First Bite - Shifter Romance Box Set: Anthology of First in Serials and Series

by Vaughn, V.

  She wondered if being with the pack would be anything like all the erotic stories she'd been reading since her hormones had kicked in halfway through junior high. Oh, god, please yes. Something deep within her clenched, sending a powerful wave of wet longing through her again.

  “Careful now,” the alpha, Trevor, said. His dark voice whispered out across the small meadow just as the sun sank behind the mountain, leaving them in the dusky twilight. “We still have to make it inside the house and the bedroom before this is official, Cassandra.”

  By house, he meant the enormous, multi-room mansion made from heavy timber and solid stone the pack called home, way high up on the mountain.

  “And what you are broadcasting at the moment is stirring ideas in my packmates that you likely don't want displayed in front of the town. Or would you prefer to put on a show for everyone?” Trevor's deep bass voice suddenly purred, as if he were a big cat rather than a wolf. “Because that's how we used to do it in ancient times, Cassandra.” Her name on his tongue was a caress, with a deadly edge to it. “Mating with the town surrender in front of the town audience, to prove their surrender was accepted. We can revisit the old ways if you'd like.”

  Cassie's mouth dropped as she dared to look up at him. The alpha's gaze was calculating as he looked back at her. A dark invitation was in them. No—a dark, almost urgent command. There was no invitation here. She'd lost the town lottery in the spring and known she would be the sacrificial lamb, the woman cast up to the pack's ravenous needs so they wouldn't destroy the human residents. She wasn't here by choice.

  Right?

  Ah, not completely right. Her body was certainly here willingly. Very, very willingly.

  “Yes, sir,” she murmured. At Trevor's suddenly raised eyebrows and the abrupt tensing of the two wolves beside him, each of whom leaned slightly toward her in keen interest, she realized her gaffe. Almost shouting in alarm, she said, “I mean, no! No, sir! Let's keep this to the usual ceremony. An inside one. Sir,” she added, biting her lip.

  Sexy blond Mac suddenly laughed. “Let's get you in the house, then, Cassandra.” His voice stroked over her senses, calming her. “The night is still very young. And we have a lot of,” he paused, voice heavy with meaning, “work ahead of us.”

  There was a deeper silence as everyone waited for her response. Without looking again at her family, or anyone else but the three men before her who were her fate, Cassie lifted her chin and pulled back her shoulders. With a deep breath, she walked right up to them, trying to ignore the fact it felt as if her legs might buckle at any moment. Stopping a foot from Trevor, she dropped her eyes again, then got on her knees before him. Bending her head back to look at the sky, she bared her neck to him in the position of offering.

  “From the town of Wicked Mountain, I am Cassandra Wakefield, and I am the town surrender. You may do with me...” She paused, trembling again at what she was about to say. A soft breeze blew over her face, gently billowing up the ridiculously short skirt of the dress around her thighs. The unmistakable musky scent of aroused males came to her, swallowing her in their implacable need. Slowly, she continued. “You may do with me what you wish, in exchange for leaving in peace the town and the humans who live in it. I am yours to command, now and forever.”

  A long silence bracketed the moment in a tension so strong Cassie could almost taste it. Oh, god, what if she'd pissed off Trevor by being too flippant earlier? What if he'd changed his mind? Oh, shit. What if he did want to do it outside, in front of everyone? He could force her. She'd be powerless to say no.

  To her shock, a faint but definite interest in that very scenario rushed through her again. It left her trembling, thighs quaking slightly as she tried to ignore the swirling desire still burgeoning between her plumped out lips and swollen little clit.

  A sudden hitched breath told her one of the men was very aware of her arousal. Probably all of them. They were wolves, after all. They could sense anything and everything much more keenly than any human could.

  After another moment that seemed like an eternity, Trevor's deep voice rumbled out again. “Your offer is accepted. Come with us, Cassandra, to be the Wicked Mountain Pack's surrender this year. You are to be initiated tonight. Immediately,” he added. Cassie would have sworn she could hear a hushed, aching thrill in his tone.

  It seemed like the entire mountain sighed. People let out pent-up breaths. Cassie gasped in deep amounts of air, totally unaware she'd been holding her breath while he talked. Staring at the enormous, ungodly sexy alpha werewolf staring back at her like she was lunch, Cassie wondered if she might swoon on the spot.

  It would be a totally dumb thing to do, but every second she stared into his seemingly bottomless eyes, she felt pretty damned swoony.

  * * *

  Trevor willed himself to stay still and move not a single muscle. The surrender's eyes—god, how they taunted him. Oh, the girl herself wasn't taunting him, not knowingly. No, she seemed appropriately terrified, despite her impertinence. A definite scent of sharp arousal layered over her like a sweet musk as well. But her eyes, those beautiful crystal blue eyes, teased him with something he hardly dared to ponder too deeply.

  It was something that seemed like the call of a mate. Sensuous, longing, and certain, and real. More real than he'd ever seen from a surrender before. Surrenders weren't mates, however. They were human anyway, and could never mate with a werewolf. They were simply surrenders offered up by the town in a centuries-old pact that kept both sides relatively happy and peaceful. Sometimes, surrenders made pack wolves very happy, and a long-term union was born, despite true mate status never happening.

  Growling to himself, Trevor gave himself an internal shake. This was ridiculous thinking. Dangerously modern. Trevor prided himself on not being too modern. The old ways had worked for hundreds of years, and he saw no particular reason to change things, despite what some might say.

  As pack alpha, he made the final choices, despite the surrenders thinking they held a slight modicum of power with their youth and exotic human quality. None of them had yet captured him. He'd known from the first glance at each of the last hundred surrenders that she was wasn't remotely interesting to him beyond the occasional romp in bed when he was bored.

  A faint tickle ran up and down his skin, shivering its way through his body as he continued to observe Cassandra. Interesting. He'd not felt this way in some time. Not since—

  Trevor frowned and looked away from the nervous yet clearly aroused young woman standing before him and his packmates. That was a thought he still could not complete. It meant he still was not ready to take on a mate, despite the yapping of many of the pack's females that he must. One in particular, who was a most bothersome burr in his side.

  He looked carefully at the surrender. He most certainly had no more than a passing interest in initiating a human surrender, one who, for some unknown reason, was making his blood whip through his veins with a greater degree of interest and excitement than he'd felt in the last century.

  Right?

  * * *

  Cassandra's gasping in of air seemed to pull the men's gazes straight to her mouth.

  “Just like that,” yummy, perfect Finn of her fantasies said. She snapped her head to look at him. “You will be gasping just like that, Cassie. Just like you have in your dreams at night these many years.”

  At that, her eyes got even bigger. How the hell could he know that? They could project their thoughts and longings onto the townspeople, she knew that. But she'd never heard they could read human thoughts. A flush rocketed through her body.

  “You will gasp from pleasure, as we take our fill of you,” Finn went on, his rough velvet voice scraping along her nerve endings with the most delicious tingle. “You will gasp as you feel things you never dreamed possible.”

  His voice was so low none of the humans standing back from them could hear it. But every single hair on Cassie's body shivered and tried to stand on end. Goosebumps raced across her flesh,
from her toes to the top of her head. Eyes enormously wide, she stared at him, captured as if by a relentless tractor beam.

  She wasn't sure if she should be ashamed of the pulse-pounding surge of desire that thundered through her body at his dangerous words, or even more turned on.

  Finn leaned a little closer. “We own you, Cassie. Come with us now so you can pay for the freedom of everyone in your town.” He reached a hand down to her.

  Feeling light-headed, she blindly groped her own hand toward him. As if she were nothing more than some feather plucked from a baby chick, he pulled her up, almost off her feet. A distinct tingle raced into her from his touch, and one more involuntary little gasp left her. Swallowing back any other obvious signals she was already aroused, she met his stare with as brave a one of her own she could muster.

  In the twenty-first century, men shouldn't say things like that to women, she thought around the roaring in her head. Then again, these weren't regular men. These were ancient werewolves, who got crazy with lust and demanded a fresh new surrender every season. If they didn't get their female sacrificial lamb, they went on a rampage, destroying everything before them and deflowering all the girls in town anyway.

  Or so Cassie had always been taught. Since all the younger women and girls were kept in the dark about what really happened to the surrenders after they left, there was a lot of wild speculation. Cassie had even been captain of the betting pool all through high school. She'd made a killing, which was part of how she'd managed to make it through three years of the nearby state college without needing to work more than ten hours a week at the campus coffeeshop.

  College had been great. Until she'd come home for this year's mandatory spring gathering, had her name cast into the lot of eligible applicants as it was for every town female ages eighteen to twenty-two, and heard it called as the one who would be served up to the pack that year. A mere two months shy of her twenty-second birthday. All her plans for a great future, up in smoke. She had only vague ideas of what life as the surrender to the pack would hold for her. She knew sometimes it worked out well. Sometimes, not so much.

  Her family, of course, had told her nothing that shed any light. All her mother had said was, Behave.

  Helpful.

  Head held high in spite of the desperate racing of her heart and the slight fear sweat that dampened her flesh, she let Finn pull her along toward their home. Her new home.

  “You can talk, you know,” he said suddenly, his mesmerizing voice igniting the slick warmth between her legs even more. “You're allowed, I mean.”

  His grip on her hand wasn't tight, but it was firm enough she knew he would not release her if she tried to pull away.

  The funny thing was, she didn't really want to pull away. Finn, the wild, tender, passionate, amazing lover of her dreams for many years now, was just as attractive in person as in her fantasies. She could feel the heat of a blush steal over her face she thought of a few of the compromising positions she'd imagined him in.

  “Are you already thinking about what it will be like?” His amused chuckle slipped over her, though his steps didn't slow. “Your skin has the most enchanting rosy glow to it right now. Cassandra,” he added.

  “Um,” she said. Hearing him say her name made little shivers tap dance all over her skin. “I—am I allowed to say what I'm thinking?”

  He laughed as they strode through the summer-lush meadow toward the house. Cassie could smell sweet wildflowers and the savagely enticing scent of the aroused men as they got closer to her destiny. “Of course you may speak your mind. Especially if it involves sharing your fantasies with us.” Finn side-eyed her, his navy blue eyes alight with mischief. “Despite the fact you might not have much choice in this situation, sweet Cassie, we actually aim to please.”

  Ahead of them, Mac chuckled out a laugh again, although his steps didn't slow. It seemed to Cassie they were quite eager to get up to the house. The bedroom. The bed. Would they all fit on one bed? she wondered. Her blush deepened even more as she felt her clit swell.

  “We aim to be pleased as well, Cassandra,” Trevor said. His voice, Cassie decided, was like a barnacle-covered sea rock barely covered in a plush assurance of dark cravings. “Don't forget that.”

  She swallowed. “Okay. Sir,” she added as her feet barely skimmed the ground. Finn had really long strides. Damn, he was tall. She felt very small around these huge, drop-dead gorgeous men.

  When they reached the enormous front doors of the “house,” though, she finally managed to drag her feet to a stop. Finn slowed with her, giving her another glance. A little grin quirked up his lips. For a split second, though, she barely noticed his breathtaking gorgeousness. She was too busy staring at the twenty-foot high solid oak doors, which were so solid they looked like they were forged from steel rather than wood. The entire place soared above, three stories high and probably four wings wide.

  “I—wow,” she breathed, everything else momentarily forgotten. “You really call this a house? It's a damn mansion!”

  Ahead of them, hand on one of the huge brass door handles, Trevor stopped and sharpy rounded on her. Cassie's eyes popped open so wide she thought they might spring out of her head. Shit, shit, shit. Would she not learn to keep her big mouth shut around the wolf shifters who held her fate?

  Face thunderously dark, Trevor advanced on her a step. Cassie tried to backpedal, but Finn held her firm. One of his hands, however, went to her back and began to rub encouraging circles on it. Like she was a skittish filly about to bolt, and he was trying to calm her. But all it really did was abruptly remind her he was still incredibly hot, he was holding her close, and his touch sent tingles through her body. Even so, it didn't quite alleviate her fear as Trevor came closer. Finn might be the stuff of her erotic dreams, but insanely attractive Trevor was the pack alpha and no mistake. He radiated sheer power.

  Planting his feet when he was about six inches away, Trevor stood solid, towering above her as mightily as the mansion-house towered above them all. Cassie swallowed audibly. Slowly, the ultimate master of her fate shook his head.

  “You,” he said, pointing a finger at her. “You are entirely too talkative at this point. I'm not certain you have the right amount of appreciation for your role here.”

  Cassie thought her heart might have stopped at the ominous undercurrent in his voice. “I'm so sorry,” she managed to squeak out.

  Trevor's dark eyes narrowed at her. Then he shook his head. “We've been having this problem the past several decades. All the surrenders have been very uppity. No respect for the old ways.”

  Cassie's jaw dropped. Did he really just say uppity? What the hell century did he think this was?

  With a sudden laugh, Mac rolled his beautiful eyes and stepped toward Cassie as well. “Trevor, leave the poor girl be for a moment. You're making her pale as a sheet. I think she has perfect respect for her position. Don't you, Cassandra?”

  She nodded vigorously, although she couldn't wrench her gaze from Trevor's. Something electric snapped between the two of them, something that made her shiver deep inside. His aquamarine gaze promised something much darker, something that also curiously tugged at her heart while stirring molten desires deep in her belly.

  Trevor suddenly snorted, a half-mocking, half-startled sound that broke the strange connection. Shadows dropped over his eyes before he snapped, “Look closely at our door, our sweet young Cassandra. You will see your future.”

  “Uh—” she began, but Finn gently tipped her chin away from Trevor so she had to examine the doors. “Oh, my god,” she breathed, so stunned she momentarily forgot about anything else than what was on the massive doors.

  They were covered in carvings that looked positively medieval. Upon close inspection, some of them depicted really nasty acts being performed by—satyrs? Like, the devilish goat-men of myth? Why, yes, yes, they were. They were fucking satyrs, in fact. Literally fucking one another. Their carved faces clearly broadcasted licentious, wickedly satisfi
ed carnal lust. Then she noticed werewolves in their human forms, huge and strong and fierce even in carved form. They, too, were fucking one another. Each pairing—or group, since some were in threes and fours—was entwined in amorous embraces, some of the positions straining her sense of the possible. Even so, the images stirred twitching between her legs, perking her nipples. She felt Finn's erection insistently poking into her rear, which somehow made it all even more erotic. More tempting.

  Her future. Oh, god. Oh god, oh god, oh god.

  A low, long growl broke into her thoughts and she jumped. Finn's grip on her had tightened. “Careful, beautiful Cassandra,” he breathed into her ear. “You are giving us all some very distinct ideas again. We may not make it inside if you insist on still thinking those thoughts.”

  Mac then came close enough to touch Cassie, stroking his hand down her chest. Her nipples peaked even harder, feeling like tight little pebbles when Mac trailed his fingers over them, first one, then the other. She bit her lip to stop the moan. Terror, desire, and awe at the huge mansion all mingled into something that threatened to explode out. Still uncertain what her reactions should be, she tried to still them all. Finn, though, seemed to sense everything.

  His hand stroking her back slowly began to go lower, to her hips, then just above the swell of her rear. Caught between his touch there, blond Mac's lazy grin while his hand began to gently tweak her nipples, and Trevor's darkly smoldering alpha presence, Cassie felt a gasp lodge in her throat as she desperately tried to contain it. But then Trevor spoke again, his voice so low it sounded like shifting boulders.

  “We shall soon see how much respect she has for her position. Cassandra,” he addressed her directly, pinning her with his light eyes. “Remove your dress.”

  The gasp exploded out of her. Shock whipped through her, even as her stupidly turned on little pussy swelled even more at his demand. How the hell she could find this hot was beyond her. She wasn't some sex doll puppet for their pleasure.