Józsi swallowed hard. Anyone—man or wolf—would be lucky to be in his shoes right now. But he was concerned with the bigger picture. He didn’t want to be pack Alpha, didn’t care about any sort of Heaven. It couldn’t exist. Kiba always was a madman in his own right and it was his pack, not Józsi's to run into the ground.
Still, Józsi’s heart wasn’t about to let him get away with walking out of the room. He let his eyes roam up the line of Ilona’s body. Gone was the peasant skirt and light yellow top she had been wearing earlier, replaced by a silver chemise that fell to the top of her cream colored thighs. He hadn’t any idea whether she had panties on or not.
Ilona shifted against the covers, moving to expose luscious flesh. The lack of a string waistband stirred his desire even more. Józsi swallowed hard. His body stiffened, muscles remained rigid while he drew in the sight of both of his former lovers on the bed before him, coaxing him into their embrace. Blood pumped through his body straight to his cock, making him painfully hard. By now he smelled his own precum along with the heady musk of feminine arousal.
Lukina put her book on the nightstand beside them and sat up straight. Reaching behind her, she removed a few pins from her hair, letting her red curls cascade down her slender shoulders before she shook it out and let it frame her face and fall past her breasts.
His eyes widened. “You’re both so…”
Fingers pressed against his lips. “Don’t.” Ilona remained mere inches from him. Her hair fell in ringlets over her breasts, but her proximity gave him a view of her creamy flesh.
“You’ve hardened your heart,” she whispered, “even to me. Why?” She frowned, cocked her head to one side.
“Because.” He crossed his arms but found himself unable to reply. Words stuck in the lump in his throat, sweat broke out on his brow and his skin grew cold. The real reason he’d hardened his heart to Ilona was because she was the more emotional one between his two former lovers. She was the first to cry, to express pain or joy, and every time he saw her hurt it tore his heart to shreds. Every time he caught her smile, it built his world anew. Lukina could do those things as well if she’d only let herself, but focused more on logic, due to her belief in the prophecy that she would be pack messenger to the new Alpha.
Him.
Well, not if he wasn’t here to fulfill his duty.
Ilona reached for him, fingertips brushing against his forearms. Heat sizzled at her touch.
Her eyes smoldered with intensity, the same look Lukina had had in her eyes the previous night.
Why hadn’t he told her that he would not come back to Hungary? Loosening his grip on his arms, he let Ilona take one hand and pull him to the bed.
“You need this.” Lukina leaned forward, batted her eyelashes. “Just as we do.”
He fought against the insatiable lust slowly replacing his self-control.
An auburn hue began to surround Ilona's body, giving her a soft glow.
Józsi recognized that aura as the one she used to heal others. He didn’t need healing. Didn't want it. There was nothing wrong with him as he was.
Józsi clenched his teeth, feeling stressful tension mount in his jaw but found himself unable to stop moving toward them.
Lukina purred again, providing him with enough distraction to disarm him enough so he could relax his jaw while his cock remained erect.
The sound of glass shattering in the distance sidetracked all three of them. Ilona and Lukina covered up. Józsi rushed to the living room window to look outside.
Peering out the window, Józsi saw torches in the distance. An angry mob of humans were making their way toward the villa, burning everything along the way. Smoke filled the air behind them as the forest and grasslands took in the flames and caught fire. Unable to make out the screams, Józsi only had to assume they were hunters fearing the existence of wolf shifters.
Damn it, who let the truth out? He sighed and looked back at the bedroom.
A bell sounded and a few howls could be heard in the distance. “Damn it, we’ve gotta go.” He rushed back into the bedroom and yanked Ilona by the hand to the bathroom. “Get dressed.”
Ilona moved with him, Lukina trailing behind. “What’s going on?”
Angry mobs yelled not too far away. In a few moments they'd be past the edge of town.
“Can’t you hear that? The humans are here to wage war on us. We’ve got to get out of here.”
“But what about our home? What about the others?” Tears fell down Lukina's cheeks.
It didn’t matter. “We’ve got to get out of here. I can’t be responsible for them. Now follow Ilona to Köröshegy. We’ll stay the rest of the night there and wait this out. We’ll leave for the States first thing in the morning.”
Ilona yanked on her top and stepped into her skirt, cinching it tight around her waist. “But this is my home. I can’t just leave. I am the Opeth pack healer.”
Damn but that woman frustrated him with her emotions. Józsi looked back at her, anger filling his veins. “Forget them, if you want to live,” he growled. "Grab a chance of clothes and come back to me."
Gunshots in the distance followed screams and growls. Where was Kiba? Had Les vanished too?
Wolves and humans filled the main street in the villa, fire and smoke clouding Józsi’s visual path. Gunpowder and heavy oils burned, making the air around them heavier. Ilona coughed when smoke invaded their room.
Ilona appeared with a change of clothes and stood before him, motionless. Her shock filled expression let Józsi know just how scared she was because she wore her heart on her sleeve.
Swearing, he grabbed Ilona’s hand and yanked her with him back into the house and through the window in the back room. “We’ll go this way through the forest to the church.” Adrenaline pumped through him with vigor. This was why he didn’t bother with pack politics. Trouble always followed the wolves.
“Through the window,” Lukina cried, and slipped out first.
Ilona jumped afterwards and they took off running, both of them as wolves.
Józsi looked back and sighed heavily. This wasn’t going to get any easier was it? Shotgun blasts echoed in his ear. The cry of defeat from one wolf signaled someone had been downed. Screams grew louder with each passing second. Their attackers weren’t too far from this house.
Ilona stopped a few hundred yards away and looked back, a sad expression on her face.
Józsi hesitated before climbing through the window.
Ilona barked and whimpered.
“Go! God damn it, move!” He shook his hand furiously at her.
A bullet whizzed past his ear and landed in a tree near where Ilona stood. “Damn wolves will not terrorize us anymore,” a human yelled.
Józsi turned around and lunged at the man, fist cocked back. He swung, caught the hunter in the chest.
The man stumbled back, dropping his rifle. In mid punch, Józsi shifted his hand from human to wolf, baring razor sharp claws. He connected with the man, caught him by the throat.
The man cried out in agony, his last breath a gargled sound. Józsi had ripped his throat out and tossed the limp body aside. He shook blood and guts off his hand, made his hand appear human and looked around until he spied the gun.
Picking up the gun, he ran to the front window and fired off several shots into the crowd, knocking down a few of the hunters. When they turned their scattered focus toward him, he’d picked off four or five more, delivering kill shots to each of them before the gun was empty. “Damn it!”
Bullets flew at him, shattering more glass and wood paneling around Józsi. He looked around and found an exit before he tossed the gun aside. It wouldn't do him any good without ammunition anyway.
The only way out would be through the back porch, but found it better to jump through the window rather than the door, whereby he'd give himself a few extra seconds of time since any assailants would have to correct their aim from the door to the window when he appeared. Quickly, he ran to the back
of the house and jumped out the window. He hit the ground on all fours, shifted and took off running fast and furious, catching up quickly to Ilona and Lukina.
Run, God damn it!
He watched as Ilona looked at Lukina and back at him before taking off into a full sprint.
Gunshots fired after them and Józsi wasn’t about to stick around and wait for anything. Breaking into a full sprint, he quickly chased after Ilona and Lukina, nipping at their heels when they slowed down.
Both of you keep running, or you’ll die!
“They are running into the woods! After those damned wolves!” The voices shouted in Hungarian and English. Józsi expected Hungarians to be chasing after, but in this part of the country, not too many people spoke fluent English. Odd, that.
Trees passed by in a blur while Józsi ran. He lost sight of Lukina, but had Ilona panting after him.
I can’t keep this up for much longer. Her breath came in short gasps now. Her tongue hung out and she slowed to a trot.
Damn it, Ilona! I thought you said you’d been embracing your true nature.
No. That was Lukina. Where is she, by the way?
Józsi stopped. He’d lost sight of her when he’d noticed some of the hunters speaking in fluent English. Something was definitely up, and he didn’t want to deal with it.
God damn it!
Ilona stopped running.
Józsi stopped and turned his head back at her.
She whimpered. Pawing the ground, she begged him to come back.
He started to trot off but she whimpered louder.
Damn it all. This trip to back home had gone from bad to worse.
Józsi padded back to Ilona to see her lying in human form, a large cut across the top of her foot. Blood oozed out of the wound slowly. He sniffed it: just a scrape. Instinctively, Józsi started licking the wound, tasting salt and dirt along with the clean metallic taste of iron.
Ilona ran her fingers through his fur, comforting him even as his stress levels rose higher and higher still. “We have to find Lukina,” she sniffled.
We can’t. The hunters will kill us both. I, for one, do not plan on dying here.
“But Józsi, she could be hurt or lost. She came to America just to get you to come find me. We owe her that.”
She was right. He'd traveled nearly seven thousand miles just to…what? In the end he found Ilona, brought her back to Lukina. Then this shit happened. He stopped licking her foot and raised his head to see her expression. Her face had that terrible look on it, the one that said ‘help me, please.’
If he left Lukina, Ilona would never forgive him. If he went after her, they’d both die. Too many hunters, not enough wolves. Caught off guard at night when most humans normally slept, the hunters had an advantage by attacking. He knew the odds.
I can’t carry you and look for her at the same time.
The wound stopped bleeding. Józsi stood on two legs as a man and looked down at his little pet. With her round eyes opened, lips parted and tears streaming down her face, she looked helpless. Then she blinked, put a hand to her head, then to her heart.
“What just happened?” Ilona stretched forward and tried to stand, delicately placing weight on her foot. She stumbled but Józsi caught her and helped her balance.
“I don’t know. It’s late and we need to get back to the church. They’re not still playing concerts there, are they?”
She shook her head. “This time of year? No. It’s too cold for most people to travel out this far.”
“Good. Let’s get you back to the church and I’ll go looking for Lukina first thing in the morning.”
She tilted her chin up at him defiantly. “No. I’ll come with you.”
He caught her chin in his fingers, glared down at her. “You’re wounded. You’ll slow me down.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “If I don’t go with you, you may leave us again. I just cannot bear that right now, Józsi. I need you too much.”
The confession tore into his heart more than he thought it would. If he stayed this close to her now, he'd end up kissing her, then pulling her down onto him and fucking her before he went to retrieve her other lover.
That wouldn't do.
“Fine.”
The sound of raindrops pounding on the overhang woke Józsi first. The smell rain, crisp and clean woke him. Hungary’s naturally humid climate lent itself to cover with the rain. The hunters would most likely not look for them while it poured this heavily. He found himself tangled up in Ilona’s naked body. Her body was chilly to the touch.
The scent of fresh winter and salt hung in the frigid air. If he had to guess, it was probably around fifty-five degrees outside, maybe slightly warmer inside shelter. It had been so long since he'd been back that he forgot the difference and found himself unable to convert the temperatures to Celsius.
Józsi stirred, shifted his weight to get partial distance from Ilona.
Ilona snuggled closer, murmuring something inaudible in her sleep.
He had to get up. His cock stirred, reminding him of the intensity of her gaze before the mob of hunters disturbed them from their fun the night before.
Fun. He scoffed silently. Ilona and Lukina were trouble just like the whole damn pack. Józsi looked up at the sky. Gray clouds continued to let loose with a flood of rain, soaking the ground.
Looking at Ilona, he felt a pang of loneliness with the thought that he’d have to leave her eventually. Preferably sooner rather than later, otherwise he might end up staying longer than he wanted. Hell, he’d already stayed longer than he wanted to.
The doors to the church had been locked and it was too late for Józsi to bother with picking a lock. He didn’t have any of his tools and it was just his luck that Ilona hadn’t been wearing any pins in her hair.
Lukina had to be the one who always kept her hair pinned.
Damn it. He still had to go find her before returning to America. Where was Les in all of this mess? Surely he'd have warned the pack when the hunters were approaching but then again Józsi had no idea who rang the bell to alert the pack of approaching trouble. He’d heard that the bastard had been allowed to return to the pack after his fiasco with trying to harm Marco, but nobody knew why. There were too many questions that required him to give a damn.
He shifted to his side, draped an arm over her and rubbed her soft belly, enjoying the gentle murmurs she emitted.
What if he took Lukina and Ilona back to America with him? Ilona had never been out of Hungary. She was calling herself by an American name now. She’d…What a ludicrous thought!
She turned to face him, her bare breast brushing against his chest. She was so soft and supple. A leg caressed his. She rolled over, her pussy making full contact with his jean-clad thigh.
Sweet Jesus almighty! She was wet, soft and shaved clean. And her pussy smelled this side of sex. He moved his thigh just a little.
A small moan escaped from her.
His hand caressed her lower back, pressing against her round ass. He brushed his thigh against her pussy again, this time with more force.
She groaned again, louder.
“Józsi.” She wasn’t awake, but she was certainly aware of the sensations going through her body.
Maybe if he got her off, he could take the memory back to America. And masturbate until he found a woman he thought could sate his taste. Ultimately, he knew he’d be calling out Ilona’s name when he came. And Lukina’s. How odd that’d be for any woman he’d ever be with after all this was over.
“You can’t heal yourself, can you?” He whispered.
He shifted his weight and sat up.
Ilona stirred, moving her head down to his thigh. She wrapped her arms around his waist and muttered something else that sounded like “Don’t leave me again.”
The cold wind blew hard against them. She shivered and snuggled closer.
The fear in her voice frightened him. He’d never heard such pain and anguish in another’s voice, bu
t Ilona had that gift. She was transparent with him, and only him. Even Lukina had to occasionally work to determine her true feelings, but protecting herself was Ilona’s natural reaction amongst wolves.
Józsi took off his shirt and wrapped it around her body. Where had her clothes gone?
"Shh." Looking around, he spotted them hanging off the railing. He slid out from beneath her and retrieved her shirt and dress. Looking back at her, he realized she was nude completely. Did the woman wear no underwear? The thought hardened his body. It was cold outside and, after all, sex would warm them both up. He shook his head. Not now.
Her leg curled up beneath her body.
Józsi’s eyes traced the curve of her luscious hip all the way to her slender calves. She had sexy legs indeed. His gaze roamed up her body, settling on the little bit of a tummy she had. He licked his lips. How would it feel to lick his favorite syrup from her navel or the swell of her luscious breasts? He shook his head again.
“Fine.” He exhaled loudly. “I’ll deal with those feelings before leaving.”
How long could he be gone while Ilona slept?
“Józsi?”
That answered that question. “Yes?”
She raised her head off the cement. Wiping the sleep out of her eyes, she rolled onto her back, arching her body upwards.
Józsi licked his lips at the sight of her breasts jutting upward. Hips mimicking her upper torso while long creamy legs spread and toes wiggled.
She relaxed her body and sat up, drawing her knees to her body and wrapping her arms around her legs. “I’m cold.”
“Get dressed.”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
He tossed her the shirt and dress. “You shouldn’t sleep naked when it’s so cold outside.”
“No, you should sleep naked with me and keep me warm.” There was a hint of mischief in her voice.
Setting his hands on his hips, Józsi turned his head and looked toward the forest.
“Are you going to go back for Lukina?”
His Reign (The Opeth Pack Saga Book 1) Page 5