“Welcome to our den,” Seth said, bowing graciously. “Please make yourselves at home. Wyatt and I must check on our mate, who is currently expecting pups. We will have food prepared shortly!”
Seth and Wyatt disappeared down a dark corridor, and Allison and the others stood around awkwardly until a female voice cleared her throat. Allison turned in the direction of the sound.
“Hello,” said a smiling young woman who happened to be completely nude. “I’m Willow. And you are?”
“You don’t remember me, kid?” Michael asked.
Willow tilted her head to the right and pinched her chin. She surveyed him for several moments, and finally shook her head.
“No, sorry,” she said. “Should I?”
“Last time I saw you, I think you were only this tall,” Michael said, indicating a height a few inches below his waist. Seth and Wyatt are good friends of mine and have been for a while.”
“I’m sorry, I really don’t remember,” Willow said. “So what brings you here?”
“We are seeking temporary asylum,” Michael answered “My pack is being hunted at the moment, and we need a place to shelter until we regroup and figure out what we’re doing.”
“Well, as Seth said, make yourselves at home,” Willow said. “I’m assuming you’re familiar with the den since you’re friends with my brothers?”
“I haven’t been here in quite some time,” Michael admitted. But I think I can find my way around for the most part.”
“Why don’t you take time to familiarize yourself with the place again, and your lovely mate and I can chat,” Willow suggested.
“I’m not their mate,” Allison quickly interjected.
“Oh… I’m sorry, I… I thought they subscribed by the ancient laws,” Willow said.
“We did,” Luke grumbled. “Until Michael here took it upon himself…”
Logan nudged Luke sharply in the ribs, and Luke glowered at his brother. But he went silent.
“Let’s go,” Michael said.
Luke and Logan followed Michael down the hallway and Michael looked over his shoulder and said, “We will return in a few minutes.”
“I’ll be ok,” Allison said.
Michael nodded and continued down the hall, and Willow took Allison’s hand and led her to a log by the quiet bonfire. They sat down together.
“So, tell me what’s going on here,” Willow said. “How’d you meet these guys, and what’s the story with the mate thing?”
“I was attacked by wolves, and they saved me,” Allison explained. “Some guy named Victor.”
Willow sucked in a sharp breath and said. “That’s not good.”
“Well, Victor’s pack apparently thought I belonged to them, but Michael and his pack have been trying to protect me,” Allison said. “I really don’t understand all these complicated pack laws. They don’t make any sense, and they keep getting twisted around.”
“Yes, I’ve heard of this happening,” Willow said. “You see, the ancient laws were put in place during a much different time. Humans were much more violent than they are now, if you can believe that. They’d have slaughtered us en masse had they really believed we were real. But things are different now. Most people aren’t so willing to believe in the legends of werewolves, so it’s easier to keep our secret. If someone had told you before you met any of us that we existed… would you have believed it?”
“No, probably not,” Allison admitted.
“You’d have thought they were crazy,” Willow said.
Allison nodded in agreement.
“Anyway, some packs are starting to go against those old laws,” Willow said. “Our pack did years ago, but Michael’s pack is apparently just now gaining the ability to break away from them. They’re going against centuries of ingrained behavior. It will be confusing for a while.”
“Well, Michael and I… we’ve… it’s hard to explain,” Allison said. “We kind of have a love-hate relationship.”
“Say no more,” Willow said, winking. “Some of the very strongest relationships start out with two people at odds. I take it things are getting better?”
“They’re… passionate, I guess you could say,” Allison said.
“Ah, the very best kind of relationship!” Willow grinned, rubbing her hands together rapidly.
“The trouble is that Luke and Logan are jealous,” Allison told her. “They found out Michael and I had… well, first that we kissed and then…”
“More than kissing,” Willow finished the awkward sentence.
“Yes,” Allison agreed. “Luke disavowed the pack and tried to be Alpha, which ended quickly enough when Michael rescued us from Victor. But there is still so much tension. Sometimes I wish…”
“You wish what?” Willow urged her.
“I wish I’d just mated to all of them from the beginning so there wouldn’t be so much jealousy.”
“I don’t know if that would have worked out the way you think it would have,” Willow said. “If Michael is feeling possessive of you, the mating may not have gone smoothly.”
“Why not?” Allison asked.
“Well, I think I have the solution to your problems,” Willow said. “There’s a ritual that can actually mate multiple pack members to a single female, and…”
“No!” Michael said flatly. “I won’t allow it.”
They turned to see Michael entering the room followed by Luke and Logan. He stood before them with his arms crossed.
“Hear me out,” Willow pleaded. “Look, how do you think Seth and Wyatt manage it? They share a human mate. And you know how must Seth and Wyatt used to be at odds.”
“Fine,” Michael grumbled. “I’m listening.”
“It’s called the Bond of Three,” Willow said. “Or in your case, I guess it’d be the Bond of Four.”
“Go on,” Michael said.
“You must all bite Allison at once,” Willow said. “Your scent will then meld with hers, and because you’ll all smell each other on her, meaning you’ll all have equally marked her and claimed her as your own, there will no longer be any jealousy. It will be just as if you’d all claimed her the old fashioned way, by the ancient laws.”
“And you’re sure this works?” Michael asked cautiously.
“You’ve seen it with your own eyes,” Willow said. “If it can work for Seth and Wyatt, it can work for anyone, trust me.”
“I don’t know,” Michael said. “Every time I think of Allison being touched by someone else… by anyone else… I feel this… rage.”
“It will go away,” Willow promised.
“I must think about it,” Michael said.
“Of course,” Willow agreed. “Why don’t you think about it and make your decision after dinner tonight?”
“Agreed,” Michael said.
“For now, I’d like to take Allison to let her get cleaned up and find her some clothes,” Willow said. She looked at Allison and said, “You must be freezing! I know humans get cold so much easier than we do. I bet Seth and Wyatt’s mate, Callie, has some things that would fit you.”
“Oh, I don’t want to cause anyone any trouble,” Allison argued.
Willow grabbed her hand and started to drag her down the hall, saying, “Callie’s as sweet as can be! You’ll love her! And she’d be horrified to know someone was in need and refusing help. Come on, let me introduce you!”
Allison reluctantly allowed herself to be pulled along by the bubbly girl, and they headed down a very dark corridor and stopped outside an opening in the wall.
“Callie?” Willow called. “Can I come in?”
“Of course, Willow,” called a voice weakly from inside the room.
Callie pulled Allison through the opening and into a small cave-like room. On the floor, upon a pile of furs and hides, lay a very pregnant young woman.
“Allison, this is Callie,” Willow said. “Callie, this is Allison. She is visiting and could really use some clothes.”
“Of course,” C
allie said softly. Allison noticed little droplets of sweat mottling her forehead. Callie lifted her hand and pointed toward a trunk in the corner. “You may take anything you need for her from my trunk.”
“Oh, no!” Allison cried. “Please, I don’t want to be any trouble.”
“Visitors here are never trouble,” Callie said. “You are a gift. Please, take anything you need.”
Willow was already rifling through the trunk, and she pulled out a number of pieces of clothing. She started to hold them out to Callie for approval, but Callie waved her hand to silence her.
“Clothes are replaceable,” Callie said gently with a weak smile. “Friends are not. Allison, I believe those will all fit you just fine.”
“Thank you,” Allison said sincerely, taking the bundle that Willow had thrust into her arms.
“Will you be staying long?” Callie asked.
A wince changed Callie’s expression, and soon a tall figure emerged from the darkness and kneeled beside her, taking her hand. Allison hadn’t even seen him in the shadows. She recognized Seth immediately.
“Are you alright, darling?” Seth asked Callie, pushing her sticky hair away from her face.
She nodded and released a held breath. “It won’t be long,” Callie whispered.
“Willow, can you find Wyatt?” Seth asked.
“You got it,” Willow answered.
Willow placed her hand gently on Allison’s arm, and Allison nodded her acknowledgement, following Willow from the room.
“Just head that way and you’ll find Michael and the others,” Willow said. “I’ve got to find Wyatt before the pups are born.”
Willow quickly disappeared into the darkness, and Allison used her hand to feel her way along the wall. She soon found the guys sitting silently around the unlit bonfire.
She sat down on a log and began to look at the clothes Willow had collected for her. She chose a warm sweater and a pair of thick jeans and wiggled them over her tank top and shorts. She instantly felt warmer, but her toes were numb from the chill. She began to rub them.
“Are your feet cold?” Logan asked.
“Yes, and it’s making my toes numb,” she answered.
Logan smiled and winked, quickly shifting into his wolf form and lying down across the foot that rested on the ground. Allison looked confused momentarily, and then she realized how warm that foot was growing and she lowered her other foot to the ground and slipped it underneath his furry body.
“Thank you, Logan,” she said, reaching down to scratch the space between the wolf’s shoulder blades.
Michael glowered darkly but said nothing. The jealousy was still deeply rooted within his psyche, and Allison had a lot of reservations about whether this Bond of Three, or Bond of Four in this case, would even work.
The guys were eerily silent, and it remained that way for the longest time. Allison was so bored that she soon began to yawn, and before she knew it she’d drifted to sleep sitting up.
Thud!
Allison jerked awake as a sharp pain shot through her head and shoulders. She muttered a cruse word and looked around, befuddled at the darkness that shrouded her.
“Look what you let her do!” Michael shouted.
“Don’t yell at Logan!” Luke snapped. “It’s not his fault.”
Michael’s arms reached underneath her and pulled her into a sitting position, and Allison rubbed her aching head.
“What happened?” she muttered.
“You fell asleep,” Michael said. “And Logan just let it happen.”
Logan, still in his wolf form, whimpered with shame.
“Michael, stop it,” Allison warned him. “It’s not his fault.”
“If he’d been paying attention…”
Michael suddenly silenced himself as voices began to murmur down the corridor. Seth and Wyatt’s pack was making its way into the room. Before long, the bonfire was lit, the pack was crowded around it, and the heavenly scent of roasting meet filled the cavern.
Willow sat down beside Michael and grinned at him, and he tried to ignore her. She continued to stare at him.
“What?” Michael finally asked her.
“So have you decided anything yet?” she chirped.
“About what?” Michael groaned.
“About trying the Bond of Three!” she squeaked. “Or Four.”
“You can’t even wait until after we eat to start bugging me?” Michael asked her sternly.
“Oh, what’s going to change between now and then?” Willow asked. “Are you willing to at least try it?”
“And what if it goes wrong?” Michael challenge her.
“Ah,” she murmured. “But what if it goes right?”
Michael sighed and rolled his eyes, but he finally said, “I’ve been thinking about this, and I really don’t see any other way I can keep my pack intact. If it means resolving this peacefully, then I guess I have no choice but to try.”
He glanced at Luke and Logan. Luke nodded his approval, and Logan shifted quickly and sat beside Allison.
“It’s fine with me,” Logan nodded. “After all, it’s very similar to the old ways. We’ll all be bonded, just as if we’d claimed her as a pack originally.”
“Agreed,” Michael said. Then he looked at Allison and asked, “Have you any objections?”
Allison was silent. She glanced at Michael, and then toward Luke and Logan. Logan’s eyes were soft and pleading.
“I’m willing to try it,” she relented. “But if this doesn’t work… I mean… is there a way out?”
“Wolves mate for life,” Willow said. “Once the bond has been made, it cannot be broken.”
“Wait a minute,” Allison quickly objected. “If this doesn’t work out, what…”
“It’ll work,” Willow interrupted confidently.
Allison opened her mouth to protest further, but she realized she truly had no choice. She wanted to be with Michael, and she very much cared for Luke and Logan. She must try.
“No objections,” she sighed.
“Wonderful!” Willow shrieked, clapping excitedly. “After dinner you four can take one of the empty rooms in the back of the den to complete the ritual.”
“What exactly does the ritual entail again?” Allison asked.
“All four of you will… you know…” Willow flushed pink.
“More than kissing?” Allison offered.
“Yes, that,” Willow said. “Thank you. And just before you… um… consummate… all three must bite you at the same time.”
“Doesn’t that hurt?” Allison asked, her face awash with anxiety.
“Maybe for a minute,” Willow said. “But after that I don’t think you’ll care much.”
This time it was Allison’s turn to flush deeply at the implication Willow had just made.
“Let the feast begin!” shouted Seth from the entrance to the cavern. “Our pups have been born! Please help us welcome Gabe and Jonas into the world!”
A great cheer arose from the Primrose pack, and Allison and the others applauded along with them. Babies were born! It was a great cause for celebration!
The feast was a stunning array of wild foods, including roast venison and wild turkey, fruit and nuts, roasted root vegetables, and a few things Allison had never before seen. Although most of these foods were totally unfamiliar to her, they were absolutely delicious. She was quite certain she could get used to living this way.
After the feast, Willow approached them and said, “It’s time.”
Allison exchanged glances with Michael, who then looked to Luke and Logan. When no one objected, they followed Willow down the dark hallway.
Chapter Eleven
The room that Willow led them to was dark, but she’d lit a few candles for the sake of Allison, the human whose eyes could not see in such an inky depth of darkness.
A very pile of furs sat near the wall, but otherwise, the room was empty. Michael took Allison’s hand and led her to the furs, and she sank down among th
eir softness.
Allison swallowed hard, her heart thrumming deeply in her chest. If anything went wrong… it could be a bloodbath. At the very least, it could break up Michael’s pack for good.
This had to work. It had to.
Michael kneeled behind Allison. He gritted his teeth, obviously unhappy to have his brothers join them. But he nodded to Luke and Logan, who cautiously approached and kneeled on either side of her in the front.
Michael gripped her sweater and lifted it gently over her head as she raised her arms for him. Her nipples were already stiff and straining against the fabric of her tank top, as the room was chilly and her nerves were on edge.
She’d never been particularly shy about her curvaceous figure, but now that three gorgeous men were about to see her naked all at once she found herself wanting to hide. As Michael tried to pull at her tank top, she suddenly stopped him by placing her hands over his.
“What is it?” Michael asked. “Have you changed your mind?”
“No, I just… I feel…”
“What?” Michael asked.
“She’s shy about us seeing her naked,” Logan said.
She smiled at him gratefully. Logan was definitely wise beyond his years.
“But I’ve…” Michael started to speak, but Allison cleared her throat. It was best not to remind the others that Michael had already seen her naked… and had done much more than that.
Allison simply removed her hands and took a deep breath. Michael loved her, curves and all. Perhaps Luke and Logan would, too.
Michael lifted her tank top, and her breasts spilled out and bounced slightly. Luke and Logan feasted their eyes open the pale mounds of flesh and their pert pink nipples that were standing so stiffly at attention.
When neither averted their eyes, Allison breathed a sigh of relief. Michael reached around her and tugged at the button on her jeans. He finally popped it open and slid down the zipper. She allowed him to pull down her jeans and her shorts, and she wriggled out of them.
Now that her full body was exposed to them, she could see that all of them were eyeing her hungrily. Luke licked his lips, and Logan could scarcely take his eyes off her. She recognized the look of animal lust in their eyes, and she knew she had nothing to fear.
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