by Harry Nix
There was something slightly strange about April being there with her legs being held up in the air by Juno and Nia, but Alex was too far gone to care about it. He almost felt like the wildness was starting to possess him, the one that took him over and knocked him into blackout and turned him into a vicious monster. This wildness was red-hot pure lust and sex mixed together. He felt like he wanted to give himself to it. It took a great effort of will to focus back on what he was doing, kissing, and slowly beginning to lick. That wild side of him had to be practically talked down from taking over. April began to moan as Alex moved, making small circles with his tongue, and gently brushing her with his fingers. She was wet and tasted incredible.
Alex closed his eyes. Every now and then he got a burst of green or red behind them as a glint hit him in the face.
He continued working and then felt Juno's hand tugging on his towel. It took her a couple of tries to get it off, considering he was lying on it and then he was bare-assed naked, lying on the bed. Juno still had a hold of one of April's feet but with the other was stroking down Alex's back. Again, as one, as though they'd rehearsed this, Juno and Nia pulled April further down the bed and Alex moved as they did so, now that April was on her back. They came to kneel beside her, pushing up her shirt to reveal her perfect breasts. Then each bent and took a nipple in their mouth. The throb that went through Alex was almost painful, watching from his perspective between April's thighs. He tried his best to focus on what he was doing but couldn't look away from Juno and Nia gently sucking and nipping on April's breasts. Sometimes they would kiss down her body in synchronization, but other times it was one then the other. April's cheeks had gone pink, and her gasps were becoming urgent. The red and green glints were flying thick and fast now and then there was a sudden burst of green as April moaned and, in the same motion, clamped her legs together with Alex's head in between them. She was strong and he couldn't move, not that he minded, considering where he had his mouth. He tried to give another lick but she just squealed and pushed his head away.
“Too much, too much!” she said.
“Never too much,” Juno murmured.
“It needs to be more,” Nia said.
April had her legs up slightly, then the pair of them reached down and lifted them higher, spreading them wide. Alex blinked and then suddenly found himself inside April, jolting back and forth. There had been a gap of some kind, a sort of mindless wildness. Nia and Juno were still kissing April's breasts and now Juno had her top off. When did that happen?
The questions soon fled as Alex thrust into April and she moaned. Every now and again, Nia and Juno shared a kiss, but then returned to April. Alex noticed they each were holding a hand as though they were holding her down. It wasn't long before there was a great burst of green again and April somehow managed to get her arms free, wrapping them around Alex and pulling him close, stopping him from moving. She was gulping air like she just been sprinting. Alex was sure it had only been a few minutes like this, but then Juno had lost her top, so had it been longer?
A part of him was angry that he might have missed something. Having blackouts while he was sleeping was one thing and going wild was another but suddenly having the same thing happen during sex? Now that was a real problem! Somehow, despite the relative sizes, April managed to flip and roll him, tipping him over on his back before slipping away. For a moment Alex felt a cool kiss of air on his body. Then, Nia and Juno looked at each other. They did one-two-three and paper beat rock, and suddenly, Nia was on top of him starting to rock back and forth.
“That's how you decide?” Alex said, trying to talk.
“That or we flip a coin. Now shush, and put that mouth to better use,” Juno said. With a bit of maneuvering she came to sit over his face, her back to Nia. She lowered herself until she just brushed his tongue then slowly began to move, back and forth, teasing him. Alex had one hand on Nia's waist and went to move the other, to pull Juno down but then April pressed it to the bed. Before he realized what was happening, she’d put her whole weight onto it, trapping a hand between her thighs.
“Ah-uh,” Juno tutted. Alex gave in and let it happen, Nia riding him, Juno lowering herself to his face, moving back and forth. The hand that was trapped between April's thighs was pressed against her, but he could barely move it.
Juno reached down and took hold of a handful of hair, before dropping down properly, starting to move faster. From his viewpoint mostly what he could see was thighs and stomach and the occasional flash of red or green.
They continued like this for some time, Alex lost in the pleasure of it before Nia suddenly screamed before moving, pressing her hands to his waist. Something in it set Juno off too and she moaned as she held on to Alex's hair and pushed herself against his mouth. A moment later, Nia was collapsed on the bed beside him. April was on the other side. Juno carefully slipped down, her body resting across his chest. In that position she was tantalizingly close to him slipping into her.
“Shall we just stop now? I mean, we three are all good, right?” Juno murmured.
“That could be a good idea. I mean, everyone came, right?” April said.
“Yeah, I think we have other things we need to do today,” Nia said, a sly tone in her voice.
“Just try it, none of you are gonna make it to the door,” Alex murmured. He felt Juno slide down his body, her soft warmth against him, then she took him in her mouth. Despite the early morning warmth in the room, he was slightly colder without her on top of him and realized he’d been sweating, which wasn’t a surprise, considering what they were doing. As Juno sucked, April lifted his hand to put his thumb in her mouth, gently running her tongue around it. On the other side, Nia kissed a trail that started with one fingertip and went to his wrist before going back, across his palm, then to his thumb which she took in her hot little mouth. She started sucking on it in time with Juno and April.
Alex didn't know what it was about being touched like that but it felt amazing, hot and wet, and soon both his arms were tingling. It seemed no time at all until his leg started twitching and he felt a rush through his body. He squeezed his eyes shut as red burst into the room like fireworks, and he came. Juno had him fully in her mouth. She kept sucking, the pleasure of it intensifying so much Alex felt he might pass out. The moment seemed to stretch out forever before, eventually, Juno let him go and so did April and Nia.
“That was incredible,” Alex breathed, his eyes shut and waves of pleasure still running up and down his legs.
“We still have half a freckle to go,” Juno said.
“Lay on your stomach for us,” April said. Alex didn't resist as she and Nia somehow turned him over onto his stomach. From down at his feet Juno took one and began pressing her thumbs into his heel and the sole of his foot. The pleasure was intense—distinctly different, of course—but incredible nonetheless. He felt like he'd just been running all night and only now was finally getting a well-deserved foot massage. Nia started on his back and shoulder with her fingers and on the other side, April took his arm and began massaging down, tweaking the individual muscles and pressure points. After a moment, April excused herself, rushing off before returning and then she dripped oil on Alex that smelt like vanilla. She passed the bottle around soon and he was on his stomach, groaning in pleasure as three sets of slippery hands rubbed over his body. The green and red glints had ceased popping out of the air. Alex wasn't sure if there was such a thing as pleasure magic, but if there was this certainly would have drawn it.
With his eyes closed and face buried in the pillow he enjoyed the moment, feeling his muscles relax and the tension drain away. All the problems were distant now: what to do about his pack, the attacks, the necromancers, even what to do with Stephen who, while his captive, was an incredibly useful one considering somehow he and Stephen had edited a fireball spell while almost blackout drunk. Alex definitely didn't want to send the kid back now, not to do something as simple as delivering a message. He let those thoughts drift awa
y as Juno's hands worked their way up his calves, pressing into the muscles on one side. Nia began to massage his hands and forearms. April was gently running her finger around his earlobe and ear before squeezing the back of his neck.
It was in that perfect moment with his eyes closed, that a memory appeared out of nowhere. He was sprinting, running across some grassland into a small forest of trees. A girl had suddenly appeared, no, a woman. She was blurry and indistinct, but he could see she was wearing striped leggings, like she was dressed in a Halloween witch costume. She said something to him, then the memory fled and went back into darkness once more. Alex started awake, realizing that he must've fallen asleep during the massage.
But he knew that had not been a dream. It was a memory, he was sure of it. One of the times he'd gone wild, possibly the first time, somewhere between the city and April's home, he'd encountered a witch in the forest.
“Hello, are you awake? Are you ready for round two?” Juno said. April and Nia were on either side of him and Juno was sitting beside April. Both April and Nia were asleep.
“I saw part of my memory, a witch in the forest I think,” Alex said.
“I am incredibly interested in you telling me about that, but we’ve still got about a quarter of a freckle to go until they’re home,” Juno said. With that, she trailed her fingers down April who, at some point, had stripped off her skirt and now was completely naked. Although there was something in that hazy memory that Alex wanted to examine, that wild lust came roaring back and he reached over April and gave Juno a passionate kiss, waking April in the process. Because of the position they were in, April moved forward and kissed the side of his stomach.
“There’s time, right?” she murmured.
“Still a quarter of a freckle so wake up Nia,” Juno said. Alex sat up with a head full of fire, grabbed Juno and pulled her down beside him as she squealed and giggled.
12
“Nia will be with me. It'll be fine,” April said before stuffing a forkful of bacon in her mouth.
“I know it will be fine, it's just… we’re in a lot of danger right now,” Alex said.
After finishing up in the bedroom there was enough time for a round of showers that almost turned into him dragging his three mates back to the bedroom.
After resisting that, they'd made breakfast: bacon, eggs, fried tomato, diced peppers, and were discussing their next move. Despite their hasty exit from the village, April had brought along the samples of the black gunk that had come out of Jasper. She needed to return to her home to properly analyze them and proposed taking Nia with her for security. Alex was already having a hard enough time dealing with being away from the pack, his thoughts constantly straying to them, remembering the dead soldiers walking out of the forest, and shooting at them and the drones flying above the village. Then to have two of his mates go off on their own? Although he knew that April was a powerful magic user, and Nia was a strong and fast werewolf, his unease at letting them go couldn't be pushed away.
“I'll be with her, and besides, what's the alternative? We just hang around here while you do whatever it is you’re going to do?” Nia said.
“Probably rob someone,” Juno said through a mouthful of food.
“See, you can be working on that,” April said.
Alex was aware that Ruby had mentioned a so-called heist. Part of him was thinking it had been a joke but, apparently not according to Juno, although she didn’t have any further details. He wasn't thinking about the heist though. From where he was sitting in the kitchen he could see the black burn mark on the back fence and the charred vines where he'd thrown a fireball last night. He was thinking about Stephen and how well they had worked together. Somehow, despite virtually being blackout drunk, Stephen had helped him edit one of his spells, and suddenly he had a fireball spell. Ruby and Stephen weren’t home yet, but as soon as they were, Alex wanted to go down to the basement and work on other spells to see what they could achieve together.
“I guess I'm going to buy some paint and other things to fix up that burn mark out there. Honestly, I don't even remember throwing a fireball,” Juno said.
Alex wisely kept his mouth shut.
After they’d finished off their breakfast, Alex examined yet another wrinkle that had appeared: Nia had called Julius.
He’d left in such a rush from the village that he hadn't given the coordinates to the location of the missing alpha and witch. Nia had now taken them down and sketched a rough map on a piece of paper showing the packs of wild and vicious werewolves that surrounded the central area. Alex knew it was a long shot and dangerous but he also felt there must be some information in his past, something that explained why it seemed every mage in the world wanted to kill him. Despite the danger, he wanted to go there, to seek out answers. But when was the right time to go?
They were just finishing up their breakfast when Ruby got home, walking into the kitchen carrying a bag in one hand and a glass jar full of ash in the other. She put it down in the center of the kitchen table.
“Where’s Stephen?” Alex asked.
“In the jar. The kid was a security risk,” Ruby said.
Alex was starting to get the feeling that witches just screwed with people on general principles, but he couldn't find a single hint of a joke in Ruby's face.
“No, seriously where is he?” he said.
“She just said, he’s right there,” Juno said. Then Stephen came into the kitchen loaded down with grocery bags. Alex assumed that Ruby or someone else had given the kid a dose of April's potion because he didn’t look hungover or tired at all. He put the bags of groceries onto the bench.
“There, he's fine,” Ruby said, waving an arm at the kid. Then she turned to look at her kitchen wall. “Look at my poor kitchen. And my back fence. Juno what are you going to do about that?” Ruby said.
“I'm going to get some paint today,” she said.
“We must have had way too much to drink. I don’t remember you doing that, either,” Ruby said.
Alex met Stephen's look and they both remained straight-faced but a message passed between them to keep silent.
Before anyone could say anything that threw him into a world of trouble, Alex gave both April and Nia a kiss.
“I need to work with Stephen,” he said.
“Road trip buying spree!” Nia said.
“Hey, I got these for you,” Ruby said. She went over to the grocery bags and rummaged inside before pulling out a small paper bag that she dropped on the table in front of Alex. He opened it, discovering it was full of cheap, simple rings.
“Stephen, come with me,” Alex said. They left the kitchen and went downstairs to the basement room where the wards were.
“So, Juno thinks she burned the fence,” Stephen said.
Alex put his finger over his lips. “Werewolves have really sensitive hearing so keep that to yourself,” he whispered.
Now they were downstairs, Alex was aware of that strange feeling again. He was technically Stephen's captor, but the kid was now relaxed, practically treated as part of the family. It’d only been another night, but already the memory of the silver drifting down over the village was fading in severity. It was now becoming a story that almost happened to someone else.
Alex had told Stephen last night that he was going to let him go, and his vague plan had been to send him with a message, hoping he could speak to Henry again, but he also wanted addresses, Xavo locations, so if he didn't get what he wanted—for them to back off—he could go on the attack, bloody their nose, and extract a cost so they would leave him alone.
That had been the vague plan at least but after making a fireball spell while being incredibly drunk simply by working together, Alex wanted to come up with new plans, first and foremost around enchanting rings.
Alex sat down on the cushions cross-legged and Stephen copied him. Even though working on the spells was first and foremost on his mind, there was something else he had to get out of the way.
&
nbsp; “So, I told you last night that we would let go and I meant it. I understand that you were raised in an enclave, told to obey, and you get sent on missions where you often don't know what's going on. I know you were commanded to fly a drone. I also understand your choices were to leave Xavo permanently or do what you were told. So as of now you're not a prisoner. If you want to walk out, you can, and I'll let you go. But first, I hope you'll stay a little while and work with me on some magic like we did last night. Then I want to talk about what you tell your enclave when you go back because if they don't stop they’re either going to kill me and my mates or I’ll be forced to kill them. I need your help to stop that,” Alex said.
Stephen took a deep breath and then looked at the floor.
“I know that I was your prisoner. But honestly… being a prisoner was almost better than being in my enclave. Just the magic you showed me last night—that never happens. They hide so much of it away and you’ve gotta go through all this time and sucking up, stupid games just trying to get fragments of it. There’s all this favoritism and violence, bullying. I honestly don't want to go back. But then I don't know what else I’m meant to do.”
It had occurred to Alex that Stephen might be feeling the way he was and in some other circumstance he would have been happy to have the kid stay with them but the simple fact was, he’d participated in an attack, and no matter how much Alex could let it go, a werewolf had died, others had been injured, and parts of the village were polluted, perhaps permanently. Alex perhaps could stomp it in as alpha, but he could never be sure that Stephen would be safe, especially around the rest of the werewolves. Even Nia, Juno, and April had somewhat softened towards Stephen while still holding a lot of anger towards him and his enclave. So, Alex couldn't offer to have the kid stay but on the other side of things, he was a little worried about what would happen if he let him go. Would he just end up two months down the line in the midst of battle and find Stephen facing him, now holding a wand?