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Instinct won.
Grasping a fistful of her blond locks, he tilted her head up and out of his way as he lowered his head. Simone struggled with him, but his strength was far superior to hers. Besides, there was no place to go; she was tied to him, and it would be hours before the knot shrank to the point he could withdraw from her. Her body convulsed as her pussy clamped down on him, her response coating his cock as he continued to rock at an increasingly frenzied pace.
Nuzzling her neck, he nipped the delicate skin of her throat, marking the spot he intended to take. Simone wailed as he inflicted another climax on her ravaged body and sank his teeth into her flesh beside the hollow of her throat in a savage bite.
The short, stabbing thrusts as he held her in his teeth were frenzied and feral—an alpha male marking and claiming his mate. Simone clung to him, keening not in pain but in complete and utter surrender. Mischa found his release in an intense orgasm, flooding her core with his seed deep within her. No one would ever question his possession, claiming, or mastery of his mate.
Simone went limp.
Exhausted, he collapsed on her, releasing her neck as he growled in a seductive and sensual manner, his supreme satisfaction in the carnal act apparent. Simone nuzzled into him, all but purring at him. She was content, sated, and at peace. She fell asleep almost immediately as he rolled to his back so that she could rest and recover without the burden of his weight.
Mischa slept lightly for several hours, cradling her body, until he felt the knot resolve to the point he could slip from her body without causing her further pain or waking her up. That part of his brain that was beginning to function rationally vaguely reminded him that he should have waited for the bonding ceremony, waited until he knew the extent of her imperfection—he refused to think of it as a defect—waited until all was right between them before making the ultimate conquest.
None of that mattered. Every fiber of his being had told him to yield all logic and tender emotion to his primal instinct to claim what was his. And Simone was his. He’d known the moment his knot breached her opening, when she had arched her body up into his, throwing back her neck and baring her throat for his claiming bite, that nothing else mattered than possessing her wholly and completely. Nothing.
Her flaw, whatever it was, was meaningless. If he didn’t want to see if there wasn’t some way of giving her the gift of being able to shift, he wouldn’t bother taking her to see Doc tomorrow.
Mischa sought the night sky on his balcony and felt his dire wolf pacing, impatient to be free and at one with the darkness. Succumbing again to instinct and need, Mischa shifted and leapt from the balcony onto the lawn and galloped away from the house—his destination unknown, his thoughts unresolved.
All his logic and belief that he had to choose the right mate, the perfect female she-wolf so that he could continue the purebred lines of his dynasty, were lost to the wind that howled around him. There were still unresolved questions about Simone’s suitability. But in that moment when he had claimed her, none of it had mattered to him.
He had done what he’d once thought of as unacceptable: he had claimed a mate while her lineage and suitability were still in question. Mischa continued to run, charging down from the headlands and onto the beach. He raced into the frigid waters of the sea, swimming out to a jagged rock that broke the surface by several feet. Climbing atop the craggy pillar, Mischa turned his muzzle to the moon and throwing his head back, howled.
But was it in victory or defeat? He didn’t know. All he knew was that everything in his world had just been turned upside down and might become undone.
CHAPTER12
SIMONE
The soft light of the sun’s first rays creeping over the horizon filtered through the open French doors. Simone reached for Mischa only to find she was alone. She listened for some sign that he was within their chambers but found none. Their chambers—she liked the sound of that. She sat up, swinging her legs over the side and wincing. She had heard the other she-wolves at Bacchus whispering and giggling about the prowess and knot of an alpha wolf—not that any of them knew it for fact. It was just something she-wolves talked about. They had no idea.
Standing up, she was glad that Mischa was not in the room. She didn’t want him to think of her as weak or as his ‘little wolf.’ She wanted to prove she was more than enough wolf for him. Last night had been amazing and although she was sore, she wouldn’t have changed a thing. She’d known that Mischa had promised her father he wouldn’t do anything she didn’t ask for. She might not have asked, but she certainly hadn’t objected—not really. And this morning she regretted nothing.
Simone would have preferred to have awakened in her mate’s arms, but he had a business to run. She headed into the bath, luxuriating in the large shower with its multiple showerheads and steam function. Standing under the hot water, she allowed the steam to envelop her as she leaned against the tile wall enjoying the contrast of the cool tile with the steam and heated water.
She let the water beat on her shoulders and thought of the way she’d felt when Mischa had taken her to his bed. Having him take her from behind the first time they made love had made her recognize the strength and power of her mate. She should have been angry that he hadn’t been more solicitous of her emotional state, but she wasn’t. He’d made pieces of her come alive that she hadn’t known were offline. Hell, she hadn’t even known she had those pieces.
And when she’d become boneless in his arms, he’d swept her up in them and carried her to their room. Again, she should have been worried that someone might see them, but she didn’t care. In her view, all they would have seen was their alpha taking his mate to his bed. Sure, she might have been naked, but she doubted they could have seen much—after all, her ass had been facing the wall, away from anyone coming up the stairs.
She smiled and felt the goofiest butterflies in her belly when she thought about how he’d swept her up as if she weighed nothing. There was no hesitation, and he’d shown no difficulty handling her size. She’d always been worried if some man tried that with her that he’d hurt his back, or she’d cripple him for life. But she’d been safe and secure in her mate’s arms.
Simone supposed that most she-wolves felt humbled in their claiming, especially if their mate was an alpha. After all, in their society, alphas ruled supreme. Instead, she had found the experience not only exhilarating, but liberating. She’d never felt this serene and secure. Never had she felt empowered as a female, but she did now. She would take her place at Mischa’s side and together they would see their kind reinvigorated and revived. Their sons would rule in Alaska and in Italy.
She was sure there were some who would have expected her to fail, but they were wrong. Knowing her mate had been overcome by lust and instinct had given her a sense of confidence she’d never had before. She stepped out of the shower and walked to the house phone beside Mischa’s bed. No…not just his bed anymore. Their bed.
“Mrs. Perkins, good morning.”
“Mistress, I was going to come see what you’d like brought to you for breakfast. The alpha had some things he had to do and said you were to be catered to in every way.”
“Our alpha is a generous and considerate mate, but I will join the pack for breakfast. Do you know if Valentin went with him?”
“No, Mistress, he is here.”
“Good. Hopefully I can catch him at breakfast and apologize to him and everyone else for my dreadful behavior last night.”
“It wasn’t dreadful…”
“It was, but it’s kind of you to say it wasn’t. In fact, everyone has been so kind, and I haven’t been nearly as gracious and grateful as I should have been. That changes as of today. Is there any chance you could spare Nancy for just a little bit to do my hair?”
