28
Inever dared to travel into this thicket. It wasn’t Steven holding me back this time, but my parents’ belief that I’d get myself killed if I wandered too far.
A part of me always knew I was different - subpar in a way I could never pick out. Mom and Dad knew to protect me from stranger Lycans, but all my child self concluded was that I wasn’t good enough. I became my own oppressor. Mistakes were unacceptable, and no matter how well I thought I accomplished something, I always had to work harder, or else I’d ruin it. By default, I was wrong.
Which made me dangerous. I saw myself as a toxin, parasite, or bomb; what if my incapabilities hurt me, my parents, or my friends? Killed them, even? I’d be a terrible person. But little Aliya would say, no, I already am that terrible person. It’s too late, and one day, everyone will finally notice.
It wasn’t until I met Jenny that I realized behind every compulsion, I was fighting to reach a different fantastical day: the day I was finally perfect.
But I’m not perfect. I’m a shaking, anxious mess, staring at who I’m pretty sure is the love of my life in a forest I was never allowed to travel alone. Not just by my loved ones, but by me. I trapped my wolf too.
My lip wobbles, but Noah scoops me into his embrace, catching my heart before it falls. He courts me with tender precision, starting with a gentle drag of his nose over my jawline.
“I can’t believe I’m finally here with you.” Noah’s whisper shakes like it escaped his lips without his permission. This moment stirs his side of our bond just as deeply, drawing up heavy emotions that I can’t begin to understand.
I’m not alone.
And the last threads of my wolf’s leash are snapping.
Noah nudges my body with his wide form until I’m breathless with the affection fluttering in my chest. My nails grip onto Noah’s back, needing more of him. I didn’t intend for the effect it creates; Noah’s eyes flicker between green and a saturated yellow. His wolf is begging to be set free too.
Noah drags his forehead over mine, hardly able to catch his breath. He leads us back a few steps until I’m pressed against the boulder, icing my back while Noah’s body engulfs my front in delicious warmth.
I slump against the rock. Here with Noah, I’m tucked away from past danger, losing myself in our kiss. Noah’s hot mouth seeks every angle of my lips, meeting them time and time again until my jaw is slack with bliss. Tasting his sweet tongue, I massage his scalp for more. Delight stiffens my nipples until they ache.
But we came here for a reason. We pause, gasping an inch from each other’s noses.
“Your wolf led us here,” Noah whispers. “I can sense her so strongly, even without marking you.”
My stomach flips. “I can’t believe this is really happening. But you feel too good - I can’t bear to separate us to reenact the rest of it.”
“Then I will.” He rushes a few steps back, and my wolf whines for him. But the second I can see him from head to toe, I gape.
Noah shakes with need, his chest heaving, eyes heavy-lidded and locked on mine, and pants straining over his shaft.
Oh, God. Just like Noah, this real moment is a thousand times more beautiful than my dream. In our bond, it’s clear Noah wants me, but not just my body. He wants all of me, even though he’s sensed my dark side.
I’m tired of being afraid. I want to let my heart rule, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. If I really do love someone this early into a relationship for the first time in my life, I want to let it happen. More than declaring it, I want to live it. To feel every second.
Noah is frozen as he takes me in, but his wolf pants for me. Barely holding back.
“Follow your instincts too,” I say. “Let’s set our wolves free together. Let go, as far as we can.”
With a stunted breath, Noah unleashes his gaze across my body. A piercing thrill beats through my veins as I watch his self-control slip.
As he rushes for me, I’m surprised by the softness of his fingers trailing my sides, slipping beneath my shirt. It makes my voice come out raspy and desperate against his scruffy cheek. His wide palms soothe me as I strip his chest bare, desperate to feel him skin-to-skin. But by the time I’ve removed my shirt, Noah has dropped to his knees.
He courts me differently this time, dragging his cold nose down my belly. I gasp, immersing my fingers in his thick black hair. Splayed hands massage my thighs until they part in delight. Then his nose dips between my legs.
My heart bursts into an anxious sprint as he caresses me with his nose, inhaling my scent, but his reassuring pheromones unwind me.
I remember this from the dream too - before I understood we were wolves. It makes much more sense now.
When he makes up his mind about me, he gives me a heavy lick through my jeans. The pressure spreads over a wider area from the fabric’s thickness, soothing my aching core. My head drops and my knees dip as my pheromones explode.
“Mate.” He purrs, licking my clit through the fabric so roughly that I dip my hips against his tongue for more.
“Oh, God, Noah...”
He’ll make me come in a mere minute if he continues. In my dream, I’d always stop him here so I didn’t have to wake up yet. But I can sense his wolf so clearly today, his intentions set and focused.
Don’t stop me this time,he mindlinks, pausing only to kiss my clit until my hips jerk again. Let me prepare your body to mate.
I shudder as his words douse my groin with wet heat. I almost forgot he remembers the dream too.
“Oh, God, it’s so intense, Noah...”
He purrs in satisfaction against my clit. His wolf nudges mine into action until I wriggle against his lips.
“Do you want me to stop?”
I grip his shoulders, barely able to speak between heaving breaths. “No. Don’t stop.”
As Noah falls into a licking trance, I grip the rock behind me. My shaking legs pulse open beside his cheeks. He grips my waistband but pauses there, unable to pop my pants button between heaving flicks of his tongue. I know he can feel how soaked I am through my jeans, but now his saliva seeps through, warming my core.
Noah frantically tugs my pants beneath my ass, exposing my panties to his huffing breath between my legs. My thighs quiver, and until he licks me mid-sentence, I hadn’t realized I was crying out for him.
“Alph– ah! Ah!”
His growl buzzes through my clit, sending a throbbing ache through my core until I nearly burst. I melt down the rock. My hips buck as he holds them steady - rocking with me as his tongue laps up the wetness that dripped down my thighs. His shoulders ripple above me as he scoots between my knees, carrying my hips in his massive arms as he works me.
The rising pressure in my core is undeniable now that he’s made it happen multiple times; my back even arches in preparation. “Alpha, you’re going to make me squi–”
His lips latch to my clit through the thin fabric, switching between sucking and slipping his tongue between my legs. A rush of fluid spills from me, dripping down my cheeks into Noah’s palms. Hard rock scrapes my hands as I cling to the boulder, my hips squirming through his tingling growls.
Don’t hold back for me. I’ll just have to make you come again later,he mindlinks - his rapid tongue far too occupied to speak.
Noah’s fingertips caress my abdomen, but his head dips, chasing my hips when he’s not lifting them for me. As tingles devour my senses, I grip Noah’s hair as I come, sinking Noah’s tongue into me through my soaked panties.
He licks me softly through aftershocks until the sensation is too strong, my legs jerking. I pull my hips away, breathless as his focus zips to my face.
My heart flips. Noah’s stare is raw and vulnerable, hazy from fully submitting himself to my pleasure. His wet lips are redder than his cheeks. At some point, he pulled his heavy cock free from his pants; it flexes with urgency beneath me.
But as his scent and emotions wash over me through our bond in waves, I’m stunned by his fondness for me.
“You’re so beautiful, Noah,” I breathe.
He massages my legs and sides, rubbing his head against my belly with blushing shyness. My heart burns with affection for him as I stroke his hair, aching to hold him.
Meeting him on my knees, I nuzzle over his cheeks with his head in my palms.
Holding him like this, I can’t deny it any longer; I was scared I was hazy with lust and jumping to conclusions earlier, but now that Noah took the edge off, I know I’m in love with him.