Part 67

(POV - Marcus)

Marcus couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so settled on a long trip.

Aria ran alongside him, her sleek wolf moving quicker than lightning, Jaden far up ahead while Mercucio scouted a mile behind them, making sure their tracks were covered and none of Aiden's wolves followed after them.

For the moment, it was just Aria and Marcus, and he felt a familiar ease creep into his chest. They didn't communicate save for a subtle nod here and there, her wolf preening under his attention, while his own had to be forcefully restrained lest he jump her right then and there in the middle of Aiden's pack lands.

When they finally made it to Marcus's borders, they were greeted by a group of Inara's sentry wolves, who looked as though nothing was out of the ordinary, despite their Alpha returning to their territory with a new mate and looking like he'd been through the wringer to get her.

Well, that was kind of the truth, he supposed.

In the safety of their lands, he shifted back, gesturing for Aria to join him.

She did, and they walked the rest of the way hand-in-hand.

He chewed over his words, knowing he needed to speak to her before they reached the packhouse.

"Aria," he said. "I want to apologize."

"Apologize?" she asked, turning to face him.

"For my outburst earlier, before the challenge," he explained. "I'm sorry. I know how upset you must be about your friend, April, but please don't go looking for her just yet. We don't know how dangerous her mate might be, and there's no telling what might happen if we walked in unprepared."

"Thank you for saying sorry," she said, squeezing his hand in hers. "It's just... I'm so worried about her. She isn't scared of anything, but when I talked to her on the phone, she sounded so terrified, and I felt helpless. I don't know who her mate is, but whatever he's doing, it's so much worse than we can imagine."

He nodded, his frown deepening.

"I just don't want you to go looking for her by yourself, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed, nodding in compliance. "But you have to promise you'll at least hear her out. She wouldn't make this up, and it's a lot worse than what she's letting on, which scares me even more. Please just hear her out?"

Marcus agreed, kissing her temple.

"I'll get Mercucio to look into it," he said, leading them back onto the path. "He'll collect some info, maybe do some recon. He'll find her. And we'll get her out safely, okay?"

"Okay," she said happily, leaning into his touch. "Thank you."

Marcus smiled and they walked back the rest of the way.

Marcus sighed in relief as his packhouse came into view, and as much as he wanted to introduce his new mate to the rest of his pack, his wolf had other, more pressing things to attend to.

"We can deal with introductions later," he growled into her ear, the relief slowly breaking and making way for the possessive need to claim her and rid her of whatever was left of Aiden's scent that still clung to her skin. "I need you, first."

Aria smirked, just a little shy, but nodded and eagerly bounded up the stairs behind him. He grabbed her hand and led her down the hallway, fumbling the door handle in his haste to get both of them behind closed doors. And she giggled.

"Slow down, Alpha," she crooned, her fingers toying with the belt loops on his jeans. "I'm not going anywhere ever again. You have me for eternity."

Marcus finally got the door open and hauled her inside, crashing her body against his and relishing in her ability to settle him in an instant. The door clicked shut behind them, and they stayed like that for a beat, holding onto each other, breathing one another in until they were drunk on the scent.

"I was afraid," Aria admitted softly, her words muffled by the press of Marcus's shoulder. He hummed.

"Afraid of what, baby?" he asked, his arms flexing around her tightly. She squeaked at the slight pressure but relaxed in his hold.

"I was so afraid that you wouldn't want me after, you know, I was marked," she explained, a little laugh twisting her words, even though there was no humor there. "I wouldn't have blamed you. But it would have been so hard."

"It's a good thing that a simple mark means nothing if you choose," he soothed her, his chest rumbling with the urge to growl again. God damn this woman for turning him into a house cat. He couldn't ever remember growling that much for Helena, and yet, the second that even a hint of sadness touched Aria's scent, his wolf lifted his nose in distress.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," he said, reluctantly pulling away so he could look into her eyes as he spoke. "That it doesn't matter that he marked you. What matters to me is what you want. And if you had wanted to stay with him, I would have respected that, no matter how much it hurt."

She smiled, no hint of sadness in her eyes. There was only pure happiness.

"I think that ended up being a big part of why I knew you were the one," she said, making his heart swoop. "You'd do anything if it made me happy, and I realized that I would do the same for you."

"You read too many books," he said, taking her by surprise. He chuckled at the bemused expression on her face, lowering his head to peck at her lips, once, twice, three times. "You have this wild ability to make me fall apart with nothing but a few words, little one. It isn't fair to torment me so, not when I've had nothing but you on my mind for three days straight."

She giggled, following him to the bed and straddling his lap. She held his face between her hands and kissed his nose.

"Only three days, Alpha?" she teased, rolling her hips suggestively.

"I'm trying to maintain my manly essence," he growled, burying his face in her neck and suckling at the skin below her pulse point, so close to the mating mark he wanted to erase. "I just beat your true mate 'and' you acknowledged me as your chosen, I'm a little overwhelmed right now."

"Aw, baby!" she giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tight. "You're so cute for such a big, scary Alpha, you know?"

He pulled away and looked up at her, his mind hazy with lust. He wasn't surprised; having Aria straddle his lap, her scent growing heady with her own arousal, off the back of the rush of adrenaline that had spiked his veins, he was only surprised he hadn't popped a knot already.

"You're making things very difficult, Aria," he warned, wanting to be sure that she wanted what he did before assuming.

"Mm, I can tell," she said with another sly roll of her hips. He should have been embarrassed at how hard he was already, but he honestly had no excuse other than his body, his wolf, craved Aria so desperately that there was no point in delaying the inevitable. He was so riled he swore it felt like he might go into pre-rut a full six months too early.

"Are you just going to sit there and torture me?" he ground out, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her ass. Her muscles jolted at the touch, and she leaned into the pressure with a soft groan.

"Why not?" she teased. "I think I have the best seat in the house. Why wouldn't I want to sit back and enjoy the show?"

He pressed his tongue into his cheek, his smirk growing.

"The best seat, you say?" he parroted, planting his bare feet into the soft carpet and grinding up. She gasped and grabbed onto his knees for balance, that smug little grin vanishing from her face.

He loved this, loved the way they could be with one another, both of them so eager, so entranced by one another that they could speak their minds without worrying about a damn thing.

"The very best," she groaned again, her hips moving forward to meet his in a slow, torturous grind.

He chuckled, and wound an arm around her waist, pressing her chest to his and sucking on her bottom lip. His teeth snagged on the skin there, making her hiss in pleasure.

"I think I'm the one with the best seat in the house, little one," he countered, his lips moving against hers. "Especially because I have this distressingly sexy wolf sitting on top of me right now, and my mind is going a mile a minute considering all the things I want to do with her."

"Then, maybe you should do something," she mocked lightly, her voice high and breathless. He could smell the slick that pooled between her thighs, and his mouth watered.

"Maybe I should," he mused, using his free hand to slip beneath her shirt. He pinched at her nipple, swallowing another hiss with a devilish grin. "But where do I start? Should I put you on your knees and use this pretty little mouth of yours? Maybe I'll put you on all fours and eat you out until you beg me to stop. I could even make you ride my thigh for being so mouthy with me, have you chase your own high by yourself while I jerk off watching you."

She hummed, and he knew she didn't really care where he decided to start as long as they did all of the above. With a grin, he pressed his lips to hers, softer this time, murmuring into her mouth.

"Thank you for choosing me, baby," he breathed.