Chapter 10 - Jet

Broken, scarred, abused. Senna had been through it all, and she was still here, surviving through each day. It was the single most impressive thing I'd seen in my life, and my wolf howled in approval. He was chomping at the bit to be let out, to run, to rut, to claim. It was taking nearly all of my focus to keep him back, to stop myself from claiming Senna during this heat.

But it was so much more important to me that she knew how I felt. I needed her to know that I hadn't just never looked back after leaving her at the bar. I honestly did believe that I was protecting her. I just hadn't anticipated what that meant, what I was really doing to her.

"We have a chance now, Senna."

I risked another step forward. I'd accidentally disturbed Senna's den, the one she'd made in my bed apparently, and I knew that between the phases, she would be feeling overprotective and territorial. Disrupting it again or moving too close too fast could make her lash out.

As much as I knew I could handle her, especially in her current state, I didn't want that. I didn't want to be another Terrance in Senna's life. I wanted to show her that I was willing and ready to uphold the highest standards of our mate bond.

I would not let her down again.

"The Collins claim is gone. He has relinquished it and will, therefore, have no sway over you or your future."

"And you?" Her doe eyes were enormous in her face, her pupils dilated. "You've claimed me into your pack, yes, but are you willing to truly be my…mate? You…you weren't before—no matter what the reason."

Lowering my head, I nodded. "I know. And if I'd claimed you before, none of this would be happening."

Where she sat on my floor, Senna pulled her legs under herself, wrapping herself tighter in the sheet as if she were cold. I knew she wasn't. That rose and almond scent was getting stronger again. The second phase was coming.

I got down on my knees, crawling another few inches closer. I ached to be inside Senna, my entire being humming with the feral need the heat was drawing out. Hell, even if she weren't going through her heat, I'd want her all the same. She was my mate, and I wouldn't run from that anymore.

"I promise you, Senna, as your alpha, I will do everything I can to keep you safe." The vow resonated through our pack bond, and Senna gasped with a tiny sob. "I will not let harm befall you from any of our pack or anyone outside it."

Words were powerful to a wolf. They could be used to hurt or heal because of our strong bonds with each other. And now, I believed that my promise to keep her safe—to truly take her into my pack and family—was finally enough to get Senna to see how serious I was about all this.

"You will be under my protection and care from this moment forward, Senna. The pack has accepted you. Our mate bond was nearly torn apart. Nearly. I want to reform it. I want to claim you as I should have all that time ago. Please, please, sweet Omega."

Need dripped from my erection beneath my pants as I crawled across the floor toward her. Senna's body was shaking slightly as I drew nearer, and I reached out a hand. She could slap me away or growl, and I'd pull back immediately.

But she didn't.

"Jet, I…" Senna's eyes rolled closed as her temperature increased another notch. "I have been alone for so long. Being with Terrance…that wasn't a pack. Not truly. I don't…"

When her eyes met mine this time, a glassy coating of tears clung to them. Her shoulders slumped into her frame, making her even smaller. I moved a few more inches, and the tips of my fingers reached her head. I gently began to smooth my hand down her blonde locks.

They were wet. Senna must've used the bath, and as the billowing need increased, my own blood steadily rose. The thought of her swimming naked in the water made me itch with arousal. She was still just wrapped in that damn sheet. I could tear the thing from her and finally drive my cock inside her.

"I don't want to be…alone anymore."

With that, I closed the distance between us, pulling Senna into my arms. I pet her damp hair, that purr rumbling out of my chest.

"Never. I will never let you be alone again. I will spend the rest of my days doing everything I can to make up for my mistake."

She was rigid in my arms for a moment longer before melting into the embrace. The tension eased inside her, and Senna's delicious scent perfumed stronger.

"O…okay." She nodded against my chest.

After a few more seconds of just holding each other there, the second phase of her heat kicked in again. Senna's skin heated under my grip, and I could feel it even through the fabric of my shirt. She shook against me harder, and I pulled her back by the shoulders to meet her cerulean eyes.

"Senna, sweetness, what do you need? How can we make this better for you? Aside from…"

She glanced up through a lust-lidded stare, and my shaft throbbed. She was so fucking close to me, and my hands stroked up and down her arms on instinct. Senna's eyes closed as she sucked in a deep breath, losing herself momentarily to the sensations.

"Um…" She blinked her eyes open, her stare flickering past me to the bed. "I need it dark and quiet."

"Done."

I had to pull myself away from her, every bit of me wanting to stay right at her side. But I made it to the curtains, drawing them closed again and shutting the window to encase the space in silence and warmth.

"Fire?" Looking from it to Senna, I waited for her word.

"It's fine." She offered a weak smile. "But I'm going to need food and water. If—"

Her words were cut off as a surge powered forward, and she was knocked down to her hands and knees. It was less than a second before the pheromones reached me, and I rushed to her, pulling her up into my arms again and offering that soothing purr.

"Food and water. Got it." I hissed as she dug her fingers into my back, but then it eased off.

She slipped back down to her hands, and fuuuck, the smell of her. Without thinking, I sidled up behind her, dragging my hands up and down her body as I nuzzled into the scent of her skin. I smoothed my fingers across each scar along her fair back until I reached the base of her skull.

Squeezing my fist around the back of her neck, Senna"s perfume strengthened, and I buried my nose in her hair.

"Jet. Food."

It was a good ten seconds before I could pull myself away. When I did, I couldn't look back at Senna as I ran to the door, because if I saw that look on her face again, I wasn't going to ask for fucking food.

Pulling the door open a crack, I shouted down for MacKenzie. I picked up the sound of her footsteps coming in a hurry, and in moments, she stood at the door.

"Is everything okay? Is Senna all right?"

Her brow was furrowed in genuine concern, and it melted my heart. She was such a true friend, a true packmate.

"Yes, but Senna needs food and water. She's…we're entering the second phase."

"Oh damn. That was quick." Kenzie nodded. "Okay, okay. I'll grab it right away. I'll leave it at the door. And Jet?"

I raised my brows, knowing that she wasn't trying to push or overstep. Kenzie was just concerned.

"Yes?"

"Serve that omega. I…I can tell she's yours."

My eyes flared as my stomach dropped through the floor. "What?"

"I didn't say anything to the others. I just…I sensed it when Senna first came in. I don't know. It's never happened before. Just…she needs you."

With a nod, I reached through the crack in the door and squeezed Kenzie"s shoulder. "Thank you, MacKenzie. I will. I assure you."

She nodded, smiling, and then a growl rumbled through the door from behind me.

We both stilled, and I shooed her away to get the supplies before turning around and closing things back up.

"Omega, did you growl at—"

Senna rushed me, her hand in a claw as she pulled me farther into the room and right near the bed, where she'd reformed the blankets into a larger well of cushions.

"Mine." Senna's pupils were dilated, that feral need creating a deep pink flush beneath her skin. "She can't…"

Realization struck, and I rocked my head in a slow nod, stroking my hands down Senna's arms again.

"I'm sorry, sweetness. I was just getting you the food you need. MacKenzie isn't pulling me away. I'm yours. I'm here."

Senna refocused on me, nodding quicker as the territorial urge backed off. She licked her lips, chewing on her bottom lip for a moment. As she released a shuddering breath, Senna turned, crawling into the bed, careful not to disturb the den she'd made.

It was nearly pitch black in here with the blackout curtains drawn, and I thanked the Gods for a wolf's keen eyesight.

After circling on her knees a few times, Senna sat near the head of the bed, satisfied with her den. I tried to crawl in after her, and another of her growls stopped me.

"Honey, you need to let me in if I'm going to help you."

Senna shook her head, trying to fight against the hormones that were coursing especially strongly in her right now. The entire room smelled of rose and almond, with barely a hint of my natural scent remaining.

"Right, yes. I want that." She looked down at my hands, where I leaned on the bed. "Just be…be careful."

"I will, sweetness."

Doing everything I could to climb in next to her without messing anything up, I managed to get in and kneeled just before her.

"Take your shirt off." She glared at my chest like the fabric was offending her. "And your pants."

"All right, Omega. I will. Are you sure you're—"

"Now. Please."

Another wave coursed through her, and it hit me practically at the same time. My mind swirled with lust, and I tore my clothes from me as fast as I could without ruining Senna's den. Getting down to my boxers, I chucked my clothes to the side of the bed.

Senna's eyes flared wide as she roamed them over me, and more black ate up the blue of her irises.

"Let me take care of you, Senna."

I crawled closer to her, but she ducked her head and held up a hand.

"Wait. Before…before I can't think anymore." She looked up at me, her stare having a hard time staying away from the straining erection behind my boxers.

"What, baby?" I let that purr rumble through me as I spoke, and she calmed some, so I stroked a hand down her cheek.

"I…I'll get pregnant. At least, it'll be very possible. Are you…" She sucked in a breath as another surge made her nipples harden beneath the thin fabric of the sheet. "Are you…okay with that? Because if not, you should probably…um…grab something."

I'd completely forgotten about that aspect of the heat in all the commotion, all the work of healing wounds and gaining Senna's trust. But the thought of truly breeding her, of breeding my mate, made me feral with desire. I could picture her round with my child. I could imagine all too well the sensation of filling her with my seed as I rutted our mate claim into full strength.

"Oh, fuck yes, sweetness. I am very okay with that."