His hot breath dampened the back of my neck. Claws came up, sharp tips digging into my breast as he quickened, each crushing of his hips into mine, ending in a pant that promised more delicious violence. I reveled in it, transformed beneath it, and- whoops, transformed a little too much. Fluffy dark fur spread along my right arm, distracting me until sharpened canines snapped into the exact same spot he'd bitten before.
I dropped my weight forward and Hudson followed me, the couch devouring us as a hot trickle slid down my neck. His tongue ran over the bite and I felt him behind me, knew he felt me, too. His knot hit me once, twice, and popped into me with a slick, hot noise that blinded me to anything but the two of us.
And I knew, without asking, that he felt the same.
Hudson rutted into me, his knot locking us together and forcing his thrusts in short, staccato time that left me breathless. He conquered me, claimed me, fucked me into the couch until I could barely think. His mark burned on my neck, my claws shredded the armrest in front of me, and I choked on a moan as my belly muscles tightened, my climax covering everything else in a wave of ecstasy.
Warmth filled me, shot after shot, as I slowly came back to reality. Hudson's arms were wrapped tight around me, his cock pulsing as he unleashed his load. He turned us to one side and a bit of armrest fluff fell onto my head, but I was certain he could replace the damned couch any time he wanted.
When he was finished, he drew his teeth away from me and simply held me. I turned my head to nestle my new mate, to bathe in his scent and his sweat, to taste my blood in his mouth.
And it was perfect.
Which meant it couldn’t last.
Chapter 10
Leo
I followed Lillian, but it didn't lead me to a greater understanding of why she was such a bitch.
Okay, joking aside, she'd had it out for all of us since the day Hudson had taken Becca as his mate. She'd only gotten worse since they'd had the pup and, with her sister out of the picture, she'd been treating Hudson like he was public enemy #1 for far too long.
So I followed her and maybe I watched her go inside her place. Maybe I let her see me. She knew who I was within the pack. If a threat had to be put down, Hudson rarely dirtied his hands with it. Instead, he asked me to see to it.
And I never let him down.
Let her come to her own conclusions, let her stew and peek out her windows at night. When the moon was dark, when Mother's eyes were closed and wolves settled things like wolves, instead of the cowardly human bodies we hid within; that was when she would expect me. She would tremble, ready herself like a prey animal.
Yet I wouldn't be there. It would break her mind, drive her to think about something else other than that bite.
Tommy had fucked up, but he was too young to really understand the problems he'd created. It wouldn't stop the Meet from killing him, Sadie, and maybe the rest of us. But maybe they'd be nice enough to do it from behind, to let him go down eating an ice cream cone when one of those dragon assholes blasted him with enough fire to ashify him instantly.
I'd only ever seen it done once, but that was two too many times for me.
After tailing Lillian for most of the afternoon, I headed out to the cabin with a car full of supplies. Fort Woof, as I personally called it, was several hundred acres of trees that the Fontaine Foundation (an off-shoot of Fontaine Feeds, of course) had purchased to keep hunters out and preserve the natural beauty of the world.
It was also the perfect place for a small pack of werewolves to enjoy themselves during full moon nights, to hunt what we wanted, and to give in to our true natures.
Maybe I was a little bit of an anarchist. No one expected the guy in the glasses to be fine with watching the world burn. No, it was always the spiky-haired, collared rebel that yelled at the establishment that wanted to set shit on fire and let it all go to hell. Yet those people were some of the most likely to try to uphold the status quo when push came to shove.
Personally? I was fine with putting the dragons in their place, dropping the whole secret supernatural community vibe, and eating a baby now and then. Baby sheep, baby deer, baby human; whatever. Munchie crunchies.
Which meant that without Hudson, I'd have probably been killed years ago. I was too risky, too wild to be allowed to survive when the entire supernatural world was terrified of humanity. They had a point. There were far more humans than there were any of us. Even if we banded together, we'd have been struck down in a several-tens-of-thousands-to-one conflict. And when I looked at my nephew playing innocently, I imagined all of us wiped out.
And let me tell you, it made me just sad enough not to go screw up that whole status quo.
Fuckin softie I am, let me tell you what.
The drive back to the cabin was a quiet one, with me only having to dodge some idiotic deer once. What we did on moonlit nights was population control, as necessary as the hunters that were allowed to clear out the woods during winter. Their season was upon us and I was ever more grateful for our sanctuary. Sure, trespassers were a possibility, but it was less likely to happen when we
