MORE NOVEMBER

I opened my eyes just in time to see my mate start crying. She reached out for me, and I got onto the bed with her, pinning her beneath me and growling lowly in her ear. She clung to me and kept crying, so I just rode it out and waited for her to stop. It took a while, but she finally did, inhaling in shaking sobs while she tried to calm down. I licked away her tears and nuzzled her face until her gasping slowed and she managed to control her breathing.

"Done now?" I asked.

She closed her eyes and nodded. "Uh huh."

I kissed her eyelids and licked her lips. That earned me a small smile, so I did it again. She pressed a kiss against my lips, and I kissed back. I went slow, but I kept at it until she returned my kisses more eagerly. I pulled back to catch my breath, and she pressed her face up into my neck. I let her nuzzle against it and growled for her again.

"Proud of you, kitling. We both are."

She sniffled and nodded. I waited, and after a few moments, she relaxed and stopped clinging so tightly. It didn't bother me, but it was difficult to have a conversation with her hiding her face in my neck. I shifted and laid on my side, but kept my arms firmly wrapped around her. She laid on her back and absently stroked over my chest.

"I love you." I murmured.

She settled her hand on my hip and leaned up to kiss my jaw. I bumped my chin against her head, and she settled back down with a soft smile. She acted like she was tired, but it was the middle of the day, and I knew her body wasn't actually sleepy. What my mate needed was a distraction, something she could do that didn't require a lot of thinking.

Be careful. She's all emotional and shit. Don't fuck it up.

She's not emotional, she's emotionally exhausted, dumbass.

You wagging our dick at her isn't going to make her feel better.

Bet a good, hard come would though.

The human didn't have an argument for that, just the paranoid suspicion that I couldn't be trusted to handle our mate. But fuck him. He'd already promised me this time with her, and she'd asked for me anyway. She might want to talk though, so I'd get that out of the way first.

"Feel better?" I asked, petting down her side.

She stretched out beneath my hand. "M'not mad anymore."

I paused. "You're not mad at them?"

"No...they're not worth it." She mumbled.

I started petting her again, but I didn't have anything to say back to that. I didn't want her to be angry and upset, but I couldn't understand how she could just forgive them like that either.

"Ah was mad for a long time." She looked up at me sadly. "Even after Ah met yah. But Ah like this, an' Ah don't wanna be mad anymore."

I flexed my hand on her waist. "This?"

"Us." She answered. "Ah like being with yah, an' loving yah, an' Ah don't wanna mess this up 'cause Ah'm angry."

Well, fuck.

"Plus...Ah think yah mighta broke mah dad's whole face, so Ah'm willing to call that even an' walk away."

I pulled her a bit closer. She was walking away to be with me, and she didn't ever get to go back to them. My voice in her head must have said something similar, or maybe she just knew me, and she leaned up to kiss me again. This time I followed her when she lay back down, shifting my weight back over her.

"Do you want me to touch you, kit?" I asked.

She blushed and looked away. "Yah don't have to..."

Why did my mate always think I wouldn't want to touch her? Did the human act like he didn't want to? He'd better not be fucking things up with her...again.

"I meant, will you let me touch you?"

I held my hand over her face and waited for her permission. She grinned shyly, then turned her head to press her cheek against my palm. I could almost cover her face with my hand. I moved my hand up into her hair to feel how soft it was. I wondered if she would ever let me wrap it around my cock. I raised a strand to my nose and sniffed it. Her scent was imprinted in my mind, but sometimes I liked to savor it. I rubbed it between my fingers, then over my lips. Would the hair on her sweet little pussy feel this soft?

I let it drop and moved onto her face next, the way she had done when she touched me. Her skin was smooth, and I brushed my thumb over her cheek and down to her lips. She parted them slightly and kissed my thumb. I pressed it harder against her lips, and her tongue darted out to lick the skin. I growled, and she flushed. She held my stare and didn't back down though. I dragged my hand down to cover her neck and part of her throat, rubbing over the chain of my tags with my thumb. She lay still and looked up at me with curiosity, not even worrying about my hand at her throat. My Marie-mate was never afraid of me.

"Shirt off?" I asked.

She nodded after a moment and reached for the hem of her shirt herself. I reached down and stilled her hands, brushing them aside.

"Let me."

She kept her hands still while I tugged up the hem, and I had to stop and wait for her to lift her arms. She realized what I needed and quickly lifted them up. I pulled it over her head and tossed it in the corner. She settled her hands awkwardly on the bed, obviously trying not to cover up. I moved my hand back to her waist and rubbed up her side soothingly.

"Beautiful." I whispered. "So good."

I never thought I would have a mate so pretty and kind. I never really believed I would find a mate at all. And now I had my perfect Marie-mate. I splayed my hand across her stomach, and she flinched away.

I looked up at her. "Not...good?"

She started blushing again and squirmed. "Ah jus'...yah shouldn't touch a woman's stomach."

"Why?" I asked. "Is there something wrong with it?"

"No, uhm..."

I leaned down and licked above her navel. She jumped but didn't push me away. I lapped and kissed up to her ribs. She squirmed around more and giggled. I made a note that she was ticklish there and moved on, until I had covered her entire stomach. When I looked up, she was smiling and didn't smell nervous anymore.

"Pretty." I insisted.

I usually tried to speak better for my mate, but it was hard to think of human words when I had her smiling and partly naked beneath me. She smiled more widely, and I got a quick kiss in before I pulled back and tried to push things further.

"This thing?" I tugged at the grey thing hiding away her tits.

She began to shy away again. "Um...is Logan okay with that?"

The human had been suspiciously quiet, so I closed my eyes and searched for him. I found him lurking closer than I thought, just watching us.

I get to watch, and you stop bitching about your turn.

Deal.

I opened my eyes and looked down at my mate. "Yeah. He's riding shotgun."

"Okay."

"You want me to?" I checked.

"Will yah do the licking thing?" She asked shyly.

I raised my eyebrow. "Yes."

"Then yeah." She said. "That's...yeah."

I grinned and popped out a claw to cut away the scrap of cloth. She raised her arms and crossed them protectively over her chest, although she didn't smell scared.

"No, Wolvie! This is my favorite bra!" She protested.

I sat back and huffed. Whatever it was, I wanted it off of her right now. She sat up too and reached behind herself.

"It unclasps in the back." She pulled it off. "See?"

I stared at her tits. "Yeah, I'm lookin'."

She flushed and tried to cover up. I grabbed her wrists and pushed her down, pinning her hands over her head. Her blush spread farther down her chest, but she didn't struggle. I waited another moment to be sure, but she stayed submissive. I growled lowly in approval.

"Good kitling."

Her blush spread down her neck, just barely reaching her tits. They were smaller than what I was used to, but those had all been fake and ridiculously large. My Marie-mate's tits were perky and beautiful though, her little pink nipples making my mouth water. I lowered my head to nuzzle them first so I could rub my scent into her skin. She hummed when my muttonchops brushed over her nipple, so I did it again. Then I gave it a few quick licks to soothe it. She twisted and whined when I pulled away, and I smirked. I rubbed my thumb in slow circles around her wet nipple, just to watch it pucker up even harder. She whimpered and tried to squirm, but I leaned more of my weight on her to keep her pinned down.

"Wolvie..." She whined.

I loved the sound of my mate begging so much, I decided to make her wait, just so I could listen to her plead some more. I brushed her nipple to reward her for begging so pretty, but then went back to rubbing around it. She made another needy noise and opened her eyes to give me a pleading look too.

"Please, sir?"

I had to hold myself back from fucking her right then. She didn't need to know I'd give her anything if she asked like that, or she might start using it against me. So I tried to act like I hadn't almost came in my pants and forced myself to wait for her to open her mouth to plead again. Then I leaned down and covered her tit with my mouth, sucking and lapping to savor her taste. She moaned in relief and arched her back to push her chest up, and I growled around her nipple, which caused her to moan again. She tasted so good, and the noises she made were going straight to my cock. I grabbed her behind the knee and yanked her leg up around my waist so I could rub against her, and she pushed her hips up eagerly.

Stay on track. This is about her, not you.

I growled at the human's interruption, but he had a point. If we kept this up, I was just going to flip her over and claim her. I sat up and roughly cleared my throat to speak, but she pushed her face up and parted her lips in invitation. I wanted to rub the tip of my cock across her bottom lip, but I settled for leaning down and pushing my tongue inside her mouth instead. I broke the kiss soon though, still trying to slow things down some. But she twisted her head to the side and bared her neck to me next, and I couldn't resist that invitation either. I sucked several dark love-bites over her neck and throat, making damn sure anyone who saw her would know I already staked my claim on her. My Marie-mate kept making gasping moans and grinding her hips up into mine, and I had to wrench myself away from her to sit back up again.

"M'rie." I growled.

"Please!" She gasped. "Don't stop."

I was going to make her come until she couldn't move. Going to bury my cock so dee—

No.

I snarled.

Not yet. Taste her.

I cocked my head and considered, then decided that was something we could both agree on. I wanted a proper taste of my mate, and I wanted her to come for me.

"F'I leggo of yer hands, are ya gonna be good?" I asked.

She looked up at me, chest heaving. "Can Ah touch yah?"

I nodded. "M'gonna take off yer pants though, and I don't want ya trynta cover up."

She nodded back and didn't make any protests, so I let go of her wrists and quickly began stripping off her jeans. She lifted her legs and helped me get them off, then lay still and obedient while I looked over her.

"Ya remember when I said I'd lick ya all over?"

"Yes." She breathed.

I placed my hand over the panties covering her. "Gonna do that now."

The sudden nervousness in her scent reminded me that she was just a kitling, one that had never been touched before. So as much as I wanted to rip the stupid cloth off of her and bury my face between her legs, I smoothed my hand up over her stomach and to her side. She closed her eyes and arched into my touch a little, and I settled back down on my side next to her. I kissed her again, lazily tasting her until she began to relax. When I pulled away, I raised my hand up to cup her cheek.

"You're my Marie-mate, and I will always love you." I said, trying hard to speak right.

She smiled, and the last of the nervousness left her scent. "Ah love yah too."

I kissed her forehead, then licked her cheek, and she giggled. I didn't understand what was funny about me scent marking her, but I was just happy she was happy again. I moved down to her neck, leaving love-bites on the other side too. She finally raised her hands to touch me back, one hand rubbing over my shoulder and the other sliding into my hair. I growled and nipped at her collarbone when she began to tug lightly. Her hips lifted and pushed against my own again. I gripped the side of her hip so I could hold her down and grind slowly. She made a mewling noise when I bit lightly at her nipple too, and then sighed as I sucked away the sting. I switched to her other tit and did the same before I shifted down to lick around her navel. That separated our hips, so I hitched her legs up around my stomach instead. I sucked another love-bite over her hipbone, and she tried to buck her hips up.

"Pleeeease..."

I smirked and kept going down, skipping past her panties. By the time I got down to her knee, she didn't have anything between her legs and she was starting to tug at my hair, trying to pull me back up. I deliberately ignored her and kissed down her calf to her ankle. It was so small, I could wrap my hand all the way around it. I moved over to her other ankle and began to work my way up her leg. She reached for me again and stretched out her leg to get me to move faster. I growled at her in warning and waited for her to settle down. She huffed, but lay still, quivering with impatience. I kept waiting, partly to test her and partly to look at my beautiful mate. Her chest rose and fell with each gasp for breath, her nipples still wet and puckered. Her panties were wet too, and I didn't know which one of us wanted my head between her legs more.

I grinned and winked at her. "Alright, darlin'."

Marie didn't make any protests or even smell nervous when I hooked two fingers in the waistband of her her panties, so I quickly pulled them down her legs. I raised them to my face and sucked at the wet stain, barely holding back a moan when her taste flooded through my mouth. I stared at her while I did it, and her blush came back.

"Just gonna hold onto these."

I leered at her again while I stuffed her panties into the back pocket of my jeans. A bit of nervousness crept back into Marie's scent, so I rubbed up her legs and hips. She wouldn't have time to over think it and be nervous once I started, but I wanted to get a good look at her first. Her pussy was glistening wet and looked like fucking heaven. The thatch of hair just above it was a bit lighter than her hair, making it look more red. It would probably look redder in the sunshine. I'd have to take her someplace warm and fuck her good and slow there.

I reached out to brush my thumb through her curls, growling loudly in approval. In a moment, I would push my tongue inside her just the way I wanted to do with my cock. But first I took one last deep breath to savor my darling's scent.

Apples and sunshine and fresh snow.

I paused and a growl built in my throat. My Marie-mate smelled like summer, not snow. I scented the air again, trying to pin down the new scent. Freshly fallen snow, but not the light crisp kind. Thick, wet snow that buried you in. And just beneath that was the lingering smell of old blood. My head throbbed and my mate drew her legs up, instinctively pulling the sheets over herself.

It smelled like death and madness, and I recognized that scent.

THUMP THUMP.

I looked over at the door. He never showed up in the winter, and it had been a few years since the last time he had showed up to fight with me. I thought he had gotten bored with it, and I'd been so distracted at finding my mate, I'd almost forgotten about him, just like the human.

Fucking stupid.

I glanced back over at my mate, and she stared back at me with wide eyes. My first impulse was to tell her to get her cloths on, but she was actually safer completely naked. I raised my right hand and slowly slid my claws out, then motioned for her to stay put. She nodded, fear leaking into her scent. I didn't want to scare her, but she needed to turn her skin on.

And I would do everything I could to keep that bastard from touching her.

THUMP!

This knock sounded louder as he slammed his fist against the door. Any harder, and he might crack through it. I got off the bed and walked over to the door, still trying to take in as much of his scent as possible. He didn't smell angry, but he was insane, and he'd kill a person whether they pissed him off or not. I opened the door with my left hand, keeping my right one hidden behind the door.

"Why—"

My question was cut off as he immediately punched me in the stomach, his claws ripping open my skin so he could push his entire fist inside. That fucking bastard. He usually liked to gloat and say something snappy first. I tried to shove both sets of claws into his chest, but he took the right set through his forearm and twisted so that the left ones only caught his side. Before I could slash at him again, he pushed his hand up further inside me, clawing at everything in his way until he reached my heart.

I didn't know we could cheat.

If he was going to play dirty, I would too. I threw a punch at the side of his head, but he lifted his chin just in time, and my claws only went through his cheek and neck—not through his temple and into his brain. I tried to wrench my claws out to have another go, but both sets of them were already stuck fast inside him.

Then he twisted his hand and squeezed my heart, digging into it with his nails. I could already feel blood bubbling up in the back of my throat from where he'd clawed through my lungs, and I struggled to breathe past it. He twisted his hand again just to fuck with me, then easily shoved me to the floor while my ruined heart gave out and I drowned in my own blood.

My brother's boots stepping over me were the last things I saw before I blacked out.

A/N: Um...so...yeah. *hides from angry mob* You guys didn't think there was going to be smut, did you? lol

By the way...VICTOR! I didn't mention him showing up so soon because I wanted it to be a surprise, but I've been looking too hard, I've been waiting too long...can you hear the Foreigner playing in my heart? Because nothing says "love" like 80s rock love ballads.

So I'm sorry (not sorry) there's another (even worse) cliffhanger...but the next chapter's gonna be fun! And we're finally on a collision course with the X-Men and eventually the mansion!

I also want to assure you guys that I do NOT have cancer! I didn't even realize how the email from Marie's mother looked, being at the very beginning of TBH and after I just told you guys how sick I was. SO SORRY, I'm healthy now and the story will continue, I promise!

What do you think of Victor? Why do you think he's chosen now to show up and what is he going to do when he finds out Marie is Logan's mate? Give it your best guess in a review!