Alphas burden

30CADEN

Avery is mine. I’m claiming every fucking inch of my mate tonight. She’ll bear my mark, body and soul.

Her exposed throat calls to me. I nuzzle into the crook of her neck and shoulder, finding the spot I want her to wear my claim. A quiver of anticipation surges through me, then my mouth clamps down and my teeth pierce her skin. She arches with a heavenly whimper and I drag the burst of her scent into my lungs.

Mine, my wolf howls.

She tastes delectable. I lap at the wound to soothe away the brief pain and help it heal, learning the shape of her new mark with my tongue. I work her clit, thrusting sharper as I kiss the mating bite.

“Oh, it’s throbbing, it feels…”

She trails off in a moan, pussy squeezing the life out of my dick while honeysuckle and sweet summer rain burst on my tongue, leaving me dizzy. My hold tightens on her as she falls apart on my cock. I’ll never know anything as great as the honor of making my mate come while I’m buried inside her.

She’s too good, tight and hot and all fucking mine. I’m close to coming, barely holding off my release. My cock throbs, swelling larger, my balls drawing up.

“Avery,” I groan.

I drive into her one last time, panting raggedly as the coil of pleasure snaps, sending me over the edge. I come, my knot filling until it keeps me and the flood of seed deep inside her. Fuck, it feels good, the swell thick and heavy, throbbing against her exquisite tightness made to fit with me and no other.

She gasps, collapsing back against me, trembling with aftershocks of her orgasm. I shudder through my release, licking the bite and holding her. Every slight twitch from her brings me incredible euphoria, my knot extra sensitive.

When I stroke it with my tongue, I feel an answering pulse in my chest where the bond burns strong, anchoring us together. As it should be. As is right.

She feels so perfect locked on my knot. Better than I ever imagined it would feel with my mate, the sense of wholeness profound beyond the heady pleasure.

I caress her clit, gri

“Caden.” Her chest rises and falls, arm reaching back for me.

She sounds exquisitely fucked out in bliss. Pride unfurls within me. I grin, knowing I did this to her. That I’m the only one who ever gets to see her like this. The only one who can satisfy her. She’s mine and I’ll make sure she’s taken care of like this every day of our lives.

“I’ve got you. You’re going to come on my knot.”

A tiny moan escapes her. Oh, she likes that, and I like the effect the idea has on her.

She arches as I give her more pressure with my fingers, then slide down to make both of us feel how we fit together before returning to rub her clit. I lick the fresh bite mark and she tenses before melting against me with a whimper as her pleasure erupts.

Fuck, she feels good. Her scent is thick all around us, blending with mine, sweet with decadent honey and wildflowers surrounded by my own musk. Her pussy squeezes my swollen cock, making my vision swim in dizzying ecstasy.

“So good for me, mate,” I croon.

My wolf sprawls, granting me a sliver of control back. My claws retract and the few patches of skin where I sprouted wiry black fur return to normal.

I keep toying with her body, tracing patterns on her hardened nipples down to her thighs, gathering her slick to smear at the base of my cock. My hips nudge forward in an attempt to sink into her another fraction to feel more of her intoxicating wet heat.

My knot hasn’t gone down yet and I already crave her again.

Newly mated pairs are often tangled in each other. I’m insatiable for her. This endless need for my mate hasn’t been sated, not in the least. I want to fuck her all over this forest in every way imaginable. I want to make her come with my knot, my cock, my hands and mouth, and drown in the scent of her arousal.

I’m eager for every second I’ll spend with her. When she goes into heat, I’ll take pleasure in meeting her demands for more until I’ve surpassed them. She’s mine to worship and I’ll never allow anything to come between us or be parted from her again.

Her breath hitches when she drops a hand to join with mine. I thread our fingers and bring her hand between her legs.

“Feel us,” I rumble.

“So full,” she murmurs. “It’s so good. I don’t want it to end. How long will it be like this?”

“A while, I think. Rest. I have you.” I guide her head to lean on me and drop a kiss to her hair.

Avery drifts off. I caress everywhere in my reach, stroking her hair, her sides and thighs, her stomach as the urge to fill my mate with our pups rides me.

Once my knot recedes, I ease out of her and lay her in the grass. She makes a soft, content noise, still drowsy. I hush her with a kiss, moving to pay attention to the mark I’ve left on her. She shivers at my tongue mapping the healing bite, clinging to me.

My fingers delve between her legs, feeling her swollen pussy dripping with come. I push it back inside with languid thrusts of my fingers as I scent her. The hitch of her breath makes my lips twitch in satisfaction, as does her tight clamp on my fingers when she comes for me again.

I collapse beside her, drawing her into my arms. The entire clearing around the private falls we share smells like us. I smile at the glowing moon and pet her hair.

We doze on and off, replenishing our strength. I wake to something tickling my chest. Cracking an eye, I smirk at my gorgeous mate. Her eyes widen, caught out.

“Sorry if I woke you.”

I clasp her nape to pull her into a kiss, murmuring against her mouth. “I want you to wake me all the time. Do you know how many times I’ve fantasized about you demanding I fuck you?”

Her laughter is a balm to my soul. She swats me, humming when I capture her mouth for another kiss. When it ends, she bites her lip, eyes bouncing between mine.

“Is this real?”

I cup her cheek, brushing my thumb back and forth. “Of course it is.”

“I didn’t know it was possible to be so happy,” she admits. “It’s…been a long time.”

A jagged noise flies out of me. I circle her in a tight embrace, vowing to make her happy always.

“You’ll never feel that way again. I swear.”

I brush the edge of her mating mark with my thumb. Nothing will ever keep us apart now that we’re mated. She wears my official claim on her.

“Will you go for a run with me? My wolf wants yours.”

“So does mine.” She lifts a brow, cheeks turning pink. “You don’t think they’re going to…”

I snort, rolling her beneath me. “My wolf wants his mate, same as me.”

She flashes a sly look that tugs heat low in my gut and begins her shift. I join her, our forms becoming our wolves seamlessly. Her wolf wriggles under mine and he settles down, stretched over her belly.

She licks the underside of his jaw and his tongue lolls from his panting mouth. He pins her to return her affections, lapping her coat until her roan fur gleams in the moonlight. His content howl echoes through the forest and she joins him, their combined calls pleasing him.

His ears flick, listening to his domain. Small prey skitters through the underbrush and crickets chirp over the babbling falls. His mate draws his focus once more as she scents the squirrel nearby. He’ll hunt it for her and present her with a meal.

She wants up, budging him with impressive strength. He’s on his feet, sniffing her rear flank, licking where the fur is matted to taste her slick. She spins with a bossy yelp, both of them frozen in a standoff. He heeds it, enjoying his mate’s shyness mixed with her fearlessness when it comes to putting him in his place.

Then she bows to him with a bark. Challenging him. She runs and he tracks her.

They chase each other in circles, my wolf gaining, then keeping a measured distance to tease her when she aims her playful attacks at him. She puts on a burst of speed to charge him and he barks in delight when she tackles him. They roll in the grass, wrestling with excited growls and yips.

She paws his chest and he clamps his teeth on her throat with a purr, releasing her to inspect the mating mark she bears beneath her fur with his nose. He licks it, chuffing happily.

They both hear a snapping twig, rising to twitch their noses in the air. West of us. Deer.

Avery’s wolf bounds off too soon. Mine huffs, trotting after her. Before we reach the bottom of the incline, it’s spooked off.

She plops her haunches to the ground with a frustrated whine. I bump her to cheer her up. The instinct is natural. I need to teach her to hunt. She has it in her, I know it.

I lower my head, giving her my neck. Her snout snuffles into it with a little rumble that excites me. Bite. Mark me, I encourage, pawing the ground.

She doesn’t, only nipping me playfully, but it doesn’t bother my wolf. He knows she’s his. In her own time, she’ll want to give us her mating bite.

We make our way back, heading for the lodge instead of her cottage. I want her in my bed.

When we get there, we shift from our fur. It’s quiet, our sisters asleep upstairs. I wrench a curtain from the nearest window to wrap around her so none of the guards stationed around the lodge see her.

“You know they’ve seen me naked,” she points out, amused.

I growl in refusal, taking her hand. “I don’t want anyone to see you like this. Only me.”

Her giggle echoes down the hall on our way to the stairs. The enforcers we pass keep their eyes down because they know what’s good for them.

In my room, I get one of my shirts for her, struck by how much I like this. Having her in my space, my den. The sight of her kneeling on my bed, wearing my clothes. Her smelling like she’s mine. The rightness of it all settles in my thudding heart.

My mind runs away with ideas of our future. Her scent infusing my den, my sheets—our bed. Waking to her within arms reach and not sleeping well until I have her tucked against me every night. Watching her make it into her nest. Rubbing her back and feeling her belly growing with our pups.

I prowl to her, brushing my knuckles over her jaw. She smiles and I move the neckline of the shirt aside to admire my mating bite.

“Beautiful little wolf,” I murmur. “I have you where you’ve always belonged.”

“With you,” she echoes in a reverent hush that pierces my heart.

“With me.”