Chapter 100

Sarah POV

I waited until Zane woke up on his own, which was well before dawn and probably because he had a woman staring at him wide-eyed.

He stirred and stretched a bit, and then he looked at me. I had seen those blue eyes so many times before, even when they were looking deeply into mine, but this was the first time I was able to let myself get lost in them. I soared inside, and I was happy.

“Wha?” he grumbled before performing a full-body stretch that gave me a close-up of his hairy armpits and the way his torso, gorgeous as it was, stretched slightly to the right. I ha da vision of myself inside that stretch, protected and loved, and my whole body throbbed in a grateful response.

And yet it was hard not to laugh. Here he was, the pack-alpha of the territory I’d known all my life, and he woke up and was barely verbal. Also, for some reason last night I’d given him a huge-ass hickey on his neck. It, as much as his sleepy smile, bid me good morning.

Who was this man, this for-human god made flesh in my bed? I cautiously stretched my right foot closer to her under the cover, and felt him right where he needed to be.

I wiggled my toes in greeting. He chuckled and grew more awake,

“Is that you, little bunny?”

I frowned clearly remembering the dream from last night. I always remembered those sorts of dreams, the really vivid ones, though I knew I only thought of them as vivid because I woke up soon after them and thus could remember then before the many stages of sleep took the images and feeling why.

As for last night’s dream, I remembered t1he thrill of hunting, a concept I’d never even begun to understand before. I had hated the idea of a little rodent of whatever being run to grown, let alone it would be savagely eaten afterward.

But in that dream, I had felt nothing but supreme elation. I had gulped down that damn rabbit with abandon, yet now upon waking the memory made me vaguely nauseous.

Oh, but he was naked now, and his arm was muscular as it lay there upon his side, and his chest was a work of art, seriously. I kissed his muscles, his nipples, the light dusting of hair, and then down his abs.

And there he was, straight and tender, and I took him in my mouth, relishing the feel and taste of him, like grass and soil combined. I made a game of seeing how far down to the root of him I could go, coughed slightly when I reached me limit, and then just wanted to please him, to make him make those noises he had made last night.

I felt suddenly like I was playing an instrument in an orchestra, like I was a virtuoso standing before a crowd. This alpha wolf I was moving back and forth with was a leader, a protector, and the father to my lovely girls. His word was law, and he moaned my name as he came.

For a while after that we just lay together, arms around one another. And we slept a bit in that sheltered calm.

We woke up properly after that, giving each other reassuring kisses as we put on our underwear, deodorant, socks and pants and shoes, like it was a rehearsed performance on stage.

Before I left Zane’s room, I stood there a moment. I felt solid, connected to the world as a woman. I had been exploring what it meant to be me, even though it had been with a werewolf. And I was happy.

I thought of how Zane had reached for me, half-asleep, and then quieted when I whispered I would be right back. I thought of him as a I used his bathroom, so stark and bare, and had found hi deodorant, which frankly reeked (His sweat smelled better than that.) and made me decide to go to my own room to finish dressing.

I went back to look at him sleeping there, his dark hair tucked unto a white pillow, one of his long, lean thighs currently folded over the comforter, all tan and lines and angles, and he’d been mine last night.

I actually felt jealous of that woman who’d spread her legs wide and welcomed him in. What could I offer him, a human female who could only bring sorrow to his house?

Afterward, Zane and I made love for the morning, which was everything except perfunctory, and thus we were running late, I tried to describe my dream, but Zane, who was so distracted I knew he wasn’t really listening, and he told me to consult the local Luna. Then he kissed me again, and I felt the heat of his body against mine.

All right, I thought at the time, once but no more.

“I often have hunting dreams,” Zane said while we were sipping our coffee after the girls had gone to the playroom with Dr. Hayes. The PPE was over, but they had first level in few weeks.

“You do?” I asked.

He nodded. “The moonlight, the stars, the cool grass.”

“The rabbit.”

He frowned at me. “Rabbit?”

I laughed. “Say ‘bunny rabbit.’”

“What?”

I had a serious case of the giggles now. He watched as I laughed, his lips curling up into a smile.

“Ignore me.”

“You’re silly when you’re sexually satisfied,” he observed, which made me laugh more.

“So,” he said while raising his mug and looking pretty sexually satisfied himself, “do we tell the girls we’re mated now?”

Well, that made laughing just about the furthest thing on my mind.

“You can’t mate me,” I said.

“But I have.”

“No, mating involves biting and showing your scars in public.” I thought about the million things against us and shook my head. “You’re the pack alpha.”

“You’re obviously my fated mate,” he said, his tone no more emotional than if he were telling me the weather report. “It’s going to come out sooner or later. Might as well be sooner.”

“Now you sound like Scott,” I muttered.

“What?”

I looked up at him, surprised at his sharp tone. Then I had to work to remember what I had said.

“I don’t mean—”

“I am nothing like Scott!”

“I know. Of course you’re not. I just—”

“Mommy?” Chloe asked from the doorway.

“Yes, honey?”

“Dr. Hayes says we have to study our ‘rithemic tables, but Grace and I want to play in the maze.”

Zane and I looked at each other. He shrugged and looked back at his daughter.

“I vote for the maze.”