“Breathe, Gorgeous,” Connor commanded, his hands cupping my cheeks as he lifted my chin so our eyes could meet.
I was relaxed enough that breathing through the pain actually did manage to help a little.
“Just like that,” Connor agreed.
My body continued to shift, and despite the pain, the change was significantly easier than the last one had been. The man coaching me through it helped a little—and the way he had both worn me out and effectively killed my stress helped a ton.
Far sooner than I would’ve expected, my wolf was shaking out her fur while Connor grinned at her.
“You are absolutely beautiful,” he told her, scratching her fur and nuzzling her. She snuggled up against him, licking his face and his throat.
After he talked to her for a few minutes, telling her all sorts of sweet things, she leaned up to his arm again.
And bit him.
Connor went unnaturally still as she pulled away, her tail wagging and her tongue lolling out of her mouth.
The emotions in his eyes were fierce as his lips slowly stretched in another grin.
“You didn’t care if I was out of your sight, because you’d already made up your mind,” he said.
She licked the already-healing wound on his throat a few times.
“Thank you.” He hugged her close, still stroking her fur.
She wiggled out of his arms, then padded to the edge of the truck’s tailgate and jumped down. When she streaked into the forest, his laughter followed her.
His wolf did, too.
My friends had told me that they hadn’t been able to shift during the climax phase of their mate bond, but I guess that didn’t apply to us.
I understood pretty quickly what everyone had said about respecting their wolves. The beast I now shared my body with was just as alive as I was—maybe even more.
Our animals didn’t run for long before the climax forced them to shift in the middle of the forest. Connor had me bent over a fallen log while he fucked me almost as soon as I was done shifting.
We only managed to walk a few minutes between rounds, and had an insane amount of sex in the forest on our way back to the truck. By the time Connor had me sitting on the tailgate while we screwed, the sun was high in the sky and we were both thoroughly covered in dirt.
Somehow, I didn’t mind it.
Probably because of all the orgasms.
nine
ZOE
We spentthe next few days fucking, eating, and talking.
It was a good thing I had already taken the week off work for my marriage plan, or I definitely would’ve had to call in sick.
Right around the time the climax ended, we had to pick up our wedding stuff and hop on a flight to my hometown. All of our friends and packmates came, with Ethan and Maya both wearing mirrored sunglasses to prevent accidental mating.
I didn’t think either one of them cared how many weird looks they got for wearing them inside the building or on the plane. They even sat next to each other in our tightly packed economy seats.
Emmy had offered to pay for everyone to upgrade, but me and Finn both politely told her no. Me, more politely than him, though I imagine he followed his up with more touching.
He told her that her trust fund money was to keephercomfortable, not the rest of us. I told her there were way more useful things to do with it.
So, she was squished in the back with the rest of us.
