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  “I just think Samuel and I need a little time away from the pack. We love all of you and it isn’t like we will be strangers, but you know as well as everyone else in this room that I can’t handle taking orders. Of course, that isn’t the only reason we are leaving, but one of them.” Alric scanned the room and saw several council members’ lips moving as they murmured softly.

  “You are always welcome here, no matter what.”

  Alric looked at Killian. “I know this, Alpha St James, but I just think it is time that my mate and I start a life away from the pack.”

  “We will only be over the mountain and still plan on visiting.” Alric said with confidence. He didn’t want to alienate Sam or himself from their people.

  Leave it to Samuel to try to smooth things out.

  “Besides, other Luecross have ventured away, starting their families elsewhere but still keeping a connection with the pack.”

  There was a commotion and a small, feminine voice spoke up. “I, for one, think you guys should do this. You need your own time together and I think it will be great to start a family in a place that you can call your own.” Alice put her book down and slowly rose from the couch. Both of her mates were right beside her, each taking an arm and helping her to stand.

  “I got it, guys.” She smacked their hands away and smiled faintly. She still had several months to go in her pregnancy, but her belly was already large and round and although she smiled, there was a sense that she was miserably uncomfortable that surrounded her.

  Alice walked over to Alric and clasped his hands between her much smaller ones. Looking between him and Samuel, she spoke softly. “Listen, I know I don’t have much say in all of this, but I think you guys should follow your hearts. We all love you regardless.” She leaned in and kissed each of them on the cheek before she left. “I’m going to take a bath. My back is killing me.”

  Alric watched as Alice disappeared behind the door and turned his attention to Kale and Killian. The two alpha males stared at the door, smiles covering their faces. He could see the love in their eyes and turned his attention to Samuel. His mate watched him then Samuel grabbed his hand.

  “I wish you two would consider staying, but I can relate to how you want to branch out on your own.” Killian turned to them and Alric was relieved to see understanding filter across his face.

  “You two are our family and you are always welcome here.” Kale stepped beside his brother. “I know I can speak for everyone when I say we wish you all the best.”

  Alric sighed in contentment and Samuel squeezed his hand gently. Not too many Luecross ventured away from the pack, and Alric could see why it would make everyone a little uncomfortable, but he needed to think about his mate and the life they were to start—first and foremost.

  This was it. This was the beginning of their life together.

  * * * *

  Alric stared at the Land Rover that was packed full of their belongings. Large flakes of snow fell and Alric knew a storm was coming. He could smell it in the air. He watched as the front door opened and Sam came out. He had a backpack thrown over his shoulder and a look of uncertainty on his face. Alric knew this was hard on Sam, even though he could sense the happiness coursing through his mate—they had called this place their home for a long time.

  “You okay, baby?” Alric asked when Sam stepped beside him.

  “Yeah, I’m just going to miss this place and everyone.”

  Alric didn’t want Sam to regret moving, and despite the fact that his mate had seemed happy to move, he didn’t want to force anything upon him. “Listen, baby, if you don’t wa—”

  Sam held his hand up and shook his head.

  “Don’t say it. I love you and this is what I want. There isn’t anything else in the world that makes me as happy as being with you.” Sam leaned in and pressed his lips against Alric’s. “I love you, Alric, and wherever you go, I’ll follow,” he murmured against Alric’s mouth. Alric felt his heart stutter in response.

  “I love you, baby.”

  “I love you too, Alric. Now let’s get going before this storm rolls in.” Sam moved behind Alric and smacked him on the ass. Alric couldn’t help the elation that filled him. This was it. This was why he loved Sam so much.

  Over the past several weeks they’d worked their asses off, but now that everything was set up at their new place Alric could relax with his mate as they headed to their new home.

  “That’s it.” Samuel opened the passenger side door and flung the backpack inside. He stretched his arms above his head. The white henley he wore moulded to his lean, yet muscular form caused a spike of lust to settle in Alric’s cock.

  He couldn’t wait to get to their new cabin and fuck Samuel in every room. He needed to quit thinking about sex. He still had a three-hour drive to make and driving with a hard-on was not something he looked forward to.

  Once they had said their goodbyes to the rest of the pack and were in the car, they headed away from the only place they had called home. Alric looked at Samuel, saw his mate already watching him and smiled broadly. “This is it, baby. Are you ready?”

  “I’ve never been more ready in my life.”

  Alric felt warmth blossom within his chest. He took Sam’s hand and brought it to his mouth. He kissed Samuel’s palm and laid it over his beating heart. “I couldn’t do this without you.” It was the truth, but even so, Alric couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. He had his mate and he would soon have the life he had always wanted, but there was this nagging inside him. He just wished he could reach it and find out what exactly was causing him to feel this way.

  He stared into Sam’s blue eyes, saw a flicker of emotion pass through them, and wondered if he too felt that there was just something missing in their lives. They were about to make a monumental journey, yet in the pit of his stomach there was something else, something that told him to be wary, to keep his eyes open.

  Brushing the feeling away, he knew that he could blame it on what was happening, about the move and the whole newness of everything around him. Things would feel different once they were away. At least that’s what he kept telling himself.

  Chapter Three

  The cabin they’d bought was in the middle of nowhere and who knew when the last time someone, other than themselves, had ventured to it. To top it off, a snow storm had hit them hard and made what should have been a three-hour trek a long, drawn out five-hour hell ride. In just the short time it had taken for the snow to start coming down, a blizzard had swept around them and only got worse the higher they travelled.

  Alric was used to the inclement weather, given the fact that he’d lived in the mountains his whole life, but it didn’t help his nerves that he couldn’t see five feet in front of his bumper.

  The vehicle’s lights shone on the two-storey cabin. Alric breathed a sigh of relief and pulled into the driveway, which was now covered in several inches of snow. He and Sam grabbed as many bags as they could and raced into the cabin and out of the blizzard.

  Samuel threw the front door open and the two of them rushed inside. Alric shook the snow off and went about the task of starting a fire.

  As he did so, he watched as Sam ran back and forth from the car to the cabin with bags in hand. When the fire was blazing, he helped Sam get the rest of their belongings then shut the front door against the aggressive weather.

  Thankfully they had been smart enough to come up here ahead of time, bringing furniture and an array of other items with them so that their final journey would be as easy as possible. Stacks of wood were pressed against the wall by the fireplace, along with oil lamps, candles and an array of other survival paraphernalia for when the weather decided to be a bitch, as it was being at the moment.

  Neither of them was a stranger to the harshness of mountain weather, but still it fucked everything up. The weather would be even more perilous now that they were so high within the mountains and far away from civilisation.

  The fire blazed an
d crackling and popping filled the living room. Alric stood and scanned his surroundings. Shaking off the unusual feeling that suddenly swept through him, he blamed it on the fact that things took time. This was their new home, but he would need to get used to that.

  Sam was in the kitchen. The small noises of the house settling filled the air. It had got dark pretty quickly and although the cabin was far from civilisation, they did have electricity. It was a necessity since a ranger’s station and a wildlife preserve were a little less than ten miles from their new home. Alric wouldn’t have minded not having any electricity—the actual idea of ‘roughin’ it appealed to him. Sam, on the other hand, liked modern comforts and refused to live without them.

  “Can you believe the weather?” Sam mumbled, bent at the waist and head buried in the fridge.

  Alric grinned and moved stealthily into the kitchen and towards his mate. Sam’s ass was perfection, round and tight and covered by denim. Pressing his already hard cock against the crease of Sam’s bottom, he covered Sam’s back with his chest and ground his shaft into his mate. Growling at the pleasure that coursed through him, Alric gently bit the back of Sam’s neck.

  “I’m so fucking horny, baby. How about we break in the new house?” Sam shivered beneath him and Alric moved his hands across Sam’s abdomen.

  “We have a lot of stuff to do, Alric. Look at all the boxes. We should probably put them away.” Although reason made an appearance in Sam’s voice, Alric could hear how out of breath his mate had become.

  Ignoring his lover’s feeble refusal, Alric gripped Sam’s cock through his jeans. Sam was already rock hard. Smiling against his back, Alric straightened and turned him around before he could utter another word. He pressed Samuel against the counter, and Alric went straight for the button on his mate’s jeans. The hazy expression in his lover’s eyes could have created scorch marks on the floor, but Alric was right there with him, feeling that same intense and raw hunger.

  Alric undid Sam’s jeans. The button came free from its home with little resistance. Alric’s dick twitched in response to the sound of Samuel’s zipper sliding down. When Alric leant forward and pressed his lips against Sam’s throat, his mate murmured his desire. Alric nuzzled and inhaled the wickedly potent scent of his mate. Alric pushed the material down Sam’s strong thighs and a shot of lust speared through him when he realised Sam wasn’t wearing any underwear. It seemed his mate liked to go commando.

  “Are you trying to drive me insane with lust?” Alric grinned and ran his tongue along Sam’s throat, tasting the saltiness of his sweat. He groaned at the flavour and glided his hands around to grip Sam’s ass. Alric squeezed the globes once and lifted Sam onto the counter. Sam automatically spread his legs and Alric stepped between them, grinding his shaft against his.

  He cursed inwardly when Sam’s manhood stiffened against his own. Alric stepped back and undid his own jeans. He haphazardly pushed them down his legs then gripped Sam’s legs, spreading them wide. Sam placed his heels on the counter and Alric pulled him closer so that his ass was positioned right on the edge.

  He brought his mouth to Sam’s, and licked his mate’s bottom lip before slipping into the welcoming heat of Sam’s mouth. They both moaned and Alric pressed his hips against Sam’s, grinding their erections together in the process.

  Panting heavily, Sam broke the kiss. “Please, Alric. I don’t need to be seduced, I need to be fucked.”

  Alric’s cock twitched at the erotic words. Looking around, Alric searched for something to use as lubricant.

  “I just put some Vaseline in the drawer beside us.”

  Alric tore the drawer open and grabbed the lube. Squeezing a generous amount out, Alric stepped back and smeared the slick substance over his dick then around Sam’s asshole. Sam’s anus clenched tight and Alric grunted in response, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to last once he was stuffed deep within Sam.

  “Fuck, Sam. You want it, don’t you, baby?”

  Sam groaned in response and that was all Alric needed. Gripping his length, he aligned it with his mate’s hole and slowly started to push in. The tight ring of muscles made it difficult, but Sam bore down and Alric’s dick popped free of the ring. Alric held still for a suspended moment, just the head inside Sam. Gritting his teeth, he started to press in, feeling the hot, tight confine of Sam’s ass surrounding him.

  Sam wrapped his arms around Alric’s neck at the same time that Alric sank fully inside him. Balls pressed against the chilled counter, Alric was on the verge of climaxing.

  “I’m not going to last, baby.” Alric breathed out.

  “Don’t try to. I need this fast, hard and rough.”

  “Oh fuck, Sammy.” He reared back then slammed into Sam’s ass, jarring his mate and making him gasp. Alric wasn’t soft or gentle when he gripped Samuel’s hips. He gave Sam what he wanted.

  In and out, faster and harder. Alric couldn’t stop himself, couldn’t be gentle.

  Their kiss broke apart and Alric pushed back. Sam grabbed his shaft and started to stroke it. Alric tore his eyes from the delicious sight and watched his cock move in and out of Sam’s tight anus. His hole was stretched wide, the skin around his dick red and shiny from how filled he was. The sight alone was Alric’s undoing.

  “I can’t hold off any longer, Sam.”

  “Oh God, don’t stop. I’m going to come right along with you.”

  Increasing his thrusts, Alric watched Sam jerk off, his hand a blur of speed. It took all his strength to keep his eyes open as he came. He wanted to watch Sam come, wanted to watch him shoot his load.

  “Yeah, yeah. Almost there.” Sam threw his head back and Alric reached between them to fondle Sam’s balls. His mate grunted, the veins in his neck standing out as he strained from his orgasm.

  Ribbons of milky white cum shot between them, covering Sam’s belly.

  “Fuck you’re so hot, Sam.” Alric’s member twitched as he slowly started to pull out of him. Looking down, he could see his seed slip out of Sam’s hole. Pure ecstasy covered his mate’s face.

  “Was that good for you, Sammy?” Leaning in, Alric gave him a light kiss.

  “Mmm.”

  Something hard slammed against the front door. Alric stopped and turned his attention over his shoulder.

  “What the hell was that?” Sam was off the counter and standing beside him in the next second.

  “I don’t know, maybe some debris? The storm is pretty fierce right now.” Alric zipped up his pants and made his way towards the front window. Snow and ice pelted the glass and he could feel the cold down to his bones. The angle and almost zero visibility gave him no room to see the front porch.

  “Sam, will you turn on the floods? The porch light is shit and I can hardly see anything.” Illumination came on a moment later. “I can’t believe how dark it got so quickly,” he muttered more to himself than to Sam. Alric peered through the glass. He pushed away from the window and moved to the heavy wood. He gripped the handle and opened it. Icy air and snow slammed into him.

  “Fuck!” He closed the door and wiped the snow off his face and tried again, this time bracing himself for the onslaught. Alric swept his gaze around the snow-covered porch for what might have caused the noise. Several inches of snow had already made a thick layer, but that didn’t stop him from seeing exactly what had slammed against his door.

  “Oh shit.”

  Chapter Four

  Alric stared in horror at the small, huddled figure just a few feet away. He couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. A flash of dark hair peeked out from under the hood. Alric stepped outside then got down on his haunches in front of the still body.

  “Sam, get some hot water started. Hurry.” Alric shouted over the deafening wind.

  Alric wrapped his arms around the form and lifted. The person was tiny and weighed nearly nothing. Alric strode back inside and slammed the door shut with his foot. Sam had his pants back on and already had a bucket filled with water, steam rising over the to
p.

  “What the hell is that?”

  Looking down, Alric couldn’t tell exactly who it was. Hell, he wouldn’t have even been able to tell if they were dead if not for the fact that he was a Luecross wolf and could hear their heart beating.

  “Maybe a hiker that got caught in the storm?” Answering Sam’s question the best he could, Alric strode over to the fire and laid the still body on the rug. “Sam, bring the water and some towels over here.” Chin-length auburn hair covered the stranger’s face and Alric pushed the wet strands away.

  “Oh fuck.”

  Her face was turned away, but Alric could see how pale and luminescent it appeared. Her cheekbones stood out in stark contrast against her thin face. She appeared on the verge of death. “Hurry, Sam.” He needed to get her wet clothes off and warm her up or she would die of hypothermia.

  Sam set the bucket down before him as well as several thick towels and heavy blankets. Alric lifted his gaze to Sam’s when he heard him gasp. If the expression on his mate’s face was anything to go by, then the same thing was going through Sam’s mind. They both looked at each other and a silent knowledge passed.

  “We can’t worry about that right now, Sammy. We have to get her warm and try to make sure she survives.” Sam nodded in agreement. Alric didn’t know what had happened to her, but he knew Sam was with him in saving her life. At that moment it was the most important thing they had ever done.

  * * * *

  The world around Dalia slowly came into focus. The first thing she was aware of was that she wasn’t cold. The second thing was that she wasn’t dead. Once those two things penetrated her mind she woke with a start. Eyes wide open and sucking in a lungful of air, Dalia searched her surroundings. She had no idea where she was, didn’t even know how she’d survived. All she could remember was why she had run and that she had been stuck in the blizzard that had come out of nowhere.