Bound

Triplet Challenge

CLAIRE POV

I kissed Alexi with a depth that set every cell of my body on fire. I didn't want to let him go. Not even a little bit. Not even at all. The last day had been...nice. I had not experienced nice with this wolf, with this man, with this mate. It had been all guarded tension and clashing of the egos. Maybe we needed Xavier to balance us out so that we could chip off the blocks on our shoulders and fit together.

We were standing in the strip of no-man's-land sandwiched between our territories, where he used to meet with Sandra. They would have made babies with lovely tawny russet hair. I thought with a bitter twist, making sure that the thought was kept well away from Xavier, lest he pick up on my secret jealousy again and wave it around in the open air.

There were no actual signs that announced the distinction between the territories. No line dividing oak trees that shared the ecosystem companionably with other plants thriving in mediterranean conditions, and withstanding the drought of summer.

But on my side it felt like home. The secure feeling of knowing that you could toss your handbag, and slouch on the couch, with smells of dinner wafting from the kitchen. That easing of tension that you didn't realise had constricted your heart ever-so-slightly until it was gone.

On the Blood Moon Pack's territory it didn't feel bad as such, but my spidey senses watched vigilantly with a sharpness to their attention. As if my metaphorical ears were constantly picked up, and a cautions nose kept itself to the wind.

Alexi's additions to the spread of information surrounding the mysterious decline of Sandra's pack had been invaluable, but there was nothing more that he could add here. I hummed contentedly in his presence, but the others were mentally kicking and screaming as a result. The discussion was also starting to veer into territory that I did not want the Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack privy to. Mate or not.

He pulled me closer, so that our bodies were flush with each other, trying to become one in a moment that demanded we stay as two. "I could stay here all day you know." He rumbled at me. They were nice words. Pretty lies.

"Liar." I tapped him on the nose and watched the play of emotions over his face while he decided whether to take offence to the imprudent gesture. "You have your own business to mind."

"Ok. Maybe." Lines creased his forehead, so I reached up to smooth them away with my thumb. Casual gestures like this were still so new, that his eyes flew open in surprise, and I snatched my hand back as if burned.

He caught it, kissed it, and finished his sentence "...But it slots in far behind the worry I feel for you after experiencing that bloody mess, and the possibility that the threat isn't over."

I appreciated his concern, but it also kind of made me mad. I needed that when this all happened, but had processed it alone, and now I was too stubborn to accept his token concern.

"Would you treat any other Alpha with this molly-coddling?" I knew the answer to the question before the

"No." rumbled out stubbornly.

"Then show me the same respect Alexi. This is what it means to be Alpha, and I don't need the community at large seeing you treating me like I'm weak." I didn't finish the sentence, but it rang out between us anyway 'Not after everything you have already done.'

He held me a little tighter, not knowing what to say to that. Could he feel me pushing him away? Could he feel me wanting never to leave his arms? Could he feel me splitting in two pieces of longing and resistance? Pieces that warred with each other, with the victor of any particular skirmish being the Claire he got to experience in that encounter. The loser being chained, but by no means incapacitated as it hollered from the sidelines.