by Lori King
“So Tina and Caroline were both okay with being turned by their mates?” Mateo asked. It seemed odd to him that humans would accept their true nature so easily. It certainly didn’t fit into what he had experienced in his lifetime.
“Not exactly.” Whitney laughed. “Caroline accepted it a little better than Tina did. Tina gave Liam a hell of a run for his money before he accidentally claimed her during sex. Man she was pissed. At that point it was just a matter of time before she gave in, but before she could seek Liam out, this creepy guy she used to work with at the hospital tried to kidnap her.”
“What? Are you telling me that Tina has been kidnapped twice?” Mateo’s mind was blown. He hadn’t spent much time with the smart-mouthed woman, but he wasn’t sure he would have attempted to kidnap her ever.
Whitney just nodded. “Yep. Believe it or not, the Gray pack has had a spell of really weird things happening, and that’s not counting that everyone seems to be getting into the polyamorous lifestyle all of a sudden.”
“Yeah, Devin mentioned that there were a few other matches.”
“Devin and Damon met Caroline, then Liam managed to sweep Tina off without having a partner in crime, but just a couple of weeks ago my two adopted brothers, Rafe and Ryley, met Shandi. Did you meet her last night?”
Mateo nodded. “She’s the curvy redhead that looked so sad. Rafe and Ryley are the ones that left to go get their family, right?”
“Wait, I thought Rafe and Ryley were your adopted brothers?” Cadence interrupted.
“They are, but their biological sister showed up, and apparently their parents have been in hiding. I still consider them my brothers even if they have a second family now.”
“So those two are the ones that left?”
“Them and a handful of others.
Mateo eased back into his seat and relaxed. His stomach was full and his woman was in a good mood. The only thing that could make the morning better would be sinking into her sweet warmth one more time before a long run. One look at Cadence and he knew they were thinking the same thing.
Simultaneously they reached for her, Mateo moving behind her back to pull her chair out, and Cadence dropping to his knees between her thighs. She let out a gasp of surprise, but she didn’t resist. From behind her, Mateo couldn’t see her face, but he felt her pulse pounding in her wrists. Leaning forward, her blew on her ear and whispered, “Enough talk for now, let’s play.”
“But, you didn’t tell me about you yet, dammit.” The last two words were punctuated with a squeal of pleasure when Cadence’s tongue hit the right spot between her legs. “You two do realize that we can’t always fuck, right?”
Mateo pressed a kiss to the bite mark on the right side of her neck and chuckled. “We know our responsibilities, amor. We’ll make sure you eat and bathe, but everything else is negotiable until the mating lust wears off.”
“And what if”—she inhaled sharply and fisted her hands—“what if I’m not in the mood.”
Cadence tipped his head and winked at her. “I’m the one with my tongue buried in your dripping pussy, so don’t try to tell me that you’re not interested, flower.”
“Gah! You two are going to fuck me to death.”
Mateo grinned and shifted her wrists to one hand so that he could reach around and play with her nipples. Her hands were too low for her to reach his cock, and it was still sealed up behind his zipper for now, but her soft hair brushed against his stomach, making the muscles there ripple with pleasure. “Not to death, amor, but if we’re lucky we’ll all see heaven. Spread your legs wider for Cadence. He’s a big man, and he needs room to work.”
A deep throated moan was her only verbal response, but she did as instructed. Her head dropped back against Mateo’s abs, and he bent over her to kiss her mouth upside down. It was awkward, but it worked.
It wasn’t long before Cadence had her pleading for release and Mateo’s cock was ready to tear a hole in his jeans. When his cousin lifted his head, his dark whiskers glistened with her juices and his lips were turned up in a wicked smile.
“You taste like heaven, love, but I think Mateo needs you.”
She whimpered with need and nodded, smiling up at him. With just that one look, she managed to make him feel like a ten foot tall God among men. Quickly, he helped maneuver her until he was seated in the chair with her straddling his lap, facing him.
Capturing her mouth with his, he growled against her lips when her tiny hand fisted his hard erection and she slid down over him, enveloping him in her heat. His heart pounded in his chest, and his breath caught in his throat because her unbound hair swept across his skin, unfettered this time. Something about the silken strands entranced him, and he wrapped his hand in her hair, dragging the bulk of it over her shoulder to blanket his chest and abs. Her lip curled up in a smile when she realized what he was doing and she used one hand to draw her hair back and forth over his skin while her other held onto the chair for balance. Instead of lifting up and down on his cock, she rocked and twisted her hips in a slow, sensual dance that kept him deep inside of her body while massaging them both closer to climax.
Both of his hands went around to grip her ass, and he spread her cheeks wide so that Cadence could see the winking star of her anus. His cousin’s face lit up, and he disappeared down the hallway for a moment before reappearing with the petroleum jelly. Her body tensed when Cadence lubed her up, and her mouth dropped open in shock.
Mateo frowned at her. “Is this okay, mi reina? If not, just say so.”
She hesitated only a moment before she shook her head no. “I want to try, but I’m really sore right now.” Mateo could feel her withdrawing from him, and he shot Cadence a hard look.
Wrapping his arms around her, he held her close, while Cadence stopped what he was doing that pressed against her back. “It’s okay, flower. I’m not upset at all. I never want to hurt you.”
“Are you disappointed?” she whispered, refusing to bring her head up.
Cadence looked pissed for a moment before he got himself in check. “I promise you I will never be upset or disappointed with you for saying no to something when we’re making love. I am content to just hold you if that is all you’re up for when you finish with Mateo.”
Her eyes were dark with unshed tears, and Mateo realized how worried she had actually been. Her reaction burned in his chest, because he had seen that look on the faces of other women who hadn’t been allowed to say no before.
“I–I…thank you. This is so new, and we’ve been fucking like rabbits for the last twenty-four hours—”
Mateo put a finger over her mouth to stop her words. “Stop. You don’t ever have to apologize or explain for saying no.”
Her gray eyes turned to Cadence for his agreement, and when he nodded, she smiled and reached for him. “I still want you, just not in that particular way. Come closer and I’ll show you.”
Admiring her for the fire in her blood, Mateo allowed her to lean back a little bit so that she could take Cadence in her mouth. Taking over their movements, he rotated his hips and ground his pelvic bone up against her swollen clit. She barely paused on Cadence, but he could see her breath hitch, so he repeated the movement.
Within a few minutes they were all three moving with a unique rhythm that pushed them all to orgasm almost simultaneously. She let Cadence drop from her mouth as she cried out, and he came all over her breasts while Mateo released deep inside her pulsing body. Ignoring the cum on her chest, Mateo leaned forward and pressed a sweet kiss to her limp lips.
“I love you, Whitney Gray,” he whispered
She gave him a weak but satisfied smile before releasing him so that Cadence could carry her to the shower. The fact that she didn’t respond verbally would have stung more if it weren’t for the response in her heavy lidded eyes. The feeling was mutual, but it was too soon for her. That was okay, he could wait.
* * * *
The Gray pack den was a beautiful place. Cadence couldn’t argu
e with that. In fact, he was mentally taking notes on the layout and system that Devin and his family had put in place because he thought some of it was utter brilliance.
The Gray werewolves owned a couple hundred acres of wooded land that backed up to a lake. The lake was small, so it wasn’t especially popular for skiing or boating, but Whitney assured him that swimming was perfectly acceptable.
Inside the boundaries of the den, which were patrolled twenty-four hours a day by Gray wolves, were custom-built log cabins of varying sizes and designs. The largest being the Alpha cabin which was a behemoth and rivaled the home that Cadence and Mateo had built for themselves in Chicago.
He lost count of how many individual homes there were, but he loved the fact that they were all interconnected by gravel roads and hiking trails. In the very center of their property was the clearing where they held events whenever possible. It was a natural opening in the trees that held boulders of various sizes in an uneven semi-circle around a raised wooden platform. Last night the platform had been used for a stereo and speakers, but today when Cadence and Mateo reached the space, they found Devin and Damon atop it with Rolando and Alastair.
Just as the two of them shifted back into their skin, Chance and August appeared from the trees, followed by a handful of Gray pack wolves. Everyone else seemed to already be in place and anxiously awaiting the mock battle.
Raising one hand to get everyone’s attention, Devin spoke. “Today is about testing our skills, not injuring our opponent. It’s important that everyone be aware of safety.”
“We’re wolves, we heal,” Silas joked from where he slouched against a boulder lazily.
Devin gave him a wry grin. “You’re right. Wolves do heal, and quickly, but certain injuries are harder to come back from. That’s why I’m putting forth a few rules. No head injuries, no belly injuries, and avoid the throat.”
Reyes laughed loudly from the crowd. “So what, we’re supposed to attack their feet and hands? You Gray wolves clearly don’t know what you’re doing. This will be like taking candy from a baby.”
A cloud of tension swamped the group of men as every Gray wolf turned to face Reyes. It was clear by the anger on their faces that they took personal offense at Reyes’s disrespectful words.
Devin, however, remained calm, exchanging a silent look with Damon before addressing Reyes. “Reyes Asis, I don’t expect you to understand what it means to have a true Alpha in control of your pack, but if you persist in running your mouth, I’ll be glad to show you what it means to be put down by one.”
A flush of red anger crept up Reyes’s cheeks as the men snickered around him, but he held his tongue. It wasn’t much, but in Cadence’s mind it showed that Reyes wasn’t meant to be a true Alpha. If he was, he would have accepted the challenge just to shove it down the other man’s throat. As it was, Cadence was reminding himself that it was Reyes who spoke out of turn and not one of his other wolves. If Devin had spoken like that to anyone but the Asis men, Cadence might have had to take him up on the challenge for pride’s sake.
Instead, everyone turned back around to face Devin as he finished laying out the plan for the day. Everyone would work with a partner for twenty minutes before changing partners and then again for another twenty minutes. Doing so would allow them to fight a variety of partners in a short amount of time.
When Cadence looked around at the crowd, he was relieved to see Grays and Diegos behaving nicely to each other as they sorted out partners. A tap on his shoulder brought him around to face Liam, who glowered back at him.
“Do you have a partner yet, Diego?” Liam asked rudely.
“Not yet, but fighting my new brother-in-law might not make my mate very happy,” Cadence said, crossing his arms as he surveyed his new family member.
Liam was about six feet tall, and he strongly resembled his father Henley. He had black hair instead of silver, and ice-blue eyes that were throwing daggers at Cadence now. There was a gold ring in one of his eyebrows, and the glint of diamond in one earlobe. He was built like all of the other Gray men. Lean and muscular, but not as bulky as the Diegos. Cadence had four inches and at least fifty pounds on the man, but he didn’t think that Liam would go down easily.
“Picklenose can be as pissy as she wants, but this is between you and me,” Liam snapped, shrugging his shoulders.
“Picklenose?”
“Ask me about it later.” Liam shifted into his wolf and gave a growl of impatience.
With another quick look to Mateo, who had found a partner in a Gray wolf that was significantly smaller than him, Cadence finally nodded. “Sure, let’s do it.”
Shifting was old hat to him after this many years. It felt like coming home to be on four paws again. All of his senses were heightened, and the fragrance of battle was on the breeze. It ramped up his adrenaline and his wolf growled back at Liam.
The two were well matched in skills, and Cadence had to hand it to Liam, his smaller size and leaner frame made him extremely fast and mobile. He was able to dart around more easily, and it forced Cadence to focus his energies. Before he knew it, the whistle was sounding and it was time to change partners.
Shifting back to his skin, he held his hand out to Liam. “Impressive, Gray.”
Liam nodded and gave him a slight smile. “You, too. Almost good enough for my sister. Now, where’s your cousin?”
Cadence laughed as Liam sought out Mateo. He figured that was as close to an acceptance as he was going to get from the man, but he would take it. Accepting a challenge from another Gray wolf, he shifted again and concentrated on the workout. Tomorrow the scene would be life or death, but today it was about refreshing his technique and preparing himself mentally. In order to do that, Whitney had to be completely out of his brain. A nearly impossible task.
Chapter 9
Tawny and Whitney sat with many of the other women and watched the men workout for a while, but their irritation over being left out of the training drove them away before long.
“I don’t understand it. We’ve always trained with the other guys, why not now?” Tawny asked as they walked back toward the Alpha cabin with Caroline, Tina, and Shandi.
“Devin said that the Diegos don’t have any female Betas in their pack. It would have made things awkward,” Caroline responded, shrugging her shoulders.
Tina snorted. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what would be awkward for them. I’m almost as good as any of them in my fur, and I wanted to show it off.”
Whitney laughed. “Tina, you’ve only been a wolf for a few weeks. Those men have been wolves their whole lives, and they’ve been trained killers for most of it. You would have had your ass handed to you.”
Frowning, Tina nodded. “Maybe, but it was damn hot watching Liam fight.”
Laughing, all of the women agreed that watching their men work out was entirely too attractive. Shandi was the only one who stayed quiet. Wrapping an arm around her, Whitney hugged her. “I’m sorry, Shandi. I know you miss the guys.”
Shandi turned her blue-green eyes up to Whitney and gave her a shaky smile. “Yes, I do, but Devin talked to Cash earlier and they managed to find Thomas and KJ so they are on the road again.”
“Find them? What do you mean find them?” Whitney looked to Caroline in confusion.
Tina responded first. “Yeah, apparently some of the Kaplan trackers caught up to them when they took a rest break and snatched the two of them. Somehow they managed to escape and hide out in a hotel nearby. KJ called Devin late last night because she didn’t have the other guys’ phone numbers memorized. Rafe, Owen, and Luke went on to the Quiver Creek den while the other three collected them this morning.”
“Holy shit! Are they okay? What do you mean they snatched them?” Tawny looked pale as she asked the same question Whitney was thinking.
“Yeah, they are all right according to Cash. And just an FYI for you Whit, Devin told Cash that you had found your mates.” Caroline gave Whitney a pitying look.
“Gre
at, just what I need. I’m sure Rafe and Ry will be on the war path when they get back. Liam sure as hell isn’t interested in getting to know the guys.”
Tawny gave her a smile. “They are your big brothers. What did you expect?”
“A little respect would be nice. I’m twenty-seven years old. I think I can handle myself with men.”
Tina surprised Whitney by speaking up. “You know, a few months ago I would have said the same thing. I would have said I could handle anything men threw at me, but that was before I was kidnapped, twice. Now that I’m a wolf, I have more strength and agility, but I’m still aware of my weaknesses. Yes, I think in a controlled environment I could handle battling the other wolves, but if they snuck up on me, or caught me off guard…”
Her words drifted off and Whitney was reminded of what Cadence had said about the Diego pack. They all took up seats in the living room of the Alpha house before she asked, “Does Devin know how bad things at the Diego pack had gotten, Caroline?”
“What do you mean?”
“The guys were explaining to me that over the last couple of decades things have deteriorated for their pack. Apparently Barton, and Beta Rolando, were a really dangerous pair of men who wreaked havoc on their pack,” Whitney explained.
“Rolando as is the guy who is here now?” Caroline asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, same one. He was really close to Barton and his brother, Erock, who was Mateo’s dad. They were all three notorious for raping the females of the pack.”
Caroline’s gaze sharpened and she gave each woman a hard look. “We can’t take the chance on Rolando raping one of our wolves. Pass the word along to everyone in the pack that until they leave, I want all women to make sure they’re always in the company of a member of the Gray pack at all times.”
“But Rolando is an old man now,” Shandi said with a frown.
“An old man can still hurt a woman, and he’s only in his sixties or so. It’s not worth the chance, Caro is right,” Tina said, nodding her support.