Crossed Fates by Lexi C. Foss

Makayla

My eyes were heavy,my body still utterly exhausted despite having spent the last day in bed.

Probably because my insatiable mate kept waking me up to “make sure we were really still alive and that all our parts still worked appropriately.” I nearly grunted at the excuse.

Are you complaining?Alaric asked, his deep voice amused.

My lips twitched. Because of course he was awake and had heard me. No.

He chuckled out loud, and I used one elbow to lean up and gaze at his sleepy, satisfied face.

He ran a hand through my wild, tangled red hair, then cupped my neck and guided me up to him for a deep, thorough kiss. Things between us started to heat up again, and I pulled back before we were carried away by it. I needed some sustenance before we engaged in any more acrobatics.

Alaric growled at my retreat, but it morphed into a laugh when my stomach growled loudly back at him. “It seems I need to feed my mate.”

“Mm-hmm,” I agreed, my insides protesting the lack of food in my system.

Alaric chuckled again and climbed out of bed.

My breath caught in my lungs as he padded over to his dresser. His muscled rippled down his back, and his ass looked like it had been sculpted from marble. Good grief, I was going to burst into flames. Maybe I wasn’t hungry after all…for food, anyway.

I shook my head and tried to recapture my rational brain. This is ridiculous! I’d seen him naked many times. Touched all that smooth, warm skin, had my mouth all over him. I should not be distracted by this.

Then he turned around and bent to pull on a pair of pajama pants, giving me an excellent view of his sculpted torso with that mouthwatering V—which I’d licked every inch of—and his impressive cock. I released an audible sigh when he covered it up, and he gave me a sexy, dimpled smile. The twinkle in his eyes confirmed that he knew exactly how he was impacting me.

Damn link, I thought. Whatever.

“Breakfast can wait,” I decided out loud as I rose up onto my knees.

His blue irises became nearly eclipsed by black as they scanned my body. Good to know I affected him just as much.

Still, he shook his head and reached into another drawer before tossing a shirt at me. “Can’t have my mate wasting away. I have plans for her later.”

I perked up. “Plans?”

“Now who’s insatiable?” he asked with a playful grin.

I returned his expression before pulling the shirt down over my head and sticking my arms through the gigantic armholes. It always amazed me that he could make a tall, strong woman like me feel small and dainty. Even Nathan, who was freaking huge, had never had that effect on me. Maybe it was a mate thing? Regardless, I loved it.

Alaric came to the side of the bed and snaked an arm around my waist, hauling me close. It knocked me off-balance, and I went tumbling into his arms. Then he kissed me until I melted into a trembling pile of goo.

“Food,” he stated against my lips before taking his mouth away, making me frown.

“But—”

Alaric shook his head and swept me up into his arms again.

“I can walk, Neanderthal.”

“You could, but we both know you like it when I carry you around.”

I sighed. There wasn’t any use in denying it. He’d clearly been listening to my thoughts about feeling small and feminine when he manhandled me like a caveman.

He deposited me on the island counter just inside the kitchen and gave me a brief, hard kiss before beginning a search of the cupboards. He located a frying pan and started digging through the refrigerator, only to be interrupted by the doorbell.

I hopped off the marble counter, intending to answer it so he could cook, but his icy glare stopped me in my tracks. His gaze dropped pointedly to my naked legs. Sighing, I rolled my eyes and hopped back up to sit again. The jealousy radiated from him, and I couldn’t help feeling sorry for whoever was at the door. They were about to receive the full force of a possessive alpha, and it was my fault, not theirs.

“What?” Alaric snarled, yanking the door so hard it slammed into the wall.

I pressed my legs together, finding his display of strength and dominance ridiculously sexy. His nose lifted just a fraction, and then his eyes darted over to me.

Shit.

He could smell my arousal.

His gaze slowly returned to the person at the door, and every muscle in his body tensed. The visitor must have been a shifter, or Alaric wouldn’t care about the caller smelling me.

My mate snatched a package from the person and slammed the door in the poor guy’s face. Then he spun around and prowled to me, throwing the box on the counter.

“I don’t like other men smelling what’s mine,” he growled as he crowded me with his arms on both sides of me like he’d done the night before.

“Then stop being so damn sexy,” I returned.

That seemed to break him out of his jealous fog, and he threw his head back and laughed. “I’ll work on it,” he promised with a wink.

He stepped away to pick up the rectangular box on the counter. His brow furrowed after a second, and he angled it so I could see whom it had come from.

“E.V.I.E.?” I frowned. “I guess you didn’t really give your notice.”

Alaric grunted. “Yeah, I don’t think a formal resignation is Jude’s thing.” He ripped open the package and pulled out a thick padded envelope. Inside it was a tablet, a watch, and a note.

I know how much you’ll miss your toys. Consider this a farewell gift. But I expect you to wear that watch and show up when I need you. —Jude.

“What the hell?” I took the note and read it again.

“Jude collects assets like chess pieces,” he muttered, eyeing the fancy watch.

Sounds like Nathan, I thought. “Is Jude saying that he’s not allowing you to quit?” I wondered out loud.

“I think he’s saying that while I’m not officially on the E.V.I.E. payroll, I’ll be working as a freelancer.” He grinned, his gaze lifting to mine. “Like you. So. it’s possible that you won’t be the only one called to help people outside the pack from time to time.”

The possibility of that didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t fear for Alaric—he could handle himself, especially now that he was immortal and much harder to kill. But what happened if our missions overlapped and that left the pack without either of their alphas? Maybe I shouldn’t—

Alaric grasped my hips, yanking my attention to him. “It would have to be a major emergency for me to leave my pack, Mak. But if it happens, we have my dad.”

“But he won’t—” Then I smacked myself on the forehead. Duh. The entire pack had inherited the traits of my pack when Alaric and I mated. His dad would always be there, and the man wouldn’t hesitate to step in if both of us were called away. “It’s refreshing to have all these similarities to my old pack. Like the immortality thing.”

“It’s certainly a gift we all appreciate.” Alaric set the items on the island, then kissed me quickly before going back to making us some food. He pulled a carton of eggs out and set them on the counter by the stove.

“So you’re really okay with me still working as a freelancer?” I asked. Other than a little worry for my safety—which was understandable, as I was his mate—I hadn’t sensed any doubt from Alaric. But sometimes it felt better to hear it out loud.

“Makayla, I want to spend eternity with you. If you stop being who you are, who would I be spending my forever with?”

Well, fuck. That had been the most perfect answer I could have imagined.

My heart squeezed, and a thought I hadn’t considered crept into my mind. I wasn’t sure what love was, beyond the love I had for my family. But romantically? It had never been something I’d experienced or even really considered. It had seemed like a complication, so I’d been glad to avoid it. But now I wondered if what Alaric and I felt for each other would grow into love one day.

Yeah, I was definitely falling head over heels for this man.

Alaric glanced at me, and something passed between us. Someday.

I smiled, feeling warm and happy.

“Ok, so what’s next?” I asked.

Alaric was quiet for a minute, thoughts floating through his mind too fast for me to grasp them all at once.

“Well, first, I think I need to move. Not just from New York City, but… into Tyler’s house. The alpha’s house. It’s been the alpha’s home for generations, and it’s where we belong.”

I loved that he sounded so sure of his decision. He constantly proved why he was meant to be the alpha of this pack, and I couldn’t help but be damn proud to stand beside him.

“Besides,” he continued, “I think it will be a comfort to be surrounded by childhood memories of Tyler. Even if I have a feeling he’s chuckling at me right now for being so stubborn all these years.”

I snorted, and Alaric pinched my outer thigh as he walked by, earning a glare from me. It didn’t hurt. Actually, it shot tingles directly to my core. However, apparently, pinching was his new thing, just like crowding me into tight places, and I didn’t care for it.

Liar. I know it turns you on, he murmured into my mind.

Stupid connection. He was right. It did. And that irritated the shit out of me.

I let it go and went back to our conversation. “Okay, so we’re moving. We take care of pack business and freelance from time to time.”

He nodded.

“Then?” I prompted.

“That’s for us to decide together. One day at a time. We have quite a few of them. There’s no rush.”

I rolled my eyes at his lame joke.

Then he was in front of me again, except this time he didn’t cage me in or pinch me anywhere. His expression was thoughtful, and he cocked his head to the side as he considered me.

“Well, one of these days, we could take advantage of a full moon.” The suggestion in his tone had my brow popping upward.

Like… real advantage?I asked him, my throat suddenly dry. Female wolves, at least those of my kind, went into heat during a full moon. Which meant I could conceive. I’d never asked if it was the same for him or not, yet he somehow knew it about me. Maybe from when I’d pushed all my pack details to him before when our mating connection had snapped fully into place.

Yeah, real advantage, he murmured.

Um… I’d never considered kids because I hadn’t expected to ever mate.

“We can wait as long as you need, baby,” he said out loud, his palm cupping my cheek. “I just want you to know… I’d be interested.”

“Oh. I… I just need some time to absorb the idea,” I admitted. “But I think I might like that.” Actually, I was pretty sure I would. Because the idea of having little pups with him made some matronly part of me melt into a puddle of happiness.

Alaric grinned and kissed me sweetly.

“Although, there’s something you should know about true mates, at least among my kind,” I started slowly.

“What’s that?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Well, true mates in my old world tend to experience an intense attraction until they reproduce. It’s a primal thing because our animals don’t understand why we would choose to wait. They mate, fuck, and create pups. From what I understand, we just fuck like bunnies until it happens.”

He stared at me. “Sorry, I’m not seeing the problem with this revelation.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course you wouldn’t. But I’m telling you… we might end up doing it on a full moon without thinking clearly.”

He shrugged. “Yep. I’m good with that.” He went back to his food preparation. “Good thing we have my immortal parents to help babysit. Who knows how long the fucking like bunnies will happen? I mean, maybe we’ll need a whole litter before we’re ready for a break.”

I laughed. “Yeah, no. Unless you’re the one popping them out…”

“Well, you can push the pain to me, right?” He waggled his brows at me, then he turned off the oven and grabbed me by the hips, pulling me over his shoulder again.

“Hey! What about food?”

“I’m suddenly in the mood to eat something else. Something sweet,” he replied, taking off down the hallway toward the bedroom. “Besides, the next full moon is in a week. We need to practice.”

“Practice?” I repeated with a laugh as he tossed me onto the bed. “I thought we were waiting?”

“Waiting just means more practice until we reach perfection,” he murmured, crawling over me. “I mean, you need to work on your begging skills.”

“Then you’re going to have to up your teasing game,” I teased him.

“Hmm.” The shirt inched up my thighs, over my hips, and to my belly. “Well, good thing I know exactly where to start, sweetheart.”