Page 90 of Mated By the Pack
“W-what’s happening?” I ask, panting as I feel the tightness.
“I’m knotting, sweet mate,” he whispers. “We’re bonding—locked together.”
“What the fuck?” Jace asks. “I didn’t knot. None of us did.”
“Vance is different,” Gideon murmurs. “Always has been. His connection to our mate is no exception.”
The knot keeps Vance hilted inside me. I feel fuller, stretched to my limit, but strangely content. His cock twitches a few times, and I feel more of his warmth. The slow, rolling orgasm doesn’t let up either. I twitch, moan, and squeeze his knotted shaft.
After several minutes pass, the stiffness that bonds us begins to relax. The knot relaxes. I whine when he pulls out, because I already miss it. Already miss him.
But I’ve been claimed by my last mate.
I hope he’s as gentle when he finds out what I’ve already shared with the rest.
CHAPTER 26
Vance
I’ve claimed my mate.
But I did more than claim. Iknottedinside her.
Now I’m listening to a story that makes me question everything.
“The Aether is full of lost souls who can’t move on, and The Tangle is… literally those souls,” I say, my eyes wide with astonishment.
“Which means you really are hearing the vines talk,” Jace chuckles. “I apologize. I really did think you had a few loose marbles in your head.”
“Still, it’s strange that I can hear them sometimes. Like whispers on the wind. That I feel a connection, when the rest of you don’t,” I say, leaning back as I try to process everything.
“I don’t have an answer for that,” Calla sighs. “I barely understand it myself. Silas is always fairly cryptic, or The Aetheris. I think The Aether is speaking through him, similar to how The Aether spoke to Frank through me.”
“That’s a lot,” I admit. “But I’m more interested in what you said about our connection being ancient. I thought there was more than instinct that drew us together. That seems to confirm it, even if it’s not exactly fate. Edward and Zane did a lot of research trying to figure out what we were. They were convinced it wasn’t just the solar flare that changed us.”
“Unless Silas reveals more to our mate, we may never know,” Gideon says. “But it doesn’t matter. We have a mission. Our bloodline can heal the world.”
“Eventually,” Calla says, nodding in agreement. “It’s not going to be immediate, and I don’t fully understand that part, but our children will carry a piece of the fabric of creation. A piece of The Aether that is inside me.”
“Which means it’s even more important that we breed our mate,” Knox smiles. “A lot more than once, even if she has litters.”
“I’m not sure what to expect.” I look at my brothers before getting lost in a set of pretty, pretty blue eyes for a moment. “In the beginning, we were just stronger and faster thanks to the wolf DNA passed down from our parents. But after we shifted, we were more like animals than men. And now, the wolves seem to be taking a more dominant role, even when we’re in our human form. I certainly didn’t expect to knot inside her.”
Gideon stands up, walking over to his clothes and gathering them. “Some things will just remain a mystery. We may never have all the answers, but we know what we have to do. We havea role to play in healing the world. And I don’t think any of us are going to argue with it.” Gideon glances at Calla and grins.
“No objections from me,” Jace says, letting out a low growl.
“We should get back to the den,” Gideon says. “It’s getting dark, and if we’re not going to deal with Clyde, then it’s time to go. You sure about that, Calla? I don’t think any of us will mind ripping his throat out, if you still want some revenge over what he did to you.”
“It would be my pleasure,” Knox growls.
“No,” Calla says firmly. “Killing Clyde might make me feel better, but it won’t solve anything, based on what Caleb has told me. But maybe we can still help? Not from inside the wall, but outside of it. The slavers will still move their cargo through The Tangle. We could make that extremely difficult for them and if women who were kidnapped keep coming home, it should eventually raise enough questions for people to see there’s something very wrong going on here.”
“Perhaps,” Gideon says, then he turns his attention to me. “Vance, go check on the peace officers downstairs. Make sure none of them are going to escape before we get out of here.”
I nod, stand up, and drag my fingers across Calla’s back as I walk past her. She shudders, grins, and leans against my hand before I pull away.
I’ve never had a connection with a woman before. The experiments they did in the past didn’t leave much room for a connection. The women we spent time with when we were allowed to roam the streets of New York and the military bases we were stationed at during the Great War weren’t looking forone. Then we shifted for the first time, and we couldn’t even enjoy that.
