Ash Tail Pack Read online

  “That was the idea.” His eyes twinkled when he smiled briefly, his fingers rubbing across his newly shaven chin. “Feels weird.”

  With a last glance at her father lying on his bed, she nodded to the waiting men; she was ready, although she didn’t feel like it. With a pain that stabbed her heart, she watched the seven men lay their roses over the top of her father and then pick him up. Each male rested part of her father on their shoulder and one of their hands on his body, and then carried him from the cabin.

  Looking around the place, she realized it was hers now. Fresh tears pooled in her eyes, and she too walked barefoot, following the men. Why hadn’t the stubborn bastard—sorry, Daddy—allowed himself to talk to her on Skype? Why did the last time she saw him have to be like this?

  As the men walked ahead of Raven toward the pyre, members of the pack filed in after her. Their walk toward the place where their alpha would meet their goddess was filled with silence. New tears flooded Raven’s eyes as the men finally hoisted her father’s body on top of the pyre and stepped back.

  Raven walked forward and placed her rose on her father’s body, then a fiery baton was handed to her. Her hands shook and her tears blinded her. Inserting the baton into the center of the pyre was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. She found it hard to breathe, and she could feel her heart missing beats in her chest as the flames took over the stack of wood. Duke’s scent surrounded her when he pulled her back from the fire and wrapped his arms around her.

  When she finally felt strong enough, she uncurled herself from Duke and spoke to her pack. “The ground we stand on now has years of history. Many ashes of the pack are under our feet. Our once proud alphas. Our officers. Our young and old.” Raven swallowed. “Today we are saying goodbye to my father, your alpha. I know some of you were angry that he didn’t mate again and have young, but I also know so many of you wouldn’t have done so either. But all of that is forgotten today. We will sing his way to the goddess, where she will decide what his next life is to be. May he come back as strong, wise, and loved as he was in this life.”

  Cheers sounded around her before the members of the pack undressed and shifted to their wolves. With both herself and Duke leading the way with their wolf songs, each pack member held their muzzles and tails high. Each sang to the moon and goddess, lighting the alpha’s return. As the pyre burned, the pack slowly ebbed away, their once proud male alpha now with his mate and goddess. The last to leave was Raven and Duke, walking side by side in their wolf form. Both new leaders of the Ash Tail Pack.

  * * * *

  Three weeks and four days later.

  Raven’s skin itched all over, and she felt hot and restless. It had been getting worse over the last few days. In the past couple of hours, her heat had hit full force. It had come early, it wasn’t her birthday for another week. Probably due to all the sex we’ve been having.

  She’d stripped her clothes off and now sat naked on the couch, unable to stand the feel of cloth against her. A blanket lay nearby in case someone happened to visit. Her breasts ached, and her girly parts thrummed. She wanted to lay down and strum her own clit until she burst from her skin. But the thought of someone walking in on her didn’t appeal. Not even in the privacy of her own bedroom was such a thing sacred from the noses of the pack. The alpha’s door was always open, and she and Duke had been caught a few times because of it.

  What a way to spend her birthday. She’d be twenty-one and horny as hell. The last three weeks had flown past. She and Duke had made the decision to move into her father’s cabin, her home. They’d taken over the master bedroom and slowly made the place theirs. She, with Duke’s help, had spent a lot of time with their people, reuniting and getting to know each and every one again. There wasn’t one member—besides the elders, who tended to stay in their own little village together—that hadn’t come to their alpha’s cabin to say hello to her and offered either help or food.

  Over the last week, she’d also felt the pack’s awareness of her situation, and their feelings of excitement that pups could be born again. Duke was driving her mad; he could sense she was due in heat too. He was constantly touching and kissing her. They had made love so often she thought they’d christened the whole house. At first, she’d been embarrassed; she kept expecting her father to appear. But gradually, over time, that feeling diminished.

  “Oh my.” Duke hummed, walking in the door. “I smell something very scrummy.”

  She looked up from the book she’d been trying to read. “Really? I haven’t even started to cook yet,” she exclaimed with a smile on her face. She knew full well that he was talking about her. He’d told her several times over the last few days that her scent was intoxicating to him. He couldn’t keep his hands and mouth off her, or keep his cock from being in or on her.

  She watched him stride over to the settee, taking him in from bottom to top. His large, sexy bare feet, his long legs deeply tanned from being outside, the stretched material of the shorts he wore. He had no shirt on, so his very fine six-pack was on display, as well as his firm pecs. She raked her gaze up to the sinewy muscles of his neck, and then finally to his handsome, clean-shaven face. She liked him with no beard, it made him look so much younger.

  “Woman, you know I’m talking about you.”

  “I know.” She grinned, looking into his light green eyes. They sparkled with mischief. She frowned. “What have you been up to?”

  “Why would I have been up to anything?” he asked, sitting down beside her, a stupid grin on his face.

  “Well, umm, for one, your face says it all.” Folding her legs underneath her, she turned to face him.

  “I just had to chase away a group of teens who hanging around outside. They too seem to like the smell around here.”

  Heat filled her cheeks. “Oh goddess, really?”

  Raven remembered the first time she’d come into heat, not long after her sixteenth birthday. She’d been the first female to come into her heat since her mother’s death, so her scent was more than addictive to some of the young, unmated males. Both her father and Duke had spent the majority of four days scaring the crap out of the teenage and unmated pack members who couldn’t stay away. Her father had told her he wasn’t looking forward to another of her heats. He’d said he’d seen enough teenage cocks to last him a lifetime.

  In the end, her father was so fed up, he brought in several of the pack’s female enforcers to stroll around their cabin. Raven could laugh about it now, but back then, the stories her father told frightened her silly.

  Duke moaned, bringing her out of her thoughts. He had his nose buried deeply against her neck. She could feel the velvetiness of his lips against her skin. He chuckled when she shivered.

  “Oh yes.” He moaned when she tilted her neck to the side, giving him more room to scent her skin. The feel of his warm breath skimmed over her neck, making her shiver again. Her nipples beaded, and her breasts ached.

  “Oh goddess.” She sighed, dropping her book to the floor. Who gave a shit if someone walked in now? “Duke, fuck me. Put me out of this misery and knock me up.”

  She didn’t have to ask again, he pushed her flat on the couch and pulled her legs either side of his body. Everywhere his hands roamed, her skin heated a little more.

  “Have I told you that you say the sweetest things?” He chuckled between kisses near her ear. “Shit, you taste as sweet as you smell. My cock is rock hard.”

  He emphasized his point by pushing his sex against her, just in the right spot to make her cry out. She had suffered several heats before, but this one seemed more intense. As if her body knew she was finally ready to have pups.

  “Then fuck me,” she groaned, jerking her hips upward.

  His hardness pushed on her clit through his shorts. Frustration tore at her. She needed him. She wanted him inside her. Concentrating on her hands, she shifted her fingers into claws, and none too carefully, shredded the material of his shorts.

  “Fuck, woman, you
caught me.” He groaned, but jerked his hips against her again. The scent of blood drifted over them.

  “Sorry. But you can’t fuck me with shorts on.”

  He would heal quickly. A small lash of her claws wouldn’t scar him. Not like they had the first time they’d mated. Shifting her fingers back to normal, she tugged his useless shorts from between them and dropped them on the floor, pleased to discover he’d gone commando. Slowly, she moved her hands up his body until she reached the four lined scars on the top of each shoulder. It stoked her fire hotter. One of his hands reached between them and pressed just where she needed to be touched.

  She was so close to coming already. Duke nibbled at her neck, his teeth dragging along her skin. His finger flickered faster over her engorged nub. Her orgasm washed over her like a tsunami. She couldn’t relax like a limp noodle as she’d done many times before. She wanted—needed—more. Her heat was hitting her full force, and sex was the only thing she could think about. Relief from the excessive itching of her skin, the ache from her swollen breasts, and the feeling of her empty sex.

  With a growl, she tugged at his hair, grabbed one of his shoulders and kicked her leg against the back of the couch, causing them to spin. They fell onto the floor with a slight thump. She was on top of her prey, and she was hungry. Not for food, but sex. Lots of it. For some reason, the words Feed me Seymour, feed me now came into her head from the film Little Shop of Horrors. She wondered if Duke would laugh if she echoed those words, exchanging Seymour for Duke. Shaking her head, she decided not to, and she kissed him instead.

  She moaned around the taste of pure man. She ground her hips against his hard sex. Duke hissed a breath in and jerked his pelvis up, making her gasp.

  “Duke.” She sighed and lifted her hips. Looking between them, she could see his rock-hard shaft glistening with their combined juices. It was enough to make her salivate. With a little more lift to her hips, she placed the head of his cock at her entrance and slowly lowered herself down. Combined groans filled her ears.

  “Goddess.” Duke moaned.

  Raven opened her mind once she was fully seated on his sex. She didn’t have to work hard to pinpoint Duke’s emotions, they were at the top of everyone else’s, and very intense. She eased herself up. Duke’s hands roamed her skin, molding her breasts and pinching her nipples before lowering and settling on her hips. He helped raise and lower her while she used the muscles in her thighs. Up and down, in and out. Faster they worked together. Another orgasm built inside her, but still it wasn’t enough. She needed more, the fire burning inside her stoking to boiling point.

  “More, I need more,” she cried out just as one of Duke’s fingers pressed her clit again. Ecstasy had her clenching her pussy muscles around his cock, milking it for all its worth. She threw her head back and carried on moving up and down, prolonging the overwhelming sensation.

  Within seconds, Duke hollered out her name. “Raven!” His cock jerked inside her, and the warmth of his seed shot along her inner walls.

  Lowering herself over his chest, she kissed his neck, the slight salty taste from his perspiration coating her tongue, adding to his manly flavor. Even though she’d just orgasmed, it still wasn’t enough. The overwhelming need for more sex, more loving, more everything, grew again. With a tight clench of her vagina walls, she knew Duke was ready to go again.

  A male shifter could scent a female in heat from quite a fair distance away. With the number of pheromones she kicked out, it didn’t matter how many times she orgasmed, or Duke came inside her, her flowering aroma was like Viagra to any male nearby.

  Duke adjusted them both so he lay over the top of her. With quick movements he was settled over her thighs with her legs squished between their bodies, her feet virtually touching her ears. He felt bigger this way. The sex felt more intense. He thrust, each time impaling her more deeply than before. His cock rubbed against her g-spot, making her cry out and her pussy clamp around him tightly. His grunts began to get louder as his pistoning hips became jerkier. A long, deep growl was hissed out between his clenched teeth. She could feel the warmth of his seed coating her once again as pleasure immersed each and every nerve ending in her body.

  Chapter 7

  Oh goddess, she’s going to kill me. But what a way to go! Duke moved to spoon his mate after yet another bout of sex. He’d fucked her, made love to her, spread his seed so deeply inside of her, he was sure one way or another she carried their pup. For nearly forty-eight hours they hadn’t left the bed.

  If it wasn’t for their new beta, Jasmine, he wasn’t sure if they would have eaten. Jasmine had been leaving frequent meals outside their bedroom door, with notes to say all was well in the pack, although they were still kicking a few unmated males’ arses for hanging around the alpha’s house with their pants down. He made a mental note to be sure to thank her.

  Duke buried his nose against the damp skin of his mate and moaned. She still smelled so good, even though her heat was dying off. Now he was sure that she carried their pup, or else she’d still be kicking out some awesome pheromones. That made him wonder how they were going to control the unmated male members in the pack once the other females scented the pregnancy and went into their own heat. He couldn’t help the groan that slipped from between his lips. It was going to be a nightmare.

  “What’s got you all anxious?” Raven wiggled in his arms, her voice full of sleep.

  “How are we going to manage the unmated males when the females start going into heat?”

  Duke was met with silence, then Raven slowly giggled until she was full out laughing. Twisting around in his arms, her eyes were scrunched up and her nose wiggled each time she chuckled. He loved each and every thing about her.

  “Oh, dear goddess. Can you imagine it?” she said. “We’re going to have males hiding in bushes, dicks in hand, all day long for weeks.”

  “Please, that is not an image I want to think about. Thank you.” He snorted, the image already dirtying his mind. “It’s a good thing male sibling aren’t affected by their sisters.” Duke cringed at that thought.

  No matter what, once Raven was pregnant, the other females in the pack would come into their own heat, which would mean, they were going to catch men with… Eww, he really didn’t want to think about that. It brought back memories when Raven herself had gone into heat before she’d left.

  Even if Raven lost their pup— although that rarely occurred for a shifter—the other females would still have theirs. Duke didn’t even want to think about what would happen if something caused Raven’s death. Now that he finally had what he’d always wanted, he couldn’t imagine not having it. How Theodore had lived all those years without his mate, Duke would never know.

  “It will get better as the women’s heat come at different times. But I think for the next year or so, we will have to come up with some kind of…handy…man stuff.”

  “Oh dear.” Duke groaned. “You didn’t have to go there.”

  Raven wiggled again, her arms wrapping around his neck, her legs either side of his, her smiling face not more than a couple of inches from his.

  Even with the distraction of her luscious body, an idea popped into his head. “You know, thinking about it, I think that could be a great idea. What if we gather some of our skilled workers and create a program for our teenagers? Get them volunteering their time or even finding the money to pay them for it. They could work on some of the cabins, update them, etcetera. We could keep them busy.”

  “So, you aren’t just handsome and great at sex, you have awesome ideas too.”

  “Cheeky girl.” Duke chuckled and rolled them both until she was again under him. “This is becoming a frequent view,” he declared, looking down at his mate.

  The lingering scent of her heat still had him hard. And even though he’d not long been inside of her, he was ready and eager to go again. No matter how old they got, or what happened over the years to come, he’d always be ready to make love to his Raven.

 
“I still affect you.” She wiggled her hips and legs and trapped his long, hard length between her thighs.

  “You always will.” He lowered his mouth and kissed her gently. “You’ve noticed your heat is lessening then?”

  “Yep. I think you’ve knocked me up, big fellow. Well, that little thing between my thighs did anyways,” she teased.

  “Little?”

  “Mmm, okay, maybe I’m giving it too much credit. Miniscule then?”

  He watched her eyes twinkle in mirth, the half-smile on her face she was trying to hide mocking him. Grabbing hold of her wrists with both hands, he thrust them over the top of her head and moved up her body. Nibbling on her sweet skin, he pulled his cock free from her thighs, and it landed on her lower stomach with a slap.

  “Minuscule,” he echoed. He filled his mouth with the silky skin of her breast, sucking the taut nipple into his mouth. He rolled his tongue around the engorged nub, then nipped the bud between his teeth. Raven’s hips jerked underneath him.

  “Okay, okay,” she breathlessly chanted. “I’m sorry, not minuscule then,” she panted out. “Big, huge.” She squealed when he moved over to the other breast and sucked and chomped down on her nipple.

  The scent of their beta drifted into their room, pausing their escapade, and both of them froze.

  “We know you’re there,” Duke called out, moving to the side of Raven and releasing her wrists.

  “I have news, Alphas,” Jasmine shouted back.

  “You can come in,” Duke replied, making sure they were both covered.

  Their bedroom door opened cautiously, and Jasmine stuck her head inside. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, but Buddy Hounds and his mate have just walked onto pack land and have asked to speak to you both.”

  Buddy was one of the men who’d helped Timmy try to rape Raven. What was he doing back on pack land? Duke looked toward Raven. Instead of seeing horror written over her face, he saw sorrow. Delving into her emotions, he felt her guilt too.