“I don’t want a mate, Jackie. I can see what you and Bianca have, and it’s beautiful, a gift. But I love Annie.”
“Bianca loves her Guide, too, Fionn. But she loves me as a mate. You could have both, you know—the spiritual connection you share with your Guide, and a mate.”
Fionn scrubbed a hand across his face. “Jack, I’ve never wanted to mark a woman before Annie or since. I marked her in the heat of the moment, and something in me changed. I’m hers now, whether or not she’s willing to be mine. I tried to forget her, Goddess knows I’ve tried, but I can’t.”
“So, what now? You’re going to live as a monk? C’mon, Fionn, we know that’s not who you are.”
“Maybe it is. I don’t know. I’ve never tried celibacy before. When Annie left me, all those years ago, I was so angry that I slept with everyone who’d take me. Christ, Jack, I have two kids, and I love them, but they, and their mothers, are human, and I’m not. Settling down with one of the baby-mamas, it was never an option, and I can’t even say I would have wanted to if they were wolves expecting wolf children. I’m not angry with Annie anymore—I understand why she left—but she’s still the only woman I’ve ever loved, and I need to prove that to her. I’m not mating that harpy you call Alpha.”
“How can you resist the pull of your mate?” Jack asked. “I saw how your nostrils flared when she touched you. That wasn’t rage; that was your wolf responding to her. Are you really going to tell me you can’t feel that?”
“I’m going to tell you to mind your own business,” Fionn replied.
Recognizing a brick wall when he saw one, Jack put up his hands in defeat.
“Okay. Fair enough. How are the kids, by the way?” Jack was unused to thinking of his younger brother in the context of responsibility, and he was beginning to realize that the playboy troublemaker was a carefully cultivated armor that had served Fionn well over the last two decades. He watched Fionn’s face transform as he talked about his kids.
“They are awesome,” he said with a grin. “Rose is eight now, and she’s curious about everything. We always have adventures together. She’s going to suspect that I’m different before Devon does. Dev is twelve, and he’s growing up faster than I can believe. But right now, all he cares about is basketball. He loves the game.” Fionn frowned. “I can’t regret my kids, Jackie. I know I fucked up, both times, by getting human women pregnant, but Rose and Devon are the best part of my life.”
“Hey, man, you’re a good dad. It sucks that you can’t be with your kids, that they can’t grow up in the pack with us. That’s the only reason anyone ever judged you for it.”
“No, it’s not, but you’re a helluva good brother to say so.”
“Fionn, why did you keep it a secret?” They both understood he was talking about Fionn’s extraordinary transformation.
“Dunno. Never wanted to be Alpha. I didn’t see any use for being powerful beyond getting laid.”
“What changed?”
“Annie came back. And I’d do anything for her.” Fionn grinned at his brother. “Wouldn’t you do anything for the woman you love?”
“You’ll do anything for her, except claim your true mate?”
“Touché, bro.” Fionn’s grin faded to a rueful smile. “Go. I need to be alone.”
Jack patted his brother on the shoulder and left without a word.
Chapter Fourteen
“HOW DID IT GO WITH FIONN?” Bianca asked as Jack slipped back into the room they shared.
“I might have made some progress.”
He reached for her, and she came to him, resting her head against his chest. Her hand traced the muscles of his arm up to his shoulder and then tangled in his hair. Closing his eyes, he let the soft touch stir his senses. He could smell that elemental female scent that was his mate. He could hear her heartbeat, like the sweetest melody he’d ever heard. And he could feel her fear—a thread of it winding through their bond.
“Why are you afraid?” he murmured into her hair.
“I don’t know. I’m uneasy about the council. I don’t know why.”
“Come to bed, White Wolf,” he whispered, tugging her toward the bed, pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist. “Let’s take your mind off it.”
“I love you, Jack,” she sighed as she let him pull off her dress.
He traced over the lines of one of her tattoos, down her collarbone, around a breast, down to her navel. Her head fell back, her eyes closed. He knelt before her, breathing in the scent of her arousal.
“Are you wet for me, love?”
“You know I am.” She smiled as he traced the white curls at the apex of her thighs.
With a grin, he buried two fingers inside her, curling them toward him, making her buck forward as he touched the sweetest spot.
“Ah, goddess,” she whimpered, tugging with a hand in his hair.
He growled in appreciation, nibbling at the inside of her thigh, making her stretch and shake with want.
“Please, Jack,” she begged.
“What, lover?” he teased, knowing what she wanted, needing to make her say it.
“My clit…touch my clit, and make me come!” she begged.
He pushed her labia apart with his thumbs, two fingers still buried inside her, and he flicked his tongue over her clit, pushing his face against her. He ate at her like she was the most glorious thing he’d ever tasted, and he felt a rush of wetness as she came in a torrent against his face. She started to fall backwards, and he grabbed her around the waist and laid her on the bed.
“You are so beautiful,” he told her, slipping out of his own clothes and joining her in the bed.
Just then, they heard a knock at the door. Jack groaned.
“It’s Sara,” Bianca whispered.
“Let her in.” He sighed, pulling a sheet over his arousal.
Bianca slipped his shirt on over her head and crossed to the door, opening it.
Sara’s face was wet with tears, her eyes red and puffy from crying. Bianca shot a look of alarm at Jack and pulled Sara into the room. She sat her down on the bed with Jack and then sat down next to her, wrapping her arm around Sara’s shoulders.
“Shhhh, what is it, Sara? Why are you crying?” She’d never seen Sara in such a state. Sara had always seemed so impervious to untidy emotional outburst. She’d always been the one to take care of Bianca, never the other way around. In some ways, Bianca was startled to discover that her friend had hidden such depths of feeling from her in the past, but quickly realized it had always been Sara protecting her.
“I’m just sad, lovely.” Sara glanced from Bianca to Jack, her face coloring. “I’m sorry. I’ve interrupted your evening. I didn’t know where else to go; I just needed you.”
“Hey, it’s okay, darling, we’re here. Shhhh.” Bianca hugged her tight. “Why so sad, sweet?” she murmured into her Guide’s dark hair.
Jack’s hand came up and caressed Sara’s shoulder. Bianca felt the wave of helplessness from him as Sara’s body shook with more sobs. She rocked their friend like a baby in her arms, trying to soothe her splintered emotions.
When Sara whispered, “I’m frightened,” Jack’s arm went around her shoulder, hugging her tightly to his own chest. Her arms went around his waist, and Bianca wrapped herself around Sara’s back, meeting Jack’s helpless glance with her own. Together, they pulled their Guide down to the bed, soothing her with their hands and voices as she sobbed in their arms.
“Why are you afraid, Sara?” Jack asked as her sobs quieted.
“Because I know how it ends now,” she whispered. “I’m alone.”
“Oh, darling, you aren’t alone.” Bianca kissed her friend’s forehead. “Jack and I are here. We’ll always be here.”
“Please,” Sara whimpered. “Please let me stay here with you. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Of course,” Jack murmured, as moved by the Guide’s fear as he was by her tears. “Stay as long as you need.”
“I’m s
orry, lover. We can pick up where we left off another time,” Bianca’s voice tickled Jack’s mind, a soft caress.
“No apologies, darling. Let’s take care of our friend.”
Being careful not to disturb Sara, Jack reached over the side of the bed and grabbed his boxers. He pulled them on and then pulled the blankets over all three of them. He and Bianca lay one to either side of Sara, caressing her and whispering words of comfort until she drifted off to sleep.
Bianca awoke with both Jack and Sara’s arms around her waist. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Sara spooned against her, and Jack on the other side of Sara, both sound asleep. She sighed and lay in their mutual embrace, thinking of Sara and wishing she could ease her fears somehow, grateful that Jack was understanding and caring about her dearest friend. He’d been so kind to Sara, holding her as she cried, just as he would do for Bianca. She smiled, thinking of how gently he’d held them, her big, sweet mate.
As though thinking his name had awoken him, Bianca felt Jack stirring. The arm around her waist disappeared for a moment as he rubbed his eyes, and then it returned, stroking her hand with his own.
“Good morning,” she whispered, looking over her shoulder. “Thank you.”
“Shhh. She’s my friend, too.” He smiled at his mate.
He gently smoothed a hand over Sara’s hair, the tenderness on his face moving Bianca deeply. She thought of how he had his own night terrors and realized he wanted to spare Sara whatever pain he could. He hadn’t been able comfort the young men—his marines, he’d called them—he’d lost in the war, but he could hold Sara.
“Oh, Jack, how much of your life have you spent trying to assuage a guilt you needn’t own?” Bianca touched his mind and felt that bright clarity she always felt with his emotions.
“Mate…there are some things a person does in war, and he needs to atone for them always. I won’t ever stop. I need it to feel like I’m not a monster.”
“You’re no monster, love.”
Their attention drifted to the woman who lay between them as Sara stirred, her eyes opening slowly. They widened abruptly as she realized where she was, and then she blushed, her olive skin turning a lovely pink as she looked between Bianca and Jack. Her lips formed a wordless, “Oh.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
They both laughed and hugged her close. Bianca leaned over and pressed a light kiss to Sara’s lips. Then her eyes met Jack’s, and she saw both curiosity and arousal in his face. The heat in his eyes was unmistakable; they were nearly black with desire.
“Jack? Are you okay with this?”
“It’s okay,” he sent the thought back. “It’s Sara.”
“Sara?” she murmured, leaning forward to brush her lips against Sara’s again.
This time, Sara’s lips parted on a sigh, and the kiss deepened. Jack leaned forward and nibbled at Sara’s ear, causing her to gasp and arch against Bianca before breaking the kiss. Jack rolled her toward him and pressed his own kiss to Sara’s lush mouth. He nibbled at her lower lip, and she opened to him, her tongue tentatively dancing with his own as Bianca’s hands caressed her breasts through her clothing. She felt Sara’s nipples harden against her fingers as they had many times before, and she pinched them hard, the way she knew Sara liked. A choked sound came from Sara’s throat as Jack broke the kiss.
Quickly, he divested all three of them of the clothing they wore, and he drew Sara back into his arms, her back to his front, his hands caressing down the front of her body. Bianca knelt between Sara’s legs, pressing a kiss first to one knee and then the other as she urged the other woman’s legs apart. Leaning forward, she parted Sara’s labia with her fingers, blowing lightly over her pink clit. She licked, teasing into her entrance, and then drew her tongue around Sara’s clit, making her shake and sigh as she leaned back against Jack.
Jack teased and tickled Sara’s breasts while Bianca ate her pussy. He could feel Sara’s excitement building as he cupped her breasts hard together and pinched her nipples. Bianca was humming and murmuring against Sara’s clit, and Sara’s hips bucked forward of their own volition.
“Come for us, sweetness,” Jack murmured, his tongue tickling Sara’s ear.
Bianca smiled and plunged two fingers into Sara’s hot, wet cunt, making her arch and shudder as she came hard around them.
“So beautiful when she comes for us, our Sara,” Jack murmured.
Bianca nodded her agreement, caressing Sara’s hair with one hand and Jack’s with the other. He turned his head and sucked Sara’s sweet honey from Bianca’s fingers, causing Bianca to shake with her own need.
“Please, Jack,” she whispered, reaching for her mate.
Wordlessly, Sara moved to the other side of Jack, letting Bianca get closer. As Jack’s lips met Bianca’s in a fierce kiss, Sara caressed her pale breasts, her pink-tipped nipples hardening. Then Sara’s hand moved to Jack’s muscled chest, and she caressed downward, stroking over the hair on his chest to the furry happy trail that led down to his cock. Bianca broke the kiss and followed Sara’s hand with her eyes, smiling as she watched Sara caress his thick erection.
“Ahhh!” Jack gasped as Bianca’s hand joined Sara’s and the two women caressed him at once.
He glanced down and saw Sara’s dark hand folding around Bianca’s white one, the two of them creating a single heated sleeve around his shaft. He watched in fascination as the women kissed each other, never stopping the motion of their hands. Suddenly, he sat up, pushing their hands away. With a growl, he tugged Bianca across his lap, impaling her on his cock in one smooth motion.
“Ride me, White Wolf,” he whispered, and then looked over her shoulder to Sara. He smiled and crooked a finger at her. She moved forward, and he positioned her over his face, placing her hands on the headboard. He held her hips in his hands as he tasted her, feeling his mate riding him, her body finding their perfect rhythm as he pleasured their dearest friend with lips and tongue.
Together, three bodies arched and moved along the bed. Bianca rode her mate as she caressed Sara’s body. The bond she shared with both lovers brought their excitement into her own body, and she surrendered to it, letting the waves of urgency they shared sweep through her, all heat and furious beauty. She felt her lengthened teeth on her own lip as Jack’s hand found her clit, and then she was exploding, a fierce joy sweeping through her as her arm slipped around Sara’s waist and hugged her tightly through her own shudders. Before Sara’s climax had faded from her mind, Jack’s culmination roared through her like an electrical storm, shoving her back into a riptide of sensation.
The three of them tumbled to the bed in a tangle of limbs and sated sighs.
“Jack, Bianca,” Sara murmured, caressing them both with her hands. “I don’t have words.”
“Shhh, sweetness. You’re our friend, and you were hurting. We comforted you.” Jack kissed her forehead. “And I gotta admit, it was pretty hot.”
Bianca chuckled, kissing Jack across Sara’s body. Sara giggled as Bianca’s breast tickled over the sensitive skin of her upper arm. She clapped a hand over her mouth as more laughter escaped, and then suddenly, all three of them were laughing and hugging as they lay together in post-coital warmth.
Sara sighed, snuggling into their embraces. “Thank you.”
Chapter Fifteen
THE WOLVES OF AMAZON PACK prepared themselves for the council by compiling an argument for their recognition. Angelo detailed their business dealings, his attention to minutiae astounding them. Jack’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as he came to realize exactly how wealthy Amazon Pack was. He whistled as Angelo handed him a summary sheet detailing the net worth of the pack, as well as that of Monica, Jack, Bianca, and himself. Jack noted that Angelo was very, very wealthy. He met the other man’s eyes, and Angelo shrugged as if to say, “No big deal.”
Bianca and Jack prepared themselves for a show of strength, drilling their team on handling attacks from larger wolves, from stronger wolves. Ellen had the sam
e nasty street-fighter technique that Bianca had, and the two of them were hell in a fight. Jack taught them more formal military maneuvers, and they drilled them repeatedly until the entire team was moving in a new hybrid fighting style that made Jack’s eyes gleam with approval as he nodded. He knew every one of his wolves would crash into bed, unable to do more than sleep, and they’d wake up stronger for it.
Fionn and Annie worked together with the Amazon wolves to put together the petition, aiding in drills where necessary, reciting possible arguments from other packs, doing everything they could think of to help prepare Amazon for the council. Fionn tossed out the word “Abomination” with such scathing disgust in his voice that he and Jack almost came to blows over it.
Bianca finally came between them before they started showing teeth. “Jack, he doesn’t mean it. He’s acting.” She placed a finger against his lips as he snarled at his youngest brother.
“Do not disrespect my mate,” was all he could manage before darting out of the room.
Fionn smirked at Bianca. “He’s ready.”
Bianca’s uneasiness persisted, and Sara joined them in their bed more nights than she didn’t as the day of their departure approached. They fell into a comforting pattern that welcomed her presence in their home. Jack and Bianca didn’t speak of whatever drove Sara into their arms, and she didn’t let the windy cold touch of her mind touch them. She made love to them as though it could erase the loneliness in her soul from shutting them out.
The morning of their departure, Sara awoke between Bianca and Jack, her fear stabbing into all three of them as she lurched up from the bed. It was still dark, predawn. Bianca sat up and wrapped her in a hug, and after a moment, Jack did, as well.
“Sara?” he asked. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, getting dressed without a word. Jack watched the way his mate’s eyes followed the Guide, her own fears clear on her face. He hugged Bianca tightly to him as Sara left the room.
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