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  Heat rushed over Raven as Duke’s sexy talk and demanding fingers gave her the first orgasm he’d promised. Her pussy clenched, her juices flowed, and her legs felt like jelly even more.

  “Good morning to you too.” She sighed once she could breath.

  Duke withdrew his fingers, and she watched in the mirror as he brought them to his mouth and sucked and moaned. A sexy grin covered his face before he buried it back into her neck. He sucked against her pounding pulse, moaning.

  “Good morning, princess. Now, I promised you some more pleasure before I finally make you dirty.” Lifting his head, he met her gaze in the reflection of the mirror before sweeping her up in his arms.

  “Dirty breakfast.” He winked as he walked them both into the shower.

  Cold water flowed over her body when Duke turned the shower on. Fuck, that’s freezing. She would have sworn he had done that on purpose if she hadn’t heard his curse. He quickly pulled them both from under the flow for a few moments before turning back again, when the water was warmer.

  “Now I don’t feel sexy.” She shivered.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll warm you up.” His mouth covered hers, his tongue slipped between her lips, and he heated her up from the inside out.

  He shifted her in his arms so she could wrap her legs around his waist. Her arms hugged his neck, and her sensitive nipples rubbed against the slight dusting of hair on his chest, making her groan.

  “Eventually I’m going to get so big we won’t be able to do this.” She moaned, rubbing her clit against his hardness, the lubrication from their sexes making it easy.

  “You mean sex?” he asked, a puzzled and horrified look on his face.

  She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yes, sex!” She rolled her eyes.

  Like a light bulb turning on, realization flickered on his face, and he copied her, rolling his eyes. “Woman.” He sighed and went back to kissing her. “No matter how big this bump might get, I will still be able to pick you and him up.”

  “Him, huh?” Raven didn’t care if their pup was a boy or girl. She would be thrilled either way. Whatever the sex, the pup’s middle name would be either her mother or father’s, so part of them would carry on.

  Duke paused from kissing her neck and looked her straight in the eyes. “I’m just happy it’s with you. For so many years I watched you grow up. Being around you as a teen was…” He sighed. “I felt like a perv. When you had your first heat, it took everything inside of me not to come to you. I know I wasn’t the only one affected, but damn, I wanted to knock every single male who got near you on their arses.”

  “You have something now that they don’t and will never have.” She cupped his face and wiped a stream of water running down it away, for it to be replaced seconds later by more. “Fuck me, my mate. Take me to cloud nine and back again.”

  “Have I told you that you ask for the simplest of things?” He grinned.

  His head lowered, and he nibbled across her collarbone and up along her pulse until he reached her lips, where their tongues stroked and entwined around each other. With a quick lift, he had her impaled on his long, wide sex. Their breathless moans filled the space of the shower as their sex became more heated than the water.

  * * * *

  Raven was sitting quietly in Duke’s lap watching television when a dark emotion flitted through her mind. Duke, feeling it too, stiffened underneath her body. Fear...it was so powerful it caused Raven’s heart to thunder in her chest. Searching through the pack’s emotions she located where the fear was coming from—Buddy. Then there was nothing, just silence. But then fear, sorrow, and grief came from his mate, and then his mother.

  “You can’t—”

  Before Duke could finish, Raven shifted into her wolf, tearing the material of her thin nightdress along with it, and ran for the front door. Duke let out a sharp curse behind her.

  “Damn it, Raven.”

  All the pack’s doors were made for both wolf and human, and she stood on her hind legs and pulled the handle down with her paws, then ran into the woods. Duke followed her; she could both feel him and see him out of the corner of her eye. His emotions heated with worry. She was going to have to have words with him later. They were both alphas, and just because she carried their pup, she wouldn’t allow him to keep her out of things like this. Whatever this was.

  I’m fine, I’ll be okay. My pack too. Can’t keep me hidden away just because I’m pregnant, she told herself as she ran.

  The wind ruffled her fur as she ran through bushes and trees until she could smell the fear coming from the people in the area. Finally, she reached Buddy’s cabin he shared with his mate and mother, with Duke on her tail. She stopped, scented the area, and perked her ears up to listen. Duke moved in front of her and nipped at her muzzle as if to say wait. She nipped him back and snorted. She stepped forward, her head held high. She wouldn’t step down unless she knew there was a risk to her unborn pup.

  The tang of copper filled her nose. Someone was hurt. Every fiber of her soul wanted to run into that cabin and see what was going on, but she paused and waited for Duke to make the first move. As her mate entered the family home, she followed closely behind him. The scent of blood was heavy in the room. She saw red spray on a wall and then on the settee. Signs of fighting were everywhere. Furniture was scattered about and turned over, ornaments broken, china and glass chards sprinkled across the floor.

  The cabin was quiet, apart from the wracking sobs of two women. Their emotional grief filled Raven’s mind and soul. The sickly aroma of death filled her nose as she rounded the settee, where she found a male body sprawled on the floor. Buddy. His mate Belinda and mother, Holly, were leaning over him, their tears mingling with his blood.

  Noise from the doorway had both Raven and Duke spinning around and growling, only to be silenced when two enforcers and Jasmine wolfed in.

  Raven shifted to her human form and ran over to the crying women, pulling them both into her arms, leaving Duke to talk to their enforcers. She hated to ask the grieving women what had happened, but they all needed to know the events that had led to Buddy’s death.

  “What happened?” she asked, while in the background she could hear Duke talking to their enforcers.

  Their grief was overwhelming, but after a few minutes Belinda spoke. “I was coming home from the doctor with Mum when we heard growling. She pushed me into the bush behind the house and told me to stay there while she investigated.”

  Raven looked at Buddy’s mother with renewed admiration, and wonder.

  Belinda burst into a fresh pool of tears and spluttered out, “We had just come back from learning I’m pregnant.”

  It was then Raven remembered having to move the unmated males on Buddy’s work crew to the enforcers for a week, because Belinda had gone into her heat.

  Fresh sadness swamped Raven. Did Buddy know he was to become a father? She glanced at Duke. She couldn’t imagine bringing their pup up on her own. For Duke never to know their pup, or the pup to never know his or her father, except from stories... No, she couldn’t think about that right now. Building walls up around that thought, she turned her attention back to the grieving women.

  Holly continued the story as she rubbed soothing circles on Belinda’s back, a few of her own tears falling into the crinkles under her eyes. “As I was coming in, a wolf dashed out and knocked me over. By the time I managed to get back to my feet, the fucker was gone.”

  Raven held back the unwanted smile at hearing the old woman curse.

  “If I was young enough, I could have chased him down and sank my teeth into him. He would be lying down here with my son.”

  Raven looked over toward Duke and Jasmine. She knew they had heard what Holly and Belinda had said. She could see them whispering before the two enforcers, still in wolf form, ran outside. Jasmine shifted and followed. Raven knew they would be scouring outside for any sign of the wolf.

  “Go,” she told Duke, who looked torn between staying with her
and chasing the wolf down with the others. Raven turned back to Holly and asked, “Did you know the wolf?” But Raven already knew the answer; she’d recognize his lingering scent anywhere.

  Holly looked up and straight into her eyes. “Frank. I recognized that smelly bastard’s scent immediately.” She scowled.

  “Come on, we need to move you.” She ushered the two females up and walked them through the cabin to one of the bedrooms. Looking around and scenting the smells, Raven could tell it was Holly’s bedroom because the room was filled with her aroma. “Why don’t you both lay down.”

  “Don’t fuss over me, Alpha. I’ll look after the young one, you go take care of Buddy.”

  The mention of Buddy’s name brought a fresh bout of sobbing from Belinda. Raven nodded and watched Holly help Belinda. The old shifter aided the young female onto the bed and laid her down, then adjusted two pillows under her head, whispering softly to the weeping woman. Here she was, after finding and losing her only son, staying strong by looking after her pregnant daughter-in-law.

  Raven looked down her body toward the small bump. Instinct had her molding her fingers over the bulge and selfishly hoping that she would never be in the same situation. Duke walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, his heat comforting her.

  “I don’t think I could be that strong if I lost you,” she whispered.

  “I’m here, and I don’t intend to go anywhere.” He placed his hand in hers and pulled her from the room, shutting the door. “From what we can make out, Frank managed to get through our patrol when they were changing shifts.”

  “Even with the extra patrols he still got through?”

  Duke grimaced. “We had three out today, their mates came into heat.”

  “Shit, why did we not know this?” she asked, annoyed.

  “Jasmine has accepted responsibility. She was on her way to tell us before she received my howl.”

  “Has the shroud been sent for yet?” Raven asked.

  “Yes.”

  Raven nodded. “Good. We also need to clean up the mess.” She didn’t want Buddy’s mate or mother having to clean up. They needed time to grieve, not clean. “How will they manage? Buddy was the breadwinner.”

  Duke’s hand cupped her face. She couldn’t help but lean into it and close her eyes. She relished his feel, his heat, and his love.

  “Look at me, princess.”

  She opened her eyes and lifted her head to do as he asked. Love shone back at her through his big green eyes. His emotions copied them, which made her feel warm, wanted, and adored.

  “We will look after them. We do it with the rest of our pack, and these females are no different. Yes, Buddy did wrong. But in the weeks since he’s been back, he never once put a foot wrong, and each time I saw him or spoke to him, he always apologized for his past actions. He knew he’d done wrong and did everything he could to try to make up for it. In his heart, he was pack and did everything he could to show us that.”

  Tears blurred Raven’s sight of Duke. She had to swallow before talking. “Why now, Duke? Why did Frank do this now?”

  “I don’t know.” He leaned forward with a sigh and kissed her forehead.

  “Alpha?” A shout broke them apart.

  They both walked toward the living area. The scent of blood laid heavily in the air, reminding them why they were there. Three enforcers and Jasmine stood by the door.

  “We caught him,” Jasmine panted. “Marcus and Rolf have taken him to the basement.”

  The basement Jasmine was referring to was underneath the village hall. When the first alphas founded this place, they’d been worried about being found by their previous pack. A couple of beta wolves hadn’t liked how the alphas treated their family and friends. So they decided to create a pack of their own. Taking half the pack with them, they slipped into the night and traveled south to Wales. But there was always constant fear that their previous pack would find them and want retribution.

  With only little knowledge about magic, they couldn’t create the reflecting shield that would make any non pack member or human feel the need to walk away. So the new alphas built a basement underneath the main hall.

  Huge trees were felled and their trunks were halved and placed around the walls to prevent them from collapsing. They also created long caverns to puzzle anyone who didn’t know where they were going. The basement was stocked with plenty of water and food, in case of trouble. Many years later, and with a shield to protect their village, the cellar was used mainly for storing things and for housing the occasional shifter that needed punishment.

  “Frank, right?” Raven asked, wanting to make sure they had the right fella. Jasmine nodded. “Okay, will you stay here and take care of Holly and Belinda while we go and see to him?”

  Jasmine nodded again and motioned toward the three enforcers with her. “Jack, Vince, and George came to help.”

  “Thanks. The shroud is on its way. We will need to get a pyre built.” Sadness pulled at Raven’s heart. A second funeral needed already so soon after her father’s.

  As shifters, they had a longer life than most humans. They weren’t susceptible to a lot of illnesses, giving them time to grow very old. The most funerals they had in one year was eight, and that was nearly five years ago when a harsh winter took out several elders, and a male falling out of a tree had broken his neck and died.

  Jasmine nodded again as both Raven and Duke passed her. Raven knew by the time they returned, the house would be cleaned and Buddy would be resting on a bed wrapped in blue. The thought of leaving the two grieving women nearly had Raven staying behind to make sure they would be okay. She knew how it felt to lose someone. But she had other responsibilities to attend to.

  The thought of seeing Frank and confronting him made her feel sick, but he’d killed a member of her pack. Someone who had come home with his tail between his legs and taken whatever was thrown at him for doing wrong, but also with a warning about Timmy. Someone who over the last few weeks since he’d been back hadn’t put one foot wrong.

  Taking one last look at the male’s body, Raven turned and headed out the door.

  “Wolf or walk?” Duke asked.

  “You wolf and I’ll walk.”

  Duke looked dubiously at her. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I can feel his anger, and don’t really want to walk into that wall of fury at the moment.” She stroked a hand across her swollen stomach.

  Duke’s eyes followed her motion. “You don’t have to come,” he said.

  “I’ll be okay, just give me five minutes, all right?”

  Duke leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

  Raven’s heart was heavy. Someone had been killed while she was alpha...while she and Duke were alphas. Nobody had been murdered when her father had reigned. In fact, the last person to be killed had been years ago, before the law about challengers had been brought in.

  The pack’s emotions were strong in Raven’s mind at the moment. Their dismay, grief, and anger more prominent than anything else. It made her feel sick. Should she walk with Duke to the village hall instead of letting him go ahead? No. Inside she knew it was right to send him ahead.

  Chapter 11

  Finally deciding to walk alone and take time for herself, Raven ordered her mate to strip before she changed her mind.

  “Strip, wolfman.” She placed a smile on her face she didn’t feel.

  Duke looked at her dubiously, but then started stripping. Each piece of clothing he peeled off, he handed to her. With each item, more naked, tanned skin was revealed. Normally, shifters basically ignored nudity—because it didn’t concern them one way or the other—but Raven couldn’t resist staring at her mate. His tight abdominal muscles, and pecs flexed as he lifted his shirt. As he pulled it over his head, she noticed his biceps and neck muscles. Her gaze moved down to his sexy feet, then back up again. Over his thick, tree trunk legs and calf muscles, now bare, with no trousers covering them. His rigid cock swelled as she looked at
it. She brought her gaze back to his face and he gave her a sexy, I-know-you’re-looking smile before he shifted.

  He nudged her with his snout and licked her hand before running off.

  Wow! When had it turned suddenly hot?

  Her smile was replaced by sorrow when a young teenaged lad walked past her with the blue funeral shroud. It brought everything flooding back. Clutching Duke’s clothes and boots to her chest, inhaling his calming scent, Raven strolled toward the village hall and to the angry man waiting.

  * * * *

  Duke’s paws padded the ground. He hadn’t wanted to leave Raven behind, but he could feel how much she was struggling and knew she needed time alone. Over the last few weeks he’d been gradually getting used to this mental mantle thing.

  A week ago, old Rose, who had no living family, had fallen and injured herself pretty badly. It was her pain that alerted both he and Raven to something wrong. She was now safe, well, and comfortable in the elder village. Not all elders moved to that part of pack land. The ones who had families liked to stay near them. The ones who did live there were well looked after by their pack. They were revered for the life they’d led. Treasured for the years of work they had done. Loved for the tales of old.

  Strong anger emotion flooded Duke as he neared the village hall. Even with the tree trunks surrounding the basement walls, that also created soundproofing, Frank’s emotions were strong enough to reach out and grab Duke by the metaphorical balls. Duke couldn’t be more pleased right then that Raven hadn’t come with him. She and their unborn pup shouldn’t be privy to this. Shifting quickly, Duke walked through the village door and headed toward the basement.

  Through some hidden doors behind a large, thick bookshelf, Duke walked into a passage, where the lighting was dim. The scent of musty, moldy air was the next thing that hit Duke. To think that years ago, before they had the reflective shield, his pack had often spent time down there. It must have been torture for them. Wolf shifters loved being outside in the sun.

  “Let me go, you fucking bitch!” Even through the long caverns leading downward Duke could hear Frank holler. “Are you so fucking scared of me, you put me behind bars?” A rattle of iron bars sounded before the deep anguish cry. “Ahhhhh!”