“The men identify their soulmate. What about the women?”
“We don’t always know. Sometimes we think we know but don’t know until we really know. It’s confusing. I’ve known girls who thought it was one guy but then another set his sights on her and bam, different story. She’d be like - oh! That’s the one. The other one was just a crush.”
“So you don’t know if the one you have your eye on is your destiny?” I ask.
She shrugs. “Time will tell. Maybe. What’s your question?”
“Knotting,” I say, “That’s what Ty called it. Is it true they can only do that with their soulmate? He said he’d done it to nobody before me, but he’s been with a lot of women.”
“Yep,” she says definitively.
“Oh.”
“Was it amazing?” she asks, looking starry-eyed.
“Yeah. Um, to put it mildly. But he’s really aggressive sometimes. And relentless. Most guys can go after ten or twenty minutes for round two if they’re really randy, but Ty can just go ‘n go. Beyond round two.”
“Dreamy,” she whispers.
I giggle but then I sober. “It’s not all fun and games, though. He uh, held me down with his teeth once when he was mad, and it really scared me. He wasn’t sorry that time. He didn’t hurt me but he… used sex to try to punish me. Which is weird, because he was mad, but it felt so good. But then he wouldn’t stop. He just kept making me orgasm over and over and…”
Bailey is biting her lip and looking at me with huge eyes.
“You get the picture,” I say and cover my eyes.
“Yeah, but keep talkin’.” She laughs. “Typical alpha. Sounds awesome.”
My face is hot. I can talk about sex, but this level of explicit isn’t something I’d typically talk to a perfect stranger about.
She wiggles her eyebrows. “If you’re gonna be punished, might as well be with sex. Why was he punishing you?”
“Because I tried to leave him.”
“Ah. Punishment with orgasms so you’ll submit. Classic alpha shifter move.”
“I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve had sex since I’ve been here, Bailey. So many orgasms,” I breathe out, “Best ones of my life!”
And that’s when the door opens, and Ty comes in.
We both go quiet.
Too bad Bailey doesn’t have extra-sharp hearing. Cat is fighting a smirk. Riley is smiling huge. Tyson’s eyes are on me.
“So, Ivy wants to come to our Strawberry Moon party, Tyson,” Bailey says to break the tension that is evident because it’s obvious that Tyson, Riley, and Cat, who all filed in together heard me say the ‘o’ word.
“Does she?” Tyson replies, his mouth twitching with amusement. He scoops me off the couch, into his arms and kisses me hot and heavy.
“That’s rude in front of guests,” I whisper.
“Don’t care,” he replies against my lips. “What’s for lunch, women?”
“He shouldn’t be starving. We ate less than an hour ago,” I inform. “But he’s had very little experience with people food and he likes it.”
Everyone laughs.
32
Tyson
Not only does my Ivy make food that I like, but so does Catrina.
She served us a dish called lasagna with some salad and bread with herbs and tomatoes and cheese on it. I ate all of mine and half of Ivy’s.
It was strange sitting at a table with these people. My table was only big enough for four and we were five so an armchair from the bedroom was pulled up and I had Ivy sit there because it was most comfortable.
After the food was finished, Cat offered dessert, but no one was hungry, so she told us to eat it later, saying it is her famous cinnamon streusel coffee cake.
Ivy again thanked her for bringing the coffee maker and that prompted Cat to make more coffee.
“All this food, I need a run,” Riley says, rubbing his stomach. “Wanna run this off?”
He’s looking at me. Just me.
The world stops making noise as all eyes are also aimed in my direction.
“You should,” Cat breaks the silence with an encouraging tone. “Nothing like a good run.”
“Do you mean as wolves?” Ivy asks. “You guys don’t just become wolves when the moon is full, I notice. And not just at night.”
“Nope,” Bailey says. “Shifters in our pack generally shift whenever they want a good run. It’s one of the benefits of living where we do. Those who integrate with mainstream society don’t get that flexibility.”
“Shifters live in regular cities, too?” Ivy asks.
“Plenty, yeah. Some of them have clubs where they meet and can be themselves. Others belong to a pack remotely and do meetups at times to be able to spend time in wolf form. Our pack is a much tighter-knit community than some. We spend most of our time as people. Some more than others. And some, like me, don’t shift. Some get the urge to run, crave it, particularly alphas.”