Episode Sixteen Say the Words

M irron

"The stew is delicious," I tell my mate, my Deklan, although it tastes like dust in my mouth. I keep myself busy eating, though, as I listen to their chatter and watch their interactions.

I can't hate the little female. If we'd spoken to the gods themselves and put in a specific order, we couldn't have gotten a better fit for our little pack.

She's beautiful and so tiny. There will be hardships involved in keeping her safe. Moving to our winter grounds will be much more difficult with her slowing us down, unable to protect herself. But other than her physical limitations, she brings so much to our little tribe.

She's a happy little thing and likes to serve. It didn't escape me that the moment she left my pool, she offered to help cook. Even though she's less helpful than a newborn calf, she's bright and capable of learning.

And her fondness for the brothers would warm my heart, if she didn't break it every time she smiles at Dek with so much affection. No. It's not even that. It's the way he smiles back.

I need to leave my bitterness behind. He and I had many happy turns of the seasons together. We both thought we were content. He didn't know that lurking under his skin was a longing to have a female. It's fate. I can't blame either of them.

I'm going to do what I've always done: keep us all safe and try to make everyone happy. None of them will know my true feelings from this moment forward. Especially the female. Perhaps I won't terrify her for long and we'll settle in as a true pack again. An expanded one.

As everyone scrapes the bottom of their wooden bowls, I announce, "There is a new pack rule. We only have a few of them, but each is serious, as is this."

They're all looking at me. The brothers' expressions are sober. Little Alliana looks terrified. I thought we'd gotten beyond that.

"Sex in our tribe is to be freely shared. Not only will there be no taking without consent…" My gaze flicks between Dek and Luka, "but there will be no giving without a full and happy heart." I stare at our little prize.

Luka's face is a portrait of pain. His palm flies to his breastbone as if his heart is seizing in his chest.

"Did I take without consent, Alliana? Things last night were so quick. I was needy, but I thought you wanted me, too."

The poor male looks as if he's ready to banish himself from our pack without being ordered to do so, but I can't answer for Alliana. She'll have to speak up.

She darts to him, slides into his lap, and cups her palm on his cheek. "I wanted you, Luka." She glances at Dek. "I wanted you both."

Both males' gazes flash to me as they realize that what was unspoken is more important than the words themselves. She didn't mention she wanted me.

I save the moment by nodding my head. "Consent must be wholehearted each time. It's of utmost importance that our new little mate can say no whenever she wants, to whoever she wants, for whatever reason. We're clear?"

All three of them nod.

My insides become heavy and tight as I turn to Dek and say, "You too, Deklan. You don't have to accept anyone's attentions if you—"

He springs off his stump like the wolven he is, leaping the distance between us and tackling me to the ground behind me, tumbling my stump to the soil with the force of his bound.

I've always been the stronger of us two. Always been the alpha not only because of my size, but because of the sheer force of my personality. This is a new Deklan I've never met before. He bites my neck, letting me feel the prick of his fangs—all four, top and bottom.

He's growling. Not the growl wolven give an enemy, but the growl they give their friends when one of them has crossed a line and has to be confronted.

"Fuck you," he growls, deep and low, his fangs still embedded in my flesh, then removes his teeth long enough to say, "Fuck you, Mirron. Don't you ever , even for a moment, minimize all we have shared, or all we will share. You're my fucking mate until the end of time."

He presses his teeth harder into my neck. I feel each fang pierce me, then smell my blood in the air over the pungent lamb juices still sizzling on the logs.

"Say it," he snarls without removing his teeth from my throat.

When I pause, he repeats it, his words little more than a growl. "Say it." He shakes his head just enough to grab my attention, reminding me how wolven sometimes shake their prey to death in this very throat-hold.

How he can speak with his jaw clamped on my throat is beyond me, but I don't doubt he could crush my windpipe in a heartbeat if he wanted to.

"Yes."

"Say. The. Words," he growls.

"You're my mate." I've said the words before, sometimes with feeling, sometimes mindlessly in a rote way when I'm distracted. "You're my mate," I repeat fervently, as if it's a prayer. "You're my mate," I shout, as if I'm announcing it to every living being in this valley and beyond.

He gives my throat another small shake for good measure, then releases me only to kiss me. We've kissed a thousand times. From little brushes to deep, erotic kisses that held all the promise of a good and thorough fucking as soon as we raced to our furs.

Deklan has never kissed me like this. Like he owns me. Like his passion is so deep and so wide it could kill us both if we aren't careful.