Catherine sprinted through the trees. Branches reached out and brushed through her silky coat as she dodged left and right. Her paws dug into the damp forest floor. Her muscles flexed and stretched in pleasurable relief. The sights and sounds of the forest were amplified as she ran, barely making any noise herself. For the first time in her life, she saw the various streams of energy lining the forest floor, connecting trees, brambles, the squirrels skittering up the trees, the birds soaring home for the night. She came upon a rock outcropping and stared upward.
Only half of the moon was visible in the night sky. A sudden wave of loneliness swept through her. She’d always run under a full moon and she somehow felt it had become a friend. She raised her head and howled. Her howl was cut off when someone spoke in her mind.
Rule number one when being chased by a top predator, Baby: Try to stay quiet. I’ll be on you in 45 seconds. Better run.
She turned her head in the direction she’d just come. The voice sounded familiar, similar to Graham’s. Something had changed about it though, it was far darker, deeper, dangerous. Whatever just spoke to her was feral, completely ruled by instinct. And it’s instinct was apparently to track her down. Her hackles rose and she stood, ready to flee.
Graham? she questioned through the mindlink
35 seconds.
The snapping of branches and the thud of heavy feet snapped her out of her curiosity. Something big was coming. Catherine turned on her heel and sprinted. She wove through the trees now, not for the sense of freedom, but the desire to keep it.
She’d practiced running from other wolves while living in Sterling. The woods here though were far different. The ground was rocky. Boulders jutted out at random intervals and sharp drops waited around nearly every turn.
Second rule: try to hide that delectable scent of yours. It’s as thick as a river leading me to you.
Catherine kept running but tried to think of a way to cover her scent. River. There was a river at the bottom of the valley. A mile, maybe a bit more and she could get to it.
A deep chuckle reverberated around her mind as she slid down a rocky cliffside.
Another good tip: don’t forget to block your thoughts. The river is too far, I’ll give you two minutes before I’m on you. Think of something else. Quickly.
Catherine could sense Graham in his lycan form closing in on her. She couldn’t hear him, or even scent him, but she could feel his power, his energy, radiating outward from him like tidal waves crashing onto the shore. A run with your mate was supposed to be fun, an enticing game that also served as practice when faced with a similar situation. It was a vital piece to any mating bond to be able to chase each other, challenge each other. She’d always fantasized about this moment. She never imagined it would happen under a partially darkened moon.
She spotted a patch of mud and ran for it. She slid into it and rolled until her entire coat was coated in the dirt. She shook off once and then took off again. She was getting quite far from the cabin and was considering doubling back when his voice came again.
Mud? Very inventive, Little Mate.
Catherine slowed and tried to get her bearings. Her breath was coming fast now. Her legs shook from disuse. Adrenaline pumped in her veins and blood roared in her ears. She kept a jogging pace, making a large circle so she could double back to the cabin without running into him. A twig snapped nearby causing her to still. Her ears twitched as she waited to hear anything else. She moved forward slowly.
Don’t forget rule number one, I can still hear you.
Catherine glanced down at her paws and wondered how he’d heard her. She walked on soft earth, no leaves or twigs gave away her position. She tried to walk lighter on her feet, barely putting her paw down before stepping slowly forward.
That’s it, Baby. Quiet as a fucking mouse. Not quite quiet enough though.
Catherine’s heart slammed against her chest. She knew he was watching her. She could feel his eyes boring holes into her. She could not see him though. She took two steps forward and saw a shadow in front of her. She stopped, one foot raised as she tried to decipher what the shadow was.
Most important rule: Never stop.
A crashing sound came not from in front of her where the shadow-lurked, but to her left. A startled cry escaped her mouth as the large brownish-red lycan came sprinting from the treeline. Catherine tried to run but only took three steps before being slammed in the side by the lycan. The pair tumbled over each other, hitting the ground hard with each spin. Unable to focus, Catherine felt herself shifting back. A moment later, Graham followed until their inertia ran out.
Graham lay on top of Catherine. They were both breathing heavily, and were covered in dirt and leaves. Catherine kept her arms sprawled out to her side as she tried to regain some air while her heavy mate crushed her lungs. Graham’s head lifted from the crook of her shoulder. His brown eyes were crinkled in humor that matched the wide grin on his face.
“Caught you,” he whispered before pulling a stray leaf from her tangled hair.
Catherine couldn’t help but return his smile. She brought her hands up, grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled him down for a kiss. His shocked expression quickly morphed. He took control of the kiss, driving his tongue into her mouth with the intent to plunder. His fingers dug painfully into her arm as a blistering heat pooled in her lower stomach. A growl vibrated through Graham’s chest and his hold tightened further.
“Graham,” Catherine whimpered in between savage kisses.
Rather than letting up, Graham seemed to lose more control. His hands left her arms and scoured her body. He roughly gripped one breast while his teeth descended on the sensitive nipple. She cried out and scratched his back. His teeth dug in, drawing blood that only seemed to make the pool of heat seep outward up her stomach and into her legs. She felt his hard erection press into her leg as his mouth grazed over her stomach.
Within a moment his lips touched her sex and the heat exploded everywhere. Catherine cried out, already lost in a sudden, nearly painful orgasm while Graham was only getting started licking and sucking her sensitive flesh. Her hips rocked against his mouth while his nails sunk into her thighs to keep her still.
Nearly lost again to another orgasm, Catherine was helpless when he pulled away. She caught one brief glimpse of his face which caused her to cry out in shock before he took her legs and flipped her roughly onto her stomach.
“Graham!” Catherine cried out, his expression of feral determination forever imprinted on her memory.
He was lost, his eyes black and blazing with fierce need that made her stomach queasy with nerves. The heat was still there, blazing in her belly, becoming nearly painful.
Graham pulled her ass into the air, grabbed a handful of her hair and shoved her face into the dirt. He entered her with an agonized groan. She felt his cock press against her cervix. The heat along her skin subsided for a moment and then came back with a vengeance. She sought relief by pressing her backside against Graham’s hips and moaned when he pulled back and rammed home again.
“Oh Goddess,” Catherine moaned as Graham fell into a steady, harsh rhythm.
Chapter Eighty-Three
Each stroke pushed her farther forward into the dirt. He held her hips, refusing to let her shaky legs find reprieve. Catherine’s hands fisted into the earth and her cries of pleasure echoed through the empty forest. The heat enveloping her burned her skin and lit her nerve endings on fire. As the heat grew higher, so did Graham’s desperation. His thrusts were fast and demanding. The sound of their hips colliding mixed with Catherine’s pleas. His hands had moved to her ass and she knew there would be bruises from his harsh grip.
She didn’t want him to stop. She wanted him to fuck her into the forest floor until the end of time. She needed his release. She knew it was what her body craved. Her heat rose higher and higher. A dull pain started in her stomach where the tip of his cock
slammed inside of her.
Graham leaned over her, pushing one hand against her head and his other arm around her middle. His cock barely left her as he tried to drive himself deeper and deeper into her. She lost her breath as he sought the release that would free them both from this haze. She felt his cock expand, seemingly growing larger as his thrusts became more erratic. She recognized the sound of his moans and breathing as he neared his orgasm.
He thrust into her once with a loud grunt and then again. The third time, he stopped fully inside her. His fingers in her hair tightened and his arm around her middle squeezed as his hot cum filled her. Catherine cried out, her orgasm coming like an avalanche that buried her completely. Graham gasped and shook violently, holding her impossibly tighter as she felt his cock expand
even more.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Graham groaned as his cock swelled inside her, locking them together. “Shit.”
Catherine knew this wasn’t good but she could do little to care. Her body continued to ride through a prolonged orgasm that curled her toes and forced her eyes shut. She felt drool pool in the soil beneath her mouth as Graham tried a maneuver that only succeeded in burying himself further inside her. His fingers flexed against her skin as he fought the pleasure he’d brought on to
both of them.
“Graham,” Catherine whimpered again as his release inside her extinguished the raging heat.
She experimented with squeezing her lower muscles, tightening her walls around him. Graham hissed and shuddered behind her. His teeth sunk into her shoulder blade. She moaned and sighed as his teeth left to be replaced with soothing kisses along her spine and up the back of her neck. Slowly, they felt his swelling lessen. Graham circled his hips and sucked air between his teeth as he finally was able to pull out of her. Catherine’s legs finally succumbed to the assault and fell to the forest floor.
Catherine stretched her legs out and swiveled so she was laying on her back. She looked up at her mate whose eyes had returned to normal. He had a worried expression on his face that slowly eroded to a proud smile as he looked at her state. He knelt down in front of her. His hand smoothed over her calf and up her thigh. He lowered himself until he was laying flat over her again. Catherine sighed in contentment as his lips followed the curve of her collarbone.
“You’ve gone into heat,” he whispered. “We should get back to the cabin.”
Catherine hummed in agreement as she gently maneuvered his head down to her breasts. She felt rather than saw his smirk before he closed his mouth around one nipple. Catherine moaned and wrapped her legs around his waist. She rocked her hips up against his returning erection. The scorching heat returned, bringing with it a new more potent pain. She gasped as the pain sliced up her
stomach.
Graham’s head shot up, his eyes slowly blackening. He shut his eyes hard. “We need to get back before I go into another haze,” he warned her.
“Why? The last one was rather enjoyable,” she teased, licking her bottom lip and trying to reach down to touch him.
He quickly seized her wrists and shoved them to the side of her head. Catherine made a gasp that sounded closer to a moan.
“Your pain is going to get worse and my haze is going to get rougher.”
ト
Chapter Eighty Three
Rougher? She could feel the bruises forming along her body. Why did the idea of him being rougher make the heat furl outward? Catherine pivoted her hips causing him to lose his balance. She took the advantage and spun them so she straddled his hips. She gave him a mischievous smirk before running her hands down his chest and grasping his dick. The feel of him hot and wet in her hands caused a spike of searing hot pain to shoot up her spine. Graham growled. She wasn’t quite sure how it happened but a moment later she was on her feet being shoved against one of the larger oak trees.
“You don’t take control from me, Mate,” he hissed in her ear.
His voice had returned to the deep, dangerous one she’d heard in her head. She didn’t need to look at him to know his haze had returned. She didn’t care. She didn’t argue. Instead she stood on her toes and pushed her ass against his cock. His chest vibrated with another low growl.
“Good girl,” he whispered as he wrapped her hair around his fist.
Her erect nipples scraped against the rough bark as he rocked into her again. Catherine cried out and Graham bit into her shoulder as he hammered into her.
Surrendering to Destiny
Chapter Eighty-Four
Catherine stared up at the skylight. Rain came down in sheets and traced down the glass. She pulled the blanket up her body and stretched. She heard Graham coming back up the stairs, still on the phone call that pulled him out of bed in the first place. He stopped outside the door and she sat up on her elbows trying to listen.
“No, just stay put. Keep an eye out. Have you split the guys up to cover the exits?” Graham asked before he opened the door. She smiled at the armful of goodies he carried.
“… headed north… hotel in the… whatever he’s up to… Dominic…”
Catherine’s eyes shot up as she overheard the voice on the other line. Graham caught her reaction and shook his head.
“Sounds like he’s going to stay put for the time being but I still don’t like it. It’s too close. Keep me updated. I want to know the second after anything happens,” Graham said.
“Yeah, Boss,” the other voice that she now recognized as Theo mocked.
Graham pulled the phone from his ear, ended the call and threw it onto the nearest chair. “How are you feeling?” he asked, stepping up to kiss the top of her head.
“Sore,” she confessed.
“Thought so.” He began to set the various items he’d carried up on the bedside table. “Well it’s been a few hours since the last… episode. Maybe I’ve finally succeeded in fucking you through your first heat.”
“You’re not supposed to say that out loud! Knock on some wood, get some salt and throw it over your shoulder, get some chicken out of the freezer so we can sacrifice it or something.”
“Shit, that reminds me. I’ll be right back.”
Graham stepped away and went back through the door. She took stock of his haul: snacks, drinks, painkillers, a couple dvds, and another row of condoms. Catherine groaned inwardly and glared at the condoms. She grabbed the painkillers and slammed two
back.
It had been two days of practically nonstop sex. They’d defiled every room, and nearly every piece of furniture in the last forty-eight hours. One time, she had become so overheated, Graham carried her out to the pond and dumped her in it before joining her and taking care of the problem up against the dock.
She considered herself lucky to get an hour without another wave of heated pain. Even at night, she would wake up in a pool of sweat begging Graham to take her. So when Graham reminded her it had been a few hours, four hours and twenty two minutes to be precise, she wanted to smack him for possibly jinxing them.
Graham strutted back into the bedroom, completely unaffected by the entire situation. He had something behind his back and she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. His smile only grew at her curiosity. He whipped the mystery item from behind him and Catherine’s eyes started to sting with tears of pure happiness.
“The ice pack? Is it frozen again?”
Graham nodded and took the last few steps toward the bed. He threw the blankets up and disappeared beneath them. Catherine gasped and shoved at his head under the blanket.
“What are you doing?” she gasped.
1/5
“Helping,” he said, his voice muffled.
“Don’t do that! You might… cause a reaction or something. I don’t want to get all worked up again. Get out of there and.. Ah!”
Graham pressed the ice pack delicately along her heated folds. Her head fell back and a pleasurable groan slipped through her lips.
“Oh my Goddess, that is the most incredible thing I’ve ever felt,” Catherine whispered.
Graham’s head appeared from under the blanket. He rose up on his elbows, causing the blanket to fall to his hips. “Ouch. That’s the most incredible thing you’ve ever felt? After I pulled out all the stops over the last two days? You sure know how to hurt a man’s
ego.”
“If you could freeze your dick, I’m sure it would be even more incredible than this,” Catherine teased.
Graham smirked. “I’ll put some condoms in the freezer.”
“No!” Catherine admonished. She pointed at him and narrowed her eyes. “It’s done. There won’t be a need for another condom. It’s over now. Got it?”
Graham chuckled and kissed her lips slowly. “Who’s the jinx now?”
Catherine guffawed and shoved his chest. Graham fell to his side of the bed and held his stomach as he laughed. Catherine sat up against the headboard and started opening the snacks. Graham sat up beside her and took the water she offered. They sat in contented silence as they ate. Graham put a show on the tv and Catherine resituated herself so that she sat up against his chest.
“Now that we’ve eaten and have had a chance to rest from the major inconvenience of your heat,” Graham teased. Catherine pinched his forearm where he had a tattoo of a scorpion. He kissed her shoulder and then bit her in retaliation. “We have things to
talk about.”
“Like what?” she asked, taking a bite from a strawberry.
“Like why you talked to Tammy,” he whispered.
Catherine stiffened. “You first.”
“Nope.”
Catherine sighed. “I just… wanted a different opinion and I didn’t want Nancy to go tell you or Jensen.”
“She wouldn’t.”
“But you could command her.”
“Maybe. I’ve never tried.”
“Well… I knew there was a clinic in Sterling. I thought I could go there, get an opinion and make my decision without any bias. I didn’t know Tammy worked there and I would have chosen someone else but…”
“You didn’t think you could sneak away again?” he asked as he ran his hands softly down her thighs.
“No, I just didn’t want to risk waiting longer.”
His lips caressed the skin behind her ear. “Did she say anything else you haven’t told me yet?”
2/5
She took some blood and said my heat would be during the next full moon.” Catherine glanced back to find him grinning proudly. That didn’t happen.”
“You blocked your wolf, Baby. It’s not my fault you’ve apparently been repressing your carnal desires.”
“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, she tried to convince me to try other tactics to protect myself from… you know. They were either something that could be withheld or something permanent. I didn’t like the idea of either.” Catherine looked back at Graham to meet his coppery eyes. “She and Juno didn’t like my choice, just so you know.”
“That’s probably why she warned me about you needing to shift,” Graham reasoned. “What else did she say?”
“My blood… she detected a male wolf. She said based on the amount in my system that someone in Blackmoore was giving it to me and that…” Catherine gulped down her disgust. “That for the amount found in my system it had been recent and, most likely, it was concentrated blood rather than the micro doses Matt gave me.”
As she spoke, she felt Graham’s hold on her get tighter. He buried his nose in her neck and inhaled deeply, a tactic he often used to
calm his lycan side.
“It’s your turn,” Catherine reminded him.
He sighed and she heard his head fall back against the headboard. “When you were in your funk I went to her to see what I could do. She told me perhaps it was because you hadn’t shifted. She advised me to try to get you to do it as soon as possible. She also warned me that after you shifted, you might go into heat.”
“Is that why you brought me up here with an apocalyptic stockpile of condoms?”
“Aren’t you glad I did?”
She laughed softly. “Yes. Why did you go to her and not Nancy?”
“I told you my list of trusted people is very short right now. When Jensen cut your palm, I could smell that fucker in you. It was potent. I knew someone had fed his blood to you within the last few weeks. I started thinking about how it could get into your system. You cook your own food so I checked out the farm and Robert and they all passed with flying colors. Tap water was clean as were the drinks made in the kitchen. Then I remembered the medication Nancy had given you along with the shift suppressant.”
“You think Nancy is the one?” Catherine asked in disbelief. She thought about the warm, kind doctor who had tended to her in her
lowest moments at Blackmoore.
She felt Graham shrug behind her. “We used up all the medication so I couldn’t test it. Until I know who’s doing this, no one is ruled out and we’ll use someone else if you need medical attention.”
Catherine took the hand he offered her and she intertwined their fingers. “And Dominic? What did Theo say?” she asked in a small voice that was not her own.
His free hand wound around her middle and pulled her flush against his chest for comfort. “He’s visiting another pack outside of Columbus.”
“Ohio?” she squeaked. He held her firmly, keeping her from pulling away as fear gripped her heart and threatened to pulverize it. “That’s two states away, Graham. What is he doing there?”
“Like I said, he’s visiting another pack. We don’t know what he’s doing, it’s a closed pack similar to Blackmoore. There’s no way they’d allow three Blackmoore lycans through their borders and even if they did, I don’t want Dominic to know we’re following him. Lucas is preparing a special team to go and relieve the other men and they will be able to not only follow him but maybe catch him doing something he shouldn’t.”
“Why can’t you just storm the pack and take him out? Blackmoore is known for their tactics and strategy. The tattoos on your skin tell me you’ve done far worse than kill an alpha wolf. Why is he still alive, Graham?”
He sighed and squeezed her hand. He flexed his arm outward and she knew he was looking at the ink that told his story. “I earned most of these far before we won peace. There are laws, Catherine. Treaties, peace deals between lycans and wolves made by Jensen himself. If I were to kill an alpha without just cause…”
“Without just cause’,” she sputtered. “He held me against my will, he held all of us against our will. He killed our leaders, he tortured us, he forced his mark on me…” She shut her eyes tight, fighting back the memories that threatened to surface.
“Everything he did was legal in the eyes of your former culture. It was outlawed for lycans centuries ago because of how barbaric it is. It’s legal for him, Catherine. No matter how much what he did to you makes me want to smash his skull under my boot, I can’t until he crosses a line with lycans. If we struck first and failed… He could ask for compensation.”
“Compensation? Like money?” she asked.
His hold tightened further as if someone were about to try to rip her out of his arms. “No.”
“Oh.”
He nodded into her shoulder. “That’s why I can’t risk it. I won’t let him take you from me. They’d have to kill me and then Jensen would declare war. Both our kind would go to battle. All the peace we’d fought so hard for would be lost and I’d still have lost you.”
“Okay. I’m frustrated, but okay,” she relented, knowing she would never force him to act on something solely for her revenge that would have such major repercussions.
“My vow to you still stands. I just have to wait for the right moment. Do you believe me?”
She sighed. “Yes, I believe you.”
His tense grip slackened slightly at her words. He kissed her shoulder. “Good.”
“So, what’s next then?”
“Well, when we get back you’ll resume your training. I’ll put you against Theo and then Lucas. You’ll have to meet with Rebecca and, if you’re up for it, maybe you can have a few sessions with Chloe to work on your magic. I think she’s still in Sterling.”
“What about the beta ceremony?”
He nodded. “That’s a few days from now. I told you the lycan alphas will be in attendance as will a few wolf alphas. There will be a dinner with just the higher ups on Friday and then the ceremony itself will be on Saturday and have two parts. One will be in Blackmoore where I will be inducted and you will be introduced. Only members of the pack can attend that. Then we will head to Shepherd’s bar to host the ‘celebration’ with the alphas and their people and we’ll be introduced together.”
“Shepherd’s? Really?”
“Yeah, as you can imagine no one is really keen on having a bunch of outsiders inside the fences right now. Sterling has hotels, entertainment and Shepherd’s is secure enough to make me semi-comfortable.”
“Sounds exciting,” she purred.
He grumbled. “I’d rather not do it, personally.”
Catherine ran her hand along the images of his right thigh. His muscles clenched and relaxed as her nails scratched along his skin. “When do we need to be back?” she asked.
“Two days,” he whispered before tugging the shell of her ear with his teeth.
“Hmm,” Catherine hummed. She sat up and turned around to straddle his hips. “So much time and so little to do.”
She ran her fingers through his hair and locked them behind his neck. She pulled him forward and claimed his lips with hers. He pulled back, startled. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion and touched her forehead with the back of his hand.
“You don’t feel hot. What are you up to?” he asked.
She laughed lightly and shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe I’ve just gotten used to having you inside me. Ever thought of that?”
“Oh yeah?” he asked, quirking his eyebrows up.
In one swift motion, Graham rolled them and pinned her underneath him. She giggled as his lips moved down her throat and to her collarbone. He grasped the icepack still between her legs and pulled it away. Immediately Catherine hissed and pushed at his chest. He raised one eyebrow in question and she felt her face get hot in embarrassment.
“Maybe my eyes are bigger than my stomach?”
He gave her a sultry, dangerous smile. “You mean your eyes are bigger than your pussy?” Her blush grew hotter and he clicked his tongue. “Look at you, burning up again. If I can’t screw it out of you, I’ll have to be more inventive.”
Before she could beg for them not to have sex, he rolled off the bed and tugged her with him. He threw her over his shoulder and started walking from the room.
“What are you doing?” she asked as he trotted down the stairs.
“You’re overheated. We need a solution that doesn’t involve sticking my dick in your…” Catherine smacked his ass, cutting off his sentence. He stopped walking and she immediately regretted her decision. “Oh, you’re going to regret that, little wolf,” he whispered menacingly.
He started walking again and once outside she realized what he meant to do. She struggled in his grasp. She cried, she pleaded but Graham continued through the heavy rain until she heard his bare feet slapping against the wood of the dock.
“You wouldn’t dare do that again!” she yelled.
“Oh, I would dare,” he growled.
A moment later, Catherine was soaring through the air and then she hit the water.
Surrendering to Destiny
