by Gena D. Lutz
Her praise once again brought me back to the medical facility, gun in hand…blood. I didn’t want to relive this nightmare so soon.
“Thank you, Ember. I was just doing what I thought you might do in the same situation.”
Ember laughed and pulled me into an embrace. I sunk into it, enjoying the female camaraderie and sisterly affection. I had always wanted a sister.
“I think you even surpassed me,” she chuckled before letting me go. “Speaking of, I was asked to tell you something.”
Ariel was standing off to the side, following our conversation with interest as well as irritation. I ignored the nymph.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Paige says she forfeits from tonight’s challenge. So congrats, you win,” she said.
I wasn’t very surprised to hear that Paige had decided to call a truce. Her and I had experienced something down in that hole that surpassed the petty fights and overzealous actions of jealous women. We had gone into war together, and come through the experience baring the same battle wounds.
“That doesn’t work for me,” I said flatly.
Ember and Nathan looked at me with wide eyes. Ariel dropped her sourpuss expression long enough to give me a knowing smile.
“Well, why the hell not? I think under the circumstances,” Ember began, but I cut her off.
“It won’t work because I won’t allow her to lose. She is an Alpha and I have come to understand how important that position is. I refuse to be a part of sullying her winning streak. So I forfeit as well. There will be no victor.”
Ember threw her head back and laughed. Everyone stopped whatever they were in the middle of and looked over at us.
“There will be a lot of pissed off wolves when I break the news. Not to mention, it’s going to be a real bitch getting everybody’s money back to them,” Ember explained. Her smile never leaving her face.
“I’m sure they’ll live,” Nathan said, joining in. “Do you mind if I steal my female away from all of this? Unless you guys still need us for something?”
Ember waved us off, “Everything is about wrapped up here. We’re taking Sylvia and Tyson back to the compound, and we put a call in to our contacts to ensure that all the police and firemen dispatched here are all wolves. It’s handled.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.” Nathan’s words were rushed as he scooped his arm around my waist, pulling me close enough to snuggle his face into my neck.
“There’s a promise I made to you that I fully intend on keeping,” He purred in my ear.
Instant passion spread through me, sending shockwaves of want directly to the area between my legs. Nathan caught the scent of my arousal and his teasing purr turned into a growl of promise.
By some miracle of God, I was able to make my vocal cords work. “You’ll make sure Ariel gets her blood?” I asked Ember.
“Yes, yes, she’ll get her blood. Now get out of here. Go have some fun with your mate. It’s well deserved,” Ember ordered.
And as any dutiful werewolf would, I did what my sire asked of me and took off to have some fun.
“Come to me,” Nathan’s seductive voice beckoned. He pulled his shirt over his head, peeling the fabric up to reveal a finely chiseled chest. The smooth ridges of his muscles spread across his body perfectly. I could spend forever tracing the outline of those hills and plains. He let the shirt fall to the sand, then held his hand out to me.
My body quivered. My bare feet sank into the sand as I strolled across the beach to reach him. A cool breeze lifted my hair, my bare body glinted in the moonlight. It was like I was the star of my very own romance movie. When I reached Nathan, he ran a tender hand across my hip. The caress and magnificent view of him standing naked before me made my knees weaken; I was thoroughly aroused.
“I feel like I will die if you don’t take me soon,” I whimpered.
Running the back of his hand across my belly, he cooed. “You can’t die, my love, you’re immortal.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I whined.
My feet came out from underneath me, kicking sand up into an arch. With my body cradled into his arms, he turned and ran toward the water.
“No!” I shrieked over an uncontrollable laugh, “That water is freezing!”
He ignored my pleas and kept running. I had time for only one more chance of saving myself from an ice bath, so I dug deep into my arsenal for the right excuse.
“The water’s so cold you won’t be able to get it up,” I challenged.
That stopped him dead in his tracks. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the desired effect I had hoped for.
“Woman, I can keep it up through a blizzard. I’ll just have to prove it to you.” His face lit up with determination.
It felt like ice shards were stabbing me in a million separate places all at once, successfully robbing me of breathe when my body hit the water. Nathan had submerged us completely, waves rolling over our heads and all, before he released me to swim to the surface. As perturbed by the cold water as I was, I couldn’t rid my face of the cheesy grin plastered across it. Truth be told, even with the ice cold water, I loved every minute of his sweet torture.
In the dimness of the clear night, moon riding high above the clouds, I searched the top of the water for Nathan. He hadn’t come up to the surface with me; he must have decided to play around in the deep a little while longer.
After a few minutes, my calm countenance turned to worry. I had an unobstructed view of the entire ocean and beach, so I knew that he hadn’t gotten out yet. Tiny waves rolled against the water, making slapping sounds; the quiet was doing its best to befuddle my thoughts. He was still under the water, of that I was certain. The theme song to Jaws started playing in my mind and I cursed.
“Nathan, this isn’t funny. Where are you?”
Something knocked up against my leg. I jerked away and kicked the area where I had just been. It was a silly gesture. Jaws could eat me up in one gulp, and what would a kick from a werewolf do to a shark? Piss him off even more, that’s what. I shivered. Did sharks even swim in the shallows? Then I felt him. A set of strong hands traveled up my legs, slowly nudging them open. Fingers trolled their way in between my curls, entering me slowly. One at first, drawing it in and then out of me for a few moments. Then he pulled his finger free before replacing it with two instead. Pleasure racked my body and I threw my head back with a moan. He kept his fingers inside of me as he lifted his head from the water. Clear liquid rivulets crept down Nathan’s face, trickling slowly over his brow and cheek, before tracing across his lips and disappearing under his chin. Chestnut eyes caught mine, holding my gaze prisoner. I braced myself for his kiss. The sensation of his fingers moving inside of me was enhanced by his probing stare; all that was missing was the sweet taste of his tongue. I tilted my head forward, bringing his lips closer to mine. It was like we were moving in slow motion, except his fingers; they were moving with wild abandon. My tongue slipped between his lips and he bit down on it just a touch, nibbling on the tender flesh before he sucked it all the way into his mouth. I groaned. His low, rumbled response vibrated against my breasts. Abruptly, Nathan’s finger left my folds, causing me to rake my claws down his back in reprimand. He had brought me close to the brink of release before stopping. Fortunately, I wasn’t left deprived for long as he pulled my legs up and around his waist, his hardened flesh pushed against me, fighting for entrance. I reached down and wrapped my hand around him, and by pushing him against my slick flesh while giving my hips a little twist, I was finally rewarded as he sunk into me, filling me so completely that I was precariously close to bursting with pleasure. After another long thrust, he reached deep inside of me, bringing me to a fever pitch of madness. I grabbed hold of the back of his head with both hands, my fingers tangled in his wild, wet mop. He bucked against me. I rode him back with the same fervor. Heat infused lust caused me to see red. My gums pulsed, thrummed, as my fangs slid through them. My head flew back, I screamed, filling
the starry night with desire. My neck snapped forward and I latched on hard to Nathan’s shoulder. I heard a sharp intake of breath as his corded muscles bunched up underneath my grip. I almost released my hold on him, but he soon relaxed, a sound of pure ecstasy swiftly replacing his temporary show of apprehension. His blood coated my throat with pure bliss; I sucked harder. He pumped his thickness in and out of me, moving faster, wilder. His primal nature took over, delivering thrusts that had me toppling over into climax. I exploded; my core, my taste buds, any coherent thought shattered into a million pieces. I retracted my fangs. He bucked hard against me, and then after one final thrust, he careened over into the bliss of his own release.
***
I found Ember alone in the dining room soon after Nathan and I returned from our dip in the ocean. Tiny goose bumps prickled over my skin at the thought of our mini getaway.
Her head lifted up and she smiled as I entered the room. “Come sit with me,” She beckoned.
I strode over and sat in the chair across from her. “I hope you have enough of that stuff for me,” I said, eyeing a shot glass she was filling up with tequila.
After she pushed the glass over to me she began to fill another for herself. When finished, she lifted the glass to me. “Cheers.”
“Cheers.” I reciprocated.
The shot burned going down, but I liked it. I slammed the glass on the table, then pushed it back to her.
“Have you found the witch yet?” I asked, referring to the water witch who helped Tyson create his army of zombie-like wolves.
“Yeah, we got her. Well, the dragon did anyway. He incinerated her. He seems to like burning things.” Ember chuckled.
I threw back the second shot. “Yeah, I noticed.”
It was nice just to sit back, get drunk, and shoot the shit with another female. I almost felt normal for a change. Well, if you didn’t count our topic of conversation, then the scene could be considered normal.
“Alpha, we have a huge problem,” Amos, head of Ember’s security team, growled as he raced into the room.
Before he could fill us in, Ember’s face went blank, the way it did when her and Collin were communicating telepathically.
She sat up, pushing back against the table so fast that her chair went flying and the bottle of liqueur we had been making short work of, toppled over and shattered to the floor. She took off.
“What the hell happened?” My voice almost came out as a squeak.
“It’s Dane. We had a security breach, a traitor among the Greyson pack.”
Ember screamed. I sprinted after her, pumped my legs up the stairs so fast that I must have looked like a blur to anyone watching. I stopped when I came to the entryway of Dane’s bedroom. The door was ajar and on the floor, curled up in Collin’s arms, Ember laid crying. In her hand she held a light blue t-shirt crumpled against her chest. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the cub’s shirt had blood stains on it.
“What the fuck is going on?” Harper demanded.
She flew into the room, knees skidding against the hardwood; she landed before the grief stricken couple. She pulled the shirt from Ember’s grasp and shoved it in her pale face, taking a big sniff.
“This isn’t Dane’s blood, Ember.” Harper explained cautiously and with obvious relief of her own.
Ember’s eyes were wild with terror and she looked like she was about to spontaneously combust. She snatched the shirt from Harper and buried her nose into the soiled fabric.
“Sadie,” Ember whispered.
Her wild eyes searched the room. After a few seconds, she sprang forth into the air, traversing about fifteen feet in the span of a second. She landed soundlessly in her son’s bathroom.
I followed Harper and Collin as they entered the room, just seconds behind Ember. She was standing in a large, round shower running her hands over a diamond pattern that was composed of large, teal glass tiles. She pushed against the center square tile, and then lifted her finger up to the top one, pressing that one in too. She let out a deep breath, moving on to the very left tile of the diamond pattern, pushing that tile in as well. The wall clicked and began to move. Ember clasped her hands in front of her nervously before taking a step inside the hidden passage.
The hidden passageway veered off to the left, seemingly running in between the room that adjoined Dane’s. We had a little less than my arm’s length width to walk through, making it impossible for me to see which direction we were heading around the bodies of Collin and Ember, who were walking in front of me. The hall was dimly lit by tiny lights recessed up into the ceiling. An excess of light wasn’t needed for us to see, considering we all had our enhanced senses to rely on. Harper had decided to stay back at the entryway with Amos to help guard it, so it was just me, Ember, and Collin who were making this trip. The passageway didn’t continue on for very long; after about twenty feet and one more turn later, it opened up to a door. Collin reached over and flipped the panel next to the door jam. After pressing in a long numeric code, it made a beeping sound. After the beeping stopped, Ember grabbed the knob and turned it. She pushed the door openly slowly, as if she was scared of what she might find, or not find, behind it. As soon as the door was cracked, a low warning growl seeped out from inside the room. Ember jumped inside, Collin right on her heels. I stood in the archway and watched as Dane stopped growling as soon as he saw it was his parents entering the room. He transformed back into his human form and ran into the open arms of his family.
“Sh, sh,sh, everything is fine. You’re safe,” Ember cooed to the crying child.
Collin helped sooth their son by reaching over to rub the child’s back.
“Is Sadie okay?” Dane sniffled his question into Ember’s shoulder. “She told me to stay here and not say a word. I think she was scared of whoever was trying to get into my room.”
Ember looked up at Collin, then over at me. She pressed her child’s head into her chest and shook her head at us, tears streaming down her face. We had no clue what had happened to Sadie, but it would seem that she had saved Dane by hiding him in here.
Ember didn’t answer Dane’s question, just rocked him back and forth to sooth him some more. “We’re here now, love bug. Everything will be okay.”
Collin grabbed his two-way radio and spoke firmly into it. “Is the compound secure?”
Milo answered immediately. “Shit could be better. We are missing a van and two prisoners. Other than that, we are secure and I’ve given the orders for a complete lockdown.”
“Which prisoners are missing?” I asked.
Collin waited for Milo to finish his report and then asked, “Which prisoners have escaped?”
It took a moment for Milo to get back on the line this time, but when he did, it was with horrible news. “Tyson and the black wolf are gone. When we searched the holding cells, we found theirs empty.”
My heart fell to my stomach at the news. I hadn’t thought about David at all in the last couple days, but it seemed as though he was top priority now. And what in the world was he doing with Tyson?
“Gather everyone in the war room. We need to have an emergency meeting. The beta of the Prime wolves is missing, too.”
“Sadie has been taken?” Milo hissed through the airwaves.
He sounded like he was about to jump through the radio and strangle somebody.
“We will discuss this in the meeting. See you in ten.”
“I’ll be there,” Milo growled.
***
As Harper and I crossed the threshold into the war room, the sound of several voices being raised at once agitated my wolf. Declan was sitting off to the side of the room, looking a lot better than he did just hours ago when he was laid up in the infirmary half beaten to death. This was the second time in as many days that the compound’s security had been breached, so shit was very seriously hitting the fan.
Declan smiled at me and then gestured at me to join him. Looking around at the chaos in the room and not wanting to be a part of
it, I walked over to him and took a seat. Harper ignored the both of us altogether and took her spot next to Ember who was in deep conversation with Paige, most likely about one of her wolves. As it turned out, it was her beta Sebastian that had gone missing as well as Ember’s Beta, Sadie. Everyone’s speculations starred him as the traitor.
“Isn’t it supposed to be your job to calm them down?” I asked, half jesting.
He chuckled and smiled a huge, toothy grin. Dimples popped out on both of his thin cheeks, highlighting the thin smatter of freckles that ran across the bridge of his nose and then burst out across his cheeks.
“Believe it or not, I am.” He ran his long fingers through his blonde hair, pulling it off his shoulders and flicking it back to fall down the small of his back. He had extremely long hair that fell to his waist, all of it one length.
“Where’s your mate?” Declan asked me. I noticed that even though he was speaking with me, he kept a really good eye on the other wolves in the room. I looked around and noticed for myself that everyone did seem to be calming down, finding a place to sit or stand in anticipation of the meeting.
“He took off right before shit went down. I’m surprised he isn’t back yet considering everything that’s happened.”
Declan paused, then looked toward the door. “Speak of the devil.”
“Wha…?” I turned my head toward the open doorway.
I just stared up from my seat as Collin came storming into the room with Nathan on his heels. Collin walked straight to Ember, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. After Nathan closed the door he hurried over to me, his eyes jumping over to Declan who just so happened to be sitting right up against me. Our close proximity was nobody’s fault; the chairs were placed very close together. Declan threw up his hands and laughed as he scooted to the next available seat. It seemed as though the tension in the room was getting to Nathan’s wolf as well. God, it may be petty, but my body responded immediately to his show of dominance and jealousy. My entire being heated up to almost an uncomfortable level. I swallowed hard and tried to calm myself down. Declan chuckled and when I looked over at the Omega, he gave me a knowing smile. My face flashed red in embarrassment.