The Mating Rules
Chapter 24

Once inside the treeline, Cobalt shifts back into Caden, and Skarla sits on the ground, openly ogling our mate as he grabs some shorts from out of the boxes we have hidden in the trees and pulls them on. OK, I might have been ogling too, but at least I was a bit more discreet, horny assed wolf.

‘Shift Skarla’ Caden orders as he pulls out a long men’s t-shirt and holds it out to me. Shifting back, I snatch the top and pull it over my head, letting it drop halfway to my knees like some shapeless dress.

Dragging his fingers through his hair, Caden paces in front of me, ‘what happened baby?’ he asks finally.

I cross my arms over my chest, ‘she gave me a black eye the last time we were sparring, I was returning the favour’ I reply evenly.

Caden stops, facing me, ‘a black eye? Skarla almost killed her!’ he growled.

I shrug, pulling at a loose thread hanging from the edge of my clothing, ‘I told her to stop, I was in control’ I mutter more to convince myself than him. In truth I was a little worried that she wasn’t listening to me.

The young Alpha g****s in exasperation, ‘Leeway’ he m***s, ‘you can’t do that, you are a Luna!’

I snap my gaze to his, frowning, ‘no I’m not, I’m a Beta and she disrespected me.’

My mate steps closer to me, cupping my face with his hands as he smiles sadly down at me, ‘you are my mate baby’ he sighs, ‘even though I haven’t marked you, you are already changing, becoming stronger. The more time we spend together, the stronger Skarla will get, the mark just seals that strength in. She’s also going to become more possessive and her temper will be shorter as she transitions. If she’s not controlled, she could really hurt someone unintentionally.’

My eyes widen at his words, ‘what? No one said anything about Skarla changing! I thought I would just stay the same, that I make you stronger!’

Caden shakes his head, pressing his forehead to mine, ‘an Alpha is strengthened by his Luna’ he murmurs, ‘it’s like an energy between us that only magnifies. My strength and yours are connected now, both of us evolving into better versions of ourselves. If you choose me and I mark you, that strength will lock in place, forever making us the best we can be. If you choose Hadley, and he marks you, your Luna strength will slowly weaken, returning Skarla to her Beta abilities.’

I gulp, trying to process what the Alpha is saying. Literally, no one has ever mentioned how the Alpha and Luna thing works. Everyone knows that the Alpha is strengthened by his mate, but it’s never talked about in lessons on what happens to the Luna. I always assumed she just gave her strength to her mate.

‘What did Sicily say to upset Skarla?’ Caden asked quietly.

‘She said that you and Hadley were probably thinking the same as everyone else, that the Goddess was wrong’ I respond automatically. ‘She said that you were both probably thinking of a way to reject us.’ I meet his gaze, ‘It didn’t bother me, I knew she was just mouthing off, but Skarla felt she was disrespecting her and then when Jasmine managed to score a hit on her, well she lost it.’

Caden pulled back, tracing his fingers over the shirt that covers the faint red lines in my healing skin, making me shiver. ‘I wanted to cut her head off when I saw you were injured’ he murmured with a small smile.

Giggling, I shook my head, ‘you did notice that Skarla was about to do the same thing to her’ I huffed, ‘surly as the future Alpha, you should have been worried about one of your pack dying.’

Caden shrugged, ‘she’ll live’ he replied uncaringly, ‘but Cobalt found it damn hot to see his mate in action’ he growled, his eyes flashing gold as Cobalt let me know he was also there.

I placed my hand on his chest, ‘yeah, it was nice to take your old bed mate down a peg or two’ I mutter, trying for nonchalance, but a tiny bit of bitterness might have seeped in.

‘Whoa, what?’ Caden demanded, grabbing my wrist as he stepped back so he could look me in the eye. ‘I’ve never slept with Sicily’ he growls in disgust.

My eyes widen, ‘what? You don’t have to lie, I don’t expect you to be a virgin after all this time you know’ I reply.

The Alpha’s arms wrap around me, his lips replaceing my forehead, ‘Baby, I’m not a virgin and I won’t pretend I am’ he mutters, ‘but I never slept with that girl or any of the ones who like to bed hop with the warriors.’ He pulls a face of disgust, ‘I’ve slept with three women and each of them I dated for a while before I went to bed with them. I didn’t love them, but I cared about them, I don’t do f*****g around’ he rumbles as I smile.

‘I’m not a virgin either’ I admit sheepishly, tightening my arms around him as a growl leaves his lips. ‘Hey! You slept with other people don’t be getting all possessive over me not waiting either’ I scold.

Caden sighs, ‘I know’ he grumbles, ‘but I still don’t like the thought of some other wolf seeing what’s mine.’ He suddenly stiffens, his muscles contracting, ‘please tell me it wasn’t Carrington’ he snarls making me laugh.

‘No it wasn’t, it was a warrior and before you ask, no, I’m not telling you who, so you can go and rip his arms off’ I add pointedly.

‘Baby!’ the Alpha huffs, ‘I wouldn’t rip a pack member’s arms off! I’d rip his eyes out so he could never look at you again’ he whispers, smirking.

Rolling my eyes, I lean up on my tip toes so I can press my lips to his, laughing against his mouth as he immediately tries to deepen it. Pulling back I tilt my head as I look at him, ‘what is the big bad Alpha doing for the rest of the afternoon?’ I ask coyly.

Caden’s smile widens, ‘nothing’ he replied, ‘why?’

In answer, I pull the shirt over my head, throwing it over a branch and shifting back into Skarla, who jumps up on her hind paws, licks Caden’s face before dropping back to all fours and dashing off into the woods.

The cracking behind me tells me that Cobalt is out and the heavy paws behind me indicate he’s right behind me. Letting out a playful growl, Skarla dodges to the right, jumping over a fallen log, snickering at the sound of the huge black wolf overshooting, skidding to a halt and doubling back, giving us a few seconds lead.

‘He’s going to catch us’ Skarla purrs in our mind, and I don’t think she has any problem with that.

‘Don’t make it easy’ I reply, causing her to laugh as she moves up a gear, flying through the trees, our mate hot on our heels.

Dodging left and right, Skarla keeps us just out of Cobalt’s reach though I’m pretty sure he’s allowing us to stay just ahead, enjoying the hunt.

After twenty minutes, the sound of his footfalls suddenly disappear, my wolf glancing behind us to replace the area empty. Slowing down, she turns back, a whimper leaving her as she tries to scent our mate out.

Glancing through the trees around us, we both frown, Skarla calling ou to me just as a boulder hits us from the side and we go tumbling over, landing on our back with the cocky smirk of Cobalt above us.

Skarla purrs happily, licking his face as he sniffs her neck, growling happily before lying beside her, his tongue bathing her cheek.

The two wolves curl up together contentedly, Cobalt rubbing his fur against his mate, marking her with his scent.

‘I think they enjoyed that’ came Caden’s amused voice in my mind.

‘Skarla loves a good chase’ I agree, laughing.

‘Cobalt loves to hunt, especially when his reward is his mate’ the Alpha’s voice replies, the sound caressing me.

‘Shame you had to cheat to catch us’ I tease, Skarla laughing in my mind, hearing what I said.

‘That wasn’t cheating’ Caden retorted with a huff, ‘that was tactical, we lulled you into a false sense of security and ambushed you. You are just salty that we tricked you’ he adds saucily.

‘Pfft’ I scoff, ‘please, if you hadn’t cheated you never would have caught us, Skarla is too fast.’

I feel Cobalt shift beside me, and the warm hands of Caden running through Skarla’s fur as he leans closer, his naked body pressed to my wolf, whispering in my ear. ‘We could have caught you baby’ he purrs, ‘but we both enjoyed chasing that cute a*s through the woods too much to let it end.’

A shiver runs through me at the feel of his breath against Skarla’s ear and I unintentionally shift back, my naked body now pressed against his as he leans over me.

Eyes darkening, Caden’s hand runs over my side, trailing up to my breast as I m**n. ‘So beautiful’ he murmurs, his gaze drinking me in, making me feel just as beautiful as he says I am.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull the Alpha down, fusing my mouth to his, his hands wrapping around me, rolling so I’m on top of him, his hands entwining in my hair as his lips devour me.

All I can feel is Caden, his hard muscles pressed against my soft curves, heat pooling between my legs as the evidence of his attraction to me nestles against the place I desperately want to feel him.

‘I love you Leeway’ Caden g****s against my lips, ‘so damn much, you are like air, I can’t breathe properly when you are away from me.’

A whimper leaves me as I grind against him, wanting nothing more than for him to take me.

Reluctantly, and with physical pain in his eyes, Caden pushes me back slightly, sitting up so I’m straddling his h**s. ‘Damn Baby’ he g****s, ‘placing his forehead against mine, ‘I want you so damn bad.’

I shift against him needily, ‘then why did you stop?’ I ask, pressing my lips to his again.

Tangling his tongue with mine, Caden’s hands trace my back before he again pulls back regretfully. ‘I can’t baby’ he sighs, ‘this is you, I’m not f*****g you in the woods where anyone could catch us. When I push inside your perfect body, it’s going to be in my bed where I can worship every inch of you before I make love to you over and over again.’

I want that, Goddess I want him, ‘we could go now’ I offer hopefully even though I know he’s going to turn me down.

Smiling, Caden shakes his head, ‘when I have you, and trust me, I want nothing more than to have you’ he growls warningly, ‘I’m going to want you all night to myself. I’m going to want to take you out, romance you, make you so hot and bothered, your arousal will be the only thing I can scent. Then I’m going to take you home, strip you bare and explore every damn inch of your body with my mouth.’

Damn him, I’m so turned on I don’t know what to do with myself, the smirk he’s giving me tells me that he knows it too.

See! Still an a*****e! Just now he is a really damn sexy one!