Chapter 30
One second, Quinn stood there naked, and the next, his body contorted, and he was in wolf form. He actually expected me to climb atop him like a horse. He lay down on the ground, flattening his legs, and then tilted his head, gesturing toward his back. I guess I was really doing this.
I pulled myself over him, wrapped my arms around his neck, and my legs around his body. I held on for dear life. He walked into the woods slowly. Then he started moving a little faster. It wasn’t as bad as I thought. It was like riding a pony.
Within a few minutes, he started to run.
I used every muscle to keep myself on top of him.
Trees flew by in a blur. I wasn’t sure how fast we were going, but I knew it was faster than any horse I’d ridden.
It was exhilarating. This time, my rapid heartbeat was excitement. Everything in me felt weightless.
I wasn’t sure how long it actually took us to get to the woods that were on the backside of the hotel.
I’d been savoring every second of it. He lowered himself to the ground, and I slid off.
I jogged out of the woods and up the stairs to our room.
I grabbed the key out of my back pocket and went inside.
Hyder and Callie checked out of their rooms yesterday, their stuff already in the vehicles.
I quickly grabbed some clothes for Quinn, then sprinted back into the woods.
He’d already shifted and was standing behind a tree. I stopped just out of reach and stared at him—all of him. I truly took in the sight of him. He was sexy in every way. My eyes drifted right between his legs, where his cock hung. I licked my lips.
“You best hand me my clothes before I take you right here in the woods,” he said.
I looked around and shrugged my shoulders. “No one else is around.”
He quickly closed the gap between us, pulling me into his body. His lips crashed into mine. They weren’t slow, but demanding. Our tongues slid across each other. Everything between my legs tingled, wetness building. He reached between us and unbuttoned my jeans, pushing them down.
“Turn around,” he demanded. I turned on my feet.
He pressed my back forward. He reached between my legs, his fingers sliding through my wetness.
“So fucking wet for me,” he growled.
A moan escaped my lips. I was wet for him. The thrill of riding on him. The thrill of fucking in the woods. The thrill of revenge. The forbidden part of it. All of it turned me on.
He slid his finger down one side, then back up the other. He drove his fingers in, and a moan left his lips. He pulled his finger out. He sucked his finger and let out another moan.
“So fuckkkking good,” he muttered.
He reached between us, pushing himself in.
Only the tip. We both moaned. He slowly moved in further, all the way to the hilt.
Warmth rushed through me. He pulled out and then pushed in hard and fast. Fuck me.
He gripped my hips, moving me on and off his thick cock.
I was leaning forward, gripping a tree. He kept moving within me.
Everything inside me felt like burning embers.
He used his knee to spread my legs farther apart. He gripped my hips hard again, fingers pressing into me. He started moving faster and faster.
“Fuck me, Quinn,” I moaned out.
“Harder?” he groaned out.
“Yes,” I muttered.
“Say it,” he demanded.
“Fuck me… harder,” I managed to say, between moans.
Then he unleashed himself. He fucked me like a primal animal. His grip on my hips held me in place as he rammed me fast and hard. Everything in me exploded. Stars burst behind my eyelids. I clenched around him. Uncontrollable moans escaped me. He moved even faster within me.
“You feel so… FUCKING… good, baby,” he moaned.
Loud, desperate moans mixed with fuck came out of him. He moved more slowly, but still pulled me onto him, seating deep inside of me. Each thrust slowed until he finally came to a stop. He reached around and pulled me up, my back against his chest.
“God, you feel so fucking amazing on my cock, especially when you came,” he whispered in my ear.
“That was… amazing,” I whispered.
We stood like that for a few more minutes, both of us breathing heavily, him holding me up, and my legs shaking. He finally pulled himself out of me, turned me around, and gently kissed me.
We both pulled our pants up. He put on his shirt and shoes, and then we walked out of the woods, like he hadn’t fucked me wildly.
We went back to the room. I cleaned myself up, and then we grabbed all of our stuff.
Thankfully, everything we’d brought back from Louisiana was in the hotel room.
Quinn had been worried someone would steal it out of the truck bed.
We put as much as we could in the Civic, and then we put the rest in Hyder’s car.
I offered to drive Hyder’s car back to the pack house.
It was a little over thirty minutes back to the house.
As we pulled into the driveway, my eyes darted to the porch.
Ravik’s body had already been moved. On the porch sat an older female.
I’d seen her at the window a couple of times.
Her eyes looked hollow, and a heavy frown sat on her face.
Quinn rushed over and opened my door for me.
“Thank you,” I said. I nodded toward the porch. “Who’s that?”
“Iva, Benji, and Daxyn’s mom. The Nova,” he said.
“Oh,” I said, my eyes dropping to the ground.
“Don’t worry about her. She’s sad because she lost her mate, but she didn’t fight us. She actually knew what was going on and went back to her bedroom and allowed it,” he said.
I clenched my jaw, and my eyes were wide. “Wow.” That’s all I could muster out.
Benji, Daxyn, Callie, and Raphael came outside and stood on the porch waiting for us to join them. Iva remained in her chair, staring off into the woods. It was like she was there presently, but her mind was in another world.
We walked onto the porch and stood in awkward silence for far too long.
“Benji, you should take the Novo position,” Quinn said.
“What?” Benji shot out.
“You’re the oldest of the two of you. You should take over,” Quinn said.
“You’re also reasonable,” Raphael added.
“I’m not married,” Benji replied.
“In circumstances like this, the Zenith will set expectations for you to take over temporarily, with you getting married within a certain time,” Quinn said.
“And what, just marry some female?” Benji shot out.
“I’m sure you have someone who has caught your eye,” Raphael said.
“I did, but they are off limits,” Benji replied, dropping his head.
“You’ll have time to find the right person,” Quinn said.
“Yeah…” Benji muttered.
“Is everyone standing on this porch in agreement with Benji moving into Novo?” Quinn asked.
“Why can’t one of the Zenith couples move up?” Benji asked.
“You know damn well why,” Iva shot out. Everyone’s head turned toward her, as if we’d forgotten she sat there.
Quinn cleared his throat. “They could, but that doesn’t mean they should. It’s the birthright of everyone standing on this porch except Zay, Annabelle, and Hyder. It’s our bloodline. If you can’t do this, Benji, I’ll do it.”
“I can… I can… It’s just a lot to take in,” Benji said.
“We’ll all be here to help you,” Callie said.
All of them nodded their heads in agreement with that.
“I’ve already called them all. They will be here in thirty minutes,” Iva muttered.
“The Zenith?” Raphael clarified.
“Yes… who else would I be calling, son?”
“Sorry, ma’am,” Raphael said.
“You know how I feel about ma’am,” Iva said.
“Sorry,” Raphael said again.
“Y’all need to ready yourselves. They will expect to walk down to the creek and set him ablaze,” she said.
Everyone nodded and started moving, doing various things. I stood there awkwardly staring at everyone, not sure what I could or should do.
“Take a seat, Zalayuh,” Iva said.
I turned and looked at her. My heart kicked up a notch, but I couldn’t turn her down. I did end her husband’s life after all. I sat in the chair next to her.
“Don’t think you owe me an apology,” she said.
“It feels wrong not to, though,” I told her.
“He wasn’t always this callous, ya know,” she said.
“No? It seems everyone had disdain for him,” I said.
“Yes, they do, but years ago, when we met, he was different. I think taking the Novo position changed him. He used to be a great father, uncle, and husband. The man I married would have never kidnapped the mother of his grandchild,” she said.
My head dropped to my lap. My fingers rubbed against my thumbs.
“You don’t have to feel guilty about that… I think I’m just telling you that not because I want you to feel bad, but so you know he wasn’t always the cruel person who would cause harm to a pregnant person,” she said.
“He ruined my life,” I muttered.
“Don’t give him that much credit. It’s your life to claim, and darling, you’re so young. You and Quinnlyn can still have a beautiful life,” she said.
“We don’t even know what we are…” I whispered.
She turned her head toward me. “Hunny, you’re his. You might not realize it, but you’re the only one he will ever love, while you’re alive.”
“And what about you?”
“We weren’t truly bound mates, but I don’t believe in divorces. I’ll mourn the man he was, and I’ll live a peaceful life. My boys and the pack will care for me. Did you know that once I hit sixty, I won’t shift anymore? I’ll truly be free,” she said.
“I didn’t know that,” I said.
“There’s so much for you to learn. You’re always welcome here, darling.”
I looked up. “Being here is hard.”
“I understand, but it will get easier.”
“This place will always be the place where Izayuh was born, the place where I heard his whimpers, where he took his last breath,” I said, tears rolling down my cheeks.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t save him,” she said.
“Except that no one even tried to save me… until it was too late,” I said.
“For what it’s worth, many of us pleaded with Ravik to let you go. There were better ways,” she said, shaking her head.
“And yet… not even his Nova got through to him,” I said.