Lup Teren (Wolf Land Series Book 1)

by L. D. K. Johnson

  “Easy for you to say.” She couldn’t wait for the trials to come. At least in death she didn’t have to deal with total humiliation. “Does everyone in the manor know?”

  “Only pack,” he tried to be comforting, but was unsuccessful.

  “So, Duncan knows; my father and you of course.”

  “Correct.”

  “Are you sure no one else knows?”

  “The guards,” he added.

  Raina had to ask, “Nicolae doesn’t know?”

  “Like I mentioned before, it’s difficult to know what exactly Romani are capable of.”

  “I hate this. I’m a dog. No. I’m a bitch. A bitch in heat no less. My life is over.”

  He motioned for her to sit on the step beside him. Reluctantly, she did. Again avoiding any direct contact for fear she’d jump his jumpable bones and ride him like a new pony, hard and fast…until his legs buckled and he forget his own name. Heaven help her, she was so turned on!

  “It doesn’t last forever,” he stated, tone casual like he was talking about the weather. “Were females go into heat once a year. Other than during mating season, your sex drive will be like any other human.”

  Already knowing the answer she still felt compelled to ask, “Is it mating season now?”

  “Almost,” he admitted hesitantly, “by the next full moon by my estimation.”

  “That’s in a…”

  “A day or so,” he grinned.

  “I’m going into heat now and it will be mating season before I get out of it.” The irony of her situation not lost on her. “With that double curse on me, what will happen?”

  “Let’s just say that you’ll be doubly randy and anything male with a cock will be fair game.”

  “Heaven’s no.” She heard her prayer and grimaced at the thought of being too turned-on to be discriminating. “Has that ever happened to anyone you know?”

  “Once,” he mumbled, eyes finding their way to her groin before being yanked away. “My friend went into heat during mating season and shagged two blokes at once. It didn’t end badly,” he scoffed.

  “What happened?”

  “The three of them ended up becoming mated.”

  Gulping she squeaked, “All three of them.”

  “Yup,” he chuckled.

  “Is that normal?”

  “It’s rare, but not as unheard of as you may think.” His heated stare ran over her rapidly rising chest, stopping to rest on those aching peaks straining against her tank. “For instance,” he said licking his lips, the motion making a gush of liquid lust seep from her core. “At this moment, I’m using all of my self-control not to strip you naked and fuck you where you sit. Your pheromones are much stronger than a regular Were female.”

  “Is that why Nicolae has been acting so strangely?”

  “Maybe, like I said…you smell heavenly.”

  “Really?”

  Sniffing the air, he said on a groan, “Right now, to me, you smell like chocolate cake straight from the oven.”

  Swallowing hard, she felt compelled to ask, “I take it you like chocolate cake?”

  His pupils dilated. “I love it more than life itself.”

  That was all the encouragement she needed. Instinctively, she moved. Faster than she thought possible, she straddled his lap while pushing him backwards. His body pinned beneath hers, his arms held prisoner in her steely grip.

  Greedily, she devoured his mouth, licking and tasting and sucking on his luscious lips. The sweet taste of him compelled her to demand entrance into his moist heat. On a breathless gasp, he opened and wasting no time she dipped inside, instantly finding his tongue.

  “Hmm,” she heard the sound escape her chest, the desperation of it spurring her on.

  Commonsense deserted her as a rat deserts a sinking ship as seeking fingers found the waistband to his shorts, reached inside and grabbed hold of his extra-thick, extra-long member. The serpent-like organ flexed and grew impossibly harder in her grip. Were all of these men hung like elephants?

  “Raina,” he moaned into her mouth, “reign in your emotions.”

  “I don’t want to,” she said unashamedly.

  Pulling away, Blaine managed to hold her at arm’s length. His own desire held temporarily in check. It was anyone’s guess how long he would be able to control himself.

  “You’re not in control of your emotions, Raina. I want you. Hell! I’ve wanted you from the first moment I saw you, but I don’t want to do anything you’ll regret later. And…” he paused, closed his eyes, and added, “Antonio is my friend.” His meaning became apparent.

  Reality grabbed hold of her and shook. The sincerity of his words acted similarly to a bucket of ice-cold water being dumped over her head.

  “What can I do to lessen its effects?”

  Emerald irises glimmered seductively as he suggested, “Drink your tea. It will suppress it somewhat, but it will also suppress your ability to shift. Use it sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.”

  Nervously, she asked. “It won’t suppress it entirely?”

  He nodded. “Again, you’ll just have to deal with it like the rest of us.”

  “What do you all do during mating season?” Curiosity held her by the nether regions as she felt her sex clench with the desire to be filled. “How do you get through the…need?”

  Gently, he smoothed a few stray tendrils away from her face. The tender action did nothing to dampen her lust.

  “Those who are mated lock themselves away somewhere private and go at it. No holds barred,” he stated mischievously waggling both brows. “Single pack members find a willing partner and do the same.”

  “How are you going to get through it?”

  He frowned, untangled her legs from his waist and helped her back to her original position on the stair beside him.

  Sitting ramrod straight he declared, “My mission comes first, so I’m going to just have to…”

  “…deal with it,” she said mockingly, a thin smile playing on her lips.

  “By George, I think she’s got it.” His low, sing-song laughter made her laugh too.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Eat,” Mrs. Radu encouraged, a sympathetic smile on her lovely, round face.

  “I’m not hungry,” Raina said softly.

  “Eat your breakfast,” Blaine ordered, “you need your strength today. You can’t kick-arse on an empty stomach.”

  “If you insist.” She took a small bite of her ham and cheese omelet, followed by several bites of lightly buttered whole wheat toast, washed down with a cold glass of orange juice. “Happy?” she asked with a full mouth.

  “Extremely,” he chuckled. “Get any sleep last night?” The question was locked and loaded and unable to be answered in present company.

  “A little.” It wasn’t a lie per say.

  Sleep was intermingled with dreams of naked, writhing bodies, sweaty with desire and want, sliding and slippery with arousal. Four bodies in particular plagued her dreams, hers and Antonio’s, along with Blaine and Nicolae’s. Slut! Slut! Slut!

  Blaine gave her a knowing laugh right before sitting down across from her to eat his breakfast: two ham and cheese omelets, six pieces of heavily buttered toast, eight strips of bacon, and a half gallon container of orange juice.

  A low whisper escaped her lips, “I guess werewolves don’t have to worry about high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or heart disease.”

  “Nope,” he said, taking a bite of a crispy bacon strip.

  “Good,” Nicolae’s voice joined into the fray as he entered the kitchen, “you are eating. You will need your strength.”

  Her mood suddenly went south remembering their passionate lip-lock.

  “How was your night?” she asked, trying to feign indifference.

  Frowning he answered, “Restful.” The shift of his eyes up and to the left told her it was a lie and silently she thanked Blaine’s previous tutelage.

  “Breakfast?” Mrs. Radu offered to
the now scowling hunter. “I will fix a plate.”

  Looking up from her half-eaten breakfast, Raina informed, “Nu vă faceți griji că nu este foame.” The entire kitchen went silent. “What’s wrong?”

  “What did you just say?” Blaine’s forehead wrinkled.

  Slowly, she repeated, “I said, ‘don’t worry, he’s not hungry’.” Everyone still stared, making her extremely uncomfortable.

  Nicolae responded first. “You said it in Romanian. You do not speak Romanian.”

  Swallowing the last bite of her omelet, she looked around the room.

  Unsure of what to say to get out of the proverbial fire, she said, “I didn’t speak Romanian. You must have misheard.” Blaine opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him before the words could escape his lips. “No. I didn’t drink my tea and I’m sure I wasn’t given a bad batch. Jeez! Cheeky much!”

  Blaine’s expression turned to confusion as he muttered, “How did you know I was going to say that exactly?”

  “Exactly…what?” she inquired, feeling like a bug under a microscope.

  “Raina…” Nicolae tried to say something, but she held up her hand halting his statement.

  “I feel fine. I’m not sick and I’m still going through with the trials. My mind is made up and that’s final, so don’t finish your sentence.”

  Mrs. Radu suddenly paled, opened her mouth and uttered something in Romanian. Raina turned in her seat and stared at the older woman, open mouthed and wide eyed.

  “I’m not possessed!” she exclaimed with indignation, anger growing.

  Both Nicolae and Mrs. Radu continued to stare at her.

  “How could you understand what she said, Miss Jacobs?” Nicolae took a step toward her, hand resting on the hilt of the dagger he was never without. The threatening motion made her leap from her chair, body shifting in midair, landing in front of him on all fours. Fur covered lips curled back in an intimidating snarl.

  “Stay away from me,” she growled, arching her back in what she hoped was an intimidating pose. Thankfully, Nicolae stopped his advance. Blue eyes wide with confusion or maybe it was fear? She wasn’t sure.

  As she watched the scowling Romani, Nicolae’s face transformed into a mask of pure, unadulterated fury.

  “I can hear you inside of my head!” he shouted.

  “So can I,” Blaine chimed-in, emerald eyes locked onto hers.

  “Apparently,” the sexy baritone of Antonio echoed through her mind, “so can I.” His voice loud, clear, and unmistakable.

  “I heard that as well,” both Blaine and Nicolae spoke in unison.

  Deep in concentration, she listened to the accented voices filtering through her brain…one English with a Spanish lilt, one obviously Irish and one Romanian.

  “Fuckin’ shite!” she released a howl of exasperation that both speechless men understood.

  “Great,” Nicolae finally spoke, “now I can understand dog.”

  “Racist,” Blaine barked in warning.

  “Shut your mouths!” Antonio bellowed, startling them all. “The lot of you! I can’t think with all this racket.”

  Both men stared at her and then at each other, their argument successfully silenced. When she thought she’d die from the tension, Duncan’s deep Scottish brogue came from the direction of the kitchen entryway. A scowl of epic proportion plastered over his paternal features.

  “Come with me young lady. You two as well.” He motioned for Blaine and Nicolae to follow. “You three have some explaining to do.”

  *****

  Duncan’s face was livid as he continued to pace beneath her favorite weeping willow on the property near the lake.

  “What is going on?” he stated gruffly looking down at her, sitting on her haunches, still in her wolf form.

  “I don’t know,” she barked in response. She really didn’t.

  “Then why are you, Antonio, Blaine and Nicolae linked?” he growled.

  “I’m not sure,” she barked again. Her breathing suddenly becoming shallow, too shallow and a lightheaded sensation had her feeling like she was a helium filled balloon rising toward the sky.

  “Did you mate with all three of them…together?” his voice wavered. Stopping his pacing, he studied each one of them. Their mortified expressions assured him they hadn’t. “No. No. That’s not possible,” he mumbled. “Antonio isn’t even here.”

  “Bugger!” she whined, beginning to pace too.

  “Okay, lass. It’ll be alright. Uncle Duncan promises ya.”

  “How will it be alright?” she whimpered feeling her stomach lurch uneasily. “Maybe in some crazy, mixed-up universe it might be, but this is the real world.” She shook her head when she caught sight of something long and furry swishing behind her. The thing almost scared her out of her own fur. Having a tail was absolute bollocks.

  “Has anything out of the ordinary happened lately?” Duncan asked and was surprised when her eyes narrowed as she barked again, the sound dripping with sarcasm. “Sorry. I deserved that. That was a moronic question to ask all things considering.” Finally, Duncan sat on one of the benches beneath the shady tree. “Give me the specifics from the last time I saw you til now.”

  Sheepishly, she did. She even told him about Nicolae’s surprising kiss, her practically molesting poor Blaine, even Antonio’s sudden marriage proposal. Actually, the proposal wasn’t as shocking as the other events.

  “And that’s why I left the bloody box Dad gave me under the bed. I think it’s spelled.”

  Duncan’s brows hitched before asking, “The box opened? By itself?” She nodded. “It just opened. Just like that?”

  “Yeah,” she growled then gave it a bit more thought. “Actually, I was under the window of my room trying to figure out the strange scratches on the lid, when suddenly the scratches turned to words and…”

  “Since the dawn of time our kind have been trying to open that damned box,” Duncan informed. “Did you bind yourself to it?”

  “What in the world does that mean?” she growled deep. “I’m so confused it’s not even a little funny.”

  Rolling his eyes, he stated, “Tell me again what happened before the box opened.” As calmly as possible she retold her tale, all the while being scrutinized by the three men. “I see. It makes sense now.”

  “Explain to me how all of this makes sense.” She shifted her weight to her back legs, licked her front paw and began cleaning herself, then stiffened with embarrassment when Blaine chuckled, Nicolae grimaced and Duncan glared at her. “Sorry, the longer I stay in this form, the wolfier I feel.”

  “That’s normal.” Blaine winked, squelching her embarrassment.

  Duncan cleared his throat before continuing. “The box was spelled to only open for the real Hybrid. Blood is traditionally used in spells as the binding agent. It must have been a combination of both your Romani and Were bloodlines that distinguished you from everyone else. The box could only be opened by the Chosen One.”

  Nicolae added, “When Raina scratched her finger, the blood broke the spell on the box.”

  “Yes,” Duncan said on a sigh. “She must be the one.”

  Shaking her furry head, she scoffed, “No, stop saying that. I am not the Chosen One.”

  “Explain how your blood opened the box or how it magically revealed the inscription that released some of your abilities,” Blaine challenged. “If you will recall, you just shifted in the kitchen without any coaxing.”

  “It must have been a coincidence,” she stated matter-of-factly, so only the three men linked to her could hear.

  Duncan folded his arms across his chest as he reminded, “Also, the link between the four of you, is your doing, Raina.”

  “I’m no witch,” she whined low in her throat. “I couldn’t have done this.”

  “I think you did,” Nicolae accused, and then clarified when she growled disapprovingly at him. “I kissed you. Then you kissed Blaine.” Blushing he added, “I know that you have…you know…with An
tonio.” She blushed then, lowering her gaze to the grass-covered ground. A scurrying beetle caught her attention and she had to fight the urge to chase after it. “Perhaps, because you are the Hybrid,” he held up his hand in warning when she opened her mouth to protest, “and your emotions are tied to your abilities…maybe…just maybe…you subconsciously linked us all as a survival mechanism.”

  “It makes sense, from a psychological perspective that is,” Blaine agreed. “All three of us have been training together, sharing our thoughts and gifts with you to help you survive the trials. You know we’d all give our lives for you and down deep you trust us with your life. Don’t you?” She whimpered yes. “Then it makes sense that with your growing anxiety of the trials and your overly active libido caused by the heat combined with the onset of mating season…no wonder you’ve linked all four of us together. Instinctively, you know together we can survive anything. We are the perfect weapon when our strengths are combined.”

  He was right. She did think that. She had often admired Nicolae’s cool head and precision tactics during a fight. She admired Blaine’s formidable deductive abilities and brute strength. And Antonio. Antonio she admired…everything. His total understanding of her: mind, body and soul. Not to mention, he was also pretty damn impressive in both his wolf form as well as his human one.

  “You could be right,” she admitted with a short bark. “But if I’m really this legendary Hybrid-thingy…why am I so pathetic?”

  Duncan stood straighter. “You are not pathetic.”

  “Shift back,” Nicolae insisted.

  “Now?” Her eyes widened before saying, “I’m not wearing anything. Plus, I don’t know if I can.”

  “Try,” Blaine encouraged, a warm smile appearing.

  “I don’t know why I let you all talk me into these things.” Closing her eyes, she whined, “Here goes nothing.”

  Remembering their previous instructions, she imagined herself in skin with two legs, human arms, elongated torso… When she opened her eyes, everything was back to normal.

  With eyes still shut, she stood feeling her shoulder-length hair tickling the tops of her shoulders. Human fingers were able to bend and stretch and clench into tight fists. Her button nose took delight in sniffing the gently blowing apple-scented breeze. It was glorious.