Chapter 13
Sunny didn’t think she could hit any more peaks of pleasure as she and Seneca made love on Saturday evening, but as he took her from one high to the next, she felt like she was going to pass out.
What a freaking way to go.
Every part of her tingled as he stroked into her, finding just the right way to hold her, to touch her, to growl in her ear how crazy he was about her.
She was crazy about him too.
When the climax struck, her body locked up in a spiral of pleasure, her fingers and gums aching as her tigress let out a growl worthy of any full shifter. Seneca followed her into bliss with a roar of his own.
And then he marked her.
Thick fangs pierced her neck and her pleasure seemed to keep going like waves crashing on the shore. He pulled his fangs from her and tenderly licked the wound and she shivered.
And then she turned the tables on him.
Hooking her leg over his hip, she rolled them both until she was over top of him, her vision sharper, her fingernails the sharp claws of her cat, and her canines elongated to fangs.
He whispered hell yes, and tilted his head.
She kissed her way up his chest with a purr, her nails scratching lightly on his skin, and then she sank her fingers into his hair and fisted it, tilting his head more fully to show his neck.
She licked slowly from his shoulder to his ear, her tigress purring so loud that she felt like her whole body was vibrating.
She touched her tongue to the edge of the fang and then smiled softly.
“I freaking love you, Seneca.”
Then she sank her fangs into his neck and tasted his blood, sweet and rich, and her tigress writhed in her head. She pulled from his neck and cut her tongue as he had done to his, then gently stroked over the wound to seal it so it would scar permanently.
As her tigress roared in happiness, she collapsed on his chest with a groan.
Seneca wrapped his arms around her and held her close, kissing her forehead with a low growl.
“I love you too, Sunny.”
She tilted her head to look at him. “Was it okay that I marked you? We never talked about that.”
“Of course,” he said. “I was surprised because I didn’t expect your fangs to come out. Which, by the way, is sexy as hell.”
She grinned. Running her tongue along her teeth, she found them back to normal. “I can’t control it, though.”
“Well, they seem to show up when you’re emotional, like a side effect of how you’re feeling.”
“Yeah.”
“And your tigress has big feelings for me, huh?” he teased her, his hands making a slow path up and down her back.
“One thousand percent.”
“My bear’s the same way,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like I could shift when we’re making love, it’s just so good. I think it’s supposed to be that way with soulmates, you know? Everything is better, more emotional and powerful, because you’re with the one person on the planet meant to be yours.”
“I like that explanation,” she said.
They lay in the quiet of the bedroom in the apartment they’d chosen for their weekend “away,” and it was so peaceful and warm in his arms that she drifted off to sleep at some point, waking up a bit later with Seneca at her back, a hand possessively resting on her hip.
She would never get tired of waking up with him.
“Ooh, what time is it? Are we late for the dinner and mating run?” she asked as she stretched and rolled to her back.
“No, we’ve got about an hour,” he said. He was propped up on one arm, his head resting in his hand. “I was about to wake you up anyway.”
She pressed her hand to his cheek and lifted her head to give him a kiss. She’d never felt so connected to someone in her life. It was an amazing feeling.
He was hers and she was his.
Matings were forever.
They talked for a little while about the night ahead, and then they showered together and dressed.
Once the park was closed, she wanted to check in with Fallon before they left to help with the sleuth’s dinner.
“I’m okay,” Fallon said when she opened the door. “Oh, you’re mated now! That’s great, I’m happy for you both.”
“Thanks,” Sunny said. “We’re going to dinner with the sleuth here in the park. Did you order food for dinner from the market?”
“Yeah, someone named Heidi brought the food to me, but she didn’t smell like a bear.”
“Heidi’s a wolf,” Seneca said. “They probably sent her to bring it to you if they were busy down in the market with the dinner rush.”
“Oh, okay. She was very sweet.”
Sunny gave her a hug. “I’ll check in with you tomorrow, we’ll be back late tonight.”
“Yeah, don’t worry about me. You’re on your mating weekend.”
“I know, but I do worry about you.”
“That’s because you’re my best friend, and that’s what best friends do. I’m fine, I swear. I’m going to eat dinner and watch TV. Have a fun night. Love you, bestie.”
“I love you too.”
Fallon shut the door and Sunny stared at it for a long moment, then turned and took Seneca’s hand. As they walked away from the apartment complex, she saw several security team members standing nearby on patrol and was thankful for them.
“You okay?” Seneca asked.
“Yeah, just a little worried about her. I feel kind of selfish.”
“What on earth for?”
“Well, because she came here in a panic on the run from an arranged mating and lost everything because Dario’s an asshole.
Then she finds me mated and moving on quickly.
Part of me feels like I should be focusing on her, but there isn’t anything I can do for her, you know?
I can’t make her mom staying behind okay, and I can’t make Fallon’s worry disappear.
But I’m also not there for her, because you and I took the weekend off from everything to spend alone together. ”
He opened his mouth to say something, but she elbowed him gently and smiled. “I absolutely don’t want you to think that I haven’t enjoyed our time together. But there’s just this tiny part of me that feels guilty about it. Like Fallon’s life fell apart and I’m not there for her.”
“I understand. But I think she’s fine and is just working through everything. And you’re right, she has to do that on her own. Maybe her mom will join her here someday.”
“That would be nice.” She hummed and then said, “I just want to enjoy the rest of our weekend and focus on us. Because you’re the most important person in the world to me.”
“You’re the most important person in the world to me too.”
Sunny pushed away the tiny part of her that felt guilty for finding her soulmate and moving on with her life.
It wasn’t her fault that Dario had kicked her out for being half-human any more than it was Fallon’s fault for Dario deciding she was a female he could use to secure an alliance.
Fallon would land on her feet once she got over the shock of things, and until then, Sunny would be there for her as best she could.
But not this weekend.
This time was for her and Seneca, and she decided that focusing on her mate wasn’t selfish, it was the right thing to do.
* * *
She and Seneca helped set up for the big meal in the bears’ paddock. A firepit glowed brightly, skewers of meat roasting. There were chunks of cheese and meat and crackers for grazing, along with supplies for sweet s’mores for dessert.
The females grabbed her arm and brought her to their small group—Trina the human, Rory the red fox, and Lucy the albino doe were the sweetest females and so welcoming. “We’ve got a surprise for you,” Lucy said.
Trina grinned and handed Sunny a small box. “Welcome to the sleuth, Sunny.”
“It’s a new tradition,” Rory said.
Sunny opened the box and found a silver bracelet with a bear charm. “Oh, it’s pretty!”
Trina fixed the bracelet on her wrist and said, “We’ve each got one too.”
They showed their bracelets and Sunny smiled. “This is so sweet, thank you!”
“We’re so glad you and Seneca found each other,” Lucy said. “Fate is such a funny thing.”
“What do you mean?” Sunny asked.
“Well, you came here seeking sanctuary because your alpha was an asshole, and it happened to be where your soulmate was,” she said. “And for me, my sister and I were being chased through the woods by human hunters and I ran out into the road and Tarquin hit me with the van he was driving!”
“Holy crap!” Sunny said with a gasp.
“It wasn’t so dramatic for me,” Rory said.
“I came to the park to bring supplies to my friend Jess, and Tayme hauled me over his shoulder like a caveman. I wouldn’t have met him if Jess hadn’t been flying over the park on the way to migrate with the other owls from her nest and landed in the paddock while Auden was working security. ”
“How did a red fox end up with owls?” Sunny asked.
“I was orphaned as a kid,” she said. “The king and queen of the nest took me in after a battle over territory between the red foxes and the owls.”
“That’s incredible,” Sunny said. She looked at Trina, who smiled broadly.
“Nothing wild here, I just came for a job interview with my best friend Lexy, who was working at the candy shop here in the park after she mated Win, the gorilla. Justus was working security and couldn’t keep his paws off me. And it’s entirely mutual.”
“Your stories are so awesome,” Sunny said. “Fate sure is a crazy thing. One different choice, one road not taken, and we might not be here with our mates.”
“Hopefully, more of the males will find their soulmates and the sleuth will grow,” Rory said. “With new mates and babies, and lots of love and support.”
“That sounds so amazing,” Sunny said. “I hope that happens for all of them too.
The sleuth wasn’t that big, twenty-some males and no females except for the soulmates, so they were all hopeful to find their other halves sooner rather than later.
And now that Sunny had Seneca in her life, she knew there was nothing better than that.
Seneca was the best thing that ever happened to her, a silver lining in the dark cloud of a terrible day.
She wouldn’t trade him for anything.
* * *
After the amazing meal and hanging out with the bears, Marcus welcomed her officially to the sleuth and they clapped and cheered for her.
“Now,” he said, raising his hand, “our people don’t have any real mating customs, but since Lucy and Tarquin found each other and suggested her people’s mating run, we thought it would be a fitting way to welcome new members and soulmates.
Welcome to the group, Sunny. We’re so glad to have you here. Let’s shift!”
A whooping cheer rose up from the sleuth and Sunny smiled broadly.
Marcus gave her a hug and said, “Welcome to the family officially too. I’m so glad to call you my daughter. And someday, when you two take over the sleuth, I know it’ll be in good hands.”
“Thank you. For everything.”
He smiled and nodded and walked away from them.
“Ready, sweetheart?” Seneca asked when they were alone.
“Hell yes,” she said. “I can’t wait to see you shift.”
He stripped for her, the moonlight highlighting every inch of his sexy body, from the broad shoulders she loved to grab in the throes of passion to the trim hips and muscular legs. And his freaking abs. So perfectly carved with the cutest belly button known to mankind.
Seneca growled softly and pulled her close. She let out a little gasp and then chuckled. “You smell so good when you’re turned on. What sexy things are you thinking about?”
“Your belly button.”
“What?”
She shrugged. “It’s cute.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Other things are sexy, you know.”
“Oh yeah, I know, I can feel your big sexy thing pressed against me. But you’re supposed to shift!”
“Sorry, you smell good enough to eat.”
“I can’t help it if you turn me on. But I promise to keep my sexy thoughts to myself. Until later.”
He kissed her swiftly and released her, then stepped back, gave her a rakish grin, and shifted.
She’d seen tigers and jaguars shift, but she’d never seen a bear before. And he was huge.
As he shook himself out with a snarling growl, her tigress purred loudly.
Sunny ran her hands over his thick fur and then kissed him on his nose. “That was amazing! I feel even closer to you now. My tigress is so happy. I wish I could shift with you, but this is the next best thing.”
He nuzzled her stomach and she giggled at the way his nose twitched against her, moving her shirt as he snuffled. She looped an arm over his neck and gave him a hug, and then they walked around the paddock.
The other sleuth members—including an albino doe and a red fox—darted here and there, chasing their mates, and in the middle of it all was Marcus, in his shift near the firepit, watching over his people.
“What a freaking amazing night,” Sunny said. “I spent my youth desperately trying to fit in with the jaguars, and it turned out that I just wasn’t home. Because you’re my home, and I’m so glad I found you.”