Howl’s Beauty (Woodland Pack Book 2) Page 4

It was his being enamored with his new mate, her shyness that intrigued him and her beauty that took his breath away, which caused him to not notice the shifters in the area until it was too late.

  Another reason to not have a mate.

  But now, these ugly fucks had Talia? Howl would rip each of them apart if they’d harmed a single hair on her head. Hell, he might do it if they’d even scared her.

  “Aahh, I see that name rings a bell,” Alpha Bianchi chuckled. He snapped his fingers and the door behind him opened.

  The cold, barren room, with its grey walls, dirty floor, a single bucket in the corner and a ratty, tattered blanket tossed on the floor, suddenly brightened when Talia stepped into it. Unharmed. Her eyes sad and remorseful as she looked at him.

  Howl inhaled deeply, she still smelled as delicious as the first time he’d met her. But wait… there was something else in her scent. Something that caused her scent to have the slightest aroma of burning paper.

  Guilt.

  Why did Talia feel guilty? It wasn’t her fault he was here. It was his that she was there.

  “Harold Marconi, can I introduce you to Talia Henderson, or rather, the name she was born with: Talia Bianchi, my daughter.”

  Howl turned widened eyes to his mate, the one created for him by The Great Spirit and the expression on her face made nausea gurgle in his gut. He turned his head and vomited as Alpha Bianchi laughed behind him.

  Talia lifted up on her elbows and Howl winked, before he moved down between her legs. Needing to taste her lips again, he lowered his head, touching their lips together in a kiss that was much too short, and not nearly what he truly wanted. On and on again he placed small, pecking kisses to Talia’s mouth, barely there touches which caused a frustrated sound to emanate from her throat.

  He chuckled. “Is that noise because you want me to stop kissing you?” He paused in his caresses and hovered above his mate, watching as her brown eyes darkened and she frowned. Talia shook her head and Howl smiled. “Perhaps it’s because you want a real kiss from me?” Her quick nod made his heart swell in his chest. A weird sensation.

  “Say my name,” he demanded, deadly serious.

  Talia hesitated only for a moment before she complied. “Harry.” His name fell from her mouth and though Howl had hated the nickname for years, and even more so now thanks to a certain prince who was making it hard to be a man with the same name, Howl had to admit that hearing it from Talia’s lips? Having his name whispered, moaned, or groaned from the woman the gods had made just for him? It was the sweetest, most seductive, most knee-weakening thing he’d ever heard in his life.

  And he’d lived for a long time.

  In an instant, Howl was devouring Talia’s lips again, groaning as she returned his kiss with a ferocity of her own. His hands went to both of hers, intertwining their fingers and placing them on the cushions of the couch on either side of her head. He adjusted himself in between her legs and moaned almost painfully when his cock grazed against the lips of Talia’s core.

  Howl pulled back with his gaze locked with that of his mate’s, as he reached up to slide his hands into the waistband of her pants. He tugged them down her thighs and tossed the jeans over his shoulder. Stroking the skin of her soft, yet toned, legs, Howl allowed one finger to shift, and using the sharp nail of his wolf, sliced the fabric of her panties until it lay in tattered scraps on the couch around her hips. He traced a nail down the skin of her thighs to her ankles, before he unbuttoned and unzipped his slacks.

  He’d never been so thankful for the fact that he didn’t wear underwear as he was in that moment. He grabbed his hard cock, lined up the head with Talia’s entrance, and slowly began to slide inside of her body. He paused instantly, Talia was so tight, so snugly wrapped around his shaft that he wanted to ask her if she was a virgin. But the look on her face stopped him. She didn’t seem fearful or even regretful, she licked her lips and ran her hands up his chest, down and around his hips, before tugging him closer to her.

  “Hurry up and get inside of me. I’m so hungry for you to fill me up. For you to mark me and claim me.”

  Her words should have given him pause, especially since she’d been trying to leave him only moments before, but instead they enflamed his senses even more.

  “You feel so good, baby,” he panted, and he would swear he felt Talia growing wetter from his words alone.

  “You’re so deep, but I know you can go deeper,” she taunted.

  He felt like he was going to enter her stomach at any moment, as he slid out slowly, before thrusting forward as deep as he could. Talia hissed and he smirked. Yeah, she wasn’t goading him anymore.

  “Uh-uh-uh. No hissing and whimpering now. You asked for it. You wanted it. You can take it,” he told her. He continued to thrust shallowly, over and over, until Talia finally relaxed and the tightness around his cock eased just a fraction. Once it did, he twisted her body so she was laying on her side, one leg positioned between both of his. Hiking her other leg high around his waist—the new position allowed him to slide even deeper inside of her wet slit.

  Talia panted his name again and again until only gasps of air came out. Howl’s long arm wrapped around her leg, lifted it, and held it against his chest, lowering his other hand in order to squeeze and knead the globes of her ass.

  “Shit!” he cursed angrily. “How the fuck do you feel this good?” Talia squeezed her pussy around his pulsating cock and Howl released another stream of profanity. Talia covered his cheek with her hand and moved in, taking his lips with her own.

  Words escaped him. He couldn’t even begin to tell her how amazing she felt. How happy he was that she’d come with him to his office. How pleased he was that she was his mate. No, all coherent thought had left his mind.

  So damn good, was all he could manage to think as he thrust forward and slid back. Pushed and pulled. Fucked her harder and deeper.

  In.

  Out.

  In.

  Out.

  Over and over again.

  Talia arched her back, pressing the entirety of the top half of her body into his. For the briefest heartbeat Howl wished he’d taken the time to unclothe them completely. But he didn’t dwell on what ifs, instead he gave into the needs of the animal within him and roared as he thrust harder and faster within his mate’s body. He could feel his body starting to shift and Howl tried as hard as he possibly could to hold onto his humanity.

  A cool, soft hand pressing against his cheek jerked him back into the moment with a startling quickness.

  “Stay with me, baby.”

  Talia’s words pulled Howl back from his rampaging animal and he returned his gaze to hers and found her eyes staring deep into his own. The sadness and guilt he’d noticed lingering around the edges of her beautiful browns, had dropped, replaced by a different kind of emotion, one that had his dick leaking even more lubrication from the head of his shaft for him to glide in and out of his mate’s body.

  He reached his hand reached lower and grazed his thumb across her clitoris. The movement wasn’t much, but apparently Talia hadn’t needed too much contact in order to give her body exactly what it wanted.

  Release.

  She squeezed her eyes shut as all the muscles in her body tightened, almost strangling his shaft with the force of her orgasm. Howl leaned forward, moving his forearm under her torso, and pressing forward against her leg, pulling it up even higher on his shoulder and pushing in just a quarter of an inch deeper.

  “Oh! Oh! Oh!” Talia groaned over and over, her head thrashing against the maroon cushions on the couch. Seeing his mate so filled with bliss caused Howl’s body to tense; releasing deep, guttural groans as he fell over the edge of bliss as well.

  He moved his lips to the crook of Talia’s neck, kissing and licking there until they’d both recovered sufficiently. Only when their breathing returned to normal did he pull back, sliding from Talia’s wet heat.

  He lay down on the couch beside Talia, facing her, silently
staring into her eyes as she gazed back into his. After a while Talia smirked at him and Howl quirked an eyebrow.

  “All of that and you didn’t claim me?” she gave him a fake pout. “I must say, I’m extremely disappointed.”

  Howl chuckled and sat up on the couch, tugging Talia into an upright position with him. Then he grabbed her, tilted her head back by pulling on her ponytail, and buried his canines in her neck. He felt it, the moment their souls aligned and joined. A kaleidoscope of memories and conversations raced through his mind, too quick for him to capture, but Howl knew he had time—they had time—to learn all about each other. They were now mated. Bound. Together.

  For all eternity.

  “Now... You. Are. Mine... Forever.” He leaned forward to kiss Talia’s nose, seconds before he scented numerous shifters, all with ill intentions, right outside of his door.

  Before he could get dressed or try to cover Talia… before he could prepare himself for a fight, the door flew open, splintering, as a massive man charged inside, followed by other shifters… and Alpha Don Fernando Bianchi.

  “Ooohh, I do hope you have a chance to mate and fuck her, Marconi, because I think it may be your only source of happiness for quite a long time,” Alpha Bianchi said with a narrow-eyed glare. He jerked his head in Howl’s direction and Howl attempted to shove Talia behind him. His mate had frozen in shock and he could feel her fear, surprise, and… guilt? As it vibrated through their mating link.

  Why did Talia feel guilty? And why did he feel as if he already knew the answer?

  Howl looked around at the other shifters, and back at Talia, who shook her head at him.

  “I’m so sorry, Harry. So, so sorry.”

  Howl sat up with a gasp and looked around in surprise. Blood filled his mouth and while a part of him wanted to spit it out, the crimson, coppery scented liquid tasted divine. He swallowed and felt his entire body tremble. The sound of shock had him looking down, where he noticed the nude form laying on shredded clothing next to him, her scent changing, her body, smell, and face imprinted in his mind.

  Talia.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” he growled, as he shoved himself up from the cot they lay on in the cell.

  “M-my f-father said I was n-no longer useful to him and that I sh-should stay with my mate,” Talia stammered.

  Howl shook his head. “I’m not your goddamn mate.”

  Talia let out a watery chuckle. “The claiming bite you just gave me and the cum rolling down my thighs says otherwise.”

  Howl spun around quickly, sniffing the air and his gaze zeroing in on the mark on Talia’s throat.

  Shit. He’d gone and fucking claimed her in his sleep. Who did that?

  “I was sleeping. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing.”

  Talia shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. You did it. I accepted it. Your human self might not want me, but your wolf half does.”

  Howl sliced his hand through the air. “It doesn’t matter what my wolf wants.” He pointed at her angrily. “You lied to me. To me. Your mate. How the fuck do you expect me to ever trust you again? To ever want to be with you?”

  He stood resolutely as Talia leapt up from the cot and came to stand toe-to-toe with him. She poked him in the chest and Howl was surprised at the pain she inflicted.

  “You don’t even know what the hell I’ve been going through! You don’t know my childhood. My life! You have no idea why I did what I did. You just stand there making judgements, being angry at me for lying. Did you ever ask yourself why I did? Did you ever consider me, my feelings, my circumstances at all or did you in all of your male fragility only think about yourself?”

  Howl stepped closer to her and crossed his arms in front of his naked torso. He lifted and lowered a shoulder before leaning down until he was mere centimeters away from Talia’s face.

  “Okay then. Tell me.”

  Chapter Six

  Confession And The Brawl

  Months Ago

  Talia stood just outside of her mother’s bedroom and winced at the sound of the older woman’s incessant coughing. Though her mom had told her not to worry, Talia—who’d never once seen her mother so much as get a sniffle—was doing more than worry, she was genuinely afraid.

  Talia knew, however, that saying such a thing to the woman who’d given birth to her, would only cause her mother to react negatively. There wasn’t much that Talia could do right when it came to Isadora Henderson, but Talia knew that, no matter what, she would do her best to help. Which meant she had to figure out exactly what was wrong with the woman.

  Squaring her shoulders, Talia knocked on the door of Isadora’s bedroom, opened it, and stepped in without waiting to be acknowledged. She would end up regretting that action. In the middle of the room her mother knelt, her hands shaking below her face, palms upwards, blood pooling between them and splattering the floor beneath her body. Isadora’s body trembled and shook as she continued to shake, her body twisting and contorting, shifting partially but not completely, her bones puncturing the skin of her back as she arched over to cough, before retreating and allowing her flesh to heal.

  In short, it appeared as if her mother was being tortured.

  By some invisible force.

  Talia looked around in fear, unsure if there was some sort of witch or warlock waiting to leap out, attack her, and force her to endure the same agony as her mother. Once she realized that the coast was clear, Talia ran over to Isadora and wrapped her arms around the shaking woman.

  “Mother! What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Talia cried, her eyes burning with unshed tears.

  She tried not to flinch, or to allow the pain she always felt at her mother’s treatment to overwhelm her when Isadora jerked away from her. Talia shoved the hurt to the side as she leapt to her feet and ran to wet a washcloth in order to clean up and assist Isadora.

  “It’s no use,” Isadora gasped moments later when Talia had cleaned her up, only for Isadora to crouch and spew up blood once more. “This is my punishment. This is how I’m going to die.”

  Talia frowned and shook her head. “Your punishment? For what? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

  Isadora laughed, her teeth stained red, blood flying out from between her lips and splattering the front of Talia’s baby blue tank top.

  “Oh, if you only knew,” Isadora said with a shake of her head and an amused, sardonic smile on her face. “You may not be here helping me right now, hmm?” She tilted her head to the side and looked Talia up and down musing silently to herself, she let out a harsh chuckle and pushed weakly at Talia’s shoulder. “Although you probably would. With your soft heart.”

  Though she passed out soon after and denied the entirety of the conversation with Talia when she brought it up later, Talia was almost certain that Isadora had mumbled, “You obviously got that from your mother.”

  It had caused her a bit of vexation, but when her mother began thrashing in the bed hours later, Talia had put her curiosity to the side and instead returned to trying to figure out what was wrong with Isadora, as well as how to cure her. When Isadora had finally relented and told Talia to go and see her father, Talia had swallowed her pride and gone.

  It was there that her father had given her what he called her first “repayment qualification.” Almost every week he would give her a task to do, if Talia completed it satisfactorily, he would go to Isadora’s home and give her some sort of medicine or concoction that would help the older woman get better. And whenever she denied a job, he would refuse to go and see the woman who was, in fact, his mate. He even began showing up, just to sit and watch Isadora suffer whenever Talia said no.

  That was when Talia had known her father was evil.

  That was when she’d known he was a sadist and had absolutely no problem letting her mother die in order to get what he wanted.

  It was also that fact that replayed over and over in Talia’s head which prevented her from saying anything to her friends or to her m
ate. She had to do whatever she could to protect her mother. To help her.

  Even if it meant betraying the people closest to her.

  Howl stared at Talia for long moments, regret, sadness, helplessness, and fury at her father fighting for dominance within him. But before he could fully give into the feelings which were roiling through his belly, before he could forgive her, the door to their cell opened.

  A very tall, hugely muscled shifter stepped into the room. He had thick, red hair on his head and face, a thick neck, which was covered in tattoos, and he wore a tight black V-neck, button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, a pair of black, leather pants, a pair of tall, black boots, and black gloves on his hands. In his grip the unknown man held a silver cattle prod, and before he could even think about it, Howl jumped up and stood in front of Talia, much as he’d done in his dream, and prepared to fight to protect her.

  The large red-haired man laughed and shook his head.

  “Calm down, tiny wolf. You will have your chance to fight, but I am not the one you will be battling.” His eyes twinkled and he nodded. “Save your energy, you are going to need it.”

  Howl frowned and opened his mouth to question the other man, only to cry out in pain when the “guard” jabbed him with the prod. He collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath, shivering when Talia’s hands touched his shoulders and she whimpered his name.

  “He’s fine princess,” the guard snorted. “But he won’t be for much longer if the two of you don’t get up and follow me right now.” He gestured with the cattle prod out of the cell. Howl wanted to deny the man, but his body still shuddered from the poke of the prod and the feel of the silver. While it was in his nature to fight against any sort of terrorist and asshole, to protect his family, friends, country, his woman, Howl’s nature also insisted that he was smart about his actions and that he stayed alive. He couldn’t protect anyone if he was dead.

  So he nodded and allowed Talia to help him to his feet. The two of them shuffled out of the cell ahead of the guard and went in the direction he pointed to. As they headed down the hallway, Howl’s gaze was momentarily distracted by the appearance of an older, male wolf, his skin a dark tanned color, his gaze distant, his body frail. Howl could definitely scent out the weakened wolf inside of the older man—who appeared to be in his sixties, which could easily put him at two or three thousand years old in wolf years. But there was something more than that which caused him to pause for a moment. The wolf smelled… familiar.