9. Jackson

9

Jackson

I can feel the thrum of energy flowing through our bond from Charlie as she leaps off the bed.

‘Claim her,’ my wolf growls.

I hum in response and start my slow countdown, “Ten, nine, eight…”

Charlie’s giggle seems to echo through the room as she sprints for the door in just my shirt. The sight of her is breathtaking. Her hair billows behind her in long, dark waves as she flashes me a smile at the doorway. It makes me pause because in the short time I’ve known her, I’ve never seen that look on her face. That freedom. As if the weight of all life’s problems was lifted off her.

She shifts her tiny body and runs to the front entryway staircase. The second floor has two main exits: the front entry stairs and the stairs that used to be used for help at the far end of the wing.

‘Bold move, little mate. We should chase her now.’

‘Give her a little more time,’ I say.

“Three, two, one,” I count, knowing she is listening for us. My eyes shift, and my hearing is on point as I use all my skills to stalk my beautiful little mate. It only takes a handful of steps to get me to the doorway. I adjust my now pulsing cock to hide the evidence of how much I’m enjoying this.

‘She is happy,’ my wolf says. ‘I can feel her excitement pulsing through our bond.’

‘Yes, I think she wants to get caught ,’ I hum as I head towards the front entry stairwell.

Standing at the top, I take a deep breath, scenting the air for her. The house is split into two main wings. The west wing is where I live with my family. The east wing is for the mothers and pups who stay here during the first shifts. Charlie’s sugar cookie scent floats downstairs.

I take the steps two at a time. My body thrumming with the thrill of the chase. I’ve never felt this excitement as I continue to saunter through the house. I sniff again and smile. She ran towards my office. What I would give to bend her over my desk and fuck her senseless. Own her like she already owns me.

I pass the hall to the kitchen, pulling open the office door. The room is empty, the fireplace unlit, and I scan it slowly, breathing deeply. My dad’s scent still lingers here, but her sugar cookie smell can’t be missed.

“Little mate, I know you’re in here.” My voice is teasing growl at the growing anticipation of taking what is mine.

Then I hear a small giggle. She tried to muffle it, but I heard it nonetheless and head towards the bookshelf on the left side of the room.

‘Beautiful little mate, did you find a safe room?’ I tease through our bond.

I grab the book and pull it towards myself, releasing the wall. It opens, and she stands in the corner, clad in just my shirt. Her hand covers her mouth.

“Oh god,” she giggles out, “I didn’t think you’d find me in here.”

“Charlie, I could find you anywhere.” The truth is she has seared herself into my soul. The Phoenix in her hasn’t been born yet, but I feel her strength growing inside me. Even now, the beautiful, broken woman looks ready to burst into flames, and I’m here to dance in her blaze.

I watch Charlie slowly bite her lip, that same easy smile gracing her mouth. Her legs cross as if the slight movement could keep me out. A smile pulls at my lips as I slowly stalk closer, shutting the door behind me.

“You are a fucking sight. Now for my reward,” my body closes in on hers within the tight space. A light whimper slips from her wolf, and her arousal fills the tiny room. I inhale deeply and let my wolf float to the surface as my canines drop and my eyes shift.

My instincts are uncontrolled as I push forward quickly, ready to claim her again. She shrieks and tries to jump away, but not quick enough.

“Sir?” She squeaks out as I pin her to the wall by the neck. My grip is firm but gentle, keeping her pressed beneath me.

“One more time, little mate, and you will have me on my knees,” I whisper against the shell of her ear.

“Do it, sir,” she teases.

I slide down her body, lifting my oversized shirt, and press my nose to her center. She’s dripping wet just from our game, I’m about to eat my fill of her.

My hand on her neck holds her firmly as my tongue slowly works her over from back to front, lapping at her juices. I push my nose into her center and suck the small bud into my mouth. My teeth gently pinch it.

I spread her legs further, lifting one over my shoulder so she has no choice but to rest her core on my face as I pin her against the wall.

“Jackson, please.” Her fingers fold into my hair, and she tugs gently, pulling me to where she needs me most.

My tongue plunges into her center as I enjoy the pulse of her body. Her fingers latch into my hair while her other hand flies up to her mouth to stifle the sound.

“Be loud, Charlie. No one will hear you scream in here. This room is soundproof.” I watch the flush work down her body as I slide two fingers into her core. Her hips know what to do, and she rolls into me, pushing my fingers deeper.

Her moans echo off the walls. The sound has my cock pulsing against the gray sweats. Her core begins to flutter, and she starts to peak. But she only comes on my cock so I pull away quickly.

“No, no, no,” she pants the sound making me smile.

I stand up and point toward the door that leads to my office. “Lose my shirt. Bend over my desk, hands behind your back.”

Her pupils explode with need as she walks past me, dropping the shirt on the floor on her way. I lick my fingers as I follow her out.

She doesn’t break eye contact with me as she bends over the desk. Her full breasts bulge out underneath her body. My hand drags across my mouth ‘cause what a fucking sight.

Not wanting us interrupted, I turn the lock to the main door. My hand slips inside my gray sweats as I stroke my throbbing cock.

“I want everyone in the kitchen to hear me fuck you. Hear me own you. Do you understand?”

She bites her lip and demurely looks up at me. Her eyes are nearly black from arousal, “Yes, sir.” She says quietly.

“Fuck.” I say,dragging my fingers along her shoulder and down her back. “Good girl,” I praise. My hand wraps over her full curves, and then I press three fingers into her center without hesitation. Her hips push back and up at the intrusion, and a loud moan fills the room.

I pump into her a handful of times before sliding them out and along her seam. “Do you want to learn to take me here?” I ask, teasing at the entrance of her puckered hole.

She stiffens but pushes back, giving me permission. I slowly press one finger into the tight hole.Her small squeal turns to a moan.

“I’m going to take that as a yes, little mate.” I chuckle. I slowly work a finger in as I bring the head of my cock to her entrance.“Relax for me, I have you.”

I watch as she takes a deep breath, and then as she releases it, I press both my cock and finger inside of her.The sight of my pulsing cock sliding easy through her slick folds has me stifling a growl. My other hand holding her ass firmly, the lightness of her skin turning red with my marks.

Her scream makes me smile as I continue to work her over slowly. “You feel like heaven. You’re so tight for me.” I have to close my eyes for a moment as I work her over slowly. She feels too fucking good to be real. My hand comes down hard on her soft ass and I feel the flutter of her core with each punishing spank.

“Fuck.” The mate bond is an added sensation as the glowing fire fills the room. My movements grow less controlled as Charlie’s hands slip from her back to hold the desk. My hand sweeps her long dark locks into a fist, and I slip my finger from her ass. I tug her head back with her hair, causing her ass to pucker out more, allowing me deeper inside my knot presses through her entrance.I begin a slow punishing circle on her clit.

“Charlie,” I growl out as I let her hair go and bend over her body, my hand rubbing tight circles on her little bud as she chants my name. I bite down hard on her shoulder, sucking the spot as she comes undone, shaking and screaming.

I growl my possession as pulsing jets of cum shoot from me deep inside of her. I’ve never come so hard in my life.My body throbs from the release, triggering a shiver in her. “Good girl,” I praise in her ear as I lap at the second bite. Her body should go into heat soon, with the bond being established it’s only a matter of time before she’s pregnant with my baby.

The idea has me ready to take her again. I lick gently on the mark I left her with. This one will heal, though I wouldn’t be sad if she wore my marks all over. Charlie collapses down on the desk, and I rub her back as her center continues to drag cum out of my cock that’s locked with my knot.

In the quiet room, I say, “I never thought I’d find you.”

She turns her head to see me, giving me the lazy smile I’m starting to love. She looks so fucking beautiful. Her lips are swollen, and cheeks flushed a deep pink. Her dark hair spread out along her white porcelain skin.My hands drag through her hair as I pull it to the side to see her better.

I continue, “I never thought I had a fated mate, but the dreams of what it would be like don’t compare to the reality of this ache. The truth that pulses through us.” I lean over and kiss the bite mark that is slowly healing. “I love you, Charlie, with every fiber of my being. You’re mine, and I’m yours.”

Small tears line her lashes as she rolls her lips into her mouth, I can feel her emotions pulsing through the bond, but I don’t push her to say what they are. I’m okay knowing where I stand, where we stand.

My knot starts to loosen inside of her, and I pull myself free; the cum seeps out slowly and down her thighs, and I take two fingers and push it back into her center, holding it there. The need to mate her is so strong I want to fill her again and again.

Her voice is full of laughter as she says, “Jackson, are you pushing your cum back into me?”

‘Yes,’ my wolf growls through our bond.

“And I will continue to fill you every day until you bear us a child,” I add, saying it to the room as an oath. “Then, every day after that, I’ll continue to fuck you senselessly, so you never forget who you belong to.” She moans loudly as my fingers push deeper inside of her.

Reluctantly, I pull my fingers from her core. Then I slid her from the desk and down into my lap. Gently, I tuck her head to my shoulder, and she melts into me, allowing me to hold her.

The tiny fingers trace along my chest, and I love the feeling of being close. Our hearts beat in sync in the quiet room. She’s silencing all the demands and worries that nag at me every day. I don’t want to attend to Pack life or be an Alpha; I want to stay wrapped up in this moment—wrapped up in her. Her fingers slide along my body, stopping at a particularly nasty scar along my collarbone.

“Can you tell me what happened?”Her beautiful brown eyes flutter up at me with the question as her fingers dance slowly over the scar.

“Well, I was on an assignment with my crew. It was the dead of winter in northern Russia investigating,”I leave off any details of the trip.

She doesn’t miss the hesitation, “Is all your military stuff top secret?”

“Most is. So, I’ll be vague, but this isn’t military-related. Me, Killian, Reacher, and Wyatt were shifted. We had to take a break from the rest of the unit and let our animals out. It’s hard when we’re on assignment, so we all went out together. As we came across a big open plain, another shifter attacked us. He threw Reacher across the valley, and I charged at him. The large Kodiak’s claws went right through my shoulder. This is the only one that scarred me—it was pretty bloody. Reacher and Wyatt both took the bear down, but if it hadn’t been for them, Killian and I would be dead. Even our large wolves were no match for the bear.”

Small tears hit my chest, “Why are you cryin’ love?”

She breathes in deeply, “It’s just, I’m scared of the feelings I have for you?—”

I hold her, waiting for the rest.

She sniffles softly, “because I know it’ll ruin me, and I know I’ll let it.”

“Never. Charlie. I’ll never hurt you.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. I know love ruins us all.”

I saw her walls and the sadness as it moved over her like a thick fog. She felt that belief to her core. Some part of me wanted to obliterate the wall, knock it down, and let her shine. But my little Phoenix needed to be reborn on her own. Until then, I was determined to hold every one of her pieces.

“Talk to me, little mate.” I tried to pull the truth from her and share this fog that I felt was filling our bond. “Charlie, love is a beautiful gift.”

Her small head shakes, and she presses to stand, but I hold her firmly.

“No, Jackson, I know what love does to us—has done to me. I can’t let myself love another person, not after—” Her breath catches, and I feel my heart shatter slightly.

The military taught me a lot, but grieving a death is something I never handled well. We also didn’t see much of it in our unit, a perk of four very overprotective alpha shifters.

Charlie presses at me to stand again, wanting space, and as much as I don’t want to let her go, I relent. She walks over to the black shirt and slips it over her body—the shirt like a shield. I can see her guarding her heart like a warrior—my little broken Phoenix. I let a slight whine slip at the distance she’s putting between us, but I don’t know how to help her.