She thought about it for a moment. “All right. I’ll carry Willow around so she can come along too.”
After walking deep into their territory, the pack—with the exception of Ally and Willow, who wouldn’t be able to shift until puberty—shifted into their wolf forms. Holding Willow in her arms, Ally kept pace with the wolves as they loped around, both playful and watchful. Her mate stayed close to her, repeatedly rubbing against her or licking her hand. His power, strength, and level of dominance were evident in his stature and the vibes he exuded.
Finally, the wolves all settled in a clearing. Some lay sprawled on the ground while others played and tussled. Ally sat with Willow between her legs, but the infant apparently had no intention of staying in place. She crawled away and was quickly circled by a red she-wolf and a large gray wolf—Shaya and Nick. She giggled each time the wolves gently nuzzled her.
A black wolf—Derren—alternated between wrestling with the enforcers and lying at Ally’s side while she sank her fingers into his thick fur. The animal released a feral growl if any of the males, even his Alpha, got too close to Ally.
“I was right to stay in my human form then, huh,” Ally said to the black wolf, knowing Derren would understand the words. “Next time, I’m shifting.” Although going along on the run was satisfying for her and her wolf, it didn’t soothe them the way it would if she were in her wolf form. The black wolf trotted behind her, disappearing from view . . . and then suddenly a naked male was wrapped around her, his front to her back. Well, now.
“Yes, you were right,” Derren admitted, lapping at her claiming mark. “My wolf sees each of the males here as threats to our bond—even the mated ones.” His wolf’s jealousy was now worse than ever, which meant his mood was more temperamental than usual. Barely resisting the urge to clutch the breasts that were crushed beneath his arms, Derren told her, “He even gets jealous of the attention you pay to Bruce.”
Ally chuckled, tilting her head to give him better access. He nuzzled her and inhaled deeply. “My wolf can get just as jealous.”
“But at least she’s rational.”
“Well, there is that.” She hooked one arm over his nape to thread her fingers through his hair. Ally relaxed into him as he practically enfolded his body around hers, touching and kissing her both soothingly and reverently. She closed her eyes, enjoying the sensations: A kiss to her jaw. Fingers playing along her collarbone. A kiss to her neck. A stroke of his hand down her arm. A nip to her earlobe. A lick to her claiming mark. A kiss to the hollow beneath her ear.
As he brushed aside her hair to nip and lick her nape, she said, “I don’t think you’re in a position to judge your wolf.”
“What do you mean?”
She snorted at the innocence in his tone. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.”
“What?”
“You’re making sure I’m wearing your scent.”
Smiling against her nape, he admitted with no repentance whatsoever, “Fine, so I want you to smell of me.” Just the same, he wanted his skin to smell of her. He brushed his cheek against hers. “Although I love your scent exactly how it is, there’s one thing that would make it better: if it was mixed with mine.” When the mating bond progressed a step, it would happen; their scents would twine and form a unique scent that would declare they were mated.
He wanted that, but he wasn’t sure how to make it happen. The bond wouldn’t fully snap into place until he and Ally were completely naked to each other—it was a form of surrender on both parts. For most couples, that often meant overcoming fears, accepting hard or painful truths, and exposing and moving past their personal scars.
Although he and Ally were working toward it, the progression of the bond wasn’t something that could be forced or hurried. That pissed him off, because Derren wasn’t a patient guy when it came to Ally—he wanted everything, and he wanted it now.
“Maybe your wolf will settle a little when he knows a single sniff will tell other males I’m claimed and off the market.”
He doubted it, but one could hope.
“Maybe you’ll be calmer too.”
“I’m always going to be very possessive, Ally,” he warned her, his hand cupping and shaping one luscious breast while no one was looking, loving her sharp inhale. “It’s not part of my personality, but it’s who I am with you. You don’t have to tell me it’s not healthy to want to own you—mind, body, and soul. I already know that. And I already know it’s not good to want to possess every part of you, to be all you need and want. But I do anyway.” He narrowed his eyes at the large wolf that wandered too close. “Fuck off, Brack.”