Chapter 0886

“You can talk to me about it,” he says, smiling up at me, tucking my messy hair back behind my ear. “I might like that. A lot.”

“Yeah, but you’re more of a learn-by-doing type,” I say, grinning down at him. “I think I need more girlfriends.”

Jackson hums consideringly, nodding as he runs his hands slowly up my sides, his palms sliding over my ribs. “Only problem with that is that I have no intention of ever being separate from you ever again. Not even in another room. Not even on the other side of the room. So, your girlfriends will be my girlfriends.”

“That’s so creepy,” I whisper, beaming at him, kind of loving it. “You’re so obsessed with me.”

Jacks snarls his confirmation and grabs me to his chest, turning me over and making laugh delightedly as he presses kisses all over my neck and my cheeks, my mouth and my chest, lingering again and again on the mark he gave me last night.

“How’s that looking?” I whisper, trying to peer down at it. I mean, with my wolf healing and Jackson passing me power, I know that it’s well on its way towards being all healed up. But still, it’s not there yet.

“It looks perfect,” Jackson murmurs, pulling back a little to get a better look and then leaning close to give it a long lick with his tongue, wolfish and sweet. “Much better than the others, if I’m honest.”

I laugh again. “You’re biased.”

“I am,” he says, nudging it proudly with his nose. “But even if I weren’t, I’d be right.”

I smile and run my fingers through his hair, believing him, and Jackson presses a lingering kiss to the soft skin beneath my jaw. Then he delivers a smart smack to the side of my ass that makes me yelp in surprise and then burst out laughing. “Come on, Princess,” he says, sitting up with a sigh. “Let’s get you home.”

“Nooo,” I moan, sitting up too and wrapping my arms around him again, trying to tug him back down. “Let’s stay – this tent is nice! We’re so cozy and alone with no one to bother us -“

“Your family is going to be worried,” he says, grinning, running a hand over my hair.

“Oh, let them worry,” I sigh, beaming up at my pretty mate. “Who cares.”

“You care,” he says, laughing and cupping my cheek in his palm. “Besides, we’re gross. We need showers – lets get home and all cleaned up.”

“And by showers…you mean just one shower, yes?” I say, raising an eyebrow at him.

He laughs and gives my ass another smack before grabbing his clothes and smoothly stepping out of the tent, fully naked in the early-morning Atalaxian sun. “Whatever you want, tiny, he says, stretching with his back to me. “Whatever you want.”

I grin, watching him for a moment as he gets dressed, and then I sigh, and turn, and grab for the backpack my mom sent for the two of us, rifling through it. It only takes a moment to find the bottle of medicine at the bottom. I laugh when I pull it out, shaking my head at my mom who of course thought of this.

“Mommy,” I sigh, pulling the top off and taking a swig of the potion that will keep

me from getting pregnant. “So practical.”

“You ready?” Jackson calls to me from outside.

“I’m still naked!” I call back, re-capping the potion and slipping it back into the bag.

I grab my dress and peer outside to see him fully dressed, the ATV already prepped and ready to go.

“Well come on, Ariel,” he says, shaking his head at me like I’m bafflingly slow. “I can’t take down the tent with you in it.”

“Listen, I just saved the world,” I say, pointing a finger at him even as I pull the stupid Atalaxian dress over my head “I can take my time getting up in the morning.”

“I always thought Rafe was exaggerating when he called you a lazy riser,” Jackson murmurs, turning away again and shaking his head. “But now…he has a point…”

I snarl playfully at my mate even as I climb out of the tent and stand, zipping my dress up, a little sad to leave the peaceful quiet time alone with my mate but… Well, yeah. Excited to get home too. After all, my family is waiting for me. And I really, really love my family.

Chapter 0887

Today, since I’m feeling a bit better, I ride in front of Jackson on the ATV, leaning back against his chest as he steers the vehicle with an arm on either side of me. Well, not that there’s much steering to do – it’s mostly a straight shot across the desert and prairie that creates a border between Atalaxia and Moon Valley.

“How do you know where we’re going?” I murmur, snuggling back against my mate, more comfortable than I thought that I’d be.

He presses a kiss to my hair, his wolf hearing making him perfectly able to hear me. “It took longer getting here because I had to figure out where things were. But now that I have a mental map, it’s a pretty straight shot to the closest border town.”

I sigh happily. “You’re so smart and capable. And good with directions.”

“Yeah, you just sit there and look pretty, Princess,” he murmurs, laughing. I laugh too because we both know that I’m capable of so much more than that, even though we have learned that – as Faiza thought – it’s a very good disguise.

I snuggle back against Jacks, letting my mind wander as the miles pass, letting my eyes slip over the scenery. It really is beautiful out here – and a part of the country which I haven’t explored before. The tensions with Atalaxia had always made it too dangerous for a camping trip or any hiking when we were younger. But now that the war is hopefully ending, a little hope for the future rushes through me.

The end of a war. It opens just…so many possibilities to better the lives of so many people. All that energy that went towards destruction and defense – now it can be turned towards building and learning. I buzz a bit with energy as the possibilities whirl through my mind.

The only thing that puts a dampener on it is the memory that Juniper is still gone and in trouble – or at least, she was as far as I know. I sigh, wondering what she’s up to, worrying for her. Junie – she’s so tough and strong, but she’s got a very tender heart beneath it all.

Even if she is a grumpy little thunder cloud sometimes, she’s still my sister. I love her a lot and want her to be okay.

“What’s wrong?” Jackson murmurs in my ear, sensing my change in mood.

“Just thinking about Junie,” I reply, distracted, staring off into the distance as Jackson keeps us moving steadily towards the horizon.

“Oh, don’t worry about June,” he says absently. “She’s fine.”

go a bit still, half turning in the seat to look at my mate. “How do you -“

“Face forward,” he growls, taking one hand from the handlebars and wrapping it tight around my waist to keep me from flying off.

I laugh and do as I’m bid, turning back and settling back against him, pressing my ass back perhaps a little tighter against him than it needs to be. He snarls a bit in my ear, keeping that arm tight around my waist.

“How do you know she’s fine?” I ask, not letting myself get distracted from the topic.

“Jesse says she is,” he says, quite simple.

Shocked, I start to turn again but Jackson tightens his arm and snarls. Still, I turn my head as far as it can go, doing my best to stare at him in shock.

“How does Jesse know!?”

—

“Because,” Jackson says, glancing down at me. He visited her there, in the Underworld. With Midnight. He says she’s in a world of mess got herself caught up in some kind of competition to marry some Prince of Death – but that she’s also got them albwrapped around her finger -“

—

“What!?” I shriek, appalled not only by the news but by the fact that my stupid mate knew all of this has apparently known it all – and didn’t bother to tell me! “Jackson! Why didn’t you fill me in on this!?”

“Oh, um,” he says, glancing down at me, a bit guilty. “I wasn’t supposed to tell

you. Jesse said…well. Just pretend I didn’t tell you, okay?”

I shriek again, appalled, and he laughs, tightening the arm around me.

“Would you stop doing that? I’m trying to drive.”

“Why doesn’t Jesse want me to know!?”

“He says there’s a surprise and he doesn’t want anyone to tell you. Because you’re going to flip. So everyone is sworn to secrecy – not just me.”

“Jackson,” snarl, tense and livid. “You’d better tell me. Right now.”

“No,” he murmurs, pressing a loving kiss to the side of my head in apology.

“Jacks!”

“I promised!”

“You promised Jesse – a promise Jesse doesn’t matter! Your allegiance to me takes priority!”

“No, he said you’d say that, and he told me to remind you that he’s my best friend.”

I shout now in appalled horror at how Jesse has constructed this. Jackson just laughs, holding me close.

“Is it a good surprise or a bad one?” I hiss.

“A good one,” Jacks says. “You’ll like it, I promise. I almost cried when he told me.”

“What!?”

Jackson hums in confirmation and my mind whirls with possibilities. But I can’t think of anything –

anything at all that would fit this situation. A surprised related to stupid Juniper in the Underworld that almost made Jackson cry!?

Chapter 0888

What the hell!?

“Tell me.” I command.

A single growl rumbling in his chest signals Jackson’s refusal.

I take a different tack, pressing my ass backwards against him, arching my back a little. “Please tell me, Jackson,” I beg, my voice softer now.

He goes still behind me and I smile, pleased.

“Please, Jackson,” I beg, my voice softer and breathier now as I snake a hand backward, letting it slip up the side of his neck, my fingers tangling in his hair. “Please, I’ll give you anything you want in return.”

The entire time I speak I let my ass wriggle against him. I smile, devilish, when a stiffening in Jackson’s pants let me know that my efforts are working.

“Stop,” he growls.

“Please, Jacks,” I whisper, tilting my head back, letting a little moan slip from my lips. “Tell me. I won’t tell anyone you spilled – I’ll play along!”

He snarls, his arm tightening around my waist and I grin, thinking that I’ve got him. I press my ass back hard, rubbing it all along the thick length of his cock.

But suddenly I gasp when Jackson cuts the power to the ATV and we come skidding to a stop, because not half a second later my mate is pulling me with him off the vehicle and dragging me down into the dirt, setting me before him on my knees as he kneels behind me, my back flat to his chest.

It only takes a moment to figure out what’s going on as my snarling mate uses one hand to turn my face up to him, claiming my mouth as his other hand dips low and makes fast work of his belt, shoving his pants down.

I groan, wanting him already – falling to my hands and yanking hard at my stupid Atalaxian skirts, wanting them up and out of the way as Jackson takes my hips firmly in his broad hands and pulls me sharply back against him.

A cry breaks from me as Jackson’s cock presses into me in one fluid motion, my pussy wet and ready for him in an absurdly short amount of time. A heady moan falls from me as I press my hips back, wanting more of him, as much as fucking possible as Jackson, snarling begins to pound himself into me at a steady, harsh pace. His hands pull me back and back as my mate fucks me almost furiously, completely lost to his lust, the want of me that swept over him – over both of us – in almost an instant.

And me? I want him just as bad, my mouth hanging open as huffing gasps break from my lips at every stroke, as my eyes go hazy with how fucking good it feels – Jackson’s thick, veiny cock, pounding into me again and again. Half of it is sheer physical pleasure, but my mind is also drunk on the knowledge that I drove him to this. That all it took was the press of my ass against him and he had to throw me down in the dirt –

God, fuck but we’re in trouble. Jacks – I want him in me all the time. I pant, going to my elbows to get a deeper angle, feeling the round head of his cock hitting that point so deep within me that makes my eyes roll back.

He doesn’t last long, not at this furious pace, and I bite my lap as my mate roars, bending over my back as he comes, hot and thick. The feel of it, sticky and wet and filling me up, sends me over too and I pulse and shudder, my arms giving out under my weight as my orgasm shakes through me.

Jacks collapses along with me, pulling me into his arms as he falls to the side, and we both pant and work hard to catch our breath as we lay in the prairie grass, me wrapped loosely in my mate’s arms with my back pressed again to his chest, his cock slowly going soft inside of me.

“Fuck,” Jackson whispers, soft, still catching himself.

I laugh, shaking against him. “We’re in so much trouble, Jacks,” I whisper.

“Why?” he murmurs, cuddling me close, pressing kisses to my neck and hair.

“Because,” I groan, turning, moaning

a little as the action makes his cock slip from my tender flesh. He gasps too, a long and steady shudder

passing through him, making met

smile laugh a little again and cup his cheek in my palm, looking up at him. “I think we’re both going to have a little trouble controlling ourselves. And with family and paparazzi around…”

“Whatever,” he mutters, snuggling me close, his eyes closed. “You’re mine now.

Everyone can just…deal with it.”

I laugh, resting my head happily on his chest, thinking…well, at this rate, that it

might take us a little longer to get home than we thought.

“Okay, now tell me,” I whisper. “What’s the secret you’re keeping about the surprise in the underworld?”

“Not a chance, Princess,” he says with a laugh, shaking his head. “You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that to get it out of me.”

A little tingle rushes through me and I smile, looking forward to the challenge.

Chapter 0889

The gas station clerk pages languidly through the magazine he’s read a hundred times already this month, bored as hell. He sighs, lifting his head to look around the tiny room of this little desert outpost – the room that serves not only as a convenience store, but also a bar, and a tiny casino. There are also rooms upstairs for rent – not that anyone stays more than a day.

“Boring as hell today,” he murmurs, returning his eyes to the page. “But it’s a living.”

A rumble outside makes the clerk stand up and peer out the window behind him at the waste, wondering who would come in this close to sunset. There are some locals who make a living out here, and some adventurer types who want to see the sights in their camper vans and motorcycles, but he wasn’t expecting anyone to return today…

He frowns as he watches a single ATV approach, kicking up dust behind it towards the setting sun. The clerk’s eyes go wide as the ATV pulls close enough for him to see the seriously gigantic guy driving it – clearly a wolf, and an Alpha at that.

But seated on the ATV front of him –

The clerk’s lips part in surprise as the little blonde haired woman hops off the ATV, laughing as she turns to look up at her huge scarred protector, her lovely rose- gold hair flowing all around her as she smiles and takes his hand. The Alpha likewise stands, towering over the girl, tugging her towards the shop.

The clerk just continues to stare as the pair come into the gas station, the bell ringing above the door because…

Well, it’s like something out of a damn movie.

The scariest damn wolf he’s ever seen walking into his store – his store, out in the middle of nowhere – with…with a damn princess on his arm.

“Hi!” the girl says, smiling a wide dazzling smile as she strides confidently up to the counter. “I’m Princess -“

“Oh, I know who you are,” the clerk murmurs, taking a step back to get a better look both at the beautiful girl and the man standing behind her, who growls a soft warning. And as much as the clerk’s eyes want to stay on the angel before him, his instincts won’t let him take his sight away from the snarling, tagged Alpha – because is that – is

that…blood all down his front? The clerk goes pale and still.

“Oh, great!” Ariel Sinclair says, laughing and leaning against the counter, perfectly casual. “I guess my reputation precedes me.” She grins and glances at the magazines in the rack next to the checkout, several of which read Kidnapped Princess! The clerk blushes when he realizes that he’s also carrying several more scandalous titles, the covers of which declare her a traitor to her nation and show pictures of her in an Atalaxian crown, beaming at their damned prince.

“Phone,” the Alpha snarls, drawing the clerk’s eyes back to him. “Now.”

“Easy, Jacks,” the Princess says, putting a soft hand on his arm as she laughs and looks up at him. The clerk just stares between them, baffled and terrified and charmed all at once. He nearly jumps when the Princess turns that stunning gaze back on him. “But yes, um. Would you mind? If we made a call?” She points at the phone on the counter behind him. “Our phone ran out of battery.”

“Um, sure,” the clerk says, stumbling into action immediately and grabbing for the old lined telephone, nearly ripping it off the wall as he hurries to place it on the table before her. “Anything…anything you need.”

“Thank you” Ariel says, beaming at him as she picks up the receiver and begins to dial a number.

The clerk’s eyes move back to the

Alpha when he hears, almost absurdly, the big man’s stomach turn over in a growl. The Alpha stares for a moment at several individually wrapped pieces of meat jerky on the counter, popular with travelers and truckers. Then he snatches them all up into one fist. “I’m going to eat these,” he says, glaring at the clerk, almost challenging him to say he can’t.

The clerk eagerly nods, desperate to do…whatever the hell this dangerous man wants.

“We’ll pay for that later,” the Princess hisses to the clerk in a whisper, covering the receiver with one hand, “sorry, we don’t have any money right now. But we’re good for it! Oh, Jacks, get me one of those caramel ones -” She points eagerly at the candy selection.

Chapter 0890

The Alpha nods, grabs two, and hands them to the girl before beginning to unwrap the meat and eat it at a rather incredible pace. The clerk just…watches. Fascinated.

“Oh, hey!” the Princess says into the phone after a few moments, balancing it against her shoulder as she unwraps a candy bar with both hands. A huge smile breaks out on her face. “Hey, dad! It’s me!”

The clerk’s eyes go wide. Is…is the King seriously on the phone right now!?

“Yeah, I’m fine! I’m perfectly fine, can’t wait to get home!” the Princess says, her eyes watering with tears even as she laughs in delight. “I’m with Jacks. We’re… um, actually…wait one second.”

Then, still smiling, the girl takes the receiver in one hand and offers it out to the clerk, giving him again that pretty, obliging smile. “Do you mind telling my dad where we are so he can come and get us? It would be a big help.”

Slowly, the clerk reaches out to take the phone and raise it to his ear. “Your…your highness?”

“Now,” the voice growls on the other end of the line, making the clerk jump nearly out of his boots. “Tell me where my daughter is. Right. Now.”

I squeal with joy as the door to the helicopter finally, finally unlocks and I can throw it open.

“Ari,” Jackson growls behind me, frustrated as I stumble out of the aircraft. “Please be careful -“

But I ignore him, regaining my feet and dashing across the rooftop, hurling myself into my dad’s waiting arms. I laugh, delighted, as my dad wraps me up tight, pressing my cheek to his chest, barely noticing the tears that streak down my face.

My dad groans in relief, like he hasn’t even let himself even consider relaxing for a moment until I was here again, safe and happy, under his protection.

“Ariel, my baby girl,” dad murmurs, bending to tuck me in close and press his face to my hair. “My sweet girl, god damn it, I was so sacred…”

“I’m okay,” I say, laughing and sniffing and nodding all at once. “I’m fine, dad – it’s all all right -“

I try to tug away, wanting to look up into his face, but dad just snarls and holds me close for a few moments more.

“Oh, Dominic,” my mom says, her voice thick with tears. “Let her go – you’re being selfish. She’s my daughter too!”

Dad grumbles about it but does as mom bids, loosening his arms and pressing a kiss to my hair and then to my cheek before passing me to my mother. My mom gives a terrible little cry as we throw ourselves at each other, joy and

agony mixed in our voices. We both blubber for a bit, crying and hugging and telling each other how much we missed each other and how worried we were.

Behind me, just passively, my ears attune to my father greeting my mate the sound of their hands

—

clasping, and then Jackson being

pulled into a hug, and then somet

murmured words of greeting and gratitude. I smile even as I tuck my head against my mom’s shoulder, refishing the feel of her in my arms and then her arms around me.

“Little baby trouble,” mom coos, stroking my back and then my hair. “You smell different, you know.”

I pull back a little, eagerly biting my lip, and mom pushes my long hair back over my shoulder, her eyes darting immediately to the fresh mark low on my neck. She squeals with happiness and excitement wrapping me up in a big hug and rocking me back and forth delighted. I burst out laughing and hug her tight to me, delighted too.

“What is it?” dad asks, and I can hear the frown in his voice.

“We’re not only celebrating a homecoming, but the addition of a son-in-law too,”

mom says, laughing and turning me towards dad.

Dad goes a bit still, looking between us, his eyes moving immediately to my neck.