My friends back out of the room and shut the door to give us some much-needed privacy.
I lick Madi’s wound to prevent infection and try to keep all of her body shielded from view as I glare up at my friends.
“Thank fuck,” Nickel says from the other side of the door.
I get it. I was inches away from a painful, silver-bullet induced death. I almost couldn’t find my way back. My human form is exhausted from fighting my wolf. It’s the relief that comes after a long hard battle. An all-out war.
It was only Madi’s beautiful voice that cleared my head enough to shift.
“It’s okay, he’s back.” Eagle says outside the door-probably to Ruby.
I roll to the side and pull Madi into my arms. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop myself. You saved my life, baby. Thank you so much.”
Her lips tremble, eyes brim with tears. Her face is pale. “Ouch.”
“I know. I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s a mating mark. I know I fucked up. I fucked everything up. Thank you for coming.”
She pushes against my chest. “I came for Ruby.” She’s still mad at me. It doesn’t surprise me that someone with such a strong will and firm convictions would also be unwavering in her decision to cut me off forever.
But she came. She let me mark her. Her eyes shine with tears, so I know she still cares. Know that this stems from the pain I inflicted, not logic.
“We’re done.” She scrambles away and collects her torn panties and leggings, wobbling as she tries to step into them.
“Madison-Madi. I don’t trust easily. It’s a terrible flaw, I know that.”
She manages to get both legs through the holes and yanks up the combined set, frustrated when the panties wrap around and get trapped halfway up.
“I should have trusted you. I do trust you. You got set up by Aiden, and I believed the worst, but I won’t make that mistake again. Please don’t walk out that door.”
She stops with her back to me, her hand on the doorknob. The wound from my mark stands out, angry and red, the edges still open, seeping a little blood. My need to tend to her, to take care of her, nearly bowls me over.
“
Please. I won’t make the same mistake again. Not ever. I just marked you as my mate. Wolves mate for life, Madi. You’re the only woman for me. Please don’t walk out that door.”
She turns and looks over her shoulder, and the uncertainty in her expression guts me. I’m the one who made her so insecure about our relationship. I wouldn’t give her anything but orgasms. I refused to admit she was my mate. Refused to own up to what she meant to me until it was too late. So when the Adalwulfs used her as a weapon against me, we had no foundation to stand on. The shifting sand beneath our feet made it possible for me to believe she’d deceived me.
I climb to my feet to persuade her and spread my hands. “Please.” I gesture around the trashed conference room. “You mean everything to me. All this is a result of not mating you.”
I know the moment I’ve won because she takes the time to look around the room.
She cocks a hip. “I don’t know who you expect to clean this up, but if you hired a new assistant-“
I catch her up around the waist and pull her against me. “I didn’t.” I lick her wound again to provide immunity and speed healing, then brush my nose against hers and seek her gaze.
She melts against me.
“I’m sorry, Madi. I was an ass. Please forgive me.”
She melts a little more and nods. “Yeah, I’m a little sorry I refused the giant apology trophy you sent.”
I chuckle, relief wending through my veins. “I’ll have it re-delivered tomorrow morning.”
“You didn’t hire a new assistant?”
“How could I?” I ask softly. “No one will ever compare to you.”
She sweeps her gaze down my naked body, taking in my dick, which is already standing at attention for her. “I’ll get your suit.”
I catch her arm and tug her back against me. “You don’t have to serve me.”
“Don’t take away my fun.”
I chuckle. Right. She has a boss kink. I can’t forget that. “Well, snap-snap then.” My tone is a suggestive rumble.
She’s ever-efficient, opening the door a crack to peek out and order my friends like the queen she is. “Can someone get us a set of clothes from the closet there?”
I hear the relief in the voices outside, and all I can do is drink in the sight of Madison, my beautiful mate, back in here where she belongs.
Madi
I’m Brick Blackthroat’s fated mate.
Also, I’m in love.
It feels insane to admit what has been true for a long time.
I guess I’ve always protected my heart, except around the few I completely trust. Aubrey. My mom. Brayden. That’s it.
But now, it feels like my entire chest has been blown wide open. My heart is swinging in the wind with no protection.
No guarantee.
But knowing Brick’s wolf needs me to survive is a pretty strong assurance he’ll stick around. He’s not going to abandon me like my rich, asshole sperm-donor did.
“Tell me more about this mating bite.” I gingerly touch the swollen puncture marks in my shoulder. I’m on my back in his bed, and Brick is sucking my toes, one by one, determined to deliver me to death by multiple orgasms.
We’ve been holed up naked in his apartment for two days now, and every minute, I fall more and more in love.
“It means I claimed you, Madi. I embedded my scent permanently into your skin. Every shifter who comes near you will know you belong to me.” The moon shines through the glass of the window, bathing the bed in pale light, making Brick’s eyes glow amber.
“
Belong to you? What century is this?”
“It means I belong to you, then.” The warmth of his gaze on my face makes my heart flip-flop in my chest. “A mated wolf will do anything for his female.
Everything.
Your happiness, safety, and sexual satisfaction are now my highest concern.”
There’s so much for my brain to wrap around. I’m still trying to assimilate it all.
“So it’s like the shifter form of marriage?”
“Yes. But it’s far more intense than a human pairing. Wolves mate for life. They only have one fated mate. That mate is everything to them.”
“Like Eagle and Ruby.”
He kisses up the inside of my ankle, sending tingles straight up my inner thigh to my core. “Actually, they aren’t fated mates. Their love was conventional. The human variety. Eagle fell in love with the pack princess at a young age and worked his ass off to prove he was worthy of claiming her.”
“Oh.” I digest this information.
“My father wouldn’t condone the mating, but after his death, I allowed it.”
“You allowed it?”
Brick grins. “Ruby is pack royalty. If I forbade the mating, Eagle would’ve had to challenge me, and he would’ve lost.”
“Medieval.”
“Yes. But I was a young alpha. Eagle made himself indispensable to me and was a rock for Ruby. There’s no way I would’ve denied their happiness. Especially not after watching my parents’ miserable mating.”
“So…Ruby doesn’t have a fated mate?”
Brick shrugs. “She might have one out there somewhere. I think both of them fear one of their true fated mates will show up and blow their lives up.”
I stare at Brick. “That would be terrible.”
“Yes. But finding one’s fated mate isn’t guaranteed. And as you know, when a male wolf doesn’t mate by the time he reaches his prime, he runs the risk of going moon mad. Eagle and Ruby were meant for each other whether their biology clicks as fated mates or not.”
My mind reels as I take it all in. I remember what he told me about his parents-the Romeo and Juliet of rival packs. “So your dad needed your mom to stay alive, but they were sworn enemies.”
“Yes, exactly. Ruby, Scarlet and I were born from a loveless match.”
“It’s so crazy. You would think the three of you-their offspring-would be the ones capable of joining the two packs together.”
“Yes. That’s exactly the prophecy the Adalwulf’s seeress had and why they had to orchestrate my father’s murder before I was old enough to lead.”
“But you did lead.”
Brick’s jaw hardens. “Yes.”
I stroke away the tension in his face, pull him down for a kiss. Our tongues mate and tangle. Brick pushes me to my back and climbs over me, nudging my thighs open once more.
“I guess stamina isn’t a problem for wolves.” I grip his cock with my hand and guide him in.
“Stamina will never be a problem when you’re in my bed, Madi.” He pushes in deep, then eases back and repeats the action. “I have a perpetual hard-on if you’re in the same room.”
“Don’t forget I’m human.” I rock my hips up to meet him.
He instantly freezes. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Are you sore?”
I grip his hips and pull him back in. “Yes, but it feels good.”
He moves slowly, without aggression, keeping his gaze locked on mine. My belly flutters with the intensity of it. My body heats. My heart glows.
This is what it means to be desired. To be truly cherished. To be loved.
Brick’s eyes begin to glow amber. He picks up speed, but still keeps it gentle. Still trains his gaze on mine, holding me captive to receive the intensity of the moment.
Of his promise. He’s mine now. I’m his.
This is what it feels like to be important to Brick Blackthroat, my billionaire boss. The werewolf of Wall Street. Alpha of his pack.
The man I thought endangered my heart is actually the one person I’m safest with. Because I’m his one and only.
His fated mate.
* * *
Brick
I wake surrounded by Madi’s sweet scent. The watery winter light slants over the bed, illuminating her angelic face. For the first time in months, my wolf is content. All because of her. The human assistant who turned my life upside down.
Madi. My mate.
Mine.
I’m debating how I should wake her, when her eyes slit open, and she yawns. “Morning.”
“Good morning.” I gather her close, noting how she winces when she moves. Humans aren’t meant to have mating bites, but whenever I check the puncture marks to make sure they’re healing, I get so aroused I can’t resist putting her on her hands and knees and claiming her all over again.
I have to be careful with her, though. She survived my savagery and faced down my feral wolf and took everything I gave her in bed for the past few days, but she’s probably still sore. She deserves some care and tenderness.
“How are you feeling?”
“Good.” She stretches in my arms. “What time is it?”
“Time to get up.” I roll her to her side and lightly smack her ass. “You’ll be late to work, and you’ve said yourself, your boss can be a real dick.”
Her giggle is like champagne bubbles in my bloodstream. “If I’m late, do you think he’ll punish me?”
A wave of desire takes my breath away. “Always.” I lean down and claim her lips, drinking her in. She’s all I ever wanted. All I ever needed. And I’ll never get enough.
I’m seconds away from ripping away the blanket, rolling her to her back, and filling her up when she pulls away and swats my shoulder.
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