United (The Ushers) by Vanessa North Page A

they nuzzled and kissed.
    “Now you’ve done it in an elevator,” he murmured into her ear, delighting in the peal of laughter that she made.
    She patted his cheek gently. “Oh, lover, you say the sexiest things,” she teased.
    He barked a laugh, and the next thing she knew, they were out of the elevator, and she was tugging him back through their apartments to the bedroom they shared, tearing away their clothes and pushing him back on the bed.
    “I’ll never stop needing you…this,” she whispered as she climbed over him. “I’m ready for you again already.”
    “Good.” He reached up and, with one smooth motion, sank her down on top of his erection. “I love you. Whatever happens tomorrow and the next day, we’re in it together, okay?”
    She nodded, throwing her head back and riding him, slowly at first, then faster as the heat and hunger built to a fever pitch. This time, it was his teeth that sank into her shoulder, sending her off the precipice with a shout of eternal joy before he joined her in bliss.

Chapter Ten
    T HE N EXT M ORNING , Fionn and Monica’s crew climbed into Monica’s black Mercedes Benz R-class and prepared to drive south to West Virginia. Bianca and Jack saw them off with hugs and a few tears. Bianca blamed her pregnancy for the overflow of emotion, but Monica knew it was more. In any other pack, Bianca might have been killed at birth by superstitious wolves. But not Amazon. Bianca had risen in the pack over the years because she was strong and smart and fierce. She’d been the target of bullies and prejudice, and she had overcome all of it. Now, she was Alpha of the strongest pack in North America.
    Monica held Bianca tightly and whispered, “Bee, you’re going to be great. I’m going to miss you. But we’ll be back after the full moon.” She looked at the large man, who stood silently off to the side.
    “Gerard, take good care of them,” she directed.
    He nodded, his expression bland.
    Blinking back tears, Monica climbed into the passenger seat, and Fionn started driving. Taking a deep breath, she looked out the window, watching the world go by outside. The compound gates closed behind them, it suddenly seemed real that she was no longer Amazon. For so long, Amazon had been everything to her. It occurred to Monica that she hadn’t left the compound in years and that she had well and truly severed from Amazon, the pack she built from nothing. She felt a wave of nostalgia as she remembered Sara bringing her those first ghost wolves. The early years had been frightening, but they’d grown into something so much more powerful than she’d ever imagined. She felt Fionn’s hand stroking along her knee, offering comfort. She looked up at him.
    “Your wolf is crying,” he said quietly, not taking his eyes off the road. She hadn’t realized she’d been making noise, but she heard it then, the keening whine that was coming from her lips. She pushed the animal side of her down, tightening her control.
    “Sorry.” She sent the sheepish apology to everyone in the car.
    “Don’t worry about it, Monica.” Graham smiled at her, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners. “We can only imagine how odd this feels to you.”
    “Odd is one way to put it.” She smiled back to Graham. He was Angelo’s right-hand man, smart and suave. She was used to seeing him presiding over meetings in the pack businesses, dressed in a suit and tie. In jeans and a T-shirt, he looked young, innocent. His blond hair curled around his ears, giving him a distinctly cherubic look.
    Conversation moved to lighter topics, and Monica felt heart-glad when Fionn smiled across the front seat at her.
    “I don’t like that we’re starting this trip in West Virginia,” Annie hissed suddenly from the middle seat.
    “Why?” Fionn met her eyes in the rearview, responding to his Guide’s clear agitation. “A big part of it is Mid-Atlantic territory where it borders Appalachia. It seems like the perfect place to