Chapter 102

"Creed…" I barely gasped his name as he laid me down on his bedroll, his lips silencing me. "Creed, I…"

What was I about to say? I could barely put a thought together as he kissed me. Pressed tight against the mattress, his massive body had me thoroughly pinned and yet that heavy weight was utterly reassuring. He was a wall between me and the world, one with a hard mouth and hungry teeth that nipped at my skin.

"Creed…"

Was I trying to stop him or just moaning like a cat in heat, I couldn't seem to determine which. My hands raked through his hair, then spread across his broad shoulders. "Creed, I…"

"Creed, I what?" Silas appeared behind me, setting my head into his lap, then tilting my head back so my eyes met his.

"What're you doing?"

Creed's thunderous growl would've terrified me in any other man, but not this one. He was mine, all mine, I felt that as I raked my fingers over his rock-hard muscles.

"Ensuring that whatever happens here does so with the princess' consent." Silas' attention returned to me, his fingers sliding over my overheated cheeks, his thumb pressing between swollen lips. "We gave you the wrong impression last time, making it seem like we were in control. One look at Creed shows you that we're not. His wolf gives him an advantage, allowing him to wear his heart on his sleeve."

"He's also got something else." Arik sat down beside me, staring into my eyes. "Wolf shifters are built differently to human men."

"You won't be forcing that knot of yours into her," Roan growled at Creed, not even blinking with the wolf shifter bared his very large fangs. "You don't want to hurt Jess." The fire seemed to go out of Creed then, shadows forming in his eyes as he looked back at me.

"You won't," I announced, as if that was all it took to make it true. "You'll never hurt me." My hands smoothed down the front of his shirt, fingers popping one button open, then another. "That's how this works, right?'

"Never." He grabbed my hand and slid it inside his shirt, holding it over his heart, and that's when I heard the rapid beat of it. My eyes locked with his, shocked to find this massive wolf shifter's heart rate matched mine. Did he feel like he teetered on the edge of something both terrifying and incredible and wasn't sure where he should jump? No, as his grip on my hand tightened, I knew he'd lead me where I needed to go. Relief flooded through me, allowing all the details to filter through. How hot his skin was, the weight of his body, how very hard and ready for me he was. "I've already caused you more pain in the short time we've known each other than I'd ever want to inflict on you in your entire life." His gaze softened. "Our life. That means it has to be perfect going forward, no discomfort, no irritation."

I laughed then, because while what he was saying was ridiculous, he said it with such confidence, such surety, for a moment I was caught up in it. He grinned back at me with eyes almost green now, a beautiful world contained within them. One where we lived in that amazing little cottage I'd dreamed about while staying in the packlands, him coming home from his toils each day only to sweep me up into his arms, his lips pressing to mine. I traced the shape of his mouth right now, almost able to feel it, until he kissed me in real life as well as my imagination.

I thought I'd imagined it, the way his lips burned against mine. The press of his fangs through his lips, the prickle of his beard, it had me writhing underneath him. My hands sank into his hair, gripping tightly and not letting go. I needed more from him, more. I think I mumbled something to that effect between kisses, gasping it as his mouth trailed down the sensitive skin of my neck, only for Roan to interrupt.

"Sounds like our princess is right where she wants to be." He unstrapped his sword belt and pulled his shirt up and over his head, then pushed his boots off. "And I know how that feels. Got any of that sweetness for me?"

It wasn't me that Roan was focused on, though. He leant over slowly, his mouth getting closer by the second, but it was Creed he kept an eye on. The big warrior was ready to jerk away if the wolf shifter started to growl, but Creed shifted against me.

"Kiss our mate, brother." His voice was more growl than anything, the wolf obviously riding him hard. "Give her all that she needs."

"Mm…" The feline purr from Roan was everything. I leaned forward, meeting him halfway, catching the moment his eyes went to molten gold, right as he kissed me.

Was this what it would always be like? Me wedged between the four of them, a promise of unimaginable pleasure fulfilled over and over. I heard Roan's muffled moan, a twin of my own, then felt Creed's scoring kisses down my throat. Some were harder, rougher than others, his fangs scraping against my skin, when Silas interrupted.

"You should be making this decision with a clearer head." The other two groaned as he slid his hand through my hair. Over and over, like a maid with a brush in her hand, he worked the tangles from each strand. "What Creed needs—"

"Is to mate you." My focus shifted to Arik, who crouched at the entrance of the tent, but was that to stop people entering or so he could make a quick escape?

"Mm hmm…" I sighed as Creed's kisses dropped lower.

"You think you know what that means, Jessalyn."

My name was a collar around my neck, trying to tug me away from all of this lovely heat, but all I wanted to do was warm my hands on the fire we were building together. I stared over Creed's shoulders at the prince, catching the moment his jaw tightened as I raked my fingers down the wolf shifter's back. Arik's eyes narrowed when I dug my hands into Creed's buttocks, his hips jerking forward instantly, and that's when I felt something hard settle right where I needed it. His cock, I now knew, and that knowledge was tantalising. What Silas had done to me that night… What we had done to each other. The thought of feeling that again, and more, had me forcing Creed hard against me.

"Creed will always love you. It's an integral part of his nature. He doesn't need to get to know you, work out just how you tick. There is no wooing with a wolf shifter." As if to prove the prince's point, Creed's fangs nipped at my skin, leaving stinging, little marks that throbbed so sweetly when he moved on. "He just wants to make you his in every way possible."

"Is that true?" Creed pulled back at my question, and I stared into his eyes, smiling even as his brow creased.

"Have I ever made you doubt it? I tried so hard to care for you for the entire journey. I saw to you in that room in the stews, made sure you didn't crash when riding the red dragon. I made you good food, tasty food. I drove your carriage, not trusting that responsibility to anyone else. Then I killed those that dared to lay a finger on you."

I caught the moment his arms began to shake, as if the effort of holding himself back was too much.

"I will always protect you, care for you…" His head tilted to one side as he swallowed hard. "Love you, Jess. There is no other woman in the world more important to me. I want to take you back to the packlands to keep you safe, but if there's somewhere else you want to go, I'll throw you on the back of my horse and we'll ride hard until we get there. You…" His head dipped closer and mine rose up from Silas' lap, ready to meet him halfway. "You're my moon, my stars, everything," Creed told me. "And I'll bring you every celestial body and lay them at your feet if that's what you require."

As proof of his affection for me, I knew that now. I'd sought to take advantage of his soft feelings before, but that was not my natural state. I was a scared, angry little girl who was shoved into a carriage and wheeled off to meet her fate, but now… It wasn't enough for the veil to come off, I needed this. The opportunity to make decisions about my own life, autonomy over my future.

Our future, I decided.

"I don't need the stars, Master Creed," I said, imitating my overly formal manner from before, but he smiled. "Just you."

His smile was like the sun because it warmed me down to my bones at the sight of it, but Arik was determined to be the storm clouds, getting between the two of us.

"But do you understand what that means? What will happen to you now if you accept Creed?" There was a tautness to the prince's voice that had me peering past Creed at Arik. He shook his head slightly, lips thinning. "What will transpire is more than playing with knives for Silas. My brother is always in control, even when he's not." He nodded to Silas. "But Creed—"

I stared up into the wolf shifter's eyes.

"Will bite me, claim me, make clear to any and all that see me who I belong to."

My throat closed up then, not from fear, but from anticipation. I had belonged to something, someone, back in Stormare, but to gain acceptance I had to squash all that I was into a tightly controlled form. Not here. Not Creed. At first, I'd found the instant infatuation of wolf shifters somewhat alien, but now… That certainty, I clung to it like a life rope, helping me to keep my head above water. I wanted to belong to something, someone… My grip on his arms tightened. I wanted to belong to Creed.

"That's what you'll do, correct?" I asked, and he nodded slowly, suddenly solemn. "The women of your family told me what to expect. That the need to mark me will become overwhelming. Right as we reach our peak, you'll…" I pressed a finger to his lips, feeling his beard and the satin of his skin before tracing the shape of one fang. "You'll lock your jaws around a fold of skin and mark me as yours."

"Yes…" There was something savage and needful in Creed's gaze, and I found I liked that very much.

"And then…" I swallowed, remembering Hazel's very frank conversation. "You'll feel the need to knot me."

"That's the problem," Arik insisted. "Creed, she's only just lost her maidenhead. You'll hurt her trying—"

"No." I felt the vibration of Creed's growl all the way through me, because the wolf was riding him now. "Never. No pain again. I can't, Jessalyn. I can't."

He was asking me to trust him, I saw that now. While Arik's concerns were valid, the prince had caused me far more pain than Creed ever had, so I pulled myself up and out of Silas' lap.

"You've got clever fingers," I told the dark haired man over my shoulder. "Put them to use now if you please. I think Creed's wolf has a mind to tear this dress from me, but I quite like it."

"You're reckless, girl." Silas' breath traced shivery little circles along the skin of my neck, but I felt his fingers move, smoothing over the nape of my neck, then going to work. "That's why you're perfect for us."

Creed's keen eyes took in the release of every button, watching my dress slowly sag from my form before surging forward.

"This has always been the way of it," he told me in a voice that was as hoarse as his tone was gentle. "You and me together. Now we just acknowledge that."

Every important moment of my life was marked by a dress, but this one? It wasn't until I was free of this pretty, brocaded riding habit that I could embrace it. No satin, or fur trim, or pearls would help me this time, just this. He wrenched himself free of his clothes, emerging brown skinned as a nut and hard for me. My eyes traced the scars and the shape of all those glorious muscles, trailing down until I saw plainly how he differed from human men.

"The knot is the only part of the wolf that remains during mating," Hazel had told me at their kitchen table. "They call us beast men for a reason. We are not humans. Our love is not the fair weather thing of your kind. If you choose my grandson, you will know this. His love will never waver, nor his ardour for you." She and Saffron shared a smile then. "Once you have claimed a wolf's heart, he will never look at another woman. He will be yours, mind, body and soul, and you need to be comfortable with accepting that responsibility." She smiled and sighed. "That gift."

I nodded now to the woman who had helped me to understand this, to the man she called grandson. I nodded to make sure the others knew that I agreed to this. Their concern was sweet, but not needed, not now.

"Then make me yours, Master Creed," I said, tugging his head down.