Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Bonfires alternate with kegs to form a perimeter around the town square. A pounding bass fills the air as a deep voice growls out “Silent Night” from several speakers.
I don’t know what I expected when Brynn invited me to the tree decoration, but a raging party definitely wasn’t what I envisioned.
Not that I have much experience with human Christmas, or in this case, shifter Christmas, but this party seems much more exuberant than my reading of Dickens would suggest.
I look over at Dom, who doesn’t seem surprised by any of it.
He even stops to down several shots that are offered to him as we enter.
He’s been unnaturally quiet since we had the conversation on his deck.
I was glad to use attending the party as an excuse to leave his nest and possibly lessen the thick tension that’s formed between us.
He stops to speak to a stocky, red-haired man wearing a lopsided Santa hat, who, a few minutes later, comes back with a large goblet of champagne. Taking the glass from the man, Dom then hands it to me. “I thought you might prefer this over beer since you seemed to enjoy it the other night.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, incredibly touched by his thoughtfulness.
Suddenly, the music comes to an abrupt stop, and Brynn, who is exhibiting none of the stubborn assuredness as when he faced down Kade earlier, self-consciously shuffles in front of the Christmas tree, which is still barren save for being filled with a series of white candles.
He clears his throat several times and opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.
His nervousness fills the square, and I feel my muscles tense in empathy.
I wish I could help my new friend through this awkward moment.
His eyes wildly search the crowd and then fixate on one spot.
I follow his gaze, and it’s locked on Kade, who gives him an almost imperceptible nod of encouragement.
It seems to bolster him. He takes a deep breath and begins speaking.
“The night the Biventi pack ambushed and slaughtered our pack’s elders, they took everything from us.
Our families. Our land. Our traditions. They didn’t think we’d fight back, but we showed them the fortitude of the Durrand pack and took back our lands and avenged our dead.
” The crowd lets out a deafening wave of war cries in response.
He waits for them to quiet and continues.
“Now it’s time to bring back our traditions.
” He nods at a teenage omega boy who walks up to the tree and touches it.
The candles all ignite. “I’d like every one of you to hang something personal on the tree.
A remembrance of those we lost or something that represents hope for our pack’s future. ”
A red-haired woman in a white dress steps from the crowd and begins singing a beautifully haunting song in an ancient language I’m unfamiliar with. Brynn takes a baseball with several signatures on it and hangs it from the tree and then waits for someone from the crowd to follow suit.
For a long moment, no one comes forward, but then Kade emerges from the crowd and strides to the tree with his commanding alpha presence and hangs a pocket watch securely on one of the branches.
His participation stirs the crowd, who, one by one, line up to decorate the tree.
Dom takes his turn, fastening a gold ring toward the top of the tree and then lifting a young, yellow-haired girl, who can’t be older than five or six, up high so she can place her stuffed rabbit on the branch next to his contribution.
I look through the crowd, and by the show of emotional faces, it’s clear how the ceremony has touched each pack member.
Once each member takes their turn, someone turns the pounding Christmas music back on, and the alcohol begins to flow again.
Dom circulates through the pack almost like he’s avoiding me.
Disappointed, I distract myself by watching how the party escalates once the younger members of the pack are sent to bed.
The wolves are definitely not shy as they begin to couple—or throuple—up.
Not wanting to see if Dom makes a similar arrangement, I retreat into a secluded part of the square and spot Brynn, who has done the same.
“You did good,” I tell him.
“You think so?”
I smile at him. “I know so.”
He brings his arms around me in a sloppy hug, and only then do I realize that he must have pounded down some of the shots circulating through the crowd all night.
Though small for a shifter, his frame dwarfs mine and threatens to unbalance me.
I almost fall until I feel strong hands circle my waist from behind to steady me.
Instinctively, I know it’s Dom’s hands touching me, and I can’t help leaning into his strength.
Then, Brynn’s weight is pulled from me as Kade pulls him back by the neck and pulls him against himself to keep him steady on his feet.
The alpha looks down at Brynn and fondly shakes his head. “For a shifter, he’s always been a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.” He then easily picks Brynn up, throws him over his shoulder, and heads toward the main pack house.
“Looks like your boyfriend is having an early night,” Dom’s low, sexy voice vibrates against my ear.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
He turns me around and walks us both backward so my back is against the trellis. “You sure about that?” he challenges. “Every time I step away from you, I come back to find him all over you.”
“I’m surprised you noticed. You seemed too busy flirting with your old lovers to wonder what I might be up to.”
At my bitchy comment, he breaks into a wide grin, like I just pleased him somehow. “Oh, believe me, I noticed, but I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s jealous.”
“I’m not—”
“You know, I used to make fun of my friends when they’d get all dominant when someone flirted with their mate.
” He laughs. “I couldn’t understand possessiveness of any kind, but maybe being part of a wolf pack finally rubbed off on me because I totally get it now.
” He shakes his head. “Brynn is a good friend of mine, who I know is beyond obsessed with Kade, but every time he looked at you, I was tempted to shift and scratch his eyes out.”
He reaches down and tilts my chin up. “But this might be a much better way to satisfy my newly discovered dominant tendencies.” His lips capture mine in a kiss that totally takes me over.
Electricity zings through my veins, and I can’t help letting out a gasp at the intensity of it.
His tongue pushes through my open lips and twines around mine.
In our previous kisses, he artfully drew out my responses.
In this kiss, he demands them. Instinctively, I submit, and his grip on me tightens as he pushes me harder into the trellis until I feel his hard cock against my own.
I let out a moan at the unreal sensation.
Dom pulls back and looks at me, surveying my wild eyes and swollen lips with satisfaction. “I want to make you come.”
A breathy “yes” is all I can manage in response.
His eyes almost glow at my assent. Then, with only a wicked chuckle as warning, he drops to his knees, unzips my pants, takes out my cock, and swallows it whole.
“Dom,” I call desperately, the tight, hot, wet feel of his mouth on my cock a revelation of new sensations.
Bright sapphire eyes stare up at me, watching my every reaction as his tongue wickedly flicks the underside of my frenulum until my entire body starts vibrating. I’m glad I have the trellis to collapse back on because I don’t know if my shaking legs could hold me up.
Needing to touch him, I reach out to twist my hands through his dark hair.
The move seems to spur him on. He takes me deeper down his throat and starts moving frantically up and down my cock with the obvious intention of driving me wild.
My body begins to jerk, and inarticulate cries escape my mouth, pleading for him to make me come, or for him to never stop, I’m not sure.
All I know is I’m totally lost in him and the pleasure he’s giving me.
His hand comes up to travel under my shirt, over my stomach, past my rib cage, to find my nipple and give it a brutal twist. That one touch detonates me. My head rocks back, spasms of bliss overtaking me as I fill Dom’s mouth with my cum, which he greedily swallows down.
I dreamingly stare up at the stars, feeling akin to them, still flying from the pleasure Dom just gave me.
When I finally come to, it is to find Dom staring at me.
I reach for him, needing to feel close to him after what he just gave me.
He kisses me, and I taste myself on his lips.
It reignites another round of ravenous hunger in me, and I go wild in his arms. “More,” I plead.
His arms tighten around me, stilling me. “Not here.”
I let out a frustrated groan in response, and his eyes travel over me slowly, a satisfied gleam in them as he surveys the wanton desire he’s kindled in me. “I want you in my bed, and once you’re in it, I may never let you leave again.”