by Casey Morgan
“This place doesn’t seem as busy as I thought it would be,” he says.
“I know. It’s fucking pissing me off, Kace. We didn’t move from Kentucky away from grandmother and our lumber business, for an empty club. That’s not going to help our situation or what we need to do tonight.”
“That spell we need to cast?” asks Kace, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning. I know he really isn’t happy using magic bought from someone else. “The one you got that would make our land abundant in resources and trees. Something we need for our cabin and for our business, I know.” He leans forward, glaring at the other brothers, who are busy laughing and joking between them. “We need a virgin, and I believed the vampire’s boyfriend when he said plenty of virgins come through here. Maybe it just looks empty because the auction hasn’t started yet.”
I nod tightly, leaning back in my chair. I don’t say anything more. I have the spell on me in preparation for tonight’s events after the auction. I feel on the inside of my suit jacket, feeling the paper there. All we need is that virgin and then I will be in power and we will be on easy street. I look at my brothers, feeling a momentary prick of guilt. While I do have a spell, it’s not the one I’ve led them all to believe. I took it to have it altered. Instead of being an enrichment for our land and lumber company, it is designed to create bad luck for the current alphas of the Love’s Hollow Werewolf Pack.
I hate to lie to my brothers, or do such a shifty thing with magic, but it can’t be helped. Ever since arriving, we’ve been living in a tent. We’ve been out in the elements, and while the resident pack has been cordial with us, they’ve insisted on me giving up my alpha status. Which is not going to happen. Not after what I had to go through growing up in the Kentucky backwoods poor as dirt. We made ourselves millionaires and I have no intention of giving up any power. Once you claw your way up the food chain, you don’t let yourself slip back.
We Whiteclaws would make much better leaders here. I would be able to rein in all of these different factions of werewolves. And I certainly wouldn’t insult the alphas of the other packs the way they’ve insulted me. I growl, just thinking about the limited interaction I’ve had with those Strongpaw brothers. Especially the oldest one, Ryder. He’s a pain in my side. A constant reminder of where I would stand with him — at the bottom of the pack, with him and his brother lording over me. I hate to fool my brothers in this way and use that virgin for this kind of magic, but I’m not going to live out in the woods, and I’m not going to bow down to these Strongpaws.
Finally, just as these thoughts are coming to an end, someone gets up on the stage. The vampire, Mr. LeBlanc, addressing the fairly empty room. There is one other man seated at a table. Jorin goes out of his way to greet the other man and make him comfortable before saying, “Tonight’s auction consists of two wonderful ladies. They’ve agreed to be a part of this auction on short notice, so please, give them a fighting chance. Give them your appreciation and support!”
Kace has the same issue I do. “Only two?” he hisses, then pauses. “I thought for sure there was going to be more.”
“There’s supposed to be,” I snarl. “That vampire’s lover assured it.”
I wanted more to choose from. I was expecting lots of women to choose from. Virgins, given the reputation and amount of money being funneled through this place! We have to do our spell tonight, during the waxing crescent moon. It’s the only time the spell will work.
I growl loud and low, catching the attention of my other two brothers, Zane and Finn, who look concerned and surprised by my foul mood. I can see just by looking at them, they think that these girls are something special. They don’t mind there being only two and are just happy to see the auction get underway.
I’m hoping for better news out of these two girls’ mouths, but like everything else tonight, it just gets worse. The first girl to speak up — a curvy, blond-haired new arrival to the town, says she wants to auction off a kiss. Fuck me. A fucking kiss? Are you fucking kidding me? If it weren’t for the vampires in this room, I’d have tossed the table over and punched a few holes in the wall. Well, isn’t that just lovely! Isn’t that just worth the ten-fucking-million dollars I have ready to blow on that!
The second girl, a curvy, glasses-wearing chick, says she’s auctioning off her virginity. She’s my one and only chance at redemption, but as the auction starts, that guy at the other table — an old codger and a vampire by the faint whiff of perfume and blood I can smell from him — starts bidding on my virgin. Seems he’s not impressed by a kiss, either.
Someone really should’ve told that dumb blonde what kinds of things actually sell, I think bitterly, starting my own bidding war with him. Made of old money apparently, the vampire starts his bid in the millions. One and a half million to be exact.
“Three million,” I say, prepared to go to bat for this.
My brothers split their attention between me and the auction stage. The room fills with my bids and the bids of my one and only rival.
“Five million,” says the old man, but he doesn’t sound old. He sounds refined, covered in gold and silver.
“Seven,” I snap, wondering why him and I are stuck on odd numbers.
A pair of red eyes flashes at me momentarily from the other side of the room. That is quickly replaced by the three pairs of amber eyes looking at me from my brothers. I mouth, “Don’t worry, I got this,” to them, and step up my game.
I’m not playing this game with this vampire all night, even if he has money to burn. I’m going to get him out of the running for my one and only virgin.
“Ten Million,” I say, practically daring him to go beyond that. I hope he doesn’t. It’s all I’ve got. All we have. The entirety of the money from our logging business.
Kace looks like he’s about to rip out my throat or faint. I ignore him though and concentrate on my rival. He doesn’t immediately come back with a number, and I hope that means I’ve won.
“Ten million for this beautiful girl’s virginity,” says Mr. LeBlanc, looking nervously at the table with the older, distinguished gentleman. “Going once? Going… Twice?” He gives a prolonged look at the older man, and I wonder what the fuck he’s hoping for. Another bid, other than mine? When he gets nothing from his obsession at the other table, he sighs and says, “Ten million going thrice to Axel Whiteclaw.” He doesn’t sound happy anymore. Just morbidly depressed.
But I don’t give a shit about what that vampire feels. I bolt right up out of my seat to go collect my woman and get on with tonight’s business.
Chapter Four
Kace
“Did he forget the part where I said we could use some of the money from our timber business?” I grumble this to myself, since I know Axel isn’t going to stick around, and Finn and Zane are too busy watching him lead the young, nerdy-looking beauty toward our table. She has shoulder-length, wavy brown hair, big green eyes and killer curves. “The idea was to have some of that money left over to build our cabin and start our business, once the trees started coming up. Once the land started producing. Not blow the entire wad on a girl and have nothing to eat or build with!”
I get up from the table, watching my brothers follow suit. Of them, I’m the tallest. Zane, true to being the “baby” of the pack, is the shortest, the smallest of us. He’s still muscular, but nowhere near the muscleman that Axel is. Who’s busy walking toward us like some action hero ready to save the day, girl in hand, but I know that isn’t true at all. My brother is no hero.
From here, the girl looks so shy, so frail. Curiosity and fear dance across her features, but already I’m not optimistic. Axel claims that this spell is going to work, that it’s going to “fix all of our problems” but I just don’t know. I study the girl some more as Zane and Finn rush up out of their seats to greet her. I don’t think the spell is going to work. Even if this girl is a virgin, I don’t think that kind of magic is legitimate. For how little Axel paid for the spell, and how eager the person
seemed to want to be rid of it as quickly as possible, I’m not sure it’s going to do anything more than waste our time. But… What choice do we have? We’ve already bought the spell and her, so I guess we’ll just have to eat it: The money and our pride.
Axel marches right up to our table and says, “Everybody grab your shit and let’s get out of here. We don’t have all night.” He wrinkles his nose in annoyance.
Zane, true to his friendly and puppy -like nature, immediately asks our date for the evening her name.
“Olivia,” she says quietly, not holding his gaze. Her face is so pale. She looks terrified.
“I’m Zane!” I can see the honest, easy smile on his face. “That’s Axel.” He points to our brother who is still clutching her small, delicate hand. He throws an arm around Finn. “This is Finn. And…” He turns to face me finally, pointing me out to her. “That’s Kace. Whiteclaw. We are all brothers,” he adds, as if that’s going to comfort her or make all the difference.
“Nobody cares about that,” grouses Axel, dragging the poor girl away from the table with him. “Come on. Introductions are a waste of my time and yours right now.” Under his breath I hear him grumble something about Goddamn tents and everything else that he’s had to deal with since moving here.
I shrug and guide my brothers out with him.
We didn’t bring much in the way of anything with us, so there’s no “shit to pack up.” As it is, we were lucky to have any kind of fancy closing to dress in, considering we’re living in the woods right now.
Out of the club, the four of us — now five — pile into our large SUV and get going out of the parking lot. In the car, that’s when I begin to smell something I’m not sure I like about our bought virgin. She smells human to me — something I was not expecting in a paranormal town like Love’s Hollow. While I didn’t pick it up in the club, I’m picking it up now. So are my other brothers, based on how nuts their noses are going, even in human form. But it’s Zane, the talkative, happy one of us, who strikes up a conversation with her again. He asks her about herself, even though we’ve already smelled her status.
The spell didn’t specify what kind of “virgin” we needed for this magic, but I doubt a human virgin will work. I sigh, setting my head against the headrest of the passenger seat in the front. Human virgins are a dime a dozen, I doubt they will carry much magic or much power for spells such as these. We might have just busted any and every chance we have of anything going well!
If Axel shares my concerns, he doesn’t show it. He just continues to drive away from the club and the city limits, toward the beginning of the woods where our camp is. Centered on the exact middle of our land, the camp is going to be the beginning site for our ritual. For our night of magic with this human girl, Olivia — however successful or unsuccessful it is.
From the back seat, I hear Olivia quietly talking to Zane and Finn. She says that she is an author. That she writes books in her spare time, when she’s not working at the Diamond Club.
“Rad,” says Finn. “I love books. Haven’t had a chance to read much in the way of anything since we moved here, living where we are and everything, but I love a good story. I love to immerse myself in it.”
I don’t hear what they say after this point. I’m too focused on where were headed and wondering what her reaction is going to be once we get there. Whether she’s going to freak out and tried to run out on us or what. But certain agreements between the club and auction participants exist, so that might not happen. But given our luck lately, anything is possible.
After an hour’s drive, we finally pull up to our area of the forest and to the center of our property. Even from the windows of the SUV, I can make out the shadows of the tents we have scattered around a makeshift fire pit. I can see the part of our land we marked out specifically for the spell casting with rocks and chalk, in preparation.
Axel gets out of the front seat immediately, barely giving himself time to turn off the car in his haste. I follow quickly after, telling the others to follow and bring Olivia. Zane seems to have volunteered himself to be her personal escort. He helps guide her out of the car. Finn stays nearby, whispering quietly to her about where we’re going.
In no time at all, all five of us stand in the marked-off section of our property. At that point, Axel takes Olivia’s hand from Zane, barking at him, “Get out the candles and start putting them out. Both of you.” His eye lingers on Finn, who immediately goes to help our youngest brother. They are back from the tents in no time with arms full of every color of candle: black, red, green, blue, as well as bowls and brushes filled with the other ingredients.
While Zane and Finn scurry to lay out the candles following the rocks and chalk outlines and light them, I take it on myself to explain what’s going to happen tonight to Olivia. “You must be wondering what’s going on,” I comment gently then see her nod. The big, curious eyes on her face are wide as she looks at everything my brothers are doing. It kind of looks like she is committing each act to memory. “We’ve purchased you to be the centerpiece to our magic ritual. Something we’ve been planning for quite some time.” Something else lights in Olivia’s green eyes. Something like curiosity and excitement, which is not at all what I was expecting.
“The magic ritual,” she whispers, “will that require sex?” I can’t tell if she’s excited or terrified by the prospect.
“It will,” I say. I watched her face, interested in what happens on it. Without me having to say, she clearly draws the connection between us and her virginity.
“Will you all have to participate in it?” With her eyes, I see her watching the moving forms of Zane and Finn, as well as the forms of me and Axel. Particularly Axel, since he hasn’t stopped staring at her.
“Yes,” I say, hoping I don’t frighten her too much. “It’s a fertility ritual. For our land, the trees on it, so yes, you will need to have sex with all of us tonight.”
“Considering how much money we paid for you, you should have no objections to this, girl,” says Axel, and goes to grab the bowls of the other ingredients and sets them closer to Olivia. Closer to the center of this place, now lit up with candles. From out of his breast pocket, he withdraws the parchment I recognize as the one with the spell written on it. He doesn’t open it, just prepares to use it.
“The four of us will represent the four directions,” I tell her, turned on by her innocence and her curiosity. Plus, the fear on her face that I see fighting with interest and intrigue. “You will be in the center, representing the land. The earth. We will each have sex with you after we activate the spell, and from there we should all have a good time.” As I’m speaking to her, I feel myself already getting hard. I see Zane and Finn coming back from their candle-lighting duties and approaching. “Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of you.”
“I know,” says Olivia, dropping her eyes.
“And to start with,” Zane announces, “you’ll have to strip!”
Finn, always the honest one, despite his jokester nature, goes to contradict him. He tries to say that that’s not part of the ritual, but I quickly put my hand over his mouth.
“Hush,” I growl under my breath. “She’s sexy. I want to see her strip. Don’t ruin this for us.” To my delight, Olivia starts moving her hips in a sexy way and playing with the straps of her dress.
Chapter Five
Olivia
Magic? Fertility rituals? When I thought about how I would lose my virginity, and this night at work, this is not at all how I pictured either of these things going! But life works that way. A few years ago, I would’ve never pictured myself moving to a place like Love’s Hollow or rubbing shoulders with magical folk.
My eyes find Zane, watching me eagerly. He’s waiting for me to strip. It’s not just him, Finn and Kace are watching me as well. They are all looking at me with high expectations. So, I slip off my red shoes slowly and start rolling down my thigh-high nylons. They are all very sexy and very good-looking, despite being stran
gers to me. At least I didn’t end up with that old vampire. I’m shuttering just thinking about him, his long, scraggly hair and his hollow eyes. That would have ended badly. He might not have stopped at taking my virginity…he might have taken my life.
The only one of the Whiteclaw brothers not exactly paying attention to me is the alpha, Axel. I can tell he is that alpha based on his bossy attitude for one, for two, his large, bulky frame. He has a more muscled and toned physique, though all of the brothers are strong and capable. They are toned and physically beautiful, just not as much as their big brother. Whatever he’s doing, has to do with these little wooden bowls he’s laid nearby. He is putting something in them — one final mix or part of the spell.
I imagine a bit of music in my head, something to dance to, and start swaying. Stop thinking about the vampire. You are here to help these hot guys work a spell for the land, so put your mind on that. As I’m dancing, I start to slip off my panties. I do so before taking off my dress. To tempt them, and for my own comfort and decency for the time being, though I know it’s going to be short-lived. No matter what happens tonight, this will make for a good scene, a good story. I might base my next novel off of this. Might have more luck with it, though the publishers might even call that “unrealistic” as well.
As my panties come off and land in the dirt, the brothers watching me looking hungry and excited. I’m beginning to feel a little excitement too. I’m keeping up my — what I hope is sexy dancing — making eye contact with Axel. For some reason, I’m determined to get his attention, so I start taking off my dress. I lift from the bottom up, feeling momentarily nervous as the chilly night air caresses my thighs and my bare pussy, but I keep going.
I lift and shrug my shoulders until my dress is all the way off. Now I’ve gotten Axel’s attention. He’s stopped what he is doing and is staring at me, at my tummy, hips and thighs exposed to him in the candlelight. The rest of the boys, beginning with Zane, they start to undress. They shrug out of their clothes and flashed me some skin. They are just as muscled as they looked in their tuxes. More than that draws my eye, however. I stare at the fact that they are all well-endowed.