Tasha woke up with a hard, warm body pressed up against her back. With a small smile, she snuggled against it, feeling Adam’s morning erection dig into her bottom. Moving her hips in a slow side-to-side motion, she was treated to Adam wrapping his arm around her and pulling her tighter to him.
“Good morning, baby,” he whispered huskily next to her ear.
Her heart swelled at the endearment—one she had never been called before. “Morning.”
He started thrusting his hips against her so she reached around and took hold of his erection. With her thumb, she teased the slit of his cock, releasing a small pearl of liquid.
“Oh, God, you have such great hands,” he told her, rolling her onto her back and taking possession of her mouth.
He brushed his tongue forcefully over her lips was until she opened for him. Tasha loved his flavor. A hint of spice and something wild. Even this early in the morning, she wouldn’t want anything to mask his natural taste. Tasha sucked on his tongue as Adam stroked his palms all over her body.
Their tongues dueled, caressing, as his body covered hers. Adam kissed down her neck until he reached her breasts. Tasha arched her back when he took one hard nipple into his mouth and sucked. Tasha cried out in ecstasy.
“I love your breasts. So full and soft,” he whispered against her skin.
Tasha had always hated how big they were. They had been a cause of teasing as she’d gotten older and filled out before the other girls. But, with Adam worshipping them in the most loving way, for the first time, she was proud of them.
When Adam started to move down her body once again, she grabbed his hair, trying to pull him back up. He just chuckled and drove his tongue into her belly button.
Tasha had never thought that was an erogenous zone, but with him lavishing it with care, she found herself bucking under him. By the time he reached her plumped folds, she was ready to scream at him to take her. Then his skilled fingers separated her wet folds and he pushed one digit inside.
“Oh!” She panted as he pumped in and out. She lifted her hips to give him better access and he inserted a second finger. Tasha rode his hand until his mouth covered her swollen clit and he sucked.
She exploded, crying out his name. Adam stopped tasting her, instead working her body until she was grasping desperately at the sheets. Her breathing labored, she tried to speak, but he was once again making his way up her body, leaving a trail of moisture from his tongue and her own juices.
When he covered her and bent his head, he shared her unique taste before starting to push that wonderfully long cock inside. Tasha planted her feet on the bed and lifted her hips to help him inside. In one hard, deep thrust, he entered her.
Her muscles tightened and gripped him. He was longer than any other man she’d been with, but he fit perfectly in the most intimate way. While he slammed inside her, Tasha scratched at his shoulders. He pounded into her with a rhythm so fast a normal man could never reach it. Before she knew it, she was once again riding another wave of ecstasy.
He grabbed her legs and hooked them over his shoulders. His strokes grew desperate. Three, four, and five more times he rammed into her and came hard, his deep voice echoing around the room.
As he collapsed on her, Tasha ran her hands through his hair, wanting to hold on to every second she had with this very special man. In the short time they’d been together, Adam had made her feel better than anyone else had in her life. His concern for her sister was only a small part of why she admired him. She had never been comfortable in the company of a lot of people. She had always been a loner. It was easier to hide her and her family’s problems that way. But Adam had the ability to draw her from her shell. First, in the city, and now, in another Pack’s territory.
Try as she might, she couldn’t keep her mind from moving into the future and taunting her with pictures of her and Adam together…in a more permanent situation. She held him tighter. Tasha knew she could never be the mate to the Alpha. She wasn’t pretty or smart and she didn’t have the right connections. She was just a lost woman with the responsibilities of raising a child. A teenager who was going through something that Tasha didn’t have a clue about how to help her with. She kind of hoped that Adam would have some ideas, like bringing Crystal to Marissa, but she couldn’t rely on him to fix all her problems. Adam didn’t need that kind of pressure. He had enough on his shoulders without taking care of her burdens, too.
In her heart, Tasha knew she’d have to let him go once they left to return home. So, right now, she would hang on as long as she could.
“We should probably get out of bed and shower,” Adam said.
“Ugh,” Tasha managed. She didn’t want to. “We could take a nap.”
“We’re going to need to eat eventually,” Adam said with a laugh.
Now that he’d mentioned it, Tasha was starving. She dropped her arms from his body, but instead of standing, Adam propped himself up on an elbow to peer down at her.
“What?” she asked, wanting to squirm under his direct look.
“We’ll need to head back soon,” Adam said.
All the contentment faded. She should have held on tighter. “I know.”
“So when we get back home, I want to take you on a real date,” he said. “Dinner at a nice restaurant, a movie, a midnight stroll.”
Tasha sucked in a breath. He wanted to keep seeing her?
“Would that be okay with you?” He watched her closely.
She nodded, incapable of words.
“But first, I was hoping you’d run with me today,” he said. “I’d like to let my wolf out before the long drive back and I was wondering if you’d come with me.”
Tasha blinked at him as she digested the words. Never before had she shifted with a male and let their wolves bond. It was an intimate act she hadn’t been lucky enough to ever believe would be possible.
“Tasha?” Adam’s features changed to concerned, then sad. “You don’t have to.” He started to lift off her, but she quickly wrapped her arms and legs around him.
“Yes!” She practically screamed the word.
Adam froze.
“Yes,” she repeated. “I want that so much.”
“Really?” he asked. “You seemed surprised.”
“I didn’t…I haven’t ever…”
“Me, neither,” Adam assured her. “But I want to with you.”
This was happening so fast. Tasha’s head spun. “Are you sure?”
When Adam pulled back and sat up Tasha didn’t stop him this time. Instead, she climbed out of bed and stood in front of him. Adam wasn’t looking at her and she didn’t know what she’d said wrong.
“Hey.” She grabbed his chin.
“You never have to do anything you don’t want to,” he whispered.
And now they were back to his insecurities, which meant Tasha was going to have to let go of hers. She might fear that Adam was caught up in excitement, but that didn’t mean she shouldn’t take his feelings into consideration.
“I’ll make you a deal,” she said.
Adam narrowed his eyes.
“I’ll accept that you really want me. It’s seems unbelievable that you find me attractive, but I won’t question your feelings. But you have to stop thinking that all my decisions have to do with you being the Alpha,” she said.
He snorted. “I way more than find you attractive. I can feel something growing between us, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she confessed. “I feel it, too. I just don’t know if I can trust it, though.”
“If not”—he rose before reaching for her—“you can trust me.”
Tasha smiled at him. “I trust you.”
“Good, we need to find out how far we can go together,” he said. “Give me, give us, a chance.”
It was all she wanted in the world. Years of watching and wishing didn’t even compare to what it was really like to be with Adam. And she was telling the truth—it had nothing to do with him being the Alpha. She could remember the first time she’d really seen him. It had been the summer she’d turned fifteen. Her mom and dad had been fighting and Crystal had been with a neighbor. Tasha had walked down to the creek in the middle of the territory. The older boys had been there, swimming and playing.
Tasha had hidden behind a tree and watched.
Adam, always the ringleader of trouble, had been jumping off one of the high ridges, butt naked. It hadn’t been the first time she’d see a male nude. Shifting as part of the Pack had made nudity common, but still, Tasha had found herself following every one of Adam’s curves and twitch of muscles. He had been spectacular and time had only increased how hot he’d grown.
“Where’d you go just now?” Adam’s words pulled her from her memory.
“Nowhere,” she said. The past wasn’t something she wanted to get into right then. “I was just remembering something.”
Adam caressed her face. “Okay.”
“So do we have a deal?” she asked. “We both let go of our insecurities?”
“If you run with me.”
Tasha laughed. “Deal.”
* * * *
Adam led Tasha to the living room with a hand on the small of her back. He was making no secret of the two of them having been together the night before and that morning. It was his claim and he was just getting started. She’d been right earlier. He needed to stop thinking that everyone only wanted something from the Alpha. Adam was surrounded by good people and they weren’t trying to use him. He needed to trust people and that would start with Tasha. And it would begin here in the home of an amazing Alpha.
As they entered the large room, they found Crystal curled up on the end of the brown leather couch. She was leaning over, whispering to Marissa, her head bent. Adam made his way to the other side of his room where his father stood to allow Tasha to keep going to the young girl.
When she saw Tasha, Crystal jumped up and ran to her, throwing her arms around her neck. “Did you know that when Marissa was my age she got kicked out of a Pack for being a non-shifter? And that she ran to the city, too? She didn’t even know that a non-shifter could mate with a shifter and have babies!”
That was a lot of information at once. Tasha smiled at Crystal, listening intently. “I didn’t know that,” she answered the teenager.
Crystal held on to her hand and tugged her toward the couch. “And it wasn’t until she came here for her sister’s mating ceremony and met Gage that she learned the truth. She had been living all by herself without any Pack for years.”
Listening to Crystal explain things to Tasha made Adam realize that even though they loved everyone equally, they weren’t educating the young as they should be. Adam knew about non-shifters from his father, but that didn’t mean the rest of the Pack shared the same knowledge. Crystal was opening his eyes to one place he needed to start making his mark.
“We never shunned non-shifters, but we didn’t show them they were accepted, either,” Christian whispered.
Adam nodded. “I was just thinking that. I have an idea.”
“Good,” Christian clasped his shoulder. “I knew you would do good things.”
He only nodded distantly as he listened to the women talk.
“That must have been terrible,” Tasha said to Marissa. “I couldn’t even imagine.”
Marissa laughed and waved a hand in the air. “Oh, it was. But if I had to do it again to make my way here to Gage, I would.”
Adam believed Marissa. The bond between Gage and Marissa was one of the strongest he’d ever witnessed.
Tasha stroked her sister’s back silently and Adam really wanted to go to them and comfort them both. Crystal told Tasha about how Marissa had a lot of the same feelings as she did. And that she could also feel the wolf inside her at times.
“Wait!” Tasha interrupted. “You never told me you could feel your wolf.”
Crystal dropped her gaze and Tasha quickly looked over to Marissa. Marissa shifted so she could place her hand on Crystal’s arm.
“I never told my older sister, either,” Marissa explained. “I didn’t know how.”
Tasha threw her arms around the girl’s shoulder and hugged her tightly. “You can tell me anything, sweetheart. But I understand that you were scared.”
“I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I know I can’t shift, so shouldn’t that mean I don’t have a wolf inside me?”
Adam walked over to the couch and placed his hand on Crystal’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t have gone through this on your own. I’ll help make sure that no one else feels as alone as you did.”
“I’m lucky,” Crystal told him. “I have Tasha. Even after my mom and dad left, I always had my sister. And Tasha has always accepted me.”
“We all accept you,” Adam said.
“It’s amazing, now I know that I do have the wolf inside. She’s trapped on the inside just like I am on the outside.” Crystal’s eyes cleared and Adam could see the excitement. “Marissa runs with Gage.”
A laugh had Adam looking over at Marissa, who clarified, “Well, obviously not now, but before. The wild animal is inside us just the same. To run, to feel the wind, does magical things.”
Crystal laughed, too. “Well, she would run in human form. She can run faster than a normal human. I think that’s because of the wolf inside. By running, she’s letting her wolf out a little.”
Adam nodded because it did make sense.
“So I want to try that. I want to run with the wolves!” Tasha announced loudly.
“You want to run with the wolves?” he asked. This was absolutely the best timing.
Crystal nodded. “Marissa said I have to start slowly. Just run a little and I can work up to a mile and then more.”
Adam caught Tasha’s eye and she shrugged.
If he allowed Crystal to accompany them on the run, it wouldn’t be long before Crystal would have to head back inside. He and Tasha would still have plenty of time to let their wolf halves bond. Crouching down in front of them, Adam took Tasha’s hand, then Crystal’s. “How about if you start going for a run with me and your sister? That way we can keep an eye on you if you get tired.”
Crystal let out a cry and threw her arms around him. “Thank you! Thank you!”
He hugged the girl back. Adam knew he was doing the right thing. This feeling inside him was one that he wanted to have last all the time. He’d get that wish if he kept doing right by his Pack. “You’re very welcome.”
Adam released the teen and strolled back over to his dad, who was grinning widely. Adam couldn’t get over the change in his father.
“Good job,” Christian praised.
“I learned from the best,” Adam told him.
Christian shook his head. “You’ll be a better Alpha than me. That’s the hope for all of my generation. That our children succeed where we failed.”
“You didn’t fail,” Adam said.
“Maybe not,” Christian replied. “But I let people down. You being one of them.”
Adam started to argue, but Christian held up his hand. “Logan was right. Instead of being scared that I would disappoint you, I should have talked to you. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want you to be sorry.” Adam gripped his father’s hand. “I just want my dad back.”
“I hope you’ll always feel that way.”
He didn’t understand what his dad meant. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Christian smiled. “Come see me later, after you’ve taken the girls on the run. We have some things to discuss.”
“Sure,” Adam agreed. He didn’t like where this conversation seemed to be headed. He’d been convinced that his dad was healing, but now it seemed as though Christian had bad news for him. “As long as everything is okay.”
“Everything is the way it is supposed to be,” Christian said. “I believe that with all my heart.”
“Okay,” Adam turned back to the women. “Who’s ready to go on a run?”
As Tasha walked with Adam to the secluded spot Gage had told them about, her stomach fluttered with butterflies. It wasn’t just the thought of her sister running with her for the first time that had her so nervous, but knowing Adam would be right beside her the entire run.
Adam held her hand until they reached their destination. He turned toward her and brought her hand up to his mouth. He kissed the back before turning it over and nipping her wrist. “I can sense your uneasiness,” he said gently.
She laughed. “I feel like this is my first date or something.”
Adam was grinning. “Our first date will come when we get home. This is just a prelude. Besides, you have to admit this is beautiful land.”
It was. Tasha had always thought that this western part of Texas was nothing but dry land and dead trees. Instead, Gage’s territory was lush with green turf and healthy vegetation. They didn’t have the mountains or the ridges of home, but it was still pretty.
Even though she was grateful she was going to get this opportunity, she really wanted to shift with Adam in their own territory, so she was looking at this as a trial until they got home.
“This is going to be fun,” Adam said. “I promise.”
“I’m ready.”
Adam leaned forward to brush his lips over hers. Tasha gripped him by the nape of the neck so when he would have pulled away, she instead deepened the kiss. She thrust her tongue inside his mouth while bringing his body close to hers.
She started to grow lightheaded, but it was Adam who pulled back. He was panting.
“I now have to shift with a hard-on,” he told her. “Thanks for that.”
She giggled, wow, actually giggled.
“Come on.” Adam grabbed her hand before yanking her behind a tree. “Let’s shift. I’m going to make you pay for that kiss later.”
Tasha looked forward to it. She followed suit when Adam began to undress. When they were both nude, he nodded at her.
“Go ahead,” he said.
Tasha crouched but kept her gaze on his as she called forth her wolf. The magic seemed to swirl around her until her body began the transformation. There was no pain, no sound of breaking bones, or anything like she’d read about. Instead, the entire change only took minutes and was pretty seamless. She had been a human and now as she rose on her paws, she looked like every other wolf in the wild.
She rolled her neck before stretching her back. Tasha didn’t shift often. It didn’t seem right when she knew Crystal would never have the ability. She tried to make the full-moon runs when the Pack did them, but it had been several months since anyone had organized a full Pack activity. It must have been three or four months ago since she’d last transformed.
Because she didn’t shift as often as some of her friends, Tasha wondered if she were missing out on the connection to her animal. She’d overheard several of the Pack and how they talked about their wolves.
Adam finished his own transformation. Wow, she hadn’t seen him shift in a while, but even she didn’t think he’d been that big of a wolf before. Must be an Alpha thing. He was yawning while trying to scratch his ear.
She trotted over and starting licking at his muzzle. Adam rolled over onto his back, enjoying her attention. Once she’d lavished attention on every inch of his face, he flipped back to his stomach, then stood. He shook his massive body. Tasha rubbed her side against his, mingling their scents together.
Adam raised his head and howled. Tasha felt the pull of her Alpha and gave an answering cry.
When he took off at a sprint, she scrambled behind him. She caught up quickly—no doubt he let her—and she gave herself over to her animal instincts. The wind carried her body as she leaped over a fallen log and landed flawlessly next to Adam. He ate up the ground with his long strides. A perfect blend of muscle and power covered in a thick black pelt. Her smaller body ran hard to keep up with his longer legs. She felt free running beside him.
He nipped her shoulder and turned her to the east, no doubt leading her back to the spot where her sister would be waiting. A selfish part of her wanted to continue to run with him and be alone together.
She scolded herself and focused instead on her sister, but she couldn’t help it. Giving in to her instincts was bringing her desire for him closer to the surface. In human form, it was easier to push aside her own wants.
That was what she should be doing—looking out for her sister. Tasha tucked her head and picked up speed. As they raced back toward the house, the freedom of the running lifted her spirits. Adam led the way to the meeting spot and she only slowed when she caught the scent of her sister. All her senses were heightened. She could practically taste her sister’s excitement mixed with nerves as they drew closer. Adam stopped running several feet away from the group so she followed suit. Soon, they stood among the three in human form.
Crystal walked slowly to Tasha and ran a hand through the fur that covered her neck. Tasha leaned against her sister, letting her know she enjoyed the touch. The teenager let out a cry of delight and dropped to her knees, throwing her arms around her. It was only then that Tasha realized that she had never taken her other form around her sister. She’d always been so careful not to rub in the fact that Crystal couldn’t shift. Adam nuzzled her from the other side and she felt truly loved in that moment.
They waited until Crystal stood, taking a deep breath prior to starting to run before they took off after her. Adam kept a slow pace behind Crystal so Tasha began running beside her. Crystal’s breathing came hard as she ran through the thick grass, deep into the woods.
Tasha was trying to come up with a way to stop her when Adam raced in front of them, blocking their way. Almost in perfect order, Crystal and Tasha stopped next to him. The young girl bent at the waist with her hands on her knees, drawing in long gulps of air. When she looked up and over at Tasha, the smile on her face made Tasha’s heart sing.
This was something they could share, to bring them closer. Instead of hiding a part of herself from Crystal, Tasha would be able to have a way for the two of them to connect. It was a precious gift.
Marissa jogged up and, even pregnant, she moved flawlessly. She might not have been able to shift, but Tasha could still feel the wolf inside her. Tasha turned toward her sister and concentrated.
There, a small smell of woods and wild animal. Tasha crept forward and ran her snout around Crystal’s stomach to her lower back. It wasn’t as noticeable as Marissa’s, but Tasha could pick up that there was a wolf inside Crystal.
“Can you feel it?” Crystal asked. “I can! I’m a shifter, too.”
Tasha nodded. She might have always told Crystal that she was accepted and loved, but Tasha hadn’t known what the teen was going through. Gage and Marissa had helped so much already and it was all due to Adam’s influence. She nuzzled Crystal’s hand before plodding over to Adam. He nestled his snout into her neck.
“Why don’t the two of you finish your run?” Marissa suggested.
Tasha looked over at the young woman.
“I’ll take care of Crystal. We still have some things to talk about before you all leave,” Marissa said.
“I’ll be fine,” Crystal said. “Go, enjoy the rest of your run.”
Adam nudged her, so Tasha let herself be led away. It had been amazing to have Crystal involved in this part of her life, but now it was time to really let go.
Tasha waited until they were out of sight of her sister, then took off in a full run. Adam pounded behind her, but that was what she wanted. She might be smaller but that also meant that she had a pretty good chance of outrunning him.
She leaped over large rocks and fallen tree limbs, hoping the addition of the obstacles would slow Adam down. It didn’t seem to be working, since she could still feel his breath on her flank. She didn’t want to lose him, only make it into a real chase.
The leaves crunched under her paws and she could smell water close by. A perfect place to end the pursuit.
Tasha took a sharp right and Adam flew past her. He was scrambling to change direction and follow, but she had surprised him. With the last burst of energy, she sprinted as fast as she could. The cool blue of the water reflected her and she slowed down. The canopy above her blocked out the sun and it was chilly here. She wheezed from the hard pace, so she dipped her head and drank deeply.
Once her thirst was sated, she looked up and saw Adam’s large wolf form grinning at her. She shook her head. It seemed she hadn’t lost him after all.
Tasha began her transformation back to human and Adam saw, leading him to do the same. When she was human again, Tasha kneeled up. Adam was already human, his shift taking half the time as hers.
“Why don’t you come closer?” she asked.
Adam grinned. “Stand up for me.”
She complied, curious where this was going. “Now what?”
He tilted his head toward the creek. “Go ahead.”
Tasha frowned. The water looked cold. “I don’t think so.”
“No?” Adam teased. Then he rose, winked at her and jumped. The splash was big and some drops landed on her arm.
Well, if he could handle the cold water, so could she. Tasha put a foot in the edge and quickly pulled it back out. “Are you kidding me? It’s freezing!”
“Oh, don’t be such a baby,” he called.
Tasha narrowed her eyes. “What did you call me?”
“You’re nothing but a big baby,” Adam said.
No, he didn’t. Tasha took several steps back, then ran forward and leaped in. She made sure to land close enough to Adam to soak him. He was laughing as she popped up above the surface.
Jeez, it was even colder than she’d first thought. Why had she let him taunt her into this?
Adam swam closer to wrap his arm around her waist so that her body pressed to his. With the temperature of the water, she was surprised to feel his cock hard against his thigh.
“Really?” She raised an eyebrow.
“What can I say?” he asked. “I want you.”
Tasha grinned. “Prove it.”