Marked by the Alpha Wolf; Part 1 by Scarlett Grove
He turned and headed to his room, passing Nadine in the hallway.
“Do you want some company?” she asked seductively. He didn’t respond.
Chapter 44
Cassie went through her things as she waited for Rafe to wake up. Guns, ammo, cooked meat, water, clothing, water filter, bandages. Her wounded knee still felt stiff, but it had mended enough for her to walk without much of a limp after she’d slept.
The wolves had eaten a huge feast and gotten drunk on whiskey before passing out in the bunkhouse. It would have been easy for her to steal the keys to one of the trucks and take off without Rafe, but she’d learned her lesson the last time.
Not that she didn't think she could take care of herself being well supplied. She just didn’t want to do anything less than honest. She owed him that much. Taking his car would be a crummy move after breaking up with him.
She sat in the kitchen as the wolves roused from their daytime slumber. Rafe came out of his room, clean and clothed, his eyes red and puffy. She tried not to look directly at him.
“Are you sure you want to leave, Cassie?” Selina asked her.
“Yes.”
“Let her go if she wants to,” said Nadine. Cassie shot Nadine a withering look. Selina remained silent.
“Is this everything?” Rafe asked, standing over her pile of gear.
“That’s it. Let’s get going.”
She slung her backpack over her shoulder and lifted a case of ammo while Rafe took her bag of food. He turned away from her and moved down the corridor to the elevator. She followed him, lugging the heavy load and biting back the bitter taste that leaving left on her tongue.
They rode up in the elevator, avoiding eye contact and not talking. When they reached the ground level, they silently loaded the car and got inside. A defiant pout had engraved itself on Cassie’s face. She didn’t want to let herself feel the deep empty space in her gut.
Nadine’s joy at her parting only made that empty place throb with hollow agony. The thought of Rafe moving on, mating with Nadine and forgetting her, cut her heart like a razor blade.
Rafe started the engine. She allowed herself to look in his direction. His face was set hard, like the unyielding stone deep underground. Her heart leapt out to him, and she wanted to touch him, to bring back the softness in his eyes when they gazed down at her.
But that was all gone now. She’d made her decision and she wouldn’t go back on it. It was time to leave the pack, leave the shelter, and forget about their pseudo-political drama.
Cassie swore it reminded her of high school. Rafe was a star quarterback, and all the werewolf females were cheerleaders while Cassie was a band geek. She sighed and groaned at the thought.
“What?” Rafe asked, looking over at her as they pulled onto the paved road.
“Nothing. I was just thinking about how much pack politics reminds me of high school.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way. We’re just learning how to cope with our new instincts and way of life. There haven’t been any humans among us. We haven’t learned how to incorporate them yet. It’s only been five years since the wars and the radiation pulse. Our culture needs time to mature.”
“Like high school students.”
Rafe didn’t respond, but Cassie could see his jaw working as if he were chewing on something tough. The muscles in his face tensed, and his eyes stared straight forward.
“Regardless,” she said in a light tone, “I’m not learning to control my abilities within the pack. No one can help me. You have a terminal into The Program, but I need to be able to get inside on my own. I need to be able to see through the vale in dimensions without the terminal or the serum. I need to be able to access my power even when I’m stressed. The time I blasted Pyramid Corp was a fluke. Every time I get stressed, I fail, and I don’t see learning fast enough in the fallout shelter, competing for rabbit meat with the pack.”
“We have plenty of food now. And we’ve made an agreement with the cougars to allow us range without being attacked.”
“That isn’t the point,” she sighed. “The witches know way more than either of us about this thing. And right now, Rafe, our priorities are way different. I can’t sit underground waiting for the Anu to come after me again. I need to be proactive. I need to get out there and fight or at least be preparing to fight.”
“I admit our priorities have shifted since Pyramid Corp bombed our old compound. I never expected them to come to us. It was an oversight. And a bad one.”
“No one is blaming you. Hell, it’s my fault they attacked in the first place.”
“You should just wait until the pack has regrouped, and then we can create a strategic plan.”
“No Rafe. No waiting. This is my fight as much as it is anyone’s. Maybe more.”
He stared out the window ahead and turned onto the highway headed north toward Tucson.
Chapter 45
“The attack on the compound wasn’t your fault, Cassie. All I’ve ever wanted to do was protect you. Even teaching you to fight was to protect you. If you leave, I can’t do that anymore. I can’t abandon my pack and sit in the witches’ cave while you meditate. They need their leader.”
“I’m not asking you to leave them.”
“But you are asking me to leave you, leave you with the witches. Damn it, Cassandra.” He slammed his palm into the steering wheel. A dark, angry expression colored the chiseled contours of his handsome face. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
“I want you to let me go.”
“Impossible.”
“You have to, Rafe.”
“Cassandra, my body and soul belong to you and yours to me. Neither of us can just let that go.”
He reached to take her hand while glancing across the front seat into her eyes. His face had drawn into sadness and a look of desperation.
“I can’t do this, Rafe. I can’t.” The look in his eyes killed her. It cut her to the core. The tears she’d so heroically hidden pooled in her eyes and began to pour over and down her cheeks. She gasped, a shuddering sob escaping her lips.
Rafe pulled the car over on the side of the empty highway. The moon had risen over a mesa and shone its silver face over the still landscape. Rafe reached for her and drew her into his arms.
She sobbed into his shoulder, feeling stupid and weak and heartbroken. She had to leave. She had to go. There was no changing that. But there was no changing how much she loved him, either. Just the thought of never seeing him again felt like a black death to her spirit.
She lifted her tear-streaked face to his, and he slowly lowered his lips. When their lips met, he pressed them hard against her and squeezed her into his arms. “Oh, Rafe,” she breathed into his ear. His hand slid up her side and cupped her breast.
Pleasure shot through her, pushing against her sadness, until it exploded in the intensity of pure sensation. She drew a deep, ragged breath, slipping her hand down to grip his thigh. Oh, how she wanted him. She wanted to feel him hard and strong against her again. She wanted to have him all to herself, now and forever.
He pulled her into the back seat and set the back down so that it became a soft, plush bed. With Cassie on his lap, Rafe lifted her T-shirt over her head and buried his face in her voluptuous breasts. He groaned, caressing them against his cheek. His stubble scratched her tender flesh so enticingly her body grew wet, and her nipples stiffened.
Rafe unclasped her bra and plucked one breast with his rough hand while he encircled the other with his mouth. A hot, raspy tongue flicked at her taut nipple while his hand grasped and kneaded her swollen breast.
She moaned, wanting her clothes off instantly. She pulled his shirt over his head and ran her hands up his shoulders and down his chest. Her fingers played with the button on his pants. She looked at him wickedly, licking her lips. She could feel him hard below her, and he pressed himself against her with his hips.
She slid back, pulling at his pants until they were at his knees. His ere
She ran her tongue up the shaft until it reached the tip, where she kissed the cap of his head. His cock thumped against her mouth as if begging to be let inside. She giggled and opened her mouth, tongue out. With the width of her tongue, she licked him, from the bottom to the top. When she reached his swollen head, she plunged her mouth over him, down to the base.
With her mouth full of him, his substantial manhood inside her, she moaned. She slid her hands over his stomach, while he ran his fingers through her hair and gripped her at the scalp. The slight pain of his hand pulling her hair enticed her even through the slightly gagging fullness of his cock.
She moved up and down on him, loving the feeling of having him so vulnerable under her. She rubbed her hands up and down his thighs, feeling hungry and wild. She squealed with pleasure through the slurping, sucking noises.
Rafe moaned and growled at her movements as he kept a firm hold of her head. He seemed to want to thrust into her but held himself back, propped up on one elbow, watching her.
“Oh God, Cassandra,” he said as he flung her down on the seat and moved over her. He yanked off her pants and boots before he finished removing his own and pushed her back on the seat and sank his face between her thighs.
The sudden change in position and power dynamics made her shudder and almost come as soon as his tongue flicked through her folds to find her mound. She wailed a gasping moan of total pleasure. Her flesh tingled, and she gushed moisture over his mouth.
He pressed a finger inside her as his tongue ran quick circles over her pink bud. The pleasure was like torture. She could see his swollen cock above her, and she longed to have it inside her, filling her deep well to overflowing.
Just as she thought she would erupt, he moved his mouth up her body, stopping to lick and bite her nipples before he claimed her mouth with a deep kiss. He gripped her thigh while the head of his shaft pressed against her opening.
She gasped under his mouth and ran her fingers through his hair. Sinking inside her, Rafe gripped her wrists and brought them above her head, holding them with one hand. He used his other hand to leverage his body’s power as he slid in and out of her.
His chest pressed against her swollen breasts and stiff nipples, and his tongue flicked deep inside her mouth. She was so overcome by absolute pleasure, her orgasm exploded from deep inside, shattering over her whole body.
Rafe let her hands go to grab her breast and lift her thigh around his waist, but his momentum didn’t die down. He rocked into her willing her body to continue on its pleasure track.
Another orgasm wasn’t far behind, this time it racked her whole body with convulsions of pleasure. Oh, how she loved him. How her body adored him. How could she imagine living her life without him? He kissed down her neck as her orgasm rolled on.
“Rafe. I love you. I love you...”
He growled into her neck. “I love you, Cassandra.” He thrust into her, hot flesh against flesh. She felt weak from the rush of pleasure, lightheaded and dazed. He had to let her rest.
Instead, he pulled her up on his lap so that he could suck on her breasts as he worked her hips with his hands. Long, ragged moans flowed out of her mouth. She was screaming, but she didn’t care. No one could hear it.
He clung to her waist, pressing his cheek against the middle of her breasts. He moved her slowly up and down on him while she hugged his head to her heart.
“I’m sorry,” she said between moans.
“Shhh…” he said, bringing her down hard on him. She moaned again, feeling she might lose her mind from the pleasure.
“Rafe, oh God!”
He leaned back and gripped her hips, moving her in a perfect rhythm that intensified with each thrust. She held onto his shoulders, taking in the intense pleasure that he doled out below. She could feel him grow harder, stiffer, fuller inside her. The sensation of his oncoming orgasm blast through her.
She came again as he shot hot come inside her core. The surging of his release drove her wild, and she collapsed on his chest, feeling winded and ragged.
He placed his hand on her back and petted her hair in a short, affectionate motion. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. She looked up at him, wide eyed and open mouthed, to claim a kiss from his lips. She cupped his cheek in her hand and squeezed her eyes shut.
She’d almost lost him. A fresh tear developed in her eye and ran down her cheek. He brushed it away with this thumb and kissed her again.
“You won’t leave me,” he said.
“Not forever. I can never leave you. I won’t. I don’t care what anyone thinks. You are mine and I am yours.”
“But?”
“I still have to go train with the witches. That much had not changed.”
“I understand, Cassandra. I do. I hate to leave you where I cannot protect you, but I understand you need to learn how to use your skill. Don’t think I’ve given up on this war. Not even for a second.”
“I know Rafe. You can’t leave the pack. They need you.”
They pulled their clothes back on and got into the front seat. Rafe maneuvered back onto the road and continued their trek to the witches’ mesa on the boarder of New Mexico.
It was a long drive, almost six hours nonstop. By the time they made it to the road that led to the witches’ land, the pink glow of predawn had already appeared in the sky.
Chapter 46
As they approached the witches’ stone circle at the top of the mesa, Cassie could see the figures of three women in black robes, holding hands in a circle to greet the break of day.
Rafe cut the engine a respectful distance from the circle, and Cassie got out, approaching the witches. Her boots crunched over the gravel as she went. As the sun broke over the horizon and streamed its long golden fingers over the land, the women wailed in greeting. Their hands flew up to the sky in ecstatic praise.
When their ritual ended, they turned in unison toward Cassie and Rafe. Circe looked at them with staring eyes and a blank expression. For a moment, Cassie feared she’d been wrong in coming. When Circe’s face changed into an expression of welcoming joy, Cassie’s fears quickly melted away.
“Chosen of the Seventh House, we knew you would come,” said Circe.
“We have much work to do, sister,” said one of the other women.
“I had a feeling you could help me. Train me. I have much to learn.”
“That you do, sister. Your ways are not our ways. We can teach you principles, not techniques. But I believe that is all you will need.”
Rafe carried her things down to the cave entrance at the bottom of the other side of the mesa, facing the river while the women chatted about their abilities. When the witches carried her bags inside, Rafe stood at the cave mouth, staring down at her.
“Rafe.” She fell into his arms and felt his heavy heart beat against her cheek. “How will I contact you? How will I get back?”
“I’ll come back in a month to check on you. You can count on it,” he said, crushing her against him.
She squeezed him back, pressing her eyes shut to keep the parting tears inside. The witches had given them their privacy for a lovers’ farewell. Rafe drew back and kissed her. The heat and passion was just behind the sweet kiss he pressed against her mouth. Their tongues flicked each other quickly before he let her go.
He cupped her cheeked and grimaced, looking up at the sky, before he kissed her forehead. This time it was a hard kiss, the passion not disguised.
“I’ll be back in a month,” he said, holding her to his heart. He kissed her one last time on the lips and walked away up the mesa.
She stood watching him until he disappeared above her. Her heart ached, and she wanted to sob.
“Come, sister,” said Circe. We have much to do before this war is over.”
The velvety purple sky was hung with stars above Cassie’s head. Three witches surrounded the stone table where she sat. Their voices muttered in a low hum that buzzed in Cassie’s head.
Her eyelids fluttered closed as darkness descended on her mind. Floating, her body vibrated with the electricity that assaulted her from every direction. Her consciousness rose farther and farther into the night sky, through the atmosphere, until it broke into open space.
The moon’s bright face glowed before her as the distant traffic of spacecraft spun in its orbit. Cassie’s astral eyes widened with shock. She’d known the visitors were here, but to see them so obviously populating her own planet’s moon took her by surprise. She shot forward, catching up with the mother ship, and her consciousness snapped through the porthole. She was now in a vast garden of various vegetation, cataloged on holographic placards in a strange language she could somehow understand.
She scanned the placards. The vegetation had come from planets that spanned the galaxies and star systems as far as ten hundred thousand light years away, a vast catalog of life.
She moved through a wall into another room that glowed with a blue light emanating from the ceiling and floor. Rows of liquid-filled, human-sized tubes lined the walls, extending above her and out of sight.
She moved closer, inspecting the hazy tubes. At first she thought they must be empty, but an object came into view as it floated in the liquid. A pair of glassy eyes looked at her from behind the glass.
Shock blew her astral body away, but she recovered and propelled herself back. Similar holographic placards glowed on the tubes. These were species from across the universe. Moving from one tube to the next, she soon came to realize that these were the Anu’s previous extinction and hybridization projects.