Winter (Rise of the Pride, Book 2) (20 page)

Nova looked on in awe at how fast Winter
shifted into his panther. She knew if she had blinked, she’d have
missed the transformation. One moment, he was dropping his jeans
and the next, he was a huge black panther. The panther shook his
head, his eyes narrowing as he placed one paw in front of him.

“Winter?” she asked, hoping he wasn’t lying
when he said that he and his panther would know who she was while
he was in his animal form.

“Winter,” she warned as he growled low in
his throat. Nova froze in her spot as the panther rubbed his face
against her leg. She took that moment to truly look at him for the
first time.

This wild animal…shifter was easily twice
the size of the cats she’d seen at the zoo as a child. His head was
broader and his tail matched the length of his body. She could
smell his unique scent as he walked around her slowly. He passed on
her left side, still rubbing against her legs. When he rounded her
back, Winter’s panther nuzzled her right hand that was hanging at
her side. She tentatively stroked his soft fur, taking a second to
scratch behind his ear. He tilted his head back and she saw his
glowing amber eyes. They were beautiful…just as beautiful as his
beast.

Snarls and growls sounded somewhere beyond
the yard, panthers were running through the woods with no cares in
the world. Nova glanced up, then back at Winter, who also turned
his head toward the woods.

“You can run, Winter,” she urged. “It’s
okay.”

The panther turned, nudging her hip. Nova
let out a curse as she lost her footing, but she didn’t fall far.
Her ass landed on the step leading up to the porch. It was the
right height for the panther’s nose to touch hers. She giggled when
his whiskers tickled her cheek. His long, rough tongue snaked out
and licked the mating mark on her neck.

“You’re not going to leave me here, are
you?” she whispered, stroking the side of the cat’s face. He purred
and nuzzled her hand again before sitting on his haunches. Nova
pulled her feet up and away when the panther started to shimmer.
Winter stood in front of her, his cock hard and thick right in
front of her face.

“Well, hello there,” she smirked.

“Do you want this, little one?” he teased,
dropping a knee between her legs and leaning forward. The movement
sent Nova’s back against the porch floor. Winter settled over her a
second before he captured her lips.

Nova groaned at his taste and the mating
scent. Wetness pooled between her legs, and she knew the moment
Winter recognized her desire, because she was up in his arms and
his tongue swept into her mouth. He started walking, and despite
her protest, walked all the way to his cabin…naked and hard as a
fucking rock.

“I can smell your sweetness, little one,” he
growled as he set her down on the bed. Nova climbed to her knees
and reached out for him, wrapping her hand around his hardness.

“It’s my turn,” she breathed, taking him
into her mouth. Winter cursed as she circled his head with her
tongue. His hands tangled into her hair as she slid him across her
tongue, swallowing his length to the back of her throat. He was
large and thick…and perfect. A few times, she had to release him to
catch her breath, but he never complained. When she took him back
into her throat, he pulled her hair over her shoulder so that his
view of what she was doing wasn’t obstructed. He liked to
watch.

“Enough,” he barked, just as Nova felt him
begin to swell in her mouth. “I hope you don’t like these clothes.”
His snarl sent her to the bed, laying out on her back.

“What?”

Winter unleashed a claw and tore into her
clothes, peeling them away from her body with every expert slice.
Why did he enjoy destroying her clothes? His predatory smirk heated
her core even more once his eyes roamed her naked body. When he
looked at her, she felt beautiful…alive even.

“Open your eyes, Nova,” Winter ordered, not
even realizing that she’d closed them. She did as she was told,
looking down her body at where he was poised. His canines were
thick in his mouth as he nipped at the inside of her knee,
alternating between kisses and bites up to the spot she craved him
at most.

She whined when he made one pass with his
tongue…
only one fucking pass!
“Winter!” she cried out as he
continued to nibble his way to her hip, stopping to give it an
extra nip. By the time he made it to her breasts, Nova was writhing
beneath him.

“Patience, little one,” he teased, but Nova
was having none of that.

She tangled her fingers through the hair at
the top of his head, making a fist. She gritted her teeth and
snarled at him as if she were a panther. “You better fuck me now,
Winter Blue!”

His eyes flashed amber, a snarl leaving his
lips, and he thrust forward, finding his way deep into her body.
They both cursed as he lifted her left leg over his hip and pounded
into her flesh. She threw her head back as far as she could and
screamed his name the moment his canines sank into her neck, right
over her existing mating mark.

Chapter Sixteen

Savage watched as Liberty moved around the
bar, taking orders and talking with the locals that spent so much
time in her establishment. He’d been tasked with making sure the
alpha’s mate was protected while Talon was out on business. He
really wasn’t on business. The pride’s leader was on a mission for
a wedding ring for his mate. The Winter Solstice wasn’t far away
and he had plans for the night they officially became mates.

The scent of wildflowers drifted through the
bar as the door opened. Savage didn’t even need to look to know it
was the beautiful and shy waitress that his panther had taken
notice of over the past few months. She was fucking stunning, but
she was also extremely reserved. She wasn’t like most human women.
No, Mary Grace had an old world look; her light blonde hair was
always styled in curls pinned at the sides of her head and the
longer locks hung down almost to her waist. Her pink lips were
thick and her breasts bountiful. Most of the human men in the bar
watched her but never approached, and for that, he was very
thankful.

His panther pushed forward when Mary Grace
passed him as he sat at the bar. She didn’t even recognize him
sitting there, watching her from the corner of his eyes. She dumped
her bag behind the bar and found an apron, pulling a notepad from
its pocket. Liberty stopped by and gave her a few instructions,
disappearing into the office as soon as Mary Grace nodded and took
off toward the kitchen.

He slid off the stool and sauntered down the
hallway, wanting to check in on the alpha’s mate, but froze when he
passed the employees breakroom. Mary Grace was standing in the
corner, looking into a floor length mirror, turning from side to
side. She tugged on the apron strings and retied it to a looser
setting. Savage frowned, trying to figure out what she was doing.
He didn’t need to wonder long when she pulled at her shirt, trying
to cover her hips, the corner of her full lips turned down into a
scowl. She cursed under her breath and turned around, their eyes
locking. She gasped, placing a hand over her heart, but she didn’t
speak. In fact, she looked like she was scared silent.

“You are absolutely beautiful,” he growled.
“And don’t let anyone ever tell you differently.”

Savage turned on his heel and marched toward
Liberty’s office, not wanting to hear her deny his words, because
he had a feeling she’d never had a compliment like that ever
before.

If she was his, he would tell her that every
single day.

Perry pulled his truck into an abandoned
field beside the pride’s land. He killed the lights and cracked
open the door, sliding out quietly. He shifted his eyes to see
better in the dark. Using his sense of smell, his wolf chuffed
happily when there was no scent of those wretched panthers. He
stood there for the longest time, waiting for any sign that they
were in the area, and finally moved away from the truck’s door when
he was satisfied that the way was clear onto their land.

He stumbled beside his old pickup truck. His
body was trying to shut down without that motherfucker of an alpha.
Why the hell couldn’t Perry have gotten the alpha gene from his
piece of shit father? He could’ve taken those two whores that had
survived the attack from the panthers and made them his.

Just the thought of those panthers gave him
the needed strength to plan his next attack. He was going to get
his revenge if it was the last thing he did, and he was going to
start with that little fucking human bitch, Nova Raines.

He’d almost had her, but it didn’t matter.
He now knew where those panthers lived, and he would finally taste
her…destroying her in the process. And since that little bitch was
so much a part of the pride of panthers, Perry was betting that it
would destroy them right where they were at their weakest.

Their weakest point was their mates…

Chapter Seventeen

Nova stretched as she walked into the cabin.
Winter wasn’t far behind, she was sure. It’d been a long day and
she wanted nothing more than to crawl in the bed and sleep for the
next two days. Liberty had gone in to work at the bar, giving her
the night off. It’d been a week since Thanksgiving, and already the
bar was hopping with the taste of New Year’s Eve on everyone’s
tongue. It was their busiest night of the year and plans had
already been made for a small fireworks show in the parking lot at
midnight. The planning had kept her at the bar later than she
wanted, but at least everything they’d need had been ordered.

She jumped in the shower and cleaned up,
wrapping a towel around her body as she went in search of a shirt
in Winter’s closet. She thumbed through them, smiling when she
found the dark gray one she liked to wear to bed. The material was
soft against her body and it fell just above her knees. She combed
out her wet hair, opting to let it dry while she slept.

A thud sounded out on the porch and she
paused for a moment, thinking Winter would walk in the door any
minute, but after several seconds, there was only silence. She
wondered if maybe she’d been mistaken and her mind was playing
tricks on her.

She pulled the covers back on the bed and
flipped on the lamp beside the bed. Her romance novel sat on the
night stand, and she planned on getting lost in the story before it
was time to actually fall asleep.

The moment she slid into the bed, a
scratching sound came from the back porch. Maybe Winter had
shifted? Maybe he was needing to be let in the house?

She quickly left the bedroom and made her
way to the back door. When she opened it, there wasn’t anyone
there.

“Winter?” she called out.

Her bare foot hit the wooden deck, the board
creaked softly as her weight shifted. The light over the door
didn’t cast its glow out far enough to see if he was in the yard.
She moved out of the beam of light and took the three steps down
into the yard. Nova inhaled deeply, hoping to catch Winter’s unique
scent, but all she smelled was something a little off. In fact, it
made her nose crinkle in disgust.