Page 33 of Alpha Games
Aspen’s lips quirked to the side as she closed her eyes again. “Just make yourself comfortable.”
I smiled in return, playing with a piece of her long brown hair that escaped the braid. “I plan to.”
*
Despite my exhaustion and disappointment in not winning the challenge, I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. She wanted me. Whether it was the looming mating call or our souls speaking to each other, the draw was more intense than anything I’d ever felt. And after today, there was no doubt she felt it too.
Acting on this was an entirely different matter and it was possible I’d messed up by giving in too fast. I could have teased her longer, drawn out her desire, but there was no harm in giving her a little taste of what I’d do once I had her completely at my mercy.
We could do that now,my wolf growled, still pissed I forcefully dragged him away from the resortwhere Aspen was tucked into bed with Beau guarding the hall.
Patience,I snapped back. He wasn’t a rash beast, but he’d been driving me hard to complete the mating mark and seal our bond.It will happen,I reassured him.
First it was time to face the music with my pack.
*
Mattox met me in wolf form outside the boundaries of the resort property. The scent of a female still clung to his dark gray fur and I sniffed discreetly, placing her smell as one of my pack.
“When did Ava get here?” I asked as we walked through the forest together.
He looked up with a wolfish grin.“She came this morning to drop off some supplies.”
“And they headed back home?”
Mattox’s head bobbed as a small whine slipped from his wolf.
“You like her.” I slowed my pace.
Ava was a skinny waif who’d come to our pack late last year from one of the backwoods traveling packs that haunted the lands of eastern Oregon. She’d filled out once we’d gotten more meat into her and finally looked her age.
“I’m not sure she’s my fated or anything.”Mattox’s gray tail swished high in the air.“But I do like her.”
His wolf pawed at the ground in agreement.
I chuckled as I resumed walking. “Good for you. I’m happy you found someone, brother. Does she feel the same?”
“I think so.”His massive paws crunched the soil and decayed leaves as we continued through the woods in silence.
“And?” I prompted.
He glanced at me before turning away.“You’re the one who found your fated. Now the rest of us all have that sliver of a doubt.”
I hadn’t thought about that and what the repercussions would be if Aspen and I were truly a fated pair. Would mating season have fewer participants in my pack as wolves held out for the hope of finding a fated? Would pack numbers dwindle? Did it even matter? The worry was always there when wolves took a chosen mate, but we were a loyal species and mated for life whether chosen or fated.
I scratched the back of my head as we walked, knowing it was pointless to get caught up in the “what ifs.” But my friend and second in command needed me now.
“Even if Aspen wasn’t my fated mate, and we still aren’t sure if she is,” I ignored my wolf’s growling protest, “I would choose her.”
Mattox’s beast nodded as we stepped into the clearing.“That’s good because this is a hell of a lot of work for a one-night stand.”
My pack had more tents set up. Ivan was inside the “command center” surrounded by solar-powered computer equipment while Beau handled Luna security detail in the resort. The other tents were stuffed with sleeping bags and hammocks were strung around the trees. It was mostly males who’d come to the mountains, but the scent of the females that came up earlier still lingered in the air.
Fallon was sitting on a camp chair by the fire with her boots propped up on a rock. Jones handed her a bottle of whiskey. He was the surlier of the pair, but his mate Foster wasn’t with him by the fire now so he looked even rougher alone without Foster’s smile to soften the edges. I reached out my senses, checking on the pack not in the immediate vicinity and found Foster and Justin running a perimeter sweep. Mattox trotted out after them to herd the males back.
The evidence of the earlier supply convoy was clear in the fresh forerunner tracks on the dirt road and the bags of marshmallows and s’mores fixings on the fold out tables. Beau’s mate, Jenna, stood flipping burgers on the grill for a few of the younger males to munch on. Leave it to my people to turn this into a real camping trip.
I sighed as I stepped up to the fire, fully prepared for the grim faces to turn my way. I could sense the underlying frustration and knew it was my fault for letting them down.