Chapter 17 - Gina

We leave the cabin early the next morning and head home. We can stay in neutral territory for a while before we cut across into our own, but I don’t feel safe. I think the other pack wouldn’t hesitate to attack us no matter where we are.

Bailey suggests we travel most of the way as wolves, and I agree. It will mean leaving his pickup back at the base of Mount Wilson, but someone can come back for it later. The most important thing right now is for us to get home.

In front of the tiny cabin, I pack my clothes and Bae’s into a little pack. For a few seconds, we stand in the cold, clear air, completely naked and exposed.

The light is pale, only just glinting across the tops of the mountains. It looks gray and dark where we are, but it’s heavenly bright up on the peaks. Bae looks at me, his eyes glowing with reflections of the sun. I can’t stop smiling at him, and I reach up to softly stroke his cheek.

He leans into my caress, turning his head to kiss my palm. It makes me giggle, and he winks at me.

Bae takes a step back and shifts. I attach the bag to him like a harness and shift as well. Both of us look up towards the nearest mountain, noses high as we assess the area.

I can smell the other pack somewhere upriver. They are a long distance away, and I don’t think we need to worry about them right now. It’s not over, though, that’s for sure.

When I look over at Bae again, he has his head high, looking towards the peak. I slide up against him and give him a little shove. He twists around and barks softly, doing a playful bow and wagging his tail.

Inside me, a huge barrier breaks open. The joy I feel at being out on the mountain with another wolf—especially Bae—is so intense, it cuts through me and shatters all my fears.

I never realized how much I was holding back.

As instinct and emotion take me over, I charge towards Bae, barking and twisting in a circle before running towards the trees. I hear Bae pounding after me, and soon, he catches up and runs beside me, shoulder to shoulder.

I feel myself slipping away. There is nothing but the purity of the wolf. Shame, guilt, anger… all of these become meaningless as I remember my true nature and let go of being human.

The world is… cold, damp earth under my paws… clear icy mountain air… the rising sun, changing from silver to gold… and my mate.

In wolf shape, Bae’s scent is much stronger, and every time I look at him, tingles rush through my body, making my hair stand on end. There is absolutely no doubt that Bae was made for me, and we were always meant to be together.

As we approach our home territory, we slow down and shift back, getting dressed and eating the last of the candy bars. We’re close to human camping grounds now, so it wouldn’t be safe to run as wolves.

“We’ve made great time,” Bae says, tipping back his head to finish a can of cola.

“Yes,” I agree. “It’s barely mid-morning.”

“We’ll take this hiking track, and it will bring us down into the camping grounds at the back of Silver Meadows.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

There is just a bit of awkwardness between us. We’re more comfortable together than we’ve ever been, but still not sure of each other’s boundaries. On our way down the trail, we share a lot of shy looks, smiles, and winks, but keep our distance.

I wonder if his body is burning like mine is.

As we hike into the clearing, I’m shocked to see Jack pulling up into the parking lot.

“How did you know we were coming?” I exclaim, running up to hug my brother. He gives me a tight squeeze, then leans into Bae, giving him a clap on the shoulder.

“Kelta told me,” Jack says. “She said a couple of scouts got killed. It looked like the deal turned bad, and she saw you coming through the valley. The others are on high alert.”

“Good,” Bae says. His tone is incredibly hard, and he seems more sure of himself than he’s ever been. “Get us to the elders.”

Jack nods, and we all get into his truck to ride into town.

Bae sits in the back with me and holds my hand. When we look into each other’s eyes and share a little smile, I hear Jack clear his throat loudly.

“So, you guys… uh… worked things out?”

“We sure did,” I murmur, leaning in to give Bae a quick kiss.

It doesn’t take long to get to Shelley’s. We hurry in through the back entrance to find Carson, Sasha, and Seth waiting for us. A slender blond woman in rough mountain gear is drinking tea by the counter. I assume it must be Kelta.

“Sit down, Bae,” Carson says, gesturing to the chairs on the other side of the table. “Tell us what happened.”

We sit down, and I note that none of them look very happy.

Why would they be? We almost got killed.

“The other pack is a bunch of bloodthirsty, honorless mongrels,” Bae says. “We attempted to parley. They almost killed me, and tried to take Gina. We were lucky to get out alive.”

“Are you kidding me?” Sasha exclaims. “How the hell did a conversation about territory get so violent?”

“Because they are inherently violent,” Bae explains calmly. “It wouldn’t have mattered what we did. They were always going to kill us and then track down the rest of you and kill you, too.”

“Bae, I think this is unacceptable,” Seth says. “This was your first test as alpha, and it couldn’t have gone worse.”

“Wait!” I cry out in outrage, my voice ripping through the room. “How dare you? This is your alpha you are speaking to. He handled that situation better than any of you could. None of you would have gotten out alive. Once it became clear we had no choice but to fight, you should have seen him! The strength and power of his wolf… he is practically unbeatable. Now, we also have vital intel on the other pack. Our mission was a success.”

“Listen here,” Carson says, pointing at me. “You can’t just sit there and disrespect us this way—”

“No, Carson,” Sasha puts her hand on his arm, shaking her head. “They aren’t fighting each other. They have come together.” She looks at us very closely, her face changing. “I can see signs of a terrible fight. I think they’re telling the truth. Bae wasn’t reckless.”

“I can confirm the details,” Kelta says, approaching the table. “We did not move into enemy territory, but we heard the fight and tracked our alpha and den mother. The enemy pack is brutal. We will need a solid defense against them.”

There’s a bit more arguing around the table until the elders agree to leave the matter for now and decide what to do once a full council can be gathered.

Jack offers us a ride home.

“Can you drop me off at Mom and Dad’s?” I ask him. “I just want to let them know I’m okay.”

“Sure,” Jack agrees.

I sit with Bailey in the backseat and hold his hand while he softly traces his fingertips across my palm. It feels like he’s stroking me all over. The sensation echoes through me, making my blood run hot and my skin sing.

Jack pulls up at our parents’ house, and I hurry inside to have a brief chat with Mom. Jack offers me his truck so I can drive back to Bae’s, and I accept, hurrying to get home to him.

As I pull up in the driveway, a rush of anxiety floods through me. It was easy up on the mountain, where it was just the two of us—and with death so close, everything seemed so clear. Now that we’re home, will all my insecurities return?

I head inside, and the house is too quiet. I hurry up the stairs to find Bae sound asleep in bed. I stand over him for a few minutes, admiring his muscular body twisted around the sheets.

When I sit down on the edge of the bed, his eyes open as he rolls towards me.

“Gina—”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Bae,” I say. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“No, it’s okay.” He grabs my hand. “I was waiting for you. I need to thank you for taking such good care of me. For getting me out of there, tending my wounds and… everything else.”

He says the last with a sly smile. I can’t help it; I smile right back. Warmth is pouring through my chest, opening me up, reminding me how much I love him and how much I want him.

But now we’re back… and it’s complicated again.

“I’m sorry, Bae, but it was just the high emotions,” I stammer. “I couldn’t hold myself back—”

Bae kisses me. The second his hot lips touch mine, I feel those walls inside me come down all over again. It’s as if underneath my shy, reserved persona, there was always a fierce, wild woman waiting to be unleashed.

I kiss him back, grabbing him and pressing myself up against him. The arousal is roaring through me now, hardening my nipples as a deep, throbbing need starts up inside me.

I push Bae back on the bed, my hands on his chest as I kiss him hard. Our tongues explore, and so do our hands. It feels like I’m leaving the real world and coming back to where I was always meant to be.

After some wriggling around, I pull my head back to look at him and chuckle. “You’re naked under there,” I whisper.

“Of course,” he teases. “It seems only fair that you should catch up to me.”

A flicker of uncertainty runs through me. “Are you going to watch?”

“Damn right I am,” he says, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head.

I shuffle over to the edge of the bed, slip off my shoes, and pull my top over my head. When my breasts bounce free, I hear Bae gasp. When I look over at him, he’s staring at me with a fierce, hungry look in his eyes.

Encouraged, I pull my pants off, wiggling my hips a little and putting on a bit of a show. Bae moans, and when I look over him, he’s got his hand under the sheets and is touching himself.

“You are so fucking hot, Gina!” he gasps. “Oh my God.”

“Really?” I feel shy but stupidly pleased with myself at the same time.

“I always loved your beautiful curves. For fuck’s sake, stop torturing me and get in here.”

Giggling, I pull aside the sheet and slide in under it. Bae is on me immediately, kissing me and running his hands all over me, squeezing my breasts and ass. He slips down a little to find my nipple with his lips, and when he takes a huge mouthful, I writhe and cry out underneath him.

He grabs my other breast and squeezes it while he licks and sucks on my nipple. His lower body moves against me as he switches back and forth, giving both nipples attention and rubbing and squeezing both breasts.

“You have such beautiful tits, Gina,” he gasps, his voice full of need. When he lowers his head to my nipples again, he groans with pleasure and rocks his hips against me, and I feel his huge, hard cock pressing up against my pussy.

I push back, thrusting my hips towards him. He keeps playing with my breasts, holding me down with his body as I start to writhe and thrash. When he finally looks up at me, he has a fiercely mischievous grin on his face.

“Oh, God, Bae, I can’t take this!” I wriggle hard against him, feeling his cock brushing against my throbbing, aching pussy.

“Can’t take what?” he asks innocently. “Is this what you want?”

He grinds forward with his hips, making me cry out and arch my back as I try to slip him inside. He laughs and wriggles, teasing me some more.

“Please, Bae!” I’m whimpering now. “Please.”

“Well, okay,” he says, grinning. “But only because you asked nicely.”

He reaches down and runs his fingers along my dripping slit, and a harsh cry rips out of my throat as he teases my clit a little. Then I feel the head of his cock pushing right against my pussy, and as he thrusts forward, I buck up and down to slide him inside.

Bae wraps his arms around me, leaning down to kiss me as he presses his hips forward until he’s as deep inside me as he can possibly go. I writhe against him, bringing my legs up to wrap around him. For a moment, he just stays still, his cock thick and hard inside me as my body twists and throbs around him.

He starts to slide in and out. As he pulls his head back, we look into each other’s eyes, and my hands come up to stroke his face.

Bae’s inside me… right now.

Emotion rips through me, so intense and powerful, I can’t even describe it. Tears sting my eyes, and my heart beats faster as I stare into Bae’s eyes. He looks straight back into mine.

“You’re so beautiful, Gina,” he whispers.

A moan that sounds almost like a sob escapes my throat, and I wrap my entire body around his and squeeze him as hard as I can. He tightens his grip on me and starts to thrust with hard, fast strokes, pounding me into the mattress.

His thrusts get wilder, harder, and deeper. His big, strong hands are clamped on my shoulders, and his cheek brushes against mine with every stroke. I can feel the wave building as my pussy tightens around his hard cock, the aching deep inside me responding to the force of his thrusts.

Bae’s pace increases, and his entire body hardens under my grip. A groan rips out of him, and I shudder as my orgasm peaks, making me scream as my pussy clenches against his hard cock and spasms over and over again.

My fingers are dug into his back, and my legs are clamped around him in a death grip. I’m gasping with complete wonder as I cling to him, feeling his cock swelling inside me.

With one last fierce, deep thrust, Bae comes, groaning and gasping as his cock shudders and pumps deep inside me. He clings to me, and I keep my arms and legs wrapped tightly around him as our hearts beat wildly and our breath sighs in and out of our lungs, all our senses entangled and woven together.

I’m finally holding Bae. And now, I’ll never let go.