Glossy, celadon eyes followed her. Pretending to be uninterested in front of the guards grabbing afternoon coffees from the main pack house’s kitchen? Bored and hoping she would provide some entertainment? Georgie could feel Cove’s desire the same way she could feel the mate bond stretched between them. With every step closer it would ease a little on her heart. She couldn’t allow herself to, there were others in the room, and she could smell her public mate approaching.

Casey burst in and locked her swerving gaze to her almost immediately. A raised hand to the guards, an amicable acknowledgement, but her eyes were for Georgie.

“Afternoon, beautiful.”

Georgie tiptoed to her and let Casey catch her before she fell. She would only crash into her wide, muscled torso – what a shame! “Afternoon, my love,” she whispered, sickly sweet.

The guards’ hushed comments caused a chuckle to run through the huddle. Casey’s hard look over the top of Georgie’s head silenced them and sent them on their way. They were only permitted to use the main house’s facilities because the alpha had invited them in the last few years, a kind gesture, easily rescinded.

Cove was unmoved by the hostile body language. She sipped from her own mug, watching Georgie over the rim with all the feigned disinterest of before.

“I need to change,” Casey murmured into the crown of her head. “Come with me?”

There was no reason to stay. She would only be caught in the constant tug between them, unable to act, desperate for both. Casey hadn’t been out running the boundary lines or anything else that might make her sweaty and in need of a change, in fact, she smelled incredible. She always did. Georgie let herself be led by entwined fingers, curious as to whether this would be another sneaky attempt at-

“We’re going the wrong way,” she said, more to herself than Casey. They’d only made it one turning away from the kitchen and already they were taking an odd route. Casey kept pulling her through the house, unconcerned by her revelation. They didn’t take the second staircase, turning away and down a thin corridor with just one door embedded. There were a bunch of unused rooms in the main pack house, waiting for a grand purpose or holding junk until the item’s time to shine. Casey unfolded her fingers and dropped a key into Georgie’s palm.

Georgie frowned down at the tiny item. Then, she looked to the door.

“Go on.” Casey was nearly bouncing with badly contained excitement. She tucked her hands behind her back in an attempt to hide it.

Georgie shook her head, a smile from side to side. “What could possibly be behind this door that’s got you so-”

Georgie stilled in the open doorway. An enormous suite was open before her, sparse in furniture and heavily embellished with personal touches: fairy lights and candles and their camp set-up crammed around a double bed and a stout dresser.

“I know we would have preferred the first time to be out in the woods, our happy place, but-”

“Casey,” Georgie sighed. She stepped back, shouldering into her and spinning into a cuddle. “It’s perfect!”

“Yeah?” Her grin was pink-cheeked. “We don’t have to right now- I just wanted to-”

“Do you have somewhere better to be?”

“No,” Casey admitted, breathless.

―

Pillows piled just outside of the tent cushioned Georgie’s face. Her hips were propped up by more, angled in Casey’s hands. Her mate’s mouth worked around the back of her neck, replacing Georgie’s scent with her own, kissing away the tension in her shoulders. An unexpected nervousness had set in. Her body was ready, aching for it, while her brain had the ability to think of all the things that could go wrong. It could hurt... That was pretty much it, actually. Casey had bent her over like this because she was convinced it was more comfortable for her. Georgie squished her cheek into the pillows and hoped she was right. Between her lips Casey pressed against her, that same round head that she’d sucked on in the forest, filling the space made by her fingers just before. Pleasure tickled her from the inside out, the touch of her mate alone was enough to excite her senses, this… joining was sending her receptors into a frenzy. For her overthinking mind, the stretch wasn’t as scary as she had expected, not that different from Casey’s prepping, even.

Her voice was a rasp when she told her, “You’re taking me so well.” The praise soaked into Georgie, allowing her to sink beneath her, opening to her penetration, her body accepting her even more easily. She was clay softening in Casey’s grip.

Kisses worked their way down to her tail bone, the squeeze around the soft handles of her hips lifting her again. Deeper, in a push slowed by her twitching insides, Casey’s cock dug. She retreated almost all the way, then filled her again, faster this time.

“Fuck, you feel so good.”

Georgie whimpered garbled words in response, uncertain if she was supposed to thank her for the compliment. She felt good, too, the way she fit her so perfectly, the way she thrust right into that lovely spot-

Casey paused the roll of her hips. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah.”

She leant forward, checking where her face was tilted to the side. Georgie smiled, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Good girl.” Casey continued with shallow thrusts, easing her back into her rhythm again. The pleasure built, sparks stuttering through her body with every throw of her hips. The craving for something that her body could certainly not handle overtook her, a desperation for faster and harder. Her brain, once again ruining all the soul mate urges her body loved to follow without the intrusion of thought, reminded her that this was her first time having anything stuffed into her most delicate area and there was plenty of time to beg for everything and more.

Speaking of more… there seemed to be no more Casey could possibly wedge inside of her… and yet she knew there was.

“Are-” Her breath caught on a sudden thrust. She tried again, gathering her strength against Casey’s. “Are you going to use your knot?”

“No,” she groaned against her. “Not for your first time.”

However Georgie felt about her answer, Casey wouldn’t see anyway, but she didn’t know. She sped up a smidge, bouncing her against her cushioned buffer. She could feel her restraint, though, a sense on the tip of her tongue. Whatever she was withholding from her, she wanted it… maybe not yet. Her thoughts fought against her surging climax. What did she want and how did she want it and how to ask for it and...

Relax. Enjoy it for what it is. Your mate has you in her arms. She’s taking care of you.

Georgie blew out a long breath, melting with it, honing in her senses on nothing but the touch of her soulmate, inside and out, and for the first time in her life, she was struck with an orgasm without a graze of her clit. It was a warm rush, a flood of light, a symphony. Casey followed her, cuddling her close.

―

Georgie’s head lifted and lowered in time with Casey’s breaths, her bare chest warming her ear. “I can’t believe you finally have your own room,” she mused to herself.

“An alpha-sized suite,” Casey corrected giddily. “Enough room for me and my gorgeous mate.” Her fingertips tickled up between Georgie’s shoulder blades and back down her spine again. Georgie shivered and nuzzled in closer.

“You’ll need a bigger dresser for all my clothes.”

“Whatever you want, my mate.”

“A canopy for the bed, like a princess?”

“If you know where to get one.”

“A bathtub?”

“Already got it.” She nodded proudly to the other door leading out of the room. “And a shower, too.”

“Fancy,” Georgie giggled.

“Don’t have my own office yet though.” She pretended to pout. “Guess I have to take power for that.”

“You’ve got a long wait for that.”

“Have I?” It seemed like she was avoiding Georgie’s eyes in the way she suddenly became fixated on the ceiling. It was plain white paint, little to look at. “It’s not like Cove is in the running without a mate.”

“Is that how your dad has decided to select his successor?”

“No… but I only pretend not to hear the rumours.”

Georgie sighed. “Those outside your dad’s office know nothing about it.”

“Neither do I, that’s what’s so annoying.”

“Are you eager for it?” Georgie reasoned, “You don’t exactly enjoy shadowing your dad.”

“No… but I don’t like feeling like I’m in a constant competition that I don’t know the rules of.”

“Would it be a problem if Cove ‘won’ the competition?”

“I don’t know…” It seemed for a minute or so that she wasn’t planning to say any more. Then, she murmured, “I would never kick her out of the pack if I was chosen.”

“And she wouldn’t do that to you either,” Georgie assured her.

Casey didn’t argue or agree.