Chapter 20: Chapter Twenty
Axel pressed his mouth against her soft plush mouth, and it was everything that he wanted it to be.
Her taste, the way she made a slight squeal at the brazen move, or the fact that she didn’t run away after he told her.
His wolf howled, a cry of relief. It’d felt like forever for his wolf to wait on physical contact.
But it’d been worth the wait.
Axel didn’t hold anything back. He barricaded her against the island and slid his tongue into her warm mouth, feasting on what he forever would taste.
It was honey-covered destiny. He felt his wolf grow aggressive, and he didn’t want to scare her off, but his self-control wavered.
He slid his palms down her hips and holstered her up to the island, maneuvering into the warmth between her opened thighs.
Claire’s hands gripped his t-shirt, and she tugged while making the sweetest moans he’d ever heard.
The distant sound of footsteps neared, and against his better judgement, he pulled away, resting his forehead against hers.
Claire’s eyes looked wild, her lips red and swollen from kissing. Everything about the aftermath of it spun in his head.
“My nephew,” he whispered to her.
She looked confused for two seconds before the kitchen door swung open, and a Tasmanian Devil flew into the room.
“Axel! You’re home!”
Fin was Axel’s older sister’s son. Being six years old, he had no filter and no chill.
“You got uglier in a week!”
Axel rolled his eyes, and flipped him over his shoulder, swinging him around over his back. “Oh yeah? Looks like you grew weaker!”
“Let me down! I can still beat you up!”
Axel flung him down and laughed at his smushed blond hair. “Try me!”
Fin put up his fist but stopped when he noticed Claire. “You go away for a week and bring back a girl? What did he do, bang you in the head?” he asked, laughing at his own joke. “Wait a second,” he said. “Is this your mate?” he leaned in and whispered.
Axel lifted a brow and nodded slowly.
He glanced up at her and gave her a once-over. “You upgraded for sure.”
Axel rolled his eyes. “This is Claire. Claire, this is Fin.”
She stuck her hand out. “Nice to meet you, Fin.”
He gave her a quick shake and walked toward the back door. “I’m starving. I’m going to eat. You two should stop all that kissing, so you can eat too. I heard her stomach growl from all the way down the hallway.”
He let the door shut behind him.
Claire chuckled and covered her face with her hands. “Wow, outed by a kid.”
“He’s very observant and … blunt. It will only get worse the more you know him.”
Claire smiled. “I like him.”
Axel tucked a stray hair behind her ear and slid the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. “I don’t take orders from a six-year-old,” he whispered, kissing her softly again.
“Good thing you don’t,” she whispered.
Axel smiled and led her out of the back door and onto the patio. All the wolves were outside, mingling and eating.
Claire seemed nervous, even though she tried to hide it, so Axel interlaced his fingers with hers. It was as if someone posted a neon sign above their heads, and gradually, everyone’s attention shifted.
Axel sighed, his gaze shifted to Claire who looked really nervous. “Everyone. This is Claire Summers…my mate.”
The wolves that were in their meeting pursed their lips. Some looked annoyed, he tried to keep it from them, and others laughed it off.
A swarm of pack members made their way over to introduce themselves. Claire spoke to everyone, but Axel sensed her unease.
“Okay,” he said after thirty minutes of twenty questions. “We’re both hungry and ready to eat.”
Claire sighed when they made it to a picnic table positioned underneath a huge willow tree. “Sorry, they can be overwhelming. They’re just excited to meet you.”
Claire smiled. “They seem nice and welcoming.” She leaned in and whispered, “They can smell me, right? They know I’m human?”
Axel chuckled. “Of course, they do, Claire. They don’t care if you are or aren’t. It doesn’t matter. It’s in our nature to know our mates. We don’t question it.”
Claire took a bite of her food. “So, tell me about mates. What if things don’t work out?”
Axel’s wolf growled, making Claire jump in her seat. She was jumpy, for good reason, after the way he treated her in high school, and he didn’t like to scare her. “Sorry,” he laughed. “My wolf doesn’t like the idea of you leaving. It doesn’t really work like that. You’re mates for life. But, if someone wants to leave, the other won’t stop them. However, it always ends with them together, unless one dies.”
Claire swallowed, and Axel watched the nerves travel across her face. He knew a human didn’t understand the dynamics of their world, but he’d teach her a lot of things.
She nodded, though Axel sensed she had many more questions.
“Tell me about your dad,” Axel said. “What’s he like?”
Claire pushed her plate away. “He’s a typical dad. Protective since my mom passed when I was small. You’ll get to meet him tomorrow. It’s my Aunt Demetria I’m worried about.”
He smiled. “She can’t be that bad.”
Claire made a face. “She’s a little on the eccentric side.”
Axel leaned over the table. “I’m sure that I’ve seen worse. It’ll be fine. Are you finished?”
Claire nodded.
“Come on. I want to show you your room.”
The pack house was an old plantation house that the previous alpha bought years before.
Some of the newly mated wolves built their own houses on pack land, for privacy reasons.
Axel led her up the grand staircase and down a long hallway. The end bedroom had once been his and still held all of his high school football gear, yearbooks, and posters.
So many memories crashed into him. The good and the bad. “This was your bedroom?” she asked.
Axel rubbed the nape of his neck and nodded, suddenly embarrassed by his Lord of The Rings Lego collection from elementary.
“Yeah. This is where I grew up.”
Claire glanced over his navy-blue downy comforter and ran her fingers over the smooth pattern. “This is where you contemplated all the mean things you would do to me?”
Axel’s chest pinched in pain. He swiftly turned to her and grasped her face. “I will never hurt you like that again. Nor will I let anyone else hurt you. Can you trust me?”
Claire glared at his face, her long eyelashes cast a shadow over her high cheekbones. “I’d be stupid not to trust you now. If you wanted to kill me, I’d be dead by now.”
Axel nodded. “You’ll be safe here. Until we find the Lycan and his friends …”
“Friends?” she asked.
“Maybe. Sometimes rogues will find each other and form an alliance. Maybe not. But whoever it is, we will find him, kill him, and make the campus safe again.”
“You sound like a superhero,” she said laying back on his bed.
Axel trailed his fingertips over the top of her thigh and braced his palms on either side of her head. “There is a little more to mating than you know. I plan for my mother to explain some of the logistics of becoming a Luna one day, but before you can take a relationship to the next level with your mate,” he said softly, watching her pretty green gaze shift toward his. “A mate has to mark you.”
She lifted up to her elbows, her lips inches away from his. “Mark me how?”
Axel dragged his fingertips along the length of her neck. “Here.”
He sensed her pulse quicken in her neck. “You bite me there?” she asked in a soft whisper.
Axel nodded.
“What happens after that?” she asked in the same breathy tone.
Axel leaned closer, diminishing the space between them and running his mouth against her jawline. “You’re officially mine.”
“It’s like sealing the deal?” she asked, her fingers clutching the covers beneath her.
“Yes,” he said.
“Will it hurt?”
He inhaled her scent, driving his wolf insane, and he nodded. “At first, yes. Then after it’ll turn into pleasure.”
She closed her eyes. “I’ve never been with a guy before.”
Axel knew that or at least he sensed it. His wolf became restless and turned circles. “We’ll take things as slow as you want. I’ll never make you feel pressured into anything.”
“Will I turn into a wolf if you bite me?”
He chuckled. “No. You’ll just be marked by a werewolf.”
“An alpha,” she whispered.
He nodded. “Yes.”
Claire smirked. “Where are you sleeping, Alpha?”