The Protector's Heart (Wilde Creek Three) Read online

  She wondered if someone would say something. A she-wolf who thought she was better suited for Malachi, or a wolf who didn’t think that humans should be part of the pack. But no one said anything. After what felt like an eternity, Hollis smiled at them and took a step back. Acksel and Brynn grasped hands, and Acksel said loudly, “As alpha of the Wilde Creek Pack, I declare Nila and Jack Caruthers honored members, under the authority of the alphas and the protection of the pack. Welcome to the pack.”

  He lifted his head and howled, the sound piercing the silent night in a way that shook her to her very soul. Brynn smiled and hugged her and Jack as Malachi and the other pack members joined in the howling. To her surprise, and everyone else’s, Jack howled too, although his howl sounded more like a playful yip than the deep-throated cry of the others.

  Malachi curled his hand around her neck and gently pulled her to his mouth. The nearly-chaste kiss made her smile as he pressed his forehead to hers and whispered, “My mate.” Then he kissed Jack on the top of the head and said, “My son.” He smiled at her, eyes brimming with love. “I love you, Nila. My life wouldn’t be the same without you and Jack in it.”

  “I love you, too, Malachi.”

  Acksel called for the wolves to shift and Eveny appeared on the deck with Luke, offering to take Jack inside while Nila remained with Malachi. Nila glanced around surreptitiously as the wolves began to strip. Malachi took her hand and gently pulled her down the steps onto the snowy grass and around the corner of the house.

  “What are we doing over here?” she asked as the shadows closed around them and the sounds of the pack were muted.

  “I don’t want you looking at any other guys.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Of course I am. The only naked guy I want you ogling is me.”

  “Did you just say ‘ogle’?”

  “I did, woman.” He growled the words at her, jerking her close until they were pressed together.

  “I can’t see you in the dark,” she pointed out.

  He kissed her hard, delving his tongue in her mouth like he was staking a claim, making her toes curl with the intensity. With a grunt, he released his hold on her and took a few steps back until he was out of the shadows and began to strip. She’d seen Damien shift once, but he’d been showing off. Malachi wasn’t showing off for her, he was shifting because he needed to, and keeping it between them because he wanted it that way. This was their time.

  She caught his shirt as he tossed it to her. He toed off his boots and stood barefoot in the snow with his fingers at the waistband of his jeans. Warmth snaked through her, and his lip curled up in a snarl.

  “If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to want to stay here.” His voice was gruff, and she could see his muscles were bunched and tense.

  “You’re gorgeous, Mal, and you’re mine.” She let the word roll around in her mind for a second and smiled at the possessive way it made her feel. He didn’t own her, and she didn’t own him, but they belonged to each other all the same. “I’ll be here when you get back, and then we can go home and celebrate.”

  He shoved his jeans down and stepped from them, tossing them to her as he straightened. She was tempted to ask for a quickie, or to drop on her knees and lick him like a lollipop, but for one, her son was in the house waiting for her, and for another, Malachi needed to hunt.

  “Have fun hunting, Mal,” she said, smiling and hugging his still-warm clothes to her chest.

  He winked and dropped to his knees, the shift overtaking him quickly. He shook himself out and she closed the distance between them and knelt next to him. His fur was thick, coarse along his back but soft on his belly. He nuzzled her cheek and made a soft sound, a cross between a purr and a growl, and she looped her arm around his neck and gave him a hug and kiss on his muzzle. Wishing him a good hunt, she walked to the deck, and he followed her to where several wolves were waiting. Nila joined Brynn on the deck, and they watched the wolves head off into the woods.

  “I’m jealous of them getting to shift, but I’m glad that I can’t because I don’t really have to let Acksel boss me around like I would if I was a wolf.”

  “I’m sure he bosses you around enough as it is,” Nila said as she folded Malachi’s clothes and set them on the top step of the porch. She walked into the house with Brynn. Luke was sitting on the couch and Eveny was on the floor with Jack, stacking blocks.

  “Acksel tries,” Brynn winked. “How is Diane doing? Kammie stopped by while you and Mal were around the corner and said that everything was going well, but I didn’t know if you’d talked to her or not.”

  “I went to see her yesterday, and we talk every few days. She’s healing fine, and having fun with Kammie. Malachi said the repairs on Diane’s house are finished now, so she can go home as soon as she’s able to take care of herself.”

  “I think it’s been good for Kammie to have someone to take care of. She likes to be helpful.”

  Eveny looked up from the floor. “She told me it’s easier to be around humans than wolves because humans don’t expect as much from her, not like the pack does.”

  “Mal said that all females are automatically omegas except for the alpha female. Why aren’t females ranked like the guys?” Nila asked, joining Eveny on the floor.

  Jack handed her a block and she stacked it on top of another. Eveny said, “Packs are still very male-centric, even ones that are as progressive as ours is becoming. I heard there are a few packs where females are also ranked, but even in those situations, the females are a separate ranking from the males and not a truly cohesive ranking of everyone together.”

  Nila thought of Ren and Sam and the other males she’d met in the pack. “I don’t suppose there are many guys who would like having a woman be higher ranked.”

  Brynn snorted. “That’s an understatement. As alpha female I get away with the authority because of Acksel. His power, in essence, is mine. The pack knows if anyone messes with me, he’ll beat them within an inch of their lives. No one wants to be on the receiving end of one of Acksel’s bad moods. My authority is like an extension of his, I suppose. What I say goes, unless it’s in conflict with something he’s already said, and then his word is law.”

  Eveny looked thoughtful. “If it weren’t for me falling in love with Luke and Brynn getting preggers, the pack would still be the way it was before that stuff happened. Everyone is happier now that the pack’s laws are less restrictive. The omegas enjoy being useful to the pack, and the way that Acksel has them working together now — like with the monthly parties for the full moon and working for pack members around town — it’s like heaven compared to what it was before.”

  “Working for pack members?”

  “Some of us have real jobs — I work for Ferrity’s Construction, for example. But others work for the pack and are paid through a fund. Jeremiah and Adam are pretty much at Acksel’s disposal and handle everything from shopping to repairs to cleaning.”

  Nila thought about Adam and Jeremiah and wondered if they minded being lackeys. Looking at Eveny, she asked, “You don’t mind being an omega?”

  “Nah.” She shook her head with a smile. “Some people get hung up on titles, but I’m not one of them. There are some omegas who aren’t happy because injury or circumstance have taken them out of the ranking, but for the most part we’re the ones that keep everything together. I like that aspect of it. I get to be part of an amazing pack, help it run smoothly, and I don’t have any of the responsibility of the ranked males.”

  Jack yawned loudly and Nila picked him up as she stood. “Someday he might shift and then he’ll be part of the pack as a ranked male, or if he doesn’t shift, then he’ll be an omega. I don’t care which one, as long as he’s happy.”

  “Who knows what the pack will be like in fifteen or twenty years anyway?” Brynn said. “We don’t need to worry about it now. All we need to worry about is our kids being happy and safe.”

  Nila agreed. Carrying Jack back to
the spare bedroom to put him in his jammies, she kissed his cheek and laid him on the bed. “I don’t care if you ever shift, kiddo, just so long as you take after Malachi.”

  Chapter 17

  Malachi loved hunting. Since the first time his father had taken him out when he shifted at sixteen, he’d been hooked. Being in his shift meant he didn’t have to think about anything but finding something to hunt. Even if he didn’t actually catch what he was hunting, it was still fun in a primal way, although he rarely went without actually taking down some animal at some point. When he was younger, he and his friends would hunt all night, chasing deer and rabbits until the sun came up. Then they’d stagger back to the alpha’s house, shift, get dressed, go home and pass out for a day. Life was simpler back when he was a teenager, but he liked his life now even better. He never anticipated mating a female who already had a child from another male, but he couldn’t imagine his life without both Nila and Jack in it.

  Malachi barked at Acksel, who was nearby with Ren and Dade. It was time for him to head home and get Nila. Thoughts of a different kind of activity — one without clothes — was enough to get his wolf turned off of the hunt and ready to go back and claim Nila. The simple ceremony in front of the pack had been not only for the pack’s benefit — to make it known that she and Jack were Malachi’s family now — but also for their own. Malachi’s wolf wanted Nila and Jack to be pack, because the pack would protect them if something happened to him. Malachi wanted to share everything about his life with Nila, and that meant having her with him during the full moons.

  Acksel chuffed at Malachi in understanding and Malachi headed back to the house to take his family home. When the house came into view, he found Nila standing at the sliding back door, staring into the woods. He stopped in the shadows and watched her, wondering what she was thinking about. His sensitive ears picked up Jack’s voice, as he toddled to the door and pressed his face to the glass.

  “Carrot!” His voice was muffled, but Malachi could still hear it. He grinned inwardly. Jack had felt him coming back to the house. Even as a baby, he was showing signs of being a powerful wolf.

  Malachi hurried into the yard and found his clothes folded neatly on the porch step. He shifted and tugged the ice-cold clothing on. Nila opened the back door for him, welcoming him with a warm smile. Jack latched onto his pants leg and began to babble. He’d spent enough time with him to understand some of what he was saying.

  “He felt me, didn’t he?” Malachi asked, lifting Jack into his arms.

  She smiled. “Yeah. He was playing on the floor and then he looked at the door suddenly and I knew you were close. I was watching for you, and he kept pacing back and forth in the kitchen.”

  “Are you ready to go home, kiddo?” he asked.

  Jack answered by yawning, tucking his head into Malachi’s neck with a sigh. While Nila got her coat and grabbed their things, Malachi said goodbye to Luke. Eveny was asleep on the couch next to him, and Brynn wasn’t around, which told him she was probably in bed already. He and Nila walked out to his SUV. He glanced at the house and saw two protectors in their shifts watching as they got Jack settled inside and then climbed in themselves.

  “Did you have fun tonight?” he asked.

  “I was just about to ask you that.”

  Chuckling, he said, “It’s always fun to hunt, but it’s even better coming home now, since you’re waiting for me.”

  She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. “I had a good time talking to Brynn and Eveny. We talked about the pack and the new laws.”

  “You can ask me anything, too, you know.”

  “I know.”

  He was glad his home wasn’t too far from Acksel’s. Ten minutes after they’d left the alphas’ home, he was watching Nila lay Jack in his crib. He’d stayed awake until Malachi was back from hunting and then he’d fallen asleep as soon as he was in the car seat and hadn’t woken up when he’d been carried into the house.

  Malachi turned from watching Jack to watching Nila. She stroked a finger down Jack’s cheek and said goodnight in a low voice. Switching on the nightlight, she paused at the door and looked at her son for a long moment.

  “I can’t tell you how much I’ve wanted this for him. For both of us.”

  “What, love?” he asked.

  She pulled the door shut and faced him. “A home, a safe place for him to grow up. Acceptance. Love. All of it’s here, with you.”

  “Without you and Jack, it’s just a house, just four walls and a roof. I didn’t know what was missing from my life until you came into it.”

  She smiled up at him. “That was so freaking romantic.”

  Chuckling, he swept her up into his arms. “I aim to please.”

  He carried her into the bedroom and set her on her feet. He wanted to kiss her. Devour her. But first he needed to brush his teeth. On the full moons, his wolf was always a little closer to the surface and he didn’t want to scare her if he became too aggressive.

  “Why don’t you get comfortable and I’ll be right back.” He pressed his lips to her forehead and then walked quickly to the bathroom. He flipped on the light and shut the door, then reached for his toothbrush on the counter. While he brushed and splashed cold water on his face, his wolf was panting to go into the room and make love to Nila, to claim her again and again.

  He turned off the bathroom light and entered the bedroom, his eyes adjusting to the moonlight streaming through the window. Nila was naked, standing next to the bed and pulling the covers back. He moved behind her, fast enough that he clearly surprised her. She gasped softly and then moaned as he cupped her breasts and pressed himself against her back. Her nipples pebbled against his palms. He nuzzled her neck, stroking his tongue up the column of her throat. She shivered and turned her head, their lips meeting as the world dropped away and it was only them.

  Their tongues touched and everything in him relaxed, the tension from being away from his mate during the hunt disappearing as the sweet taste of her and the heady scent of her arousal surrounded him. He pulled her close and slid one hand down the center of her body, his fingers making their way slowly toward the apex of her thighs. His shamelessly hard cock was pressed against her lower back and he knew he could just slide into her with a simple shift of his hips, but he wanted her to come first.

  His fingers circled her hipbone and slid down the soft skin of her thigh. He bent slightly, hooking his hand around her knee and lifting it to the bed, spreading her lower body apart. She leaned into his hand, which was tucked between her breasts and he pulled her more firmly to his chest. He trailed invisible patterns up the inside of her leg and then cupped her pussy. She was hot and wet, the silky evidence of her arousal rubbing against his palm as she moved her hips.

  Easing from their kiss, he watched her face as he curled his middle finger and slowly pushed inside, the hot walls of her pussy gripping his finger. Her eyes darkened and her mouth fell open. He felt her relax against him and she lifted her arms and locked her fingers behind his head, holding herself upright, her body on display for him.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispered into her ear, letting his teeth sink into the lobe gently before licking away the slight pain.

  “Malachi,” she moaned.

  Rubbing her clit with his palm, he slipped another finger into her pussy, stroking her slowly. He closed his teeth on the side of her neck, pressing hard enough for her to feel them but not hard enough to break the skin. Her body began to tremble as she drew closer to climax; he could smell the heady sweetness of her body as it heated. He slipped his fingers from her pussy and rubbed the soaked tips around the tight bud of her clit. She trembled in his arms as he pushed her forward to bliss, and her nails sank into his neck as she came, a sharp cry of pleasure on her lips. Her body bowed, her breasts jutting up as her clit throbbed under his fingers and the sweet scent of her climax filled the air.

  He unwound her hands from the back of his head and stretched her forward on
the bed, one foot on the floor and one leg bent at the knee and resting on the mattress. She curled her arms under her head and smiled, wiggling a little on the bed.

  His hands curled around her hips, and he watched as his cock pressed into the hot, wet heaven of her body. When their bodies met, they sighed at the same time, and he grinned. Gripping her hips, he watched her face as he pulled completely out of her body and then, waiting only a brief moment, plunged inside again. Her eyes shuttered and she sank her teeth into her lower lip. Pulling out and pressing in again, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm the raging wolf inside him that wanted to fuck her hard and fast.

  He released his grip on her hip and smoothed his hand over her back. She trembled under him, her pussy clenching his cock, and he tweaked her side until she giggled.

  “Not sexy,” she groused, straightening on her arms and pushing back against him.

  He growled. “Feels pretty sexy to me.”

  Her hair slid off her shoulder as she peered at him. She slipped one hand underneath her and he was about to ask what she was up to when he felt her cup her pussy, her fingers separating so they framed his cock. “Oh, fuck, yes,” she moaned the words, her fingers massaging his shaft, the tips grazing his balls.

  “I think I’m supposed to say that,” he chuckled. He pulled from her pussy, feeling her fingers on his dick the entire time. Splaying his hands on her hips, he tightened his grip and began to move, flexing his hips in time to the wild thrum of his heartbeat which pounded in his ears. Her fingers moved back and forth against him, and he knew she was rubbing her clit, too. He rode her hard, pushing himself to give her everything she needed. He wanted her to fall apart while he was inside her, to feel her clenching him again and again.