Devon Mature

Months passed, and I sat on the back porch of the pack house after a long day of work. Everyone had cleared off when we came out, but I didn't try to stop them because I liked having her to myself. My beautiful mate was resting her head on my lap holding a book above her face as she worked her way through it. She was becoming a more adept reader as time went on, and I was proud of her determination. Had I ever thought she was not equal to the challenges ahead of her? What a fool I had been. An idiot and a fool, and I was lucky to somehow still have her.

She set the book down on her stomach and looked up at me. "Devon?"

"Amber?" She hadn't changed her name to Raleigh, because she wasn't sure and didn't want to steal someone's identity without definitive proof. She also still feared the idea of going to Glenshadow to find out more. I wasn't quite sure if she feared that she truly was or was not who Kain had suggested she might be. I would take her when she was ready.

But for now, she had admitted with blushes in whispers that she had come to enjoy hearing me call her 'Amber' in my 'deep voice' which had been more than enough of an excellent argument to convince me.

"I've been thinking."

"Mmhmm?"

"I think I'm ready to try out that whole baby thing."

I just blinked at her, afraid I had not understood her correctly. "What baby thing?"

"Having yours? At least, I thought you wanted to—"

"Oh, I want. Want to start right now?"

"This probably isn't the place." She smiled mischievously.

"Hey, no one's around."

I was kidding, and it was a good thing, because right at that moment my sister and brother came up, leading the little werewolf Dan had rescued. We had managed to find the identities of the two young fairies easily since their father had been among the unconscious prisoners we rescued, and the older werewolf kids had known their names and the names of their packs, but we hadn't been able to find who the little werewolf girl belonged to. She didn't know who she was, not even her own name. No inquiries had brought in a clue of who she was. Amber had insisted that we keep her, indefinitely, unless her family appeared to claim her, and I'd had no objections.

Amber had named her Hope, and had taken the little one under her wing. I'd had no doubts she would be an excellent mother, but Hope was helping give me a nice preview of coming parental attractions. She was also giving me a nice preview of the way having children could really put a damper on alone time with one's mate, not that I begrudged the two time together.

Amber sat up in time to catch the little girl as she hurtled herself into my mate's arms. I got up to greet my siblings. Silvia had gained back some of her weight, but she always had a mournful expression, even when she smiled. She had apparently tried to explain to Sarah that her wolf was acting like Arthur had died, even when she was in the same room as him, or touching him. I couldn't imagine the pain of grieving a living mate.

I wished I could fix my little sister's problems, but I was helpless and none of the experts we had consulted had been able to shed any light on the issue.

After bidding farewell to my siblings, I followed Amber and Hope inside. We guessed she was about three, but we had no way to be certain. Amber had declared her birthday to be the day she had been rescued and insisted we have a small celebration every month rather than year.

Amber gave our little wolf a bath, and put her to bed, singing to her a familiar lullaby she'd memorized off the internet after Oliver had told her our mother used to sing it to the three of us. Her voice was far from perfect, but it was damn sweet and it melted my heart every night.

Once the little one was out for the night, we retreated back to our own room. Amber took a shower and locked me out—to my dismay—and when she finally came out she ordered me to go in and take my turn.

I followed her instructions, even though it wasn't what I wanted to be doing.

When I came out, I was very pleased that I had obeyed, because she was waiting for me. More importantly, she was wearing skimpy lingerie, which was not something she had done before, almost always leaving me to initiate and woo her. Instantly at attention, I strode towards her, admiring her sexy form, barely concealed under the red lace.

Her cheeks were flushed to match and her embarrassment was obvious. "You look beautiful."

She smiled at me. "Glad you think so."

"Oh, I know so."

"You're biased by the bond."

"Who cares? I wish I were the only one who could see your beauty, because then I wouldn't catch other males checking you out." I stalked around her, looking at her from different angles, each one a pleasure to behold.

"You do? I think you're imagining things."

"You just don't notice because no one ever finds their bodies."

"Devon," she said reproachfully. She made scolding look seriously hot. It made me want to get in trouble more often.

But for now I'd be good. "You know I'm kidding. I let them live because I know they can't help themselves. And now I'll let them live because I'm the only one who gets to see you in this." She looked amazing in red. Her nipples protruded under the fabric and my brain cut off the blood supply to my speech centre. Who cared? It wasn't like I needed that anyway.

"Well, it's true that you're the only one who gets to see this. It's embarrassing enough with just you."

I pulled her towards me as I dropped my towel and then lifted her. She helpfully wrapped her legs around me so that I was pressed up against the entrance to her body with only that flimsy slip of lace between us.

She kissed me as I carried her to the bed. I ran my hands along her curves, and teased her through the cloth. Once she had sufficiently writhed and pleaded for me, my lust fogged brain habitually pushed me up to get protection.

She pulled me back down. "We don't need that anymore if we're trying, right?" she asked.

I kissed my mate fiercely. "You're right. We do not." I pushed the lace to the side again, and I sank into her sweet heat with nothing separating me from her softness. I groaned at the sensation. There was nothing better than this.

Her passionate sounds pushed me forward, and she contracted, and I followed her into waves of bliss. She was the only thing in my mind as she moaned under me and kissed the crook of my neck.

"Ouch!" A sharp pain dug into my flesh where she bit down hard—almost viciously—on the spot she had just been kissing. Her eyes were wide with horror at what she had just done. They darted like they still did when she felt in danger, so I kept my weight pinning her just enough that she couldn't try to run and hide from me.

At a loss to escape, she said, "Oh, Devon, I'm so sorry—" but I kissed her to stop her from talking as our connection solidified further. I could feel her panic and guilt spilling out, and of course occupying her mouth didn't stop her from trying to explain herself.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't even know that I—my wolf, I guess—wanted to mark you until it happened. I shouldn't have done it without asking you first though! I know it's wrong. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

"Calm down, beautiful. I'm not upset. Surprised, but it's a good surprise." Since we had discovered she was a werewolf, I'd always hoped that my cute mate would want to mark me one day, although I had said nothing, not wanting to pressure her to embrace her wolf faster than she was ready for. I couldn't keep the smile off my face that her wolf instincts had at last pushed her to do it.

She relaxed slightly, and I pulled out of her. It was unlikely she would get pregnant without heat, but I could hope. Rolling away, I tugged her over to rest her head on my shoulder, facing me. I could still feel waves of embarrassment and guilt seeping out. I didn't want her upset with herself.

"Honestly, I'm kind of proud of myself."

"Proud of yourself?"

"I might just be the first male ever who's so great in bed he made a female lose control and mark him without permission," I teased.

She groaned and hid her face against my chest. "That does not make me feel better, since that just means I'm the first female..."

Tilting her head back up, I pecked her chastely on the lips. "After everything, please just let me have this one, love."

She half-smiled and met my eyes before hiding her blushing face again. "You can have anything you want from me, Devon.

And I did.