Chapter 25
Monte
Zoey already knew most of the guys even though they didn’t truly know her. They at least liked her, and I knew when she finally let her guard down with them, they were going to love her as much as I did. But I was a little nervous introducing her to the girls.
We decided that it would be best to do it at the house instead of a neutral public place where she would risk being noticed.
Over the last few days she’d grown more comfortable at the house, and I was happy to see her befriend Lauren as well.
“Don’t worry, Zoey. They can be a lot together, but I think you’re going to love them.”
Lauren’s sister, Kylie, walked in with a few friends. She immediately sought her sister out and asked her, “Who was a lot?” in sign language.
I knew that’s what she said because Denny had insisted the entire fraternity learn ASL to be able to communicate with Kylie and make her feel welcome at the house.
I quickly signed back. “None your business.”
She snorted. I knew her well enough to know Kylie wouldn’t drop it that easily. Plus, with the backup of Autumn, Kevin’s sister, and Caroline, who was looking pretty cozy with Troy over in the corner of the room, I knew there was no getting rid of them for this.
In some ways it was good though because this was authentic life in the doghouse and that’s what I wanted Zoey to get comfortable with.
Zoey and I sat down on a couch as we waited for the girls to arrive. Her leg bounced up and down nervously. I reached over and put my hand on her knee to still it.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
“Relax, they’re going to love you, if for no other reason than because you make me happy.”
We hadn’t truly brought a new person into our folds since Pete mated Sadie. So I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous. And of course they were late. They were always late.
Finally, they arrived. Delilah, Dakota, Rose, and then Sadie and Pete brought up the rear. One of them was talking to the guys because Remy, Brax, and Caleb also walked in from the hallway at the same exact time.
I stood up as everyone hugged. It had been a bit since we were all together without an event or party or something. Though arguably this felt like one of the biggest events of my life. I was introducing Zoey to my family, because that’s what they were, much more than friends—family.
Zoey stood behind me, sort of hovering at my back or maybe hiding, as we greeted one another. But when Rose moved in to hug me, she growled in warning.
Sadie grinned. “Steer clear ladies, we have territorial one here.”
“You still haven’t sealed the deal?” Pete teased me.
“Without her really meeting you guys first, no chance.”
“Idiot,” he replied.
“I think it’s sweet,” Dakota said.
“Yeah, kind of like meeting the family,” Delilah agreed.
“It doesn’t work that way. We’re stuck with her whether we like her or not. They’re true mates,” Sadie pointed out. “But we’ll learn to love her anyway because she makes our boy, Monte, happy.”
Remy had a hand to his heart. “You mean you didn’t consider me at all when you mated Pete?”
“Nope. And you hated each other, so we never would have gotten here if I based my mating off of you. Don’t worry, Zoey, it all worked out in the end.”
“Did it?” Pete asked, earning a shove from Remy.
I just shook my head. They were still like uncontrollable pups fighting over a toy when it came to Sadie, but somehow, they made it work.
“Ignore them,” she said. “Hi, I’m Sadie. We’ve met, but it kind of feels more like an official meeting this time. This is my mate, Pete. It’ll be nice having someone who gets it to talk to now. So far, I’m the only one of us mated. So I am super excited to get to know you better.”
Zoey stiffened, still hiding behind me. I reached back and pulled her around to my front and then wrapped my arms around her as she relaxed into me.
“Better,” I whispered.
She blushed.
“It would be nice to have someone to talk to,” Zoey admitted. “None of my friends have gone through this yet.”
I’d already prepped the crew on how nervous she was and how much I wanted them to get to know the real her and not the social media celebrity Zoey.
No one even mentioned anything about that even though I knew Dakota and Delilah were both huge fans of her and obsessively watched all her videos the second they went live.
I was actually impressed they managed to keep their composure at all.
Once introductions were complete, we sat back down. Some took to the floor while Sadie and Pete joined us on the couch.
There were no awkward moments of silence as we settled into conversation. And as Zoey began to relax, it felt like she fit right in. It was like she’d always been a part of us and I knew that was what I was waiting for.
I was ready to spend the rest of my life with this woman.
We had a lot of good laughs and conversations. It was wonderful spending time together again, and I wasn’t the only one feeling like that.
“I’ve missed this,” Rose confessed.
“Me too,” Caleb admitted.
“Let’s plan to get together again soon,” Delilah said.
“No excuses,” Remy agreed.
“I’d like that,” I told them.
“Me too,” Zoey confessed.
I smiled, hugged her to my side, and kissed her temple.
“You guys really are cute,” Dakota gushed. “You did alright, Monte, and it’s easy to see how happy she makes you.”
Sadie reached over and squeezed Zoey’s hand. “That’s the most important thing to all of us. We just want to see our boy happy. The fact that we genuinely like you is just a huge bonus.”
By the time they started to leave, we had a date locked in for all of us to get together and plans to have dinner with Pete and Sadie later in the week.
Knowing Zoey would need some downtime after that, I escorted her back to my room.
“I’m okay,” she assured me. “That was fun even. I really like your friends a lot. They made me feel welcomed into the group.”
“I think Pete had a lot to do with that.” I laughed. “He and Remy really didn’t get along at first, so it wasn’t the warmest welcome. He grows on you though.”
“I was trying really hard not to morph into my mask, as you put it. They made it easier, as did you. It’s harder to put the mask on when you’re touching me.”
“Oh really,” I said
I grabbed her by the waist and flopped backwards onto my bed, pulling her along with me.
She squealed and tried to squirm away, but I wasn’t about to let her go anywhere.
I hadn’t realized I was waiting on my friends’ validation.
Well, not exactly that, but I supposed I wasn’t prepared for how their acceptance of my mate would make my little world feel so complete.
I was happier than I could ever remember.
Sure, life wasn’t perfect. Whose was? But it was pretty damn close as far as I was concerned.
With open communication, I was working through my issues over Zoey’s professional persona and she was working on opening up better to people in her life outside of that. We were a work in progress, but together I was confident we’d find balance.
I looked down at her with my heart full of love.
“Mine,” I said, leaning down to kiss her.
Mine, my wolf echoed in my mind.
“Yours,” she agreed with a smile.
“I love you, Zoey,”
She knew I loved her, though I planned to remind her every day for the rest of her life.
She looked at peace as she smiled back at me.
“I love you, too.”
I froze for a moment and then grinned like a loon. It was her first time telling me that, even though I’d laid my heart on the line several times already.
There was nothing I could do but kiss her. It was like my life depended on it. I had to do it. So I did.
I kissed her like she was my entire world, because she was.
I didn’t have the words to tell her how much being loved by her meant to me, so I showed her in that kiss. There was nothing slow or patient about it either, and I grew hard the instant she kissed me back.
Like being struck by lightning, I knew this was the moment I’d been waiting for.
Without wasting time, I eased her clothes off as she helped relieve me of mine.
I was desperate for her.
“I love you so much,” I whispered between kisses, “Tell me you want this too.”
“I always want you. Anytime. Anywhere.”
I grinned as I left her mouth to trail kisses down the slender column of her neck. I’d had the perfect spot to mark her picked out for several weeks.
“Not that. Well, not that yet,” I told her as I nuzzled against her neck. “This.” I blew warm air on the spot, then sucked it into my mouth.
She gasped and the scent of her arousal surrounded me.
“Yes,” she cried, sounding as eager as I felt.
I’d heard from my mated friends that once the exchange of blood occurs, a sort of frenzy sets in, driving you mad and bringing out your most primal instincts. I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, so I wanted to make sure she was ready in every way possible.
I gave her a hard kiss on the lips followed by an evil grin as I rolled her to her back and stepped off the bed. This time I started at her ankles and kissed my way up first one side and then the other.
She was growing impatient and needy.
“You’re a tease,” she accused.
I winked at her as I settled between her legs. One lick and I knew she was more than ready. Feeling overly excited to seal our bond, plus the fact I was bordering on being in pain from teasing her, I kissed her there and moved back up her body.
My hand cupped one breast and I toyed with her nipple there as she moaned in pleasure.
“Me? A tease?”
She growled then shot up. The next thing I knew, I was on my back and she had mounted me. Lining up on my cock, she pushed herself down on me.
I moaned, making her shudder all around me.
Wrapping my arms around her and sitting up to meet her brought us impossibly closer as I held her in place.
“I need to move,” she protested breathlessly.
“Not yet.”
“Monte, please.”
“Not yet.”
I held her there, throbbing with desire inside her. It would be so easy to pound out my relief, but I had other plans. And I wanted it to be perfect.
I kissed her neck once more, seeking out the place I would mark her forever. And when I reached it, I didn’t hesitate to sink my teeth into her. I could taste her blood on my tongue. The whole room around me faded out and all I could see, all I could feel, all I could smell, was her.
She gasped and then bit me back.
For a moment we both froze.
Then I sucked and finally understood what the frenzy meant.
It was as if we moved as one—body, mind, and soul, in perfect harmony.
I pumped into her while she rode me hard. Sex with Zoey had always been amazing, but this was something else entirely.
Being fully connected with her and so in tune with her body and needs made me feel invincible. And I loved every second of it.
We were hot and sweaty as we devoured one another, trying to maintain that perfect connection for as long as possible.
She was growing tighter around me with each thrust, calling out my own orgasm as she neared hers.
At the last second, she released her hold on my neck and licked the spot where she’d just marked me as hers forever. I followed her lead and did the same. Her head dropped back and her movements became more sporadic.
I stood up, keeping her pressed to me and repositioned us so she was lying on the bed and I was standing at the edge so I could really look at her. God, she was beautiful like this.
“Monte!” she cried as her nails scratched down my arms. “Monte!”
I pumped impossibly harder.
In and out.
Each thrust seemed to illicit new sounds from her until at last, she squeezed around me, locking her ankles around my back, and vibrated with her release.
My cheeks hurt from grinning so hard.
I thrust again, and then once more as she whimpered, spent from our lovemaking, and gave in to my own orgasm, collapsing on top of her.
Before my body went entirely limp, I scooped her up and settled us both properly on the bed so I could hold her.
For a while neither of us spoke.
Just as I was certain she’d fallen asleep, she spoke softly.
“Well, that was different.”
“Different good or different bad?”
“Different incredible. Do you think it will always be like this?”
“I don’t know, but I’m willing to give a try.”
She giggled and kissed my chest.
My wolf was completely at peace, my body satiated, and my heart filled with joy.
“Mine.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re stuck with me now.”
“Mine, forever,” I whispered with a smile on my face.