Chapter 28 Orion #2
She's still talking with her hands, gesturing with one, a knife in the other. She waves it around, making her point. I should pay attention.
"She thinks we're too focused on being in sync while not trusting each other. So much that we're clashing. She says the shift should be like taking a breath. Inhale her magic, exhale her shift. When I stop trying to help, I'm actually doing more. It was a lot faster when I let go."
I shake my head. "Your shift out back was less than five minutes. Definite improvement."
"I think it'll take us a little while, but we shaved off a lot of time today.
And honestly, the shift felt different. It's weird, I didn't concentrate on shifting, and it happened.
Whereas before, I'd put all this effort into meditating and trying to merge with her, and it was useless.
Though when we got back here, I was a little stressed and so was she, so it was choppy. "
She holds out a sandwich made of biscuits. I take it and thank her, swallowing it down in three bites before responding. "Gray will be back soon, he'll want to check on you. I'll call Doc in the meantime."
She protests, but I'm already shooting him a text. He gets back right away, having been on the alert after hearing the howls, and says he's headed over. I text Grayson and tell him where we're at. I'm sure he'll want to get eyes on his mate as soon as possible.
"I'm really not hurt. I healed pretty quickly after he bit me."
"I'm actually more concerned about the magic."
"But you said there's no way the witches could have spelled me that fast!" She spins to face me, knife still in hand.
I sigh, nudging her aside so I can help her make a pile of sandwiches. We'll likely have a room full of hungry wolves shortly.
Which reminds me. "Why don't you go get dressed? I'll take care of this."
Mona relinquishes the knife, setting it down, but doesn't walk away.
"Mona." I tug her shoulder so she turns to face me. "Is everything all right?"
She nods, but her eyes dim. Her pretty bee-stung lips, now bright and rosy from all the activity, twitch as she pieces her words together. "It's just… is this what it's like? Life as a shifter?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. When I was human, aside from the fact that I was sick all the time, the biggest thing I had to worry about was where I wanted takeout from.
Waiting for the newest season of my favorite show.
Now, it's all rogue wolves and witches and shifting practice and magic.
Power-hungry enforcers. Is this normal? Or will I have to get used to it? "
On instinct, I reach out and wrap a hand around her waist, relishing the curve of her hip. She smiles softly as I pull her close and look down into her eyes. My other hand threads through her thick, wild red hair until I gather it into my fist and tug, forcing her head to tilt up and face me.
I don't pull hard, but the action sends a burst of her perfume flooding out of her. I pull her body even closer, my thick cock pressing against her belly. We both try to ignore it.
"I don't have all the answers, firefly. It's normal and not normal.
Other things will come and go. We'll have quiet moments of peace and anxious moments of chaos.
But one thing I can promise you—I'm here for you through all of it.
While you navigate your new life, I'm here.
To lean on, to ask questions. I want to say don't worry, but that's not fair.
So instead, I'll say, let me share the burden of your worries. That's what I'm here for."
A sheen of tears fills her eyes, but she blinks it away.
Then Mona crashes into me, wrapping her arms tight around me.
I hold her close, fingers digging into her flesh through the thin fabric as I bury my face in her hair, drowning in her jasmine and dogwood flower scent until my lungs burn with it.
Too soon, she steps away. "Okay, I'll go change. Thank you, Orion."
She turns to leave the kitchen, but before she's gone, she gives me a teasing look, eyes darkening. The corner of her lip lifts, and I swear I see her teeth sharpen. It's a brief look—a brief moment—but the air crackles with hunger. A burst of her honey perfume pulses at me.
And I don't know what comes over me.
Maybe it's my heavy, stiff cock. Maybe it's her perfume. Maybe it's the years of abstinence, and now, being around my mate, testing my ability to think straight, reminds me how long it's been since I've slipped inside someone warm.
I'm shaking. My hands feel like they're rattling with need. My vision goes hazy, like I'm on the edge of a rut.
I stalk her to the edge of the kitchen, swiftly closing the gap between us. One hand wraps around her waist, my other hand presses between her shoulder blades, and I push her forward, so she instinctively reaches up, palms slapping the wall.
I lift the t-shirt, exposing her perfect, round, bare ass. My hand traces down her spine before roughly grabbing a palmful of one cheek, kneading and squeezing her flesh. Mona's honeyed perfume fills the air. Saturates it. Her omega whimpers, so I squeeze tighter.
"Harder," she rasps, so I pull back and slap, my fingers digging in and shaking her ass.
"Jesus, do that again," she moans, dropping her forehead to the wall.
I laugh darkly. "Orion. Mate. Or Alpha. That is what you call me.
" Then I reach back and slap her ass again, a full red palm print staining her skin.
Her ass jiggles as she pushes it back toward me.
With her legs spread, and at the right angle, I can see her pussy spread open, slick dripping. My mouth waters.
I'm so fucking hard. My dick is literally weeping.
I'm two seconds from saying fuck-it and dropping my pants when the front door opens.
"Fuck!" I yank her shirt down. "Go change. Now." My voice shakes.
No way do I want anyone but Grayson seeing her like this. Her perfume is hard enough to ignore.
Fucking omegas. It's too much. So much stronger than anything else. Like this biologically evolved weapon designed to make every shifter in their vicinity lose all sense.
"Bossy." Mona grins, holding the sides of my shirt down so it covers her completely. Problem is, all it does is strain her hard nipples and big, round tits against the soft material.
I groan and drop my head in my hands, then point toward the stairs down the hall. She huffs a laugh and scurries off.
Doc wanders in a second later. "Is it safe to come in?" he jokes.
I groan again, wondering how long I can handle this courting business without bonding my mate.
We haven't told her much about the ritual, she's got enough worries for now.
And I meant what I said, I'll do what I can to share the burden, and that includes not laying everything we expect of her at her feet when she's barely been here a week.
I clear my throat and adjust my pants. It'll take a minute or ten for my cock to soften, but no need to traumatize Doc with it. "Any reports or injuries?" I ask. "I've been a little preoccupied."
Doc smiles genially and shakes his head. "No, no injuries. I've not heard much, only that there was an intruder but they've been chased off. Grayson is organizing a hunt, all enforcers have been called in. He's calling in a red threat."
We have hundreds of enforcers throughout Silent Peak.
Only about half live in town, close to the heart of our lands, and interact with the clan at-large daily.
The rest live more primitively, in dens, up the mountain and through the forest, spread out over hundreds of acres.
We haven't had all hands on deck in years.
"Mona smelled like magic when I got to her. She was sneezing it out, like she'd breathed it in. She must have been targeted. She smells fine now, but I want you to take a look."
He nods and, just as Mona's steps echo down the hall, the front door opens again. I'm not surprised when she pivots and heads toward the living room.
"Where is she?" Grayson roars. Doc and I follow the sounds of Grayson's growling, then hear a slight "Oomf," and find Mona wrapped up in his massive arms. Her feet swing a foot off the floor, and he squeezes her so tight I can hear her labored breath.
"Ease up," I remind him.
He glares at me, but does as I say. Mona's bare feet hit the worn hardwood floor, but Gray's hands still roam over her.
"I'm okay," she assures him. Gray and Mona had a fairly contentious start, but it seems all but forgotten as he pours over her in worry and she lets him.
He leans in and takes a deep sniff. Finding nothing amiss, he does it again, on either side of her neck. He even tries to lift her arm, but she shoves him away.
"Dude. Chill."
"I will not chill. Doc? Have you looked her over yet? What have you found?"
Doc meanders closer, pulling Mona away from the overbearing alpha. While he listens to her pulse and seems to follow Grayson's apparently apt sniff-test by doing one of his own, Gray and I step off to the side.
"What did you find?"
His jaw ticks, making his already feral vibe seem even more violent.
"Two witches. We haven't caught them. They're…
unusually fast. It's like they disappeared.
I know witches can erase their scent, but it's like they knew exactly how and where to evade us…
" he trails off, then shakes his head. "We'll find something.
For now, we're on a red-level threat. I put it out to the broader clan.
It'll be busy in the forest for a while until we get some answers. "
Red-level threat is considered under attack. And I think if Mona were not involved, he wouldn't react so intensely, and we'd be on yellow-level, which is alert and cautious. As his second-in-command, it would be my place to voice disagreement. But I don't, because I agree completely.
It's going to annoy the shit out of Mona, though. She won't be able to go anywhere without protection. With a top-level enforcer, at least.