by Woods, Erica
“We are all proud to call you our female,” Ash said. “We respect you and care for you and want what is best for you. But,” he added, and suddenly, a calculated, terrifying predator looked back at me. “You will never, ever, ignore your own safety again. For any reason. Is that clear?”
The command in his voice, the sheer willpower behind it nettled my monster, but I, Hope, the woman who found herself aching to fully belong to all four members of this pack, this tight-knit family, found peace in his decree.
Peace, and a strange fluttering deep in my belly.
“Y-yes, sir.”
Ash’s wolf receded. He nodded down at me, wide lips pulling at the corners. “Sir?”
“I—uhm, it seemed appropriate at the time?”
A full smile spread over his dark features and lit up his eyes from within. “Did it now . . . I wonder when else it would seem appropriate.”
Something in those words, some dark, hidden hunger, had my belly twist in a way that stole my breath. “W-what do you mean?”
“Oh, my sweet, Hope. You will find out soon enough.” Ash gently extracted my lower lip from between my teeth—I hadn’t even been aware I was chewing it—and pressed a soft kiss to the abused flesh. “That is a promise.”
* * *
“Put it back or lose the fingers,” Ruarc growled near my ear. Though I was already on his lap, one of his hands was splayed against my stomach, keeping me pressed close, the other claiming my thigh in a possessive hold. Thin white lines cut across the tan skin, moving and growing taut whenever his hands flexed, and it took all my willpower not to ask how he’d gotten them.
If it was anything like the story of his other scar, it could wait until we’d survived the Assembly.
“Mate . . .” Jason shook his head, the sly grin he’d worn ever since he’d conned us into playing cards—Ruarc’s words, not mine—widening. “How did you catch that?”
“Know how you play, pup.”
Jason chuckled, flicked his wrist, and suddenly there was a card between two of his fingers. A card that hadn’t been there before.
“Cheat!” I cried, throwing my cards facedown on the table and looking across it at Ash. “That means we win, right?”
Ash nodded, a hint of a smile curling the corner of his lips. “Yes, banajaanh. That is the rule.”
Still grinning, Jason gathered up all the cards and shuffled the deck. “To be fair, love, you’re cheating too.”
I gasped. “I’m not!”
“Really?” He arched a brow. “You don’t have an eagle-eyed lycan on your team?”
“Wolf-eyed,” Ruarc corrected.
Jason rolled his eyes. “It’s a saying, mate. Am I the only one around here who gets how sayings work?”
While Jason and Ruarc bickered, I found my attention drawn to Lucien. After dinner, he’d declined the invitation to play cards but still came to sit with us, claiming the armchair furthest away from the table, one ankle kicked over his knee, suit jacket unbuttoned, stiff neck angled in our direction.
He hadn’t spoken the entire time. Hadn’t moved or so much as shifted in his seat. He’d only watched, jaw tense, expression so cold, so chillingly focused that the fire flashing in his eyes seemed like an illusion.
“Do you want to play the next round?” I asked him, shrinking back when that cold, cold gaze pinned me in place, the fire nowhere to be seen.
“No.”
I swallowed hard, trapped by the jagged edges of that one word, by the beautiful, deadly male who stared at me like he was torn between the urge to throttle and devour.
Music blared, and I jumped.
Ruarc growled, Lucien stiffened, and Jason threw his head back and laughed.
“Is that mine?” Ash asked, already halfway across the room.
Jason grinned and sang, “What does the wolf say?”
Ash picked up a cellphone and fixed Jason with a look. “This wolf says to stay off his phone.” He tapped at the screen and brought it to his ear. “Yes?”
“I’ve been waiting for that for over a week,” Jason said after Ash turned his back on us and lowered his voice. “His phone never rings.”
Ruarc leaned back, dragging me with him and giving my neck a quick nuzzle. “Why would it?”
Jason rolled his eyes. “You wouldn’t understand. You can’t even use yours.”
“’Course I can.”
“Knowing how to answer a call doesn’t count.”
Ruarc growled. “Why I have it, pup.”
Before Jason could answer, Ash ended the call and came to stand next to Lucien’s chair. “Gideon wants to meet.”
Lucien tapped his fingers once against the arm rest. “Why?”
“Apparently, we have fewer votes than we thought.”
Fewer votes? That was . . . that was a big deal, wasn’t it? Didn’t we need the votes so the Council wouldn’t punish me for breaking their rules?
“In that case, someone’s been lying . . .” Lucien rose, his normally fluid motions infected by jagged edges. “Is Gideon going to tell us who out of the goodness of his heart?”
“He is an honorable male, Lucien. And it seems he is intent on finding a female. A human. Rederick would ruin his plans.”
“Why a human?”
“I do not know, and I doubt he intends to tell us. But something about it feels . . . unnatural. As though it is by necessity rather than choice.”
A hint of a cold, cruel smile glittered in Lucien’s eyes. “Not wanting to reveal his secrets does not guarantee they will stay hidden.”
I shivered, catching Jason’s frowning attention while Ruarc rumbled and wrapped his arms tighter around me.
“He is no threat to us,” Ash said. “You can see that for yourself when we meet with him.”
“We?”
“You and I. Jason and Ruarc will stay with Hope.”
One by one, Lucien’s fingers wrapped around the top of the chair and squeezed. He said nothing.
“You know his enforcer,” Ash said, but there was something in his tone that didn’t match his words. He tipped his head, caught Lucien’s gaze, then slowly dragged it over the rest of us, pausing briefly at Jason, then at Ruarc.
“Fine.” Reluctance in every stiff step, Lucien crossed to the door without looking back. Shoulders taut, hands clenching, he yanked it open and stepped outside.
Without saying goodbye.
I slumped against Ruarc and tried to ignore the strange ache in my chest. I couldn’t blame Lucien for being upset about the game—though it was weird he hadn’t yelled at me or struck me down with one of his cutting remarks. This silent, icy brooding was making my stomach quiver with a strange mix of fear and anticipation.
Once the door closed behind Lucien, Ash grabbed his phone off the counter and turned that piercing gaze my way. “Come here, banajaanh,” he said and opened his arms wide.
A grunt of amusement sounded from Ruarc when I scrambled out of his hold and rushed to Ash, but it was easy to ignore when I was enveloped in a tight hug. Ash’s cheek rested on the top of my head, one hand gripping the back of my neck while the other curled around my waist.
“I will see you soon, banajaanh,” he murmured. “Be good while we are gone.”
Squeezing him harder, I fought against the urge to ask him to stay. To convince him to call Lucien back in and cancel the mission they were only going on because of me. To protect me. But I knew if I did, all I would accomplish was making him feel bad, so I settled for taking the comfort he was offering and reminded myself that they’d gotten along fine before me and they would get on fine after I was gone.
Just because I worried didn’t mean they would be in danger.
“This isn’t dangerous?” I leaned back so I could watch his face. “Right?”
His mouth softened until it almost looked like he was smiling. “It is not dangerous, banajaanh. Remember, this is our world and we’ve survived it for centuries.”
When I didn’t reply, the corners of his mo
uth curved. “My little bird . . .” He stroked the rough pad of a finger down the bridge of my nose. “Always worrying about everyone else. Even me.”
I frowned. “Even you? What—”
Ash swallowed my stuttered attempt at a reply by fusing his lips to mine. It was a short, intense kiss that left my lungs starved for air and my pulse racing.
“You are the first in a very long time to think I need protecting.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. “I . . . I didn’t say you need protecting.”
“But that is what you wanted to offer, is it not?”
Staring into those watching, penetrating eyes, I could only nod, heart still racing, body still flushed from our kiss.
“That is what I thought.” He leaned down and pressed our foreheads together. “See you soon, banajaanh,” he murmured, leaving me staring after him and feeling strangely vulnerable once he was gone.
But then Ruarc was there, nuzzling my neck, and Jason, elbowing Ruarc and sidestepping the swipe that followed. “Are you hungry, love?”
“No,” I whispered, captivated by the glow in those dazzling, amber eyes. “W-we just ate.”
I was spun around by big hands, hunger flaring in every harsh line of Ruarc’s hard features. “Not for food.”
Heat gathered in my belly. “O-oh . . .”
A warm body pressed against my back, the scent of stormy rains filling my senses. “How’s your hand,” Jason murmured against my neck. His hot breath trailed over my skin, my throat catching on a moan when lips found a sensitive spot.
“W-what hand?”
I could feel Jason’s smile against my skin. “Good enough, love. Good enough.”
45
Ruarc
When my female looked at me like that; eyes half lidded, plump lip caught between her flat, human teeth, flushed and squirmy and smelling like want . . . it was hard to remember I was supposed to be civilized. A man, not a mindless beast.
“N-now?” she stammered with a faint blush, and all I could think about was burying my tongue in her heated depths and devouring every last drop of her.
“Now,” I growled and yanked her off her feet. Nestled in my arms, I frowned at her lightness. “You eat enough?”
“W-what?”
Jason rolled his eyes. “Please humor him, love, or we’ll never hear the end of it.”
When she tried to look at the other male, a low, territorial sound vibrated in my chest and I tilted her face up to me. “Did. You. Eat. Enough.”
“I—yes?”
“Hmm.” My need to provide battled with my need to possess my female. She had eaten a decent sized dinner. Was it enough? Through narrowed eyes, I stared down at her slight form. Hell, I’d just feed her again after I’d made her come.
My blood heated as I drew in her delicious scent, my cock throbbing painfully.
The way I wanted this female . . . Was a fire in my blood. A hunger in the pit of my stomach. An aching, sizzling, explosive want burning through my mind and consuming all other thoughts.
Should’ve been fucking terrifying, this mindless need. Would’ve been if Hope was any other female.
My arms tightened around her, and then I was moving, stalking across the living room, into the hall that led—
A hesitant, soft touch on my neck.
I froze.
Hope made a little humming sound, pressed another kiss to the base of my throat.
Bloody hell!
My eyes slammed shut. Wanted to rip off my human skin and give my wolf free rein to rub our scent into every inch of her, into the very essence of her being. Wanted to mark her, claim her, let my fangs sink into her neck and bind her to me for all eternity.
The urge grew so strong that, for a half-mad, starved second, I considered committing the ultimate sin and forcing the bond—risks be damned. But then she sighed and burrowed closer. Sweet. Warm. Trusting.
A shudder worked its way through my tense muscles.
Never betray that trust.
“Do that again,” I growled.
Eyes still closed, I felt her gaze, her inquisitive, passionate nature warring with the shyness, the wounds some lithbhárs had carved into her soul.
“T-this?” Her mouth returned, the caress fleeting, hesitant.
And still I shivered like an untrained pup.
My eyes snapped open. “Like silk.”
“Silk?”
“Your lips.” I hefted her higher, dragged my nose along her temple, starved for more of her scent. “So fucking soft.”
A soft giggle. “Thank you?”
I grunted, and when I finally managed to move again, I clutched her tight to my chest.
So precious, my female. So breakable. A gift from the gods, but one that carried a steep price. Losing her would destroy me. All that I was belonged to her. My scarred body, my battered heart, every single piece of my stained soul.
Keeping something so fragile safe would require protection. From everything.
Including myself.
Gentling my hold, I stalked down the hallway and kicked the door open, uncaring when it crashed into the wall so hard it would’ve broken if not lycan proof.
Jason’s laugh earned him a quick glare before my attention returned where it belonged.
“You okay?” I asked the bundle of warm female nestled in my arms, inwardly cursing my gruff tone. She deserved better. Softer. Someone to share gentle touches and sweet words and appropriate, thoughtful loving. But regardless of my lacking qualities, I couldn’t give her up. Wouldn’t.
No other male can protect her as well as me.
Someone else might not treat her right. Could neglect her. Damage her delicate feelings. Hurt her?
My stomach heaved, and I didn’t hear Hope’s soft reply.
She’s mine!
I spun around; snarled at Jason before remembering he was pack.
Not a threat.
“Someone’s tense,” he joked, closing the door and strolling over to the bed. “You planning on sharing today, mate?”
A savage ‘no’ burned on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t force it out. Not when I could see the frayed, brittle mood hiding behind Jason’s glib humor.
Fucking hell.
Needed my female today. Needed her with a brutal intensity that bordered on feral.
And so did Jason.
I’d spent the last six hours teetering between a rage that’d threatened to leave bodies in its wake and a fear that would keep me up at night for years to come. A male I didn’t trust had picked my female. Been around her all day. Had allowed her to participate in a game that’d almost fucking killed her.
And I hadn’t been able to do a damned thing to stop it.
My blood heated. My fangs grew.
Lazy, useless Council should never have called us here. Who did they think they were? Should free my wolf and rampage through the whole fucking lot! Should invite them to a game where maiming one of them wouldn’t end in the destruction of my pack. Should challenge them. All of them. Rip them to shreds for daring to put Hope at risk. Bathe in their blood and tear their power-hungry heads off—
“R-Ruarc?” Hope’s melodious voice broke through my bloodlust, and at the concern in her beautiful, brown eyes, it morphed into a very different kind of lust.
I dragged her much smaller body against me, let her feel how much I wanted her. “Want to make you scream tonight, mo chridhe,” I growled. “Want to make you come on my tongue. And my fingers. And my cock.”
The sound of her swiftly indrawn breath was music to my ears. Almost as good as the little moan that followed.
“I . . . I want to do the same for you. Both of you.” She lowered her gaze. “You put your mouth on me, and I . . . I’d like to do the same to you,” she rushed out, blushing a bright red.
“Ah, mo chridhe . . .” It was all I could do not to throw her on the bed and show her just how much I wanted her. But she was so innocent. So new to this.
Good thing too, I thoug
ht darkly. If she’d been with another male, I’d have to kill him. Slowly.
Jason’s expression darkened, and I wondered if his thoughts had taken on a similar, murderous tint. We exchanged a long look, then lowered our eyes to Hope.
She squirmed, her breasts pushing against my chest.
My teeth snapped together, my hands shaped claws.
“Like last time?” Jason asked, voice low and hoarse.
“No. We both need—” The mating rumble vibrated in my chest. Would be so easy to chase the other male off. Away from what was mine. I considered it. Longer than I should’ve. But then Hope turned big eyes on Jason, a shy smile lighting up her delicate features, and I knew she wanted this. Wanted us both.
Anything she wants, I’ll give.
Unless she wanted rid of me. She ever asked for that, she’d be in for a rude awakening.
My fangs lengthened in preparation for binding her to me. The urge to take her, to bury my cock deep inside her hot center while my fangs pierced her neck had my body go taut with tension. With the need to claim my mate.
Not safe. Not yet.
“Ruarc?” While waiting for my response, Jason only had eyes for Hope, and the warm affection on his face pleased me.
My female needs that. Starved for affection. Not right. Need her happy.
“Whatever Hope wants. Not,” I added with a groan, “the thing she said. Can’t. Won’t last.”
Jason grinned. “I agree.”
Hope’s head swiveled around, trying to understand what we were talking about. Her eyes were round. “Shouldn’t you put me down?” She looked at the bed.
Unwilling to let her out of my arms for even a second, I grumbled in disagreement.
“But then how will we—”
I tumbled us onto the bed, maneuvering until she lay beneath me with her legs spread wide to accommodate my frame.
“Oh,” she breathed, giving an experimental wiggle.
I groaned.
“Oh . . .”
Pleased there was no fear in her eyes despite my rough handling, I lifted my upper body so I could stare down at my beautiful female. “Like this.” I raised her shirt, revealing a too-flat stomach. Wasn’t concave, not anymore, but she could do with more food. And more rest. And less fucking fear.