Chapter Seventy-Nine
He pulled himself up enough to yank his hoodie over his head. Catherine sat up and pulled her t-shirt off. She shoved his sweatpants down with her feet while he pulled her shorts off. His lips crashed back down against hers, driving her head back to the floor. His body covered hers, his weight keeping her pinned. One hand took a fistful of her hair while the other rushed over her skin as if he only had a few moments to memorize every inch of her.
His mouth stifled her cry as he buried himself to the hilt with one harsh thrust. His fingers dug into her hips as he pummeled into her. She sank her nails into his shoulder and wrapped her legs around his waist, trying to find purchase against his harsh assault.
Catherine’s pleasure climbed higher and higher. A pulse of sharp ecstasy jolted through her growing sharper with each strike of his pelvis against hers. As she grew closer to her release, he pulled, his lips from her and she took in her first breath of air. His canines grazed over her mark. She extended her neck for him, giving in to his show for dominance. Graham moaned and sank his teeth into her flesh. His body tightened and Catherine released a shuddering breath as her orgasm swept through her body warming her veins and emptying her mind.
Graham removed his teeth from her flesh and sucked the incision. Her toes curled further and her eyes rolled back. His lips continued to kiss and suck along her shoulders, neck and chest. She felt his teeth against her collarbone and realized he was smiling. Her skin buzzed with the after effects of what they’d done and the feel of her wolf ingraining itself along her entire being. Even grazing her fingers over her mate’s back felt close to the climax she’d just experienced. A moment later her mind returned. Her soft touch turned into a painful grasp.
Graham pulled back, his eyes filled with worry. He cupped her face. “It’s okay. We’re going to be okay.”
“Where is he?” she asked.
“I left two men to keep an eye on MoonStone. They said he left packlands two days ago and hasn’t returned. I’m sending Theo to join them and they’ll track him and watch him like a fucking hawk.”
Her grip tightened even further cutting into his skin with her nails. His right eye twitched but otherwise he showed no signs he felt it. “What are we going to do?” she whispered, fear lacing her words.
“I’m working on it, Baby. We all are. For now, we’re waiting to see if he’s heading toward us. It could be he’s been invited to attend an event at another pack. Maybe he’s going on a hunt. If he heads too far east though, we’ll know and we’ll be waiting for him.”
“Do you think he’s coming for me?” Catherine asked. Graham’s eyes moved back and forth between hers. He didn’t need to say it, she already knew what he thought. She turned her head away from him and swallowed. “What are we going to do?”
“I want to take you away for a few days.”
Catherine’s head whipped back to look up at him. “What? You just told me Dominic is heading here and you think now is a good
time for a vacation?!”
Graham sighed and finally pushed himself up. He stood to his full height and held his hand down to help her up. He bent to the floor to grab his sweatpants. “It’s not a vacation. I just want to get you away from the city for a few days while we figure things
out.”
“So you want to run.”
Graham groaned. “No. I’m not running. At the moment, my list of people I can trust is very short. Someone is poisoning you, Catherine, and I haven’t been able to figure out who.” He gripped her upper arm as she turned to leave. “You blocked your wolf for a week. You refused to train, pushed back your gift, you are in no position to properly defend yourself. I won’t risk your safety until I know what we’re facing. Clear?”
Catherine glared up at him. She opened her mouth but something on his chest caught her attention. Graham always had three spots. untouched by ink on his right side. The spot on his shoulder by his neck was where she marked him. The pink scar showcasing her teeth was the first blemish in his otherwise perfect skin as your eyes ventured from his face.
The next spot down, the spot on his chest, the closest space to his heart, was no longer bare either. Catherine reached out and touched the new image: a wolf with brown fur stared back at her with glowing blue eyes. She realized he’d stopped breathing, waiting for her reaction.
“When did you get this?” she asked.
Graham cleared his throat. She glanced up to see his cheeks turn an uncharacteristic shade of pink. “I told you I got a tattoo.”
Catherine’s eyes watered. She re-examined the wolf. It only showed the wolf’s head and neck. The detail was impeccable down to the wolf’s subtle blonde undertones. Her eyes were set, determined and ready for a fight but her posture was relaxed, certain.
“I thought you wanted something to celebrate becoming…”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you tell…”
“I wanted it to be a surprise.” He pulled her gently closer. He ran his hand through her hair, guiding her eyes upward.
“How did you know what I look like?” she whispered, completely struck.
He smiled and pressed his forehead against hers. “You’ve been visiting me in my dreams in that form nearly every night since I found you… Up until your visit with Juno.”
Catherine took an unsteady step back. “How?!”
He shrugged and his blush got deeper. “I didn’t want to question it. I worried if I said something, it would stop.”
She flattened her palm over his skin. “What if I shift into a Lycan?”
“It won’t matter.” He placed a hand over hers. “This is who you’ve been your entire life. This is who you were when I met you… when I fell in love with you. Even if you never shifted into this form again, it would still be one of the many beautiful pieces to the woman I love. You and your wolf are two sides of the same whole. You cannot be one without the other.”
“I just wanted to know I could do it. In case…” Catherine moved their hands to look at the mirror image of herself. She’d only seen herself reflected in water. To see her wolf form displayed so prominently and in such detail held her captivated. “I cannot fight, I can’t shift, it will take me years to understand and utilize my gift. If I can block the part of myself he can use just long enough for you to get to me… Graham, I am going to do it.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” she asked doubtfully.
Graham smirked and lifted her hand to kiss the back of it. “I understand your reasoning. So long as you promise you’re done ‘practicing,’ I think I can move on. I would sit here arguing with you that the entire thing was pointless because there is no way in hell that man is ever going to touch you again. I could say it was stupid to not talk to me about it and I damn well plan to get the name of the quack who told you to do it in the first place…”
“Graham.”
Chapter Seventy-NINE
He held up his free hand in surrender. “I will concede this and chalk it up to a lesson learned.” Graham wrapped both of his arms around her and pulled her flush against him. He ran his hand gently down her back and up to cup the back of her head. He pressed their foreheads together and inhaled her scent. “Don’t pull away from me again, Catherine. I can’t take it. I can give you space, I can give you my shoulder, I’ll drive you to a doctor and sit in the waiting room. I’ll do whatever I need to, just don’t shut me out. I’ve become absolutely useless unless I have you to come home to.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize. You’ve undergone massive amounts of trauma without having any tools to deal with the aftermath. I know a thing or two about dealing with trauma. You’ve been running from this for so long and now you have someone who would do anything to protect you. And I would. I swear to you. It’s allowed you to confront those scary memories and emotions.” He cupped her face. “The only thing you did wrong was not trusting in your safe harbor. I’m here to root you. Walls in our minds just build rickety fortresses and one swift blow can leave you reeling. Don’t push it back, face it head on.”
Catherine stood on her toes and placed a quick kiss on his lips. “Thank you.”
“I’m always here,” he assured her, lifting her face to return her kiss.
Graham pulled her fully against him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Catherine buried her face in his chest and sighed. She felt exhausted and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed.
“So… where are you taking me?”
Surrendering to Destiny
Chapter Eighty
“How long will you be gone?” Mable asked as she kneaded bread beside Catherine.
Catherine shrugged. “Graham said a few days. I’m not sure where he’s taking me. He says it’s a surprise.”
“I wish someone would take me on a surprise vacation,” Mable whispered under her breath.
“How are things going with Toma?” Catherine asked, eyeing her friend.
Mable blushed. “He… is a perfect guy. So sweet and caring and…” Mable’s blush deepened. “Good at certain things. I just…” She sighed. “He’s not my mate.”
Catherine rolled the dough over the floured surface a few times. “Toma, his brother and my friend Juno are all from the same pack in Alaska. Timone was actually next in line to be alpha of the pack. After their mother died, his father claimed to have found a second chance mate. She was a witch.”
Mable had stopped kneading the dough and gave Catherine her full attention.
“At first everything seemed normal but then as the months went by they noticed a shift in their dad. He became hostile, arrogant, selfish. Pack funds were missing, certain ancestral items were stolen. When Timone and Toma confronted their father, his new luna stepped in and banished them.”
Mable gasped.
“They did some research and discovered this woman had done the same thing to five other packs. Apparently she could use a spell that mimicked the feeling of finding your fated mate. She would drain the pack of all of its valuables and then siphon the alpha’s
powers.”
Catherine placed her finished dough in a proofing basket and turned to face Mable.
“When Timone and Toma managed to get their father alone outside of pack lands, they tried to explain it to him. They even had physical evidence and several witnesses.” Catherine shook her head. “He didn’t believe them. So Toma and Timone left and headed for the west coast. Their father passed a couple months later and the pack dissolved. Juno left and followed them to Sterling. That’s when she and I met.”
“Wow,” Mable breathed. “He never told me that.”
“If you want to wait for your true mate, I understand,” Catherine started. She heard the door open and smelled apple cider. “I’m glad I did. Being with my mate is more than the books could have prepared me for. But, that being said, Toma has a hard time believing in fated mates. Just don’t give up on him is all I’m saying. He will make a fantastic mate even if the Goddess didn’t strike the two of you with lightning to make it obvious.” Catherine turned and looked toward the door where Graham waited with a soft smile on his lips. “Hey.”
Graham walked up to her. His scent wafted around her and she inhaled deeply, closing her eyes to enjoy the rush of calm she felt in his presence. He cupped her cheeks and brought their lips together in a sweet kiss that had her melting into his chest. By the time. he pulled away, her heart was ricocheting against her ribcage and her skin was covered in gooseflesh.
“Hi,” he whispered against her lips.
“See? That’s what I want,” Mable sighed with longing.
Catherine looked over at her friend and smirked. “Oh come on, Toma’s not a bad kisser,” Catherine teased.
