Rejecting My Shifter Boss by Skye Alder
Eight
Roman
My wolf has been getting harderand harder to hold back. I wasn’t planning on coming over here tonight. Initially, I was going to give Kiera time to think about the bomb I just dropped on her. But as the minutes stretched into hours without the scent of my mate, my wolf became inconsolable.
He paced around inside me, pawing at my chest and whining to get out. When I refused, he lunged at my throat, almost forcing the shift himself. I’ve had years of practice bringing him to heel, however, so I managed to get him under control. Barely.
Truthfully, the full moon is only a few days away, which means the mating heat is already starting to push down on us. It’s more than a strong desire for our mate, it’s essential to our survival. My entire body has been on edge all night. I’m exhausted from keeping my wolf back; I’m also restless, almost manic in my need for Kiera.
So, here I am, knocking on Kiera’s door and praying to Mother Nature my mate answers.
Feeling Kiera’s eyes on me and smelling her desire all day was an exercise in restraint. She couldn’t seem to sit still, couldn’t seem to stop watching me. I wasn’t any better, I was just more subtle. But God, how I wanted to tear her clothes off her supple body and mark her with my teeth and throbbing cock.
My wolf whines, wanting to slip beneath those skirts she loves to wear to work and lick her desire off her thighs. Then he wants to lick straight from the source. I’m right there with him.
The filthiest images of my mate played through my head all day. Bending her over my desk. Taking her up against the wall. Thrusting into her from behind while she gazed out the window of my top floor office. Maybe that’s why it’s harder to hold him back now. We both want the same thing.
He’s pacing inside of me now, anxious for someone to answer the door so we can try to explain shifters a little more. I need her to accept both of us so we can mate in two days when the mating moon is here. For the first time, my wolf stops his pacing, as if just realizing she might not accept us. Accept him, in particular.
Before we both spiral, Kiera cracks open the door. My wolf lunges, but I flex and shove him back down. I hold my hands up, trying to appear less threatening. I’m not sure that it works since I’m also gritting my teeth, but she does open the door wider…eventually.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, looking cagey as she scans the mostly deserted street behind me.
“I wanted to talk to you about earlier. I need to explain it more, explain it better.” For a second, I think she’s going to slam the door in my face. “Please, Kiera,” I whisper, catching those clear green eyes of hers. She stares at me for a long moment, deciding if I’m worth her time. It’s the longest sixty seconds of my life, but then she nods and opens the door all the way, letting me inside.
My wolf breathes in her scent, calming down for the first time in days. He wants to roll around in her sheets but I hold him back. Soon we’ll have her scent all over our sheets. This seems to satisfy him for now.
My mate’s apartment is small and cramped and nowhere near the kind of place she deserves. It’s clear she’s added her own decorations and personal touch, but the building is old and the stains on the walls and carpet have been there for at least a decade. I can’t wait to move her into our home. She should be sleeping on silk sheets and wearing only the finest clothes. I intend to give her all of that. Just as soon as I convince her we’re meant to be.
“Are you thirsty?” she asks as she shifts on her feet next to the scarred kitchen counter.
“No, I’m good.”
She motions to the couch and I sit down, moving a knitted blanket aside. She sits next to me, seeming a little nervous but I can tell she’s curious, too.
“I’ve been trying to think about the best way to tell you about shifters and…” I trail off, letting out a breath while combing my fingers through my hair. When was the last time I was this anxious? As alpha, I pride myself on my confidence, on my ability to stay calm and rational in any and every circumstance. That is, until my little mate showed up. I take one last deep breath before finishing my thought. “I thought the best way may be to just show you.”
“Show me? Show me your wolf?” she asks, her eyes wide. I nod, staring down into her gorgeous eyes to try and decipher what she’s feeling. My wolf senses her apprehension, but there’s an undeniable thread of curiosity and desire in her scent. I see the spark of interest in her pools of green. Thank God. Maybe I didn’t totally fuck this up. If she’s curious and turned on, I can work with that.
“I think the hardest part to all of this may be believing everything. Once you see it’s real, you’ll be able to wrap your mind around the rest.”
“Alright,” she says slowly and I stand and start to take off my clothes.
“Whoa! What are you doing?” she squawks, alarmed.
“I have to take my clothes off or I’ll just rip them and then for the rest of this conversation I’ll be naked.”
She sighs, closing her eyes as I strip out of the rest of my clothes. My wolf wants our mate to undress me, or at the very least, to look at me as I bare myself to her. Soon, I remind him. Would it have been easier to be mated to another shifter? Maybe. But I know for damn sure Kiera is worth the extra effort.
I move to stand so that I’m partly behind the couch and she can’t see how hard my cock is for her.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she breathes as she opens her eyes and studies me.
I nod, letting my wolf take over as I start to shift. My nails and hair grow long, my teeth elongate, and I drop down to all fours as I fully shift into my wolf.
“Oh my God,” Kiera gasps, her mouth dropping open as she stares at my wolf.
I step closer to her, watching her reaction to make sure she’s okay with this. She doesn’t move, just stares at me. Slowly, I see curiosity and even a tenderness take the place of the fear in her gaze. I move closer, one step at a time, until I’m right next to her. My wolf nudges her hands as he lays his head in her lap. Kiera reaches out a tentative, shaking hand, finally resting it on top of my head.
Her fingers sink into the soft fur and my wolf sighs contentedly as she pets us. It feels so good to feel her touching us. Her hands move more, stroking over my ears and down my back. My wolf and I close our eyes as she continues weaving her fingers in my fur. I want to hop up on the couch and curl around her. Or better yet, roll over and let her have her way with me. But I know I need to tell her the rest about shifters.
I walk backward a few steps, letting her know my intention and she nods, seeming more at ease now. I shift, stepping back behind the couch and tugging my clothes on as Kiera averts her eyes.
“So, that’s your wolf,” she says matter-of-factly. I crack a smile. She’s not running for the hills, so I assume I haven’t scared her off just yet.
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“How does that even work?” she asks, staring up at me while tucking her legs beneath herself on the couch. I gesture to the seat next to her, silently asking if it’s okay to sit. She nods and scoots over to make room.
“We’re one,” I explain once I’m seated. She’s so close. So close to being ours. “I can feel him inside of me all the time and I can hear him, what he wants…everything.”
“Is that annoying?”
“Sometimes, especially if we’re not on the same page about something.”
“Does that happen often?” She’s starting to relax, even letting me put my arm behind her on the couch.
“No, not really. It’s just been bad the last week and a half.”
“Why?” she asks and I wonder if I should be completely honest or not. There’s no choice, really. She wants honesty? I’ll always tell my mate the truth. No more hiding from her.
“Because of you. He wants me to claim you, but I didn’t want to until you knew everything.”
She nods, not seeming to know what else to say to that. After a few moments of quiet contemplation, she asks, “Why does he want to claim me?”
“Because we’re fated to be together,” I don’t hesitate to answer. “Shifters mate for life. I knew you were mine the first time I smelled you. It was…delicious.”
She shivers at my words and I move my arm down slightly from the back of the couch, wrapping it around her shoulders. I can’t stand being so close without touching her. Kiera sighs and rewards me by snuggling up closer. I tuck her into my side and gaze down at my precious mate.
“So, we’re fated to be together?”
“Yes, nature gives us one fated mate. You can find them after you’re both eighteen. That’s when the scent kicks in and once you find them, your animal will go crazy trying to claim them.” Kiera nods, taking it all in. I hesitate to say the next part, but the words have been on the tip of my tongue for days now. “No one will ever love or treat you better than me.”
“You don’t even know me. You can’t love me,” she says firmly. I shake my head, running my hand up and down her arm. She shivers, and I can smell the faintest scent of her arousal.
“You don’t get it,” I whisper into her ear. She closes her eyes and tips her head back. My teeth elongate when I see her creamy, unmarked neck, but I fight the urge to mark her. Soon, but not yet. I clear my throat and continue, nuzzling into her hair and breathing her in. “Nature has determined on a cellular level that we’re meant to be. There has never and there will never be another mate for me. There’s no arguing with nature.”
She shifts on the couch, her thighs pressing together, and I wonder if she can feel the connection between us. Slate said humans feel the pull, but not as strongly. I need her to want me as much as I want her.
“Do you feel it, too?” I murmur, brushing my lips over her pulse point. I have to lean back and gain some control before I flip her on her back and sink deep inside her.
“What?” she whispers on a shuddering breath.
“Do you feel the connection between us? It’s like I can’t get close enough to you.” I prove my point by combing my fingers through her hair and trailing my hand down her back. “I can’t think about anything else but fucking you. I dream about your cries of pleasure, how sweet your release will taste on my tongue, how hot and tight you’ll be when we finally give in to the mating moon.”
Kiera melts into me, her body becoming pliant to my lingering touches. Suddenly, she snaps her head up. “Mating moon? What the heck is that?”
I smirk at her, and I can feel my wolf’s eyes glowing through mine. I know she sees it, too. “The full moon is coming in two days. The full moon is the mating moon. We won’t be able to keep our hands off each other.”
I slide my hand just underneath the hem of her shirt, grazing my fingertips up the curve of her hip and the dip in her waist before reversing my path. Kiera lets out a soft moan and squeezes her thighs together, making me growl. My mate sits up, no longer touching any part of me. I narrow my eyes at her, not liking the distance between us.
“We’ll see about that,” she says and I can see the determination in her eyes.
My wolf is more than willing to rise to the challenge.
“I want you, Kiera, and I’m done taking it easy on you. I’m the alpha and I always get what I want.”
Her eyes darken and a spark of her sweet, yet stubborn attitude takes over. Kiera stands, heading back to the door.
“We’ll see about that,” she says again as I head past her and out into the night. It pains me to walk away, but today was a huge step for us. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.