Rafe watched her sleep for a long time before finally convincing himself and his wolf that losing sight of her wouldn’t mean losing her. She belonged to them now. Just as they belonged to her. So despite his overwhelming need to keep her close, to protect her, he kissed her softly on the forehead and then crawled out of bed.

He wasn’t sure how much he’d slept. Not much if the aches and pains were anything to go by. The heat and then his desire for Zoey had managed to conceal the worst of it last night. But in the light of day, his back was sore where he’d been shot by the tranquilizer and he felt groggy as if the drugs were still in his system.

As a shifter, he had enhanced healing abilities. He should have been fine by now. He could only assume that since Michael had upgraded the local jail to hold shifters that he’d also upgraded the weaponry his officers carried. There was little doubt in his mind that tranq had been specifically designed to take down a shifter if he was still feeling the effects hours later.

Typically, the first thing he did when he woke up was go for a run. It helped to work off some of his innate shifter energy. He didn’t let his wolf out enough and it made them both restless. A good solid couple of miles in the morning worked off the worst of the agitation but he couldn’t bring himself to leave the cabin.

Not with Zoey still sound asleep in the other room.

He didn’t want her to wake up alone. That’s what the reasonable side of his brain told him. The reasonable side of him said that she’d been through a lot last night. He’d flipped her entire world upside down. Hell, he’d literally turned her into a different species. The least he could do was be there for her when she woke up.

But the reasonable side of him also knew that wasn’t the full truth.

He couldn’t get too far away from her because if he did, she might get hurt. She might get attacked. She might wander off and get lost. She might leave him and she couldn’t leave him. Not when he’d just found her. Not when he’d finally found his mate. Found his way home. He couldn’t lose her, not like he’d lost Gabe and his parents. So he didn’t dare leave the cabin, instead choosing to shower and dress and then make breakfast for his little mate for when she woke.

Besides, he told himself. He wasn’t being overprotective. Trouble was going to come for them sooner rather than later. They’d had the night together. A gift, really. But it wouldn’t be long now until the forces that had tried to keep them apart showed up to check the damage done.

Michael was coming. It was only a matter of time. And Rafe intended to put himself between his brother and his mate this time. Because she was his and there was no way Michael was taking her from him.

Rafe scrambled the eggs in the frying pan much harder than necessary as he thought about that. She’d said last night that she wasn’t disappointed fate had given her him instead of Michael but how could she not be? He was a mess compared to his brother. He didn’t even have control of his wolf. But he’d heard the truth in her statement when she said she didn’t wish it was Michael with her now. She’d said it and she’d meant it. He could only hope that she still did today, in the bright light of morning, without the heat baring down on them or the power of the mark compelling the bond.

He was just plating the eggs and pulling the bacon off the griddle when he heard the door to the bedroom open. He steeled himself with a deep breath, but all it did was force more of her sweet scent into his lungs. He turned to face her and the simple ease of her smile caused an uncontrollable pain in his chest.

God she was gorgeous.

Fresh from sleep, her hair tied up into a messy ponytail and her face free of makeup she looked even younger than she was. More like the girl he remembered. She’d found some clothes in the dresser, a disappointment since he was a big fan of her naked. Luckily though, the tank top and shorts she’d donned didn’t cover much and he could still see and stroke plenty of her smooth skin. Then his eyes caught on the mark on her neck and his wolf practically howled with approval.

She hadn’t covered it up. In fact, pulling her hair up showed it off. The loose tank top cut low exposing the spot where her neck and shoulder met, right where he’d bitten her.

The wound had healed overnight but she would bear his mark for a lifetime. The semi-circle imprint of his teeth in her flesh glistened silver-white in the morning light. And just like that, he was hard and his teeth ached to bite her all over again. Everywhere. So no matter what she wore, everyone would know she belonged to him.

“Good morning.” She grinned as she moved towards her.

His eyebrows twitched upward, “Is it?”

“Of course it is.” Zoey pranced over to him and didn’t stop until her body was right up against his, she tiptoed up and brushed her lips over his as she wound her arms around his neck, “Would have been better if you were still in bed with me though.”

He groaned as her soft body brushed his and her taste ignited his system. Sweet, sexy little mate. He could feel desire pulsing off of her as clearly as he could feel his own. She wanted him again. Still. And he could only hope always.

Rafe forgot all about breakfast and feasted on her mouth instead. He cupped her ass and dragged her up his body. Zoey wound her legs around his waist and moaned into his mouth. Two steps and he had her on the counter-top, a second after that he had his hand down the front of her shorts and they both groaned.

Wet. She was so fucking wet for him. Already. Wanted him. Needed him.

“Rafe.” Zoey tilted her head back and arched her hips up into his touch as he stroked through her folds.

“Love it when you say my name like that.” He groaned against her neck as he kissed her everywhere he could reach. She’d showered before coming out of the bedroom and she didn’t smell like him anymore. That was something he had to fix. Now. “Say it again and I’ll let you come.”

“Rafe!” She cried out as he found her entrance and plunged a finger deep, pulled it out and inserted a second, curling them until he found the spot that made her shake and moan, “Rafe, please.”

“Anything you want. Always. You just tell me and it’s yours.” He rotated his fingers until he could get a third inside her and pumped them in and out while he thumbed her swollen clit, “Tell me, baby.”

“Make me come. Please, Rafe, make me come.” Zoey gasped out hoarsely and then screamed his name as he pinched her clit and she fell over the edge into her orgasm, “Rafe!”

She screamed his name so loud he was certain the other wolves could hear her in town and damn if that didn’t fill him with a sense of pride. He wanted them to know she was his. Wanted the world to know that he was the one that could give her this pleasure.

Zoey collapsed against him as the tide ebbed, “Oh my God…”

“Mmm, good morning.” He smirked as he pulled his fingers from her panties and raised them to his lips. She watched, glassy eyes wide, as he licked them clean. Her eyes riveted on his mouth he felt another surge through their connection, knew exactly what she was thinking, “You want another good morning kiss, baby?”

Zoey bit her lip, feigning shyness, as her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink but she nodded and damn if that wasn’t his undoing. She was his. His mate. Perfect for him in every way. Rafe took her mouth again boldly, swiping his tongue deep so she could taste herself on him just as he’d tasted her last night. She moaned and kissed him back until the buzzer on the oven went off and he reluctantly had to pull away.

“Wha…”

He kissed the end of her adorably confused nose, “Hold that thought, babe. The biscuits are burning.”

She eyed him as he turned and pulled on an oven mitt and then pulled a pan of fresh baked biscuits out and put them on the counter to cool, “You cooked breakfast?”

“Yeah.”

“You know how to cook?”

He snorted, “Of course I know how to cook. I’ve been on my own for years. What’d you think? I was out there running wild chasing down rabbits and squirrels for dinner?”

She rolled her eyes, “No. I just… I don’t know. Never mind. Forget it. The food smells fantastic.”

“Thank you.” He moved back between her legs since she hadn’t moved from the counter and offered her a piece of bacon, “I figured you’d wake up hungry. Just didn’t know if it would be for me or for food.”

“Maybe a little bit of both.” She grinned at him as she took a bite of the bacon he offered and then closed her eyes and moaned.

The situation in his pants became nearly unbearable when she made that sound, “That good huh?”

Her lashes fluttered open, “Not as good as the orgasm but close.”

“Close huh?” He chuckled at her teasing and pushed the plate of bacon aside, “Guess I’ll just have to do better this time.”

“Mmm, sausage too huh? I’m such a lucky girl.”

He barked out a laugh at her sass, “What you’re gonna get is bent over that counter and fucked, little mate.”

Her eyes glittered as if he’d made it a dare, “Do your worst, big bad wolf.”

“Never.” Rafe wrapped a hand in her luscious copper colored locks and pulled her mouth to within an inch of his, “You only ever get my best.”

He took her mouth again and she wrapped her arms around his neck. God, he could get used to this. Waking up next to her. Teasing and playing. Fucking her senseless. She wasn’t the lucky one. He was.

She reached down to unbutton his jeans at the same time there was a loud slamming of a car door. Zoey jerked backwards so hard she slammed her head into the cabinets. She cursed and Rafe growled at the intrusion. He cupped her head softly and she winced when he touched the knot that was already beginning to form.

“You okay?”

“Fan-freaking-tastic.” She whined.

“It’s not cut. Just a bump. It’ll heal quickly.”

“Says the werewolf with enhanced genetics.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Zo, babe, maybe you hit your head harder than I thought. You do remember what we did last night right?”

She rolled her eyes at him again, “How could I forget? You put a wolf in me.” She wagged her brows and then frowned and rubbed her head, “It was just a reflex.”

He understood then as she sat rubbing her bruised skull. She’d been human all her life but since the age of ten she’d lived amongst shifters. Whenever they got hurt, they shook it off because bruises healed in minutes and breaks in mere hours. She’d probably had a hundred skinned knees and busted lips and she’d had to wait for her human body to heal her while everyone around her went on with their lives like nothing had ever happened.

His poor little mate had been hurt and he hadn’t been there to protect her.

This time the intruder pounded on the door and Rafe barely contained a vicious growl. He wanted to ignore it. Wanted to go back to his nice morning with his mate. Wanted more orgasms and bacon and eggs. But he knew there was no putting this off and honestly, he didn’t want to.

He wanted Michael to see them like this. Wanted him to scent what they’d done last night. See what they’d just been doing. He wanted his brother to understand that their scents were mixed now, that they were mated, and that there was no use fighting. He wanted Michael to go away and leave them alone for the next twenty-four hours to twenty years but since that wasn’t a possibility he would take this.

Zoey frowned, “Who the hell is at the door?”

Rafe frowned right back at her, “You don’t know?”

“I mean. I can guess.” She sighed heavily and her shoulders sagged.

“You can guess?” He tilted his head confusedly, “You mean, your wolf doesn’t sense him?”

She shrugged and shook her head. Rafe scratched his jaw. That was weird. Zoey was a member of the Moirae pack. She had been since she was a kid, human or not. Her wolf, even newborn, was automatically a part of the Moirae pack, which meant she should have been able to sense her Pack Alpha.

Unless… Rafe scowled at the idea. Unless Michael wasn’t her Pack Alpha. Unless he’d somehow created his own pack with her since he was a born Alpha too.

The banging on the door came again and this time Michael growled through it, “Open the damn door. I know you’re in there. I scented you from a mile away.”

Rafe almost smiled at that. Almost. He liked that his brother had caught their scents already. Michael knew what it meant. Zoey was his. He also liked the idea that if Michael had been close enough to scent them earlier that he’d probably also heard Zoey coming from Rafe’s touch.

Maybe that made him an asshole. He didn’t much care. He wanted, and needed, as much evidence as he could get that Zoey belonged with him so Michael couldn’t take her away.

But he didn’t smile because Zoey pushed him back and jumped off the counter, landing on her feet and straightening her clothes, “I’ll talk to him.”

“Like hell you will.” Rafe growled.

“He’s my best friend.”

“And he’s my brother, so what?” Rafe scoffed, “You’re not going out there.”

The banging on the door came again, “So help me Rafe, don’t make me knock this door down. Get your ass out here. Now!”

Zoey started to step around him but Rafe caught her by the arm, “Stay.”

“I’m not a dog.” She growled at him and he could sense her wolf it was so close to the surface and angry.

Rafe softened his stance and cupped her cheeks, “I know you’re not a dog, Zoey. You’re a wolf. My wolf. My mate. You’re mine to protect so you’re going to stay inside and let me deal with Michael.”

“The only one that needs protecting from Michael is you.”

“Please just stay here. I need to talk to my brother and I can’t do that if I’m worrying about you getting in the middle of us.”

“I wouldn’t…”

“Please?”

Zoey sighed and nodded, noticeably unhappy about it though. He kissed her forehead when she huffed at him but since her wolf wasn’t showing through anymore he decided it was safe to step away from her.

His own wolf was pacing under his skin. He didn’t like the idea of another male being anywhere near his mate. Not right now. Not when the bond wasn’t solid and that wouldn’t happen until the wolf got his chance with her tonight during the full moon.

Rafe opened the door and found his brother standing on the other side looking pissed off and more than a little disheveled. Michael’s eyes flashed gold at the sight of him and Rafe let his own wolf flash back at him. If Michael had come looking for a fight, Rafe would give him one.

He hadn’t fought for the pack or for his right to stay but he would fight for Zoey, for his mate, even with the only brother he had left.