Alphas burden

32AVERY

Hunting is exhilarating. Hunting with my mate? Indescribable.

My wolf is in her element, showing off what she’s picking up from Caden’s guidance. Every time he watches us with that proud gleam in his golden eyes, she’s simpering, enthralled with her mate’s attention. She hasn’t mastered it by any stretch, but there’s definite improvement.

We make an excellent team. He allows me to pick the prey as we lope through the woods and doesn’t do much work other than herding our target back to me when it evades me. Some of the smaller critters are fast, intriguing me with the challenge and strategic approach they require. It’s not enough to be a hulking red beast of a wolf driven by instinct alone.

While we’re drinking from a stream, my ears prick. Grunts and rustling through dead leaves. Boars.

My wolf wants the meat. She goes on the prowl, stalking their trail. Caden’s wolf trots after her, hanging back to let her figure it out on her own. Her mate trusts her. Believes in her abilities as a huntress.

The boars prove a new challenge—their intelligence. They sense her before she’s close, skittering off with disgruntled chatter. A

She allows distance to stretch, giving them the idea that they’ve avoided a predator, waiting until their guard lowers before trying again. This time she climbs to a higher position, balancing on a fallen aspen’s trunk wedged between an outcropping of rocks. Sneaking across, she waits until they pass beneath her before making a move.

Her claws swipe one boar’s flank, wounding it. They bolt.

Caden cuts off their escape. One goes squealing in the opposite direction from his giant black wolf in a panic. I pounce on it, fangs going for its vitals. Its shrieking cries grow louder, then cut off with a gurgling wail when I tear out its throat.

My wolf stands over the hog, releasing a victorious howl. Our packmates echo it in the distance.

Caden strides over with the other hog in his jaws. He bumps against her side, adding his meat to her catch. Good job.

They feast together and she basks while he cleans her coat. The moon is high and she’s not ready to give up control anytime soon. She lures him into playing with her, batting him with her paws. He chuffs, rolling to his back, rumbling in contentment when she nuzzles into his exposed throat.

When she wants to run, he races alongside her. The wind sifts through her fur and the ground yields beneath her paws. She stops at the edge of a clearing when a new scent carries on the breeze.

A deer grazes in the meadow. My mouth waters and I succumb to my instincts.

I creep in first, intent on the doe. She has no idea of the danger encroaching on her. I check if Caden’s going to herd her like he did for the plump hogs we took down. Golden eyes bore into mine.

Something shifts in his posture. He’s no longer hunting our prey.

He’s hunting me.

My wolf is excited. Unbridled. Shivering in anticipation. She won’t let her mate catch her so easily, yet she craves the moment he succeeds.

She forgets all about the deer, taking off in a sprint. The doe startles. Caden’s wolf jumps from the high ground. His howl follows through the trees.

It’s a promise. A vow of what’s to come.

My heartbeat races, veins and limbs warming. I want it. After I make him work for it.

His wolf is powerful and fast. He has no trouble keeping up with mine, hovering at her heels, nipping at them with a series of whuffs that sound like laughter. I manage to evade him when we reach a section of woods I know well from foraging.

A hollow to the left ahead leads me down to an old blackberry bramble that was choked out by vines years ago. My wolf is much bigger than I am, though she manages to squeeze through it and slip down the drop. He can’t fit, barking behind me.

I scramble on my belly through the thicket, glad most of the prickly leaves no longer grow. He’s still searching, sniffing and padding back and forth above me. I sneak out under the cover of overgrown vines swallowing the dead brambles and double back.

It doesn’t take Caden long to figure me out. In no time, his paws pound in pursuit. I run as hard as I can. He still catches up, chasing me relentlessly. He won’t stop until he captures me.

My wolf scrambles up a hill. As she crests it, he slams into her.

We go down with a delighted warbling howl, welcoming the weight of his huge beast. She wants to rub her scent all over him. He’s hers. He belongs to her and she will claim him. Her want overflows, and her desire is mine.

Caden’s wolf purrs, the approval and praise making her melt. His mouth clamps on her neck, over the mating mark I bear, growling possessively. Mate.

One moment he’s his wolf pi

“Shift,” he murmurs.

My body gives in to his wish, transforming from fur to flushed skin. His muscular thigh wedges between my legs and I writhe against it. He stretches over my back, hard cock nestled against me. I want it, aching to feel him inside me.

His lips coast down my spine, nipping my ass. My breath hitches and my knees scrabble on the ground for purchase, lifting while he spreads me open.

A hazy cry slips out at the first swipe of his tongue over my pussy. His fingers dig into my skin as his chest rattles with a gravelly sound that vibrates against me. I shudder, pressing my cheek to the cool grass with a whimper. He devours me, mouth and tongue bringing me to the brink.

“I’m—I’m going to come,” I stammer. “Oh Fates, please.”

He sucks on my clit, then works his tongue into me, a ravenous man starved for his favorite meal. My thighs tremble and a tug jerks in my core, unraveling me with an endless ripple of pleasure when I come.

Before I’ve caught my breath, he flips me over, crawling up my body in a sensual prowl while I’m still floating. My pussy throbs with need and I tangle my legs around him.

He lifts my hips, squeezing my ass as he enters me in a smooth thrust that leaves both of us tensing, our features contorted in bliss. I cling to him, the first to move my hips in a circle.

“Yes,” I murmur. “Fuck me.”

“I’m not going to fuck you, mate.”

He kisses me hard to silence my plea, snapping his hips. I gasp and he swallows it with a rumbling chuckle before bracing above me on his forearm.

“I’m going to own you, body and soul.”

My lashes flutter. He pulls back and slams into me, hitting me deep. My back bows. He sets a pace that ignites me. I’m unable to do more than hold on for dear life while he fucks me rough and fast, meeting a wild primal need I didn’t know I had until now.

“Don’t stop,” I beg frantically.

“That’s it, mate. Squeeze my cock with your sweet pussy,” he praises. “Mark me with your slick so everyone knows I’m yours. You’re going to come all over my cock for me, aren’t you?”

“Yes!”

“Such a good little mate for your alpha.”

He grabs a fistful of my hair, guiding my head back until my neck is bared for him. Demanding my submission. A hot sizzle scorches through me and I fall over the edge with a strangled cry. He licks the hollow of my throat, nipping and kissing his way to the mating mark.

“Mine,” he growls against it.

His cock pulses deep within me and he buries his face in the crook of my neck with a groan. “Fuck, I’m coming. I’m going to fill you, knot you until you feel it for days.”

“Yes,” I breathe.

We both pant, shivering in pleasure when the base of his cock grows. His knot feels amazing. The sensation of it swelling in me, stretching me to the brink, makes me feel drunk. It’s more incredible than the first time he knotted me.

It’s not painful, my body naturally welcoming him as it’s meant to. The pressure against my sensitive nerve endings is endless pleasure, the stimulation so intense every little move steals my breath.

My eyes widen, then close with a gasp of pleasure. Caden’s moving inside me, thrusting anew, yet not because his knot is locked in place.

“Are you⁠—?”

His smoky chuckle tickles my ear. “Do you like that? I want to fuck you some more. Can’t move, so I have to get creative.”

“You’re—mm—so good at using this to tease me.”

My teeth rake my lip. Focusing is a challenge when he has me unraveling by the second from his astral command over the bond. I search for it within me, caressing the co

“Fuck.” A breath tears from him. “You drive me insane. I love it.”

My laughter breaks off in a moan when he makes it feel like his mouth is on my nipples at the same time while his phantom cock pounds into me. I open my mind to him and let a fantasy unfold where he has me on my knees, fucking my mouth, picturing ru

A garbled curse flies out of him and his grip on me spasms. We come together, both of us shaking with it, clinging to each other.

Caden’s lips capture mine and I hum into it happily.