Thoreau - Chapter 51: Chapter 51

Olivia
Thoreau was amazing to work with! He was so hungry to learn and eager to please, it made him a dream to teach.
Alpha Mase was right. I did have fun, I thought as I watched the boy solve the last problem for today. Maybe I should have been a teacher, not an accountant. What do you think, Perdix?
She stayed silent, but pushed hard for control again, and I gritted my teeth as I pushed her back.
Not here and now, wolf, I growled.
She growled back, but subsided enough for me to focus on Reau as he slid his paper toward me. I checked his work against the key, saw his answer was correct, and nodded.
"Great job, Reau. You're so good at math!"
"Thank you so much!" he chirped with a smile. "I understand it so much better now!"
"Well, thank you, sugar pie, for working with me so nicely." I smiled back and stood up. "Leo said we can leave our books and things at the librarian's desk so we have them each day. I'll do that if you want to start packing up your things."
"Already? What time is it, Livvy?"
I glanced up at the clock as I walked toward the librarian's desk.
"It's 3:12. We have three minutes before the bell rings."
I'd just finished stacking up our supplies when a whiff of ginger filled my nostrils. Shocked at what it might mean, I froze in place, my eyes going directly to the library door.
"Livvy? What is it?"
"Ginger," I whispered. "I smell ginger, and it's coming closer very quickly."
"Spring says it's your mate, Livvy!" Reau clapped enthusiastically. "What's Perdix doing?"
"Going even crazier than she has been." My heart leapt into my throat, and I swallowed hard.
Is it true? Am I finally about to meet my mate?
"Oh, my goodness! I think Spring's right!" Reau crowed. "Who is it?"
I shook my head and started to tell him I didn't know, but then Atticus Bel Aire burst inside the room.
Atticus?! My jaw dropped.
Mate, Perdix purred. Go to our mate, Liv. I want our mate! Now!
Atticus must have been in the same state of shock that I was because he just kept staring at Reau until Reau pointed at me.
"Atty! Look!"
Atticus whirled around and our eyes met - and suddenly I couldn't breathe.
Oh, my Goddess. He is. He really is my mate!
My bottom lip quivered and, for once, I couldn't hold back the tears. The ever-alert part of my brain that made me such a good fighter noted when Reau left the library - hopping like a kangaroo for some reason - but the rest of me fell into Atticus' dark brown eyes and never wanted to resurface.
When he raised one of his hands as if he wanted to touch my face, I held my breath, eager to feel the famous mate sparks, but then he opened his mouth and ruined the whole moment.
"I'm so sorry, Livvy."
Fear that he was rejecting me stabbed me in the heart, quickly followed by anger that I had waited so many years for someone who didn't want me.
Knocking his hand away, I grabbed his shoulders, turned my hips, swung my leg between his, and kicked my heel around the back of his knee, then dropped him on the floor and fell on top of him.
With our noses inches apart, it was hard to ignore his beautiful eyes with their thick fringe of black lashes, but if I didn't maintain my outrage, I'd give way to grief.
"Am I too old for you?" I hissed. "Is that the problem? Or is it because I'm too 'butch' or not feminine enough?"
I'd heard that so damn many times at fighter practice. 'Might as well trade your tits in for balls, Livvy!' one asshole shouted just the other day. A bunch of the boys had had my back and been ready to pummel him, but I beat them to it and taught him some manners before I allowed him to crawl away to the deltas. Thankfully, there weren't very many chauvinists like him in the pack, but I was bitterly disappointed to discover that my mate was one of them.
"Is that why you're rejecting me without even giving me a chance?" I continued in a low growl. "Are you intimidated because I can put you on your ass?"
"No, Livvy." Atticus' smile was warm and gentle, and I felt his hands rub up and down my sides. "I was going to say sorry for making you wait so long. I can't reject you. I won't reject you. I'm shocked the Goddess gave me such a strong, beautiful, fierce woman, but she did, and I'm honored and proud to be your mate."
My face heated up. Feeling like a fool, I wished I could crawl in a hole somewhere and hide for jumping to conclusions.
And I should have known better. Atticus had been the sweetest, kindest little boy, and he'd grown into a sweet, kind man, not one of those prejudiced meatheads who thought she-wolves didn't belong in combat.
"I remember the first time I saw you," Atticus murmured. "I was eight years old, and Rowan let me tag along to go bowling because you were bringing your little brother, too. You and Willow both had on pink shirts and your hair was up in fancy braids and you two had black stuff around your eyes. I remember asking Rowan about that when we got home, and he explained it was mascara and eyeliner."
He chuckled, and the way his eyes crinkled at the corners made me melt faster than butter on a hot biscuit.
"When I asked him why you two had it on, he said you'd wanted to look and feel pretty. Then he laughed at me when I said it made you look like big-time models."
I snorted at that. Willow and I were just learning about make-up back then and probably looked more like raccoons than models.
"We used Landry the same way I'm sure your brother used you," I admitted. "Willow was always sweet on Rowan. If she wanted to see him, I'd call and ask if he could bring you over to play with Landry. Since Landry liked hanging out with you, it was a win-win."
"Haha! I didn't know what Rowan was doing for a couple of years, but I didn't care even after I figured it out. It was just awesome that I got invited along with the older kids."
"I like to believe they would have been mates," I told him with a sad smile.
"Me, too." He took a deep breath that lifted me up since I was still on top of his chest. "Livvy, I know I'm just a farm boy, and maybe you only remember me as Rowan's tagalong kid brother, but I can become whatever you need in a mate. Well, maybe not a great warrior like you, because I'm only mediocre right now, but I'm sure I can improve, especially if I have you as an incentive."
What's he going on about? My eyebrows drew together.
Chester says Atticus is afraid that you don't want him, Perdix told me. Fix this, Livvy. I will not live without my mate.
I opened my mouth to reassure Atticus there was no way in hell I was going to reject him, but he spoke again before I could.
"And I can go to college if having a blue-collar mate bothers you. I can—" He closed his eyes and seemed to steady himself. "I can even move into the city and give up horses, but please give me a chance to show you I can be the mate you deserve."
Instead of smacking him upside the head, I touched my lips to the tip of his nose. His eyelids flew up as the mate sparks fizzed between us, and we both shivered at the same time.
And that was from one small, innocent kiss! I marveled. I can't wait to find out how it feels when we're skin to skin!
That image made me shiver again, and Atticus raised his eyebrows in question.
Get back on track, Olivia, I told myself. Your mate needs reassurance.
"Atty, would you ask me to give up being a warrior for the pack?"
"Of course not!" he snorted. "That's who you are!"
"Exactly. Just like horses are part of who you are. I would no more change that about you than I'd try to make the sun stop shining."
I finally released my hold on his shoulders and sank my fingers into his thick brown hair, playing with the longer strands at the base of his neck.
"I remember that day at the bowling alley, too, you know," I murmured. "You were adorable as you told me every single detail about your horses, from their names to their favorite treats. Even then I could see your interest wasn't a passing phase, but a deep passion."
"Speaking of passion, your thigh is rubbing against something that's making it harder and harder for me to control myself." Atticus' chest vibrated under me as he chuckled. "Can we continue this conversation somewhere more private, darlin'? How about we go home?"
"I'm already home, Atty." Wrapping my arms around his wide shoulders, I buried my face in his neck. "Wherever you are, that's my home."
Atticus
My heart just dissolved when she said that, and little bubbles of joy tickled my belly.
I could have stayed cuddling her for hours, but I wanted to mark her and, if the stars aligned and the Goddess was kind, maybe convince her to mark me, too.
And the floor of the school library wasn't where I wanted any of that to happen.
So we went out to her truck, which was practically the only vehicle in the parking lot by this time, and I opened her door for her, half out of courtesy and half because I wanted to see her ass as she climbed in the driver's seat.
She surprised me, though, when she stayed standing and held out the keys.
"What are you doing?"
"Aren't you going to go all he-man and demand to drive?" She rattled the keys in my face and sighed.
"What kind of guys do you normally hang out with?" I scratched the top of my head. "It's your truck. Besides, it looks pretty freaking new. Hell if I'm going to drive it and put the first scratch on it!"
"Are you not a good driver?" She frowned and tilted her head to the side, and I reached over and pulled her beanie down before it could slide off.
"Darlin', I drive a beat-up old truck down farm lanes and across pastures to repair fence lines and clear up downed trees and stuff like that. I ain't used to being careful and have been known to wipe out a mailbox or two, especially when it's icy like it's fixing to get any time now with the temperature dropping as fast as it is."
"The weatherman's calling for a storm tonight." She stepped up on the running board and hopped into her seat, and I smirked in anticipation of peeling those tight jeans off that firm ass. "Maybe we'll be lucky and get snowed in."
Winking, she gave me a sultry smile as she started the engine, and I closed her door and hurried around to the other side. Before I opened my door, I paused for a second and adjusted myself the best I could, but damn! This woman had me hard as hell with one wink!
Although we were in the south, we still got some snow, but it rarely stuck around. We hardly ever got enough to even go sledding or build a snowman and definitely not in March! Even though I knew it was wishful thinking, I still couldn't help hoping the weatherman was right this time. A weekend snowed in with my mate sounded like a dream come true.
It didn't take Livvy long to drive us to her house. After her parents died in the sickness, she and Landry had moved into the pack orphanage. When she turned eighteen, she took custody of her little brother and moved them back to their family home. Landry was made Alpha Ash's gamma when he turned eighteen and, once he found his mate nearly three years ago, the couple moved into a house the alphas provided as part of his pay.
And Livvy had been left alone again.
My poor woman.
"Do you think you would be okay living here?" she asked as she pulled into the garage. "Your family's farm is only about ten minutes away. Less if you run in wolf form."
"I told you, darlin'. I'm fine living wherever you want to," I assured her, and I meant it.
"We can change anything you don't like." She undid her seatbelt and turned to look at me. "Some of the rooms are empty because I never had a use for them. We can convert one of them into a man cave for you."
"Maybe. I'm content with just about anything. I mean, so long as you're there. I'm warning you now that I get clingy, and I'm already having trouble keeping my hands off of you." I wasn't lying. It was torture not to be touching her. I was dying to feel her soft skin and the mate sparks again. "You might need a she cave for yourself just to get away from me from time to time."
"You'll want a man cave for the same reason." Her impish grin was one I hadn't seen on her face in a long time. "Now that I got you, I have no intention of being apart from you except for when you're at school and I'm at work."
"We'll be that cringe couple who's joined at the hip," I teased, "and give everyone second-hand embarrassment by making out in front of them."
"I think more people will tease me for being a cougar or a cradle robber." She smiled a little, but I could tell it was fake.
Is she seriously worried about that?
"Ignore them or punch them in the throat for saying something so ridiculous." I couldn't stand not having physical contact with her any longer and picked up her hand to thread our fingers together.
Ah! That's better!
"I don't pay attention to that bullshit," she snorted. "I just don't want it to bother you. The adrenaline and testosterone can get out of hand at fighter practice, and some guys spout off dumbass comments when I hand them their asses. Now they'll have something new to razz me over, and I don't want you getting into it with someone because you're trying to defend or protect me."
"I know you can take care of yourself and fight your own battles, Liv." I raised our joined hands to brush my lips over her knuckles and smirked a little when she sucked in a sharp breath. "Still going to defend or protect you when you can't or won't do it yourself, just as I know you'll do for me. We're a team now, darlin'. We'll take care of each other."
"I like the sound of that," she murmured, then smiled. "Let's get out of this cold garage and head inside."
"Sure thing." Giving the back of her hand one last kiss, I released it, opened my door, and swung out of the truck.
As soon as my feet hit the concrete, I hustled over to her side and got there in time to toss her over my shoulder before her feet left the running board.
"Atticus!" she yelped.
"I just thought it was fair since you karated me in the library." Locking one arm behind her thighs, I slapped her ass with my free hand, and she yelped again, which made me grin.
"It was a judo throw, you nut!" Even hanging halfway down my back, she was still sassy. "And karated isn't a word!"
"If you say so. Is the door locked?"
"No."
"Livvy." I stopped mid-step on the stairs going from the garage to the door.
"Oh, come on, Atty! We're almost in the heart of the pack territory, no humans other than shifter mates are anywhere nearby, I'd smell an intruder before I even got out of my truck, and only an idiot would break into my house!"
Inhaling slowly through my nose, I continued up the stairs and opened the door that was, indeed, not locked. By the time I could talk without growling or yelling, I'd followed my nose and found her bedroom.
"In case you are unaware, there are more idiots in the world than not," I told her patiently. "And, yes, I know you can stomp a mudhole in anyone who you might surprise in the process of robbing your house, but I don't want even the slightest chance of you being in danger. Lock the door from now on, please, for my peace of mind if nothing else."
"Yes, Dad."
"Well, damn, Liv! I never would have thought you would have a dominant daddy's little girl kink!"
"Fuck you, Atticus!" she hissed and swatted my backside hard with her palm.
"Ouch, baby! A BDSM kink, too?" I teased her as I tossed her on her bed, knocking her beanie off and spilling her long golden hair all over the quilt. "Goddess, what am I getting into here?!"
"A whole lot of trouble!" she growled as she glared up at me. "That's what your mouth's getting you into!"
"I'd rather my mouth got into you," I rasped as I dropped on top of her and propped myself up on my elbows.
"Then you'd better put your mouth to work and prove you deserve the privilege," she purred.
Chuckling, I pressed my face into the crook of her neck and kissed around, looking for her sweet spot, and grinned in triumph when I found it while nibbling along her left collarbone.
"Atty," she moaned, and my body instantly reacted, hardening to stone.
"Can I mark you, Livvy?" I murmured against her soft skin.
"Only if I can mark you, too."
My head flew up as surprise widened my eyes. It was rare for a she-wolf to mark her mate because only the male's mark was needed to complete the bond. Ever since the luna had marked her five alpha mates, however, more she-wolves were blessing their males with a mark. It wasn't a trend so much as a new understanding of how meaningful a gift it was between mates.
"I would be honored." I stared into her light brown eyes, afraid to blink in case she was teasing.
I quickly found out she wasn't. She did some movement with her hips at the same time she karated my left elbow, and I was flat on my back with her hands tugging off my hoodie and t-shirt before I knew it.
Once she had my upper half bare, she laid on me and suctioned her lips onto my neck, and I thought I'd jump out of my skin when she found the right spot. Twin fangs dug in behind my right ear, but the sting faded almost immediately as pure pleasure took its place. I felt like I was hovering on the edge of an orgasm and tipped my head to the side as I groaned.
Raising her head, she looked down at her handiwork with a smile of smug satisfaction, and I wondered what we'd been gifted with for marks.
"Well?" I demanded.
"Mark me and see for yourself," she taunted, and I rose to the challenge in more ways than one.
Lifting my head off the bed, I planted my lips right on her sweet spot and sucked it, hoping to make it less painful for her when I sank my canines in, then did just that as Chester ascended long enough to mark her before he subsided and went back to his lovey-dovey talk with Perdix.
I lapped up the two beads of blood, sealing the wound with my saliva, then dropped my head back, eager to see my mark on my woman. To a human, it would look like a tattoo, and I was very pleased with it. A dark wolf - Perdix - and a light wolf - Chester - slept in the curve of each other's bodies and looked very much like a yin and yang symbol.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Livvy sat up on my lower stomach and braced her hands on my chest.
"It's perfect." I rubbed my palms on her thighs and grinned up at her. "Can I mate you now?"
"For the love of the moon, Atticus." She rolled her eyes, but her fingers quickly unbuttoned her coat and threw it on the floor.
Her wiggling around on top of me nearly caused me to climax right there and then, and I gripped her hips to hold her still.
"What?" I whined. "You've waited long enough to claim your man, haven't you?"
"You're just horny as hell. I can feel your boner under my ass."
"What do you expect, darlin'? I'm eighteen years old. I have a boner every half hour. I just hope an old lady like you can keep up."
"Old lady?" One of her eyebrows arched up. "Boy, you're going to need to ice your balls down when I'm done with you."
I chuckled at that, then sucked in a big gulp of air when she stripped off her shirt and her bra followed seconds later. As I stared at her breasts with their tight nipples, my hips moved on their own and ground into her ass, and I feared I wasn't going to make it inside her before I came.
Then she laid down on me again, and the mate sparks flared everywhere our skin touched. Add in her warmth and that tangy mate scent, and my fear came true. I shot off like a cannon, soaking the front of my pants and the ass of her tight jeans.
"Thank the Goddess you do get a boner every half hour if you fire off that easily," Livvy giggled against my lips as she twined her arms around my neck. "Looks like this old lady needs to teach her boy toy some stamina."
"Nurgh." Like I could speak after that!
Her tongue took advantage of my blissed-out state and slipped between my lips, and whatever had been controlling rational thought in my brain said adios and went to sleep.
Eventually, though, we had to come up for air, which was when the dead meat in my skull decided it could process one more important thought.
"Am I your first?" I stroked my thumbs against the bottom swell of her breasts where they were smashed against my chest. "It's okay if I'm not. I'm just asking so I know how to do this. Not that I've ever done it before, but I've heard lots of advice and I know that, if it's your first time, I need to be careful because it might hurt you—"
Word vomit, Atty! Chester interrupted out of nowhere. Why so nervous?
Oh, hush, wolf! Go back to Perdix and leave me be!
Snickering, he did as I asked just in time for me to hear my mate's answer.
"You're my first everything. I've had a few proposals to be someone's chosen mate, but I've only ever wanted my Goddess-given one. I have to admit, though, when the beta of Duskfall asked me last week, I actually thought about it for a hot minute."
An unhappy growl vibrated through my chest at the knowledge I'd almost lost her before I found her, and she dropped her eyes to my chin.
"I'm sorry, Atty. I almost settled for less, and I'm not the kind of person who settles for anything. I've just been so—"
Shaking her head, she cut herself off and pressed her lips together tight enough to turn the edges white. I gave her hips a gentle squeeze to encourage her, and her gaze flicked up to mine again.
And there it was. The heart-wrenching loneliness that I'd seen far too often in those pretty eyes over the last couple of years.
My poor mate.
"You will never be lonely again, darlin'." I moved my hands to cup her face. "I promise you that. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. Not ever. I love you, Livvy. I always have, and now I know why. Even at eight years old, my soul saw yours and knew they were destined to tangle together."
"I love you, too," she breathed, her eyes glistening. "I didn't know it until I looked into your eyes in the library, but I do. You're all I ever dreamed of in a mate."
"Thank you, Livvy." Then I bucked my hips into her core. "Now, my darlin' mate, are you ready to tangle more than our souls together?"
"Only if you're ready to be ridden like one of your horses." She ground into me, making my eyes roll back as I groaned. "I'm just afraid I'll wear you out before I wear off all these years of sexual frustration."
"Good thing I'm young and strong and horny as hell then, isn't it?" I smirked. "We'll see who wears out first."
Me.
I wore out first. Five rounds and I was done.
To be honest, I should have known better. If there was one thing Livvy couldn't resist, it was a challenge.
"My pooped-out pup," she panted as she lay on my chest again, only this time her whole body was shaking, which made me smirk at a job well done. "Sure you don't want that ice, baby?"
I grunted and smacked her firm ass cheek, and she huffed out a chuckle as she propped herself up, her sharp little elbows digging into my ribs. Hissing, I shuffled us onto our sides so we could snuggle without her warrior self inflicting any more damage. With a happy hum, she pressed against me as close as she could get, and that was fine with me.
We could lay like this for years, and I still wouldn't have my fill of her toned body and soft skin and those delicious mate sparks.
"You know what my grandma used to tell me?" she asked.
How the hell did she have any brain power left?! I couldn't remember how my tongue worked, let alone form rational sentences!
"Nurgh," was the best I could do as I buried my face into the crook of her neck.
"She used to tell me, 'Livvy, my girl, when you find your mate, keep his stomach full and his balls empty, and you'll manage him just fine.' How am I doing so far, pup?"
I'll eat you out in the morning and let you know about the first part, I linked her, too sleepy to speak, but gold star on draining my balls, darlin'. Do that for the next sixty or seventy years, and I'll be happy as hell to be your kept pup.
"Seventy years!" she shrieked. "I highly doubt you'll want me when I'm a wrinkly, saggy senior citizen!"
I'll always want you, Livvy. Besides me, under me, or on top of me. I ain't fussy. I yawned against her throat. Now go to sleep, woman, so I can fuck you awake in the morning.
"Way to inspire a wet dream, Atty."
Good. A wet pussy is just what I want to find when I put your legs on my shoulders in a few hours.
"I was going to make you my famous blueberry pancakes for breakfast, but it sounds like I'm not going to be able to get out of this bed, let alone walk."
Darlin', I snorted, if you can walk in the morning, I ain't earned any damned pancakes.