Rafe couldn’t let go of her. He held her hand or rather, she held his as she dragged him down the hallway towards the emergency exit door. She’d reassured him she had the key that wouldn’t set off any alarms and as she pushed the door open he felt another surge of pride. Sneaky little mate.

They emerged from underground into a back alley. It was dark. No lights from the street reached here. Nothing but moonlight and it made his wolf scratch at his skin.

He wanted out. Wanted to play with his mate. Wanted to claim her.

Rafe took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He forced his wolf back down. Not yet. He was in control, not the wolf. He had to stay in control. It wasn’t about his screwed-up head and his scarred memories. This was about Zoey, his mate, and he wouldn’t put her at risk by letting his near feral wolf near her, not while the heat was so powerful.

“Where are we going?” He managed as he followed behind her up the narrow alley. “Your place?”

“No way. That’s the first place Michael will look for us.” Zoey scoffed.

“Well, since my brother took both the Hudson house and the pack lodge, I don’t exactly have a place for us to go, babe.”

Zoey stopped suddenly and spun to face him, “Did you just call me babe?”

He froze, unsure of what to say. Was that a bad thing? A good thing? He couldn’t tell at first but then he saw it. He saw the twinkle in her eyes. The way her mouth just slightly tipped upward at one corner. He grinned.

“Yeah.” He used his grip on her hand to pull her closer, “Yeah, I did.” He lowered his head and nuzzled her neck again, “And you like it.”

“Mmm.” She moaned when he licked her pulse and he groaned as her taste swarmed him again.

In two steps, she was up against the brick wall. He pinned her in place with his big body. She fit perfectly against him. All of her curves molded to him in all the best ways. He was hard and she was so soft. He rubbed his aching length against her and she moaned his name again.

God he loved that sound.

“Rafe, please…”

“Zo, baby…” He groaned as she wrapped her arms around him and opened her legs wider, letting him notch himself between them. “We have to…” He hissed when her warm heat rubbed up and down his length as her dress rucked up, “Fuck.”

“Yes.”

His head was foggy again and Rafe knew there was something they were supposed to be doing. Her. He wanted to do her. His mate. Zoey. She was his and nobody could keep her from him. The thought pierced his subconscious and he forced himself to pull back from her despite every cell in his body rejecting the very idea.

Michael wanted to keep her from him.

“We have to go somewhere.” He reminded her when she made the most adorable pouting face, “Somewhere far from here, where Michael won’t think to look for us. Where can we go, baby? Think.”

Zoey chewed her bottom lip, “Uh, I… um, the cabin at the lake?”

He nodded as soon as the words left her pretty lips. The cabin. He’d forgotten about the cabin. It had been so long since he’d been there. Since the summer before the hunters took everything from him. He and Gabe had bought it together, intending to fix it up, but they’d never gotten the chance. Gabe had died and…

No. He shook off the pain that came with that thought. This wasn’t the time. If he got lost in his head now, he’d put Zoey at risk and he couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t do that. If he didn’t get them out of here, now, he’d lose Zoey too. Not the same way he’d lost Gabe but he would lose her all the same. Michael would take her from him. Keep her from him. He had to get them out of here and he had to solidify the bond before Michael found them and tried to come between them again.

“Come on, let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him this time.

They were running then. Hand in hand. Running through the alley and out the other side. Running in the direction of the lake. It was late and there was nobody on the streets but even still they never paused or hesitated. Luckily the lake was on the same side of town as the Sherriff’s office. They only had to make it through three streets and then they were outside of town, running together down an empty dirt road.

Zoey slowed and then slowed further and Rafe stopped as she struggled for air. Human. His brain reminded him and he winced at his stupidity. She couldn’t run like he could. She didn’t have shifter genes that gave her adrenaline and stamina. He cursed himself for not thinking about how far the cabin was when he’d simply started running.

“Baby?”

She dropped her hands to her knees and blew out a strangled breath, “I’m okay. I just… I need a second.”

“No. You don’t. You need a break.” Rafe shook his head.

“No, I can go on. I can…”

He swept her up into his arms and marched into the woods just off the road. They were in the middle of nowhere. Had run at least a couple of miles. Nothing to him but well done for a human really. They were far enough out of town not to be spotted and she couldn’t go any further.

It was time.

“Rafe?” Zoey glanced up at him questioningly, “What are you doing?”

“Claiming you.”

Her breath caught and her eyes widened even as her pupils dilated, “Here? Now?”

“Do you want to wait?” He found a small break in the trees with thick grass and bent to lay her down.

Zoey bit her lip again, “No. I want you. I want to be yours.”

He groaned as he kneeled down with her. Moonlight glinted off her coppery tresses. Her green eyes glittered against the background of the forest. She stretched and smiled up at him and he was lost. Completely lost in her and in them, in the mating bond and the future it would give him.

The heat lit his blood until he felt like he was burning alive. Sweat broke out all over his body despite the cool night. He’d heard about the mating heat. He’d heard that the longer a shifter put it off the worse it got but he couldn’t imagine the heat getting any stronger than it was right now.

“Rafe, please…” Zoey shuddered when he reached back to pull off his shirt, “I can’t wait any more.”

Neither could he.

He dropped down and took her mouth. Claimed it. Just like he intended to claim her. It wasn’t as sweet as that first kiss had been. They were too far gone for sweet now. It was all clashing tongues and teeth and moans.

He jerked at her clothes as they kissed. Fabric ripped. Her hands were all over him, stroking his chest and abs and anywhere else she could reach. Everywhere she touched burned hotter than silver. It was too much and not enough and his wolf was right there beneath the surface, growling for more of her, all of her.

He flexed his jaw and ground his teeth, mentally reminding his other half that teeth weren’t allowed this time around. Not yet. He hadn’t earned that from her. He hadn’t earned this, earned her. Nothing he’d done so far in his life had warranted a gift like Zoey as his mate but he wouldn’t screw this up. Not with her. She was the first bright spot in his life in so long.

Rafe pulled back enough to look at her and his wolf growled again. Naked in nothing but moonlight, all that pure, porcelain skin on display for him and him alone. She was a tiny little thing with soft curves and freckles he intended to trace with his tongue. But not tonight. Tonight, there would be no going that slow.

He cupped her breast with one hand and slid the other down to her slick folds. She was wet. Soaking wet. For him. And when he rubbed her she arched and moaned and wiggled beneath him, gasping his name and causing a jolt of awareness to slither in beneath the heat.

“Zoey…”

“Hmm?” She hummed, eyes closed, head tilted back with pleasure as he continued to tease her nipple and stroke her.

“Baby, look at me.” He ordered firmly and her eyes slowly drifted open, glassy with a need that only made the answer to the question he had to ask that much more important, “You’re not a wolf but you grew up in the pack. You know I won’t judge you if you didn’t wait. You’re human. You couldn’t have known you’d have a mate. But I… I need to know… if you… have you… will I…”

She softly reached up and cupped his cheek, stroking his hair back gently, comforting him when he found it difficult to ask the question. She must know what he was asking. Not just if she’d been with anyone, ever, but if she’d been with Michael. He didn’t think so but the very thought, it unnerved him.

“I waited for you.”

His heart clenched tight in his chest and his wolf eased back a little, pure pride in their little mate radiating from him. His wolf wanted to reward her for that. For saving herself for him and him alone. And the man was so overcome with emotions his throat felt tight.

She was his. His mate. And he would be her first, and last, everything.

“Mine. You’ll only ever be mine.”

“I always have been. It just took us a while to catch on.” Zoey smiled softly and leaned up to brush her lips across his, “Now claim me before I go out of my mind.”

Bossy little mate. His nearly feral wolf grinned and Rafe did too. She was theirs. To protect. To cherish. To love. And all he had to do to keep her forever was seal the mating bond.

“It might hurt a little at first.” He warned as he positioned himself at her entrance because he hated the thought of causing her pain.

“No. It won’t. My body was made for yours.”

Rafe’s heart melted, crumbled, was simply putty in her hands. Fate had gotten it right. She was perfect for him. So sweet but smart and demanding and understanding as well. She was going to be the best mate for him and he would be the best for her too.

“Ready?” He groaned as her wetness coated his length.

“Since the moment I saw you.”

He pushed in and her body welcomed him just as easily as she’d sworn it would. The perfect fit. She’d been designed to take him no matter his size or girth. Her body stretched to accept him and the hot, wet clutch of her made him see stars.

“Rafe!” She cried out as he plunged inside of her and he felt her nails claw his back and loved it.

Loved it even more as their bodies moved in unison. In and out, up and down, united in every movement. Loved it when he felt the heat swell between them and the sparks finally ignite. The mating bond stretched between them as their bodies joined. A string tied around his heart linked to hers as surely as the way their eyes connected as he made love to her there in the grass, in a meadow, under the moon and stars.

“Mine.” He growled as his climax raced down his spine.

“I’m yours.” She gasped as her body began to shudder.

“And I’m yours.” He promised as he buried himself as deep inside of her as he could get and let loose the climax that he’d been waiting a lifetime for. The bond cemented in place, not just a string but an electric connection. Undeniable. They were well and truly mated now and nobody could keep them apart.

Zoey shuddered beneath him as her own orgasm took hold. She cried out his name. Screamed. Scratched him. And his wolf growled with approval. He wanted her to mark him as surely as he intended to mark her. When her climax finally ebbed, they collapsed together, naked, in the grass, breathing hard and sweaty and holding one another tight.

Rafe ran a hand through her tangled hair, loving the way it felt against his chest, against his chin. She fit him so well. For once, fate had given him a gift instead of a curse and he would cherish it forever.

“Mine.” He felt Zoey’s smile against his chest as she snuggled against him and yawned, “I like the sound of that.”