Salem wondered if she would ever get over the thrill and wonder of the shift from human to wolf. Cullen often laughed at her as she shifted. She tended to reach out and touch the swirling maelstrom, even though it delivered a mild electrical shock. The first time she’d shifted she’d expected it to be painful, even though everyone, including Jinx, had told her it wasn’t, and would feel like the most natural thing in the world. Too many werewolf, lycan, and other shifter movies and television shows depicted it as a horrifying experience.

The first time she’d seen Cullen shift, it had been magical. One minute he was one form that became enveloped in a swirling mist that crackled, spun, and sparked the colors of the aurora borealis, and then it dissipated and revealed his other form. It was still a source of wonder to her—be it his shift or hers.

She had just returned to their room from galloping across the estate with Cullen. The freedom of being wolf was becoming ingrained and had become a daily ritual. Her days had fallen into a lovely routine: waking up in Cullen’s arms, usually with him initiating sex, shifting and taking a run, then back to their room for a shower before joining the pack for breakfast.

The day after their fight with the League and the warlocks, Salem had resigned from both the Bureau and the SPU. Chris Reeves had tried desperately to talk her out of it, but she had remained firm. She wasn’t cut out to be a spy, and the conflict of interest between her current and former lives had seemed too great to be tolerable.

She’d been teasing and flirtatious with him all morning—earning scowls and growls for her trouble, both of which had not deterred her in the least.

“I’m heading down. I want to talk to Jinx,” she called over her shoulder as she left their room.

“Salem, wait!” he snarled—a sound which she barely heard as she closed the door behind her.

Laughing, she trotted down the stairs and made her way to the dining hall where there was already a lively buzz of conversations. Taking her place at the head table, she joined both Shaw and Jinx. If Shaw was Cullen’s beta, Jinx was most definitely hers. The close friendship had developed rapidly, and Salem trusted Jinx completely.

Grumbling, Cullen entered the dining room.

Spotting him, Salem raised her glass of orange juice. “All hail our most noble alpha.”

There was good-natured ribbing and laughter amongst the pack.

“One of these days he’s going to take you to task for that kind of behavior,” said Shaw in a stern voice.

Salem turned to look at him. “And what makes you so sure he’d be the victor in that confrontation?” she quipped.

“Because he has faith in his alpha’s ability to quell his mate,” Cullen said, kissing the top of her head before pulling her out of her chair and tossing her over his shoulder.

Salem knew she should be concerned or angry at him for the blatant display of his dominance, but the pack’s laughter and her own rush of arousal made her indignation disperse immediately.

“Cullen,” she squealed.

He seemed to pay neither her nor their pack any mind. Cullen could be a cultured and caring gentleman but had no problem allowing his alpha wolf to come to the fore. When Salem started to struggle—albeit halfheartedly—he landed a sharp swat to her upturned backside with as much sting as affection.

Cullen strode out of the dining hall and took the stairs two at a time before striding down the hallway to their room like he owned the place, which technically he did. Accessing their room, he closed the door behind them before setting her on her feet.

“That was about as subtle as a freight train,” she said with amusement.

“My need for you this morning has surpassed my willingness or ability to be subtle.”

He proved his point by wasting no time in getting both of them naked. His great beast had taken hold and needed to be fed. He shoved her back on their bed, allowing her legs to dangle off the edge. Salem noticed that not only was his cock fully engorged, he had allowed a knot to form. So much for getting anything done this morning.

“I take it we won’t be seeing anyone before lunch?”

He turned back to the door, putting the Do Not Disturb sign on the hallway side, and then locked the door.

“You would be correct. I’m beginning to think that knotting and tying you to me on a daily basis might be the way to go.”

Cullen knew Salem reveled in being knotted. From the first, she had craved taking his knot as much as he had giving it to her.

Salem rumbled low. “You’ve had worse ideas…”

He stood between her legs, his eyes raking her naked body before reaching down and gently rubbing her swollen clit as it peeked out from beneath its hood. He ran his finger from her nub to her labia, parting them so that he could stroke her sheath. He smiled as she caught her breath.

“Do you have any idea what you do to me?” he rumbled.

Salem looked at his cock, pointedly. “I’m beginning to get an idea, but why don’t you come and show me.”

A low growl, filled with arousal and need, flooded the link. “Then I will make it my life’s work to ensure you are fully informed and reminded several times a day.”

His pupils dilated with lust as he watched his words inflame her desire, causing her nipples to stiffen and goosebumps to rise along her flushed skin. He inhaled deeply, scenting the sweet smell of her arousal, and howled silently down the link, calling her own lust to leap forward. How could he doubt she knew? She’d been fucked thoroughly and often, and each day she seemed to crave his touch and his cock just a bit more. Both his cock and the knot at its base were impressive and they belonged only to her.

Salem scooted her way from the edge of the bed, not trying to get away from him, but to make room. She sent her own growl of arousal down the link back to him. Cullen crawled up onto the bed between her legs—kissing, sucking, and licking as he moved up her body. He paid deliberate and lingering homage to both of her nipples as they offered themselves to him. He alternated between them and used both his mouth and hands on her to inflame the fires of passion that fast became a wildfire of need and desire.

Continuing to palm her breasts, Cullen moved down her body until he had his head between her legs with her legs raised up and over his shoulders. He nuzzled her clit, before sucking it into his mouth where he laved his tongue around it, interspersed with gentle nipping. Cullen parted her labia so that he could stroke and tease her pussy. Salem’s response was to moan as she writhed beneath the onslaught of his tongue. He lapped up the excess of the sweet nectar they both knew was needed in order for him to breach her with his knot.

“Cullen, please.”

“Ah, that’s what I like: when you beg me for my knot.”

Nipping her swollen nub a last time, he licked his way down to the opening of her core where he rolled his tongue into a spear and plunged it inside her before letting it uncurl so that he could fully taste her honeyed essence. Her legs trembled as she lay on her back and cried out for him. Cullen drew back so as to not send her over the edge. Salem knew he wanted to breach her as she orgasmed. Her groan of frustration was met with his smile. He could be a real sonofabitch when he tried.

He stroked her body to soothe rather than inflame. Once she quieted, he began to use his tongue again. Salem’s arousal was quickly reignited, and she undulated her hips, pushing her sex up into his face to get him to give her more. Her hands clutched at his head. When she tugged on his hair in order to encourage him to cease his playing and mount her, he moved his mouth back up the way it had come until he reached her clit, which he nipped, making her yowl.

“Be careful, my mate, or I will force the suppression of my knot, flip you on your belly and take your ass.”

He silenced her protest with a soul-stealing kiss, taking possession of her mouth in the same way he meant to do with the rest of her. Having made his point, Cullen slid down her body, gave her nub a brief nuzzle before moving back down to sup from her again. He stabbed at her core with his tongue as his teeth gently grazed her outer lips. Her hips moved with increasing speed and determination. Gently he fingered her dark rosebud before inserting the tip of his finger. Salem no longer offered even a token resistance. He would have her when, where, and how he wanted. It aided his cause that she knew he would ensure her pleasure even before he took his own.

Slowly he worked his way back up her body. His cock throbbed between them and the knot as it made contact with her skin was warm and hard. Salem spread her legs wider so that he could easily settle himself between them; the head of his cock prodded between her thighs, seeking the sheath in which it belonged.

Reaching between them, he fingered her core as he pressed his thumb against her clit before slipping his hands beneath her body, grasping her buttocks, squeezing them lightly and steadying her.

His mouth captured hers completely as he surged forward with a ferocity and power unlike any other. Salem’s body convulsed and she screamed into his mouth as he thrust home, breaching her with his knot. Salem wrapped her arms around him, her nails digging into his back as Cullen growled gutturally and continued to kiss her passionately.

He lay still within her, allowing her body to relax and accept that he had breached her in a way that only an alpha male wolf-shifter could. He held her tight so that she couldn’t injure either of them, but didn’t try to move within her. When her body relaxed and she began to return his kisses, her breathing returned to a more normal state. He inhaled sharply as the knot began to swell, ensuring that none of his seed would escape.

He held her tight and nuzzled her neck. “There has never been another for me… nor will there ever be.”

“Cullen,” she moaned as she recognized he spoke the truth, not only for himself, but for her as well.

She searched his face and saw the truth of their shared destiny. She could see the love and desire she felt for him being reflected back to her from within the depths of his eyes. Salem wrapped her arms around his neck and intertwined her legs with his in a wanton response to his possession.

Cullen gathered her close as he began to roll his hips forward, causing him to rock within her. Salem clung to him as her pussy pulsed all along his cock, including the knot. She knew this was the ultimate act of intimacy and she craved the tie as much as she did the actual knotting. Salem had never known such pleasure and gratification. Calling his name, she came hard in response to his rhythmic motions and clawed at his back, growling seductively to urge him on.

Salem’s eyes rolled back in her head as she surrendered herself—body and soul—to his keeping.