Alpha Betrayed: A Dark Shifter Romance
Broken Kingdom Chapter 17

Ford

We touch down at midnight.

By one a.m., we're pulling into an old hunting camp about fifteen miles from Zion's winter compound. Hermione meets us in the main lodge, looking sharp and clear-headed, despite the fact that we've all been up for nearly two days straight.

"According to our spies, everyone at Zion is tucked in for the night," she says as she hands out keys for our cabins-one for Catherine and Layla, one for Juliet and me. "Whatever Hammer's planning, it doesn't look like it's going to happen until tomorrow. Get some rest but keep your phones close. I'll send out a group text when it's time to move."

"Thanks so much for everything you've done for us," Juliet says as Layla and Catherine follow one of Maxim's men out the door. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure the others aren't in earshot, she adds in a softer voice, "But I was hoping we could ask for one more thing. Is anyone here an ordained officiant?"

Hermione's brows only lift the slightest bit before she says, "I am. I married two of my friends last summer. Would you like me to do the honors?"

Juliet glances up at me. I nod and she smiles, a nervous, but excited smile that banishes the exhaustion from my bones. "Yes, please. Now, if you don't mind?"

Hermione slips her phone into the pocket of her khaki uniform shirt. "Of course. Would you like to ask Layla and Catherine to come back? We'll need a witness."

I shake my head. "No, let them rest. We can use anyone who happens to be around right now. We're going to have another ceremony once all this is over, where we can celebrate with friends. This is...just for us." "And for our pack," Juliet adds. "To show them we're united and ready to lead."

Hermione nods, respect in her gaze. "Smart. I'll get Tex from the kitchen. He hasn't been awake as long as the rest of us. We'll make him do the paperwork when we're done and the rest of us can get to sleep." But we won't be sleeping, not right away.

I won't be able to sleep, not until we've consummated this marriage and I know Juliet is mine for keeps.

Once Hermione's fetched Tex-a younger guy with dark black hair pulled into a tight ponytail who looks excited to be included-we move to stand in front of the fireplace on the far side of the room. And there, as the softly glowing embers flicker across Juliet's face, we promise our lives to each other.

"I, Juliet Lilliana Zion, do pledge my body, my heart, and the fruits of all my labor to you, Ford Abernathy Zion," she says. "You have my loyalty, my fealty, and my love, from this day until our last day and every day in between."

I repeat the vow, forcing the words out past the lump in my throat. Even exhausted and on edge and forced into saying our vows sooner than either of us had planned, I'm so f*****g grateful to be marrying this woman. "Every day in between," I repeat after Hermione, who smiles as she places her hand over our joined ones.

"By the power granted to me by the mages, sages, and history keepers of my pack, I pronounce you mated," she says. "What the stars have brought together, let no man pull asunder."

"That's it?" Juliet asks, her gaze still locked on mine. "We're married?"

"You're married," Hermione assures her. "May it be a long and happy one." She pulls her hand from ours as she adds in a wry tone, "And may you get at least a little rest before morning. I'll let you sleep as much as I can, but if we see signs that Hammer is moving to start the ritual, we'll need to move, too."

Juliet grins. "We'll be ready to move. No worries. Ready to get some sleep, husband?"

"F**k, that sounds good. I'm your husband. And you're my wife, woman," I say, making her giggle as I scoop her up into my arms for another fierce hug.

By the time we separate, Hermione and Tex are on their way back into the kitchen. Grabbing the key from the table by the door where we left it, we race out the door, running soundlessly across the pine needles to cabin number ten. It's the last cabin at the edge of the glen beside a small waterfall that shushes and burbles loud enough to cover any sounds we might make inside.

And when we open the door, my focus is instantly drawn to the toiletries on the small dining table in the corner, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, sunscreen, and a box of condoms.

It's almost as if Hermione knew what we were up to before we did.

Or maybe she just knows what it's like to be in love like this, so in love you don't care how tired you are or how much danger waits on the other side of the next sunrise. Even if I'd been up for twice as long, the sight of Juliet stripping off her sweatshirt and t-shirt as she backs toward the small bed in the corner would have me wide awake and ready to show her what she means to me.

"I know it was only a day, but damn, I missed you," I say, tossing our backpacks on the floor and shrugging off my own shirt.

"I missed you, too," she says, dropping her sweatpants and stepping out of them completely nude. She c***s her head to one side, shrugging an almost shy shoulder as she says, "Layla forgot to get underwear."

"Layla's a genius," I say, already rock-hard and desperate to be inside her. "Remind me to tell her so tomorrow."

"Do you think it will be different now?" Juliet asks as I fetch a condom and join her beside the bed, standing close enough to feel the heat rising from her body.

"Think what will be different?" I ask, slipping my arm around her waist and drawing all her softness against me. She feels so good, I can't help the soft moan of relief that escapes the back of my throat. "S*x," she says, bringing her hands to rest on my bare chest. "Do you think it will feel more serious now that we're married?"

I think for a second. "Maybe. Sometimes." I bend my head, pressing a gentle kiss to her upturned lips. "But sometimes it will be silly and fun. Or kinky and rough. Or comforting and close. It'll be all the things we are together and all the things we'll learn to be." She slides her arms up to loop around my neck, hugging me closer as she rests her forehead against mine. "I want a long time, Ford. I want to know you when I'm thirty and forty and old enough to have grandbabies and for our grandbabies to have babies." "When should we start on this baby mission?" I ask, my dick loving the thought of coming inside her so much that pre-come starts to leak from my tip.

"In a few years, maybe," she says, grinning against my lips as I kiss her again. "Once we have the pack turned around and things feel safer. And once I've had the chance to f**k you in acrobatic ways, I doubt would be easy to manage if I were pregnant." "Acrobatic f*****g." I sigh happily and nip at her ear lobe, making her emit a soft purring sound as I add, "That sounds like nearly as much fun as coming inside you without a condom."

"Oh, it's going to be more fun," she says, pulling me down to the bed. "Just you wait and see."

But she doesn't make me wait for long.

Soon she's on top of me, straddling my hips as she fists her hand around my throbbing c**k. She holds my gaze as she slides the condom on and positions me at her entrance. And then she sinks down, taking every inch of me inside her, taking me home. I sigh as she leans forward, capturing my lips for a kiss as she begins to move. "Love you, baby. So much."

"So much," she echoes. "Don't ever leave me, okay? Not ever? No matter what?"

"No matter what," I promise, touched that this fiercely independent woman feels safe letting me know how much she wants me by her side. "You're stuck with me. For keeps. I don't remember what I wanted before I wanted you, Jules. You're it for me. You're... everything."

"Goddess, Ford, you feel so perfect inside me," she says, moving faster. "I know I should slow down, but I can't. I need to come on you. I need to feel you coming with me."

"Me, too, sweetheart," I say, groaning as she braces her hand on my chest and her breath and thrusts come faster. "F**k, yes, Juliet. Ride me. Ride me hard, baby. Take what you need. I want to give you everything. Always."

"Yes, Ford, oh yes. I'm there, I'm coming," she pants, her lips parting and her spine arching as her p***y locks around my c**k.

Head spinning, I grip her hips, taking control. I slam her down on my aching dick again and again, drawing out her o****m as I drive toward my own. Finally, when I can't hold back any longer, I buck into her one last time and lose myself in the kind of soul-melting bliss I've only ever felt with this woman.

Gliding my hand up to grip the back of her neck as I ride out the wave of pleasure, I whisper into her ear, "Now, you're really mine. No take backs."

After a few moments, she pulls back, grinning down at me as she says, "No take backs. But maybe a shower? Together?"

"Can I take another condom in there?" I ask. "Just in case?"

"I would be deeply saddened if you didn't," she says, rolling off me and starting toward the small bathroom in the corner. When she reaches the door, she looks over her shoulder with a bob of her eyebrows. "Well, hurry up, husband. We don't have all night. We really should try to get at least a little sleep."

And we do, but not before I've had my wife against the wall in the shower, making her scream my name even louder than she did the first time.

Then, and only then, do we snuggle under the covers and let the sound of the waterfall outside lull us to sleep. And even though I know tomorrow holds nothing but danger and violence, I'm not afraid. It's impossible to be afraid with Juliet in my arms. As long as she's beside me, everything is right with the world, even in the middle of the worst kind of wrong.