He moved down her body leisurely, well aware he was driving her crazy with every touch and caress. When he reached the juncture of her thighs, without further prelude, his mouth locked hungrily to her core and she gasped at the intensity of the sensations that shot through her.
She knew he wouldn’t stop until he’d gotten his fill. The way he held her spread open, she was helpless to do anything but enjoy the way he ravaged her. He licked and laved until her clit was a tight bundle of throbbing nerves and then something rippled deeply inside of her. She couldn’t stop the perfect cascade of orgasms that flowed, one after the other with no buildup or warning in between, shocking and delighting her.
She was aware she was calling Stray’s name, should be embarrassed by how loud she was, but Stray encouraged it.
He climbed back up her body, his cock jutting, heavy and hard, and she needed that now.
“Hurry—fill me,” she heard herself plead. She should’ve been embarrassed at how forward she was, but again, Stray didn’t mind, judging by the way he watched her approvingly.
He hovered over her, and then slid inside, slowly, until she jerked and took him all the way in. A heated groan escaped from his throat, and she felt the fever rise inside of her again as he made love to her.
She was taken. Possessed. Overwhelmed. “Please, Stray.”
God, she could draw him looking like this. It appeared as though he ached for her, his gaze intent, cheeks hollowed and for a long, hot second she reached up and traced his lips with her finger.
He drew in a sharp breath like he wasn’t used to care of any kind. And she wanted him to be.
“You deserve good things,” she told him softly. When she moved her hand away, he buried himself more deeply inside of her with another long groan. And then he bent his head, whispered, “So do you—and I’ll show you some good now.”
With that, he began to thrust inside of her—seemed as though he was actually growing larger inside of her as she moved in complete, utter pleasure against the hard length of his body.
“Show me everything.”
He did, the sex hard and fast now, like neither could hold out longer, and she didn’t feel like a virgin at all. No, she was as wild and as free as he was, and she loved it. Reveled in all of it. Never wanted it to end. When his orgasm hit with hers, the look of sharp relief on his face satisfied her as much as the pleasure contracting inside her womb.
“Happy birthday,” he murmured in her ear.
Happy birthday indeed.
*
Kate lay in Stray’s arms under the moon, feeling safe for the first time in forever. It shouldn’t be that way, she knew, but nothing in her life had gone as planned at all, and, at the moment, none of it seemed important.
Her hands threaded through his thick, dark hair. It hung heavy and straight to below his shoulders and she loved the feel of it. It was as silky and the same color as …
“Brother Wolf’s coat, yes.” He smiled. “Doesn’t happen all the time. Just for the brothers with abilities.”
She recalled Vice’s shift to a wolf with a white coat and Rifter’s to gray. “You said Rifter could dreamwalk.”
“He was cursed with his, not born with it. But we love him anyway.”
Such acceptance. A real family unit lived and breathed inside these magical walls and she was close to being a part of it.
If she was turned away when she was no longer of use, as she suspected, it would kill her. But for now, he most certainly wasn’t turning her away.
His hand stroked her back and, although it was still a bit sensitive to the touch, she realized the rough feel of the mark wasn’t there. She put her own hand back to touch it and her skin was nearly smooth.
“The brand … it’s almost gone,” she said. “When we were together—did you know that would happen?”
“It’s not the sex,” he told her. “Your brand will disappear when your powers fully integrate, and there’s no way to tell when that will happen.”
“But this pull I feel for you won’t,” she said.
He grinned, pulled back a little. “The wolf needs to run. I’ll be back in a few. Stay inside here, okay?”
She nodded and, in seconds, he blurred and shifted into Brother Wolf, who was a beautifully ferocious animal.
And this time she wasn’t scared at all, watched him nudge the door open and run across the lawn, his body sleek, muscles moving powerfully, rippling under his fur. Her entire body tingled, telling her they were for sure entangled in ways she could never explain.
All she knew was that she never wanted it to end, wished she could run with him through the deep, dark woods. He was all mystery and power and she burned for him.
Burned.
She stepped out onto the lawn because he was right there. Because she wanted to be closer to him.
As if he knew, Stray turned to her and ran straight at her. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he wouldn’t stop running.
He didn’t.
Instead he leapt over her, and when she whirled around, he stood, watching her. Grinning, if that was possible.
“Sneaky wolf,” she muttered and Brother howled in the night, the sound echoing for longer than it should have in the dense quiet.
It was unsettling and arousing at once.
She moved back into the screened area and glanced down at the sketch she’d done of him her first night in the house. She’d seen the scars on him before, many times by this point, but they always struck her, the way they seemed to peek through the Brother Wolf glyph so the wolf and Stray both bore the marks of pain.
Kate had grown so used to pain—obviously, so had Stray. That they’d found each other under such extraordinary circumstances seemed something of a not-so-small miracle; and being a lapsed Catholic, she knew those didn’t come along often, if at all.
Both their families were scared of them, clouded by their past experiences.
Both were destined to be part of a prophecy that could cause irreparable damage.
After another half hour or so of the wolf running through the yard and howling, Stray shifted back and moved to stand over her. “What are you thinking? You look sad again.”
“I can’t be around Jinx. This can’t work. You’ve already had to give up one pack. I won’t let you give up another,” she protested.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“Stubborn.”
He cocked a pot/kettle eyebrow and she could do nothing but concede.
“I don’t see the future. I read the past and present, what’s in people’s minds now. And according to that, your brother is—”
“Jinx is not evil. You’ll find that out for yourself,” he said in a tone that made it clear he was through discussing it. “Out here, with the moon, can you show me your powers?”
Her first instinct was to give an automatic no, but then her brand tingled and her hands went out and hovered over the ground. Despite the cold and the season, warmth radiated there and a crocus appeared, purple and perfect.
Stray picked it, held it out to her. She sniffed it, then rubbed the soft petals on her cheek. “I can’t believe it. I can do this with my mind?”
“Lila was alive for seven thousand years,” Stray told her. “She could do a lot of things.”
“Like invading people’s minds.” Obviously, she’d been doing her calling without even realizing it.
“For the greater good.”
“So you say.”
“So I know. Trust me, because you’ve got to trust someone. I know you realize it can’t be Leo Shimmin.”
Sometimes, it was about choosing the lesser of two evils. And while she’d gotten chills meeting Jinx, she’d had no such feelings about the rest of the family. Whatever she felt, she’d warned them. She had to believe that they’d do something to protect her from whatever it was. “I do.”
“Good. Now use the moon. Let her help.”
“Does she help you?”
�
�She would rule me if I let her.”
“But you’re stronger.”
“Now I am. In the beginning, it wasn’t that simple.” He moved closer to her, pulled the blanket over them, tucked the grimoire close to her body as well. “Come on, let’s see if we can sleep now.”
And they remained there, the moon bathing them in her comfort.
Chapter 29
After a night of rifling through cemeteries and getting sick over the remains of butchered corpses and heavy demon activity, Jinx drove home to face the music, even though it was barely dawn.
He knew damned well what the witch felt. Knew that Stray did as well, by literal osmosis. What he didn’t know was how to deal with it without telling the rest of the Dires what a fucking mess he’d caused.
They had too much else to worry about—he wasn’t putting another thing on their heads. He’d deal with purgatory himself.
Rifter was, of course, waiting for him in the kitchen, arms crossed, his alpha wolf flag flying high. But Jinx was in no mood for any of his shit, king or no king.
“Where were you?”
“Hunting,” Jinx told him.
“I told you not to go out alone,” Rifter said, and yes, the wolf had, right after Kate’s meltdown. Because if there’s something evil she’s seeing, it could be a premonition, Rifter had lectured.
Now Rifter narrowed his eyes. “Jinx, what’s the goddamned problem?”
And that’s when he fucking lost it, because he couldn’t stand here and look his king, his friend, in the eye and keep lying to him. So he did what he knew would get him the hell out of the spotlight. “Right—forgot I’m evil Jinx. Maybe I shouldn’t be allowed to do anything alone. Maybe I should be chained inside the house with Harm.”
“Don’t give him ideas,” Vice said, coming up behind Rifter.
Jinx knew Rifter’s wolf was not responding well to the challenge, and Vice’s silent question—Why the hell are you baiting him?—hung in the air.
Since his mating, the dynamic was changing. Rifter had always been alpha, but this was beyond.
The other Dires were handling it, because it was Rifter. But now Jinx was too pissed to care that he was challenging the alpha. And on some level, he realized he might be doing this purposely as well. That riling Rifter to the point of no return would give Jinx the freedom he needed.
“You’ve got to get the fuck off my back, king. I’m doing this for you—for Gwen. For all of us. So you need to stay put and let me do my damned job without questioning me every time I leave this house, got it?”
Rifter’s wolf growled. “You don’t tell me what to do, wolf.”
“Guess what, King Rifter? I’m telling you.”
“Why are you pushing me?” Rift’s eyes had already turned; the air held the chill of an impending Dire fight.
Jinx knew a newly mated alpha king was not to be challenged if you wanted to keep your head on your body. And he definitely needed his head, but he needed to get the hell out of this house more, before Kate had another crazy vision and figured out what he was dealing with. Hell, Stray might’ve already read his mind, but Jinx hoped he was too caught up with his witch to read too much into Jinx’s tension.
Jinx was pulling a tiger by the toes—wasn’t smart, wouldn’t be pretty, but he pressed on. “Because I’m tired of you making shit decisions for this pack.”
The growl ripped from Rift’s throat. Jinx’s own Brother Wolf was confused, was used to bucking the alpha king occasionally, but never this hard.
“Jinx, stand down,” Rifter warned one final time.
“Fuck off,” he replied, and the fight happened in a blur, the mated alpha far more unpredictable than Jinx had expected.
It had been a long time since he’d seen one of them up close and personal. Everything was raw, right on the surface. It was almost like dealing with a newly shifted Dire, except a mated alpha had complete control over his fighting abilities and that made him even more deadly and unpredictable.
Jinx barely held him off, still ended up with deep, bloody scratches down his neck that would scar and cracked ribs that would heal before the night was over.
He’d given as good as he’d gotten, but Rifter was too amped up to care. The only thing that stopped them from coming as close to killing each other as they possibly could was Vice’s Brother Wolf, who jumped in and nearly decimated them both.
And still Rifter kept coming for him. Jinx watched the white wolf shift into his tattooed Dire brother in order to hold Rifter at bay. With Vice’s pull, he and Rifter both shifted back as well, and Vice was saying, “Rift, come on—tone it down.”
Jinx should’ve let it go then, could’ve walked away with his scratches and his dignity, but he knew he’d have to push it to get the results necessary for him to keep his secret.
He lurched forward, past Vice, put his finger close enough to Rifter’s face for the wolf to bite it off, and managed, “I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to walk around here, subject to your scrutiny. I’m not following special rules because you all trust some crazy witch over your own brothers.”
He couldn’t stop himself, figured this was how Vice must feel all the time. But the suspicion in his brothers’ eyes was too much to take. Obviously, he’d gotten careless, allowed his own charm in the form of the prayer to work against him, something Rogue would probably have warned him about, if he weren’t being held unconscious by a fucking hag mare.
“You get the fuck out of this house—and you don’t come back until I invite you.” Rifter’s words roared, shook the walls of the house. Everything seemed to stop then, including Jinx’s heart for a brief second before it began the familiar, fast beat of the wolf’s again.
“Fuck you and your house, King Rifter,” he spat.
“Jinx, get out—now,” Vice told him, his voice low, his eyes turned lupine, his body shaking.
This was probably harder on Vice than anyone, and Jinx felt another pang of guilt stab him squarely in the chest. It was what finally made him turn and leave the house with nothing but the clothes on his back.
You got what you wanted.
It was still like a knife to the gut. Brother Wolf wasn’t happy, wanted to run back and make peace with the king, despite the fact that there wasn’t a submissive bone in Jinx’s body.
All those alphas under the same roof … Shit, it wasn’t the first time they’d split, but it wasn’t the right time for it.
This wasn’t the right time to be connected to purgatory, either. Asking for help would make things worse—he’d figure it out himself. Because if he’d been able to push his king, the one he’d ceded to centuries earlier, there was something evil inside of him, like the witch had seen.
Seb could be manipulating him somehow. Jinx had considered that, but he didn’t feel that pull. Besides, he’d already cast a spell to protect the rest of them from a mare spell, even though none of them could ever be pulled in that deeply. Rogue had been because of his connection to the spirit world—he walked a very thin line between life and death.
Thankfully, the rest of the Dires wouldn’t find themselves enslaved that way, but who knew what else Seb had in store for them.
*
Gwen had watched the fight from the safety of the next room, struggling the entire time not to let Sister Wolf out. And her wolf wanted out bad. But fighting with the men wasn’t going to do anything except get her hurt. This was a show of testosterone that ended badly and it was only once Jinx slammed down the stairs and left the Dire property alone on his Harley that she let herself react.
“You can’t let him go alone like that.”
Rifter had been watching Jinx’s bike roar down the driveway. He turned to her in a flash. “Enough. It’s done.”
“We’re all in danger and we need to stay together,” she protested, and Rifter growled at her. “You did not just growl at me, did you?”
He had and he did it again.
Vice took her shoulder and pulled her back a little. “Gwen, i
t’s an alpha thing. Newly mated male kings are … well, let’s just say, it’s not the time to question his decisions.”
And as pissed as she was, Sister Wolf was strangely aroused by Rifter’s commands and his attempts at domination—of both her and the entire pack. She didn’t know if Vice’s proximity was adding to her feelings, but Vice’s canines were elongated, his eyes changed to lupine, like Rifter’s.
Come to think of it …
She touched her tongue to her teeth and found herself in the same predicament. If she looked at her eyes in the mirror, she knew wolf’s eyes would greet her back.
“Jinx will be fine. Staying here now is not an option,” Rifter repeated.
“I would think you’d make an exception,” she started, but quickly stopped. Obviously, Rifter knew it wasn’t the best time, but if he was having trouble controlling himself, it might actually be in all their best interests for Jinx to be on the outside.
“He’ll handle himself,” Vice promised. “He’ll stay at the apartments. No one’s going to know where he is. Might give us an upper hand to have someone on the outside if there comes a time we can’t leave. I’ll call to check in on him in a few.”
He left and Gwen realized this was probably harder on Vice than anyone. She turned back to Rifter.
“The building’s not spelled.”
“If he’s careful, no one will know he’s there,” Rifter said.
“Hopefully it’s not permanent.”
“That’s up to me,” Rifter said, giving no indication either way.
Gwen felt a surge of desire run through her, which was odd, considering her anger. But the wolf part of her was growing stronger on a daily basis and surged in appreciation of her alpha and his ways. And he knew—the bastard knew how conflicted she was and how turned on, and his eyes changed to lupine.
“I want to hate you for doing this,” she told him.
“Pack law,” he murmured before nipping her neck. “King’s rule.”
“Doesn’t the queen get a say?”
“You’ve had yours,” he reminded her. “But right now Brother Wolf’s not handling resistance.”
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