Chapter 22

(**Irina’s POV**)

I woke to the feeling of Sebastion running his hand up and down my arm. The realization of where I am making me jolt upright. Where had Sebastion taken Eric? Would he really kill him like Eric asked?

“Relax, the sun isn’t up yet. There is still time for you to get back into Portland without risking more of Vicktor’s trackers finding you.” Sebastion’s voice, and the way he was now stroking my back, had me calming down despite the turmoil going on in my mind.

“There is only Eric, Issac, and myself that he uses as trackers. Issac is in France, Eric is where ever your men took him, and I am right here.” I turn around to look at him.

Sebastion is laying back on the floor with his head on a pillow. One of his powerfully muscled arms is under his head, while the other is still running up and down my back. That amazingly smooth wall of his chiseled chest is bare for my eyes to devour. I rake my hungry gaze down his chest to where the blanket he found for us is loosely draped around his waist. The v-line of his abdominal muscles practically making me drool at what I know is just below that thin layer of cotton.

“Like what you see, Irina?” Sebastion’s eyes twinkle as I look back up at him.

I swallow hard as his eyes go from that beautiful brown to onyx as he smells my arousal. “You know damn well that I do.”

“Look your fill then, Rin,” His voice deepened as he watched me lick my lips. He moved his other arm up behind his head to give me all I wanted.

I have had no one call me by that nickname before. I blinked for a moment to decide if I like it or not. I think I do. I smile down at him before I lean in to press my lips to his. As with all our kisses, this one quickly spins out of control. Our tongues dueling in a heated battle for dominance as my hands roam up and down his torso. I break the kiss so I can move the blanket out of my way.

My hand going to his already hard member, causing him to moan. I want him in my mouth right now. I kiss my way down his body, then move to kneel between his massive thighs. I flick my eyes up at him as I run my tongue over the head of his shaft. I feel him shiver as I stroke my hand up, then back down. I take him into my mouth until I can’t go any further. Finding my rhythm, I lick, suck, and stroke him as he moans his pleasure.

“Holy fuck, Irina,” Sebastion growls as I feel him getting close to his release.

Then it felt like a bucket of ice is thrown over both of us as someone cleared their throat from the doorway of the boathouse. I sit up in a panic, grabbing at the blanket to cover myself. Then I make eye contact with a woman who looks so very much like Sebastion and Arianna. Fantastic, of all the ways to meet more of the Drakos family.

Sebastion sits up, twisting his torso around to look behind him. “Mom!”

Well, this just gets worse. Not just any family member. This woman standing in the doorway looking at us is his mother. The current pack Luna since Sebastion hasn’t replaced her with his mate yet. Why did I have to meet this woman for the first time while giving her son a blowjob? Talk about first impressions.

“Well, I am just going to go back to the house now. Sebastion, bring Irina inside when you two are finished, preferably clothed.” Lenore laughed as she turned around and left them alone.

“You told your mother about me already?” I ask him as I scramble up from the floor.

“Yes, but not by my choice. Arianna had a tantrum and called our parents to talk sense into me. They were coming here in a week anyway, but now they are here early because my sister is freaking out.” Sebastion stands up from the floor as he explains it to me.

“Do they know everything?”

“Yes. I hold nothing important back from my parents. They are on the Werewolf Council. Come, let’s get dressed and up to the house. There is nothing in here that is for a woman, but there should be something that will fit.” He moves to the dresser to pull out clothes for both of us.

My mind is in shock. His parents are on the Werewolf Council and are aware of what is going on with The Collectors. Why had they not done anything about it? Why would they allow those heinous acts to continue?

“Here, these are big, but we will grab you something to wear from our storage at the pack house on the way to the mansion,” Sebastion walked back to me and handed me a t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts.

“Does your pack not allow women to be warriors or guards?” I ask him as I put the clothes on.

“What? Why do you ask that?”

“These are all men’s clothes,” I tell him once I am dressed.

“We do, but we don’t currently have any woman on our guard or scout roster. Some are still training, some have taken time off to have pups, and some have retired.”

“Oh, well then lead the way to the pack house so I can find something that fits better than this.” I motion my hand towards the door.

Instead of walking to the door, Sebastion pulled me against his body tightly, then kissed me until I was left breathless. When he was satisfied with himself, he turned and walked away, leaving me to stare after him for a few seconds. Once my brain refocused, he was already out of the boathouse, I rush out after him. This man can muddle my brain so fast with a kiss, and I am not sure I like it.

(**Sebastion’s POV**)

I lead Irina to the pack house for clothes. It is early enough that there won’t be much activity of those that live there. Most of our members have their own houses, but some live in one of the many rooms available for them on the second floor. Flint and Justin live there with their mates. Two of our pack cooks live there with their families. There is a large storage room on the first floor near the kitchen where we keep clothes, blankets, and other small household items.

This has me thinking that a larger storage facility near the pack house would be a good idea. I have been toying with the idea of having one built along with a recreation center for the last year. Since our pack has expanded recently, now is a good time to get those build. I will bring it up to Flint and Justin later today and send an email to Arianna about it too.

When we reach the house, I open the door quietly as to not wake anyone, then lead Irina through an archway to the left of the front door. This leads down a hallway towards the back of the house where the kitchen is located. When we reach the door to the storage room, I open it, turn the light on, then motion for Irina to step inside. I can hear pack members moving around the second floor as they rise for the day.

I am sure I will have to introduce Irina to some members on our way out of the house. What will I introduce her as? My lover? My mate? Their future Luna, even though she doesn’t want it? I contemplate all this as Irina wanders the clothes racks to find what she wants to wear. I make a mental note of everything she likes, but passes up as she continues to look. I will have those items moved to my room so she will have clothes for the next time she is here.

Since there is no one left following her, I hope to have her stay with me until we find Zasha.

“I think I have what I want. I will take it with me back to the house so I can get dressed after a shower,” Irina comes back to me with her choices.

“I want you to stay with me until Vicktor gets back in town,” I grab her hand before she passes me to leave the room.

This stops her in her tracks as she looks up at me. “That is dangerous, Sebastion.”

“You said it yourself, there is no one left to watch you. You are safe here with me.”

“Let’s talk about this once we get to your house. This is not the place for this topic,” She tells me as she squeezes my hand.

Reluctantly, I agree with her. I lead her back to the front door and as expected we are greeted by pack members who have surprised looks on their faces. As I am asked those questions, I feel Irina stiffen beside me. I can feel her panic through our mate bond, but since we haven’t marked each other, and she isn’t a part of my pack, I can’t mind link her. All I can do is run my hand down her slender back to soothe her.

I tell them she is my personal assistant at Drakos Enterprises. Telling them she stayed overnight so we could get some work done. No one questioned me, but I could see the knowing looks in their eyes as they all could smell my scent all over her. Let them think whatever they want for now. There is nothing I can do to change the situation for the time being. They don’t need to know the truth just yet.

Thirty minutes later, I finally extracted us both from the pack house. Irina looked shell-shocked at being bombarded with all those questions. I forget how long it has been since she was last in a pack. That makes me want to know more about her past life before Vicktor took her. I will ask some of those questions later when we are alone again.

Once we reach the mansion, the sight that greets us makes me stop in the courtyard. Flynn is putting bags in the trunk of his car with angry tosses. Is he angry that I am sending Arianna to Virginia? I would think he would be happy to get out of the area to have his family to himself for a few days. “Flynn, is everything ok?”

His head jerks up and swings in my direction. The anger in his eyes vanishes as he makes eye contact with me, “Ah, the man himself.”

“What have I done now?” I ask him calmly. We had never had issues before, and I hope that there will be none now.

“You have done nothing wrong, despite what your sister claims. I am not angry at you in the slightest. I am pissed at her,” Flynn dumps one more bag in the trunk then slams it shut.

Well, fuck. My sister’s stubborn nature is causing her trouble in her relationship.

“I am sorry for my part in this,” Irina tells him.

Flynn looks at her as she speaks, his eyes register surprise like he only now noticed her. “I am guessing you are Irina then?”

“Yes, and I am sorry that my presence has caused issues in your life.” Irina moved away from me as she spoke. That pissed me off, so I pulled her back to me.

“Oh, there you are, Sebastion,” Arianna’s voice too happy as she stepped out of the house with Callie.

Good. My sister will not make an ass of herself in front of Callie, no matter how angry she is.

“Oh, and your new play thing is with you too,” her voice changed to anger instantly when she noticed Irina next to me.

I was wrong.

“Let’s not do this in front of our daughter, Arianna.” Flynn’s voice came out in a harsh and quiet.

Arianna jumped at his words, lowering her head as she walked to the car to help Callie into the back seat.

“You three have a safe trip to Virginia. I will check in with you, Arianna, in a few days to see how things are going.” I tell her as I move towards the house.

“I can deal with this on my own, Sebastion, I don’t need your help.” Arianna growls at me as she walks to the passenger seat.

“I sent the details to your work email,” I ignore her and opened the door.

I ushered Irina inside the house, closing the door behind me once she is inside. I reach for her hand to lead her up the stairs for a shower, but she pulls her hand from mine to just stand in the foyer. I turn around to look at her in confusion. The look on her face stops me in my tracks. She is angry, yet her eyes are glittering with tears.

“Irina, what is wrong?”

“I want to punch your sister in the face, but that will solve nothing. I understand it upsets her. I think I would be too if the situations were reversed. I don’t belong in your world, Sebastion.”

“Stop. You are my mate, Irina. This is your world now, too. I know there are far more pressing issues right now than our mate bond, but that doesn’t change facts. How my sister feels about you changes nothing. You belong right here with me,” I whisper the last part as I step up close to her.

“Being here puts everyone in this pack at greater risk than they already are,” her eyes are brimming with tears.

“Rin, they are in danger with me being here. You being here don’t put them at risk. They were put in that situation because of Vicktor, not you. Please, stop looking for reasons to pull back from this between us.” My voice hardens before I can stop it.

I know what she is doing. If she can put distance between the two of us on every level, she is thinking it will protect the pack full of innocent wolves. The way she is thinking makes my heart constrict in pain. I like how she is thinking of others in this situation, but I want so badly for her to think about us too. Even if now isn’t the right time for us to be together, I am falling for her faster than I want to admit.

I know so little about her, but I can’t help but fall in love with her.

“It would be best for now if I don’t come here again. We will keep things between us as they are until we resolve the situation with Vicktor. Once the danger over our heads is gone, we can explore what we have,” Irina turns away from me before I can stop her.

Jace comes barreling down across the foyer, crashing into my legs, causing me to bend down to pick him up. When I stand up to look back at Irina, she just smiles sadly before she walks upstairs to my room. I have my hands full with my son, so I let her walk away. I will try to get her to see things my way once we are alone again.