Page 74 of Chased

They moved together, him thrusting deep inside and her meeting every thrust, asking for more, asking for all of him. He gave it to her, gave her his body and heart and soul, taking and giving until he burst open inside, pouring himself into her.

She was his, and he could never stand to lose her. Not if he had to kill every Renard on the planet.

He told her that, much later when they could talk again.

“I could make something happen to that Levesque guy. To his whole family. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about any fucking legal notice.”

He felt her smile. She was running her hands through his hair, which he loved, because it was almost like her petting his wolf.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate the thought, but I’m thinking maybe we shouldn’t make a habit of solving our problems with pre-emptive murder?”

“He’s a malignant narcissist. Those guys are dangerous.”

She stroked his hair some more. “Do you really think someone was watching us? In Lake Placid?”

He really didn’t know. His instincts were usually good, but it could have been anything from a pickpocket to a car thief.

“Yes,” he said. “Whether it was a Renard or someone they hired is a different thing. Maybe I really am just paranoid.” He raised his head and looked into her eyes. “All I know is, I can’t let anything happen to you.”

She hugged him for a moment, and then went back to stroking his hair. “I know you won’t.”

After a while he said, “There might be another way, but I don’t think you’d like it.”

Her hand stilled. “What is it?”

It was his turn to stroke her—up her arm, across her shoulder, tracing lines right where it met her neck. “I could claim you.” He felt her tense, and said, “I know you don’t want to be marked. But if I did it—if you were my mate under wolf law—then it wouldn’t matter what they did or what they wanted.”

Her hand started moving again. “Is that legal?”

“Sure,” he said. “If I claimed you, you’d be my mate, and so you’d be part of the pack. There’s some paperwork Gunn could file with the Wolf Council to make it official.”

She trailed her fingers down his spine and back up again, giving him goosebumps. Finally she said, “Do you think that would stop Henri and his family? They think they’re entitled to everything, and they have all kinds of lawyers to get around laws they don’t like.”

He said, “It would stop the Renard Council, especially if Jaeda got her dad involved. He’s on the Wolf Council, and her family also has some very powerful friends. If Levesque kept coming for you after that, then I guess we’d be back to killing him.”

She said, “That claiming—is that what everyone’s talking about when they talk about true mates?”

He tried to think how to explain. “Someone can be claimed without it being a true mating. It just means the one who’s claimed becomes bonded with the wolf who claimed them, and is part of the pack bond. True mates are different. They’re like soul mates. Their animals recognize each other, and know they’re the only one for each other. It’s what Gunn and Mikey have, and Switch and Breanna, and even those idiot construction leopards and their mates. When it’s like that, claiming is this incredible magical experience. So I’m told.”

Madison didn’t say anything, and he hastened to reassure her. “It was just an idea. I know you don’t want to be marked. But it would be a way to get rid of the Renards.”

She said slowly, “I don’t think lapins have true mates. No one ever talks about it, anyway. It sounds… it sounds beautiful and exciting and really, really scary. Like… it just happens and you don’t get a choice.”

He knew how hard she’d fought to have choices, and why claiming felt like that to her, but he couldn’t help saying, “I thought that’s what love was about. It just happens, and you don’t get a choice.”

She raised her head to look at him, her eyes wide. “Did that happen to you? With me?”

He pulled her forehead to his. “I think it happened before I even saw you. My wolf caught a scent, that was like… the scent of heaven. And I turned around and there you were, standing in the street.”

Her voice was barely a breath. “You knew then?”

“I didn’t know what it was. Except that I kept wanting to help you, and do things for you, and protect you. And kiss you. And rip your clothes off and make you scream—in the best possible way.” He kissed one cheek, then the other, and then her lips.

“Lapins probably don’t feel that shit. I don’t know. Wolves bond hard with their mates—so I’m told—because they’re pack animals. Hardwired to bond. I don’t know about that either. But this is how it goes. You stay, you go, you love me, you don’t—it doesn’t matter.”

He touched his chest, over his heart. “In here, you belong to us. There will never be anyone else. Me and Wolf, we’ll protect you and cherish you until the day we die for you.”

Madison had her hand over her mouth. “This is so big,” she whispered. “And it fills my heart up so much. I don’t know what to do with it.” She kissed him over his heart, just where he’d touched. “But I do know that ever since the day we met, you made me feel safe. And everywhere I went I looked for you, and every time you were there it made me feel happy.”