Right Wolf, Right Time

Chapter Seven

Sophie was in heaven. She and Monty had been playing kinkier and sexier games for days, and she’d finally decided to finish what he’d started. She knew he wanted the same, and all the teasing he’d done had whetted her appetite for more. Since first making love to Monty, she’d developed a healthy drive for sex with her mate. It didn’t matter that she already knew where he liked to be touched or kissed. She constantly sought more ways to fulfill her naughty fantasies.

For so many years, she’d been pent up and repressed. But not now, not with the perfect man kneeling between her legs and bringing her to bliss with his godly mouth.

“Monty, yes,” she moaned and clutched his hair, loving how he alternated nips and licks over her clit.

He growled as he ate her up, and she couldn’t help herself from falling over the edge as she came over his lips.

“That’s it, baby. You’re beautiful.” He continued to kiss her, over her thighs and mound. And then he turned her over, onto her belly, and slid her thong off. “The heels stay on. Fuck, Soph. That’s sexy.”

“Mmm.” She floated on a cloud of bliss, her wolf lolling in contentment as Monty’s scent and touch filtered through her mind and spirit. Her mate protected while offering pleasure, and that seductive gift she’d never take for granted. “Now what, Monty?” She glanced over her shoulder and watched him strip to nothing.

Every scar and line on his muscular body told a story. He’d been through a lot, but he hadn’t turned into a monster. Strength and integrity couldn’t be beaten out of a man like Monty GrayClaw, but she didn’t know how far his loyalty would extend. Monty loved Sophie Tanner, the reserved yet kinky she-wolf he knew in Cougar Falls. From what she knew about his hostility toward Hunters, he’d never be able to love a woman raised alongside them.

“I hate that, Sophie.” He leaned over her, his stomach touching her back, so that he covered her like a blanket. “I don’t like that fear. I won’t hurt you. I’d never hurt you.”

She turned and kissed his cheek. “I know. I want this. I want you.”

His breathing was uneven, and she wriggled against him, feeling his erection like a steel bar against her ass. “You have no idea how much I want to fuck you here.” He teased her, sliding between her butt cheeks. “I want to watch myself take you, to slide inside you. That’s so fucking hot.”

Sophie let him prod her up onto the bed and onto her hands and knees. Then he circled to the bedstand.

“Pay attention, mate.” He used the lube to grease his growing cock, oiling himself all over. “See how thick I am? I’m going to shove this deep inside your ass.” He smiled, the wolf very close to the surface. “I can smell your readiness. When you’re aroused, you smell muskier, sweeter. It’s not just your cum, but that need spiking the air.”

She flushed. She knew he could smell her, but that he could read her so easily embarrassed her. “I want you.”

“Good. Because I want you too.” He finally released his grip on himself and wiped his hands on the towel she’d laid on the bedstand. “I’m going to go slow. You tell me if it hurts, and I’ll ease up. But not forever. I’m fucking that ass tonight, baby.”

She loved his dirty talk, and he knew it. “Yes.”

He joined her on the bed and moved behind her. But instead of putting himself inside her, he spread her knees and planted a kiss on the small of her back. “So sexy.” His kisses moved over her ass and down the backs of her thighs, ratcheting her tension. “You have a terrific ass. I dream about it.”

“Just my ass?” she teased, surprised to feel breathless and needy, wanting him to touch her again. She’d just come, but his caresses made her ache for more.

“And your pussy. Those tits. That hot little mouth,” he said between kisses back up to her ass. He spread her cheeks and did something he hadn’t done before. He licked her hole, teasing the sensitive rim with his tongue.

The odd tingling raced through her and made her shiver.

He groaned and licked her some more, shoving his tongue deeper.

So dirty, so taboo, at least to Sophie’s sheltered world. But it felt good, knowing Monty was showing her the way to new pleasures.

As he explored, her need for fulfillment grew. She rocked with each press of his tongue, wanting him inside her.

“Please. Take me, Monty.”

“What’s that?” he asked as he kissed her ass again. “Tell me exactly what you want.”

She blushed, but she knew he’d demand until he got what he wanted. His powerful nature in bed made her hot. “I want you to fuck my ass.”

“Hard.”

“Yes, hard,” she repeated, gratified when he finally knelt between her legs and spread her ass with his hands.

The tip of him rested at her anus, and she shifted her hips, wanting more.

“Wait.” He snapped the word, gripping her hips tight enough to bruise.

Knowing he was close to losing his control pleased the hell out of her. Quiet Sophie Tanner got to Monty like no one else could, or so he constantly told her. And knowing she brought this particular wolf pleasure made her love him all the more.

Monty inched inside her anal passage. He was large, and it took him a few moments to ease past her sphincter, but she’d had practice, and she knew how to lessen the burden of his entry. She pushed out as he entered, and soon he was deeper inside her. Not all the way, but enough that was new to her.

“Christ. You’re so fucking hot,” Monty moaned and clutched her hips. “You are so pretty, Sophie. So beautiful taking me this way.”

“More.”

“Hell, yeah. Let me give it all to you.” He continued to push, slowly, filling her until she couldn’t stand the wait any longer.

“All of you, Monty. Right now.”

He slammed the rest of the way inside her and stilled, his balls against her ass. “Yeah, that’s it. Oh yeah. You are so tight. This is incredible. Almost as good as that pussy of yours,” he teased, his voice thick. “Now hold on. I’m going to pull back in a minute.”

She adjusted to him inside her, uncomfortable but getting used to his fit. He’d love to hear how much bigger he was than the plugs they’d previously used. But right now she concentrated on the picture they must make, of Monty fully joined to her, his large cock inside her ass. She liked the image and quivered under him, submitting as both woman and wolf.

“Sophie.” He sighed. “I love you so much.” He hugged her as he bent over and managed to feel even bigger inside her. “I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.”

“That’s so romantic.” She felt a tear slide down her cheek. “But I can’t tell any of my friends you said that while fucking my ass.”

He snorted and inched out of her, the burn making her hiss.

“Easy, baby. Yeah, not the best time to get all emotional, eh?” He chuckled. “But damn, it felt right to me.” He withdrew a bit more. “Now I’m going to push back inside you.”

He slid back in, then out. Little pulses that grew faster as his breathing increased. “I want this to last, but I don’t know if I can. I can still taste you on my lips,” he rasped. “Still feel you all around me. We fit. And your ass is a goddamn glove around my cock. I need to come. Need to mark you everywhere,” he growled.

She bumped back against him with each push, in tune with their rhythm. It aroused her again, but she knew she couldn’t get to orgasm before him. “Come inside me. Fill me up, mate,” she urged and moaned, clutching the sheets.

“Yes, yes. Oh fuck. Baby, I’m coming,” he warned before he slammed deep inside her and stilled, groaning as he climaxed.

She could only be glad he didn’t knot like a real wolf, because he felt huge enough inside her.

“Touch yourself,” he whispered. “Fuck. Come, baby. Tighten around me again.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. She started rubbing her clit, surprised to find herself so near the edge. But Monty didn’t seem to lessen in size inside of her, and the fullness there, the idea she’d had anal sex, that he remained within her, added to her excitement.

“That’s it. Rub it harder. Yeah, baby. Come. I want you to flood me with your scent.” He scratched her hips and ground against her ass. “Fuck, yeah.”

She lost it and came, crying out his name as she shook and clenched around him.

“Sophie. Sophie, baby.” He kept groaning as he rubbed himself against her, and when she’d finally wound down, she felt like a big wet noodle, limp and boneless.

Monty slowly withdrew, and she shook, a bundle of nerves. He wiped her ass with the towel then left the bed.

“I’ll be right back.”

She heard the water in the bathroom turn on and off. Moments later, Monty returned with a warm, wet washcloth and small pan of soapy water. He cleaned her with gentle strokes, taking his time to see to her tender ass. He set the pan and washcloth aside and dried her off.

After joining her on the bed, he took her in his arms and kissed her.

“Hmm,” she murmured. “You smell like soap.”

“Better that than ass.”

She flushed. “Monty.”

He laughed. “I’m just teasing you. I love the way you smell, baby.” He nuzzled her nose. “But I’m here to protect you, to keep you safe from everything I can.” He paused. “Including me.”

“What does that mean?”

He sighed. “It means I love you. And I’m leaving tomorrow.”

She leaned up and shoved him underneath her on the bed. Raised up on her arms over him, she demanded to know where he thought he was going.

“I told you I had a past as messed up as yours. And no, we never talk about it.”

Nervous about how much he might want to share, she stopped him. “We don’t have to talk about it. Like you said, the past is the past. I love you for all of you, who you are now.”

“I know,” he said softly and rubbed her arms. He forced her to lie on her side facing him while he explained. “I’m good at tracking. Always have been. And after my time with Hunters, I became especially good at it.” He cleared his throat. “When I was nineteen, I was a cocky little bastard. Thought I knew everything. Didn’t want to waste my whole life in Cougar Falls without seeing the real world. I ignored my dad and my friends and set out for an adventure. Except I got as far as Tennessee and hit a wall.”

She tensed. “Tennessee?” Where her uncle lived.

“Yeah. Ran into a bad, bad thing, Soph. Hunter hell.” He sighed. “I was stuck fighting other Ac-taw, Hunters, and trying to survive for six long years in a tiny cell that about had me losing my mind. An evil guy grabbed onto me and wouldn’t let me go. Ted Norris. I’ll never forget him. He chained me up like a dog and made me fight for him. I was his prized pet. He called me Demon—”

“—Demon. That fucking wolf will think twice before he pulls that again.” Uncle Ted motioned to her cousins to clear the barn, and Sophie didn’t know what to think. She held a tray of sweet tea and glasses, confused. The barn was in shambles, and to her surprise, what looked like a wooden door in the floor was wide open. In the floor?

“Uncle Ted?”

He turned to her, and in his eyes she saw the monster she tried to pretend didn’t exist. “Hey, honey. Having a problem with the wildlife. Killed our chickens.” His eyes narrowed. “You didn’t see anything strange out there, did you?”

“N-no.” She trembled and the tray in her hands shook. “I just finished my homework and thought you might be thirsty. So I b-brought you some tea.” She swallowed hard, looking around. “What happened?”

He regarded her for a moment, and again she had the sense he’d know if she lied. She’d told the truth. Tenth grade algebra annoyed the heck out of her, but Uncle Ted demanded perfection in his student. He’d been homeschooling her for the past five years, ever since he’d taken her in when her parents died. She still feared him, big bad Uncle Ted who had no problem beating men until they bled. Her cousins too. No one was safe from his temper, so she did her best to remain small, quiet, invisible.

She’d thought bringing him something to drink would erase her snooping into his office the other day. She couldn’t be sure, but she swore he knew she’d been there, as if he could smell her whereabouts at all times. To hear him tell it, he would do anything for his beloved sister’s daughter. He kept the boys away, made sure she had a roof over her head and food on the table. And after beating her that once, he’d never laid a finger on her again.

He scared the ever-loving crap out of her.

“Wolves, Sophie. They somehow found our barn and made a mess. Killed Scottie and Bernard too.”

She stared in horror. “Scottie?” Her favorite dog, the German Shepherd who’d taken to her right off. Bernard guarded the barn from predators—a rangier mutt, he was her cousin Brett’s pride and joy.

Tears trickled down her cheeks.

“Oh, honey. I’m sorry you had to hear it like this.”

As he said it, he stepped aside, and she saw a mangled body of fur and blood by the tractor. Good God, she could see part of Scottie’s skull and an eyeball hanging out of it.

She dropped the tray, turned and threw up, shivering and in shock.

“Good. Get it out.” Her uncle turned and barked at Brett, “Take Sophie in the house, then get your brothers and the neighbors. We need to clean this up. Almost broke away that time.” But he sounded excited, not upset, and she didn’t want to know any more. Because a part of her had wondered about the hay scattered over the uneven floor in the corner—hay that couldn’t quite conceal that door in the floor. Better to know nothing. Better to stay away, quiet. Far, far from danger.

“Sophie? Honey, I’m okay. It’s in the past.” Monty looked at her with concern and wiped away her tears.

Oh God. Her uncle had imprisoned Monty. For six years.

“Wh-what did he do to you?” she whispered.

He glanced at his chest, where she saw the faded but still visible scars from events past. “He hurt me whenever he could. Tried to break me. I fought a lot in the pits, hellholes he reserved for Ac-taw to fight each other. Didn’t matter if we didn’t want to fight. He or his buddies would shoot one of us if we didn’t do the job ourselves. Only one animal ever left the pits alive at a time. He killed a lot of friends of mine.” Monty grew quiet. “There’s something really wrong about that man. More than him being a Hunter. He never seemed to age. Not even when I saw him a few weeks ago after seven years of being gone.”

“What?” She sat up. “What are you saying? He’s here?”

“Easy. He has no way of knowing where we are. Cougar Falls has the totem. We’re protected.” Only Ac-taw could see Cougar Falls under the totem’s protection. But that didn’t relieve her. “Norris is still Hunting. The fu—friggin’ psycho kidnapped Stacey and Dean a few weeks ago.”

When the cats had been taken by Hunters, it had been big news in town. “That was him? The same man who tortured you? T-Ted Norris?”

“The same. Talk about coincidence.” He snorted. “He saw me during the rescue. He knows I’m near, and he won’t stop until he finds me. Bastard had a hard-on for me I never understood.”

But Sophie knew. She’d overheard her uncle talk about that Demon for years, the one that eventually got away. To him, Monty presented the ultimate challenge. And her uncle could never walk away from the urge to dominate. Monty had outsmarted the great Ted Norris. He’d be nothing more than a trophy to be mounted to Uncle Ted’s wall, not a wolf that had defeated the “best Hunter to have ever lived.”

“But I don’t understand. Why do you have to go after him?” Why couldn’t they live in peace in Cougar Falls, where he couldn’t find them? Let someone else from the order hunt him down.

“Rumor has it he’s setting up a new fighting pit. A Hunter’s Folly, they call them.”

She remembered celebrating Hunter’s Folly each year, a special time, her uncle had called it, when he and his friends gathered to see each other again and talk about old times. She felt sick, recalling how she’d joined in the laughter and cooked to her heart’s content for the yearly occasions.

“Don’t go. Please,” she begged. “Stay here with me.”

Monty’s expression softened. He stroked her cheek. “I can’t. Joy Bermin, Miles’s sister? She’s missing. Miles thinks she might be in trouble. And honey, I live and work in Whitefish, outside of Cougar Falls. I can’t hide here in town forever, hoping Norris leaves. He’s an evil man, Soph. I can’t let him keep on hunting and killing our kind.”

Our kind. What would he think if he knew she was more than Ac-taw, but a direct relation to that evil? She shivered, wondering how her happiness had turned sour so quickly.

“Sophie, it’s okay. I’ll come back. I promise.”

She shook her head and threw herself into his arms. “I don’t want you to go. I love you, Monty. He’s a bad man. Can’t you just leave him alone?”

He pushed her from him and looked into her eyes. She thought she saw disappointment there. “I couldn’t live with myself if I hid out here while he killed more Ac-taw. He has to be stopped. A man like him won’t quit until he’s dead.”

She knew he was right, but the hollow in her gut tore at her. Monty might die. Her uncle could kill him, and that would happen after Ted finished torturing him to within an inch of his life. Her wolf growled in her breast.

“Yeah, there she is.” Monty chuckled. “You never let your wolf out to play, but when I sense her, she’s got my back.”

Sophie felt immediate shame. For all that they’d mated, she had yet to run with the man she loved or show him her wolf. “I’m sorry.” For being less than you deserve. For bringing this danger to your door. For so much I can’t say.

“It’s okay. When I get back, we’ll take it slow, and we’ll run together when you’re ready.”

God, how could he be so understanding?

“A better mate would take care of you. I should have run with you before, and now it might be too late.” She sniffed and wiped away more tears. What if her uncle had been nosing around because he’d been following Sophie’s trail? What if he’d happened upon Stacey and Dean while looking for his wayward niece?

Jesus, she hadn’t thought about that possibility. Guilt ate at her. She’d brought danger to the people she loved. Some bad karma for not doing more to help the battered Ac-taw when she’d had the chance.

“Sophie, stop. You’re pulling my heart out. That fear and grief is so bitter on your skin. I’m not gonna die, I swear. I’m taking some wolves from the order with me, wolves I know and trust. We’ll come back, hopefully not with Joy. I still don’t think Norris has her. Her disappearance doesn’t feel right. But I know he won’t rest until we meet up again.”

“Why you?” Why not me, she wanted to say.

“Because that’s who I am. I protect those I love, and like it or not, I—we—are part of the pride.”

She flushed. “I like the pride. I just don’t want you in danger.” She swallowed hard, calling on her courage. “I could help.”

He didn’t immediately laugh, which spoke well for him. “You can help by being safe. Knowing you’re protected will keep my mind free to deal with the devil.”

“I can shoot,” she said fast to get it out. “I grew up with firearms. I’m a crack shot.” An ace, truth be told. Though she hadn’t shot a rifle in a few months, she kept in practice. She’d need little time to get right back into the swing of things.

“A crack shot, eh?” He curled a lock of her hair around his finger. “Tell me more.”

She wanted to, to unburden herself, finally, and tell the whole sordid mess of her life. Yet she worried she’d distract Monty from his mission. And—honesty compelled her to admit—she was afraid he’d no longer want her if he knew the truth.

When she continued to remain silent, Monty hugged her tight. “Tell you what, mate. Why don’t we spend the rest of the night together, loving each other? Tomorrow will come soon enough.”

Wanting nothing more than to please her mate, Sophie kissed him. She touched him. She hugged him. Before she knew it, they were making love and giving to one another.

But in the back of her mind, she worried, because she knew better. Her uncle’s words returned to her, and they’d never been truer: the past never stays buried, not unless you dig the grave yourself.