Acceptable Risk

by Candace Blevins

  “Humans aren’t supposed to know about us,” Ranger told her, his voice soft. “When you do, there’s a way to bind you, so we’ll know if you tell.”

  “It’s more than that,” Jonathan told her. “We’ll know if you’re thinking of telling. Penalties for planning to do so are bad, but the penalty for actually telling is death. Our world is harsh and cruel, and humans have killed us in large numbers in the past, when we haven’t been careful. Because we aren’t pack, and neither is Duke, he can demand to be in on the binding, so he’ll also know if you’re thinking of telling.”

  “Why aren’t you pack?”

  “I’m a pack member,” said Ranger, “but my Alpha is far enough away, and the link is a little degraded because I haven’t been back for a full moon run in a while, so he might not know I’ve had a hit, which means I could conceal it if I didn’t want to have to hurt you, which I won’t. If I were a pack member, everyone higher than me in the hierarchy would know.”

  “So, the RTMC is a pack?”

  “No,” said Jonathan, “but please don’t ask us any more questions about them, okay?”

  “I’ll call him,” Ranger told Jonathan. “You explain the binding process to her.”

  Ranger left the room, headed towards Mac, and she was glad someone was going to check on him.

  “Ranger will need to ingest some of your blood as you swear to not divulge our secrets. You’ll say it with the understanding that you can’t leave hints, can’t write notes, can’t in any way do anything that might make someone think you’re telling them shapeshifters exist, or that we aren’t entirely human.”

  “Can I see you change?”

  “Yes, but not now, and probably not tonight. Maybe in the morning, we’ll have to see how things go.”

  “This binding thing, what will it do, besides keep me from telling someone?”

  “If you drink each other’s blood it can do a lot more, but with him only taking in yours, he won’t have any kind of control over you. Ranger’s strong enough to be an Alpha, if he wanted, but he doesn’t want to lead a pack. Sometimes Alphas can learn more about the person, see into their thoughts and memories as the link takes place, and during intense periods of emotions sometimes pick up on thoughts or images. It doesn’t happen all the time, and is almost exclusive to Alphas, so it isn’t likely, but you need to be aware of the possibility.”

  “Duke’s an Alpha though, right?”

  “No, but he’s closer to being one than Ranger.”

  Ranger stepped back into the room and said, “No more questions for us about Duke. He’ll be here in around thirty minutes. His woman knows, so he’s bringing her, too.”

  “Gen knows? But, she tells me everything!”

  “Then she’ll probably be really happy to finally be able to talk to you about it,” Ranger answered, “but she couldn’t tell you before, babe. Remember? The whole blood bound thing?”

  “Yeah, and I told you I don’t like being called babe.”

  “Did whoever hurt you call you babe?”

  This from Mac, standing in the doorway in all of his human glory.

  The fact he was right, combined with her relief of seeing him as a man again, along with everything else, made her burst into tears.

  Jonathan reached for her, but she sidled away from his reach and ran to Mac, who opened his arms, embraced her, and then went to the floor with her, sitting with her in his lap as he held and comforted her.

  “You’re safe with us, my little fiery vixen.”

  Bethany laughed through her tears, and a few minutes later Mac stood with her still in his arms, and the next thing she knew they were all in bed. She was still in Mac’s lap, but the other two were there — close enough to comfort her, but far enough away she didn’t feel smothered.

  At some point she was transferred to Ranger’s lap, and Mac went to his room. He returned a few minutes later wearing sweatpants cut off just above the knees, and handed her one of his shirts. “This’ll be enough for you to wear when Duke gets here. It’ll probably come down to your knees.”

  “Yeah, and he wants you to smell like him,” Ranger said as he helped her into it.

  Jonathan put some boxers on, and Ranger eventually left to put jeans on. None of the men wore shirts, and the four of them probably looked like they’d spent the night fucking.

  When the doorbell rang, Bethany excused herself to the bathroom. She couldn’t find a brush, and did the best she could with the comb she found in the drawer. She rinsed her mouth for thirty seconds with the mouthwash, and then joined the men.

  The only furnished room downstairs seemed to be the man-cave of a den — done all in a thick leather suede, with a huge flat screen television hanging on the wall. The floor was made of mountain stone, and huge pet beds occupied three of the corners.

  “How irresponsible could you be?” Duke was saying as she walked in, and when he saw her, he stepped to her and pulled her into a hug. “You’re okay? His claws didn’t catch you? Even a tiny nick?”

  “I’m fine, Duke. I freaked and fell out of bed and my hip might be bruised, but that’s my fault, not his. No one knew I changed beds, and they tried to keep me in bed but I told them I had to pee, which I did. I meant to come back, but decided not to after I used the bathroom.”

  Bethany smiled at Gen sitting on a sofa. Her friend gave a worried smile back, but then looked to Ranger as he said, “Which explains why we let her go and fell back to sleep without waiting for her to come back. She told us she’d be back, and she smelled like she was telling the truth.”

  Duke sighed, sniffed her, and then glared at Mac. “She’s wearing your shirt. I can’t tell if you nicked her or not.”

  “I didn’t. Ranger, Jonathan, and I all checked her before she had my shirt on. She’s fine.”

  “She’s one of mine,” Duke told them. “I’ll do the binding.”

  Ranger shook his head. “Because he was turned as part of an op, Aaron considers Mac one of his. And, since I turned him, Mac is mine. This makes her our responsibility, so I’ll need to bind her. Not to mention, last night was kind of special and we’re hoping she’ll agree to be ours, at least for a time.”

  Bethany walked to the sofa and Gen stood to hug her, but the women didn’t talk as they listened to the men.

  Duke nodded, thoughtful. “You’re pack, right? Not local, but if you do it then we’re legally okay to do this one direction?”

  “Technically, yeah. Fair warning, though. She’s jumping to a lot of conclusions about you. We’ve asked her to refer all questions about you, to you.”

  Duke turned to Bethany, now sitting on the sofa with Gen.

  “Ask away, Bee.”

  “Gen wouldn’t let me whisper secrets around you, or even talk to her about stuff the night we were in your room and you weren’t. She made me type it out on my phone. Are you a werewolf? Or something else?”

  “Werewolf.”

  “Are you the only one? Or is it all of your club?”

  “Most werewolves choose to join their local pack. If they don’t like the local pack, they move and find one they like. Some of us have issues with being in a pack, and we’re called lone wolves. I’m a lone wolf, but I get what I need of the pack brotherhood by being in a motorcycle club. Whether there are others who feel as I do and join a motorcycle club, I can’t say.”

  “I’ve moved around a lot, but for various reasons I can legally remain a member of the pack I grew up in,” Ranger told her. “While in the military, I was given leave to miss the three mandatory full moon runs a year. Since I’ve been out, I’ve made it to two full moons, but it hasn’t been enough to fully reincorporate the pack bond from a distance. I’m legally pack, but in reality I’m probably closer to a lone wolf.”

  “Mac will be bound to Ranger for a while, since Ranger turned him,” Jonathan explained. “Their relationship is as if Ranger is his Alpha. If Ranger’s Alpha was around, things would be different, but under the current circumstances Mac has another
six or eight months until he’ll have to decide whether he wants to find a pack or stay a lone wolf.”

  Bethany pulled her legs onto the sofa and stretched the t-shirt over her knees, suddenly cold again.

  Mac immediately walked to her, sat beside her, and pulled her into his lap. Jonathan left the room and returned with a blanket, which he draped around her.

  “They know what you’re feeling,” Gen told her. “They know when you lie, when you’re telling the truth, when you’re scared or nervous. It’s a little disconcerting at first, but don’t start assuming they’ll know what you’re thinking. Sometimes they do, but it’s a guess based on the emotion they smell. You have to keep talking to them, so they know what’s going through your head.”

  “What’s the binding like?”

  “Hers was different than yours will be,” Duke told her. “Since I’m not pack, her binding is two way, and physically keeps her from telling our secret. She couldn’t if she wanted to — the oath is bound into her subconscious. Since Ranger’s pack, we can do this one direction with you.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “It means my connection to you won’t be as strong,” said Ranger. “With a two way binding, both parties drink the blood of the other, and the connection is stronger, the binding tighter. Since I’m pack, anyone higher in the hierarchy should know if I get a hit from a binding, so I can’t ignore it. If my connection weren’t degraded then others would see to it you were stopped before you had a chance to follow through on your plans. We’re legal doing it one-way.”

  “There are a few things you need to know, before we do it,” Duke told her. “There’s a chance we’ll see some of your memories and catch some of your thoughts during the binding ritual. The risk is quadrupled for a two-way binding, but it’s still there. Also, if there’s an emotional connection, sometimes it can be strengthened. You and I have one, through Gen. I don’t know if you and Ranger managed to form one overnight, but I think I saw one forming with Mac, and since Ranger and Mac are pretty tightly wound right now, so soon after changing him…”

  Bethany looked at Jonathan. “It’ll be enough for them to do it? Do leopards have a way to…”

  Jonathan’s gaze shot to Gen, then Duke.

  Duke looked to Gen and said, “Yeah, he’s a leopard. You knew there were other animals already, now you’ve met one.” Duke turned his head to Bethany. “You have to be more careful, Bee. We should’ve warned you, but not everyone in the room will know everything you know. This isn’t a big deal, as her binding will keep her quiet, but it could’ve been, and the repercussions are huge if you slip. If you’d prefer a binding that keeps your subconscious from slipping, we can do this as a two-way. It’s a tighter binding, and you run the risk of either Ranger or I knowing things you may not want to share. You’ve just seen how easy it is to slip up, though, so I’m giving you the option.”

  “If you slip up, in some cases the penalty is death to you and whoever you tell,” Ranger warned. “I’ll try to find other options, but depending on who knows, Duke and I may not be totally in control of the consequences.”

  Bethany had been sitting on Mac’s lap with her back to his chest, and she turned sideways, with her arms around his neck and her legs to his left, her bare butt on his thighs, the blanket still around them.

  Mac’s arms held her as if he were protecting her from the room, and he said, “My wolf wants to lash out at the rules. She’s scared and confused, and we want to protect her.”

  Duke took two steps back and said, “I know I represent the rules to you right now, but I care for Bethany. Remember? She’s under my protection. She’s my woman’s best friend. I consider her family.”

  “He’s okay, Duke,” said Ranger. “He’ll leave the room if he’s close. He’s just letting us know where he is. I can feel him and he’s got it under control.”

  Bethany told them she’d do the two-way with Ranger, figuring she didn’t like being technically legal, and she also didn’t want to mess up and accidentally give something away.

  Ranger, Duke, and Jonathan discussed strategy and method for a while, and Bethany zoned them out and relaxed in Mac’s arms. It was nearly six in the morning now, and it wouldn’t take much for her to fall back to sleep.

  When they finally decided what to do, she watched Jonathan open a sterile package, take out a large diameter needle, and lift her left hand.

  “Not her finger,” Gen said. “She’s a massage therapist. Do it somewhere else.”

  Mac chuckled and Bethany shook her head, but agreed with her friend. “Yeah, no open wounds on my hands.”

  “Toe, forearm, or breast?” Jonathan asked. “Those are the next best places to get a good flow without having to go too deep.”

  Bethany untwisted enough to get her left foot out from under the covers, and Jonathan held the needle to the inside of her big toe and said, “Take a deep breath and then blow out, hard.”

  She did, and he pressed the needle in as she blew. It was a trick she used when going deep with her massage clients, but was still surprised it worked with the needle. He put a good deal of blood in one glass with a few inches of water in it, and then another.

  He finished, put a small bandage on her toe, and wrapped the needle in a rag before throwing it in the trash.

  “This is wine with a few drops of Ranger’s blood,” Jonathan told her. “It’s a simple oath. You only have to say, ‘I will keep your secrets,’ as you think about the secrets you’re keeping. You already know this covers leaving hints, writing it instead of speaking, or even nodding your head when someone asks the right question.”

  “Say the words, drink the wine as you think of the secrets you’re keeping, and then say the words again,” Duke told her. “Ranger and I will do the rest.”

  “You said Mac can only turn me as a wolf, not as a human. This is your blood as a human, so it won’t turn me?”

  “Right,” Jonathan, Ranger, Duke, and Gen answered together.

  Mac was being quiet, but his warm, strong arms around her made her feel safe and protected, as if nothing could ever hurt her again. She said, “I will keep your secrets,” as she thought about everything she’d learned tonight, and drank the wine without thinking about what was in it. She said the phrase again, and without warning, she was engulfed with feelings, emotions, and the sense of running through the woods with four legs, the wind in her fur, the forest alive with colors and smells.

  Mac held her tighter, and she screamed as she felt her finger being cut off. Ranger was suddenly in her thoughts, telling her she was okay, ordering her to make a fist and feel all of her fingers. She did, and she remembered Ranger in her ass at the end, Mac jacking off as he watched, and Jonathan holding her boobs together with his cock thrusting between them.

  The room came back into view with a thunderclap, and she jumped and gave another small scream as Mac asked, “What the fuck?”

  “You okay?” Ranger asked.

  Bethany shook her head as Mac said, “I’m human, and I can hold it together for Bethany, but I’m not okay.”

  Duke spoke so softly, Bethany barely heard him. “Look at their auras.”

  Ranger said, “Fuck,” as Jonathan said, “Shit. Tell me what I just felt. What happened?”

  No one spoke, and Duke finally said, “We all caught pieces of each other. I saw Ranger running through the woods, saw someone cutting one of Mac’s fingers off when a few were already missing, and saw Bethany freaking when Mac started changing. Ranger took control, reminded Mac he has his fingers back, and then steered them all to a shared memory before bringing us all out of it. I don’t know what they got from me.”

  “They didn’t get anything from you,” Ranger said. “I saw you and your brother fighting, before you left the pack.”

  “What’s going on with our auras?” Bethany asked.

  “You’re joined. It’s one aura with two people. We did the ritual with the two of you joined,” Duke explained.

  The thr
ee men standing around them looked as if this were the end of the world. Bethany didn’t understand, so she said, “And?”

  “Two werewolves can perform a ritual, but three can’t unless they intend to form a pack,” said Jonathan. “They just inadvertently formed a small pack. Someone will have to rise to Alpha, the other two will have to accept him. However, that isn’t the worst of it.”

  “No,” Duke agreed. “My brother will see this as a threat to his pack. I left Chattanooga in part because I realized he was on the fast track towards becoming Alpha. I didn’t want the position, but I knew my wolf would never bow to him. Killing him and holding the position were the last thing I wanted, so I cut ties and left town.” He sighed and sat in a chair. “Leaving town only postponed my having to fight him to the death, apparently.”

  Bethany tilted her head towards Mac. He looked down, their eyes locked, and she asked, “Why are our auras joined? What does it mean?”

  “I don’t know. They taught me how to see them, and I’ve seen human couples who seemed to be walking around in one aura, but I don’t know what it means.”

  Jonathan sat beside them and said, “It just means you’ve connected at a soul level. There’s nothing especially metaphysical about it under normal circumstances. However, it would’ve been nice if someone had noticed before the ritual.”

  “I’ve never heard of someone being so close after one night,” Ranger said. “There shouldn’t have been a reason to look.”

  Gen moved to Duke’s lap and he pulled her into an embrace, holding her as if he needed the connection. “Can someone break the ties ya’ll just made?” Gen asked. “Maybe the person who oversaw my binding? He can do things in—” She stopped talking as if someone had clapped their hand over her mouth, and she looked up with an embarrassed smile. “Yeah. Guess I’m not supposed to talk about that.”

  “I don’t know who she’s talking about,” Jonathan said, “but there may be another option.”