Hunted: A Haven Realm Novel

by Young, Mila

  “I and my wolves will come with you to help,” Nero piped up.

  “Me too.” Dagen squared his shoulders. “We do this now.”

  Oryn stared at me, his eyes softening, almost calling me over to leap into his arms. “Dagen, how about you stay with Scarlet? Mend her wounds. We shouldn’t leave her alone until we know the wolves are healed.”

  Dagen stared at me with an evil grin and nodded. He enveloped me in an embrace.

  Within moments, everyone took off in different directions, and by the time Dagen and I entered the cabin, a strange sensation filled me. This house had changed my life for eternity. If I’d never fallen over that cliff or met these shifters, would I have lived my entire life never knowing the real me? Never comprehending that wolf blood ran through my veins? Or about the priestess torturing her people and wolves endlessly?

  I turned to Dagen, who collected me into his arms.

  “Finally, I have you all to myself,” he purred in my ears, and I trembled with desire. The emotion hit me so hard, my knees weakened.

  “So you think this will work? All of us together when we live so far apart?”

  Dagen picked me up in his arms, holding me like a baby, and carried me toward the living room where I’d first woken up when I first arrived in the cabin. He kicked the door shut behind us.

  “We may each rule territories and live in different places, but we also share a property in the middle of the Den to catch up on pack affairs. So we could all bunk up there.” He winked, and I couldn’t stop smiling.

  “Well, I was thinking I might lie low until things settle down in Terra.”

  “You’re not going anywhere until we know it’s safe. After you went off alone to your store in the night, one of us will accompany you. And that’s not negotiable. You’ll stay with us until then.”

  This was happening… Us together and maybe living together. Though what about my shop? I’d have to wait until they appointed a new leader of Terra.

  But when Dagen lowered his lips to mine, I forgot every worry and let myself float on his desire.

  He lowered me to the rug in front of the fireplace and hovered over me.

  I chewed on my lower lip, my whole body buzzing with anticipation. Yes, everything had happened at tornado speed, and for once I felt at peace. I understood the role I played, and rather than question my attraction to the shifters, now… I craved them, and I experienced no hesitation in taking what I desired.

  “You going to keep staring at me?” I asked. “Or are you going to give me what you’ve kept away from me for too long?”

  A sexy growl rolled across Dagen’s throat, and I shivered at the huge man laying over the top of me, the hunger in his eyes, the hardness pressing against my stomach.

  “You have no idea what you’ve unleashed, do you?”

  I shrugged and giggled. “I’m ready for everything you’ve got.”

  Dagen crawled down my body, his tongue on me, flicking my nipples and taking mock bites of my flesh.

  On my back, I moaned, unable to believe my luck that I’d end up not with one amazing guy, but three.

  “Hey,” Dagen said as he lightly slapped the side of my thigh. “You’re still in my mind, so focus on your man right here.” He smirked and widened my legs, his head lowering. “Your scent is intoxicating.”

  “I think we’ll always be connected.” I smiled while a shiver ran the length of my body at seeing this huge, powerful man kneeling between my thighs. He slid his tongue along my silkiness, stealing my breath.

  Air gasped from my lungs as I moaned.

  His mouth latched on to my clit, sucking, pulling at my inner lips. Thinking was impossible.

  I raised my pelvis, rocking back and forth with the sexy rhythm of his passion. Writhing beneath him, my body responded to Dagen, sparking into a blaze. I swooned, lost in a world where I intended to remain forever.

  “Yes. Oh, shit.” I shuddered, my body caught in its own ecstasy.

  “That’s it. Rub your sexy pussy in my face. Cum in my mouth.” He latched on to my sensitive folds, sucking so hard, I lost it.

  I cried out as he claimed my body. I belonged to him. He owned me.

  My muscles tensed as he licked over my entrance. He pushed me open wider and his tongue fucked. His thumb rubbed my clit.

  Heat burned through my body. My nipples pebbled so tight, they hurt, and I needed more. One last roll over my hub, and I fell apart.

  A scream streamed past my throat as an orgasm rocked through me.

  “Daaagen!” I screamed his name.

  His tongue was relentless and licked up every drop.

  I collapsed onto the floor, panting, while he lifted himself, his mouth and chin glistening. His smile belonged to the happiest man in the world.

  “Come here.” He sat on the rug, stretching out his legs on either side of me, so I got onto my stomach and crawled toward him.

  I straddled him, and he curled my legs around his hips.

  “I like to watch,” he said as he pulled my hips closer. With his cock in his hand, he ran his tip along my slit.

  “Yes. Let me feel all of you.” I leaned back on my hands to hold myself.

  He pushed into me, and I gasped as he placed my legs over his shoulders. “Now hold on, little one.” With his hands behind him for support, he lifted his hips, deepening his penetration. Spreading me wider. Heavens… he was huge.

  I lifted my butt, and he ground into me in circles, touching parts no one ever had before, his gaze lowered to between my legs.

  “Hell.”

  “That’s right.” He laughed and plunged into me, his hips raised off the floor slightly and together we moved. He slammed into me so forcefully, I trembled from each euphoric thrust.

  His face held the most intense expression as he fucked me. Damn, the swear words now rolled in my mind as if I were a sailor.

  I shook, moaning, loving that Dagen forced me so wide.

  He glided an arm around my back and drew me closer, his cock still buried deep inside me. “You’re so beautiful. I plan to fuck you until exhaustion takes both of us.”

  “Challenge accepted.” I curled my legs under me and slid up and down.

  With his hands on my hips, he moved me faster over his shaft.

  My breaths raced.

  “Love how your body tightens around me.”

  “Aha.” And the moment he leaned closer and grasped a nipple into his mouth, I mewled. Tightness coiled in my stomach, and I trembled with the orgasm shaking me.

  “That’s it,” he groaned. “Squeeze my cock with your pussy.” His eyes rolled back as I exploded and he pulsed inside me at the same time.

  I collapsed into his arms, our bodies sweaty, hearts racing, and I couldn’t stop smiling. He held me hard and whispered, “I think I’m falling for you so fast, it scares me.”

  Pulling back, I cupped his face and kissed his lips. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. You are everything. All three of you own my heart. And a week ago that would have terrified me. Now, I can’t imagine my life any different.”

  He leaned close and kissed me, soft and passionate, his fingers digging into my flesh as if he couldn’t get close enough. And I knew the terror of thinking something was too good to be true. But damn it, after everything we’d gone through, the universe had forced us together because we were meant to be. Now and for eternity.

  Chapter 24

  Six Months Later

  Reds and yellows streaked the early morning sky. I leaned a hip into the wooden railing while drinking a warm cup of chamomile tea. A cool breeze swished through my hair and ruffled my long slip-dress, bringing with it the chill from the White Peak Mountains in the distance.

  For months, I’d been living with my shifters in the middle of the Den in a massive two-story wooden house. Here I thought hunters slept outdoors and ate whatever they caught. How wrong I’d been. Most packs I visited had huts and gardens and an established society. Plus, each pack had embraced me within seconds
without a single hesitation. I guessed it helped that they’d smelled my wolf side, and I felt as if I belonged as this was my home and had always been. I just had to find my way here.

  I stared down at the green field below as a white rabbit hopped past, while birds squawked in the nearby pines. Yep, if heaven were to exist in all of Haven, the Den was it. Shifters had been smart to scare intruders away because they’d kept their simple and pure life untainted by others, who’d want to cut down trees and hunt down animals to extinction.

  A tightness squeezed around my waist, and I held my breath until it passed, rubbing my huge belly.

  Another surprise… I’d fallen pregnant and as a part shifter, it meant my term only lasted six months. Damn, I couldn’t wait to pop because I’d had enough of waddling and resembling a walrus. Then I’d visit Terra again. For the past two months, the shifters insisted I stayed in the Den, near our house, protected. I had more than just me to care for, but our unborn child.

  Back in Terra, the royals had appointed a distant cousin in the position of priestess, and to date, she’d kept quiet from what I’d heard from Bee and Santos. The new priestess in Terra had kept low. There had been no attacks on locals or neighboring races in Terra. Though she hadn’t lifted the insane laws about it being illegal to leave Terra or to have others visiting the place, either. Yet there were fewer guards patrolling. A win on my end, so my shifters had been spending time there, rebuilding my shop. And in my state, I wasn’t going anywhere.

  I’ve been catching up with Bee and Santos every few weeks since leaving Terra.

  Except last time I saw Santos he said Bee kept going back and forth from home to the White Peak, but she’d hadn’t returned home for two weeks now. And that worried me. Was she okay?

  The ache in my lower back deepened, and I paced along the veranda to distract myself from the pain. Past the bench and small picnic table with chairs. It was hard enough being pregnant, let alone as a shifter, as I had zero idea what to expect.

  “Little lamb.” Nero joined me outside, holding a pair of slippers in his hand. “You shouldn’t be wandering around barefooted.”

  “I’m fine. It cools me down as I’m burning up.”

  He cocked an eye and dropped the shoes in front of me. Just as I stepped into them, Dagen emerged with a plate of egg toast, just the way I’d taught them to make it, while Oryn followed soon after with a blanket.

  My men. They pampered me at every turn, and for the past two weeks, none had left my side, insisting they didn’t want to miss the birth of our child.

  There was no way of knowing whose specific kid it would be, but that didn’t matter because we were one family. And Oryn had already carved every toy under the sun from wood, ready to become a father. Dagen took my hand and led me to the chair and placed the plate of food in front of me.

  “A girl could get used to this kind of spoiling,” I said.

  They surrounded me, each placing a hand on my stomach, and Dagen leaned in closer, stealing a kiss. “You grow more beautiful every day. We love you so much.”

  “Have a seat,” Nero offered, “and I’ll rub your feet.”

  “Well, when you put it that way.” I laughed just as a something crammed in my lower stomach, and I gasped, clutching on to their arms.

  A pop sounded and warmth spread down my legs.

  “Her water broke,” Oryn called out for the entire forest to hear.

  All my men jumped about, as if suddenly the world was coming to an end. Oryn rushed into the house for who-knew-what. Nero darted to the end of the balcony, screaming at someone to call the birthing women, while Dagen’s eyes widened, his cheeks blanched.

  “I’m going to become a dad!” His words wavered, and I swore he’d be the first one to faint. For some reason, I’d pictured it being Nero.

  I held on to his arm, and he kept me close. “Looks like it,” I said.

  We moved indoors, me in slow motion like a great whale. The weight of the baby, now that my water had broken, felt like a boulder pressing down onto my pelvis. In the bedroom, our new bed stretched across the entire length of the room with enough space for us to all sleep together. After all, wolves always huddled, so it made perfect sense that we stayed close.

  Some nights we had insane sex marathons and the guys enjoyed watching as I spent time with each one of them, and it turned me on to no end.

  A sudden contraction hit, and I cried out, clasping my belly. I bent over, grasping on to the edge of the dressing table to ease the ache. Unable to move or breath as the pain lanced through me, my knees shook until the contraction finally subsided.

  Dagen rubbed my back. “Take deep, slow breaths.”

  “Nero!” he yelled. “Where’s the midwife?”

  Oryn returned with an armful of towels and a bucket of what I imagined was hot water. He’d paid the closest attention to the instructions from the nurse on what to do when labor hit.

  “Let’s get her on the bed,” he said.

  Together, they guided me onto the mattress as Nero rushed into the room.

  “The nurse is coming.”

  Catching my breath as another contraction eased, I panted. Oryn patted my brow with a moist towel.

  “Looks like we’re about to have a baby,” I said. And around me all three men stared at me with awe in their eyes, and considering this was a first for me, I couldn’t be happier to share this experience with them.

  When the next contraction came faster and more intense, I screamed. “Fuck! I think it’s happening.” I was being ripped apart starting at my groin and radiating to every fiber of my being.

  All three men jumped about, dashing in every direction as if lost, and at one moment, they all ran out of the room. I couldn’t help but laugh in between the cries of pain. Even breathing was difficult, and I panted through the contractions like the midwife had told me. The muscles in my womb cramped down so hard I couldn’t do anything. Everything in me pushed down to my cervix, the pressure heightening like I was going to burst apart.

  Heavens, this was really happening.

  * * *

  For the first time since giving birth, I’d left the Den, and returning to Terra brought back familiar memories, both scary and comforting.

  The moment I stepped into a refurbished Get Your Herb On, I gasped with excitement and clapped. There was a counter in an L-shape with a new section dedicated to taste-testing as two jugs sat there with multiple cups. The shelves on the back wall had a mirrored wall behind them, giving the whole place a bigger appearance. To my right stood a display cabinet stuffed with ceramic teapots. They had to have been imported from other realms. And nearby was a small, round table with four seats. Was that for serving customers tea? What a fabulous idea.

  Oryn brushed past my elbow. “What do you think?”

  “I can’t believe how incredible this is.” I turned to face him, cradling our little Alexy, Oryn’s pinky finger in her mouth as she suckled it. At just one month old, she already sported a full head of dark hair, and she had the brightest blue eyes.

  “Did you see that?” He pointed his chin to the wall behind me. I stepped deeper into the shop and turned around. Between the windows stood my painting of Grandma in the woods.

  My throat thickened, and I wiped my eyes. “I don’t even know what to say.”

  Dagen entered the store, holding our second joy in his arms, Jay, named after Dagen’s brother. That little boy slept through anything and sometimes the hardest part was waking him up to eat.

  “Have you checked behind the counter? I built something for you.”

  “Oh.” I hurried back there and found a set of three long drawers built into the counter. I pulled out one and inside lay at least two dozen compartments, each labeled with various herbs, ready and waiting to be filled.

  Dagen was next to me. “I found an herb book and tried to add as many of them as I could find.

  “This is fantastic.” I leaned against his side and stole a kiss before placing a peck on Jay’s
forehead.

  “Hey, don’t forget to look in the storage room. I had a hand in this too,” Nero said, holding our third munchkin, blowing her raspberries. We’d called her Autumn after my grandma, and I swore when she looked at me, I saw an old soul in her eyes. She rarely cried and laughed more than anything.

  Within such a small space of time, I’d gone from being alone and losing everything to gaining a family. Now, there were seven of us. I adored every single one, and I doubted our lives would ever be the same again.

  “I love you all so much,” I said, pressing my palms to my heart, my eyes watering. “You don’t understand how much this means to me.”

  “Oh, we know,” Nero teased. “Now check out the rear room.”

  “Okay, okay.” I strode to the back, unable to believe this place was mine, or how handy my men were. I pushed open the door to a darkened room, and the moment I stepped inside, Bee leaped out from behind the door.

  I yelped, my heart soaring into my throat. “Oh, crap.”

  “Surprise.” She jumped into my arms, driving us both backward. “Girl, did you think you’d keep me away from seeing you little ones?” Bee broke free and stared at me. “Wow. You’re a mom. I still can’t believe it.”

  “How long have you been hiding?” To see her after worried she’d gone missing in the mountains eased my concern. She’d tell me what was going on when she was ready, so I turned to the men. “Did you organize all of this?”

  Nero chuckled, and Bee darted to his side, stealing Autumn into her arms before breaking into baby talk.

  Movement caught my attention at my side, and I turned as Santos emerged from the room too.

  “Boo!” he said and laughed.

  I dragged him into my arms, my throat tightening. “You were part of this, won’t you? Plus, what’s Bee been feeding you, you’re taller than me.”

  He grinned. “Bee’s barely home. But her dad is a mean cook and has taken me on as an apprentice for his inventions.”

  “Does that mean you won’t be working with me anymore?” I frowned.