15. Sacha

Chapter fifteen

Sacha

I could feel the moon shift coming on like a mild headache, but watching Zeke dash between Fabian's rehearsal dinner and the pack "carbing-up" was a great distraction. It was immediately clear that Zeke could handle a hundred different things at once. I just stood back and watched him put out one fire after another—one literal when a napkin was placed too close to a candle—and felt…proud.

That man, my mate, was a true leader and that inspired me as much as it made me fall a little more in love with him.

We needed to talk about our future. I got the feeling from little things he'd said or done—like getting that store membership—that Zeke was committing to me and my pack. But we hadn't said the words out loud, made plans, or anything like that. He hadn't even seen my home! He'd only ever seen me in my work clothes, didn't know what I drove, and had no idea what was in my bank account.

Well, my banking included the resort and pack accounts now, so I didn't look quite as poor anymore. I'd been a single guy going nowhere until this morning. Tonight, I was the head of an organization taking in upwards of ten million a year.

Wow, okay, that took my breath away for a second there. I had no idea how to run the business. That couldn't be done by instinct like being alpha could. Maybe could. I was still figuring that out, too, of course. But I didn't have a business degree. I might've done a lot of the jobs around here, but hardly any of them had been done in an office.

I looked around for Titus and Marius, finding them at a table with their immediate families. Gavril was sitting with the kids and eating way too much spaghetti even though he wouldn't be shifting tonight. He was laughing at something one of his cousins had said, and it warmed my heart to see him like that.

Catching Titus's eye, I jerked my head and hooked a thumb toward the door. He stood up right away and brought Marius with him. It was still weird to have the two of them working with me, being willing to help, after everything Mother had told me about how they fought her.

I led them out to the lobby and found a cozy nook with two couches where we could sit. That they looked at me expectantly, ready to listen, blew my mind for a second.

"So I know it's early days—obviously," I said, "but I don't know anything about running the resort. The business side of it all."

"Doesn't surprise me," Marius said with a frown and a brief shake of his head. "None of us suspected that you needed to find your mate for your alpha powers to kick in. She should've trained you anyway, but…" He shrugged and let that thought go.

Titus said, "We have people in place who can run things, don't worry about that. The alpha acts as a president or CEO, but the people under that position know what they're doing."

Relief had me nodding. "Okay, that's good. I wouldn't mind learning, but I'm no CEO." I glanced back toward the basement door and grinned. "Zeke might be."

"Oh?" the two of them said together.

I smiled more, that pride kicking in. "He's helping with the wedding rehearsal events and getting us ready for the moon shift without breaking a sweat."

"What's he do for a living?" Titus asked.

"He managed a bar and drag show in Miami." Past tense since it was his ex's bar. A little part of me was glad that Zeke was unemployed because it might make moving here easier for him to do.

Marius and Titus shared a look before nodding at each other. "We could elevate from within," Titus said, "but Zeke sounds like a good choice for a role somewhere in the business."

"I can see if he wants something like that." I wasn't sure I'd have to sell him on the idea of staying—it didn't feel like I would—but having a job ready for him could help.

An alarm went off on each of our watches, and we stood up together. "Here's hoping this goes better than usual," I said. "Did the perimeter guards carb-up before they went out?"

"They did," Marius said as we walked toward the basement door. "They're going to do four-hour shifts on patrol, have plenty of protein to get through the night, and will join us in the morning for… I think Zeke said we'd be doing yoga on the main lawn."

I snorted a laugh at the thought of a bunch of wolves in the downward dog pose, even though we'd be human again by sunrise.

All of the tables and chairs were stacked against the walls in rolling carts except for one. My mouth literally watered when I caught scent of the mound of meat-covered bones on that lone table. There was a giant bone off the side that could've come from a dinosaur's hind leg, it was so huge. Zeke stood beside the table with most of the pack focused on him…and the meat.

"Everyone who wants one," Zeke was saying, "can have one, but the big one is a prize. We're going to have a tug-o-war contest, and the winner gets Gigantor here." He patted the massive meat-covered bone and grinned at the crowd as they whooped and cheered.

I shook my head and laughed as a couple people found their calling by becoming bookies, taking bets on which of us would win the prize. I had to admit—just a little—that dog toys might not be such a bad idea.

But first, we had to shift into our wolf forms. The change rippled through the room with the youngest shifting first, then the women, and finally the men. As alpha, I was last to shift now, but turning into my wolf-man form wasn't normal at all. In a room full of four-legged wolves, I stood head and shoulders above even the tallest human pack member, and had no idea why.

They were all looking at me. I tried to continue the shift, be the whole wolf, but nothing happened. But then I caught Zeke's scent and suddenly had an overwhelming urge to pin him to the nearest surface and fuck his brains out. I put a hand against the wall as a wave of lust hit me harder than when I'd first scented him in the lobby. My cock pushed up and out, throbbing with need, and I couldn't ignore this at all.

I looked for Zeke and saw him crouched down in front of Marius. "Is it okay to pet you? Or is that somehow offensive?"

Sweet of him to ask, but if he was going to pet anyone, it would be me. I stumbled over to him, desperately trying not to leap and pounce. Marius backed up, causing Zeke to stand and turn toward me.

"Hey," he said with a smile. "Aren't you supposed to be shorter and less talkative right now?" he asked with a nod toward the room full of wolves.

"I need you," I said through a growl.

"Need— Oh!" He tried to use his hands to conceal my raging boner. "Here?" he whispered harshly. "Like, right here and now? Oh, my god."

If he was up for it, I was. Wait. No. The beast in me might be raging for his mate, but I was still a rational man who didn't have to fuck in public. There were children present, for shit's sake. I looked around and saw one of the doors into a storage room.

While I was looking, Zeke somehow found a tablecloth and slung it around me like a toga. There wasn't a single part of me that was embarrassed, which really said how far gone I was. I grabbed Zeke's hand and tugged him over to that door.

"Oh my god," Zeke said, "she was right."

I opened the door and shoved him inside before following and closing the door behind me. This was the dry goods pantry for the kitchen, which they accessed by a door across from this one. Boxes, barrels, and shelves of more boxes and containers filled the room, but there was enough space for us. I just needed something to brace him against while I fucked him, and we'd be fine.

Zeke set a small tube of lube on a shelf and kicked off his shoes. He'd brought lube? I wasn't complaining, but… "Who was right?" I asked him.

"Mara? I think she said her name was Mara. Titus's wife. Mate. Wife and mate?" He frowned as he dropped his pants. "Anyway, she said to be ready for a good fuck either tonight or tomorrow morning. I was a little worried I'd be fending off a four-legged creature, so this is much better."

First of all, I didn't want to think about my cousin's wife giving sex advice, but okay, she had, and it had been good advice. We needed lube, so it was great that he'd bought some and saved us from having to use olive oil or something. Because neither of us was leaving this room without an orgasm.

Secondly, I nearly expired beside the cans of beans when Zeke tugged a plug out of his ass and set it on a shelf. He hadn't just brought lube—my mate had prepared . He then went and used the lube on himself before setting that aside as well.

And then Zeke held onto a shelf, checked that it was sturdy, spread his legs, and popped his ass out before grinning over his shoulder at me.

A whine slipped out of me as my heart hammered in pure unadulterated lust while warm and gooey love flowed through my veins. He understood, he was ready, and my god, I loved him so much.

In a flash, I was on him. He grunted as I bit his shoulder and pinned his hands against the shelf. Rock hard, I angled just right and began thrusting into him, that plug having made it easier. So much easier. I was gliding in and out of him in seconds, no finesse needed. It was exactly what I'd needed, a filthy, fast fuck with my mate.

While I was growling against his flesh between my teeth, Zeke was wailing and whining and saying my name as he begged for more and harder and oh, god, yes! To hell with carbing up to get through a night of running around as a wolf—I'd done it to fuck my beautiful, perfect mate against a rattling shelving unit in a basement pantry during the full moon. If I expended every ounce of my energy on nothing but him, it'd be worth it entirely.

Zeke came with a yell, while I still held his hands down so he hadn't touched himself at all. I'd fucked it clean out of him and, goddamn, that did things to me. I bit him a little harder, heard him whimper, and thrust so deep inside him that I lifted him off his feet. Coming inside him truly was a release as heat washed through me and my cock filled him up.

I let him stand on his feet again, but stayed buried inside him because, yep, I'd knotted him. He rubbed his ass a tiny bit against the fur of my groin and moaned, so I knew he liked it again.

Releasing his flesh, I licked the spot and was glad I hadn't broken the skin. I could turn him if that happened, make him a lycan like me, but that was a conversation we definitely had to have first. For now, Zeke was marked in such a way that any wolf would know he was mine.

"Have I tamed the beast?" he whispered as he tipped his head back against my chest.

I huffed a laugh and wrapped my arms around him as my knot slowly faded. "Temporarily," I told him.

He hummed in a contented way and petted my arms and hands, his fingers lazily tracing over my claws, too. "My tarot reading was actually accurate," he said like he was surprised.

"Oh?" My knot gone, I eased free of him and reached for the plug.

"Yeah, I hadn't believed a— Oh!" he hollered as I eased the plug back up his very fine ass.

I patted him there. "Just in case."

Zeke laughed and shoved at me to get away. For some reason, that had me shifting into my wolf form, dropping down to waist height and falling onto my front legs. I looked up at him, curious to know what he'd think since he hadn't seen me like this before.

"Well, this is awkward," he mumbled as he pulled his shirt down to hide his dick.

I snorted my amusement at that since I'd happily fuck him in this form, too, if he'd let me. I licked my chops and flicked my gaze from his groin to his face a few times.

"No," he said firmly with his hand out in front of me. He dodged around me and grabbed up his pants and underwear. "Oh, my god, no . The wolf-man is one thing, but bark-bark-woof? No way."

I wagged my tail anyway as he got dressed. It was still early days in our relationship. He could totally change his mind down the road. And I would absolutely be there when he did.

"I see you smirking," he said as he did up his zipper. "Sacha, it's not happening."

Uh-huh. I wagged more and added some happy panting, too.

Zeke stomped into his shoes. "Goddamnit," he muttered as he went to open the door.

I trotted out into the room full of wolves with my head held high, confident and contented that my mate was oh so very mine.

I'd played fetch. I had literally let Zeke throw a damn tennis ball, and then I'd raced my own pack members to get to it first and bring it back to him. So he could throw it again. I was fully awake now, the morning sun shining down on me, but I did not want to open my eyes and risk looking at him or anyone else. I was the alpha wolf, for fuck's sake, and I had played fetch.

Zeke snorted a laugh and, since he was acting as my pillow, both of us shook from it. "Why are you cringing before you've even opened your eyes?"

"That fucking tennis ball."

He cupped my chin and lifted my head so he could kiss my forehead. "Poor pup."

I put an elbow in his chest to prop me up so I could frown down at him. "Ow. Pointy," he said at the same time I said, "I am your alpha, and not some pup."

He shoved my elbow aside, which made me collapse on him, and then suddenly, he was rolling around with me on the basement floor as we wrestled to be on top. His muscles seemed to turn to jelly once he started laughing, and I pinned him on his back. While he giggled like a kid, I sat on his stomach and threw my arms up in victory.

Only when others chuckled around us did I remember we weren't alone down here. But that was also when I realized that I wasn't in pain.

"Jesus, Zeke, I think it worked."

"Huh? What did?"

"I don't hurt. Ache, sure, but it's nowhere near as debilitating as before."

He sat up, making me scramble backward onto his thighs. "It worked?"

I laughed and framed his face in my hands. "It did!"

Now he put his hands up in victory, and a whole lot of people started clapping and cheering.

I could hardly believe it. I felt like I'd worked out, but not like I'd been run over and beat up. I could move without wincing. I wasn't desperately hungry and— Man, we'd been so dumb! Food, exercise, and rest—that was all we'd needed. We'd treated moon shifts like a punishment and practically caged ourselves, moping around until morning, starving and depressing ourselves. But last night we'd played in here, taken a run through the forest around midnight, and just generally had fun .

I kissed Zeke with all of the thanks I could put into a kiss. He wrapped his arms around me and opened up, letting me in, and I briefly considered heading back into that storage room. But I wanted hours to worship my mate's whole body this time and, when his watch beeped an alarm, I knew that wouldn't be possible now.

"Shit, I have to get ready for the wedding!"

We separated and stood up with Zeke giving orders before he was completely upright. That feeling of pride washed over me as I watched him take charge.

"Listen up, everyone! There's swimming and yoga outside. Pick one and do it for at least a half-hour. This is to relax your muscles after a hard workout, so don't skip it. Come back here after you're done, and there will be a big breakfast ready for you."

He turned to me and gave me a smacking kiss. "Feel free to come to the wedding. Sit on the bride's side."

"Which is the bride's side?"

"The fabulous one!" he hollered as he sprinted up the stairs.

About an hour later, I looked for a seat with the other guests and discovered that Fabian's side of the aisle was easy to figure out because the other side was full of cougar shifters.