5. Thorne

Ican't believe Iris doesn't see how beautiful she is.

It makes me angry. I want to kill the humans she's been with before, both because they've given her this distorted view of herself, and because they've been with her.

Iris is mine.

Mine.

The wolf in me growls possessively as I think about how much I want her.

I need her.

Now.

"Bedroom," I murmur against the soft skin of her neck.

She waves behind her. "That way."

I need to be there.

I need to be inside her.

Now.

I scoop Iris up, tossing her over my shoulder. She squeaks with surprise, and the sound makes me even more wild for her.

I want to hear what other noises she'll make for me.

The bedroom door appears, and I push it aside. I barely hear it slam into the wall, before I toss Iris onto the bed.

Her blonde hair floats around her shoulders. Her hazel eyes are wide, her lips swollen from our kiss.

My cock swells, getting harder despite the fact I didn't think it was possible to be any more wild for her.

My reaction to Iris isn't like any I've ever had. I'm crazed. I'm desperate. It's a good thing I'm getting her out of my system now, because there's no way I would be able to live like this for much longer.

Nervously, she pulls at the edges of her solid t-shirt.

I arch an eyebrow at her. "You really didn't think we were on a date, did you?"

She shakes her head. "No."

I growl again.

Crawling up the bed toward her, I help her ease her shirt over her head. I stand on my knees, ditching mine as well, and I hook my fingers in the soft black pants she wore to the restaurant.

When I pull them down, Iris moves her hips, flexing up to help me get the stretchy pants over the curve of her ass.

I want to pant when I realize she's not wearing panties.

"Thorne," she whispers.

I look up at her face.

Iris is so nervous.

It makes me feral all over again.

I fall on her, kissing her breasts, pressing myself between her legs. I put a finger inside her, and my eyes roll back in my head when I realize how wet she is.

"That's it, sweetheart," I whisper. She moans as I add another finger. "I want you so badly."

"I want you too," she whispers.

I don't hesitate.

I scramble, unzipping my jeans. I crawl between her legs and lean down to kiss her.

At the same time, I position myself at her entrance.

And slowly, I press inside.

Iris pants. "Thorne. You're…"

"I know, sweetheart. You can take me," I purr, whispering the words. "You're so fucking sexy. Do you feel how hard you make me, Iris? This is for you. Because of you," I add.

She moans, and I slide in another inch.

When I'm pressed to the hilt, I lean forward. She feels so good around me, and I resist the urge to start pumping inside of her.

"Iris, look at me," I murmur.

Her hazel eyes snap open.

"Watch me."

She nods.

Slowly, I begin to move. I watch Iris' eyes, noting the shift from shock, to curiosity.

To lust. I continue to move inside of her, thrusting in and out, relishing the feel of her core around my dick.

When I feel her start to tighten around me, I reach down. "Are you ready, Iris?" I whisper.

Her lips part, and I press on her clit.

I feel Iris explode around me.

Through the pulsing of her, I pump twice, hard. When I come, it's so hard that my spine tingles with sensation.

Iris.

I'm not sure if I moan her name or if it"s just in my mind.

I don't come down. I don't leave her.

Not for a while.

When I do, I don't pull out. I roll her close to me, wrapping my arms around her, until we're looking into each other's eyes.

She's staring at me, and nervously, I hope she's ok.

To my relief, Iris smiles. "Okay."

"Okay?" I tilt my head.

"I believe you. It was a date."

I laugh and swoop in for a kiss. "It was."

She kisses me back, then pulls back. "Oh. Um. Thorne…"

"Yeah?"

"I guess we didn't. Um. We forgot…"

Oh. Whoops. I know what she's worried about.

We didn't use protection.

"I can get the morning after pill," she whispers.

I tuck her close and kiss her hair. "No. It's okay. I can't have kids, and I'm clean."

There's no way I can reproduce with a human, and I don't get diseases as a shifter so… both statements are true.

Ish.

"Oh," she whispers. She tucks herself closer to me, and closes her eyes.

Judging by her steady breathing moments later, she's asleep.

I am not.

While we can't have kids, it wouldn't matter anyway. This is it for us. I just needed this one time.

Just to get this over with.

Now that I have, I can move on. Iris is out of my system.

Which means it's time to find my real mate.

Six weeks later,Iris is not out of my system.

If anything, I'm even crazier for her.

It's been six weeks of clandestine meetings. Six weeks of going to her little house when she gets off of work. Six weeks of clawing at the cravings inside me. Six weeks of thinking about her sweet body, her little smiles, when we're not together.

It's never enough.

As has become routine in the last few weeks, I'm in the middle of a meeting with Evander and pack member, thinking about Iris.

She's done early today. I asked her to meet me near a lake that's just outside of pack territory. She agreed. When we get there, I'm going to fuck her on a blanket. I'm going to watch the afternoon sun light her skin up, and I'm going to lick the sweat from her chest…

"Alpha."

I blink. "What."

"Are you listening?"

I narrow my eyes at Evander. "Yeah. I'm listening."

"What did I say?"

The other male, Josh, stands. "I'll go see about those grain shipments..." he murmurs.

He leaves the room.

Evander is glaring at me.

"What?" I say, annoyed with my younger brother.

"You're still fucking her."

I bristle. "Why do you care."

His eyes flash. "Why do I care?"

"Yeah. Why do you care?"

"Oh, I don't know Thorne. Because if you lose the ability to shift, you'll no longer be alpha? You're turning thirty in what… seven months?"

"It's a good thing I have you then to step in to my place," I bark.

Evander growls. "That's not fucking fair, Thorne."

"Why? You'd make a good alpha, Ev…"

"And you'd disrupt the pack? Again?"

Silently, I glare at him.

He runs his hands through his hair. Evander and I look a lot alike, but people usually don't guess that we're brothers on the first try. He takes more after my mother's line, whereas I'm the exact mirror image of my father.

It's just dumb luck that I was born first. That the title of alpha passed to me.

It could have been Evander.

Easily.

"She's a human," he says softly. "You're a shifter. You can't tell her about our world. You can't have an heir with her. So what the fuck are you doing?"

"I don't know!" I snap at him.

Evander blinks at me.

"I don't know," I repeat. I stand, pacing, my thoughts vomiting out into the room. "I just know that I'm fucking obsessed with her, Ev. I can't get enough. It feels like I'm frantic for her. Like there's something else going on between us. Like she's…"

I stop.

"She's not your fated mate, T," Evander whispers. "Fated mates can't be human."

I shut my eyes.

Recently, one of our distant cousins in Montana did something incredible. He found his fated mate, something that shifters had forgotten existed. Fated mates make you stronger. Faster. More powerful. They're determined by something more than just the usual agreement for mates.

The news rocked the shifter world.

However, considering there hadn't been a fated mate pair for hundreds of years prior to Gabe and Cara, it's not likely to happen again.

I'm not hopeful.

Or at least, I didn't think I was.

Until now.

"I know," I whisper, my voice hoarse. "I know, Ev."

"You have to end it. For the pack," he murmurs.

I shut my eyes. The vision I had, of a picnic at the lake and lazy afternoon sex, disappears.

"I will," I whisper.

It's time.