CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Leaning back against Dominic as they settled in the freestanding tub, Mila sighed. Yes, this was what she needed. She mustn’t have shifted position much as she slept, because she’d woken stiff with some aches here and there.

The minute they’d returned to pack territory the previous night, they’d showered, washed off all the blood, and collapsed into bed—exhausted from the fight and adrenaline crash. She’d woken the next morning just as Dominic’s cock slipped inside her. His thrusts had been slow. Lazy. Gentle. For the first five minutes. Then he’d taken her hard and fast, pounding deep and snarling in her ear.

She hadn’t realized that he’d texted Grace, asking her to bring breakfast to their room, until Mila heard the knock on the door. After they’d eaten in bed, he’d ran them a bath. And so there they were.

Mila closed her eyes, enjoying the steam warming her face and his fingers idly skimming up and down her bubble-covered arms. Her cat was completely content to just lie there with her tail curled around her as they snuggled into their mate.

He dabbed a lingering kiss on her temple. “I like you this way.”

“What?” she practically purred.

“All soft and warm and relaxed.” Tucking his face in the crook of her neck, Dominic inhaled her scent, filling his senses with his little cat. Rumbling a growl of contentment, his wolf brushed up against her.

He’d figured the bath would help her shake off the fear that had still been fresh in her mind—the fear that she’d lose him, that she’d be all alone again. He understood it. Fuck, he’d never rid himself of that image of her covered in wounds. Wounds he’d been unable to address because he’d been bleeding to death on the fucking ground.

Lifting her wrist, he circled her pulse with his thumb, reminding himself that she was safe and well. Thanks to Helena’s help and their accelerated healing rate, most of their injuries had healed or were nothing but pink blemishes that would soon fade. He had one or two that might scar, though. And the puncture wounds in Mila’s neck were taking a while to disappear—hopefully they would.

According to the text he’d received from Nick, the police were taking the extremist attack very seriously, although that was probably because human firefighters were killed. The police had also been easy to convince—especially with the help of the pallas cat officers—that Pierson had led the attack, so the authorities weren’t particularly bothered that his car was there, but the human had mysteriously disappeared. Not after they’d seen just how much damage had been caused and how many unnecessary deaths there had been.

“I want to call Harley and ask how she’s doing,” said Mila. “But it would be a dumb question, wouldn’t it? It might be best to give it a day or so before I call her. What do you think?”

He swirled his tongue over one of the fading puncture wounds on her throat. “I’d say you’d be right to call her in a few days. She’ll be blaming herself for what happened, thinking she should have had better security measures in place. She’ll put all those deaths on her shoulders. Give Jesse time to put her back together.”

Mila sighed. “You know, I wish there was a way to destroy every last one of the extremists, but Trey’s right. You can’t kill prejudice. The bastards will always exist. We killed some in the battle, but others will spring up to take their place.”

He snaked his hand up her stomach and softly palmed her breast, smiling as her nipple tightened and dug into his hand. “As last night proved, wars are just senseless.” When she reached back and loosely hooked her arms around his neck, Dominic danced the tips of his fingers along her inner thigh while nuzzling her neck.

She let out a shaky breath. “I won’t be able to concentrate if you keep doing that. But I’m not complaining.”

Smiling, he nipped the tip of her ear. “Spread your legs a little.” She didn’t hesitate to give him what he wanted, just let her thighs fall apart. He loved that. Loved that her sex drive matched his. Loved that they both got off on the same things. Loved that her body always responded to him so eagerly. It was as if she were made for him.

But she wasn’t, he thought with a frown. She was made for someone else.

Instead of touching her clit as he’d planned, Dominic smoothed his hand down her thigh and said, “I noticed Adele and Joel were huddled together after the battle.” His wolf curled his upper lip at the mention of the other male.

Mila’s brow furrowed. It was an odd time to have a conversation about the couple, and there were other things she’d rather be doing. Like coming. “Hmm. I hope they work things out.” And that Dominic would switch his attention back to playing with her body. But he didn’t.

“Depends on how she takes the news of Dean’s death, I suppose.”

“Considering she can no longer deny his part in things, I doubt she’ll be grieving much. But so many shifters will be grieving hard tonight. One of them could have been me. I’m still pissed at you for getting stabbed, by the way.”

His mouth quirked. Dominic knew she wasn’t kidding. “My apologies,” he said dryly, which earned him a snort. His smile faded as a memory hit him. “I was pretty dazed when I was lying on the ground, bleeding.”

“Don’t remind me,” she grumbled.

“But I heard Joel cry out. Sensed you were worried for him. What was happening?”

“An extremist was hovering over him with a blade in his hand.”

Carefully sitting her upright, Dominic turned her to face him, keeping her legs on either side of his. “But you didn’t try to help him.” He knew he sounded incredulous. “You stayed with me.”

She frowned. “Of course I did. You’re my mate.”

It was really that simple for her, Dominic marveled. Although he wasn’t what fate had intended for her, she didn’t view him as a substitute for her true mate. Hadn’t chosen him merely because she couldn’t have Joel. No, despite that Dominic wasn’t predestined to be hers, Mila saw him as her mate. Her claim on him ran soul-deep. What she could have had with Joel really didn’t matter to her.

Having watched his mother give up on her mate and son because she’d been too deeply mired in her own issues, Dominic had always known he’d have trouble fully trusting his partner to stick around through thick and thin. But Mila had shown that she was no quitter; that she had the kind of staying power his mother had lacked. He’d grown to trust her in a way that he hadn’t thought himself capable of. Still, it had been hard for him to feel secure in the knowledge that she was his when she lived in such close proximity to her true mate.

It wasn’t that Dominic doubted that she loved or was fully committed to him. She never let him doubt it. But a small part of him—the part he’d hidden behind a mask for years, where no one could hurt, reject, or criticize it—had held back, fearing she wouldn’t find him “enough,” just as he’d never been enough for his parents. Fearing that he’d been a substitute for Joel, just as he’d once been a substitute for Tobias.

But faced with the choice of having to save Dominic or her predestined mate, she’d chosen Dominic. She’d stayed with him on what was effectively a battlefield and done her best to keep him alive until help came, even if it meant that Joel might die just a few feet away from her. And she didn’t regret or feel guilty about it—he would have sensed that. No, she hadn’t struggled with her decision whatsoever. And the last little piece inside Dominic that had held back from her for so long took a deep breath and reached for her.

A razor-sharp pain lanced through his head and panged through his chest, disorienting him. He gripped her hips, as if she’d anchor him. And she did. She anchored him in every way a person could. Especially now that the imprinting bond joined them, bright and strong. He closed his eyes, relief and satisfaction spiraling through him. Those same emotions flooded his wolf as their mate became a part of them in a way Dominic couldn’t describe.

Licking her lips, Mila double-blinked. The abrupt forming of the bond had taken her completely off guard, and now it was warming every cold spot and filling every empty space. Her cat purred and did a long, languid stretch, feeling so much more than just peaceful. She felt whole. And lamely, all Mila had to say was, “Wow.”

His mouth curved. “Yeah.”

“How did it happen?”

A bone-deep contentment settling over him, Dominic tucked a loose curl behind her ear. “I needed to believe—fully believe—that I wasn’t second choice for you. I was second choice for my parents, just a replacement for Tobias. And I knew they’d give me up in a heartbeat if it meant having their perfect child back.”

Mila glared at him for doubting her. “You’re not second choice to me. Never have been.”

“I guess my subconscious wasn’t so convinced. But it is now.” He caught her face with his hands. “Nothing ever has—or ever could—matter to me the way you do. I want everything I can get with you and from you. You’re not gonna get a minute’s peace, and you’re gonna move here.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, and then you’ll become my sex slave—something that won’t change even when we have pups.”

Her lips twitched. “You mean kits.”

“I’m good with having both.” Sobering, he rested his forehead against hers. “I’ll never make you regret choosing me, baby. Not ever.”

“I’ll never regret it. And I hope you won’t regret choosing me either.”

“Never,” he promised, knowing to his bones that it was true. Knowing she’d always be his “center,” just as Jesse had said she could be. Knowing he’d do whatever it took to keep the bond going strong between them.

The funny thing was . . . he’d always thought he’d prefer an imprinting bond to a true-mate bond, because the latter didn’t come with a get-out clause. But now that he had this bond with Mila, he detested that it wasn’t irrevocable.

Mila tilted her head. “What are you stressing about? I can feel that something’s bugging you. The bond doesn’t make you feel trapped, does it?” Because she’d worried that would happen.

“No, but I wish it did. I wish it was irreversible.”

“You know better than anyone that a true-mate bond doesn’t guarantee a lifetime of happiness, Dominic. Only we can ensure that. This bond is strong, and it will stay strong. I’ll make sure of it, and so will you.”

He nodded, taking a deep breath. “I need your mouth, baby.” And she gave it to him. The kiss was soft, wet, languid. His blood pooled low, and his cock began to thicken. “I want in you.”

Her lips curled. “I can tell.” She could feel his dick hardening against her and, thanks to the bond, feel his arousal buzzing through his bloodstream. Her nerve endings sprang to life, and a slow burn began in her pussy. “I’ve never had sex in a bath before.”

“Me neither. I’ve never let anyone as close to me as I’ve let you.”

“Good. It means there are no skanky asses I have to kick.”

Dominic grinned. “My wolf really loves that possessive streak of yours.”

Kneeling, she snickered. “So do you.”

Yeah, he did. He sucked in a breath as she fisted his cock and brushed it between her folds, flicking her clit with each pass. Then she was sinking down on his cock, slowly impaling herself on him. And it felt like fucking heaven. “Fuck, Mila. I can feel how much you love having me in you.”

“Now you’ll feel how much I love you coming deep inside me.”

Keeping her inner muscles tight around his cock, Mila rode him slow. Teasing him with spiral downward thrusts and little bites to his neck. It wasn’t long before he expertly toyed with her clit, forcing her closer to her climax. And then she broke with a silent scream, her pussy squeezing and milking his cock.

She rested against him, panting, feeling totally at peace. Just as her cat did, she thought with a smile.

Knuckles rapped on the bathroom door. “You guys done in there?”

Lifting her head, she frowned at the sound of her brother’s voice. “What are you doing here?”

“A better question would be: Why did my pack mates let you into my room?” clipped Dominic. He could understand them letting the wolverine pass the gates and enter the caves, but not enter Dominic’s personal slice of territory.

“They didn’t,” replied Alex.

Mila sighed. “You snuck onto their territory, didn’t you?”

“Why are you wasting time asking me stupid questions?” complained Alex.

Dominic sat up straight. “Wait, how the hell did you bypass our security?”

“You ask that like it’s hard,” said Alex.

Mila gave Dominic a wry smile. “The sad thing is . . . this won’t be the first time you find him in our room. You should probably warn Grace that he’ll often raid the fridge when he comes here.”

“Already did that,” Alex told them.

Mila lifted a brow at her mate. “See what I mean?”

“Wolverines go where we want to go—the end,” said Alex. “Which brings me neatly to why I’m here. Thought you might want to know that Dale Forester, the asshole who created the website for bounties, is gone for good.”

“Told you my uncles would get to him,” Mila said to Dominic.

“So he’s dead and buried?” asked Dominic.

“There was nothing left to bury. Except some teeth,” replied Alex.

Knowing that meant her uncles’ inner beasts had pretty much eaten Forester’s entire body, Dominic shuddered. “Good to know. Next time you have news, maybe you could just call us instead.”

“But that wouldn’t annoy Mila or her cat, so there’d be no fun in it,” Alex pointed out.

Dominic shook his head. “Whatever. Just go.” But when he and Mila walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later, wrapped in fluffy towels, they found Alex lounging in a chair and reading a book. “Unless you want to see your sister naked, you really need to leave now.”

Alex lifted a brow. “I’ve seen her scrawny body before. There’s not a lot there to see. But she already knows she’s not much to look at.”

Mila took a step toward him. “Oh, you little fucker.”

He looked at Dominic. “Aren’t you put off by all those sharp bones digging into you? Honestly? Not even the protruding shoulder blades? You could play her ribs like a xylophone.”

Her cat hissing and flexing her claws, Mila pointed at the door. “Out, Alex.”

“So you can pretend that if I put a sesame seed on your head you wouldn’t look like a pushpin?”

She shifted so fast Dominic didn’t get the chance to grab her cat before the feline launched herself at Alex’s face.

Dominic sighed. So this would be his life. He could honestly say he was looking forward to it.