by Kit Lane
“We’ll—down, get down!”
Matt pushed me down into his lap before I had a chance to respond. Blood rushed in my ears from nerves and adrenaline, and also coming up close and personal with Matt’s thick cock.
Chapter 16 – Ronin
The inside of the SUV exploded with testosterone. It was suffocating. I struggled to draw breath and focus with a dick as hard as nails. My wolf struggled to get free and I had to force it back. I pulled over and slammed on the brakes, then glanced over my shoulder to see Alex face-planted in Matt’s groin, all three wolves staring at her wide-eyed and breathing heavily.
“What the hell just happened?”
It took a while for anyone to answer my question, then Matt said, “I thought I saw a cop car. It was instinct.”
“To shove Alex on your dick?” Kyle snapped, pissed off and out of breath.
“I’m…” Matt helped Alex to sit up. “Yeah, sorry about that.” Our glorious alpha was as wide-eyed and breathy as Alex.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and gave a shaky chuckle. “It’s been a while since I did that.”
The implication hit all four of us at the same time, and there was another flood of want into the vehicle. Each wolf was fighting for dominance, fighting to be the first one to take our Quinto.
“Get us somewhere out of sight, Matt ordered. “We need to go for a run. Work this off.”
I nodded. Good idea. My hands shook as I started driving again.
I headed toward an unused trail. I’d spent vacations in the area and knew it well. One advantage was this was little used by the local wolves, as they preferred other hunting grounds with plentiful prey. Local knowledge could keep us safe and undetected.
Once the SUV was parked and out of sight, Matt barked out, “You take first watch, Ro.”
Matt wouldn’t ask me to do that unless he was desperate.
“Go,” I said in a low voice, and all three were gone, shifting before paws hit the dirt. The wolves, with Matt leading the way, vanished into the trees.
I turned to see Alex staring at me warily.
“Are you going to tell me what that was all about?”
I hesitated, but what was the point of trying to deny it. If she was our Quinto, we would have to face this head on. “What did you feel?”
“Like the oxygen had been sucked out of the car.”
“Did you feel anything else?” I asked.
She flushed and shifted her gaze away. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Babe, I think you do.”
She gave me a flat look. “Babe?”
“Too soon?”
“Never.”
“Fair enough. Stop deflecting.”
She hesitated, but I could see she was trying to find the words. “I know you wanted me.” She glared at me as if she expected me to laugh at her.
“You felt us react?”
“Dude, I could see it,” she said in such a matter-of-fact tone it made me snicker. “You’re naked. Not exactly hiding anything.”
“Are you scared by our reaction?”
She bit her bottom lip and it was adorable. “Is this normal? Do all Cincos screw each other?”
I frowned at the term because it was so much more than screwing. Making love as part of a Cinco was all-encompassing, at least that was what I’d been told.
“Did I say something wrong?” she asked. “Why are you angry?”
“Not angry. Just… trying to find a way to describe to you what being part of a complete Cinco is. More than just five wolves together. It’s pack and home, love and future. Sex is part of that, but it’s more than sex. It’s making love to someone, mind, body and soul.”
“So I’m expected to make love to all four of you?”
I sighed inwardly. Now I knew why Matt had left me there. None of the others would have been comfortable answering these questions. “Coward!” I shot out to Matt. I heard a wolfy snicker in my head.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Most Cincos grow up together. Making love happens later.”
“You guys, did you… with each other?”
I shook my head. “Some do, it’s not an issue. We never wanted to.”
Alex took time to think about it. “What if I’d been a guy?”
I shrugged. “Then we’d seek sexual pleasure elsewhere.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“Then we seek sexual pleasure elsewhere.”
“But the tension, the energy. It was overwhelming.”
I reached out to sense her; encountering confusion and fear, but also longing and need. Our gazes locked. I needed her to know I was telling the truth. “Alex, we’ll handle anything that comes our way. You won’t be pressured, and you’re not our property. If you want to make love to any of us, it’ll be your choice.”
“What about you? What about your needs?”
At first I thought she meant all of us, then I realized she was asking about me. My wolf growled with happiness. I stroked one finger down her cheek. She leaned into my touch, and I smiled. “I want you to be happy.”
“Now who’s deflecting?”
She gave a little growl which was kind of adorable, but she was right, I was avoiding the question. I decided to be honest and stared into her golden eyes.
“I want to make love to you until I make you forget your name.”
Alex’s cheeks reddened, but she didn’t move away. “I think…” She swallowed nervously. “That might be something I’d consider. At some point.”
I was careful to avoid all bodily reactions other than a careful nod. She was relieved I wasn’t about to leap on her right then. There was also an aggrieved jostling inside my head.
“You left me to do the hard work,” I pointed out.
I heard the huffs and ignored them. The early bird gets the worm!
Chapter 17 - Alex
I was naïve enough to know something was wrong, but not understand why Matt, Lee and Kyle had abandoned the SUV almost before it had stopped, and ran like the wolves they were into the trees, leaving Ronin staring at me with an awkward smile.
At least we’d managed to have a conversation about something that had been worrying me since the moment they’d declared I was theirs. Nowhere in my inexperienced fantasies had I considered making love to four werewolves. As gorgeous as they were in their own way, I wasn’t ready for anything like that. Just the thought of it made my insides shiver. I couldn’t deny I was attracted to Ronin. He was a handsome guy, but it was more than that. He was kind and gentle, and I couldn’t sense the resentment that the others tried and failed to hide. On the contrary, his attraction to me, flowed like honey over the rawness of my soul.
I scoffed at the poetic language. I was practical, not poetical. Yet every word was true. Ronin was like honey and calm strength, where all the others failed to hide their distrust, or in Matt’s case, resentment of my presence. They talked the talk, but Ronin was the only one who meant it.
Ronin left me with my thoughts and I curled up on the back seat, wishing I was home in my bed. So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours I felt like I was fracturing and I wasn’t that person. I was a doer, practical, calm and efficient. Now I felt like a spinning top, out of control because of those wolves who’d dragged me away from my life.
“Hey.”
I hadn’t even noticed Ronin had gotten into the back seat. He wrapped his arms around me, and the slim control over my emotions faltered. I leaned against Ronin’s broad chest and sobbed, hot tears dampening his skin, and let the world shatter while he held me together.
I hadn’t cried since the days after my parents’ accident. I’d had too much to do, and no time to dwell on my problems. Even then, I was in control. I’d been the one who’d dealt with the authorities. I’d been the one who’d handled all the arrangements. Now I was a daughter of a traitor, hunted by non-humans who wanted me dead just by accident of my birth.
I sat up and
Ronin let me go. I sniffled and wiped tears impatiently from my face. “My father is not a traitor.”
He watched me, his expression bland. “You don’t know that, Alex. This all happened while you were a child. You say you don’t remember anything?”
“I don’t, not a thing, and your kind are trying to kill me for it,” I pointed out.
He nodded. “We will find out the truth.”
Was it a warning or a threat?
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “You still think he’s a traitor?”
Ronin frowned. “I don’t know what to think. There’s compelling evidence to believe he is. My pack grew up believing he tried to destroy us. I haven’t seen anything to say he isn’t.”
Anger rose in me at his careful words. “Apart from my mom. She told you he was framed.”
“That’s not evidence,” he said, and although I could hear the note of apology the words still stung. “That’s just your mom’s word.”
“The word of a dead woman.”
“The wife of the traitor and a Fae to boot. Fae are not our friends.”
“Now you sound like Matt,” I said bitterly.
“I’m sorry.” But he wasn’t, too resolute to be sorry.
I’d had enough. I sent out a Cinco-wide order.
“Get your furry butts back here!”
Ronin’s lips twitched. I folded my arms and waited for them to arrive.
The first to appear was Matt. No surprise there. His large form bounded over to the SUV, followed by the sleeker, smaller forms of Lee and Kyle.
They climbed in and shifted in front of me, and I was amazed once more at how quick it was. How did wolf skeletons shape into humans and vice versa?
“We’re not one animal in two shapes. We’re two distinct animals held together by magic.” Ronin must have heard my random thought. I really couldn’t shield.
“So when you’re in your wolf form I’m talking to your wolf, not you?”
“It’s complicated. My wolf is me and I am my wolf.”
“But you just said…”
“Think of us as two bodies, one being. It’s not quite accurate because my wolf is sentient too, but only to me.”
“And other wolves,” Matt said out loud. “Wolves talk to wolves.”
I threw my hands up in exasperation. How was I meant to get my head around this if none of the explanations made sense?
“It’ll make more sense the longer you’re with us,” Ronin assured me.
Sure it would. And Christmas was in July.
“You called us back?” Lee said. Waves of suspicion still oozed from him.
I glowered at him. “You think my father’s a traitor.”
“I don’t know, but I don’t know you either.” At least he wasn’t trying to deny the accusation.
I turned to Kyle. “And what’s your problem with me?”
He blinked at me, taken aback at being confronted. “Matt is my alpha, not you.”
“I’m not trying to be anyone’s alpha.”
“It isn’t what you try to be, it’s what you are,” Matt said. “It’s instinctual. Lee can hunt, but he couldn’t be the hunter of the Cinco as well as Kyle is. The Cinco can’t have two alphas.”
“Why not?”
“Because there is always one wolf in charge. I’ve been that wolf since I was a pup.”
“I don’t want your job,” I managed, through gritted teeth. “I’m a chef, not an alpha of a wolf Cinco.”
“It doesn’t matter what you want. It’s what is,” Ronin said, quietly resolute.
I shook my head. “Your rules don’t apply to me.”
Matt folded his arms and glowered at me. “You’re the Quinto. You’re also part wolf.”
“I’m Alex Rieke, human and caterer.” I didn’t care whether I was part wolf, part Fae, or part Martian. I’d been a human for my entire life, I was sure of it. We had a stand-off but I wasn’t backing down.
Lee broke into our staring competition. “Uh, guys, we have a problem.”
“Later,” Matt snapped.
“Tell them that.”
I tore my gaze away from Matt to where Lee was pointing, and straight into the cold, hard eyes of a huge wolf.
Chapter 18 - Matt
Not just one wolf. Many wolves. At least three Cincos surrounded the SUV. Most of the wolves were huge, with merciless amber eyes.
“We’re fucked!” I said it before I could stop myself.
No one disagreed with me.
How did they get there without us knowing? I turned to Lee. He was the communicator. He should have sensed them.
“Because I was too busy dealing with another urgent problem in the woods. Like you, oh glorious leader.”
Another thing against our Quinto. She had distracted us all at a crucial moment. There was a murmur of agreement from Kyle and Lee.
The hurt gaze Alex turned on us all and the “Not now!” snapped from Ronin made me realize I wasn’t shielding my thoughts as well as I should have. Dammit, I had to get myself under control.
“What are we going to do?” Kyle looked to me. He was right. I was still our alpha until our Cinco was formally joined.
The wolves outside the SUV hadn’t moved a muscle, seeming to be waiting for a response from us.
“I’m going to get out and talk to them,” I said grimly. “It may be a territorial issue. We’re on the outskirts of their lands. They may just want us gone.”
Alex grabbed my arm. “What if they hurt you?”
I studied the slender fingers and short manicured fingernails wrapped around my forearm, and then at Ronin. “If they attack me, drive. Don’t wait for me. Just get out of here.”
Ronin nodded. “Where do you want us to go? To wait for you.”
“If they attack I’m dead. You know that.” That time I made sure only Ronin could hear my thoughts.
“We’ll keep her safe,” Ronin promised.
“You keep you safe too.”
Ronin nodded, as if we’d agreed it out loud.
The others glanced between us, confused and suspicious, but I didn’t focus on that. If my last job as alpha was to protect my Cinco, I would do it with my dying breath. I slid the door open and stepped out, paws hitting the dirt as wolf. The door shut behind me.
I squared up against the nearest wolves. I was as big as they were, but hopelessly outnumbered.
“What do you want?” I asked the nearest alpha. My Cinco could hear everything I said.
“Hand over the traitor.”
So much for hoping it was a territorial dispute. They knew who we were and why we were there.
“I’m not harboring a traitor.”
“You have Alex Rieke in the vehicle. She is the spawn of Wulf Rieke, the accursed traitor.”
I kept my voice as calm as I could. “What are you going to do with her?”
I felt the wave of fear from Alex but I couldn’t focus on her. In my peripheral vision, I was aware of the wolves drawing closer. “Our orders are to kill her.”
“Ronin!”
My order was unnecessary. Behind me the SUV purred into life. If I went down, he’d be gone.
“Hand her over or you will die.”
“You’re going to kill us anyway.” I threw that out to see what the alpha said. He didn’t contradict me.
The wolves drew closer and the blood rushed through my veins. I drew myself up to my full height and stared them down. That was the first time I’d been challenged by a true opponent, and it would probably be the last, but I wouldn’t go down without a fight. I would take the alpha with me.
“You’re a foolish pup,” the alpha said. “She’s not worth dying for. Stand aside and let us have her. You can go free. Your Elders can deal with you.”
“She is our Quinto. We are a complete Cinco now. You will not have her.”
“If you die your pack will no longer be a Cinco.”
The wolves surrounded me now, no longer silent, lips drawn back, and snapping and
snarling in an attempt to intimidate me. I refused to admit it worked. I was an alpha wolf—for now. I snapped as one gray wolf with a darker snout drew too close.
The alpha turned on him. “Back!”
He seemed as irritated as I was. The wolf retreated with a final snarl. I didn’t relax for an instant.
“Let us go,” I said. “We don’t have to shed the blood of our ancestors today. We will be gone from your pack land.”
“We have our orders from the Elders.”
“To kill an innocent human.”
“Enough!” The alpha lunged forward, as the others did the same. “She is the daughter of a traitor wolf.”
“What if Rieke was innocent?”
It was the one last thing I could think to say, but it was too late. The time for talking and listening was over, and I went down under a sea of muscle, sharp teeth and claws.
“Go! Go!” I shrieked at Ronin.
I heard him gun the engine and the wheels squealed. Then he raced away, leaving me to fight with every fiber of my being. The alpha lashed out with his claws, I retaliated with teeth in his shoulder. The wolf who’d snarled at me before attempted to hamstring me. I turned, slashing his throat. He gurgled and fell back. Two more landed on top of me and I managed to claw them both, but I couldn’t last much longer.
They’d kill me but I wouldn’t go down without a fight. I would die as an alpha, fighting for my Cinco.
Chapter 19 – Alex
“What the hell are you doing?” I yelled at Ronin as he raced along the dirt track.
“Saving your skinny hide,” Kyle muttered from behind me.
I ignored him. “Turn around now! You can’t leave him there. They’ll kill him.”
Ronin ignored me and kept driving.
“Turn around!” I pounded on his shoulders but I might as well have been swatting a fly for all the notice he took. “Jesus, he’s your alpha. Why are you abandoning him?”
“I’m following his orders,” Ronin bit out through gritted teeth.
“He told you to desert him?”
“He told me to save you and that’s what I’m going to do.”
I stared at Lee and Kyle, both of whom avoided my eyes. “Is this what you want? You leave your leader to die just to save a stranger’s ass?”