Amazon (The Ushers 1)

by Vanessa North

  “Hiya, big boy.”

  Kathy!

  “How?” he asked in his mind, slowing to circle the other wolf curiously.

  She stopped and watched him, her posture calm and non-threatening.

  “You accepted me as your sister, remember? We aren’t Pack, but you’re family now.”

  With that, she tossed her head back and let out a magnificent howl, joy spilling through both of them at the connection. He tossed his head back and let his own howl join hers. Bianca sat and watched them, clearly amused.

  “And her?” He sent the thought to Kathy.

  “Oh no, big boy. ‘Her’ you will have to figure out for yourself.” The little red wolf looked him in the eye and winked, a surprisingly human gesture. He crouched, leapfrogged over her, and ran to Bianca, nipping at one of her haunches before taking off in a run. He heard the yips of the females as they followed him.

  He had no idea how long they had been running when they started circling back. He felt a wave of regret as they neared the clearing behind the bar. It was much later now, and the bar had closed. Only a handful of cars remained in the parking lot, and he smelled only one human nearby, probably the manager of the bar closing up. Jack had enjoyed the run, found some peace and play in it, and felt refreshed and reborn. He watched as Kathy shifted on the move, her fur receding as she took her human form again, standing on two feet, watching them, her petite curves like a statue of a tiny Venus, rounded and freckled. She smiled and started gathering her clothing, sliding out of his awareness in that way of hers.

  He turned to face Bianca. He wasn’t ready to tuck the wolf side of him away just yet. Just as he’d yearned to kiss her as a man before he let the wolf out, he yearned to make a connection with her as wolf before he shifted back. He padded toward her, touching her nose with his. She returned the caress, rubbing her cheek against his. It was all he needed—this time. He let his tongue loll out, and then he shook his head, feeling his wolf recede and his human form return. He was kneeling next to the Albina, and his hands reached for her of their own volition, tangling in her fur. She nudged at them, her eyes glowing silver in the moonlight before they closed in pleasure. He stroked her soft ears and murmured to her.

  “Thank you, White Wolf. That was beautiful.” He stood and turned his back to her, picking up his clothing and getting dressed. He felt her shifting behind him, and he turned to see her delicate form moving toward him. She reached up, dropped the lightest of kisses on his cheek, and then smiled before stooping to pick up her own clothes. His wolf, sated by the run, was content.

  Chapter Four

  KATHY DROVE THEM BACK to the inn in a red Jeep. Jack sat in the back seat, Bianca up front. When they pulled up in front of the inn, Bianca hopped out, and he followed. He waited while she leaned toward Kathy.

  “Tell Monica whatever she asks,” she told her little lieutenant.

  Kathy gave a brisk nod and drove away.

  “Jack.” Bianca smiled at him, her voice low and throaty. “Thank you for joining us tonight. I need to go to the Guide now. We can speak tomorrow over breakfast, okay?”

  She could practically feel his jealousy. A growl rose in his throat.

  “Oh, Jack.” She frowned at him. She took his hand, struggling to find the right words to express her feelings in that moment. Her wolf was agitated, wanting to console him, comfort him, acknowledge what he would be to her. But the woman owed him no such allegiance. Not yet. And sweet Sara, her dearest friend, deserved more than to be discarded like yesterday’s newspaper. They had both known that someday, she would mate, and their affair would end. She always imagined Sara would give her warning, prepare her. For him to arrive so suddenly, so perfect and handsome as if he’d been custom-made just for her…She sighed.

  “No, I understand,” he said, a smile that didn’t reach his eyes quirking his lips up. “Go to her.”

  She nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Sara.” Bianca stood outside the door, her voice quiet.

  “Come in, lovely,” Sara called.

  She opened the door and saw Sara lying just as she’d imagined earlier, naked and beautiful on the bed with a blanket draped around her waist. Her dark hair flowed about her shoulders, pooling by her breasts. A book lay open in front of her. She smiled up at Bianca, her face not betraying any of her emotions.

  “Did you have a good run?” she murmured, watching Bianca shrug out of her clothes.

  Bianca nodded, arousal stirring in her, along with tenderness, as she looked at Sara’s beautiful form. She knew every hollow and curve of Sara’s body as she knew her own. She knew how to make the other woman stretch and gasp and moan. Bianca felt her nipples harden, her sex clench. Overlaying her attraction to Sara, she realized that her response to Jack’s kiss earlier had left her aroused, and she was ashamed to bring her lust for another to Sara’s bed. She bowed her head and knelt beside the bed.

  “It’s him,” she said.

  “I know. I realized when I saw his name earlier today when he checked into the inn,” Sara said in a quiet voice, taking her hand. “It’s okay, you know. This should be a happy time for you. I’m happy for you.”

  “I don’t want to leave you,” she answered, feeling a twinge of disappointment as she realized the words weren’t entirely true. She may not want to leave Sara, but her wolf itched to go upstairs to her mate. The kiss they had shared earlier had occupied her thoughts since they’d returned to their human forms.

  “We both know that’s only half true.” Sara smiled, tucking a finger under Bianca’s chin and lifting it to look into her eyes. “I’ve had most of today to come to terms with this. Come to bed, lovely. We have tonight. You can leave me tomorrow.”

  Bianca felt a tear slipping out of her eye and down her face as she lay on the bed with Sara. Sara pushed the book to the floor, enfolding Bianca in her arms. Bianca wept softly, and Sara held her, shushing against her snowy hair. Gradually, her sobs slowed, and she felt a peace steal over her. Sara kissed Bianca’s lips, and Bianca turned into the embrace, hungrily, relaxing as Sara’s tongue teased at her own, the familiar taste and windy scent washing over her. She savored the languorous motions of Sara’s mouth on hers. Lifting her hand, she stroked it through Sara’s hair, enjoying the softness of it between her fingers, like silk.

  Together, they reveled in each touch and sigh. Bianca caressed the other woman’s breasts, teasing and stroking her dusky nipples. She felt Sara relax into her caresses. It was always sweet with Sara, their long friendship creating a tenderness between them that she’d never felt with anyone else. As she had many times over the years that they’d been lovers, she felt a curious duality, an echo through their bond to each other, knowing exactly what it would feel like to Sara when she plucked a nipple between her fingers, rolling it, feeling an answering tug in her own flesh. Sara moaned and reached, no longer content to let Bianca lead. She grasped Bianca’s hips and pulled her pelvis close to her own, kissing her deeply as she reached for the pale triangle of curls between Bianca’s legs. She teased Bianca with a single finger, groaning when she found her wet and excited. She pushed Bianca back against the bed and leaned over to press a gentle kiss to her collarbone, gliding down to one breast, and then biting and licking at her belly before lowering herself to the foot of the bed in order to lick at Bianca’s clit. Bianca threw her head back and groaned her abandon. Sara licked and nibbled, and Bianca felt desire pouring from her lover, her Guide, a wanting to give Bianca as much of herself as she could, this one last time. Bianca stifled that thought, cried out as she felt the tension building within her, the softness of Sara’s hair spilling across her belly and thighs adding to the delicious feeling of her mouth on Bianca’s heat. Still teasing at her, Sara sank two delicate fingers up inside her, pressing hard against her sweet spot, beckoning the orgasm from her. Bianca shuddered and clenched, feeling herself tightening around Sara’s fingers as she came in a rush of emotion, ecstasy and sadness together as she rocked against her.

 
; “That’s it, lovely. You’re so sweet when you come, so pretty,” Sara whispered hoarsely.

  Bianca pulled Sara up to her, pressing a wet, heated kiss along her collarbone as she began to tease her with her fingers, coaxing her passion forth as she moved the kiss upward. Sara’s lips tasted of her own fulfillment mixed with Sara’s unique windy flavor. Bianca’s hand was busy between them, flickering at Sara’s clit with a delicate finger. Bianca felt Sara’s growing excitement as her pussy swelled and flooded around her fingers. Watching, sensing what Sara needed, Bianca turned her hand to circle the swollen nub of Sara’s clitoris with her thumb, just so, just the way she knew drove Sara crazy with want. If this was the last time, she wanted to make it even more beautiful, cresting this wave of heat. She leaned forward and took a nipple into her mouth, suckling hard, knowing it would bring Sara closer to the heaven she sought. Sara took a great gasping breath, and Bianca added another finger to those filling her lover before closing her mouth with a kiss.

  “Oh, lovely, now,” Sara cried against her lips.

  Bianca leaned back and doubled her efforts to bring Sara to completion. She watched the flush spread across Sara’s body, her beautiful eyes closing tightly as she came around Bianca’s hand. When her shudders quieted, Bianca lifted her hands to her lips, tasting Sara on her fingers, drawing her scent into her nose, tucking it away in her mind. She listened as her heart slowed its rhythm as they came down from their bliss. The treacherous organ seemed to be repeating the words she heard echoing in her head. Last time last time last time last time.

  “Lovely. I need to…” Sara spoke in a hushed voice.

  Bianca knew what was coming, she could feel it in the connection between them. Sara was closing off a part of herself to Bianca. Bianca resented the ease with which it seemed Sara could manipulate her own feelings. She could make love so tenderly, and then it seemed she shut her emotions down afterwards.

  Bianca felt tears welling once more as she felt their link change. The part of Sara that had often felt closer than her own heart was gone. They were still paired, Usher and Guide, but they were friends now, and no more. She opened her violet eyes and met Sara’s dark ones. Sara nodded acknowledgement of the change.

  “I had to, Bianca,” she pleaded for understanding. “I needed to set you free to go to your mate. You are so good and loyal and sweet to me, but he is your mate. I want you to be happy with him.”

  “I love you, Sara.”

  “You are my very dearest friend.” Sara pulled Bianca back into her arms. “I’m your Guide. I won’t leave you because your mate has arrived. We’ve known this day would come, and I can’t be sorry that it has. With Jack, you’ll finally be ready to fulfill your destiny as Usher. We don’t get to choose our fate, lovely.”

  “I don’t love him,” Bianca pointed out. “My wolf wants him, but I don’t love him.”

  “You will. Before you even realize it’s happened, you will.” Sara stroked Bianca’s hair. “He can give you everything I can’t. Pack. Family. Even your destiny is tied to him.”

  “Are you certain?” She had asked Sara that question many times, over many subjects, her entire life.

  Sara nodded. “Yes, lovely, I’m certain. That’s how the mate bond works. I imagine by the time he meets Monica tomorrow, you’ll be mad for each other. Now, let’s get some sleep.”

  They curled together on the bed, and Sara held Bianca until she drifted off to sleep.

  Alone in the frilly pink room, Jack paced, his wolf agitated. He reached for his phone a few times before he finally picked it up and dialed his Alpha’s number. They were too far apart to touch minds, though of course he could feel the ever-present weight of Pack in his soul, tethering him to all his wolves. He was not sure whether the distance, normally a hassle, was a bad thing, at the moment. He truly had no desire to share some of his current thoughts with his brother.

  “Murphy,” his brother, Patrick, answered gruffly.

  Jack imagined his brother, seeing him in his mind, dark and brooding, but smaller than the other Murphy brothers. Patrick had always had a bit of a Napoleon complex, one that dominated him more and more as each of his younger brothers grew taller and stronger than him. Between his attitude and their deference to him as a big brother, they’d never thought to challenge him, but tonight, Jack resented his brother’s control over him. He wished he were talking to Ted, his younger brother and best friend.

  “Paddy, it’s me,” Jack said.

  “Jack, have you made contact?”

  “Yeah, Paddy. It’s not a few rogues. There’s a pack here.” He heard his brother swear.

  “How strong are they? Do you think they are a threat to us?”

  “I can’t be sure how strong they are yet. They’re different. Their Guardian is…well, different.”

  “Explain,” Patrick ordered, his rough voice overlaid with an Alpha’s edge.

  Jack’s wolf whimpered, wanting to protect his mate but being unable to resist his Alpha’s compulsion.

  “Their Guardian is Albina,” he said, picturing her beautiful body in the moonlight.

  He heard his brother swear again.

  “You’ve seen her? You know this?”

  “I’m sure, Paddy.” He hesitated. “There’s more.”

  “Of course there is. A female Guardian. An Albino wolf. Of course there is more.”

  “She’s my mate.” Jack ground out the words in a growl against futility—he knew what would come next. Patrick was not a religious wolf, in spite of the inherent spirituality of their species. He would never be accepting of an albino in his pack, not even one destined to change the world. He feared change and clung to tradition.

  “No, Jack, I forbid it,” Patrick’s voice snarled over the line. “You will not bring defective albino genes into our pack.”

  Jack snarled back, his teeth snapping together as his lips pulled back. His wolf was furious. “I’ll claim my mate, brother.” The words tore out of his mouth of their own volition. He was resisting the Alpha’s compulsion, and it hurt. But Bianca was his, and he would have her.

  “No.” Patrick growled again. “Unless you plan to challenge me for leadership of the pack, you’ll obey me.”

  Jack felt pain spearing into him. His brother was Alpha. Jack had no desire to be Alpha, no desire to fight his brother—and if he wanted to mate with Bianca, he would have to kill him, fighting hand to hand. He felt the injustice of it as a physical blow. His wolf paced within him, whining and growling. He shuddered at the pain of resistance before letting go—for now.

  “Jack.” Patrick’s voice came back more calmly. “You know this is for the best. Whatever voodoo seeing an Albina has done to your hormones, it will fade.”

  Jack resisted his brother’s attempts to soothe him. “It isn’t some spell cast on me by a seductress, Patrick. She is my mate.” He sighed.

  “You will find another mate, Jack,” Patrick offered. “Get this out of your head before you do something crazy like Fionn did.”

  “I don’t want another mate, Paddy.” He snarled in frustration. He knew he should tell his brother that she was an Usher, but he needed to understand more what that meant. Sadly, his knowledge of the myths and prophesies was limited. He didn’t understand how the white wolf would usher change into their world, and until he did, he couldn’t risk telling his brother more.

  “I’ve given you your orders Jack. I expect you to obey me in this, as in all things.” His brother’s voice was stern again.

  “Yes, Alpha,” he snarled into the phone.

  “Call me tomorrow with an update.” His brother indicated the conversation was over. Then, hesitantly said, “I’m sorry Jack.”

  Jack hung up the phone and flung it against the wall. He watched in satisfaction as it shattered. He let back his head and howled, not caring that it might awake others in the building. He let his grief and rage wash through him.

  “Trouble, big boy?” He felt Kathy’s mind touch like champagne bubbles up his nose.<
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  “No,” he sent back and then pushed back at her, “Leave me be.”

  He felt her retreat, her playful touch disappearing.

  He sank down on the bed, thinking about Bianca. His wolf craved her with a need he had never felt before. He knew it was more than just attraction. Patrick was wrong. She was his mate. He pictured the way her pink nipples had looked as she stood naked before him and then kneeling and scratching his ears. His wolf had enjoyed that. She was beautiful in the way that all strange things were beautiful, but more than that, she was lovely, as Sara had called her at the bar. His body ached as he thought of her in Sara’s arms, making love to her. He stirred with both arousal and jealousy at the thought. What if she wouldn’t leave Sara? What if she preferred the company of women in general? How would a guy like him, so very rough around the edges, ever win her over? He felt a twinge of foreboding as he realized his wolf intended to defy the Alpha.

  He heard a knock at the door. He sniffed. Sara.

  He opened the door and stared at her. She smiled up at him, both joy and sadness in her eyes. She touched the side of his face with her palm. He saw a deep weariness in her face and wondered how she could seem so youthful and so ancient all at once.

  “Wolf,” she acknowledged.

  “Raven.”

  “Ah, good, so Bianca told you.” She smiled, tilting her head to one side as she pushed past him into the room.

  “Yes.” What did she want? He could smell the sweet spicy scent of Bianca and sex all over her, and it was making him hard. His wolf needed his mate. He felt his lips curling in a snarl.

  “Bianca and I are no longer lovers, Jack,” Sara explained. “We ended that part of our friendship tonight.” He saw a touch of sorrow in her eyes, and then it cleared.

  “Because of me,” he stated.

  She nodded, but then shook her head. “Yes, but that’s not why I’m here. I came to offer you some reassurance. Some peace.” She smiled up at him. “I wanted to let you know that you won’t need to defy your Alpha in order to claim your mate. It’s all going to be okay.”