Chapter 39 – Ryder
Thirty-Nine
RYDER
Mate.
Claim.
Mine.
When I thrust inside Carina, it all locks into place. This, this right here, is where I’m meant to be.
I have to bite her for the bond to be completed. Sink my teeth into her shoulder while fucking her, to leave a mark every shifter will recognize.
She’ll be untouchable.
Carina cries out as I thrust all the way inside, pull back out, and immediately do it again. Silver coats my eyes, and my claws slice through a few strands of hair from where I grip her. Teeth puncture my bottom lip, the taste of my own blood an appetizer for what I’m about to do to her neck.
The wolf is out to play, as equally involved in the claiming of her as I am. My hand guides her up and down my cock, but it’s my wolf’s grip on her hair that gains her submission.
“Fuck, you’re perfect,” I murmur, but it’s my wolf’s growl that’s imprinting my point.
“Ry—der!” It’s broken, screamed into the dirt, but no matter what, I won’t let up. There is nothing else for her or me. I fucked up by entering her; I won’t make another mistake by not properly claiming her.
“That’s it, kamahki. Take it. Take everything.” Everything I have, am, and will be is yours.
With my grip on her hair, I twist her head until I’m able to see her face. Drool drips from her mouth as she’s lost. It’s well known what a shifter’s cock does to a female—how submissive it makes them. No matter the species, clearly, it has the same effect.
She won’t last, nor will I let her.
I push all the way inside and play with her clit.
She writhes, moans, but then immediately inches herself backwards so there’s no disconnect between us.
My free hand scrapes delicate white lines down her back, and her spine arches into the sensation.
She’ll be mindless until she comes, and I’ll be here for every blissful second of it.
“What’s happening to me? Why’s this feel—” Her question cuts off with a groan.
There are numerous possible answers, but I tell her the selfish one. The one growled by my wolf as I lean over, changing the angle of my cock, to whisper in her ear, “Because you were made to be mine, Carina. And so, you shall be.”
“Mhm,” she whimpers, her face twisting with the next onslaught of pleasure, ignoring the depth of her agreement. She believes they’re pretty words during the height of passion, but they’re the truth of our souls.
As heat rockets through me, my body begins preparing for the change of having sex to mating—to bite and officially claim. My cock thickens, the inches of my base swelling. If there were any indication she wasn’t my n?kak?stis, this confirms it.
Shifters only knot in their chosen mates—usually after the claiming bite. Given the n?kak?stis bond, it’s clear the universe is trying to reaffirm her place in my life.
“What the hell is that?”
I thrust slower, letting her adjust to the stretch, not wanting to harm her.
Her head jerks up, trying to peer over her shoulder.
Discomfort smashes her teeth together, so I stroke her clit, slowing everything until her body adjusts and relaxes.
There’s a reason she had to take so many fingers, and the size of my cock pre-knotted was only one.
The more relaxed she is, the easier this will be, and I need her to get used to this because it’ll expand more when I bite her.
“My knot,” I finally answer.
“Wh—like a—what?”
“You’re talking too much.”
With her hair, I yank her head backwards and arch her back. Saliva drips from the corner of her mouth, and one day, I will be between those lips. From there, I grip her neck, feeling her pulse thrum beneath my fingertips. My teeth scape my bottom lip, every nerve eager for what’s coming.
“You look so pretty taking me like this.” Her pussy clenches in response. My mate likes praise—and I’m only too happy to oblige with the truth. “Gonna fill you up, Carina. Gonna make this position the only you’ll be in from now on.”
“Yes,” she hisses not understanding I fully meant every word—that it wasn’t in the heat of the moment. “Fuck—are you actually growing?”
My fingers stroke her clit, rubbing small circles as she continues taking me. “My knot is only for the woman meant to have my pups.”
“What?” She stiffens in a nearly comical way, but the orgasm that’s only mere breaths away distracts her.
I grab onto her hips to lock her into position as her quickly careening climax rips mine from me.
She cries out, face to the sky, showing her Goddess exactly who owns her soul now, shouting to Twilight Grove that she’s mine and not theirs.
She’s stretched, she’s soaked, and now she’s dripping with my cum. All mine.
My lips part for my teeth, and I pull her up until her back is to my chest. Her neck is creamy, perfect, and the wolf now controls the man. And the wolf wants to claim.
To take.
To ensure no one else ever touches her.
I fist her hair, wrench her head to the side, and jam both top and bottom incisors into her neck, biting down.
It’s rough enough that she flinches, but it doesn’t draw any unnecessary blood.
Unlike vampires, our mating bite isn’t to consume, but merely to imprint my DNA into her bloodstream, to leave a mark on her skin that’ll be forever visible.
As my teeth slowly pull from her skin, a new and alarming sensation immediately fuses her to me. It’s a chord made of water and earth—of her magick and my being—linking us together. Of feelings and emotions. Of life and death.
For the rest of my life.
As the wind blows, my nostrils fill with an entirely new scent. My mind opens up, and her anxiety and pleasure slam into me.
She’s officially my mate. My n?kak?stis in every way. My everything. My weakness, my strength, my heart and soul.
I’m so fucked.
My reasons for completing the bond may have been to protect her, but now everything has changed. Instincts like nothing ever felt consumes me—transforms me. They’re not like the ones I’ve had since meeting her. No, they’re more driven, all-consuming, and utterly in control.
The other coven will not touch her.
No one will.
No one will go near her. They won’t look at her. They won’t talk to her, see her, interact with her—nothing.
She’s no one’s but mine. There will be no more future males for her.
She’s marked as such. A visual reminder for everyone, but also for her.
A bit of pain, a bit of possession, both to remind her of her place in this world.
A pain I soothe with my tongue, mumbling promises in the Old Language.
Promises to care for her, to support her while she rules her coven and my pack and she’ll stay in my nest, my cabin, my cave.
She owns me in every way she doesn’t want, and I own her pleasure, her well-being, and her future.
After today, Twilight Grove will never have her.
They won’t find her, because once she’s rested, she’s getting locked inside the caves.
She’ll remain in mine, under guard of female shifters—because I’ll rip the throats of any males near her—and then I’ll search for that cousin of hers to demand a barrier spell be placed around the cave so the others can’t find her.
She’ll never be taken because my every single instinct, breath, and nerve will fight to protect her. I’ll die for her if I must.
“Ryder?” she whispers, and it’s the softness of her tone reminding where we are, that I’m still inside her, and her neck is lightly bleeding from four pointed wounds she’s about to have a lot of questions about.
I won’t be able to lie to her, but she’ll hate me.
I lean forward to nuzzle her neck, first with my nose, breathing in her skin, which soothes my growing anxiety. Then I lap the wounds, thanking her without words for what she’s given me: her soul.
“Biting me…was it a wolf thing?”
“Yeah.”
With my knot decompressed enough, I slide from her slowly, taking extra care not to harm her. One day, she’ll take me without as much ache, but until then, I vow to never make sex hurt in a way she’ll be scarred by.
She lowers back to the ground, rolling onto her back. I follow, rubbing her hips, thighs, and down to her legs, proving that no matter if she views tonight as a betrayal, I’ll do anything to care for her.
Her emotions hit me like a brick to the face. Confusion mainly, and it bothers me that she’s not passing out in bliss. My mate should be content, relaxed, and safe before I bring her home.
Of course, none of this will be as simple as the wolf wants. This is Carina, the witch—the outsider. She’ll have questions and likely won’t appreciate the answers. Some of them will be the same questions my pack has when they learn the mate of their Alpha is another species.
Her hand lifts to the bite wounds, which are already sealing themselves up. Inside my brain, my wolf rumbles in contentment with her acknowledgement. “I didn’t expect that.”
“Did you like it?”
Mortification slams into me—from her. It’s strange to feel another’s emotions, separate from my own. “Yes…”
“Good.”
Once she’s all rubbed down, I drop beside her to gather her in my arms. When she eventually and inevitably falls asleep, I’ll carry her to the camp, retrieve Holly and Miriam to stand guard, and then set her up in the caves before risking a visit to the town.
For now, I tuck my head in her neck, mouth over the mark, and simply remain.
“Why did that feel so much more intense than regular sex?”
Dad said female shifters feel the n?kak?stis bond on a minimal level, but as a witch, she shouldn’t. Considering her kind shouldn’t even be in a bond with a shifter, this whole situation is abnormal.
“Ever have sex with a shifter before?”
“Well, no.” Her breath blows hot on my chest with her laugh. “I guess that’d explain it. Mortals don’t really do it as good.”
The idea of her with any man sets my blood to boil, and I bite my inner cheek to tamper the emotion. From now on, I’m her only option. “Anyone from your coven?” I ask, to torture myself with the knowledge that someone in the vicinity knows what she feels and looks like.
“One of Jasper’s friends. It was weird. Everyone in the coven is basically family, so tourists are easier. They’re gone before any attachment sets in.” Her hair shifts down my arm as she tips her head. “You really want to have this conversation?”
Not at all. I tuck her close, turning her head so she can’t see my face and the vulnerabilities she’s now torn open. “Rest.”
“We should talk.”
Talking is in our future, but I’ll be damned if she ruins tonight.
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
Oh. That. Dad’s death feels so far away. I should be at the camp, celebrating his life alongside my pack, with a feast. Similarly, Carina should be home safe and in her bed.
“Life and death are part of nature. I’d like to think he’s with Mom now and they’re happy together.”
Knowing what I do, feeling what I do, it’s no wonder he was so eager to find her in the Otherworld. Years spent without his mate is something I never really comprehended before Carina.
“I’d believe that too,” she murmurs sleepily, yawning.
I drag my fingers through her hair, encouraging what her body’s urging her to fall victim to.
“You guys don’t believe in Hecate, but She does care for all.
If your version of the Otherworld is anything like Summerland, She’s looking out for them. ”
“Sleep, Carina. In the morning, you can begin helping me move some of the pack into the mountains.” And stay there yourself.
“Sounds good.” The O’s drag out with another yawn, and her body slumps heavier.
Tucking her closer, I bury my face in her hair and stare up at the stars, counting them until her paced breaths blow over my chest. Once she’s asleep, I let myself drift as well.
In the course of an hour, both of our futures have been changed.