Same old Graeson.
I was so going to yank Dell’s perfect hair for this later.
“Here we are.” Dell arranged her supplies on the ground and tugged her dress over her head. “Get naked.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Let’s get it on.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, because she must be talking to someone else. Right?
Bianca carefully stepped from her gown, and Nathalie shucked hers in one smooth motion, then hung them both on a low limb to keep them wrinkle free.
I stood there in my three-quarter yoga pants, a sports bra and stained racerback tank top. Suddenly I was the overdressed one.
“Don’t be such a prude.” Dell linked her fingers around my wrist and hauled me into the creek bed. “Boobs are boobs are boobs.”
I gripped a sapling on the way past and hung on for dear life. “Yes, but these are my boobs.”
“We’ve already seen them through Cord’s memory,” Nathalie contributed. “His wolf saw you shower and broadcasted the images through the pack bond.” She belly-laughed at my dawning horror. “It was better than pay-per-view.”
I died on the spot. The elbow Dell was yanking must have belonged to my ghost, because no way had I survived the detonation of that bombshell.
Sniffing my shoulder, Nathalie pursed her lips. “I never noticed before, but you don’t smell much like him.”
“It’s probably a fae thing or a Cam thing. Trust me.” Dell dug her fingernails into my wrist. “They’re sleeping together.”
Atomic heat blasted my cheeks, but the fierce glint in Dell’s eyes kept me from denying Graeson hadn’t done more than spoon me and only then while he was in wolf form.
“We don’t need details.” Bianca showed mercy. Or so I thought before she winked at me. “Once the pack bond activates, we’ll get our PPV channels back.”
“You’re looking at this all wrong.” Dell pried my hand loose and dragged me stumbling forward. “The pack bond goes both ways, and you’re alpha. Think of Cord as a set of rabbit-ear antennas for your television. You’ll get the best reception of all, and Nathalie here has loose morals.”
“There’s nothing loose about my…morals.” She circled her hips like a pro hula hooper. “I just like sex.”
The other women groaned, but I couldn’t stop my smile from spreading. As embarrassing as it was to get naked in the woods with these women, a small part of me thrilled to be included in the initiation ritual. Until Harlow and Dell barged into my life, I had no clue how much I’d missed out by not having close girlfriends to share gossip, greasy fried food, guy drama and apparently boobs.
Isaac had gone from favorite cousin to surrogate brother when I lost Lori, but it wasn’t the same. We had to love each other, even when we drove one another crazy, or else Aunt Dot stood us in a corner until impending death by boredom made us repent.
This newfound ability to make friends, the rewards I reaped from putting myself out there and embracing them when they did the same, was liberating. This was what Aunt Dot had always wanted for me, to open my heart a fraction wider, though starting to care for people I might lose in a blink terrified me.
The fleeting thought of Aunt Dot and Isaac made my throat close, but I rebuilt the crumbling mental wall I used for keeping Lori’s memory at bay and sealed off that throbbing hurt for a while longer.
Tonight was for Graeson. There would be time enough to wallow in guilt once Theo arrived.
“Here’s how it works.” Dell retrieved her jug. “This is water from Pilcher’s Pond. It represents our old pack, old homes, old lives. For you it represents where your life intersected with Cord’s and ours.” She wiped a finger across my damp shoulders. “You’ve sweated out your impurities. Pouring the water over you absolves you of past sins. It symbolizes a clean start.”
A clean start. What I wouldn’t give if that was true. “Then what?”
“We air dry, because Dell forgot the towels.” Nathalie didn’t seem bothered by the idea. “After that, we dress you and take turns braiding your hair. No, really. I’m serious. It’s puberty all over again.”
“You don’t have to go through this just for me.” Their hanging dresses fluttered, ghosts of a past I wish this ritual would absolve. “You were already prepped. I’m the one holding up everything.”
Stubborn doubts bred from a lifetime of being an outcast drifted to the surface of my thoughts. The females had begun their portion of the ceremony without me. Had they excluded me on purpose, or had I missed out by virtue of being absent? Would I be standing here now if Graeson hadn’t fetched me, forcing the invite? These women had probably known one another all their lives. I didn’t have history with them. I was new, unknown, untrusted and unwarg to boot.
“You’re one of us, Cam.” Dell saw right through my insecurities. “Don’t make me embarrass you with naked cuddles to prove my point. You know I’m good for it.”
“That’s really not necessary.” I eased back when she started bouncing on the balls of her feet, lest she poked out my eyes with her uninhibited jiggling. “I believe you.”
“We purged ourselves earlier. How could we cleanse you if we ourselves were tainted?” Bianca rested a hand on Dell’s shoulder to anchor her. “Now we’ll purify you with our hands, symbolizing the absolution of all ties to our previous alpha.”
Voice flat, I cringed inwardly. “Dell, you forgot to mention the part where you all take turns bathing me.”
“Did I?” Dell pursed her lips. “It must have slipped my mind.”
Nathalie pinched my cheeks—not the ones on my face—and cooed, “Prudes are so cute.”
Tucking my thumbs in the hem of my shirt, I tugged it over my head to the raucous noise of catcalls and wolf-whistles. Flames erupted in my cheeks as Dell used my left side as a pole for dancing. Nathalie joined her while Bianca clutched her stomach as she chortled. Swaying between them, I kicked off my shoes and socks. Too winded from laughing to torment me, Dell and Nathalie strutted around Bianca until she had to cross her legs to keep from peeing.
Gulping a deep breath while they were distracted, I yanked down my panties and tossed my bra aside. Standing there with nothing but the humid breeze on my skin, I flashed back to the night in my trailer when Graeson, as a wolf, had watched me shower through half-closed lids.
Wait a minute. That happened after the pack bond snapped. Eyes narrowed on the gaggle of giggling females, I snorted a laugh. They were teasing me. Tendrils of belonging spread through my chest, anchoring me to these women.
Except now the seed had been planted. How many of our pack mates would tune in for a free show the night we consummated our bond? I really, really hoped Nathalie was teasing me about that part too.
“Don’t look now,” Dell crowed, “but the alpha is naked.”
I dropped my head into my hands and waited for the earth to swallow me whole.
No such luck.
Dell tugged on one of my hands, Nathalie pried away the other, and they led me into the dusty creek basin. Much to my relief, they sobered once Dell fetched the water. Smiles still wreathed their faces, but reverence was there too, for me or the ceremony I wasn’t sure.
With gentle and respectful touches on the non-intimate parts of my body, the women washed me and dampened my hair. When the water ran out, they spread a blanket and pushed my shoulders down until I sat. Shuffling to get into position, the three of them managed to all kneel behind me and began the task of detangling my post-workout hair and taming it into one of the intricate braids they wore. Flower petals rained down into my lap, and I picked them up and blew them off my palm.
I spaced out, lulled by the soft brush of fingers, until a delicate grunt rose behind me as Dell and Nathalie helped Bianca to her feet. The trio circled around in front of me to inspect their handiwork.
Hands clasped in front of her, Bianca’s eyes went liquid. Probably hormones. “You look beautiful, Camille.”
“You clean up nice,” Nathalie agreed, offering me a hand up. �
�Let’s get dressed and get this done so we can eat.”
Let’s eat, the official warg motto.
“Hands up.” Dell approached with her arms laced through the bodice of a flowing white garment she slipped over my head. “There we go.”
Unlike the others, my dress wasn’t linen but super-fine silk so thin the smattering of freckles on my chest were visible through the material. That wasn’t the only difference. The hem brushed my toes, and a short train pooled behind me. When Dell thrust a wildflower bouquet into my hands, the similarities between this pack binding and a human wedding gave me butterflies.
The others redressed and fussed with their hair one last time before linking arms with me. The four of us walked back to the clearing barefoot and glowing from the cold bath and the laughter. Our chortling lured the men from their carousing, and they fanned out in a loose semicircle wearing grins of their own.
Graeson emerged last, his eyes only for me, and his visual caress gave me chills.
Hair slicked back, he’d fastened the curled length with a white ribbon at his nape. His jaw was clean-shaven and as sharp as the razor responsible. Stacked with thick muscle, his bare abs quivered under my appraisal. The ivory silk pants worn low on his hips managed to be every bit as sheer as my dress.
I had seen Graeson naked, many times, and I always fought gravity to keep my focus above his navel. The subtle flicker of candlelight over his skin invented shadows that ensnared the eye, tempted my focus lower and left my breaths shallow.
Stifled laughs humiliated me for the millionth time this evening. The urge to turn and run was a twitch in my calf until Bianca released a dreamy sigh at the sight of Jensen all cleaned up and, if the tenting of his thin pants were any indication, very excited to see his mate.
“They’re like bunnies,” Nathalie grumbled. “Those pregnancy hormones must be some good shit.”
“Bunnies aren’t that vocal.” Dell ribbed me with her elbow. “You can always tell when they’re getting it on because you’ll be minding your own business one minute and the next you hear aroo aroo arooooo and notice Bianca and Jensen are missing.”
Covering a snort with my hand, I hoped the lovebirds didn’t take offense, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t even notice the rest of us snickering at their public display of affection.
“Alpha.” With a flourish, Dell dropped into a low curtsy that sent her skirts fluttering. “May I present your mate? She didn’t bite or scratch anyone during the preparations. She deserves a cookie.”
“You look beautiful.” Graeson leaned forward and brushed his lips over my knuckles before I lowered my hand, bumping noses with me in the process. “You’re always so beautiful.”
“You’re not off the hook that easily.” I swatted him with my bouquet. “You should have explained all of…” I swept an arm down my body, “…this to me.”
“Why?” He dodged my next swing. “So you could apply fae logic to warg tradition and bolt before you saw there was nothing sexual or wrong about it?”
Cutting my gaze to Bianca, I raised an eyebrow as she swayed in her mate’s arms while he nibbled his way across her collarbone.
“That has nothing to do with the ceremony.” He cleared his throat loudly in their general direction. “They’re mated and expecting. Jensen would have carried her in his arms the entire nine months if she’d let him. He’s been so paranoid he doesn’t want her feet touching the ground.” Pride shone in Graeson’s eyes as he looked at me. “You gave him a measure of peace today. That was kind of you.”
“I’m glad I could help.” I tapped the flowers across my palm. “You’re still not forgiven.”
“Challenge accepted.” Smugness radiated from him. “We’ll make it up to you.”
We as in him and his wolf. Damn it. The wolf was so fluffy, his eyes so big and honest, that when my fingers buried in his soft white belly fur, I had trouble remembering why I was angry at the man he concealed.
Wary of the apologetic shenanigans both halves of Graeson had in mind, I noticed my bruised flowers and spruced them before the girls saw. “Tell me the truth, the whole truth, up front, and there won’t be any reason to make amends.”
The concept rattled around his head, and his lips pursed as if asking permission instead of begging forgiveness was a foreign idea.
For a dominant male warg, it just might be.
Contrite as a schoolboy, Graeson dusted flower petals off his chest. “Would you like me to outline the next hour for you?”
“At this point…” I scanned the clearing, gaze touching on a ceremonial dagger the length of my forearm, “…I think I’m better off not knowing.”
His lips parted, ready to contradict me for asking to be kept in the dark, which was exactly what he had done and obviously still believed to be right as well as his right to decide on my behalf.
As a reward for giving me the option to choose to bury my head in the sand, I leaned forward and kissed the hard pectoral muscle shielding his heart. “I appreciate you letting me decide for myself.”
Nostrils flared and eyes gone molten with heat and wonder, Graeson grazed his knuckles down my cheek. “That’s the first time you’ve ever kissed me.”
Licking my lips, I tasted clean sweat and tart skin. “We’ve kissed several times.”
“No.” His voice reverberated through my bones. “I kissed you. There’s a difference.” He leaned down, rubbed his cheek against mine and whispered in my ear, “I knew you liked me back.”
Like was one word for it. There was definitely a four-letter word starting with L involved. I had trouble breathing when he stood so near, even though half the time I still wanted to strangle him in such close proximity.
“I do like you back,” I rushed out before losing my nerve. “A lot. Even if I’m not great at showing it.”
Blame it on the candlelight or the moon. Admitting how he affected me, here and now, ensconced with our people, felt important, as if we were laying the foundation for a future that left my mouth as dry as cotton balls.
“Aww.” Dell clasped her hands together. “I foresee pups in the new year.”
“Then you should blink harder.” I tore off a flower head and tossed it at her. “You’ve got something in your eye.”
“It’s time.” Graeson checked the moon’s position in the sky. “Dell?”
Wriggling between us, she grasped my wrist and hauled me down into the portion of the creek bed they’d purified with a dusting of powder-fine salt, then she shoved on my shoulders until I sat in the crackling dirt. She positioned herself to one side of me, and Nathalie flanked the other. Bianca sat next to Dell, and Jensen joined his mate as the men followed Graeson and began filling the gaps in the circle. Once we were all seated, my fellow alpha directly across from me, the mystery began unraveling.
“Each of you made the choice to be here. Being present means you accept my dominion over you, and it means you acknowledge Ellis as my partner and equal.” Gold eyes met mine, so bright his gaze burned through me. “She is my mate, and if you put me in a position to choose her or you, she will win every time. Yes, she is fae. Yes, she is different. And yes, that will alienate us from securing alliances with some packs.” He raised a finger. “It will also open doors for new opportunities we will be in a unique position to seize.”
Almost the exact second my throat constricted, Dell squeezed my hand in reassurance.
From the moment the gas station clerk dialed me from Isaac’s phone to the percussive blast of Aunt Dot’s pride and joy detonating yards away from me, my family had occupied my thoughts exclusively. No, if I was being honest, it had started the moment Charybdis painted a target on their backs because of me.
That single-mindedness had been a mistake, if an unavoidable one. Becoming alpha, shouldering the title of Graeson’s mate, accepting that these people were mine to protect too, had seemed so abstract when I agreed to this. As though I had been bobbing my head at Graeson without comprehending the ramifications because my fea
rs and worries were otherwise engaged.
Tonight there was no ignoring the magnitude of the sacrifice these people had made in leaving the security of the Chandler pack. The veil had been ripped from my eyes, my own problems shelved for later, when I had solitude to mourn, and I sat exposed to the full consequences of my union with Graeson.
The ever-present tremor in Isaac’s fingers, his car keys a talisman, a promise of escape, twitched in mine.
I won’t lie. I wanted to run. I wasn’t this person. This woman had friends and a partner who cooked her meals and remembered the little things, like her favorite flavored water additives. She was putting down roots, if not in this place then with these people. Her family was blossoming, expanding, and even though she fit with the wargs about as much as she fit with other Gemini, they accepted her. She belonged.
Oh, I wanted to be her. I wanted her to be me. I wanted…all of this. The friends, the trust, the security.
And I wanted Graeson, wanted to belong to him, more than I had ever selfishly wanted anything in my life.
The wild presence in my blood sang her approval to the moon. Graeson called it—her—my inner she-wolf, though the phenomenon must be a recalled magical remnant. Either way, the feral possessive urge that lived inside me these days hummed with approval.
“Examine your souls,” Graeson continued in a somber tone. “Search your hearts. Be certain this is the right path for you, for your family. It won’t be easy, not at first, maybe not ever. Our people cling to tradition, they nurture fear and embrace superstitions where the fae are concerned.” His gaze panned the circle. “Keeping your seat means you understand and accept that this pack will value our members regardless of their origins or species. Keeping your seat means you’re willing to place faith in the greater world and accept nontraditional allies.” A growl entered his voice. “Keeping your seat means you understand that a hand raised against Ellis is a hand raised against me. The punishment for harming a fellow pack mate will be expulsion. Blood will answer for blood.”
Dog Eat Dog World: Limited Edition Bundle (Black Dog) Page 134