First Beginnings (4 page)

‘What has you smiling, my mate?’

‘My name is Sarah, not sweetness,
darlin’ or mate,’ she replied. However, she couldn’t help but snuggle closer to
his warm body; it was as if it knew they were meant to be together. She
mentally slapped herself.
Nope. Werewolf, furry fuzzy thing that howls at
the moon and eats people! Off limits!

It hadn’t escaped his notice that
she’d snuggled closer to him on their way to Polly, the healer. His mate was
hurting and he needed to get her fixed. He loved how feisty she was and knew
she would make a strong mate standing by his side.

Chapter Nine

They made their way to his
father’s home after Polly had confirmed Sarah’s arm wasn’t broken. It was just
bruised and would heal great on its own in a few days. Callie and Sarah were
walking, arms linked, behind the two brothers; although Sarah still felt
betrayed by Callie for not trusting her with her secret, she couldn’t be angry
with her. Callie had saved her life and put a huge part of her own life out
there for Sarah, without knowing how she would react. Sarah felt ashamed as she
recalled the way she’d treated her best friend.

‘I'm sorry, Callie, for
everything I said,’ she said. ‘I love you so much.’ Callie stopped and swept
her into another hug.

‘Oh no,’ said Brandon, looking
behind him. ‘If you two are going to get all huggy and kissy again, please give
me notice so I can get my camera ready.’ Seth swiped Brandon behind the head,
making him stumble forward.

‘That’s my mate you’re lusting
over,’ he said, in mock chastisement.

Callie and Sarah laughed. Sarah
realised she hadn’t felt this relaxed and peaceful for a long time.
I
mustn’t get used to it
, she thought. As soon as it was safe to do so, she
and Callie would return home to the plans they had made about opening their own
store. She thought back to the conversation Brandon had started that morning
with Callie, about her joining their pack; she remembered the look of hope and
acceptance on Callie’s face. Would Callie
really
want to stay here with
other wolves like her?

They approached an older-style
house that had an immaculately kept front lawn. Walking up the steps to the
house, Brandon held the door open for Seth, Callie and Sarah. Seth took Sarah's
hand and held it up to place a kiss on the back of it. He smiled that dazzling,
lopsided smile that had her insides melting, looking at her with all his heart
in his eyes.

‘Seth…’ Sarah tried to pull her
hand out of his grip. He kissed it again and looked down at her. She saw such
pain in his eyes this time and wondered what was wrong. Was she really going to
be sacrificed and he was sad about it? He cupped her check with his hand and
she could feel his rough work hands gently caressing her face.

‘Please, my sweetness,’ he said
softly. ‘I know you don't know me, but I know you’re the other part of my soul.
If I have to listen to your story of how another wolf was attacking you, I
don't think I could stand it without ripping out the side of the house. Plus,
my mother would kill me.’ Sarah laughed at his comment. ‘Your touch sooths me,’
he went on. He wanted her to set the pace, yet he didn’t want to let her go.
‘It’ll help me deal with the harsh facts. Please, my sweetness.’

‘Okay, fine,’ Sarah replied.
‘Please don't get angry. Callie was there and she saved me. I'm still not sure
about this mate part, but I’ll let you lead for now. Just for now, mind you,’
she stated as he leant down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. ‘And stop
calling me sweetness,’ she whispered against his lips as she felt him smile.
Okay
maybe, just maybe I could get used to a hot guy making me feel safe and secure
for a while
, she told herself.

He led her into a room where some
people were already waiting. An older man, who was obviously their father, and
a beautiful woman who stood next to him, and who looked like she was about to
burst when they walked in. Sarah thought there was no way she could be their
mother as she couldn’t have been more than 30 years old herself. 

‘Mum, Dad,’ began Seth, ‘this is
Callie and my mate, Sarah. My mate, this is my mother and father, Christopher
and Mary Penn.’ Before Sarah could say her hellos, the woman – who apparently
was
his mother – launched herself at Sarah.

Seth let go of her hand so his
mother could wrap her in her arms. Sarah swallowed a lump in her throat. She
had never been hugged like this by her own mother, ever. Her own mum came in
and out of her life when she needed money or a place to stay. At 26 years old,
she could count on one hand the amount of times she had seen her mother in the
last ten years.

‘Welcome to our family, Sarah,’
said Mary, ‘and you too, Callie. Oh my, you’re such a pretty little thing.’ She
squeezed Sarah in a hug again, then pulled back to look at her. ‘A mate. My
oldest boy has finally found his true mate. I'm so happy for you both.’ She
smiled at Sarah and walked over to Callie and placed a loving hand on her
shoulder.

Sarah looked up at Seth, who
smiled down at her. He took her hand again and led her to the chair by the
window. Sitting down, he pulled her on his lap and arranged her so she was
sitting side-saddle over his strong thighs. She started to move to get up, but
he wound his arms round her torso and pulled her more firmly against him.

‘Don’t keep wriggling or I won’t
be able to look my momma in the face for the next few hours.’

‘Urgh! Gross,’ Hope snorted, who
was sitting on the sofa next to Brandon and Callie. She winked over at Sarah,
who was now bright red as she realised they had heard what he said. She felt
his chuckle against her body and hoped to the gods above she could hide her
arousal from everyone. She didn’t want to think about his father getting even a
whiff of her getting hot for his son.

Chapter Ten

Callie relayed the story of the
night they had gone dancing and the attack. She had managed to knock the man
out and changed back to human form and carried Sarah to the car. She had to hot
wire it and drive out of there, dumping the car in a wooded area before
carrying Sarah to the hotel. Sarah stared at Callie, listening to the parts of
the story she hadn’t known about, as she had been unconscious for most of that
night and the best part of the next day. Seth’s father, Christopher, stood
before Callie and took her hand.

‘You are a very brave girl,
Callie. You saved my son’s mate and brought her into our lives. For that, we
cannot thank you enough. Your safety is paramount to us and, until we hear back
from Logan, I'm afraid we cannot let you return to the mainland.’ He held his
hand to silence Callie’s response. ‘Please know you are not a prisoner here and
have full pack privileges. If you are happy to, Hope has agreed you can stay
with her until we find you more suitable accommodation.’

Callie looked up at the man with
tears in her eyes.

‘Thank you,’ she replied. ‘I have
never, ever, been part of a pack before. I only know what I have heard and
grown up around. My father was a wolf and my mother was a human. They were cast
out from the pack and raised me until they were killed by another wolf. The man
last night reminded me of that wolf, but it was so long I can’t be sure. His
smell and touch was so familiar to me, but not in a good way. I can’t promise I
will join the pack, but I would love to stay a while whilst we sort things out,
if that’s ok with you.’ Christopher crouched down to be at her level.

‘I think I can speak for my son,
the alpha, but you are welcome to stay for as long as you need. This will
always be a place you can call home.’ Callie wiped the tears from her face.

’Thank you so much.’

Sarah was weeping like a baby.
The emotions were strung so high in the room that she was pretty sure she even
saw Brandon wipe a stray tear away. Seth had remained stiff and unmoving
throughout the whole story. She knew that he was trying to contain himself. She
turned to look at him, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes.

‘Seth, it’s okay,’ she said
quietly. ‘Callie and I are okay.’ She tried to get up so she could kneel before
him, but he held on tight. Sarah gave up trying to get away and just let him
hold her. She knew she shouldn’t be letting him get so close, having only known
him a few days, but everything about this family made her long for something
she hadn’t realised she was missing. She looked to Callie, who smiled so
happily at her that she knew, in her heart, that this was now a place she
should get used to calling home. Her brain, however, was still telling her not to
get attached to these people and think about the bigger picture of getting home
and opening her dream bakery.

Finally, she felt Seth relax and,
even though he spoke to the room, he never let her go.

‘Have we heard back from Logan
yet?’ he asked. ‘Do we know what he found at the girls’ place?’ Suddenly, the
thought struck him that Logan was getting some clothes for them and, with
clothes, came underwear. Sarah's underwear. He would be pawing his grubbing
mitts all over her knickers and bras. His growl was deep and feral and the
whole room stopped talking to look at him. He stood so quickly that Sarah
thought she was going to land on her butt. ‘Logan’s gone to their place alone?’

‘Now, son, he is strong and
capable of assessing the situation,’ said his father. ‘If he thought it wasn’t
safe, he would call for reinforcements.’

Seth paced in front of the
fireplace. ‘I bet he’s got his fat little fingers all through your knicker drawer,’
he said, almost to himself. ‘Damn it, I should be the first one to see your
underwear, not him!’ Silence echoed round the room, followed by raging
laughter. He suddenly realised what he had said out load and looked over to
Sarah.

‘Really,’ said Sarah, ‘Callie
pours her heart out to your family and all you can think of is your brother,
who I’ve not even met, getting a few knick knacks from my house.’ She stood in
front of him, staring him down in a challenge. ‘You do not own me or my
underwear, got it?’ She jabbed his chest with her finger. ‘Your brother is
risking his life to go back to the home you forbid me to go back to, and all
you can concern yourself about is him packing my underwear?’ She could hear
Brandon laughing in the background, but she ignored him, refusing to look away
from Seth’s gaze.

‘Now sweetness...’

She shoved him back. ‘Don’t call
me sweetness!’ she shouted as she turned tail and left the room.

‘Oh, son, you’ve got your hands
full there,’ said Mary. ‘But she will make you the perfect alpha mate.’ He
looked round at his family as his mom spoke and could see them all laughing at
him.

‘Whatever,’ he replied. ‘When
you've all mated, then you can tell me not to overreact! Mom, Dad, thanks for
today, but I'm going to find my mate and teach her how she needs to respect her
alpha.’ As he left the room, he heard them all laugh harder than he’d heard
them do in a long time.
Great
, he thought.
Laugh it up
. He was
going to find his mate and spank that arse so red she wouldn’t be sitting for a
week.

He found her sitting on the front
steps. Suddenly, a warm, satisfied feeling swept over him as he looked at her
in front of his home. ‘Why are you waiting out here?’ he asked, making his way
to her.

‘Well, boy wonder, I’ve been here
less than twenty-four hours and, believe it or not, I didn’t think to ask for a
key before I made my dramatic exit.’ She looked a bit guilty, but she also
looked strong-willed, as though she was picking for a fight.

‘Umm. You know, sweetness, I
think I am going to have to teach you how you should mind your tongue around
your alpha.’ Seth knelt in front of her, placing his arms either side of her,
caging her in. He moved forward, making her lean against the step.

‘You’re not my alpha,’ Sarah
stated. ‘I can talk to you how I want to. And
stop
calling me
sweetness!’ She licked her bottom lip and made the mistake of lowering her eyes
to his lips. He pounced. His lips crashed against hers as he breathed in her
scent. He knew his eyes had turned amber and he could feel the wolf close to
the surface, but he continued to kiss her as if he would never get another
chance to do so.

Sarah sat, shocked, as his lips
met hers. However, before she could stop him, she felt her arms reach around
his neck, her fingers running greedily through his hair. He heard her moan and
he deepened the kiss, his tongue reaching out, asking for entrance to her
mouth. She gave it freely, not caring if this was a huge mistake. She just
wanted to feel his warmth against her, his hands all over her. His grip on her
body was hard and almost painful and, as if sensing her pain, he loosened his
grip and ran his big, strong hands down her sides and over her back.

‘Please, Sarah,’ he asked,
breaking the kiss. He looked into her eyes and she knew, at that moment, she
wouldn’t deny him anything. ‘Please let me touch you, let me taste you here,’
he asked, running the tip of his finger over her now hard nipple. Her grip in
his hair tightened as he kissed down her throat.

‘Yes, god, Seth please touch me.’
She was airborne as soon as she’d finished her sentence. His hands lifted her,
gripping her arse tightly.

‘Wrap your legs around me.’ His
voice was gravelly as he spoke his demand. Sarah didn’t hesitate as her long
legs wrapped around him, her wet core coming into contact with the erection in
his trousers. She couldn’t help but grind against him as he walked into the
house. He kicked the door shut and pushed her against the nearest wall. His mouth
once again found hers, but this time she was the one thrusting her tongue
inside his mouth. She was glad when he moved his mouth to kiss down her neck,
as she gulped in a lungful of air she desperately needed. He bit her ear lobe
as he thrust his hips into her centre, causing her to moan out loud.

‘Sarah, I can’t think,’ he
breathed. ‘I want you so much that all I can think of is filling you with my
cock and fucking you against this wall.’

She shivered as his rough words
made her core flood with a warm rush of pleasure. Her pussy clenched in
anticipation as she felt his hands brush her chest. However, before she could
say anything, he grabbed hold of her shirt and ripped it open, sending buttons
flying through the air. He seemed to stop breathing as he looked straight at
her breasts. She knew she should care about being so exposed to a stranger and
a man who turns into a wolf at will, but all she could think about was the
touch of his hands and mouth on her body.

Seth moved his hand over the seam
of the boxers she was wearing, letting his nails turn into claws so he could
remove them, though being careful not to slice her skin.

‘Please, Seth… oh my god,’ Sarah
moaned as her final barrier was gone. Her hand moved down to his trousers as
she pulled open the snap, but Seth took pity on her shaking hands and pulled
himself free and, in one quick movement, she felt him at her entrance. He
looked deep into her eyes and she could tell he was watching her for approval
before he took her. Moving her lips to his, she kissed him hard, moaning as he
entered her, pushing her harder against the wall.

Seth tried to think of something
else as he pushed deep into her. Her warm, wet core was clenching round him and
he knew, if he moved now, it would all be over. He kissed her back, thrusting
his tongue in her mouth.

‘So tight and hot,’ he gasped. ‘I
won’t last long, sweetness. But the next round I’ll take my time, making you
mine.’

‘Just fuck me, Seth. Hard and
fast. I need you.’ Those final words were all Seth needed as he pulled out and
thrust back into her. He caught her moans in his mouth as he took her, over and
over, pushing her closer to her climax.

‘Yes, yes, yes...’ Sarah cried
out, digging her fingers in his scalp as she came hard. Seth didn’t care about
the pain; all he could feel was her clenching around his cock so hard he could
barely pull out. It took him over the edge as he pushed in one final time and
spilled his seed, deep within her.

Both were breathing hard and fast
as he looked at her. Sarah had closed her eyes, but had a small smile on her
lips.

‘I think every woman should be
taken against a wall at least one time in her life,’ she said, finally opening
her eyes and looking to the warm, amber eyes of Seth’s wolf.

‘I should have taken you to bed
and made it more romantic for our first time,’ he replied. ‘I'm sorry, my
sweetness.’ He didn’t want to pull out of her, as that would mean moving away
from her warm, tight body; but he could feel her body going limp and he
remembered he was most likely squashing her. Slowly, he pulled free and lowered
her legs to the floor. Just as he was about to kiss her, there was a knock at
his door. Sarah looked shocked when he growled, his head turning, as if he
could see through the wood and tell whoever it was to disappear.

‘It’s ok, Seth,’ she said. ‘I’ll
go grab a shower. See who it is.’ She practically ran up the stairs. He saw the
tension in her body, knowing that it probably wasn’t the best idea to take his
mate like he was some beast. Putting himself away and zipping his trousers back
up, he went to answer the door.

Pulling the door open, and
surprising himself that he hadn’t ripped it from the hinges, he stood looking
at his brother’s face. Logan was smiling, as if he was about to tell the
world’s funniest joke.

‘Sorry to interrupt your
“quickie” moment with your mate, brother,’ he said, ‘but I have her stuff.
Thought she might need it.’

‘Go fuck yourself, Logan,’
replied Seth. ‘Just give me her god damn clothes. I don't want your sticky
hands anywhere near my mate’s things.’

Logan roared with laughter. ‘I
see having a mate hasn’t calmed you, brother.’ He slapped Seth on the back and
walked past him to the kitchen.

Seth dropped the bag and closed
the door, glancing at the top of the stairs, hoping to see his mate looking
down. However, he could hear the shower and he knew he would have to fix what
had happened in the hallway moments earlier. He walked to the kitchen and found
Logan pouring a cup of coffee and taking a seat at the breakfast island.

‘So,’ Logan began, ‘I looked over
their place and couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary inside. I did scent
a male wolf outside but, without taking your mate’s friend back to confirm it,
I can’t say it was the same threat.’

‘I’ll speak to Callie and see if
she is willing to return for confirmation,’ replied Seth. ‘But I want both you
and Brandon to go. From what Callie says, he was a big wolf and, before you
think I'm knocking your ego, I just don't want him to get the upper hand. I
also don’t want anything to happen to my mate’s best friend. She has been
through enough – they both have.’

‘Wow,’ said Logan, grinning. ‘I
don't think I’ve ever heard you say so much before. Okay, I’ll go over to
Hope’s house and see if this Callie is good to go. I’ll give you time alone
with your wolf. If only to work on your performance!’ He winked at Seth before
ducking from the flying object Seth launched at him.

‘For your information, I think
I’ve just made a huge mistake,’ he replied. Before he could explain further,
Logan had looked over his shoulder behind him and her scent hit him. Turning
slowly, he looked her once over. She was dressed in a pair of his jogging
bottoms that had been rolled up at the bottoms and turned several times to sit
on her hips, and one of his T-shirts that was tied to the side, just high
enough to expose about an inch of her firm, toned stomach.

He looked into her eyes. What he
saw there turned his stomach, as he realised what his comment must have sounded
like to her.