A Silver Wedding: Matt and Lilly: The Macconwood Pack Tales 7 Read online

  He allowed the hum of familiar magic to filter into his body. It tickled his skin and set his senses on high alert. All his life, he’d dreamt about being able to call to his animal without having to wait on the moon for access. Now he had it. And it felt fan-fucking-tastic.

  He would be forever grateful to that little girl from Northern New Jersey for all she’d done for Werewolves the world over. A second later and his huge paws were bounding over the newly green forest floor behind the Manor.

  The pain and madness of the last twenty some odd years washed over him as he traipsed through the darkness. Matt had joined the army and later the Sheriff’s Department in hopes of setting right certain wrongs in his life. He should have never left her.

  Regret and loss made him push harder. The sweet spring scents of fresh rain and budding plants reached his lupine nostrils. Was it cruel of nature to remind him of springtime and rebirth when his own life was wasted?

  He howled long and hard, running faster through the woods. The trees were still somewhat bare, but within each tight bud, they held promise. His heart pounded inside his chest, a force to be certain.

  It wasn’t fair. But when was life ever that? He’d seen a lot during his time in service in both the army and as a uniformed officer. He’d seen humanity at its lowest.

  The years had been hard. He’d been desperate and lonely at times, but he’d pushed through. Never allowing his hope that he’d find her one day to diminish in his heart.

  Now she was back. Safe and sound on Macconwood Pack grounds, Clair was in the warm embrace of her family. Her son, his wife and children, had all welcomed her with open arms.

  Their own daughter was a bit more cautious and held on to her emotions tightly. Not that he blamed her. Cat had suffered unfairly through this ordeal. But she was mated now and coming to terms with having a father in her life.

  He only hoped she would welcome her mother as lovingly as she did him. Nah. Scratch that. He knew she would. Cat was truly an amazing person.

  It was Claire that he was worried about. Claire who seemed too calm to his searching eyes. She’d melted like butter in his arms, but the embrace was all too short.

  Ever since they’d joined the rest of the Wolves in the Manor house to sit down to dinner and then afterwards in the living room, he’d felt her pull away from him.

  He couldn’t have that. Couldn’t survive losing her a second time. But he needed to proceed with caution.

  She was a Werewolf, had all the same senses he had. Hell, probably more, with her being a Healer and all. He’d need to research some of their legends and lore. Things the Pack had lost track of under Zev’s rule.

  He slowed down as he neared the edge of the forest. Panting with effort he closed in on the small stream that acted as a barrier between the highway and the protected lands of the Macconwood Pack.

  Rafe had figured out how to use his corporation to fund a sort of save the wildlife organization that kept the area natural. Not unlike a certain Jersey native, a legendary creature, who did the same with the neighboring Pine Barrens.

  Must be nice to have that kind of money. Shit. Claire was coming back to millions. He’d saved some of his money. Not much really. He was a lawman, not a banker. What could he give her? What did he, an aging Werewolf with a regular job, have to offer?

  He dipped his muzzle into the frigid water and drank deeply. The rush of the stream filled his senses. Blocking his hearing to the incoming footsteps.

  The sound of a twig snapping brought his head up, teeth bared in warning. Then he saw her at the edge of a copse of shaggy fir trees. She looked beautiful in the pale moonlight. Her white fur shiny and smooth, calling him home like a beacon.

  “Matt” She used their telepathic link to speak. It was something of a secret between them. Something they’d always been able to do.

  “Claire,” he sounded raspy in his own mind and frowned at what she must think.

  “Run with me?”

  “As if you have to ask.”

  With a swoosh of her fluffy white tail, Lilly, no Claire, his mind corrected automatically, darted ahead of Matt through a clearing in the trees. He gave chase. Feeling like a kid again for the first time in years.

  They ran for a while. Exploring old haunts, places they used to run through when they were barely teens, before he’d shipped out, before Zev had snuck in. They slowed their pace and stopped by an old oak tree.

  Shifting back to his human form, Matt waited patiently. It had been years since he’d seen her, but Werewolves were not shy about nudity and Matt knew every inch of her. Love. Mate. Mine.

  CHAPTER 5

  Lilly froze when she’d recognized the hum of magic preceding his Change. She’d followed him to the woods after he’d left her alone with Rafe to read through the folder her son had given her. He wanted her to work with the Pack. To settle and stay there with them.

  Lilly could have cried with happiness. Happiness mixed in with a little bit of wariness. She was certainly thrilled to be offered the chance at a reunion with her beloved children. That went without saying.

  Still, living in the house where Zev had systematically destroyed her life and her feelings of self-worth was not appealing in the least. Sure, Rafe had made amazing changes. He’d all but knocked down the old structure, creating something new and good.

  But Lilly still saw the past. The hatred. The hurt. It was a little too much to bear. Especially since she wanted to be good and happy for her family.

  “Claire, will you Change? Talk with me?” Matt’s voice was deep, still raspy with his Wolf.

  God, he was still so handsome. Time didn’t do a damn thing to hurt his looks. In fact, twenty years seemed to only enhance them. Isn’t that the way? Women worry about wrinkles and gray hair, sagging boobs and bellies, but men, the bastards just get better, like wine, she thought to herself and if Wolves could smile, she did.

  Well, she couldn’t hide from him. Not when there was so much to discuss. Lilly allowed the Change to wash over her like soft rain on a warm day. It seeped into her bones, breaking and cracking, then reknitting to sculpt her human body.

  For a brief moment, worry raced through her. She was not the same as the last time he’d seen her. The years hadn’t been as kind. Sure, she was still a Werewolf, so the bruises had faded, but she wasn’t in her twenties anymore. Life in the hard country of the Black Sea Pack was very different from the states.

  Food was divided up by Pack rank leaving many families, women especially to practically starve. Needing many more calories than normals, it was exceedingly dangerous to not feed a Werewolf well. Protein came from the sea if at all.

  Meat was very rare there. Or it had been. Rafe had ensured her that he was working with Niko Bagrat, the new and rightful Alpha, to get supplies in and to change the past hurts of the old Alpha.

  Kind of like here, she thought sadly. I need to cleanse myself of my past and old hurts. I need to move forward. To be with my family.

  “Beautiful,” Matt’s whispered word reached her sensitive ears and she smiled sadly.

  “Not anymore,” she stated.

  “Always, Claire,” he moved cautiously, waiting for her to give any sign she didn’t want him to advance. But she didn’t. She wanted this. Wanted him. Always.

  Lilly smiled through watery eyes as his long-fingered hands slowly traced her face, smoothing back her long hair and resting on her shoulders.

  “I’ve missed you,” she confessed as if it were still something she needed to keep secret.

  “I’m so sorry I couldn’t find you sooner. I tried,” he growled, and she could see the hurt and frustration in his eyes, but then she touched his chest and it was gone. Replaced by something much warmer.

  “I want to kiss you, Claire,” he said. It was the same thing he told her years ago. The first time he’d run into her in these woods when she’d fled from the horror of her married life and looked for solace in the trees.

  “Yes,” she answered.

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nbsp; He was so close their breaths mingled. His silver eyes glowed in the darkness and she shivered in response. Her Wolf knew him. Knew this man. Trusted him like no other.

  She had responsibilities now. To her children. But tonight she would have this. She would have him. That same attitude is what landed her in trouble all those years ago, but she didn’t have one single regret. Matt Larentia was the only man in the entire world she felt this way about. And it had been so very long.

  Matt bent his head and slowly pressed his lips to hers. Gentle and tender, as if she would break. He held her by her shoulders, fingers skimming over her skin to cup her chin and neck, and he deepened the kiss.

  The slow slide of lips soon became something more. He licked the seam of her mouth, silently pleading with her to open for him and she did. Welcoming the spicy flavor of him on her tongue, Lilly sighed into his embrace. His body was warm and hard against her.

  She tipped her head back, granting him full access. At only five and a half feet, she was short for a Werewolf, but she’d always been lean and fit. Her ice blue eyes a trait of her ancestors, the MacContire’s of Ireland. How she hated Zev for trying to rob her of her heritage by claiming her last name for his own. The bastard.

  “Stay with me, Claire, stay right here with me,” Matt said and claimed her lips once again. This time he was not so gentle.

  He used his teeth to scrape her bottom lip, holding her chin with his thumb and forefinger he opened her mouth and delved in. It was erotic and still so sensitively sweet; she could have cried.

  The Wolf in her wanted him this way, craved his dominance, but the human side, well she could’ve melted in a puddle at his feet for the way he held back. None of that now, she admonished. Lilly was definitely a woman now. An adult. And she wanted Matt with an intense yearning she hadn’t felt in two decades.

  She wrapped her arms around his middle and pulled him closer into her. He groaned and hissed as his cock settled into the curve of her belly. His hard length was beautiful, she’d always thought so, and she smiled with that knowledge against his lips.

  “Claire, tell me to stop now if you don’t want this,” his gravelly voice resonated in the pit of her stomach and she felt liquid pool at her center with her growing need for him.

  “Want this, Matt, want you,” she growled a little and nipped his lip, pulling him down to the forest floor with her.

  He ran his hands over her body almost as if he was afraid, she’d disappear. She sighed and moaned, loving the attention he lavished on her hips and ass, her breasts and belly.

  “I have scars now,” she murmured, almost afraid to look at him while she spoke of it. Matt just kissed her again, his strokes growing more and more bold. Whisper light touches over her secret places, places he’d helped her discover so long ago.

  “You’ve grown more beautiful, Claire, I can hardly believe you’re real,” he spoke with reverence. The truth in his eyes made her proud, proud of every scar and imperfection she’d acquired during their time apart.

  “Don’t ever hide from me, baby, every inch, every nook and cranny belongs to me, always has,” he spoke his claim and instead of growing angry or scared, Lilly felt the rightness of it. Her body grew hot and moist, readying itself for his invasion.

  “Matt,” she gasped as he dipped his head and kissed and licked every inch of her. Taking time to wonder at the faint stretch marks on her belly, the small gash that Zev had put there with his belt buckle, another from an athame Anri Bagrat’s Dark Witch had used on her when she’d first gone to Georgia. So many, she thought sadly.

  “You’re brave, sweet Claire. So strong. A warrior. And so beautiful, every last inch of you, beautiful and lovely,” he praised as he dipped his head lower, “Mine,” he growled as his tongue found her slit.

  She moaned as he swiped that muscled appendage from her clit to her opening. With long, slow movements he tasted her sex, drinking in her flavors and making her writhe against him and the soft bed of grass where she lay.

  “Oh Matt, it’s been so long,” she moaned, fingers tugging on his hair as he laid claim to that earthy side of her she’d neglected for too many years.

  But how could she have done this with anyone else? Never. Never anyone but him.

  Lilly arched her back at his invasion. A long, drawn out growl sounded from his chest as he licked and sucked her into oblivion. She heard her own moan as if she were experiencing it from beyond herself.

  Pleasure pulsed through her veins, like lightning. She felt herself explode and shatter beneath his skilled tongue, and still he didn’t relent. No, her gentle Matt, stayed with her through every twitch and shudder. He lapped and kissed, brought her down from that impossible height and still, he was not finished.

  “Mmm,” he moaned, licking his lips and moving up her body, “Want you, Claire. Need you,” he dipped his head and kissed her neck sending more shivers throughout her body.

  “Yes,” she answered.

  CHAPTER 6

  Matt groaned in satisfaction as he swallowed every last drop of Claire’s sweetness from the source. She was so fucking beautiful. A goddess of a woman.

  Too long without her. Need her. His Wolf pushed, but he would not allow the beast to rule his actions. No. He meant to savor every moment with her. And he meant to have a lot of those moments. A lifetime. They were owed that much.

  He slid up her body, loving her petite, womanly frame as his skin touched every inch of hers. The silky slide of it a sensual delight to both Wolf and man. Never had he seen a woman so beautiful and so completely unaware of it.

  Her face could have been carved in marble, softened slightly with age, it still held the high cheekbones and ripe lips of her youth. Fuck, if anything she’d gotten better looking.

  “Want you, Claire. Need you,” he nudged her legs farther apart with his knees. Loved the feel of her soft thighs welcoming him.

  When she moaned her assent, he could’ve stopped and prayed right then. He’d been fucking overjoyed when his Alpha, her son, had called him and told him they’d finally had a handle on where she was. After that it was a fucking waiting game. He’d practically moved into the Manor, waiting for any word.

  Now she was here. Beneath him in the same woods where they’d conceived their daughter so long ago. God, he loved this woman. Loved her body, spirit and soul. Every single thing about her was perfection.

  Every single nerve ending was on fire for her. Or maybe because of her. He wasn’t sure. But one thing he was certain of, there would never be another for him. She was it. His. Mine. Mate.

  Allowing her to adjust to his size and girth, he pushed inside her welcoming heat slowly. The slip and slide of her sweet pussy gripping him made him groan and ready to come like a pup during his first time.

  Matt wanted to devour her, to pleasure her so fully and completely she’d forget everything that separated them in the past. He wanted to leave nothing left for her, but him. To stamp himself on her very soul.

  “Oh,” she moaned, and it was music to his ears.

  Unable to wait any longer, he pushed his hips until they collided with hers. The sensation was like a thousand fireworks exploding in his brain. Pleasure so intense he could hardly see, hear, or breathe. His heart was near to bursting, it was so full. Of love or of her. Love for her probably made the most sense.

  “Love you,” he ground out.

  He thrust deeply, in and out of her slit, one finger circling her tiny nub of nerves, another gripping her hip. Matt kissed her lips, thrusting his tongue in time with is cock. Invading her, claiming her, making sure she knew she was home now. Mine.

  He wanted her to choose this. To choose him more than anything. They had yet to talk, but what could words say that this couldn’t? His lips moved down to her neck, licking the area he meant to mark. The one he would bite once she accepted him.

  His Wolf pushed him to stake his claim now, but he fought the beast back. This was not the time. This was a homecoming. A renewal of promises made long ago
. A second chance at something great.

  “Claire,” he grunted her name as he increased his rhythm.

  She raked her nails down his back. The bite of pain giving him that little bit of extra and he knew instinctively what she craved. Time and distance had not changed this. They could still read each other so well. Like they were connected on a level he didn’t even understand. Instinctively, he bent his head and captured her ripe nipple in his mouth.

  He sucked and tugged, then soothed the abused flesh with his tongue. So beautiful, the phrase repeated again and again in his mind. Along with another word. Mine.

  “Matt?” His mate’s beautiful ice blue eyes opened, pinning him with her stare.

  He felt her body tense and clench around him, knew she was close. He thrust harder, grinding himself into her with unerring accuracy he found her g-spot, deep, deep inside her channel. Fuck yes, he wanted to howl his victory. Again she made him feel like a teen, but he couldn’t help it.

  His Claire had a way for bringing out the beast in him. Always had. But now it was his turn. Matt fused his hips to hers, swirling and grinding until her pussy clenched his shaft in an unforgiveable grip.

  “Oh God,” she moaned, head thrown back, fucking gorgeous as she found ecstasy in his arms. He growled, claiming her mouth before he lost control.

  Then he was exploding into space. His cock throbbed as his seed shot into her channel, coating her with his scent. The Wolf howled then. The meaning loud and clear.

  Mine.

  CHAPTER 7

  Lilly lay panting beneath Matt. Oh my God. What had she done? Well, she knew what she did. It hadn’t been that long.

  He rolled over onto the grass, taking her with him. He tucked her into his side, his entire body warm and slick from their shared passion.