Beyond the Grasslands (Mirage Islands Mates #2)

13. October

Chapter 13

October

THORIN

I wanted my mate with a passion that had become increasingly difficult to squash down. If it hadn’t been for another shifter who made a remark about us finding a den, rather than a parking lot, on our first date, I might have lost my cool and take Nika right there against the car.

She deserved far more, even if it seemed as though she would have willingly lost herself in that moment with me. Since then, we had gone out on a couple more dates. While they all ended with a hot make out session that tested both of our restraints, it was the day-to-day moments working with her that made me want to fall down at her feet and worship the woman she was.

It was difficult to believe that there was any gap in our ages at all. She was far more mature than Catalina had ever been her age. Nika was more poised, respected, and driven than even my own mother had been when she held the title of Luna.

It was the end of October already, and while we had another date scheduled for tonight, it had been put on hold when two council members showed up. Nika strolled into the office after receiving my summons and it was painfully obvious that she had dolled herself up for our date before getting the news to meet me in the office. She wore a little black dress, high heels with sexy little straps around her ankles, and her hair was piled in a a half-up, half-down way that left most of her neck bare to me but covered the scarred flesh at the base of her neck.

Nika wasn’t ashamed of her mark, but she knew that it bothered me, so that particular hairstyle had been for my benefit, and I loved her all the more for her careful concern.

“This must be the wonderful Nika Mayweather we have heard so much about.” Albert Rosen, who was the eldest council member, rose to his feet as my mate made her entrance and moved to the seating area between our two desks. “Albert Rosen, my dear,” The man introduced himself at her puzzled look. “This is Adrian Prentice, one of my fellow council members.”

Nika greeted both men before she came to my side and stood while we waited for the men to get down to business.

“It seems that you are in good health?” Adrian questioned my mate, as if he might have found her otherwise.

“I am both healthy and happy.”

I wanted to grin at Nika’s obvious statement to put the man off from speaking ill of me and any rumors that may have circulated and found receptive ears among the council members.

“Forgive my curiosity, but you two are purportedly moon-blessed, why have you not completed the mating ceremony and fully bonded yet?” His eyes drifted down my mate’s neck in a lingering look that set me on edge. When I didn’t bother to hold back a very hostile growl, he finally averted his gaze. Albert chuckled.

“Forgive my partner, he does like to provoke a reaction rather than listening to lip service people usually give us.” He smiled kindly but then his cold, gun metal gray eyes locked with Nika’s. “We do, however, require an answer to the question.”

“We have not bonded because I did not trust Thorin’s pack.”

“What does that have to do with the bond between the two of you?” Adrian asked.

“To be fully bonded to Thorin means that I become the Luna of a pack whose members not only treated me poorly, but drugged and assaulted me, as well as colluded with my kidnapper to remove me from the pack. I couldn’t in good conscience allow myself to turn around and become Luna to a pack who did not deserve my loyalty to them.”

“Does that mean you will step down from your position, Thorin?” Albert inquired.

“No, it does not. Nika was kind enough to give us four months’ time to weed out the individuals who wanted to see the ruination of our pack. We have most, if not all, of them in the cells beneath the pack house as we speak. The time also allowed Nika and the rest of the pack to begin to heal from the past trauma inflicted on all of them by the members of the pack who set out to bring about our downfall.”

“We understand that some of these members you speak of were responsible for the death of your father as well as the alleged death of Alpha Winslow’s oldest daughter, Bethany.”

“A woman who was meant to be your moon-blessed mate?” Albert tacked on when Adrian left it out.

“All of that is true.”

“We need you to explain what has happened within your pack and why you feel that the two of you are still qualified to run it, especially since you are as yet unmated in any official capacity.”

By the time we finished filling the two council members in, it was obvious that our date night would no longer happen. Once we showed our visitors to their rooms, I escorted Nika back to hers and stood there, ready to apologize, when she leaned forward and initiated a sizzling kiss that nearly singed me to my core.

“Why don’t you come in and join me for a movie? Our original planned date was ruined, but the whole night doesn’t have to be.”

“Are you sure?” I didn’t want to ask and leave room for her to change her mind. Still, I did, for her sake.

“I am sure.” She grabbed my hand and tugged me into the room. “Let’s enjoy our night.”

When she told me we should enjoy our night, my mind immediately rushed to the idea of us naked and rolling around her bed together until the sun came up. Early morning meeting with the visiting shifter council members be damned.

“Be right back,” Nika called over her shoulder as she moved toward the ensuite bathroom. I took the time to look around and notice all the little changes Nika had made to the room. It left me with a mixed bag of feelings about our situation. Clearly, she had settled in and made herself at home over the past couple months. There were little nick nacks, some of them gifts the children of the pack had bestowed upon her. While her room was tidy, there were things that made it feel lived in like the robe that draped over the side of a chair or the way her slippers peeked out from under the bed. A soft, blue throw blanket had been left haphazardly at the end of the bed.

The way she had settled made me happy because it meant she was one step closer to accepting that pack as hers. On the other hand, she started to settle into the wrong room. She was meant to be with me and it drove me a little mad to see her things so well loved and tossed and here and there around a room meant for guests, not my mate.

“Why does your face look like that?” Nika asked when she rejoined me in the bedroom. The dress she had worn for our date had been replaced with leggings and a loose-fitted tank top.

“Genetics mostly,” I answered back with as I shifted my grumpy disposition to one that matched the playful smirk I pasted on for her benefit.

“Honesty,” she demanded.

I huffed and pulled my mate into my arms. “I noticed that you seem to have settled in, and while it pleased me on the surface to know that you seem one step closer to being secure in the pack, it also makes me a bit angry.”

“Angry?” Her head snapped back so she could look me in the eyes without moving her body away from mine. I nodded and leaned in to place a quick kiss to the tip of her cute little upturned nose.

“Angry because I don’t want you settled into a guest room.” I pointed at the robe that had been thrown over the chair. “That should be in my room - our room - thrown over a chair in there. Better yet, it should be on the floor because we were too busy disrobing you to care where it landed.” Heat flared in her eyes as a beautiful smile bloomed along with the hint of a blush across her cheeks.

“I want you.” It was a simple statement and Nika pulled closer as my voice lowered for her. “I want you in my arms, in my bed, in my life, and fully in this bond with me.” A hint of worry glazed over her eyes and I shook my head again. “Not pushing for that to happen this minute, but you asked for honesty, and that’s what was going through my mind while you were changing out that dress. I also want you to wear that for me again one day. It wasn’t fair that the only time I got to enjoy seeing you in it was shared with those two ancient assholes from the council.”

Nika laughed. “Better not let them hear you call them that.”

“They’d probably agree with me, considering they once had mates of their own.”

The only way to obtain a council position was to have been fully bonded to a moon-blessed mate and survived their death at some point. For some reason, our long-ago ancestors deemed the people who had loved and lost their moon-blessed to be the wisest of us all. It wasn’t the only criteria anymore, but it was still a main point before a person could be considered for a spot amongst them.

“Do you think they will be able to do anything about whoever has placed sigils on members of your pack.”

“Our pack, and no, I honestly don’t think they will have any power over whatever is going on.” Something didn’t sit well with me about the two members who had come to visit our pack.

“They didn’t seem surprised. I imagine they probably perfected a great poker face, but they should have been a little surprised to find out that there might be a goddess, or someone claiming to be a goddess, amongst us who has caused all this havoc in the pack.”

“That’s what didn’t sit well with me. You’re right, Nika. They didn’t seem surprised.”

“Do you think they might be working with whoever is behind everything?”

I shook my head. “No. I think they might have had some similar instances with other packs that we haven’t heard about yet. My guess is that the council has kept things hush, hush. If I find out that has happened, and it costs this pack, and other members…” I let the thought trail off.

“Not just members. It cost this pack, in specific, its former Alpha and your former moon-blessed mate. It also cost you a dear friend.”

The fact that she could mention Catalina and Bethany to me without batting an eye spoke volumes of Nika’s character. She wasn’t plagued by jealousy or insecurities. My mate might deny that she was perfect, but every time we had an honest conversation about our feelings or what might be happening within the pack, she proved me right.

“You know what I really think?” I asked her as I pushed some of her hair back behind her ears.

“What’s that?”

“I think we have had enough chats about the pack, the council members, and anything that doesn’t pertain to the two of us. That bed looks slightly less comfortable than my own, but I bet the tradeoff of you in my arms will be worth it.”

Nika threw her head back and laughed. My eyes tracked to the scar that became visible as she did so. She never noticed my slight wince at the sight of it because her eyes had closed inadvertently. For that, I was thankful. I didn’t think it was possible to make up for what I had done to my mate, even if she didn’t think there was anything to be forgiven for. She bore a brutal mark from me, one that I would take back if I could, simply so it wouldn’t bring her pain or shame.

I knew what others thought of the mark. There was really only one reason for a person to have a mark that savage on their body. It spoke of violence, not respect. Normally. That wasn’t the case in our situation, but it would be the first thought anyone who saw it would have.

“No!” Nika hissed as her eyes opened and she realized what I must be thinking. “I wouldn’t change it. You came for me. In your desperation, you marked me directly after killing the man who took me from you. This,” she pointed to her neck, “is a badge of honor and I wear it proudly.”

I took a step back. “What?”

“You heard me. This is the mark of a shifter who refused to allow his mate to be claimed by another. It is the mark from a wolf who just killed my enemy, freed me from my captor, and took me as his own. Don’t you dare wish it away.”

“Did you forget how frightened you were of my wolf before?”

Nika shrugged her shoulders and moved away from me to turn down her bed. “I was disoriented and not quite myself, considering the trauma I endured. As soon as I was able to think clearly, and especially after reading your side of the events that happened leading up to this…” She touched her neck once more as her train of thought paused. “It only took me a day or two to realize what happened and come to terms with it, Thorin. You were the one who prolonged everything after that by hiding away from me. In case you haven’t realized yet, there is no disconnect between you and your wolf. He only took over to bring me to you - both times.”

She wasn’t wrong. I moved to where Nika had gone to the other side of the bed to turn it down as well and I pulled her into my embrace. She stood there and swayed in my arms with her back to my front and my arms wrapped tightly around her. In a way, I anchored myself to her because it was a comfort to hear how she felt, but even more so when I could hold onto her. There were moments where it felt as though Nika might slip through my fingers and I’d never get her back. Waiting to complete our bond wasn’t helping the situation, but she was worth the wait. A healthy bond was worth the wait.

“Do you think you can keep from marking me if we get in that bed together?” I teased as my fingers coasted down her arms and dug into her sides to tickle a laugh out of my mate.

“Stop it!” She yelped and tried to squirm away, but I wasn’t having it.

“Not until you answer me.”

“Unlike some…” Nika’s giggles ran over the words for a minute. “People…” She huffed but couldn’t stop the giggles. “I have…” She made the cutest little growling mewl that did more to make my dick hard than it did to threaten me. “Self control.” My mate finally managed to get out.

“Is that so?” I stopped tickling her and turned her body so that she faced me. “Well, I guess it’s good that I lack it when it comes to you.” My lips crashed against her and I pulled her even closer, so that our bodies touched from head to toe. Her lips were warm and pliant beneath me as she gave in to my silent demand for her to open up for me. Our tongues tangled as her fingertips explored around my waist, up my back, and over my shoulders. I wrapped my hands around her hips and tugged so that she had no choice but to slide up my body and wrap her legs around me.

“Nika, love,” I whispered against her lips when we both came up to breathe for a minute.

“Thorin, I don’t want to wait.”

I shook my head. “Made you a promise, sweetheart. Gonna live up to it, so you know I’m a man of my word.”

“I already know that.”

“Well, then I’m not going to disprove it now. We can do this without the marking.” She nodded her head in agreement at the same time she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. Her canines had elongated during our make out session and they were prominent in her mouth. I couldn’t look away and leaned back in to swipe my tongue across them. Nika moaned her pleasure at the intimate gesture. “Soon, love. Soon you can sink those beautiful teeth of yours deep into my flesh and we will finish what was already started.”

I moved back up toward the head of the bed and placed Nika on the cool sheets where she had turned down the bed only moments before. “For now, I’m going to pleasure my mate. By the time I’m done with you, you won’t even remember your own name, let alone that your deepest desire is to claim me in every way.”

“Or, you could just stay still long enough for me to…” Her teeth grazed across my neck and sent a shiver of pleasure up my spine. We both knew she wouldn’t bite without my consent, but that didn’t mean my little minx of a mate wouldn’t play dirty. She teased me again and then nibbled on the shell of my ear. Each time her teeth grazed my skin, it sent another shock of sensation through my body and became harder for me to resist the lure of the mate bond.

“Nika!” I called out to her as I backed up and slid her leggings down. She hadn’t put anything on underneath them, so I was treated to the sight of her bare pussy and that was when the last bit of my control snapped.

I hungrily dove in and lapped up all the sweet nectar between Nika’s thighs. Her moans grew louder with each swipe of my tongue, and then when I leaned in and sucked hard on her clit, her hips bucked up to meet me. I slipped a hand between us and managed to slide one finger into tight, silky depths of her pussy as she continued to buck against my face.

“Thorin!” She called out, but there was no way I would stop. I used one hand to push down on her lower abdomen while I added another finger to brush over the wondrous bundle of nerves inside her pussy that I knew would be extra sensitive thanks to the pressure I applied from above as well. After I grazed her clit with my teeth and sucked it hard again, Nika exploded in a way I had never experienced before. She showered me with her sweet release and I didn’t let a bit of it go to waste.

I continued to lick her as I eased my fingers free from her contracting pussy. “What just happened?” She asked, clearly astounded.

“You just squirted, beautiful.”

“I didn’t think that was a real thing.” Her voice was a little rough and throaty as she came back down from her orgasm.

“Seemed real enough to me,” I teased as I moved up her body and planted kisses along all of her exposed skin as I went. She still wore the tank top, though I could see one rose nipple peeking out from the gaped armhole. While I wanted to pop it into my mouth and suck it until she throbbed with need for more of me, it was evident that we needed to dial things back just a bit before someone got carried away.

The promises I made to Nika were worth the torture of dealing with the mess I’d made in my pants when she released all over my face.

“What about you?” Nika finally asked as I bundled her up in my arms.

“Sweetheart, I was so turned on by how hard you just came that I matched your energy.” Nika glanced down, as if she could see the mess inside my pants and giggled.

“Maybe we should both get a shower?”

“It can wait for a minute. I want to hold you for a minute because when I get up, it will be to go back to my room before we both go against your previous wishes. You’re not ready to become the Luna of this pack yet. Almost, but not quite.”

“How do you know me so well?”

“Because you’re important, so I pay attention.”

“You keep telling me that I’m perfect, but I’m beginning to think it’s just the opposite. You’re the perfect one.” The last two words were said on a yawn before Nika closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into my side.