My Lycan Mate of Suicide Forest

"It seems like a lifetime since I saw you last," Graeme groaned into his mate's hair, nuzzling against her neck, uncaring as to who saw.

Agnes and Ethel's house smelled divine. Love and memories, tears and laughter were all baked into the chosen desserts for this Samhain's soul cakes.

"What are you baking?" he pulled away from her only far enough to look into her eyes. His eyebrows immediately threaded together with the increase in gold he saw there, even more since he left her earlier in the evening.

"Chocolate chip cookies. My mom loved them. I mean she loves them," she laughed softly, trying to dispel the melancholy with little forced flights of breath in her laughter. "They are done already. Would you like one?" she turned to grab one off of the counter to offer him.

Graeme's eyes burned intensely into hers, forcing her to pause and acknowledge the depth of him. Once she did, her hand suspended in the air with the cookie offered, her cheeks turning pink, he leaned forward and took it slowly from her with his mouth.

He had such full, perfect lips. They were this soft, almost feminine part of him where the rest of him was mostly powerful angles and edges. But his lips were full and plump. August found herself watching them as he chewed, his eyes never straying from her as the buttery dough and melted chocolate was consumed by him. She was consumed by him.

Given that her hand was still suspended in the air where he had taken the cookie, he bent and took her thumb in his mouth next, causing her cheeks to flame brighter. "Why are your eyes behaving this way?" he whispered, drawing her attention away from the sensuous feel of his tongue that had wrapped around her flesh.

"I-I don't know," she sighed and withdrew her hand.

"Let's get you home."

Once August gave hugs and said all of her goodbyes and made sure Sage was okay staying at Sylvia's again, she and Graeme left the house alone to make their way back home. Sam and Greta had chosen to stay for awhile and assured them they would be along soon enough. Greta's miniature pies had taken longer to make, and so they were put into the oven later.

"Let me carry you," Graeme insisted when they had gotten outside.

"What? Why? What about the car?"

"Sam and Greta can drive it back," he said. He didn't want the distance between them that the Jeep created in the front seat. He wanted to feel her body against his. He needed it.

"You are a strange wolf," she laughed and jumped onto his back when he bent down to receive her.

"Good thing I'm with an even stranger human," he teased, lifting her into position, his hands under her thighs as she nuzzled against his neck with her arms around him.

"Mmmm," she hummed. "I like this. You are so warm. I missed you," and she nipped the skin of his neck, causing him to shudder under her.

"Behave back there. I don't want to drop you."

She giggled at imagining this massive male of hers losing hold of her.

It was a quiet journey through the woods while their souls spoke to each other through their shared warmth, their shared closeness. By the time they were back at the house and Graeme opened the front door, it almost felt wrong to break the peaceful silence of their commute.

August wanted to confront him about what she suspected he did while he was in Wisconsin, but the current situation with the elders was more important at the moment.

"So what happened?" she asked, following him into the kitchen where he poured himself some water.

"So much. I don't even know where to start, Moon."

He took a long drink before setting the glass down on the kitchen island, focusing on the curved transparent material and how it bent light, seemingly adhering it to its surface.

"Did you get Andreas?"

"Yes. After much else happened. Zoe was able to help us, thank Goddess. He was going to try slipping you something tonight to end the pregnancy," his eyes slid up to hers and he watched how her forehead creased and her hand unconsciously moved to her stomach. She had not wanted this, but it seemed she did now. He could feel the protective instinct swell in her.

"And I learned that once upon a time Zoe was alyko," Graeme sighed.

"W-what?!" August gasped, her mouth hanging open. "Are you sure?"

"Pearce cleared some things up for me. He said Zoe was alyko before, but she has no memory of her life prior to whatever fucked up transformation or experiment she underwent."

"She doesn't know?"

"No, oh and get this… she and Lucas found Andreas and brought him to us, so we were all at the entrance to the dungeon. Right when she was getting ready to explain what Andreas had likely been planning tonight, he mauled her… two bite wounds to the face." He pointed to his own face to indicate where the bite marks were.

"But… she can't get hurt."

"She did this time. It's the craziest thing. I checked on her before coming here, and she was all stitched up and resting," his gaze turned distant as he thought of how much he despised her only to have it turn out that she was alyko. "She looked like Frankenstein's monster," he whispered.

"Don't say that," she grimaced.

"Say what? That she looks like a monster?"

"Yes, that," she rolled her eyes at him repeating it. And then she remembered how she had called Zoe a monster in the dungeon after the girl admitted what her and Andreas had done. Her acts were despicable. But had she known any better?

"I wonder if she can be helped," August thought aloud. "So why was Andreas able to hurt her?"

Graeme shook his head silently, bracing himself against the counter. In doing so, the tendons in his forearms became more visible, and August found her eyes wandering over him again.

"It must have something to do with her being a gift to him. Kind of like… handing over the leash of a new pet to its owner," he said.

August shook her head in disgust. That's what Zoe was, wasn't she? A highly intelligent, trained pet.

******

Dear readers, I'm not sure we're going to make our goal of avg. power stones a day for the 8 chapter mass release at the end of the month. So I'm adding a second way to gain it!

For every 25 Golden Tickets the book gets between now and February 25th, 1 chapter will be added to the February 28th daily update (with a total of 10 chapters possible)! I'll also be adding privilege chapters next month, which makes it possible to read 20 brand new chapters within 2 days time. Say whaaat?

We're coming up fast on V2. Can't wait to share the next arc in this story with you all! <3