Knotting her would never be his privilege, he knew that. It was the least he deserved, to never feel the woman he loved squeeze her muscles around the tie and offer the gift of a fertile womb. Denying him the right to knot a mate was akin to castrating him—the heart chose what the heart chose, in his opinion, and if that love wasn’t reciprocated, he would never be in a position to fall for another.
Raine was his mate, of the heart if not the body, and she had the power to make him kneel at her feet before she crushed him into dust with her hands.
Time to go home and face the music.
Dawn was well on its way when he caught a familiar scent, one he hadn’t smelled since they’d been exiled. He sniffed carefully, circling to pick up the freshest trail before tracking it through the trees and brush.
Killian. Fergus’s most trusted right-hand wolf on the esteemed Council.
Perturbed, Quinn followed the scent markers quickly but with an ear cocked and eyes scanning for an ambush.
Killian was a killer, Fergus’s executioner, and if he’d hunted the brothers down all the way here, something bad was en route. Either he was monitoring the bachelor pack and reporting back to the pack Alpha, or orders had come down the line for the brothers to die.
Growing more and more restless as the trail drew closer to the house, Quinn’s hackles rose. Killian was overstepping bounds, approaching their den without openly declaring his arrival and intentions.
Both Quinn and his wolf saw it as a threat.
Fifty feet from the sanctity of the den, the trail stopped and Quinn found evidence of a wolf in wait. The long, shallow indent in the earth from a canine body, paw prints, a few white hairs. From the signs, Killian had been loitering for quite some time, probably as long as Quinn and his brothers had been out running, but the ground was cold now and the retreating trail veered away from the house.
Follow the killer or make sure everyone was all right?
Family was priority. Mate was existence.
Quinn bolted for the house, bounding up the porch steps in wolf form and hitting the door as a man. Finn, Malachi and Cabhan lifted their heads in surprise, eyebrows raised as he stood panting in the doorway. No Dubhlainn, no Raine.
Find our mate and make sure she’s unharmed.
He ran for the stairs, ignoring his brothers’ shouts, and charged through the bedroom door. He pulled up short when Dubhlainn opened tired blue eyes and glared at him.
The naked redhead sleeping in the crook of his arm stirred.
“You better pray you haven’t woken her up, Quinn. Three times she’s fallen asleep and every time she wakes up, she freaks out on me. I haven’t the patience or the energy to deal with her again right now.” Dubh sighed heavily and closed his eyes again. “What do you want, brother?”
So many things. Quinn couldn’t stop staring at the creamy skin, marred now by bites and bruises and marks. “Killian is here. Has been here. I’ve tracked him through the woods, he’s spent some time outside.”
One blue eye opened. “Fergus’s Killian?”
“Killer Killian,” Quinn confirmed.
“Well. Looks like Fergus kept his word about keeping an eye on us. Don’t worry over it, Quinn. We have bigger issues at the moment, and Killian is easily dealt with between the five of us if needed. We stay alert and keep the doors locked, but we wait and see what the motherfucker wants.”
Spoken like a true Alpha. Quinn already knew Dubhlainn was the Alpha in this pack, the heir to the pack in Ireland. His eldest brother had too many qualities ingrained in him for him not to be the logical Alpha. Including the ability to sum up a situation in a heartbeat and give orders without panicking.
Quinn on the other hand was subtly sniffing the air and tasting Raine’s heat. It grabbed him by the balls, an unholy combination of estrus and full-blown heat, and made him quiver like a stallion about to mount a mare.
“Mine, Quinn.” Dubhlainn’s voice was a gunshot of possession.
Self-restraint cost him dearly. Fisting his hands, Quinn forced himself to stand in place. “How the hell did you manage that?”
Dubh shrugged. “Patience, brother. A virtue you could do with practicing.”
“She’s still in heat and still in estrus,” he ground out desperately.
“She is. The question is, is she going to let you fuck her again?” Dubh asked mildly. He stroked a hand over her shoulder. “Or, I should say, am I going to let you fuck her again.”
He’d do anything to get back inside that pussy. Dubhlainn could ask him to go to the moon and bring back cheese, and Quinn would do it...after he fucked the female. Always after. His wolf was frantic, mindless in its need to mate.
“Take a step, Quinn, and it’ll be the last you take for some time.” Dubhlainn warned him with a snarl. “You need to learn patience; we’ll start now. There will be no more senseless brutality; Raine is my mate and I will destroy anyone who harms her, blood of mine or no.”
“I don’t want to harm her.”
“Wanting and doing are two different things.” Blue eyes flashed menacingly. “Not one of you cared for her once you’d finished with her aside from Finn. And only he did because his nature is too gentle for him not to. Pools of blood and seed, fucking bite marks and bruises, handprints on her goddamn throat!” The Alpha was riled now, inner power rising like the sun and illuminating Dubh’s face with the glory of it. “It’s at my discretion that any of you get the privilege of touching her again, and after what I’ve seen tonight, not one of you deserve to kneel at her feet as her footstool.”
Faced with the ire of his leader, Quinn did indeed drop to his knees. The unspoken command reverberated in his head, silencing the wolf’s howls of frustration and giving him blessed peace for a few moments. “I know, Alpha. I let you down.”
Raine bolted upright, eyes wide and frightened. Her shoulder-length hair was a vibrant tangle of red locks around her pale face, highlighting the dark marks beneath her eyes. She was by all accounts exhausted, yet she gave a cry of denial and tried to escape Dubh’s hold, a wildcat in the clutches of a wolf.
A bigger, stronger, incredibly determined wolf.
“This is what I was trying to avoid.” Dubh hissed when she slammed her elbow into his ribs and almost let her slip through his fingers. He lunged over the bed after her as she threw herself away from him, wrapping his hand around her ankle and hauling her back against him. “Shush, precious. We’ve been through this before.”
Quinn remained on his knees as Dubh tussled with the female, handling her with the utmost respect while she simply whaled on him like a ninja on speed. His brother took every blow philosophically, it seemed, absorbing the hit and attempting to restrain her without defending himself.
“No one’s touching me again, jackass!” she shouted at Dubhlainn, grunting when he tossed her onto her belly and pinned her by sitting on her ass. “Not you, not them! Get off me, you goddamn animal!”
“True love at its finest,” he muttered, setting his hands on her tense shoulders and massaging them. His blue eyes were darkly amused when he glanced over at Quinn. “Well, you’re learning, lad, even if she’s not.”
It was killing him, being on his knees while the need to fuck burned like acid through his veins. His fingers dug into the carpet, imagining Raine’s hips in their grasp as he plunged into that viciously tight cunt over and over again.
“Quinn. Quinn!”
His gaze shot up to the bed where Dubhlainn eyed him warily. The look in his brother’s eyes was not to be mistaken for anything other than murder—one wrong move and Quinn would find himself in dire straits, most likely with his throat ripped out.
Raine’s gray eyes were terrified as she stared at him, no doubt knowing why he was there and what was coming. And he was so sorry for it, that was the kicker. Sorry for his beast’s nature, for the reaction he couldn’t override when his lungs filled with her scent.
“Watch and learn, Quinn. Raine doesn’t respond when she’s scared, other t
han to batter people into bloody pulps.” Dubh skimmed his fingertips over the back of her neck, tracing the bite, then eased them down the line of her spine. “Because she’s scared, the heat doesn’t come into effect like it should. What’s frightening you, precious?” he asked her quietly.
She fidgeted, squirming and bucking under Dubh without shifting him an inch. Those eyes never left Quinn’s, as though one split second of focus elsewhere would give him the opportunity to pounce.
Of course, she was right.
“Talk to me, Raine.” Dubhlainn demanded. “None of us will get far if you don’t talk to us about how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking. My brother is in need of you, precious. As the rest will be soon enough. But you’re mine, and I protect what is mine.”
Miserable resignation filled her face, followed by grief and then...nothing. It was disconcerting to watch that avid spark extinguish in a matter of seconds, replaced with a blank void. Horrible to know that his actions, previous and present, contributed to her pain.
“She’s not there anymore, Dubh,” Quinn murmured.
His brother nodded, seemingly unconcerned. He never stopped touching his mate, little strokes here and there to remind her he was there. “She’s hiding. She does this. Steals herself away, buries herself where she thinks I can’t find her. I’ll always find her,” Dubh crooned softly, “because she needs me, needs us. The longer she’s allowed to burrow, the weaker the link becomes. The link has to flourish, to cement, so that she comes to me, to us, rather than running and hiding.”
“She won’t run to us, Dubh. Not the four of us who held her down and made her scream. Christ, she looked at me as though I’m the worst thing in her nightmares, and she’d be right. Because I am.” Quinn dug his nails into his palms. “If you weren’t there, brother, I’d be fucking her. Just as hard, just as fast, despite everything she’s been through. I’m her nightmare and I’m living in my own.”
Dubhlainn growled. Not the most pleasant noise in the world when Quinn was defenseless on his knees at his Alpha’s mercy. “This is my family—you, the others, and Raine. My pack. If we never return to Ireland, I don’t care, Quinn,” he said with a laugh. “I have everything I need right here. My mate and my brothers. I’d like nothing more than that bond to extend, for my mate to welcome my blood until they find mates of their own.”
“You think she’ll openly accept the five of us?” Quinn gaped at his brother.
“Not at first, and not while the estrus and her heat turns you all into raging hard-ons whose only thought is to rut between her thighs. Once the pheromones die down, yes, I’m hopeful we can show her that you four idiots and sex are nothing to be feared.”
“Knotting her has made you delusional,” Quinn muttered and edged forward, knees burning on the carpet.
“Not another inch, lad. I’ll tell you when you can move.” The Alpha’s deep tone rumbled, freezing Quinn back into place. “It will take time and patience, but she will accept the dynamic once she understands what we want from her.”
“If you say so.”
“Oh, I do. Now, in pain yet, brother?”
Quinn’s top lip curled. “You know damn well I am. Resisting her is ripping me into pieces. My wolf is threatening to revolt.”
“And yet, still you kneel. Patience and self-control are not so hard to grasp with the right incentive.” Dubhlainn blew out a long breath, ran his fingers through Raine’s hair gently. “Break my trust with this, Quinn, and I will put you in the ground. Or more specifically, I’ll let Raine put you there. Understand me?”
He almost drooled, the female within his grasp. His brain would start working again once he filled her with his seed. His cock pulsed in time with his heartbeat, a thrilling two-step beat that echoed in his blood. “I understand.”
Dubhlainn swung his leg over Raine, lifted her into his arms. Settling back against the headboard, he arranged her between his thighs so her head rested against his stomach, her wrists in his hands and his feet hooked around her calves. “When she surfaces, growl like you would with a mate. It has to be low, persuasive, soothing. She responds well and it calms her, brings her heat alive. Keep your hands gentle, your wolf at bay until the last possible moment. Our eyes changing color is a trigger.”
Like a predator on the hunt, Quinn rose and stalked toward the bed. Muscles trembled with the urge to leap, to take, to risk the wrath of his Alpha. But the cost of doing so was astronomically high, and even his wolf seemed to recognize the stupidity of such actions, especially when their obsession was so close.
Growling filled the room, deep and resonant, compelling. Dubh’s eyes were closed as he concentrated, his thumbs caressing the sensitive inner flesh of Raine’s wrists.
Fascinated, Quinn saw her fingers twitch first. Like a rat caught in the Pied Piper’s spell, Raine was drawn from her hiding place inch by inch, her lean body dancing to the hum of Dubhlainn’s call. Her hips jerked, rolled, and an overwhelming wave of fresh heat scent detonated in the room.
“Take over, Quinn.” Dubh ordered quietly.
With a deep breath, Quinn tried to mimic the sound of the Alpha. While low and unthreatening, it was broken by his slow inhales of addiction. His blood snapped with lust, barely held in check by sheer will. He tried again, unnerved by the way big gray eyes blinked open, trapped on the fine line of awareness and arousal.
The more he tried, the more that line tilted.
Quinn bared his teeth; Raine flinched and the heat died.
“Again,” Dubh told him. “Relax, brother, you’ll get what you want once you give Raine what she needs. Just focus on the growl, nothing else.” Bending his head, he murmured to his mate. “Let him take control, precious. He’s trying so hard for you; he cares for you. Submit to him and there won’t be any pain.”
“No.” She twisted, attempting to break Dubh’s hold but he simply kissed the top of her head and jerked his chin at Quinn. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t survive this.”
Quinn closed his eyes, imagined she was his mate, his treasure. She already was the mate of his heart, so it wasn’t too hard to envision her responding to his call, opening to his demands, accepting him without apprehension. She would wait for him willingly, anticipating his touch, the joining of their bodies, the creation of new and vital life.
The growl came forth with energetic abandon, using the barrel of his chest as a sounding board. Strong, passionate, with the timbre of his wolf’s howl.
Shocked, he opened his eyes and met Dubh’s. The Alpha was nodding in approval as Raine’s heat once again sparked into life, not as emphatically as with his brother’s call, but it was still an improvement.
But she fought it, fought him. One moment her eyes were on the verge of glazing over, then clearing with the strength of her fear. A constant battle waged between his command and her extraordinary willpower.
“Again,” Dubh urged. “Make her listen, Quinn. Give her what she needs.”
Digging deep, Quinn clenched his fists and put everything he had into the sound, shredding himself with the desire to put the female at ease. Damn her.
Chapter Nine
Raine
She felt like she was sliding from one end of a seesaw to the other. One minute, her body grew languid with warmth and that familiar electricity building in her blood, and the next she was lightheaded with panic, cowering from the beast poised between her spread legs with blackening eyes focused on her pussy.
Quinn’s growl didn’t have the same erotic punch to it that Dubhlainn’s did, didn’t have the power to hit her system override button and blank her mind. There wasn’t the constant drone, the...shit, she didn’t know what it was. She didn’t want it, any of it, but whatever Dubhlainn did when he growled for her, it was a one-man accomplishment.
“Breathe, Raine.” His voice was soft, a direct contrast to the man himself and what he was currently doing. “Quinn has himself under control. Watch his eyes. He’s bargaining with the wolf, just like I did. I wouldn�
�t let him close to you if I thought he’d hurt you, precious. So just breathe and let the heat come. You don’t need to fight every time.”
The most exhausted part of her was beginning to agree with him, and that worried her. Capitulation was the first step to complete submission, and by God, she was not so cowed she was ready to prostrate herself at the wolf’s feet. “I’ll fight you every single time.”
He released her wrists, gliding his palms up her forearms, her biceps, until he cupped her breasts. “I don’t think you will, precious. Part of you wants to be loved, to be drawn into a family. We can give you that, give you everything you demand. Even the strongest warrior grows weary of struggling and, Raine, as strong and fiery as you are, you’re no exception.”
Quinn’s hands stroked up her legs, her thighs as he growled. She tried to snap them shut; Dubh had her too well restrained. Kicking at him didn’t work either, for the same damn reason.
But his words hit home in a way she hadn’t expected. Didn’t everyone want to be loved, to be seen as vital member of family? Her time in the community had given her a sense of that, but not in the way Dubh suggested. What he referred to spoke of more...more everything.
Still balanced on the edge of heat, she stiffened like a board when Quinn pressed his hand to her pussy, fingers delving between tender lips to what he sought beyond. A choked protest strangled her and she arched away, only to drop limply back to the bed when Dubh’s growl came quietly.
Shocking herself, Raine found her hands gripping his, pulling them away from her breasts so his fingers could wrap tightly around hers. And she thought, Oh fuck, when did the monster become the guardian?
The heat exploded through her, making her writhe. Just Dubh’s call was enough to make her wet, but with Quinn’s adding extra punch to the sound, she knew she was in trouble. Especially when Quinn pressed two fingers inside her, stretching her, and groaned as though he was close to ejaculating over the bed.
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