by Rhea Regale
“There’s a lot of snow coming. I can smell it in the air. The clouds are swollen with moisture,” Kasa said. She turned into him. He didn’t back away. “What were you boys discussing earlier?”
“A little of this, a little of that. Mostly butting heads with your brother’s pack.”
“If it’s any consolation, Maya butts heads with Luke often, and they’re mates.”
“I have higher hopes for us in that respect.”
Kasa lifted her fingers to Slade’s lips and traced the sinful curves. She barely noticed Micah had pulled the truck to a stop until Jordan twisted around in the passenger seat and gently knocked Slade away from her. She groaned.
“I’m heading to sleep for a bit. Try not to wake me.” Jordan cast Slade and Micah a dark look. “And try not to do anything to scare her, will you?”
“You’ve nothing to worry about,” Slade quickly interjected as Micah opened his mouth to respond. Kasa nodded. She patted her brother’s shoulder.
“We’ll be fine. I’m going to cook my hungry men some grub and probably pop in a movie,” she said with a smile. At Jordan’s hesitation, she added, “At some point, you’ll have to trust me to them.”
“I did last night only to hear you screaming for me shortly afterward.”
“Well, there are no more secrets to surface from the shadows.” She leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on Jordan’s cheek. “Go to sleep. You look haggard.”
“What a choice of words,” he muttered, climbing out of the truck. He grabbed two bags of groceries and elbowed the door shut. Micah didn’t wait to see her brother safely into the cabin before he slapped the truck into drive and cruised down the hill to her small abode.
“I’ll check the place,” Slade said. He hopped out of the truck before Micah came to a stop.
Kasa shook her head and stepped into the soft-falling snow a moment later. The velvety flakes touched her face before turning to drops of water that slowly streamed down her hot flesh. The air was crisp, fresh with the onset of the storm. Her wolf prowled along her spirit, eager to bask in the wilderness. Tempering her excited self, she rounded the back of the truck to start gathering groceries. Micah came up alongside her and opened the tailgate.
“You and Jordan still aren’t getting along,” Kasa said, grabbing the bag closest to her. To her surprise, Micah chuckled.
“I tend to keep my distance from most other men. I have an alpha complex that gets the best of me.” He glanced down at her with a hint of a grin. The blues of his eyes were so light against the aging day. Her heart fluttered most unusually. “Your brother and I are getting along just fine.”
“Wanting to skin his hide isn’t what I’d consider getting along.” Kasa slung another bag on her arm. Micah froze, fingers wrapped around a bag. She smiled up at him. “You two are so much alike I can’t believe you don’t see it. Fortified steel shells, soft cores.” She pressed her palm against his chest. The strong thud of his heart warmed her to a dangerous degree. “Especially when it comes to those you care deeply about.”
With bags hanging from both arms, Kasa slipped by Micah in his thoughtfulness. She made it three steps before he grabbed her biceps, bringing her to a sudden halt.
“Come here, Kasa.”
She slowly backed up. Without meeting her gaze, Micah slid the bags from her arms one at a time.
“You’re right. There’s more beneath this man than I allow to be seen. Especially when it comes to those I care about.” He placed the last bag on the tailgate and finally met her gaze. Her breath hitched at the base of her throat when his hand cupped the side of her face. “Don’t mistake my show of affection for blindness, little love. My sight is perfect in all affairs.”
He gave her a slight tug. Flush against him, heat from his strong body pulsing into her, he overwhelmed her with a powerful kiss that shook her straight to the marrow. Desire flooded her, surging through her spirit and her body. She wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him for grounding as he ripped her from her world and threatened to devour her with the intensity of his kisses.
“Ah, perfect timing.”
Micah growled into her mouth, his tongue stilled against her own. She sucked in breath from him. The thunder of her heart resounded in her ears, making her lightheaded but thirsting for more.
Kasa ended the kiss, ducking her head against Micah’s chest. Slade snickered behind him. Plastic rustled as he gathered the bags she and Micah had momentarily forgotten about.
“Grounds are safe from any rebels, although not from those within,” Slade teased. “Storm’s building. Might want to find some cover in the cozy setting of a cabin only a few steps away. And I’ll be more than happy to cook dinner.”
Micah’s arms tightened around her. His hands spread possessively over her back and tangled in her hair. Blocking her thoughts from possible prodding men, she smiled against Micah’s chest. She may have known these two for so little time, but her spirit fit with them. They filled a void in her she hadn’t even realized existed. She could imagine no other scent for a mate than those which lingered around Micah and Slade. Crisp woods, wilderness, spice. A delectable concoction that enhanced the underlying scent of raw masculinity, power, and unfathomable strength. Two men who would fiercely protect her as Jordan had all these years.
Here, her aching body pressed flush to Micah, Slade mere steps away, and the vivid memory of what had transpired between them already, there was no other place she wanted to be. No two men she wanted more than those who the spirits gifted her with.
She would take the short speck of time she needed to see her mission through to the end. That no one would stop her from.
The tailgate creaked as it rose and slammed shut. Kasa jerked, startled from her thoughts, from the heat that was Micah, and stepped back. Slade winked at her over his brother’s shoulder. He started toward the cabin, new snow clinging to his dark hair and sweater.
She looked up at Micah. His expression was one that made her blood burn. Carnal desire and a degree of stubborn coolness. She felt his caresses along her mind, gentle nudges from his wolf, trying to read her. He was quickly succeeding in turning her on to the point of madness. The corner of his mouth quirked in a hint of a grin. He knew exactly what he was doing.
“I think we’d better head in. I’m not sure I trust your brother cooking dinner,” Kasa said. Damn, did her voice really sound that husky? She cleared her throat and stepped up alongside him. Her arm slung across his narrow waist, mimicking his own hold on her. They could have been preparing for some ancient, erotic mating dance, standing as they did. “And the storm seems to be strengthening.”
“Your body is emanating enough heat to melt each flake the moment it hits you.” He leaned down to her ear. Feverish breath spread over her lobe and unleashed a powerful wave of desire throughout her body. She closed her eyes, absorbing the delightful feel of Micah’s sexual presence. “Little has a chance to survive the fiery passion I sense rushing just below the surface of your skin. Your spirit is yearning for attention. The wild wolf in you wants to be cut free of her restraints.” He nipped the shell of her ear and she swallowed back a moan. “You are a storm all your own, little love.”
Rapidly scraping for the fleeting ends of her composure, Kasa dared to turn her face to his. So close, so tempting. She wanted to taste him again, and again. She wanted his lips, his tongue, his kiss. She wanted everything.
She would not give into him that easily.
With the sexiest smile she could muster, she drew her hand away from his waist, dragging her fingers over the rough fabric of his jeans until she came to what she wanted. Micah growled deep in his throat, his hand tightening on her waist. She stroked his hard cock through his jeans, once, twice.
“You know how dangerous, how unpredictable, storms can be,” she cooed. Her gut clenched and twisted as fire burned in her veins. Moisture seeped through her pussy lips, wetting her panties. Oh, to shed these bothersome clothes and give in to her primal desi
res. To lie down and let Micah fuck her…
“Especially when two storms collide.” His hand covered hers, stopping her tantalizing strokes to his cock. “I’m going to finish what we started last night. Be warned.”
“I’m not the one who needs a warning.”
“You very well might if you dare tease me further.” His fingers squeezed hers around his thickness. Kasa chuckled, flicking her tongue out and licking his bottom lip. After a tense moment, she twisted out of his grip and started toward the cabin.
“Dearest Micah, you haven’t begun to see how I can tease you,” she called back over her shoulder. She needed no glance to know that Micah’s penetrating gaze focused on her back. She could smell the faint scent of his arousal as much as she could smell her own. Her body throbbed with need. Her breasts ached, her nipples so hard that the very fabric of her shirt bothered her as much as it pleasured her. Her pussy, damn it. If she had ten minutes alone, she’d quickly sate that ache. The degree to which her body throbbed left her on the brink of control.
When her mates intended to take her, she needed to have every ounce of control. She would be the one in control.
And the spirits knew just how much the Castrove brothers drove her mad with want.
Chapter Eight
After a half hour of trying to direct Slade in the kitchen, Kasa took the reins and finished preparing their dinner. In an attempt to cool her simmering blood, and despite the very real fact that her two men sat a short distance away watching her in uncanny silence, she found her attention drawn to the small window over the sink. The storm had picked up speed and strength, white flakes coming down in thick droves. Her wolf paced, anticipating the ultimate hunt.
First, she had to get through dinner without laying herself out as dessert for her men to devour. Every time she met their gazes, that simmering heat flared to life. Neither of her mates did anything to hide their desires from her. Ideas of what they would do to her when that time came filtered in and out of her mind.
Her face flushed. She carried the plates of steaming potatoes, sautéed veggies, and prime rib to the kitchen table. Slade knocked back the last of his beer and cracked open a new bottle. Micah hadn’t touched his glass of water, his eyes dark and intent on her.
She handed out the plates and took a seat.
“Much better than I would’ve done,” Slade said with a chuckle. He didn’t hesitate to slice into the prime rib. Micah took his time, spreading out the potatoes and veggies before he leaned back in his chair. Kasa arched a brow in his direction, holding her first piece of meat at her lips. She thought to tease them both during their meal, torturing them with sensuality until they quenched this dire need that continued to pulse in her pussy.
Work first, play later.
“Everything up to your standards?” Kasa asked. Micah cracked one of his devilish half-grins and stabbed into a potato. She nodded once, taking the meat into her mouth. “Good.”
“Micah’s most likely concocting some exquisite plan that’ll bring you to your knees,” Slade said quietly.
“Oh, I’m sure he is.”
“And you’re not in the least bit worried?”
Kasa looked over at Slade when she was satisfied that Micah was eating her food. “Should I be?”
“Well, depends how conventional you are when it comes to the bedroom. Or, how daring you’re willing to be.”
“Is this normal dinner conversation between you two?”
Micah laughed. “I wouldn’t say it is. We’re usually discussing the newest development in the Dark Moon pack’s voracious underground scheme to reprogram weres. Strategy for our next move, where the main hideout might be, things like that.” He chewed a fresh cut of meat and shrugged. “When the hell we’d finally find you.”
“How much do you know about me? What made you so sure that I was your mate?” Kasa asked. She was curious about this, since Jordan never mentioned much about her mates.
“Mind you, we’re a few decades ahead of you. Your brother was an adolescent when the spirits announced the mates to the whites. A good friend of ours, and his closest were pal, are with one of your cousins in Hood River. A rebel finally came to his senses with the help of his estranged friend and their mate, another cousin of yours. They’ve been prowling around Wolf Creek the past couple months. I believe they’re heading up to Hood River sometime in the near future.”
“Who are my cousins? Jordan never mentioned anyone.”
“Shyla Smith and Ayasha White. It was your great-grandmother who was believed to be the first white after a century of dormant genetics. She had three boys, all who passed down the white wolf gene to their respective daughters. The daughters all married their mates, appointed by the spirits, and conceived you and your cousins.”
“And my brother, but he’s not a white,” Kasa said, pointing the bloody piece of meat on the end of her fork at Micah. “Any others have male siblings?”
“No. The other two are only children.” Micah leaned forward on his elbows and snatched the piece of meat from the end of her fork. His movements were incredibly swift, even for a seasoned were. These brothers continued to intrigue her at every step.
Slade took over while Micah chewed. “Males are merely carriers of the gene. A male white has never been recorded, here in the States or anywhere else in the world. The spirits appoint mates to the whites that are most likely to continue the white wolf bloodline in their offspring. It has never failed yet.”
“Except for the first mating with my great-grandmother. She had all sons.”
“The elders believed that the spirits mated her accordingly to strengthen the white wolf bloodline, as well as expand it. By producing male offspring, three men handed down the white wolf gene rather than one or two children.”
Kasa mulled over the complexity of her heritage, something she and Jordan rarely spoke about. Their focus for the past several months had been hunting down the holding cells and releasing the untainted weres. Before that, it was simply building a trustworthy pack without letting anyone in on the secret of her identity. Jordan knew more about the events surrounding their parents’ deaths than she—at the young age of one, she didn’t recall much—but he still didn’t know a great deal. They’d become gypsy weres in their lifetime, moving from one place to the next.
At last, they formed their current pack, one that proved their loyalty to Jordan, and her secret had remained sacred to all members. They would lay down their hides for her.
“You’re stirring up questions. You’ve got that look about you,” Slade observed. Kasa nodded, holding off conversation for another minute by filling her mouth with food. When she swallowed, she placed the fork on the edge of the plate and leaned back in her chair.
“If my great-grandmother was appointed one mate, her sons were appointed one mate, their daughters were appointed one mate—”
“Then why was this generation appointed two?” Micah finished. The dark, smoldering grin that caused her heart to beat erratically and her breath to hitch deep in her chest formed over his mouth. A mischievous glimmer sparked in Slade’s eyes. Both men stared at her and their underlying intent became as apparent as the white that began to blanket the outdoors.
“Some speculate to make things more exciting in the sack,” Slade offered. Warmth sparked over her neck, quickly rising into her face. “But we are under the impression it’s due to the rising threat of the Dark Moon pack. An extra layer of protection for the whites of our community.”
“Do you know much about the Dark Moon pack? Who are they, and why they want to destroy the whites?” Kasa asked. She crossed her ankles under the table. Her anxiety rose as each minute passed. The hunt would be on soon. Time was slipping by her, but her mates seemed to know more about their adversary than Jordan did. Any additional information would help tremendously.
After all, she wasn’t a foolish child. She was an experienced hunter. A strategic wolf who knew how to hold her own.
“We know little. They�
��ve been isolated from the other packs for generations. There’s been an ongoing vendetta between Dark Moon and any pack that shows allegiance to the whites. They’re bitter, cranky women who have nothing better to do than bare teeth at those who they believe shunned them.”
“Were they ever truly shunned?”
Micah shook his head, drawing her attention away from Slade. “No. Not that we’re aware. When I was a pup, I often overheard our parents whispering about the absurdity of Dark Moon’s speculation regarding their place among the wolf communities. They did this to themselves. No pack we know of every shunned them outright, but when the women of Dark Moon tried turning members of temporary packs against the whites, they were quickly banished from said packs.”
Micah snorted in obvious disgust. A soft sound, to Kasa’s surprise, that sounded quite masculine and not as childish as she would’ve thought. Half snort, half growl. The man made goose bumps rise over her arms.
“They’re crazed women. Laela had it in her head that Shyla’s mates belonged to her, and tried to kill your cousin. Eliza used Ayasha’s rebel mate to infiltrate his pack. She used him as a homing device, so to speak, to locate your other cousin. And here, we’ve got either Eva or Lilia hunting you down with their victims at their mercy. It’s the perfect example of a dysfunctional family at its most extreme.”
“A family of scorned women. Never pleasant,” Slade added.
Kasa fidgeted in her seat. She could hear the whistling winds at intervals, causing the snow outside to swirl in vicious white funnels before calming, awaiting another blow. She could barely see a few feet past the window. “How many sisters are there?”
“Four,” Micah said. He finished the last of his dinner and climbed to his feet without looking at her. She watched him drop his plate and utensils into the sink then stretch his arms over his head.
Damn it to hell, the man was delicious! Muscles rippled down his arms as they flexed and relaxed. She could see the solid form of his back as he arched, the tight white T-shirt he had stripped down to enhancing every fantastical idea of muscled geography which lay beneath.