a wide-eyed look, he shook his head. “I would be perfectly happy if there were no visitors to the park. Before you throw at me all the reasons it should be open to the public, know I understand if people don’t see the beauty and experience the awesomeness of Yellowstone, it won’t be protected. But I can still wish it weren’t that way.”
“Fair enough.” She worked her upper lip between her teeth.
“What is it? There should be no secrets between us.”
“Were you disappointed in the fates’ choice for your mate?”
“What?”
“You don’t like humans, so I can’t imagine you were happy with the prospect of a human…”
“Stop right there. First of all, when I saw you for the first time, I was concerned for both the park and you. I was angry at another of a long line of tourists this summer to go off the beaten path. But, as soon as I glanced into your eyes, I knew. My soul knew you. You will never understand the self-control it took for me to stand there and not follow my soul’s desire.”
“Which was?”
“To throw you over my shoulder like a caveman and claim you as mine.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “I couldn’t understand the need to touch you. My prior relationships were never touchy-feely. But I can’t keep my hands off you.”
“I have no complaints about your hands on my person.” He hissed as she undid a couple of buttons and ran her hands down his cheek. She lowered her lips to his skin, leaving a trail of kisses to the spot under his ear, which drove his cock from hard to solid in seconds. “Hold that thought and those fangs. You can mark me all you want, but not here where someone could come along. This requires a private room where we can take our time.”
“Quickly, please.” She panted.
“Can you walk?”
She could fly if he asked her to. If she didn’t get him inside her soon, she would wither and die. She nodded, placing her hand in his, and he led her up the path to the entrance. He grunted at the woman guarding the door. And, although she was sure by this time everyone knew what was going on, the woman nodded to acknowledge their presence without a word.
When they entered his room, he froze, and she ran smack into his back. He backed up to check the hall then his door, before glancing back inside. Only then did she take her eyes off Grant long enough to notice the room, now draped in whites and creams. Lamps on side tables bathed the space in warm light.
“Who accomplished this amazing transformation?” Morgan. “It’s beautiful! Did you do this?”
“No, do you like it?”
“Like it? I love it.”
“Then we owe Jovie a huge thank you.”
“Can we thank her later?” And then she did something she never thought she would do three days ago. She launched herself into his arms and tore at his clothing. Her blood boiled, and desire flamed within her. To her frustration, he set her away from him…again. Tears pooled in her eyes. “I made my decision. Why are you denying me, us?”
He shredded the rest of his clothing from his giant form, and she grinned. He wasn’t slowing things, but speeding them up. “How do you want this? In the bed, against the wall, or in the chair? I don’t give a damn as long as I’m in you soon.”
She yanked him down onto her. With a growl, he knelt and shifted her into the center of the large bed. He maneuvered between her thighs, weight supported by his strong arms. “Do it. Bite me.”
She sank her fangs into the flesh near his collarbone. He hissed and drove into her in one stroke. He placed a hand on her heart and, as she released her bite, she knew what she needed to do. She reached up and rested her palm on his chest.
“You belong to me,” he said, his voice rough and full of passion.
Lifting her hips to urge him deeper, she replied, “Always and forever.”
He drove into her over and over, and she held out, wanting to enjoy the moment of their first time coming together, and to orgasm together. She wrapped her legs around his hips pulling his down on her. Every inch of him pressed against her brought her body to attention.
“I can’t hold off much longer,” he panted into her ear.
“Don’t,” she said kissing him and reveling in the steady increase in his pace. His strokes became less fluid and more frantic. A guttural groan told her he wouldn’t last much longer. “Breed me,” she whispered, not sure why those words were the right ones. He sucked in air and ground his pelvis against her clit, and she fractured as he shuddered above her.
They remained in each other’s arms, unmoving. Though he lay heavy above her, she relished the ragged breathing brought on by his desire for her. She had never made a man so crazy with lust. Running her fingers through his hair, she waited for him to make the next move.
As if sensing her thought, he rolled to his side and pulled her into his body, spooning her. Once he had her back settled, he tugged a blanket over their cooling bodies. “Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“Hurt me? I bit you, remember?”
He chuckled into her hair. “I am not likely to forget it for a long time, and when I do, you can bite me again.”
“Again?”
“Yes. Every now and then, you will have to bite me again. I think it’s the fates’ way of letting the men know who is really in charge.” He poked the tip of her nose playfully.
“I like that.”
“Tomorrow, we can head out to Cody to get anything you feel you need to make this home. Do you need to call any family or settle accounts outside the park?”
“My brother. He will worry about me. Maybe, in the spring, I can ask him to visit the park. Is that possible?”
He ran his fingers through her hair. “We will make it happen. Get him one of the cabins. Make the plans as soon as possible so we can reserve one or more if you want the rest of your family to come? Perhaps have a wedding?”
She shook her head. They had never cared much about her anyway. “Later, I’ll tell Doug we eloped. If I told him we just met and I moved in, he would be on the first flight out, thinking I had lost my mind.”
“I’ll follow your lead. Whatever you want.”
“I need to give notice to my landlord. I really don’t want to go all the way to Arizona to pack and move, though.”
“We could catch a flight out tomorrow or the next day. We can spend a couple of days there, perhaps meet this brother of yours, pack a rental van up, and be back here in a week or two at the max?”
She sat up to really look at him. “You can leave the park?”
“Of course I can, but this is home, so I don’t go out much. Never saw a reason to until now.” He cupped her face, bringing her lips to his before repositioning her back against him.
“What about your job here? Won’t they need you?”
“As soon as they see my mark, I will be encouraged to get your things and get us both back here as soon as possible.”
“You are going to show everyone?”
He chuckled. “It is a great honor.”
“I’ll never understand the minds of men.” She snuggled closer to him, bumping the growing erection at her back. “Already?”
“You think you can’t understand men? I’m like no normal man you have ever met.” He pulled her over him. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll set everything up to get you moved in here. Brutus has already started pulling strings to get you a job. But, tonight, I only want to focus on you and me together.”
They didn’t speak much for the rest of the night. They explored each other and, by morning, she had discovered muscles never before known to her. But she also experienced unconditional love of one mate for another. He had been caring yet insatiable. In the wee hours of morning, they collapsed, exhausted, into each other’s arms.
She had a lot to learn, but a lifetime to do it in. And, having always been an outsider to her family, she now had one both eager to welcome her and quite happy to have her take on their cranky Grant. Smiling, she wondered how she could be thankful that another person had broken a bone. But she was, and while a thank you note to her professor might be a bit strange, she needed to do something. Without this chance at Yellowstone, how would she have met the other part of herself? She turned toward her man. He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead.
“You need to heal, my love. We have the rest of our lives ahead of us, starting today.”
The future never appeared so amazing.