I was still a little self-conscious when Cazz made love to me in the outdoors. I loved it, but I knew he’d had guards posted and patrolling, and since the wolves senses were so acute… but I made myself let go and just enjoy him. It had been so precious to see how excited he was about the baby, and his thrill at being recognized.
He told me he’d found the link with our child, which just about made me cry. I tried to do it, but either I wasn’t skilled enough, or our baby wasn’t, because I couldn’t find him.
When we’d made love and were just laying under the trees, I was half-asleep in Cazz’s arms and my mind drifted—the baby, my family, Cazz’s tension about taking me
~ JESSE ~He blinked and stared down at me. “I… I hadn’t thought of it that way.”I pulled his face down and kissed him gently. “I was thinking about what you said about death too, and even though I hate it, I think you’re right. Death is a part of war. And war is part of life. So… so our family and our pack will never be safe unless we cut down the enemies. I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. I want you to promise me that you won’t stop me going into this with you.”His brows pinched down hard. “I’ve already said that you can. Why do you think we’re training—?”“I know. But I also know when you get tense and things go wrong, you’re going to want to jump to that pl
~ CASIMIR ~“…who can we trust? I don’t say that flippantly. We know that we’ve cleared the ranks of those who are actual traitors. But this will take wolves capable of deception and brutality. Wolves that won’t lose their nerve under pressure. And the females…”Jesse licked her lips and shared a look with Reeca. “That’s the part I feel so uneasy about.”I looked at her sharply. “You don’t believe they can be trusted?”“No! no, I didn’t mean that. I meant… Well, I’ll speak from a human perspective: We can’t always know how we’ll react if we get into a dangerous position with a guy. Are the female wolves all
~ CASIMIR ~Embracing my mate had been a huge mistake… I had barely been able to keep my hands off her while we were meeting with our friends. Once they were gone, the moment she was close with her warmth and her rich scent, and her lips brushing my neck, I was shuddering for very different reasons.I hadn’t intended to start anything, but now that she was in my arms, nothing else made sense.I took her face in my hands and kissed her deeply—deeper, harder than she’d been expecting. She gave a little hum, but reached up to wrap her arms around my neck, letting me hold her more tightly, curling her backwards so I could grab her ass—though she hissed a little if I bent her too far. Her back was beginning to ache by the end of the day.“J
~ CASIMIR ~I stood in the cell of Jesse’s father, nose wrinkled against the stench of a man who had given up on caring for himself, and shook my head.I wanted to shake him.He lay in the cot, dirty sheets, dirty blankets, dirty clothes, dirty man, and stared at the wall. I would almost have had compassion for him. But then he opened his mouth.“Never saw it…” he murmured. “Let myself get distracted by the fucking boys. She was the prize all along, and now…”He began to weep quietly and I snorted the air from my nose.
~ CASIMIR ~“We have identified our primary targets, and you are here because you are trusted. We will not leave this room until everyone understands their role, and is confident of what they’re there to do. This is not a time to be hesitant to speak. If you do not understand something as I explain it or if your personal role seems unclear in any way, you raise it and ask as many questions as you need until you are certain. Are we clear?”Every wolf in the room nodded. Some of the gathered women looked a little pale, others tense with anticipation. The guards were stern.“Very well, then. Let’s get started. If you are in
~ JESSE ~I was naked, sweating, and on my knees on the bed.Cazz had stalked through the day, abrupt and tense. I’d thought it was just because we were getting to the final details, and he was facing the fact that we were intentionally putting wolves within the grasp of powerful humans.But the moment the room had finally gone quiet after dinner and everyone looked at each other, no one asking any questions, he’d turned snappish—almost rude.Until he’d ushered me back to his room and begun stripping my clothes almost before the door was closed behind us.He groaned now, sliding hands down my spine to grasp my hip
~ JESSE ~“Settle, Jesse,” he laughed. “I only asked what might be best for late in pregnancy. I know everything is different with the belly. I don’t want to crush you, but I want to watch you… I need to watch you,” he said, his tone dropping at the end into a hint of self-consciousness. Vulnerability.I bit my lip and reached up to stroke his stomach as he thrust slowly into me again, then let my eyes close and nodded. “Well… good choice,” I breathed.He gave that low growl again, and my skin pebbled.“Jesse, look at me.”When I opened my eyes again, he lifted his hands and extended his palms. “Take my hands.”
~ CASIMIR ~The morning those we were taking to the City left the catacombs was an exercise in sheer will that I had not experienced in years.We were surrounded and shadowed by dozens of wolves. And still, I had to fight not to grasp Jesse and roar at her to go back, not to gather the guards around the two of us and to hell with the rest, not to hold her belly and weep into her beautiful breasts at the fear of what might be on the horizon.But giving in to fear was not how an Alpha led.My father had been an evil fucker, but he hadn’t been wrong about that.So, I allowed myself the indulgence of gripping my mate’s hand at all times on the journey—at times,