8

AURORA

Wolves howled from every direction around me. Their voices rose through the night air, thick with hunger and excitement.

The sound pushed against my senses. They wanted him to finish the mating. The pack would always wait for Theron to begin.

No glance was needed to know how close everyone stood or how thin their control had become.

The scent of the Ironwood Pack hung heavy in the clearing. Heat. Desire. Sharp excitement. It filled my lungs and stirred the same wild need inside my body.

“You taste too good, Aurora. I can’t get enough,” he said quietly.

Warm breath drifted over the swollen heat between my thighs. A quick shiver climbed my spine. My muscles tightened without warning.

Theron dragged his teeth along the soft skin of my inner thighs. My legs trembled beneath the slow scrape. His eyes never left mine. The gold glow in them showed the wolf pressing hard against the man inside him.

Low growls rolled through the pack.

The sound grew louder and rougher.

Then he moved.

Theron rose over me, strong and steady. The tip of his cock pressed against my entrance.

“Mine,” he said again.

“Yes,” I whispered. Waiting had become unbearable. He could take whatever he wanted as long as he stopped making me wait.

One hand pressed firmly against my shoulder. The other gripped my hip.

Then he thrust forward.

He filled me completely.

The stretch burned as my body opened around him. A sharp scream tore from my throat before it turned into a long howl.

The pack answered instantly.

“Move, Theron. Now,” I hissed.

The need under my skin had grown too fierce. It scratched at my thoughts and made my mind feel thin and fragile. One more moment of waiting might have broken me.

At last he moved.

Theron slowly pulled back until only the tip of him stayed inside me. My body tightened, expecting him to drive forward again.

Instead he slipped out completely.

Before I could react, he turned me onto my knees. The motion came so quickly that the world spun for a moment. The strength behind it made my wolf surge with approval.

A powerful mate.

A capable one.

The wolf inside me rejoiced at the choice.

The truth was simple.

I felt the same.

Theron shoved into me again with a hard thrust. My body welcomed him eagerly. Thick muscle slid through sensitive flesh. The friction built heat quickly.

Around us the pack finally lost the last of their control.

Howls rose into the night.

Shouts and rough cries followed.

Bodies crashed together throughout the clearing. Some shifted halfway, others fully wolves. They tangled and pushed against each other in frantic hunger.

Energy rippled through the air like a storm.

Pure instinct guided every movement.

Theron thrust again and again. Each hard movement pushed my hips forward. His pace was rough and relentless. Too much for any human body.

But I was not human.

And rough was exactly what I craved.

The rougher it became, the better it felt.

Deep sounds of pleasure rolled from his chest. My own cries answered him without restraint.

Even with the fierce rhythm he kept, Theron still pulled one arm tightly around my waist. His other hand slipped between my legs.

His fingers slid through the damp curls there.

Then he found my clit.

A sharp pulse of pleasure spread through me.

His fingers teased the sensitive flesh while he kept pounding into me. Every small movement lit sparks along my nerves.

Any thought of slow or gentle mating had disappeared.

Only the wildness remained.

Animal hunger.

Raw need.

Unrestrained movement.

Now it was clear why the pack waited eagerly for the black moon.

This night allowed freedom.

No restraint.

No concern.

Pleasure could climb as high as it wished beneath the moon’s magic.

Another ceremony would never be missed again.

Freedom like this was impossible to forget.

Theron could drive me beyond reason tonight. Jax watched the clearing from the edge.

He would protect us if danger came.

Still, a small ache formed inside my chest.

Part of me wanted to reach out to him. To remind him he still mattered to me. Nothing could change that truth.

The wind moved softly through the trees.

The scent of sex drifted through the cool air.

Instead of calming the fire inside me, it fed it.

Every member of the Ironwood Pack moved together tonight. Bodies joined again and again. Seed spilled freely.

The black moon always raised a female’s chance to conceive. Nights like this often ended with new pups forming.

For many years the pack numbers had remained steady.

Recently that had begun to change.

My father had spoken about it more than once.

The numbers were slowly falling.

Theron’s hands tightened around my hips.

“Look at me, Aurora. Focus on me. Gods damn it, me.”

Pleasure surged again.

Strong waves rolled through the tight walls of my body and rushed toward my center. Every nerve seemed to wake at once.

My muscles clamped down around him.

“Yes, Theron. Harder.”

My hips pushed back against each thrust, guiding him to every sensitive place inside me.

His thighs grew tense against my body.

That small change told me what was coming.

He was close.

The peak arrived without warning.

My body trembled and spasmed. The pleasure grew too bright to understand. Loud cries burst from my throat and drowned out the sounds around us.

Light flashed across my vision.

Behind me Theron roared. His howl cut through the clearing as his release broke free.

Heat flooded deep inside me.

He kept thrusting through it, desperate and powerful.

All around us the pack reached their own release.

Their cries rose together.

Skin struck against skin.

Bodies pressed and tangled.

The sounds blended into one wild chorus.

Then another voice cut sharply through the noise.

“Get up right now. Aurora, can’t you hear me?”

Jax.

His voice broke through the haze in my mind.

Hands grabbed my shoulder.

My head turned slowly.

Jax stood over me.

Confusion rushed through my thoughts.

Shouts spread through the clearing.

Someone yelled for everyone to run.

Strong arms suddenly pulled me away from Theron. My body lifted from the ground and landed across broad shoulders.

“Jax?” My voice sounded weak.

“Yes,” he answered quickly.

He was already running.

The clearing disappeared behind us as he rushed into the trees.

My body still felt soft and unsteady after the mating. My thoughts struggled to catch up.

Where was Theron?

What had happened to the pack?

“Jax, stop.” My claws dug into the back of his shirt.

His muscles tightened beneath my hands, hard and steady. But he did not slow down.

“Jax, what do you think you’re doing?”

“We’re under attack.”

That snapped my mind awake.

“What?” The word came out as a sharp cry. “Put me down. I can fight.”

“Be quiet,” he said firmly. “Let me handle this. We’re almost there.”

The hard edge in his voice sent a cold feeling through my chest.

It did not matter whether I liked it or not.

He was right.

My heart pounded hard.

The mating had just ended. My body still felt weak.

Jax had trained his entire life for moments like this.

Protecting me was his duty.

For now, the only choice was to let him do it.