The Wolf's Darling (The Wolfe City Pack Book 1) Read online

  She opens the door and I immediately tear up. She looks perfect. Her hair is pinned up and her makeup is flawless. She’s wearing a light blue dress that brings out her eyes, and she’s got matching sandals on.

  “You look beautiful,” I say.

  “Then kiss me,” Amy responds.

  I don’t need a second invitation. I step forward and wrap my arms around her, bringing her in for a soft, sensual kiss. Amy tastes like perfection, and I let the kiss linger even though I shouldn’t. I should hurry and take her to dinner, but suddenly, all I want to do is stand here kissing her.

  She runs her hands through my hair and down my neck. Then she pulls me tighter, closer, and deepens the kiss. The scent of her arousal fills my nose and suddenly, I’m completely hard. I want her. I want to be inside of her. I want to make love to her.

  She’s my mate.

  “I need to talk to you,” I say as I pull away.

  “Is this about the whole shifter-thing?” She wrinkles her nose. “Because honestly, I feel like that can wait until later. Don’t you?” She reaches forward to kiss me again, but I pull back.

  “What? You know?”

  “Yes, come here.” Amy grabs me and pulls me into the room, pushing the door closed behind us. “I know we were going to go to dinner, but I need you first.” Her face is flushed with arousal and I know that if Amy looks at my pants, she’s going to see I’m just as needy as she is. I’m just as horny and turned on as she is.

  I need to be inside her just as much as she needs to feel me.

  We kiss, embracing by the door. The room is small, but cozy. Heather takes her motel seriously. Even when she doesn’t have a lot to work with, she makes things seem as comfortable as possible. And right now, nothing seems more comfortable than carrying Amy to bed.

  “You’re amazing,” I whisper, kissing her cheeks, her hair, her neck.

  “Not half as amazing as you,” she says. Her eyes are wide as she looks at me, staring at me like I’m the most incredible man in the world. She makes me feel like a king: not a manager. She makes me feel like I could soar, like I’ve got fucking wings. She makes me feel incredible.

  Amy is magic wrapped in a sweet package.

  And as I kiss her, everything else fades away.

  The years I’ve searched for her are forgotten.

  The nights I spent pining for her are over.

  The days I’ve wondered whether I’d ever find someone to love have passed.

  And I’m left with my life mate.

  I’m left with the women of my dreams.

  I’m left with Amy.

  I lay her out on the bed and kiss her. My hands find their way over her body and I touch her breasts, her stomach, her hips. My fingers stroke the soft skin of her thighs.

  “Your dress is so lovely,” I tell her. “The blue shows off your eyes.”

  “Thank you,” Amy says.

  “It’s a shame I’m going to have to destroy it,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows suggestively.

  “What?” She says, but it’s too late and I’m too fast. I shift my fingertips into claws and shred her dress quickly and precisely. I’ve used my claws enough times to know exactly how much pressure to use when I cut something.

  Amy looks down at her nude body. Yeah, I ripped everything off: her bra, her panties. All of it. I reach forward and pull the shreds of fabric away.

  “You didn’t cut me.”

  “You sound surprised.”

  “I am, a little. How did you do that?” She props herself up on her elbows and looks at me, waiting.

  “Like this.” I hold up my right hand and focus. I don’t have to close my eyes anymore, although when I was a younger wolf, I had to. In order to fully focus, I would close my eyes and imagine myself as a wolf. Slowly, each part of me would change from teenage boy to teenage animal. Now I can change almost instantly.

  Now I can fully control it.

  My fingertips slowly elongate into razor-sharp claws. Amy gasps but doesn’t scoot back, doesn’t try to leave or run away. Instead, she looks at my claws with interest and curiosity.

  “Can I touch them?” She asks.

  “If you’re careful.”

  She reaches forward and gently strokes the end of a claw. It takes all of my self-control not to finish shifting, not to turn into a wolf and let her touch me. Suddenly, all I want is to be in my animal form and have her hands on me. Amy wouldn’t be scared of me. She would touch me, snuggle me. She would accept me.

  One of my biggest fears about a human mate is that she’ll be afraid of me in my true form, that she’ll be scared of me if I shift suddenly. I adore Amy. I don’t want to hurt her, to damage her. I don’t want to frighten the person most important to me.

  The fact that she’s so open to me in my animal form is promising. It calms me, somehow. Knowing she isn’t going to run the first time I need to shift is satisfying.

  “This is incredible,” she says.

  “Have you ever met a shifter before?”

  “No, never. Well, not that I know of.” She keeps stroking my claw, careful not to cut her finger, and then I shift back. “Do you think I would have known?”

  “If you had met a shifter?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hard to say,” I snuggle up next to her and start stroking little circles on her skin. “We’re very good at keeping secrets.”

  “I can see that.”

  “It’s possible you could have experienced some sort of sixth sense, that you could have figured it out, but probably not.”

  “Why not? Can’t you tell right away that someone is human?”

  “We can,” I kiss her mouth softly, gently, ready to turn the moment from sweet to dirty.

  “How?”

  “You taste different,” I tell her, licking her lips. “You smell different.”

  “Taste?” She squeaks. “Smell?”

  “Oh, yes,” I run my finger down the center of her body until it settles above her clitoris. Then I gently start to stroke her. Amy closes her eyes with a groan. “Would you like to let me taste you, little human?”

  “Yes, please,” she doesn’t even hesitate. She just spreads her legs wide and now it’s my turn to groan. Fuck, if she isn’t the hottest damn thing I’ve ever seen. I stroke my finger between her soft folds. She’s wet and ready for me, but by the time I’m done eating her pussy, Amy is going to be soaked.

  I make myself comfortable between her legs and start to lick. She wiggles, and I grab her thighs and hold them in place as I continue to devour her like the tasty morsel she is. Something tells me that Amy’s never been eaten out like this before. If there’s one thing she’s going to learn quickly about wolves, it’s that we know how to savor a treat.

  And there will be no rushing this.

  Within minutes, she’s panting, wiggling, and grabbing my hair.

  “Please,” she groans. “I’m so close. Please.”

  “Please what, baby?” I ask, looking up at her. Her eyes are shut and her face is flushed. A thin layer of sweat covers her now. Her mouth is open and she’s breathing hard. Still, I’m going to tease her a little bit. I’m going to make her beg.

  “Please make me come,” she says, proving she’s not shy, at least not now. Why would she be? She’s fucking gorgeous, and she tastes so damn good.

  “Since you asked so nicely,” I say, and I slide my tongue up her lips and to her clit. Then I suck, hard, and she comes apart beneath me.

  I don’t know much about Amy’s sexual history.

  Scratch that: I don’t know anything.

  What I do know is that when she comes, my mate falls apart beautifully, perfectly. She’s like a sweet summer flower in full bloom and all I want to do is enjoy how gorgeous she is in this moment.

  Amy cries out and groans and wiggles and thrusts her hips harder into my face. I hold her hips as I continue to suck and lick her body until the final waves of her orgasm sweep over her and she collapses back on the bed. She’s completely
exhausted, but we aren’t through yet.

  Oh no, we’re only just getting started.

  I climb up next to her and kiss her mouth, letting her taste herself on my lips. She kisses me back excitedly, passionately, and I let my hands roam over her body as we share this moment.

  “Such perfect nipples,” I murmur, pinching each one in turn.

  “Really?” She says, glancing down. “I always thought they were too big.”

  “Not at all,” I tell her, stroking them with my finger. “All the better to tease you with, my dear.” Then I kiss and suck on her nipples, one at a time, until she can’t wait any longer, until she’s begging me to fuck her.

  “I need you inside of me,” she says. “Now, Adam. Now. I can’t wait any more. Please.”

  I’m not sure whether it’s hearing her cry out my name or the fact that she’s begging me, but I know I can’t wait much longer, either.

  This is it, then.

  Amy is my mate, and I’m about to prove it to her, but first, there’s something she needs to know.

  “Once we do this,” I tell her. “Our fates are sealed. Once we come together, nothing can tear this bond apart. Nothing.”

  A sweet, serene smile appears on her face.

  “Good,” she says. “I like the sound of that.”

  “Amy, I know we’ve only just met, but I’ve been waiting for you my entire life. I love you, and I will honor this mating bond for all of my days.”

  “I love you, too,” she says quietly. “I know I’ve got a lot to learn about your pack and your ways, but I’m ready. I’m ready for you, Adam. I’m ready for our life together.”

  As I kiss Amy, I slide inside of her. She moans as I fill her completely.

  “It’s too much,” she says.

  “Just relax, baby. You can take me. You were born to take me,” I tell her. I hold still, giving her a second to adjust to me being inside of her, and then I begin to thrust slowly. “Better?” I ask.

  “Better,” she says, spreading her legs wider. Yeah, she knows she can take all of me.

  “I’m going to mark you as my mate now,” I tell her.

  “Okay,” she nods.

  “It’s going to hurt.”

  “I can take it.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you.”

  I lift her wrist to my lips. As I continue to make love to Amy, my canines sharpen and elongate. I bite her wrist hard, tearing the skin. Amy’s eyes fill with tears and my heart cracks a little bit. The idea of hurting her is almost too much to bear, but this is how the Wolfe City Pack forms life mate bonds. Blood must be shared. I lick the wound on Amy’s wrist, tasting her sweet, coppery blood. Then I seal the wound with my tongue.

  “All better,” I tell her. She looks at her wrist in surprise. There’s a scar now, but her wound is completely closed. Any wolf in the city who looks at her will know she’s bonded to a pack member and will offer her protection and help when she needs it.

  “What happens now?” Amy asks.

  “Now it’s your turn.”

  I bite my own wrist and offer it to her. Like vampires, wolves share blood while mating. It’s one of the things that makes our pack unique. We taste our mates while we’re in the middle of making love. We taste their essence and it becomes part of us forever.

  Amy hesitantly sticks out her tongue and licks my wrist. When she’s satisfied and pulls back, I seal my wound with my own tongue, then continue kissing her. She doesn’t speak as we make love. Instead, she runs her hands all over my body. She covers my face and neck with her kisses.

  I can’t hold on much longer.

  Sex has always been fun, always been good, but it’s never been like this before.

  It’s never been sweet.

  It’s never spoken to my soul.

  When I come, I whisper her name in her ear, promise to love her forever. She kisses me as I fill her with my seed, marking her again, showing her once more that she’s mine now, and I’m hers.

  I’m hers.

  “I love you, Amy,” I whisper.

  “I love you, Adam. I love you.”

  Chapter 10

  Amy

  I’m mated.

  Just yesterday, I was single, hopeless, and clueless. Now? Now I’m mated to a wolf-shifter I barely know, but I’ve never been happier.

  I’ve never been more comfortable, more content, more sure of anything before in my entire life.

  I’ve never felt like this before.

  I’ve never felt like sunshine before.

  Adam and I lay in my bed for a long time. We touch and play with each other, somehow unable to get enough. After awhile, my stomach growls, and he laughs.

  “I suppose we’re late for our dinner reservations,” he says with a chuckle. He reaches for his phone and looks at it. “Yep,” he says. “Definitely late. Are you still up for food?”

  “Yes,” I laugh, glancing at the remnants of my outfit. “But I’m going to need something fresh to wear.” Herb dropped off the contents of my car earlier, so all of my stuff is piled somewhat neatly in the corner. I rummage around and manage to produce a bright red dress.

  “Beautiful,” Adam says, pulling on his own clothes. “Just perfect.”

  “Thank you very much,” I twirl around, giving him a look at the back. Something about Adam makes me feel perfect and sweet, like a fairytale princess. Is this what Hope feels like with her mate? No wonder she’s never had the urge to return to Missouri. I don’t want to go anywhere now. I just want to stay here, curl up with Adam, and let the world pass us by.

  He takes my hand and leads me out of the room. I lock the door and as we walk past the front office, Heather winks and waves at us through the window. So apparently everyone knows what we were doing, or they will be shortly. Wolfe City might be my new home, but it’s also a very small town and a tight-knit community. I’m guessing that by the time we get to the restaurant, everyone will know about my new mate.

  And somehow, I don’t mind at all.

  I look at my wrist, at the little scar where Adam bit me.

  “If you don’t like it,” he says. “We can get matching tattoos to cover our mate scars.”

  “Do a lot of wolves do that?”

  “Yes,” he says. “It’s romantic, and it’s nice to have something matching. I don’t mind the scar, though. It’s completely up to you.”

  “I don’t mind it,” I tell him.

  He lifts my wrist to his mouth and kisses me, but doesn’t say anything else. We enjoy the quiet walk in the fading sunlight. In a few minutes, we reach a restaurant called Tony’s.

  “This is the place,” he says, and opens the door for me to walk in. I instantly gasp. It’s an Italian restaurant and I can smell the garlic bread and pasta instantly, but that’s not what stops me in my tracks. Instead, I’m shocked because the entire restaurant is empty, save for candlelight and a single man standing in the center of the room.

  “You must be Amy,” he says, stepping forward and wrapping me up in a huge hug.

  “The one and only. Nice to meet you,” I say.

  “Tony,” Adam helps out. “This is my best friend, Tony.”

  “I’m also his boss,” Tony says with a grin.

  “Oh, then I’m sure you won’t mind giving him some time off for our honeymoon,” I smile sweetly and blink my eyelashes as demurely as I can. I’m sure my human charms won’t work on this wolf, but a girl has to try.

  Tony barks a laugh before rolling his eyes and sauntering back toward the kitchen.

  “Pick your table,” he says. “Dinner’s in five.”

  “That was bold,” Adam says, placing his hand on my lower back. He guides me gently through the empty seating area.

  “I thought it was worth a shot,” I say. We sit down at one of the center tables and I take a look around the restaurant. “Is it always this empty?” I ask.

  “It’s closed for the night,” Adam tells me. Then he winks. “Special party.”

&nb
sp; “Oh,” I fake a gasp and clasp my hand to my chest. “Am I the special party?”

  “The special party was earlier,” he says. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. I meant to do things properly. Dinner first, you know. Then fun later.”

  “You didn’t mean to mate me before supper?”

  “I did not, but what can I say? You’re irresistible.”

  “You aren’t too bad yourself.”

  We hold hands over the table and talk about our lives, our worlds. We talk about where we’re going to go from here, about what we’re going to do.

  “Will you stay with me?” He asks.

  “Isn’t that a given?”

  “We can move somewhere else if you want,” he says seriously. “If you prefer Honeypot, that’s fine. I can get a new job. We can make it work.”

  I don’t know if it’s all the emotions of the day or if it’s this moment in particular, but I start to tear up. No one has ever treated me like this before. Never. Not once in my entire life has anyone offered to give something up for me.

  And this isn’t just something.

  This is his pack, his life.

  “I wouldn’t ask you to leave,” I tell him. “Wolfe City seems amazing, and I’m happy to stay here with you.”

  “That’s good to hear,” Tony says, appearing with two glasses of wine and a small slice of cake on a beautiful gold platter. “I thought since you were late, an early dessert might be in order.”

  “Absolutely,” Adam agrees, and reaches for the centerpiece on top of the cake. Tony stays, and I realize he’s smiling at Adam with adoration and excitement for his friend. Then I notice it’s not just a regular cake topper: it’s a little gold ring.

  “Adam,” I whisper. “What is this?”

  “We’re already mated,” he says. “So this is a little late, but Amy, would you wear my ring? Will you be mine?”

  “Of course,” I manage to choke out. I hold out my hand and he slides the ring on my finger.

  “It was his grandmother’s,” Tony says, clapping a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “He’s been waiting a long time for you, sweetheart: a very, very long time indeed.”

  “I hope it was worth the wait,” I say to Adam.

  “For you?” He smiles.