Surreptitious

Chapter 44: Surreptitious

A/N: I'm just going to slap a bit of a Mature rating on this chapter for sexual content. It's not explicit, by any means, but it is more risqué than what I've written into the fic before. Sorry if you're not keen on it!

Also – "Halo" by Beyoncé

…

"So, how is the unification ritual completed anyway? Do we have to go through some weird crap like drinking a hallucinogenic and communing with the ancestors?" Hope arched one brow as she looked from Freya to Keelin, after Josie had stormed upstairs and effectively locked herself in the room she was staying in. Hope knew she wouldn't talk to anyone at that point.

"Well… not quite… and I guess it depends on your definition of 'weird'." Keelin smirked at Hope, though her worried eyes still lingered on the top of the stairs that she could still see from her position on the couch.

…

Josie let out an unexpected squeak as her back hit the door of Hope's room, Hope essentially using Josie's body to shut the door, a hand reaching around her waist a second later to lock it. Hope's eyes were glowing brighter than they had ever done before, even in her human form, which was currently fresh from the fight and wrapped up in nothing but someone else's coat. Josie had snagged it from a bystander as soon as Hope and River had shifted back after the fight and threw it around Hope in an attempt to protect whatever modesty she had left.

But whatever modesty was left was about to fly out the window as Hope attached her mouth to Josie's lips hungrily, the brunet responding with equal amounts of ferocious desire. There was something different in the way they longed to devour one another this time. It was deeply instinctual, primordial and an absolute necessity. Just like all the other times they had been uncontrollably drawn to one another before Josie's wolf had been blocked off, it was the same now. Their wolves were driving them forward, driving them inward, driving them crazy with wanton yearning for one another.

The only difference was that now there was absolutely nothing to stop them. That same instinctual need was dominating and it would most definitely win.

…

"Like we've explained before, the unification ceremony is more a consolidation of power between packs and is more like a traditional marriage than anything." Freya said, then cleared her throat a little awkwardly, waiting for Keelin to pick up where she had left off.

Keelin smirked at her wife, then explained. "The unification ritual is more ancient and is performed when an alpha is unifying with their chosen mate, as long as the mate is also a twin flame. The moment of unification takes place between your souls, minds, bodies, hearts, and your wolves. Everything is drawn together. So, whenever the opportunity for unification presents itself, it will happen without hesitation. The unification, so to say, kind of becomes a need and not a want or a decision that is consciously up to you anymore."

…

Even when Josie closed her eyes she could not escape the luminosity of the bright copper glow, and when she opened them and saw Hope's equally lit up gaze staring back at her, she felt like she would lose all control of herself. Her fingers tugged at the buttons of the coat Hope was wearing with such eager haste that she actually popped two of them off, the faint sound of plastic clattering against a wooden floor getting lost in the sound of blood rushing through her ears in a rhythmic pairing of the drumming of her heart.

Clumsily, she tried to push Hope back to the bed, but the alpha would not allow her to steer their course. Hope wanted to be in charge. She needed to be in charge. In fact, Hope was in charge, and grabbed onto Josie's hips firmly with her strong grasp. She spun her around, pushing her backwards to her desk.