Page 59 of Claimed

“Yes,” they say in unison.

“Cherry?” Chase says, making her turn around to face him and almost face planting. Luckily, my arm around her waist keeps her from falling.

My brows pinch in concern as I glance at Maddox, who’s holding her from her other side.

“Should we be worried?” I ask him privately through the bond.

“No. She’s just not used to walking. Her legs appear a little weak. The more she uses them, the faster she’ll become stable.”

A growl escapes before I can stop it. Luckily, Cherry doesn’t notice; she’s too busy taking a bite of Chase’s cinnamon bun right from his hand. She lets out a long moan that is nothing but erotic, making my dick kick in my pants.

“Good, isn’t it?” Chase asks with a smirk, and she nods.

“If you like those, I can make some for you,” Gage tells her, which only makes her freeze, her panicked eyes widening as she looks at him.

He frowns at her in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“You know how to bake?” she asks, her voice coming out a little higher-pitched than usual.

The twins start to snicker as Chase tells him, “She’s worried you’re going to poison her.”

She gasps, her cheeks turning pink. Then she slaps Chase in the chest as she tells him, “Am not!”

He starts laughing as Hunter closes the box of treats, and I turn her back to face the way we were walking before Chase stopped us to feed her. Can’t exactly blame him for that. I love feeding her. I do it every chance I get. My wolf loves it. Providing a basic need for our mate soothes our frayed edges, calming us.

Cherry stumbles again. I glance down and realize she’s not wearing any shoes. I bend down and scoop her up into my arms.

“Bain!” she says with a squeak, her small hand landing on my chest as she looks at me in surprise. “I need to practice walking.”

“Not down a dirty sidewalk with no shoes on, you don’t,” I tell her as I stomp toward our SUV.

My nose twitches as her scent grows a little stronger. I glance down at her, but she’s just looking ahead, her cheeks pink for some reason.

What I wouldn’t give to know what she’s thinking right now.

Does she like it when I take care of her like this?

Of course she does, my wolf says, rolling his eyes at me. She’s our mate.

My arms tighten around her. My mate. In her human form, in my arms. My cock starts to throb, realizing that nothing is stopping us from cementing the bond anymore. Not if she has control over her shift now. I mean, it might not be perfect control, but it was enough. I’m not sure I can hold myself back any longer. I need to complete our bond or I might go mad.

I’ve been desperate to knot her and bite that pretty little neck, solidifying what we have. It will help me sense her feelings and, hopefully, bring her into our pack bond. And any shifter who comes near her will be able to sense that she’s a bonded wolf and will hopefully back off. Not that we’d let anyone get close to her.

“Bain, are you okay?” Hunter asks through the bond. I glance at him, my brows pinched in question, and he points to my hands. I see my claws starting to push out and take a deep breath, telling my wolf to calm down. My shifting isn’t in question here and my wolf needs to calm down. Nobody is taking her from us.

I jerk my head in a quick nod as Maddox opens the back door of the SUV. I climb in, keeping Cherry in my lap as everyone else gets seated.

As Gage drives us home, her hand on my chest starts to move higher, until she’s touching some of the hair poking out the top of my shirt. Her fingers scratch through it, and my hips jerk in surprise, enjoying the feeling.

Her scent grows stronger, and Maddox, who’s sitting shirtless beside us, takes a deep inhale, clearly smelling her arousal like I am.

“Fuck, she smells delicious,” Chase says through the bond from the passenger seat, clearly smelling her too.

Her hand slides up to my neck, and my head jerks down to look at her. She bites her lip, her eyes moving to mine. She’s impossible to resist. So I don’t. I lean down as I pull her up, pressing my lips to hers, my body humming in approval.

I’ve only had the chance to kiss her once before now. Once. That’s completely unacceptable. The fact that she is shifting so often now gives me hope that it’s something I’ll be able to do much more frequently. And once we’ve bonded, I can’t imagine that would do anything but help her control her shifting even more.

Her lips part, and I take that as an invitation to deepen the kiss. My wide tongue wraps around her much smaller one, and she moans, pressing her body even closer to me, her hand tugging at the back of my neck with need.