Instinct needed nothing else. He growled as he pushed into her, sinking in between her tight muscles. He started to thrust. Pushing into her over and over again. Her body growing tighter, her moans growing to cries of pleasure.
This was mad. Insane. And yet he couldn't and wouldn't be with another female for the rest of his life even if she left him right now.
He couldn't. West held back, until now. No. He couldn't hold back. He was lost to her. Lost in her. Their eyes met as he thrust once, twice more and as he started to lose it he pushed once more as he bent down and bit into her shoulder, spilling into her everything he had. Her hands pulled him down further, and he was lost to the magic.
7
They had to be able to tell. Didn't she smell different? Why the hell did she come back? She should have listened to West and run off already. No. They were meeting in a few hours and she couldn't leave her parents with no information.
A loud slamming sound made her cringe. A second thud and a shatter hitting the ground outside. She swallowed her next words.
Great. There goes the sign to the bar.
"What do you mean you can't go through with it?" her dad hollered.
Well, at least he'd come back in.
"I mean that I think I found the one I was supposed to end up with. You can't expect me to mate anyone else."
Ellen twisted the hem of the dress her mother insisted she wore to meet her future mate. Only, she wasn't going to meet him.
"You can't walk out. We worked very hard on this. We consulted a matchmaker. You can't. The preparations have already started. They're already in town. Why did you pick now? Where have you been all day, anyway?"
Her mother walked closer, sniffing the air around her.
Ellen had snuck in and showered. She scrubbed her skin so raw that she was surprised she wasn't see-through. She knew she should have run off, but she'd wanted to say goodbye. She loved her parents.
Her mother's eyes narrowed into slits."Ellen. What did you do?"
Well, she'd liked her mom up until now.
"Nothing."
Her mother's eyes flashed between wolf and human.
"Dear? Please go outside and see if you just destroyed that sign?"
Her father grumbled, but he did as she asked.
Once the door shut behind him her mother leaned in.
"Show me your shoulder."
Ellen shrugged. "What do you mean?"
Her mother growled. "I was not born yesterday, Ellen. Show me the mark. Now."
Well, shit. This was such a mistake.
Slowly, she slid off the shoulder of her dress, pulling the collar away just enough to expose the newly healed skin.
"You let him mark you? Knowing full well you were to be mated to someone else in his pack, his alpha? You just made a death sentence for him if they find out."
She pulled the fabric back. "They won't find out if you let me go. I'm supposed to meet him. No one has to know. Just tell them I got cold feet and couldn't. I couldn't go through with it."
Her mother's face burned red.
"Oh, no. I love you, but this is your mess. He's meant to be the next alpha. What were you thinking? Mating someone else. Someone beneath you. All you had to do was meet him and I'm sure you'd have seen what a good match it would have been. What has gotten into you?"
Her mother backed away, plopping into a chair as she knocked into one behind her.
Ellen couldn't decide if she should cry or run.
"Mom." The words were weak at best. "I'm sorry."
Her mother shook her head. "I know." She paused.
"What?" Tears dripped off her face, falling on the exposed skin of her chest.
Her mother stood up."I know you're sorry."
She sniffed. "I couldn't stop him even if I had wanted to. My wolf, she wanted him more than you can imagine. He, he is strong and worthy. She wouldn't have let me make a mistake."
Her mother nodded. "I know. Your father and I, I was meant to mate another. My father had sent me here for diplomacy and then when I got back, I was meant to mate the strongest wolf in the pack. Only, I never went home."
Ellen's jaw dropped. "What?" Blinking away tears, Ellen tried to wrap her mind around her perfect mother's words.
"You, you went against your father's will?"
She shrugged. "Well, when you know he's the one, you know."
Her mother stood and straightened her cotton dress, smoothing it down.
"I will support you and this mystery man will be welcomed into our pack. I hope he knows there is little doubt he won't be accepted back into his own. But, you will have to lay low until your father comes around."
Although Ellen's stomach still twisted into knots, the tightness in her chest eased. She bounded up from her seat and hugged her mother.
"Oh, thank you, mother."
"Yes. Well-"
The door swung open. A large wolf stomped his way in, followed by several more. Ellen looked away. She couldn't look at him. She couldn't look at the man she was supposed to mate. Her hands began to shake as she listened to the thunking of heavy footfall.
"Bryant, my son here has something to tell you."
Ellen did recognize the voice, but she knew it was the other alpha.
"Warren. It seems my daughter does as well. Although, I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding-" he began before her mother cut him off.
"Bryant, I suggest you let the children talk. There is no misunderstanding. There will be no mating ceremony."
"What?" Her father's voice boomed through the bar. Perhaps they should start drinking now, rather than leave the celebratory drinks sitting out on the bar like a forgotten audience.
"Sir. I have to agree. There will be no mating ceremony."
Ellen cocked her head.
"No, I want to hear from them first, son. What do you mean there is no mating ceremony?"
She heard her father's grumbling before her mother started
