The Secrets of the Panther
Chapter 24

BLAKE

I am actually kissing my mate.

Her taste is so sweet; our mouths are moving as one. I let a groan slip out, and she moved away, breathing hard and looking flushed.

I wanted her so much.

“That was something,” she said with a smile.

“There is plenty more where that came from,” I smirked.

I am rock hard after that kiss, and I can tell she is trying to fight the verge of look at it.

“We need to calm down,” she says, looking straight into my eyes.

“If you say so,” I said, feeling hurt but I should be happy that she wanted to kiss me.

I look at her; her nakedness stuns me more.

Her body is curvy, and her breasts are just right; her nipples are hard. I work my way down her body; a thick scar is on her thigh.

I wonder what happened there.

She blushed.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she said.

“I can’t help it; you are so damn gorgeous,” I said as my cock twitched.

“I think…ah...we should head back,” she said, noticing the erection I got.

The blush on her face comes redder than before.

I want to laugh, but I don’t; I love how she is during this moment with me. I don’t want to scare her.

She looks around and back at me. “I think we should shift,” she said. “I mean so we can get back; I didn’t realize how far out I came.”

I nodded.

“I want to see my mate,” Axel whines, panting in my head, and I can’t help but laugh out loud, catching Izzy off guard.

“Axel, my wolf, wants to meet Puna,” I tell her.

Her face is blank.

“She is talking to her panther,” Axel whispers.

Izzy looked back at me and smiled.

She nods and shifts before my eyes without saying anything to me.

Puna sits where Izzy was standing. Her green eyes looked at me all over. I walked up to her slowly, reaching my hand out to her.

I didn’t have to go too far as Puna placed her head in my hand to let me smooth her. Her fur felt like silk, and she was purring.

“I want to see mate too,” Axel whined.

I chuckled.

“Have at it, big guy. Don’t do anything; we are still trying to get them to trust us,” I said.

Axel huffs out, “I won’t, I promise.”

I step back from Puna and Axel takes over. He shifts.

We look down at Puna, whose eyes have gone wild and huge; we are huge in height.

Axel wags his tail at his mate, but Puna gets up and rubs herself all over him, which startles Axel at first, but he recovers with a lick to her face which she growls at him.

I can feel my wolf’s love for his mate sweep through.

Axel and Puna decide to walk back, which takes longer; they wanted time together. They needed it as much as we did.

“I can feel Izzy,” he said through our mind link. “The power is strong when they feel.”

I look through his eyes and see Puna looking at us, but I can sense Izzy is there with her.

When they came close together like that, Puna’s eyes changed slightly; they weren’t just green; they had a tinge of blue wash over them. I couldn’t help but admire them. They were gorgeous, and they were our mates.

After walking for over an hour, it was now dark. We were walking through the streets. We made our way to Kat’s house.

On the doorstep laid a pair of men’s shorts and a shirt.

We both shift back into our human form. I grabbed the shorts while Izzy grabbed the shirt.

Once we were both dressed, I looked down at her. She was messing with the hem of the shirt; I could tell she was nervous.

“Izzy, can I ask you something?” I asked.

She looks up at me and nods.

“Will you allow me to show you I am a good guy? I want to show you that not all mates are like your dad,” I said.

She stares at me for a moment.

“Blake, I can’t guarantee anything. I have seen what happens when a mate rejects someone and what it can do to them. But I also have been through stuff that has broken me,” she said.

I could feel pain in my chest. It’s like a rejection when she says stuff like this.

But she surprises me; she takes a step closer to me. She goes on her tippy toes, kisses my cheek, and whispers, “Blake, give me some time. I want to try, but I can’t make any promises.”

She returns to her feet and steps to the front door, but before she goes in, she turns to me and smiles. “Maybe a coffee or something first, you know, so we can get to know each other better. Maybe in a day or two, just stop by Kat’s.”

“I would like that,” I said. “I will see you at Kat’s soon.”

She smiles and walks into the house.

I turn on my feet and head in the pack house direction; I can’t help the smile that has formed on my face.

As I walk, I can feel someone watching me.

I looked around, but no one was there.

I best mind linking my father to let him know I found Izzy and she is home.

“Dad, I’m on my way back now,” I said through the mind link. “Izzy is back and safe.”

I still look around; someone is definitely watching me. I sniff the air, no scent.

“That’s great news,” he says, weary. “Blake, you need to get home soon, Elder Johnson is here, and he has some information that he wants to talk to you about.”

I stop in my tracks at the sound of that man’s name, and I growl.

“What does he want? What information?” I ask through gritted teeth.

“I don’t know; he won’t say. He is waiting for you to come back,” he says.

“I think it might be to do with Izzy,” he says quietly. “Your mother wants to rip his throat out, so hurry, son.”

I took another look around; no one was there.

I take off running back to the pack house.

UNKNOWN

I watch as the alpha runs off; thank you, Helga, for the potion to mask my scent. I have been waiting for her to come home. But he was not supposed to be with her; stupid mutts I work with, they will die if I don’t get what I want.

That alpha cannot have her.

She is mine.

I want her.

I have come back to claim whether she knows it, and it makes me happy knowing she won’t like it.

We have unfinished business.

I have to have her before he comes back. He still doesn’t understand why I want her. I have wanted to make her suffer as I suffered. Maybe I will kill her. I had watched her suffer before and even did it to her five years ago.

She will be mine.