The Pack: Rule Number 1 – No Mates
Chapter Two Hundred Ninety–Two
ANASTACIA
The shoreline was quiet when we docked at the wharf, the fog of the morning fizzled out in the bright of the winter sun. Paul assured me it wouldn’t last long if at all, and I was determined not to waste even a speckle of sunlight.
Riding back to Paul’s house in the back of Rainier’s SUV, I say calmly, “I’m going to need a few things. What kinds of shops do you guys have around here? Any candle shops or… gift shops of any kind? That maybe… oh I don’t know… specialize in the Occult or the Metaphysical?” Paul tenses next to me, grinding his jaw and Rainier nearly steers off the road, filling me with a strange sort of apprehension. “I’m going to need candles and-”
“No candles,” Paul snaps immediately. “I don’t light candles in my home.
Well, that’s disappointing. I’m more than definitely going to need to.
“Why not?” I ask gently, stoking my finger over the delicious tendons of his forearm as I do.
He gaze falls toward my hand, then, after a moment, to my face. “I hate them.”
“Oh,” I reply. “Well unhate them. Because I need to set wards around your place if I’m going to be staying there, and I’m going to need a
bit more than table salt when I do.”
No,” he snaps. “They’re a fire hazard.”
They’re a fire hazard? What?
“They’re a fire hazard if you’re careless with them, sure. But I never am and I need-”
“NO!” Paul yells, his voice booming. “You don’t need wards. You have me.”
My gaze narrows, fury heating me from my fingers to my toes. “I want candles. I want assurances. Isi’t your house a newer model?”
“Yeah. So?”
“So I’m sure you have a sprinkler system set up for fire prevention. Don’t you?”
“Yes,” he hisses, sighing heavily. “So what?”
“So I need candles,” I spit, crossing my arms and scooting toward the other end of the back seat.
“Well, you’re not going to light any in my house,” Paul says simply, glaring at the spot on the leather that I just vacated.
“Fine,” I growl. Sitting up a little closer to the cage behind Rainier’s head, I request, “Can you drop me at a motel, please?”
Rainier chuckles, his dark eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. “I’m taking you to Paul’s. You’re his mate. You belong with him.”
“Well I’m not–staying with him,” I snap. “And if you take me there, that just make it more dangerous for me when I leave on foot.”
What the fuck are you talking about?” Paul grumbles. You are staying with me.”
“I’m not. Not without my candles.”
“The fuck if you’re not,” Paul growls.
1/3
12:50 Mon, Nov 25
The Pack: Rule Number 1 – No Mates
Chapter Two Hundred Ninety–Two
ANASTACIA
The shoreline was quiet when we docked at the wharf, the fog of the morning fizzled out in the bright of the winter sun. Paul assured me it wouldn’t last long if at all, and I was determined not to waste even a speckle of sunlight.
Riding back to Paul’s house in the back of Rainier’s SUV, I say calmly, “I’m going to need a few things. What kinds of shops do you guys have around here? Any candle shops or… gift shops of any kind? That maybe… oh I don’t know… specialize in the Occult or the Metaphysical? Paul tenses next to me, grinding his jaw and Rainier nearly steers off the road, filling me with a strange sort of apprehension. “I’m going to need candles and-” ”
“No candles,” Paul snaps immediately. “I don’t light candles in my home.
Well, that’s disappointing. I’m more than definitely going to need to.
“Why not?” I ask gently, stoking my finger over the delicious tendons of his forearm as I do.
He gaze falls toward my hand, then, after a moment, to my face. “I hate them.”
“Oh,” I reply. “Well unhate them. Because I need to set wards around your place if I’m going to be staying there, and I’m going to need a bit more than table salt when I do.”
“No,” he snaps. “They’re a fire hazard.”
They’re a fire hazard? What?
“They’re a fire hazard if you’re careless with them, sure, But I never am and I need-”
“NO!” Paul yells, his voice booming. “You don’t need wards. You have me.
My gaze narrows, fury heating me from my fingers to my toes. “I want candles. I want assurances. Isa’t your house a newer model?”
“Yeah. So?”
“So I’m sure you have a sprinkler system set up for fire prevention. Don’t you?”
“Yes,” he hisses, sighing heavily. “So what?”
“So I need candles,” I spit, crossing my arms and scooting toward the other end of the back seat.
“Well, you’re not going to light any in my house,” Paul says simply, glaring at the spot on the leather that I just vacated.
“Fine,” I growl. Sitting up a little closer to the cage behind Rainier’s head, I request, “Can you drop me at a motel, please?”
Rainier chuckles, his dark eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. “I’m taking you to Paul’s. You’re his mate. You belong with him.”
“Well I’m not staying with him,” I snap. “And if you take me there, that just make it more dangerous for me when I leave on foot.”
What the fuck are you talking about?” Paul grumbles. “You are staying with me.”
“I’m not. Not without my candles.”
“The fuck if you’re not,” Paul growls.
1/3
12:50 Mon, Nov 25
Chapter Two Hundred Ninety–Two
“Wait and see,” I whisper, glaring out the window as the familiar houses that mark his neighborhood start to appear.
Rainier explodes into laughter, only quieting down once we pull into Paul’s driveway behind his jeep. James is standing in the front doorway when we roll to a stop, a look of absolute boredom on his face. Unfortunately, we are in a police vehicle, so I literally have to wait for Rainier to let me out before I bolt down the street, but the moment he does, I will.
“Come on, Paul says, reaching a hand out for me to take.
I ignore it, keeping my arms wrapped so tightly around myself that my hails start to dig into the sides of my ribs.
“Anastacia, Paul warns as Rainier opens his door.
“No,” I reply. “I’m leaving.”
“You’re not,” he chuckles.
“I am.”
“You can try, but I’m a wolf and I will catch you. So come on.”
“I ran from a pack of wild dogs for a week, shifter. I wouldn’t be so sure of myself if I were you.”
“Oh no? I’m willing to bet you used your magic on them, and as you’ve pointed out already, your magic doesn’t work on me,” he smiles. “So. Yeah. I’ll catch you.”
Fuck. He’s right.
“Fine,” I hiss. “But understand this – I am going to have my candles or I am going to run the very first chance I get.”
Paul’s eyes
shutter and he licks his lips. “Then I guess I better keep you underneath me the entire time you’re here. So that you can’t run. In fact, you’ll be lucky if you can walk,” he whispers, suggestively.
No, no, no! Don’t get turned on! Not right now!
Be pissed! Be pissed!
But, it’s too late. A gush of molten lava churns inside of me then pours like honey from my core, I can feel it as it coats my slit and my pussy pulses to try and keep it inside, causing my clit to ache with want.
One deep breath later, Paul’s eyes flash with a wicked golden light. His aquamarine gaze drops over me in a slow perusal as he admonishes, “Oh yeah, you’re definitely staying here. With me. I’ll tie you up if I have to.”
a
Then he snatches me into his arms before I can blink and lifts me from the confines of the vehicle. I could try to fight him, but why bother? I’m not going to win. He’s infinitely stronger than I am, and my magic isn’t worth squat as far as he’s concerned. Besides, the way his arms curl beneath me, the way his biceps flex against my back… all of it weakens my resolve. Making me want to trust him the way
that he is asking me to…
I should know better, shouldn’t I?
I mean, I trusted Draco and look where that got me.
Paul is not Draco, Ana. Paul is your mate.
Still… I won’t truly be protected until he bonds me and he might not even decide to. Until he does, until he marks me, I need my candles. Not just for my protection, but for his.
2/3
Chapter Two Hundred Ninety–Two
So, despite the way his body feels as it confidently carries me into the house, despite that his eyes are practically burning right through my clothes and releasing enough wet heat to flood a river… I’m going to have to get away from him somehow, just long enough to buy a few things. Or I’m going to have to find a way to change his mind.
“I thought you said I needed clothes,” I whisper, pressing in close to his chest so that my own crushes against him. “I don’t have any panties… or any bras…”
His steps stutter, one foot catching on the threshold and causing him to stumble with me in his arms. Luckily, he’s way more agile than I am and doesn’t go down, but I can hear his pack mates laughing from beyond the front door. “I know you said you’d have someone bring a few things, but I like to pick out my own lingerie. Maybe if we go into town together… you can help me.”
“Good luck with that one, brother,” James says before disappearing out the front door.
Paul shakes his head at me, setting me on the ground slowly and dragging my body down his the entire way. “You really are a little demon, aren’t you?”
My nipples harden and I smile when his eyes go straight for them. “Take me to the store, Paul. Please…”
When his arm reaches behind me and I hear the jangle of keys, I know I’ve won. “How many candles are you going to need?” he asks, his eyes going dark for a moment.
“How many doors are in this house? How many windows that actually open?”
He swallows thickly, “More than it looks like.”
“I need one for each,” I say simply.
He sighs, closing his eyes as if warring with himself. “On one condition.
I grin. “What’s that?”
“I get to taste you before you light them and you promise not to run off on me. Not for any reason.”
Shit. There go my plans to visit the ruins.
“That’s two conditions, Pretty Paul.”
He shrugs, smirking. “Two then.”
“Why do you have to…” my words stumble as my cheeks heat, “…to taste me before I light them?”
His jaw clenches, his gaze fixing on some point behind my back. “Just… for my own peace of mind…”
He still thinks I might be trying to charm him… fucking hell.
“Okay, Paul. Deal.” Then I smile, “But I get to taste you… after…”
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