The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate-Chapter 101: Holy Shit, Shadowclaw (Part 1)

The reason Garrett wanted to speak with her alone had nothing to do with strategy or Agnes. He wanted to offer a portal to Fin’s tent and Serena took it.

The Master Mage of Darkhowler created it and she stepped through.

As soon as Serena crossed, Fin looked up, relief cracking through the composure he wore like armor.

Fin strode across the tent and pulled her into a hug.

A hug she didn’t realize she needed until she had it. He was so good at that.

She breathed in his scent, surprising herself with how she did that on instinct. How much it affected her.

Fin kissed the top of her head. Then his lips found hers. She hadn’t expected him to do that, but she didn’t stop him.

The kiss deepened. His hand slid to the back of her neck. Electricity detonated through every nerve ending she had left.

She pulled away, stiffening. Too many things happening at once. His scent, the taste of him still on her lips, and none of it making sense.

"Serena ... let me explain ..." he began. He picked her up and carried her to his bed chambers in his tent. Him doing that surprised her, but her reaction lagged behind the motion.

"You need to lie down," he said. "I can feel it."

She didn’t argue. Her head was throbbing. He set her down on his bed above the covers and lay next to her, pulling her close.

She allowed herself to relax in his arms. He made her feel safe.

"Serena... you are my second chance fated mate. I felt your pain the other night, and that’s how I found you."

She didn’t stiffen, which he was fully expecting.

He continued. "When you broke your matebond with Dexmon, it hurt your wolf. You were dying and needed to be marked. Multiple people tried to get Dexmon to, but he wouldn’t."

"I’m sorry I didn’t ask you first. I couldn’t let you die." His voice cracked. "Dexmon marked over my mark."

Serena heard it already tonight. But when Fin said it too, that’s when it sunk in. She didn’t know what to think or do. Confused didn’t cover it.

"Serena, I can feel your emotions," he said, voice steady. "You’ve done nothing wrong. Let me take some of this burden from you. Actually, let me carry all of it."

He gently wiped away a tear from her face and his arms tightened around her.

"I know what I want. I’ve known since the moment I felt you. Let me burn for you. Give me a chance, Serena. Give me that, and I’ll give you everything."

Serena swallowed, more hot tears forming in her eyes. She took in a steadying breath, deciding honesty was the best policy here.

"Fin ... I’m not mate material at the moment. I’m not myself. You’d be better off—"

"No." He cut her off with zero hesitation. "You don’t need to worry about that."

"I don’t want to make any promises," she said, voice raw. "I don’t even know what to believe with Dexmon."

"You’re still sorting out Dexmon. I understand. That is between you and him." He laced his fingers with hers, and brought her bruised knuckles to his lips. "For the record, I’ve heard enough about Agnes to know she deserves her own circle of hell."

Serena laughed through the tears.

"My wolf loves it when you laugh." Fin grinned. "Honestly, he’s been useless since he met you."

The laughter faded, but the warmth of it lingered on her face. His expression softened, and his thumb wiped another tear.

"I’m not asking for forever tonight. I’m asking for a chance to earn it."

His lips found hers again, softly, and she kissed him back. It was so easy with him. He pulled away from their kiss, pressing his forehead against hers.

"Will you stay with me?"

"Of course," she whispered.

"My wolf just did a backflip. Thought you should know."

She laughed again at that and something in his expression softened.

"You’re shivering," he said after a moment.

Serena looked down, just now noticing her combat suit was still soaking wet from the rain. Her mind was so distracted that the cold and wet was the least of her concerns.

He found the zipper on the back of her suit, and began to unzip it slowly, eyes not leaving hers.

She let him, heat creeping up her cheeks when he did so. She’d slept with him in just her undergarments twice now. So it wasn’t like this was new. But she still felt shy.

The wet fabric clung, and he had to work it off her slowly.

She felt his eyes on her as the fabric came away, and for reasons she couldn’t name, it felt entirely too intimate for the situation.

Finally, the suit came free. His jaw tightened at the bruises on her ribs.

"You should see the other guy," Serena said dryly.

Fin stared at her in disbelief. Then he started laughing. A full chested laugh that broke the tension in the way she needed. She grinned back at him.

After he stripped down to his briefs, he got into the bed, pulling her against his chest. The dry furs against her bare skin felt like mercy after hours in wet fabric. His warmth felt like something else entirely.

They lay there in the dark, her back against his chest, his arm across her waist.

She could feel him hard against her. Neither of them acknowledged it. Until he shifted, and his mouth found her neck, and acknowledging it stopped being optional.

He kissed down her body, hands trailing fire across her skin. He hooked his fingers into her thong and pulled it off in one fluid motion.

She was conflicted. She knew she should stop this. But knowing and doing were two different animals, and his mouth was already between her thighs, his tongue on her clit, before she could talk herself into it or out of it.

He forced her legs further apart. Heat crawled up her neck immediately.

She hadn’t bathed since that morning and had been in battle that day.

She tried to push his head away, but he grabbed her wrists, pinning them on the bed next to her and spread her legs wide so he had full access.

Serena blushed even more, trying to close her legs. But they were pinned down by him. She couldn’t move.

"Fin... I—"

"No. I am going to taste you," he said, eyes gold. He began relentlessly licking her folds in long slow strokes. Then he sealed his mouth over her clit and sucked.

Serena started to writhe.

"Good girl," he said against her pussy. "You are going to cum on my tongue."

His finger slid inside her, curling, stroking, moving in a rhythm that made her thoughts scatter, while he sucked on her.

Right before Serena was about to cum, his tongue replaced his finger, pushing inside her while his fingers began rubbing her clit. Not gently. Rapidly, with a precision that bordered on cruel.

Her back arched off the bed and she shattered, orgasm crashing through her.

He groaned at the taste, the sound vibrating against her skin. The sensation was too much and not enough all at once.

He licked her through the orgasm, mercilessly.

✦✦✦

Across the camp, Dexmon lay alone in the bed, staring at the ceiling.

He tried to feel her emotions through their matebond. But he couldn’t feel a goddamn thing. She shouldn’t be able to shut him out like this without a wolf.

The sheets smelled like her. Moonfire, the forest, and something golden underneath, he never could name.

He’d built walls his entire life. It was what kings inevitably had to do. You don’t lead a kingdom by bleeding where people can see.

She was the one person he would tear them all down for. And she was slipping through his fingers.

He whispered into the dark, to no one. "I’m going to fix this."

He banged his hand against the headboard, then closed his eyes. Exhaustion pulled at him, but his mind wouldn’t stop.

Two tents over, Gavriel was also awake.

He knew there was no matebond or fated thread tethering her to him. But he knew where she was.

He’d carried her when she was poisoned. Held her while she cried after breaking her matebond. Made her laugh when no one else could reach her. And tonight, when she needed someone, she was in Shadowclaw’s tent.

That was the thing about chosen love versus fated. It didn’t matter how long you’d been there or that you noticed her first. It didn’t care that you’d memorized the way she laughed before anyone else knew the sound of it.

Most wolves had chosen mates, including Serena’s parents. She’d told him that once and he had listened. They produced Serena. That in and of itself was proof that it worked. It could be enough. It could be everything.

But the Moon Goddess didn’t care about proof.

Gav turned onto his side and closed his eyes.