Page 21 of Beneath His Alpha's Wings
“No,” I said. “I mean, I…” I tried to say a thousand things at once. You're my true mate. I love you. I had a horrible dream about you. I can't spend the full moon in my bunker without you because I'm afraid you'll die. It all scrambled together on the tip of my tongue and I shook my head. “I had… that's not…” I managed.
He glanced at the window again. “I'm sorry, Lucas, but whatever you have to say it's going to have to wait till after the full moon, we need to get you to your bunker.”
“But…”
“I can shift right outside of your bunker, if that will make you feel better.”
“No!” I snapped. I thought of my dream again. The sight of his body broken on the rocks, the feathers, the blood. Before I could stop myself, I threw my arms around him.
“Uh,” he said slightly surprised. He cautiously hugged me back. “Whatever the problem is, I promise it'll be okay.”
I pulled away slightly to tell him… shit. I don't know. I still didn't know what I wanted to say. But he was rightthere,face to face with me. His nose inches from mine and before I could stop myself, I had kissed him.
For a few seconds, he just stood still, stunned, and then all at once his mouth melted into mine. One hand wrapped around my back, the other fisted in my hair. He pulled me tightly against him, kissing me as hard as he could. My arms tightened around him in response and I kissed him back. Our tongues lashed each other. We nipped and we sucked at each other’s lips and his hands started roving my body, as mine explored his. My knees hit the back of the bed and I nearly fell. He caught me and pulled me tighter, kissing me even harder. It was like something inside of us had been unleashed. It was electric. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was sure that my bear was dancing.
Suddenly, Kessel gasped and pushed me away from him. Before I could be even slightly offended by the response, he doubled over like he was in pain.
“Kessel!” I cried.
“It's sunset!” he gasped.
Even as he spoke, I felt a sudden stab of pain slice through me. Honestly, it wasn't unlike some of the false contractions I'd been having. I wondered if I was just used to it or if it was worse for alphas. I knew without asking that it was too late to get to the bunker. I hoped that I was right about the true mate thing. Although, judging from that intense kiss, it was pretty clear that I was. And then everything went black.
Chapter Six
Kessel
I woke up on something significantly more comfortable than the balcony or the rocks, like I was used to. So comfortable in fact, it took me a moment to remember last night had been the full moon. I started to sit up slowly and carefully, a lesson learned ever since I woke up on the roof of the lighthouse one morning, and found that I couldn't move. Oh crap, what had I broken? No, I realized, nothing hurt.
A moment later my head cleared and I realized I was underneath something very heavy and very warm. I readjusted myself and came face to face with Lucas, still sound asleep.
Several things hit me at once. The memory of last night. That amazing kiss. The fact I had just spent a full mooninsidethe lighthouse. And the fact that Lucas seemed perfectly fine, and so was I. And that meant that it hadn't been wishful thinking. And all of those nights driving myself crazy thinking about him and wondering if he really could be my true mate were right on the nose. Hewasmy true mate. And it seemed, somehow, he knew it too.
I couldn't remember a more peaceful morning after a full moon. Holy shit. It occurred to me that Lucas and I were probably about to have averylong conversation.
It wasn't at all long before Lucas stirred. I was planning on letting him sleep a little, since he needed it. But I was relieved that he was waking up too, and nervous and excited and, well, pretty much every emotion ever.
He blinked sleepily at me, then his eyes widened and I could see he was remembering things.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Great,” I said carefully. “How are you?”
“I'm okay.” Lucas sat up slowly and looked at me.
I had been doing my best, but found it nearly impossible now to not take in the sight of him naked. Every inch of his skin was smooth and perfect. Except for three long stretch marks that were working their way up his huge stomach. I vowed that one day it would be my own children putting them there. Not some asshole feral shifter. My attention was diverted by a disturbing push from inside his stomach, that looked like something out of a horror movie. Whoa. I heard about people feeling the baby kicking, but I didn't realize you could actually see it too. It happened again, and then a very distinct, abnormal looking lump poked out of his abdomen.
“Is that… the baby?” I asked torn between disgust and awe.
“Yeah.”
“Can I…”
He nodded and I carefully put a hand against his bare stomach. He was warm and the instant I touched him I wanted to just pull him to me. I wanted to touch as much of him as possible. The lump moved under my hand and very, very clearly pulled back and then kicked me. I laughed with disbelief.
Lucas grinned shyly at me. “Pretty wild, huh?” he said softly.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “We should probably talk.” I reluctantly pulled my hand away.
