MadMoon (13 page)

“I’m okay but I have news for the pack. Can you get everyone
here tonight?”

“Sure thing. It will only take a few calls. Most of the pack
took off with your father and we haven’t heard from a single one of them since
they left.” He eyed her curiously and Lana knew he had a million questions but
then he went stiff and looked beyond her. The scent of Madden reached her and
she knew he’d come outside.

She stepped back and turned, holding out her hand, which
Madden instantly took. He moved up beside her and nodded at the old man.
Sheldon was no fool. He recognized an Alpha when he saw one. He dipped his head
in a short bow.

“I’m Madden Moon, Alpha of the Texas Rogues.”

Lana hurried to finish the introductions. “Sheldon has been
caretaker here since before I was born. He and his mate have always been a huge
part of my life. They’ve been like grandparents, really.”

“Then I’m doubly pleased to meet you.”

Lana moved closer to Mad and his arm went around her.
“Madden is my mate. I will be lupa of the Texas Rogues a week from now.”

Sheldon stared for a moment. “But—”

“Sheldon, my father and Anton are dead. So are the rest of
the Snow Wolves who followed Dad to Texas.”

After a moment, he shook his head. “Our pack is gone. Too
many. There is nothing left but old folks and young women and boys. But that
Anton.” His face went hard and he spit over the deck railing. “I’m not
surprised he came to a bad end.”

“Can you call the others? Have them meet Moon and me here at
eight?”

“I will. You can count on me, Miss Lana.” He turned to leave
then looked back. “It’s so good to see you safe, ma’am.”

“Thank you, Sheldon.”

* * * * *

At the designated time, Lana watched what was left of the
Snow Wolf pack file into the house. He father would have held pack meetings at
the local community center, having thought his home was too special to be
invaded by mere pack members. Yeah, it might be bad luck to speak ill of the
dead but wrong was wrong and she wasn’t delusional. Sheldon’s wife May had
arrived early, bearing foil tins filled with barbecue sandwiches and other
snacks she set out on a large table at the far end of the room. The scent of
freshly brewed coffee filled the air.

Lana greeted everyone, careful to introduce Mad to them all.
She didn’t elaborate about his presence but figured it was probably obvious
that the two of them were somehow deeply involved. Madden was polite to each
pack member he met and if he harbored any bad feelings about what their lycan
brothers had done to members of the Rogues, he didn’t show it.

Lana had come to know Madden and believed he wasn’t the kind
of man to blame some for the actions of others. Several teens clustered
together outside on the deck while their parents looked around warily. Though
she didn’t know for sure, it wasn’t hard to imagine that news of their Alpha’s
death had reached them. Now they no doubt wondered where they went from here.

Once everyone was assembled and the kids had been called in
from outside, Lana stood to address them all. Mad remained seated in a big,
upholstered chair. She glanced at him but he shook his head. These were her
people and she would address them as the last of the Vronski line.

“I’m so happy you all came tonight. I’m afraid I have sad
news and I figure it’s just best to rip the bandage off about this. Most of you
know that I ran away and my father and most of the younger Snow Wolves traveled
with him to bring me back home.” She swallowed hard as every eye trained on
her. She’d known these people all of her life but she wasn’t much of a public
speaker. Nerves set up residence in her belly. Glancing behind her, she looked
at Mad who simply nodded as if to encourage her. “Hell, I’m no good at this.”

“Yes, you are,” Sheldon said from his position with the
others. “You are the last of the Vronski line and I reckon you are as close to
a leader as we have now. Go on, girl. Say what needs saying.”

Lana swallowed and then just spoke from her heart. “Dad is
dead along with Anton and all the others who followed my father to Texas. They
hurt me and a friend and killed many others of the Texas Rogues.” Silence fell
but she continued. “As the last of my line, I owe it to you all to tell you
that I’ve met my mate.” She turned to Madden, who finally stood and nodded to
the group. After introducing him, she turned back to the subject at hand. “You
have no leader now. I’m not a psychic who can predict the future so I’m worried
about you all.”

“Yes, we do have a leader,” another male Snow Wolf said.
“You are family. You’re a Vronski. You can lead us now. Hell, I know you’re
female but that doesn’t really matter to us. When you ran off, escaping your
father and his plans for you, we all secretly cheered. We care about you, Lana.
We respect you too.”

Unbelievably touched, she shook her head. “I don’t know what
to say. I love you all but I can’t stay here. I’ve made a home in Texas with a
natural mate. I never thought that would happen for me but now that it has I
know I can’t stay here.”

Madden cleared his throat and every eye turned to him. “As I
stranger here, I hate to speak out of turn but maybe I can help. You need Lana
but Lana needs me and the life we’ve planned together. Unfortunately, that home
we plan to build is in Texas.” A murmur swept the group. “I haven’t discussed
this with Lana but I believe she would think it was pretty fine to have family
around as she begins her new life. And you are family. I’d like to extend an
invitation to join us in the town of Sweetridge, Texas. It’s not a fancy place
but it’s friendly. We mix with humans there but have handled that pesky detail
for several hundred years now with few problems. If you are willing to take a
chance, then I figure I am too. What do you say?”

Savannah splashed a heavy dose of bubbles beneath the water
running into the tub. Over the course of the past few weeks, Lana was happy to
note, her friend had healed nicely and now only faint traces of darkness
remained under her eyes. Sniffing at the bottle, Savannah smiled and then
poured more bubbles in for good measure.

“You really don’t have to do this. I’m perfectly capable of
bathing myself,” Lana said.

Her friend turned and shook her head. “Oh no, you don’t. We
all know you’re already a wolf but there’s no way you’re getting out of this.
It’s tradition for us to help the bride get ready for her consummation and you
aren’t gonna rob me of doing this. Got it? I mean, this is the next best thing
to being a human maid of honor and I’m not about to miss out.”

“She is right, Miss Lana,” Ynez said as she bent to light
the clusters of squat ivory candles placed strategically at the corners of the
huge tub. “Now off with the robe,
querida
. We must get you all beautiful
for
Señor
Moon.”

“Ah, she’s already beautiful,” Savannah said
matter-of-factly as she finally turned off the water and stood. “Come on, come
on. Off with the robe.”

Lana had never experienced this kind of pampering in her
life and she wasn’t used to it, but in the name of tradition, she was prepared
to go along. Though she played a good game, acting as if this wasn’t necessary,
deep in her heart this meant the world to her. Among packs like the Rogues and
Wolf Creek, women were pampered and treated like queens before their
consummation night. There was just something soothing about ritual and she
simply never expected to have these women here with her now.

Lana didn’t want them to know just how nervous she was about
tonight. Yes, she’d had sex, and plenty of it, with Mad already, but it would be
nothing like what tonight would bring. During their consummation, Mad would
release every bit of his lycan energy into her body. A human woman would never
be able to handle it, she knew, but still she didn’t know what to expect and
that could be a scary thing. She might as well be a virgin for all the
butterflies setting up residence in her belly.

Sighing, she untied her robe and handed it off to Ynez, who
draped it on a hook behind the bathroom door. Then Savannah took her hand and
helped her climb into the big tub. “I can do this,” Lana said.

“Hush. Let me do this for you.”

“Okay, I’m hushing.”

She sank into the warm water and the mountain of fragrant
bubbles and actually moaned. The heat instantly penetrated tense muscles and,
letting it work its magic, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back. The
women silently exited the room, leaving her alone and she let her mind drift.
Lassitude washed over her but she was too keyed up to lie here like a sack of
potatoes for long. Finally she sat up and began to wash, inhaling the soft
scent of the candles as she scooped mounds of bubbles over her arms and chest.

Once the water began to cool, nerves took over again and
Lana stepped from the tub, happy to do this task in privacy. Ynez had set a
fluffy white towel at the edge of the tub and Lana used it now, drying
methodically. After applying a luxurious body cream, a gift from Savannah, she
brushed her teeth and dried her hair.

The gown she would wear tonight was in the bedroom, so Lana
shrugged into the robe again and walked into the next room where the ladies
waited for her.

“Wow, you guys have been busy.” The heavy bedspread was
folded neatly to the foot of the bed and the ladies had scattered pink rose
petals around on the crisp white sheets. More candles were lit here too. She
knew Mad didn’t give a rat’s butt about this sort of thing but damn if she
didn’t love it. Everything they’d done spoke to her inner romantic, to the
little girl she’d been a long time ago. “It’s beautiful. It really is.”

Her eyes filled with tears and she blinked them away. She
was so ridiculously sentimental tonight. Savannah knuckled away a few tears of
her own and laughed through them. “We even thought of chocolate.”

She waved a hand toward a table that had been set up near
the sliding doors leading to the balcony outside. It was filled with an
assortment of foods and chocolate candies that were shaped into shells and
stars. Several of Savannah’s special brownies were piled onto a small silver
tray. Fresh flowers had been placed in a crystal vase.

They’d not ignored a single detail in making the night
special for her and Mad and Lana was unbelievably touched. She saw two flutes
sitting on the table and someone had already graciously opened one of several
bottles of bubbly and filled one of the glasses halfway.

“Mm. Someone wants to get me drunk.”

“Not hardly,” Savannah said. “But I know you need to relax a
bit before Moon gets here and he won’t be long. He’s in the downstairs guest
bedroom, showering up and stuff.” She turned Lana’s attention to the lovely
nightgown laid out on the bed. “Kat and Sara have exquisite taste. This is so
pretty.”

It was. Nothing had surprised her more than when they’d
gifted her with things to make her consummation night special.

While the ladies bustled around the room making certain that
everything was perfect, Lana pulled the gorgeous confection over her head and
it fell smoothly into place over her body. The long white swatch of soft lace
teased her curves and voile ribbon tied at the shoulders. A tiny pair of
matching panties completed the look and Lana knew for certain she’d best enjoy
this now. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be wearing it for long.

Ynez pressed the glass into her hand then gave her a hug.
“Be happy.”

Savannah was next, hugging her tightly. “Love ya. See you at
the consummation party in a few days, okay? This is going to be the best night
of your life.”

When the ladies left, Lana sighed and sipped at her drink,
then finally opened the door leading to the balcony and stepped outside. A half-moon
hung heavy in the sky, silvery-white and spectacular. Leaning there, she looked
out over the land that was now her home, still unable to believe how her life
had unfolded. She didn’t like wallowing in sentimentality but couldn’t help
herself. Feeling overcome seemed the norm for her these days as a community she
hadn’t known existed a few short months ago embraced her, claiming her as one
of their own.

After tonight she would be bound to Mad for life and she saw
the years stretching out before her as one long adventure of discovery. This
was such a good thing. Her heart expanded as she stared out into the night.
Thoughts of the past and of loss dissolved under the onslaught of other, more
powerful emotions. She was ready to live, to love. Yes, she wanted it all.

* * * * *

Lana stood leaning against the balcony outside, moonlight
dancing over her body as a light breeze skipped over her long gown to move it
around her legs. As if she sensed his presence, she turned to look at him and
the breath lodged in his throat. Lust and love and a whole lot of other
emotions swam through his system as his legs ate up the distance separating
them. The door to outside remained open to the cool night so he walked through
it to take his future in his arms. Pulling her against him was a simple as
breathing, her sweet scent moving through his head and causing his cock to
swell to impossible dimensions behind the fly of his jeans.

“Well now, aren’t you just the prettiest damn thing I’ve
ever seen,” he whispered against her bright hair. “Have you been waiting long?”

“Long enough for nerves to set in.”

“No need for that, darlin’. This thing we’ll do tonight will
be as natural as breathing. It’s what mates through the whole of our existence
have done and they have lived to tell the tale.” He drew back and looked into
her eyes, luminous in the half light. He drew his thumb along the side of her
face. “Don’t think this thing to death, just feel. The power might seem
overwhelming but you are lycan. You will absorb every bit of energy, each
increment of power and let it move through you as your beast does before a
shift.”

Bending to her, he kissed her forehead and near the corners
of her eyes and then her cheeks before teasing the edges of her mouth. She
sighed when finally he took her lips. He pressed lips to hers, loving her
response and the sweet mobility of her mouth as he took the kiss from gentle to
crazy in the span of a heartbeat. Moon sent his tongue deep, absorbing her
flavor, drinking each panting little breath before stepping back to send his
avid gaze down the length of her body.

Her nipples, tightly drawn and pale, pressed against the
lacy bit of nothing. Mad scraped his thumbnail gently over one, then the other,
loving her answering gasp of pleasure. She swayed into the touch as if seeking
more. Hell yes, he’d give her more. They had all night and the days to come.

They had forever.

Pressing her back against the railing, he removed the empty
glass dangling from her fingers and set it on the floor. Sending his fingers
into her hair, he kissed her again, angling his mouth, loving the way her
breasts settled against his bare chest. Moving into her body, he lowered his
hands to stroke the sides of her throat then rested them against the bows at
her shoulders. A solid yank separated the ties, leaving the bit of lace to sag
until it halted its descent at her lush breasts.

Moon stepped back. With the tip of one finger, he traced the
seam of the nightgown then pushed it over the soft mounds until the garment
slid down to puddle around her bare feet. Filling his hands with her breasts,
he manipulated her flesh as the ever-present energy residing in his body zipped
through him.

Moon sent his hands on a fiery study of her near-nudity,
stroking the gentle curves before dragging his fingers over the crease of her
pussy, hidden only by a transparent scrap of fabric. Her clit pulsed against
the bit of lace and he pressed his thumb there, scraping the swollen flesh
until a soft cry broke from her lips. Lana reached up, gripping his arms, her head
falling back as he teased her body. Soon that simple touch was not enough.

In the distance a wolf howled.

His beast answered, rolled through his belly, awakening, but
tonight he hunted softer prey. Savage impulses, the need to release every bit
of pent-up energy, the true power of his kind, scratched through the thin veil
that separated man from beast, prompting him to go to his knees before this
woman who was his mate. He snagged the edge of her panties with his teeth, a
low growl breaking free as Lana’s scent rolled through his brain, igniting a
soul-deep passion he’d never experienced before. Down, down, he brought the
damp scrap of lace until he uncovered her cunt. “Spread your legs,” he
whispered against her thighs.

Lana did as he instructed, the bit of lace stretched tight
from knee to knee. Her movement restricted, he moved in on her to rest his face
against her belly, loving the way it tightened, and then sent his lips south to
trace the seam of her labia with his tongue. Her scent, the wetness of her
flesh, called to his beast as he drank the taste of her, circling her clit then
sucking until her restrained legs quivered. She fought against the binding as
he brought her up then down again. Pacing himself had never been so
challenging.

A storm brewing, surging through his system like fire, he
grabbed the lace of her panties and ripped them from her, tossing the bits
aside.

Inspired by her beauty and the low sounds she made, Moon
released her flesh, her wild cry of despair ringing in his ears as he scooped
her up and stalked into the darkness of the bedroom. “It’s time,” he breathed
into her ear as he placed her on the mattress amid the rose petals, noting the
way they clung to her thighs.

He stood by the bed as the ever-building energy swam through
the air, his cock painfully tight beneath the denim restraint of his jeans.
Unbuttoning and unzipping, he kicked them aside then joined her on the bed.
Looming over her, he studied her face infused by passion, by burning need, and
moved between her spread thighs.

Against the wavering light of the candles, her pussy
glistened with her juices, open to him. His breath came heavy and hard, sweat
beading his forehead as he knelt over her. He dipped one finger then two deep
into her, loving the way her body clenched and tightened. She needed, wanted to
come and he knew it.

Moon watched his wet fingers appear then disappear into her
pussy until he finally removed them, sending his touch over her inner thighs.
Her damp skin was ultrasoft there, so delicate that he fought the urge to test
that tender skin with his teeth. Lana writhed against the sheets and he knew he
couldn’t keep looking into her expressive face with needing to fuck her hard
and fast.

Delaying that moment, he grabbed her hips then flipped her
to her belly. Moon grabbed a pillow and shoved it beneath her and once her ass
was beautifully displayed, he bent to press his mouth to the pale globes, the
gentle dip at the base of her spine and then nipped gently.

His tongue swept her flesh. Moon separated her ass cheeks,
studying each dip and angle of her body, every sensitive, hidden spot, then
tasted her pussy, his mouth eating at her as his gums tingled and his beast
roared for completion. Power surged, a living thing, and he pushed it into her
body. Lana bucked against his lips, the stroking of his tongue, then went
still, her body seizing as climax ripped through her. A long, low cry left her
as she trembled, but this time there would be no gentle landing, no soft coming
down. Ramping things up another seductive notch, he turned her again, this time
the pillow cushioning her ass and tilting her cunt where he wanted it.

His fingers plied her pussy, manipulating, parting her labia
until, with a whimper, she planted her heels on the bed and lifted her knees only
to let them fall to the side. Open to him, she moved in a slow parody of sex
that proved irresistible. Gripping his aching cock, he dragged the head over
her weeping flesh, collecting the dampness. He rubbed it over her, pressing her
pulsing little clit then moving it lower to trace her opening.