Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
T he next day, I texted Alison and my boss that I had a family emergency and I'd be gone for too long to keep working at the diner. My boss said she’d try to fit me in the schedule again when I came back. Alison texted me every day to check in. Brennan and I texted too, but I wished I could see him to talk about how exciting the shift was. I couldn’t sum it up in a few lines of text. But I couldn’t leave pack lands now, and I wasn’t going to risk Brennan coming here.
One afternoon a few days into my new exile, I deleted all the messages through a blur of tears, then threw my phone into the top drawer of the dresser.
It was time to let go of my old life.
A few days later, Curtis stopped me as I was heading out to the woods after dinner. He leaned against the back screen door, straining the mesh as he crossed his arms. "I talked to Nathan Longroad."
"Oh?"
"He thinks you're pretty."
I was aware. That seemed to be my one and only qualification for Nathan's obsession. Lucky me. "Okay?"
"He's an alpha's son," Curtis spoke slowly, as if I were dim-witted. "You should be happy he likes you."
I didn't want to talk to Curtis about any of this. "Okay."
An expression of exasperation came over his face. "You really are such a sullen brat. Even now when you're supposed to finally have become a woman."
"Sorry." One word answers were the ticket when it came to dealing with Curtis and my mom.
He finally stepped aside. But then, when he was behind me, Curtis added, "If you don't like Nathan, you'd better talk to me. Or he might get the wrong idea."
That sounded like a threat. But then, everything Curtis said sounded like a threat.
I pushed open the door and went out without answering. The night air felt cool and full of promise, like always. Fireflies flitted through the grass, their little sparks of light magical. But none of that felt right now.
As soon as my feet touched the grass, I was running, and the next thing I knew, I was shifting. My run carried me through pack territory and across the highway. I knew I should stop, but my legs carried me as if they had a mind of their own. I finally slowed, realizing I had lost my mind, and glanced back across the black top of the highway. We weren’t allowed to shift off pack lands.
But then I scented Brennan, and I couldn't stop myself. I raised my head in a howl that seemed ripped from my soul. My legs carried me steadily, my paws bounding over the grass, over stone, around the curve of the shining lake.
As if he'd been waiting for me nearby, Brennan's enormous silvery-white wolf bounded toward me.
My heart thumping, I slowed down as I approached, not sure exactly why I was suddenly so nervous. It was just Brennan.
He reared back and let out a howl that was sheer joy. Then he tackled me exuberantly. We rolled and tumbled in the grass together until I bounded away toward the house.
Brennan followed, and we played chase, dashing across the green hill and into the woods. Then somehow, he chased me up to the cabin and we both shifted back.
We were naked, and I didn't remember now where I'd left my clothes. But it didn't matter.
Brennan threaded his hand into my hair and kissed me deeply. "You're a beautiful wolf."
I closed my eyes, savoring the feeling of his body close to mine. All my stress and anxiety had melted away in the joy of running as a wolf, and now being with Brennan again. Curtis and Nathan and all my troubles felt a thousand miles away.
I kissed him again, feeling the warmth of his skin and the powerful muscle of his chest flexing under my palm. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me slowly and deeply.
We laid down in the grass, and Brennan's mouth moved to my neck, trailing kisses along my collarbone. His hands moved over me, exploring each curve of my body as if he was discovering a map of me for the first time.
My heart hammered as his fingers worked their way lower, teasing and teasing until I felt my body melting under his touch. I bit my lower lip, reaching for him too. I felt fumbling and awkward when I gripped his cock through his jeans, but he responded by closing his eyes, his lips parting slightly in pleasure above that hard-angled, beautiful jaw.
Feeling more confident, I reached for him. His cock felt huge and stiff in my hand, and I gently ran my thumb down it to flick the skin at the tip. His breath gave, and I experimented with doing it again.
He let out a moan, throwing his head back. “Amelia. God. The power you have over me...”
I grinned. It was a strange and heady feeling, feeling powerful with this tall, imposing man. “Tell me more about this power.”
He rolled onto his elbow, studying my face. He touched me, tenderly, on the cheek. “You make me want to run away from everything I’ve ever known. From who I’m supposed to be. So I can just be yours.”
“I’d like to run away,” I whispered.
His gaze softened. “All I can think about when I’m near you is making you my mate and my wife, and seeing you carry my babies—”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves!” I’d felt like I needed to raise Rose since she was born. My mother at least seemed to like her, but it wasn’t as if my mom took great care of Rose, either. I wanted children of my own someday. Maybe. But for now, I needed a break from taking care of kids.
“We could practice.”
“Mm. I’m going to put this where no babies are happening,” I said, grabbing his cock again and arching my eyebrows.
Then I settled onto his cock, enveloping it with my mouth. He let out a gasp that made me smile around his cock. I stroked up and down his dick, running my tongue along the shaft and then teasing at the top. He ran his hand over my hair, petting me as I kept going.
“That’s my girl,” he murmured. “You take my cock so well in every way. I love watching you suck me.”
I hadn’t expected sweet Brennan to have a filthy mouth, but his words turned me on even more.
“Put your hand between your thighs,” Brennan told me. “Find your clit and play with yourself. We can come together.”
I might have felt too shy about touching myself in front of him before, but now I felt high on the pleasure of watching him watch me. He bit his lip as if he were trying to stave off his orgasm, his eyes focused on me as I delved my hand between my thighs and began to rub myself.
He abruptly pulled away from me. “I want to come in that perfect pussy of yours, not your mouth. Beautiful as it is.” He ran his thumb over the curve of my lower lip.
His deep blue eyes smoldered at me, and they were so magnetic I could fall into his gaze.
I fell back in the grass, still stroking my fingers through my folds. I spread my legs wide, watching him watch me hungrily. He groaned as if he might come just from the view, then grabbed my thighs and dragged me toward him.
He grabbed his dick and teased it against me. “Oh, you’re so wet for me. That’s my good girl. Ready to come, and I’m going to make sure you do.” He flashed me a devilish smile. “Over and over again.”
He entered me with one long, full stroke, and I let out a cry as he sheathed himself in me fully, then pulled out again. He began to thrust, his hands tightening on my thighs, as pleasure bloomed through every muscle of my body. My toes curled in the soft earth, and I tangled my fingers in my hair, thrashing across the grass at the powerful sensations rocking my body.
“That’s right, come for me,” he murmured.
“Brennan!” I cried out his name as my orgasm ripped through me, and he came then too, letting out a roar as he shattered inside me.
Later, as we lay together in the grass under the moonlight, I knew that this moment would stay with me forever.
"Where were you?" I asked. "How did you know I'd come tonight?"
We'd never discussed meeting here. I'd assumed I'd have nothing but texts with him for months until I was sure I wouldn’t shift unpredictably.
But my body had longed for Brennan and when I felt threatened, I'd run for him without any reservations. Our wolves, deep inside, knew each other, and I had a feeling we'd always be able to find each other.
"I didn't," he said, then admitted, "I've been coming out here every night. After my work is done... I just wanted to be close to you."
I didn't know what his work even was. "Your life is a mystery to me."
"You didn't want to meet my pack," he reminded me.
It felt as if it were the beginnings of a fight, when we'd been so warm and cozy a second before. "You know it's not as simple as that. I can't just go meet your pack. We'll start an international incident."
He rolled his eyes. "The packs are ridiculous."
"Well, maybe I'll become alpha and change things," I snapped back. "But for now, I have to live with the cards we've been dealt."
"Or you could grab another deck. You don’t have to play by someone else’s rules."
I was losing track of our metaphor, but I wasn’t going to let him distract me. "You make it sound so easy! You don't even know if your pack would accept me."
"You don’t have to come to my pack. You want adventure. Freedom. To see the world." His gaze met mine.
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I couldn’t quite draw a normal breath.
"And what do you want?" I asked, my voice coming out breathy.
"To make you happy," he said simply. "Run away with me, Amelia."
I wanted so desperately to say yes.
I hesitated, imagining our life together.
Then I said, “Yes.”
He grinned and buried his face in my throat, his beard scruff tickling my throat.
“Give me some time,” I said. “To figure out my shift. To… try to get my little brother and sister ready.”
“We have all the time in the world,” he promised. “I’ll wait for you. I need time to arrange things too.”
The two of us fell back side by side in the grass, holding hands.
Above us, the stars seemed bright. I bit my lower lip, but I couldn’t stop smiling.