The She-Wolf’s Mate (Book 2 She-Wolf Series)

Samantha

“Hi,” I said, weakly.

“Where is she?” He growled looking out past my shoulder.

“I’m not sure,” I told him. “She left.”

“Figures,” he muttered, turning his attention to me. “Where did she take you?”

“Uh, honestly, I don’t know. There was a rocky cliff over the ocean I think.”

“Hmm,” he grunted. “What did she want?”

“Just to talk.”

I figured less information was better. I wasn’t sure how he would react to our conversation. If he wanted me to know what she told me about his past, he would have told me himself. Maybe.

He narrowed his eyes at me, but I kept my expression impassive.

“Breakfast is ready,” he grunted after a moment.

With that, he turned and stalked toward the kitchen, leaving me to follow. I rolled my eyes but marched after him. As we entered, my jaw almost hit the floor. Spread out in front of me was what could only be described as a small feast. The fruit I left out was cut up and displayed on a platter, pancakes were piled high, scrambled eggs steamed from a large bowl, a carafe of coffee and cream were set by my favorite mug.

“You did all this?” I asked, staring between him and the food.

“You were gone a while,” he said, simply.

“Did I have pancake mix?” I couldn’t remember buying any.

“Why would you need a mix?” he asked, rolling his eyes. “It’s simple ingredients.”

“Okay,” I didn’t want to argue. “This all looks great. Thank you.”

He grunted gruffly, but handed me the plate of food he had been preparing. I fixed my coffee how I like it and then headed toward the dining room.

“I set up the table on the back deck,” he called.

“Oh, okay. That sounds nice,” I said.

Was I in the Twilight Zone?

Tension rolled off of Ivar in thick waves, yet everything he was doing was so… nice? The juxtaposition of his actions versus his tone were making my thoughts run out of control.

We sat together outside. The only sound was forks occasionally scraping plates and birds chirping in the distance. Otherwise, we ate silently. I glanced his way a couple times, but he just angrily jabbed at his food, appearing to be lost in thought.

“Umm,” I finally spoke tentatively. “Is something the matter?”

Ivar

The moment I see that little witch -

I vaguely heard Sam ask a question, pulling me from my thoughts.

“What?” I asked.

“I, umm, asked if there was anything wrong?” she reiterated.

“Oh,” I answered, lamely. “No. How’s your food?”

“It’s good,” she said, hesitantly. She furrowed her brow. “You seem a little… tense?”

I rubbed a hand down my face and through my hair, trying to shake off some of the anger I was feeling toward Trinity. When I came down the stairs and realized Sam was gone, it felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest. Until I picked up Trinity’s scent, I thought about the worst case scenarios. Namely, that Sam ran away or had been hurt by someone.

As the clock ticked by and they didn’t return, my anxiety turned to rage directed at the person I deemed responsible - my spell-spitting, little sister. In reality, I also worried what she could be telling or showing Sam. I knew Trinity would never let anything happen to her physically, but she knew where all of my skeletons were buried. She could probably scare my mate into running for the high hills in two minutes flat.

“Is there anything you want to talk about?” Sam asked when I didn’t respond.

“Not particularly,” I told her. “Is there anything you want to talk about after your little chat?”

She blushed and looked away.

“Not particularly,” she said, parroting my response.

We sat in a stalemate for several minutes, neither willing to break the silence. I wasn’t mad at her, but I hated being in a position of needing to ask for her to tell me what Trinity had told her, despite my dying to know. I didn't want her to see my vulnerability.

“Ivar?” She finally asked.

“Hmm?” I murmured.

“Trinity said that you can’t move here even if you wanted to,” she said, quietly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I can’t talk about it."

“You told me you didn’t want to seem weak for caving to what I wanted,” she accused. “You could have told me there was a reason, but that a spell keeps you from telling me what it is. Instead, you made me feel terrible with a bullshit excuse.”

“This is exactly why Trinity shouldn’t have interfered,” I snarled.

“Why? Because she actually wanted to give me real information about you?” She questioned, her voice rising slightly. “You’ve lived a thousand years and you haven’t even told me about one day of it. We’ve just been circling the same fucking argument. I was happy to hear about who you are.”

I froze, fighting my instincts to respond aggressively to what she was saying. I felt compelled to defend myself even though she wasn’t attacking me. She was pointing out facts that I should have cared enough to tell her.

“Do you want a relationship with me?” she asked.

“Yes,” I responded without hesitation, surprising myself.

“Then that requires we open up to each other. Maybe even get to know one another,” she reasoned, clearly exasperated.

“I know everything about you,” I told her, then immediately regretted it.

“Excuse me?” She snapped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I looked away, suddenly embarrassed.

“You - what? Had someone investigate me or something?” She asked, definitely annoyed.

“When your Alpha Ceremony was announced, I was curious,” I explained. “No one had heard of you, so I sent someone to find out what they could. I was making sure you weren’t a threat. After your Ceremony, I obviously had a more vested interest, so I had them look a little harder.”

It was mostly the truth. Although, I had done a lot of the leg work after the ceremony on my own.

“And you think you know me based on what someone could dig up?”

I was confused by her question, so I shrugged.

“Well, I know everything about your life,” I said.

“That is seriously so fucked up, Ivar,” she scoffed. “You can’t know a person based on a timeline of their activities or what’s in some file.”

“It’s always worked for me thus far,” I argued.

“And your resume of successful relationships speaks for itself,” she retorted.

“I haven’t tried to have a successful relationship,” I told her.

She stood up and started to clear our plates.

“Well, it would be nice if you would start trying now,” she said, sarcastically. “Or just reject me so I can stop agonizing over it so much.”

I caught her wrist as she turned to walk back in the house. I took a breath, trying to ease some of the tension and anxiety I was feeling.

“This is me trying, Sam,” I told her. “I’m sorry I’m not who you want me to be. I’m not the romantic. I’m not the gentleman. I’m a warrior and a king. It’s who I’ve always had to be.”

She paused and her deep green eyes seemed to stare straight through me. I saw the frown she was wearing relax slightly at my words.

“Thank you for your honesty,” she said. “I don’t need you to be the romantic or the gentleman Ivar, but I do want you to be a partner. The werewolves need a king. The supernatural need a protector. I need a man who will stand by my side. I want a lover.”

Her words had me standing from the table and pulling her close. The plates she was holding crashed to the floor as my mouth slammed into hers. While I expected her to pull away, she instead wrapped her arms around my neck, reaching up to meet me.

The heat of her touch sent flames directly to my groin. I was rock solid, needing her, in a matter of seconds. I picked her up, wanting her bare feet to avoid the broken glass, and her legs wrapped around my waist. I growled at the contact of her core against my cock, despite the clothes that separated us.

As I stumbled through the back door, her hands trailed through my hair and over my shoulders. Each touch sent the most delicious tingles over my skin. I tested her lips with my tongue and she parted for me willingly. I kissed her deeply, pushing her against the kitchen wall and gripping her ass in my hands.

“Ivar…” she moaned against me, and I growled again in response.

I needed every inch of her sweet little body. I ran one hand up her shirt, still cupping her cheek with the other. As I pushed her bra to the side, I felt her gasp against my kiss. When I tweaked her nipple, she ground her center into my abdomen.

“I need you,” she moaned.

That was all it took for my control to completely snap. I spun around and laid her down on the small dining table behind me. She yelped in surprise and then giggled.

“Tell me you want me,” I told her.

“I want you,” she said.

“Where?” I asked.

“You know where,” she said, quietly, looking to the side uncomfortably.

I pulled her chin to face me.

“Tell me, little wolf,” I growled.

“Inside me.”

I grinned down at her as I reached for the waistband on her yoga pants and threw them to the side. I placed one finger and then two inside her, reveling in her hot, liquid warmth. She murmured and moaned incoherently as she started grinding against my hand. I pulled her shirt up and pushed her bra out of the way to take one of her taut peaks into my mouth.

Sam twisted her fingers through my hair and tugged me closer. I felt myself grinning against her skin as I continued to work her, using my thumb to circle her clit.

She stiffened slightly before crying out. Her walls pulsed around my hand. I kept moving, prolonging her pleasure as much as possible until she finally wound down.

“Ivar,” she mewed, softly.

“Yes, little wolf?” I said against her hair as I picked her up and carried her.

“I want all of you,” she whispered.

I growled, taking the stairs two at a time. I laid her down on the bed we shared the previous night before stripping and joining her. I felt her eyes travel over my body, pausing on my cock.

“Like what you see?” I asked her.

She nodded and reached out to me. Instead, I pulled her shirt over her head. A lot of women might try to hide their body, but Sam seemed completely confident. As she should’ve been. She was absolutely perfect.

I took her lips in mine once again as I shifted my weight above her. I felt her hand wrap around me and start stroking gently. Her eyes shone with her wolf as they met mine. My cock jumped at the thought of her arousal. She felt it and smirked at the power she knew she held.

I shifted again and guided myself to her entrance. Moisture pooled on the end of my length when my flesh met hers. It took everything in me not to slam my entire length to the hilt, but I had felt how tight she was. I didn’t want to hurt her.

I inched my way in, giving her time to adjust to my girth. She sighed as I slid home. I kissed my way along her neck, taking my time. I wanted to make sure she was ready.

“You’re so fucking big,” she said as I pulled back and looked into her beautiful eyes.

“You’re so fucking tight,” I told her, stilling holding myself back.

“What are you waiting for?” she challenged me.

Once again, I all but lost control. I slammed into her and watched as her eyes rolled back and she moaned. Her legs wrapped around me, and I set a determined pace.

She felt like heaven. Her arms snaked around my broad shoulders, nails digging into my back. I reached between us to tweak her nipple again and it wasn’t long before I felt her come apart around me.

“Ivar!” She shouted, but I kept pace as her pussy clenched me.

When she came down, I flipped so that she was on top. It took her a moment, but once she realized I was giving her control, I could see the excitement in her face. I squeezed her ass as she rode me with abandon, reveling in the way her tits bounced as she moaned her pleasure. Her greedy hands trailed along the ridges of my abdomen and more liquid coated my cock.

When I started feeling my own release build, I put my thumb to her clit and started moving in circles. She threw her head back as another orgasm consumed her and I followed her over the edge. I shouted her name as I spilled inside of her.

She fell against my chest and I cradled the back of her neck. We both laid there still connected, trying to catch our breath.

I held her against me, suddenly afraid she might pull away too soon. Instead, I felt her snuggle closer, hugging me as tightly as I did her.

I never wanted to be apart from her again, and it scared the hell out of me.